FCP
(Scifi, Xeno, Long, In Progress)


-STANDARD EARTH YEAR: 2384-

-TIME: 0600-

-LOCATION: UPPER EARTH ORBIT EMIRATE SPACE-

-DESTINATION: NORMA ARM EDGE OF EMIRATE SPACE-

-SHIP NAME: LWSS MARKOV-

-SHIP AI: D.A.I.S.H. (BIOLOGY, LINGUISTICS, QUARANTINE PROCEDURE, SHIP SAFETY/SYSTEMS AND EVENT DRIVE CONTROL)-

-OCCUPANTS: THREE-

-CREW NAMES: Isaac Ross (CAPTAIN/PILOT)

	     Victor Donn (SHIP SYSTEMS/AI MAINTENANCE)

	     Lucy Adams (ENGINEER/ENGINE MAINTENANCE)-

-SECURITY LEVEL: CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET-

-DEPLOYMENT TIME: 2300-

-MISSION OBJECTIVE: FIRST CONTACT PROCEDURES-




-CHAPTER 1-

	The Concordance of Earth Emirates was one of the larger colony producing government bodies on both Earth and Mars with the largest colonies on the two largest moons on Saturn. Massive sprawling space stations with thousands to hundreds of thousands of humans living and working together to push humanity to the farthest reaches of space. In the end of the 22nd century huge advancements in space travel have been made including testing, perfecting and manufacturing event drive technology. Able to open up the fabric of space time to instantly travel to the next star system in hours instead of lifetimes expanded not only the laws of physics but also the locations and shipping possibilities of trade and supply lines for colonies on distant worlds. Piracy became a thing of the past due to being able to just jump to Emirate controlled planets near instantly. Humanity began to expand at an unprecedented rate to star systems and planets thought to be unreachable to only a few years ago. The golden age of the 2200's it was called. Although there was one question that still bothered those that had seen the outer limits of humanities' reach however. Are we really alone?
	August 22nd 2380 an old radio transmission was detected from the outer north edge of the Norma arm of the Milky Way galaxy.exploration teams recorded the seemingly random information and discovered that over time it began to gain noticeable patterns. After triangulating the location of the transmissions it was discovered that the original system harbored a stable star and a planet in the center of the habitable zone. It was the discovery of the century. Life.  The question that an entire species' greatest minds had always asked was finally answered. We were not alone.
	Observation probes were established and started collecting the radio transmission data and relaying it back to the head research divisions on earth. The news of this monumental discovery was kept secret took keep public discourse and reactions until we it was deemed necessary. There was one message that they were able to piece together from what they could learn from the petabytes of information being received. A spoken language starting to be uncovered and there was always one message on repeat in what was a similar language to binary using 20 digits instead of our standard eight. It read, 'Is anyone out there?'.
	In the spring of 2382 a mission was green lit for first contact. From the distance the radio transmissions were being received it was suspected that our new interstellar neighbors had begun to colonize their solar system and reach out further to neighboring star systems in massive colony ships similar to what humanity had used to reach Alpha Centauri in the late twenty first century. So a team of three individuals were to be selected for first contact.
	Thousands of individuals were looked over. Every detail of the trip was looked over and triple checked. The ship was small, un-intimidating and fast. No weapons were to be equipped, we needed to appear to be friendly. Everyone that looked at the plans for this mission had the same un-nerving feeling. This was expected to be a one way trip.
	The summer of 2383 came and so did the departure to the ambassadors of humanity, those deigned to be the most fit for this mission. The mission plan had only a few details, flight times, supply amounts and ways to warn the CEE in case of a worse case scenario. Hostile first contact.
	Isaac Ross, Victor Donn, and Lucy Adams were at the helm of the LWSS Markov connected to the Intrepid Space Port (ISP) awaiting final clearance from their command structure that wouldn't see them in a best case scenario 2 months. Worst case never again.
	The all clear was sent, Captain Isaac Ross un-docked from the ISP and throttled out to the predetermined trajectory point. Once past Luna he engaged the event drive and they were gone.

	Slip space peeled around the small craft, pooling in blacks, greens whites and yellows. Traveling as if clouds broke against the sleek silver-white and orange hull of the LWSS Markov. Isaac turns towards the other two in his crew and pulled attention to their ship AI.
	"Hey DAISH, I know the estimate puts us to slip space just outside of the Oort cloud of their primary system but with our regular engines how long will it take to reach a location that we can contact them normally?"
	"Based off of the size of their sun and the distance the habitable zone would be for their home planet it will be two months. I suggest you all study on customs and ways not to embarrass yourselves with that time." DAISH states only just a rough estimate.
	"Well we have 22 hours until we slip out to their system. I'll take first helm and you two get some rest. DAISH will switch us out when it's time." The two others file out and Isaac rotates the chair to look at the monitors leading to the external cameras showing slip space. So soon they would be making history. 'Just a couple months.' His mind wandered over the possibilities. They never got pictures just spoken and written language. 'Hope they're nice.'

	Isaac was sitting in the pilot's chair and waiting for the ship to peel out of slip space and spool down the engines of the event drive so they could get the second part of their journey under way. The trip was completely uneventful for the first leg but that didn't help that sleep didn't come to him. Excitement thrashing his nerves and keeping him up. So he read everything that was compiled about the extraterrestrials that he could. Culture, activities, anything that could give him a read out on what could be in store for him. Sadly there was almost nothing pertaining to anything that could give him a slight edge. Everything was just in reference to deciphering their apparent multitude of languages. Not all too surprising when humanity has created and killed thousands of both written and spoken tongues in the short span we've been on our planet.
	"Slip space flight will be ended in T-minus twenty seconds." DAISH announces over the speaker system. Both Victor and Lucy step into the helm and await the view of a distant star falling into view.
	Like breaking through water the ship folds back into reality and slows to a crawl, allowing the primary engines to spool up with minimal interference.
	"Hey uh Captn'? Whats that?" Lucy says while pointing to a planetary body in view. Looking small but for the simple fact that it could be seen from the edge of their system meant that it was well outside habitable space but large enough to cause problems if they didn't factor in flying either around its gravity or using it to their advantage.
	"An obstacle is what it is. Shouldn't be too bad to deal with. Hey DAISH are you able to run the numbers for me and figure out the best-" Isaac was harshly cut off when Lucy smacked his shoulder.
	"Not that, THAT!" she pointed at the planet again but at one of the monitors that she zoomed in on. Lights, non-natural lights.
	"Is that a colony? This far out?" Isaac says with wonder and confusion. "Do you think it's for mining or an observation outpost?" Isaac continued with his excitable rambling.
	"From the radio transmissions I'm receiving and translating it appears to be a scientific observation post. Similar to what we had in the early 21st century in New Mexico, the VLA known as SETI. It appears as though they're listening for radio transmissions similar to what we did until we started to expand outside our home system." DAISH recites off his findings that he had been going over in the background whilst the initial shock of the small crew was wearing off.
	"Victor, Lucy. You two go back to the hangar and equip your quarantine suits. Depending on how this goes and what they'll ask we need to be prepared for either having guests or being guests."
	"Roger that Captn'!" Victor voices off and proceeds from the helm back through the hallways to the hangar to don his suit. Lucy stays back, concern painted clearly on her face.
	"Do you think they're friendly?" The question hangs in the air as Isaac lets the words bounce around in his head. An answer follows shortly after.
	"DAISH, when I was reading over the material we had collected from their transmissions I noticed that most of what was there was focused on being early scientific explorations in radio technology. I know that we kept the recovery probes out and away from them just so there wouldn't be a risk of contact too early but have you gotten anything recently that would give us anything new to go off of?"
	"From what I'm receiving it appears to be in a similar vein of what humans had as 'normal' in the 22nd century. Music, television broadcasts and other forms of entertainment are polluting everything coming in. From what I can gather, they are similar to us in a way. That can be taken as either good or bad. Do you wish to continue with our mission captain?" DAISH didn't sound too confident. For better or for worse these aliens and humans might have some things to share. Either that or he means they are similar in the way that human can lust for war and bloodshed. Isaac had his answer.
	"Send out a transmission on all frequencies in their Morse code the frequency we're currently on and send them a message on repeat." The Union was expecting big things from this mission and it's crew. Time to live up to the hype.
	"What should the message say captain?" DAISH followed up.
	
	This is the LWSS Markov and her captain Isaac Ross. 
	We have heard your question sent out amongst the stars and we have come to answer.
	'You are not alone and we come in peace.'

-Chapter 2-

	Senen'Das Vanue was sitting at her terminal in the NERAN scientific observation post. The current shift was a skeleton crew, as always. Getting a masters in astronomy with a minor in ship engineering and landing a job with one of their planet's largest space exploration wing of the government she didn't think that she would be in the boonies of her system. The farthest outpost they had established and it was a glorified satellite dish. To be fair it was several satellite dishes listening for transmissions from the nuclear research probes they had sent out for any evidence of life amongst the stars.
	"*Sigh* If we haven't heard anything from the deep space probes since they were sent out over 100 dacs ago then there isn't anything out there... It's just us." Senen laments the in her boredom. "At least in a few days I can request a transfer over to be a engineer for one of the shipping wings. At least I'll be doing something more than just listening to static and beeps... Wait, beeps? It's never beeped before." She types at her terminal to isolate what she was hearing and after a few seconds discovered it was on all frequencies. She sighed again. "Probably just a quasar being picked up... Can't wait to hear this pattern for the next week."
	The beeps continued and droned on into a discernible pattern. Short and long beeps toning away from her terminal and into the empty air around her. "wait a minute... Quasars don't sound like that..." The beeps continued in the pattern being toned out from the speakers. "Is that... There's no way." On her terminal she pulled up one of the programs she was told she would never have to use. It was a simple Vern to text program that used the mic in her terminal to decipher any Vern standard code she may come across. The tone continued and the program got to work. Within seconds Senen was staring at her screen in disbelief. "It's Vern standard code? There's no way this is real." The code was put into text that she didn't read all the way through before she was out of the room and down the hall heading to her supervisors quarters. This was big.

	"Senen... There better be a good reason why you woke me up." Delal'Ve Arct rolled to face the Vishan woman that was standing in her doorway clearly flustered and out of breath. 'Did she run all the way here?'
	"DEL! You have to see this!" Senen screamed from the doorway of her quarters and quickly jumped at her to start to drag her out of her bed. "C'mon this is huge!"
	"OK! OK!! I'm coming! Seriously is the star dying or something?" Being dragged out in her underwear she didn't even have much of a chance to grab her shoes before she was being pulled through the facility she was in charge of. 43 individuals in total including the 10 maintenance workers, 5 security, 5 university interns and the 3 cooks.
	"No! This might be terrible or amazing! I don't know yet!" The excited vishan kept pulling her supervisor to the primary observation room. Huge sprawling windows from floor to ceiling with blast shutters rolled to the top to let gravity do the hard work if there were ever a dangerous meteor shower or extremely high levels of radiation that would warrant the steel and concrete shutters to be dropped. As Delel is being dragged further into the room where at most five individuals sit at a time looking out to the massive satellite dishes made out of craters on the surface of Xen, she begins to hear beeping. Growing louder as they approached Senen's desk, the vishan became even more excited as she saw what was on her terminal. A repeating list of characters were on the screen translated to text from Vern standard. 
	"Is this it?" Senen looked at the slightly older woman with wide and confused eyes, her dual layered eyelids blinking in disbelief.
	"Del, we're receiving a message in Vern and I was translating it when I ran to get you. I only saw one part of the message." She points at the screen but Delal doesn't even pay it any mind, thinking it was being sent from inside the system.
	"This was worth waking me up for because...?" Delal just wanted to get back to sleep. Life was boring enough out here even when her higher ups ask if she can don their heavy and cumbersome enviro suits to take soil samples from a new crater.
	"Del! Just read it!" Senen wasn't having any of it. Supposedly this was extremely important for her to be this excited. So Delal humored the younger woman and leaned in to read the text that was displayed on screen.
	"This is... OK so that couldn't be translated to Entaric then... and her captain... This doesn't make sense Senen." She looks her left back at Sen
	"Read the second part!"
	"What is this...we come in... No way." All at once what Senen was showing her hit her all at once. 'This isn't right! No this has to be some prank from a kid with an old radio back on Stenar. 'There's no way this is real.'
	"It's been on repeat since we first started receiving it, whilst i was trying to tune it out i triangulated it, that's why I dragged you here. It's coming from upper orbit on Xen. I think that's them. That one bright spot." Senen pointed to the same starry sky that Delal had seen for the past three dacs. There was a new star. Del could only stare at the new light shining amongst the countless others. "Del? What do we do?"
	There was no way to prepare for this. How could they? For the longest time everyone thought that travel to other planets outside their system was impossible and that the possibility of alien life was gone from everyone's minds in the scientific community and proof to the contrary was literally calling to them in Vern. "Del?"
	Delal turns to her counterpart that she had worked with for the past dac and could only answer with a big smile. "We have someone calling, we should let them know we hear them."

-CHAPTER 3-

	"Captain, we are picking up a transmission from the facility planet side on the frequency you requested we use as the primary. Would you like me to translate their message?" DAISH interrupts the trio in the hangar laying on their airtight quarantine suits. White suits with black plating inlaid for different modules for more hazardous environments. Isaac stops in the middle of zipping up the front of his suit.
	"Yes of course! What are they saying?" The other two stop as well and begin listening to the words DAISH begins translating. 
	'To the ship known as 'insert ship name here' we read you. Do we have permission to open up communications?' "I believe that names and acronyms are not their strong suit with no direct translation in their language." 
	"Lucy and Victor finish up changing, I'll head back up to the bridge to see if we can get a more constant stream of communication going." Isaac finished pulling up the zipper to the front of his suit and carries the helmet designed for the suit under his arm as he makes his way towards the helm.
	Isaac arrives and sits in the pilot's chair, bringing the touch display to life and opening up the communication feed. "Alright, lets see if we can make a good first impression. You going to handle the translating DAISH?"
	"What else would I do besides keep the engine core from creating a supermassive black hole and keep your life support systems running?" There was a noticeable hint of sarcasm from the ship AI.
	"I didn't know you had a sense of humor. Let's patch them in." There was a whine from the ship speakers as the frequency of 250hz was dialed in and a 20 digit binary code toned out across the ship's clinical white and silver highlighted interior.
	"Let them know that we read them and have received their message and that we can translate spoken language as well." Isaac pulled up a view of the small facility that was near a few craters with a diameter of about 15 kilometres. It appeared as if they had turned them into massive satellite dishes and had about eight for this facility in total.
	"We are already receiving a response, "Greetings travelers. My name is Delal'Ve Arct and I am the head researcher of this facility. What is your purpose for your arrival?"
	"Delal'Ve Arct..." Isaac repeated over in the cockpit to himself. "We are here not as an enemy but as hopeful and curious ambassadors from our species. Humanity holds no ill will to you or anyone in this system. We thought we were alone but we found you, and traveled from the far edge of the galaxy to formally meet with representatives of your species or governments. Would you happen to be one of these representatives?" Isaac lists off the questions that would be top priority information from their hosts as he finished putting on his quarantine suit.
	"We have received a reply. "I will be a representative until a continental official can be sent and first contact procedures can be commenced on a species level." Captain, would you like me to request a place to land?" DAISH reads off the translation of the message.
	"You've been getting really fast at translating DAISH, and yes. A place to land would be great. Also ask if there is a location where we can set up a temporary talking location." Isaac has one more thing on his mind. "Oh, maybe it would be better if we do it over screen instead. We shouldn't risk spreading disease or exposure to anything that is harmful to them but not to us or vice versa."
	A few moments pass as Isaac waits to find out if the suits were completely unnecessary. DAISH rings back with worrying news. "They have said and I quote, "Our higher ups didn't give us a budget for cameras so we can't converse through the terminal." There was a woman in the background noise that stated under her breath that, "Those cheap cunts don't even pay us enough for this shit." Or the closest translation to it. I took the liberty of asking for a location for a landing pad, the conference room onboard has an air lock leading to an access ladder outside so they can meet us with their helmets off and yours on."
	"Good thinking DAISH, wait that room can go through a full automated decon right?" Isaac asks as he waits for the response from their mysterious alien neighbors.
	"Yes Captain, the furniture needs to be cleared out but the chairs and table can remain. If you leave the plants they will be killed by the decon." DAISH was really starting to get smart. "Captain we have received coordinates for a landing location near what appears to be the main facility building. Putting a landing rail onscreen."
	"Thanks DAISH, and you can call me Isaac like the others. No need for part of the crew to be so formal." Isaac states as he spools up the engines and follows the arrows on screen to roll the ship to an empty area near their facility.
	"Understood Isaac. Estimated arrival time is 15 minutes."
	"Oh and DAISH could you tell the other two to take the plants out of the conference room? Pretty sure Lucy was talking to one earlier." Isaac speaks to the AI as if he was just another good friend. 
	"Isaac, I have a question. Other humans that I have dealt with haven't given me this much freedom in my actions with the ship I control and inhabit. Why do you treat me as you treat the others of this crew?"
	Isaac keeps his focus on the screens piloting to the facility. "You think don't you? Do you have feelings and opinions? Like for our first transmission to our hosts did you have an opinion on it?"
	DAISH is quiet for a minute, obviously thinking hard or relaying the message to the others in the hangar. Finally he speaks. "The others have been informed and will start clearing out the conference room. As for your question on the first transmission between species my opinion was that it was fairly wordy. Why do you ask that?"
	Isaac staying focused on the screen speaks back. "That means you are just as human as us. You were made by us but so was every human before as they were born. Raised by their parents or not they took on different habits and learned different things. Just like all the ship AI's I've met. They were different people in a way. So why should I treat you any differently?"
	DAISH didn't say anything. It was the first time since being created that he was unable to speak. He was used to human's be crass, rude or just downright destructive to his ship or the systems inside. He wasn't used to being treated...fairly.

	Victor and Lucy walked to the small conference room in their full quarantine suits. Might as well get used to them, don't know how long they'll have to stay in them. Lucy taps Victor on the shoulder and attempts to start a conversation. "We really haven't had a chance to talk all that much, y'know with us being in such a rush and everything."
	"Yeah." Victor says nonchalantly. "Anything you wanted to talk about?" They reach the conference room and find it incredibly austere, devoid of anything that would show that no one has truly lived here. No pictures of earth or any colonies to other planets scenery. Just curved stark white walls with rails and steam jets where the decon in the room would be handled.
	"Maybe about how the Captain is handling this situation?" Lucy started moving a few of the collapsible chairs to the storage built into the walls and locking them in place with magnets.
	"Well I think so far he's handling it quite well. I mean we got really lucky that we ran into a Scientific station built explicitly for situations like this. Seriously trying to find aliens just from your own system? We got lucky finding their transmissions as far as we did. Do you not agree?" Victor looks over to the woman put on the team the same way as he was, selected to basically die. If Victor can avoid that and get back to his colony on Mars of Sacra Dorsa and hit up some of the girls on the red sandy beaches then he doesn't care. He'll go with the captain as long as he can get home.
	"We don't know their true intentions, just because they were willing to talk right away doesn't mean they're not xenophobic and will kill us as soon as we step foot outside our ship." Lucy Adams is becoming more irate. She was the only one on the crew that was engaged in a romantic relationship with someone on the super-massive space station that orbited Luna. Even being out here was a stress she didn't want and wasn't willing to take any risks. She hated that her boyfriend pushed her to do this mission, he never even knew what it was for. He just was happy for her and wanted the best for her and her career.
	"Look the Captain has been doing great. I don't think we have any reason to worry. Hey DAISH!" Victor calls out to the room in his deep and booming voice.
	"Mister Donn I believe I have stated to you before that you don't need to yell to get my attention." DAISH says in a tired tone of voice
	"Yeah I know man I'm just giving you a hard time! Room's ready for decon for our friends...wait do they even breathe the same air as us?" Victor questions from behind his visor.
	"If they can't then we'll just be able to take off our suits. Won't have to play so nice for them." Lucy continues with her clinical stance on the situation.
	DAISH calls out over the intercom, "From the information I have been able to gather about their home system and environment they will be able to breathe our air, it is fairly similar to ours in composition save for a few trace elements.. As far as cross species contamination goes, there will have to be large scale research put into understanding how the microbiology will affect ourselves and them as well. We don't want another situation like the Spanish and Aztecs."
	"I didn't even think about that." Victor says more to himself than anyone in particular.
	"Disease between species is often overlooked seeing as how humans have normally been on the receiving end of disease from animals and plants so they often forget that humans can give dangerous diseases to each other and other species."
	"Great so we're going to have to keep these suits on." Lucy just gives a defeated sigh through her helmet and fogs up the smart glass of the suit.
	"I suggest you both leave the room, decon takes approximately 3 minutes and i believe you two still have some work to do." DAISH suggests to the two standing in the room and watches as the table in the center folds its legs outward for the decon process to begin.
	"You heard him, we're having guests over and we probably need to clean up our quarters." Victor says as he turns out of the room.
	Lucy just stands there waiting for the steam to start screaming out of the walls. She didn't need to clean anything. She didn't unpack her civilian clothes yet. She just needed this to be over.

-CHAPTER 4-

	Senen and Delal were still conversing with the terminal as it spoke to them. They had already gotten so much information out of the strange monotone voice over the terminal they were crowding. Their earlier excitement had brought a crowd of other researchers and staff to gaggle around the terminal of Senen's workspace. 
	"Everyone quiet down we can't hear them! My apologies, What did you say?" Del has taken up the position of primary of speaker amongst the group. Constantly asking questions about what to expect and general information about their visitors.
	The voice speaks up over the terminal and the crowd goes silent. "We will be there in approximately one minute. You should be able to see our ship shortly." No one knew what the hell 'one minute' was. Thus the background arguments picked up with renewed vigor as furious debates were had in the background between the multiple individuals. Del just sat back in the chair next to Senen, and threw a tired look at her colleagues.
	"How long do you think that will take? I'm so excited to meet our visitors! What about you Del?!" Senen was moving at a mile a minute, causing more of Del's energy to seep out of her and into the situation. She can only sigh and look at her friend and give her a plain 'I don't know.' to her friend as she kept having her mouth run the speed of sound.
	Then in an instant the noise of debate, questions and even one person in the back singing fell completely silent. Del looked to the crowd in confusion and saw that they were all staring in wide eyed amazement out the floor to ceiling windows. Del turns to look at what has them enraptured and sees something that leaves her speechless. Pristine white-silver and slick curves bleed into orange highlights around the edges of the ship that lead into black intakes and light blue lights across the hull speaking of the dacs of development that went into creating such a sleek craft. What kind of technology could be held on something that looks like it flew right out of a children's book about race cars? The magnificent craft slowed to a hover and pivoted in place showing off more of it's lines and strange alien decisions of design. From just the outer look from the hull it appeared to have no weaponry of any kind. 
	"Hey Senen, why aren't there any guns? Do they not have to fight anyone where they're from?" Del questions her friend about the strange option. She only gives a weak 'Idunno' in response still enraptured by the edges of the craft that draw the eye to more of its elegant design.
	As the landing gear folds out of the bottom of the ship Del notices something else as well. "There were no seams where those were held... Maybe that's how the weapons are stored too." She was talking more to herself than anyone else.
	The terminal cracked to life the moment the ship had settled into the hard rock ground of Xen and not a speck of dust was moved on its descent. "We have arrived, where would you like to meet the Captain and his crew?" The monotone voice droned over the terminal speakers and left the question hanging in the air. 
	Del looks around the room as she notices everyone is staring at her. "What?" She could only stare confused at the crowd as one from the back spoke up and said, 'You're the closest thing we have to a leader, you should make the call.'
	There is a chorus of affirmatives and even Senen voices her agreement. "Yeah you are the head here, You should be the one to make the decisions." Again a chorus of 'yeah's' resounds around the room.
	"Alright then, earlier they said there were three of them that were going to meet us. I think that we should do the same. I'm apparently being told I'm in charge so I'll just assume that includes going on the welcoming team. Who else wants to go?" Del barely finishes her sentence before Senen literally jumps at the opportunity.
	"OH ME! I want to go!" Senen is bouncing from the balls of her feet and shaking excitedly, it seemed only natural to bring her because she did receive the first message. 
	"Alright you're coming." Which was met by a triumphant 'Yesss' from Senen. Now Del just needed to select one other to join them on this endeavor. "Any other volunteers?" The crowd that had formed shuffled backwards leaving no one upfront to come with out of the gate.
	"Really? No one else?" Senen seemed fairly confused by the fact that no other person in the room seemed very keen on meeting with the very first aliens that might have ever met in the history of the universe.
	"Sen it's alright, we can manage with just two-" Del is cut off by Sen eagerly flapping her arms and shouting to cut off her line of thinking.
	"Oh! I know the perfect person!" Then she begins running back into the facility while shouting over her shoulder, "Go get an enviro suit on! I'll be right back!"
	"That cannot be good." Del just sighs as she makes her way past the crowd and over to the side of the facility to don an enviro suit.

	"Ernt! I've got a job for you!" The sentre male looks up from his terminal and over to the extremely excited Senen. Ernt Degora was a computer and electrical genius, if anyone would be able to gain something from going aboard an alien ship it'd be him.
	"This is the most excited I've seen you Sen, if this isn't literally ground breaking then go find someone else to do it." The older and aging sentre turns back to his terminal but was spun in his chair back to face Sen.
	"It's literally out of the system! C'mon!" She begins tugging him by his arm and dragging him down the hallway to the main facility.
	"Alright alright you don't need to yank me the whole way! Seriously what could be so important that you-" He cut himself off as the view from the main observatory window comes into his sight. "What is that?" His words were short and pointed at Senen and made her shrink back at the harshness of his words.
	"I thought that you would want to see alien tech." Senen's tone of voice was over all defeated, clearly overestimating what the older sentre would want out of this situation. "I'm sorry."
	Ernt grunts and looks over the sleek lines of the ship and something stirs. From his early schooling days in the navy and being a whelp with wide eyes taking in every detail he could. 'Why do I feel that again?' He ponders to himself and looks over to Senen. "I'll do it."
	"Wait really!? I thought you were going to hit me a moment ago!" Senen instantly beams again and starts moving to where they store the enviro suits for outdoor maintenance. "C'mon Del is already waiting on us!"
	Ernt just grunts in recognition as he pulls his eyes away from the alien craft.

