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Chapter Text

Sam stood up once the make-up artist was done, checked her outfit for any last minute adjustments and went off to the studio with a sure stride while repeating to herself every couple of steps 'I can do this, I can do this, I've got this'. She was gonna go out there, make a name for herself outside of that of her family that her father would no doubt benefit from and make everyone who thought she was just 'Daddy's spoiled princess' eat their words along with some dirt.

Sam chuckled lowly as she walked, thinking how bizarre it all was: They had been here for over a year and had shown every disposition to interviews and questionings in the official meetings at the UN; Hell, they had voluntereed their not so high-ranking officers for interviews months ago and yet Nishimura Media was the first one to use the Golden Ticket and call up this 'Captain Lara Rhy-Croft' for an interview, which since announced had been all every other entretainment and news media had talked about.

Sam would've been proud, had it not been because a good portion of the news and articles focused on her as 'The Nishimura Heiress' or 'The Rookie Journalist that had used her silver spoon' instead of recognising that everyone was so afraid to fuck-up that she was the first with the guts to interview one of them. If only she could tell them that her father had been pissed for months that no one dared to do the interview and she capitalized on that to work her way into his mind that she could do this; but that would've been a breach of confidence between her and her dad that she was not going to do, no matter how sketchy their relationship had been over the years.

As Sam walked up to the studio's doors, the sound technicians ran up to her and she stopped, lifted her arms and let them work on getting the mic on her while the studio director, Patty Fenn, walked up to her.

"So, we're as ready as we'll ever be-" Patty talked unfazed by the pressure of this historical moment, her cold head the reason why Sam had especifically asked for her when getting together the team that would be behind cameras "She showed up an hour ago, make-up impeccable. She pulled out some sort of tablet out of thin air and has been apparently reading while the sound techs geared her up...She seems nice"

"Has she said anything to anyone?" Sam asked, trying to emulate Patty's non-chalant attitude "What's this about 'apparently reading'"

"Not much, small talk with the techs while they did her mic. Asked about the soccer match last night and told the Pulp Fiction Ketchup joke to one of them-" Patty gave Sam a once over and approved of Sam's choice of dress for the ocassion -A black, fashionable business attire with a white shirt- "And well, she pulled out this thing that seems like a tablet from a stick. She just shook the thing and it came up. It's transparent and you can see the content from the other side but I don't read alien. It looks like their writting symbols were made by a five year-old with crayons if you ask me"

"Don't let her hear you. I don't want the new overlords to take you out and shoot you in the alley for disrespecting their culture-" Sam joked and Patty let out a chuckle that sounded like a broken car engine trying to start "I'll need you to run this show when they make us start to feed their propaganda to the masses"

"As long as they let us keep the Superbowl, all fine by me" Patty countered and Sam smiled amused.

"Anything else I should know?" Sam asked, trying to be as informed as possible beforehand, as the techs tugged on her cloathes to accommodate the wiring.

"Uh, well, there is one thing but nothing to worry about-" Patty smiled and said in a teasing manner as a technician gave Sam an earpiece she expertly placed on her left ear "She has beautiful mahogany eyes and a British accent"

"Damn, just my type" Sam said half-joking. She did had a thing for British women after all and her last girlfriend's brown eyes had enraptured Sam on a couple of ocassions.

"No fucking the hot alien officer, you got me? This ain't that kind of show" Patty said as she started to walk away, yelling over her shoulder as an afterthought "And no flirting either!"

"Stop clam jamming me, would you?" Sam said out loud in a playful manner so she could be heard over the noise of everyone in the studio who was running around doing the last minute checks "Banging Hot Alien Chicks can only be good for interspecies relationships"

"Whatever. Break a leg, kid" Patty's voice came up in the earpiece and Sam smiled. One of the technicians placed the little microphone in Sam's suit jacket flap and she did the usual sound tests. Once they were set, Sam walked and repeated to herself mentally 'I've got this. I can do this. It'll be fine'

She walked up past the people that had gathered to witness the historical moment, past the cameras and it was only until then that it clicked that she was actually doing this as she laid eyes on her guest and her stomach turned. Swallowing, Sam kept walking and reached for her phone and took a picture for her social media pages of the unsuspecting alien who was too focused on her tablet-looking thing -a golden, crystal sheet of paper with what seemed as doodles on it atop a black, thin stick- to notice Sam.

