It was a bright new day on planet Dirt and a brilliant time for some archiving as Fallkschrimm woke up on time ‘Ah how this one love to never be late, benefit of working during light time and sleeping in dark times to avoid others does pay up at times…’ He composed as he hummed a happy cheerful tune and exited his room towards the common.

Looking out of one of the craft’s sensors, he sees the intense snowstorm as the winds still battered from all directions ‘Ah such a wonderful natural phenomenon, it is nice to enlighten that the first aliens we meet live in similar conditions to us’ He thought back to it as his crown feathers brightened and rose.

It was a good day to be alive as he made his way to the cafeteria area and found Sylksskra already pouring from a brewing instrument “Morning Fallkschrimm, does one such as yourself mayhaps want some Vaffa?” Sylksskra sang in greeting as he went over to pat and nuzzle her though her reactions and movement seem to suggest some level of sluggishness “Morning to you too sister” He greeted her.

“Right… so do you want some Vaffa?” She repeated her question as she lightly nudged him back with her tail “This one would thank one such as yourself for that, sing but your antenna and crest feathers are a bit ruffled, did you get a good sleep?” He sang her a question as she froze up from it as he glared.

He proceeded to rubbed the bridge of his snout with a wing as he let out a low hiss, crown feathers darkening “You stayed up late playing videogames, didn’t you?” He sang as her looked sealed it “You do know we are in a diplomatic parley on alien soil, right?” He sang as she tilted back further.

“Look, this one just assumed that… yeah this one is an idiot and here this one has promised not to make any mistakes further, idiot without self-control” She admitted as she let out a low hiss as well “Look, this one shall handle the negotiations, you may have experience but this one has listened to the conversation with you and the alien Phrilsk so this one shall be fine” Fallkschrimm announced in song.

She seemed a bit relieved at this bit “That would be nice, this whole thing is a bit more stressful than this one would’ve thought actually” She sang as she ruffled her crest feathers “That is fine but try to control yourself next time, it is not nice to lose everything over a bit of addiction and loss of self-control so all this one can say being inexperienced is to try your best to overcome it” He sang as he patted her.

“Well, at least it is just this one, maybe you and Lorrisskr can do fine without this one with the aliens” Sylksskra sang as her ears and crest feathers perked up “Unfortunately, this one over here can enlighten that that will not be the case whatsoever” Lorrisskr sang from across the room as she shambled in.

Fallkschrimm blinked as he saw her ‘She looks… different…’ He thought as he reviewed her, her crest feathers were unkempt, her feathers overall looked unkempt, her antenna were drooping hard in front of her blocking part of her sight and her ears seem to twitch up and down on their own as she walked.

“This one need some Vaffa immediately, and get some Bofe on it as well, this one loves those little blue balls” She sang as she dropped herself, tail dragging onto a chair as she slumped snout first into the counter as Fallkschrimm shifted over a little to give her some space as he let out a short warble.

She turned to him with one eye still closed “What?” She chirped informally “Well, what on Kassia happened to you? By The Glow did you get addicted to videogames as well?” He sang her a question as she gave him an incredulous look and managed to roll her ears in one smooth motion despite her dreary state as she let out a low sigh and turned towards him, one trimmed arm leaning on the counter.

“That is a bit… rude don’t you think? This one does play occasionally but not at a time like this, the problem is that this one just couldn’t sleep at all, tried every trick in the book but still, no sleep” She sang her explanation as Sylksskra handed her a cup of Vaffa with a straw on it as usual.

He turned to receive his own drink as he took a sip through the straw ‘Bitter and dour as always but damn if the bark extract isn’t vital for one to stay awake’ He thought as he turned back to her as she slammed an empty cup down on the counter and it seem to not work whatsoever.

“I need something stronger, as soon as possible” She sang as she pushed the cup and laid back down “That is the strongest thing we brought, there isn’t anything stronger that is legal for consumption or at least this one would think so” Sylksskra replied as Lorrisskr suddenly perked up at that.

“Actually, just get this one another Vaffa, this one has a bit of an accompanying idea here” She sang as she pulled something out from her pocket, it looked to be a small bottle painted white with a label and a warning ‘I-Is that what this one thinks it is’ Fallkschrimm’s antenna perked up in shock as he realized.

