Even though no suspicious alien ships had appeared in their field of view, Svetlana trusted the Science Ship's detection modules and sensors and immediately ordered evasive action.
The Science Ship stopped heading straight into the system and adjusted its course, following an arc along the outskirts. It took roughly ten days to approach a Gas Giant.
An Observation Probe slid out of the ship's bay, fired up its thrusters, and flew toward the planet.
The Science Ship made a wide turn, keeping its engines charged so it could activate them and retreat immediately if anything unusual happened.
Normally, a Science Ship would park in orbit around a Gas Giant like this and spend nearly a month collecting gases from its interior and converting them into electricity, replenishing its energy reserves before continuing its voyage.
But this time, they discovered something unusual near the Gas Giant.
Several strange alien ships were parked in orbit, completely motionless.
Strange craft circled these ships, however. It was these craft flying about that had triggered the Science Ship's threat detection and made it keep its distance.
Yet as they slowly approached, neither the ships nor the craft showed any hostility.
Finally, the Science Ship reached an angle that revealed the vessels in full. Science Officer Svetlana quickly activated the telescope, photographed the alien ships, and transmitted the images to the Holographic Screen.
"This... this is!"
Svetlana immediately opened the book Xi Yan had once written, "Space Threats and Leviathans."
She soon flipped to the page she wanted.
"They look like octopuses, but their tentacles are short and thick, their bodies are enormous, and they usually have a green glow. They launch a kind of Swarmer... yes, this is it!"
But a crew member beside her immediately reported in alarm, "Officer! Our probe is under attack!"