Fiere was about to reply when a purple glow suddenly shone in through the windows and illuminated the ready room. As they turned to look out the windows, they saw the purple glow against the blackness of space before arcs of electricity appeared and began to flash just as the ship's alarms began to sound, causing Solaris and Fiere to head towards the ready room's door.
"Report," Solaris ordered as they rushed through the door and onto the bridge of her ship.
"Sensors detected the buildup of an unknown energy just before a ship appeared out of nowhere," The sensor officer replied.
"Ship?" Solaris asked in surprise before looking at the viewscreen, where she saw a ship in the centre of the purple glow with the arcs of electricity flashing around it.
"Identify the ship," Fiere ordered.
"Registration comes back to the E D F Zero Zero One dash Spector," The sensor operator replied.
"They're already here?" Solaris asked in surprise before ordering, "Stand down from alert stations."
"How did they arrive so quickly? Are they not supposed to still be in the Felidae Galaxy? I mean, Diva Lorelie only just finished her last concert there a few hours ago," Fiere remarked in surprise.
"Admiral, captain, do you know who they are?" The first officer asked.
"It's the ship transporting White Dragon Tephe," Solaris replied, causing all the PSF officers on the bridge to show surprised expressions before breaking into excited discussion.
"White Dragon Tephe?"
"She actually came."
"It's the first time a white dragon has graced us with their presence since the Siege of Fenix Nest."
"I can't wait for the celebration to start."
"Do you think she will grace us in her true form?"
"I'm sure the empress will request that she does."
"Aren't Divas Lorelie and Rowena supposed to be travelling with her? Does that mean they're also here?"
"Oh man, I hope so, I have never seen them in person before."
"I hope Diva Lorelie will perform at the celebration."
"Okay, okay, that's enough," Solaris said to calm the bridge officers down before turning to the communications officer and ordering, "Hail the ship."
"Yes, Admiral."
💫💫💫
"Temporal analysis complete. We have successfully arrived at the target time and destination," Spector announced as everyone suddenly saw the planet that was visible out of the mess hall's windows change from Earth to Fenix Nest before adding, "NOTICE. I am now out of Dark Matter and am incapable of using the experimental drive again until I receive more."
"Yay," Tephe cheered happily as she looked down at Fenix Nest before turning to Adam and saying, "Adam, we're back."
"I know," Adam replied with a smile before replying to Spector by saying, "I will be sure to remind Revi that we need the dark matter she promised us."
As he finished speaking, Adam was suddenly hit by a spell of dizziness that made him reach out and grab hold of Stacey's shoulder to steady himself.
As he did, he thought he heard a group of distant voices that sounded both familiar and unfamiliar to him, though he was unable to make them out.
"Hey, you ok?" Stacey asked as she and the others all looked at Adam in concern.
"I just felt dizzy all of a sudden. It's passing now, I'm fine," Adam replied
"You sure? Your face is pretty much drained of colour," Lorelie asked with concern.
"The dizzy spell has already passed," Adam said while giving her a reassuring smile.
Emma looked at Adam with concern before she turned and looked down in wonder at the planet that looked vastly different to Earth as she said, "So that's Fenix Nest."
"First alien world?" Aphrodite asked with a wink.
"Yeah, it's a surreal experience," Emma replied.
"You'll get used to it," Aphrodite replied.
"Everything definitely looks better than the last time we were here," Adam remarked.
"That's to be expected since back then there was a giant space battle currently happening," Rowena replied with a smirk.
"That and we are not crash landing on the planet this time," Adam replied with a chuckle.
"We are receiving a hail from one of the nearby Phoenix Space Force ships." Spector suddenly announced.
"Put them through," Adam replied before a holographic screen appeared showing the bridge of a ship with several officers in uniform.
"Greetings, crew of the Spector, I am Admiral Solaris. We have been expecting you and welcome you to Fenix Nest."
"Thank you, Admiral Solaris, I apologise for our sudden appearance," Adam replied politely.
"It was certainly surprising and you're far earlier than we anticipated," Solaris replied before asking, "Might I ask if White Dragon Tephe is with you?"
"I'm here, hi, hi," Tephe said happily as she appeared next to Adam while waving.
