Beyond Light

Rendezvous Point.

And so, John left the Beyond Light once again, followed by Master Sargeant Williams, Medchief Winslow, Sargeant Major Novikov, Doctor Weiber, Lab Assitant Nanoka, and both Supervisors Ivanovich and Diaz —the latter for much of his dislike. 14 soldiers and 2 Paladin mechs tagged along too, just in case violence took place and they required backup.

“Alright, Let’s wait. Our friends shouldn’t be late,” he said, everyone surrounding him near the Beyond Light, looking at the blue sky of orangish-brown clouds, expecting something to break through them.

“I say this is all a mistake,” complained Diaz. “They are going to take advantage of our status and will attack, just like they did with the Eternity of Return. They must be allied with the giant vessel.”

John was to respond, but Derek did so before he could. “I feel like if that was the case, we would already be inside the pods of some alien installations or ships being turned into the carcasses we fought on Vita Nova. This seems different.”

“Big guy’s right,” said Doctor Winslow. “They didn’t play any games with the Eternity of Return. Why would they trick us?”

Doctor Weiber raised one eyebrow and sarcastically spoke. “Despite the fact that you were let inside the alien structures on Vita Nova, Goliath presented himself to you, and then let you escape without too much resistance?”

“Oh, c’mon, old grump. What would they get playing out like that right now? The robots on this station ain’t even attacking us.”

“Kid, always be skeptical, no matter the situation,” Doctor Weiber limited himself to respond.

“But it’s a perfect opportunity!” said Yui, unable of hiding her enthusiasm. “We are going to meet with real aliens! Is not it amazing? I wonder what they look like. Maybe they’ll let us inspect their morphology in detail.”

“Eh... I don't think I'd like to see one of them naked,” said Yuri Novikov. “What if they are poisonous or something?”

“Certainly they know better of us than we do of them,” responded John. “Hey, look. In the sky.”

Extended, artificial shadows began to blend among the clouds above on the horizon, just like any vessel would break through a planet of such a thick atmosphere like Hawking-616f —Or Sema, as those aliens called it. Everyone who lived on a gas giant or had been in one knew the recognizable silhouettes of ships roaming their vast skies.

“Commander?” Com. Officer Emmerson’s voice spoke. “Our guests are here, soliciting an LZ. Do you authorize them for landing in our perimeter?”

“Permission granted,” said John. “Keep the engines on, and don’t deactivate our weapons just in case. Be ready for a quick pickup if I request it.”

“Aye aye, Commander. Sending authorization orders.”

And so, the shadow silhouettes in the sky abandoned their foggy coverture by breaking clouds apart, descending graciously, and revealing their eccentric shapes; the first thing that came into John’s mind was horseshoes crabs; that was the most accurate description he could think about if someone told him to describe those alien ships.

With an approximate size of 700 meters —a little bit smaller than the Beyond Light— Their arachnid bottoms had a set of six propulsors, all shining in a color that connected the dots in his mind: soft lilac, exactly like the fighters that attacked the Eternity of Return.

Their smooth hulls were revealed as they descended, showing a dark green color making most of the sections, with crimson strips marking every edge.

The trio made a triangular formation one kilometer ahead, in the same spiderweb section the Beyond Light was in, their hulls tracking turbine sounds extensive yet silent, which felt more as vibrations rather than hearable sounds.

“Those colors,” noticed Derek, “Their propulsors, their hulls…”

“Eureka,” said Doctor Weiber. “Although these ones look different from the ones that attacked the Eternity of Return.”

“Maybe the others were a fighting class. C’mon. Let’s go ahead,” said John.

“Soldiers,” raised his voice, Sargeant Major Williams. “On formation.”

They began their stroll, the soldiers behind with their weapons deployed, and a drone team of four fighting units covering their backs. Curiosity with anxiousness could be felt on the gassy air outside their sealed suits. They were going to establish the first presenced contact with an alien species.

Back in the Solar System, many protocols and laws were proposed for when such an event occurred, but none of them saw legal approval as no one took them seriously enough. Better for them, John thought. At least supervisor Diaz would not have any more reasons to complain. He was about to lose his nerve.

He and his team reached an intersection on the black, metallic hill with a thin bump extending to both sides. “Alright, Let’s wait here.”

“A neutral meeting zone,” commented Doctor Weiber. “Would have liked to see their ships in more detail.”

“Maybe we can convince them later to give us a tour in them,” said Yui.

Derek hushed. “They are coming. Look.”

The horseshoe crab vessel in the middle, hovering by some anti-gravity suspension mechanism, shot tenous green light to the floor, and various figures began to descend from them, too distant and dim from them to discern any shapes. The other two vessels did the same, and at least 16 alien figures touched the black floor, followed by drones of indiscernible shape. They began to stroll down in a straight formation.

“Commander?” spoke Xi through the com. channel. “Is everything alright down there?”

“Under control,” responded John. “Keep attentive if something happens.”

“May we connect to your helmet’s cameras, Commander?” Jeffrey joined the channel.

“Do. Connect LIBRA too. He surely can help to spot if anything is out of place.”

“Eh... John,” Mike joined the com. channel. “Don’t you think that… everything’s out of place when you’re meeting with aliens for the first time?”

“Whatever,” John rolled his eyes. “Keep alert,” ge disconnected.

The scale icon appeared on his HUD, loading up to 100% “Connected and curious, Commander. I cannot process emotions in the way your biological bodies do, but I am as excited as you for this event."

“...Sure thing, whatever that means. Keep sharp,” nodded John, not putting his eyes off the objects ahead.

The biped-animalistic figures kept descending, marching like a greek phalanx. Their bulky shapes of cherry-colored armor became discernible. No one in John's team said anything, fixating their eyes over the familiar yet strange beings making their way down.