Chapter 3

Things continued to go well at Plumber HQ. It had been a rather quite few weeks surprisingly, with just small patrols and side missions being done. "I wonder why it's been so quiet," Helen remarked one day.

"I think Magister Rook said something about Ben making a deal with SevenSeven and his two siblings to keep Earth safe in return for him saving their little sister TwoTwo from the Incurseans," SE-VE said.

Helen gasped. "Isn't TwoTwo the youngest of the four of them?" She asked.

"She is," Rachel said, having caught the question. "She's just a toddler."

SE-VE clenched his fists. "Those warmongers kidnapped a defenseless child?" He asked. "I can imagine her siblings were quite upset about it."

"From what Rook told me, Ben and Alien X had to intervene to keep the siblings from destroying the whole Incursean fleet," Rachel replied. "And since word got out about that happening and that SevenSeven and his siblings are here protecting Earth, none of our other enemies have dared to do anything. Even Zombozo and Dr. Animo have been quiet."

"Guess none of them want to cross the protective siblings," Helen said.

Just then, a call came in on Helen's badge from Magister Tennyson. "Helen, I need you and SE-VE for a mission that just came up," he said. "We just got word from Tetrax's planet that there are some odd ships hanging near the planet, but the ships are unfamiliar."

"An enemy?" SE-VE asked.

"Unclear at the moment, which is why I need you two to go in and see," he said. "You two are the only Plumbers on base available at the moment."

"We're on our way," Helen said, zipping away with SE-VE behind her.

"Good luck you two," Rachel said softly. While she hoped the ships were not enemy ships, she knew how quickly something could go wrong.

She was about to call Rook when something made her pause and she turned to see something flying nearby. Taking a look, she saw it looked like a ship, but...it didn't look familiar. "Okay, that's odd," she said.

Several miles away, Helen and SE-VE landed their ship and began investigating the ship. "That's odd," Helen said. "There's no one aboard."

"Sensors aren't picking up anything," SE-VE said. "You go left and I'll go right. Be careful."

"You too," she said as she zipped away.

After a bit, they met back up. "Nothing," SE-VE said.

"I've got nothing either," Helen said. "Maybe it's just some space junk?"

"Pretty large for some space junk, but maybe," he agreed.

The female Kineceleran gazed around. "It kind of reminds me of an Earth pirate ship," she said. "Ben showed me a picture of one once and this ship looks kind of like it."

"Now that you mention it, I did notice that this place is made of wood and not metal," her companion said. "How the wood has not been damaged further or torn apart? It's not as durable as metal."

"True," Helen said. "Maybe a special alloy to keep it from splintering?"

"I wonder if we can get a sample or two for our guys back at HQ," SE-VE said.

The female Kineceleran called Max up. "It's an abandoned ship, but made completely out of wood," she said. "We're checking it for alloys that could be keeping it from being fully destroyed."

"Funny you should say that because one was spotted outside HQ," Max said. "Rachel investigated, but found no one aboard. She said it was made of wood too."

"That can't be a coincidence," Helen said.

"Possible, but I'm not sure yet," Max said. "See if you can collect some samples and return to base ASAP. This could be a trap."

"Understood loud and clear, sir," she said, turning to SE-VE. "Alright, let's find some good samples to collect and get out of here."

"We should find at least five samples," her companion said. "Maybe a few small ones, but at least a couple big ones too."

"Good idea."

The two of them gathered the samples, SE-VE giving Helen a boost to reach a large piece that was a bit too high to reach without a boost. They soon got back to their ship and headed back for HQ.

Helen gazed at SE-VE and smiled. "You know, even if this mission was just a retrieval mission, I had fun working with you," she said.

He smiled and looked a bit bashful. "I like working with you too," he admitted.

Before she could say anything in reply, they made it to HQ and gave the samples to the scientists, who later came back with a puzzling answer.

"These wooden ships were sent on purpose, but not to attack," said one scientist. "At least, not attack the planets."

"A defense strategy, then?" Helen asked.

"Seems like it," the scientist said.

SE-VE grew thoughtful and looked at Max. "Sir, have any more reports of these odd ships come in?" He asked.

"A few just came in not too long ago," he said.

"Then may Helen and I investigate them?"

Max nodded. "Just be careful," he said. "Even though we don't have the complete answer, I don't want you two getting in over your heads in case there is something else going on."

"The ships could be a distraction?" Helen asked.

"Quite possibly."

"We'll be careful, sir," SE-VE said before he and Helen headed out.

Meanwhile, Rachel was hidden nearby and she pulled out a communicator. "Not going to lie, you guys had me worried for a bit," she said.

"Have the two Kinecelerans headed out?" The translator on her communicator buzzed, filtering and translating SevenSeven's words from his language to English.

"Yes," she said. "You sure your guys' idea of these ship will work?"

"They are set up to act like defense, but look destroyed," the alien said. "The idea is that a force field will activate should an enemy ship launch an attack."

"They'll be tricked by the torn ships," she said. "A warning that some might not heed. That's actually clever."

"It's still not fully tested yet, but please don't say anything to Magister Tennyson or the others until I call you," SevenSeven asked.

"Okay, but be careful," she said before she grew curious. "How did you know that two Kinecelerans are coming?"

"EightEight saw them earlier and noted how they looked like a couple," came the reply. "Don't worry. No harm will come to them. We keep our word."

Rachel nodded. "Okay," she said before signing off, knowing that the bounty hunters would keep their word.

She then had an idea and messaged Alien X, who replied back with a thumbs up to her idea. Smiling, she slipped away, sending a message to SevenSeven about making sure Helen and SE-VE would be undisturbed, receiving an affirmative a moment later.

Hmm, curious, yes? :)

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GoldGuardian2418