----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Srettia silently approached her ship while tightly holding her now-filled bag to her chest. Finding it odd that the ramp was raised, she pulled out her com pad and manually prompted the ramp to lower. "That's odd. Jack normally lowers the ramp for me." She thought.

"Welcome back, Srettia. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Jack. Were you busy?" Srettia cautiously asked, stepping onto the ramp and walking into the ship.

"Yes, Michael and I are playing a game. Sorry for not lowering the ramp."

Taking a quick peek around both corners as she moved into the hall, Srettia then hastily made for her room in a successful bid on avoiding Michael. "Well, that was a wasted effort. That's okay. You two keep playing. I'll be by in a bit." She replied as she began storing her bag and changing into some more comfortable clothes.

Walking slowly through the ship towards the hard light suite, Srettia inhaled a deep breath as she happily keyed the door open and walked in.

Srettia's happy face turned to a frown as she was suddenly clothed in rags, a spear materializing in her hand completing the set. Taking a good look around, she saw that she was standing in quite a beautiful forest. "What kind of stupid game are these idiots playing?"

Walking around lost for a few minutes, she came up upon what looked to be a wooden wall. "Well, let's see if anyone is home. Hello!?" Starting by yelling at the wall, She waiting for a response. Frustration began to build as no one came, so she tried walking around the fort.

"HELLO?!" She tried again. It was a great bird with green and yellow feathers menacingly swooping down from the sky that finally greeted her as it stopped to perch on top of the wall.

"Who goes there! None shall enter, Fort No Girls Allowed!"

Holding back a laugh as the bird's tiny feet danced to keep hold of the wall. Srettia decided to take Jack's antics in stride. "Good thing I'm not a girl then, Jack. Let me in!"

"I can not do that. I will have to wait for Michael so we can discuss letting you in."

Srettia frowned at the statement and took a step forward. "Michael is my partner. Why wouldn't he let me in?"

"Because this is Fort No Females Allowed."

Srettia laughed at the change of name and strained her neck to continue her look. "I thought it was no girls allowed."

"I have altered the name. Pray, I do not alter it further."

Srettia frowned and planted her feet. Carefully eyeing up Jack's position, she lifted the spear and threw it with all her might. Eagerly watching as the spear flew true, Srettia cheered as it violently punched Jack dead in the chest, knocking him off the large bird. Stepping forward, she taunted Jack in a voice loud enough so he could hear from the other side of the gate. "Alter that!"

"I may have deserved that."

Walking into the fort as the doors began opening, Srettia stopped at Jack's body and looked around. "Yes, you did. So what are we doing?" Noticing that much of her surroundings were made of stone and wood, she had no clue what this game was about.

"I am taming birds. Michael is building things."

"Okay, so what's the point of this game then?" Srettia asked, deciding to explore the camp with Jack,

"You survive off the land."

"I see." Srettia returned, finding herself walking into an interesting-looking hut with all sorts of cabinets that seemed to be filled with random grass and herbs. Looking around, she tried scenting the air in curiosity, only to have senses assaulted by all kinds of impressions. Struggling with the sensory overload, she quickly decided on a hasty retreat out of the hut. "What's with that hovel?"

"It is my Alchemy hut. Do not diss alchemy. I can make dyes."

Attempting to get a handle on her senses, Srettia glared at Jack. "I can't even describe how it tastes. How can you stand it in there?"

"I can not simulate most sensations. It would require research which is still currently forbidden."

"You should ask Tanda to look into it for you. I'm sure he'd be completely excited to do it."

Looking around, Srettia decided to investigate the strange stone building in the middle of the camp, as the odd structure was giving off a pleasant air. Marching into the building, she was quickly greeted with a blast of heat from molten metal and shook in excitement. "This is my new home! Furthermore, I have decided that I'm going to take a nap. You go have fun with Michael." Picking some furs off the wall, she continued to throw them on the floor and curl up into a ball.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hezexhel sat in the mess hall staring at his meal, eyes wide in confusion as he hesitantly poked the crispy vegetables on his plate. " Is it really okay for me to eat this?" He asked the male sitting next to him.

