Eyeball studied the lump of polymer in his hand. It seemed simple enough; you touched it, it somehow associated itself with you. Likely some sort of biometric scanner. It had an encrypted code in it that represented the credits; and various devices could use those credits. He nodded to himself as he watched the golden crab vanish in the distance, and turned to one of the tiny, orange crab-like creatures. The translator called them 'Rusties'. Was that a slur, or an affectionate nickname because they were rust-colored?

He looked at the closest one; there were subtle variations in the carapace, but it would be a while before he could tell them apart; and stepped closer. "Hello there. Me and my people would like to do some shopping, and gather some information. I don't suppose you'd be willing to take us?"

The creature stared up at Eyeball. It was perhaps three and a half feet tall, and just as wide; deceptively small, it might weigh as much as a human thanks to its broad body and numerous limbs. "Servant will take." It lowered its limbs to the floor; unlike the delicate tendrils at the end of the golden creature's forelimbs, this one had crab-like claws; undoubtedly less effective at tool use.

"Excellent. And how do we pay you for this service?"

The creature rose back to its feet, roughly waist height; and extended a tiny grey object. It seemed surprised to be offered payment; but a tiny holographic image appeared over the devices; he could accept or modify the transaction. "For... 1 credit... me and my family will guide your people."

Eyeball blinked. "Just one? How much do you get paid normally?"

"Skilled workers paid one credit each spin, six each rotation." His translator popped up with some estimates. The station orbited the local star roughly once each five days, and very slowly spun about every 20 hours; enough to generate a fairly subtle sort of 'gravity' at the outer edges, 'tossing' ships away to aid departure. "We... are not skilled workers. Usually one or two each rotation."

"...So do you use fractions of credits to purchase meals and the like? Apologies, I'm not familiar with this place."

The creature gave a slight up-down bob; seeming to be a gesture of enthusiasm. "No! Food provided by station, by job. Credits only used for special things. Like time off. Or special bundles for children. Only most special of foods, for Special Administrator or softshells or the like cost credits."

Eyeball glanced at the others, and made a 'come-here' gesture to Spike and Ripper, before turning to the rusty. "Okay. I'd like to offer you, and two of your friends or family, sixty credits between them. One to guide me, and one to guide each of my friends."

The creature froze. It slowly dialed the number on the credit stick display to sixty, holding it up; and when Eyeball hit the 'accept' option, it bounced with glee; and sprinted into a crowd nearby, most of whom were watching with fear. After a minute or so, a trio of the creatures stepped forward; one the original; or he thought the original, based on the stains in its carapace; stepped up to Eyeball. "I guide you! Where are you looking to go!"

The other creatures each approached Spike and Ripper; who both looked at Eyeball with amusement. "I'd like to see the market. Meet any traders, salespeople here. Someone who might offer something worth neutronium."

As the creature chittered with joy, and started hopping away; turning back to ensure Eyeball was following; his own team, Kezia, Pelletier, and Dax, moved right behind him; Dax with his rifle in hand, carefully watching the surroundings, while Kezia still seemed to be intensely paranoid about Dax, and watching the cyborg.

Behind them, he could hear RC trying to describe a 'library' to the Rusty who had approached Ripper; and the conversation sounded equal parts amusing and confusing.

***

When they reached the central hub, Eyeball's guide pulled to a stop; and pointed out a series of doors; leading to the purely underwater section of the station, down below, and then to the dry section, up above. "Softshell wear suit. Softshell swim, or walk?" The displays were fairly obvious; albeit worn, apparently thousands of years old; and indicated that any levels above baseline would be dry, and any below, wet. Despite knowing that his own suit was perfectly water-tight, and he wouldn't be opening it regardless, he decided to opt for going up; and climbed into an elevator-like shaft where a slow-moving platform appeared to be moving on a constant track.

He stepped on it, alongside his guide and party, as it reached his level; and could see the water's surface, several meters below; before stepping off at the next level.

His helmet alerted him of various scents and chemical traces in the air as he moved; and he recognized what appeared to be restaurants, and shops of various sorts. The Rusty stopped next to the first of the shops. "Look for trade? Market is that way. Open, different people. Ships selling wares, locals from other stations, or the planet. Enclosed shops like this, local stores, always there."

Eyeball was tempted to ask for a gun shop... and he definitely would before he left. But might as well see what was on offer. "Lets check the open market, first. I'm in no hurry. If I need to stay a while to check everything out, I can."