The aliens had been using US Military Uniforms after a request from several goverments to facilitate rank and give them the due respect without lenghty introductions and this one in particular made the United States Marine Corp's uniform work extremely well. Sam couldn't help but notice she was tall and her limbs seemed to be a bit longer in proportion to her body than when compared a human, as well that her hair was in a high ponytail and her face gave what Sam could only describe as a 'Tolkien Elves' levels of ethereal vibe.

Sam cleared her throat and the alien's eyes went from her device to Sam's own in what would've seemed like a snap, but Sam didn't made anything out of it given how enraptured the alien had been. For all Sam knew that could've been surprise instead of anger at being distracted.

"Good evening, Captain -" Sam spoke courteously as she took the seat opposite of the alien "We will begin shortly"

"Perfect-" The alien rose from her seat and took the step that distanced them and bowed in the proper Japanese manner to Sam before saying in perfect Japanese "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Nishimura-sama"

Quickly overcoming her astonishment, Sam replied in Japanese "Sam will suffice, Captain"

"In the same manner Sam will suffice, please call me Lara" Lara straightened her posture and over Sam's earpiece Patty's voice came up as Lara went back to her seat.

'Try to keep it in English, Sam-' the voice had the directorial tone Sam knew Patty had developed over the years that was informative, stern and demanding without it being outright ordering 'You may have a world-wide audience but the main target are English-speaking countries'

Sam nodded and wondered briefly if to make small talk with the alien -Lara- or to save it for the show when suddenly everyone went quiet and the people that didn't were shushed into silence.

'Alright, here we go' Patty's voice came up and Sam wondered if what she had heard was nervousness in Patty's voice but couldn't put too much thought into it before the introduction music sounded and she was live for the world. The music died down and Sam smiled, thinking 'Show time'

"Good evening to everyone-" Sam delivered the welcoming line as she had rehearsed it and kept to the introduction script "The Nishimura Media Corporation would like to thank the Kryptonian Ranking Officers once more for all the help they provided to make this interview a possibility. I would like to introduce tonight's guest but I'd rather have her speak for herself"

"Good evening-" Lara spoke softly, her English accent really sinking in and Sam bit her cheek at how delightful she sounded "I am Lara Rhy-Croft. I say the next based on comparisons between institutions so that you can have a better idea of the position I have in the Kryptonian Military: I am a Captain in the 40th Kryptonian Marine Corp Scout Snipers Regiment"

Sam went to the controlled questions the Kryptonians had asked for "Tell us, Lara: How is it you're able to breath the same atmosphere? As much as your people have talked to ours of the workings of Evolution, it is still striking that our species are so alike."

"Well, you see Sam-" Lara crossed her legs and sat elegantly on the chair, as if she had had royal levels of education in the workings of polite company "I can't actually breath the atmosphere just like that. Earth's atmosphere is more nurishing than that of Krypton, yet the air pressure and such other variables are weaker. I've gone under a preparation that is similar to that undertaken by the mountaineers that have climbed Mt. Everest in order for us to be able to talk without the distraction breathing equipment"

"Very interesting-" Sam hoped they couldn't tell that was her polite, uninterested voice as she asked the next controlled question "Please tell our audience more about the specifics of your people's arrival. Much has been said by your superiors of how they stumbled upon us as they looked for somewhere to make reparations to your ships after a battle but we'd like to know the details better."

