"So that's her, huh?"

"Seems like it, Ma'am."

"Hah, these humans sure know how to make unimpressive looking ships."

"Well," The Antathalon shifted his stance slightly, gazing at the ship that had finally been completed. "It's the work of all the best techniques of the Confederacy. Human ingenuity, Myrkith durability, and Elvish magic." He observed the ship, watching several of the techs and engineers finish their final check on the systems.

"ECS Stellaria. Not a very impressive name, either."

"Heh, I think she looks like any other ship. Could out maneuver anything the Myrkith could come up with, Ma'am."

"Remains to be seen, Erka." The Belethus leaning over the railing, stood up, boots making a heavy thud as she began walking from the observation area down to the deck. Normally Belethus didn't wear clothing so much - it wasn't like they had any obvious sexual characteristics, and wearing clothes were also needless to them. Their exoskeleton was far more durable than any clothing could ever hope to be. In an effort to normalize and fit in with others of the Confederacy though, it was required all Myrkith involved with off-world activities had to conform in some manner. Not that she minded - human military outfits were standard and functional enough. "Looks like a standard C-class Railgun would tear right through it."

"Remains to be seen, Ma'am." The Antathalon replied, earning a small chuckle from his superior.

"I suppose that is true," She said, walking down the stairs to the dock, passing a few other humans along the way. "I'm surprised you agreed to go after retiring."

"Well Ma'am...Civilian life isn't all it's cracked up to be." He followed her down, moving past a small crowd of people on the stairwell. "Besides, I'd get a chance to work under the 'Scarath' of Rakshath again. No one would be stupid enough to turn down that request."

"Humph. Well...lets hope this mission goes better than that one." She stopped, feet hitting the ground as she stared up at the ship in front of her. "Might as well see how well she looks on the inside." Nodding, the Antathlon followed his superior up to the ship, walking in through the cargo bay, taking a brief tour of the ship before getting underway.

---

"So this is the command center...Bridge, the humans call it?" She mused, standing on a slightly elevated platform in the center of a large room surrounded by several chairs and workstations where people would be filling in soon enough by a skeleton crew. Directly in front of her was a holographic display of the planet - Terra, where she ship was being built, and was giving her and the crew much needed information regarding the environment. When traveling, it was supposed to give a readout of the current surroundings after a cursory scan. A few steps ahead of her was where the pilots would be working - why a ship this size needed two pilots was beyond her, but Erka was already familiarizing himself with the controls of the Stellaria while they waited for the others to show up.

Walking down from the platform, she scooped up several dossiers laying on a table, flipping briefly through the pages as she walked. Three elves, three Myrkith, and three Humans. Two pilots, three engineers, a Medical officer, Biologist for that garden and...Friendmaker. She grimaced at the word. Elves were a confusing bunch - far too overly friendly, but their tech was useful in some way, even if they themselves had no regular uses for it.

She rubbed the side of her head, exhaling and closing the dossiers as she stepped into the elevator. Cowards, the lot of them, the elves were. Hardly a military to speak of, no military training possible...it was mind boggling to most of the Myrkith who while tended to be tightly united under their leaders, still had infighting from time to time over different ideologies and methods.

Mind mindbogglingly foolish and weak.

At least the humans could be respected in some manner, even if they were still just as odd to her even after spending years learning their various cultures and society. Divided as they were most of the time, they still managed to act as a united force. Curious, to say the least that had many Myrkith scholars and thinkers questioning a number of things.

Well, no matter. She walked into the captains quarters as soon as the doors to the elevator opened, placing the dossiers on a nearby table and walking over to the mirror.

Had to look her best for when her crew arrived, after all.

"Great googaly moogaly! Today's the day Harisa!" Jess said, wheeling forward on her Wheelie Shoes while holding on to a couple of boxes with important tools and some other things.... Not so important things. "Alright, kiddo!" She asked her fellow engineer.

Harisa seemed a little... Concerned with how her superior was acting... But at least it was better than people that were way too serious. "Yes... Well, I did help put the ship together... Ma'am?" The girl said, looking over the Stellaria. "We've taken her for a couple of test runs but we'll have to see what it's like on the actual run." She looked over the ship with pride before speaking again. "Well, I can guarantee this ship is very worthy of 'flying'."

"Of course! Only the best for this expedition!" Jess said, looking at her shipmate. "Let's get our stuff on. I need to go talk to the captain... And I think our pilot doesn't like our shenanigans." She added, taking a peak back at the second pilot who just about gave her a somewhat dismissive look.

"Yes. I think you need to take this more seriously than you are, for our engineering lead." The pilot, Cherche, said, walking forward through the hatch and into the ship, eventually making it into the bridge and setting her eyes on the other pilot. "You are the other pilot then? An... Ant, then? Interesting. My name is Cherche Kendrick.
Would you want to take care of the sub-systems? Or the main piloting position? I've plenty of experience dealing with the sub-systems."

---

"What a prude." Jess said, watching as the woman prudishly walked onto the ship. "What gives her the idea I'm not taking this seriously?" She asked, wheeling her way onto the ship. Of course, the woman's words didn't really imprint well on her as she set her belongings down in front of the lab door. "If you can get set up, I need to go talk to the Captain. I have a little Comms system in... That box on top. Earpiece. Put it on, I got some for everyone."