"I don't see why not. It was offered to us, after all. To say we can't eat the meal after they gave it to us would cast a dark shadow on this new Alliance." Ethuci surveyed the room, noticing most of the males were also hesitant to touch the given food. Deciding that something needed to be done. Ethuci picked up his 'hamburger' and took a bite; the room quickly went silent save for the soft slapping of Ethuci's tail as he inhaled his food.

The cooks watching over to ensure nothing went wrong, picked up on the odd behaviour as the rest of the room followed suit. Nodding as they looked at each other, the cooks decided a second course was needed. Soon platters of fruits and vegetables littered the room as the chefs experimented with their guests, an attempt to gain an insight into the likes of their new allies.

"Do you think our people used to craft food such as this?" Hezexhel asked Ethuci, snatching a bundle of purple orbs from a plate.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Ethuci paused to think. "Most likely, though, that knowledge is lost to time. You know the best we can hope for is a grilled losus steak, maybe ground and mixed with grubs or moss. But that's beyond my pay, and I doubt Chrarada would waste resources in such a way."

Hezexhel opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a chime from his armour. "looks like times up."

Ethuci's tail curled as he let out a low hiss. "I hate how he was right about our surface-level experience. After that first sim where we lost more than half our squad to the city environment. I feel I owe him an apology."

Hezexhel nodded his head in understanding. "The Terran isn't so bad. Though, I feel the mission will be easier than the simulations he has us running.

"You don't believe a large building could fall and crush your entire team because you kicked a stone?" Ethuci asked with a smug grin.

Hezexhel got up and deposited his tray in the receptacle. "I'm positive the Terran programmed that to spite me somehow. There is no way kicking a stone that small could collapse a building that large."

Ethuci laughed as he walked out of the mess and towards the hangar. "Well, he did tell you to be mindful of your strength when in your armour. You kicked that stone straight through a support beam."

The path to the hangar was only a short trip thanks to the lift system, it being just as impressive as the rest of the Terran tech to the alien guests. As the two approached the hangar door, the Aasteran surface team was met with gleaming lights and scrolling text. Warning notifications flared across the door, informing the team of the extreme conditions that lay beyond.

Ethuci, knowing a test was ahead of him, began commanding his troops, driven to prove to the Terran that he can survive his own planet. "Armour and shielding at max, I want to see five teams four. Make sure you're always within laser range at all times and check to make sure you're tethered properly to your teams."

Ethuci nodded to Hezexhel and walked towards the flashing lights. The doors slowly opened to the interior of a large troopship. Finley stood at the opposite side as if waiting for the teams to enter. "Get in your drop harness. We're landing in five."

Ethuci proudly watched as his men swiftly spread out around the lander and were ready in under a minute. Just as the last harness locked into place, Ethuci felt the shuttle drop, the familiar shaking of atmospheric entry soon after.

Finley slowly paced from the rear of the troop bay to the front. Speaking clearly, and making eye contact with each soldier, he passed in an attempt to drive home how serious the situation was. "What you are about to experience is a storm that was tracked yesterday. It moved quickly across the southern landmass, ripping up everything it crossed. Most likely, it's one of the worst storms this planet can throw at you. Extreme wind, ice hard and sharp enough to shred stone, snow so thick you can't see the hands in front of your face. If you come out of this storm alive, I'll consider your training complete, and we can go check out that energy signal."

Ethuci looked around and noticed some tails twitching nervously; hearing a familiar noise, he looked to his side to see his old friend Hezexhel retracted his helmet.

With a tilt of his head, Hezexhel eyed Ethuci. "You ready to show this Terran, we're more than just stone kickers?"

Ethuci laughed and kicked his friend. " I think you're the only one with that problem slim tail. "

"I'll have you know the ladies are quite fond of my tail, commander."

Ethuci gave the male an odd look and only shook his head in response. "I'll take your word for it my dear friend."

Finley walked down the hold, somehow ignoring the shaking. "Any last questions before we touch down?"

Hezexhel shouted over the sound of shattering ice on the hull as the ship began to plow through the storm. "How about a wager, Mr.Finley. We win, and you buy us some of what your people would consider luxury drinks and food. "

Finley turned to Hezexhel, his interest piqued. " And if I win?"

"I'll put in a good word for you with the females. Maybe I'll even introduce you to my sister."

"DON'T DO IT! IT'S A TRICK!" Came a voice from the soldier on the other side of the hold.

"Yeah! We've all heard horror stories of your sister!"