Sylksskra seem to notice it as well “Lorrisskr, do you really think that it is wise to use that? It’s only supposed for combat purposes only” Sang Sylksskra as she gave her a worried look to which Lorrisskr’s crest feathers darkened a bit “This one has to agree with that enlightenment” Fallkschrimm agreed.

She seemed to give a low hiss as she considered it “Look, it’s just one tablet, it’s supposed to increase your awareness and dull pain, this one has never used them before but it can’t be that bad” She sang as she gave a half-hearted trilling to which neither him or Sylksskra were convinced as the latter snatched the bottle away “No, this is an important mission, no drugs allowed!” She put her clawed foot down.

“As this one has been given overall command, you will not be allowed to use substances designed for combat in order to wake up, what were you even thinking?” Sylksskra asked as she glared down her sister What? It was only one tablet and… okay in hindsight that sounded incredibly idiotic, this one just… sorry but the lack of sleep is getting to this one already” She sang and slammed her head down.

“So, what do we do now with our main Constable down due to lack of sleep?” Fallkschrimm asked in song as he turned to Sylksskra “What else would we do? We push on despite the problems” She answered him as she emptied her own cup of Vaffa ‘Well this one does hope that it works out for us in turn, may The Glow bless us in our mission’ Fallkschrimm composed as he finished his own cup of Vaffa.

Matt took a deep breath as he looked outside the door ‘May the lord give me strength at my times of need’ He prayed mentally as he opened the door “Hello, we cum in piece” The monotone robotic voice replied from the other side as the smaller alien entered holding said machine on their hand as the blizzard still raged on outside, snow falling through the open door into the station.

He sighed as he stared at it “Yes, you already told us that just come on in already” Matt told it as it entered after some deliberation ‘Why do I have to be the one to greet them again?’ Matt wondered as he remembered the reason and shook his head ‘Because Ellie got too excited, couldn’t sleep and is now chugging coffee like she would die in any second and Phil is getting a call from the government’

“Why are you one?” The alien asked through the machine as the other entered soon after “Because Ellie got sick and Phil is busy with a call from the government or something, look I’m not keen to start any sort of talking until they get back and that’s that” He replied as he watched the front alien closely.

It ears looked to fall as he could quite clearly see its head feathers darkening in coloration “This one can see that, sad but we will come wait” It answered through the machine as it stood in the living room along with the other as the third one, the one with the gun finally entered and closed the door with it.

He looked them over again as they seem strange to his eyes ‘I know I may be the worst biologists of the three but I should at least try to notice things in their biology’ He thought as he gulped and watched them interact a bit, the armed one talking to the normal one about something as he watched them.

It seemed quite apparent that they use other means to communicate and not just to orally produce sounds like gesturing or even moving certain body parts and even a form of color change ‘Things Phil already noticed and put in the files’ Matt thought as he just watched as they seem to be speaking about something from their world or anything and he caught a word he knew, Kassia or something like it.

‘They’re talking something about their home planet if that word is truly what we think it is, are they perhaps talking about sending a fleet from their homeworld to take on Earth?’ He negatively thought as he clenched his teeth and balled his fist up a bit at the thought as he looked down to his concealed gun.

‘No, the lord protects us all and humanity will persevere’ Matt believed as he un tightened his body and took the time to relax and just listen and watch “Do you folk play any games?” The sudden question from the machine snapped him out as he glared at the little one who seem too eager for him.

He thought about it for a second “Well of course we do, they’re becoming mainstream in our society, but why do you ask?” Matt questioned as he stared at the alien and the other two seem to be questioning it on why it asked the question and such.

It just seemed to waved them off with its tail as it continued looking at him “A Game is a good way to mayhaps pass time, and also learn more about one's culture” It responded as he just stared at it and smirked ‘Oh these little guys are in for a rude awakening if they think they can win with their advanced technology, they ask for a game so I’ll give them a game to prove our worth’ He thought as he stood up.

He took another glance at it before turning to go and pick up one of his own personal belongings and threw it down on the living room table “You know what, I think a little chess game would be nice” He agreed as he looked at the alien on the other side “What is this... 'chess'?” It asked through the machine.

“It’s a traditional game that’s been played for a long time now, a strategy game on a traditional board is all and one that most people on Earth would be familiar with” He answered as the alien’s ears perked up and its feathers brightened “Oh, that is good, would you explain rules?” It asked as he just shrugged.