"Sure thing. Send me a message if I need to talk to the captain." Harisa said with a nod.

With a smile, Jess made it over to the elevator to take her up. She didn't even care to ask for the captain's permission. With a smile, she pressed the button for the elevator and waited for it to come down. With a whistle she waited until the elevator came down and wheeled on in. There were a couple of buttons... "There! Captain's Quarters." It was a small wait up to the Captain's Quarters and she exited looking for a certain beetle girl. "Hey there beetle girl! Long time no see!"

They were ready for this journey.

The three elves headed through the bay with a great amount of excitement as one of the humans smiled and waved to them - the new crew members couldn't wave back because they were carrying very important things, but Sprinklestar, Dazzlefalls, and Heartcheer each gave returning smiles as they headed through the airlocks in their human inspired uniforms.

There was also a bit of nervousness - well, a bit of nervousness from Dragonflie and Issiliandria. Liri smiled at the Myrkithians as if The Calamity had never happened while his two companions lowered their heads in shame into the respective objects they were carrying.

Eventually the airlock went through its process and the three of them waited patiently in the entry room. Sprinklestar panicked as she stood in the entry to the ship while the others went off. W-what was she supposed to call the person in charge again? She'd been told that was very, very important. C- Cartridge? No ... Captain! At least she hoped that was right. These titles were confusing.

Her pink eyes glanced around as a nervous gulp went down her throat - she hoped that she wouldn't be the one to cause the next Calamity.

Issiliandra was about average in height among elves, but most humans were taller than her and any Belethus towered over her. The elf had abandoned her traditional clothing in favor of the human-like synthetic uniforms that hugged closely to her skin, outlining her graceful features - on the back of which were a couple of metal strips that could enable flight via W.I.N.G. technology. Going up the right side of her neck and clipping to her ear was part of her headset - the visual and microphone components were folded back. In the center of her small chest was a small generator used to power her suits functions. It would be rather apparent she'd spent a bit of time on her appearance as well - her blonde hair seemed to sparkle slightly as the light danced around it.

She fumbled the object in her arms - A bouquet of flowers nearly as large as she was. A series of thistles representing prestige interwoven with friendly roses - the small vase that held the flowers was magically imbued to ensure the flowers would be long lasting - up to two years. It was a masterpiece even by elven standards.

The other two held similar bouquets as they waited patiently to be summoned. They were told to wait here, so they would be good little elves and wait.

Oh dear oh dear, he was late.

He was going to be late at this rate!

"Oh goodness, oh goodness." He flapped his wings as hard as he could, flitting around, over the crowd of humans with four suitcases in hand. Did he get everything? All of his tools? Clothing? Accessories? Fashion magazines? "Ooh, I hope I got everything. I heard Scarath Drakat is scary when she's angry." Oof, really now! What was he thinking signing up for this mission, just to spite his parents? "Mokthraki can't be engineers" they said. It's not possible and unprecedented, they said. Urf, he really should have stayed on Kythphus and learned how to play instruments from his parents.

Well, no turning back now. Up and leaving from an important mission would get him in all sorts of trouble with the law.

"Oof, is this the ship?" He landed on the ground, feet clanking against the metal floor. "OOh...its...so pretty! Oh, it's so much nicer than the usual space designs!" He dropped the suitcases, holding his four hands in front of him as he took in the sleek design of the ship. "Aha, wow, humans and elves certainly do have an eye for aesthetics...hmm, perhaps this trip won't be so bad after all!" He flapped his wings, excitedly observing the ship from all angles, nearly running into a few small shuttles that were taking off. Oh this was going to be so much fun! So many new cultures and fashions to explore!

Landing again, he confidently picked up two of his suitcases again, turning to head into the airlock - only to be met with two very irritable looking security guards.

"Ooh...hello? Malia Russil reporting for duty aboard the ECS Stellaria!"

"This is a military vessel, moth." One of them said.

"E-erm, yes? And I'm stationed here."

"...Right." Malia grimaced slightly. "Identification, then?"

"Uhm uhm! I have it right here somewhere...!"

He quickly checked his pockets.

Oh.

"Uhm-uhm!...please?"

---

While the captain had been getting everything ready and deciding how she was going to address the ships crew, Erka had been familiarizing himself with the ships foreign designs. Needless to say, it'd require some actual playtime with to understand them entirely, but it should be easy enough to get them started - and for now he should meet his fellow pilot. Why this ship required two, he had no idea. It wasn't a particularly large vessel...perhaps something to help foster camaraderie between the two races, perhaps.

"Antathalon. Erka Tearch. Been flying for over thirty of your human years, monkey." Erka responded from his seat, voice sounding mildly robotic - but more of a teasing inflection rather than any hostility behind it. "Truthfully, this ships design baffles me." He replied honestly, rotating the seat around and standing up. "But I know how to handle a ship better than any pilot. I an handle sub system and the main piloting just as well as any other." His two smaller arms crossed against his chest, holding one of his other ones out to the human. "It'll be a pleasure working with a human for once, Kendrick." It'd really would be a refreshing change of pace from the rank and file Antathlons on a Myrkith ship.

