As repairs were undertaken on the next-to-crippled Gladius, the crew inside helped out as much as they could. Raalic, in particular, was overjoyed to finally have the opportunity to fix his ship. But before he did any of that, he put Sam to work learning everything he'd need to know if he was to become an engineer on the ship. And Sam had dived into it with a motivation he never knew he had! How many other humans could say they were serving on an alien starship!

But as the days passed and repairs were completed, Sam began to notice that Feo was nowhere to be seen. Sure, it could have been possible that she was on the carrier still, but why wouldn't she at least pop in to make sure everything was progressing on schedule? Even when the new drive core was installed, she didn't show up. A lot of the crew had noticed too, but only Raalic didn't seem perturbed by it.

He definitely knew more than he was letting on, but Sam knew better than to bring it up. It was all he could do to keep up with everything that was being piled upon him. But it still ate away at him, such that on the eve of their departure, he was compelled to ask Raalic about it, “Hey, do you know what's been up with Feo lately? No-one's seen her around since we were rescued,"

Raalic shrugged a little, “It's not mah place ter say, it's ah personal issue fer her. But suffice it ter say, things get hard fer her when she doesn't have much ter do… It's sadly ah common issue among Aeteri soldiers, especially ones who have been around since the start ah the war. Heavens above, the things she must have seen…"

Raalic shook his head sadly, “Anyway, repairs should be complete within an hour, so ah'll let her know personally. How's your progress through those theory notes ah left you?"

Sam chuckled softly, “A lot more complex than I'm used to, but I'm making a good dent in it," he replied, smiling at the diminutive Serani.

Raalic beamed at him and patted him on the shoulder, “Good lad! Well, ah'd best be off. Feo'd likely want ter know we're 'bout ready ter depart."

Feo slowly opened her eyes as she heard a soft rapping at her door. As she pulled her mind back into her body, she reached up and lightly brushed at her damp cheeks, before sighing quietly and calling out, “Yes? Who is it?"

“It's just me, Cap'n," Raalic replied, “May ah come in?"

Feo reached back behind her neck to disconnect the data cable, “Yeah, just give me a moment…"

She rubbed at her cheeks, trying to pat down the slightly matted fur, before calling out for Raalic to enter. As he walked around the corner and saw her sitting cross legged on the bed, he grabbed the chair from the desk and turned it to face her, before sitting down.

“Before yeh say anything, ah know yer not alright, ser don't bother try'n ter lie ter me about it," he said softly, “And ah know that there may not be much ah can do ter help… But we've known each other fer almost thirty years, Feo. If there's anyone yeh can talk to, ah'd like ter think it's me,"

Feo offered him a sad smile in response, “I do appreciate that, Raalic… Really, I do… More than anything, really… But they're just memories, and as much as I wish I could get rid of them, well, it's helped shape who I am. Besides, why would I ever want to forget her? Especially on today, of all days…"

Raalic got up and sat down on the bed next to Feo, resting his arm reassuringly on hers, “Ah don't know much 'bout Aeteri spiritual beliefs, but ah know that, wherever she is now, she's smilin' down on yeh, Feo. And yer crew and yer friends are all here, happy and willing ter be by yer side"

Feo suddenly hugged him tightly, startling the poor Serani slightly. As she released him, she smiled, “Thanks, Raalic, I appreciate you coming up here to try to cheer me up. Was that all you were trying to do? Heh, or did you get waylaid while on important business?"

Raalic chuckled, “Ah did indeed. Repairs are almost complete, maybe half an hour at most. Can ah count on yeh ter be ready when we are?"

Feo nodded, a little more hesitantly than she intended, “Yeah, I'll be heading to the bridge shortly, in that case."

As Raalic stood up to leave, Feo had a thought and smirked a little, “You might wanna send Sam up here," she said to him, chuckling to herself, “Given how much he enjoyed the wormhole jump, I think he'd love our tunnelling drive,"

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Feo made her way to the bridge. As she gazed around, all the stations were filled, bar one. The communications console behind and to the right of the command chair stood empty, a stark reminder of the cost of their mission. She sighed softly and sat down, in almost the dead centre of the bridge, before addressing her crew.

