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"So, what do you think?" Jack asked, ending the tour at the bridge as he waited for Adelyn to leave the Captain's room.

"It's a massive ship!" Ankiah replied, looking around the bridge in wonder.

"It is definitely larger than other frigates of the same classification. However, it is much smaller than most Terran warships." Jack replied as he looked around the ship, observing the many engineers putting the finishing touches on it.

"Why did they give you such a deadly ship? It seems pretty excessive to me if it's just for exploration... I mean, if it's for exploration, my ship is capable of doing so, yet it can fit in this ship's hangar." Srettia questioned as she scented the air, suddenly noticing the nervousness of the nearby engineers at her question. "You're not telling me something... Lieutenant."

Jack looked around the bridge, finding it hard to control his facial features as he let out a nervous smile. " I am unable to comment on that until my Captain grants me permission." He responded, hoping it would be enough for now.

"Who's your Captain? Why aren't you in command of your own ship?" Srettia replied, pointing a clawed finger at Jack's chest.

Jack did not like having a physical body at this moment, even if it was made of hard light. "I am unable to comment on that currently." He answered.

Ankiah laughed at the face Jack was making and put a hand on Srettia's shoulder. "It's probably who we think it is. Not many people can command an AI after all."

Srettia huffed and stepped away, making sure to keep an eye on Jack. " You better spill when your Captain gets here. This secrecy stuff isn't very fun, you know."

Jack nodded and looked around with the outboard cameras, trying to find his friend in hopes that he would quell the angry female. "I would not hide things from you if it were possible, but this is one thing I am unable to let slip. My apologies."

Srettia walked into the middle of the bridge and took a closer look at the surroundings. "That chair looks exactly like the one I have on my ship." She said, walking over to the helm and sitting down in the crash couch. "It is!" She continued with surprise, leaning deeply into the seat.

Ankiah noticed a nearby engineer make an odd motion with his fist and began to see the oddities of this bridge. "It's made almost explicitly for a multiple species crew. It even has a spot for Yirphayen." She stated, pointing over to an odd seat lined with strange lights and mesh.

Jack ignored the two females and went to sit on his E-war position, turning it towards the bridge with a practised sigh. "I did not notice such things."

Dr. Aldon, Keda, and Admiral Perrin finally entered the bridge from the Captain's room, walking over to the observing visitors. With a pause, the three took the command seats, eliciting another sigh of relief from Jack as they seemed to gather the two female's attention.

"You two need to stop poking around. It's not good for you to put your nose in things before they're ready." Admiral Perrin stated.

"Well, this secrecy stuff isn't making it easy. We're not used to all this stupid junk." Ankiah replied, fashioning to make her discomfort known.

Admiral Perrin nodded and looked over to Jack. "The Captain has accepted his position just as you have said he would. He's on his way over now."

Srettia stood from her sitting position and trounced over to the Admiral in anger, stopping just inches from her face. "You will tell me what is going on, or I will file a formal complaint with both our leaders and see to it you lose your position!"

Dr. Aldon quickly let out a laugh, shaking his head in amusement as he rose from his seat to leave the bridge. "You've read the Aasteran Bio, have you not my dead Admiral? I would not anger her further." He stated, waving a hand to Dr. Keda to ensure he followed as the door closed behind them.

"Apologies, Ambassador." The Admiral began. " We did not mean to come across as hostile, and it was not my choice to approach this undertaking in this matter."

Hearing the Admiral's words, Srettia took a deep breath and stepped back, putting a bit of distance between the two as Admiral Perrin continued. "The Captain is about to arrive, and he will explain everything. Not even I am privy to his full orders, so it would be best to wait for the time being."

Srettia went to sit in what she assumed was her chair, looking over to a now missing Jack with mild anger. " Where is Michael, Jack!"

"He is just entering the hangar. He was set back slightly due to introducing himself to the ship's crew."

Ankiah sat in an odd chair, trying to find the right spot for the theatrics that would soon ensue when Michael entered the bridge to explain precisely what was happening. "Whoever was in charge of the timing was really bad at his job."

Admiral Perrin chuckled and nodded at the statement. " Life is like that sometimes."

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Michael entered the hangar and looked up at his new ship hanging in the privacy of its own scaffolding. "Damn, that's a sleek ship." He mumbled to no one, quickening his pace as he made for the connection tube.

