Countryman stepped up to the shuttlebay doors and nodded to the two guards at the door before entering the bay. The bay doors were already open, a forcefield keeping the air in as the guidance beams brought in the alien shuttle. While communication was brief they had already indicated they were on a diplomatic mission. The shuttle was of fairly interesting design, she was fairly large and her hull perfectly rounded. The front was an angled cone, the top longer than the bottom, the tip rounded. The hull was a lovely blue-green shade in color. The ship had no obvious protrusions either. The scans of the ship were also fairly perplexing as well, the ship was made of an alloy that defied all explanation. It was some sort of complex coherent molecular alloy, around a neutronium lacing. He doubted there was a single weapon in their arsenal that could damage the alloy. Maybe a concentrated barrage of torpedos would breach it, but he had already read the report sent ahead by the Suzume. The Cylovan ship they had encountered was made with a neutronium laced hull and that was hard to scratch this looked significantly tougher. As the ship landed he noticed a symbol painted on the hull, one he recognized. He had seen it back at Hylis, it had been shown to him when they were discussing a group of races referred to as the Elder races.

“Hm, meeting an elder race, this is bound to be interesting,” thought Countryman as a door on the flat angle rear of the shuttle opened up. Then an alien creature stepped out of the shuttle and came around the edge of the shuttle stopping in front of him. It was clearly a female, ten large tentacles extended from beneath a humanoid torso. A belt was snuggly buckled at her waist. The clasp glowing a faint purple, generating a field around her that was only visible to Countryman thanks to his cybernetic eyes. Her torso was covered with light silver and purple scales. A pair of small breasts were visible as well, since the only thing she was wearing was the belt. Her arms ended in a hand with three clawed fingers. Her head was topped by two large frills, that linked to a fin that ran down her back. Her face had two large, silver eyes, no nose and a small mouth, that had a fang peeking out the left side. Overall, she was quite cute, in that monster girl sort of way.

Countryman knew enough about aquatic life forms on Earth to know just how strange a creature she was. Clearly she had mammalian traits, but unlike the sea mammals, he knew of she was clearly not an air breather. He figured he would ask her later about what kind of creature she was.

“Welcome aboard the Enterprise, I’m Countryman Supreme protector of the fleet and captain of the Enterprise. I must say young one, you will be quite popular with the boys if you walk around like that,” said Countryman. The girl had an expression appear on her face that seemed to indicate confusion for a moment or two before it looked like she made a connection.

“I forgot you surface races have these strange concepts. But why are you speaking to me like I’m a child. I’m thirty-seven years old an adult. Oh before I forget, I’m Selia and I’m here on behalf of the Sylnari Remnant,” said the young girl Selia.

“Sorry, but when your as old as I am you tend to speak to everyone as if they are a child,” replied Countryman.

“So you are an elder of your race?” said Selia with a much more respectful tone than earlier.

“I’m the eldest member of my race, at two hundred and sixty-five years old,” said Countryman.

“Your almost as old as the elder lord! Yet you seem so strong, how long do your kind live?” asked Selia a bit surprised.

“We aren’t entirely sure anymore. Anyway what brought you to us, and how did you find us?” asked Countryman.

“One of our automated scouts stumbled upon you, as for why I’m here it is to greet you. Well, I’m also here to warn you about the Cylovan Collective,” replied Selia.

“I have heard the name, not that it means much to me. What I do know is that their ships are sphere-shaped, and that at least one class of ship in their service is armored with a neutronium laced plating, that is damn near impossible to breach. Their shields according to the report while stronger than any we have encountered before, have the same vulnerabilities as every other shield matrix we have seen, so we can deal with them,” said Countryman.

“I take it you encountered them?” asked Selia.

“A single task force did, just yesterday. I read the report, they were unable to destroy the capital ship in the force that attacked them, but they were able to force it to retreat. I would greatly appreciate anything you could tell me about them, especially since they don’t seem to like talking very much. Anything that would help us survive an encounter would be doubly appreciated,” said Countryman.

“I’ll tell you what I can. I would like to learn more about your race as well and what brought you to this part of space,” replied Selia.

A couple hours later Countryman and the council were sitting in their seats in the deck one conference room that had become the council meeting site. In a guest seat Selia was sitting best she could with her body shape and was now wearing something to cover her breasts. Not that it covered much more. Who would have guessed, but aquatic races weren’t all that comfortable with clothing.

