An unexpected and prolonged visit [Izzy]

A ship hopped out of warp on the outskirts of the milky way galaxy, cruising safely passed the various stars and planets. Periodically the ship would linger near a star or planet, scanning them and also taking in the sights before moving on. It was a small craft, larger than that of a shuttle or fighter craft but easily small enough for either a very smell skeleton crew, or a single occupant assisted by computers. There was always a list of "chores" to do whenever she woke up to make sure everything was in working order, but Mo didn't mind. She was less concerned with the tedium and more concerned with joining back up with the fleet . Unlike most of her kind, Mo couldn't wait to be able to go out on her own to see all of the things the universe had to offer her; an admirable trait to be sure. But Mo was definitely starting to feel homesick, and was especially feeling anxious to be among people; anyone really- fortunately she hadn't gotten to the point of drawing faces on any objects and pretending that they could talk!

She was just passing through what her computer told her was the milky way galaxy, doing some surface scans and surveys for anything of note that her people might be interested in. Mo eventually flew closer to our little blueish green marble, as she felt... something quite strong wafting from it. "Weird," Mo muttered to herself, suddenly feeling that sense of gnawing lonliness dissipate the closer to the planet she got. Being a telepathic race, her kind were more attuned to feeling other psionics. While it took a number of them to be able to detect specific sources, this was a very strong psionic presence; atleast it felt like one. Mo decided to investigate, doing some unintrusive scans of both the planet and any computer her ship could find. But then something went wrong. Whatever her ship detected, did not want to be found and that brief elation of no longer being alone flashed with an overwhelming sense of dread, followed by her ships' computer systems overloading.

Warnings and flashing lights went off, as was the norm and Mo felt her ship take a strong dip as if something had grabbed her ship and was now pulling it straight down. "No no no no!" Mo panicked as she tried pulling free of whatever had a hold of her ship. Something else was IN her ship! With her psionics she could feel something just sweep through her ship before it ripped it down out of orbit toward the planet's surface. Mo only managed to get some control back over her ship, detecting a city below her as she both physically and mentally willed her ship to steer clear of it. Whatever had taken hold of her ship was finally pushed out, or chose to let go once it had dragged her out of orbit and Mo steered her ship toward the outskirts of the city limits; somewhere out along the coastline.

Mo didn't have any first hand experience or recollection of the planet's inhabitants, but healthy paranoia fueled panic told her they would definitely not like her being here if she crashed into one of their buildings. So she managed to pilot her craft where it would do the least amount of damage, and hopefully also mostly go unnoticed long enough for her to check her ship for repairs needed. The ship rocked as it made contact with the ground, its shields withstanding the impact and kicking up the earth as it slid dangerously close to the waters before finally coming to a stop. "This is why you should always bring a team of repair drones, Morphia. Just this once you should've been selfish and thought of your safety before everyone else," Mo paraphrased a lecture she had been given once by her parents, mentally kicking herself she didn't take their advice this time as she picked herself up from where ever she had landed after the crash.

But in her mind, she wouldn't have been doing anything which should've endangered her or the ship! Plus what was the point of teaching her how to fix all of these things if she relied on robots to do it for her? She'd mentally steam about that later. For now she didn't know how much time she had and so started up a diagnostic- or tried to. Seemed like the power went out, which was another issue she'd need to fix before anything else as she moved on. Hopefully the warp drive was fine too... otherwise she may end up doing far more damage than just simply crashing...

Kaela did what she did best on her days off. She was watching TV. She sat cross legged on the floor of her dusty apartment, practicing her shapeshifting by morphing quickly between the various hosts and guests she saw on the screen. It was...fun. Of course her shapeshifting practice was calming and enjoyable, but she was far more interested in the shows she was watching. Like this new one! Something about balls falling through the ceiling, bouncing off little pegs and falling into marked dollar amounts that the contestant would get. But only if their partner got the right answers to various trivia questions.

She stood up and gave a stretch. Martians didn't need to sleep much, so she spent most of her nights just relaxing. She strolled over to her window and looked out it, glancing across the streets, and then up at the sky. Then it hit her. This...presence. It called out to her in her mind, somewhat. It was difficult to explain, she'd never experienced anything remotely like it. Maybe it was someone like her?

