Earth had fallen.

After many hard months, the defenses of Earth finally were brought down, destroyed by the force which had seemingly consumed the rest of humanity, The Crawl.

Billions of living beings assimilated into one hivemind, The Crawl spread endlessly across human-controlled planets until it finally reached Earth, where humanity saw its end, cities that had taken thousands of years to build were all destroyed in an instant by The Crawl.

Many lightyears from Earth, a single station is floating slowly in the cold vacuum of space. On the side, in blue and red letters, the logo for the Agricoli Terra company is painted. It seemed to be an agricultural station, but some FTL travel systems were installed just in time to escape The Crawl.

The station's leader sends out a message to any nearby stations.

"Hailing all nearby stations. Come in. This is Gerret Myers of Agricoli Terra. Is there anyone there?" A man repeats in increasing urgency.

Erving Strand, Head of Diplomacy, was in the radio room of the Epsilon Space Station. He was hoping for contact with others survivors, but was starting to lose hope. When suddenly, he heard the call from Agricoli Terra. He went to the radio and responded immediately.

"Agricoli Terra, Agricoli Terra, are you receiving me? The is Erving Strand of Epsilon Space Station, can you hear me?"

There was a sigh of relief heard on the other end of the line as a few of the crew members began to crowd around the comms system.

"Oh, thank God. Someone else is out there." Garret says, almost laughing. A few of the crew members start cheering.

"We read you loud and clear, Epsilon. We thought we were the only ones out here. What's your status, over?" He responds.

Erving was grinning from ear to ear, overjoyed that someone else had made it. He sent someone to inform the other Board Members and stayed on the line.

"Our situation is as well as can be expected. We have enough food to last us a month, but we can recycle water for as long as we need to. We have some unprocessed ore, and a few hundred scared people. How about you guys? How're you holding up?"

Gerret smiled, a proud, comforting smile.

"We're an agricultural station. Our harvests are just coming in. We have more food than we're ever going to eat before it spoils. You all in the mood for some baked potatoes?" He laughs, a stark contrast to the nightmarish event they had escaped from.

"Bring your station to our coordinates and we can interlock if you want."

Ervin laughed, he was so happy.

"We will be there is a short while, save some potatoes for me."

The other Board Members came in and he told them what happened. They cheered and hugged each other, finally, new people.

"The decision is simple, friend. You show my workers how to run the manufacturing plants of this station or we start executing your factory friends, including your wife", the proud leader plainly stated to his defeated prisoner. Godwin stepped forward, placing his hand on the shoulder of the Italian who rested on his knees. Behind him stood two guards, silent and imposing with the rifles held firmly in their hands. A small machine that hung from his belt like a key chain ornament began to beep as it processed the words, before spitting them back out in a robotic tone in Italian.

The prisoner shouted a mess of foreign words in response before the machine repeated the same process back for Godwin. "Fuck you, Aumsi!", the Italian had beckoned. Godwin smirked, simply pointing to another prisoner in a row of men on their knees, all blindfolded and to the side of the room. One of the men standing guard behind Godwin raised his rifle and took aim, pulling the trigger as if it meant nothing and firing a round into the skull of the Italian factory worker. The prisoner who was previously addressed began screaming in protest but was ignored by Godwin as another man entered the room in a hurried fashion.

"Savior General, sir!", the officer called as he approached Godwin, stopping just a few feet short and presenting his arm at an angle with his hand balled into a fist in salute, "Heil!". Godwin responded with the same salute and greeting before allowing the officer to ease himself.

"What is it, Community Officer Engel? I am trying to convince our honored guests that the basics of factory operation on this station are of utmost importance if we are to survive". The officer nodded once before continuing on.

"We've picked up communications from other stations, Savior General! There are other survivors". Godwin had a look of surprise on his face before his lips curled into a crooked smile. He gestured for the officer to lead the way and motioned for the guards to continue work with the Italians.

...

Standing at the main deck of the station, Godwin, Officer Engel, and a few colonists who were working various work stations were all at alert. Godwin nodded to one of the colonists, who pressed a button and gestured to his leader. The Savior General stepped forward, leaning in toward a microphone which was presented to him.

"This is Sir Godwin D'Agincourte, Savior General of the Autocratic Union of Mars Nationalists. I am currently aboard an industrial station with people under my charge. Is anybody out there? We just picked up communications a few minutes ago and are seeking contact, over".

Gerret was overjoyed. Another station picked up. It had been a while since he had heard news of the Martian Nationalists, but he was still glad to see humans still alive.

"This is Agricoli Terra, reading you loud and clear, AUMN." He said, his voice shaking with excitement.

"Received, Agricoli Terra. Where is your position? Is there any information you can provide on your station? We wish to help in any way we can. I thought we were the only ones who made it!"

Of course, not all of his message was truthful. Godwin didn't want to show weakness and he wanted to pry what information he could. If there were other stations, that potentially meant more resources, expendable labor, and living space for his people.

"We're an agricultural station. We have more food than we're ever going to eat before it spoils. I'll send you our coordinates and you can interlock with us. I'm looking forward to shaking your hand." He said as one of his assistants went over to a computer, sending their current position to Godwin.

Ervin heard another signal from another station, and picked up almost immediately.

"This is Epsilon Station, I hear you AUMN. What's your current status? Do you know of any others out there?"

Godwin commanded the colonists on the bridge to take the coordinates and change the station's course. Within a few moments, there was a slight shift in the hum of the engine that vibrated ever so slightly in the background through the metal interior of the station.

"AUMN to Agricolii Terra: we are in route. Epsilon station, we read you, and unfortunately we are unable to say whether or not there are any other stations out there. We are doing fine here, ourselves. My people have taken to the station life with surprisingly little resistance."