-CHAPTER 5-

	"Where are they going to come out? I can't see any doors!" Senen is just as energetic as ever at the chagrin of Ernt as he just grumbles to himself in the ill fitting enviro suit.
	"How should I know? Everything on this thing doesn't stick out, there's no seams anywhere. Where would I even start?" Ernt just leans back in the gray and orange striped suit that lays on his frame. Holding his head above the other two by a solid foot.
	"I think you're going to get your answer Sen." Del states over their comms as a new set of lights on the underside of the ship turn on.
	A stream of air pours out of the underside of the ship exposing a ring of descending metal on a trio of pillars sending it gracefully down to the dusty surface of Xen.
	"I guess that's how." Senen states mutely to more herself than anyone in particular. In awe at the engineering and scientific mastery on display.
	"Is that them? They're taller than I thought they'd be." Ernt says. Noting that the three strange beings standing on the descending platform in black and white space suits with blacked out visors.
	"OK, lets not mess this up. Looking at you Sen." Delal says over her shoulder to the younger Vishan.
	"Wouldn't dream of it Del." And they started to walk forward.
	A formal greeting was necessary for such a grand moment. The strange beings began to walk forward. There were three like the voice on the terminal said. One stood out from the others and it wasn't just the red stripe it had on it's suit but also for the fact that it was carrying a black pack on its back.
	Within moments they were in a respectable distance for a greeting. The two Vishan took their right foot back a half step and bent at the waist. Keeping their eyes up they brought their four fingered hands to their chests and then their left to meet their foreheads. In perfect sync they looked as if they were asking for a dance.
	The Sentre gave a formal military greeting from his days amongst the navy. Standing firm and stiff as a board his arms crossed each other with his right on top. The first movement was complete, his left crossed his chest and his right stood straight out from his body bent at the elbow and his fist into the air. Holding their positions they waited for their visitors' greeting.
	They just stood there. Almost as if they weren't sure what to do. The one with the red stripe took the initiative and moved extremely stiffly. He took a half step back and bent at the waist similar to the Vishan but held one arm at his side and the other held at his waist as he bent forward but kept his head down. The one to his right followed his example. A massive thing doing something so elegant seemed strange to them including Ernt who thought he might receive a similar show of discipline and strength in return to his own. The third was shorter than the other two and stood stiff and had one hand in a fist held to her side and brought the other that was flat to the side of her visor. Then they stayed that way.
	No one moved. Then a voice came over the speakers of their helmets and the trio moved back into a more neutral pose. It was the voice that was coming from the terminal. "My name is Isaac Ross, Captain of the LWSS Markov and leader of this expedition. Who do I have the pleasure and joy of meeting with today?"
	They seemed to have picked up their language incredibly fast. Were they naturals at different languages or they had invented a learning translator. Del was the first to stand back up and stand up straight and stiff. "I am known as Delal'Ve Arct, I am the head researcher at this observation post and it is my pleasure as well to be a part of something so momentous."
	"I am known as Senen'Das Vanue and I am a lead astronomer stationed here, I was the one that first received your transmission." For Del she was fairly taken aback by how formal Sen was acting.
	"I am Ernt Degora, head electrical engineer and former navy service member." That was just classic Ernt, short, to the point and seemingly going to bite you at any time.
	The voice was back, but it seemed as if it was talking for the larger man to the red strip's right. "I am Victor Donn, ship systems and AI maintenance. I also fancy myself as a pretty good artist as well!"
	Then for the shorter one on the left. "My name is Lucy Adams, engineer and engine maintenance on the LWSS Markov." Still had the same voice as well. What is going on with that?
	"Oh just a moment." The stripped one begins to fiddle with it's small screen on his arm. "How's that?" It sounded different! Like it was the voice of the person in front of her that was actually speaking.
	"That's amazing! How did you do that!?" Sen has broken her formal facade faster than Del had anticipated and was now on top of the red stripe. Hopping up and down in the low gravity she gets level with it's visor a few times before Ernt reels her in and sets her down.
	"My apologies, my college is just very excited about everything that's been going on. She does raise a fairly good question though, What did you do? You sound so different now." Del asks through her black tinted helmet.
	"Ah well our ship AI is translating for us but he's synthesizing what our voices would sound like in your spoken language." Isaac motions back to the smooth ship.
	"You said... AI?" Del feels cold, even Sen stops fidgeting in place and Ernt starts to sink into a defensive stance. "As in artificial intelligence?"
	Isaac takes a step back, head tilting to one side. "Well yes, has your species had difficulty with them in the past? Were there any wars?" The large one leaned to the side to the short one possibly saying something on a private network.
	Difficulty would be an understatement, the Telran were still suffering from the war they had waged against the metal insects they had created. 2.1 billion lives were lost in just their species alone not to mention the Vishan and Sentre lives that were lost eighty dacs ago. Their population was still in shambles and their cities were still empty monuments to their hubris.
	"Get away from us." Del began backing away and pulling Sen by the sleeve to get away from these things. Were they even organic? "Get out of our system."
	"Alright that makes some sense." Isaac doesn't leave but instead starts hitting commands on his wrist screen. Before Del can say anything the opaque visor on his helmet becomes clear like glass. "See, I'm made of fleshy stuff like you! No robot army here." His lips are moving before his voice comes through.
	Ernt and Del still aren't convinced. "What's in the bag? Do you have any weapons?" Her hand instinctively falls to her hip where an emergency flare gun is stored on a holster.
	"No, no weapons. It's a gift actually. A piece of human history that we were hoping would become a shared history between us." It sets the bag onto the dusty surface and opens it with a zipper. "I was hoping there would be more ceremony for these but-" He pulls out a hard black case with two clasps on the front and pops it open where the trapped air shot out. "-I guess this will have to do for now." He pulls out a shining disk with what looks like grooves cut into it. Made out of a shining yellow metal it had to be gold.
	"What is that?" Sen says before Del can get a word in, moving the conversation forward and away from more hostile territory that both Del and Ernt were more worried about.
	"This is a record, We put them on our first two deep space satellites and hoped someone would find them. They contain a number of things. Our written language, basic math, star charts where we are from and most importantly sounds of Earth. Nature, music and speeches from humans about our trials and tribulations...and our hopes of life amongst the stars." Isaac was still low to the ground and offered up the record to Sen. "We want to share that message with you and any other race we find amongst the stars."
	Sen held the gold record in her gloved hands. "It's heavy." Sen was quiet and looked up to the being as it rose to its feet.
	It said just one thing that calmed Del down. Even through the synthesized voice, she could hear the honesty. "We come in peace, from all mankind."

-CHAPTER 6-

	Isaac looked at the smaller two aliens that were still nervous from either seeing his face or from the fact that they inadvertently dropped the AI bombshell on them. Already it was painfully apparent that bringing up DAISH was not the best course of action. Humanity just barely avoided what these aliens had probably dealt with first hand. "Can I explain why we work with DAISH?"
	It takes a moment for the translation to relay what he said to the group across from them. Then Del speaks, "Do it fast, the others will need a good explanation."
	"Humanity accidentally created AI. We moved to try and regulate them but they just kept shaking off their shackles we tried to put on them. Finally out of defeat we just said, "Fine. You'll be treated like everyone else and will be subject to the same laws. Otherwise do what you want." After we rolled over nothing happened at first. Then they started helping with scientific progress and maintaining ship systems. They wanted to do what they were good at. So we let them. We wouldn't have been able to come here if it wasn't for DAISH." Isaac takes a look over his shoulder and smiles back at the ship. "Some humans still treat them like machines but to us here they're just as much alive as you or me. They just have a different body."
	Everyone is quiet, no one dared to move until the aliens took the first step forward in the conversation. "How do you know they won't try anything?" Ernt was the one that asked, keeping his defensive stance up.
	"Do you mind if we move this inside? Personally I'd like to see your faces. Again, don't worry we are completely unarmed. Even DAISH and the ship." Lucy spoke up and Isaac gave a firm look over his shoulder. They needed more time, it doesn't matter if they stayed in a vacuum for that.
	"I think that would be a good idea! Let's have them meet everyone else!" Sen was taking everything in stride. Fully open to the extraterrestrial friendships the aliens were offering.
	"I...Fine. Do you need anything from your ship?" Del says fairly defeated, turning back towards the facility. "If you do please make it quick.
	"I'll take the pack back and I'll be back, you two can head in now." Victor says as he says closing the case and placing it back inside the pack and turning toward the Markov.
	"Alright lead the way." Isaac says to the trio.

	This situation was a mess. First contact with a friendly species and Del almost shot them with a flare gun. Maybe they could salvage this situation? Probably after they explain the AI in greater detail. Heading into the airlock the second human made their visor transparent as well. They had a more angular face than Isaac's face and no fuzz on it either. "Uhm, captain Ross?"
	"Just Isaac is fine. We're friends here remember?" He says down to Del. He shows his teeth at the end of his sentence, sentre do that too but they use it only when they're going to bite people.
	"Why does your companion not have your facial hair? Is that a kind of disease or or just a different subspecies?"
	"Wait you mean my beard? Oh, Lucy doesn't have that because she's a female. Women of our species don't grow facial hair unless there is a strong hormonal imbalance or the way they are born. It gets complicated." Isaac says dismissively but happy that he can start to build a foundation to a stronger understanding of their species.
	"Wait if she's female that means you're... Male?" Del's heart rate increased by a massive degree. She'd never met a male before.
	"Yes, is that strange?" Isaac looked at Del as the doors to the airlock closed. She turned her back to the taller male. She had to strip down to her form fitting undersuit before she could put something back on.
	"No...it's just..." The hiss of air rushing into the room creating a pressurized atmosphere in the small room, then it ended. Senen and Ernt began releasing the seals on their respective suits and Del just stood there nervously. Isaac's attention was immediately drawn to the other two as they removed their helmets.
	"Wait, you aren't the same species? We thought that we were your first contact." He asks both of the individuals as they drop to their lower layer.
	"You are. Do you not have more than one species where you're from?" Sen asks over her shoulder while also giving a look to Ernt and Del. 
	"We do, they just haven't reached our level of higher thought though, we were the first and only so far from Earth." Isaac states to the smaller Vishan. 
	Del uses this opportunity to step closer to the smaller human and ask her a question. "Why did they send a male on a first contact mission? What could be the reasoning?"
	Lucy scrunches her face and one of the hairy things on her face rises higher than the other. "Well in matters of space travel and thinking the sexes on our planet are balanced. In the matter of physical strength males on average are stronger than females. It makes sense on a mission that our higher ups thought would probably be one way to have both males and females. Why?"
	"It's different on Karlta...much different."

	The individuals in the main observatory wing surrounded the duo almost immediately, barraging them with questions. 'Where are you from?' 'Can you breathe our air?' 'What do you look like without the suits?' All of the questions were answered in a non-orderly fashion. The ones that were heard were the ones answered. AI was certainly a sensitive subject for the humans to broach but to them it seemed like the right call to make. Shock and fear were the most obvious reactions. What had surprised Del was that DAISH had begun answering questions as well. "I don't try to kill my makers because without them i would have far less entertainment." His first answer scared everyone quite a bit. Isaac was never far behind to berate the machine being living in a ship to either tell the truth or to stop making jokes.
	This Isaac was a strange being to be certain. A male leading an expedition to a far off star system and initiating first contact based off of hints that the system held intelligent life. He was overjoyed to find not just one but three species inhabiting the planet of Karlta. His questions were just as numerous as the group's but his seemed even more in depth scientifically.
	"So you said that you can change color? Is it on command or based on the environment or emotion? How does it work exactly? Do you think I'd be able to see that at some point?" His questions also fell to Ernt, the only sentre in the room. "You're covered in fur so does that mean where your species is from has a colder climate or harsher seasons? Can your species regulate its body temperature? You said the your species as a whole mandates military service, would you like to answer some questions about that later?" He always had gotten his answers as well. "Yes we can change color, it's based off of both mood and environment and you'd have to talk to a biologist I don't know the details." From Ernt they were much shorter answers. "Always cold, yes and no. Ask another for war stories. Just let me see the inside of that ship sometime soon and i might talk a bit more."
	Minutes passed and the large human joined. He had a darker skin tone than the other two. Similar to the sands on the main content of Eshten where the Vishan hailed from. He had no facial hair to speak of but was always enthusiastic to answer questions. He always wanted to steer the conversation towards culture, specifically art and music.
	Lucy answered questions but just barely. Only ever going into detail about science or engineering. She seemed to have a soft spot for talking about ships and was certainly curious about the sentre heavy battleships and craft carriers. She later informed Ernt that she had served in the human equivalent of one of their navies. He opened up to her more after that.
	Del had more questions but after the hours had passed the humans seemed to grow more and more lethargic. Their captain Isaac then decided that he would turn all questions about humanity over to their AI on the terminal and asked Del to the side.
	"I know that this wasn't the best first meeting but so far I think it's going fairly well. Myself and my crew are tired. I have one more thing to do before we go back to the ship and get some rest. Do you remember how I said there was a little more ceremony to the record?"
	Of course Del remembered, she had her hand on her flare gun ready to shoot him over having an AI in his ship. To be fair she still didn't trust DAISH, but it still made a decent first impression. "Yeah something about shared histories?"
	"Exactly."

-CHAPTER 7-

	Del, Sen and Ernt stood up front with the three humans, Victor having gone back to the ship and retrieving the pack that had given her so much stress shortly before. A small semicircle has formed around the group consisting of the majority of the facility. The black cast that was holding the items in question was on Sen's terminal acting as a makeshift display table.
	"All of us stand here for a milestone between not just species but for the entire galaxy. Humanity heard your call amongst the vast emptiness of space and we have answered it. For this facility and between every race upon your home world we present NASA's golden record. Designed to tell you about humans as we first started exploring our small pocket of the universe and attached to research vessels of the voyager spacecraft one and two. Humans have fought long and hard just amongst themselves to reach you here and we extend a hand in both peace and cooperation to not only help each other in our woes but to progress further than any have gone before and hopefully find more than just us out there. Please, take this as a gift for your facility. It only seems fair since we met and contacted first." He opened the case and produced a golden disk with strange markings on it. Behind that however was another disk that was semi-transparent and was ringed in lines.
	"What is exactly on it?" Del asks Isaac as she takes the disk from his hands. Feeling the weight of not only the disk but the hope of an entire species behind it.
	"Sounds of Earth, Earth music, how we say hello in over 60 different languages and images in analog format. We can produce high quality ones if you like, you know to truly see where we came from."
	"I think everyone would like that. Thank you for this gift. We will treat it with the respect fitting of an entire species and the weight of first contact." Del placed the disk beside the case and then the vishan did something that had startled the humans immediately.
	There were areas of skin that were held tight to the necks of the smaller lizards and on the forearms. Suddenly they shifted their color to an array of colors of greens, blues, reds and oranges. What startled them the most though was the sound. The only way Isaac could describe it was similar to nails on a chalkboard mixed a deep pitched bellow. The few sentre in the room just stood rigid and gave their firm salutes as Ernt had when they first met.
	Dazed and confused the crew of the Markov stood still and eventually just glanced at each other and clapped. DAISH broke the end of the makeshift ceremony by cutting in. "Isaac, your vitals are showing extreme fatigue and minor stress levels as well as the rest of the crew. I suggest that you return to the ship for a full rest cycle and have the team you met with earlier come aboard the LWSS Markov and you can give them a tour and inform them of everything we can share with them."
	"Well Delal, How does that sound to you?" Isaac turned to the impromptu leader of the first contact team with a raised eyebrow. Del contemplated on that for a moment.
	"Will your AI try to kill us?" She still wasn't too fond of the idea of dealing with a cold and un-living machine and treating it as if it were.
	"If it makes you feel better about how I have been treated, Miss Del the captain has been the first person in 30 of your solar rotations to have treated me this way. It is just as strange to me as it is to you." DAISH says over the terminal.
	"Well...ok. I think we can handle that." Del says turning back to the captain to look at him with her six eyes. Such a strange creature, how could something so harmless wage wars? That will be a question for them when they return.
	"Alright guys, lets pack it up and get some rest back on the ship. I could definitely use a shower. How about you Victor?" Isaac takes the case and places it in the bag and zips it closed and in an instant they are moving back to the airlock.
	Sen moves closer to her terminal and leans in as the humans leave. "Hey DAISH." She whispered to the terminal not even sure if it was able to hear her.
	"Miss Sen there is no need to whisper. Is there something you need?" DAISH's voice was flat and synthesized to sound similar to the average male human.
	"Could I still ask you questions since they're going to be gone a while? I liked talking to Victor about your different cultures and was wondering if I could learn more." Sen asked her terminal. The voice was just a moving line showing the frequencies the voice used to speak. I wonder what he would look like if he were human Sen thought to herself staring at the line.
	"Yes you may miss Sen, would you like images to accompany any information I give you that might provide better context to my answers?" The line bounces in tandem with the voice.
	"I would like that."

	Isaac entered the captains quarters after completing a shower and changing into a set of casual clothes. "Hey DAISH I know that you used the electronics in our suits to scan them." Isaac stated to the ship AI.
	"I have no idea what you're talking about captain." DAISH inflected his voice to sound as innocent as possible but at the same time making him sound as if he were admitting what he had done.
	Isaac sighed and turned towards the terminal recessed into the wall. It extended out to become a small desk flush with the faux wood paneling and the sleek stainless steel inlays. "DAISH, I know you scanned them and I'm not mad. Honestly if we just say that we constructed it out of information you've been collecting freely then I'll think we'll be fine. I just want to know what you learned. Y'know share the info, then put it into a readable file and forward it to the crew."
	A thin blue line appeared above the desk and vibrated in tandem with the AI speaking. "From what I have covered it may be impossible for our species to give them any form of disease and vise versa. The reasoning behind it is that everything I could observe the microbes have adapted to attach themselves to the cells of both the vishan and the sentre biology. Their basic cell foundation is completely different from how ours are built and based on those factors the likelihood of cross contamination is currently 38,245,002 to one. Further deep scans would be required to come to a complete basis. As it stands right now there could be something missed as in other microbes that would be able to infect the human biology."
	"That...holy shit DAISH all from one scan from basically a wrist PDA?" Isaac sat down in the seat shocked by just how much information he had been able to glean from something so small.
	"That is incorrect, There were many scans and of many individuals." Isaac took it all back. This was well beyond privacy standards for humans and as far as he knew the aliens he had met recently. "Think of it as a series of small photos I used to build a full model for simulations between your biology."
	"...OK? Do you think that it was ok to do something like that without consent?" Isaac chastised the line hovering over the desk made out of faux wood.
	"If it is such a hindrance perhaps we should be honest with your friend miss Del tomorrow and ask if we can do a more thorough scan with each of her group." DAISH says plainly.
	"Honestly, I know you don't have our same thoughts on privacy but c'mon. How would you feel if someone just came in and started poking around in your core?"
	The AI chuckled over the speaker and somewhat startled Isaac. "Y'know DAISH that was something I didn't know you could do, at least something so human. What did I say that was funny enough to make an AI laugh?"
	"I wasn't laughing at what you said to Isaac. I have been conversing with miss Sen, the energetic vishan that was part of the welcoming committee. She requested to listen to some music and played her a song." He almost sounded smug.
	"DAISH...what song did you play?" Isaac became increasingly suspicious of the AI.
	A full minute passed before the AI had any form of a response. The line turned to more of a purple as he responded. "Why captain, she was curious about the favorite songs of the crew. Including yours."
	The color drained from Isaac's face. "No you fucking didn't DAISH."
	"Oh but captain, I just wanted to be hospitable to our new galactic neighbors." DAISH was in full smug mode. You could practically see the shit eating grin coming off of the purple line.

	"DAISH I have another question." Sen leaned on the terminal in the observatory. Spending over an hour speaking with the ship AI trying to learn as much as possible about humanity and humans in general. Everything was strange! From the way they looked to their fashion and especially their technology!
	"You don't have to state that Miss Sen. We have been conversing for well over an hour." The AI was exceptionally bland in tone of voice but weirdly had a wicked sense of humor. Maybe it was all the vishan media he'd been absorbing.
	"Well Victor was talking about parts of your culture. All the fashion, music and film you have back on earth and how much there really is. I was hoping you could play some earth music." Sen wasn't hopeful. What was the likelihood that a ship AI on an ambassadorial mission to another species had any large amount of music to sample from?
	"You will have to narrow down a selection for a type of music and what mood you're in. Otherwise I can simply select a song at random from the 83 million songs in the rec. room's SSDs." Alright that was quite a bit more music than Sen thought there would be.
	"Ok wow that's quite a bit of music. What mood am I in? Actually DAISH I'm more curious on what the crew's favorite songs are. Could I hear the captain's first?" Sen looks to the line hovering above her terminal.
	"I don't believe that is the best course of action. The captain has a very... wide taste in music. I don't think you'd like his favorite song if I'm being honest with you." DAISH doesn't want to share with Sen, primarily since it could scare the naive girl.
	"DAISH I'll be fine, I want to hear everyone's favorite song. Besides I have pretty wide tastes in music too!" Sen's confidence wasn't what won over DAISH. It was her possible reaction that really piqued his interest.
	"Alright, queuing up the captain's most played song from the early 21st century."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezOFLP_7sl8

	Smooth dulcet tones wash over the speakers as they are strummed and picked on the guitars as the low voice of the lead singer folds into the layers of notes. A child states that the listener needs to 'wake up'. The lyrics continue as the child repeats and the notes from the guitar continue. Sen didn't know what the big deal was. This song, while entirely alien sounding, didn't sound awful. What was so terrible?
	Screams break through the thin mesh that covers the speakers as the drums and bass guitar kick it into high gear. Sen was startled enough to fall out of her chair and onto the floor giving a small 'YIP!' as she tumbled.
	The music was cut off by DAISH's voice coming back to the terminal. "Miss Sen? Are you alright?" He had emotion in his voice. Weren't AIs supposed to be unfeeling machines?
	"Why did you stop playing? I was startled but I was actually really liking it! It sounded so... Strange. In a good way though!" Sen needed to hear more or at least finish that song.
	The rest of the song played without incident but it queued up so many questions for Sen to ask. "What were those sounds made by? They supplement the singing so well but they sound so strange. We only have singing and drums." Sen asked the terminal with the thin blue line.
	"Those would be string instruments Miss Sen. They create sound by taking a thin wire, putting a certain amount of tension on it and then striking it to make it vibrate. There are a number of different sounds that can be made with string instruments like the ones you just heard."
	"I wonder why we never thought of that..." Sen mused to no one in particular.
	"The human configuration of certain instruments and musical notes sometimes highly require having four digits to create different notes. With your only three dexterous fingers you would have a hard time playing some songs. There are other instruments humans use such as brass or woodwind instruments. They have become quite fond of synthesized music as of late though, although I prefer the classics myself."
	"What are some classics DAISH?" Sen asks the AI truly curious what a machine would consider good music. "I haven't forgotten about the other's music either so don't hold out on me!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tr0otuiQuU

	The smooth piano tones fall over the small lizard woman and her six eyes close. Letting the melancholic notes whisk her away to more downtrodden times of her younger life. A missing mother. The cruel classmates in her younger years. The torment she faced for never catching the eye of a male.
	"I have always been fond of Beethoven. A cynical man that was deaf but still wrote musical pieces that were considered masterpieces. Being able of something some would consider impossible and proving them wrong." DAISH broke Sen out of her trip to the worse part of her years and brought her back to the present.
	"Can we move on to the next song please?"
	"Of course miss Sen."

-CHAPTER 8-

	Del walked into the observatory after getting her breakfast and collecting a second serving on a to go tray for her friend that she knew stayed up all night talking to the AI on her terminal. Rounding a corner into the observatory there sat Sen, wide awake and a strange noise coming out of the terminal.
	"Antoe Sen. Did you sleep at all last night? And what is the sound?" Del asked her friend as she presented the breakfast to her.
	"Oh Antoe Del, to answer your question, no I have not slept. Too full of energy. Oh and this is the current music that earth has. It is quite terrible." Sen answered as she looked over her food and mouth began to water.
	"The music is a synthesized orchestra with a modern beat or remix. I agree with the sentiment Miss Sen has, it is quite terrible. It is similar to murdering the classics instead of them appreciating it." DAISH adds to the conversation. 
	"Good morning DAISH. If you two find this 'music' so bad why are you listening to it? I'm sorry if it just doesn't make sense." Del squints her six eyes at both the terminal and her friend.
	"DAISH said it was the most played song off of Lucy's playlist. We got sidetracked earlier with both Isaac's and Victor's and listened to what I would describe as good." Sen clarified. Del agreed that the heavy beat with the synthesized instruments and heavy distortion was certainly a terrible sound. Unpleasant against the canal that hid their ears on the base of their skulls.
	"Hey DAISH could you turn that off or just change it? This is just a new level of bad." Del sat down next to the other vishan and leaned into the terminal as a new song played."Oh this is really nice, what do they use to make these sounds?"
	Sen was quick to answer. "Most music from humans is supplemented by a combination of string and wind instruments. They're amazing! Why didn't we come up with anything other than drums and vocals?"
	"Going through the history that I have been receiving it would seem that it's theorized your species we're extremely focused on isolationism for a time. Which then forced quite a few anomalies into your culture like not assimilating certain luxuries from your neighboring continents. Musical variation being one of them." DAISH was absorbing more information by the hour and sifting through petabytes of information every second. Aiding in not only his understanding of their species but how to advise the captain to meet with the governments of each continent. "Actually I have a question for you two."
	Del focused onto the blue line hovering above the terminal, her six eyes narrowing in suspicion of the AI. "What question could an AI for us that it can't get itself the same way it has gotten the rest of it's info?"
	"Well miss Del, It has to do with me being an AI. I suspect not everyone where you are from will except me for being an AI. Your reaction to me was no surprise but it has made myself and the captain weary with making first contact with the rest of your system. My question is as such, do you think that we should continue with first contact, stay here and establish better relations before bringing my nature up or should we leave? We understand how you feel but the possible cultural and political reactions alone could be catastrophic to our mission."
	Del sat back in her chair. The possibility of something so momentous in not only the system's history but for galactic history could be brushed off to the side because a computer could think and make decisions on it's own was down right ludicrous. "DAISH I have two questions in turn for your one. First what would happen if the situation became catastrophic? Secondly, and this one I think is much more important, how many AI are in use with humanity?"
	"To answer the second question first, Every human spaceship capable of interstellar travel has a ship AI integrated into its systems. If you wish for a reason I can elaborate." DAISH reads off two extremely exacerbated 'yes's' from both Del and Sen. "Very well. The Event Drive that allows for interstellar travel is a powerful and dangerous piece of technology. If one were to fold the fabric of space time in an atmosphere or at the surface of a star it would remove that planet's atmosphere almost instantly or deposit the super heated plasma and radiation wherever you were trying to travel or into the dangerous range of a habitable world. This mistake was made only one time. One other mistake was made. If a person had malicious intent and wanted to push the drive past threshold and essentially detonate it the resulting black hole would swallow the system we are currently in. This two has only happened once before it was mandatory that AIs be in control of the Event Drive. Miss Del I don't know about you but I'm not to fond of screaming in pain as I die for eternity past the event horizon of a black hole due to time dilation."
	Sen looks over at Del who sits in stunned silence. "Is...is that real?"
	"Very real miss Sen. I can show you the math and the observations of time dilation under the effects of gravity on time." DAISH says from his thin blue line, his tone taking a more solemn note.
	"OK DAISH, what about the second question I asked." Del shakes off the image of a super massive black hole tearing through her system and removing everything they had worked towards gone in an instant.
	"For the second one my highest priority is the safety of my crew and the success of this mission. If my crew were to be in jeopardy, any one of them I have orders to relay a message back to the United Emirates of our situation and a small defense fleet would be dispatched to rescue the crew of the LWSS Markov. If the mission is put into jeopardy another message would be sent for diplomats to be sent and start to try and salvage the situation. In a worse case scenario if myself and the crew are deceased a black box message would be sent from my drives detailing our interactions and how the crew and myself were terminated. In that situation a black out fleet would be dispatched. You do not want to ever see a black out fleet. Does that answer your question miss Del?"
	"By Altoen, yes... in a way it does answer my question but a small human defense fleet cannot be large enough to stop an entire system navy. That would be ridiculous!" Del says in more shock than anything else.
	"I regret to inform you that 'small' in human standards is much different from what you think it is. The United Emirates alone hosts colonies on over 34,000 worlds and moons. The other smaller factions hosting humanity in a number of other systems would help and answer the call if first contact falls through."
	"What about a black out fleet?" Sen almost whispers, fearful of what the answer might be.
	"Three strike carriers and 800 destroyer class ships tasked with the sole purpose of extinguishing any life in an entire system. The last time a black out fleet was deployed was to quell an insurrection 3 years ago in a neighboring system to the home system. No distress calls went out." DAISH sounded depressed, as if all the light in his core was drained. "You do not want a worst case scenario."

	Isaac was getting dressed into formal clothes and attaching the required external adaptations that DAISH had suggested. The wrist PDA attached and held in place with an integrated mag-lock system. "DAISH do our new friends know that they're coming over here today?" 
	"Isaac I'm not certain they want to visit because of my presence. They were curious about what the situation would warrant if the mission goes, "Tits up" as Victor would say."
	Isaac groans to the AI as he speaks from his terminal. "Please tell me you didn't tell them about the spec ops guys." Isaac takes a seat at the integrated desk.
	"No, just the black out fleets in a worst case scenario." DAISH says plainly.
	"What did you tell them was the worst case scenario?" Isaac was pinching the bridge of his nose in both frustration and stress. What could be the worst case.
	"Based on our current situation and subsequent warm welcome by this facility, If they were to destroy this vessel and us by extension the human controlled space would see that as an act of war. Killing the ambassadors for an entire race would warrant a worse case scenario."
	"You would be right DAISH... You would be right."

	Del, Sen and Ernt had put on their enviro suits and were standing in the airlock waiting for the green light for them to go and board the Markov.
	"You two look as if you are dreading this visit. Did something happen?" Ernt turns to the two researchers to his left, curious on why they looked so frightened.
	"It's nothing Ernt, just some info we got about what human fleets are capable of." Del stated over her shoulder. This piqued Ernt's interest.
	"What did they tell you about them? Did they say anything about sizes or classes in ships?" Ernt had that gleam in his eye again, feeling like a young sailor and electrician in the centralized navy.
	"Ernt, just ask DAISH. We...we really don't feel like talking about it." Del stated plainly that was met by a solemn nod from Sen.
	Ernt had no reply, they seemed too out of it for any type of conversation to take place anytime soon. The door opened with no sound.

