"And here we are; the Hippo system. Not that there is much to see anyway." Neptune commented as the Nagato left warp and drifted freely around their new destination.
"The Hippo system consist of only one big white star, ten times bigger than our sun, and one lonely planet, thankfully it is in the life zone. There are a great number of celestial bodies, from small as a tennis ball and as big as our ship." Velvet added to her summary, and the screen showed the only planet in the system. The planet was all shades of blue covered in white clouds. "Only slightly bigger than ours, covered in water, initial… Captain, we are being hailed…"
"From the planet?" Jaune asked as he stiffened in his chair and turned to look at Velvet.
"No sir… Spaceships close to our position." Velvet explained hastily, and Jaune nodded, putting the ship in yellow alert just in case, especially considering their prior record with alien contacts.
"Pass them through." He ordered, and velvet did as asked. On the screen appeared an ugly alien that looked like he was a melting chocolate bar with small red eyes and a big mouth.
"Here is Admiral Plyout from the Cavirn Imperial Forces. You have thirty seconds to identify yourselves before we take action against this illegal entry in one of our star systems." He said in a voice that sounded like he had water on his mouth. Jaune was about to answer when Velvet called him again.
"Captain, another fleet of ships is hailing us…" He looked surprised and signalized to put them in conference. The new alien was insect-like with green plates over its body and big pink eyes.
"Here is Admiral Cass from the Overtan Republic. You are trespassing a system belonging to us. Identify yourself or we will open fire in thirty seconds." This one had a feminine voice and its antennae moved as it talked. Jaune was about to answer but the first alien cut him.
"Get out you damned insect! This system belongs to us and if anyone is going to deal with intruders is us of the Empire!" The melting-like alien shouted, and for a second the Nagato's crew thought he was drowning.
"This systems belong to us, mud-creep! You should get out before we destroy you!" The insect alien shrieked, and her voice now was like chalk on a blackboard.
"We are destroying the intruders, get out of our way!"
"You get out!"
"Sir, they are coming at us! They are locking their weapons on us!" Neptune warned, and Jaune got the ship on red alert immediately, wondering why every alien race in the galaxy seemed to be out to get them.
"Velvet, try to contact them!" Jaune asked his officer.
"They aren't answering!" She shouted back, making him left a groan out.
"How long before they are in range for our weapons?" Jaune asked as the ship got into battle mode.
"Five minutes, sir!" Coco said as she checked her terminal.
"Neptune, get us out of here! I won't be caught between two warring races!" Jaune ordered, but Neptune looked back with a weird look on his face that Jaune didn't liked.
"Can't engage the warp drive, it needs ten minutes to cool down!" He answered and Jaune cursed his luck again.
"Can we outrun them?"
"No sir, their ships are significantly faster!" Neptune shouted as he checked his radar screen. "Seven ships on each side, none bigger than us but they compensate it with numbers!"
"Let me see them!" Jaune saw the ships on the main screen. They all had unique formats, but he noticed all of them lacked something the Nagato had. "We are going to the planet. Neptune, push us between them, evasive maneuvers all the way. Coco, Sun, try to take down as many of those assholes you can along the way."
"Sir?" Neptune asked in fear since that sounded like a suicidal maneuver if he ever heard of one.
"Their ships can't do atmospheric flight, we can. They won't pursue us there, so we might get enough time to cool down the warp engine. Once we can warp, we are hailing ass!" Jaune quickly explained in his very commanding voice, and Neptune just did that. As he accelerated the ship, Glynda entered the bridge.
"Sir, we never really tested the Nagato's air flight capabilities." Ren warned, surprising the Commander.
"You aren't planning to… You are!" She shouted in surprise. What was a surprise in itself considering all unorthodox maneuver she already saw them doing.
"Everyone, buckle up, this will be rough!" Jaune shouted at the intercom, and the ship started its race to the planet.
