The bronze hull resounded with the heavy knock, echoing loudly. A single section of the golden armour slid away with a smooth hiss, sliding down and outward like a ramp. The open doorway revealed corridors of similar bronze metal, lit by soft light that seemed to emanate from the ceiling itself.
Only five figures stepped down the ramp, clad in armoured suits of the same dull-bronze metal, made up of complex interlocking plates that slid over and under each other smoothly. They all wore helmets with no visible visor, merely a single blue sensor-strip that glowed softly. None of them carried visible weapons, as the lead figure stopped a few metres from the nearest of the Icarus' men. The lead figure glanced across at the other Khe'val beside her and there was a brief nodding of the head , the only visible or audible sign of conversation between the two. The second figure nodded once more, and all five depressed a small switch in their armoured wrist. The helmets slid back, sections of bronze metal sliding over each other and into a hidden compartment in the back of their suits.
Four of the five creatures where obviously female, with charcoal-grey furred skin and horns that swept back from just behind their long ears, almost to the back of their necks. The fifth was male, slightly shorter than the others and with smaller horns, a strip of white material covered a bleeding gash across his forehead. Hes'tel, still standing at the front of her small crew looked across at Morgan, bright amber eyes watching. Her horns where the longest of her crew, denoting her rank, and her dark hair was braided back into a long plait. She fell to one armoured knee, as did the other four behind her, tilting her head down and baring her curved horns in a Khe'val gesture of utmost respect...
She spoke, in a soft voice that was laced with authority and steel resolve "We... Are the Khe'val...."