Well, here we are, the next chapter. Sorry for the delay.

This chapter answers a few things of the ship, and continues to story. Well, have fun reading it


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It was sort of like a Mexican standoff, Gem had the stunner at the ready as the other said held, what I assume were weapons. Seems like both of our groups were not expecting another on this ship. I glanced at Gem as Christie walked forward and spoke, “Put down your weapons.” Gem glanced at me as I nod, watching as the wolf and the two lizards lower their weapons.

The corridor still seemed to have a tense air as our two groups looked at the other. “So, what are you doing here?” the wolf said, turning to look at Christie. I looked at the wolf and raised an eyebrow. She seemed to be dressed in Viking armour, pieces of leather and chainmail covered her body, as it showed her figure. She had a slight muscle build to her, covered in white fur. Reddish brown hair came from underneath her helmet. She carried a large war hammer in hand as she glared at us as she lowered down slightly.

Two lizards stood next to the wolf as I looked at them. They looked like lizards from earth, mainly the Basilisk Lizard, the one that can run on water. They seemed to be around between four and five feet, one having a smaller crest then the other. One had brownish green scales while the other had what I guess would be close to swamp green.

The last member of the group was covered in head to toe in a robe. Some kind of armour or something worn on the head, hands, feet and most of the tail save for the end. The end was larger than most I have ever seen as it swayed left to right a bit, what looked like a mouth on it. Then it came back to me, this one was a Mautail that much I know.

I stepped forward as the wolfess brought her hammer up a bit. “Look, we come in peace. I’m Jack Holdams, Captain of the ship, Freya. This is my second in command, Gem Joynea” I explained to the wolfess, hoping that will convince her. I breathed out a sigh of relief as she lowered the hammer and nodded towards the two lizards. Her face still serious and her body language told me she was still alert, but she nodded towards us.

“I’m Sif, Dire Warrior from the Ice Planet Valhalla. I am in charge of this expedition to this ship” she said, pride in her voice as she looked at us. “I’m called Qeenav and this is my mate, Araimol” the male looking lizard said, as the other bowed slightly. “So, what brings you here?” Araimol asked as she looked towards me and Gem. We looked at each other and then back to them. “Well, to be honest, we got curious of this ship” Gem said gesturing around them. Christie nodded as she looked back at them, “What about you?”

“Araimol, Qeenav and I were hired by the Pirate Armada to escort and guard Mau here” Sif said simply as she gestured towards the Mautail. “And why is she here?” Christie asked looking towards Mau who seemed to be looking towards us. “I am here, to study this ship. You should know Christie, I like to study mysterious things, this ship happens to be one of them” Mau seemed to say. The voice was more in my mind; I couldn’t hear it with my ears at all. I saw Gem from the corner of my eye as she looked around, confused.

“I should explain, Mautails communicate via telepathy. Why, I can’t say” Christie explained as Mau nodded. “That is a secret we guard closely. Only do we reveal why to those that we trust” the Mautail explained, the voice sounded female, so I am guessing that’s her gender. “Understandable. I would say we all do have our secrets we keep” Gem said as I nodded in agreement.
“We came here for the same thing. We did scans of the ship after we picked up the message it seems to be broadcasting. Yet, we couldn’t pick up any life forms, and the defences seem to be powered down” I explained as Sif nodded a bit. “Same reason for us, the Pirate Queen said no one she knows in the Armada can decipher what the message is” Mau said as Sif gave a slight nod. “The fact that it moves by itself, reacts like it’s under intelligent control with no crew on board, is the main mystery we are here to solve” Sif said as Mau finished talking.

“Why don’t we work together?” Christie suggested as she looked between me and Sif. I nod slowly as I looked at Gem, “Can we have a minute?” I asked looking at them. A swift nod from Sif gave us the answer we need as we ducked back into the room. We made sure that the door closed and opened, before we closed it and looked at each other.

“So, what do you think, Gem?” I asked, in a whisper. The coyote took a glance at the wall, before looking back. “I think we could work together. Christie seems to know and trust them. I say so” Gem said, with a nod. “Agreed. I mean, they do seem to work for the Armada. We will just run it by Rita later” I said returning the nod. We took one last glance at each other before Gem spoke up again. “I say we try to not annoy Sif. I am sure she wouldn’t attack us, but she looks like someone who can get annoyed very easy” she advised. I nodded in agreement, “I think you are right there. Let’s stay on her good side. Could be a good ally” I suggested as Gem nodded her agreement.

We opened the door again and took a step back into the hallway. “Alright, we have reached an agreement. Seeing as we are both curious about this ship, I say we work together. With both groups working, we should solve the mystery of this ship” I said. “I say we first say what we know about it” Gem said, as I finished speaking. “Well, not much I don’t think, to tell” Mau said, as the two lizards nod slightly. “Well, how did you manage to find out about this ship?” my girlfriend asked as I smiled slightly. ‘Always right to the point, when it comes to somethings’ I thought as I turned my gaze from Gem back to the group in front of us.

