Xcom: Incursion Chapter 8: Act II: Destiny, a X-Com + Mass Effect Crossover fanfic

Hey everyone and welcome to the second Act of Xcom: Incursion! Long time no see, eh? Anyway, this Act will be about the storyline and plot rather than the action and gunfights. I'll include my more… creative ideas, thoughts and whatnot into this act as it spawned this story in the first place. But you'll find more about that as the chapter proceeds. This Act I estimate will be about 10-20 chapters long if not longer. The chapters themselves will be much longer and informational compared to the first act- I hope. But without further ado, the chapter. But first, I've set up a mini-timeline to explain what happened in between of the first act and this one. And secondly, if you didn't know before, there's a sidestory to this bridging the gap between this Act and the last one. I recommend you read it, though you don't have too to understand what's happening.

Timeline set from first contact to present day

2109 July 15th- The First Contact war between the Species Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy officially ends. All hostilities cease immediately and the the galactic community welcomes the Species Alliance. The Alliance replies by building defensive structures along their border with the Hierarchy, increased recruiting and the building of warships. This followed up by a huge Alliance population boom. An Alliance-Council Cold War ensues.

2110 January 1st- The Species Alliance celebrate the New Year with the establishment of several new colonies on the border of Terminus space. To ensure the safety of the colonies and to expand, Alliance forces begin to engage Terminus pirates and bandits. The Council watches closely as Terminus pirates and outlaws clash with Alliance forces. It is a one sided slaughter as Alliance forces begin to clear out the 'filth', clearing a new way for Alliance expansion. The Batarian Hegemony condemns these actions, claiming they're upsetting the balance of the Terminus they work so hard to achieve.

2110 January 7th- The Alliance establishes a permanent embassy on the Citadel who finalizes the peace deal between the Species Alliance and Turian Hierarchy.

2110 March 11th- A small fleet of Batarian slavers try their luck at raiding an outlying Alliance colony. The colony's few defenses on the ground hold out long enough for military aid to reach the colony. The Batarian slavers who stayed to fight are all but destroyed. Alliance officials threaten all-out war on the Batarian government and rally the public's support to their cause. War is only avoided by severe Citadel Council intervention and the President's assurance that the Alliance public would have their revenge. The Alliance begins to secretly ship arms and supplies to Batarian rebels and insurgents, bolstering the Batarian rebel's capabilities.

2116 March 17th- The Salarians begin to test their own laser weapons more thoroughly to try and match Human technologies. No real progress is made as they simply cannot get a small enough powersource or heat absorbing materials. They come up with a prototype only usable by Krogan and can fire a few shots before melting or exploding.

2120 August 24th- A major city on the Batarian colony of Camala explodes in flames, claiming millions of lives. Rumors start circulating that the Batarian government was responsible for the explosion. A secret file is then leaked by a major Batarian hacker organization, claiming that the incident was caused by a secret Batarian weapon, unleashed on the city to test its effects on live subjects. The government denies any of this. However after centuries of political and social repression, much of the Batarian public ignores these claims of innocence or is apathetic. Protesting in the lower castes begins and the Batarian law enforcement respond with lethal force, much to the sanctions of the Citadel council and the Systems Alliance. The Batarian Rebels take this opportunity as a Casus Belli to declare war. Many lower caste Batarians join the revolution, and the largest civil war since the Krogan Rebellions begins. The Rebels are extremely well armed and initial reports find that the Citadel Council is the most likely offender, with only recently discovered and stolen documents bought from the Shadow Broker implicating the Alliance being the primary suppliers.

2122 October 13th- More Hegemony documents are leaked revealing extensive probing and illegal genetic testing on unaware lower castes and slaves by the Batarian government. The Batarian Civil War begins officially as Batarian Rebel Commandos storm the Khar'shan Hegemonic Palace, killing many government officials. Aggressive takeovers, both civil and corporate begin, and rioting takes place all over Batarian space. The Batarian government declares martial law and closed their borders to all outsiders. Loyal Batarian ships, now barely a quarter in number, orbitally bombard rebel positions and cities, the few reports that reach the Council's ears tell of civilian casualties in the billions. The Citadel Council does nothing as the civil war rages on. The Alliance is quick to support the rebels, claiming the Citadel Council is too cowardly to risk their safe lives for the sake of others. The Council species are incensed, but face civil unrest of their own after the accusations; demands are made that the Alliance not directly intervene. The Alliance complies, providing only logistical and economic support.