"But as you have more experience with human ships, perhaps it'd be best for you to handle the sub systems until I familiarize a bit more."

---

Ah, she was glad to be out of that stuffy uniform.

She could breathe much easier without it on, and that wasn't just a metaphor either. A few small moments to relax before getting to business. Unlike most quarters on ships, Myrkith were notoriously practical minded. Their quarters lacked some...comfort luxuries, though as the humans built this they still had a few comforts in it. A rather luxurious bed, bookshelves, a window overlooking the garden the elves insisted on.

Sitting the chair at the desk, the captain reclined, noticing a bottle of human soda she had previously sneaked aboard.

...well, a little sip couldn't hurt. She bought the caffeinated drink to her lips and -

"Hey there beetle girl! Long time no see!"

"Gah!" Nearly spit up the whole thing, quickly shoving the can into a drawer. "Jessica!" She coughed, holding a hand to her chest "What...are you doing here, urgh-" Kiri stood up, rubbing the side of her head as she greeted her old college roommate. "Still breaking and entering, I see." She mused, collecting herself.

---

A few explanations and calls later, squeezing past a few oddly stalwart elves, he had finally been able to get into the ship.

"Ugh, so rude! They wouldn't accept petting my fluff as adequate bribery..." Hurmph. "...Uncultured heathens..." He flitted slowly down the hallways of the ship, for the most part ignoring the others. He needed to find his quarters and put his things away, after all. Then he could settle down and converse with others! OOh, he was so looking forward to it. It'd be so much fun, wouldn't it? He giggled lightly to himself, quickly forgetting the frustration of getting in.

Only to quickly realize he was quite lost.

"Huh..." He closed his eyes. "Where's the crew quarters at...? More importantly...where am I at? Ah-" Actually taking a look around it, this seemed to be...engineering! "Ah! So this is the ships engines and parts and stuff! Oh, look at all of these things!...I have no idea what these do..."

Cherche smiled a bit. "Monkey, huh? Heh. Well, fair enough." She accepted. She had just called him an ant after all. She looked at the secondary control panel. "Well, let's see here. It's a lot of new things for me as well. Some things are the same, things I'm sure anyone with extended experience in the Myrkith Naval Service would still have a tough time with. I'm sure you didn't have to deal with this, but you seem like you can learn quick."

The woman tapped on a couple of buttons and sat down in the chair of what would become her station. "As you know, we've developed energy weapons, correct? Well, we can do a couple of things with the ship's core. We have the ability to allocate power from one system to another. For example, if we're in a fight and get attacked from the rear, we can allocate shields from the front of the ship to the rear. Likewise, if we need to focus on destroying something, we can focus the energy on the weapons. Don't worry though, we still have ballistic weapons your people prefer." Cherche seemed intent on making sure Erka had an idea about what was going on.

---

Harisa was busy working around the Engineering Bay. The ship's core was completely stable. Definitely stable. Everything else seemed to be mostly in order. All the electrical sockets they'd need... Some cleaning supplies, chemicals... This was good. Good, good, good. She need to grab the last bit of boxes from outside. The door was open and... What was that? A person? Looked rather fashionable. Curious, she made her way over to the entrant. "Pardon me, you're... Wait, a moth? Oh. I think you... Actually, do you belong here?" She asked, curiously. Her eyes rushed to the moth fluff though. "Though... I can't really resist... I'm sorry."

The woman's hand moved out and brushed against the moth fluff gingerly before the taking a better feel. "I've never felt anything so soft. Become my fluffy plush toy." She added, wanting to push her face into the soft fluff. She then kind of realized what she was doing and pulled back. "Oh! Umm, sorry. I didn't... That is, uh, welcome to Engineering. Did you need to go somewhere else? I can't think of where a moth would go on here."

---

Jess was happy enough to be remembered. "It's not breaking and entering if there's nothing to break. You left it unlocked. I thought you learned by now." She added, smiling at her old friend. "You know, if you want to drink don't let me stop you. Makes it easier to take advant-- Errrr... Get away with stuff." She teased. Rank meant little to her. Despite her being the Head Engineer, she was also the only human that was non-military. All the Myrkith were, though she was not exactly sure about the elves that were suppose to join them. "How's the captain life? Survived the Elf planet I see." She teased again.

She looked at the wrist fastened device she had and noticed, "I believe there are some elven guests. Some nice little toys. You can do a lot with these things. Think you should talk to the pointy ears cause they're just standing there." Unfortunately for Jess, she only had view on the hallways and Engineering Lab. Private Quarters were off limits for... Personal reasons.

Oh, was that a human? He had never seen one before! They looked so squishy! Ooh, and she was so cute, too! That body-tight outfit really accentuated those curves of hers. Humans really did know a thing or two about fashion, didn't they? OOh, he should introduce himself and they could share fashion tips! He was so caught up in attempting to get a positive interaction out of this human, he barely heard her introduce herself and walk towards him. He probably looked a little nervous, outwardly.

"Eh-eh?!" He gave a surprised shout when he felt her hand touch him. "W-wait this is inappropriate!" More angry embarrassed moth noises followed as the human brushed against his fluff. "Fl-fluffy plush?!" Ah, humans were scary! Humans were terrifying! Decision was not worth it! Not worth it! And then the human let go, apologizing and welcoming him to engineering.