“We found out, at the most, the size of this ship. We measured it’s at least two kilometres long and one .five kilometres wide. It’s a big ship” Mau said, her hooded head looking at the walls. “Don’t know if we can explore it all in the amount of time we got” she continued, turning her attention, I think so at least, back to us. “Yeah, we couldn’t get an exact measurement on it” Qeenav added in. “Yeah, a strange ship” Christie nodded.

Gem however stopped listening in as she approached one of the walls and examine some of the writing. “I don’t know about you guys, but something doesn’t add up with the writing on the walls” she said, glancing back over at the group. Mau and Christie were the first to turn their attention to the wall and walk over. Leaning over the two of them examined the writing, before nodding slowly. “Yeah, I am seeing different bits here and there. Can’t read what it says” Christie said. “Agreed, the colour of whatever was used differs as well, between the different styles” Mau added as she leaned down and traced one of the alien letters, as if that action could unlock the secrets.

“I say we get back to our ships, and do sweeps of the ship again. This close, we may get more clues” Araimol suggested. “Hmm, something like that could work” Christie said with a nod, her hand cupping her chin, in a thinking pose. “Well, let’s do that. We both got each other’s channel frequency?” Gem asked. “Give us a few minutes and we will” Christie said as she stepped over to Sif. A few minutes went by as the two of them nodded and Christie came back to us. “Alright, let’s go back and start to see what is up with this ship” she said.


Christie walked from console to console, as Gem sat and looked at a screen. “Getting the information?” she asked Mau, over the comm unit. “Yes, are you getting ours?” Mau asked, making me wonder how we could still hear her. “Yep, getting your sensor data” Christie said, not looking up from the console. “Alright, starting to scan now” Araimol said.

The vixen taur leaned in studying the data as it came in. “Hmmm, you know something isn’t right. Freya, can we get a 3D hologram of these readings and match it to the ship?” Christie asked, as she looked over at the white furred serpent. “Of course, give me a few minutes” she said, before going silent as she focused. Over the table, a hologram appeared of the mysterious ship as Christie turned her attention to it.

She studied it with a careful eye, looking at the data and at the ship itself. “Hmmm, not sure. But I think there was stuff added to the ship’s original design” she said, thinking out loud, as she walked around the hologram. Gem got up, as she walked over, looking at the hologram curious as I looked from my position at the middle of the bridge. “Look here, while everything here is alien, this part here doesn’t match up with the original design. At least I hope it’s the original design” Christie said, pointing to a highlighted section. “Freya, with the new data, can you highlight what you can of the ship, that doesn’t match the middle bit. Try adding some colour and send the info to our friends” Gem suggested.

Freya nodded again, as she focused. The hologram of the ship, started to light up as different sections got different colours. “Whoa. Seems like many aliens have done some modifications to this ship” Mau muttered over the comm. “Yeah, I can’t really tell how many, some overlap each other. How the heck do they connect, or even work together?” Qeenav mused, as his voice came over the comm. “Beats me, some of this stuff… at least going by the scans shouldn’t be working together. Yet, they are all there connected to the ships reactor, perfectly. Well besides the damages” Christie pointed out.

I got up as I walked over to the hologram. “Perhaps, others that found this ship before us, did their best to make it work” Gem suggested, as she glanced at Christie. “Could be possible, after all we found a Birdplane” I pointed out, as Christie nodded. “Yeah. But question is, how many species found this and made modifications or added onto the ship” Sam spoke, over the comm. “Sam, you getting this?” I asked, blinking in confusion. “Oh yeah, had Alruna patch into the bridge so I can see what’s happening. I have seen what has been happening so far” the fennec said simply. “Yeah, had help with Freya. We don’t want to feel left out” Alruna said as I just nodded. “Understandable. Now, makes me wonder how many might of found this ship” Christie said.

“We counted at least a dozen, could be more” a voice said over the comm. Christie, Gem and I looked up in surprise as we moved to an alert stage. “Who is this?!” Sif almost shouted over the comm. “How did you get in on this line. It should be either impossible or really hard?” Freya asked, fur standing up as she looked like she was about to strike at the air. It was actually the first time I seen the serpent body of Freya getting angry.

There was a pause, static filling the comm as we waited for an answer. “Bio technology is very hard to hack, but once there is a channel open to another ship, we were able to get in” the voice explained. “So you used our ship’s systems?” Sif said. “Correct, but this is difficult over the comm. I suggest we meet up in a room near the hangers” the voice said. “Alright, we will meet as you say” Sif said after a pause. “We will send directions to a room that would suit well for this meeting” the voice said, before cutting off. “We got the information. Man that was quick” Qeenav said over the comm breaking the silence. “Well, we may as well get ready and go there, huh?” I said, still just still in surprise. “Yeah” was the collective response.


It took us thirty minutes to reach the room and an extra ten minutes for the others to arrive. “Wonder who it was that hacked into our communications” Gem said, as she leaned back against one of the walls. “Well, they should be here soon. I mean if not, then this is a trick and we all fell for it” I said, looking at her. “Who knows, we couldn’t detect a ship within range of our scanners” Christie added, looking towards me. I nodded, as silence once again fell in the room.