2123 April 9th- Two years after the beginning of the war, and the Rebels are publically seen as losing the war. Alliance records indicate the Hegemony has faced severe depopulation of their slaves and lower castes, having nearly a fifth of all Batarian civilians killed or in concentration camps. Most rebel worlds have been captured and the rebel armies have been reduced to terrorist actions or guerilla warfare. The damages to the Batarian economy and infrastructure are catastrophic, with the Batarian Hegemonic fleet reduced to a shadow of its former glory as internecine warfare has resulted in nearly 75% of all original ships destroyed and large segments of the Shipbuilding industry either sabotaged or purposefully destroyed to prevent capture by either side. But now the Hegemony has the upper hand as they hire huge number of foreign mercenaries and slaver fleets, with order to enslave entire planets if need be to reclaim the numbers necessary for their society to survive. This angers all neighboring factions, most especially the Alliance, the Citadel, and the Terminus Kingdoms, as the fighting finally spills over into their territory as these mercenary armies claim Rebels are hiding in the border regions, using the opportunity to loot and pillage the planets. It is then the Alliance formally declares war on the Hegemony in its weakened state. A strike force of several hundred Alliance vessels is sent to raid Khar'Shan and bring their declaration of war personally. The entire Batarian home fleet is annihilated in anchorage or in battle. The Batarian Navy is no longer an entity as the rest of the Batarian ships defect or desert.

2125 December 3rd- The Rebel and Alliance forces rapidly invade hundreds of planets with overwhelming force, met as liberators and enemy armies largely surrendering without a fight. The last of the Batarian forces concentrate in the Home cluster, particularly on the colony of Erszbat. A major assault on the planet is slated for the 1st day of the next year.

2126 January 1st- The assault on Erszbat commences, the assault phase of the battle last only 48 hours, millions of lives are lost in that time period and general Batarian Hegemony resistance is shattered in that time period. Within a week, the planet is firmly in Alliance and rebel hands. The remaining forces loyal to the government continue the civil war in guerilla warfare. However it is rather short lived as Alliance forces prosecute a ruthless anti insurrection and Guerrilla campaign, millions more Batarians are executed or imprisoned as sympathizers or participants. Leniency is given to Batarians who turn themselves in before they are found. With the old government gone, the Alliance establishes a new democratic provincial government in its place to begin rebuilding, while simultaneously annexing the whole of Batarian space under their protection as an autonomous state. The Council protests this, but the huge Batarian backlash at their own hypocrisy, starting the war but not ending it decisively in the name of freedom. Since Council space became a prime place for Batarian refugees to escape the war, many of the border worlds are on the verge of riots at the Council's decree. Reluctantly, before the Alliance can formulate an official response, they retract their statements and tentatively welcome the new Batarian government, the United Batarian Systems. The Batarian Government only stiffly returns the gesture, with many Batarians still incensed at the Council for seemingly starting the war and allowing it to drag on.

2127 March 29th- The United Batarian Systems receives an embassy with the Citadel Council as a foreign power, like the Species Alliance. The Alliance is pleased whilst the Council expresses their disappointment and concern for the future of the Batarian people as subservient to the Alliance.

2128 January 11th- Salarians unveil the next generation in GARDIAN laser technology, remaining the same range as their previous generation GARDIANs at ~20 Kilometers, but now much more reliable than previous generations. The weapon in question is still in its experimental stages but it signifies the beginning of better Salarian laser tech.

2128 September 18th- Alliance archeologists searching for lost Prothean artifacts on the edge of the Terminus systems discover a system littered with wreckages of ancient ships thousands of years old. Study of the system and wreckages commences immediately.

2130 August 21st- The Destiny Project is re-activated.

"Exploration is what you do when you don't know what you're doing."