And of course, the market was... controlled chaos. As they passed into the massive, open chamber, the area had clear lanes through it; and guards with strange, silvery carapaces watching over it; but between the lanes were... wheeled carts with piles of strange boxes. Hover-carts with neatly arranged racks of... clothing. Jewelry. he even saw a couple with racks of guns, and ones with technology he had no idea of; holographic displays showing images that, at this distance, he couldn't understand.

More interesting, however, were the people. While many of them were the two different sizes of shapes of crab he'd encountered, there were a variety of others; ranging from what appeared to a rolling, pale, slimy orb on a cart to... a trio of pale-skinned humanoid creatures with horns, that could very well be a metahuman from earth; if an androgynous one; their skin-tight, solid black outfits showed just rail-thin arms and legs.

As they walked down the aisles, Corporal Pelletier discreetly tapped Eyeball on the shoulder. "Look at this one. Good god, I thought the idea of hot alien chicks was a bunch of lunacy. The guys are gonna love this video."

Eyeball turned to find what the marine was looking at... and blinked. The creature was tall, pale grey, vaguely humanoid; and seemed to be staring at Pelletier. He looked at the corporal; and blinked. The idiot had taken off his helmet at some point. He grabbed the helmet, slammed it back on the marine's head, and took him by the shoulders. "Okay. That was stupid, marine. What exactly did you see?"

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Well. At first I didn't see much. Crabs, pale people, this one furry guy. Then I saw this tall grey chick with big..." He blinked.. staring at the creature. "Oh. That.... what was that?"

"Pheremones, psychic influence, whatever it is, it's blocked by the helmets. Keep yours on." He tapped his helmet. "Moreau, this is Eyeball. Corporal Pelletier removed his helmet and is possibly compromised. Send me a few marines; whoever you'd like to put on my team, and another couple to escort him back."

~This is Jeanne actual. I've got a few teams already prepped, and RC had a few of her people good to go just in case. Rex is requesting permission to tag along.~

~That's fine, captain. If you don't think you need him, send him along.~

Eyeball lowered his hand; and started walking towards the tall, lean, grey-skinned creature; which was now staring at Eyeball instead. Kezia, for her part, was looking amazed, staring at the various creatures around them, while Dax seemed to be cataloguing everything with her gaze; making quick assessments before moving on. Eyeball could see... a list of components, possibly useful ones, she'd spotted en route.

And when they stopped at the strange hovercar covered with crates, and fronted with a holographic display of a starship, Eyeball looked up at the... Grey. Might as well call them that. "That was impolite. Granted, it was foolish of him to remove his helmet, but impolite nonetheless."

The creature leaned down, dipping its head towards the floor; the red robe that it wore brushing against the floor as it did so. "Apologies, sapient. We like to learn about other species where we can, and I was copying some of the traits the two females of your party emanate to him to observe his reaction. It is standard practice among our kind to try to seem more familiar to other species, to develop a better relationship."

Eyeball studied the creature more closely. Thin limbs, tall height... and exceedingly fragile. If Pelletier were ordered, he could shatter the creature, and he was... well. He was a marine, and a good one, so honestly knowing that the marine would still attack if told to do so was a bit comforting. Made it less likely these things were some sort of super-telepaths able to control people in moments. "So long as no harm was done, that's fine. We're here seeking information about the Empire, and useful technology. What are you selling here?"

The grey raised its hands, gesturing at the crates. "We sell a variety of equipment, from highly advanced weapons and shields to terraforming drones and pre-fabricated orbital platforms. Our species is significantly more advanced than the Imperial standard, and even our older, refurbished equipment can be extremely useful to newcomers like yourselves!"

He nodded thoughtfully. "Dax, get up here. What's your name? I'm Eyeball, owner of the ship that just docked, and this is one of my engineering staff, Dax." He frowned. He had no idea whether that was her first or last name, but knowing the Engineer, 'Jadzia' was fully possible.

"Ahh! So that vessel isn't part of a navy, but rather an independent ship? Well now. That's interesting. I would be ~the translator would glitch out for a moment. The concept of a warm sunrise over a misty coastal morning.~." Eyeball blinked. "Mute. Auto-translate the name as Sunrise based on context. Unmute."

"So. Sunrise. Lets talk specs. We'll start with the shields. How effective are they?"