“We've been in space for many, many months, and I know that many of you are getting homesick," she began, patching in the ship-wide intercom too. Sam walked in as Feo continued, “I am prouder of you than any captain can be. You have proven over and over again your commitment to our cause, and I am grateful for your support. But now, it's time for us to head home!"

Feo stood up and turned to Lt Ashter behind her at Sensors, “Signal the Haali that we're ready to depart," she instructed, before turning back to her Quanoci helmsman, “Ensign Jinser, link into Astrogation and plot our return journey."

Ashter spoke up, “Captain, Admiral Olan is hailing us," he said. At her nod, he opened the comm channel, bringing up the Aeteri admiral on the viewscreen.

“Captain, we've cleared you for departure. Is there any other assistance we can give you before you leave?" Olan asked.

Feo shook her head in response, “Thank you for the offer, but you've already done more than enough. We'll send word when we arrive, okay?"

Olan chuckled heartily, “Good girl, that would be appreciated," he said as he saluted to her, “May the stars of our ancestors guide your safe return."

Feo returned the salute, “And may the spirits of fortune shield you from harm," she replied. The comm line went dark as she dropped her arm back to her side, “Alright Ensign, take us out, manoeuvring thrusters only,"

Ensign Jinser at the helm nodded, “Yes ma'am," he replied, before, with a soft rumble, the Gladius gently started to raise off the deck of the hangar.

It slowly started moving, inching closer and closer to boundary of the hangar, aligning itself for a smooth exit. Feo watched their progress carefully, “Okay, we're good. Bring our sublight engines online, and prepare to bring us up to ten percent maximum on my mark."

A loud thrumming filled the air as the Gladius' impulse engines came online, glowing a deep red upon the ship's dark grey hull plating. Sam glanced at Feo nervously, “Hang on, ten percent off the bat?" he queried, “Won't the g-forces be immense?"

Feo chuckled softly and turned to Lt Milian, sitting at one of the three main consoles in front of the command chair, “What's the status on our inertial dampeners?" she asked the Serani.

She pulled up the relevant holographic screen, before turning to face Feo, “Fully operational, Captain."

Feo nodded and indicated to one of the two seats either side of hers, “If you're still a little wobbly kneed, feel free to take a seat," she said to Sam, barely suppressing a smirk. As he sat down, she turned back to the viewscreen, now tied into the forward cameras and overlayed with trajectory information. Feo strode back to her seat and reclined back into the comfortable fabric. The data plugs hidden in the back clicked into place in the ports on her neck, connecting her into the Gladius' systems. She brought up her own holographic displays, before calling out, “Mark!".

Sam honestly wasn't sure what to expect, and this was evident by how tightly he was gripping the arms of his chair. But it was entirely without reason; as the frigate accelerated up to speed, with the hangar very, very quickly giving way to open space, it felt exactly the same inside the ship as when they were stationary.

Feo manipulated the holographic display above her, “Ensign, are we ready to make the jump into the Verge?"

Jinser called out from the helm, “Astrogation has finished plotting our course. Systems are nominal. Drive core charge at zero. We're ready to open a vortex on your command, Captain,"

Feo accessed the intercom again, “Attention all hands, we're about to make the jump to hyperspace. Secure your stations and prepare for interdimensional breach!"

She brought up the drive core systems, “Alright Ensign, let's do it! I'm inducing the core and bringing tunnelling systems online,"

The lights around the ships dimmed and the normally white light was replaced by a soft yellow. Sam gulped a little and resumed clinging to the arms of his chair.

Jinser's hands were a flurry across his holographic screen, “Tunnelling systems confirmed green. We're ready,"

Feo nodded, “Alright, let's bring us up to full sublight thrust," she instructed.

As the Gladius sped up, streaking through space, the planet that they had been orbiting started receding into the distance.

