[b]Valkian Explorer ship, orbit above Moon N-3[/b]
The Explorer was a unique class, the Captain often thought. It was a special ship, that could destroy a ship's crew without even causing damage. They would fall, unable to continue to think, to do, to know. They would slobber on themselves until their bodies were no longer able to support itself without more food or water, and then it would die. The ship did indeed strike fear into all Valkians; they all knew that the nose of the ship pointing towards them could mean their demise, and if it did, they would never know it.

And the Captain was well aware of the danger. Every crew member to be stationed on one of the seven legendary were, at first, told and made to believe that the same ship they were about to serve on was about to kill them by turning them into thoughtless, mindless slobbering beasts. Only after the fleet command thought that they were properly aware of the weapon and its capabilities would they let the crewmember go and tell them the news. 

The Captain had had to be held under the Explorers' gaze for quite some time, before reality set in that he would never grow up into a major fleet commander, never have the chance to command a ship, or even ships. The Fleet was small, but it was insanely powerful, in the Valkians' terms. 

And now one of the feared, scary death-ships was slowly flying towards the outermost settlements' spaceport, as far away from the main Fleet as one could get. A small research hub, with extensive titanium and thorium mining, since all Valkian ships run on Thorium. With this large ship coming in, the many members of the mining base waited fearfully in the deeper areas of the moon, with a welcoming party waiting to greet the ship.

As the ship passed through the stasis field and into gravity and air that consists more of carbon dioxide than oxygen [A Valk breathing oxygen is a human breathing carbon dioxide], an airlock opened on the front of the ship, a team of Engineers jumped out of the airlock, splitting to either side of the 'port to connect Thorium refueling hoses to the ship. As the ship finally touched down, another group, one with two, extremely rare Hunters, an Engineer, and a Tinkerer, stepped out of the cargo bay and headed towards the base's blast doors that guarded the air inside from the void. All of them were in suits, fit to float in space for a decade, so says the guarantee.

When they approached, the doors opened, a less military-type suited group of three, just a Tinkerer and two Engineers. When the two parties faced each other, the Tinkerers bowed to each other, and the Engineers saluted each other. All their tails were infinitely swishing back and forth. Like most of the heads, the tails were open to the air, the unique properties of the Valkians' skin giving some parts of their body the ability to resist the extreme temperatures of the void, as well as the ability to retain its shape and size when in the void. Only the Valkians' "face" was covered, to supply carbon dioxide to their lungs. The ship behind them remained on; its engines produced a dull [i]thrumm[/i]ing that vibrated inside the peoples' chest.

After introducing themselves in the tradition fashion, Hunters introducing themselves first, then Engineers, then Tinkerers, without care of which side they are on, they continued inside for a short talk. Quite simply, the Explorer ship was sent on an exploration mission, the first ever to go outside the solar system. They expected nothing more than to find planets that could be terraformed, and so they sent the ship with the best abilities to test and probe a planet, and also defend itself in the case of a worst-case scenario. 

After negotiating a deal- military-grade tools for fuel- the Explorers' group left quietly. They had spoken in low, almost whispered tones, as was common among their race, and had dealt based on the deals made thousands of years ago: military forces must compensate for any resources they take.

A half hour later, the Explorer ship was rising off the platform, fully filled with more liquid Thorium, and with a second, new Ignition Pack. As soon as the ship was high enough, it accelerated, barely missing the bases' many antennas and other communications equipment.

As it accelerated, a blue-white portal began to open in front of it, streaking towards the Explorer like bursts of lightning. When the ship closed enough distance to the portal, both disappeared in a flash.

((Anyone have some scout ships located in a solar system that's on the edge of your space? If so, just post saying so.))