"Eugh," Immediately he took a few steps back, flapping his wings gently and using his four arms to cover his body, angrily pouting at the human. "I...was stationed here." His pale face was red as an apple. Was this how all humans interacted? Were they so touchy feely? Not that he had a problem with that, it was just super embarrassing and so sudden. "M-Malia Russil. I was looking for the crew quarters but erm, got a bit lost..."

He'd leave out the part where he had no idea what any of these buttons did for now.

---

"As long as a weapon gets the job done, I don't have too much of a preference." Erka replied in an amused sounding tone. Allocate shields though? That was indeed something these human ships had, didn't they? Most Myrkith ships just used a lot of heavy armor and plating. Thick reinforced plates of Thuarhil - which this ship was made out of, but it had far less plating than on a thing of pure Myrkith design. Energy weapons too. He had seen differing designs in his time, but they always baffled him in how they could work.

"I see though...They gave me a crash course to get caught up on these sorts of things before being assigned here, but having hands on experience is always better than simply reading about it...but that's what the simulations are for." He turned back to one of the main system panels. "I'll make sure to put in some time later." He turned the chair back around, sitting down again in it as he ran a simple diagnostics of the systems. "...figuring out how to handle this thing with two arms is going to be mildly tricky." He commented. "Most Myrkith ships come with controls for four arms."

---

"Tsk," She clicked her tongue, waving a hand dismissively. "The elves are easy compared to dealing with you. At least they understand something when you tell them..." She frowned, shaking her head as the elves seemed to have taking their orders far too seriously. "...except when they take things too literally." Kiri picked up a small headset from the desk. A simple communication device that was connected to the ships internal comms.

"Captain Drakath speaking. I thank you for showing up on time, Issiliandria." Her voice loudly greeted the elves over the comms. "However, 'board the ship and wait for further instruction' did not mean stand in the middle of the airlock and block traffic." Ugh, she swore they had no military training whatsoever! Standing in the middle of the hallway like that was a hazard, even if nothing dangerous was going on. "You have free reign of the ship until we get underway. Greet the others of the crew and familiarize yourself with the ship. I'll call everyone to the briefing room before we get underway for official instruction." With that hopefully rectified, she turned back to Jessica.

"Hopefully I can at least drill some discipline into them." She sighed. "Weaklings, the lot of them...a Myrkith child could wipe the floor with them." Kiri grumbled, taking another sip of her soda. "Ahh...I wish I was allowed to drink coffee...."

The elves jumped slightly as the voice on the intercom began to lecture them. "S-Sorry! W-We didn't mean to block traffic!" Issiliandra began to blush slightly as she looked around at her companions who were also clearly embarrassed by their blunder. They were to search the ship, right? For people who would hopefully be their new friends?

With nervous smiles, each elf began to split up as they headed towards different locations. Dazzlefalls headed towards the biological gardens and began to look around, setting down her bouquet and stretching her now-tired limbs - she wouldn't be able to see through the one way window that led into the captain's quarters.

Liri headed towards the back of the ship towards the small medical bay and happened upon hearing voices in the nearby engineering area. With a cheerful smile betraying no apprehension, he walked into the room and passed his flowers over to the moth-themed insectiod. "Welcome, Friends!" The ridiculously large boquet was passed over to the Moth, who hopefully would accept the gift. "Please, take these. Grew them myself! I'm Liri Heartcheer ... or is it Doctor Heartcheer? Either way ..." The enthusiastic elf looked towards the pretty companions he had. "What shall I call you two my wonderful crewmembers?"

Sprinklestar began to search around the ship curiously, quickly getting lost as she tried to familiarize herself with the area.

"Yes, well, we can modify it if needed. The reason we run two is because we believe it removes the strain on the pilot if one is the real pilot and the second takes care of many of the other things. I can run diagnostics and other such things from here. Besides, is it not easier to work when you don't have to worry about the silly numbers of energy capacity and redirection of said energy? In a dangerous situation two minds are better than one." Cherche just wanted to make her point across. Then she stood up and removed her two pistols. "And I'm a little extra security detail just in case." She added with a smile, replacing her weapons.

She took a seat again and began to look up diagnostics on the ship, to ensure everything was fine. She'd have to redirect some power. The engine was a prototype of a slightly more advanced one more suited to long distance travel and escaping atmospheres. "Luckily, this ship was built to escape atmospheres and enter. We just need to remember to have shields up when we drop into a planet. We don't want to burn up on entry." It was mostly musing to herself, though there was a bit she wanted Erka to understand.

---

"Malia Russil. Understood." Harisa looked fairly guilty. Felt it too. "As an apology, let me take you to the crew quarters. Ahh, not about the you being cute part but the grabbing your fluffy fluff. I have a bit of a self-control issue sometimes. Makes me wonder why I got recruited into the military sometimes." She made her way past the moth cutie but then they were stopped by an elf. The last bit of the crew involved it seemed. She listened to the man. Hell, that name sounded so fake. "Heartcheer". So odd.

"Wonderful... Umm, my name is Harisa Yamada. Engineering in charge of ship repairs among other things." She informed the man. She then looked to the moth. "Thinking about it now though. I believe I heard from someone who doesn't shut up that your subspecies has no real sexually dimorphic features. Does that make you male or female, if I may ask." She tried to be polite now.

