---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Is there anything your missing, Aylen? Maybe more mass for your fabricator?" Soto asked, setting down the last box. "No, sir. I have everything I could need. You could even leave me on the planet for a few months, and I'd still have enough mass bricks to get through without an issue." Aylen replied, stepping out of the manor. Soto shook his head in annoyance. He was never a fan of this whole leaving Aylen behind, but seeing as the man himself had no problems with it, he relented. Though, he definitely made an effort to make the man's stay as comfortable as possible. "Yeah, that won't be happening. We'll only be gone for a week or two max." "You worry too much. I have a repeater here with me so we can stay in com range, and the ship has shuttles and fighters. I'll be fine." Aylen replied, standing in front of the flustered commander. "That won't save you from orbitals." Soto replied, taking a step towards the shuttle. "You make sure to complete your daily reports." "Will do, sir. Have a safe journey." Aylen replied, saluting his commander. "Yeah, I hope we will." Soto replied, returning the salute and stepping into the shuttle, making his way to the cockpit. "Alright, let's go pick up our new passengers." Sighing in annoyance as the shuttle flew over the city, following the signal from Resima's com device. Soto closely observed the outside looking for the home. Well, that and the boxes he hoped would be in front of the house. "I'd rather not make Resima's wife jittery from our landing, so drop us off in the middle of the street. I don't really care if we spook the others away." Soto stated, standing to walk through to the back of the shuttle as it closed in on its destination. Resima watched in wonder as the flying machine slowly descended in front of her house, and although her neighbours seemed to scramble back into their own homes, she was proud of her wife, Fazreh, who only held her hand tightly as the machine went silent. "I suppose we should get used to seeing such things." Resima said, pulling Fazreh towards the machine, pausing a few steps away as the back opened. "You are sure this is safe?" Fazreh asked, studying the large metal machine in wonder. "How are they able to sculpt metal in such a way?" "I'm sure it's safe. Though they never told me how they could do such things with metal." Resima replied, watching as an armoured Terran walked off the back. Fazreh's eyes went wide, and she quickly stepped behind Resima as the massive being walked off the machine, his steps alone shaking the ground as it walked towards Resima with purpose. "Resima." Soto declared as he stopped quite a ways away from the former officer, noticing the other female was hiding behind her. " I won't hurt you, miss. I'm here to help you pack your belongings." Fazreh eyed the strange metal being, her curiosity and the friendliness of the thing overriding her flight instincts. "Hello. How are you able to move so smoothly when you're covered in metal?" She asked, sneaking a peek around Resima. "Well, that's a good question. It has a lot to do with my nanomesh compensating for the stiffness." Soto replied, popping the clamps on his gauntlet and holding his hand out. "See. This bit here is all nanomesh, not my actual skin." Fazreh took a step out from behind Resima and inspected the being's hand, noticing it did indeed look like a flexible metal of some sort. "What is it made of?" "Teeny tiny machines you can't really see with your eyes. There are trillions of them all over and inside me right now... Miss?" Soto asked, keeping his hand out for the female. "Ohh, my apologies. My name is Fazreh. I'm a teacher... And you are?" She replied, taking another step forward to inspect the assumed male's hand. "Commander James Soto of the Terran Star Navy. It's a pleasure. Now while I'd love to stand around answering questions, we actually need to get a move on. The Captain wants to leave the city today." Soto replied, still keeping as still as possible. "Alright. You can take the large boxes then." Resima replied, turning to walk towards her belongings. "How very kind of you." Soto replied, pulling his hand away from Fazreh and walking towards the scattered boxes as he reattached his gauntlet. "You two don't seem too choked up about leaving the city today." "I will go where Resima goes." Fazreh replied, picking up a small box and looking oddly at the large machine. "Is it safe to place this box inside that thing?" "Yeah, just put it in the square blue area, um... Well, it's going to look more like a blue cube of light. When you place something inside, it'll just stay as is until you pull it out. Nothing to be scared of." Soto replied, eyeing the few rather large boxes and deciding to start with the largest first. "How is that possible?" Fazreh replied, studying the ship very carefully before approaching the rear. Soto shrugged as he walked past Fazreh, Resima trailing behind him with another few boxes in hand. "Some kind of gravity tech. I'm not quite sure how it works myself." "Gravity is not meant to be controlled!" Fazreh quickly stated, taking a step away from the shuttle. "Yet you did so anyway... Has anything terrible happened upon this discovery?" She asked, her face going serious as she stepped forward towards the shuttle, deciding to investigate this blue square. "I think the initial discovery sent a moon off course, resulting in it slamming into the planet it was orbiting. Other than that, nothing big." Soto replied, stepping out of the shuttle and walking back towards the boxes. Fazreh placed the box into the grav field, studying it for a moment before following Soto out of the shuttle as he left, her curiosity fighting with her terror. "You... You crashed a moon? But... Why? Why would you do such a thing? Or even continue to use such an invention?" She asked, keeping close to Resima as she questioned the insane being. "Science, that's why." Soto replied as he picked up another box and walked