Finley laughed. "Sounds like a challenge. Why not I accept. Don't you go disappoint me now Hezexhel, I already have a hot date planned after getting you dudes back safe from the surface."

The shuttle hit the ground, and all seemed quiet for a moment. Alarms sounded, the lights changed to red, and the harnesses blew open. Ethuci looked around and noticed his men were already in position to evac.

Smiling under his helmet, he keyed the group com. "Well, Let's go earn our meal!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Srettia woke up to Michael's hand, combing gently through her hair. His smile causing the tip of her tail to waggle in happiness. "I didn't sleep too long, did I?"

Michael got up and grabbed some tongs. "Nah, you can sleep some more if you need to. Jack needs to tame a new bird thing. Pretty sure he's angry his got beat up by some smaller land bird when he was off getting some feed for it or something." Plucking a piece of molten ore from the furnace, Michael moved towards a workbench.

"Alright, I think I'll just watch you work then if it's not too much of a bother. You look good in those leathers." scenting the air, Srettia hummed and curled back up. "Your leakage has a pleasant scent as well today."

Michael chuckled as he put the molten slab down and stored the tongs. "I could make a space barbarians vs the galaxy knights reference, but I don't think you've seen that one yet. And I know, you know it's called sweat ya bum."

Enjoying the sight of Michael hammering the ore, Srettia happily informed the craftsman of her new plans. "I looked over the star charts and decided to go in the opposite direction of our last excursion."

Pausing for a moment before he continued hammering his new axe into existence, Michael let out an awkward smile. "Out on the open road again, is it?"

Srettia, not one to let that smile go unnoticed, got up and walked towards Michael. "Something wrong?"

Continuing his work, Michael remained silent for a long while before voicing his thoughts. "If the bad guys show up. I want you to fly us out of there, no question asked. You just leave. I'm not willing to risk you or Jack out there."

Srettia walked up to Michael and gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders, causing him to pause his work. " Deal, You keep training me though, I don't want to hold you back at a critical moment."

Michael put down the hammer in surprise. "You're awfully handsy today."

Srettia nipped at Michael's ear. "I learnt quite a lot while I was gone."

"Is that so?" Turning around to face his aggressive partner and moving his hands to Srettia's waist. Michael raised an eyebrow while pulling Srettia in close, leaning in to kiss the soft scales on her neck.

Srettia sucked in a seductive breath and wrapped her tail around Michael's leg as she leaned into his kisses.

"I have defeated the cowardly small land bird with my new small feet bird. I shall name him Small Feet Jeffrey."

Srettia hissed menacingly as she turned away from her affectionate partner and turned to Jack. Picking up Michaels hammer, she threw it with all her sudden frustration. Unfortunately, she forgot to aim and missed Jack, hitting Small Feet Jeffery square in the face and killing him instantly.

"NOOOO, JEFFREY! You have killed Small Feet Jeffrey! Give me back my two hours, you fiend."

Srettia spit some venom at Jack and stomped her tail. "Jeffrey was weak! Next time get a proper bird. One that has sharp claws instead of tiny feet."

"But they were cute, you monster."

Now being held back by a hug from Michael, Srettia had a sudden thought. "It got beat up by a land bird. How did that even happen? Is it stupid?"

"It got caught with food in its mouth so it couldn't fly. Sadly its land speed is shuffling its feet or small hops. It is not a bird meant for battle as it is over eighty percent feathers."

Michael laughed and let go of his frustrated prisoner. "Well, you can shuffle out of here. We should get going soon."

The two left the hard lightroom together and made their way to the bridge, Srettia and Jack arguing the entire way, much to Michael's amusement.

Sitting down in his crash couch, Michael began the powerup sequence and began to look over the new flight plan Srettia had planned. "Hey! this is really good. I'm impressed."

Srettia had a smug smile on her face and looked over to Michael. "Well, I had a good teacher."

"Thank you."

Srettia's smile vanished " I'll see you in the hard light room, ya jerk."

"I have just proven that the room does not recognize your venom. I will see you there."

Michael began transmitting for flight clearance as the two argued. " You two ready to explore?"

"I am always ready to explore, partner. Hanger control reports Clearance granted."

Srettia grabbed the controls and began to guide the ship out of the hangar. "Onwards to the unknown!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------