He opened up the board and put the pieces on the correct positioning, the aliens all watched as he placed all 32 pieces on the board ‘May the lord grant this former grandmaster strength in dealing with minds alien in design and thoughts’ He prayed as he taught them a bit about the rules.

The armed one seem to be a bit taken back though he couldn’t tell if it was because it was dumber than the others being a soldier of some sort or perhaps just because it was not as studious with English but nevertheless it asked and the others answered its question which he taught them.

“The king is the most important piece by proxy, though it is one of the weakest pieces, if it goes down then you lose” He told them as he continued ‘There’s something nice about teaching someone else about something you love, even if they’re not technically a person in the eyes of the lords just yet, it is nice to teach the enthusiastic and those willing to learn and reach out on your interests’ Matt thought.

Soon enough there was a full board in front of him once more, he was black and his opponent was white for the advantage as they are clearly new though he knows not of any tricks they might have up their sleeves or not as they don’t wear sleeves as he watched the small one let out a chirp as it moved.

It was pawn to d4, a common move that it seems to have played on either accident or by instinct as he countered with knight to f6 ‘This will be interesting, I wonder how… an early queen push, intersting’ He thought as it played the queen to a4, his excitement rose as he calmly plays knight to c6.

The game was a bit of a mess really, with one player being well experienced and one having no knowledge whatsoever it wasn’t even close as Matt managed a smothered mate after a series of blunders caused white their pawn structure and a disadvantaged trade punishing the early queen push.

“That my friend is chess, do you perhaps want another game?” He asked as the one he just played looks to be ashamed of its loss even if it did pretty well. Before the armed one stepped in and spoke with the small one before it soon took its place as his opponent “So, you want to give it a try?” He asked furrowing a brow as it responded with a quick “Yiissk…” Which seem to indicate a yes so it begins.

“Watch out Lorrisskr, the humanity actually knows how to play the Dirt game” Fallkschrimm warned her as she just rolled her ears “Don’t worry, this one knows how to play these types of games, it’s similar to Fossossk after all” She replied in song as she ruffled her crest feathers now free from her helmet.

The member of humanity spoke the words “Redi?” as she stared at it for a minute “Yiissk” She responded back as she looked at the board ‘Their language is weird, they are weird but this game of theirs, Chiissk is simple as any great traditional game should’ She thought as she played d4.

Then came the same move with that weird out of place piece to f6 and she played c4 ‘The rules are simple in concept but holds a layer of deeper meaning that this one can enjoy’ She thought as it played c5 so she played d5 and then came e6 and she started to think as she played the weird piece to c3.

This got a reaction from the alien as it played the small piece to g6, she played her own to e4 and the alien played his diagonal piece to g7 as she moved her weird piece to f3 ‘This game is pretty nice’ She composed as it played the small piece to d6 and she played her diagonal piece to f2.

They then both castled as the game continued on, it was a mix of setup and defending action as both parties held their own looking for a weakness anywhere in the line until Lorrisskr blundered and pinned her queen and king together after a dozen more moves and trades which costed her the game.

Undeterred she tried again, experimenting with a few new strategies and got promptly mated in 3 turns by the diagonal piece smothering her king which was embarrassing ‘This one is a bit too sleepy for this kind of game, mayhaps The Glow can grant this one a victory in the next one’ She prayed and it answers.

In the 3rd game, it was a good game, it actually played out much like the first game in the setup as they both castled again, trades happened to simplify the board and pawn structures were weakened until she spotted a potential blunder by her opponent and spotted an undefended diagonal piece.

She won the game after a forced mate and the reaction by the alien was definitely worth it “And that my fellow pack mates, is how one win against humanity at their own game” She sang as she heard a slam on the table soon after as she nearly went for her gun in her twitchiness before pausing.

“Agin” The alien sang as she leaned in a bit “’Say we pay agin” It demanded as she let out a low trilling in response “Thisssk onn’s pleassurrs” She hissed out the weird language as the board were reset again but this time, she was playing black and her opponent got white “’Won’t go easy on you anymore” It sang as it played d4 “Wassk countin on itt” She replied in its own tongue as she played d5 and the game continues on.