"It's her, it's her," One of the bridge officers said excitedly as the others joined in.
"It's White Dragon Tephe."
"Kyaaaa."
"She actually came."
"Someone's popular," Rowena remarked with a chuckle.
"Hi, everyone," Tephe greeted with a wave.
"On behalf of Empress Revi and our entire race, we happily welcome you to Fenix Rest, honoured White Dragon Tephe," Solaris said with a respectful bow.
"Wow, they respect you so much," Emma remarked in surprise.
"It's not surprising," Lorelie replied before explaining, "White Dragons are revered within the Ashes Galaxy more than even in their own galaxy."
"Well, she did help save their entire race," Stacey remarked.
"Thanks, Admiral," Tephe replied.
"Please, feel free to address me by my name, honoured white dragon," Solaris replied.
"Okay!" Tephe replied before adding, "But only if you address me as Tephe."
"Are you sure?" Solaris asked in surprise.
"Yup. I don't really like this whole honoured white dragon thing," Tephe replied.
"Very well then, Tephe," Solaris said happily before saying, "We have received instructions from Empress Revi that upon your arrival, we are to inform you that you are authorised to land your ship at the royal palaces' docking bay, where you will be staying for the duration of your time on Fenix Nest."
"Wait, what? We're staying at the royal palace?" Emma asked in surprise.
"That is correct, we believe Empress Revi is keen to have her goddaughter stay with her," Solaris replied.
"I'm not surprised she wants us to stay there, though I doubt that's the main reason," Rowena said with a chuckle.
"What other reason than her honoured goddaughter could Empress Revi have?" Solaris asked curiously.
"I wonder," Rowena replied while flashing her signature smirk.
Emma leaned in close to Aphrodite, who was next ot her before asking, "Does Rowena know something the admiral doesn't?"
"We'll tell you later," Aphrodite whispered back with a wink.
"Sure," Emma replied as her curiosity increased.
"Thank you for informing us of this, Admiral Solaris. We will head down there immediately," Adam stated.
"Please wait a few moments as we need to prepare an escort for you," Solaris replied.
"An escort?" Adam asked in confusion, while the others all shared his reaction before he said, "I've never needed an escort before."
"It's a policy we enacted here in the Ashes Galaxy after the Phoenix Hunts came to an end," Admiral Solaris replied.
"Oh, ok," Adam accepted, since he knew that the Phoenix race had very strict admission guidelines into the Ashes Galaxy and even more so for their homeworld of Fenix Nest.
"Thank you for understanding. We will gather your escort right away," Solaris replied before ordering, "Communication officer, signal the honour guard to assemble."
"Yes, Admiral," The communication officer replied.
"Honour guard?" Adam asked in shock.
"Oh my," Rowena replied in surprise.
"How unexpected," Aphrodite remarked with interest.
"What's an honour guard?" Tephe asked in confusion.
"You're about to be granted your own honour guard and you don't even know what one is?" Stacey asked with a mixture of surprise and confusion.
"So what if I don't know? It's not like I know everything," Tephe pouted in response.
"Awwww, White Dragon Tephe is pouting," One of the bridge officers cooed.
"She's so cute," Another replied.
"It makes me just want to pet her," A third added.
"An honour guard, in this case, refers to several other ships escorting one or more ships as a sign of respect," Rowena explained to Tephe before adding, "They want to perform an honour guard for Spector as a sign of respect towards you."
"Oh, ok, now I understand," Tephe replied while nodding in understanding.
"Then, please allow a few minutes for us to prepare," Solaris stated.
💫💫💫
"Revi!" A female phoenix called excitedly as she burst into Rev's office without knocking.
"Elemence?" Revi asked in surprise before frowning and adding, "You know better than to burst in without knocking."
Apologies, Revi, but she's arrived," Elemence replied excitedly.
"Who's arrived?" Revi asked.
"White Dragon Tephe," Elemence answered before adding, "Admiral Solaris has just sent word that they are preparing to perform the honour guard."
"Well, it's about time," Revi said excitedly as she stood up and headed out of her office while saying, "I need to go greet her personally."
"Yes, Revi," Elemece replied excitedly as she quickly followed behind her.