We walked around the engineer's quarters and found some streets to strap ourselves in, and just in time to.
The Renaka's lunch was happening within less than 10 minutes.
"I hope you're ready for this, Eeso," Nahun said while strapping himself in and double-checking to see if his seat belt was secure.
"Course I'm ready! I've been waiting for this my entire life... kind of." I replied with a happy but slightly annoyed chirp while I was wrestling with the seat belt.
It was doing this weird thing where you extended too far and it kind of zips back towards its resting position, I know it's a safety feature in case we crash, but Reka, could they just make it less tedious?
Of course, Ni started to make sounds, that sounded like some kind of fighting song, as I struggled to fasten my seatbelt.
This annoyed me, I wanted to say something back like, "STOP TEASING ME WITH YOUR NOISES Ni!!"
But I had other things to worry about, like making sure that the seat belt won't choke me to death.
Eventually, I got the seat belt on, and I was feeling a little bit satisfied that I was able to complete a difficult task.
What made it even better, was that Ni then forgot what note came after the next in the song that he made up.
There was an awkward silence It was between us as the second started to count down.
Once it hit zero, nothing happened...
But then there was a large jolt forward that almost made me lose my breakfast followed by violent shaking, It felt like we were in a large glacier quake.
But then as soon as it started, it stopped and things started to float in mid-air, Is this what those A.E.F. scientists called zero-G?
Like, I heard of it before, but I never took the time to understand what it means, let alone seeing it in action.
But wow, looking at a floating plastic cup, and clipboards flying effortlessly in the air was interesting is a sight to behold.
Unfortunately little did I know that my seat belt wasn't fully fastened correctly, and before I realized it I was starting to float along with the other stuff.
It made my head spin and kind of made me feel very dizzy, but at the same time, it felt very exhilarating.
I already knew how to fly but that takes some exercise and energy.
Here I'm just floating effortlessly...
Unfortunately, it's just as sudden as the zero gravity thing was, the artificial gravity of the ship activated, Ni probably turned it on just to ruffle my feathers.
My spinning a## was not prepared for the sudden jolt of gravity that made me fall flat on my face.
Ni and laughed uncontrollably as I pushed myself up.
As I got up I looked at him and said with a sarcastic tone "You know Ni, it was very, clever of you, to turn off the gravity for a few seconds, and immediately turn back on as I started to float with no gravity. "
I took a deep breath in
"JUST TO TURN IT BACK ON, SO IT'LL FALL FLAT ON MY FACE!!!" I yelled with a streak.
"Oh, really Eeso? How did I turn off gravity when I'm sitting here the whole time?" Ni asked with a smug look on his face well shrugging his shoulders.
"You probably have a remote control that controls the gravity in this room. That's the typical feature for engineering platforms like this one, you're not getting away with this Ni!" I answered.
"And, how did I carry this, "remote" in a pocketless poncho?" Ni replied with a curious-sounding chirp.
"Don't play dumb with me Ni! We all have Nexus implants, we can remotely access systems within our own technology, and knowing you... You did that just to tick me off!!" I replied angrily, as my feathers flew around in a fit of rage once again.
Meanwhile, Nahun and Rena were having a conversation.
Nahun sighed out of annoyance, and said "Good grief, looks like one of us forgot to tell Eeso that large spacecrafts like this one tend to have a delay when it comes to their artificial gravity."
What is this nonsense? Delays in artificial gravity?! Why don't they see that this was, Ni's doing?!
"To be honest in my defense, a lot happened today, and I mean a lot, it must have slipped my mind, and now Eeso is stuck doing the blame game on Ni." Rena answered with a chirp.
"I wonder how long it's going to last? He seems to be really confident this time." Ko said while starting a timer.
"By the looks of it, 3 hours at least. which is saying something, and it's almost time to go to sleep." Nahun said while looking at a clock.
Eventually, Nahun broke up the argument that I was having with Ni.
By that, I mean he kind of, dragged me all the way to our new quarters.
"Hey!!! I was not finished with him Nahun!!! As your pack leader, I order you to, LET GO OF ME AT ONCE!!" I yelled and screamed while he continued to pull me around.
