Mage Major Igac stood alongside Science Officer Bakshep aboard fighter 3121 on approach trajectory towards the UFO. All hooves on deck stiff and ready to spring into action for evasive maneuvers.

No one had gotten this close to it before. It just seemed to get ever larger. Nearly filling their entire vision.

"Its..It's... uh...," Igac began, tilting his hat back.

"Magnificent," Bakshep grinned in nervous excitement.

The mage gave him an odd look. "I was going for hideous. Look at that texture. Its.. living. Like its inside out."

"It's merely a form we've never encountered," the scientist insisted as he played with his harness.

Igac frowned as he saw it. "I still can't believe you managed to get permission for this. There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and you crossed that a long time ago."

Bakshep merely kept smiling. Eyes not leaving the Thing.

"Comms are down, sir," a bard working the radio said as he fiddled with his machine.

"It must be jamming us," Igac scowled. "I suggest we turn back."

"No!" Shouted Bakshep with a look of horror on his face. "We're too close. We can't back off now. It didn't harm the snail because it wanted to communicate."

"Well, it can talk from there," Igac scowled, but relented. This was important. Ordering the fighter to come to a full stop. "Get that radio working."

"Yes, sir."

Bakshep frowned but didn't say anything as he moved towards the hatch. "Fine. Just be sure you don't do anything stupid. No matter what happens."

Igac scowled deeply. Something felt off, but he had his orders. Bakshep had looked so excited when he gave them to him and the crew. That excitement only seemed to grow.

He stood firm and watched the Thing.

Bakshep climbed outside and used the wing as a ladder to climb atop the envelope. The winds were strong, but he had a good harness.

He planted his hooves and stood up straight, his smile uncontainable as he stared at the Thing.

Ages seemed to pass as he stood there. The relentless wind buffeting him and the small airship.

Then there was movement.

Slowly, almost carefully, the surface of the Thing in the Sky bulged and writhed, then sprout limbs, thick as the grand nuua trees, and more. Dozens of them, curling and stretching outwards.

"Bakshep...!" Igac shouted to his friend. "Get back inside."

"No," he called back without looking away. "Its communicating. Keep steady."

Igac bared his teeth and did just that. But if he saw a single tendril move in a way he didn't like, moreso than they were now. He'd order the fighter to descend rapidly.

The great limbs drew ever closer. Zeroing in on the lone Samur in the open.

It was then that the Mur at the radio made a startling discovery.

A few wires had been pulled loose from inside the machine. A feat easy enough for a telekinetic species like them. Then he put them back in their proper place and heard a startling message.

"Sir," he all but screamed. "We have no permission for this experiment."

The Mage Major's eyes went wide as he realized what had happened.

"Bakshep you fool," he shouted as he reachesd out with his great forces, "Get your lying tail back in here."

As if sensing his aggressive movements, the multitude of tendrils shot forward and caught the scientist before he could be yanked back inside.

Then another few wrapped about the fighter holding it in place.

They were trapped...

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What's going to happen next? Should have the next part up tomorrow.

Hope you are enjoying the story!