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Lieutenant-Commander Steven Deilays entered the boarding tube and studied the sleek ship in bewilderment. Having been stuck on Luna for the past month training on a new style of scanning system, his life was once again uprooted as he was suddenly assigned to an unnamed vessel. As he stopped to take in the ship, Steven noticed the first oddity. "The engines are missing..." He thought to himself, sliding to put his back against the tube as people began piling up behind him. "No mounted weapons or visible equipment. Must be retractable." He mumbled, finishing up his observations and continuing into the ship with the rest of the crew.

Sighing as he pushed past his chatty crewmates, Steven accepted his designated quarters and registered with the ship that he had indeed boarded, quickly entering the lift with a few other crewmates while doing so. As he continued to ponder the outer hull design while lift sped towards its destination, he decided to ignore the discussion about the idea of aliens on Earth, knowing it would be a long while before he would be given a chance even to meet one of the extraterrestrials, let alone seeing one on Earth.

Pushing past more of his eager shipmates as he exited the lift, he began walking down the corridor to his room, quickly arriving at his destination. Steven sighed as he opened the door, dropping his small bag on the chair as he looked around. "Yup. Just like every other ship." He said to the empty room, walking around to make sure it had everything he needed for what his brief called 'expected year-long' mission. Sighing, he flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes, deciding a quick nap would be in his best interest before the unknown Captain revealed his orders.

As reality slowly faded from his thoughts, Steven was rudely interrupted by a direct to implant message from someone onboard. Grunting as he rolled onto his back and opened the message, he shot up and dusted himself off, quickly making for the bridge where the Captain had summoned him. As he exited his room, Steven made for the lift, excusing himself as he squeezed into the small transport hub, keying the bridge as he did so.

Arriving at his destination, he exited the lift and quickly turned into the bridge, immediately pausing to pat himself down, making sure he was presentable for his new Captain. After all, first impressions are everything. Taking a deep breath, he entered the bridge for the first time, readying himself for the shakedown his Captain was sure to give him.

"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant-Commander Deilays." Michael said, standing to meet his new ops officer.

Steven stood there, looking at his new Captain in shock. "It's Michael Graeme! It's the man who tested the first fold drive! Which means.. This is a fold ship! What a wonderful assignment. Maybe I will be able to meet aliens after all, how lucky to be assigned to this ship!" He optimistically thought to himself, keeping his excitement in check. "Hello, Captain Graeme." Steven replied.

"Hello, Lieutenant-Commander Deilays. I am Acting Sub-Lieutenant Srettia Esithn Graeme. It is a pleasure." Srettia announced to the peaceful looking man.

Steven fought to control his face preventing his eyes from bulging out at the sight of Ambassador Srettia happily sitting in the helms position, and he once again strived to keep his neutral face as he returned the greeting. "Acting Sub-Lieutenant Srettia. It is a pleasure." He returned, looking for his ops station soon after.

"See! I told you this guy would be great." Michael stated, pointing to a crash couch off to the side of the helms position. "Ops is over there. Go give it a look-see and tell me if there is anything you need." He continued, hoping the position was up to snuff for such a skilled ops officer.

Steven nodded and walked over to his new post, trying his best to keep his calm in the presence of two newly born legends. "I will begin immediately, Captain." He stated as he sat down in the new couch.

"The crew is fully aboard, all new equipment is loaded, and all stations are clear. We can leave on your order, Captain."

Steven looked around in confusion before finally looking to the Captain for answers, realizing it was only the three of them on the bridge.

Michael noticed the look and slapped his forehead in understanding as it dawned on him he never introduced Jack to his new officer. "Lieutenant Commander Deilays, Meet Lieutenant Jack. Our ships AI and E-war specialist. He's very friendly."

Steven nodded and waved a hand at the room. "Hello, Lieutenant Jack. It's a pleasure." He stated.

"Hello Lieutenant Commander Deilays, It is my pleasure, I assure you," Jack replied, Taking his hardlight form in his E-war couch.

Steven screamed internally as he felt absolute panic wash over him from the sight of this supposed AI, watching in fear as it took form directly in the E-war position. "Ahh. I see. That is rather convenient." He said evenly, deciding that returning to his station work would be in his best interest currently.

