[center][h2]Interplanetary Space in the Kibō-hosh system[/h2][/center]

Warlord Hele'Streth bared his teeth in a feral smile as reports came in:
 "Sir, unknown ships have opened fire on drones!"
 "Sir! Enemy ships have ceased fire and ceded to tractor beams and drone disarming!"
 "Sir! Unknown ships are now being designated as Enigma One through Nine!"
 "Sir! Enigma Escape Fleet all deactivated internal gravity!"
 "Sir! Enigma Fleet is ready to be contacted or boarded at your discretion!"

Oh, he knew they were up to something. Why else just give up their weapons? Unless, of course, they wanted to be taken hostage and then enslaved, or something similar. But no- they would've contacted him in that case. No, he wanted to see what they were made of. Their gravity was off; already, they were brought in and surrounded by his fleet- far enough away that even if they did try to ram, they would be destroyed before, and if they self-destructed, they shouldn't be able to seriously harm any of his ships. 

"Ship-of-the-line [i]Genetic's Carrier[/i] move to dock with their largest ship. Prep the zero-g spiders for entrance and neutralization of crew- link them to a hive. Follow up with an adaptive Draconian non-lethal team- I want them all alive, and a dozen shipped back to our ship immediately for detainment, study, and use as hostages. Take care- they are planning something." A chorus of [i]aye-aye's[/i] came from his officers and communication panels, as his Formations officer relayed orders to other ships in the fleet, reorganizing to cover the [i]Genetic's Carrier[/i]'s now-empty spot. 

The SotL approached the unknown ship with care, adaptive airlock rearranging and resealing itself to act as an a go-between for the Draconian and Enigma ships. Tractor beams lanced out of the side of the SotL, locking the two ships together as clamps emerged, locking onto whatever was firm enough to hold the weight, sometimes even expanding into holes left by destroyed weapons, like a ball in a socket- except much less pleasant. 

As soon as the airlocks were secure, the Draconians' side opened. Should the Enigma's side immediately open as well, they would see nothing but a dark room. Had they been able to see into the dark, they would see nothing but a large, barren room with three doors set into the opposite wall, Draconian writing marked above each. Had they been able to read this writing, one would say "Decont," another, "Corridor AE-3," and the last, "The Kennels." The Kennels had the largest and most reinforced door, with the Corridor's door being second in reinforcement, though it looked more as an airlock. 

The moment the Abh's side was open after a period of ten seconds, the Kennels' door opened, and out came interesting creatures indeed. One way to describe them would be as worms, or snakes. They had long bodies, though the front was more like a four-flap mouth, and swelled in the middle, before ending in a thick tail. Tentacle-like legs reached out from the sides of the body, grasping the walls, the floor, and small gadgets presumed to be sensors and light shields. Small semi-organic power plant implants shone on the surface of the creatures' bodies, betraying their presence, but also shining bright enough to reveal anything else's. Besides that, they appeared completely harmless. As dozens of these creatures emerged, unfurling their glowing arms, small claw-ringed suction cups popping onto and off of the surface of the ship, claws scrabbling where suction cups wouldn't grip. Vents similar to those of a fish dotted its leathery body, some breathing in, some breathing out, each keeping it stable in position and propelling it whichever direction, in sequence with its limbs.

They filled the Draconian room, each body being from two to ten feet long, a foot to six feet thick. They appeared to converse with each other, tapping their mouths against each other, messages being passed through mere touch. When the Kennels' door closed, the creatures spent a minute conversing, then they acted.

They rushed forward, squeezing through the airlock's gap. The ones closest to the Enigma ship's airlocks spit acid- sprays of floating grey droplets launched forward, splattering against the hull of the airlock and sticking, slowly beginning to melt through. Regardless if the doors opened or not, they would be ruined, and anything else in their path. Anything organic would be sprayed at with silvery liquid- it would spread against organic matter and spread a paralyzing agent, while the grey wouldn't harm organic matter, but would slowly melt through metals or alloys. The two-dozen zero-g "spiders", the tentacle monsters, would spray everything with silvery liquid, each other being the only creatures that it didn't harm. When they died, they almost burst, a bag in the center of their bodies releasing the silverly liquid, and a white one that did nothing at all. The grey would never be seen except when sprayed- for obvious reasons.