Lunch time had just passed. Nick Valentine, who is the chief research director of the bioscience department, was not in his lab. Instead, he was standing right outside of the door. He paced around anxiously, stopping once in a while to check the end of the hallway.

Soon enough, a man who was not wearing a lab coat appeared in sight as he took a turn at the corner of the end of the hallway. People who passed by him all saluted reverently.

"Doctor Valentine, I hope you didn't call me here just to chat," the man said to the person who welcomed his presence.

"You're extremely humorous, commander Sahil." Valentine paused for a second before reacting. "I wanted to show you something," he said as he turned around and walked towards the lab.

"I noticed that you have requested a permit to access the satellite monitoring system in your recent reports." The commander of the Belden Base followed the man in white coat into the lab. "As far as I'm concerned, what you're doing here doesn't have much to do with the satellite, does it?"

"Ah...you're correct." Valentine stopped in his tracks. He hesitated before speaking up again. "I'm afraid this is why I've come to you today, commander."

Sahil frowned.

"Oh..."

His eyes scanned over the inside of the lab that was taken up by numerous instruments, samples and research files. Many members of the research team were still working on their tasks. It has not even been three years since Valentine take over to manage this lab, but the bioscience department had begun to look something like the storage unit of the entire base.

"Alright," Sahil sighed. "You better have an ample reason behind this, doctor."

Valentine nodded, then continued down to the deeper part of the lab. He stopped right outside of his personal lab, then pushed the door open before walking in.

Sahil followed closely behind, but his eyes lingered on the name plate on the door. “It says that this is the assistant’s office, doctor,” he asked after entering the room.

“Uh…yeah,” Valentine admitted. “To be honest, this was the room that I used when I was still a research assistant.”

“Nick.” Sahil had his arms behind his back. His neat uniform and the ironed coat that does not have a single crease only made the disorganized lab looked a lot more crammed and messy. “I respect the research you’re doing here, and I am grateful for devotion and contribution to the S.D.A,” he said as he walked towards a shelf on the wall, sticking his hand out to pick up a pot of snake plant that was knocked over.

“However, since you ‘are’ hired by the S.D.A, I would still like for you to try and stick to the protocols here. If I remember correctly, you should have gotten your own office after being promoted to the research director.”

“I understand, commander.” The man in white coat nodded stiffly after he heard what was said.

“Also…” Sahil suddenly bent over, picking up a mug that was on the floor. “Studies have shown that the tidiness of the work environment does affect productivity.” He glanced at the mug. There was a layer of dried coffee sediment in it.

“I don’t think that’s an unfair request, is it, doctor?” He held the mug out.

“…You’re right. I’ll schedule a time to clean everything up,” Valentine said after he got handed over the mug.

“So, what are you showing me?”

“Give me one second, please.” Valentine put the mug aside and sat down in front of the computer. He turned it on, his hands swiping across the screens repeatedly.

“A few days ago, I found these documents in an old archive of one of my researchers.” He clicked open the archive. Inside was filled with countless aerial photographs.

Sahil inched closer and stared at the photos on the screen for quite a while. The shooting location of all those photos were the same, but the time periods were different. Those aren’t photos taken through airplanes or drones. They were taken through satellites.

“Is this why you want access to the satellite?” Sahil raised one of his brows.

“Those are not normal photos, commander.” Valentine zoomed in on one of the photos. “This was taken around thirty years ago by a corporation-launched satellite.”

“Thirty years ago…” Sahil squinted. “Wasn’t that just after the S.D.A formed?”

“Exactly, and check right over here.” Valentine pointed at a black dot on the photo. Those pictures were black-and-white, therefore it was hard to tell what exactly was on them.

“Where were those taken?” The commander suddenly asked.

“If we take Rodenzel as the center, it should be at the north side, right around the Ring.” Valentine opened a map that was shot by a satellite recently. “That region is still abandoned now,” he stated.

“But that’s not the point.” He clicked open another old photo. One that was dated a month after the previous photo. “Take a look at this.” he said, pointing to the same black dot. However, that dot had shifted to another position.

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“Is that… one of them?” Sahil asked as he was rubbing his chin.

“Correct!” Valentine turned around enthusiastically. “I guess it was because of that the protective system of the S.D.A back then wasn't that fully developed, so this Star Creature wasn't tracked. This was a Star Creature that dodged being killed. A…”

“A mistake" The commander's brows knotted tightly together. "That was when S.D.A was launching 'the purge' on the surface. This was clearly our fault."

"Uh... that is certainly true. However, I would personally say that this was a windfall for us." Valentine turned back to the screen, continued on flipping through the rest of the photos. "These pictures captured the movement patterns of this Star Creature. To us, that's valuable information."

"Valuable?"

"Under the current circumstances, it is nearly impossible to find any Star Creatures active outside of the Death Ring."