She waited there for a while before the flaming craft streaked across the sky, and her eyes widened. "Ohhhhh crap." She whispered, shifting her form to her human form of choice, before growing herself a gray hoodie to cover up. That should do well enough. But this spacecraft...the last time she knew of that a craft landed on this planet, it was her people's ship. This one? Even if they weren't one of her own, she couldn't just leave them to their fate.

After phasing through the building and following the trajectory of the crashing ship, she eventually found the vessel, as well as the extra terrestrial working on it. She thought for a moment before landing hesitantly behind her, waving. Hi! Would uhm...would you like some help? I don't recommend you stay in this area for too long... Her greeting was telepathic in nature, as was the standard for someone who seemed blessed with abilities that most humans didn't seem to have.

With the help of her suit, Mo was able to jumpstart the ships basic functions; lights for instance. She'd need to doa proper diagnostics to figure out what all needed fixed as she clamored out of her ship to get a baring on where she had landed, and to check for any external damages. Yeah, those repair drones would've really helped her here as she had to painstakingly go around physically checking and eyeballing everything as she went. She was so absorbed in this task, she lost track of time and also didn't notice someone drawing closer until she was mentally spoken too. Mo jumped with a start and yelped verbally with some kind of heavy accent in response. That was in her head! Whatever concern or wariness she would've probably felt being caught out here like this was immediately chucked out of the window from his realization, and instead Kaela would be bombarded by random excitable thoughts. "Yes new friend! Mo needs help!" Mo mentally blurted out, clearly more focused on being able to talk to someone for the first time in awhile.

Yes that was actually one of the foremost thoughts on her mind right now, until she remembered where she was. "Mo can tell that new friend isn't human... and that new friend has not brought tools. How can help?" It seemed like Mo's accent at least somewhat transferred over to her telepathic voice, if only a little. But she had a good point. How was Kaela going to help her without tools?

Kaela blinked as she got closer, letting her invisibility fall as she descended from the air. That's uhm...well, yeah. I'm not exactly human. But I don't think you are either. She laughed a bit and looked at the ship. Oh man that was big. And technology wasn't exactly her specialty, but if Mo would let her pick her brain when needed, she'd at least be helpful. Speaking of which...

You said your name is Mo right? She smiled very disarmingly and put her hands behind her back. You're right I don't have tools, but I can use my Telekinesis to try and help you! Or I can help you move the ship since it looks pretty heavy! And then, obviously once that was done, they could be friends!

Oh! There they were! Much like how someone can hear word spoken, that was what Mo had to work with for telepathy as her mind kind of reached out for her. If it was allowed, they could more easily share information. "Mo can do all of that too!" Mo latched onto the fact she could also use telekinesis, reminded that yes- her ship was... big for one person. Yes that'd be an issue. Were people here as hostile as some of her kind previously thought? Wait this was Urf right? Mo's mind swam with questions for a moment before she focused back at the matter at hand. "Oh! Yes! Mo is Mo and new friend is... Kay-lah? Oh-kay," Mo mentally giggled at the little joke, as the reason she kept speaking with her name instead of "I" was because it made it easier to catch names with so many mental voices going at once than trying to sift through the voices all of the time. Plus her people wore suits, so it was an added precaution to use your name- and also polite!

"Mo definitely needs Kaela's help to move ship. Seems to be more internal damage than anything else," Mo continued. "Should find safe place to hide ship first, come in! We find one with scanners... if they work," Mo offered clamoring back in through a hatch on the top into the ship. "What is Kaela? Mo can't place the name but Kaela's mind is very distinct, different from Mo and other species Mo has seen," Mo asked curiously from inside the ship, heading to one of the consoles on the small bridge to see if she got any life. After a moment or two, it responded and came to life. Well that was a relief!

Kaela was beyond excited as Mo got more and more ecstatic. A new friend! With Telepathy too! Someone who could actually understand her! She giggled at Mo's little pun and put her hands behind her back. It's actually M'kaela, but you can definitely call me Kaela! I let all my friends call me Kaela! She nodded as Mo talked about the damage of the ship, but it was very clear that all of this information was going in her left ear and out her right. She had no idea what this little slime was talking about.

Mo invited her in though, and Kaela happily complied, phasing in through the wall of the ship as Mo made her way through the hatch. The girl looked around in awe of the advanced technology. Wowwwww, I haven't seen anything like this since my last Star Trek binge! She was looking at one of the consoles as Mo asked inquired about her race. To be honest? I don't really have an answer to that. I know I'm not human, but I've been on my own for a really long time.