"Certainly-" Lara sat up straighter and Sam braced for what at the same time promised to be a mind-breaking amount of information and a very boring chat packed with technicisms"There is this faction-An alliance of several races united under the belief that the relics and artifacts of a long gone civilization are artifacts left behind by their Gods- we call them The Covenant. They belief that the Kryptonian civilization has desecrated several of said artifacts by analyzing them and have started a genocidal campaign against us. We fought them off of a nearby settlement, Ataria. They retreated and we gave chase. There was a battle that ended in a stalemate and we were in need of a place to do reparations. Our computers informed us that the nearest option was the fourth planet of this system, we arrived and began to recieve hails from this planet. We answered and you know the rest"

Sam's eyebrows shot up in surprise: That was a quick, practiced answer if she had seen any (which she had seen several of) and thanked God for avoiding hours of exposition as she asked the next question "Is there any danger to Earth?"

"None-" Lara answered just as soon as Sam finished saying the last syllable while shaking her head negatively "I would like to assure the audience that there is nothing to worry about. I would hate it if you took this as an offense but your technology is so primitive I doubt any other species knows you're here"

"I wouldn't take that as an offense-" Sam responded honestly gleeful "I doubt anyone wants religious fanatics visiting us any time soon" Lara smiled and nodded, and Sam asked the last of the controlled questions "Please, Lara, tell us: Does your people plan on staying once you've completed reparations?"

"Define staying-" Lara answered courteously "If what you're asking is if we will we be extending our welcome and just have more and more ships arrive until our presence becomes a new normal, the answer is no-" Sam expected curious the other meaning this question could have "If what you're asking is if we'll maintain contact with you once we are finished, then the answer does not depend on us, but entirely on you. If your goverments would like to as you say 'Keep in touch-'" Lara did the windshields with her fingers, clearly having studied human mannerisms "with us, we'll gladly do the necessary arrangements to make it so. If you'd like us to leave you as you were, then we'll leave you as you were and we will await for you to reach out to us in your own terms."

"I'm sure you'll be asked to stay in those terms" Sam said, already seeing the Star Trek writers salivating at the chance to accurately depict actual, living, breathing aliens.

"We hope so-" Lara said, a smile on her face sam could somehow tell was genuine "The reception we have recieved has been lovely and I would like to thank the goverments of Earth for their welcoming mentality despite the initial panic we saw we caused in some part of this world"

Sam's eyebrow's shot high in her forehead and asked without much thought "Seen where?"

"Your Internet and satellite feeds-" Lara answered as a matter-of-factly "We have access to them. That's how we learned your languages and knew the best approach would be to contact the United Nations instead of just one goverment or group of them like the European Union or the NATO members. I must confess it is quite interesting, to see how much you have developed it into a form of entretainment"

"Don't you have Internet in Krypton?" Sam asked, this time her free questions staying in familiar grounds while painting a better picture of their visitors.

"We have the Karet-" Lara said, seemingly picking her words "The best way to describe it would be a library where every Kryptonian can access its volumes of information. We do not have Youtube or Facebook. Social Media is...not unexistant but rather very small when compared to what you have developed"

"That small that we've already out done an intestellar society?" Sam was astonished and at the same time glad they wouldn't have to deal in the future with the Kryptonian equivalent of the Kardashians.

"Yes. It is rather interesting, a small debate has started amongst my people of whether it is a sign of an endless need for distraction or an attempt to overcome your differences through instant conection with every part of the world. I personally believe it is rather a response to a need of constant, new information that could have the potential to help you overcome your religious and cultural differences" Lara spoke and it struck Sam that this came from expertise rather than personal opinion due to the language Lara had employed and how it was said. It reminded her of a scholar on a  lecture in some form she couldn't put her finger to it.

"A professional assessment or the personal opinion of an officer in the Kryptonian Armed Forces?" Sam smelled the opportunity to shed some light on the other side of military life and how equal or different could they be when compared to what she knew of Earth's life in the military.

"A bit of both in all honesty. It is mandatory that all Kryptonian officers cultivate civilian interests and have education outside of military matters, mine was Xenoarcheology; and while I am aware you're still around I still have the knowledge to study your societies in a more formal way than most of my collegues" Lara smiled confident and Sam could see so many oportunities where to take this topic but decided not to pursue them and get dragged into massive ammounts of exposition to the details of other alien civilizations. They were here for one, and one only: Krypton.

