On the ocean planet known as Tethys, the day progressed as any other. Calm swells rose and fell gently on the surface of the vast body of water which stretched endlessly to the horizon. Far in the distant sky, a point of light appeared. The light grew brighter before revealing itself to be a brilliant fireball surrounding an alien ship hurtling through the atmosphere. The craft's inflatable heat shield was deployed, glowing bright white and leaving a plume of smoke behind. Slim drogue chutes shot violently out and caught the air, slowing the ship to subsonic velocity. When the ship had slowed sufficiently, the initial chutes were cut along with the heat shield and replaced by much larger descent stage parachutes. Three plasma VTOL engines successfully hummed to life on the ship's hull, there should have been four.
Unbeknownst to the single passenger locked in stasis aboard the craft, the ship was descending thirteen percent faster than planned. The planet's atmospheric makeup had been misjudged, affecting both the parachute drag and ignition sequence of the engines. The hull slammed forcefully into the ocean surface, forming a fracture near the stern of the ship. Steam hissed from the surface of the superheated hull as the ship began to slowly sink below the surface. Within a few moments, a steady stream of bubbles was the only indication that the whole event had even taken place.
Within the sinking ship, a lone stasis pod contained a research scout by the name of Valletia. Val was a member of an exploratory vanguard from her home planet Caneia in the nearby system of Can. She had been sent to Tethys to determine the source of radio frequency signals which appeared to be from intelligent life. The plan was to place her ship in orbit of the planet so the signal could be observed in secret, however the ship's on-board automation had failed resulting in Val's crash landing. As the stasis pod activated, her blue eyelids began to flutter open.
Looking out through the glass of the stasis pod, the large brown eyes began to flit around the room with alarm. As sensation returned to her body, the door swung outward and Val fell clumsily to the floor. The room she was in was tilted at a nauseating angle and warning lights flashed on the walls. Her clean white stasis suit clung to her sleek form, leaving only the blue skin on her hands feet and head uncovered. As her legs found purchase, Val stood to her full height of nearly two meters revealing her toned body. It was vaguely humanoid, although taller and with wider hips. Her upper body was slim and her neck was long. Val's face was thin and angled, with wide eyes and two small antenna that poked out of her forehead. Between her legs, the stasis suit clung to her reproductive package.
The Caneian population consisted entirely of women who's bodies contained both male and female genitals. As an above average but still representative specimen, Val's penis stretched thickly up her stomach, the tip ending just between her breasts. Between her legs her blue scrotum was neatly contained in the suit. As is standard for Caneians, her four testicles were housed inside the smooth sack.
Clicking worriedly to herself, Val stumbled through the hallway to the cockpit and sat in front of the ship's computer. Her eyes grew even more wide with concern as she read the error logs. Reviewing the navigation logs Val was able to determine the site of her crash landing, although attempting to send a message for help proved unsuccessful. The ship's communication system was offline. She pulled the life-support logs and was happy to see her vital signs had been normal. She frowned as an alert icon caught her eye. The automated semen extraction protocol had malfunctioned weeks prior. Caneian's had reproduced via artificial insemination for thousands of years, and their concept of natural conception was essentially a myth. Although the semen extraction was a non-critical function, it did provide Val with an explanation for the uncomfortable fullness in her groin.
Restoring the extraction protocol would have to wait, however. As Val flipped to the ship status report she regarded the hull breach with uncertainty. The depth gauge told her she was about fifty meters under the surface. The stern of the ship was filling with water, looking down Val saw a trickle run across her blue feet which were split into two long toes. Opening a nearby cabinet, she reached into and grabbed a small face mask from inside. Pulling the mask over her face, she activated it and a thin membrane of energy formed over her face to provide vision and breathable air. She had just finished activating it when the final bulkhead gave way and water crashed into the room, forcing her against the rear wall.
Val recovered, now floating gingerly in the warm water. She swam over to the windows of the observation deck and looked out to see her ship perched at the ledge of a large drop off. As her eyes dropped to look into the depths, her mouth opened in shock at what she saw. Sprawling out before her on the sea floor was a sprawling underwater city. Smooth organic shapes lit by a faint bioluminescent glow made up the unmistakable form of the underwater metropolis.
Val could hardly believe her eyes. Although she had wanted to believe the radio signal would lead to extraterrestrial contact, she had never expected this in her wildest dreams. Her shock was interrupted by a sudden thud as she ship rocked around her.
"Hull breached, alien lifeforms aboard" The computer spoke ominously. As Val spun around to face the door behind her, she prepared herself to make contact for the first time. From a technological standpoint they appeared to be in the modern era, but had not yet achieved FTL travel as Val's species had. What Val didn't know is that instead of meeting a single extracannestrial being she was actually about to meet a pair of symbiotic life forms which had combined their strengths to achieve intelligence and civilization.
The primary life form on Tethys was a species that functioned as a cohesive unit from two organisms. The first was a sentient gel and slime creature that could manipulate its shape and makeup. Coalescing within the slime organism were multiple cephalopod type creatures with tentacled limbs and stalk like eyes. Having lived symbiotically for thousands of years, they referred to themselves collectively as the Teth. Indeed, these creatures were the source of the radio signals Val had been observing.
Val almost didn't notice the single eye stalk that poked around the corner, before pulling quickly back out of sight. She heard the wet sloshing as the gel rearranged itself. As two of the Teth walked around the corner, Val saw they had pulled themselves into a vague approximation of her own body. The slime had formed her curvy humanoid female shape while within the hands and feet, four tentacled creatures floated, their curling limbs a vague approximation of Val's fingers and toes. She could see more floating in the darker midsection of the slimes. One of the organisms was pink and one was purple.
They spoke to Val telepathically:
"Welcome visitor, we saw your ship crash. We want you to know we mean you no harm, although we aren't sure how to help you."
Unsure how to respond, Val tried speaking through her mask.