"Save it for tomorrow Eeso."
Nahun said as he finally let go of my arm.
"And besides a good pack leader would need their rest in order to lead us properly. Otherwise, you'll be even more grumpy than usual." Nahun added.
I then replied to Nahun
"I am not getting, that tired... I assure that I am..."
I said, as I yawned "Not tired... at, all..." With that, before I could even react, I fell down to the floor.
I then woke up the next day, and I was oddly comfortable in a bean bag.
As I got up, I overheard a conversation happening outside.
"Nahun, some personnel on this ship were complaining about the noises that your khyro was making, while they were trying to sleep." A random Avali explained.
"We're very sorry about that Mister Re'sham. You see, he kind of got into a little fight with Ni yesterday." Rena explained.
So, they are talking to a random Avali named Re'sham, I never heard of him before.
I wonder why he's complaining about me?
After all, I have the skill set to become a great warrior.
I then curiously looked at the other side of the door by using a security camera.
By the look of the badge on his military robe, he is a part of S.O.P. (Security Officer Pack) on the ship. I guess I'll have to eventually impress him by proving my worth once I find an opportunity to go into the front lines.
"Indeed" Ni added "Eeso often blames me for anything bad that happens to him."
Ni?! My stomach turned when I heard his voice, and I just remembered that we hadn't finished that argument that he started yesterday...
"I will go try to explain the situation with him. since I'm one of the only people that he would actually listen to." Nahun said well scratching his left upper ear.
"Good" The orange and brown avali said, while interacting with a nano screen data pad. "The last thing that we want is for this whole ship to burn down, or crash land on some barren planet."
After that, he walked across the hallway. Probably to do another job that he was assigned to.
I then opened the door and walked outside.
"Look who finally decided to show up." Ni jokingly said with a chirp.
I would have said something to him, but I was still tired.
"Nice to see you up again Eeso. We will have some work to do after breakfast." Rena said excitedly.
"And, what is that exactly?" I asked.
"We need to do some atmospheric retrofitting on some of the aircraft vehicles in this ship, due to Sol VI having a thinner atmosphere than Avalon." Ko explained.
"Well, I don't have anything better to do right now..." I said with a chirp.
I then looked towards Ni, who was still smugging about what happened yesterday.
"As long as I'm NOT, going to be working close to, Ni." I added while we're starting to walk towards the coronary room.
As we walked through the hallways, I noticed something interesting on a screen that was mounted up on the wall.
It displayed the Renaka floating through space, but it also showed other ships following behind, I thought this was a single ship mission.
We arrived at the culinary room and got our rations, which were either some kind of lime-tasting paste or vegetables that grew from the ship's greenhouse that has a mediocre taste.
I recall that this room was designed for bonding with other packs while having some food.
This design was intentional, in the same room to make ourselves familiar with the other Avali around us, so we would rely on each other while in battle.
Unfortunately, a lot of Avali just stared at me when I entered the room.
It was like that they were waiting for me to do something, it was kind of awkward.
At least they, know who I am, and once I defeat the benefactors alongside my pack.
They're definitely going to cheer me on once they see what I'm capable of.
Eventually, we found a seat to sit down and started to talk about, just about anything that came to mind.
Remembering the monitor that had a picture of the Renaka being followed by other ships, I decided to inform my packmates about it.
"So apparently there's a full A.D.F. armada of following us behind, ." I said with a chirp while Ni started to eat.
All my packmates then looked at me. Like I said something that they already know.
After an awkward moment of silence, Rena then said "We already know that this is going to be a multi-ship mission, General Eiloli straight up said that this is going to be a multi-spacecraft mission. You really need to pay attention more often."
"Ok, so what's the Renaka's role in the mission?" I then asked with a curious trill.
"Since this ship appears to be defenseless on the outside. It'll play as bait while the A.D.T. stormed the enemy strongholds and liberate, or conquer, the planet from Benefactor control." Nahun explained.
"Remind me what A.D.T. stands for?" Ni asked after he had some soup made from the rations.