“I can’t tell you a great deal about the Cylovans. They don’t have much use for diplomacy and rarely speak with other races. The Collective itself possesses knowledge of hyperwarp travel, which has allowed them to spread through the quadrant like a plague. They occupy thousands of worlds throughout the quadrant and worse no race is safe from their aggression. They are at war with all of their neighbors, but the majority of their military strength is tied up with fighting us. Which means you shouldn’t have to worry about any large fleets, as they typically field smaller fleets against their neighbors. As for why they are so warlike a race, we don’t know. Nor do we know what has motivated this war of theirs.

Some things you will need to know is that their shields are adaptive in nature. If they can learn enough about your weapons they can modulate them to render your weapons ineffective. Personally we just brute force our way through their shields, but in your case you’ll just have to get creative. Their armor as you mentioned is quite tough, but their fighter hangers are weaker and the structural supports near the hangers are more vulnerable to damage,” said Selia.

“That is very interesting, but what exactly is hyperwarp?” asked Countryman.

“A method of FTL technology, that involves creating a tunnel through hyperspace between two points allowing for ships to travel between said two points at phenomenal speeds. The average speed of a ship in hyperwarp is about two million times light speed. Its greatest limitation is that the conduits needed for travel require a great deal of energy to form, which is why only the largest Cylovan ships can actually create new conduits, but once created a conduit can be opened again, by a ship with the requisite drive at any time. Allowing near-instantaneous transit between any two points. These conduits are not permanent features though and will collapse if not used after a few centuries. Anyone with a decent enough understanding of hyperspace theory and multi-spatial folding can create one of these drives. Also of importance is that these conduits can be deliberately collapsed,” replied Selia.

“A subspace disruption wave would collapse one, correct?” said Countryman.

“... That’s correct, but I just told you about them. How did you guess?” said Selia a bit confused as she knew they didn’t have hyperwarp technology. Countryman reached forward and pressed a button, and immediately a hologram containing hyperspace scan data was projected above the table.

“We happen to know a thing or two about hyperspace. We may not use it for travel, but we have applied our knowledge of hyperspace to a number of sciences. For example, there is a device on board that generates low-level subspace disruptions. We designed it for the express purpose of jamming hyperdrives, and disrupting subspace communications,” said Countryman.

“Well a jammer like that won’t collapse a conduit, but the principles are similar. Anyway I am curious as to what brought you to this part of the galaxy,” said Selia.

“I have no problem sharing that. Does anyone else have a problem?” answered Countryman. The council each began to express their own opinions, some of the eight elders were in favor, but others had their own concerns. Selia noted repeated mentions of some kind of test that some of them wanted her to take, but they never elaborated on it. Finally, she asked about it while they were still discussing it.

“The test is hard to describe verbally, it is easier to understand if experienced,” said Samantha Greyman.

“It isn’t very ethical either which is why, I am against it,” added Richard Greyman.

“That doesn’t really tell me anything,” said Selia.

“To us, there is only one possession a person has that belongs solely to them, their mind. The test involves violating the sanctity of the mind and tests a person's spirit and character. In a way, the test is far more intimate than anything else one can experience. The process of the test will reveal to a person their true nature,” said Drakes who was the member of the council to have spent the most time exploring and studying their new powers.

“Why are some of you proposing such a thing?” asked Selia. There was a brief murmur among the council before they looked to Countryman who stood from his seat and started walking towards Selia.

“To answer your questions, you are looking at the last of a civilization. Over seventy years ago, our system was invaded by an aggressive race known as the Cathamari. We fought them for years, but eventually, our homeworld fell and was left contaminated. Ultimately we managed to locate their homeworld and return the favor. Thanks to the Cathamari and other civilizations destroyed by them we were not very welcome in our home region. Making it impossible to find a new homeland there. Still, we continued to try, and while en route to a sector that one of our few friends told us about we were swallowed by a hyper-ion storm which dragged us across the galaxy. That is how we came to be in this region of the galaxy, and the test being proposed is because they are unsure of whether or not we can trust another race with that information,” said Countryman coming to a stop near Selia.

“In a way that makes you like us, our civilization has also fallen from a previous height. In our case though, it wasn’t war that brought us down, but a sickness. One that proved difficult to cure, but we did. Our race though breeds slowly, so even though that sickness spread through our worlds centuries ago we have yet to fully recover. This is not something we normally share, but I figured since you shared we should as well,” said Selia.