Sunrise made an expansive gesture. The hologram of a starship in front of the cart flew closer, letting them examine it. It showed a long, sleek ship, with a set of four rails running out away from its core on pylons, with the rails all meeting at a central point in front of the vessel. "Sixty-two percent greater than Imperial standard deflection capacity; and unlike the Imperials, ours are enchanted, so long as the pylons aren't damaged, they just keep running, no matter how many hits they take. One ship equipped with these is the equivalent of two Imperial vessels in a fight."

Eyeball glanced at Dax. "What does that mean for us?"

"Wouldn't survive a single hit from our main gun, even on a dreadnaught-scale ship. Anything that could scratch the paint on the Lady Dark would go through this like tissue. There might be some useful applications back home, however." A message appeared on his helmet. ~This would be only marginally useful for the Jeanne D'Arc, but represents a dramatic step-up on human research of shield technology. Unless Neutronium production dramatically rises, this would be good to take home.~

He nodded. "So. Primitive, but potentially useful."

Sunrise stared at Dax, then at Eyeball. "...Primitive!? What sort of main gun does this vessel of yours have that you consider this so pitiful?"

"The predecessor of my ship, the one that bore its name beforehand, disabled or destroyed at least a dozen Jotun warships whose armor was able to survive far worse than that ship you're showing me can handle. And this new version is a dramatic improvement in every way."

"... You have defeated Jotun vessels before? I... don't suppose you have any samples of their technology? They are a strange race, a blend of incredible advancement and primitive brutality. I've seen a video where a single of their missiles converted an entire planet into a lifeless ball of seemingly impossible nanomachines, hostile to anything that attempted to land, but they ignore so many possible improvements."

Eyeball glanced at his display. They actually had a few of those warheads on the ship; contained in an extradimensional bottle. If, somehow, they escaped without being launched, one of the cargo bays in the fore section of the ship would simply vanish.

He chuckled. "Possibly. Mostly we've been trading in Neutronium. I sold a few tons of it for the credits I have now, and have plenty more if I find something worth more money."

Sunrise nodded thoughtfully. "I apologize again. I mistook you for primitives, rather than potential competition. Our own efforts to harvest neutronium are extremely expensive; most of our trade with the Empire is to acquire it; the Emperor, apparently, can simply dip down and scoop out a chunk of a neutron star, while we have to use a process involving a pair of black holes. We would be willing to purchase any you have, at higher than Imperial rates."

"Lets talk trade, instead. The shields are a maybe; I have no need of them, but someone else back home very well could." He glanced at Dax.

Dax looked around the marketplace, then nodded. His helmet displayed another message. ~These appear to be the most advanced of the species trading here in the market. I suspect others may have useful goods or technology to trade, but these are the only ones whose wireless encryption we haven't already broken. The others are, at least, smart enough not to leave anything critical on a wirelessly accessible device. For the most part. I already have starcharts of two species, and can extrapolate quite a bit more from those.~

"Don't steal anything. We have goods to trade, and don't want to cause any issues before we get to our mission. So. Sunrise. The shields are mediocre. What else do you have?"

***

When Brshjet arrived at her command chair, she immediately activated the privacy dome; almost crushing a couple of the Rusties who fled from the descending orb; and brought up the relay. Able to transmit vastly faster than any ship could travel, the relay was a fundamental technology of the Empire; allowing it to handle threats and communicate effectively despite being so large as to require over a century to travel from end to end by anyone but the Emperor himself.

She tapped on the relay for a moment, and inhaled deeply; she needed more water. She should take a nap in the tub after this. "System Administrator 10871 Brshjet reporting. We have had contact with an unknown softshell species. All information on appearance will be included. They emerged in local space on a heading consistent with either an origin in, or having passed through, the Forbidden Zone; and claim to originate there. Their ship is a blend of completely unique, unknown technology with distinctive Jotun energy signatures. All scans of the ship itself will also be included."

Another inhalation, carefully controlling herself. This transmission may very well decide her life or death. "Based on the recent reports of the Jotun king's death, and the sudden appearance of these creatures, it is likely the two are related. It is extremely possible that, whatever the reason we are forbidden from interacting with races inside the Forbidden Zone, the Jotun have done so; and lost their king in the process. If you are not the Emperor himself and reading this, protocol demands that you mark this message as absolutely urgent, and forward it directly to the Emperor."

"We will treat them as hands-off as possible, do nothing to provoke them, and observe them at all times. Regular information packets of surveillance to follow. Brshjet out."