Rasnessk rubbed the bridge of his snout as he gave a low sigh “So, what on Kassia happened?” He sang a question as he turned to glare at the hollowed form of those on the ground with a gaze which would make any freeze on the spot as he saw Sylksskra stammered on a bit.
“Well, tell this one what you know first so this one can narrow what you want to know would be a start” She blurted out a song as he furrowed his glare and gave her an incredulous look “This one is the senior here, tell this one what happened, all of it!” He ordered as she straightened up immediately.
“Right, well we came in early in the morning after the report with just me and Lorrisskr part of the team and we were planning on well having a chat as always, clear up things and talk about biology and history as Fallkschrimm stayed on craft to do some examining on some aspects” She started.
Rasnessk shuffled his ears a bit causing her to freeze once more ‘That seems standard, nothing bad as of late but still…’ He watched her as she darted her eyes around some “Carry on, this one was just doing some ear shuffling” He assured her as she weirdly did a sort bow before halting halfway.
“Yes sir, well when we arrive the humans told us that their media seemed to have picked up on information based around us and well it does what our media would do if this one was to be honest and it was well, there were some good art, there were some weird art, their were some honestly horrifying art, there were also some quite accurate art and then there was the pornography” She sang her song.
Rasnessk gave a splaying and then rolled his ears “That is what medias do, it is not surprising so carry on with the song” He gestured to her as she furled her tail “Well, after that Lorrisskr went to have a game with the human Matt and this one was not there to watch this time” She sang sounding somewhat sad.
“Yes, that is a good bit of intermingling between cultures” He agreed as Lorrisskr cleared her throat “It was a fun match, he even won twice and he arguably got a worse introduction than this one did to their game, we agreed to alternate between meeting, it is nice to find a fellow practitioner of the art even if our species are different, the Glow, this one thought she mayhaps needed doing nothing” She admitted.
“Weren’t you sick tired just yesterday and couldn’t wait to get to bed because you were least used to sleeping in the dark time?” Fallkschrimm asked as he rolled his ears “Yeah, that was before it was fun and this one found a purpose on the mission rather than just guarding you 2” She replied with brightened feathers and emotions the same.
Rasnessk cleared his throat as they both silenced “Sylkssra, what else is there?” He asked as she ruffled her crest feathers with her tail “Well, after that this one went to have a private duet with Phrillisk who seem to be the alien in charge no, this one meant human in charge and we sang about biology and well other stuff as well like what the hatchlings from both sides look like.
The Glow do you need to see hoe adorable their hatchlings look, it’s like them but so much smaller, so much more precious, completely naked in fluff with only the soft pink skin and… you need to see it” She fretted in song as Rasnessk sighed and put a clawed hand on the bridge of his snout.
“You can show us later, continue the report in a semi-serious fashion please” He reminded her “Sorry again, this one got a bit distracted but we just talked about some stuff about our kind’s founding straight from the scripture and Phrillisk just seem to froze for a bit, this one did not know if it was some sort of weird alien ailment, disease or something so well after it went away we decided to call off the meeting”
Rasnessk gave her a pointed look as he took a deep breath “And that is all that you have done, correct?” He asked to reaffirm her to which she did or tried to do the weird bowing thing again before giving a chirp of affirmation ‘Truly? That means that it wasn’t her than’ He composed as he let out a sharp hiss.
“May this one be enlightened to why one such as yourselves suspected us of doing whatever it is that caused you to be in a sour mood?” Fallkschrimm asked from the back with an inquisitive look “That is a good question in particular, there has been a leak, a big leak of the survey data which we have taken for the past 30 system” He answered to which they froze in place.
He watched as they looked at each other and stammer on for a bit “What? But how?” Lorrisskr was the first to ask “This one does not know, mayhaps you all can enlighten us all on how it happened” He sang with a tone full of venom as he continues to glare down upon them all.
“Well, that isn’t right, this one can assure you that none of us has done anything that causes any sort of leak whatsoever!” Sylksskra objected, her antenna glowing red showing that she was furious and even more showed that she was earnest and the other 2 expressed the same thing as well.
Rasnessk let out a loud hiss at that all “This one suspected it so as well but, we checked all the instruments on board with there being no signs of any tampering whatsoever and this one can thank the Glow that none of you nor the crew leaked the data” He let out a breath of relief before straightening.
‘But then, how on Kassia did the leak happened in the first place?’ He composed as he stared at the hollowed screen "So, how did you figure out that there was a data leak in the first place?” One of them asked though he wasn’t sure whom due to some interference in the instrument.
“The humans told us” He sang as he splayed his ears and antenna “They enlightened us that there was a leak of various information based on our survey information form our exploratory expedition on their planet and they’ve been having problem because of it”
Sylksskra raised her tail at that moment “What if it’s because of a hack?” She mused as everyone perked their ears up “It could be that one of the humans managed to hack through our systems despite the technological differences and obtained some classified information thanks to it”
It was as if a dam exploded inside of Rasnessk’s head as he realized the possibility “This one did not come to realize that possibility” He mouthed a song of admission as he turned to the nearest Helm Rider “1st class Helm Rider Hallksinn! Get a Technomancer and go check if there’s been a breach in our system now!” He ordered and the Helm Rider in question bolted off as soon as he heard the order.
He then turned to the members of the ground team “This one apologized for the accusations, with the leaked survey data on the world below, things have been exhausting but that is no excuse, this one is at fault for not checking if it was a potential security failure” He admitted as he let out a low sigh.