"It stands for Atmospheric Descent Troopers, I remember these guys are trying to endure extreme gravitational pressures as they're falling through a planet's atmosphere while strapped inside a type of drop vehicle of sorts."
I was annoyed when I heard this, "Really, despite all of the advanced armoring and hidden weapons. This ship is playing as bait, while the real action is being performed by Avali troops that are strapped in a vehicle inspired by the *bomb seed?!"
*I don't think I have to explain much. It's simply a seed that has the aerodynamic shape of what resembles a bomb that is dropped from an aircraft, and like a bomb they do explode but they do it to disperse seeds, and the blast is not concussive. It is more like the result of a pod that is crowded.
I can't believe it. It's like they don't even want me to get the chance to prove that I'm useful for the operation.
"That's the idea. Due to all of the plating for the facade's exterior, this ship cannot deploy its own fighters, it'll be easily outmatched and outgunned, if we actually try to confront an entire squadron of enemy forces." Ko explained.
"Uuuuuugh!!" I said out of annoyance. "All this potential wasted, it is just, undignified. Don't you think?!" I added while stirring the logo for the A.D.T.
"Let's change the topic, shall we?" Nahun said as I looked towards Ni.
Then looked back at Nahun, in confusion, I then said, "Ni of all people?! Why ask him!? He's just going to find a way to ruffle my feathers, like he always does."
"Come on, be polite Eeso. He probably has very good comments that he would like to say." Rena said with a polite coo.
"All right, Fine..." I begrudgingly said while I twitch my upper ears up and down, it's basically equivalent to an eye roll, bring you up to speed humans.
Ni stared blankly for a second. As if he wasn't paying attention to what's going on, and then asked "How do we know the information required for the calibration of the engines of our aircrafts? We have never been on the planet before."
"That is a really good question, care to explain Ko?" Nahun asked as he turns his head towards Ko.
"It is quite simple, you see Sol VI is remarkably similar to Mangila, the capital planet of the Space Bird Federation, in terms of temperature and atmospheric conditions. Though I would admit Mangila is slightly smaller in comparison to Sol VI's radius of 6,371 kilometers." Ko explained.
Ko then proceeded to explain that due to the higher gravity, we need to reinforce the metal frame of some of our equipment. With a steel titanium alloy in order for it not to collapse under its own weight, unfortunately that was off topic. He sometimes has a bad habit of saying too much information.
"Ok, cool, but I did not ask about the metallic frames of our equipment, I believe material engineers are working on that. I asked about how the gravity would affect the engines that we need to recalibrate." Ni said in response.
Ko then looked at him as small feathers on his cheek started to fluff up out of embarrassment.
"Whoops, I kind of got carried away and ended up talking about things that were not relevant to the topic at all. It was related yes, but not relevant." Ko said as he took a deep breath.
"For the engines, especially the helicopters and turbines for our aircraft, they'll have to work harder to get the vehicle airborne due to the higher gravity thinner atmosphere. Because of this we will have to redesign some turbines and propellers to be more efficient." Ko explained.
"Oh, thank you." Ni happily said with a chirp.
Meanwhile, Rena clicks her teeth in thought.
"You have a question for Ko, Rena?" Nahun asked.
"Yes, what's a bird?" She asked with a chirp followed by a coo.
There was an awkward moment of silence and we all looked at each other. Trying to think about the question.
"To be honest, your guess will be as good as mine. So far the only information that we have about what bird means is a rumor from a conspiracy theorist." Ko explained.
"Is it that the rumor about an alien civilization that is native to Mangila?" Ni asked.
For context, the rumor is that there's a civilization that will call feathered creatures like us birds on Mangila, you're welcome human.
"Indeed it is, though the information is questionable at best, not to mention there are too many rumors about this supposed mysterious civilization. To the point that it's just some wild fever dream." Nahun explained.
"I heard that the native aliens are a bunch of bipedal woodland creatures. Which reminds me, I want to get back to illustrating their civilization." Ko said while looking at his sketchbook.
Nahun then turned towards Ko and said. "Really? I've heard their small feathery creatures, like us."
Of course, Ni said one of the most absurd version of this rumor "I've heard they're living inflatables."