“I guess that does make us more alike than you might guess at first glance. Anyway, I can tell you are still not entirely sure about the test they mentioned. So I will show you,” said Countryman just as he grabbed her hand. Almost immediately the world warped and she found herself surrounded by images of darkness and war. Looking around she noticed she wasn’t alone, but the space was shared by someone else. Countryman was here as well, but he looked different. His aged figure looked younger, and his eyes were the most striking difference one was pure white, the other pure black. In addition, he looked almost androgynous now, with a pair of scale-covered wings spreading from his back. Strangely he also looks smaller than he was before, and his clothing had changed. It looked like a mix between a military uniform and a lab coat. Colored in a mix of blue, white and black.

“Where are we, and did we just teleport? How did you hide the teleporter?” asked Selia.

“We are still in the conference room, well our bodies are anyway. Our minds though are elsewhere. We are now in the depths of my own mind, where my dark side resides. The images are a reflection of my own sins and my darker beliefs. This part of me is one that most others would fear in themselves, often they would bury it, but I accepted my dark side long ago. Which is why it is so close to the surface of my mind,” said Countryman.

“If this is your dark side, where is your light side? Also, why do you look so strange. And if your dark side is here what is in the deeper depths of your mind?” asked Selia spouting off the first questions to enter her mind.

“I was going to get to that, first the mindscape we are in doesn’t follow the physical laws of the real world. For example, if you walk into the flaming land with particle blasts falling like rain over there, you won’t actually be harmed. That doesn’t mean there aren’t dangers in the mindscape, however. The true depths of my mind would be dangerous to enter on your own, as you will have to contend with my mental defenses. As for what is in the deeper depths of my mind, I don’t actually know. I have an idea of course, but before you ask the reason I don’t know is because that is where I lock the memories I would rather forget,” said Countryman.

“In other words, not a good place to visit, and I forgot to ask, why are we here and not elsewhere in your mind,” said Selia.

“I chose to show you my dark side first, since most refuse to acknowledge they even have one, but for me, it is a source of strength. The test though is designed to reveal things like this. Anyway, you also asked about my form, the answer is that a person's mental avatar is a reflection of their soul. I will leave figuring the imagery out to you. Nothing here is a literal representation of reality, and some elements like my wings are new. Anyway, my light side is this way,” said Countryman leading the way through strange scenes shrouded in darkness and yet revealed by it just the same. After a while of walking through his mental landscape, they moved on to hers. Which she found to be completely different, and unlike with Countryman’s landscape even if the imagery around her baffled her, she knew what it meant. She finally understood as she was looking through her own, why this test was described as intimate. While it didn’t reveal her memories and knowledge every aspect about herself was being revealed to another.

“I think I understand what they meant, now. Anyway how long have we been here, it feels like we have been wandering our mindscapes for days, now?” asked Selia.

“Time passes differently here than in the real world. In the mindscape, we have been here nearly a month, but in the real world it has been less than a minute,” said Countryman. She nearly asked why time was passing so differently here when she remembered that it is said that time seems to slow down when someone is in a life and death situation. Which lead her to ask if this was a similar phenomenon. Countryman told her that it was similar, but the cause was different.

“I take it you have never really been exposed to mind powers like telepathy, and telekinesis?” asked Countryman after explaining time to her in the mindscape.

“Well, mind powers are rare, in my race, it is a great deal more common than it is in younger races for a psionic to be born and it is even rarer for them to awaken the power. About five percent of our population has the potential, but less than one percent awaken those powers,” said Selia.

“Well, in your case you actually have that potential, and it has begun to awaken,” said Countryman.

“Your joking, right?” said Selia, she had been tested for potential, but she was too young to experience an awakening.

“No, I’m not. Watch what I do, and then try to do it yourself,” said Countryman. Then light began to gather into his fingertips, casting light on the surrounding mindscape. She still thought it was a joke, but did it anyway, and was surprised when the light just came to her.

“That is a mere trick, easy to do here in the mindscape where anything is possible, but with your power awakening, before I let you leave this landscape there are some things I’ll have to teach you. Your people can probably teach you better methods though,” commented Countryman after her success.

“Teach me what?” asked Selia.

“The basics, like how to block out other people's thoughts, and how to initiate a telepathic link that sort of thing,” said Countryman. Selia wasn’t sure how long they spent in the mindscape, with him teaching her about the powers that he told her had awakened thanks to the direct exposure, but apparently it hadn’t been all that long in real-time. After the meeting, she went back to her shuttle and contacted her home. She now knew that these people could be new friends for her people, and that they both had something to offer the other. Something that was quite rare, since elder races like hers rarely benefited from contact with younger races.