Kaela it was then! Maybe Mo already picked up on that with her telepathy. Who knows? But yes, they were now friends so decreed Mo! Star Trek Binge? She binged on- Mo had to quickly do a little mental poke to figure out what that word meant. Oh! So she binged on walking stars? No that couldn't be- wait wait. No that was... a show wasn't it? She vaguely remembered one of the older crewmen talking about something that vaguely reminded her. "Mo's ship is mostly just a survey ship. Mo goes around and surveys planets for the fleet- resources or suitable sites for settlement," Mo replied to the statement about her ship, not even physically looking at the screen now as it seemed to just... do things. Kaela may be able to detect Mo mentally manipulating it as other consoles lit up with a thought.

"Mo has also been on her own for awhile- Mo is sad to hear that, but now neither of us are alone now!" Mo stated happily as she had a diagnostics running on the ship, already not happy with how many red "error signs" were popping up. Whatever dragged her down here, really did a number on the ship's systems. More importantly though, the engines were indeed fried. "Can't fly right now. Mo will be here for awhile, atleast for now. Mo has also found a place to hide ship in this cave here," Mo pointed to the display, willing a more three dimensional map to appear for them both to get a better idea of the surrounding area- it even simulated the movement of the waves. "Can Kaela breathe underwater?" Mo asked curiously, she may have a temporary solution if not; a backup suit. It wasn't as impressive as the one she was wearing now but it'd still let her do what she needed to in an emergency.

Kaela smiled at her confusion. Star Trek. It's one of my favorite TV shows. Basically, it follows crews of humans while they travel through space and meet various races. Some friendly, some not. She watched as the monitor just reacted to what seemed to be Mo's thoughts. It was fascinating. Kaela couldn't do anything like that at all.

She watched as Mo created the three dimensional map and simulation, and nodded at the cave. This was...in the bay. OK, that shouldn't be a problem. They'd just have to sneak past the Teen Titans. And even if they did see them...well, they had Starfire on their team! And she was very public about being an alien as well. So this all seemed fine.

Not naturally, but I'm able to change my form on a molecular level, so as long as I have a moment before we go under, I should be able to change my physiology to include some gills!

Mo naturally couldn't help pick through Kaela's mind as she explained. Oh, so she was right initially. Cool. Teen Titans? Another simple mind meld and she figured out what that meant. Some young people like her, but with crazy cool powers? Oh they had an alien on their team too? Sounded like they'd be okay just sneaking- wait, why not just ask them if Mo could hide her ship with them until she could get it fixed? Something about them not being around or being busy? That was inconvenient. "Oooh a shifter? That's so cool! Mo can only... well Mo can't show Kaela with this on. Would in the water but Mo is worried about drying out after Mo gets out of it," Mo said but her thoughts on what she was referring to would be there for Kaela to soak up. "Mo can help move the ship, would be easier for Kaela that way too," she added helpfully, making her way back toward the hatch to the outside.

Kaela nodded and took in the knowledge via her connection with Mo. Oh that made sense, she was more of a shifter on a physical level, rather than a molecular level. Oh that's interesting. My shapeshifting is a lot more heavy of a shift. She exited the ship the same way she entered, and slowly raised it into the air with her telekinesis, and the aid of Mo.

The flight over was...awkward. To say the least. Constantly trying to match speeds was awkward, even with their mind meld. Then they both had to lift half of the 35 ton unit, so that was a struggle to make sure it didn't get damaged any further. Then of course they'd have to stay as high up as they could manage, which wasn't a huge issue given their physiology.

All in all, it was about an hour before they got to the bay. Kaela shifted her form until she was in a bald, stark white skinned humanoid form, before gills emerged from her neck. OK lets get under the surface and hide your ship. We don't want anyone to see us floating above the city.

It was quite a task moving the ship, even with their physiologies. For Mo it may have required more effort, as her specific people had lesser developed psionic abilities than their more numerous kin. But with Kaela helping with half of the weight, she could at least devote more brain power to what was going on around them. She even got a physical look at her... true form? Mo didn't feel the need to ask right now, even if she was curious. Besides, they still had work to do getting her ship concealed. There was that giant T shaped building she saw while crashing- that's where the titans lived? "Mo is ready!" Mo mentally replied to Kaela, helping to lower the ship down into the bay. If the poster's understanding of physics was even remotely correct, moving the ship around underwater should be either that much more difficult or easier. Getting it back out might be the tricky part as Mo mentally linked back up with the ship's scanners, helping them keep on track before devoting the rest of her brain power to helping Kaela move the ship.