It was a ship with a pointed front, most likely where they had one of the larger spinal rail cannons installed, and the slope towards the tip allowed for the many point-defence to fully cover the exterior.

Michael stopped. Quickly noticing the retracted lance batteries made everything looks very smooth and sleek. The back was also wider, giving it an arrowhead look as the engines were hidden by what Michael knew was a sheath of armouring, giving the ship no easy targets while giving it a sharp edge.

As he entered the connection tube, he finally got a look underneath the ship, noticing the hangar was open and towards the front, grinning as he saw the catapult system slowly slant down This slope he found gave the vessel the look of having a deployable runway underneath it. "Too bad the captain is stuck on the bridge." He mumbled, reaching the crew door to his ship.

Keying in his Captain's code, one that the Fleet Admiral had handed over, Michael entered his ship and made for the nearest lift while allowing his implant to guide him. Thankfully the engineers made sure to have the lift near the entrance, making it so he only had to walk a few steps before turning into one that would take him to the core.

As he exited the lift and began the short walk towards the bridge, Michael noticed something. The nearby engineer saluted him as he walked by, something he wasn't quite used to yet and slightly uncomfortable with.

Having only taken a few steps before reaching the bridge, Michael took a deep breath and walked towards the door, letting it open automatically to reveal where he would spend the majority of this mission.

"There's our Captain!" Ankiah teased as Michael walked onto the bridge.

"Explain!" Srettia asked with worry from her couch, not bothering to get up.

Michael looked around and watched as Jack materialized at his E-war position, leaning back into his couch in defeat. "Well." He replied, Walking up to the Admiral and stopping in front of his Captain's chair.

With a shrug, the Admiral rose from the seat and stepped aside. "Warmed it up for you, Captain. I hope you don't mind."

Michael shook his head, taking a few moments to allow the idea to sink in before seating himself. "It's alright. The Fleet Admiral was the one who politely requested me to be picked up." He said, doing a double-take before seating himself into his Captain's couch and looking around at the few engineers finishing up some minor details.

Nodding as his implant informed him that they were indeed to be a part of his new crew, Michael continued his explanation to his nearby crewmates. "He gave me orders. I am to Captain this ship and investigate the systems ops believe are under heavy occupation. Then return with that information so that the fleet can properly prepare for a counter-invasion to free the populace."

Srettia nodded as she listened and looked at her current position. "Does that include me?"

Michael nodded and looked over to both Jack and Ankiah. "Everyone on the bridge, excluding the Admiral, is under my command. Though I need to ask both Chrarada and Ankiah for permission before it's finalized."

Srettia tapped her tail impatiently and looked at the console in front of her as Ankiah made some sort of happy noise. "Does the 'Fleet Admiral' assume I will agree to be a part of your crew? And why is the helm set up specifically for me? Isn't there a better Terran helmsman than myself?"

Michael sighed as he noticed that he already had a growing list of requests piling upon his command pad. "He wants a multi-species bridge crew to drive the point home that we are now allies. That and he's seen evidence that you are a natural pilot from the first battle you fought in. As for why he believes you'll accept the position... I dunno. Maybe he assumes that since you're my wife, you would want to come along and offered a good position for you to do so?"

Admiral Perrin nodded and began moving towards the exit. "I see I'm not needed here, Captain, as you seem to have everything under control. If you need anything, I'll be on my way back to Luna to prepare the second batch of your crew. You can contact me at this address." She stated, sending Michael a link through his implant.

Ankiah got up and speedily walked over to Michael. "Where do I sit!? And what do I do?!"

Michael looked at Jack, who seemed to ignore his stare as something on his console was definitely more exciting and required his time while Ankiah finally got up in Michael's face. "Uhh... Mech Pilot. If you're okay with it, that is."

Ankiah frowned and sat in the vacant seat beside Michael. " I don't know how to pilot a mech. Why does he want me doing something I don't know how to do?"

Michael sighed once again as he scrolled through the list of names and thought for a moment as he came up upon her teachers, cursing the Fleet Admiral for his forward-thinking. "He never told me, but I assume he thinks you'll agree based on your teachers being one 'Antigone Caithen' and 'Anaya Lansch.' One for combat and control, the other for piloting."

Ankiah nodded happily and looked at Michael. "Sure, I'll be a pilot if Antigone will be teaching m-."