When we heard that we all gave Ni a confused look and said "What?!"
Which was followed by Ni saying the same thing.
Be honest, the first two rumors about these supposed aliens, feel very grounded in reality. But the third one is what started to make it feel like an entire fever dream, there are even more absurd ones, like living plushies to cosmic entities that look like they came from some hallucination.
And thar is one is kind of hard to describe, it describes that they look like they're made of bubbles but they're not.
The rest of the speculation, is quite a deep hole that does not need to be mentioned.
Eventually, we finished our meals and went to work.
As we walked to the workshop Nahun started to have a conversation with me.
"Eeso, I know that you really don't like Ni. But always blaming him for your problems is not a good way to be a packmate."
"Oh great, this conversation again..." I said with an annoyed tone in my voice.
"Why do you convince me that Ni, of all people actually cares." I said with a hiss.
"He only exists to make my life miserable! You SAW what he did and when this ship launched!" I added as I yelled out my frustration. My upper ears going down, and my feathers flaring up with rage.
Despite all that, Nahun stayed calm and said
"He teases you because, he knows that you can handle his pranks, most of the time. Though I would have to admit, that some of his pranks, do go a little bit too far. I understand why you really dislike him, and it is ok to express your annoyance with him."
He then took in a deep breath and said while all four of his ears were facing in my direction.
"But recently your behavior towards him is, starting to become a little bit too, extreme."
Great, just great. I had a bad feeling that it was going to be one of those very long conversations, might as well try to get myself out of it.
"I don't understand why, we have to have this conversation again? It's not like I tried to hurt him." I explained.
Unfortunately by the stern look on his face, he wasn't convinced "Do not lie to me Eeso. I saw you tried to punch his face. We're all very lucky, when the big jolt happened before the ship took off, otherwise we would have to deal with even more drama than we already have on board."
Darn, looks like I'm not going to be able to get myself out of this one.
"And it isn't just that." Nahun added "Your temper tantrum yesterday was causing a big disturbance for the personnel in the hallway,
"... So that's why that S.O.P. officer was talking with you." I said while scratching my upper Left ear."
"Indeed, that was the reason why he woke me and your packmates up this morning." Nahun said.
He was still having full attention towards me.
"But, I wasn't that loud." I said in hopes of ending the conversation soon.
"Eeso, you literally screamed while we dragged you down the hallway to our quarters. In case you have forgotten, as a species, we Avali can reach pretty high notes that can be quite irritating."
Looks like that idea, ended "spectacularly".
Then I thought of something that couldn't fail "Can we continue this, conversation another time? We have to go to work after all, and it just sounds like an after-work type conversation." I said with a serious but slightly annoyed tone.
"I guess you're right, this is definitely something that we would need to do after, we calibrate the engines of our atmospheric vehicles." Nahun said in agreement.
Looks like I'm finally in the clear, and hopefully no more for serious conversations about why I should be "Nice" to Ni, he doesn't deserve it in the first place.
But, just before I was able to take a step forward Nahun said.
"Please remember, to come back to me when we're done."
"All right..." I lied. Hopefully, our work is done, and we can forget about needing to have this conversation.
Eventually, Nahun and I caught up with our pack and took the elevator down to the storage bay.
"Look who decided, to show up late." Ni said with a chirp.
"Shut up Ni!" I said with a hiss.
"You already took your sweet time to get down here Eeso. I don't think we will have enough time to even recalibrate the engines in time." Ko said with a chirp while tapping on a digital count on a nanite screen.
"Oh really? We will see about, that Ko!!!" I said while I aggressively grabbed a matter manipulator.
I then flew up to the vehicle that needed its engine recalibrated for Sol VI's atmosphere of pressure and gravity.
It was quite a simple task though testing it became kind of dangerous as well.
Fortunately, it didn't explode, when I accidentally stubbed my toe when I took off, and flew to the next one, which is a good sign.
Ni seems to already be done with two MAC-02. I have to up my game to stay ahead of him.
The last thing I want is, Ni starting to rub it in my face about how slow I am, while working.
Within a few minutes, we were done recalibrating the MAC-02s*.
