---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Resima held her tail tightly as she walked past another of the reptilian type aliens. Though this Private Renin was quick to assure they wouldn't do anything to harm her, the smell of toxin and danger wafting off them as she walked by bristled her fur. "Umm. May I ask where you are taking me?" She asked the large metal type alien as he shifted sideways to walk past another of the furless type aliens. "Where am I taking you, you ask? Why, to see my Captain, of course. Did you forget why you raised your hand? Or were you just interested in my winning personality? Or perhaps seeing the inside of our ship?" Renin playfully returned, shifting to the side and pushing up against the wall to allow some more crewmates to pass by. "Why did they make the halls so small if you are so big?" Resima asked, stopping behind the paused Renin. "Ahh.. This is just armour. The big boy type that usually carries super heavy weapons or defensive suites. These entry halls were made so a dude in this armour can charge down and trample any borders with a shield." Renin answered, hitting the lift button and turning to the small furry female. "Armour?! But... It's so flexible yet thick." Resima replied, stunned at the revelation as she stepped through the door and looked around in fright. Panicking, she quickly turned around and attempted to leave, though, was prevented from doing so as Renin stepped through to block her path. "This door leads to nowhere! What are you planning to do with me?!" She pleaded, not knowing what this alien might do to her. "Uhh... It's just a lift, lady. Calm down." Renin replied, hitting the lower deck button. "I promise while I am here you will come to no harm. So you calm yourself down while we ride to our destination. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, calm your heart. Okay?" Resima nodded, only to grab hold of the alien's armour as the lift began its swift journey to its destination. "What! What is happening?" "This room is taking us to the lower floor where you'll have a friendly chat with my Captain. He's pretty interested in why you're here and would like to confirm a few things." Renin replied as the lift stopped, and the door opened. "After you." He said, shifting off to the side for Resima. Walking out of the lift, as she now knew it by. Resima took a few steps into the hall and paused to make sure Renin was following her. "So. Why are your people here, Mr. Renin?" Renin shrugged and motioned for Resima to continue down the hall, pointing out a nearby door. "Info gathering and killing the fucks trying to kill your people about sums it up. Over there, please." Resima walked down the hall and towards the entrance, paying close attention to the odd panels alongside each door she passed. Though, pausing to investigate the flat entryway in search of a handle when reaching the spot Renin had pointed to. "How do I open this door if there is no latch?" "Ahh, my bad." Renin replied, opening the door with his implant. "I guess I'll need to remember Voktlix might not know how to use a key panel to open a door when it's not automatic." "Okay." Resima said as she walked through the door and began investigating the room. "What are those dark squares for?" She asked, pointing to a display on the far wall. "And what is that cone in the middle of the table used for?" "The square is a display, and the cone is a 3D display." Any other questions, Sherlock?" "What's a sherlock? And why do you have chairs that seem suited for my kind already?" She asked, walking over and investigating a grouping of two chairs. "Your people must be able to build very quickly if you are capable of building a well-suited chair in only a day. Though this also makes me question how you were able to learn our language so quickly. Have you abducted our people before landing to learn such a thing? Or have you been on our planet for longer than a few days?" "You ask a lot of questions for someone who was about to crap themselves." Renin replied, moving to the back of the room and turning inwards. "Are you hungry or thirsty?" "I will not risk poisoning. Though I appreciate the offer if it was sincere." Resima replied, sitting in the chair and sighing in comfort. "Will you answer my questions?" Renin shrugged and gently leaned against the wall, waving the brave female off as he began his search for some reading material from the ship's archive. "Nah, I'm not stepping on that bag of snakes. But, you don't have to be so terrified. We do have two Voktlix crewmates aboard already, ya know, so it's not like we're here to hurt ya. Well, maybe that answers one of your questions." Resima curled her lips at the insinuation of Voktlix being on board and shot the alien a fierce look. "Is that so? How would you have two of my people onboard if you just got here? You're not taking them against their will as you did me, are you?" "I seem to remember you putting your hand up willingly when I asked." Renin replied, finding a rather lovely book to begin. "But to answer your question. We rescued one from an alien ship, and the other we rescued from this very city. We invited both to come with us, and they agreed. Nothing more." "I would like some time alone with them to confirm you are being truthful. If you are not, I will be taking them with me when I leave." Resima returned, folding her arms while staring Renin down. Renin took a step forward in interest, finding this female quite up his alley in terms of acceptable women. "That's pretty brave of you. Seeing as if we were holding them against their will, you wouldn't be able to do anything about it." "My duty is to protect the weak within the city, even if I must put my life on the line to do so." Resima shot back, pointing her finger at the alien's face. "You won't be needing to do that." Renin replied, taking another step and bending down, so he was face to face with Resima. " How would you defeat me if I were to attack you right now?" "I would not be able to." She replied, not breaking eye contact. "But I would certainly try." Standing back up, Renin turned around and walked back to his spot, turning back to the center of the room and standing tall. "If you ever want to be more than you are, hit me up. I'll put a recommendation in for your acceptance to be a titan guard. Oh right, that's what I am right now. The Captain just hit the floor." Resima stared at the alien in shock, the offer entirely not what she was expecting from something so large, and only breaking her gaze on the odd alien when the door opened. "You are Resima. Correct?" Michael asked, walking into the room with Srettia, Yirphayen and Ankiah, Soto following soon afterwards. "You are correct. And who are you?" She replied, watching with surprise as a red female walked in while dressed as the other aliens. "You! What are you doing here!?" Ankiah sat in her chair and leaned back with a smile, enjoying the confusion on the peace officer's face. "My name