Glaxu had decided to make his approach during the day. Humans were generally a daytime species, so just showing up on someone’s doorstep in the middle of the night was frequently met with weapons and attitude problems.
Outermost was up at a very high altitude this morning, listening on all channels, but he had already locked down his target. Someone was sitting on the ground with an active sensor array pinging every second and a half. Either they were lost and listening for help, or had about the same opinion of the natives that he had.
One way to find out.
He configured the fightercraft’s variable geometry for a soft glide and stayed at ten thousand meters elevation. All four wings were out to their widest stretch, and he could almost stall in mid-air this way.
Below, his target was separated from the city by a reasonable walk, which would make for excellent security. He was coming up on it from what he guessed was aft, and was struck by the overall form.
Spacecraft didn’t really have to follow any rules of streamlining, since most of the time they didn’t have anything more dense than a solar wind to deal with. Outermost was designed for atmospheric operations as well, so the central spearhead had two canards and two wings, all multiply-hinged for whatever maneuvering needs you had.
The ship below was a cargo transport, big and somewhat blocky. Interestingly, from here it looked like a Mondi lying flat on the ground, with his legs together and his short wings up and over his head. A rather elegant waste of space, all things considered, but pretty.
The leg section was probably larder and systems. On his scanners, the wings forward were actually engines, so the ship would fly like he did. Or fly where he had to settle for a glide when jumping from a height.
Still, a technological species. That was a step up from the weirdoes further north on the equator. Hopefully they’d be able to help him repair his warp systems so he could get off this rock.
The morning light was just cresting and illuminating the valley where the city hunched angrily. On his screens, he picked up movement. Four humans emerged from the ship that was his target and began to walk.
Glaxu dialed in the magnification as the ship coasted. The humans were heavily armed, even for this planet, so they understood how dangerous the natives were. That boded well. He decided to set down secretly and follow them on foot.
If they weren’t from around here, they might not be such assholes.
He let his eyes grin as he flipped Outermost over on one wing, pulled in all the lifting surfaces, and pushed the engines over hard.