Erving frowned at AUMNs answer, and decided to test a theory. He hoped he was wrong.

"AUMN please stand by, our gear is acting up a bit." He then switched channels, "Agricoli this is Epsilon, are you hearing me? Have you made contact with any others yet?"

"Negative, Epsilon. You and AUMN are the only others we've seen so far." Gerret spoke solemnly.

While the technicians of the station were constantly scanning for other stations, as far as they were aware, AUMN and Epsilon were the only ones they had found yet. Then again, the scanning systems were said to be a bit faulty...

Erving thanks Agricioli for there help.

"Look Agricoli, I have a bad feeling about these AUMN guys. They said that our station was the only one they made contact with. Yet you said that they made contact with you as well. I think it's best you go with caution and reroute your station, at least until we figure this out." He then switched back to AUMN, "Sorry about that AUMN, our gear isn't in the best condition. Are you sure you haven't heard from anyone? I thought for sure they'd be other survivors. Oh well, can't hope for everything. How're you set for supplies?"

@Catchphrase mentioned

The space station belonging to Wendell United Survivor Operations, also known as WUSO, mostly drifted through space, only taking gentle puffs of propellant to make course corrections as it drifted slowly. There was no point in stopping, as there was nothing to stop for. At least, that was what was thought. On board the station, all sorts of things were going on, from people trying to live normally to people trying hard to wield two pieces of ship together to make stable connections.

On the bridge of the Iron Lady, as the station was called by everyone, Talos team leader Fay Powell felt power. This was a good thing, yet at the same time a bad thing. Good, because the position of power showed that she was boss. Not as much boss as Jennifer Valentino, but a boss indeed. The bad part was that because she was currently the one in charge of the bridge, she also had to make decisions, like the one coming at her right now. At least, she presumed so, as the communications 'officer' was turning toward her. The man was just a civilian communications specialist that they had picked up as part of bridge crew on one of the ships attached to the station, and he had been placed as part of the Alpha bridge crew, as opposed to the Bravo crew, which rotated when needed.

"Ma'am, we are picking up transmittions being pinged between what seem to be large objects in space." The man took a look toward an astrologist that served as part of the tactical team on the bridge. Unlike actual warships, the Iron Lady required a tactical team rather than a single person, since instead of that one person with all the knowledge combined with a computer with even more knowledge, all there was for a 'crew' was civilians, not as rigorously trained as actual combat personnel. The astrologist cleared her throat, before saying, "Those are no 'objects'. From what we've been able to identify, using passive sensors, of course, those are stations, and they're communicating," the woman says, sounding quite proud of herself.

Fay leaned forward, combat instincts taking over from the tiny course she took in navy situations. "Communications, you can pick up those signals, so put them through. I want to eavesdrop. Tactical, keep condition green, but ready to put it to yellow at my command." In a few moments, she had audio, and listen to a conversation between several surviving space stations. She wondered if they were pirates, looking for survivors of the Wendell incident. Lucky, that turned out not to be the case. At least, not openly. "Navigation, move us closer to the closest station. The one that seems to be calling itself Epsilon station. Use only the stealthiest methods, though. Operations, turn off all exterior lights, keep us invisible. The only thing I want pinging off of us is the communications and their radar, if they have any, and even those I don't want on us," Team leader Fay says. She knew it was almost impossible to hide against any radar pings, especially with a station this large, but she was trying her best. Slowly, the space station drifted closer to Epsilon station.

Epsilon Security Officer John Ker was on duty at the observation area. The statins sensors worked fine, but sometimes small objects could make it pass the scanners. As he was looking out into the black nothingness, he noticed something large move. It was only for a second, but he swore he saw it. He decided to be cautious and radio the Head of Security.

"Sir, this is observation, I thought I saw something large moving towards our position. I could be wrong, but I thought I should report it in case it was out of sensor range." The Head of Security checked the sensors and saw nothing, "We have nothing on sensors, keep an eye out just in case."

He nodded and get monitoring the area, he watched for a few minutes then decided to move on. If it was something, he would've seen it. Unless the damn thing had tech to fool the sensors, it was too far away to be worth anything.

@Catchphrase mentioned.

Slowly, the Iron Lady drifts closer, eventually being forced to drift. By now, the Talos team leaders, plus Jennifer, the squad leader, were notified, but remained at normal duty. Fay taps her lips, the rest of the commander center crew all nervous. The navigator never ceased to, every two minutes, ask to decelerate, so it was a joy when Fay finally told him to slow down, as they arrived very close to the station. A few moments later, Fay said those special words; "Patch me to their communications." A moment later, communications gave her a thumbs-up.

"Surrounding... Stations," Fay begins, unsure of whether to call them stations or ships. "This is sergeant Fay Powell of the Iron Lady, the station of the Wendell United Survivor Operations. We come in peace, but are prepared for war, if you so choose to fight. We have escaped from the siege of Wendell by the Crawl, so we want to collaborate, and survive," she says, feeling slightly embarrassed at the manner of which she was speaking.

@datadogie Erving heard the call from the Iron Lady, and his first thought was, 'A bit over dramatic to do it this way' but he shrugged it off.

"Iron Lady, this is Epsilon. We hear you loud and clear, what is your current status? How're you set for supplies?"

@Catchphrase mentioned.

Fay smiled as she got a response from Epsilon, and in turn, began to make her own response. By now, the SPL (survival party leader) had entered the command center. Fay nodded once to him, before speaking.
"Epsilon, Iron Lady. We have four weeks worth of food, few weapons and little ammunition. We're trying to grow our own food, but almost nobody is that good at it, and it's a failing attempt. We request that we dock with you, and initiate relations." She says monotone, as if reading from a script.