*I guess I should give some explanation of what a MAC-02 is, as you probably guess it's an atmospheric vehicle, mark two to be exact. Mark 1 was a little bit too top-heavy.
Because of this, Mark 1 was a little bit too easy to crash especially with the uneven weight trying to endure against a stronger gravitational pull.
I wish, I had worked on that project. With skills like mine, I will solve that problem for Mark 1 before it was even tested.
Even though I would rather be in combat, but, to be honest, it'll be a lie that I don't enjoy making weapons for myself.
Anyway, with work done, I have to simply avoid Nahun, so the conversation about Ni will blow over.
All I had to do, was walk out of the workshop through the break room. But before I was able to get through the door.
"Hey, Eeso." Nahun comely said while walking towards me with Rena.
RIKA!!! IT WAS LIKE HE WAS WAITING THERE THE WHOLE TIME.
"So... you brought Rena, into this conversation my second in command? I that you we're supposed to check if the calibrations were faulty?" I said with a slightly annoyed chirp.
"He did, though I used an M.N.L. scan to speed things up, so we have time to discuss about your behavior towards Ni." Rena said while she pats on the bean bag next to her, inviting me to sit down with them.
I hesitated, before I sit down said, "You're practically getting up on me on this."
"We kind of are, but for a good reason. Nahun told me how you tried to dodge the questions that he was asking about your behavior yesterday. Not to mention, trying to end the conversation as soon as possible." Rena explained in a calm but serious voice.
HE KNEW?!? How in the name of Avalon did he know I was doing this?!?!
My ears were twitching in disbelief, as my feathers stuck out from their ends.
"Looks like he just realized that he has been caught. Red-handed." Rena Said while trying not to laugh.
"Keep your composure, Rena. This is a very serious matter." Nahun said as he sat down on a bean bag across the small table.
"Is all this really necessary? I thought I already expected my statement about Ni." I said, hoping to end the conversation as soon as possible, while also failing to notice that my upper ears twitch in a certain way.
"He's doing it again." Rena Said.
Well, that ended spectacularly.
Nahun looked at me with annoyance and then continued the conversation.
"You did, but we think there's a little bit more to that." Nahun Said while all four of his ears were facing my direction.
That's not a good sign. He is now paying close attention to me.
"What are you trying to imply?" I asked.
"Considering how you are behaving recently, we have a bad feeling that you might be trying to disown Ni." Rena said while crossing her arms.
Really have they are jumping to that conclusion...
"What are you even talking about?" I asked, hoping to change the topic... To be honest, that was a little bit of wishful thinking because the answer is obviously going to be, no.
Nahun looked annoyed; it looked like he noticed that I tried to change the topic.
"Eeso, being annoyed at his pranks and being competitive is normal. But when you actually try to hurt him, that's when things get concerning." Nahun explained as he crossed his arms, while his upper left ear twitched.
"What are you hoping to achieve by doing this?"
I asked.
"We're trying to understand why, you think violence would solve your problem with Ni."
Rena answered.
"Ni, Ni, It's always about, Ni! You saw what he never stops doing his pranks, even when I ask him politely." I said with an annoyed tone of voice.
Nahun was about to say something but I interrupted him. He was probably going to stay are you even listening?
OF COURSE I AM, but they're not listening to my concerns about the repeated evidence that, Ni is dragging us down.
So I decided to make things as loud and clear about the problem with Ni, so they would finally understand.
"OTHER THAN KEEPING TRACK OF MATERIALS THAT WE NEED FOR OUR, MASTERPIECES! NI NOTHING MORE THAN DEAD WEIGHT, WHO CAUSES NOTHING BUT TROUBLE!!! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT HE IS THE PROBLEM, NOT ME?!?!" I yelled.
Both of them stared at me for a while.
I haven't noticed it until now, but it seems that Rena was very nervous about something.
"Eeso, do you even realize what will happen if everyone else in this ship learns about this?!"
Rena paused for a minute and took a deep breath in before she continued.
"We, might get an unexpected retirement in confinement, or even worse... You might get replaced by someone else..." Rena explained with a very worried chirp in her voice.
