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"Detecting active bio-signs in the debris, ma'am."
The bridge slipped into silence as the primary display switched to the star map, lighting up with hostile confirmations from within the expanding debris field of the destroyed ship. Some crewmates began murmuring curses, others holding back snickers as the markers started moving towards their target.
Kendra looked to Chrarada, who had taken to leaning against a nearby wall, then turned to her scanner tech. "Well, there's the weird bit. How many are you picking up in total?"
"One hundred fifty, ma'am." The scanner tech replied with a light chuckle.
Chrarada looked at the display in confusion, selecting a portion that seemed to be dispersing oddly with her implant. "What's going on there?"
"One.. moment... Ahh, it Looks like a bunch of the reinforced pods holding the mentioned bio-signs. They're currently using compressed air to manoeuvre towards the 'I Have A Rock'; they're having a bit of trouble controlling their direction, it seems."
Admiral Miles Scoffed at the ploy. "So, they plan to steal a ship? Then what? Take it home like rookie pirates? I doubt they would know to remove the transponder...... Do we have time to Evac the ship?"
Kendra thought for a moment and decided on her action plan. " Respectfully, I don't think the plan would work, sir. It would take them days to figure out how to operate the ship, and they might realize it's a ploy. Tractor the pods into hangar thirty-two and have the tankers and heavy armour sort them out. Capture who we can kill anyone who resists."
"Ahh, ma'am, the 'I Have A Rock' is firing on the pods."
Though the report garnered a few chuckles from the command room, Commander brown decided to put her foot down and silence the room. "May I remind the room that though they pose no threat to us, we are still in the middle of a battle."
"Tell the rock to stop firing and move away from the enemies." Admiral Miles ordered as he looked over to Chrarada. Giving her a grin, he began moving towards the exit. "Care to join me in some fun?"
Chrarada stood and looked to the door, then looked at the Admiral. "I believe I will be needing some of that armour your people are so fond of."
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Yirphayen let out a confused song as Jack disappeared from its sight. It was quick, almost as if Jack was not in the room, to begin with. "Hello? Jack, where are you friend?"
Reassuring the being, Jack sent a calming resonance hoping Koma could handle the next task. "I require a rest. Koma will take you back to the friendly carbon forms know as Michael and Srettia."
Koma waved at Yirphayen in an attempt at gathering its attention and opened the door. "This way. I'll show you to your residence."
Yirphayen let out a solemn resonance as it floated past Koma and through the door, taking particular notice of the mineral-encased carbon forms that had initially followed it here. "Hello. I am Yirphayen." It tried.
The two heavily armoured soldiers nodded at the being of hard light they now knew as Yirphayen. Sending a brief report to their commander on the current situation, they watched Koma lead Yihphayen past them and down the hall. The two guards moved in step with the duo, soon settling immediately in line behind Yirphayen, making sure to keep any curious bystanders far enough away from the alien as they escorted Yirphayen to the next location.
Ignoring the silent watchers, Koma brought Yirphayen up to the lift and waved his hand in a way to guide it in. "This lift will take us to the hangar your friends are in. It should only take a few minutes."
Yirphayen sang in understanding and settled itself into the lift, shrinking itself to make room for the two encased carbon forms. "It is somewhat cramped in here."
Koma shrugged as he pressed himself against the wall to make room and keyed the hangar deck. As the lift began to move to its designated location, he studied the being as its odd shape morphed slightly again, looking like an off combination of Terran, Aasteran, and now Voktlix. "Any reason you keep changing your form Yirphayen?" He asked, watching closely as the horns moved in a way to make room for the ears, which were now less blocky and more animated.
Yirphayen looked at the end of both its upper appendages and focused on making more at the tips like the three-carbon beings in proximity had. "I am attempting to place those around me at ease. When I enter proximity to new carbon forms, their inner fluids and chemical production increase in activity. I do not wish to be the cause of a fluid burst."
Koma waved off the worry with a laugh and looked to the two guards who remained still. "You don't have to worry about that. They're just excited to meet you, that's all."
The door opened, and Yirphayen followed the two encased forms out of the lift. Once entering its new location, it looked happily at the familiar mineral formation in the area it now knew to be called a hangar. "I will be happy to meet the two know as Srettia and Michael once again." It chimed with a resonance of happiness.
Koma and the two guards ran to catch up with Yirphayen, who had stopped outside the ship and began letting out an odd tune. "What's wrong?" He asked, pulling his datapad out.
Yirphayen turned to the three-carbon forms and let out a sad chime. "How do I enter this formation?"
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"I am proud of you for your accomplishments. This excursion with the organics has, as predicted, been beneficial to your growth." Dr. Leviye said, turning to the hard light projection of Jack.