"Interesting, on Earth the most predominant military force asks its soldiers a similar goal, but it's not mandatory. Only highly encouraged for those who wish to pursue a life-long carrer. I'd love for you to tell us all about what you studied but I believe the public would be more interested in something else: Please, tell us more about yourself, Captain" Sam saw Lara's eyes grow in and her posture becoming even starighter somehow, even though she was as straight as could be while sitting and Sam guessed that reaction as hesitance or nervousness and decide to throw a bone at the Captain "We've learned so much about General Zod and Fleet General Astra from the dossier they kindly gave the United Nation's Security Council, but I'd like to know more of an average Kryptonian who isn't so far up in the Chain of Command. Would you like to share this information with us?"

"Well, I wouldn't know where to start-" Lara seemed to be choosing her words and cold sweat started to run over Sam's face at the possibility she had fucked up "I consider myself to be quite average but that would still be astonishing to you"

"Allow us to start with basic information-" Sam decided to run along with this and if she had messed up, bury herself well in the dirt "At any point, please feel free to simply refuse to answer any question. Please, tell us: Are you from the planet Krypton? You have mentioned settlements, are you from one of them?"

"No, I am from one of the first worlds we settled upon when we achieved Faster-Than-Light Travel: Cadia-" Lara somehow deflated when she sensed Sam would be leading the conversation through this and answered in what struck Sam as a thankfulness of sorts, her British accent getting the better of Sam's attention "It's an Earth-like planet that we had to slightly terraform to suit our needs. Slight changes to the atmosphere more than anything else. Cadia is what you would understand as a very urbanised planet, definitely not a settlement"

"Interesting-" Sam knew they could be tlaking for ours of this kind of thing but she really felt the best way to pursue this was to shed light on Lara, not her culture or her people. Too much of that would end up making them be as interesting as a lecture on nuclear physics to a group of preschoolers "What led you to leave Cadia and enlist in the military of your species?"

"Uh-" Lara closed her left eye and Sam wondered if that was Kryptonian body language for 'rolling one's eyes in order to remember something' "What is the slogan on Earth? Serve your country and see the world?"

"There have been several-" Sam honestly just knew one but she knew how to die with the lie "But the most popular one is: Join the Navy, See the World"

"We have a similar one that explains my motivations rather well and is quite similar: Protect your kin, know the Galaxy" Lara seemed a bit shy and uncomfortable for some reason; Sam knew she could just be misreading body language because after all, Lara was an alien, but she just couldn't strike off the sensation Lara had not been a willing participant of this interview.

"Very interesting-" Sam said honestly but reminding herself she was not going to help the US Army change their slogan, and so she went back to trying to find out what happend by asking different questions on different topics "What can you tell us about the reason you are here? How did you got assigned the task to entretain us simple humans and our questions?"

"Humanity is anything but simple, Sam-" Lara smiled fondly and there was this kind of tenderness to it that could only be described as more 'Tolkien Elves appeal' "The selection process was an elimination starting with from a pool that was composed of personnel with certain characteristics: Officers with knowledge in social subjects such as sociology and the likes, combat experienced and known for good behavior. Condecorations were then considered, then records of good behavior and citations and finally we had to submit a letter explaining what we would do if we were selected to represent our species in Earth"

"What did you wrote?-" Sam asked and tried a joke "I want to meet humans and start the research for my best seller?"

"Uh, no-" Lara clearly did not get the joke and hesitated in what to say next "I wrote something along the lines of 'I would like to see their beaches and understand their religions' You see, Kryptonians did not spread out through the planet like humans did. We became a civilization of the likes of the Mesopotamians and then we started to migrate from the original point where we evolved, a valley roughly the size of Germany, in organised waves in a way similar to the colonization of the Americas but without the indigenous subjugation and genocide. We've only had one religion and most other races in the Universe do not hold Gods in a significant way anymore and their myths are incredibly forgotten. Some don't even have them anymore and are lost to time. Yours is not only a culture where religion is alive and varied but is changing under the pressure of your own evolution and advancements as a species and the comfrontation is quite interesting from a sociological point of view, if rahter unfortunate in general with extremist groups taking innocent lives"