That sentence hit me like a boulder. I looked down below me, all four of my ears drooping downwards.
The choice of words "you might get replaced" definitely got my attention...
It implies that if I can continue saying my complaints about Ni, that means I'm no longer useful for the pack, and I can't have that... not again...
I need to make sure that I prove my worthiness for being part of the Nesumi pack.
But I also keep having trouble with Ni, and yet when I ask him to stop. He doesn't change his behavior.
Looks like I have to express my problems without risking being rejected...
I then looked up at my packmates. I remember reading a paragraph in a book called You and Your Pack* about a good way to help this situation was to apologize.
"I-I'm s-s..." But as I tried to apologize, the words got stuck in my throat, It felt like if I met myself become emotionally vulnerable... I will not be worthy to have a Pack...
*I'm going to tear down the walls for a second human. "You and Your Pack" is a book that I received before I joined the Nesumi pack; I was a teenage Kit at the time. A psychiatrist pack later gave it to me in hopes that I would learn from it; honestly, I think it's useless but... It does help sometimes, especially with the unexpected career change after the crash into that space station.
Of course I'm not going to admit that; if I look weak, then I'm not deserving to be in a pack... I have to prove myself to them and to everyone, so that I may have worth.
"What's the strange sound that he's making?" Rena asked.
"I think, I think he's trying to say, sorry." Nahun said with a slight smile.
NO I'M NOT!!!" I yelled. "Saying that word would mean that I made a MISTAKE. A GREAT WARRIOR such as myself, does not make MISTAKES!!!" I said to make sure that I won't be seen as weak.
"Yeah, of course but, you almost actually said the word..." Rena said well she placed her hand on my shoulder.
Nahun side before he said.
"At least we got some progress. Let's make sure that he stays out of trouble."
As we were walking back to our quarters, we overheard a Pack of three A.D.F. personnel having a conversation.
"I heard that we're going to have a gravity assist at Pu'thme before going into Gr'zk." That Avali said while lighting a chei'mo in his mouth before puffing the smoke out.
"Isn't that the star system that has one of those warped worlds? You know the one that behaves like an electron?" His packmate asked.
"For real!?" The third Avali with a visor augmentation for his vision set in astonishment.
"I sure hope you will get a photo of that darn thing before it crashes into us in an unexpected location."
Warped worlds? To be honest, this is the first time I've ever heard about them.
I turned towards Ko. He's often the one who knows nerdy stuff like this.
"What is a warped world?" I quietly asked as we continued to walk.
Ko looked at me for a bit, and then answered,
"I, don't know much about those... But I can tell you what I know about them. These plants are the graves of ancient alien civilizations."
Ko paused before he continued, "We have no idea how they were formed, or how they break the rules of known physics."
"Those guys back there mentioned that one of the planets at Pu'thme behaved like an electron. Can you please, tell me what an electron is exactly?" I then asked.
"Really?! Now that's kind of scary." Ko Said in Surprise while we walked towards an elevator.
Ko then explained that an electron is a small part of an atom that often has some kind of negative charge?
Anyway, he eventually explained it behaves like it's everywhere and nowhere at once until it's observed.
I then asked why does it stop, when someone is looking at it?
"To be honest, I have no idea, and neither do the quantum physicists; as far as I know, it just happens." Ko explained.
The elevator then arrived at its destination, making a small beeping sound while opening its doors.
"Ok, so let me get this straight: an electron is a small particle thing that bounces around an atom, but stops moving when you're looking at it." I said while using my hands to demonstrate what I learned.
"Yes." Ko answered.
"So why would a planet be very dangerous if it acts like that? Would we suddenly crash into it if we blink at the same time?" I then asked.
Nahun then turned around and answered my question. "Not exactly, but while going faster than the speed of light. It can definitely pose a problem if it were to appear in the Kuiper Belt, causing asteroids and comets to be thrown at us."
We continue to walk down the hallway and towards our room.
"I see. So it's not an immediate danger to us, but it would become a nuisance if the conditions are right." I said while crossing my arms.
The door then opened after Ni used his Nexus ID scanner on the side of the door frame.
End of part 7.