The ship began to shudder again. With a dark, tearing sound, the very fabric of the universe warped. A sphere emerged from the heart of the void, leaving known reality behind. It was a colossal, iron sphere, nearly the size of the Sun. Its sheer mass caused tectonic shifts and earthquakes on the planet beside them. It was accompanied by at least five00 escort ships. This time, they were truly doomed. Everyone's eyes were wide with terror; they were so paralyzed by fear that no one could even move. They simply watched the impending catastrophe unfolding before them. In the dead silence, another signal arrived. It had to be the Federation. Captain Bjorn immediately ordered the signal to be accepted. The crew was in despair, everyone thinking, "This is it. We're definitely dead this time."
The signal flickered onto the screen. This alien was vastly different from the Reptilian. It had pointed ears that contrasted with its smooth, vibrant red skin. As the image sharpened, the being's majesty was revealed: it had four powerful arms extending symmetrically from its broad shoulders. Its upper hands were folded on the table, while its lower hands hovered over an invisible control panel. On its face, four amber eyes were stacked in pairs, gleaming with both immense intelligence and cold authority.
The arrogant and savage demeanor of the Reptilian commander vanished the moment Xylos appeared on the screen, replaced by profound respect and suppressed rage. As the lizard-man gritted his teeth and deactivated his comms, it became clear that even his race served only as the Federation's stern "border guards." Xylos fixed two of his four eyes on the Reptilian fleet and the other two on Ken's makeshift vessel. He made a gesture of approval with his upper pair of arms.
"Commander S'kar and his fleet are a bit too... eager," Xylos said, his voice echoing in their minds like a metallic melody. "They are the claws of the Federation. We are the mind. According to our laws, any species capable of a quantum jump attains the status of an 'Observed Species.' This means those Reptilians can no longer touch you, nor can you move within these coordinates without authorization."
Captain Bjorn gripped the edge of the control panel, holding his breath. Ken, with his engineer's eye, studied the massive iron sphere—Aeternitas. The energy radiating from a structure the size of a sun was so intense it threatened to overwhelm the ship's sensors. For the first time, Ken realized just how primitive the project he had dedicated his life to truly was.
"Your ship cannot withstand our gravitational field much longer," Xylos continued. "Micro-fractures in your hull are expanding at an atomic level. If you wish to live and learn your place in this galaxy, allow me to guide your ship into the main hangar. I officially invite you on behalf of the Federation Council."
Without waiting for the captain's approval, Ken switched the quantum engines to low-power mode. The heartache and the narrow corridors of the underground shelter felt worlds away now. Before him stood a bureaucracy and technology that humanity could not have even imagined. "Captain," Ken said, his eyes fixed on the four-eyed being on the screen. "This isn't an invitation; it's a necessity. And honestly, I don't want to die without seeing what's inside that sphere." Bjorn nodded with a heavy resolve. "Follow the signal, Ken. We're going in."
A fissure on the surface of the massive iron sphere widened like the pupil of a living eye. As Ken's ship was pulled toward the sterile, white light of the Federation, the Reptilian fleet silently stood aside to clear the path. The metallic creaks of the ship were replaced by absolute silence the moment they entered the hangar.
No one could predict what would happen next.