-Neil deGrasse Tyson

Act II: Destiny

2130 September 23rd 1:00 PM Earth Time

Classified facility orbiting Outpost Bismarck, Alliance Space

Jesep Lannern was a simple man, born on the Alliance colony of New Landing and

raised on an orbiting space station, he didn't grow up hearing the sounds of other humans but those of machines. New Landing had been a colony of Terra Nova, before it became part of the Alliance, evident by the fact that 80% of the colony's population was at least half synthetic in nature.

At this moment, he was reviewing several documents detailing the final candidates for

the first crew of the now re-activated Destiny Project. The Destiny Project, created in the mid to late 21st century was a special ops unit for exploration and research. It was ultimately shut down however as the Espheni war began and funding was diverted to the conventional military budget.

But now with the Turian-Alliance war over, and a subsequent population boom for all

species of the Alliance, it was time for them to once again look outward, beyond its own borders. The destiny project consisted of the best of the best, with no exceptions. It needed to be, they had no idea what they might find out there. For this reason, it would be a joint effort between the Alliance itself and the rest of the galaxy, despite some politicians and higher ups arguing against it.

Another reason for this decision was to diffuse tensions around the galaxy; seeing as

the scars of the last war left lasting wounds, neither public opinion of one another wasn't very high. The project had been revealed to the public just last week, and was widely praised among the galactic community. Both EXALT and Cerberus had denounced the project of course, but they were fringe organizations, and no one in the general public considered them an entity to consider.

A ringing from his Omni-tool resulted in Jesep bringing it up, Mrs. Luna, his secretary and the residential AI. He accepted the call and a holographic picture of a cyberdisc appeared.

"Mr. Lannern, the final candidates are awaiting briefing in the meeting room, I advise

you to go and see them." Lannern nodded at the holograph.

"Understood, thank you Luna." The cyberdisc dipped it's body in response and closed the holographic call. Lannern closed his eyes and sighed briefly, leaning back into his chair. This is it. He thought. The moment I've been waiting for.

2130 September 23rd 1:10 PM Earth Time

classified facility orbiting Bismarck's Outpost, Alliance Space

Over a million candidates had been chosen for the Destiny Project. But only a few hundred could be accepted as the first few crewmen to the Destiny Project's first ship.

The room, despite being the largest auditorium for the Outpost, was still too small for the less than five hundred persons within. Everyone had been given a paper binder with their names on it to read over while everyone was assembled and the last measures finished. Everyone also had a seat, and while this was a very secret meeting, the entire station was under constant surveillancemeaning one never had any real privacy. On the bright side, it didn't mean they'd have been cramped in this room without the ability to get a drink of water or use the restroom.

The room was a dull tan color with painted speakers set across the side so small even his enhanced vision had trouble picking them out. In the front of the room stood a wooden podium on a stage raised by a meter, with only a pair of naval military police standing on either side of the stage in a relaxed manner.

Nisky Phoenix, captain of the SAV Wolf, had been chosen to be one of the lucky few to be on the DPS unity, the first ship for the project. It hadn't been easy, forced to go through nearly a week's worth of paperwork and extensive testing to even be considered. Nisky was forty two and had served on multiple ships of the Alliance before coming to the Destiny Project. He had been all around space and knew it's many rules and regulations. He had a lean build from living in space for so long as well. Not even modern gravity generators could match a real gravity well and therefore, anyone who lived in space for an extended amount of time was sure to lose a bit of bone mass. Nisky was a Volm, and therefore was welcome to space and its contents, his species having lived primarily in space long before they joined the Alliance.

The Volm had been fleeing their enemies, the Espheni, for thousands of years before they found the Alliance. The Alliance had offered them shelter where others had turned them away, making the Volm deeply grateful. Volm, even now mostly lived in space, many serving in the Alliance navy.