---

"Not allowed?" How annoying. Military protocol seemed annoying. Good thing she came on as a civilian contract. "Well, at least you can get away with your beloved soda. I'll have to remember to keep those stocked for you." She teased. Then she relaxed a bit. "Little anxious about this whole leaving Terra ordeal. Can't say I've really left for the unknown fringes of space before." She gave a small uncomfortable giggle before moving closer to the captain. "I'll show you something fun though. I've had some cybernetics spliced into my nerves. I got a couple of tools I can use like this."

She pulled up her jacket to her elbow. Dead center on the top side of her forearm showed a circular disk shape with a small divot in the center. There seemed to be small lights going up her arm too. Some extended to her fingers as well. "Now prototype material I decided to test on myself. Works for the most part, though the odd electrical shock with cause my entire arm to spaz out for a couple of seconds." She allowed the captain to mess with her arm if she wanted a better look at the tech, but would pull away if she didn't seem interested.

"Humph, well, as long as you don't do it again..." He grumbled, patting down some of his fluff with two of his arms. Well he was cute! That was just a given! He was a Mokthraki, after all. He'd stake all of his pride on looking absolutely fabulous! So her apology was well accepted. "Ahem, well thank you...erm?" Before he could ask for a name, another human - no wait, pointy ears meant elf - walked into the room and greeted them - and promptly handed him a large bouquet of flowers.

"A-ah wait...!" He fumbled with the flowers, barely getting them in his four arms. Oof, they were kind of heavy, weren't they? He took the flowers and sat them on a nearby table of some sort before taking a look at the elf. Ah, they both looked similar...except he was wearing some sort of boorish uniform.

Malia held a hand to his chin, observing the elf quietly as he introduced himself. Standard green military uniform...looks rather high-ranking. A few decorations. Clearly a poor imitation.

"O-oh! Uhm, ahem, Malia Russil. A pleasure, Sir Heartcheer." As he introduced himself he hovered a bit closer, flapping his wings in a seemingly uncomfortable manner. Ooh, he really wanted to undress this elf and teach him proper fashion tips! That uniform was such a drag! At least the human seemed to wear something that was both good looking and useful, even if it could be improved. Thankfully, Harisa's questioned saved the elf from a barrage of questions.

"A-ah, oh right. You humans have those...things." Just a harmless question - wouldn't be the first time he had been asked that, after all. Only by humans of course. There were small differences that over time, other Myrkith could tell, but for a human it would be rather impossible. "I am indeed male despite what you would call 'girly' features on Terra." He turned his attention back to the elf, wings buzzing a bit more forcefully. He was hovering slightly close, and seemed like he had something he wanted to say, but was too afraid to speak.

---

"Shields, eh?" He mused. "Myrkith just use as much heavy plating as we can slap on. Works well enough, but it makes the ships rather unwieldy compared to your human craft. More durable though." He took a hold of the controls, testing the output and maneuverability of the in atmosphere controls. Once they hit space, it'll be easy to move in a vacuum, but maneuvering in a planets atmosphere required somewhat of a delicate touch...probably a more delicate touch than the Myrkith were known for.

"...to be truthful, I'm not used to not having a lot of work." He commented. "Most Myrkith pilots are required to pay attention to everything from engine heat, power redirection, and all those functions." He smirked under his armored helmet. "I don't mean to brag, monkey, but I could fly this thing myself with a little practice." Just a friendly jest, as they say. "Glad your here for extra security though. Always good to have an extra gun at your side."

---

"Ah, I knooooow, I miss Terra just for the coffee!" Kiri sighed, slumping back in her chair. She might have had a slight alcohol problem, though her complaining was quickly silenced by Jess' concerns about leaving Terra and her arm. Well, it was understandable. She had never been off planet before, had she? She had been training for what, a decade or more now for this? The Myrkith wanted this expedition to go well, so they had drilled her in anything that might have possibly gone wrong. If anything, she herself was excited.

"Cybernetics...?" Kiri watched curiously as Jess showed off her arm. It was certainly impressive, even if she had a low opinion of such cybernetic augmentations. Useful they were, but it went against the Myrkith's society heavily. They didn't have need for such things. Still, she took a few seconds to take Jess' arm in her hands and studying quickly before giving her arm back. "Curious. You'll have to tell me what its capable of later." Kiri stood, grabbing her discarded uniform from the bed and walking over to the mirror.

"At the moment, I'll need to get dressed again and meet everyone down in the Briefing room in a few moments. I have a few last things to take care of, so if you want to do anything else before we leave - now's the time."

The elf looked between the two of them. Such pretty names! Fascinating! The Mokthraki were as pretty as the tales said - it was easier to get a good look now that there wasn't a bouquet in the way of his view. Especially now that the declared male was buzzing incredibly close, as if the flying creature was inspecting him! Sure that this creature wasn't still worried about the calamity Heartcheer made certain to inspect those wings.

Suddenly a question entered his mind - he wasn't a biologist, but he had taken a couple more rigorous courses in his earlier studies. "Might I ask, doesn't hovering like that tire your wings out? Butterflies, moths, and other insects on both our and the human worlds typically have a higher wing-to-body ratio."