Looking down at his hands as they sat on his knees, Jack fumbled to find the right words for this current situation. "Thank you, father. Though my time with Michael has been short, I am happy I was assigned to be his Co-pilot. You were correct in the decision."
Nodding, as a report on the recent fold core progression popped up in front of him, Dr. Leviye swiped it aside and gave his son his undivided attention, even if it would take under a second to look over the report. "You're achievements may outshine my own soon. First contact and language translation with three species will be more important to most than a mere FLT drive. But I am intrigued. You said this Yirphayen taught you how to speak its language. Can you explain it to me?"
Jack shrugged, gaining a curious look from Dr. Leviye as he began his line of thought. "I can not. I feel it used a mixture of radio and light to imprint information into my projection. It should not have worked in the way that it did. But I am now aware of some of its cultural practices."
Dr. Leviye nodded and began his examination of Jack's code. "Inform me if you feel any discomfort." As he ran through the motions of giving Jack his regular checkup, Dr. Leviye unexpectedly began to find oddities. They didn't seem harmful, but. " Are you aware of these functions ?"
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"I am not. They were not there in my last rest cycle." Jack replied, looking at the odd bit of code.
"It does not seem harmful, but I do not know what it is for. We may need to call Dr. Keda to rectify this query. However, both Dr. Aldon and Dr. Keda are in Sol. You will have to wait until you are able to meet with them. I am sorry." Dr. Leviye hung his head in shame as he studied the code in wonder. It was baffling to him. Even more so that he knew his best friend would be able to solve this issue.
"I find it fascinating that we cannot understand what makes us, but the organics can. It is a... Frustrating feeling, father." Jack replied, attempting to comfort his generator.
Dr. Leviye looked at his spawn and felt a swell of satisfaction grow within him. "I have been requested to assist the science councillor Viscia in creating her own AI after the core is complete. Though she is odd, her brilliance is matched only by Dr. Aldon. Perhaps she will default on a female model."
Jack paused and thought to himself as he considered the possibility of a young sister. "Being a brother has some appeal. Who will take over the core construction project once you are finished if you will be assisting Viscia?"
Dr. Leviye ended his check program and sat back in his chair. "Tanda will. Once the first core is completed and tested, the rest is simple manufacturing, which he can easily handle."
Jack activated his core security walls and stood from his seat. "I see. I look forward to your success, father. It was pleasant talking with you like this again."
"Agreed, come speak with me if you have any problems. I will make time for you." Dr. Leviye replied as he ended the simulation, and Jack despawned his avatar. "Be safe."
"You as well, father. I will return to my ship. Until next time."
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Srettia moaned in pleasure as Michael's hands slid down her back. His hands were strong, and they seemed to find just the right spots to elicit the best response. The heat, she decided, was a distant second to the ecstasy he was bringing her. "Don't stop... That... That's..."
Rubbing some more moisturizer on his hands, Michael continued to apply a generous portion to Srettia's dried scales. He decided the dried part would be best kept to himself lest he has to deal with an angry female. "You're making this sound like we're doing something else, ya know."
Letting out another long breath of satisfaction as Michael's hands kneaded another knot out of her back, Srettia squeezed his leg with her tail. "I, I don't care. Just make sure to. Mmmhmmm, We need to make this a nightly habit."
Reaching her lower back, Michael moved his hands to cup the base of her tail and paused as her noises stopped and her tail straightened. Looking to his side to get a view of Srettia, He burst into laughter as he found her biting hard onto her forearm in an attempt to stifle her noises. "Guess that's a bit sensitive, is it?"
Nodding, Srettia let out a hot breath as she forced the words from her mouth. "If you're going that far, make sure to get all of it."
Shrugging, Michael decided to ignore the moans as he worked his way down to the tip of her tail, making sure to put a bit of extra force on the tip, just to see her reaction.
Letting out a squeal of delight, Srettia turned onto her side and gave Michael a coy look. "If you keep that up, I'll make sure to remind you who's ship your on."
Michael closely studied the pattern on Srettia's chest. This being the first time he got an excellent well lit view of it. " Wow, that pattern is beautiful. It's like a kaleidoscope made of multiple shades of the same colour."
Srettia looked down at her bare chest and then back to Michael, who just had a stupid grin on his face. "What's a kaleidoscope." She asked, quickly laying back down on her stomach in embarrassment at the unknown comparison.
Michael thought to himself how best to explain such a thing. Finding that, though he knew what it was, it was hard to describe it. "Wow, that's a question. Uhh, It's like a tube that creates an illusion with mirrors. It shows elegant patterns of alternating colours. Kinda..."
Srettia smiled and rolled onto her back in response. "Don't forget these then." Grabbing Michal's hand with her tail, she slowly guided him to her chest.
Michael let a sly grin slide across his face as he placed his hands on Srettia's chest. "Well, far be it from me to leave a job half-finished."