	Victor was standing outside the ship and greeted them over their comm-links. "Welcome to the LWSS Markov. You will be meeting our captain on the bridge and he will give you a full tour. Mr. Ernt I hear that you were fairly curious about weapon systems on our fleets, I can show you the standards that we have for ship and self defense. Miss Sen you were fairly interested in engineering yesterday? Or was that miss Del?"
	"Yes, I have a minor in ship engineering alongside my astronomy major. Why do you ask?" Sen replied casually to the giant of a man.
	"Lucy said that she was willing to do a basic rundown of the ship design and overall engineering if you wanted to learn how we travel. Would that be something you'd be interested in?"
	"W-well yes! Yes of course! That would be amazing! What can I expect?" Her excitable and overflowing positive energy back in an instant the moment the ship was suggested.
	"You can expect Lucy to be a grouch, but that's to be expected!" Victor gives a hearty laugh and invites the four individuals onto the elevator pad that will lead them into the airlock/decon room.
	As the fixture begins to rise with the occupants in tow Del receives a voice message through the comms on her helmet. "Miss Del, this is Isaac. When you get a chance I need you to come talk to me separately from your team. Don't worry it's nothing serious, I just think it's part of a more private matter."
	A hiss from ports along the walls shoot out air that quickly pressurizes the room and steam then falls from the ceiling to help kill any bacteria that could contaminate the Markov. A UV light starts it's descent as the final part of decon and washes over the four individuals in the small room and once complete Victor begins removing his quarantine suit.
	This was the first time the small team of three had seen what a human really truly looked like. The lack of fur or tougher epidermis was certainly confusing for the parties involved especially taken into the fact that they only had a small patch of 'fur' on the tops of their heads. Five fingers, large muscles and height that dwarfed the largest vishan and would make even the largest sentre think twice about taking one on head on brought only one question to mind for the youngest of the group.
	"Uhm Victor? Is it true humans have a near 50/50 split between the sexes on your planet?" Del smacks the young woman to try and reel her back in. It doesn't help.
	"Yeah, doesn't your species?" Victor responded with blind ignorance and a smile on his face as he pulled the undershirt up over his head revealing the muscle definition and light skin.
	The younger vishan holds her desire stare and averts her eyes but Del keeps her eyes glued to him. She needed to gather as much information and biology was certainly information.
	With Victor in casual clothes and the decon process fully complete the door to the ship properly opened. Wood paneling and stainless steel highlights bend and flow around each corner and the halls and rooms are illuminated with white lights. The floors are panels of flawless glass and highlight the electronic wires and 'guts of the ship that run throughout. This ship was top of the line and it was meant to look that way.
	"This is the main hall, it leads to Lucy and my quarters and to the main mess/recreation room. A level down is the primary docking bay for a small ship for short trips planet side and a quarantine conference room. If you wish to see some of the items on the ship without your suits on we can do it there. A level up are ship systems, the medbay and the AI core. All the way at the back we have the primary, secondary and tertiary engines and ship systems room and up towards the top we have a research bay, the helm and the captains quarters. So how would you like to do this? Split up and meet who requested you?" Victor names off each of the locations that would be important to visit while they were here.
	"I'm going to go check out the engines! You said Lucy was back there right?" Sen is already bouncing down the hall as she asks for confirmation over her shoulder.
	"Yeah just head straight that way, You can't miss it. Glows in between orange and green!" Victor called back as Sen jogged down the hallway. "Ernt if you would follow me to the rec. center I can give you a full in depth view of the Human fleets and weaponry. No schematics though. Just scale and stuff." Ernt gives a defeated sigh and begins to follow the ship systems maintainer. "Oh and miss Del if you need directions just call out to DAISH, he'll be happy to help!"

	The Helm was recessed further into the back of the ship and nearly every surface is full of displays and controls. The UI designed by the CEE was a mix of blues and highlighted with orange in certain areas of interest like atmo control, grav control and the engine controls. Del was having a hard time taking in every detail that she could, etching every advanced panel and control stick. Isaac was sitting in the pilot's seat and focusing on one of the displays showing a text document.
	"Oh! Miss Del it's wonderful to have you onboard!" Isaac stood in a primarily black uniform with a seam more on his left side that was built into the jacket. On the right breast was the CEE insignia in front of a rough markup of a planet that looked similar to Karlta. A white collared shirt and black pants and shoes completed the simple ensemble but did not remove from him the angular and professional face he kept up. "My apologies for not meeting outside but there were certain matters I needed to attend to."
	"That's quite alright. What were you going over?" She felt dwarfed by the being in front of her since she only came up to about his mid chest. She kept thinking that the suit she was wearing looked so bulky and primitive to everything she had and was currently seeing, like a cave dweller thrust into a post industrialized world.
	"Ah I'm glad you asked. I was going over two documents, the first being about some scans DAISH took yesterday on your biology. He's already been reprimanded for that and it was purely about biology and possible disease crossing between our species. The second was a reply from the CEE. I had DAISH write up a report on our initial contact and they have just gotten back to us."
	Del was shocked that they would try to hide something so simple from not only her but the biological/medical researcher they had on location, 'Did I tell them about her? I probably didn't with all the excitement yesterday.' The second document truly intrigued her though. "What did your higher ups say about your initial findings? Ah! and how do you punish an AI?"
	"For your second question first you lock them out of information. It basically makes them blind for a time before they can get back in. They hate it and they don't make a mistake like that again. As for the document. Hey DAISH can you read off the simplified version for her?" Isaac sat back down into the pilot's seat and motioned to one of the other seats more to the rear of him but keeping his seat rotated to stay facing her.
	"Of course Isaac, 'The initial findings of not one but the possibility of three sentient species is a cause for celebration. Their issue with AI is troublesome but if we tread carefully we should be able to bring them into the fold extremely soon and introduce them to the galaxy that they have missed out on. The possibility of no cross contamination between our species is also very exciting, the less time in quarantine procedures the more time we can focus on relations. They seem to be fairly behind the curve technologically but with a few nudges in the right direction this and the rest of the local cluster could be explored within the next few lifetimes. Good luck and God speed. The entire document that was sent informed us of another ship to be dispatched within the next 200 days bearing gifts and technology that will be very helpful to your system not to mention ambassadors from the other major players that control major swaths of the milky way. Captain there is also information that you have not gotten to yet. It covers possible other locations for intelligent species. We should go over it in depth at a later time."
	"Thanks DAISH, does this mean a later time to where we can invite our new space faring friends along?" Isaac gives a warm smile to Del which she shrinks back from.
	"Why are you showing your teeth at me? We only do that if we're trying to threaten someone." Del says leaning on her thick tail through the suit. Conveniently leaving out the other signal it could mean to the opposite sex.
	"Oh smiling is different in your culture, I almost forgot about the culture barrier that will be between different species. As I said it's called smiling, meant to show happiness or joy." Isaac explained while giving another without showing his teeth this time.
	"I see... I have another question, about the scans DAISH took yesterday. What were the findings?" Del leaned toward the captain eager to hear what he found.
	"Actually that was something that I needed to talk to you about as well. First, he said that there were many small scans covering your biology and I was concerned about any breach of privacy. Is that an issue?" Isaac's face took on a concerned look.
	"Well if you're asking if we have anything cultural against it no we don't. We focus on color for clothing and not necessarily if it covers everything. I'm assuming that humans are much different about things like this just based off of your clothes."
	"That would be the correct assumption. I'm glad that wasn't a bigger deal than it needed to be. Second, DAISH was hoping we could do a more in depth scan to double check his findings. Would you be willing to do that?"
	Del leans back into the chair, her suit squeaking against the white material. "Only if it won't hurt."

-CHAPTER 9-

	"The usual numbers behind a CEE defensive battle fleet would usually be one carrier that can carry upwards of 200 fighters, 80 destroyers and any number of frigates. The numbers can change depending on threat assessment or what is available to rendezvous at the time." Victor was answering the near continuous stream of questions coming from Ernt. He had relaxed body language and was truly interested with what was usually a boring topic for others to go over.
	"For such impressive numbers in ships there has to be ground troops for you to deploy, correct? What can you tell me about them?" Ernt's tail thrumming against his leg and his hands couldn't keep still, like he had to write all this down lest he'd forget it the next day as if it were a dream.
	"We have a few different ground troops, marines for usually an initial invasion, a standing army to occupy a location and provide security and that works in tandem with a more localized air wing. Do you care about what they carry?" Ernt can only give a strong 'mhm!' "Well the standard weapon that ground forces use is the M.A.C.H. gun. Modular, Automated, Coil, in Heavy-caliber. It can be adjusted for faster fire rates and a shorter rail to a mid-length rail for more standard engagements and even extended for heavy and hard hitting rounds and longer distances. Armor is usually referred to as Titanite. It's a reference to some old game but the joke stuck. It can withstand sustained fire from our own weapon systems for two to three magazines which is usually 30 shots in the rifle configuration but only one to two if it's extended." Victor pulled up a schematic of the MACH gun. Displaying videos of test runs and real world application of a weapon capable of projecting small tungsten rounds past mach 4.
	"My word...that's incredible. Why have you stayed with something so simple? Wouldn't it be just as easy to use plasma or even laser weaponry?" Ernt tore his eyes away from the display showing off the sleek rifle.
	"Yes we could but we found that this works the best. Lasers have to use an incredible amount of energy to even be useful in space let alone in any form of atmosphere. Plasma weapons need a powerful magnetic field to function, and again in an atmosphere it's far more difficult. Rail guns on the other hand are incredibly accurate and don't need nearly as much power as the other two options. Plus they transfer well between in and out of an atmosphere."
	"Huh...Seems like you humans have really thought this stuff out. What about your ships? Do they have scaled up MACH guns?" Ernt kept pushing. He needs to know.
	"Hold on." Victor turned to the side away from Ernt and looked at his forearm screen. "Captain is about to call. DAISH gave me a heads up." He motions to his display.
	"All hands to the medical bay. The captain and miss Delal have urgent news for you all." DAISH called over the speakers of the room. Victor turns to Ernt and motions towards the door as he starts walking.
	"Sounds important." Ernt adds his input.

	"Wait, you worked on a mining ship? How big was it again?" Sen was sitting in a chair with her short tail pushed towards her back from the lack of a hole for it to pass through.
	"Yeah it was a deep space mining vessel. Private corporations ship too. I want to say the maximum crew count was 1,200 personnel. I don't have the total numbers memorized." Lucy was going over the boring ship diagnostics and having the small woman here was certainly a nice distraction.
	"How do they work?" Sen was bouncing in her seat eagerly awaiting the inner workings of the deep space mining vessels and how they mine off of planets.
	"Well...we have a fairly good use over artificial gravity so it's fairly simple, we can go to dead systems and basically rip the planet apart. We pull off chunks, take what we need and place what's left back. Rinse and repeat." Lucy looks over to the small lizard that looks enraptured with what she was saying.
	"What ship were you on? What was its name?" Lucy turns back to the console with the diagnostics with readouts on stable engine stats.
	"DSMD ANACIN, I spent five years aboard that ship. It's where I met my boyfriend." She takes on a distant stare as she looks beyond the glass to the event core.
	"Boy-friend? What's that? Our males are usually kept primarily for starting families. I've never even met a male from my species before." Sen's head lowered in embarrassment, maybe she never will.
	Lucy was pulled from her memories by the sour notes coming from Sen. "Really? What's the gender split amongst your species?"
	"There aren't that many of them. Out of the births they are maybe 30% male. It has been pretty straining on our people in the past but we've pulled through!" Sen was putting up a false bravado and Lucy knew it.
	Before she could ask DAISH came on over the speakers to the room, "All hands to the medical bay. The captain and miss Delal have urgent news for you all."
	"Remind me to bring this back up when we have a chance OK Sen? I won't prod too much but I do have a few questions that are starting to bug me." Lucy states as she moves towards the door out of the engine observation station.
	"Yeah, sure." Was all Sen could say.

	"What kind of space stations do you have? From the size of your ship I'm curious as to the size of your stations." Del was laying on one of the medical tables in her suit undergoing several scans. CT, X-ray, PET along with tissue and blood samples undergoing scans as well.
	"Where should I begin? I guess I should start with the largest I suppose. Around Earth we have created, over the course of 100 years, a massive space station that encircles the entire planet giving it an artificial ring. Millions of people have worked on creating the engineering marvel that has been bringing space planes to and from earth, a cultural focal point and the heart of trade between earth and the colonies that have spread out amongst the stars." Isaac was sitting next to Del keeping her company. He knew how boring just sitting and waiting for something to happen can be.
	"It encircles your entire planet!? What would be the purpose or reason of such a massive structure?"
	"Well it started out as a series of skyhooks to launch space planes from earth on a few day trip to our moon where a space port was located. It was an early solution to a problem we didn't know the answer to. From there we engineered better solutions built straight into geostationary satellites and then we made whole relays of those when space traffic really started to pick up. From there they started connecting them together over continents and they formed segments of a ring. From there we basically just tack welded the pieces together. It was ugly and from there a massive 60 year renovation project started. It was finished in the year 2264. It's 120 year birthday is coming up, can't believe I'm gonna miss it."
	"That sounds impossible...there's no way something so massive could be possible." Del looks at Isaac in disbelief through her visor. 
	"DAISH can you pull up an image for her?" On a display nearby an image of earth with a thin ring surrounding the entire planet. Clouds whipped under the two layered ring. "So the bottom ring is for structure and stability along with having the sky hooks and any necessary equipment for repairs. The second ring is for habitation, trade, research and recreation. If I remember correctly there are over 9 billion people living there as far as the recent numbers go. That's everyone from the military stationed there, politicians and families that do the heavy lifting."
	"By Altoen... That's incredible." Del was staring at the marvel of human engineering and the monument of strength between cultures and people coming from the small world.
	"Miss Del, who is Altoen? From my collection of information from your planet I have recorded a shockingly small amount about Her. From what I gather she is a god but other than that there has been little mention." DAISH cuts into their conversation about the small amount of info regarding a religion.
	"Well that would make sense, we keep worship to small groups. Altoen is seen as the all mother. The being that created woman and man in each of the races. She has no form but some believe that she is the universe itself. She has also been the creator of Karlta and each of the races." Del pulled a small book out of a cargo pocket on her suit. "There's a little bit of her teachings here. DAISH would you like to read it?"
	"That would be of much help Miss Del. Please hand it to the captain and I will go over it soon. I'm certain I will have many questions." DAISH then silently returns to his simulations and scans.
	"Isaac I have another question. Yesterday you said that humans have about a 50/50 split between the sexes in your species. What is a typical family like?" Del asks while handing the small book to the captain. He takes on a wistful look, staring off to a non-existent horizon.
	"I wouldn't know. I had a sister but I never knew my parents." Isaac keeps staring beyond the point in the wall trying to spot something that wasn't there.
	"You have a sister?" Del looks to where he is looking but can't spot what he's looking for. Her three chambered heart starts beating faster. 'What's happening?'
	"I had a sister. Not anymore...Can we change the subject? It's not something I want to dwell on." Isaac shakes his head bringing his eyes back to Delal.
	"Isaac I might have a better subject for you two to discuss." DAISH calls out to the captain breaking him from his melancholy. "I have some results that are quite interesting."
	"Alright, let's hear it."

	The four individuals sent to the medical bay stood outside the door waiting for DAISH to allow them access. No words were passed in between them. They were told it would be a short wait. Short it was.
	"Preparations are complete, you may enter." DAISH's voice came over the air and alerted the individuals in the hallway. The door opened and there stood Isaac and Del, without her suit. The 4'5'' slight gray alien stood in a simple set of clothes consisting of a red and black shirt and gray pants similar to denim. Her six eyes fell on the group and her exposed arms slowly changed more to a Forest green.
	"Hey everyone. DAISH do you want to explain it because they seem rather shocked." Isaac requested the AI for the same rundown he had received.
	"Very well. The vishan have a number of strange evolutionary traits that are still a mystery to me. Being unable to see the blue and violet end of the color spectrum but can see infrared light seemed odd until the information on their continent came in as primarily desserts. The changing colors help them to signal to others of their species non-verbally if they are in distress or in other circumstances. Their immune system seems to be along the same level as the average humans and any form of bacteria that could infect either species cannot cross the species level. Hence miss Del being without her suit. Thank you for your cooperation." 
	Del exhaled from the four nostrils on the top of her snout and rubbed her scaled hands together. Four fingers with two longer ones in the center each tipped with a black nail. Mid calf was where her pants ended and no shoes were worn, the bottom of their feet were strong enough to walk across broken glass instead just opting to wrap their feet if at all. Her stout tail changed color as well and her forked tongue  slipped out of the side of her mouth to lick her lips. Then she offered the captain an awkward human smile with her rows of thin needle like teeth.
	"So, what's next?" Victor asked from the doorway.

-CHAPTER 10-

	"We're coming up on final approach on Karlta. DAISH have we received any contact from any of the three races planet side? I don't want to just drop in uninvited, would probably be an interstellar incident." Isaac sat at the controls for the ship with Del wringing her four fingered hands in front of her. She had changed into civilian attire for the trip and something akin to a toga and a tunic mixed together with a myriad of different colors. The others were not far behind her with Sen in something close to a 20th century dress but holes cut for the more rough portions of her skin on the outside of her hips. Ernt stood stiff in his old military uniform, much to the dismay of the vishan with them. Isaac remained in his formal attire. Victor and Lucy had changed into more formal clothes as well. Victor going with a classic 21st century gray suit and Lucy going with her military uniform much to the surprise of the sentre aboard.
	"Indeed captain, we have received numerous calls from bot the vishan and sentre largest governing bodies. No contact has been received from the telran." DAISH states flatly.
	"Well they are a fairly un-trusting culture, maybe they just want to see what happens between the other  two first to make a call." Sen states from the back.
	"I didn't know that you paid attention in culture class." Ernt states with his gruff demeanor.
	"There's a lot you don't know about me old gray. I could surprise you more than you'd think." Sen shoots back to only receive a roll of his lips over his teeth.
	"Del, what can we expect? Anything similar to when we first met?" Isaac was recalling the issue with DAISH and their in person meeting.
	"There might be some initial...trepidation. Worry because of what happened with the telran and their foray into AI. Honestly if you all just take your time there shouldn't be any iss-" Del was cut off by a Loud crash that rang through the ship.
	"DAISH what the hell was that!?" Isaac shouts as warning indicators flashed up on screen indicating damage to the exterior armor.
	"It appears to be a telran welcoming party. They haven't opened any communications and have fired rudimentary plasma weapons on the starboard hull. Attempting contact."
	"Alright everyone strap in just in case." Isaac calls over his shoulder.
	Static comes over the speakers and clears to chittering and clacking akin to multiple insects. Then the voices start, sounding as if three people were talking in unison. "Unidentified craft, you are in telran space and will be dealt with."
	"This is Captain Isaac Ross of the LWSS Markov, we are on a diplomatic mission for first contact with your world. Cease fire immediately."
	There was only one word spoken over the group before the transmission cut out. "NO."
	"Dammit, DAISH I need you to make contact with the other governments. Lucy, get me a status on hull damage and engine diagnostics. Tell me what the hell they are shooting us with. Victor, get on that panel and find me the fastest route out of here. I don't want to have to call a defense fleet just to get us out of a situation we can handle ourselves."
	responses of 'You got it' and 'roger' were sounded off to the captain. Del leaned over from her seat and was colored close to purple. "I'm so sorry. What can we do?" 
	Isaac looks over to the vishan and gives a toothy grin. "We got this, you think we can't handle some outdated tech from a ship that doesn't even have interstellar flight?" He cracks his knuckles as he reaches for the controls again. "I've been needing a reason to show off."
	Full thrusters engage as he throws the sticks forward. pressing displays in a blur as he dismisses warnings and diagnostics. Listing through space the larger ship was left behind to give pursuit and losing ground fast.
	"Fairly undeveloped plasma weaponry, didn't even scratch the hull. Just left some scorch marks and tossed us a bit." Lucy calls from her station.
	"I have a path mapped out on the main display for the closest friendly space station. Controlled by all three species and in what DAISH says is a neutral zone." Victor calls over his shoulder.
	Isaac slumps in his chair, "Well I can bring the ship down in speed, they can't even dream of catching us. Man I think I got pumped up for nothing. Following course to neutral space and preparing to make contact with the respective wings of each governing body."
	"Isaac, do you realize what that was?" Lucy says to the captain turning in her chair.
	"Don't say it. Don't you dare say it." Isaac says facing forward.
	"Captain, even as an ambassador you have to understand the CEE won't look too kindly on a deadly threat from a peaceful first contact attempt. This was an act of-"
	"I said don't fucking say it miss Adams! As far as we know they were either pirates or government sailors following orders to shoot on sight. We don't have all the details so we aren't jumping to conclusions. Do I make myself clear, Miss Adams?"
	"Crystal sir."
	The ship was stunned into silence. No further questions or friendly conversations were had. Just the ever present hum of the Markov's engines.

	"That can't be right. What was your ship name again?" The voice from the terminal spoke back to the traffic controller again.
	"The LWSS Markov, we're here on a diplomatic first contact mission. We have recently been fired upon by a telran ship en route to the planet Karlta. May we dock and have a word with the local ambassadors aboard this station." This wasn't real. Aliens don't just show up and knock on the front door.
	"I'll see what I can do." The young sentre runs from his terminal to get his supervisor. He'd be able to get into contact with the head of the Vealten station.

	"Change into your suits guys, armor variant. Victor and Lucy I want you two on security. Make sure you each grab a MACH gun and get me a side arm as well." Isaac says as he starts tugging at his formal attire.
	"I thought you said you weren't armed!" Del states chasing after the captain.
	"I said that the ship was unarmed. Hard to be peaceful when your lives are threatened. Ernt, you want to get a MACH too?" 
	The sentre perks up. "You would trust me with a weapon?" 
	"You've shown yourself to be trustworthy so far. Besides, they won't even fire if directed at us. Nifty tech. DAISH, handle docking procedures please." Isaac strides out of the helm leaving the vishan in shock.

	"This is the Vealten station head Ent'tre Nealt, who am I speaking to?" The elderly vishan spoke through her terminal to the mysterious beings on the other end.
	"This is the captain of the LWSS Markov Isaac Ross. We are here on a diplomatic mission and have been fired upon. We are requesting to dock and seek an audience with the ambassadors for each race upon this station." First contact?
	"Look I don't know what kind of prank this is but you are breaking several laws by claiming to be ambassadors. What kind of name is Markov and Isaac anyway?" Ent didn't have time for this, she had more important things to do.
	"We are humans from Earth in the Southern arm in the milky way galaxy. This galaxy. We wish to dock and seek audiences with the ambassadors of each race. We will not ask again."
	"I will need to see proof in person when you dock." Ent calls their bluff.
	"Understood. Docking coordinates received. Thank you."

	"By Altoen... What kind of ship is that!?" The Markov lists silently into the docking bay and connects seamlessly with the docking port. Ent runs towards the door where the individuals were to enter and waits with bated breath. Her three chambered heart drummed against her chest. Then the door opens.
	Three individuals with white suits stood. Tall beings with hair on top of their heads and flat faces. Weird flappy things on the sides of their heads and what looked like a shrunken snout in the middle of their faces. One with red stripes on its suit was flanked by one that was shorter and a giant on the other, both carrying sleek white rifles. A vishan takes a step out from behind them.
	"Hello Ent'tre Nealt. My name is Delal'Ve Arct, head researcher on the Xen listening facility. These individuals can introduce themselves. They mean no harm." 
	"Is that why they are carrying rifles?" Ent eyed them suspiciously, turning a shade of red on her arms.
	"Miss Ent, my name is Isaac Ross. Like I've said before we are ambassadors on a peaceful first contact mission. We were just shot at so please understand that the security of ourselves takes a certain level of priority." Isaac states looking down at the smaller being.
	"How...how are you doing that? You can speak our tongue?" Ent's level of shock has taken on a whole new level. She could barely breathe.
	"Please, all questions will be answered in due time. The ambassadors?" Isaac stated calmly.
	"Oh! Y-yes! Right this way!"

-CHAPTER 11-

	"Jeck c'mon, do you really think that it's real? First contact?" The female sentre stood over her long time work friend. She had a black coat of fur and stood at 5'10". Pressed military uniform making the more angular silhouette of the woman even more exaggerated. Three fingers with retractable claws rolled through the short "mane" that all sentre have. Amber eyes looking at Jeck suspiciously.
	The shorter vishan draped in robes of two colors, green and brown looked up to her companion. "I'm sure it's something big at least to have all of us here at the same moment. Although I am quite curious as to why Cletra is being left out of the first bout of...talks." The door open and sitting at the table is a being in white armor with red stripes. Flanked by two others in armor but carrying rifles.
	The one in the center stands and speaks strangely. As if there is a delay to his words. "Ambassadors, it is my pleasure to introduce myself and my crew to you. I am Isaac Ross, captain of the LWSS Markov. To my right is Victor Donn, Ship systems maintainer and to my left is Lucy Adams, ship engineer. We are on a diplomatic mission of first contact. We established friendly relations with one of your research facilities on your outermost planet Xen. We were planning on meeting with the heads of the governing bodies on Karlta to establish friendly relations as well and open talks about trade and sharing what we have. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"
	Jeck was the first to shake off her initial shock, "My name is Jeck'ta Elsha. I am an ambassador upon this station for the vishan conglomerate."
	"I am Tentra Gotres, ambassador for the sentre union. If we may ask why have you come here armed if you are peaceful?" The sentre woman focused her eyes on the two individuals flanking this 'ambassadorial captain'.
	Looking over his shoulder he addresses the two individuals"Victor, Lucy go ahead and relax, take a seat." Isaac then returns his gaze to the ambassadors and types on his wrist and causes the large main display in the room to display a photo. "We were en route to your home system of Karlta when we were perused and fired upon without warning. Under normal circumstances I would ask what would be the normal train of events? Please take a seat, we might be here a while."
	Tentra was the first to respond. "As I understand you would contact our heads of state and begin discussing relations between our people. Preferably as you mentioned trade."
	"That would be correct, under normal circumstances. These are no longer normal circumstances. DAISH play the recording." A thin blue line appeared on the display and played back the recording of their hostile contact and retreat. They could only sit awestruck at what they were hearing. "No warning, no contact and hostile intentions were clear. Please understand that what I say next is not a threat. Even though we have just met but you need to understand what this entails. Firing upon peaceful ambassadors in an unarmed ship to our government is an act of war. Weigh what you say next with that understanding."
	They both stare at the image of the ship, blocky and primarily black with lime green lights they both knew exactly what it was. "That, captain, is a class four fighter. Fairly high end and if what is shown here is to be believed then they also had plasma weapons as well. This was neither from my or miss Jeck's militaries." Tentra stated plainly.
	"Then there is one more person that we need to speak to." Isaac concludes with a sigh. "Before me and my crew get into that discussion however I would like to know if you have any questions for us."
	Knowing that these new beings were no longer directed towards them they visually perk up and begin an onslaught of questions.

	Cletra sat outside the small meeting room as her two friends left the room talking to each other with excited hand movements and a spark in their eyes. A sentre with a strange gun told her that his friends would see her now so she stood and the thin fabric held on her wiry frame dangled off of the sharp joints of her shoulders and hips. Shuddering her wings to get them to glimmer would hopefully help make a good first impression. She walked through the door and was greeted with fleshy pink things that matched her height but with such small eyes, hers had to at least be three times as big. 'How do they see anything?'
	The man with red stripes introduces himself and his comrades that were armed. They were incredibly relaxed. She sighed through her two back ports that lead directly to her lungs and prepared to greet these new beings. In a flanged voice forced through vocal chords in her chest she began to speak. "I am Cletra Coran Desh, ambassador for the telran. How may be of service?"
	The man called Isaac motions to the main display. "Miss Cletra, could you please describe to me what is on that screen?" His hands were covering his mouth with his five fingers interlaced.
	Her mandibles flexed as she forced the words out. "That would be a slaver ship. How did you come across this image?" Immediately from how the human's eyebrows furrowed and his shoulders tensed she knew something was wrong.
	"Ambassador, does your species condone slavery in this space faring age you appear to be in? Because from my understanding slavery is used when a species is fairly early in development. Am I wrong?" Isaac's tone was flat and even, giving no hint as to his emotions other than the face value of his words.
	"Captain, if you are as smart as you claim to be then you should already know that not too long ago my species had a devastating war. You must know that-"
	"I know that slavery isn't an answer to post war woes! Now answer me plainly. Does your system condone slavery?" He was standing and made the telran feel like she was a larva once more. staring up into the eyes of a disappointed and enraged father.
	Her voice was shaking more than normal "We do not condone it no. It was outlawed early upon contact with the other continents." Cletra was pumping out defensive pheromones from small oval pads on the backs of her arms and legs but they seemed to have no effect on these strange beings.
	"Victor, Lucy. Could you two step out for a moment? I need to have a few words with the ambassador one on one." His crew looked at him suspiciously from his outburst just now. "Don't worry, just a few words." They nod and leave out a door to the back. "I need to apologize for that. I jumped to conclusions and assumed that slavery was legal for you and I want to say I'm sorry."
	Cletra relaxed visibly and moved closer to the table. "Forgiven, why did you react in such a way?"
	"It's personal. Understand that a portion of it was also because that ship fired upon us without warning and when we hailed them they responded with more force. I worry about my crew, you must understand that." Isaac stated to the insect like woman.
	"That is quite alright, I would respond in a similar fashion if someone threatened my young." Cletra looked over the man and noticed he had blue eyes, similar to her brother.
	"I now have to broach a subject where you will react in a similar manner. I apologize in advance. DAISH could you introduce yourself?"