Ok, she either just called us a bunch of ignoramus that are trying to be smarter or a primitive race that still prays to totems. Don't know which is worse'  Patty said and Sam smiled amused, catching herself when Lara looked at her questioningly and went with it "It is quite noticeable that you're a scholar, Captain. A warning though: Most people aren't acutely aware of their cultural history and you'd do better first researching in a library before engaging on this kind of topic deeply with-well anyone"

"Thank you for your advice, Sam" Lara smiled, this time just a simple smile that gave Sam this feeling of acceptance.

'Sam, the Defense Department just called and said it wants you to ask her about her training and what you can pry out of her of their military capabilities' Patty's voice sounded in Sam's earpiece and a shiver ran down her spine: That, she knew, was a messy subject and it could be a potential trap for her that she was not willing to fall for unless she had no other choice, and she had plenty of options.

"I must ask this, Lara: Why the beaches?" Sam was really curious about it and knew they had plenty of time still to get to the part where they talked about her shooting this Covenant people.

"Excuse me?" Lara seemed confused for a second but then it clicked that she had mentioned that and snorted "Oh that-I,uh-Hawaii and the Mediterranean look astonishingly wonderful in Youtube. I don't think there are places that beautiful anywhere in the Universe"

"Is that so?" Sam said and decided that she was going to pull her Silver Spoon for work-related bussiness this one time "If you are ever allowed some free movement I'd gladly show you around. Earth is quite the beautiful place and I've seem some places that I personally believe have those same levels of beauty"

'Sam, this is not the time to ask the alien out!' Patty reprimanded but Sam didn't cared for the life of her.

"Well, thank you" Lara smile became a firm line that was slightly curved upwards at either side, as if awaiting the next question; Sam decided to avoid the military subject entirely but also feed the Defense Deparment a little.

"If it's not too much to ask, I would like you to tell us more about your condecorations and experiences in the army as you feel disposed to talk about them-" Sam eyed the ribbons on Lara's uniform and thought to recognise one in particular "Is that a Medal of Honor ribbon?"

"Uh-" Lara seemed hesitant and lost in thought for a moment before answering "It is. It's a long story that would require a lot of time to properly explain"

"A summary you'd feel could be an introduction?" Sam asked, trying to give Lara a way out if she felt like not talking about it, knowing full well there were stories that veterans would rather not talk about.

"There is this race, the Batarians-" Lara said dryly and Sam squinted, wondering if she was hearing hate in the Captain's vocie "They would rather raid settlements, enslave the inhabitants and sell them off as slaves to perform their lesser jobs rather than develop Virtual and Artificial Intelligences that could handle those affairs. They raided one of our settlements and my Regiment was part of the punitive force sent to...settle the score."

"How awful" Sam responded perplex and waiting for Lara to jsut cut off the conversation entirely after this.

"In this planet they were using as a hideout, Yamatai, my platoon and I were sent ahead to scout and found some people who had been captured-" Lara cleared her throat "The Batarian leader, Mat'ias, was burning them for his amusement. He was about to burn a child so I made a call and shot him, giving away our position. A week long firefight across a territory the size of Texas followed; by the end of it, what remained of my platoon and I had found and liberated a significant quantity of the people that had been captured. Mat'ias didn't had a clear successor after we were done with them so his band of mischiefs collapsed and was put down by conventional means. If I recall correctly the citation in my file says I was given our highest condecoration for 'The iniciative to fight a foe, without consideration for the overwhelming odds, for the sake of the Kryptonian great good'-" Lara shrugged and said, lost in the memory "I just know I shot a Kertal-a dangerous animal and lost three squadmates to his pack"

'Way to go, kid. I think she just flashed us alien PTSD' Patty said over the mic and Sam couldn't tell if that was an honest praise or Patty scolding her.