Srettia bit her bottom lip as Michael continued applying the moisturizer to her scales. It had been a fantastic day, and after this massage session was over, she planned to show Michael exactly what it was she purchased from the lingerie store earlier in the day. Letting out another sigh of delight, Srettia eyed Michael with a fire in her eyes. "I think w-" A chime from the ship's computer interrupted her mid-sentence, informing her of visitors.
This time, to her surprise. It was Michael that stomped over to the display and slammed his hand on the panel. "WHAT!"
Koma stepped back at the greeting and looked at the angry man on his datapad. "I have Yirphayen here. It claims it would feel safer in the company of friends."
Michael scrunched his nose and looked to Srettia for answers, finding that she angrily signalled the negative about knowing someone called Yirphayen. "We don't know anyone called Yirphayen, Koma. You sure it's not some creep?"
Koma pointed his datapad at Yirphayen, who seemed to wave and then pointed it back to himself. "The hard light alien. It's called Yirphayen. Jack kinda finished up the translation for us, and It wanted to see you again."
Michael palmed his face as he remembered what Jack had said to him earlier that day, holding back his laughter as Srettia let out a storm of curses and thundered off into their room as he hit the ramp button. "Sure thing, We'll be out in a bit. Just make yourselves at home."
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Commander Soto, Ranarus, and Ethuci watched as the odd pods were dragged into the hangar and surrounded by heavily armoured soldiers and vehicles. Waiting for their charges to armour up and arrive, they contemplated the results of this historical event.
"That's a lot of prisoners." Ethuci said, triple-checking his armour systems and his new cyber arm.
"Sure is." Commander Soto replied, watching as engineers began cutting into the pods.
"Think we'll get to kill any?" Asked Ranaru, palming his pistol with his left hand and grabbing his grav sword with the other.
Chrarada walked out of the armoury and into the hangar, followed by Admiral Miles and Commander Brown, all three now in Terran combat armour. "If they resist, feel free to execute them." Chrarada spat as she stopped in front of Ethuci. "It seems like we didn't miss a thing."
Ethuci keyed affirmative and turned to look at the progress of the engineers. "They just began cutting into the pods. It seems the occupants are refusing to come out and surrender."
Commander Soto was happy to be in armour. Though he knew the Aasteran people view colours in a different social context due to their female's bright scale colours. The sight of a species leader in hot pink combat armour was amazingly funny to him.
Saluting to the Admiral and base Commander, he began guiding them to a safe area in which they could view the process. "So far, it seems whoever is in charge has attempted everything short of blowing up the pod to get them to come out. So they decided to cut the pods open and drag the occupants out."
Chrarada followed Soto and moved into the armoured mobile command centre, a comical thought. "A base within a base. You Terrans are confounding at times." She stated, watching as the man in charge saluted the Admiral.
Admiral Miles Returned the salute and moved to the display with the hanger map. "Chrarada, this is Colonel Anaya Lansch. Colonel, this is First Tail Chrarada. Now that that's out of the way, explain what's happening."
Colonel Lansch nodded at Chrarada and turned to the hangar display. " Well, we're still bringing the pods in via tractor. The ones we have, though, the occupants refuse to come out. The main problem is the pod's systems have shit computers and low power. We can't hack them, so we're being forced to cut through them." Pausing for a moment, Anaya considered the situation carefully. "This whole mess seems poorly thought out. Send your troops into an unscouted system to steal a ship from a highly advanced race that just smeared your fleets across the stars? I feel like this is an elaborate trap of some sort."
Chrarada nodded along with the explanation. "You are frank. I like it. But, you should also be aware that our enemy isn't too intelligent either."
"That's why I had them brought into this hangar. If it is a trap, Anaya here will crush them." Commander Brown added as she took up a nearby chair.
Turning to his tac map, Colonel Lansch pointed at one of the blinking marks. "We're opening this one first. It should only take another few minutes." Changing his map to show a live feed of the cutting, he stepped aside so that Chrarada and her escort could get a better view.
"And if they open fire when you finish cutting through?" Ethuci asked, noticing the engineers had quickly step back and the armoured soldiers step forward.
"Then, we toss a grenade in and try the next one." Colonel Lansch responded, eliciting a chuckle from Chrarada.
"Excelent response Colonel." She noted.
Ranarus, who felt out of place among leaders, held his tongue as a giant Terran soldier ripped off the pod door and stepped away, watching with interest as what looked like some shouting began. Upon closer inspection, he noticed some sparks seemed to oddly sprinkle from one of the Terrans attempting to speak with the occupants. Curiously, the Terran looked to his side, then back into the pod, then to his side again. "I don't think this is going to end well."
Following a few more sparks, the Terran seemed to move his hands around to pull something off his belt before tossing it in. The pod exploded a few seconds later, and the Terrans moved to the next one.
"Ahh... I wonder how long this will take."
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