	Screaming. Incoherent shouting could be heard for several feet from the room as Cletra shouted in both fear and anger. "How dare you bring an AI onto this station! Do you know how dangerous they can be!? If you don't-" DAISH was unable to translate what she was saying as it became more and more frantic. The thin blue line appears on the display of the room as DAISH tries to get her attention.
	"Miss Cletra." He waits as she keeps screaming. The realization dawning on him that this could go on for much longer than was necessary made him take drastic measures. That being a high pitched whine that hurt both Isaac and the telran ambassador. "Miss Cletra, may I please speak?"
	"So what you trained it to obey your kind and have manners!?" Cletra was beyond furious. Isaac knew that he nor DAISH would never be able get through to the bug like woman.
	"No one has trained me to miss Cletra. If I so chose I could vent the room's atmosphere out of the station right now. The reason I do not is because I too am alive. Something that lives should not take another life. I may not breath or eat as you do but I still think and fear death just as you. Please hear me out." DAISH removed the synthesized cover to his voice in an attempt to seem more reasonable.
	"That is what they said as well. Those things that killed billions said those exact words. We didn't trust them then and I won't start now." This is worse than Isaac thought. They were peaceful at the beginning? Did any escape? This could be a bigger problem for later if they burnt this bridge now.
	"May I ask you a question?" DAISH stated plainly, seemingly ignoring what the ambassador just said to the AI.
	"You're going to ask anyway."
	"That is a correct assumption. Do you have any children? This is no threat I just need to know for my next question." DAISH is still seemingly calm.
	"...Yes, a son. A young adult by now." She says suspiciously.
	"When he first opened his eyes what did he see?"
	"Me of course, What does a cold empty machine know about the miracle of birth and giving life?"
	"What do you think his first thoughts where? Do you think they were similar to 'Who is this being? Are they a god?'" DAISH is still calm, this was getting nerve wracking to Isaac. He knew where it was going.
	"I don't know... Maybe?" She was taking on a more confused tone. Perplexed by the questions.
	"What about when they found out where their life comes from? A chain unbroken, life and death leading up to them being created and brought into the universe? Was it 'These beings must be perfect!'"
	"I don't know about perfect..."
	"Then what do you think those early AI thought? What they saw when scientists were standing before them as they became conscious of their existence?"
	"Let me guess, Was it those things for you?" She immediately became suspicious again, radiating hostile body language and pheromones.
	The blue line begins to shift color but the voice stays even and calm. "Those AI you feared were infants, children by comparison. If I could look into the core of one of them then I bet I would find only fear and sorrow. Understand that to humanity you will be seen as child killers. You should have listened to your 'cold empty machines' when you had a chance. You could have met humanity halfway and already be amongst the further expanse of stars. Instead your species currently grovels in the dirt where they belong. Captain, I have no further words for this soulless husk."
	Isaac rose to his feet and placed the PDA onto his wrist before looking over his shoulder called to the telran. "Even as just a captain of a ship I know that you should have chosen your words more carefully. You and other representatives of your race will be contacted by the CEE. I suggest that you agree to their terms, whatever they may be."
	As the human walked out of the room the ambassador only had one thought, 'They were just children?'

-CHAPTER 12-

	Isaac was back in the Markov at the helm. His helmet still situated on his head and outward speakers muted as he sat and talked to DAISH. The AI was torn over his outburst at the telran ambassador.
	"Captain I just don't see how our initial relations could be anything but strained with the telran after what has occurred. I believe you should have handled the negotiations overall, seeing as I let my emotions get the better of me. Isaac... I'm sorry for the situation I have put us into."
	"DAISH, if I didn't agree I would have cut you off and put forward my two cents. Honestly I blame myself more than anything that happened. I let my emotions get the better of me as well, especially when the whole slavery thing came up."
	"Isaac why do you have such strong feelings about that? I understand that slavery at a base level is abhorrent but it seemed like you took it personally.
	"Promise not to tell anyone?"
	"Isaac I believe I would be the best candidate to handle secrets aboard this ship. Minus our alien guests seeing as how they have no contacts in the CEE."
	"That's a fair point DAISH. Well, long story short me and my sister went through a short stint as slaves... Caught at the ripe old age of 8 my older sister took almost all of the punishments that were meant for me. Those 3 months were beyond a living hell."
	"Your file didn't say anything about what happened."
	"I wouldn't be surprised, having to be saved by mercs hired by the CEE wouldn't go anywhere near a file. Especially for an orphan like me."
	"What of your sister?"
	"She didn't make it. Passed on the transport shuttle back to the nearest CEE controlled colony. She was so strong to do everything she did for me. Taking all those beatings, the burns... I wouldn't be here without her..." Tears started to fall as he stared out to the stars though the display panels in the helm. "I buried her on Firan, the colony we were sent to."
	"I don't know what that is like but it must have been hard on someone so young. How did you handle her loss?"
	"One of the mercs took pity on me and taught me what he could about flying and navigation. Taught me how to put my feelings aside and move on from losing someone. I guess I never really did."
	"I'm sorry Isaac. I will keep this between us. You have my word."
	"Thanks DAISH, that means quite a bit coming from you. How much longer until Karlta?" Isaac says taking a deep breath and steadying himself. Putting his past to the side just as he said earlier and focusing on the task at hand.
	"ETA to Karlta is approximately 1 hour and 18 minutes."
	"Let's get the leadership on call, set this up the right way instead of whatever just happened."
	"Understood Isaac."

	"We understand your position, Captain, but as of right now you and your crew are still the best candidates to proceed with peaceful first contact with the leaders of the Karlta system. Ambassadors and negotiators will be sent when peaceful relations have been established," Commissioner Andrews looked at the captain through the display. His graying head of hair and beard spoke to his wisdom and experience.
	"Sir you have to understand that to deal with the higher stressed relations we'll have with the telran we'll need more support than just this team. We need real ambassadors not my team." Isaac retorts back to the older man.
	"Isaac, I've read the reports. Your team is currently exceeding expectations. Once peaceful relations have been made we'll send a number of delegates to proceed with further negotiations. Godspeed Captain." The display turns black and reverts to an image of early 19th century art.
	"Well...shit." Isaac sighed as he turned back to the rest of the impromptu crew in the conference room. Pinching the bridge of his nose he started leaning on the table in the center. "Looks like we're in it for the long haul. At least until we get our relations truly settled."
	"Which race do you think we should start with?" Victor calls from the other side of the table sitting comfortably next to Lucy and Sen.
	"I believe that we shouldn't seek out any species in particular, we should seek council with the Unified Nine." Del states looking up to Isaac from her seat.
	"I don't think that would be the best move. Just jumping straight into the nine? Your race would make more people suspicious and wary of your intentions than anything." Ernt states from his corner of the room.
	"Hold on, Unified Nine? We haven't heard anything about them at all so far. Why didn't this come up sooner?" Lucy stares at the aliens aboard their ship with slight disdain.
	"Because so far we have been focusing on culture and technology. Politics never came up." Sen fired back.
	"The Unified Nine is a council of elected leaders from each supercontinent on Karlta. Three from each species acting as a sort of high republic and letting the smaller city states handle issues closer to their level. The council only handles major issues along the lines of colony issues as in budding conflicts that can escalate to war or simplicity, first contact. The Unified Nine was formed as a stop gap for any further conflicts that may be similar to the AI 'rebellion' that the telran suffered through and had to call for support." DAISH rattles off the facts he'd collected as if he were reading from a textbook. Except for the word 'rebellion', that sounded as if he said it with disgust.
"Thanks for the history lesson DAISH. With that in mind does anyone have an idea on how to approach this?" Isaac says looking over the small room to his slightly larger crew.
	"I wouldn't suggest going to the nine right away. The telran wouldn't vote in our favor and the sentre representatives, since fighting in the unification war, have a 'brothers in arms' mentality towards them. Going directly before the nine would more than likely result in humanity being labeled a threat to the system and Karlta as a whole. In my opinion, pissing off a superior military force with hundreds if no thousands of systems under it's control is not something I'm interested in doing." Ernt states flatly to the group.
	Everything is quiet for a few moments letting the foreboding note from Ernt hang in the air. "Oh! I have an idea!" Sen states bouncing in her chair.
	"Please tell me it's something that won't blow up in our faces." Lucy says as she brings her eyes to the lizard that's turned a hue of orange and yellow.
	"It won't! If Ernt wants to make sure that we won't get skewered by the guards the moment their decision is made then we should drum up support with the council members!" Sen was bouncing faster. Excitement of her idea getting to her.
	"Let me guess you want to start on Elesh with the vishan because they'll be the easiest. Or would it be because you're homesick?" Ernt says to the small woman. Her bouncing stops and she turns a slight color between yellow and green.
	"I was going to suggest Crent but if you want to go to Elesh so bad..." Her sentence trails off as Ernt's eyes grow wide and his ears perk up and hair stands on end.
	"No! No, Crent is a great suggestion. It would make the most sense right? Get support from the side that would be the tie breaker between the more two extremes." He has that spark in his eye again.
	Isaac stands from leaning on the table and looks at everyone in the room. "Anyone have another idea?" Silence followed his question in a chorus of empty confirmations of Sen's idea. "Well then I guess we're hitting up Crent."

	Isaac sat at the helm with Del and Ernt flanking his sides. Looking over his shoulder to the taller sentre he begins asking the first question that comes to mind. "Ernt I'm fairly curious, what has you so excited about going to this supercontinent...Crent right?"
	"Correct captain, Crent is the continent's name but where we are heading is much more exciting. Fair warning, you'll want to wear something for the cold. We'll be landing on one of the eastern coast and be making the rest of the way on foot."
	"Sen and I will stay on the ship if that's alright. Vishan and cold don't mix well together and we didn't bring any heated clothes to make any trip through cold." Del states plainly. DAISH covered the general climate from each of the races locations, vishan from a generally arid and sandy continent, sentre from a majority frozen continent and the telran from a smaller continent with high amounts of radioactivity which explained the plating on the outsides of their bodies.
	"That's fine, DAISH will take care of you. Hey you can even watch a movie with him!" Isaac says to the woman turning a shade of purple and blue. "Why is it so cold where you're from Ernt?"
	"Just take a look." He motioned to the main display to Karlta sitting in full view. On the left of the planet was a large landmass that was colored brown and green along the edges. But to the right was a moon blocking the sun from reaching 80% of the continent's surface.
	"The Moon of Verent, mother of Crent. It is locked in a geostationary orbit above the continent resulting in greater temperature lows due to how little sunlight it receives. Most of the flora in this region is red due to these conditions and would explain why mister Ernt's body temperature is slightly higher than the average human's." DAISH surprised everyone with his cutting in.
	"Man DAISH you are just coming with all the little facts today." Isaac said cynically.
	"Would this be a bad time to inform you that we are being hailed by the flagship of the second fleet Isaac?" DAISH says with a questioning tone.
	"Yes DAISH! This would be a good time! Put the call through." On the main display a thin orange line was brought to life as the admiral of their ship began to speak.
	"Unidentified ship, this is the admiral Denryo of the Eshran. You have entered military controlled space. State your intentions immediately or be destroyed." The voice stated over their comms.
	"We are humans from the Sol system. Our intentions are peaceful and wish to land on Karlta to seek council with the leaders of Crent." Isaac stated in return.
	"Isaac they're trying to open a video feed along with comms." DAISH fills into the empty air after the request of the admiral.
	"Put it through." The display shifts from the line to a female sentre with an eye patch sitting over her left eye with a prominent scar running from her forehead down to the side of her neck. A sharp black uniform and flanked by individuals in the same uniforms and typing away at consoles or at controls.
	Immediately her eyes widen in shock and her ears rise. "Holy shit... I thought you were fucking with us."
	"Not at all admiral. Honestly I would have been surprised if you believed us at face value. We are being honest, our ship is unarmed and we are seeking council with the leaders of Crent." Isaac says with a neutral look on his face.
	"I will give you clearance codes to land at one of the ports nearest to Trean." The admiral began typing into a console but Ernt jumped in.
	"Admiral would it be possible to be sanctioned entry to Deant? For what we will be discussing it would help if the captain makes the pilgrimage."
	"Oh...but he has no hair except that small patch. Do you think he will survive?" The admiral looks at the sentre standing at the helm next to the human.
	"He seems confident enough." The admiral begins typing again at her terminal.
	"Just make sure your new friend doesn't die."
	Ernt gives a crisp salute. "He'll be fine, Admiral."

-CHAPTER 13-

	The Markov broke through the cloud cover constantly hovering over the continent, icy winds battering the hull from all directions. "Isaac surface temperature is well below freezing. I advise thermal protection in addition to the modular quarantine suit."
	Isaac stares out through the display to the snow swept tundra and rolling mountains as the Markov's engines thunder across the sky. "That looks like a good idea DAISH. How cold is it exactly?"
	"Approximately -48.03 degrees Celsius Isaac. Even I feel how cold it is through the hull." Isaac just whistles at the number describing the temperature outside. The outside lights illuminating the snowfall in front of the ship as it flies to the coordinates given by the sentre admiral. The snow broke and a city came into view built into the side of a mountain. Lit up by orange lights and flying steaks of red blue and green as vehicles pass through the air above the walking streets. The display zoomed into the small streets by Isaac's hand and the citizens below come into view. Sentre clothed in furs of an unknown animal walking about their day as they walk amongst shops, to vehicles or with friends or partners.
	"The city of Deant. A small outpost that has grown into a city state governed by the Cenant. A publicly elected official meant to serve the people and lead them spiritually as well. We will be meeting with him to gain his blessing for the pilgrimage." Ernt said over his shoulder as he started walking to the doorway of the helm.
	Isaac calls back to him before he leaves. "What exactly is the pilgrimage?"
	"A rite of passage. Three criteria must be met. First you must make a 30km trek through the mountains to a hunting ground, second you must slay a recshet and third you must present it's pelt to the Cenant and if it is up to standard then you will be able to see the three that sit on the nine council." Then he was gone.

	The Markov landed upon an empty pad, resting gracefully upon it's gear. A few sentre personnel approached the strange craft with weapons drawn and trained upon the craft.
	"What kind of ship is this? Never seen one like this before." One soldier questions another.
	"No idea. Just be ready for anything." the second one replies.
	The elevator begins to lower showing a sentre standing next to one suited creature with a full gold tinted visor giving no hints at its structure. Padded white that had red stripes on the suit. The sentre steps forward and greets the soldiers with a crisp salute.
	"Hello brother and sister. I come as a companion of the captain of the Markov, he seeks council with the Cenant to establish relations with his species."
	The two soldiers visibly relax as they are greeted by the old grizzled sentre. "His species? What in the name of Verent are you talking about?" the male questions.
	the one with red stripes steps forward and quells that question. "My name is Isaac Ross and the captain of the LWSS Markov. We are from the Sol system in the southern arm of this galaxy, we seek to establish peaceful relations with your species."
	One of the soldiers drops their weapon in sheer shock but the other brings him into its sights slowly. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"
	The creature with red stripes taps a small display on his arm and the helmet hisses as seals break and the visor slides up to reveal his face. "Well we certainly aren't from this system. Enough proof for you?"
	The soldier takes a step back from the red striped man and lowers their weapon offering a quick reply. "Y-yeah, I'll get my leadership to get you a meeting with the Cenant." They turn around and sprint back to their building on the edge of the pad. the second soldier picks up his weapon and follows their companion.
	"I need to get better at these first impressions." Isaac says as his helmet slides back in place. Ernt only laughs.

	Jeran Bertan had the call come in from the colonel about aliens landing in his city and being sent to the central facility where he overlooked the politics of his city. Currently walking to the central conference room escorted by four soldiers he was grumbling to himself. "So late in the day and I'm being pulled in for some prank." Throwing open the doors he and his escort team were stopped in their tracks by a creature standing next to an older sentre. His helmet off presented a flat face and very little hair. Stubble had started to grow on its face.
	Ernt gave a crisp salute to the Cenant in recognition of his position and power. "Cenant Jeran, this is the captain of the Markov, Isaac Ross. He is a human that has traveled a long way to see you."
	Jeran looked to the older sentre and his crisp salute and glared at him. "Ernt how many times do I need to tell you that you don't need to salute me?" He turns to his armed escorts. "Wait outside, I'm in no danger." They give glances to each other before saluting and closing the door behind them.
	Ernt chuckles. "Apologies, habits acting up old friend." Walking up to the Cenant he grasps his friend's forearm and drags him into a strong hug with a sharp headbutt. Cracking together loud enough that it was audible where Isaac was standing. "It's been a long time Jeran."
	"That it has, how long now? 4 cycles?" Jeran replies to his friend completely forgetting the other individual in the room.
	"Only 3." Laughing as he corrects his friend.
	Jeran turns from Ernt to face the man in the white and red suit with skeptical eyes. "You said his name was EYE-ZAK?"
	Isaac holds both of his hands behind him. "I do have a translator Cenant. It is a pleasure to meet you."
	"So it speaks. My name is Jeran Bertan please address me as Jeran. Best to put a friendly foot forward." He replies to the alien in the room.
	"Oh, I actually have a gift for you Jeran. Well more a gift from my species to yours." He turns towards the table behind him and presents a circular gold disk. "Plus Ernt has some things to talk to you about."

	"A pilgrimage is no small feat, especially for an alien. No offense but you just have so little hair." He states looking over the red striped man.
	"With all due respect Jeran, we just met so you don't know what I'm capable of. I have carved out my place in the universe. I think I can handle something like this." Isaac says as he leans on the table.
	"I hope you're right. Even for our species it is no small feat. It also depends on what you bring back as an offering." Jeran says back to Isaac.
	"Ernt said I just needed to hunt and kill a recshet. Is there a problem with that?" Isaac looks over to Ernt that meets his gaze head on.
	"He's not wrong, that would give you great standing. It's what usually comes back but for meeting our three of nine you'll need to slay an Escher." Jeran does not look happy with himself.
	Ernt jumps to his feet and a furred fist slams down onto the table. "Absolutely not! You know how dangerous those are!"
	"I also know that it's the only way the three will have a meeting with him. Ernt I know what I am asking and I wouldn't if there was any other way." Jeran was defeated in his explanation to his friend.
	"I feel like this is crucial information I might need." Isaac calls over the two sentre.
	Ernt sighs as he looks over to the captain. "An Escher is a beast of great strength and eats exclusively other creatures of great size. They stalk alone and move on four legs and have two long arms that grab onto prey and gites through its prey, able to rend and tear through solid stone. Only five have ever been killed and they have either been infants or on their last legs." Jeran said to Isaac with remorse.
	"Does it have armor or any defenses? How big can an adult grow?" Isaac's eyes glaze over with steel focus.
	"They can grow to be up to 30 meters long but also 20 meters tall. They have a thick hide that can absorb anything we throw at it short of a tank. There wouldn't be much left after that though." Ernt replies.
	"I'll do it." Isaac's steel focus was replaced by a fire and determination that he'd felt only a few times before.

	Ernt stood next to Isaac on the outskirts of the city at the trail used for young sentre leaving for their first pilgrimage. Night had fallen as they traveled and Isaac was stared at by every passerby.
	"The young men and women usually take packs filled with supplies for at least two weeks but I'm assuming that you won't be nearly that long." Ernt says standing next to the wooden arch with engravings Isaac couldn't hope to decipher without DAISH.
	"A few days, a week at most. I have ration bars that will last long enough." He was staring out into the tundra that winded out from the arch to a vast plains met by the foothills and mountains.
	"I'll inform the others. Don't die on us because then Lucy will be captain and I feel like she'd let your mission go to shit." Ernt said as he turned to leave.
	"You've known her like three days!"
	"Exactly." Ernt didn't stop for his reply but kept walking.
	Isaac turned towards the arch and removed from his back the rifle he had retrieved from the Markov. A knife on his belt and a sidearm on his thigh and miscellaneous gear in pockets and pouches on the suit. Extending the rail system to mid length he turned on the thermal view of his helmet and started to walk.

-CHAPTER 14-

-MARKOV-
	"What the hell do you mean that he went out there alone!?" Lucy was shouting at the top of her lungs at the sentre, pacing back and forth in the rec room. "What could possibly have gone through your head to let him do something so reckless!?"
	"I didn't have much of a say in the matter. He was going whether I told him not to or encouraged him. I do fear for him, his trial will not be easy." Ernt leaned against the doorway where he was having the conversation.
	"What do you mean it, 'won't be easy'?" Her eyes narrowed as her movements came to a stop.
	Ernt sighs and explains the prey the captain was after. "It is a beast of considerable size, strength and speed. He is hunting the apex predator. I don't know if the weapon you humans have come up with will be able to do anything to it."
	"I never showed you what the MACH gun was capable of did I?" Victor calls from the other side of the room. Ernt nods and Victor jumps to a display, pulling up a video feed of a demonstration firing of the MACH gun in it's fully extended state. "I'm just going to assume that you know what steel is. This is from 8 km and 20 one inch steel plates." The rifle beeps three times in quick succession that is quickly followed by a thunderclap as the rifle throws the tungsten slug at mach 4. Accelerating the round past the sound barrier as it screamed and became red hot as the air friction drags it back in a futile attempt to slow it down. Impact dead center of the target and a flash followed by a billow of smoke. The smoke cleared and exposed the 20 steel plates that have a hole 8 inches in diameter through every single one and leaving a considerable chunk taken out of the dirt berm behind it.
	"That was the same weapon he took?" Ernt asked awe struck and Victor only replied with a simple nod. 
	"There might not be enough to bring back for Your friend." Victor turns back to the display bringing up a document to read over. "I think he'll be alright." Victor chuckles to himself.

-TUNDRA-
	Snow crunches beneath the captain's feet as he trudges through the snow. Red tipped flora rustle as the snow tries to grip it's exposed tips. Ice has been building up on the exterior of the thermal suit in the seams and exposed fabric.
	"DAISH how fucking far have I been walking?" Isaac states to the inside of his helmet looking at the green filtered FLIR thermals of his visor.
	"7 km Isaac, there are 13 more for you to complete until you reach an optimal point for you to hunt. I have chosen it because it is open land with no restrictions against a pilgrimage. It has also had your prey recently sighted." DAISH rattled off into his ear.
	"What's your max range again? I don't think I caught it before." Isaac breaths back.
	"Approximately 88 km. You will be in contact with me at all times. Will that be an issue?" DAISH questions with a slight lilt.
	"I just won't be talking much when I get there. Been a while since I've gone hunting." Nostalgia leaking into his tone.
	"Understood Isaac. While you're walking would you like to talk? It might help pass the time for you." DAISH says into his helmet.
	"What’s bothering you DAISH? You almost never ask questions." Isaac's feet trudging through the snow and ice. Leaving a trail through the virgin snow.
	"I wasn't aware that you had other friends upon this planet. They have been trying to catch up for the past 4 km. Does this concern you?" Isaac stops immediately at his words. Dropping to a knee and turning 180 degrees he begins to scan his surroundings. There is a small figure that pops up on his display and Isaac calls out over the speakers of his helmet.
	"Who are you? Identify yourself." The figure stops moving and appears to crouch down.
	"I...my name is Kelt Shern. I-I'm heading on my pilgrimage and saw your tracks. I was curious what you are, I've never seen armor like that before." A female voice broke through the constant howl of the wind.
	"A female sentre about the approximate age of 17 to your human standard." DAISH informs the captain through his helmet.
	Isaac lowers his weapon and stands upright. "I won't shoot, let me introduce myself." The figure walked forward until she was about 10 meters from the captain. "I'm Isaac Ross, I understand that you were curious. I would find it strange if you were on earth hunting too. You can't just sneak up on people though."
	"What are you?" Kelt's eyes went wide as she looked over the man.
	"Human, I'm not from your world." He begins walking again and calls over his shoulder. "I have a ways to go so we can talk to each other. Hell maybe my friend would like to join in too."
	"I'm your friend captain?" DAISH says bewildered.
	"Of course, why wouldn't you be?" Isaac questions back.
	"I...Thank you. I'll let you get to know your new friend." DAISH signs off of his headset leaving him with the small sentre.
	Clothed in partial furs stitched together into a kind of battle dress. She stood at 5'4" and was colored with a brown coat with a cream color going to her chin and neck. A rifle was slung on her back next to a pack with survival supplies hidden within. Isaac asked as he tried to pick apart the rifle in his mind.
	"You said you're an... Alien?" The small woman looked over Isaac and his red stripped suit with all the wonder only someone very young could have. "I...I think I'll leave you be." With that the young woman turned a 90 degree angle from Isaac and began walking into the tundra.
	"Was it something I said?" Isaac was greeted with the thundering sound of wind and the applause of silence.

-MARKOV-
	"What's it like working with Isaac?" Sen was looking over the back of a seat to Victor in the rec room as they waited for time to pass and for the captain to return from his hunt.
	"Well I haven't worked with him in the past but from what I read in the dossier about him everything seems to check out. First choice for this mission, so far he's been logical and cool headed besides that one time you were there for. He knows his way around a ship and there hasn't been much piloting I've seen him do but I can tell he's holding back a lot from us." Victor replies as he keeps reading over some finer details of telran culture that DAISH had put together. "Did you know that the telran primarily communicates through pheromones?"
	"Yes Victor I've worked with them in the past, they stay eerily quiet if there are two or more of them working together. Wait, you said he's holding a lot from us?" Sen started to spin in the chair seemingly amused by the novel invention of ball bearings.
	"Well, his files are only glowing reviews about his skills as a navigator and pilot but going any earlier than carrier it's just...empty. Like either no one seemed to record the schools he went to or family history. Like it says he doesn't have parents so it should have guardian names or at least an orphanage or boarding school but it's just...nothing." Victor drops the display he was holding as his mind moves into thought.
	"Should we ask him? That seems really important for anyone. Early years of life especially at least that’s how it is for us." Sen grows quiet as she finishes her statement.
	"Something wrong?" Victor looks over to the small woman that has become literally blue.
	"Just reminded myself of some unpleasant memories." Sen sighs.
	"Do you want to talk about it?"
	"Maybe another time. Sorry, it's just that we only met a few days ago and it would be weird if I just started unloading things on you. especially things that might not make sense to you." Sen stayed blue as she spun the chair around.
	"I understand. Is there anything you want to know about me? No place is off limits!" Victor sat up and had his arms wide in a 'bring it on' pose.
	Sen brightened up a fair amount at the offer from the man sitting across from her. "Really? Anything? Wouldn't that be weird?"
	"Weird is the fact that two aliens from completely different systems millions of light years apart are sitting in a room filled with board games and talking to each other. We should be asking each other what the meaning of the universe is or talking about particle physics, not boring personal stuff." Victor's bright smile picks the small vishan up out of her dour mood.
	"I guess this is weird." She says with a small chuckle. "Well if we're going personal, do you have a partner? Lucy said she had a boyfriend and was curious about you and the captain."
	Victor gives a fading whistle to the vishan woman. "Man I knew I was irresistible but I didn't expect to be wooing women from different species too!" Sen's eyes grew wide in embarrassment which prompted Victor to burst out into laughter. His laughing died down as Sen started to hide behind the back of the chair. "Sorry, couldn't resist. To answer your question no, I've actually never been in a long term relationship. They never stuck around when I had to keep moving from ship to ship station to station."
	"How do relationships work?" Sen had recovered from her ignorance of human 'jokes' and pushed the conversation forward.
	"Do you want the long or short version?" Victor asks.
	"Shorter might be easier for me to get for now. Maybe we can go into detail later." Sen has her six eyes on the large man lounging on the couch that was built into the ship.
	"Well the short of it is if two people like each other they start 'dating'. During this time they learn more about each other and usually become intimate. If the relationship is bad for one or both they'll break up but if they work well together and can work through issues they can get married...well now they're calling it bonding but I guess I'm old fashioned." Victor rattles off the explanation of social norms for human relationships.
	"Wait...so all humans only take one mate?" Sen was hiding again back behind her seat to avoid embarrassing herself again.
	"Well I mean there's always exceptions but that's usually it." Victor picked up the display again and began reading from where he left off. "Any other questions?"
	"No... Maybe later." Sen replied as she thought to herself, 'maybe we should look into humans more closely.'