The two alien fleets were apparently surprised as it took a few seconds between Nagato's actions and their reactions. It was a mistake they paid when Jaune's ship fired against them, destroying one ship of each fleet along the way. The alien ships answered the fire, but Neptune showed his skills as he elegantly but precisely avoided the first round of enemy fire. The Nagato now was exactly between the two fleets, and fired again; taking hits on ships from both sides. The approaching enemies fired again, and this time some shots hit their ship, but the shields held up. Luck decided to be by Jaune's side for a moment and the crossfire made the alien fleets hit each other.
Apparently the hate they had for each other was bigger than any they had for the Nagato, as most of the enemy fleet started to fight each other. But the two biggest ships were still on pursuit, firing against them as Coco and Sun fired back, trying to get them out of their tails.
"Sun, fire the flares! Let's try to get some time!" Jaune ordered as the Nagato shook every time a shot connected to their shields.
Calling them flares was actually an old relic of a weapon with the same purpose that existed since they still lived in the planet. Sun launched the two spheres, and they created several effects once activated. The first and more prominent was a big flash of light, in an attempt to blind visual. Then it generated both a gravitational field, a heat signature and magnetic distortion, all in an attempt to thwart any incoming weapon or vessel.
Apparently it worked at first as the two pursuing ships stopped for a few seconds, before giving pursuit again. Jaune was a bit relieved as they were coming close to the planet, ready to enter its atmosphere, when the Nagato shook violently.
"Ren!"
"They used some type of microwave beam! Its reach is beyond any weapon we have! The main ionic engine is gone!" The engineer answered from his panel as he desperately tried to fix whatever he could from there.
"Coco! Missiles! I want those bastards off our tails! Neptune, can you land the ship with the auxiliary engines?"
"Land? The planet is all water!" Neptune questioned as he wrestled the controls.
"The Nagato can work underwater too! Just tell me you can avoid us blowing up!" Jaune shouted and Neptune checked the controls.
"It will be very, very rough. But I can do it!"
"Captain! This is too dangerous!" Glynda shouted from her seat.
"I am open for ideas! None? Coco!"
"Right away skipper!" The gunner answered as the Nagato fired four missiles from its back towards the enemy ships. Two of them were taken down by their artillery, but the other two explode on their hulls, making them stop the pursuit.
Neptune maneuvered the ship to put it in position for entry, closing its gun ports and folding their main cannons back, and as they were caught by the gravitational pull, the Nagato shook even more. The ship was able to withstand the attrition, but the air flight was far from smooth, as they veered sideways as their pilot tried to make the ship go straight. A trail of smoke came from the back as the ocean bellow approached.
"Prepare for impact!" Neptune yelled and them the Nagato hit the water and sunk down.
…
"Ugh… Is everyone alright?" Jaune asked as he fixed his position on his chair and looked around, to see everyone groaning and positioning themselves back on their stations. Apparently everyone was confused but not visible wounded. "Ren, diagnostics?"
"Only damage is the main ionic engine. No hull damage, no structural damage, no ocean trying to enter." He said as he finished the checks, happy the ship withstand so well what probably would have destroyed any other ship.
"Penny, anyone of the crew is hurt?" Jaune asked the AI, and after a minute it answered.
"Everyone is alright, but Lt. Schnee wants to end your existence."
"She says that but she never do. OK, I want everyone in your Hunters all time until we can escape this situation. Coco, Sun, keep any weapon that can be fired underwater ready, if those bastards decide to come after us. Ren, take Nora and Penny and check the damage to the ionic engine. We will warp as soon as possible."
"That won't be so soon." Ren stated, and Jaune gave him an inquiring look. "The gravity of the planet interferes with it, it is impossible to warp when in its gravitational range. And we can't escape it just with the auxiliary engines."
"So, we are trapped here until you and Nora fix it, IF you can fix it?"
"Yes, that is pretty much it." Ren answered, and Jaune gave an ironic smile while wanting to kill every single alien in that system.