"Feel free to let me know if you need anything Deilays, better to get it before we leave then not have it at all." Michael stated with a chuckle.

Lieutenant Commander Deilays nodded and continued his work, ignoring the Ai's emerging conversation with the scaled alien diplomat turned helmsman and his new Captain. Hoping that perhaps maybe, he would get used to it in the future.

Michael began double-checking that the new equipment was indeed all loaded and the crew was ready for the next part of the journey. Looking over to his new ops officer who busied himself customizing his controls, Michael nodded and looked to his Helms position. "Ops, inform Luna we'll be departing immediately."

"Aye, captain." Deilays replied, opening a conversation with Luna command.

Not having to wait long. Luna hangar released both docking tubes and clamps, leaving the ship to float unhindered in the middle of the hangar as the bay doors slid open.

"Helm. Take us out and bring us to heading Y7-B mark X2-S" Michael ordered, keying in the coordinates onto his command pad.

"Aye, Captain." Srettia formally replied, making sure to keep things professional due to the new addition to the bridge.

The ship slowly exited the hangar, and Michael sent a shipwide alert to the crew informing them to prepare for a fold jump, making sure to add that fold travel was similar to warp in his notice as he finished writing it.

As Srettia guided the ship out of the Hangar, Yirphayen entered the bridge along with a chime of exhaustion and took up its chair, settling into the foam while covering itself in the mesh. "I do not like fold travel." It chimed out in concern. "I hope it is okay that I stay in proximity to you, friend Jack, friend Michael."

"Sure thing Yirphayen, don't worry too much about being scared either. I mean, I'm not sure how you perceive fold travel, but if it makes you feel safe, feel free to do what you need to do." Michael stated, looking over to Jack with a shrug.

"We're about to arrive at our destination, Captain." Srettia stated, easing up on the impulse.

"Luna command has issued confirmation on fold vectors. We are clear for jump." Steven added, continuing his conversation with command.

"Alright, then. Helm... Set in a course for Aaster prime. You may jump when ready." Michael ordered, double-checking that he was indeed under orders not to divulge their mission's contents until all crew were aboard.

"Are you prepared, Yirphayen?" Jack asked, walking over to the beings core.

"I did not like my first jump. But I am prepared for this one." It answered back, chiming a low tune of confidence for Jack to hear.

Srettia decided to send a shipwide alert, informing the crew of the imminent jump as this was her first time having more than two people aboard her ship and was unsure of if she needed to do such a thing. "Jump ready in ten seconds, Captain."

Steven initiated every scanning tool he had at his disposal, not wanting to miss a single spec of data as he began studying the new travel method. After all, gathering data is part of his job, and he wanted to prove he was a capable ops officer in front of his new Captain.

"We are ready to jump on your command Captain." Srettia stated, keeping eye contact with her control panel.

"Well. Let's break this ship in! Helmsman... Initiate fold jump." Michael ordered, sending a warning of immediate fold jump to the crew.

"Fold jump initiated Captain." Srettia replied, hitting in her command sequence.

Steven glued his eyes to his scans, pulling up a visual display while the ship entered fold space. "Its... Nothing..." He mumbled out, eliciting a laugh from both Helmsman and Captain.

Yirphayen sang a song of courage as the space around it was crushed and shattered, sending chilling energy through its core as the encased mineral formation broke the sky, moving at a speed that should not be possible in this dimension. "I do not like this." It rang out throughout the bridge, making its discomfort known.

"We'll be arriving in eight minutes, Captain." Srettia stated, turning around to look at Yirphayen, who was busy humming an inspiring song to itself.

"Think you can hang on for that long, Yirphayen?" Michael asked, walking over to the being.

"It will not be a problem. However, I will require rest when we arrive." It responded, sending a chime of exhaustion through the bridge.

"Perhaps fold space drains it of its energy? That is quite interesting." Jack responded, directing an internal scan towards the weakening Yirphayen.

As Steven continued his scans, he began noticing the odd amount of gravitons and slight energy variations as the ship sped towards the alien system. " I would suggest testing how it handles gravitons. There seem to be a lot colliding upon our warp field currently."

Jack nodded and turned towards his station. "Good idea. Thank you for your suggestion."