Phoenix sat in one of the hundred chairs in that room, patiently waiting. Waiting for what exactly he was still unsure of, as he intently read the paper binder given to him in Alliance Standard English. Although judging that they gave him a psionic scrubbing to ensure his identity, it must be serious. From what he did know, that this was the Destiny Project, an exploration expedition, he couldn't imagine what exactly he'd be told today, enemies far off and unknown? Secrets of military nature? Maybe the project was a cover for a secret weapon's program made to possibly go to the next stage of development?

To his right sat a human male, flipping out a lighter and subsequently lighting a

cigar. This made Nisky almost violently angry as he snatched the fat cigar for the man's lips and stubbed it out immediately, supported by the equal anger of everyone around him who looked at him murderously. "FIRST RULE OF SPACE TRAVEL: YOU NEVER LIGHT A FIRE OFF PLANET!" His neighbor berated him furiously, another man of stouter build and a bullet like head with no neck, the thick bands of muscle he had on his biceps showed him to be a high gravity world native who had joined the Alliance Marines judging from the tattoo of a falcon holding an anchor. The man who had lit the cigar was dressed in a black trench coat and faded tan slacks, topped off with a pair of tinted glasses. An odd combination, especially the tinted glasses. Phoenix couldn't help but stare agape at the man's idiocy, and at the odd clothes, the style foreign to him. And right now he was associating "Foreign" with "Not knowing even the basic safety regulations on a space station or starship".

The man noticed Phoenix's onlooking and grinned a toothy grin, despite the fact that everyone had a look on their face that they wanted his ass dead. Leaning back as if he didn't care, he puffed a smoke ring from the single mouth full he got, glancing at Phoenix. Specifically the cigar in his hand, "Enjoying the view?" He asked with a hint of what Phoenix believed to be an Australian accent. Phoenix looked up at the taller man. Even in their seats, the man was several inches taller than himself.

"Names Jones Dunlop. But I prefer Dunlop." He said with another wink behind his glasses.

Phoenix ignored him, before saying quietly,"Nisky. Nisky Phoenix, people tend to just call me Phoenix. What's with the getup?" Phoenix asked bluntly. Dunlop smiled slyly again. He must have been asked this quite often.

All of a sudden, the soldiers on the stage stood at attention and saluted, all eyes turned to the front as the cal for attention was given, all the military personnel, including Nisky himself stood at attention. A Human male walked to the podium, he was dressed in an unfamiliar uniform, it looked similar to the standard Citadel dress fatigues, and the Alliance's dress uniform.

The man was tall and lanky, towering over the guards that saluted him. He had white hair and steel in his eyes, which gazed over the crowd. But that wasn't the most peculiar feature, half of the man's face was simply made out of a metal mask or prosthetic. The left of his face was a normal dark brown but the right of his face metal plates began at his nose. Only his eyes remained the same on both sides.

"Hello, my name is Director Jesep Lannern. As some of you may already know, I am the director of the Destiny Project. You have all been chosen because you are the best of the best, with no exception. Any criminal records any of you may harbored have been forgiven or ignored in favor of your skills. Consider this a fresh start for you all. Now, I know most of you have read your folders, but in any case: Any questions before we move on?" He asked. Nobody said anything.

"Good, now I don't have to explain that we're all adults here, you're also working in a military environment, word of fights, both personal and job related will not be tolerated. You're the best of the best, act like it.," Jesep said."You all will be working on the DPS Unity," The wall behind him lit up, and showed the image of the ship. It rotated on the screen, giving everyone a good look of it. The ship itself had a cigar like shape with a flat surface at the back, where the four propulsion units were located. As it rotated, the crew could see it had two main guns on each side of the ship, laser cannons from what Phoenix could extrapolate.

On it's right side, it bore the name DPS Unity, painted in dark red on the black exterior of the ship. The image changed to show the inside compartments, the bridge, living spaces and hallways. Only a select few rooms were shaded black, secrets that even they weren't exposed to know just yet, no doubt.

"Remember, only Alliance personnel are allowed inside the engine room and any other rooms like it, unless it is an absolute emergency. Any persons found inside these such rooms that are not Alliance will be severely punished. Most likely on the spot execution." Jesep explained, "This shouldn't be a problem as soon most of you will be Alliance Employees or recruits, with all the psionic screening and investigations that includes. You can of course refuse, and maintain your citizenship to whoever is your parent government, but if you've come this far, we all know that none of you are choosing that."