"Sorry about this, people, but I need to vent a little." He then proceeded to shout the vilest, grossest and dirtiest insults any of them have ever heard. Velvet was blushing madly and used her bunny ears to cover her human ears. Glynda just looked in shock at the usual gently man yelling obscenities against the aliens, while Coco had the biggest smirk ever.
…
The Nagato was a few hundred meters at the bottom of the ocean, but due to the bright star even there was very illuminated. They landed in an algae field, where green and orange algae grew as tall as any of them. Several fish schools swam lazily above them, while crabs walked between the algae. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora were at the back of the Nagato checking the main ionic engine wearing their Hunters with the underwater pack. It gave them the capacity of extracting the air dissolved in the water and swim using small propellers on their sides. There was a big hole on it, and Jaune was worried.
"So?" he asked as Nora and Ren approached them.
"We can totally fix it! Piece of pancake!" Nora happily said.
"But it will take a few days." Ren added, and Jaune sighed hard.
"Great. At the bottom of an alien ocean with two warring alien factions above us and a flat tire. I want you and Penny working as fast as humanly possible… In your case, Penny, as fast as Ren and Nora can follow. We don't know if there are dangerous creatures, so I want two Marines patrolling the area at all times." Jaune ordered and they all started working.
…
"So, what the assholes are doing?" Jaune asked Velvet as he returned to the bridge, and the bunny girl blushed remembering the swearing. Never crossed her head that her crush could swear like that.
"T-the aliens are on orbit, sir, but no hostile attitude. In fact, I think they don't have the ways to locate us, considering they are just randomly flying around the planet." She showed it on his screen. "Besides, every time two ships get too close they just fire at one another."
"Maybe we get lucky and those shitheads will kill one another."
"S-sir, I would a-appreciate if you used a more proper language." Velvet blushed and said in a whisper, hoping to not offend the captain. He laughed though, and she felt relieved.
"Sorry Vel, being blow up from space just makes my mood sour. You know what; I will assume your post, go outside and discover the local wild life." Her eyes sparkled, and her smile grew wider than Jaune imagined possible as she get out of her seat, did a few small jumps, hugged him, kissed his cheek and rushed through the door, leaving a surprised captain behind. "There goes one happy girl."
"And you got a kiss, win-win, skipper." Coco teased and chuckled as she noticed Jaune blushed harder. She would remember to tell Velvet of this.
…
Velvet was happily swimming around as she catalogued every little critter in the middle of the algae, sparing a few seconds between her research to watch Nora, Ren and Penny working on the ship's engine, and Ruby and Weiss patrolling around, with the younger Marine happily playing with everything around while the white haired one kept protesting about everything. Velvet giggled a little and followed a big crab-like creature between the algae, a bit too absented minded.
That was when she crossed with a big fish-like creature, making her jump back surprised.
The creature was very long and thin, with big fins on its back and sides, four of them large and wide at the front and back of its body. It had several whiskers around its face, thick and long like antennae, but its big eyes and small mouth gave it a friendly appearance. Its skin was the same color of the algae, and was more like dolphin skin than fish. It just stared at the bunny girl with a curious expression.
"You scared me." Velvet said over the radio absently minded.
"Sorry, dear. I never saw a creature like you before." Velvet's eyes widened as she received the answer over radio, and the creature appeared to smile at her, then circled the girl a few times, making her very nervous. The creature had a feminine voice, but spoke the words very stretched and whistled. "Are you one of the sky swimmers that have being around for a few springs now?"
"What… No, we just arrived. A-actually, t-they attacked us and we w-were forced to l-land on your planet…" Velvet answered trying her best to not squeal in excitement for doing the first contact with an alien space. At least, one that counted.
"Ah, I see. Sadly your mother is resting on our fields, and we would like for her to move."
"My mother?" Velvet asked puzzled.