“We're clear of the planet's gravity well," Jinser called out.

“Copy that. The dark matter core has been engaged; vortex opening in five… Four… Three…"

Sam glanced between Feo and Jinser, then to the viewscreen. A green, swirling maelstrom was starting to form far off in the distance, similar to the wormhole that they had recently travelled through, but far, far smaller. With an explosion of light, the very space in the centre of the raging, green storm seemed to tear open.

“The vortex is open and stable!" Feo called out, “Ensign, take us in, maximum speed,"

As Sam watched, they raced closer towards the glowing hole in space. In an instant, they shot through, jolting the ship a fair bit. Sam stared at the viewscreen in awe; there seemed to be massive, towering, swirling clouds of dust and gasses, with the faint twinkling of what very well could be stars hidden among them. Everything was a hazy emerald hue; the dust, the stars, even the empty space itself seemed to glow with a deep green light.

“Dimensional jump successful," Ensign Jinser called out from the helm, “The vortex is closing behind us."

Feo swiped away her displays and sat forward, unplugging herself, “Good work. Bring our main drive engines up to speed, then set a course at point eight Verge speed," she instructed, “Lock in our course with auto-navigation, and project when we should make our egress,"

Jinser made a few calculations, before calling back, “Approximately five cycles, Captain," came his answer.

She stood up and looked at Sam, who was gazing, transfixed, at the viewscreen. She chuckled a little to herself and tapped his shoulder, startling him out of his almost hypnotic trance, “Can you come with me for a moment, Sam?" she asked as he whirled around to face her, “There's something that I need to discuss with you and Dr Riani."

Sam tilted his head in confusion, “Err, sure, I guess," he replied.

The pair quickly made their way to the infirmary, dodging the occasional glance in their direction as curious crewmembers walked past. Riani was sitting in her office in the corner of the room and glanced up when she saw them.

As Feo jumped up and sat on a bed, Riani came over and joined them, “Now, do you remember what I said to you the last time you were in here?" Feo asked, “About how Sabre would have hunted you down now that you know about the galaxy at large?"

Sam nodded in response, “Vaguely, yeah. Why?"

Feo and Riani glanced at each other, “Well…" Feo began, “It's pretty obvious that you're Terran. There aren't exactly many species out there that look like you. I mean, maybe a hairless Yernda, but I hope you see what I mean. If you're seen while we're out on a mission, it could bring the wrath of the entire Galactic Council down upon us."

Sam was quiet for a moment, “So what do we do, then?" he asked, looking between them.

Riani smiled a little, “Well, ordinarily we would do some gene modding if we need to disguise someone for infiltration," she explained, “But most sensors would be able to see right through it, that underneath all the mods, you're still Terran in your DNA."

Sam raised an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt.

“That's why we're going to be proposing to the Aeteri elders that you undergo a deep genetic rewrite," she continued.

Sam blinked in surprise, “Wait, so what's that? Like, I get what genetic modification is, but rewrite?"

Feo chuckled, “It's a process that the Aeteri developed well before the Great War, that can change who you are at the cellular level. We've used it in the past for infiltration, to allow Aeteri agents to slip into populated areas without arousing any suspicion. I mean, why would they, when it's only an Ilfemyoo, a Serani, Quanoci, or what have you,"

Sam closed his eyes as he processed that information, “So it can change my species?" he asked hesitantly.

Riani nodded, “In a broad sense, yes. And when combined with traditional genetic modification techniques, you can literally become anything you want,"

Sam glanced between the two of them, “How long does the process take?" he asked, intrigued.

The Ilfemyoo shrugged, “It depends on how substantial the change is. But usually, at least a month, and you'll be unconscious for at least 90% of it. And then there's the months of rehab afterwards, to get used to your new body…"

Feo patted him on the shoulder, “I'd like you to decide what you'd like to be before we get back to Kaara, and work with Riani to come up with a phenotype template to use," she said, smiling warmly at him, “Take some time, then come see Riani when you're ready, okay?"