The Federation had a standardized design for bases like these, so what they were showcasing wasn't actually anything new to Becke and Reno; nonetheless, some things were placed differently than the typical blueprint.
The reason for this was quite simply because this base was smaller than what its design was based on. Due to low resources, of course, and not wasting them on a simple base.
Yayha led through the halls and occasionally stopped to point out a few rooms.
"This place is the conference room," he pointed out. "It's used for meetings with leadership, usually discussing plans for the future."
Becke merely nodded; it wasn't anything special, just a room used for meetings, so Yayha moved on quickly. He also pointed out the sleeping quarters when they passed by them. To be frank, they were just two large rooms filled with bunk beds and some personal items that sort of customized the beds to indicate who they belonged to.
"Once Commander Ridge is back, we have plans to begin preparations for expansion, so rooms like these will likely be replaced soon enough. For now, you will be staying here to sleep, but I imagine you can ask for a personal house during expansion," he said before moving on.
"No problems, I generally don't find it bothersome to sleep anywhere, so it doesn't really matter where I lay my head," Becke replied as they hobbled over to the next spot.
"I'll have you resting in the clinic room for the next couple of days regardless, just in case, so you won't have to sleep in these quarters for long," Yayha said after coming to a stop and smiling.
"Well, I won't complain, "Becke laughed.
"Even if you did, I would still force you to rest in the clinic, sir. You've only just recovered, so they will need to monitor you for at least a little while longer to make sure nothing's wrong," Reno interrupted.
Shaking his head with a smile, Becke simply watched Yayha, who continued with his tour.
"This is the cafeteria; it's not much, just some tables and a kitchen, as well as a storage room which stores the food supply of the entire base pretty much. Minus some food still stored on the ship, though that could be considered emergency rations. Never a good idea to store everything in one place considering how important food is for us at the moment," he explained.
"I understand. We also stored the rations in three different places on my ship; despite its size, you would be surprised by how many hiding places there are to store things. I guess the designer must have taken that into account when designing the ship," Becke replied in understanding.
"Mm, anyways, moving on," Yayha said, moving on to the next thing.
Despite Becke's injuries and now weak muscles, the three of them were able to breeze through the main building quite quickly. Besides the cafeteria, Yayha had shown him the armory, a small science room where the scientists typically gathered, though on this occasion, besides Dr. Lind that they had seen in the clinic room, the other two seemed to be in the actual laboratory working.
He had also shown them the Armory, and finally led him back to the clinic to rest.
"That was the entire main building; we'll continue the tour outside after you rest some, "Yayha said.
"Okay, I won't be resting for long; I just need to catch my breath again," Becke said while sitting down with the help of Reno and letting out a breath of exhaustion.
Nodding, Yayha simply turned on his wrist panel and began organizing some work-related things while they waited.
"You sure you're alright to continue?" Reno asked, concerned.
"Of course, besides, getting more movement will only be good for my body. I can't exactly rest in bed all the time; otherwise, my muscles will continue to deteriorate," Becke replied while rolling his neck to stretch it.
"Okay, just be careful," She replied.
"I got you, don't I?" Becke smiled. Hearing this, she also smiled back.
Yayha, seeing this, merely raised an eyebrow and smirked before burying his head back into the panel.
Ten minutes later, having fully rested and ready to move on, Becke stood up. "Lead on."
Nodding, Yayha took him to the entrance of the building. "There is no need for a helmet when going outside. I know you fell into that coma after being injured before you were able to know any of this, so no need to be afraid," He said after seeing Becke about to ask for a suit or helmet.
"Okay, that's definitely good to know."
So the three of them took their time going from building to building, very similar to their time in the main building. Yayha simply took them to the building, described its function, then introduced the workers or people inside it and moved on.
The tour eventually ended after a couple of hours at the road leading to the mining outpost.
"This road here is to the mining outpost, which holds unrefined ores and things of that nature. I would take you to it, but unfortunately we don't have any convenient method of transportation besides the trailblazers, and I don't want to walk you there with your injuries," he paused before continuing, "That's about it, though. Of course, we also have the ship, but it's just the standard battleship in everything but its condition."
"Thanks for showing me around. I'm familiar with ship designs as well, so no need for a tour of that. I also already have some thoughts on how some things can improve, but let's wait till Ridge is around to discuss them, " He said with a somewhat strained smile. "I think I should go ahead and get some rest, though. It's been a long enough day for me, I think."
Reno, hearing this, nodded in agreement and took him back to the main building before Yayha could say anything. Naturally, he wasn't offended or anything; he just got back to work.
Meanwhile, the scouting party had spent the last few hours marking down new trees and possible food sources they found. This included a smaller, almost black colored tree and plants that weren't too far off from a type of cabbage from back home. Either way, it was all interesting stuff that they could take.
Animals-wise, they did find some fish in a smaller pond-like body of water, though they didn't seem quite normal.
At least in Ridge's mind, they seemed a bit dull?
He couldn't exactly describe how it felt, but they barely reacted when he reached out to touch them, and when he did touch them, they still didn't move. It looked quite small, maybe the same size as the palm of his hand, and quite surprisingly it was the same color as the birds and rodent animals they had first spotted, if not a little bit lighter in shade. It was mostly that green with brown spots, and those patterns and colors were mostly uniform with the other fish. They appeared to be some type of species, perhaps.
Besides the animals and one different tree they found, the group also managed to finally see something interesting in regard to the target they were tracking.
Further into the forest and, to be exact, on the opposite side of it, an opening appeared once again, and just like the other opening, there was yet another cave-like opening. Only this time it was bigger, and the dragging marks on the ground indicated that their target had finally put them down and instead decided to just drag them through this new passageway.
There was also a good chance it could be their den or home; either way, Ridge was glad they actually found something. This trip thus far has been very valuable, and making this discovery would only make it more so.
"Two of you on each side of this cave with your guns drawn. I'm gonna shine the light inside and try to see if there's anything. The rest of you stay behind me, but keep an eye out.
Also bring that drone back from scouting. I want to use it to go first if this cave goes deeper than it looks," He ordered. They followed it to the letter, and the drone operator also recalled his drone.
Clicking his lights on once again, Ridge made sure to shine it on the inside of the cave. The first thing he and the others saw right away were moss-like coverings on the ground.
Frowning immediately, Ridge continued looking and noticed that there seemed to be patches of what looked like dried-out blood and some parts of the issued suit of the Federation.
With the drone now recalled, he turned around and shut his lights off. "Looks like a familiar enemy has taken refuge here; we're gonna have to make sure to take them out. I brought my flamethrower as usual; we'll have the drone scout further inside to try and spot anything, then I will smoke them out. This all depends on the depth of the cave, though," Ridge said seriously.
"Copy that, sir," They repeated aloud.