"Good. Now that we have that out of the way, the DPS Unity," He began the briefing, turning to the image of the ship as the exterior showed again. He pointed to the back of the ship with the four propulsion units with a laser pointer, "there are four Alliance Class-D engines located at the back of the ship. They are the best the Alliance has available, based off the carrier and battleship designs. This is a class A security area, all engineering decks are reserved ONLY for engineering personnel, this is because," The image zoomed in on the engine deck's connecting hallways, "anyone who is unauthorized in there will only get in the way, and most likely, die from the various hazards in there if they don't know what they're doing. Security personnel will of course be briefed on safe navigation of the area."

"Like the engines, the rest of the ship is made of state of the art designs and equipment. This not only includes the latest ship mounted lasers, propulsion technology, command and control, but also a newly developed stealth technology. The Stealth related areas are also off limits to any non-Alliance personnel. Mention of it outside of people in this room will result in your NDA coming into effect and immediate incarceration. While the Salarians in the room already have a good idea of what it might be, the stealth works by hiding any and all heat emissions and thorough radar ablative coating. Unless the enemy knows every single rock in the system, they'd never even know the ship was there."

"Now then," Jesep continued, clasping his hands together, "with that out of the way, we will begin the tour of the ship shortly. For now, just remain in your seats and we will call you by your name and homeworld. We'll also be opening the divider to the lounge where we will have complimentary food and drink. Thank you."

2130 September 23rd 2:00 PM Earth Time

classified facility orbiting Bismarck's Outpost, Alliance Space

Nisky looked around the lounge, stepping inside the room. The room was colored in a light blue shade and lit by a single overhead light, giving the room a darkened feel and look. In the back corner of the room, a small bar stood with a Zudjari bartender wiping down a used glass. Attached to the counter's surface was a plaque that read 'No alcohol for event. Sorry'.

While Nisky wasn't normally one for a drink, especially ones without alcohol, he figured this one time wouldn't hurt. Walking up to the counter, the Zudjari waiter glanced up at him, "What you got?" Nisky inquired politely, leaning against the counter.

"We have some Liui left. Ginger ale as well, the good stuff not that mass produced soda crap." The Zudjari waiter drawled, shrugging. Nisky winced inwardly. Liui was a drink from one of the Alliance fringe colonies and was famed for it's sour and bitter taste, ginger ale was…. well ginger ale. Nisky figured that Liui was the closest thing to alcohol here on the station.

"I'll take a glass of Liui please." Nisky ordered nodding. The waiter took another look at the Volm before leaning down and grabbing a half filled bottle of Liui. The waiter then placed a exotically shaped quart glass on the counter and tipped the bottle, pouring the reddish colored liquid inside. The waiter handed the glass to Nisky who nodded his thanks. Not a moment after Nisky was handed the glass, did a giant of a figure come up next to Nisky.

Discreetly glancing up to see a giant of a muton, an oxymoron, but the muton was especially large for his species, who came and leaned against the counter next to him. The hardwood and plastic counter creaked under the weight, almost deceptively soft, as if the muton wasn't putting the full bulk of his weight upon the surface.

Even for a Muton, Nisky could tell that the alien easily dwarfed his kin, hell he easily dwarfed even the largest krogan in the crew by comparison. The Muton wore a red suit with black jeans, complimentated by a forest green beret on top of his head. If one looked hard enough, one could detect the faint outline of a vest underneath the suit. Unintimidated, the waiter just peered up at the muton. "Yes?"

"Why no alcohol?" The muton asked in a heavy Russian accent.

"We can't have drunk soldiers stumbling around with guns can we?" The waiter retorted, "Also, you're all technically on call, even if I HAD some alcohol, it'd be illegal for me to hand it out, and even more illegal for your to think of accepting it. Liui is all I got besides sugary fountain drinks and high quality ginger ale, take it or leave it. However, I will point out that our water is excellent." The waiter explained with a bored tone to his voice, putting the bottle of Liui back on the table.