"Yes, the big black fish you came from." The alien answered with an understanding smile.
"Ah, I-I see. I t-think it is better for the C-Captain to talk with you… My name is Velvet, yours?"
"Magrad."
"OK, Magrad, let's go back to my… m-mother, so you can speak with our leader." Velvet said and signalized to be followed, and Magrad seemed as excited as the bunny girl in meeting the mysterious creatures that landed on her algae field.
…
"And that is our story, Magrad. We are sorry we affected your fields, even if unintentional." Jaune said as he sat with Velvet and Pyrrha on the top of the Nagato, with Magrad floating close to them.
"It is unfortunate that those sky swimmers did such a thing to your… ship, Jaune from Arc. So you are trying to swim back to the skies?"
"Yes, we are fixing our ship so we can resume searching a home for our people."
"I see, I see. Listen, my village is close by, and my leader want to share a word with you, if that is possible. I promise we won't hurt you or your family." Magrad said with a big nod of her front.
"Very well, do you mind if two of my… family come along? Velvet is curious about your people, and Pyrrha is a bit overprotective." Velvet almost squealed of happiness, while Pyrrha blushed a little. She wasn't being overprotective; she was just protecting her captain, friend and love interest. Not that she would ever admit that.
"It will be no problem, Jaune from Arc. Pyrrha from Nikos and Velvet from Scarlatina are welcome to come along to our village. We are a peaceful people, so there won't be a problem." Magrad said once again, making big nods with the front of her long body.
"Nora, Ren keep working so we can take our ship from the top of Magrad's farm. Commander, keep an eye on our unfriendly sky swimmers. I don't want them coming and ruining the party." Jaune and the two girls left swimming by Magrad's side.
Magrad was serious when she called her village such, as several coral made huts could be seen, and many creatures like her swam peacefully around, tending to their huts and other structures erected in the middle of it. There were at least two hundred people, and a few dozen huts, and they all eyed the newcomers with curiosity. The trio swam till they reached what was the middle of the village and waited as Magrad said she would get their leader.
It didn't take long for her to come back, followed by the largest one of the people around them, probably their leader. It had a bigger face and more antennae around it, and looked old and wise while eyeing Jaune and his crew.
"I am Marada, leader of this village. Welcome. Magrad told me you are from the… ship that fell on her fields." Apparently all of those creatures were able to create natural radio waves as a way to communicate. Jaune repeated to Marada the story of how and why they were there, and the big creature closed her eyes and listened intently. After Jaune finished, she opened her eyes again. "You claim to be explorers, but you do carry weapons."
"Only to defend ourselves. We would rather make friends than fight." Jaune answered, and apparently that pleased Marada as she did something akin to a smile with her face.
"And you promise to leave once your ship can swim again?"
"Yes. We have no intention of bringing you any trouble or interfere with your people."
"Would you stay here until your ship is able to swim if I asked?" Marada had a serious expression, but Jaune didn't hesitate.
"Yes." Velvet and Pyrrha shoot concerned stares at him, but he either ignored or didn't take notice.
"I need time to consider. You sound honest in your words, Jaune from Arc. All my people want is to live in peace, but you are new, and new things bring new troubles. I ask of you to stay here for a while as I retire to consider what I have being told." With that Mara returned to her hut, and Jaune eyed his friends before shrugging and sitting on a nearby rock.
"They aren't shooting at us, I call this progress." He joked, but Pyrrha and Velvet just sighed and sat by his side. It didn't take long before many young ones came to them asking for stories of other worlds. They spent a few hours on that until they heard a long, distressed whistle, and every one rushed inside the huts. Magrad called for them.
"Hide! The snatcher is coming!" She urged and they entered the rather spacious hut with Magrad and some of the young ones through a complex passage with many dead ends.
"What is this snatcher?" Velvet asked as she readied her rail gun. The others also readied their weapons.