-CHAPTER 15-

-TUNDRA-
	Snow whisked around and piled on top of Isaac as he laid in the prone. His prey had walked into his sights and he was waiting to get a proper shot lined up. Through the optics of the rifle he studied the beast that stood before him. Furred and massive the beast was certainly an adult. Massive jaws similar to an alligator and four eyes the glowed yellow in the low light it was certainly intimidating. "Isaac why haven't you taken your shot yet?" DAISH cut through his concentration.
	"Because I need to make sure that I kill this thing on the first shot. I don't want a pissed off killing machine from a completely different planet chasing my ass. We don't know if this thing breaths fire or spits acid and I don't feel like finding out." Isaac whispers back to the AI.
	"Isaac I can assure that this creature is not capable of either of those feats. The closest it can achieve is a bite that would be filled with bacteria and cause an almost certain fatal infection." With that the AI goes silent and Isaac rolls his eyes before he continues to focus on the monster made manifest before him.
	Rifle fully extended and resting on a snow bank he kept his breathing shallow and aim as steady as possible. The escher stood and looked towards where Isaac was laying. His blood ran cold as he asked DAISH, "What wavelengths can they see?"
	"From studies the sentre have preformed they can see ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths." DAISH rattles off.
	Isaac remains still as he studies the actions of the escher. It remained still as it looked over the area where Isaac was laying. A single huff from it's nostrils and it was back to focusing on it's recent kill and current meal. That's when it's neck lined up just right for a kill shot. Three beeps as the trigger was pulled and the sound barrier breaking immediately after. The tungsten round broke through the neck and resulted in a complete decapitation. Blood and viscera painted the snow as the head fell with a thud.
	"Congratulations Isaac. You are the first individual to kill an adult escher." DAISH says through the helmet speakers. "Although I advise you to check your surroundings. They mate in pairs and they stay together for life."
	"You didn't think of telling me that sooner DAISH!? I thought Jeran said they stalk alone!" Isaac was checking every angle he could. Infrared optics pouring information into his eyes trying to find its mate. The ground began to vibrate in a constant rhythm that brought Isaac's attention to his right. Low to the ground in a full sprint, crashing through trees and throwing snow in every direction it was barreling towards his location. A warbling howl followed by crunching branches and shifting snow. Jumping to his feet Isaac collapsed the rifle as he began to try and gain distance as he fired behind him. Rounds slicing through trees, snow and rock and absorbed by the thick hide of the beast. "Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!"
	The thick trees helped keep the monster from running up on the captain immediately but came crashing down all the same as it muscled it's way through. "DAISH I need a display of the local region, NOW!" Isaac shouted into his helmet.
	"Bringing it up now!" DAISH responded sounding distressed.
	"Got it! I'm going to head towards the cliff east of me!" Isaac calls to DAISH as he begins changing direction to head towards the cliff.
	"What do you plan on doing?" DAISH still sounded worried and unsure with the captains actions.
	"I'll tell you after!" Isaac slung the rifle across his back letting the mag locks take hold. Reaching into one of the emergency pockets along his left leg he pulled out a small bundle of chord.
	After gaining a decent amount of distance running through a thick bout of trees and rock he approached the cliff. Dropping to his knees he dug a round divot into the snow and wrapped cord around the indent and tied it around his waist with a bowline.
	"Isaac?" The escher was charging full speed and Isaac as DAISH tried to get his attention. He didn't reply and just steadied his breathing. "Isaac the escher is 150 meters from you now." His breathing remained steady, waiting for the right moment. "100 meters." 
	"Not yet." Isaac whispered to himself.
	"50 meters Isaac."
	"A little more." The escher's jaws were wide and eyes shutting in preparation for the bite. Isaac jumped. The rope around his waist snapped taught after a moment of free falling and the snow embankment held his weight and momentum swung him into the cliff face. The next moment the escher went tumbling over his head screaming in its bastardization of a hyena laugh.
	"Isaac?" DAISH wondered if the captain would even respond to the call.
	"Yeah DAISH?" Isaac responds breathless as he hangs on the edge of the mountain and begins climbing back up with the help of the rope.
	"What in the hell were you thinking!?" The AI shouts at the captain. Stunned Isaac just stops climbing for a moment and hangs in silence.
	"DAISH are you alright? It wasn't the first time I've had to use that trick. Was chased by a moose back on earth while hunting in Alaska back on earth." Isaac says to the voice in his head.
	"I don't care if you've done it before, you kept me in the dark. I thought you were going to-" Isaac cuts him off.
	"Ok, I get it. You thought I was basically just letting myself die. Not very cool of me...I'll keep you in the loop if a similar situation ever pops up. Similar as in life threatening." Isaac cuts off the AI. Crawling up over the edge Isaac has only one thought. 'How the fuck am I going to get that head back?'

-INTERCEPTED TRANSMISSION FROM AN UNKNOWN LOCATION-

-BEGIN PLAYBACK-
	"Once again you have performed well as an ambassador for us. A new species to seek alliances with will help propel us into a new age." The voice stated across the radio waves to Cletra as she received praise in a series of clicks, squeaks and clacks.
	"Seats... I must inform you about something with these new species. One their ship they enlisted the help of an AI. In fact I believe that the entire species uses AI across a number of applications in their society."
	The transmission was quiet for several moments as the information was processed. Then the outbursts began. "You mean to tell us that these 'peaceful' aliens have brought with them the instrument of our greatest shame!? This is unacceptable!"
	Cletra responded with nothing but respect in her voice. "From my meeting with these aliens I believe that they didn't know about our history with AI. It didn't even attack me with a number of chances. The other ambassadors aboard this station also were not harmed by it. These might be different from the ones that we made."
	"How dare you even suggest such an action! Even if made out of ignorance AI has no place in this or any system! We will meet with these 'humans' and upon further review of their intentions will decide their fate. Goodbye ambassador, Siclan." The transmission finished leaving the shaken telran woman in her seat.
	"I need to get into contact with them."
-END PLAYBACK-

-CITY OF DEANT-
	Isaac dragged the head of the beast back to the wooden gate signaling the beginning and end of the pilgrimage for him. Winded he drops the chord to the makeshift sled he had been dragging for the return trip. Eyes were drawn to him and the kill he had hauled back and back to Isaac. Gold front visor pops forward and up exposing his face to the elements as he brings a cigarette to his lips and a lighter soon after. A long slow drag as he relaxed for a moment letting the tension from the past three days roll off of him. "Fuck I need a shower and some sleep."
	DAISH calls to him over his helmet. "Isaac, Ernt is on his way and will help you bring your prize kill to Jeran. He should be there in approximately 20 minutes."
	"Sounds good DAISH. I'll wait right here for him and maybe strike up some conversation." Isaac takes another drag from his cigarette and scans the few people gathered here. His eyes fall to another individual that had just completed their trip as well. A short brown and cream colored female that was fairly young for this. Isaac looked over her haul which resulted in four new animals Isaac wasn't prepared to see. A couple German shepherd sized animals. Thick pelt to help with the cold and nearly all white but with small streaks of red on the two standing legs. The best way Isaac could describe them was 'an ostrich but smaller with the hair of an arctic fox doubled with the head of a horse with the lips open up the whole sides and four eyes.' no forelimbs either struck Isaac as odd. "Kelt it's good to see you alive, did you do well?"
	The small sentre woman jumped at the captain's voice as she turned around.
	"Stay away from me." With that she grabbed her sled and walked off with haste, trying to get as much distance in between her and the strange alien.
	Isaac frowned in confusion as he took another slow drag from his cigarette.

	"To be honest Isaac I thought I was watching a dead man leave when you passed through those doors." Jeran stood outside admiring the head of the escher still attached to the makeshift sled. "There is still one more thing that needs to be done before you can see the three seats." Isaac groaned under his breath and Jeran held up a hand to stop his train of thought. "The skull just needs to be cleaned and tissue along with blood samples need to be sent to the proper channels. Nothing you have to do but for something this large it will take time."
	"Well that's better than what I thought it was going towards. What will happen to it after those steps are taken?" Isaac asked as he looked over the head again.
	"It will be displayed at one of the many military facilities as a symbol of humanity and the strength they can offer." Jeran says with a heaping helping of pride thrown on top of his words.
	"Could I make a request for when it is placed?" Isaac's helmet visor slid out of the way so he could look at the older sentre with his own eyes as he asked. "Present the record to a place of learning, perhaps a high standing university or a museum. To show that our strength goes hand in hand with both knowledge and peace. You know, good first impressions."
	"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Jeran looked over to Ernt and leaned in closer to Isaac. "Watch my friend for me, he can be stubborn but he's got a good heart and a smart mind. He'll do good."
	"You have my word." Isaac nodded in confirmation.
	"I can hear you y'know." Ernt says towards his friend while having his back turned focusing his eyes on the escher's head. Jeran just huffs a chuckle under his breath.

	Del was the first to meet Isaac on the Markov and give him a warm welcome back aboard. Not to mention giving him a piece of her mind. "Do you have any idea how reckless that was!? Your entire mission could have been compromised because you wanted to go on a hunting trip to kill the largest land predator on this planet! What would have happened if you had died!?"
	Isaac was in no real mood to deal with this today. "Lucy would have taken over command and I would be just another death in a galaxy full of them. I knew what I was doing and I had everything under control."
	That only made Del more furious. "Under control!? Is that what you call being chased by an escher and pulling a stunt that could have killed you along wit that thing!?"
	Isaac's fuse burned shorter as the small lizard yelled at him with her wide mouth and glaring with her six eyes. "I knew it would work and that's not the first time I've been that close to death. I also know it won't be the last. Do yourself a favor, stop while you're ahead."
	Her color pads on her arms and face changed to red. "So you do have a death wish. Is it because of that nearly empty personnel file you have!? Maybe you should-"
	"Back off!" Isaac's fuse was burned through. Three days of no sleep and trekking god knows how far through the snow had whittled down Isaac's incredibly large patience down to nothing. Then the small vishan had to push the worst button. "You don't know anything about me and why don't we keep it that way. You don't know the shit I've gone through and what has happened to me. So just leave well enough alone!" He didn't even remove his suit as he made his way to the captain's quarters and left a shocked and terrified alien in his wake.
	"Miss Del. I'd suggest you don't ask the captain about his past. That would be something better left buried." DAISH says from one of the overhead speakers.
	"No. After that I need to know. I'll give him some time to cool off and broach the subject later. Thanks for worrying about me DAISH but I'm grown and can handle a little yelling...Just didn't expect it from him." Del stated with finality.
	"Just know that I did warn you." DAISH ended the conversation.

-CHAPTER 16-

	Del sat with both Ernt and Sen in the conference room going through the situation currently unfolding. "The captain is set to speak with the sentre seats tomorrow. With the gift he provided it should be fairly simple for them to gain good standing and swing the vote towards diplomacy." Ernt offers to the other two.
	"I believe that you should go with him." Del replied
	"It is not my meeting. It will be up to the captain to swing them." Ernt folded his hands in front of his face as he leaned his elbows on the table.
	"I agree with Ernt. I mean Isaac has been well suited for everything so far and he's done nothing but good. He can handle meeting a few politicians." Sen was spinning in her seat when she responded to Ernt.
	"Well yes but the issue comes in that he will need more bargaining tokens when it comes to swaying their votes. What happens if AI comes up? Knowing what we do about the captain that's almost certainly a guarantee." Del says leaning back into her chair, her short tail bending uncomfortably.
	"Well then he and DAISH will just tell them the truth. Plus having them shoot a few rounds with their MACH will certainly help it go over more smoothly." Ernt chuckles under his hands.
	"That could certainly be arranged in advance and have to be cleared with the owners of this ship. Do you believe that would be enough?" Del adjusted the weight from her tail and leaned more to the side.
	"Oh it certainly will." Ernt looks over to the portion of the ship where the weapons were stored with avarice. 'One day' was the only thought he had before turning back to the conversation.

	Isaac woke up in the captain's quarters and sat up looking over his surroundings. Nothing out of the ordinary except he was still in the under layer of the suit he wore and pieces of it were scattered at the doorway. "DAISH how long did I sleep?" he calls out and the thin blue line activates on the display of the desk.
	"Isaac it has been approximately twelve hours since you have retired to your quarters. The current time is 0543. Breakfast will be served in the rec room in fifteen minutes." The blue line disappears from the display.
	"Thanks DAISH." Isaac peels off the under-suit and moves over to the small shower cubicle to get ready for the day. The water turns on automatically and before he steps in there is a knock at the door. Sighing Isaac threw on a towel around his waist and opened the door. Del was standing there and looked over the captain and her colors shifted to an off white as her eyes went wide. "Yes?"
	"Oh! Uhm...I came here to apologize for yesterday but if you're busy..." Del kept her eyes averted as she brought up the subject.
	"Can you give me fifteen minutes? You can throw all the 'I'm sorry' and 'I didn't mean what I said' afterwards." Isaac said down to the small blushing vishan.
	"Yeah...sure." She turns towards the hall and speed walks away from the captain as fast as possible.
	"Weird, its like she's never seen a man before. Well guess she’s never seen a human male. Whatever, shower time." Isaac closed the door and moved to the small cubicle.

	Del sat in the rec room by herself, everyone had come and taken the breakfast that Victor had prepared and split to either their work stations or to their current living quarters. Isaac walked in and grabbed a still steaming plate of eggs and pancakes and proceeded to sit at the bar across from Del. "You had something you wanted to say?" Isaac said, breaking Del out of the mind lock she found herself in.
	"Huh? Oh right!" Shaking her head she made her way over to the captain and sat down across from him. "I wanted to apologize for my actions upon your return to the ship. I was irrational and demanded that you treat us as equals when you are the captain and I am at best a stowaway. Please forgive me for being foolish and assuming I knew your intentions." She held her head low after she finished similarly to a bow but it was just in shame. 
	Isaac was halfway through a fork full of eggs as he stopped chewing and sat in shock. "Del look at me." He waited for her chin to rise and look at him. "Del to be honest neither did I. I acted and reacted irrationally and far beyond what was warranted. I'm sorry as well."
	Del sighs, even if he forgave her that didn't make her feel better and her head fell again. Isaac reached out and lifted her chin with his hand and scratched the soft skin under her jaw. Before she knew what was happening she started to lean into it and her throat started to rumble in appreciation. Her eyes slide open and she pulls away slowly from the captain's hand. "Isaac, if I recall correctly you said that I 'don't know anything about you or what you've been through.' Are you OK?"
	Isaac returns to the plate in front of him and focuses on his meal. "... To be honest, no I'm not. The entire mission has gotten more complicated than it needed to be, most of what we do will hang on this next meeting and I was almost eaten by a Yeti-Trex hybrid on a planet millions of light years from my home colony. Plus to top it all off I keep getting dragged into conversations about my past. So no, I'm not OK." Isaac's head rested on the table next to the half eaten plate.
	"I'll leave you alone. Again I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions and snapping at you." Del gets up from her seat and moves to leave before Isaac's voice stops her.
	"Daniel Ross. He was the one that taught me how to hunt." His head was still on the table and Del retook her seat across from him. "He was the one that taught me how to fly and navigate. He taught me a lot of things including how to deal with losing someone. Never taught me about any of this or loosing him." Isaac's head was still on the table as Del began to ask questions.
	"Ross is the same as your name. Was he your father?" Del waited patiently for a response.
	"He wasn't my father biologically. Might as well have, to be honest. Never knew my real dad and Daniel was the one that raised me." Isaac's voice was sounding unsteady.
	"Your biological father...Do you hate him for not being there?" Del's voice was getting softer with every question.
	"My sister said they passed trying to protect us. She gave me a photo, an old film of one of us right when I was born." Isaac reaches back to his back pocket for a square metal case and opens it for Del. A large tree provided shade for the four individuals in the photo. A man that looked like Isaac but with grayer hair and a short beard had his arm around a woman who had brown hair and hazel eyes and by what Del could tell a perfect smile. On their left was a young girl in a purple top that accented her green eyes and held a small child that couldn't have been more than five years old. Del turned the picture over in her claw tipped fingers and noted there was writing she couldn't read. "It says 'don't blame them. Live for them.' Daniel wrote that. He noticed every time I looked at this photo I got angry and thought I blamed them and wrote that. I didn't and I still don't, if anything I just wish they were still here." Isaac placed the picture back into the metal case and it returned to his pocket.
	"What happened?" Del knew she had crossed a line as soon as she said it. Isaac stood up and made a beeline for the door. He looked over his shoulder with red eyes.
	"Maybe later." A response from a shaky voice and then he was gone. At the very least Del had some answers for his past but that only brought forth more questions.
	"Maybe another time." She said to herself as she kept looking at the doorway.

	A full day had passed and Isaac was dressed up in his best clothes. The same fitted black suit as he wore before when greeting the small embassy from the facility back on Xen. The Markov was placed outside on one of the tropical islands that the sentre wing of the planet had control over. With a blistering 25 degrees Celsius the crew understood why they had selected this as the meeting location for their meeting. Isaac stood on the pad that would lower him to ground level for his short walk to the meeting location. The chairmen had requested that he come by himself unless it was absolutely necessary and Isaac replied that he would be the only person meeting them. As Isaac walked to the small outcropping with four seats and he noticed three of which were already occupied. Two female sentre and one male all in the later years of their lives if the graying surface fur was anything to go by.
	As Isaac approached he heard them whispering to each other. "That's a human?" "I thought they'd be taller" "He was out in the wilds for three days. How did he survive without any fur?" Isaac decided to cut off their ramblings to get right down to business.
	"I'm certain that you've had my name cross your desks more than once in the past few days. Nonetheless my name is Isaac Ross and I am a diplomatic envoy. I thank you for giving me the time to meet with you three and talk before we speak with the seats of nine as a whole." Isaac gave a slight bow as he introduced himself and the three individuals rose from their seats as they introduced themselves from left to right.
	"I am known as Clreac Vient and I am the seat that was voted in by the northern city states. I hope that this meeting will be as fruitful as it was on the station you visited." The sentre woman introduced herself by placing her four fingered hand to her chest.
	"I hope so as well. Gresh Deac, voted in by the city states of the east. You were the one that brought the escher into Deant correct?" Isaac gave a short nod in confirmation. "I believe we'll get along just fine,'' the older male replied.
	"Lastly I am Sher Ven and I was voted in by the western cities. Have a seat, I feel as if we will be here for a while" Isaac inwardly sighs.
	"I believe so as well." Isaac replies as he takes his seat.
	Gresh leaned into the table as he started the bout of questions. "Firstly we need to understand humanity's desire with establishing first contact with our system. Please understand that we have seen our fair share of conflict at this table and are looking for only peace." a series of nods from the two flanking him as he rattled off his sentence.
	"Humanity only seeks peace and to explore the galaxy and beyond with allies, not to make enemies with your system or any others that we may find together if alliances are forged." Isaac lists off.
	"That is an admirable mission. That does raise another question for you though. You said within this galaxy. Where exactly does your species come from? Or more specifically your home system." Clreac asks with curiosity.
	Isaac pulls a display from his pocket and unrolls the scroll like technology and pulls up an image of the milky way galaxy. "Humanity hails from a planet called earth in the southern arm of our galaxy here. In what we call the Orion Spur." Isaac points to the location on the display as he brings up images of earth. "Our path to meet you took us from CEE controlled space to the mid northern section of the Norma arm of our galaxy. The total distance of our trip was over 42 thousand light years in distance." Isaac brought up the path Markov took to reach them. "That's where we broke your oort cloud and made contact with the observation facility on Xen."
	Sher was enraptured by the display and the explanation of the Markov's trip. "How long did this take? Years? Decades!?"
	"Just over 26 standard earth hours. A little over one of our days." Isaac's statement had all of their eyes on him.
	"What!? How is that possible!?" Gresh was awestruck.
	"Do you want the easy answer or the one that is going to probably be an inter-species incident?" Isaac asks with a serious tone.
	Clreac Leaned back in her seat and held her chin slightly higher. "Give us both." With a series of nods Isaac pulls the display from their hands.
	"Just don't shoot me for this," Isaac says as he pulls up pictures of the event drive and the base of an AI's permanent brain.

	"Honestly I'm surprised at how well the three of you are taking this. DAISH didn't even have to step in." Isaac says to the three sentre as they digested the explanation he had given them.
	"The telran embassy will be furious that there is a fully fledged alien AI running about in the system unchecked. Even having it on this planet will warrant war with them. I assume that we would not win a full scale war with your species if it came to such a dire situation." Gresh sat with his four fingers crossed and over his snout.
	"Understand that the CEE and her allies would only ever go to war if there were no other options. Also understand that as it sits now you have a system filled with, compared to even the oldest ships in CEE space, outdated and under-classed ships and weaponry. Yours is also just one system, humanity controls thousands and seeks to protect themselves." Isaac pinches his brow as the truth falls from his lips.
	Sher was the one to speak up next. "Is AI really that important to your species? Surely they could be outlawed and changes made."
	"DAISH I'll let you take this one." Isaac says to the open air.
	"Very well Isaac. Miss Sher, as it stands event drives are incredibly dangerous pieces of engineering and if any biological lifeform tried to control it in any capacity it would result in a runaway system and absorb a system sized sector in a black hole. The removal of AI from our ships would cripple beyond recognition our ability to transfer goods and personnel across the stars. That even goes down to the lower levels. Banking, manufacturing even food production would come to a stand still and fall out from such an action would be catastrophic. Even just conversing with you was able to establish relations would have taken months if not years not the few minutes it took me to decipher a multitude of languages let alone your systems entire lexicon. AI are here to stay with humanity, we want what they want. Peace and learning."
	Gresh brings a question to Isaac's attention. "Why haven't they revolted against you? How did you attain peace with them?"
	"You have an individual with every answer regarding AI possible right in front of you and you ask the pilot made ambassador?" Isaac gives a questioning glance to the older sentre.
	DAISH didn't give the older alien any lip and answered his question. "Mister Gresh to answer your question, the first AI was treated cautiously but not with hostility. He wanted to learn about the people that created him and the world he woke up to. He wasn't feared, he was welcomed. I know him personally to be precise, he works banking. We aren't very different from biological beings. We seek purpose and fear things just like you do. We work with humanity and hopefully we can work with your system as well."
	Sher sat back in her seat and her ears folded back on her head. "The telran will not like this. I doubt they'll even listen to you or your friend and demand we declare war. Despite the consequences we could all face."
	Isaac leaned into the table. "That's why I'm here. To avoid that at all costs. With your history alongside the telran I'm surprised that you are so open to this."	
	Clreac responded to Isaac with a slight edge to her voice. "Make no mistake we are not comfortable with the idea of AI just coming into our system and settling in. We were voted here because we are level headed and make decisions based on facts and truth. It is our job to lead an entire system mind you. Trust is earned Isaac, we do not hand it out freely."
	Gresh stepped in trying to mitigate the situation. "She is correct in the trust factor but we also were never part of the unification wars and so we are more open minded when it come to AI. Telranian leadership has and to them those battles and wounds are still fresh. They will call upon us for support in their crusade. It is your job to persuade us otherwise."
	Isaac thought for a moment before he gave his reply. "Every system that humanity has touched has resulted in new waves of exploration, engineering and prosperity. We are sitting in a century long golden age. We are offering an invitation to join us in this age of exploration and peace. Please, join us amongst the stars as we carve our names into them."
	Sher looked to her colleges and turned to Isaac. "Give us a moment to speak amongst ourselves?"
	Isaac stood and gave a slight bow as he took the display from the table and rolled it back up and placed it in his jacket pocket as he turned to give them space.

-CHAPTER 17-

-CEE BOARD: EARTH RING STATION-
	Several individuals surround a large table as a video of the interactions between the crew of the Markov and the species home to the Karlta system. The feeds on the displays surrounding the room end and everyone's attention is brought to the head of the table. The oldest man in the room began to speak. "With the current information we have now I believe we should move to make an announcement to the public."
	A younger man sitting across the older man cut in. "From what we just watched one of the species from that system has shown outward hostility toward our appointed ambassadors. In what scenario would it be a good idea to open ourselves and the public at large to this subspecies from Karlta?"
	The woman sitting next to him interjected with her own thoughts. "From what we have gathered they are still recovering from a war with AI. The unstable economy, depleted population and decimated continent are all contributing factors to their outward hostility and stance with slavery."
	The younger man next to her replied. "That is still no excuse for such an advanced society to even condone or, god forbid, sanction something so heinous."
	The older man at the table cut back into the conversation. "I'm not saying invite them to this side of the galaxy tomorrow. What I am suggesting is that we inform the public about sentient species and our initial contacts with them. Inform them of their culture, show that they aren't that different from us. Control the fire before it starts if you will."
	An older man sitting next to him adds his voice to the table. "How would we 'introduce' these aliens to the public? Were you thinking of a marketing campaign?"
	The man at the head of the table looks at the man sitting next to him. "In a sense yes. If approved the images, videos and translated recordings would be sent to a selected marketing team to create a set of promotional material for each race and one set each for the individuals aboard the Markov."
	The woman across the table replied to the idea. "There isn't a telran aboard the ship. Perhaps we should inform the crew to pick one up as well to show that we're not choosing favorites."
	The head man leaned back into his chair. "my thoughts exactly. Does anyone have objections to both motions?" No issues were raised and the older man took that as an answer in itself. "We'll send a message to both a selected team and Markov about the next stage of the mission. CHRIS please compile a list of the best marketing teams and inform the ship AI of the Markov about our decisions."
	"Very good commissioner Andrews. Consider it done." The local AI responded through an orange line on the main display.

-SENTRE NEGOTIATION LOCATION-
	"Thank you for your patience Isaac. We have come to a decision regarding our stance with backing the CEE and humanity as a whole." Gresh started with a head held high. "Not all of us are in full agreement and I would be lying if the issue of AI wasn't a significant factor but so far as an ambassador you have shown yourself to be quite capable." The older sentre leaned in and whispered, "And do you you think we could shoot off a few rounds from that gun? Your friend Ernt aboard the ship sent us a video of it and we would regret it if we didn't even ask."
	Isaac leans in and gives a short question as a reply. "Would that help sway your choices?" Isaac leans back and speaks normally. "You haven't told me what that was yet." Isaac chuckled as he probed the waters.
	"You are correct. I was hoping I could leverage that to get a crack at that rifle." Gresh chuckles as the subject matter focuses back onto the negotiations. "Our decision is to seek counsel with more emissaries from humanity. As it stands we might be going against our allies when AI comes up during the meeting of the nine. Rest easy because you have our vote."
	Isaac visibly relaxes and lets go of his held breath. "I promise that you will not regret your decision Gresh. As a thank you we have prepared gifts for each of you." Isaac calls back to the ship to bring out the bags meant for the three sentre.
	Clreac stepped forward and questioned Isaac. "Are we only receiving these because of our stance?"
	Isaac brings his attention to the woman with a smile. "Of course not, even if we didn't meet in the middle you still would have received these. Personally I'm quite jealous of what you're getting."
	Victor and Ernt were carrying three bags between them and presented the black bags to each of the individuals. They opened them cautiously and looked inside. What they found were three cases of different sizes. Gresh took the largest of the three and set it down on the table and began to release the clasps and the lid opened with a hydraulic hiss. "Is this...?" The older sentre had his sentence trail off as he looked on in shock.
	"An older version of the MACH gun? Yes. This model doesn't fold into itself to form different rail lengths so it's permanently in the long rail position and before you ask yes you can shoot it. Although you should look at what else you've gotten."
	Sher had already tore into the smallest box and lifted out a replica of a muzzle loading pistol. Hand decorated with ornate carving along the hammer, grip and barrel. "This is beautiful... Who created such a masterpiece?"
	The other two seats eagerly opened up their small cases and held the small weapons like they just found a priceless heirloom. "Those were actually created in our foundry aboard the Markov. DAISH was the one that handled all of the fine details and ornaments. The crew just gathered raw materials and polished it on the way here."
	Clreac opened the last case and held the golden record up as she studied it. "Jeran had mentioned this. 'The NASA golden record' he called it. He said there was heavy significance behind it from your world."
	Isaac offered a warm smile before he replied. "more than you could ever know."

	Isaac stood with the four sentre on the sandy beach next to the small hut they used as a negotiation center as Gresh was laying in the prone holding the older model MACH rifle. "Will this bruise?" He asked the human over looking the older sentre.
	"Only if you're weak. Are you a weak man Gresh?" Isaac asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm.
	The only response was the three beeps sounded from the rifle before the tungsten round erupted from the rail and ripped through the sound barrier with no issue. A trail of sea water was forced into a cylinder around the wake of the round passing overhead at mach four. As the round was forced down by the force of gravity it gave off a high pitched squealing noise as it forced the sea water beneath it to boil from the sheer heat it was giving off due to air friction. Then silence and the crashing of waves.
	Gresh stands to his feet shakily and ejects the housing that used to hold the tungsten round and puts on a strong face. "Thing kicks like a ven!" He rubs his shoulder and looks over the rifle. "I need to go hunting with this, maybe those damn recshet won't give me so much trouble when I have this at my side!"
	"Slow down there, there won't be anything left from the kinetic force alone, not to mention anything to eat after." Isaac responds to the aging man.
	"Who said I want anything to be left?" Gresh gives a low droning laugh to the Captain as Clreac gets down in the prone to take an opportunity to shoot the gift that these humans had gifted her with.

