To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

The Wallfish docks with the alien ship, and their scans find no living beings. Sparrow and Trig, in power armor, enter the ship, but Kira feels pain and fear and yells for them to stop. A projectile shoots out of the alien ship and tears into the airlock, and an injured alien enters the Wallfish. The alien uses Trig as a shield and retreats to its ship. Kira takes Falconi’s grenade launcher and jumps into the alien ship.

The Jelly immediately attacks, but The Soft Blade protects her. The Jelly tries to crush her, but the xeno hardens. It continues to squeeze until Kira passes out. In a vision, she sees a fractal design and realizes that The Soft Blade serves the fractal. She vows to fight and then wakes up. She uses the xeno, forming spikes and blades, to kill the alien. As she looks for Trig, her vision is overlaid with memories from the xeno. While searching the ship, she finds a room filled with birthing pods, each with a Jelly inside. When she finds Trig, they are attacked by a type of alien she has not seen before. Kira’s arm is nearly severed, but the xeno repairs itself and heals her arm as she watches.