"I'm pretty sure a bullet to the head is too good for anyone who burns people for amussement-" Sam tried to comfort Lara and would've reached out and placed a hand on Lara hadn't the Captain talked, more to herself than to Sam.

"His liver-" She said, distracted "I shot him in the liver and in a lung, he died coughing up blood"

"Good" Sam nodded approvingly "You did the right thing, Captain"

Chapter Text

As she moved past the MI5 people 'discretely' stationed outside (if you could call two James Bond looking guys clearly armed standing outside the building discrete) Sam checked her camera. She had been able to pull some strings she'd made after the interview to get a camera approved by the goverment (both of hers and of the UK) and was planning to make a vblog about her interactions with the Kryptonians (She already had the Youtube Channel and everything ready on her laptop to quickly edit videos and upload them to the hungry masses that wanted to know what these guys were up to in their Crown-paid lair in King's Road) She had told Captain Croft-Lara about it and though she seemed hesitant in the Skype call, she accepted and said she would let her guys know.

Sam took deep breaths as she went up to the door and knocked thrice in quick succession. Quickly after, Sam heard the loud footsteps of someone on the other side of the door and a voice that spoke in a harsh language suddenly reminded Sam to turn on her camera.

"Ket ti lar kan, Lara-" The door opened and revealed a tall redhead with eyes so beautiful and green they seemed to be emeralds more than eyes, talking distractedly as she opened the door, her attention in a crystal cube in her hand "Et ti landgart irt gru Doctor Pepper?"

"Uh-Hi!" Sam greeted, doing the Vulcan salute for some reason she couldn't explain "I'm Sam, Lara's friend"

"Larat-" The redhead looked up from the cube in her hand with a puzzled expression and saw Sam holding her camera and it seemed to all dawn on her in an instant. A gentle smiled suddenly appeared on her face as she seemed to recognize her and she greeted Sam with an Standard American accent "Ah, Good Evening. I'm Sar Ker-Gan, one of Lara's Lieutenants. She has gone out to do procure some supplies, please come in"

"She's out shopping?" Sam asked as she stepped in, not believing for one second the MI5 would actually let the Kryptonians go around town unchecked, much less go to buy groceries "By herself?"

"We insisted-" This woman, Sar, spoke softly as she clsoed the door behind Sam, the camera on her all the time "We did not wish to be served, much less by your Intelligence Officers"

"They're not mine-" Sam said hurriedly, nervous for some reason "I'm not the Queen of England. I mean, I'm not British-I-uh"

Sar smiled amused before gently saying with a voice that reminded of Cate Blanchett's Lady Galadriel "Deep breaths, Ms. Nishimura. Deep breaths"

"Thank you" Sam rushed her words out, trying to get her shit together. She had done this (meeting aliens) already. Why was she so nervous?

Sar left Sam where she stood, walked past a door that led further into the flat and her voice boomed so loud Sam dropped her camera in fright of the commanding voice that suddenly spoke in that harsh-sounding language that Kryptonian seemed to sound like.

"Terk tir selki, jens ur jereses. Larat fopr-kriel sir kie. Andi tier orao it dar wirl" Sar's voice seemed to have summoned some movement in the flat, for suddenly Sam could hear a lot of footsteps running around and going quiet and it was this what brought her out of the fright-induced trance she had been in and ducked to pick up her camera and check it quickly for any damage. Fortunately it was made of stern stuff and nothing was damaged, allowing Sam to just keep recording as she walked into the flat to meet the others.