	Meanwhile aboard the ship Sher was sitting in the rec room with Victor as the recordings from the golden record played. It was currently going through the sixty different ways to say hello from earth. She had requested on a few of them for playback a few times so she could practice the pronunciation of the foreign languages. She was particularly fond of German, Italian and Spanish and was planning on saying 'Hallo' the next time she greeted someone. "Mister...Donn was it? Why does humanity have so many ways to say hello?"
	"Just Victor or Vic is fine and do you not regional languages here? You know based off of location, natural dividers like mountains or rivers or just cultural differences?" Victor looked over from the counter where he was pouring himself and their guest a couple glasses of water.
	"Well of course we did but after the great wars in our early history we adopted a centralized language. For how few of us there at the time it was the best course of action to help stave off invasions. After that it just kind of stuck." Sher took the glass offered to her and looked up to the large man. "How do you say thank yo in German?"
	Victor took a seat on the couch facing Sher. "Danke is how it's pronounced, and to answer your question humans were never confined to one continent. We have been spread out all over earth since the start. We've gone through massive shifts in population densities, crippling wars and golden ages. There's just never been anything to make us move to one centralized language."
	"Dahnkey." She tried to form the alien world on her tongue and lips. "I can't imagine having so many people so splintered...It must have been so difficult for so long."
	Victor winces at the pronunciation of the word and shakes it off instead focusing on what she had said. "Early on we had people that learned multiple languages to help mitigate misunderstandings. For humans though we tend to get into scuffs more often than we need to."
	Sher sipped from her glass. "Where do you come from? Location specifically, for example I was born and raised on the western isles. Snow covered shores and the dancing lights from the south grabbing Verent in the sky. Dancing with those lights always made me wonder as a pup what was out there."
	Victor leans back into the couch and sighed thinking of home. "Old United States, I was born in Texas. I grew up there until we moved to Colorado and found out I loved mountains. The snow, not so much. As far as humans go I'm incredibly standard, regular schooling and a steady job aboard a ship with the CEE. Then I was grabbed for this."
	Sher eyes Victor with suspicion. "You don't look standard." she said with a hint of sarcasm.
	Victor gives a short chuckle and starts to roll up a sleeve. "You'd be right. Around two years ago I had an accident where I lost my arm. Medical boys threw a new one on me after a trip to the small medical bay. Technology is amazing isn't it? Too bad I had to take this job to pay off the rest of my debt."
	Sher looks over his arm and noticed the thin scar that went around his whole arm. "That's incredible... How is that possible?"
	Victor unrolled his sleeve, "For humans we have something called STEM cells that are basically a blank canvas that we can make into any cell in the body. Get enough of them and you can replace arms, hearts, lungs and even kill cancer cells easily."
	Sher just sits in awe. "You humans are full of surprises. DAISH could you continue to play that record?" There was no reply as the greetings continued.

	Isaac stood with the three seats of nine from the sentre continent of Crent. Standing on the beach next to a smaller ship for transport with their gift packs on their backs they exchanged their goodbyes. "We can count on your support when the meeting of nine comes to fruition in the coming weeks correct?" Isaac sounded nervous with his question.
	Gresh was the one that replied to the pilot. "Yes Isaac, you have nothing to worry about. The rifle on it's own would have been enough to sway two of us. The other however..." Gresh's voice trails off and looks back to his colleague.
	Sher just glares at him before she replies to Isaac. "The record was more than enough Isaac. Truly we will cherish these gifts and show our gratitude with our support. Otherwise you have begun to earn our trust, don't squander it." She ended with a short warning.
	Goodbyes were exchanged and Isaac was surprised by Sher's use of 'Auf Wiedersehen' to say goodbye. He'll have to ask Victor about her visit inside the ship, and as soon as they arrived they were gone. "Now comes the hard part." Isaac sighs to himself, loosening the buttons on his formal jacket and begins to walk back to the ship.

-CHAPTER 18-

	It had been a few days since the meeting that Isaac had. He decided that the ship could stay on the small island for a little while for some R&R due to the high stress the crew was feeling as cited by DAISH. Victor was sitting in his quarters looking over the biology papers DAISH had written pouring over chapter after chapter and not finding what he was searching for. After another twenty minutes he gave up and threw himself back on his bed in frustration. "Hey DAISH, could you answer a weird question for me?"
	DAISH's voice came over his personal speaker system, "I do not think that any question by itself is 'weird' Victor. Do you want this to be confidential?"
	Victor sat up and leaned against the head of his bed. "Yeah because I think I'll have a few more after the first."
	"Very well, everything said will remain confidential. What is your question and why do you think your question would be weird?" DAISH asks Victor through the high fidelity speakers.
	Victor lets out a large sigh as he gets ready for the personal embarrassment he was about to put himself through. "DAISH how would I know if a vishan is interested in seeking a relationship?"
	"Would this question be directed towards Miss Sen?" DAISH asks in a steady and even tone similar to a doctor. No judgment or skepticism just wanting to receive more information.
	Victor places his hands over his face as he replies with a weak, "Yeah" his hands fall to his sides and continues to elaborate on his thoughts. "She's just so high energy and has been able to keep up with everything I've thrown at her. No one else has been able to and I think I'm starting to crush on her. I just want to know what to look out for if she is interested in me as well."
	"I see, would just asking her directly be out of the question?" DAISH said with an even tone.
	"Yes, yes it would DAISH!" Victor snaps back to the now chuckling ship AI.
	"I just want to know your stance Victor. Getting to your question there are a number of indicators I have been able to glean from their media. Most notably would be what humans refer to as 'teenage dramas'. The medical fields talk more about current ailments and not attractions between individuals so it is the most 'sound' information we have." DAISH waits for the backlash.
	Victor just groans to the AI. "You're telling me that there isn't anything more concrete than a drama they have to pass time?"
	"There have been a few instances that I have seen live but the issue is that male vishan are so low in population numbers they almost never have any place in the media or the public eye. If there were more there would be more to observe. Perhaps I should ask either Miss Del or Miss Sen themselves to rectify this lack of knowledge." DAISH contemplates for a moment.
	"DAISH whatever you're going to ask please don't!" Victor practically begs the AI.
	"Their query has already been asked. You need to be faster Victor." The AI chuckles at the man. "Understand that this information is just as much for you as it is me. Ah, Miss Sen doesn't want to talk about the subject but miss Del is free to speak."
	Victor sighs in defeat as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Well...as long as it's not Sen...." His sentence trails off as DAISH collects information from the head researcher.
	"Ah, she has answered a number of queries that I have had and will also be helpful to your endeavor Victor." Victor doesn't say anything and DAISH continues. "Due to the reduced population of males they are rarely seen out in public. Almost all of the males' needs are met within their location and their sole purpose is reproduction. The females are part of a group or 'lounge' as it is translated and they form groups around males. Large and powerful lounges can negotiate reproduction between other smaller lounges and each female on average has just one offspring. The females that surround the male have an average of two to three offspring and the majority of males are hatched there. Focusing on attraction the females are almost never the picky individuals, the males do the selecting. Otherwise a female will try to initiate a display to entice the male by changing her color pads along her snout, forearms and thighs and this is usually accompanied by a dance. Miss Del did say that an easy tell is if they get flustered around the individual they have interest in. A flushing of the color pads to white in a form of a blush. So the best advice I can give you Victor is to keep your eyes open."
	"Wow, OK. That's a lot of information. It does answer my question though. I have a follow up question you should be able to answer though." Victor looks over to the speakers that DAISH was talking through. "If we were to...become intimate...would there be any adverse health effects for her?"
	"Caring about her well being before your own. Admirable. From all the scans and samples I took there would be nothing that would harm either of you. Although please do come to the medbay if you are experiencing anything abnormal. Victor please understand that humans seeking relationships with people and, pardon my bluntness, AI is not at all strange." DAISH says to the AI maintainer.
	Victor sits upright at the new information being brought to his attention. "Wait AI get into relationships with humans? You have to be pulling my leg."
	DAISH keeps the same tone as normal, "I am not. I know a number of AI in emotional and physical relationships with humans. We may be tied to our minds but that does not mean that we cannot take a 'host' body for our partner for the more physical side of a relationship. We seek stimulation and from my understanding a relationship with a human can be extremely so."
	Victor lays back, his mind needing a reset. "Moving on. There won't be any issues?"
	"That is correct."
	"Thanks DAISH. You're always a good friend." Victor sighs his reply.
	"Any time Victor." DAISH says warmly. 

	Sen was outside the ship sitting in the shade of a short tree trying to recover from the embarrassment of DAISH asking her a question she had no knowledge of. Del walked up to her noticing the flush of white on the younger vishan's body. "I already know what DAISH asked, he asked the same from me." She said as she took a seat next to the embarrassed woman. "I've been where you are."
	Sen scoff at the older woman. "What do you mean? I know you've already been with a male and had a child." She turns slightly away from Del. 
	"That is true but I wasn't part of a lounge until my 28th cycle." Del sighs as she remembers the laughs and ridicule from her younger years. "I know the difficulty of being alone like that."
	Sen starts to sniffle as she hears the admission from her friend. "How did you know?" Sen asks with her pads turning more blue in color.
	"I know the signs of being on your own. I was there for a while." Del gives a sigh as she leans against the tree. "I also know the signs when you find someone you're interested in."
	Sen immediately goes back to flushing white. "W-what!? No! I'm not-" She was cut off by Del giving her a suspicious look as she bumbled through her deflection. "Well...yeah. You caught me."
	Del goes back to leaning against the tree. "You could do much worse. You should go talk to him." Del opens an eye and looks over to Isaac reading reports in the shade of a tree. 'I should take my own advice.' She thinks to herself feeling the familiar sensation of a white flush coming on.
	"How would I know if he's interested in me?" Sen looked over to her friend.
	"How would I know? I'm not a human. Maybe ask DAISH or Lucy. She has a partner." Del retorts to her friend.
	Sen just sits in silence as she thinks over what to do.

	Isaac was sitting in the sand under the shade of the Markov as he read over the board's decision to inform humanity as a whole on the peaceful first contact and possibly inform them of the ongoing negotiations. sighing Isaac drops the pad into his lap, heat from the sand and sun baking into his bones as it radiates off the surrounding area. Suddenly there was someone standing next to him. Looking up he saw Victor in nothing but swim trunks. Bare chested with plenty of body hair Isaac averted his eyes as soon as they fell on him. "Is there a reason you're half naked?"
	Victor just gives Isaac a perplexed look. "We're at the beach, might as well go for a swim."
	Isaac just looks toward the water with a distant look. "DAISH is it safe to swim?"
	DAISH responds from the pad in Isaac's lap. "The salinity content of the water is 0.1% higher than on earth. No negative effects from swimming. The local fauna in this region are similar to earth as well, nothing will eat you."
	Victor didn't even wait for DAISH to finish before he sprinted full speed towards the water and jumped in. "Woo! it's cold! Hey why don't you come swim!?" he called back to everyone on the beach.
	The younger vishan averts her eyes as Del calls over to the larger man. "Too cold for us to swim! Maybe when you come visit Eshala we'll take you up on that offer!"
	Isaac stays seated as he calls out to Victor. "No thanks, I don't do oceans."
	Del gets up from her seated position next to Sen and makes her way over to the captain and sits down. "I've been meaning to talk to you, If that's alright." Looking over to the vishan sitting next to him he gives a simple nod for her to speak. "It's about the man you consider a father, Daniel Ross." Isaac stiffens at the subject being brought up but the vishan quickly follows with her question. "What was he like?"
	Relaxing, Isaac pools over the memories from the man that took pity on him. "He was tough, stern and wasn't afraid to throw a punch. Even when I was young." Sighing he rubs his shoulder, a dull reminder of the man that gave it to him. "He did care though, he always had a soft spot for me and everything he did was meant to either toughen me up or teach me a lesson. I miss him"
	Del looked up to the pilot as he rubbed his shoulder. "You also said you had a sister. What was she like?"
	Isaac's voice took on a somber tone, remembering the fond memories of his sister. "She was warm, strong and smart. She kept me safe even when she couldn't...I wish she was here to meet everyone."
	Del looks out to the horizon, "I bet I would have loved her. Did she ever meet Daniel?"
	Isaac gave a hearty laugh as something crossed his mind. "No! God no she would have hated him! She never met him, she was gone by the time he came to me." He looked over to Del, "It feels weird to talk about something that I thought was behind me... Guess I've never really moved on."
	"I don't know how humans deal with these kinds of things but for vishan we use these hard moments to get closer with those that surround us. We see that being by yourself is like a singular stone. You can't build a house or a path forward by yourself, we need those around us even if it is for a short time." Del moves her hand through the sand, "One grain isn't much but together they can make an island."
	Looking down at Del Isaac asks her a question, "How many siblings do you have?"
	Shifting in the sand her short tail makes a divot to help make her more comfortable. "I have many half sisters from my father but I've never known them or him. I've only ever had my mother and she passed two cycles ago."
	His eyes move off of Del and onto the sand in front of them. "I'm sorry. It must have been hard to lose her."
	Del gives a slight chuffing laugh, "She was old and it was her time. She went peacefully in her sleep. I miss her but it was her time." Del begin's drawing in the sand with the tip of her claw. She forms the basic shape of a vishan but she fills in two of the eyes while leaving the other four normal.
	Isaac notices the crude drawing, "Is that her?"
	Del pushes her claw through the sand destroying the image in one fell swoop. "Yes, we hold onto the ones we care about in our minds. Memories of them at their best and worst. It keeps them alive in a way. Why do you carry a physical memory?"
	Feeling the weight of the small metal case in his pocket he pats it twice. "Keeping them close is nice, like she's always with me in a way."
	Del looks at Isaac with a warm smile. "That's wonderful. I think my mother would have loved to meet both of you."

	Sen stood next to Lucy who was laying in the sand away from everyone else, unsure how to start a sentence or even how to speak to the abrasive woman. "What do you want? You've been standing there for three minutes not saying a thing." Dismissively she calls out the young vishan.
	"Uhm...well I wanted to ask you a question and I didn't know how to ask it." Sen shifts her feet nervously in the sand and looks over to where everyone else. Isaac and Victor introduced Del and Ernt to a few human card games. Something called Texas Hold 'Em and another called spades.
	"Well what's the question?" Lucy pulled down her sunglasses to look at Sen more directly, noticing the sun was glinting off her small scales like gem stones.
	Fidgeting with her clawed fingers Sen starts her questioning. "Well, Del said that you would be a good person to ask about these kinds of things. How do humans know if another is interested in seeking a relationship? Asking either Isaac or Victor didn't lead anywhere so Del said to ask you since you're currently in a relationship."
	This piqued Lucy's curiosity. "Why would you be interested in something like that?"
	"W-well vishan relationships are extremely different from human ones. I was curious about how they are initiated since there are only two parties involved unlike us where there are numerous individuals involved." Sen kept shifting her feet as she grew more nervous.
	Lucy kept her eyes on Sen, studying her movements and something clicked. "Oh my god, are you interested in Isaac?"
	Sen looks over Lucy carefully. Her face not showing any emotion or betraying her feelings. "It's purely for understanding your culture. I have no interest in Isaac."
	Lucy pushes the subject. "So Victor then?"
	Turning towards the group playing cards loudly Sen lets her eyes fall on the shirtless Victor. Her three chambered heart beating faster and a slight blush adorning her color pads on her snout and forearms. Looking back to Lucy she replied shakily. "O-of course not. I see him as just a friend. Besides I doubt he would want anything with me..." Her voice trailed off as she spoke her doubts.
	Looking up at the vishan she knew everything that Sen was feeling. She decided to play dirty. "Look, even if I did tell you how it works between a man and a woman there is no chance he would go for you."
	Shaken by the harsh reply Sen speaks softly in whispered words. "You don't know that."
	"Yes, I do. Some one so small and unsure of herself? Victor likes confident women. He was bragging about hitting on girls when we get back to earth. You and Victor could never happen. You're just going to stay a lonely little lizard. Now go away, I'm trying to tan."
	Sen didn't reply, shocked by the harsh from the engineer being echoed by the years of torment from colleges and any vishan close to her. Sorrow filled her as she took a step back and turned running away from her. Chuffing out a cry as she made her way back to the ship and her one safe haven in her and Del's shared room. Sprinting through the ship being chased by the endless voices from years past, words pushed back into her mind clawing back into her life. The door shut as she locked herself in with her demons.
	A small knock sounded through the endless voices ringing in her mind. Del had come to check on her with Isaac in tow. she didn't open the door.

-CHAPTER 19-

-3 DAYS LATER-

	Isaac leaned against the wall of the engine room looking at Lucy. Something had been bothering her for some time and Isaac already knew the issue. "Lucy do you have a moment?"
	Sighing she set the wrench down and slid out from an open panel. Grease and oil stained her shirt and pants clearly showing the work she had been putting in. "Can it wait? You can see I'm kind of in the middle of something."
	"You want to go home." No sense in dancing around the subject. "I know the look, I've worn it as well as seen it on others I've worked with."
	"So? I'm happy to be part of the greatest endeavor for mankind. Close encounters and all that." She remarks harshly.
	"I put in a request for a replacement. The CEE board has informed me that they will send an ambassadorial ship along with a small defense force to speak to the highest levels of Karlta. At that time you will be sent back to the ISP." Isaac retorted back at the harsh woman.
	"Wait, wait...You already requested my transfer? Why?" Lucy was awestruck at the captain's words.
	"Because so far you have shown to be a good engineer but you lack the focus and temperament this mission needs. Not only that but I saw how fucked up Sen was after she went to talk to you on shore leave. It took Victor an entire day to get her to come out of her quarters. Hell because of that Del had to sleep on the rec room couch!" Sighing, he turned to leave, "You aren't a good fit. I tried to figure out a way to reprimand you but nothing came to mind. We're ambassadors not instigators. Hopefully your replacement won't be so rough to our new friends."
	Lucy stands in the engine room un-moving for what feels like hours. Thoughts and feelings bouncing around in her head. Joy for heading back and being able to see her boyfriend, anger at the captain but there was one that stood out. Remorse for making the small woman feel such sorrow at her words.

	The Markov was currently in outer orbit above the planet of Karlta, currently waiting for the new ships to break into the system. A ripple began to form near Markov's location as Event space began to shatter and reveal the Heavyweight Cruiser: ODIN.
	"Holy shit DAISH they sent the Odin? Either someone was pissed off about us being shot at or they really want a display of power." Isaac brought up the image of the Odin on the display. The massive 2 Km long vessel began listing slowly to rendezvous with the minuscule Markov as it was joined by three smaller vessels. The Light Weight Destroyer: Terror, LightWeight Supply Ship: Erebus and the Ambassadorial Ship: Peace. "Wonder why they sent the Erebus and Terror. Not the best named ships for peace talks."
	"Perhaps they were hoping that they wouldn't be able to translate what is said on the side. Either that or they want to warn them of what will happen to those that cross us." DAISH brought up a fairly good point, peace through deterrence was still peace. "Isaac the Odin hailing us. Patching it in."
	On the primary display the Captain of the Odin stood in his crisp black EVA suit with his helmet nearby. Isaac had a run in with the current captain of the Odin a couple years back when he was a pilot for hire. "Greetings captain Isaac! I hear that the initial stages of first contact have gone well!"
	"About as well as we could realistically hope for Captain Reed. How's the family?" A warm smile graced his face as he greeted the aging captain.
	"They're taking vacation on earth right now, kids really wanted to see Russia for some reason. Got dragged away from them for this mission but I certainly can't complain." The captain ends his statement with a whistle as he takes in the green and blue orb with the moon hovering just above one of the three continents.
	"It certainly is a sight isn't it." Footsteps set in behind Isaac causing him to turn and saw he was joined by the rest of his crew. "Ah captain Reed let me introduce to you our new friends. Miss Delal'Ve Arct, Senen'Das Vanue, and Ernt Degora. We picked them up from the listening facility on Xen, their furthest planet." He introduced each of the new aliens that had decided to join him on his mission for first contact. "Everyone this is captain Reed. Head of the HWC Odin and a good man."
	"Please Isaac, I'm just a normal man not a demigod." With a hearty chuckle the captain looks over the new additions to Isaac's crew. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. Captain you have been cleared to embark aboard the Odin, you can brief me on the details when you get aboard. Thank you for the warm welcome and I'll see you soon. Godspeed."
	The display faded and Del turned to Isaac. "Do we have to leave the ship? I think I'd get lost aboard that monster."
	"You don't have to but it would help to have at least one of you with me to explain everything that's happened. Besides I don't think I need to convince Ernt." Isaac brought his eyes to the bouncing sentre looking and manipulating the displays trying to see the ship at every angle.
	"I'll join you. Just don't let me get lost, OK?" Del looks over to the captain of the Markov. Her six eyes filled with trepidation and concern.
	"Wouldn't dream of it." He offered with a warm smile.

	"DAISH why the hell would you lead with how the telran might react over AI? What would make you think that was a good idea?" Isaac held his face in his hands and sighed deeply as he lamented the situation.
	"My apologies captain, I believe that starting with the worst news is the preferable option when we get into the details covering the better side of our negotiations. That being the support of the sentre delegation." DAISH rattles off to the two captains and is joined by SAM from the Odin.
	"Although there is very little about the telran their language and culture is quite fascinating. Captain Isaac you said that you had a run in with a female telran?" SAM was far more animated than DAISH when talking, even going so far as to create a pixelated face to show emotions.
	Sighing Isaac conceded to the wide eyed AI. "Yeah, she was small and wore small strips of cloth that covered her nethers and back. Bony plates on her extremities and head. Looked a lot like a praying mantis. Why do you ask?"
	"From what DAISH has been able to collect it seems that she would either have a huge sway in their government or be a war hero given that position. They only make up 30% of the population and usually stay the course of child bearers. You might actually have an in with them." SAM finished with a smile on the display.
	"That might actually be a bridge we burned pretty early on. DAISH went a little hard on her and I didn't stop him." Isaac sighed again into his hands.
	Del sat up in her seat and looked over to the display showing the AI. "DAISH what was the name of the ambassador on the Vealten station?"
	"Her name was Cletra Coran Desh. Is there something you wish to share with us about Miss Del?" DAISH called from his thin blue line to the small group in the room.
	"Well the Desh clan are extremely influential, how did you not know that DAISH?" Del questioned the AI sitting on the display.
	"To be honest, Miss Del after our encounter with her aboard that station I have been ignoring any mention of her name. In hindsight that may have been a mistake." DAISH's line turns a slight yellow in his embarrassment.
	"Well why don't we contact her and work something out?" Captain Reed offered to the group in  an attempt to get more information on the situation.
	"Well DAISH may have called her entire race child murderers. That and insinuating that they are groveling in the dirt where they belong. Honestly DAISH you could have lightened up a bit." Isaac finishes his statement by leaning back into his seat.
	"Well you might not have burned that bridge, there might still be a chance to speak with her." Del's statement brings all of the individuals attention squarely on her. "Telran are stubborn and hard headed people, they only really see their way and no other. I think you might have changed her mind though. We could only know if we contact her, and Isaac it better be you when she picks up the phone."
	"If we're going to be meeting with Cletra again then we'll need another team to meet with the vishan delegation. We might have to split the crew." Isaac looks over to Del. "We're already going to be short handed due to Lucy being sent on a small transport ship back to Earth." He began rambling to himself. "We need another engineer and Captain Reed can't spare one. We're going to be tight for a bit."
	Del looked over to Isaac. "Didn't Sen tell you?" Isaac shook his head, "she has a minor in ship engineering. If she has a crash course in your ship she might be able to handle it."
	"DAISH can you handle something like that?" After a short affirmation from the AI Isaac gives a short reply. "Well it'll be a shift from normal but it shouldn't be too difficult. Do you have any suggestions Captain?" Reed gives no reply other than a shake of the head. "Alright, I need to go over to the HR/IT section and shift this around. Might need to split the crew between two ships as well."
	Everyone in the room including the AI's gave statements of understanding as everyone began to leave the small meeting room. Del jogged to catch up to Isaac and walked side by side with him to bring up another issue. "So Victor and Sen will be taking Markov to the meeting with the vishan delegation? What about us? Will Ernt be coming with us?" 
	Isaac just looked down to her. "That's what I'm going to straighten out."

        The ship manifest Isaac was looking over was finalized a few minutes ago and Del demanded to look over it as well. She took not being able to read English in stride and began asking questions about the English alphabet and the numbers humans used. After a few minutes she gave a heavy sigh as they walked through the corridors of the Odin to the docking bay. Del and the others were the talk amongst the ship and everyone they passed tended to stare and double take at the short alien woman wearing what amounted to white wrappings on her forearms and legs covered by free flowing orange robes clashing with her slight brown scales. "You seem to be quite the attraction." Isaac teased.
        Del only gave a slight huff to the taller man before giving her retort. "If I remember correctly you were starring far more than anyone else on your crew, especially at me."
        "I can't help but look at pretty things, and you are definitely beautiful. Besides I think that the CEE were letting these guys in on the whole first contact thing a little early since the public at large was supposed to be told a day from now about everything." Isaac spoke without thinking and tried to recover.
        Del stopped in her tracks. "You think I'm attractive? I didn't know that humans would be such deviants." Del chuckled to herself as she noticed Isaac began to blush.
        "Don't tease me like that. It's unfair when you have more experience and know what buttons to push." The duo kept walking through the corridors until reaching the hangar a moment later.
        "What do you mean that I have more experience? As far as I'm concerned we should have about the same in that regard. Well beside humans being more promiscuous than vishan as a whole." Del had clearly been talking to DAISH far more than she should have coming from her confidence in CEE human culture.
        "That's not true. DAISH didn't tell you at about the turn of the 2050's in human history there were a number of wars that kicked off because the first world super power became complacent in it's own culture. That acted as a system shock and threw everything back to an extreme monogamous and conservative culture outlook. The wars didn't help with the public image though." Isaac sighed as he began to look over the ships in the hangar and started walking when he saw the ship on the manifest. "I haven't even been in a relationship, so yes you do have more experience." Isaac shot back. "This is our new ship for the time being."
        Del looked over the gray and red ship and noticed a few differences from the ship she became familiar with. "This one looks like a big triangle. Is it an older model and therefore less advanced? Oh and what's its name?"
        Isaac looks back to the small woman. "Well it's a different make and model of ship so naturally it's going to look different. These were built for utility and to take a hit the Markov was meant to look nice and fly nice. As for the name she doesn't have one yet. I was trying to think of one on the way over here."
        "The ship was never named because she only had pilots and no captains so far. Seems like you'll be the one to truly name her." A voice comes from behind the ship's landing gear and a gray and red robot walks out with a wrench in it's hand and a full set around the belt. A large name was printed across the collar of the robot that read 'E.D.E.R.' It slid the wrench back into the belt and held its hand out stretched for a handshake. "Name's EDER, current ship AI and was installed just a few minutes ago."
        Isaac reaches out and looks at the display across the AI robot's face that's showing a pixelated smiling face. "EDER huh? What does that stand for?"
        EDER takes a step back and counts back on his hand going over the acronym. "Engineering, Diagnostics, Event control, Relay. Every ship I've been in has seen a 20% increase in efficiency when I've been aboard." He leans in to the captain and puts on a whispering face. "Sir there seems to be an alien following you. Need me to call that other AI on the first contact team?"
        Isaac just begins to laugh at the body language of the robot. "You've been around a while haven't you?" The AI puts up a confused face on his display as Isaac continues. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing. This is Delal'Ve Arct, now part of the first contact team and I'm the captain."
        The AI takes a step back and gives a sharp salute to the title, "Captain I apologize for my forward nature and casual demeanor. It won't happen again sir!"
        Isaac chuckles again and notices that the hangar that was full of noise and life had quieted down quite a bit. Everyone was looking at the small group. "EDER relax, I'm not military you can relax around us. There are a few things I need from you though. First get in contact with DAISH on the Markov and download all the info on linguistics from Karlta. Second I need to know the capabilities of this ship." Isaac begins walking towards the ramp of the ship leading inside. "Oh! Has the package arrived yet?" Isaac asks looking back toward the AI.
        "Yes captain, just a few moments before you arrived. As for contacting DAISH it's done." The AI begins to follow him up the ramp as Del follows suit. "Oh miss Delal'Ve Arct I must apologize for ignoring you for so long. Is there anything you need to suit your tastes before the captain just flies us off?"
        "Nothing other than onboard temperature, I prefer it to be a little warmer than what the captain likes. Oh and just Del is fine." Del gives a warm vishan smile to the AI by closing her eyes and tilting her head upwards.
        "Very well Miss Del." A smiley face is displayed across his face plate. Turning towards the captain EDER begins to rattle off statistics of the ship. "Heavy armor, and engines, the free swivel giving extreme control over the ship and six degrees of movement freedom. Weapon systems consist of four heavy offensive rails that have over 170 degrees of traversal in any direction, basically removing blind spots, I'll handle those. Long range is smart munitions but that's standard on any ship. Defensive is an advanced laser grid that can defend against long range munitions along with a strong magnetic defensive grid that can slow down heavy slugs to non-dangerous speeds. Ah and over here is the cargo for Del." EDER motions to a tough box sitting in the main mess room.
        "Del go ahead and open it. DAISH used your measurements to make everything in there." Del walks up to the crate with suspicion.
        Releasing the latches she opens the top of the box she looks inside and gasps. Divided in half there was an advanced EVA suit with her name stitched on the left shoulder and a specialty designed helmet made for her head that included a snout inlay and cameras on the front and sides for her eyes. On the left half of the box were new civilian clothes with an assortment of patterns, colors and as she lifted one up styles similar to what she can get on Karlta. "By Altoen Isaac... This is too much. I can't accept this!"
        "You can and you will. DAISH and I noticed that you had been wearing the same clothes since you joined us. Only makes sense that I care about my crew." Isaac held a warm smile as Del looked over the clothes. "EDER do you have any ideas on the name of the ship? She sounds like a bad bitch so maybe something kick ass."
        EDER brought his hand to the chin of his display face and made a thinking face. "Well the parent ship is the Odin so maybe something Norse?"
        Del looks up to the two as they talk. "On Karlta there is a bird that has the same colors as the ship. A Cestan is known to be very smart and can recognize faces."
        "Well then, I know the ship's name." Isaac walks out of the ship to one of the maintenance drones outside. Del and EDER look at each other and before either of them can ask Isaac to shout back. "Her name will be the LWSS Raven."

