Don Wei got up and groaned. "Ugh! My head." He rubbed his forehead as a spark of pain hit him. His mind was foggy and the floor beneath him didn't give him much comfort. "What happened?"

He flinched as he heard snarls nearby. He looked around, but he found that he was somewhere dark. Even when his eyes adjusted, it was hard to make out much of anything. He only saw metal bars before him and what seemed to be a table across from it. Don flinched as he saw movement in one corner of the room. His hand touched a hard, damp floor.

"What is this place?" Don gasped as he began to remember what happened to him. A large monster that bore a resemblance to a human attacked him. He barely had enough time to fight back before he was flung to a nearby wall. The last thing he recalled before blacking out, was being dragged away while that professor he saw earlier gave a few commands. He growled in anger. "When I get my hands on him-"

"H-hello?" A soft voice called out of the darkness. "Anyone there?"

Don scanned the area. He could see a faint outline of cages to the left of his vision. "Who's there? How many are you?"

"F-five, including me…" The voice coughed hard. "I'm sorry, but I can only speak for five minutes at a time. I'm seriously ill."

Don Wei raised an eyebrow. Only one person comes to mind that would fit the description. "Are you Lydia's mother? Are you Umbra?"

At this, a surprised gargle was heard. "Lydia?! You know about my baby?"

Don Wei nodded even though he knows she can't see her. "Yes. The last I saw her was a few weeks ago." However that might be a different amount of time up to this point.

"Was there…anything different about her?" Lydia's mother asked.

"Different?" Don Wei scratched his head. "Different how?"

"A physical feature that's not…human…"

Don Wei thought for a moment. He sighed. "I can't explain it…but…" He braced for whatever reaction Umbra was going to give him. "Fox-like ears and tails. Nine tails to be exact."

Umbra let out a hollow laugh. "Just like her father."

Don Wei stared at the silhouette in shock. "What?"

—-(Out in space)-

"We have to go back for her!" Argen shouted. He tried to run for the controls but he was stopped by Eva.

"Whoa there little guy!" Eva held Argen up before putting him down to his seat. The glow of the intergalactic map gave her a strong appearance, the blue light highlighting her biceps. "Lydia risked her life for this mission. We still need to figure out what is going on." She scowled. "As much as I would want to take them all on."

Aikka gave a frustrated sigh. "Right now we only have a few leads, but they don't seem to bring us any closer to the missing humans."

Rush crossed his arms. He leaned back in his seat. "That's not a lot to go on."

Sagittarius fiddled with a tablet, his beloved Brinnia at his side. "Maybe not. I think we can find the mastermind with the samples that were collected so far." He pressed a few buttons that instantly activated a small window on the map. It displayed the sample of the powder hidden in Lydia's suit.

"The poison?!" Eva's eyes went wide. "How were you able to study it? It nearly killed Brinnia!"

Sagittarius nodded. "True, but I found a few vials and laboratory material that was stored within this ship and the Monarch's treasury."

Argen gasped. "You STOLE from the Monarch?" He split into a wide grin. "That's so cool! No one was ever able to do it!"

Brinnia rolled her eyes. "Aside from that, what did you find?"

Sagittarius walked up to the monitor. He asked Aikka to move aside for a moment. He placed his vial into a tiny cubby with ease despite his large fingers. Once it was sucked inside of the machine, another image appeared on the screen. The molecules are arranged in a scattered manner.

The Crog warrior pointed at the screen. "This molecular compound is composed mostly of plant materials but has a hint of Crog DNA in the mix."

Rush raised a brow. "But how did it make Brinnia sick?"

Sagittarius turned to him. "Because it wasn't specified to attack Byrians." He went back to the keyboard and another image popped up. Strange branches appeared on the molecule. "These are special markers used to tell the molecules which are Crogs and which are not. Apparently, they can only be triggered by a physical force or presence of the DNA that poison senses."

Eva thought for a moment. "That doesn't make any sense. We were supposed to stay away from you, but we were knocked off course."

Aikka faced Eva from behind his chair. "I don't think that was an accident. Remember the route?"

Eva nodded. She did recall that it borders along Crog Territory and a strong blast like they've had could knock them to that destination. Dread began to crawl into her as Aikka continued his explanation.

"I think someone knew we were going there and rigged our ship to blow without warning. I'm sure that if we talked to one of the mechanics back on Earth. They might say that nothing was wrong until the launch."

That is unless someone told them to keep quiet to their leader, Spirit gestured.