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"And that's where we're at currently. As far we as know, these guys can produce as many as eleven ships a day if they cram one of their asteroids into it." Admiral Miles finished, leaning back into his chair.

"So then do you plan to hunt this fabrication station down and destroy it?" Chrarada returned, beginning the playback of the Briolb interrogation once again.

"Currently, that would be our goal. Stopping ship production and confining them to their home system so we can properly educate the Briolb should be our prime objective in the overall." The Admiral returned, taking a sip of his coffee.

"We should destroy them. Nothing good will come of letting them live." Chrarada shot back.

"Well. That's currently for fleet ops to decide. That and they were smart enough or too dumb to mark their home system on their own map. So It'll be taking some time to investigate every broken planet and asteroid field in what they consider their space. That and Wabs seems nice enough. It could be their warrior caste that's the problem, not all Briolb. Evolution at its finest, I would say." The Admiral argued, not wanting to commit to any one plan just yet.

"And what would force evolution to select and breed a warrior caste to do such a thing? Especially for a species that most likely evolved on its own in a vacuum... No, I feel we are missing something." Chrarada stated, picking up her tea. " I will be sending my own warships out in groups of three to neighbouring systems where they will begin investigations. I know you want to send your own people, but I wish to build the skill and confidence of my own."

Admiral Miles thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. " I accept this change of plan. It would be good for your people to get some experience."

"Thank you. I was quite worried I would have to make a case for such an endeavour." Chrarada replied, placing her tea on the table.

"While I do want to send out larger groups accompanied by Terrans. After much thought, I did have the feeling it would be akin to... To use poor phrasing. 'Having a superior officer watching closely over your shoulder.' I don't think that's necessary and counterproductive to the trust we wish to build." The Admiral replied, nodding along with his own thoughts.

"How generous of you. And yes, that was poor phrasing, though accurate." Chrarada shot back.

'Admiral Miles. Scans indicate a large fold ship will be arriving momentarily. Your presence is requested in the CIC.'

Admiral Miles looked at this display and shot up from his chair. "Well, let's go see what my boss sent us, shall we?"

Chrarada nodded and walked towards the door. "Your people as always. Work fast, Admiral." She replied as she entered the hallway. "Shall we go see who the problem child is then?"

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Base Commander Kendra Brown stood in front of the command table, watching as the unknown vessel sped past the second set of gravity spikes and frowned in annoyance. " I want ships there immediately. Do not let it enter the inner system until we know for sure that it's Terran."

"Aye, ma'am." Came the only response, as the Admiral and his guest entered the CIC.

"What's going on!" Chrarada demanded, walking up to the table.

Commander Brown stepped to the side to make room for the two and pointed at a flashing red mark. "Unknown ship with Terran IFF. It's unnamed and does not match any known designs. It sped through two spikes and is entering the system now. Figured I'd intercept it in case it's a ruse of some sort."

"Good thinking, Commander." Chrarada stated, watching as the ship stopped just inside the system meeting with twelve Terran warships.

"Ma'am, the ship has been intercepted, putting through communications now."

"This is Captain Michael Graeme. I am transmitting my identification now and request to meet with Admiral Miles immediately." Came through from the display, eliciting a sigh of relief from Chrarada.

"Seems your 'Star Navy' sent back quite the ship." She replied, studying the design as the intercepting fleet began heavily scanning it.

"It would seem so." Admiral Miles responded. "Bring the good Captain and the Ambassadors to my office as soon as they touch down. I would have words with him, as well."

Chrarada nodded and followed the Admiral out of the CIC, turning left into the hall as they made towards the nearest lift. " That captain seems to cause problems wherever he goes."

"It's a good trait of test pilots. People who can think for themselves and problem solve. Though it causes difficulties such as this from time to time." The Admiral replied as he entered the lift.

"All of my people are problem solvers, Admiral." Chrarada returned, leaning against the wall as the lift made for its destination. "It comes with the harsh realities we face."

Nodding in agreeance, as the lift finished its journey. The Admiral motioned with his hand for Chrarada to exit. " I won't doubt your words. However, Michael is the special kind of problem solver, one that can turn a single battery into a life-saving oxygen supply... And he's been known to do so."

Chrarada nodded and stopped before the Admirals door. "Then I will have a nice chat with the Captain informing him not to breach our agreement of ships entering our system without warning."

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