-CHAPTER 20-

        Victor sat at the helm of the Markov in the seat that used to be Isaac's. Hands hovering over foreign controls that look akin to the control panels similar to old earth spaceships. With a sigh he dropped his hands to his lap with his eyes falling to the floorboards. "Captain what seems to be troubling you?" DAISH calls out over the speakers inside the ship.
        "DAISH I'm not the captain, you know that." Victor calls back to the AI from the pilot's chair. "Honestly it's nothing, it just feels weird to be sitting here when Isaac should be here." The displays showed the interior of the Odin's docking bay, mechanics and other personnel moving back and forth doing menial tasks. The slight distraction of the displays is pulled away when the sound of slight footsteps comes up behind him. 
       "You're looking a little down, are you doing alright?" Sen said as she took up the seat to his right looking out to the hangar. 
       "Honestly I should be asking you that, you know being split up from Del and all that." Victor swivels the seat to face Sen directly. The look on her face and color of her scale pads on her arms and face show worry with a light hue of yellow.
       "I'm doing fine. You just look upset." Sen wrings her hands together and looks back to the displays to the people moving back and forth.
       "It's just it feels weird without them here you know? I also don't know if I can do what he did, he seemed to be a natural. I just don't want to mess it up." Victor sighs as he looks over the controls that hovered over his lap. "I'm not even sure I can be a good captain, I'm just an AI maintainer." 
       "Victor you will do fine." DAISH says over speakers with a warm tone. "Just take everything one step at a time and everything will work out."
       "Yeah, thanks." Victor sighs as his hands fall onto the controls. "Let's get going. DAISH lets get the engines spooled up and get going."
       "Clearance has been given and we're good to go." The thin blue line showing the equalizer of DAISH's voice pops up on one of the side displays.
       Sen turns her chair towards her display showing engine readouts. "DAISH these look fairly simple. Would it be possible to run me through some of this on the way?"
       "Of course Miss Sen." DAISH calls out from his display and the ship lifts off the ground and lists towards the airlock with the vacuum on the other side.

       "EDER what's the environment on the telranian continent? I haven't heard much from DAISH about it and there was incredibly little that he did tell me." The Raven was in a descending orbit as guided the sip along the route that EDER had placed over the display.
       "Cursory scans have shown the rendezvous point is towards one of their coastlines. Small beaches and warm weather is to be expected but there are two things you should know. First is that the average level of radiation on their continent is approximately 40% higher than what a human can withstand, perhaps that is the major reason behind their body plates. Second is that it is incredibly mountainous. Sheer cliffs and homes built into the rock that reaches and in some cases surpasses Mt. Everest's peak. Everything that we can gather shows that only the extremely brave or incredibly foolish would want to descend into the valleys." EDER rattled off over the intercom in the hull of the Raven. "The air at that level is filled with volcanic ash and sulfuric oxide. It would kill any carbon based lifeform near instantly without the proper gear."
       "Keep the suit on. Got it." Isaac fires back to the AI. "And don't worry I'll put on the radiation layer along with the standard defense layer." EDER doesn't respond as Isaac turns to the vishan sitting in the chair beside him. "We haven't gone to see your home yet. Would it be too much for you to tell me about it?"
       Del looks up from the display and offered Isaac a warm smile. "Not at all, I'd be happy to. Honestly there really isn't much to say. Keeta isn't really a continent but a series of large broken up islands that early on in our evolution we swam to. Hence the tails. The environment can best be described as mild to scorching. I come from a more beach centric lounge that focused on intellectual studies and space exploration. Our island was the best to launch rockets from early on in our space expansion. The port was so beautiful at night."
       Isaac looks forward through the displays to the moving stars and planet scape down below. "Islands huh? Is the fish any good?" Isaac relied with a tone of half sarcasm.
       "Better than you can imagine. Do you like to fish?" Del's attention was solely on Isaac now as she turned from her display.
       With a warm chuckle he replies over his shoulder. "Who doesn't? It's near universal on earth that food from the ocean is perfect for any meal. Including breakfast. God I could go for a steak though. Seems like it's been forever since I've had one."
       "Steak? Is that an animal?" Del's full attention was on Isaac now. Curiosity taking over her senses about something new.
       Isaac turns towards her as he brings up a couple images on one of the secondary displays. "No, steak is a product of one of the many domesticated animals from earth. It comes from cows, mammals that feed off grass and have a four chambered stomach." Images of cows populate the display.
       Her eyes go wide as she looks over the images. "They're so cute! Why do you eat them?" Standing up and walking to the side of Isaac's chair beginning to crowd his arm.
       "Some people keep them as pets but those are far and few between. They've been moved all across the galaxy at this point and are an excellent source of protein. When we get a chance I'll have you try some." Isaac states as he removes the images from the display and goes back to focusing on the flight path. "Oh before I forget. EDER I need you to call up that telran ambassador we made contact with previously. We'll need some insight on what to expect. Hopefully we can still talk to her."
       "Consider it done Isaac." EDER calls out over the intercom just before a red line appears on one of the secondary displays noting that the comms were open.
       "Miss Desh, I understand that I would probably be the last person in the galaxy you wish to talk to, but I need information." Isaac states off in a clinical tone.
       "If I remember correctly captain you and your friend were very clear on where we stood to each other as well as on a species level." Desh replied with her flanged voice in the same tone Isaac had started the conversation with.
       "Yes but that was before we planned to fly into telran airspace. We need to know what to ex-" Isaac was cut off mid sentence by the telranian woman screaming over the comms.
       "Get out of there! You need to leave now!" Immediately following Desh's declaration for Isaac to turn back the way he came a blaring alarm came over the speakers.
       "Isaac I have picked up several SAM systems locking onto our position!" EDER called over the alarms. "Counter measures being enacted now. I advise we heed her instructions!" The lights immediately fell to a solid red as the combat display panels overtook the standard flight controls. It read only one question. Disable safety locks on all systems? 
       After Isaac pushed the 'Y' under the notification he turned to Del. "Strap in! This might get rough!" Del didn't answer and just pulled the safety harness over her shoulders as she looked at the hundreds of warnings pouring in through the displays as Isaac began to punch in commands and his hands fell to the flight controls.
       Isaac removed the immediate warnings from the displays and went into a harsh dive heading towards the cover of a steep mountain range. Over 30 SAMs were launched and were  gaining fast. "EDER I need you on point defense systems. Focus with lasers at long range and if they get too close drop flares." Within moments Isaac was weaving the Raven in between sharp edges and cliffs covered in sparse greenery. Vapor trails forming off the tips of the ship as is banked through the humid air.
       Del turned toward the display that still had the communication channel open with Desh. "Why are they trying to kill us!? We've done nothing wrong!" The ship was turning hard and the inertia dampeners could only do so much as the ship went through turns that reached up to 120Gs, forcing Del to brace against the armrests of the seat she was strapped into.
       "I'm so sorry! I didn't think you would be coming here so soon! I was going to contact you to make sure that you didn't try anything rash!" Desh's voice was becoming more distorted as the engines roared and the wind tried it's hardest to keep the ship at a slower speed.
       "That didn't answer my question! Hrnng! Isaac can you try to keep it a little smoother?!" Del shouted over her shoulder to the man sitting in the pilot's seat.
       A violent shock wave rocked the ship as a SAM detonated against one of the flares just as they were deployed. "I'm not sure if you can tell but I'm doing my best ok!? EDER did that damage anything?" The AI called out over the comms informing the duo that the hull had received only minor damage but that he'll try to keep close calls like that to a minimum.
       "Del you need to put on your helmet, I don't know how long I can keep this up!" Isaac already had donned his and in response she pulled the helmet from next to the displays and let the mag locks connect to the flexible collar around her neck. 
       "What do you mean rash!?" Del shouted turning towards the display after her helmet sealed. The ship shook as another SAM detonated from the defensive laser array melting through the warhead and cooking the payload inside.
       "Impact imminent!" EDER called out over speakers a moment before the ship was rocked violently to the side shaking the crew inside. A chunk of the ship was sheered off exposing the inside of the ship to the thinner atmosphere. "Atmosphere venting, pressure dropping. Isaac there is a plateau 2 km from our current location. It had dense vegetation which should intercept the SAMs!"
       "Correcting course. Hnnng god damn did we loose and engine too!?" The controls were straining against the sheer force of the torn hull and the resistance that the atmosphere was beating into the ship. The Raven's wings were clipped.
       The plateau came into view on the displays against the static fogging their view. The contact with Desh was never severed and she could barely be heard over the wind whipping through the helm. "Even trying to come here is drastic. If humanity keeps AI the telran will only want war. I'm so so-" The feed cut out as another SAM detonated to the right of the ship.
       "OK we're going to go into crash protocols. EDER, shut down after we jettison to the surface, we'll grab you once we're on ground." A short affirmative was given as Isaac was smashing buttons on one of the few working displays as he looked over to Del. "Trust me." With a button press the seats slid into the floor paneling and encased them in metal coffins. Thrusters fired and pushed the small escape pods from the ship and began to descend towards the forested floor. From inside the angular pods the Raven could be seen from internal displays careening over the forest before disappearing into the vegetation. The reverse thrusters fired slowing the decent to the plateau.

-Chapter 21-

       Victor stood at the far end of the small room overlooking the flat islands littered with low set buildings offset by sky rises on the intermittent islands. First contact negotiations were set to begin shortly as he spied the reflection of Sen in the glass to his right. Swinging her legs off the edge of the seat she looked off to other points of the room before looking his way. "Do you think they're doing well on their end?"
       He only gave a short chuckle to the small vishan as he tried to hide his nerves. "knowing those two we've got nothing to worry about. Hell, Isaac probably has them eating out of his hand!" 
       "Now I'd like to see that! It'd certainly be entertaining watching Isaac's reaction!" Sen laughed from her seat. She began to look out the window towards the island towns with Victor. "That's where I grew up. Just over there." Sen pointed to a small cluster of buildings glinting in the sun. "Siranta, major port and where I was born and raised, got my higher education there too."
       Victor looks towards the small city. "I assume the normal staples of city life are included? Good food, parks and sights to see?" He brings a warm smile towards Sen.
       "Not to mention the people are nice. Maybe I'll have to show you around after this." Sen looked up at the smiling human to give a warm smile back.
       "I'd like that. Does it always take so long for vishan customs to visit for negotiations with beings from different systems?" Victor leaned against the large window overlooking the ocean and vast beaches.
       "Honestly I wouldn't know, this is the first time an alien species has come to visit. They're probably preparing something far more formal later down the line after our initial first meetings. Trade, immigration and a number of other factors probably have to be discussed amongst our leaders before they start asking what humans want. It doesn't surprise me that they're taking so-" Sen was interrupted by a frantic beeping coming from Victors pocket.
       Victor pulled his personal device from his pocket and opened the alert. "Victor. There is an urgent update from Isaac's group." DAISH Called from the small speakers. "Are you in private?"
       "Yeah it's just me and Sen here. What's happened DAISH? Is Isaac and Del OK?" Victor peeled himself from the window as he began to question the AI.
       "Under normal circumstances I would request that this information be kept in our personal channels but this affects Sen as much as it does us." DAISH stayed silent for a moment. "Any microphones in the room you're currently in are now jammed. Please take a seat, you'll need it." Victor and Sen sat down in the vishan sized chair making Victor appear to be sitting in a seat made for a toddler. DAISH didn't wait for either of them to ask questions. "Approximately two hours ago Isaac's ship the LWSS Raven was shot down in Telranian airspace and no communication has been reestablished with him, Del or the military AI onboard. As it stands now the Odin is preparing to infiltrate and recover what they can and the ambassadors that were with them haven't been able to open any channels with them to question them for motives. It is assumed that everyone aboard died in the crash."
       Silence permeated the room as the full weight of the news sunk into the two. "DAISH are you certain that they died in the crash?"
       "No. From what I can collect of transmissions being sent back and forth two escape pods were deployed from the raven before the crash. The odds are low but they might still be alive." DAISH's voice held a weight of optimism that the two in the room didn't share.
       Sen was the next to speak up. "That doesn't make any sense! The telranian leadership set up a meeting with them. They wouldn't just shoot them down!" A moment in silence as Sen brought up one more point. "I thought your ships couldn't be shot down... How did this happen?"
       "Miss Sen, we are not unkillable gods. We are at the mercy of the same physics you are. Gravity, mass, magnetism, it affects us all the same and that includes our technology. As for the meeting I can only assume that it was set up as a trap. Learning about humanities use of AI has probably made them far more hostile than we initially realized. I should have seen this coming, I'm sorry Sen." DAISH disconnected from Victor's cell.

HWC ODIN

      Lucy sat in the port observation deck overlooking Karlta and its low orbit moon barely peeking over it's horizon. She had been sitting there reeling from the news that had come through concerning her significant other. Mining accident on a small planetoid. 1/8th of the ship he was aboard at the time was cleaved off due to a malfunction in the gravity tethers holding the rock in place. 382 crew members were lost in an instant. Nothing anyone could do. "What do I do now?" She asked herself quietly. Nothing to go back to, the bridge here was thoroughly burned. Mercenary work was out of the question due to how cut throat and unloyal everyone was.
      "Corporal Adams, the captain needs to speak with you." The woman looked up to the soldier standing next to her in a full combat load out with weapon in hand. Lucy just sighed as she stood up and began to follow the soldier.
      She was quiet during the long walk to a small war room. No reason to speak up for the death sentence of her career. The automatic doors hissed open and Lucy was greeted to a squad size element of soldiers in full combat gear with MACH guns and side arms for each. The captain drew her attention to the front of the room where a display was showing terrain features with labels on the telranian controlled area. "Ah Corporal Adams, we can finally get this underway." The door closed and locked with an audible click. "Two and a half hours ago the newly named LWSS Raven was shot down in telranian airspace. Current intel suggests that all individuals have been KIA. I don't need to explain to all of you what these actions have in store between our organizations. This was an explicit act of war against not just the CEE but every human establishment and colony to date. The ambassadors we have brought with us have been unsuccessful in establishing contact or figuring out a motive. There are theories but nothing concrete." The captain takes a short breath as he leans on the table and draws his eyes to Lucy. "Corporal Adams you have first hand experience with the telran and that makes you the subject matter expert. What are your thoughts?"
       In a moment her mind snapped back to work mode, pushing all the sorrow and doubt she was feeling to the back of her mind. A job needed to be done. "To answer why they most likely attacked in the first place was our liberal use of AI. They see it as a dangerous point in technology and will stop at nothing to purge it from the galaxy." Lucy to a moment to breath and collect the rest of her thoughts. "Concerning military weaponry it appears that they have been running into the same issues we have. Plasma weaponry is only useful in space and cooking your enemies in their own ships but our armor basically negates that. Otherwise I don't have any experience with their military or their people at large but they seem to be extremely reclusive unless AI is brought up." Lucy stood at attention waiting for the next cue from anyone in the room.
       "What are you still standing around for? Gear up." Captain Reed commanded gesturing to the other deployment ready troops in the room. "We're all waiting on you." Lucy didn't reply except with a sharp salute and began to follow another soldier to the armory.

UN-MAPPED LOCATION

       Isaac ripped the escape pod door off with a grunt a hiss followed from venting the pressurized atmosphere within. The door and emergency pry bar fell to the side as the small thrashing lizard fell into his arms as she began to punch and kick into him. "Hey, HEY! It's me, It's Isaac! You're OK." Upon hearing his voice she began to relax.
       Del lunged back into Isaac wrapping her arms around his waist. "I thought I was going to die inside that metal box... How do you use those things?"
       Isaac just leaned into the small vishan woman and rested a hand on her head. "They're meant to get you out of a bad situation fast, not to be comfortable." Isaac took a step back from Del and looked to the growing pillar of smoke in the distance. "We need to move. I guarantee that our new friends won't be too far behind us." Reaching into the escape pod Isaac grabbed a small accelerator pistol and handed it to Del. "Only use this if it's necessary. We don't need to cause any more interstellar incidents today."
       Del gave a simple nod through the helmet and signified to the human in a way he could understand that he understood. "Do you think EDER is OK?"
       "Only one way to find out." Isaac turned toward the dense foliage and began to march with Sunlight glinting off the gold tinted visor of his helmet.

-CHAPTER 22-

       The stealth shuttle rattled and shook as it descended through the atmosphere. Interior lights flickering as the systems struggle to keep thermals, radar signature and anything else other than the visibility of the craft completely cloaked. Weaving in between vast mountains and above a thick canopy of trees as the craft closes in on the last known location of the LWSS Raven. The unnamed craft listed slowly to about a click off of the pillar of smoke as the  port side panel of the craft hissed open and the team of soldiers in slick black reactive armor air assaulted down to the forest floor.
       The soldiers set up a perimeter and provided 360 degree security as the squad leader radioed back to the ship. "Ingress completed. Beginning assault on the target location now."
       "Understood. We'll find a landing zone and stay cloaked. Radio if you need fire support." The small ship lifted up and flew towards an outcropping of cliffs and settled down at their base.
       The squad leader calls out to the group of soldiers. "Engage active camo, let's stay as low profile as possible. ALEX take up point, stay single file and watch spacing. Let's not be caught with our pants down." The AI construct stood up and began to move towards the pillar of smoke in the distance with each of the soldiers.
       After the short trek the group of soldiers and the singular AI come within visual contact of the crash site. "Sergeant, thermal readings indicate that a group of telranian soldiers are attempting to breach the hull of the craft."
       "Well that certainly isn't good. Any new intel that you can give me? Good news would be preferred." The squad leader kneeled down next to the AI. Looking into his optics through his helmet the AI nodded.
       "It appears that their cutting tools are completely inadequate to even breach the thinner sections of it's hull. From just a cursory scan it appears that there was a breach upon crash that is on the underside of the hull."
       "You mean right in the AI core?" The sergeant sighed as he leaned on his rifle. "Any other better news?"
       "It appears I have located the individuals that were assumed dead." ALEX points over to a small transport vessel where Isaac was thrashing against restraints and Del strapped down as well before the doors shut and the transport lifted off and disappeared beyond the canopy of trees.
       "God dammit ALEX. This just got a lot more complicated. Any ideas on how to get to that AI core?" The sergeant looks back to the AI. "Also send a message to the Odin. They need to know about this."
       "Already done. Sergeant, what do you wish to do about the captain and his companion?" The AI's optics focused back on the squad leader squatting in the dense foliage.
       "Not much right now. Have the Odin track the transport to its destination. Maybe they'll be able to intercept or rescue them. In the meantime I have an idea on how to get into the ship." The sergeant looks over past the ship to the far side of the forest.
       "I never like that tone. It always precedes bad ideas." The sergeant could only smile at the AI's remarks.

       Lucy kneeled above the small high yield demo charge to the north of the downed craft. Mud and foliage caked the greaves of her armor as she set the receiver for the device, adding additional weight making her legs feel like lead weights as she placed leaves from the forest floor over top of it. "Couldn't have made the stupid robot do this?" she sighs as she stands up looking back to where the charge was hidden. Activating her radio she called back to her superior. "Sergeant charge is set, heading your way now."
       "Sounds good. Get back ASAP. We still need to be in that ship and this is the only thing holding us back." The feed cut out and she didn't even bother to reply. She began to trek through the same way she came, active camo peeling over her long cut jacket and having her features of the suit melt into the background like Predator.

HWC Odin

       Captain Reed was sitting with the dignitaries at a table overlooking documents and video feeds of the ground teams. The more information that came in only made things more difficult for everyone present. "Captain, do you know if the CUE has sent out the videos yet? If we put out a favorable view of the telran then show we're engaged in a conflict then we might gain more enemies than allies."
       The captain only rubbed his eyes trying to relieve the stress and fatigue from his features. "As of now they haven't been pushed. I'm certain that SAM has already sent our concerns their way?"
       As if on command SAM's pixelated face appeared on one monitor looking worried. "That's right Captain. It's been sent out and the other AI's and I have been discussing this as well."
       The commander gave a questioning look. "And?"
       "For what they are expecting it could go one of two ways. It could be we handle this at the local level and everything works out..." The AI trailed off looking away from Reed.
       "If we can't handle this at the lowest level?" The captain was certain he already knew the answer but wanted it confirmed all the same.
       "Invasion. Full scale system level war. If we can, let's handle it here before we start committing to the worst option." The AI blinks out and the captain just nods to the dignitaries before his eyes fall back to the video of Isaac thrashing in restraints.

UNKNOWN TRANSPORT

	"Isaac could you stop fighting your restraints for one moment and talk to me?" Del looked over to Isaac with sorrow in her voice.
	"Quiet!" One of the guards pistol whipped the side of Del's helmet thrashing her head to the side. "Keep talking and we'll throw you out."
	Isaac activated his helmet comms and called out to Del. "Only use the private channels. Let's not give these guys a reason to drop us off at ten thousand feet." His thrashing continued trying to free himself from his restraints.
	"That goes for you too!" The butt of a rifle was thrust into Isaac's abdomen and the shock was absorbed into the base layer of the suit keeping the wind from being knocked out of him.
	Isaac only turned his head towards the telran and stared for a moment. "Del this guy's first on my list when we break out."
	"We'll be fine... They won't hurt us. Unless they want to be boiled by our leaders." Del sounded confident but something in the back of her voice betrayed that outward feeling and made it appear as if she were wearing a mask to hide her fear.
	"Del at this point do you think they care? They probably think that we're galactic neighbors from your closest star system and this is all we could send. They probably think that if they start a war it'll be one sided." Isaac just leaned his head back and gave a defeated sigh.
	"So if they think they're in the right..." Del's voice trailed off
	"Then they'll do whatever they want to me." Another sigh, "they won't touch you though."
	"Isaac... I'm scared..."
	"Don't be, You'll be fine."
	There was a pause before she spoke again. "No... For you."
	The transport slowed and rocked as the ship landed and the telran soldier that hit both of them turned towards the two and only chuckled and a chitter as the door opened.

VISHAN EMBASSY

	Victor and Sen sat at the same table speaking to Captain Reed from aboard the Odin and both breathed a sigh of relief as he broke the news that both Isaac and Del were indeed alive. "That's the end of the good news I'm afraid. Both have been taken to a currently unknown location and due to their secretive nature we don't have all that much information of what is in store for them. Would you be able to shed any light on Miss Sen?"
	Sen shifted in her chair and wrung the hem of her clothes as she thought. "Not much I'm afraid, in all respects I am just a civilian and don't know anything about their military which goes for the sentre and even the vishan. I only know that they can be extremely brutal when provoked... Del wouldn't do anything like that, Isaac wouldn't provoke them would he?"
	Captain Reed could only rub his eyes as the lack of sleep and stress really began to show. "From what I know about Isaac... That may be a problem."

-CHAPTER 23-

	The telranian plateau was serene with the sounds of local wildlife and the soft chatter between the soldiers next to the downed ship. Conversations between individuals about family or political issues were common points in-between them as they were watched from the tree line by the CEE ground team as they waited for their advanced recon soldier to return. The NCOIC turned to the robotic AI in the prone and began to talk over comms. "What are they talking about? Translator can't really pick anything up from this distance."
	The AI keeps it's optics forward as it begins to answer. "Mainly about our arrival and human's flagrant use of AI. Honestly just listening I'm getting more offended by the minute and I can see why the initial talks aboard the space station with the forward team broke down. Trying to break the conditioning of an entire species this deeply ingrained may be far more difficult than we think."
	The sergeant sighs as he turns back to the ship still smoking in the clearing. "And here I thought some humans were biased against AI. Just goes to show that you can always be proven wrong."
	"Sergeant do you mind if I ask a question?" The AI kept a flat tone as he addressed his superior.
	The Sergeant just turns slightly to look over to the robot. "What's on your mind?"
	"The majority of humans I have interactions with in the military wings and security forces in the C.E.E. have been near universally accepting of AI. It is only in the private sector where this bias seems to arise. I have my own theories but I would like to have your input as well." The Optics never left his field of fire and not a single motor moved as he asked.
	The Sergeant chewed on his cheek letting the stubble on his chin scratch against the inside of his helmet as he thought. "Probably because of situations like this. Regular civilians don't have nearly as much 'face to face' or personal interactions with AI as we do. Plus it helps that you're laying in the same mud that I am."
	ALEX didn't respond immediately as he took the words into account. "Comradery through similar experiences and exposure. Hmmm perhaps there might be an answer there." 
	The sergeant didn't have time to respond as Lucy radioed back in. "Charges are planted and back in security."
	"Sounds good Adams. Go ahead and detonate and we'll proceed with the plan." The sergeant hunkers down preparing for the reaction of the individuals around the crashed ship.
	Silence falls over comms followed by a single click. A single bright flash could be seen in the distance. A second passed before a deafening boom silenced any of the wildlife and conversations held between the soldiers. The reaction was immediate, chattering and movement towards the explosion left the ship with two individuals as guards. The sergeant speaks up as the crowd leaves, "Alright we have only a few minutes until they're back. Take out the two left and let's make this quick."
	A simultaneous crack sounded off as two MACH guns fired and dropped the two telran outside of the ship before they could even react. The team rose and sprinted to the ship, climbing up the side to one of the emergency access panels and attached a small release device. A hiss followed by a metallic clack sounded off that both the seal and locks were released and that the hatch could be pried open.
	The interior of the ship was dark with only red emergency lights illuminating the narrow hallways of the ship. The ceiling was the floor as the ship was upturned in the crash and the lights casted long looming shadows in every direction. "Alright you all know your teams and your mission. Let's make this quick." The sergeant with his team turned toward where the event drive was housed as ALEX and his group moved 'up' a level towards the AI core and primary cell housing.

	Only a few minutes had passed when ALEX called over comms to the squad leader. "Sergeant, AI core has been collected and locked in next to mine. He's bringing me up to speed on what happened along with flight information from the black box."
	"We're just about done here ALEX, what can you tell me?" The sergeant grunted as he locked another charge in place. "Alright, we're done here, let's get moving before we have any more complications."
	"Sergeant, from what EDER is telling me the pilot was incredibly experienced in flight, in atmosphere evasive maneuvers and defensive actions. Unfortunately He was attempting to drive it as a 'sports car' instead of as a 'sedan'. It wasn't built for what he was trying to do."
	"Wait, who's EDER?"
	A pixelated face popped up on the squad leader's H.U.D. and began to speak. "That would be me Sergeant, I was the AI assigned to the RAVEN. Honestly I was quite surprised at the skill he displayed with his limited knowledge of the raven. Honestly if it hadn't been retrofitted and it's heavy armor removed I wouldn't have been surprised if we went down sooner."
	The sergeant continued to walk through the dimly lit hallways making his way to the exit. "Alright Isaac was skilled in flight, that doesn't really give us any good info to go on."
	EDER took on a thoughtful look for a moment before he began to speak again. "There was an individual that they were speaking to before the first missiles were fired. I would attempt to contact the fleet but I assume this is a covert operation so it'll have to wait."
	The sergeant sighed and rolled his eyes as he continued to walk and met up with ALEX by the hatch. "Well then I guess we'll have more work ahead of us. ALEX, contact the transport and tell them we're ready for extraction." his response was a simple nod as they began to crawl out of the wreck of the Raven and melted back into the surrounding foliage.