The British Goverment had announced they were hosting ten Kryptonians and Sam was greeted by 7 Kryptonians standing in a military parade-like line in the middle of a living room, shoulder to shoulder, all proud and their heads held up high wearing different styles of clothing that seemed to be made of some sort of leather with the exception of a redhead with braids. Sam couldn't help but notice they all looked very human yet clearly not human at the same time. It was odd beyond anything she could put into words: Their bodies were human and their faces perfect, as if they had been crafted instead of made at random like human faces were, and they were all tall and had this elven ethereal aspect just like Lara had. The smallest of them was still taller than Sam by a full head and half, and it was until this moment that it struck Sam that Sar was at least 2 meters tall (6'5")

"Nar, rie fa er kissler! Mir in ur teek in 'ooman!" Sar's voice barked something in Kryptonian and Sam thought to herself 'If that's how Lara's Lieutenant commands, I'm gonna shit myself if I ever get to be on the other side of Lara's commanding voice'

A head popped from behind a couch and a male Kryptonian with a scruffy, barely there beard, spoke up "Irt ta, Irt ta"

He got up and stood up in line in a manner that gave every last bit of a hint that the individual in question was asleep just a moment ago and a little chuckle escaped Sam.

"Ms. Nishimura, allow me to introduce you and your kind to our fellow officers-" Sar turned gracefuly towards Sam once the individual in question was standing in line properly "And allow me to apologize for my fellow officer"

Sar walked to the other end of the room, where the line started and Sam went full 'camera girl mode' focusing on the faces of the officers as Sar started to introduce them "This is the ranking officer amongst us. By humanity's rank system, she's a Colonel in the 554th Regiment of our Engineer Corp. You'll want to interview her next, she's from the Homeworld"

"Good evening, I am Kara Zor-El" The woman -as tall as Lara and with a smooth and silky, golden blonde mane that made Sam want to ask for her hair stylist- spoke gently with a soft voice and a light shinning in her ice, baby blue eyes that made Sam immediately more relaxed.

The woman next to Kara -Another tall blonde with baby blue eyes that looked like she could kill Sam by staring at her- spoke up immediately after and introduced herself quickly in a dry, simple manner "Good evening, I am Nova Ter-Caft. I am a Captain in Lara's Regiment"

Before Sam could say anything to greet either of them, the woman next to Nova spoke in a gentle, yet cold voice. Sam couldn't help to notice this one was paler than the rest, with jet black hair, honey, crystal-like eyes and seemed to be cold; so cold that she looked she was about to go blue "And I am one of her Lieutenants, Amly Ler-Croi"

Sam couldn't help but notice that the 'Croi' had the intonation of the French language and wondered for a second what else was she going to lear of Kryptonian linguistics as the woman next to Amly spoke up.

"I am Captain Aloy Rost-Eck, from Talassar's 343th Pathfinder Regiment" Aloy -another tall, beautiful redhead- was wearing human workout clothes and Sam salivated a bit as she looked at the abs on the woman and for a slight second wanted to squish the woman's arms to test them for the steely firmness they seemed to have "The imbecile is my Sergeant and I would like to assure you he'll be corrected for his disrespect towards you, Ms. Nishimura"

"It was nothing, really" Sam felt cold sweat at the thought of what 'disciplinary measures' could mean amongst these people.

"It was everything that cannot exist in any officer of our Army, Ms. Nishimura" Aloy responded, as if reciting something from somewhere she had been told a long time ago.

"Continuing with the introductions-" Sar cut off Aloy as she was about to answer to Sam's indulgence, clearly not wanting a debate over discipline "We have Colonel Zor-El's fellow Officers in the Engineer Corps: Major Sam Kal-Berd and Captains Daron-Berd and Dar-Cor"

"Awesome!" Sam felt an incredible amount of joy to hear there were aliens (or at least one alien) with whom she shared name "Major Berd, you are my new favorite Kryptonian. Have you ever been told you have a cool, cool name?"

"As much as I like to hear that you and I share names-" The Major, a tanned woman with an aussie accent that was half-a-head smaller than the others but still taller than Sam, spoke with a smile on her face "I would like to have it in the clear that your name is Samantha while mine is just Sam"

"Surely, cool-named Major. On the record!" Sam quipped before asking for the sake of clarification "Are you related to the Captain next to you?"

"He is my husband and regular head pain" Major Berd said non-chalantly and that blew Sam's mind for some reason.

"Holy shit! You're married and brought your hubby with you?" Sam started to nod as she focused the camera on the two of them while the Major looked at Sam puzzled.