towards the shuttle. "Nothing will ever stop us from progressing. Never again... Besides, the moon and planet were unoccupied. And the tech was built on a space station in orbit, so no one was hurt. The video of the crash is pretty neat as well." Resima noticed the face Soto made at his exclamation and filed it away, deciding to ask about it on a later date while she continued to pack her belongings onto the ship. Though thankfully, she decided only to pack the essentials, causing the whole process to only take around ten minutes. "Alright, Mr. Soto. What now?" She asked, stopping to look back at her house. Soto stepped out of the shuttle and eyed the two females looking back at their home, deciding to give them a few moments before answering. "Well, both of you get in the shuttle, and I'll help you strap in. Then we leave for the ship." Fazreh looked back at what she now knew was a shuttle and froze, grabbing hold of Resima's hand as she nodded and took a step forward. "It's safe, right? It won't crash or harm anyone?" "It will not." Soto answered exactly, not wanting to worry the obviously jittery female. "I will be in the back with you, so you won't have to worry about anything." Fazreh nodded and allowed Resima to pull her into the shuttle, the sound of the machine beginning to hum, resonating as she sat in the most oddly constructed chair. Though she had to admit, it was rather comfortable. Placing her hands off to the side as suggested, allowing Soto to latch her in properly, she decided to watch closely, making sure she wouldn't have to be embarrassed in such a way again as Resima mimicked the connection process. "Alright, we're all set, pilot. Take us to the ship." Soto exclaimed, standing off to the side while holding a bar. "How long do you think it will take us to get to the lake?" Resima asked, holding out her hand for Fazreh. "Few minutes at city speed." Soto replied, happy his helmet was on as a chuckle escaped due to their shocked expression. Fazreh gripped a bar with her free hand as her stomach dropped into her tail. Her attempt at not harden her fur only partially working as her mane cut into the fabric of the chair as the shuttle sped towards the alien ship. "This is very uncomfortable. But also exciting...." Resima smiled and watched the display, the view of her city from the sky being quite the sight for her as the pilot yelled back to warn them of possible turbulence as they crashed into the water. And true to his word, the trip was over in minutes for the two. The bonded females both taking a deep breath as the shuttle began its shutdown sequence, and the back slowly opened. "Well, that's it, ladies." Soto said, walking over and unlatching Fazreh from her safety harness. "You can go explore the ship if you want. I'll have some marines take your boxes to the designated quarters." Resima nodded and stood to help Fazreh out of her chair, taking a look around the shuttle once again before pulling her out and into the hangar. "You'll run into reptilian aliens, Fazreh." She said, pointing one out. "Those kinds. They smell like danger and toxins. Don't be afraid of them. They won't harm you." Fazreh nodded and looked around, unsure of which direction to take. "What now?" "Need an escort?" Came a voice from behind the two, causing Fazreh to jump forward, spinning around in the air to view the assailant. "Woops, sorry there." Renin replied, taking a step back and holding his hands up. "Figured you might want a tour of the ship." Resima cocked her head in confusion. She had heard the voice before, but the voice she remembered did not match the current being in front of her. "Hello. I am Resima. You are?" Renin frowned at her question though understanding her confusion due to him being in armour during their meeting. "It's me, Renin, just not in my guard armour, is all." He replied, giving the two a big smile. "You're Renin?!" Resima replied, looking the male up and down. "You're smaller than I remember." Renin took another step back in shock, placing his hand over his heat in false hurt. "Wow. You know I'm still rather tall for a Terran, just so you know." "This is the male you wanted me to meet when we boarded? You said he was the largest male you've ever seen..." Fazreh replied, looking at Resima in confusion. "That commander was more my type." Renin frowned, unsure of what was happening and just shrugged it off. "Anyway, ladies. I'm here to give you the grand tour. I was voluntold myself due to our initial meeting. But honestly, I would have volunteered if they asked." Resima took Fazreh by the hand and took a step towards Renin. "We accept your offer, Mr. Renin. Please, lead the way. Just don't scare my wife again, or you'll regret it." Renin nodded and waved his hand in a grand gesture. "After you, ladies." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Everyone is aboard, Captain." Steven replied, recalling all the local drones back into the ship. "Good work, everyone." Michael replied, hitting a few buttons on his command pad. "Steven, open a com to Aylen and get me Ekianei." "Channel open, sir." Steven replied, double-checking any drones for damage as they arrived. "Captain Michael. How kind of you to contact me before your departure." Ekianei replied as she sat across from Aylen. "I just wanted to thank you for the letter you had Aylen pass on. It'll help immensely when we visit the next continent. Also, if you run into any trouble, feel free to contact me. Just... Try not to cause me any headaches, please." Michael asked, using his command pad to send a departure warning throughout the ship. Ekianei lowered her head slightly and smiled at Michael, making it as if she was happy to be of service. "Of course, Captain. You are most welcome for the letter. And rest assured, I will not abuse your generosity unless absolutely necessary. Have a safe journey, and thank you for assisting us with our wall." "You as well, Ekianei. And Aylen, any sign of trouble, you send out a message immediately, alright." Michael