Ren ignored the whispers and sniggering as she made her way through the aeroponic maze. Just keep counting... she thought, the internal monologue keeping a firm hold on her frustration. Forty-five steps. Forty-six. She marched farther and farther away from the murmurs and deeper into the tangle of young greenery.

It wasn't as if the situation was anything new. The T'braxi had always seen humans as an inferior species - why would she be any different? When she was younger and more "insolent" she had fought hard to show that her soft, peach form wasn't a hinderance, that one needn't be 7 feet tall and ash-skinned to be a productive member of society.

Those days had long since passed. Eventually the frayed ends of her patience were worn down to numb stubs. Her pride no longer mattered. All that mattered now was ensuring she upheld the standard of excellence and discipline for which Telonin Pol was known. After all it had been announced in the last Erkiin that in the highly unlikely circumstance that Pol should ever ascend to the stars, Ren was to take his place - much to the dissatisfaction of her T'braxi "brothers".

The thought of Prin and Povol being furious with her brought a heaviness to her heart. T'braxi politics and perfection was far too much at times. She sighed. Had this been a community of Bragga - of humans - would the situation have panned out any differently? She glanced skyward, grey eyes gazing longingly beyond the clear ceiling of the biodome. What's out there? asked her mind's voice. Are they out there?

The evening air was finally cool and thick with moisture. Beads of marching sweat which had clung desperately to the slick film of her skin now rolled down her neck to settle into the white fabric of her buttoned blouse.

She shut her eyes and inhaled deeply.

The oxygen of Telonin Farm really did feel different to regular air. It reached deeper, tasted sweeter. Perhaps the advertisements circulating around Axis weren't gimmicky after all. An uncommon chuckle escaped from her throat as she opened her eyes and turned them to the empty, darkening sky once more. One day...

"What a wreck." Austin spoke out loud to no one, seeing as though he was alone in his ship. Austin had gotten word of a luxury star cruiser that had been hit by space rocks just outside of the star system he was currently in. He had traveled for roughly 2 hours going half the speed of light before coming across the wreck.

"Cosmo. Report on the area?" He staring at the wrecked cruiser out of his windshield.

"Star Line Exona cruse ship, captain. On rout to the planet Mahnar in the star system Rhym." The ship spoke from a small speaker on the center console, "Currently this area is under lock down but the Klinx, exercise extreme caution." The voice had a deep metallic timber to it.

"Klinx....Eh, I've handed worse." He said trying not to get nervous. The Klinx were a race of hummaniod reptilian aliens that had has a mass of tenticals for legs. Their favorite past time was killing any and all who broke their laws, with out so much as a trial. Their laws were final, the punishment was always death.

After getting over the Klinx threat, Austin used his main scanner on the console to fine out just what lied inside this potential treasure trove when suddenly alarms sounded inside his tiny vessel. "Cosmo!?" He shouted to his ship, requesting information.

"Captain, it appears we have been surrounded....May I suggest running away?" The ship said, almost mocking him, "There appear to be 8 Klinx battle cursors heading right for us sir, shall I use to the hyper drive to get to the nearest planet so that you may...Hide out?"

Austin quickly jumped into the center chair behind the controls, "DO IT COSMO!" He shouted strapping himself in before the hyper drive forced him to press into the padded seat. Stars bolted past the ship as it traveled nearly 8000 miles above the speed of light before a sudden de-execration.

"Captain, I am landing the ship on this planet, I am sorry to inform you that due to the power I used up in hyper drive, I cannot access my data banks to give you the name, sir. I will need to recharge for a minimum of 12 hours before we can fly again." The ship spoke solomly as he landed in a clearing.

Ren paused, readying herself for the next sweet intake of Telonin breath. Something moved, high above her in the fading light of the horizon. She squinted, hoping to catch a better look at the unusual disturbance. Planet Inok rarely had visitors. It was far too far out of the way of any place of interest - save, of course, the industrial site of Telonin Farm. The only guests Pol ever entertained were ruthless Klinx representatives who were cryptically insistent on forging deals regarding ship oxygen supply and trade, despite their lack of a need for oxygen themselves.

Ren shuddered in the cooling air, but it wasn't due to the chill. The mere thought of the Klinx was enough to cause unease in the gut of any being - human and T'brak alike. Thankfully her father was a being of iron will, and of plasma artillery. Surely it wasn't that time again. The last batch of representatives had only recently left their farm not two weeks earlier.

She narrowed her eyes tighter and scanned the sky for the flashing light she had seen.

There.
And again.
A craft?

Swallowing hard, Ren realised that whatever the illuminated figure was, it was definitely inbound for the surface of Inok. As it drew closer, her anxieties were confirmed. The craft was definitely not of the T'brak. Concern began to knot tightly in her belly as her eyes followed its descent into an area nearby that was, thankfully, free of industry and civilisation.

If she were to call over a guard, the mockery that would follow would haunt her for the rest of her days. Poor Bragga, they would offer condescendingly. Can't even manage by herself when something out of the ordinary happens. She needs our help! As usual.

No.

She was on the verge of losing everyone's faith as it was. She was going to hande this herself. Her hand closed around the nearest metallic object she could find. A rake. She grunted her annoyance, but it would have to do.

Slipping into an exo-suit, she held the rake in both hands and began to trudge her way through the external fields towards the damaged craft in the distance.

It was close. The filters failed to remove the smell of burnt wires and molten metal as she edged closer to the vehicle. An outline. An entrance? She brandished the rake above her head, ready to bring it down onto the metal frame with as much force as she could muster.

When the ship was finally n the ground and steadied Cosmo spoke once again, "Captain, a life form seems to be walking to us." He said over the sparks and wirlls of the ship resting.

"Klinx or..." He said making sure his Nova pistols had a full charge.

"No sir. Human, perhaps a family reunion?" The ship mocked him.

"Not funny, are they armed?" Both his guns had a full charge. He walked to where the door would open and waited for a response from his on board A.I.

"Yes. With a rake. Sir, please take extreme caution, you know how dangerous rakes can be. Should I put up the shields?" The ship gave a chuckle.

"Remind me ro turn down your sarcasm emitters." Austin said unamused as he pressed a button to open the bay doors and extend the stairs.

Once the stairs had been fully extend he walked out of his ship, pretending not to even know the girl was there, but instead, inspect his ship. He walked all around the vessel noting every dent and scratch. The ship was a model C02M0 with the words C.O.S.M.O. pained in white across it. It was a 5 man ship that could be controlled with one person. It had a glass shield over the captains chair with many parts seemingly jurry rigged to it.

Austin did not intend to even acknowledge the other human if at all possible. He had never met another human he liked.