******************** Episode 1 ******************** For many of the new crewmembers assembled on board the Exeralune, space had never felt so vast before. It gave them a sense of newfound wonder to be a part of something so big. Traveling the galaxy on a quest to restore people's faith in the UNT; changing the lives of everyday people who were unable to get help any other way. They were going to be so many people's last resort. The pressure many of the crew must have been feeling at this moment was immense as it finally hit them now that they had set sail. Could they live up to everyone's expectation for this one of a kind ship and it's mysterious captain? Was it even possible in the first place? Some looked towards this challenge with eager expressions, ready to take on whatever the galaxy had to throw at them. They could do this. The activity level of the ship was slowly winding down for the night to leave people to these thoughts. Soon it would be shift changes and only the active duty crewmembers and nocturnal species would remain out and about, the rest of them ready to get used to a common time schedule that would be their new night and days. Some would surely be exhausted or wide awake by now, but they had no choice but to try and adapt as soon as possible. Delaying this and staying up to party, after such a long day already as they had to get used to the ship, would be unwise. They already had one just as they set off and would have another after the first week concluded, but for now they must rest. That was the plan, at least. Blinking red lights began to fill the bridge, a shrill siren wailing in accompaniment. "Unknown object blocking our dive path!" a female voice shouted frantically. That could be really, really bad news. Hitting something while raveling faster than light across the galaxy in this warped cosmowave space could atomize their entire ship instantly. There was little choice in the matter. "Don't panic. Take us out of the dive and we'll see what warm welcoming party is being thrown for us," a cloaked and helmeted man said, not a single inch of his skin revealed underneath his uniform. He was the captain known to them only as Hidden Eagle. True to his words, no fear laced his voice. The distortion around their view screen shifted back to reveal normal space around them...as well as a ship the same size as their own, close enough to be a small glint inside of their visible range. They weren't quite large enough to be considered space carriers, even if they could hold around a half dozen spacefighters each. Certainly nothing to sneeze at. Odd that two such craft would meet out in the middle of nowhere. And blocking a warp dive as it had...it was high tech, that's for sure. It didn't look like anything the aliens around this sector would come up with. UNT origin? Or maybe the Nihn Empire? Probably not. Why would they interfere with the UNT so aggressively all of a sudden and be so far out of their borders? "Four spacefighters are exiting the main craft," someone else said. "And something bigger, possibly a boarding shuttle." "Scanning the ships now. Little information on them at the moment," voiced another. "Put our ship on high alert. Scramble the fighters," Hidden Eagle ordered. "I'd like to avoid a direct confrontation, but we shall defend ourselves should they press the attack. Try to see how they blocked our path and eliminate the source, should we need to flee." He figured that they must have deployed devices that mess with the cosmowaves that they were bending, making them too difficult to pass through. If ships could travel by bending the waves, surely they could be stopped by a similar process. He had seen that trick used once before, but it used a ton of energy. Surely they'd spot the signal soon enough. Now, to hold out against the mysterious attackers until then. He had faith in his crew to be able to do so. After all, he had personally assembled them. The Exeralune would not fall on it's first night out after receiving it's upgrades. Not on his watch.