added, watching as Aylen gave him the thumbs up before cutting the link. "Alright, stations are reporting all clear. Helm take us to our first destination outside the wall. Commander, can you get Renin to bring our guide to the bridge?" Michael requested, smiling as the ship began to rise out of the water. "She's on the way, Captain." Soto replied, leaning back in his couch. "We have successfully left the lake, Captain." Srettia replied, holding her place slightly above the lake. Letting the water finished running off the hull, Srettia directed the ship towards the outer wall, her fingers adjusting thrust as she ship moved across the city, showering the residents with runoff and quenching small tracts of farmland as she made her way to the first nav point. Her pathing making sure to give water to anything that might need it. "Point reached, Captain." Srettia stated with a smile, happy to finally fly the ship once again. "Nice work watering the crops." Michael replied, waiting for his guest to arrive. Though having to wait a few minutes, The lift door finally opened. Soon following, Renin stepped out with both Resima and Fazreh trailing close behind. "Sorry about that, Captain. We were on the other side of the ship and ran into some troubles." "Understood." Michael replied, standing up to meet the two females. "Greetings to both of you." He began, taking in the sight of the two females to remember their faces. "Now I have a question for you... Fazreh, correct?" "Umm... Yes, that's me." She replied, looking around the bridge in wonder. "Alright, then. Steven, can you bring up a map of the world as we know it." Michael requested, waiting for the map to come up before pointing to it. "Fazreh. I need to get to the central continent. Now for us, that's relatively easy, but I want your opinion. I see those mountains, and we can fly over them going in a relatively straight line. Or we can take the" "Take the river... Umm.. Captain. The mountains are stormy this season... Ths is ahh. I'm not quite sure if that matters from what I've seen so far, though. But if you follow the river, you'll end up at a harbour city that has strong connections to the central continent. If it's still there." Fazreh rambled, walking up to the map as she did. "This is wonderful. how would I go about acquiring this picture?" "I'll send it to your datapad, and thank you for your thorough answer. You said exactly what I needed to hear." Michael replied, turning towards Srettia. "Helm, take us to the river, stay as low to the ground as you can. Ops, how's our camo?" "We are actively invisible to anything looking down at us, Captain." Jack returned, not looking up from his console. "Aye, Captain." Srettia replied, guiding the ship towards the river. "What can you tell me about the central continent?" Michael asked, motioning Fazreh and Resima to take the guest chair. "They are... Very odd." Fazreh began, sitting in the crash couch beside Resima. "They focus heavily on knowledge and have much hostility towards those who believe in the forest guardian. They also have an extensive military to protect them from the northern continent, which sees them as heretics, and due to this. They also invest heavily in the entertainment industry to keep their general populace at ease, which is also their main export." "Entering the river area, Captain. It looks like we'll be flying upstream." Srettia stated, looking through an outboard camera at the sight. "It's quite beautiful." "Thank you for the update." Michael replied, sending Srettia a smile and filing away the idea of a river date. Thinking to himself for a moment on the information as the ship continued flying over the river, Michael basked in the enjoyment of finally getting some easily obtainable information, a breath of fresh air considering the recent events. "Thank you, that's actually pretty helpful. Anything else you can tell us?" He asked, turning to Fazreh. "Umm... I'm unsure. They are closer to us in terms of a lifestyle than that of the northern kingdom, which are what they consider heavily oppressed. Other than tha-" "Shields at ninety-nine point nine percent." Soto replied, confused at his findings. "Briolb weapons fire detected." He added quickly. Steven began frantically scanning the area, shifting between multiple styles but frowning as they returned nothing found. "Unable to detect enemies." "Shields back at full but taking lots of small arms fire." Soto replied, frowning at the lack of thought on this ambush. "Gottem... Uhh... Shit, this is odd." Steven replied, throwing up the scan on the main display. "We're passing four groups of three Voktlix with Briolb weapons on the left bank and three groups of three on the right. Moving into another six groups of three ahead of us. They're all carrying the same laser rifles the Briolb do. "Ohh, come on! Were not even that far from the damn city. Stop the ship and prep a mech." Michael ordered, looking over to Jack. "How did they see us?" "I only have hard light camo on top of the ship to prevent orbital scouting and to save on energy. I did not suspect a group to spot us before we could spot them." Jack replied, shrugging his shoulders apologetically. Michael sighed; he couldn't fault Jack for the mistake as it made sense even to him. As annoying as it was. "Alright. Send Ankiah down to figure out why they're shooting at us. And send a few drones to scout ahead while you're at it." "Drones away." Steven replied, sending them out in a wide pattern. "Ankiah is getting ready, Captain. Eta two minutes to launch." Soto stated, speaking with her through the com. "Good. Let's figure out what they......" Michael paused mid-sentence, looking at the Voktlik shooting from the trees and from under rocks on the river bank. "They're on the ground." He said aloud. Watching as they changed position. "Send a full force down, don't let any of them getaway." He ordered a smile on his face. "I want to figure out how they're still alive." -------------------------------------------