The silence broke as soon as it fell, as a low humming was heard. Three pillars of swirling energy appeared near the back of the room, as we turned towards the energy. We backed up a bit, as three figures started to appear at the mini vortexes of energy, before the vortexes vanished. Three armoured figures stood in the room, as they looked towards us. Vulpine shaped helmets all looking in our direction. I heard Christie mutter a bit, “Kinos, always love to show off.” “We are proud of our technology” one Kino said simply, looking towards the vixen taur.

The centre Kino took a step forward, reaching up to remove the helmet. Grey fur covered her head, with a streak of brown across the eyes. Black hair pulled up into a pony tail, as the Kino looked at us. “Who is the leader of your groups?” she asked, her voice having a military trained tone to it. “I am the leader of my group” Sif said, stepping forward, sizing up, the Kino. The armoured Kino glanced at her and nodded. “A Dire Warrior, I know your people are proud of their combat ability. But I am not here to fight, sides we would knock you to the ground, before you could swing that hammer of yours” the Kino said, before turning to look around. Sif stood straighter, taking that as an insult, lifting her hammer slightly. “Whoa, Sif calm down. We are here to discuss the ship” Qeenav shouted moving closer, as he raised his arms. The Dire Wolf, growled, but lowered the weapon and took a step back. “Fine” she growled.

“Now, who is the leader of your group?” the Kino asked, turning to face us. “Well, I am for this mission” Christie said, as she stepped forward. “Then, who is the captain of your ship?” she asked. “Ah, that would be me” I said stepping forward and raising my hand. “Hmmm, why aren’t you leading?” the Kino asked. “Simple, he lets those with more experience in certain fields take command of the groups. Since I am a technician, I know more about things like this” Christie explained. The Kino looked at me, before nodding, “Alright. I’m Kylra, leader of this expedition.”

“So, you lot decided to try and learn more about the ship?” Christie asked. Kylra nodded as she brought up an armoured hand. A flash of light and a hologram of the ship appeared. “We have been studying this ship since we first detected a year or two ago. We have sent many research ships to try and scan it. Only thing we managed to gather is that it seems to be comprised of several different types of unknown alien tech. And broadcasting an unknown message, which none of our scientists have been able to translate” she explained. “So, in short you’re as clueless as we are. That’s a surprise coming from the Kino” Sif said, arms crossed over her chest. “It is true, we been trying our best to at least figure out what the message is first” Kylra said.

“It’s ‘Anyone want to be my friend?’” a voice, from all-around said. The Kino snapped to attention, weapons drawn. Gem pulled out her guns and glanced around as Sif lifted her war hammer. “Whose there?! Show yourself!” Sif shouted, glancing around. A light shimmered, as a black bird like figure appeared, with a glow around it. It seemed to be genderless, but it bowed slightly. “I apologise, for startling you” it said. “Start talking or I start swinging, who are you?” Sif growled. “I am the Void Phoenix, I am this ship” the Void Phoenix said, simply.

“How are you this ship?” Gem asked, stepping forward towards the bird. The Void Phoenix turned to face her. “I am a representation of myself better to interact with my new friends” it explained as Gem nodded a bit. “Ah, sort of like Freya then” she said, stepping back. “So, you’re a holographic interface. Interesting, the AI for this must be really advance” Kylra said, as the two Kino scanned the interface. “Not an AI. I am sentient, it’s hard to explain. But I fell through countless realms, dimensions and universes. Each jump making me more damaged, but in the first two, I gained semi sentience. It grew as I continued to jump and gained more. As said, it’s hard to explain” the Void Phoenix said. “Fascinating. Perhaps, you would allow, a Kino research group on” Kylra said. “I would welcome the company and friendship. And will answer the best I can” the Void Phoenix said. With that, a plan was made, between us and the other groups and the Void Phoenix.

Hours later, Freya pulled out of the hanger as Kino ships arrived, the Pirate Envoy ship contacted us. “We will be heading to the newest planet. I wouldn’t mind if you tagged along, you and Gem are interesting and I would learn more about you and your planet” Mau explained. “Sure, we can explain a bit more” I said with a nod. “Ok, sending coordinates of the planet, see you there” the Mautail said, as the data was changed over. “Alright” I said as Freya plotted in the course and jumped.


As the Void Phoenix and the Kino ships drifted slowly in space, not knowing as a new ship phased in. The new unknown ship, kept its distance, started to scan. The bat like species that crewed it studied the ship, as the captain looked on. “We will find out, how you keep slipping by the Nexus” Councillor Agerk said under his breath. “Don’t worry, sir, we will find out. Our agent gave us as much info as she can” Captain Reyxia said, turning to face him. “Excellent. Sam is pretty good at what she does” the Councillor said. He smiled, as Reyxia nodded as she turned to look at the view screen of the ship. “The Nexians will find out” she said softly.