[b]SHADOW STAR -- OVERLOOK BRIDGE
Approximated coordinates of Transmission Alpha[/b]

0437 hours, the terminal read. Just three minutes shy of their estimated arrival time, they were going to be early. The Drive was almost prepped for a cold jump to the target, the computer reading showing thirty seconds remaining. There was dead silence on the bridge as they waited for the order, Arelya staring at her terminal with anticipation. She'd walked the length of the ship during the journey with Maverick and Tekrol, ensuring that their weapons and shields were at peak running conditions. Two jumps ago they test-fired the ensemble, ensuring that their targeting solutions were correct. Now the capacitors were at half charge, as was standard protocol for a potentially hostile jump in. It was enough to fire a powerful salvo and enough to tank a beating for them to make an escape.

"Confirm fuel reserves for slow fold."

"Fuel reads good, drive is locked on. Sensors confirm we are running cold," Bramwell sounded off like a machine. "Thermal readings on the drive are a minimum, ready on your mark."

The captain nodded, grabbing a sturdy rung over the command deck and facing the three-meter thick viewports of the forward bridge. "Comms, do we still have a lock with H-C?" A yes. "Systems are go for fold, charge drive capacitors."

The ship hummed as the reactor diverted power over the massive internal conduits, and the Drive's motors began to spool. It was a single lightyear jump, a cakewalk for the ship, which chirped over the in-ship comms as optimal conditions were met. Lyra activated the safety on her console and motioned forward with her hand. "Go for fold."
The view through the windows snapped inward suddenly, compressing to an intense point of violet light, before expanding out into a bright ring and blazing past the ship. Within seconds, they were face to face with a planet, a desert world prominent in the sky, a cool yellow star blazing to one side of the bridge.

"Check distortions, engage thermal cloak." Lyra pulled up the sensor map, giving the whole bridge a view of what their passives were seeing. "There are a [i]lot[/i] of contacts here. Keep the drives cool, deploy radio antennas."

"Jump in disturbance was minimal, we are black."
"Lots of local radio chatter. Language... sounds similar, hard to judge." Raldyr, the kyrian communications officer, switched off the chatter that played from his console and seemed to listen. "I can hear them in my head, source must be very strong for a local broadcast. Distress signal?"
Arelya nodded next to him, her natural radio buzzing with voices. "Sounds like one." The chatter continued for several minutes, the ship relaying its data back to High Command, until an unexpected broadcast cut the background noise like a knife. Both kyrians on the bridge flinched at the strength before their implants offered protection.

"Engaging decryption protocols, phonetics detection is enabled and......" Raldyr stopped, obviously confused. "Translating. Captain, parts of this message are already in the banks."
[i]"CCL-31, this is Command. Repeat?"[/i]
"Uh... Local radio broadcast is tripping the translation matrix, definitely positive partial translation. Large vessel in orbit around our target... Seems to be offering a spot for negotiations."
There was a muted shuffling on the other side of the line as somebody moved toward the console. [i]"Stand by."[/i]

Lyra motioned to mute their side of the line, then turned to address the kyrians. "Arelya, Raldyr, you may wish to prepare yourselves to disembark. I suspect we'll be paying this craft a visit. No need for full armor, although mesh uniform wouldn't be a bad idea."

[i]"CCL-31, we suggest continuing stealth, but if you are able to launch a comm beacon, you are to attempt to contact this vessel. Command standing by for further reports."[/i]
---------------------------------------------------------
A small probe was pushed by a burst of cold gas from the forward launch tube, a laser array orienting to lock on to the [i]Shadow Star[/i]. Minutes passed, putting tens of kilometers between the mothership and its drone, before a returning broadcast was played, a directed radio transmission aimed at the alien craft.

[i]"Unknown spacecraft, this is captain Lyra Bowyer of the Cindorian vessel [/i]Shadow Star.[i] We are preparing to send a two-party away team to rendezvous with your vessel with the intent of peaceful diplomacy. Requesting confirmation of broadcast."[/i]