Mantrin Imperial Guard - Pilot Episode - 001 Darkening Sky

Chapter 5: Dusk Hour

"All right, what do we have?" Raeth inquired, slowing down his pace as he reached the command deck.

He hadn't heard any more shouting so he assumed his crew had followed the order to restrain themselves, particularly Jirro. Shifting from the center seat back to his own on his Ginjha's approach, he was the one to respond. His voice still had a bit of a rough edge but he was calm, or at least he tried his best to keep his residual anger in check.

"We have arrived at the coordinates designated by the humans. And it looks like they already dug their claws into the ground."

As he sat down Raeth absorbed everything he saw in front of him and combined it with the statement of his Kaedar. The panoramic viewport was for the most part taken by the spherical face of Bynali Four. By far the most interesting of the system's planets for it was a habitable world, with a mild climate, large green landmasses that dominated most of the surface and plenty of surface water. These properties were the exact reasons why this world was so in demand, next to the large pockets of natural resources.

The main viewer was zoomed in on the space station in low orbit of the planet. Its design was human in origin, a ring-like structure around a cylindrical central core. It was much smaller than some other examples Raeth had seen. Judging by the large number of sensor arrays that seemed to grow out of the outer hull, this was a research outpost, designed to monitor the planet and any activity around it.

"Humans don't have claws, Jirro. But I get it. Our Akrennian friend was right about that. The Nezvhan Rhaa has given us permission to act as we see fit and represent the Empire. That means we've got a job to do."

"They're hailing us again," Jetreycka said, suppressing her console's chime.

"Put 'em through."

Captain Benjamin smiled, less restrained and this time he sat in the command chair. Flanking him was his second-in-command, a woman with white skin smooth as silk, dark and very straight ear-length hair in an asymmetric cut. Her facial features were well-defined, a small round nose, tapering chin and thin eyebrows. The touch of red added to her lips and the mild shading around her eyes reminded Raeth of the way human women liked to enhance certain features to make themselves look more attractive.

From his youth on Solbrecht, he recalled that the correct term for these pigments was called 'makeup'. It could not be compared to the body paint used in his species' tribal cultures or applied during festivities in modern society. Its meaning was different. Even on Solbrecht where humans and Mantrins lived together with the native Solbrechtians and various other ethnic minorities, using pigments to enhance one's beauty was unheard of among females of his own species. In fact, if he had to name an origin for the custom it would be human culture.

"Captain. Glad you could make it."

"Call me Raeth."

"All right Raeth. Although my name's Theodore, people usually call me Ben."

Raeth nodded.

"So, what's the idea? I've spoken to my superiors and you can consider us representatives for whatever we have to discuss. But if I understood you correctly, we haven't got time to waste."

Captain Ben sighed.

"Okay, I'll make this quick. I've already talked to the Akrennians and erased all doubt about our intentions. We're not here to lay claim to Bynali. This research outpost was abandoned some time ago after the ownership debate started. Because of the recent events that took place, we've fired her up again and are using it to monitor the planet. There's something down there that might be linked to the vanished ships. Dock your ship with mine. We'll share any information we've got and then we'll decide the best course of action."