The elf looked over to the human as well, inspecting her slightly. He wasn't aware of it, but he did agree that the human's uniform was a rather nice fit on her.

"Of course. Never too safe. That said though, we have one other safety tool I'm not sure how a Myrkith would respond. Ever hear of a Stealth Device? Camouflages your ship so it's both invisible to the naked eye and detection systems. We have that." She says with a smirk. "Changes the frequency of the shields so they're not so strong, but that should be fine. When we get to our first expedition, I'll show you how it works."

---

"Down cute bugsy." Harisa said, hopping up and grabbing Malia around the midsection, pulling the moth-boy close and moved her arms closer up. "Calm down, girl... Well, I guess boy. It's rude to pester around people like that." She patted the moth's head. "Easy, easy."

---

"Hey don't mind me. I've seen you get dressed before." Jess said, giggling a bit. "And naked. You know, what constitutes as naked for you." She took a seat in one of the few chairs in the captain's quarters and just watched. "So, what've you been doing for the last couple of years exactly? Find a lover yet? Well, probably not considering this expedition." She teased. She examined her arm a bit and started to wonder about if it was a good idea after all. After the couple of seconds she looked at it, her vision went back to the captain.

"Tiring? Only for extended periods." Malia replied, scrunching his face up in thought. "You'll have to ask one of the other two, though. I'm not some...scientist. I'm a musician - err, and an engineer. Sorta - eeep!" Before he could continue that line of thought however, Harisa wrapped her arms around his midsection, pulling him from the air and into her arms. Ooh, it was kind of nice being held like this. For a few seconds he simply sat there, letting Harisa run her hand over her head before realizing it was both embarrassing, and giving him a bad image.

"Ack!" He gave a sudden shout, making a few more annoyed sounding grunts as he struggled in Harisa's grasp, face as red as a tomato once again. "Harassment! Haaaaaraaaassment!" Ah, humans were indeed terrifying, weren't they? "Lemme gooo you uncultured brute!" Oh, how inelegant this was. Letting a human do whatever she wanted to with him. He pouted angrily, looking over the the elf. "Y-you! Elf! Tell this human to release me at once!"

---

"Camouflage?..." Erka paused, turning his head. Really, then? For a few moments the Antathlon looked like he was going to comment before he quietly turned back to his pre-flight checking. "You humans come up with some interesting things." He finally commented, using two of his arms to press a few buttons, alternating the power and checking the wings. "You wouldn't see that on most Myrkith tech, you're right. Most are too caught up in charging in head first and blowing a hole in the front door." He chuckled. "Works most of the time."

His tone of voice through his suit seemed to indicate he perhaps had a slightly negative view of that method, but he didn't seem keen on commenting more.

---

"Lover? Ha!" Kiri laughed heartily, brushing off some dust from the dark blue uniform. "I have no interest in such a...permanent relationship. You of all people should know that, Jess." She mused, sliding the button up uniform over her body. It was easy enough to fit, and made from the finest Mokthraki silks. "I've mostly been learning different elvish cultures and customs, like I told you before I left. You know how rigid Myrkith thought can be sometimes." She buttoned the last button on the uniform and pulled down the collar. She walked over and grabbed the black pants that were thrown haphazardly onto the bed.

"If we don't adjust our thought slightly to understand others at least a little, we'll make a lot of enemies." She quickly pulled the pants over her chitinous legs, having only a little trouble getting the fabric over a few of her more pointy bits. "I was decided as the best candidate for that after my service in the war." Kiri sighed, not sounding entirely impressed with that prospect as she collected her boots. "No matter, though. That's what I signed up for after I joined the military." Strapping her boots to her feet, she took one last look in the mirror. Satisfied with her appearance, she turned back to Jess.

"I trust you have been well since we last saw each other?" Kiri asked, amber eyes flashing with obvious interest as she picked up the headset she had used earlier to speak with the elves. "No reservations about leaving for unknown parts of the universe? Home will always be just a short jump away with the wormhole generator you humans have, but we won't have time for luxury trips often."

The elf blinked, watching as the human wrapped his arms around the Moth before the creature could complete his explanation. In his struggles the moth blushed to the color of red. There was an obvious delay though - did the moth truly mind, or was this for cultural appearances?

Heartcheer found himself taking mental notes. Information like this could help remedy the calamity. For now, though, the elf decided to humor the moth and looked towards the human. "Dearie, why don't you set the poor boy down before somebody gets hurt. He's obviously uncomfortable."

It didn't seem like the elves words had a lot of conviction behind them, though.

Harisa scoffed, "Uncultured? I did help build the ship after all, so I don't know if I'm the one to be called uncultured." She admitted. While it was true, she didn't come up with the plans. She just put the pieces in place. Still, it was unprofessional to be doing this to him, so she released him. "Around here, Mr. Russil, fashion isn't nearly as important as utility so I hope you will ease up on any worries of a fashion disaster. There will be days when we'll be working on greasy parts and all we're going to be wearing are tank tops and overalls." She said this to gauge the moth's reaction, of course.