“Well, you should try to keep it in mind for next time, this is quite minor but it would be bad to make a mistake which is particularly costly” Sylksskra reminded him as her ears drooped a bit in the singing “This one will, stay safe and try not to start anything that might warrant an incident and continue doing what you’re doing” Rasnessk sang his song as the feed soon disappeared and the helm was quiet.
He let out a low hiss as he sat back down on his seat and stretched himself a bit ‘Alright, the leaking of the survey data is particularly bad but this one supposes that we can live with it, a full leak of the network and the various charts would be worse’ He decided as he went to check on some instruments.
“Excuse me Senior Helm Rider Rasnessk?” His ears perked as he turned around “Yes, do enlighten this one to the matter” He prompted as the helm rider in question Hallksinn took a deep breath “This one has took a look into it all and there was a breach of our security” He started as Rasnessk let out another low hiss ‘Of course, well we’ll have to figure out how on Kassia did our security get breached’ He figures.
“But, there’s another problem worth mentioning here” Rasnessk perked up further at the sound of that “The 3rd engine is having the same problem again and we were sure that we fixed all that we could from the outside last time but… it’s overheating a lot” He explained in kind.
He sighed as he rubbed at the bridge of his snout “You have done admirably so far in following orders and this one felt right to promote you once this is all done but for now, go get the Technomancers to get a thorough look at it again” Rasnessk ordered as he watch him leave with brightened crown feathers.
He took another look outside towards the ground below ‘It is such a beautiful world as well, and one that procures intelligent life however primitive... the question is are they the first or the second like we are…’ He composed the thought as he stared out through the sensors.
The night passed onto day as Matt glanced out into the roaming blizzard outside ‘When will the lord see fit to end this storm? Is he perhaps testing me and the others?’ Wondered Matt as he let out a breath as he stared out into the storm as it raged out even in the early morning day.
‘Well, perhaps a test is a bit much’ He thought as he remembered the games with a smile forming on his lips ‘That one called Lori-L-Lorelai or something similar, she plays well but I’m still better’ He smirked as he leaned back and gave a quick yawn.
He blinked as he saw Ellie staring at him “What is it?” He asked as there was always going to be something when Ellie was giving him that look "Matt, I want you to agree to everything that I am going to say here okay?” she demanded as he just stared at her with confusion furrowed on his face.
“Okay? But that depends on what you say” He somewhat agreed in a huff ‘One of these again? Well, I’m not falling for it this time’ He decided as he just glared at her as he watched her take a deep breath and then another and then another after that.
“Okay, so the Ferrenti are the aliens we’re meeting right?” She started as he just nodded “And they came in on one of their starships which is outside of our station” He nodded once more “And it has been 3 days since with this being the 4th day” Matt nodded again as he just listened and stare.
“And in those 3 days they’ve always been coming to us, right?” ‘I do not like the sound of this’ He thought as he nodded hesitantly “So we should visit them this time” He nearly nodded as he forced his head to snap and stay incredibly still and rigid.
He sighed as he looked at her “No, we have no idea what would happen, what is on it and though I have to admit that the aliens seem… friendly, that could all change so no I do not agree with your foolhardy plan” He put his foot down before she even got the chance to rebuke or reply.
“Come on, aren’t you curious about the alien ship? Phil already went in and he said it looks surprisingly bland but I that’s probably just him making a joke, let’s go see it together” She tried to rally him “It would be fun and you do like engineering stuff, don’t you?”
Matt shook his head as he glared at her “Ellie, yes I do like what you call ‘engineering stuff’ but it is not worth risking my or your life in order to satisfy idle curiosities” He spoke with a terse tone “And no, it will not be fun to disintegrate once you touch some alien device!”
He said his piece and leaned back in “Besides, it’s not like Phil would agree to something so idiotic, you should know better Ellie” Matt said as he pulled out his phone “Well alright then Matt, you can stay as we go pay our new neighbors a visit” Matt choked on his own spit as he heard Phil’s voice.
He looked behind to see him smirking at him with that look on his face “Before you go berating her again, it was in fact my idea, when you have new neighbors, you would greet them and give them some gifts if nothing else” Phil said before he could react “it’s the correct thing to do after all”
Matt just stared at him wordlessly before sighing “Really? I thought you were the sane one of us all, not overly excited or overly cautious” He prompted him as he searched those blueish eyes of his ‘Nothing, I got nothing on him except that he’s serious’ He realized with a mental groan.
Phil shrugged at the words “Sure, if you want to call me that but still, it’s a nice little change of pace and we as humans are naturally curious and well, I’m sure they are as well” He said as he turned towards an open window to the raging blizzard outside “Visiting them would make a good exchange”
Matt sighed as he sat up “Fine, you win it’s 2 on 1 anyways, I’ll go get the board and we can go early today” Matt threw his hands up in surrender as he shook his head as he ignored the calls from behind of his friends no doubt celebrating their victory over him.
‘Well, I guess I do want to go after all, we still have some unfinished business’ He thought as he lifted the board onto his arms and into a pack as he checked the piece concealed under layers of clothing “Come one already! If we don’t hurry, they’ll probably come to us” Ellie shouted from her side “Well I’m hoping for it here but I’m done anyways” He shouted back as he put on his winter parka ‘Still, it’s been an interesting month here, I wonder what will happen in the coming days…’ Matt simply thought as he followed Phil and Ellie out into the storm.