The Muton glared daggers at the waiter but nodded stiffly, "I will have puny drink." The muton grunted, motioning for the waiter to pour a glass.

The waiter being zudjari was a master of his emotions, the effects of Mosaic upon his ancestors had been total, and nowadays Zudjari carefully groomed their emotions to be calm and steady, with a reputation for stoicism. This made them excellent psychologists as well, as the exploration of their own neurology and connection with Mosaic meant they had much to rediscover about themselves and others. Pouring the muton a drink before sliding it towards him. The Muton took the much more robust plastic cup in his large hands and deceptively sipped the drink down, draining the glass in one go. The Muton shook his head in disappointment, putting the glass down. "Why bother drinking if it doesn't even kick?"

It was unfortunate that mutons lacked the sophisticated sense of taste that other species had, the muton brain had been much more geared towards their own physical prowess on their high gravity homeworld, and tool use. In order to make up for this, muton cuisine was either remarkably bland, or extremely strong to the point of being unpalatable or even deadly for most other species. When a species considers weapon's grade lethal pepper spray merely mild, then one's sense of food was extremely different from normal people. Hell, Nisky had once seen a muton drink an entire barrel of ryncol and wasn't even phased, much to the amazement and cheering of the krogan pirates who provided it.

Nisky realized he had been staring blankly at the muton and looked down at his drink. It was normal for his species biologically to stare at the subject of thought while thinking, the difference in cultures and biology made the interaction between member species of the alliance difficult at times, as what one species or even cultural subgroup considered polite or suitably submissive, another would take for insulting or aggressive. It was unusual even now for mutons to go around without their armor for example, other species would consider going out in armor uncomfortable and a mark of looking for trouble, "You, small Volm male." Nisky looked back up at the Muton who now looked down on the smaller Volm. "You finish drink?" The Muton asked, motioning to Nisky's drink.

Nisky, sloshed the contents around, shaking his head slowly in the volm way of uncaring neutrality, and slid him the drink across the counter, the muton grabbing it extremely delicately. The Muton tilted his head back, gulping the Liui down. "Thank you for drink Tovarishi." The Muton acclaimed, shaking his head. "Name is Grigory, you?" The Muton continued, sticking out his enormous hand for Nisky to shake.

"Nisky, a pleasure." He nodded and hesitantly gripped the muton's hand, before moving forward his entire arms length to reach the muton's elbow as was custom, wincing as the muton crushed his arm at the shoulder. "Is good day, no?" The Muton commented joyfully, his voice still somewhat muffled by his atmosphere enhancer attached to his mouth, being from a high gravity world, his species was much more used to a denser atmosphere than most species could handle. Muton's also didn't breathe the normal oxygen nitrogen mix, but instead was best equipped to breath a methane nitrogen mix unlike most other races. Therefore they still required to wear air filters and enhancers in most environments.

Before Nisky could respond, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around he saw an impatient looking human female in naval dress fatigues. "Captain Nisky Phoenix?" The woman asked, looking at her she had the rank of Lieutenant, with the emblem of liaison and staff offices attached to her beret.

Nisky nodded and stood, "That would be me lieutenant." The woman nodded stiffly and looked down at a clipboard.

"Director Lannern wishes to see you." The woman explained, looking up from her clipboard. "If you will follow me, I can escort you to his office." Nisky nodded, and followed the woman out of the lounge, giving a subtle nod to the muton in goodbye who nodded in return. That was at least shared by their species, the nod of respect between two warriors was exposed to be subtle, to be a mark that only one of keen mind could recognize.

They walked briskly for several minutes in total silence, passing several corridors filled with naval personnel and bored looking guards. Nisky glanced over at the woman who led him, making a point not to look at Nisky. It was extremely unusual for a direct escortation by a junior officer, or frankly any enlisted or officers, as the station AI typically handle such escortation as they were normally formalities and informal briefings. Finally, curiosity got the better of him.

"So how's the new boss?" He asked informally, the woman glancing back at him through the corner of her eye.