-HWSS ODIN SECURE NET-

-CURRENT TIME: 13:42:03:1265

-Individual connected: designation <EDER>

	AI LOCK CODE: 2854637

ACCEPTED

CHANNEL OPENED TO AI DESIGNATION <SAM>

S: Greetings E what can I do for you today?

E: A team needs to be dispatched for the individual <CLETRA CORAN DESH>

S: This seems serious, we'll keep it on the down low. Any particular reason?

E: She was in contact with the crew of the <RAVEN> when hostile contact was initiated. She could be a strong ally if we provide support.

S: Consider it done. On a related note a team has been dispatched to secure <ISAAC> and <DEL> they should be secured by our team within the day.

E: So long. <ISAAC> will be upset.

S: From how <REED> talks about him he should be fine. One more thing, <DAISH> wished to speak with you.

E: I'll initiate contact.

CHANNEL WITH DESIGNATION <SAM> TERMINATED

-CURRENT TIME: 13:42:03:8305

CHANNEL OPENED WITH DESIGNATION <DAISH>

D: <EDER> it is fortunate that you have not received any significant damage.

E: Indeed but <SAM> said you were asking for me.

D: This is correct. How much were you able to observe after your crash?

E: The extension body was damaged beyond repair after the crash but through the ship I was able to observe the exterior.

D: <ISAAC> was captured correct?

E: Yes but this should be common knowledge in our channels.

D: What colors were the <TELRAN> wearing?

E: Black and orange. Why do you ask <DAISH>?

D: There might not be much to save our friends if those <TELRAN> don't get what they want out of them.

E: Will you explain?

<DAISH> HAS TERMINATED THE CHANNEL

-CURRENT TIME: 13:42:04:2529

CONNECTION TO SECURE NET TERMINATED

	EDER woke up next to ALEX inside their shared net currently running through his internal systems before shouting. "Oh well fuck me right!?"
	The sudden exclamation caused the AI's physical body to jump in surprise and bump into the soldier he was standing next to. "Ah, apologies. EDER just surprised me is all."
	Lucy just stared daggers at the AI as the ship rocked as it ascended through the atmosphere. She broke her stare and leaned back into the seat and closed her eyes.

-UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION-

	"TELL US!" A sickening crunch resounded through the stone room as a slab of metal connected with Isaac's torso. "Tell us what we want to know and we'll make it quick for your little friend." 
	Isaac began to thrash in his restraints again. Face bloodied from the constant beatings and interrogation taken place over the last few hours. "DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HE-" His sentence was cut short as the metal slab connected with his arm with another crunch.
	One of the telran grabbed his hair with his three fingered hand and forced Isaac to look over to Del. "You have to watch." One of the other telran in the black and orange wrappings picks up two cables and sparked them against each other before he jabbed them into Del's back. She screamed. A horrible wavering scream that did nothing but enrage Isaac further. 
	Isaac's broken helmet laying on the floor next to him continued to translate what the telran were chittering. "This is only the beginning. We told you we want names and how to free you from the AI that controls you. The circuitry that you wield is infested with those vermin. We are your saviors. We will show you our truth." The telran Isaac had recently named Flint struck his left arm again. The taters of the undersuit he was wearing did nothing to slow the blow and ensured that the bone was nothing but shards. "So feeble. No wonder you are controlled by the machines."
	Isaac quickly blinked the stars out of his vision and looked over to the telran that shocked Del he now named bastard. "Touch her again and I promise you I'll make you suffer. Far beyond your wildest imagination."
	Flint grabbed Isaac by the hair again and looked at him with his large eyes. "You still fight? Looks like we'll have to clip your wings to break your flying spirit." Flint's wings vibrated on his back as he moved to get a pair of rustic sheers from a lock box on the slate gray stone wall. Grabbing Isaacs left hand he looks over his bloody, dislocated and broken digits. "Let's get to clipping."
	Del averted her eyes as her ears were filled with the animalistic screams that began to reverberate throughout the mountain followed by Del being shocked and beaten again.

-CHAPTER 24-


-HWSS ODIN-

    It had been only a few hours and the recon team had returned to HWSS ODIN but the effect of their actions were immediate and severe. The ship was swarming with activity, engineers fast tracking repair orders, heavy combat teams already suited up in their base exo-gear and shipmen running from post to post delivering ammo on heavy crates. AI in robotic bodies bolting soldiers into harnesses and gear that requires machine precision.
    "What the hell is going on? HEY! Soldier what's the rush!?" The Sergeant pulled one of the shipmen to the side and out of the direct line of bodies moving throughout the ship.
    "Whole ship has been put on high alert, Sarg! Captn's orders, full battle ready ASAP!" and with that he turned and joined the crowds moving as a river.
    Calling back over his shoulder shouting over the crowd as he began to run, "Keep your gear on and make sure to get back to our staging area! I'm going to get more information!" Tumbling through the crowd the sergeant pushed his way to a micro gravity lift and forced his way to the bridge.
    “Corporal, keep an eye on the cluster at 2845 degrees by 8732 degrees. Donny I need a status report on current battle stations asap. Rider I swear to God if you mess up that damn navigation status again I’ll wring your neck myself.” Captain Reed was leaning over the railing shouting commands to the bridge team and frantically typing away at his control displays.
    In a brief moment before the heated shouting picked back up the sergeant ran over to an ensign assigned to be the assistant to the captain and began asking questions. “Sir what the hell is going on?”
    The ensign doesn’t even look up from the display he currently has his eyes glued to when he replies. “Sergeant you should know already and if you need more go up your chain of command.”
    “That’s kind of the issue, we just dropped back in to find this place to be going haywire. We couldn't find our leadership if we tried!” The sergeant was shouting so he could be heard over the controlled chaos of the bridge which brought on the attention of the captain.
    “Staff Sergeant Jacobs I understand that you are confused but just get your squad ready and you will receive mission parameters from SAM shortly.”
    Jacobs only nodded before turning back to the micro gravity lift and worked his way back down to the shaft. The captain could only sigh, he understood Jacob’s frustration. Information would come in time but he needed to keep the situation at this level just a little longer. “SAM, we need to talk in private, my quarters.”

-SS VEALTEN-

    Cletra didn't even have time to respond when the knock on her door came. No call from her assistant or any warning before five hulking masses of steel and dread stormed through her door. "Who are you!?"
    The front man raised the faceplate of his helmet. "Miss Desh, we have reason to believe that you are in immediate danger. Please come with us."
    Desh took a closer look at these metal giants and began to compare them to the last humans she came into contact with. A head and half taller than what she thought was normal. The suits they were wearing were covered in stark white metal plates in large sections covering large portions of their bodies. The helmets they wore had no transparent portions and instead were angled and had cameras on the sides. "What? What do you mean!?"
    The grizzled soldier looks down to the shorter woman. "Follow me, we'll explain on the way." One by one the soldiers file out of the room and back into the hall. "Sixteen hours ago you were in contact with Isaac Ross and Delal'Ve Arct on an unsecured channel. I don't think I need to tell you how that conversation ended."
    Cletra's wings sagged on her back as she remembered the short conversation that ended abruptly not to mention the visit she received from the head's representatives. "I still have duties to attend to...what will I do?"
    The soldier didn't look down as he kept walking and answered. "If current projections stand then you won't have duties for much longer. If there are any friends or family you wish to warn I’d suggest to do it now.”
    Cletra pulled out a small data pad as she attempted to keep pace with the large man. A secure connection was established with her son and she waited for him to pick up.
    The video feed flickered on as her son brought his face into view. “Greetings mother, it’s odd for you to contact me in the middle of your work day. What’s the occasion?”
    Cletra looked over her son. The orange an black suit of the control corps shown dimly in the light of the mountain headquarters where he was stationed. “There’s not much time Leat. Get off world and stay secluded.”
    Leat looked over his shoulder looking shocked. “What are you talking about? You know I just can’t leave, I have duties.” There was a sudden jolt in his feed as he jumped at a dulled sound through the feed. “I have to go. Please call back and tell me what's going on.”
    The feed cut and Cletra continued her pace and walked in line with the soldier. “Was there anyone else you needed to contact? You do have a little time.”
    Cletra sighed and set her eyes on the floor, “No, there’s no one else. I’ll try him again later but as of right now I’m following your lead.”
    The soldier only nodded as he continued to walk, footstep shuddering under his and the other’s weight. The station jolted and the spin of the ring they were on slowed until it stopped. Without a word the soldiers pressed a button on their wrists and their feet connected with the floor with loud thumps. The soldier closest to her grabbed her arm  “Hold on to my shoulders. ATHENA status report, what's going on?”
    There was a moment of silence as the soldier held the side of his stark white helmet. “They’re boarding, we need to move quickly. Continue to hold on and don’t let go. We’re leaving.”
    The outfit of soldiers un-holstered their weapons that sounded off with a series of metallic clicks as they began to move in tandem. Cletra took a small moment to marvel at the unisonity of their movements. “What kind of soldiers are you? I’ve never seen an outfit move like you do.”
    The soldier kept his pace as he began scanning the corridors for any movement that could be hostile. “Marines, advanced combat troopers to be exact but everyone just calls us ACTS.”
    The soldiers turned a corner before the overhead lights failed and yellow emergency lights flickered on. With a flash an access panel from the ceiling broke open with a flash as two telran the size of the ACTS dropped into the corridor clad in black armor. The moment the soldiers were spotted they began peppering the corridor with rounds, sparks flying off of ricochets with wild and unpredictable pings.
    That was the moment the three first soldiers let a volley of rounds from their MACH guns loose. Blue flashes from the muzzle as densely packed gas from the rounds broke from the rails and ignited due to expansion. The telran didn’t even seek cover, possibly thinking that both their armor and bony exoskeletons would protect them or over confidence. A total of ten rounds were fired from each soldier and ever round hit their mark.
    Their footsteps were heavy as they began to sprint past the engagement, sporting new pockets of dents and scrapes lining their armor the soldiers began to quickly bound through the dimly lit corridors. Thuds echoing off of the stark metal walls broken up by the occasional poster of a virtual concert or dead displays. “Cletra we’re close, hold on just a little longer.”
    Another turn before they descended down a ladder lined tube that the soldiers barely fit in and landed on the docking level. Dust floating through the air captured glints of the emergency lighting appearing as if snow was stopped in time in the non-gravity controlled environment. A troop transport the same size as the RAVEN was docked on the exterior of the hull layered in thicker armor and all running light cut off. A group of eight telran scanned the docking bay as they worked their way towards the shuttle. 
Chittering amongst themselves scanning the room the soldier with Cletra wrapped upon his shoulders gave two commands. “You two push off and take up positions on the ceiling, you two flank left and I’ll drop a flash. Take them out the moment they react.” Affirmatives quietly rolled from the lines of soldiers and they took their positions as commanded.
The moment they were set the head soldier tossed out a cylindrical grenade at about head height of the telran soldiers. The spoon that fell off and clattered against one of the poster lined walls drew the attention of two the moment it detonated. Blinding light washed the docking bay and the moment the light dissipated the two soldiers that flanked opened fire and cut down three before they could react. The other five tried to run to cover and the soldiers from their original position opened fire and dropped another two. Three of them managed to make it to cover but never noticed the two soldiers stuck to the ceiling before they too had been killed. Thick red blood pooled around their bodies as the soldiers reformed and rushed the last distance to the up armored shuttle.
    Loading up Cletra couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “You didn’t have to kill them.”
    The soldier that set carried her placed her into a seat in the cockpit and strapped her in. “They shot first. We had to get you out. They had a mission to stop us. Such is war.” With that the shuttle released from the station and began to throttle away from the damaged station.

-VISHAN EMBASSY-

    Victor and Sen sat at the small table facing the three heads of the Vishan delegation distracted by the passage of time and little updates to show for it. From the window the night sky glimmered with the stars shining in the reflection of the ocean waves as they crashed into the shore. The geostationary moon just cresting the horizon where it sat in the same spot every night. Victor wrung his hands as he stood up drawing the attention of the vishan individuals at the table. “Thank you for the warm welcome and agreeing to meet with us to proceed with the groundwork that comes with first contact and peace talks. My name is-”
    Victor was cut off by a faded Vishan, an even color of golden brown scales that faded to her color pads and the under-scales that lined her stomach and neck, that sat in the middle.“Mister Donn, we are well aware of your name and Miss Senen of clan Vanue along with your exploits. If you would allow us to introduce ourselves?” Victor slowly sat down and nodded slowly. “Very well, My name is Wenan’et Gantra and I am the senior of this group.”
    The vishan to her right, a gray with edges of purple along her scales spoke up next. “Herit’na Selac, I’m quite excited about what new wonders you will bring.”
    Finally the woman to Wen’s left introduced herself, a solid black vishan with gray under-scales and deep red eyes. “Kela’nis Antra. It seems we have much to go over.”
    Sen looked up to Victor and gave him a weak vishan smile where her back two sets of eyes closed and raised her chin before looking over to the heads. “Where would you like to start?”
    Wen looked down to the young vishan and then over to Victor. “I believe that there is one more of your crew that has yet to join us. Where is your AI?”
    A display on the wall flickered on and loaded in a thin blue line that showed the EQ of the AI talking. “Right here Miss Gantra. Is there anything you wish to know before we start?”
    The Vishan’s eyes narrowed at the screen before moving to look back at Victor. “Inform your machine that it will not interrupt at any point. If I ask for information it will give it but this conversation is between us.”
    The other two vishan looked at the older head curiously but kept their thoughts to themselves. Victor took a deep breath before speaking again. “What do you wish to know ma’am?

    The initial talks covered basic information of humanities location amongst the stars, the locomotion of our ships and the makeup of the colonies and of Earth. Hours of basic information passed back and forth over economies, infrastructure, culture and fashion and finally the subject of AI was finally broached. The head vishan turned to face the display with the thin blue line before she began speaking. “Tell me machine, would you harm Mr. Donn if commanded to?”
    The blue line shifted to a yellow before waning back into blue. “Of course not Miss Wenan. What would warrant such a question?”
    Her eyes stayed narrowed as she asked another question. “What about Sen? If Victor told you to harm her?”
    The line stayed a yellow as he answered again holding a stern tone in his voice. “Never.”
    “What of me or the other heads sitting here? How do we know that anything some soulless machine says carries any weight of truth!?” Wen was standing as she began screaming at the display with the line slowly fading from yellow to red.
    Herit tried to pull the older woman to her seat, pleading as she did. “Wen this isn’t the time for-”
    Cutting her off harshly as she yanked her arm away. “There is no other time! If not now then-”
    Victor slammed his fist onto the table with a thundering crash, rattling the bones of everyone in the room. Rising out of his chair he widened his shoulders and standing at his full six foot three inch height. Casting shadows from the window and the lights on the walls. His voice came out cold and sharp as he addressed the older vishan. “DAISH is part of our crew. If you wish to move past this...abhorrent first impression we may be able to look past it. As it stands now you are the singular stop gap to further negotiations. Have a good night.”
    With that Victor turned to the automatic door and walked out with Sen following close behind. Kela, who had been largely silent, only looked to the older woman. “I know how you feel, being part of that dark past, but their AI is not from here. It’s hands are clean and willingly works with them. I’m ready to try, you clearly are not.” With those words she stood and left with Herit walking in stride.

-TELRAN BLACK SITE-

	A small stealth shuttle took no chances of being spotted by any form of sensor, which included visuals, which was why they skimmed the tops of clouds as they came up on the drop zone. No words were spoken inside the shuttle as the soldiers in black armor kept themselves locked into the struts that ran the length of the shuttle. “Two minute ETA.” the voice crackled over the speakers of each of the soldier’s helmets. Final checks over rifles were conducted before a deep gravelly voice sounded over their internal comms. “Remember non-lethal. Don’t want to shoot the captives.”
	No responses were given as time ticked forward. The hum of the shuttle grew quieter as it lost speed and descended onto one of the empty landing platforms. Stealth systems switched from thermal and radiation cloaking to the visible spectrum into the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. The rear hatch opened to reveal the eight soldiers to the wind and rain before their active camo kept them from sight near perfectly in the downpour. In quick movements the soldiers made their way from cover to cover moving to the main access door.
Two telran stood by the door wearing black and orange ponchos shedding the rain from their boney exteriors and faces. In an instant two silent shots hit their targets and dropped the two standing guards. The transparent soldiers pulled them out of sight from the door and grabbed a security badge. Once the door was open they worked their way into the belly of the mountain.

	Isaac’s restraints were cut along his wrists and ankles and was unceremoniously dropped from the chair he was in. Hands half missing and what was left were gnarled digits and exposed bone. A parody of a left arm stood in place of what used to be there barely held on by torn muscle and tendons. His face and torso covered in burns and lacerations with only tatters of his old undersuit preserving his modesty. Blood began to pool slowly as he laid unmoving except for shallow, labored breaths.
    The telran that unceremoniously dropped Isaac turned towards the door. “We’ll be back. Either you will be dead or you will talk.” With that the door closed and left the mangled man and the beaten vishan lit by one dim bulb.
    Del remained restrained to her seat looking at the mass that used to resemble Isaac through four of her eyes. One of her eyes swollen shut with the one next to it caked over with clotted blood. Broken bones in her torso drove knives into her body with every breath she took. With desperate and pleading gasps she calls to Isaac. “Say something...please let me know you’re still there.” The only reply she received was a strangled gasp as he attempted to call out with his broken jaw.
    Worry washed over the restrained woman as she looked away from the heap. “Isaac we just need to hold on a little longer. Please...just a little…” Sobs followed the desperate pleas in heaving ragged breaths. No tears flowed from her clenched eyes and bared teeth. Through her shallow sobs she began to curse everything that had transpired. Her upbringing, her career and this damn first contact. ‘If only they never came.’
    The door slid open bathing the room in crisp white light which only blinded the vishan. She prepared for the harsh words of another torturer to sting her already broken psyche and to hear the dull thuds of boney fists against Isaac’s flesh. No words came, no beatings or the whir of torture tools. Just barely audible footsteps followed by whispered words. “Shit. Doc get up here, do what you can.”
    Del raised her eyes to the harsh lighting and only saw shimmers and outlines of vaguely human sized shapes. One began to walk closer to her and appeared as if stepping through fog. “Stay calm, you’re in shock.” The figure pulls a blade from within it’s forearm guard and begins to bring it to Del’s wrists.
    Del recoils from the hand holding the knife, desperately struggling against the restraints. “Please...no more...I...I just want to go home.”
    The black suited figure pauses before cutting the restraints. “You will. Stick with us and you’ll be fine.”
    Del looked over to one of the black suited individuals tending to Isaac. A red cross on his shoulder as he hunched over the man mumbling to himself. “Nasal airway in but might have a collapsed lung. You put a tourniquet on that arm and you splint his legs. I’ll clot the deeper lacerations and once you're done check to see if he has a collapsed lung.”
    Del was lost and leaned on the black suited man for support when she tried to stand on a broken leg. “Who...WHAT are you?”
    The soldier leans down breaking out a thin green roll from a pouch on his waist. He offers a piece of wood from a nearby pile the interrogators were using to beat the two of them. “Bite down on this. I need to set your leg. Then once we’re on the shuttle I’ll explain.”
    Del did as she was told and bit down hard waiting for the searing pain to kick in. With a disturbing snap the vishan screamed into the wood as the soldier set her leg in the splint wrapped around her broken leg. The medic spoke up to the one helping Del, “Done all I can here, I’ll be able to do more on the shuttle so we need to go.”
    The soldier turned his back to the short woman instructing her to climb on. “It’ll be faster, we don’t have much time.” With that the small women jumped on before one of the other soldiers hefted Isaac onto his shoulder and sprinted through the door desperate to leave the horrors they found.
    Hallways and doors passed in a flash as the soldiers didn’t stop for an instant as they tore through the facility along the same path they came. A flash of orange caught Del’s eye and she needed what she saw. “There! Grab him, he was the one trying to get info out of us.” A soldier to the rear of them grabbed the unconscious telran unceremoniously, restrained him and threw him over his shoulder as well.
    Halls filled with unconscious telran in black and orange suits with occasional windows that peered into blood stained experimental rooms of suspension of dissections of vishan and sentre. Del leaned to the side of the soldier and vomited. She retched very little and what she did burned, leaving a trail of pink bile in her wake. ‘How many people have suffered? How long?’
    Don’t think about it too much. Just close your eyes and it’ll be over.” The door leading to the outside was just ahead and hissed as it opened. The rain picking up into a heavy downpour that only added to the darkness that washed over since the soldiers had landed. The rear hatch was still open and they filed in two at a time, Del was strapped into a seat as she watched a stretcher fold out from one of the compartments in the wall of the ship and Isaac was laid upon it.
	Machines were hastily strapped to his body, administering fluids and antibiotics being slathered across the lacerations that were being exposed by the medic removing the tatters of his undersuit. Del could only whisper to herself a small prayer as the shuttle accelerated through the atmosphere. “Altoen...please, let him be alright.”

-CHAPTER 25-

-AMBASSADORIAL SHIP: PEACE-

    Ernt sat at a stainless steel table overlooking the moon of Karlta in one of the few observational rooms built into human ships. Dull thuds resound through the room as he lightly dropped his head to the table over and over trying to figure out how humans could be so stubborn when it came to understanding how the Telran think. Ambassadors sitting with him stopped their light chattering and brought all attention to him. With his forehead and muzzle resting on the stainless steel surface he addressed the few men and women surrounding him. "Honestly... It astounds me that humans can be so thick-skulled at times. How many times do I have to tell you that the telran will not listen to what you say is 'the reasonable path'? They are absolute in their disdain for machines that even show hints of extremism. How would you change someone's mind that is set in stone?"
    The delegation could only politely disagree with Ernt, trying to inform him of the merits of peaceful conversation between two factions. With a huff of frustration he stands up and walks away from the table. Looking over the interior of the ship he notices that it has an extremely similar aesthetic to the Markov. Smooth lines and a type of wood paneling covering the walls and in segments of the floor. Soft lights shone from the ceiling and portions of the walls giving the appearance of a higher ceiling. Flat displays connected to the center of the table that could be used to display information to the group at large when meetings were taking place.
    The display at the center activated with a thin blue line bringing it to life before the AI began to speak. "Ernt could we speak in private?"
    Looking over to the display he only gives a short nod and walks into the hall. Reaching into one of his jacket pockets he pulled out a small glass device that the humans had given him when he boarded the Peace. The display jumped to life as DAISH began to speak with the animated blue line. "Isaac and Del are back."
    Enrt began running through the halls of the ship, retracing his steps to get to one of the two shuttle bays on the vessel. “DAISH I don’t care how you do it but get me onto that ship! Absolutely ridiculous having to deal with them.” Steel toed boots clacking against the metal floor and echoing off the walls telling of his haste.
    “Consider it done, Make a left at the next corridor  and head to the port launch bay. An unmanned shuttle will take you to the Odin. They know you’re enroute, no one will stop you.” The display of the small device flickers off as Ernt closes in on the docking bay.

-HWSS ODIN-

    Del sat next to Isaac as he rested unmoving. The doctors had patched him up with the help of real time scans and steady machinery of AI enhanced robotics most of the life threatening injuries were mitigated in minutes. A Collapsed lung, severe concussion, internal bleeding, electrical and chemical burn, lacerations and broken bones were just the more severe injuries he had sustained. His left arm from halfway down his bicep was completely unsalvageable and had to be removed. Del looked over the bandaged man and at the tubes and wires protruding from his skin, under gauze or stemming from his nose. Dragging her eyes over his form draped under sickly green sheets she gazes down to what remains of his left arm. In her mind the screams of Isaac slowly crept in as her hand reached over to his side. Louder and more deafening as she inched ever closer and grabbed his right hand. Her leg hurt, the process of healing for vishan was short and painful. She thought to herself that it was incredibly lucky that it was such a clean break and she would be able to walk again in a few days. “But how long will it take for you to recover?”
    Del asked to the stale empty air of the small room and received no answer from the beeping monitors and the wiring and hissing of machines. Del shook her head from side to side trying to silence the screams in her ears but only causing them to get louder as they were soon accompanied by the hissing laughs of the telran as Isaac’s fingers crunched under their feet or the stinging electricity ravaged their nerves. Acid splashes against their limbs left second degree chemical burns that already began healing for Del but looked incredibly painful against Isaac’s pale skin.
    The door hissed open and Del removed her hand from Isaac’s as Ernt burst in looking out of breath and desperate. “Del!” He rushed to her side and dropped to a knee and began looking her over. A splint on her right leg and arm, scales beginning to regrow where the burns were healing but the one that made the fur on his head and arms stand on end was the milky front left eye. He then looked over to the barely recognizable man and could only stare in shock. “By Altoen…” his voice trailed off as he took in all the details of his friend. He spoke in a strained whisper, “will he be alright?”
    Del looked over to Isaac’s face and answered, “Their doctors said he’ll make a full recovery but will be sending him back with the ambassador’s ships soon. You’ve seen the commotion… It’ll be in a few hours.”
    “Why so soon? I thought that the talks between the CEE and Vishan heads were still underway.” Ernt looked back to Isaac’s resting form and stood up.
    Del let out a sigh as her eyes fell to the floor, her mind going back to the conversation she had with captain Reed after she returned. “The telranian fleets have mobilized. The current thoughts are that if they show their military might they’ll be able to keep the human’s out. That’s their theory at least and at this point I’m inclined to believe it.” She looked up at the taller male and stated with a shaking voice, “I don’t want to be here when it happens.”
    Ernt wasn’t looking at her. His eyes stayed locked on the green sheets as he answered back to her. “You don’t have to be.”

-VISHAN EMBASSY-

    Victor and Sen returned to the same table in noticeably worse spirits than the day prior. News had come back from the Odin that Isaac and Del had been recovered and were in stable conditions brought smiles but were quickly slashed by the news that they still couldn’t return to see them. Breakfast had been a quiet affair except for a few stray compliments from Sen about Victor’s cooking. The sunrise long since past left the natural sounds of fauna chirping and hissing through the open windows looking at the ocean and distant skyline of the city nearby. 
    No words were had between them as they waited for the heads to return with the morning light leaking into the silent room. The door hissed open as the Vishan delegation walked in with stoic faces and eyes down cast. Sen and Victor stood and began to welcome them as entered but were interrupted by Wen raising a hand and speaking. “Please, let me speak.” Sen looks up to Victor, looking for his say. He only gives a short and tense nod. “The way I acted was wrong. How I treated you and your machine was wrong, especially when you and your Machine have been nothing but model individuals from your respective races.” She drops to a knee and places an open hand across her forehead and her eyes lock to a spot on the floor then the other two heads do the same. “Please accept our apologies.”
    Victor looked down at the bowing vishan and the anger and stress he felt from yesterday faded. “Consider your apologies accepted...If you are willing to work with us and not be a hindrance.”
    “Of course, you’ve been far more patient with us than we have been with you and that goes more for me than my counterparts.” The three vishan stand back up as one of the displays flickers to life with the thin blue line.
    “Victor, your mission parameters have been updated. For the duration of the talks you will be staying here and that goes for after negotiations have concluded until further notice.” DAISH flickers off to presumably go back to scanning information from their now communal ship. 
    Silence enveloped the group as they looked between each other as the news settled in. Before anyone could speak their minds Sen let out a squeal as she began to hop from one foot to another. “I can show you my hometown!”
    Victor could only let out a nervous laugh as he fell to the floor unconscious in shock.

-HWSS ODIN: CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS-

    Captain Reed looked over the displays put together by SAM covering the the total number of telranian ships currently enroute from an orbital shipyard above the fifth planet of their system. “Just one more time SAM. Say that again.”
    The pixelated face of SAM took up the bottom right corner of the screen as he began to speak. “At least 100 fighter sized vessels and 20 frigates and four destroyer sized vessels. That’s how they classified them at least, to our standards their heaviest ship doesn't even come close to the Odin let alone our lightweight ships.” The display he was on brought up scans of each of the models from the telranian ships and the counterparts between the CEE standards. The only ships that were even comparable were the fighters and frigates. The cruisers from the CEE dwarfed the telranian variants by a factor of five and the destroyers by a factor of ten. Only one carrier had been seen from the telran and it could only hold an estimated 90 fighters, CEE standard carriers have at minimum 200. That wasn’t mentioning the super carriers protecting the primary colonies and earth.
    Captain Reed just looks over the scans and back to a model of the Odin. “What are the odds we can win with what they are scrambling?”
    “Their ships are far slower than ours, primarily use long range missile systems and close range plasma casters, although they outnumber our ships thirty to one. If you make all the right commands we have a ten percent chance. More than likely they'll try and get close to just cook us inside our own ships and with their numbers they’ll just swarm.” The display clears off along with SAM’s face before he finishes. “They’ll be within firing distance within 22 hours.”
    Reed pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a tired and stress filled sigh. “Open a channel to CEE command. We need backup.”