Sagittarius typed furiously on the keys. His eyes focus on the map. "If I can just link the genetic material into the coordinates…" The screen beep and a red blip appeared before them. "There! That planet is the source. It might clue us in to what's going on."

Rush shrugged. "Consider what we've seen so far, worth a shot."

Argen looked up at Brinnia. "What about Lydia? Will she be alright on her own?"

The others exchanged looks. A heavy silence filled the air as it fell on a vacant seat to their right. Hints of grey fur riddled the chair.

Sagittarius got up from his chair and walked over to Argen. He picked the boy up in his arms. His eyes gave a soft glow. "She'll be fine. I've seen how far she's come. Even managed to handle Prince Scorpio when she was by herself."

"With Scropio, sure!" Rush said. "But that doesn't change the fact she'll be stuck on a planet of-"

An image of the Earth President flashed onto the screen. "President to Eva Wei! President to Eva Wei!"

The group froze in place. Their eyes were wide with horror, mimicking the president's own reaction. Nobody moved an inch. The computers hummed through the silence.

"Byyyyy Kroooommmmm," Sagittarius uttered.

"What's going on here?!" The president roared. His lips were lifted into a feral snarl. "What is a Crog doing on your ship?!"

Eva raised a hand. "Sir…We can explain…"

"Explain what?" The president's eyes went cold. He paced around, his form flitting in and out of the field of the screen. "That you've decided to turn traitor on your own planet and side with the enemy! Fooling around the galaxy with no results? Mopping about the loss of your father?"

Eva's face darkened. "Sir! What the heck?! We've been chased around by enemies the entire time. We had to pull miracles just to survive. Lydia translated some books from a Crog library and nearly died! She sacrificed herself to let us go! We've only found bread crumbs to what's going on and what have you been doing? Nothing, but acting paranoid!"

The president didn't say anything. He froze from the spot he was in, his face turned expressionless. His eyes stared down at them.

Aikka stepped over to Eva's side. "Sir, we only found a few records about the missing colonies. Lydia had also translated a few of the Crog books and none of them were about the colonies-"

"Where is Lydia?" The president roared.

Argen raised his voice before anyone could stop him. "She went with the Crogs! She wanted to protect us!" Sagittarius put a protective hand around him.

The president stood there, motionless. Then, a manic smile split across his face. He let out a hysterical laugh. "That's just great! Just when things are starting to look up, they fly off the rails! We needed that useless wretch!"

Spirit leaned back as far as he could, eyes wide with terror. The alien began to tremble. Rush raised his weapon behind Spirit.

"What? What are you talking about?" Eva asked. She could already feel a pit form in her stomach.

"Those suits! Those suits were going to solve all of our problems with the Crogs! Poof! Gone!" The president flared his hands as he talked. "Lydia was just to make a few translations and find anything to incriminate them! Then, find the earth colonies before anything else went wrong like from a few years ago! Like he promised."

"What?" Eva gaped.

The entire crew's eyes went wide. They leaned back as if the president was going to eat them where they stood.

The president continued on. "He promised that if I brought Lydia to that planet, she would find some text of some experimentation. The suits would help eliminate the problem at its source. The poison Dr. Nongon gave me was said to handle this! Better yet, it should've been every enemy in the galaxy!" He let out a hysterical laugh.

Upon seeing this, Sagittarius rushed over to the computer and terminated the connection. He began frantically pushing buttons as he set Argen into his seat. The machine whirled to life, engines roaring.

Eva immediately went to her seat. "Sagittarius! What are you doing?" She glared at Sagittarius.

"Saving our skins and ending this madness!" Sagittarius turned to the crew. "Get in your seats now!"

Rush ran over to his seat followed by Spirit. Brinnia went to the seat next to Argen and Sagittarius. Aikka ran over the bridge where G'dar was nestled quietly in the bedding made for him. The Nourasian prince barely as enough time to get into his seat as the ship went into full throttle.

—-(Don Wei and Umbria)-

"I was just a junior scientist at the time," Umbria uttered. Her words gave her strength as she spoke. "I specialized in creating good relations with aliens by creating suits that would make it easier for aliens to live on earth without compromising the body."

Don Wei leaned forward. "Where does Mercu come into this?"

"At the time, I didn't think that the company I was working at had something shady to hide." Umbria gave a bitter laugh. "Boy was I wrong. I guess that's what happens when you don't research Tarturus."

"Tarturus?!" Don Wei got up. He gritted his teeth as his head throbbed harder than before, his hand bolted to his temple. "You mean the scandal where innocent aliens were kidnapped and tortured? YOU were one of the scientists?"

