With the battle over in their region for the moment, Max and Nico returned to their ship, where Yuri was waiting at the airlock to congratulate them on their performance.

"You did a fine job, and that final transfer, to anticipate the arrival of the attack on the planet, was masterful. You saved a lot of lives today." He welcomed them once Max opened the door for him.

"It's our pleasure. We have seen similar techniques before, and attacks that seem to be against a less important target are often a diversion for another offensive. It could have been one well outside of our position, but usually, it's only far enough to draw the local defence forces away.

The Arisen is an interesting target. They seem to have an incredible variety of knowledge about the battle techniques, but we can't seem to find any information on where they might have originated." Max replied.

"We wish that we knew. There was talk of an alliance to go look for their main base and take the fight to them, but after much searching, nothing was found. We can tell where they started their battles in the region, but there is no sign of a home world or any point of origin for the species. They just appeared and began attacking known species." Yuri replied with a scraping of his chitin plates that Max took as a sigh.

"Why don't you have a seat, and we will have something to eat while we wait for the next call to battle? They won't stay gone for very long, so I hope that your people are on a proper rotation so that they don't get overworked and exhausted." Max suggested.

"Yes, they are only on call every third day, except in incidents like this, where the enemy got too close to the station.

Mostly we try to send troops forward to deal with contested planets like Little Garden. It's a strange place, larger than an average star, but with gravity no higher than this station. There is an ongoing battle there between a half dozen species and the Arisen that has been ongoing for nearly a year.

They always need help, so we send whoever we can to fight and then rotate them out when they get worn down and have taken too many losses.

We won't ask you to go there. At least not until there are more humans here to guard the Anomaly. Your presence has become quite valuable to command, and they would hate to have to dedicate more troops to take the place of such competent allies."

Nico smirked at his flattery. "You mean that we're exceedingly violent, and our presence is likely to dissuade the Arisen from testing this position as heavily as others, right?"

"That's not how I would have phrased it, but I believe that you are right. None of our military leaders expected that you would challenge the Gray Ships like that. Their technology is incredible at stopping our weapons, but it seems that you have found a way to threaten them on the very first day." Yuri chuckled.

"It's what humans do. Adapt, improvise and overcome. There are a lot of dangers in our home Galaxy, and we really can't afford another one getting in, so we will do our best to keep them away from the Anomaly.

We weren't told the full details of the deal that you have made with our leaders, but from what I can tell, it's mostly to protect this region of space." Max agreed.

"That's precisely what it is. They agreed to send a force that would help us defend the Anomaly and take the stress off our forces. If they got through and proliferated without challenge on the other side, it would be a disaster for us." Yuri informed them.

Nico brought over three plates of food and a pitcher of juice from the Replicator, and the Koleska Commander stared at it with great interest.

"I tried to match it to your species' cuisine as well as I could, based on the earlier meal. Hopefully, it is to your liking, and from what I can tell, it shouldn't be anything that your species finds toxic."

The Koleska scanned it with a handheld device and waited as the results came back, then nodded. historical

"It all appears to be safe to eat. The taste might be questionable, as our species are very different, but I am assured that it will not kill me."

Now that was a level of trust that Max could appreciate.

They all taste-tested Nico's custom-designed menu. Then Yuri looked at the juice with a hint of sadness in his thoughts.

"We have good Rum as well, but we weren't sure how your species reacted to alcohol. Some species can't handle their drink, some don't notice it at all, and others find it to be toxic." She explained.

"I was just going to say that we don't usually drink unfermented juice after childhood." The Koleska laughed, and Nico brought a bottle of Rum out of her Flat Space, then poured it half and half with the Orange Juice before passing the glass to the Koleska Commander.

"That is my personal favourite. I do hope you like it. If you like a fizzy drink, I can do that as well." She added, then made a small pitcher of Rum and Cola from the Replicator.

Yuri sipped the drink with an impressed look, then stared at the black concoction in the jug Nico placed on the table.

"What is that? My scanner says that it is not only acidic, but corrosive, both sugary and alcoholic at the same time, but not in the same way as a juice."

He poured a small glass of it, then gasped when the carbonated beverage hit his tongue and almost spit it out.

"It's an acquired taste. But the bubbles make the flavour interesting."

"Bubbly drinks? I like the bubbles, but this Cola that the humans drink might be better suited as an industrial cleaner."