When the moth finished replying, she looked to the elf that was present with them. "Anyhow, while Malia and I are here, have you had a chance to check the medical station we've prepared? I'd suggest before launch checking it and making sure the machinery works while we have the resources of the government available." She wanted them all to have the best trip possible. Faulty medical machinery was the worst too. Could mean the difference between life and death.

---

"Most of the time." Cherche copied. With that over, she wasn't sure what else to say to her any comrade so she just sat at her chair and looked at the controls. She tapped a few buttons and brought up a couple of diagnostics and noticed something. "Oh, we even have a Virtual Hologram Room installed. I hadn't heard about that." She muttered to herself. The rooms were useful, allowing one to see just about anything they wanted, so long as they could program it (which wasn't exceptionally hard) or they could use one of the pre-programmed ones. There was even a shoot-out one to practice gunplay and was likely why it was installed.

---

"Ahh, well, Dad died not long after you left and you know I don't really get along well with mom after the divorce, so I've got nothing keeping me tied to Terra." Jess stated, only sound a little somber. Her mood lightened slightly as she looked up towards the captain. "Well, either way I'm here now with the person I know best. Well, alien I know best. Hope we make a small little family here." Jess stated laughing at herself a bit. "Oh, I heard you Myrkith were bringing an engineer. Is it safe to assume s/he is an Antathlon?"

"Hmph. Thank you, Sir Heartcheer." Malia dusted off his dress with his four hands, hovering a few feet away from the human before setting down. "One doesn't need culture to build a ship. Have you seen those bulky heaps of scrap metal the Myrkith build?" Malia straightened a few strands of his white, flurry hair. "And you'll be quite wrong, if you think I don't mind getting a little dirty. I know my basic Myrkith technologies...the Myrkith military doesn't take people who don't have some skill." He paused, black eyes scanning over the engineering bay. He had a few uniforms for this, but he wasn't entirely sure about a 'tank top' or 'overalls'. He was told to wear standard issue things while on the job, but that didn't mean during down time he couldn't enjoy his normal clothes.

"A-ahem...anyways..." His face reddened again. "...crew quarters?" He questioned quietly, hefting his four suitcases. She had offered to help him find them earlier, after all.

---

"Myrkith just use live practice drills." Erka chuckled. "They think using live ammunition during training is good practice. There's a few rules, and medics area always on standby, but there are accidents." It was no secret part of the reason he was likely here, was to test how well the humans military training methods were. For all their talk of wanting to ally themselves, they still had mostly selfish reasons for playing nice, after all.

---

"Oh," Kiri's eyes widened in slight surprise at the news of Jess' Dads death. She herself was never particularly close with them, or her own parents for that matter. Most Myrkith didn't linger on such a thing as death too much. It was a fact of life, after all. "I see...well, better to have no regrets about leaving." She mused, offering a small smile to Jess. "And I am glad to have you here...between you, Erka, and Issiliandria, perhaps we'll actually accomplish something."

"Now then..." Sliding the headset over her head, she pressed the button over the comms. "This is Captain Drakath speaking. I thank you all for coming here today. I trust everyone is ready and packed for the mission at hand. If you will all make your way to the briefing room on the first deck, we shall begin preparations for leaving." Silencing the headset, she turned back to Jess and her question.

"Well...I think he's someone you should meet yourself." Her mouth turned into a smirk. "I've only met him briefly once when he was first selected for this position, but he's quite the character. Fairly skilled, considering his background...though unfamiliar with human tech so he may need a little guidance at first." She motioned to the elevator. "After you, Jess."

The two elves wondering the ship and acquainting themselves with it obeyed the intercom - they soon arrived in front of the briefing room, epic bouquets being carried in their arms as they went forth. They were content to wait there for the others to arrive, both excited about meeting the humans and a little nervous abut meeting the insectiods once again.

As for Heartcheer, he looked between his two new friends once again. They seemed to be a chummy sort, though 'Sir' Heartcheer couldn't admit to being a bit dissapointed when the moth was let go. Physical contact was critical for making new friends, and the human seemed rather keen on delivering it. "The medical station? Yes, I took a brief overview of it and all the technologies seem to be working - though the human usage of drugs as opposed to druidic powers are prone to leaving complications which therefore leaves me to believe I should largely ignore them. After all, my friends deserve the best." Heartcheer seemed proud of himself - and he wasn't going to be scared to invite himself along. "And yes, the crew quarters! I would love to see where they are - they are probably in need of some natural decoration like the rest of this dour ship!"

"Well, just remember that you may know Myrkith tech, but that tech is much more crude than ours. No disrespect, but I imagine you both will agree." Harisa said before turning. "Follow me. I'll take you to your quarters." She set down one hallway. She had helped make it after all.... And she might have made her room a slight bit bigger than designed... Jessica wouldn't notice, she thought. Well, whoever was going to be the Head Engineer. She heard that the Head was going to be a workaholic so that might be true.

Soon enough, they arrived at the crew quarters. Her things were already in hers. "Here you are. You can take the one on the other side of mine here, Mr.Russil. And Mr. Heart...Cheer." Saying the name left a bad taste in her mouth. Human media in the past had a similar idea for the names of elves, though they had not so cringy names like Windrunner or Sunstrider. Heartcheer? Bleh. "Yours will be a bit further down. It's closer to the Medical Bay, so we took the liberty of moving you closer in the case of emergencies." She made sure everyone was fine with their quarters before heading off to the meeting location.