Umbria sighed. "Not something to be proud of. I just got out of college and started working."

—-(Flashback)-

20-year-old Umbria was looking at the latest notes from her company's latest experiments. "Well, so far the filtrations seem to be working for the aqua suits. We just need to set up the module to be less clunky when they need to sit down."

"Going at your notes I see?"

Umbria nearly jumped as she looked up from her work. Her dark hair nearly fell out in a tumble. "Sorry Director Nongon! I was a bit distracted by my latest research. With just enough tweaks, the aquatic aliens can enjoy Earth visits without the inconveniences when it comes to being on land."

Nongon gave her a hearty smile. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's alright, my dear. I'm just glad you're enjoying your work. Keep it up and I'm sure you'll be the head of research in no time."

Umbria smiled. "Thanks so much sir!"

Nongon nodded. "There is something that I would like for you to do." He pulled out a vial. In the glass container was a tuft of silver fur. "Could you please have a look at the DNA coding of this fur? I want to make a special medicine out of it."

Umbria tilted her head. "What kind of medicine?"

Nongon handed it to her. "A medicine that's going to change the galaxy and Earth. It'll heal any alien with no side effects. Poison would be no match for it!"

Umbria's eyes sparkled. "Wow! That's amazing sir! Sure thing! Just let me have another cup of coffee with twelve lumps of sugar and I'll be on my way!"

—-(End Flashback)-

"I was so naive back then…" Umbria sighed. She rolled her head toward Don Wei even though she couldn't see. "I had no idea what he was really planning until I met Mercu."

Don Wei stared at her in pure horror. "Dr. Nongon was the mastermind? That…doesn't make sense…If he was a master criminal…why would he show himself at this point?"

"For one, he was very careful about his image," Umbria answered. "He laid low until the second Crog Invasion pulled him out of hiding. Second, I'm sure he wanted revenge."

—-(Flashback)-

Umbria yawned and tried to take a sip of her coffee. Her mug turned out to be empty the moment it touched her lips. Upon seeing this, she looked at the time on her watch and let out a groan. "3 A.M. I really need sleep." She trudged outside the building to take in the fresh air before her.

The stars were bright and full. She found it hard to believe that she was in a forested area that's just three miles away from her hometown. Umbria held up the vial against the full moon. The fur inside turned silver against the light.

"I don't know how Dr. Nongon was able to get samples of these, but I feel like I'm going in circles." Umbria pulled out the numbers and charts that were scrawled on her papers. So far there was barely anything adding up. "It cures disease for a little while but it back peddles and I have to start all over again!" She tosses them into the air. "This is hopeless!"

Suddenly, she heard something. A soft melody in a language she's never heard of before. Umbria listened to it. She glanced around but it was almost hard to make out each direction it was coming from. It stopped.

Am I hallucinating? Umbria sighed. "Better head to bed." She knelt down to pick up some papers when the melody started up again. This time followed by a mournful howl. She glanced up and saw that it was coming from a shed only seven feet from the research facility.

Umbria took a step before she froze in place. That shed was only visited by the director and no one else. However, the melody was too enchanting to ignore and her brain was dying for something else to do. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She walked over to the source of the song.

She gazed around to make sure no one was guarding the place. Umbria reached the shed down, her ear pressed against the door. The song continued on. She put a handle to the door and turned the knob. Umbria groaned. Locked great! She soon noticed a keypad. And password protected! Just my luck!

Umbria fiddled with the code. Each peep made it dangerously obvious someone was intruding. She whipped her head around, so far no one came by. After five tries, she was almost ready to give up then she remembered when he first met Mr. Nongon. She punched:0732.

The door gave a satisfying click. Umbria smiled as she snuck inside. She nearly tripped as her shoes hit a nearby cable. She shut the door as quietly as she could. The moment she turned around, her jaw dropped in awe.

In a tube was a fox-like alien she'd never seen before. The fur was silver like mercury. A strange mass was wrapped around him. Fox ears that twitched at almost every sound. Silver eyes opened slowly to Umbria standing in front of her.

Umbria stood where she was. Her mind froze to the marvelous sight, her eyes locked onto the alien. Then, she leaned back as the creature raised his head as if he could hear her thoughts.

The fox alien tilted his head to one side. The masses moved around, only to reveal nine beautiful tails coiled around it tightly. It straightened as much as the tube would allow.

Umbria gulped. "H-hello…can you hear me?" She was met with no response. Of course he can't! She thought. He's practically in a fishtank! "Would you like to get out and stretch? I'm sure you've been in there long enough."