is Ankiah, and I'm a member of this crew. I'm here to advise the Captain on any cultural information he may need." "Have they hurt you?" Resima asked, though unsure of why Ankiah had an amused look on her face. "You are worried about the wrong things, officer. The Terrans are here to help and have provided me with the tools to destroy our enemies." Ankiah replied, noticing the penetrating look Resima was giving her. "Listen. Resima, was it? I don't know what kind of idea you have of the Terrans, but they are more than welcoming. And if it helps, my current partner is also Terran." "You... With one of these aliens?" Resima replied in shock, ignoring the chuckles from behind her. "That's enough now." Michael declared, waving a hand towards the middle of the table and activating an outside view of the ship. "Why did you get sent to die like this?" He asked, not even bothering to hide his thoughts. "So you admit you will kill us?" Resima said in a near shout, slamming her hands on the table and standing in anger. "Do your worst, alien!" Srettia frowned and shifted the display to show a few of the officers uselessly trying to pry a hatch open. "You're attempting to board a Terran military ship. What would happen if one of your own kind illegally boarded one of your navy ships?" Resima sat down in annoyance, though understanding where the reptilian alien was coming from. "You are invading our city and have waived your right to declare self-defence." "Actually, we're here legally as per President Ekianei and General Basthin." Michael replied, pulling out some paper and sliding it across the table. Resima took the paper and began studiously reading it, her heart racing in panic as she continued for a few minutes to finally reach the bottom and bore witness to the five signatures. "This... But this would mean we have broken this treaty... And it hasn't even been three full days yet." "I don't really care about that. There was no way you would have been able to get into the ship unless we invited you in the first place. I just want to know who sent you in case something is going on behind the scenes." Michael replied with a shrug, leaning back in his chair. "I. It was our ward chief. She claimed to have come across intel of a small invasion force residing in the middle of the lake and sent our group to secure and capture." Resima answered, hanging her head. "When we got to the lake, we noticed there was indeed something foul sitting out in the middle of the lake and investigated." "Well.. That's a good way of getting dead, real quick." Ankiah replied, spinning around in her chair and stopping to look Resima directly in her eyes. "A single soldier on this ship could take this entire city quite easily. She sent you out to die, you know. The people on this ship could have easily killed you without you even noticing." "Not that we would have." Michael quickly added, slightly annoyed at Ankiah but understanding the need to get the point across. "Any idea where she got that information from?" Resima shook her head and inhaled through her nose, ignoring the smell of toxins circulating through the air as Ankiah seemed to dismiss it as well. "I don't know. I only know that it was my task to protect our people from your forces. Though I now understand we had little chance of doing so." "Well, here is what you're going to do then." Michael began, taking the paper back from Resima. "You're going to go back out there and tell your fellow peace officers to go back to the shore. And if they don't, they'll be stuck atop our ship for the foreseeable future. Because if the boat is still attached to my ship within the hour, I'll have it destroyed. Once back onshore, I'll come out to meet you in my armour. Then, we're going to go have a nice chat with your section chief." "Yes, sir." Resima firmly replied, realizing what she just said and covering her mouth in embarrassment. "I'm not your Captain yet, Resima. But I like that attitude." Michael said, getting up from his chair and nodding to Renin. "Take her back to the top and make sure they all get to the shore safely." "Understood." Renin replied, walking towards Resima and helping her up from her chair. "How about we go kick that mouthy lady off the top of our ship." "That mouthy lady is my superior and would have no issue terminating me for insulting her so." Resima replied, taking Renins hand and leaving her chair. "Yeah.. A real good leader, that one. Could've gotten everyone killed and wouldn't listen to her squad's observations." Renin shot back as he began leading Resima out the door and back towards the lift. "We were watching you, ya know. We can see everything that happens around the ship and throughout most of the city. Just not inside the buildings. Well, not yet, at least." "I see. What will you do if she attacks you?" Resima asked, deciding to poke the panel at the side of the lift and smiling as it opened. "Interesting mechanism. Are these panels on the outside of the ship as well?" "No. You need an implant to get in from the outside if you're not using a docking tube." Renin replied as he entered the lift and hit in the proper deck. "Is that so? That's assuming they don't break-in, isn't it?" Resima replied as the lift came to a stop and walking through the door. "Nah. Boarding a spaceship is way harder than it sounds. You either use a special torpedo or a ship with an energy drill in the front. Otherwise, you can just toss the dudes off with a shield compression... You ready to get these ladies off our ship?" Renin asked, opening the exit door. Resima walked onto the deck, moving past the other large metal alien and its machine, earning looks of both relief and confusion from her teammates as she approached unharmed. "We will be leaving." She stated strongly, pointing towards the boat. "Move now, or you will be forfeiting your lives." "Under whose authority!" Her superior demanded, stepping forward with anger. "Well, you can stay if you wish. But I will be leaving. There is no way we can enter this ship." She replied as she walked past the female and began ushering the others towards the boat. Just as the female in charge was turning to stop Resima, Renin decided to step in and place his hand on the officer's shoulder, holding her firmly in place from behind as he brought his face down beside hers. "I can make your death that much quicker if you want. This is your only warning. DO NOT. Interfere with Resima's actions." Freezing in place, the female only managed a nod as Renin released his hold and pushed the female forward. "Good. Now beat it." He said, deciding not to say anything as the officer shakily walked towards the boat with her other teammates. "Boarders repelled, Captain." Renin reported, walking back towards the ship. "Nice work." Michael replied, watching as Resima untied the boat from his ship and began moving away. "Guess I'll need to get myself dressed to meet this chief then." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------