"That is the snatcher!" Magrad pointed with one of her fins to what was approaching and they could see it from the small openings in the coral hut.
It was a colossal squid-like creature covered in red and blue stripes, with long tentacles ended in sharp fangs, three big blue eyes surrounding the middle of its body. The creature cast a shadow over the village, and its many tentacles squirmed down the water, and entered the huts, likely trying to catch the inhabitants, explaining both the name and their fear of it. They all waited, hoping the creature would miss them and leave. But as they watched one of the tentacles entered the hut and grabbed one of the young ones by its tail, his scream calling Jaune's attention.
The captain rushed with his hardlight sword drawn and stabbed the tentacle, forcing the creature to release the young one, but then it wrapped itself around Jaune and pushed him out of the hut breaking many of its coral structure.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Jaune yelled as he tried to get free of the snatcher.
The creature eyed the mysterious being it snatched, some type of shellfish it imagined considered the hard exterior. It didn't mattered for the snatcher, as it moved it towards its mouth between its tentacles, a series of sharp, hard black teeth that would crunch the shell as easy as it crunched bones. But the creature released it when a spear perforated one of its eyes, and it turned to see two other shellfishes.
"Captain!" Pyrrha yelled as she used her Semblance to retrieve the spear.
"I am fine! Velvet, try to kill it with the rail gun!" He ordered as he got out of the way. Velvet fired her gun and the bullet heated the water leaving a series of white bubbles along the way as it pierced one other eye. The creature trashed around, its heavy tentacles hitting the roof of some of the huts. "Pyrrha, Velvet, open fire!"
Pyrrha changed her spear to carbine form and fired again, as did Velvet and Jaune. Three more rounds of Dust rounds and the snatcher stopped trashing and sunk, just squirming a little, its remaining eye turning white as dark blood escaping from its wounds changed the water's color. The three soldiers approached it with caution, and Jaune poked it a little with his sword. It was dead, and he left a relieved groan out.
Then there was a series of happy whistles as the locals got out of their hut and approached the dead creature. The young ones started to devour it, and Jaune was happy they couldn't see his face right now as he was grossed by the attitude.
"You killed it! For too long it came to devour our young ones, and you killed it! We will feast on its corpse!" Magrad said as she joined the youngsters and another in eating the giant squid.
"We are thankful for your help, strangers from a faraway ocean. And now we call you all friends, and offer to you a reward for your help." Marada said as she approached. "Follow me."
…
"So, can we use them, Ren?" Jaune asked over the radio as they arrived where Marada brought them. Two alien ships rested at the bottom of the ocean, ships from the two armies fighting in space. Apparently they sunk each other, and their remains rested in a sand bank a little east from the village.
"I will have to check them up close, but by its state, I believe we might be able to salvage a few things." Ren answered and Jaune smiled. That was something, at least.
"OK, come here when you can, let Nora and Penny fixing the engine." He ended talking with Ren and turned to Marada. "Thanks for showing us this. We are indebted to you."
"Your debt was paid when you slayed that creature, Jaune from Arc. You and your family are friends to my people." She answered, and Jaune had a proud smile underneath his helmet.
…
"They are doing what?" Jaune asked Cmdr. Goodwitch when he returned to the Nagato. In the main screen he saw several red dots covering the planet.
"They are deploying mines around the planet. Since they probably can't come after us, they are making sure we can't leave, at least not unnoticed." Glynda explained, and Jaune growled a little.
"OK, I officially hate those guys. Can we pass through it, Coco?"
"Tiny targets, it will be hard. Besides, I bet those things are seekers too. Get too close of one, and all of them will swarm your position." She said as she looked over her sunglasses.
"Ren, tell me you have good news for me." Jaune asked his engineer, and he gave a rare smile.
"We were able to retrieve two useful things from the downed alien ships. One is a type of ionic coil that will increase our overall speed, and Nora and Penny are installing it as they fix the engine, which will be online in two days. The other is this…" He showed two long structures on the screen. "Long range MASERs."