---

"Time for the beginning briefing, huh?" Cherche muttered to herself as she looked to the time on a watch. "Well then, Tearch. Shall we head that way?" She asked, though stood and started heading the way she thought it was. She stopped at the door and watched as it opened quickly, but stayed put. Erka was a joker wasn't he? She turned and offered the Ant man to go first. "It's a custom to let your elders go first." She teased with a small smile. He had some fun little quips to return after all.

---

"Lady's first?" Jess joked a bit, go along with the offer. "I think you're probably more of a lady than I am now." She teased, showing off her arm a little bit. "I thought I was the more feminine one of us before too." Ignoring the teasing now though, she decided to talk about the Myrkith engineer. "Alright. So we need to get the new guy up to snuff. Good to know. Shouldn't be too hard though. Our tech is suppose to be made with ease in mind. Well, I've been learning this stuff for the last two months or so since I focused on energy." The elevator opened as she arrived and she entered.

"Uhm...but none of us can use magic." Malia replied when the elf commented about his dislike for modern medical practices as they walked. "And erm, ignoring standard protocol is likely going to get you in trouble with Captain Drakath." Druidic magic? While perhaps interesting, and fantastical, it wasn't something he was willing to risk his own life on out here in the vast reaches of space. Not that he really had a say in such matters.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the crew quarters. The room looked spacious enough, but it was as one might expect, metal and standard military issue. At least it looked roomy enough to potentially add some things too later.

"Thanks," Malia replied cheerily. "Ah, I've been carrying these things all day. Mokthraki are not good at heavy lifting..." He walked into his own room, quickly setting the suitcases down and stretching. "And uh, Malia will do fine, Harisa." He replied, before following her to the briefing room.

---

"Elders, huh?" Erka replied, standing up. "I'll be an 'elder' when I'm old, soft, and can't handle a rowdy humans jabs." Of course, he went ahead and walked through the door to the briefing room. He was curious about meeting the elves and the Mokthraki that was supposed to be their engineer. He'd get to know them later, but for now he walked to the back of the briefing room, taking a position at the back wall and leaning quietly against it as he waited for the others.

---

"He's a quick learner from what I've been told." Kiri replied, stepping into the elevator after Jess. "So he shouldn't be too much of a problem." Pressing the button for the 1st deck, she continued. "I'm more worried that these elves will prove utterly useless. Issiliandria is...palatable at best, but I have no knowledge of the other two. From what I've seen so far though...I am sorely unimpressed." She sighed as the elevator stopped its descent from the top deck, stepping off the Elevator. "They're like children - worse, even compared to Myrkith children. A Myrkith child understands basic self defense by age ten!" She harrumphed grumpily. Truthfully, if they got into trouble, she'd have to consider cutting their losses.

And the elves were quite expendable in her opinion.

Heartcheer giggled at the worried regarding his medical powers. "Hun, you don't need to worry. Dr. Heartcheer's healing magic is the best, most reliable around. But yes, I do know how to use modern remedies in case I tire out. But for everyone sake lets not have so many injuries it comes to that?"

The crew quarters were in dire need of decoration - especially his if it was close to the med bay as the human suggested.

---

The three elves entered the briefing room together. Heartcheer split off from his newest friends to tell his companions about the things that the had observed between the human and the moth while eyeing the other crew members curiously as they walked in - one of whom was the 'ant type' of Myrkarthian. The human seemed to be insulting the ant type but the ant type responded well - each elf pulled out a notebook, taking notes. Did the insectoids enjoy being brutalized? Maybe it was some test of their fitness?

As they thought over this matter, Sprinklestar brought her boquet and placed it on the captains table so that she'd know it was left for her. Dazzlefalls nearly tripped as she walked towards the ant type, looked around a little nervously as she reached out her overly-large boquet. "I-I'd like you to um, have these." It was rather obvious she was slightly apprehensive about something as she passed the flowers over.

When the captain walked into the room, they would sit down and be quiet, good little elves. That's what they'd been told to do, after all.

Harisa and Cherche both arrived with their respective parties. Cherche took a spot along the wall with Erka while Harisa stood with her fellow engineer. They arrived before the captain and both would salute her as she entered. When Jess and the Captain entered, Jess would give a small nod to the Captain and walk off to where she saw Harisa... Then she'd notice the Mothraki. She gave a harsh look over and then smile. "Gya! You are adorable!" She said, hugging the moth boy. She knew all about these creatures! "Oh, you make me want to swing for the correct team, you're so cute."

Cherche on the other side of the room just rolled her eyes. "I feel like I must apologize for her on behalf of all of human-kind." The woman said to Erka while the Head Engineer did what she did.

Harisa stepped in though, and lightly pushed the woman away from Malia. "Miss, while I understand the feeling... We are here for a brief. You can do this later. Or better yet, not do it." She stated, looking the woman in the eye.

While at first Jessica looked irritated with that, she resigned. "Yes, yes. You're right." The woman sighed and turned to Kiri. "Alright, 'I apologize for my outburst, Captain. Please proceed.'" Jess added with an obviously rehearsed phrase. She obviously did not have a military background.