[hider=The Beginning] The citizens of Ospa were in shock. The council had made an announcement only moments ago, the announcement had been relayed to everyone on the planet. “CITIZENS OF OSPA!” The loud gruff voice of Gai Sebai spoke. “We will be ensuing military action. All members of the military are to gather at Oasis!, this is not a drill, we have belief that life beyond Ospa is within our reach, 100 crew members will be sent out to find life beyond our reach. These members will be chosen at random, but volunteers may come forth but there will be an evaluation for anyone going. To the glory of Ospa!, for the betterment of The Alliance!” The communication was shut down after that. For them to call all serving members of the military together, and to the capital, this was big. The citizens of Ospa were in silence, for years everyone thought they were alone. The only surviving members of a species long forgotten. Everyone knew of the landing story as it was taught as a part of history. That a long forgotten planet called Earth sent out colonists to save their dying race. They were all the descendants of this race, even those that looked different. [/hider] Oasis was crowded with military members, the city seemed to swallow all signs of individual life in crowds. For the first time all the members of The Council had been gathered together in one place before, usually calling in from different parts of the planet. Together they sat in an office around a circular table. Gai Sebai was the first one to speak. “I nominate myself as high general.” Without a word all of the council raised their hands, all except one. The human supremacist, Mark Delano. “Why are we agreeing to let a dirty Osparian be high general? We're looking for humans, that means it should be led by humans right? I nominate myself.” Gai shot back, “Having me as general will not change the mission objective, nor will it have influence on the racial aspects of the crew we send through the gateway. I will carry out my duty efficiently and safely.” Mark’s face had turned brighter than the sun. “We Are Humans! We are looking for humans. When they see a crew of dirty genetic freaks don’t you think they might shoot on sight?” He asks as an open question for the rest of the council. A voice rings through the room, “I think I speak on the rest of the council's behalf when I say I give Mr.Sebai my vote.” The council had agreed, the military privileges were given to Gai, and he’d be damned if someone was gonna get in his way. [center]______________________[/center] Weston Obrak sat in a dim bar that smelled of chemicals. He was in no rush to volunteer like some people were. There would surely be more than enough people to volunteer so people weren't forced to go. Luckily for Obrak he knew he’d go. He had revived a message on his pad from a recruiter an hour before the main message went out over the planetary message system. He was going to be captain of the ship “Hermes”. He was always itching for adventure, now he was finally going to find it. He would be the first person to fly through the gate, this was going to fun. He was already in his latex flight suit. [center]______________________[/center] All mining outposts and moon bases were now flooded with soldiers and engineers. They were all being turned into makeshift military forts, and the production of ships had been prioritized. Everyone was scrambling to prepare. Soldiers were being loaded onto ships and being transported to other bases, while citizens were being sent back down to the planet. Ships were being prepared to stand guard over the portal. They were the first line of defense, they would stand there and wait, they'd be the first point of contact. Everyone had already adorned their exo-suits and had made their ways onto ships. Soon “Hermes”, their explorer ship, would take flight. Everyone was on their toes, no one was prepared enough. It was almost night time in the Ospa cycle when a loud chime came over all military comms and systems. That was the green light. Billions could view the sight of these ships from live camera feed, everyone hoped and everyone believed. This would be something great. [center]______________________[/center] “The glorious maker, oh how he cares for his sheep, ain’t that right ya bunch of silent fu-“ The common soldier is forced to be quiet as his commander enters the brig. Obrak was steadily approaching the gate. In all the years he was a kid he never imagined such a thing. The “Hermes” was escorted by 2 other ships to the gate. A large number of ships had been gathering at a small asteroid mining outpost. They were waiting on standby for something to go through. Obrak had no problem with the crew he was given. Along with him he had an Osparian co-pilot, there were 50 human soldiers along with 30 Osparian soldiers and 20 Spars. Along with them they were also given 5 Shadorn priests, he had no idea how a bunch of silent people were supposed to testify, they had nothing other than their small “holy books' ” ', but that wasn’t his concern. What was concerning was that he had no idea what condition the other side of the gateway was in. If it ended terribly they’d end up in the middle of an alien civil war. But that was a worry for later. He waited as he slowly approached the gateway. The ship was silent, every breath of the crew could be heard. He watched as the two accompanying ships drifted to the sides, staying away from the gate. He slowly started going forward. It wasn’t long before he was flying in. Colors contorted and twisted, he was going through. Wherever he ended up he hoped for the best. “For the glory of Ospa, For the betterment of The Alliance.”, he quietly mumbled. Unknowingly a small interface had appeared before him, without knowing he accidentally selected a destination at random. [hider=Hermes] [img] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/5d/34/c85d3417019186ed1522eba699b00105.jpg [/img] [/hider] Approaching: [@datadogie]