"MASER?" Jaune inquired.
"Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is what hit our engine; think of it as a sniper canon. We now have two of them and I can convert them to work with Nagato's weapon systems." Ren explained and Jaune nodded. "And… I can use it to spread a microwave frequency that might detonate those mines from long range."
"So we will blow them up like popcorn?" Jaune wondered and Ren nodded. "Good, tell me when we can execute this plan. I am eager to return the favor to those alien bastards."
…
Four days passed before all the repairs and modifications on the Nagato were done. Jaune was impressed with how fast and efficiently Ren and Nora worked together. The MASER canons were installed in the inner side of the warp engines, while the ionic engines were fixed and ready to be used.
The rest of their stay was peaceful, as Marada's people were always coming and going curious about the aliens in their algae fields. Velvet had a field week registering not only alien species, but a whole alien culture, and was almost heartbroken when the day of departure came. Many of the aquatic people also manifested the sadness of seeing their new friends going away, especially since there was no day for them to return, if ever. After bidding farewell to each other, Jaune and Marada returned to their jobs as leaders of their people, and the Nagato finally left the field.
"OK, let's do this. Commander, where are the alien ships?" He asked as he sat on his chair once again.
"They received reinforcements, so there are nine ships on each side now. They are spread out, circling the planet." She showed on the screen. Jaune noticed the two biggest ships were close to each other.
"Nora, status report."
"Everything is working! We can get out there and kick some alien butt!"
"So, what is the plan?" Neptune asked as the ship approached the surface. Jaune checked the radar screen again.
"We use the MASERs to open a path on the mind field… Here." He chose to get out close to the two alien motherships. "We will just go as fast as we can to the closest warp point and get out to the next system. But if anything gets too close, wipe them off."
Coco, Sun and Neptune exchanged looks, and the helmsman started the ascending procedure, inclining the Nagato with its bow pointing up. A few minutes later and the ship rose above the water and they started the main engine, quickly gaining altitude. Once they were above the clouds, Coco fired the MASER canons, leaving a white trail of electromagnetic energy. The microwaves did as expected, and made the mines in orbit explode in a sequential effect, opening a path to the ship to fly through unscathed.
"Sir, the aliens are trying to contact us." Glynda said and Jaune smirked evilly.
"Tell the SOBs to go fuck themselves. Neptune, as soon as we can warp just do it. Coco and Sun, I want no alien ship getting close to us." Jaune ordered and the crew did as commanded.
The two alien motherships accelerated in pursuit, but the improved ionic engines proved to put the Nagato at the same speed as them. The enemies fired, and coco and Sun returned fire while Neptune evaded all of the incoming shots. The two ships readied their MASER canons ad fired at almost the same time. The Nagato warped a few seconds before they could be hit, and the MASER beams crossed empty space… In the direction of the enemy vessels.
…
"Velvet, go to sleep." Jaune ordered as the bunny girl kept typing on her scroll, even after her shift ended. It came to a point that Coco asked his help to make her friend stop writing about the people of the Hippo system and rest a little.
"But we finally made a successful first contact! They were so interesting, a whole way of life adapted for living underwater and…" Jaune gently put his hand over her mouth.
"And you have time to write your report, later. But right now I am worried you are overworking, and if you don't want me to order Doc to use some tranquilizers, you will go to sleep. That is an order, Sergeant."
"Aye aye, captain…" she said weakly. "Do you think we will cross with those belligerent aliens again?"
"I am so sure we will it is not even funny. But I do hope our next contact will be less… belligerent, and for that I want my communications officer and exobiologist on top condition, OK?" He said in his usual gentle tone, and Velvet smiled at him. "Good. Coco, if she tries to write under the sheets, shoot the scroll."
"Yes, sir!" Coco saluted and laughed as Velvet pouted towards her, putting the scroll away.