Michael interrupted the eager female, raising his hand and placing it in front of her mouth for silence. "I would think it over hard, Ankiah. You'll be fighting the Briolb, and I don't think you understand what that means yet. I would suggest waiting and having a long talk with Antigone and maybe your therapist on Leda before taking the commission. You are a civilian and aren't being forced into this. As much as the Fleet Admiral is trying." Michael returned, earning a smile from Srettia.

Ankiah stopped and leaned back into the couch she sat on, looking at the ceiling as she retreated into her thoughts. "Maybe... I'll run it by Antigone and see what she says... Thank you."

Michael looked at Srettia, who nodded in return and turned towards her console. " So, I just need to wait for Chrarada to say it's okay for me to helm this ship? Do I get a Terran rank as well?"

Michael snuck a look over to Jack, who had a smug smile on. "Do you know her rank already, you shit?"

Jack realized his blunder and returned to a standard face as he turned towards his console again. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Srettia frowned as she clued in to what the conversation meant, looking around for something to throw at jack before her rank prevented her from such things. "If I'm going to be a lower rank than Jack, then I better get my frustration out of my system before we return home then, right?"

"You would be correct, Acting Sub-Lieutenant," Michael replied, chuckling as Srettia pulled out her datapad and frowned upon realizing her rank.

"That's only one higher than Ensign!" She exclaimed.

Jack turned towards her and nodded with smug satisfaction. "You should be happy you are not a cadet, seeing as you have no military training."

Srettia sighed and leaned back into her couch. "The Admiral sees no problem with us being a 'married' couple on the same ship? My people don't allow that stuff."

Michael scrolled through some of the notes Ewart left him on his mission brief and nodded in acceptance. "As long as I don't tell you classified stuff, there shouldn't be a problem. Our navy doesn't restrict romance on ships... It causes problems if you do when you're in space for weeks or months. We Terrans need to get stuff out of our system, or we get cranky."

"Well, that's fine then." Srettia smiled back. "Chrarada will most likely allow me this position, just for the simple fact that I'll be conduction my current orders from her on a much larger and organized scale... The Fleet Admiral does plan on allowing Chrarada access to our information, right?"

"Yes. That's the plan." Michael answered, double-checking the details of his mission. "Sorry if I seem unsure. I just got these orders and am going through them."

"It is understandable, partner... Captain. I suggest we leave the ship and continue our vacation. We do not have much time before our departure date." Jack suggested, causing Ankiah to jump to her feet and head to the door.

"Let's go to the trade hub!" Ankiah nearly shouted, earning chuckles from the bridge crew.

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Xeleidon Pressed his face against the window as his ship approached the massive fabrication ship. This being his first time into space was something itself as he thought the ship he was on was quite large. Yet, seeing what the Terrans call a medium fabrication ship up close was breathtaking. "I guess this answers my questions as to the amount of resources your people can produce." He said to Koharu.

Nodding as Chrarada entered the room, Koharu read the inscription on the ship. "Gentle Winds... That's a military vessel! Is Xeleidon doing classified work?" She asked, looking directly at Chrarada.

"No. He is not. Though he will not be able to leave that ship while the project is ongoing." Chrarada stated, watching as tens of vessels moved from ship to ship while hundreds moved towards the surface. "It's quite amazing what you Terrans can achieve." She continued in a near whisper.

Xeledion nodded along as the spectacle continued, seeming never to end. "I still don't quite know why you need me. For education reform, yes. But a Terran military ship confuses me."

Chrarada took a seat and motioned for the two to join her as she placed a datapad onto the table. "The man in charge of this relief effort led a team of our people deep into one of our ancient cities. He was following what he thought was an active database. What he found was an installation dedicated to our cultural preservation. As such, once our people were able to gain access to the facility, they returned with both seeds and a 'server blade,' as Mr. Finley called it. You will be his assistant as his team is unable to gain access to the server blade due to it requiring in-depth knowledge of our people's history for access."

Xeleidon frowned and retreated deep into his thought. "Why would they do that? Cultural drift would obviously happen over hundreds of years... Did they expect we could hold onto our roots long enough to be able to answer these questions... Or was it something else?"

Chrarada looked over to Koharu, who just seemed to shrug in response before checking her implant for an update. "We'll be arriving in a few minutes. Be sure you are ready to leave." She stated, getting up from her seat and walking towards the door. "Once again. Thank you, Xeledion. I appreciate your cooperation with this."

Xeleidon nodded as he continued his train of thought, Not noticing Chrarada chuckle as she left the two to their own devices.

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