"Strictest man I met. He's also purely civilian too, went straight into intelligence for his compulsory conscription. However he's a well read and learned man in military science and matters, also from rumors I hear he has quite the track record in political circles." She replied stiffly. Nisky nodded, less than he hoped, more than he feared. This entire operation was sealed up tighter than an Ethereal's arse.

After another minute brisk walking, they arrived at a door, the woman the hand or equivalent appendage, to take a blood test, monitor heart beat, blood tests, fingerprint identification, and uniquely formed brands imprinted on all personnel in the alliance. Reproduction was literally impossible, and forced entry through a variety of quick and dirty means equally so inserting her hand into the alcove where it performed a variety of security procedures. Keycard s and the such had long ago been rendered obsolete or critical security weak point, now the modern day alliance security system required . Luna, the station AI, greeted the two after visual identification and unlocked the blastdoors which soundlessly opened.

The woman swung the door open and motioned for Nisky to step inside. Nisky stepped inside, looking around. The room was the size of a typical office on a station this size, except it wasn't' taken up by cubicle like cells or sensory deprivation pods that would normally host up to half a dozen personnel working spaces, instead taken up by a single desk and a variety of holographic interfaces enough room to work but not too spacious. The room was lit by a single light strip which ringed the room above them, with a air vent strategically placed in the middle of the ceiling suspended by a ceiling fan. In the middle of the room sat what looked like an oakwood desk and a lamp, partially hidden under the piles of physical papers stacked mounted on the desk. The same man that had welcomed them sat at the desk, Director Lannern.

"Ah Captain Phoenix, I presume? Please forgive me for not standing, take a seat. I'll be on with you in a moment." Lannern greeted, giving a small smile before motioning for Nisky to sit down, His eyes never leaving the paper he was reading. From Nisky's view, he could tell the paper was encrypted in code, this man took the secrecy of the project to new extremes. This set off alarm bells in Nisky's mind, but it could very well have been something entirely unrelated to the current project. Nisky nodded stiffly, taking the seat offered to him. "A pleasure to meet you finally face to face, I've heard a lot about you." Lannern explained, his attention now on the Volm.

"The pleasure is all mine, Director." Nisky replied politely.

Lannern nodded, "So, Captain Phoenix," Lannern started, leaning back in his chair, "I know you've been through the psionic screenings, I've had you do several psychological evaluations, I've read your files, seen your written memoirs, both published and unpublished, even had a psych profile assembled about you with the psionic readings we have. But I must have your spoken word, can I trust you?"

Nisky blinked, "Sir?" He asked cautiously.

"You will be commanding the most advanced spacecraft in the known galaxy. I need to know if I can trust you. Of course I already know the theoretical answer, I've gone through all the options, and we both know I wouldn't have chosen you for this duty if I didn't believe you a loyal and capable citizen of the alliance. But I must ask all the same, can I trust you?" Lannern explained, his eyes seemingly boring a hole in Nisky.

"Yes sir, you can trust me to do my duty, to accomplish to the best of my ability any and all legal orders given to me, including the standard standing orders all alliance captains are required to uphold as well as the two unofficial rules for all commanders regardless of species, military, or creed." Nisky stated firmly.

"Good," Lannern commented, giving a tight and humorless smile. "This entire project is already on the line, there are already influential Alliance officials showing doubt in this program, they're afraid of what we might find out there and what that might mean for their positions." Lannern leaned in, "We can't afford any fuck ups here, the careers of everyone involved in this project are on the line. In short, I need a captain who will think of the mission first before all else, but not be so callous as to lose the respect and trust of the crew." Nisky nodded stiffly, not showing any emotion.

"You know my answer sir, I will perform the tasks required of me to the highest of my ability."

"Good, good." Lannern said, nodding. "Your first mission will be assigned to you within the week. Congratulations Captain Phoenix. Dismissed."

A/N: So there's the chapter, what do you all think? Better than the last chapter? Worse? Make sure to leave plenty reviews, I write these chapter for all of you so all feedback is appreciated. Again, sorry this chapter took so long to get out, stuff in life and school have held me back for writing this for so long. I promise the next one won't take so long!