Looth climbed out of the landing shuttle. He had to squint against the sunlight, even though slowly moving mist blocked most of it out. The mist contrasted nicely against the brown rocky ground. He took a deep breath. It was indeed a fine morning.

He had decided to accept their surrender in person, and had brought a minimum delegation that now was waiting inside the shuttle. He wanted to make an impression of being in total control, all by his self.

Sensors aboard the shuttle had registered a group of Aryyt't leaving their entry tunnels. They wore their ridiculously colourful protective suits, but were unarmed. Indeed, the sensors could almost screen every single atom of these strange creatures, now approaching Looth's position.

And there they finally were. One by one they cleared the mist and approached him. When they got close enough he could see their faces. There was nothing but hatred and sadness.

The Aryyt't bowed before Looth.
 

"Check pressure on unit 3!" The Professor didn't look up from her notes.

"Nominal" another scientist responded on the radio.

"Confirm heat shield sealed!"

"Confirmed!"

The Professor looked up from her notes and nodded towards a technician sitting by a large computer across the room.

"Uyyt, initiate pre-launch sequence!"

"Acknowledged!" the man confirmed.

Even though they had worked without a break the whole night, no one in the control room showed any sign of being tired. Intense tension and nervousness made the air seem like it vibrated. The Aryyt't planet-wide government had decided to finally allow the launch of their first faster-than-light capable vessel. As a matter of fact it had been almost ready for a decade. But it had been deemed too dangerous and mothballed only days before its completion.

Learning of the Treecu threat, the FTL program had been hastily brought back in action. But the professor had refused to help and had made herself completely inaccessible, working on her calculations for the antimatter explosion. She had been tracked down and brought to the base to finish the rocket and the probe that would jump from star to star, sending out distress calls. This would be made possible by the Professor's own frame shift drive and artificial wormhole technology.

"Countdown now! Ten. Nine. Eight" an artificial voice proclaimed, which echoed against the rock walls.

Director Syat approached the professor and spoke up.

"Al right Professor. We're done here. Please come with me."

"To the Furnace?" She asked.

"Yes. As far away from it all as possible, while staying on this planet" Syat confirmed, not surprised that she knew about its existance.

The Furnace was the best preserved secret of the Aryyt't government. A bunker located deep within the planet's solid mantle.
 

The rocket had barely left the upper atmoshpere when the probe detached. Before the Treecuu missile launched to intercept had the chance to explode in its proximity, it was gone and well on its way to a distant star.

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(OOC: Who knows, maybe the probe appears close to a star near you? What would you do? )