Her name was Tori Yamada, Space-Fleet Academy valedictorian and rightful candidate for Science Captain aboard the spacefaring research station RS-17. Although she admitted that her issued uniform, a blue, skintight, long sleeved legless leotard, showed off more leg skin than she would have liked, she still wore it with a sense of pride. She didn’t spend ten years of her life absorbing every scrap of scientific information she possibly could just to wither away in some stuffy university on Earth. No, her sights were aimed squarely at the stars, and all of the secrets they could possibly be hiding.
Captain Yamada was a confident woman, standing at an even 6 feet tall and not an inch taller. Her hair was a long, straight, silken cascade of dark black that flowed down her back, ending just at her waist. Her eyes were a bright purple that many of her colleagues would swear could glow in the dark. Her build was rather slender, displaying a hint of musculature developed during her academy training. As her leotard showed off, her legs were fairly thick and curvaceous, despite the slight form of the rest of her body. Besides the leotard, she also wore thigh high boots to preserve some modesty, a cropped Navy officer’s jacket bearing her name and academy medals, and a Navy captain’s hat bearing the Fleet insignia.
Sat in the command bay of the station’s bridge, Tori understood her mission. To seek out new forms of intelligent life, determine whether they were hostile or friendly, and as a research station first and foremost seek to understand this new life at the basic biological level. Aboard the RS-17 were several like minded individuals, her fellow men and women of science.
“Captain Yamada,” the station’s chief navigator announced, “Our ship’s scanners have picked up on three planets that are currently supporting life. Coming up on screen right now.”
Yamada watched as the bridge’s primary monitor displayed the planets in detail. The first was like a cerulean marble coated entirely with water, likely home to primitive sea life. The second appeared to primarily consist of purple jungles and rainforests with green oceans and white ice caps. Radio frequencies in an unknown xeno language could be picked up from it. The third appeared to be a hostile environment of volcanoes, magma, and sand, but despite that seemed to house some forms of flora and fauna.
“Your call, Captain,” the navigator said, “Which planet should we touch down on first?”