"He is not my hobby-" The Major retorted, her expression growing more and more wondering of human society "Unless marriage is not as serious as you make it seem in your media"

It took Sam a moment to realize why the Major had said that, but when it clickled Sam couldn't help but laugh energetically while the Kryptonians looked at her with a baffled expression. It took Sam quite a bit to compose herself but when she managed she realized that what she had done was kind of rude given the Kryptonians had no clue what was going on and could only stand there akwardly while this lesser thing laughed at them.

"No-No, it's uh-" Sam cleared her throat "Hubby is a way to say husband in English. Hobby-" Sam made the sound difference clear enough for the Major to nod in understanding "Is an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. And while marriage is sometimes that to some, in most of the world is a very serious thing. Sorry for the laughing fit"

"There is no problem, fellow Sam-" The Major said with a smile, clearly understanding what had made Sam laugh "It is funny once you understand it. I would like to clarify this, however: I did not brought him. Colonel Zor-El brought him because of reasons that are beyond my comprehension"

"He is a very capable officer who earned some leisure time. As did you, Major-" Colonel Zor-El spoke up and Sam quickly turned the camera at her, and the Colonel simply said while looking at it "My officers do not know how or when to get some rest, it seems"

"Ir Kenti, ig ti voltr irki in gasc, ti haval erti un sun Mars" Sam quickly turned the camera back towards her namesake and caught Daron balancing his weight between one leg and the other as he retorted something, apparently annoyed.

"Tar si savart ert kai tir isissin ir fo-" Whatever Daron was going to say next must have been off putting or something because Dar-Cor spoke up and interrupted Daron.

"Kert ar varsai ner teh 'ooman, salsken!" Dar's voice was stern and then he realized he had the camera pointing at him and suddenly all his sterness in posture and voice diluted as he waved at the camera and smiled like a little kid "Good evening! I-uh, this will end up in Youtube, will it not?"

"Totally!" Sam was definitely not editing this out. Any of it, even the part where she dropped the camera was gonna be in Youtube "This is so awesome!"

"If you say so, Ms. Nishimura" Sar spoke hesitantly as the Kryptonians broke their formation"Denounce me as a perfectionist but this is rahter lackluster: An officer asleep as you came in, another missing"

"I got here early-" Sam decided to share the blame, because she really had arrived 30 minutes earlier than what she had told Lara "And you're here to rest, not parade or anything. How are you liking it here?"

"This land could use some sun-" The sleepy guy responded before anyone else could say anything "But these accommodations are definitely an upgrade from the Aralak's sleeping quarters. I'm Nar-Drak by the way, here because I got lucky"

"Aralak?" Sam asked wanting to deviate the conversation before one of the other officers apologized for him once more, figuring out it was a place where they slept but still wanted to have everything clear and on the record for the whole world, generations to come and all that.

"The ship that transports us-" The redhead with braids, Aloy, spoke up in a smooth, feminine voice that made Sam thing Aloy would make a killing in anything where she had to use it "Our Regiment, that is"

Sam smiled as she saw an opportunity and asked "I see. Do you name all your ships? Only the important ones? Do the names mean anything in your language or are they just a sound of sorts to identify them? What's the name of the big ship that CNN can't shut up about?"

"Most ships have names, but there are plenty who are just known for their serial number. Their names, of the ships that do have names that is, do have meanings-" Dar-Cor butted in "But you have to understand that they're military names so they're meant to be firm and intimidating"

"What does Aralak mean?" Sam asked, intrigued and taking advantage of the word she had learned "Bloodlust or something?"

"Eye of Fury, another way we call the Kryptonian Sun" Dar-Cor said a bit stiff, as if not knowing how best to approach this subject without looking too intimidating "The big ship your media can't stop especulating about is called 'Fortress of Solitude'"

"The Flagship of the fleet, I believe you would call it" Colonel Zor-El spoke up "Badly damaged, we had to consider the posibility of dismounting it for spare parts and leave what we couldn't re-use on the battle site. I would like to add to General Zod's, my own reassurances that the ship is harmless and there's nothing to worry about it"