"And?"

"Normally we can only research their corpses. Sadly, the secrets of a certain species will not only exist on their body, it'll also involve their habits and behavior," Valentine explained. "As well as how they live."

"I don't think you're understanding this, doctor," Sahil said after he had finished listening. "The purpose of the S.D.A's establishment is to eliminate any Star Creatures before they can do any damage. Even the ones in the Death Ring. In recent years, the Frontier Chasers have brought back some promising news as well."

He paused for a second. "We're only left with some landing spots that have an extreme environment that we can't send anyone over yet."

"Well-" Valentine looked at Sahil, then let out a long sigh. "Commander, why don't you take a look at this first."

He swiped his finger on the screen a couple of times, then pulled out the last photo. It was a picture dated one year after the first one was taken. He pointed at the original black dot in the photo, which had already moved to the edge of the photo, almost out of frame.

"That Star Creature was moving?" Sahil raised his eyebrows.

"It was looking for its nest, commander," Valentine answered. "They land all over the world, but where they land is not where they want to settle."

"I’m sorry, doctor," Sahil sighed. "But I don't understand why you're delving into this," he said. "We don't even permit those guys to stroll around the surface. What's the point of knowing where they're going?"

"As for that..." Valentine held up a finger. "The files we found contained several sets of photos that were similar altogether. The shooting locations were all different. This set is the one that's most complete. However..."

He turned around, eyes scanning on top of the messy desk. Soon, he pulled out a pencil in a pile of miscellaneous items.

"We've discovered that every each set of pictures contain one Star Creature's movement pattern. Although we're missing some of the files, if we continue to extend from the Star Creatures' moving trails..." He tore an out-dated calendar sheet from the corner of the desk and started scribbling on it. "If their direction of movement didn't change, then all these trails will meet somewhere in the end." He held the sheet of paper up in front of Sahil.

"Rift Sea."

"Rift Sea." The commander squinted.

The Rift Sea, also called the Blue Gap, is the only ocean on Sheer. It looks like a narrow gap that is filled with water, extending towards the two poles.

"I don't understand," Sahil said as he looked at the paper in the man in white coat's hand. "There have always been Star Creatures in that territory. That's why the ocean freight had never recovered."

"You're correct, commander," Valentine nodded in agreement. "But those were the ones that originally landed in the ocean, and this..." He pointed at the picture on the screen. "These Star Creatures weren't originally from the ocean, yet they are moving towards it."

"How are you so sure about that?" Sahil questioned. "The Rift Sea isn't the only territory in that direction, right? Also almost half of the ocean is technically inside of the Death Ring, perhaps they are just meeting up with the others?"

"Or the others have the same goal as they did." Valentine proposed a different idea. "No... I believe their destination is the Rift Sea, or at least where they're going is in the ocean."

"What I mean is..." He stared at Sahil, deadpan. "Commander, these photos indicate that the Star Creatures might have originally come from the ocean. They may have been forcing themselves to adapt to the surface life just so that they could cross the universe."

The commander of the Belden Base looked at the man who was speaking without saying a word.

"These photos and files," Valentine said as he walked back to the computer. "No matter who was the one that left these, he might have noticed something that we've all been missing. That's why the person kept these in the archives for people to find out about them later on," he explained. "I don't think the Star Creature's appearance is just pure coincidence, commander."

"Oh, of course it's not a coincidence," Sahil responded with a nonchalant tone. "I can also tell you that their appearance was definitely planned."He looked at Valentine, who was frozen at his spot.

"They're invaders!" He said, raising his voice. "They invaded this planet, of course they're here to take over the land. Or would you like me to hold a welcome party, and ask why they're here?"

"... Please, commander," Valentine besought. "We need to get more evidence. We need to continue the study in that file."

"We need soldiers!" The commander bellowed. "Soldiers like Jensen Cavil!"

Valentine was dumbfounded, his mouth agape.

"Let me tell you why they didn't continue the study on that file" Sahil's face was stone-cold. "Because they realized that the entire time they were enjoying their little detective game, the enemies had already barged in the doors of their homes."

"This isn't a game, commander," Valentine softened his voice, still trying to retort. "They are made of flesh and blood, just like us. Aren't we supposed to show some mercy like we do with other species?"

"This is a war." Sahil walked towards Valentine, stopping directly in front of him. "There's no such thing as mercy on the real battlefield."

He reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Finish your research, doctor. Your job doesn't count as finished before the next Jensen Cavil appears." He let go.

"Don't let me see those damn photos again."

Sahil turned around, hurriedly leaving the stuffed research lab.

"... What a waste of time." He mumbled to himself as he was on his way.

Valentine was left dumbstruck at his spot, not even a single word could escape his mouth. All that was on his face was a disappointed, dim expression as he watched the commander leave.