In the small space it had, it nodded slowly.

Umbria clapped her hands together. She went over to the controls and went to have a look. There were seven buttons that were of the same color and shape. All of them were in a straight line. She grimaced. "Uh…How does this work?" She pressed a random button in the middle.

The room buzzed as sparks of electricity surrounded the pod. The creature writhed in pain, slamming its body against the glass. A howl of pain erupted from the glass, then it subsided.

Umbria shrieked. "I'm so sorry! Are you ok?!"

The creature nodded. It pressed its head against the surface. The claws soon appeared out of the mass of fur. He soon pulled out a number.

"Four?" Umbria looked at the buttons. She counted them at the left and pressed the button. She watched in amazement as the liquid in the pod drained and the glass slowly lifted up. She tried to run over to the fox alien as it fell down to the floor. As she caught him, she lost her balance and fell over.

The alien coughed, then he got up slowly. He shook the water off of his fur and helped Umbria up. His tails stretched and twisted. "Are you ok?"

Umbria groaned. "I'm fiiii-aaaahhhh! You can talk!" She found a wet claw on her lips.

—-(Back to present)-

Don Wei chuckled. "Not exactly the ideal meeting, huh?" He rubbed his head as the pain came back.

Umbria gave a dry laugh. "It didn't help that he didn't have any clothes on." She coughed. "However, when I learned about the aliens being held captive alongside Mercu, I had to act."

Don Wei leaned forward, eyes concentrated on Umbria's shape. "You're the tipoff to the police."

Umbria coughed again. "I was but I had to get Mercu away because I didn't trust any other human that would be safe with him. Not even the president." She gave a smile. "So, I hid him in my family's cabin deep in the northern woods. We talked, laughed and well…" Her cheeks flushed. "You get the picture."

Don Wei smiled. "Kind of like me and Maya."

Umbria frowned. "However, it wasn't long until Mercu had to leave."

Don Wei raised a brow. "What? But…did he know you were pregnant?"

Umbria nodded. "Yes, but it would be dangerous if anyone found out about a human/alien. When Lydia was born, I decided to raise her as a human for the time being while Mercu continued hiding among the stars."

"Why?" Don asked.

"Because that whelp has the last Starpelt blood in her!"

Don Wei got up as two figures walked into the room. He shielded his eyes as harsh light flooded the room. He gritted his teeth as his head throbbed even worse before. Once they adjusted he got up from his spot and gasped in pure horror.

There were humans that seemed to be stuck in half-transformation in cells much like his. Some had enlarged hands. Others with reddened or oily black skin with spikes jutting out. Larger cages sat at one of the room, all of them filled with every kind of nightmare that even Don Wei would never dream of. Feral hisses and snarls filled the room. Standing in the middle of it was none other than Dr. Nongon himself.

The lanky professor stood tall amongst the chaos. He was dangerously close to Umbria as he leaned over and glared at her. Next to him was the President of the Earth Coloition. The balding man was just as surprised as Don was.

"What's going on here?!" The President asked. "I thought you've created a solution to our problem!"

"Solution?!" Don Wei marched over to the bars. "You call kidnapping humans a solution? A solution to what?"

Dr. Nongon smiled. "Why to the Crog problem. I was tasked to make some super soldiers that are clever enough and strong enough to take an entire army of two hundred." He lost his smile as a hunk of vomit landed on the floor a few feet next to him. "Well…I was partially successful."

"Partially?" The president roared. "Our situation has just gotten worse! Those suits didn't give the poison and now Lydia's under Crog imprisonment."

Don Wei nearly fell backward in shock. Umbria let out a squawk. All the humans just stare up at the president and scientist.

Dr. Nongon didn't seem troubled by this. "Well. At least we know where to find her. What about the rest of the crew?"

"Still unknown but now they've expanded to more aliens!" The president cracked a smile. He rubbed his head. "At this rate the world is doomed!"

Dr. Nongon shrugged. "Oh well. I'll find them soon enough. However, there's still a good deal of you to take care of."

The President stared at him in confusion. Before he could say anything, he grunted as something pricked his back. He turned around to see a furry black tail holding a needle. He looked at Dr. Nongon, who just gave him another smile, then fell to the floor.

Don Wei shook in pure horror as he saw nine tails sticking out from behind the doctor. A heavy realization crawled into his mind. He's not human.

—-

A/N: That's the end of this chapter. What do you guys think of the plot twist? Also, the crew is going to face a whole new level of trouble.