Mo was getting quite the mental workout as they'd soon arrive at the cave her sensors had found. "How is Kaela?" Mo asked with concern, hoping that they hadn't overdone it with all of the mental moving around.

Kaela floated herself around with her Telekinesis under the water, now freely breathing the water like it was air. This was a little harder, given the water resistance, but she had a trick of her own. Using her telekinesis to create small barriers and blocks, she was able to divert water currents, causing the water to push the ship along with their telekinesis, overall making for an easier ride.

She smiled as Mo asked about her wellbeing. Oh I'm just fine, Mo! I used to have to move so many more things so much more often. This is just a good exercise and review for me! She followed the scanner of the ship until they lowered themselves carefully into the cave, letting the ship come to a rest. So this one right here, right?

Oh really? That was amazing! Mo figured her slight mental fatigue could be because of some of her people's reliance on tech to do most of their heavy lifting, to make up for their physical shortcomings. When asked about if this was the right place, Mo double checked with the computer. "Yes! It's a tight fit, but Mo can probably fix that later, Mo doesn't even think that the ship can be flown out so easily. But thanks Kaela so much for the help! Now we can see what all needs to be fixed," Mo thanked Kaela excitedly, tapping back into the computer to check on the diagnostics. Yup, a lot of stuff was well borked. A lot of parts needed to be replaced, a lot of which she had- small stuff. But the engines were the important part. Thankfully the warp core was- wait no. What was that? "Uh oh! The Warp Core looks damaged..." Mo said crest fallen, sharing her diagnostic's findings mentally with Kaela as she pondered what she could do.

Warp Cores were very delicate things to work with, and she wasn't  super comfortable working on it right now. Could maybe try to send a message to The Fleet- oh no, sub-space comms were down too. Well, that could be fixed and she definitely felt more comfortable tackling that. "Well, Mo's best option would be to fix sub-space comms and try to get back in touch with The Fleet. They could help Mo with the warp core, but Mo doesn't see a rush right away. Mo should have plenty of time with Kaela helping hide the ship. So- Oh! Mo might have something on Kaela's peoples!" Mo said thoughtfully before getting excited again, putting the matter of fixing her ship aside for the moment and focusing on her new friend again. Seemed like the system was... kind of responsive but there seemed to be some pieces missing. Great, she'd need to fix those too... UGH! She mentally swore and regretted not listening to her parents about those repair drones!

Kaela stared into space as Mo talked about the things that weren't working on the ship. Engines. OK, she knew what that was. A warp core. She...could use context clues. Sub-Space what now? She tilted her head until Mo mentioned that she might have something on Kaela's people.

I have people? She asked quizzically, tilting her head and shrugging. She sensed through the meld and the look on her new friend's face that things weren't working as well as she'd hoped, and she held up a hand passively. Well, it's not the end of the world if you can't find any information on me! I've sort of come to terms with it. It doesn't worry me anymore.

Mo was a disgruntled slime. She really wanted to help Kaela learn more about where she came from after she had told her she had been on her own for so long. That thing which wrecked her computer systems owed her a lot of time and effort for what it did! "But after Mo saw you change, Mo had something to tell the computer to look for. Plus Mo wanted to help Kaela for helping Mo, which Kaela didn't need to do but did anyway; a good deed leads to another good deed," Mo quoted a saying that many of her people commonly shared. In theory it meant that if everyone in a community did something for someone else, that everyone would be taken care of. Probably worked more for telepathic races, as Mo had noticed that most races didn't seem to follow that kind of mentality very well. There was even the odd exception for her own people of all things!

"Mo will have repairs to do... but there's nothing that needs to be fixed right now. The Warp Core should be fine if Mo doesn't try to go to warp with it. But Mo can't fly right now anyway, and the parts of the engines that need fixed, Mo will either have to... get replacements for, or try and make new ones. But enough of that for now- how long has Kaela been on... urf was it?" Mo rattled off mentally for a moment before asking about how long Kaela had been here for... also double checking with the computer as to what this planet was called.