2. Stolen Hard Drive

Garrick, Han Wu and the village Elder sat together in a hut-sized snow mound. Torches with blue fire lit the room as the one of the Klarton served them with food. "Stolen Technology? Hmm, my kids recently saw a meteor that struck this volcano, except it struck on the crater of this mountain." The Elder noted. 

"Hmm, our tech is capable of resisting rock-melting temperatures thanks to its in-built Heat Conversion Forcefield. When can we go there and retrieve it?" Han Wu asked Garrick. 

Garrick dog was sitting next to him and whimpered. "The crater of Mt. Fuji is inaccessible for certain reasons. One of them is that meddling with a volcano could awaken it and cause an eruption." He noted. 

"But however, our mining exploration team did carve out some tunnels underneath the cone of the mountain that could lead to the center of the volcano." The Elder grabbed a map and showed the layout of the tunnels. There was a short tunnel to the crater but it leads much deeper inside the crater. 

"Tell me, Han Wu. What is it that makes your stolen tech special?" The Elder asked him. A sigh ran from the helmet. "I can't really disclose all the information but what I can tell you that it's a piece of hardware for our advanced computer systems." He said. 

The two agreed on his intel as they made some final preparations before they left the hut. The Elder called the miners and asked to show the way to their tunnels. They drove further down the summit of the volcano until they saw entrances carved in stone and metal. 

They entered inside and it was lit with blue fire lanterns and there were shining crystals, some as tiny as a grain of rice while some are visible to sparkle the tunnels. "What are these?" Han Wu asked. 

"Only found here in Mt. Fuji. Kinzoku Crystals or Crystallized metal. We've been using its molecular abnormal structure in our technology. The tall armored alien grabbed a small ball-shaped crystal and kept it on his pocket. Garrick's dog suddenly went aggressive and started barking. 

Checking on his watch, there are numerous entities stalking the very tunnels. "Hmm, I thought they were just a myth." He thought and grabbed a laser pistol on his lab coat. 

"Take us to the shortest path to the crater now!" Garrick shouted at the team and they quickly gained pace moving through the tunnels. 

After moving left and right they made it to the crater and Garrick looked down to see the magma below being harvested into specialized tubes. "I am impressed by how you use a volcano to power your entire village." Han Wu complemented the Klartons. 

"I never knew your sense of respect after you trespassed our territory." The Elder replied. 

"Well, any alien race with the capacity to move on and improve their technology to further enjoy life is well deserve of our respect." Han said as Garrick ignored their conversation. They walked down the stairs as more of those Kinzoku Crystals are situated around the walls of the volcano. 

After walking down, they reached an underground power plant facility and entered inside. "We like to keep our technology research hidden, away from human greed and possible alien overlords threatening to conquer this planet. Hello, Dr. Nanika." The Elder greeted the scientists. 

"Sorry we are here in a bit of a rush. We are looking for a piece of tech here that is essentially used for computers." Garrick interrupted the two. 

"Ohh, you're in luck! We are on a verge of a new discovery." Nanika remembered and accompanied them to one of their labs. 3 other Klarton scientists saw Nanika and asked about the visitors and the Elder. 

On the table was a small compact device shaped like a bottle cap. "Hey that's our tech or somehow similar to my tech. What is this?!" Han demanded an explanation. 

"Ohh, a few months ago, we've detected a meteor that struck the crater of Mt. Fuji. We couldn't crack it open due to its forcefield but we managed to bypass it." Nanika explained and took the bottle cap and inserted it into a computer. 

"Our new Tera Disk will now store even more data and is encapsulated with a powerful encryption system so it won't be hackable." Another scientist chimed in. Han was displeased but at the same time impressed by how they reverse-engineered it to their own purposes.

"So where is the original tech you found in the meteor?" Garrick asked. The scientists showed them to another room and inside, the meteor-like capsule was levitating. "Suspended in concentrated magnetic fields, it was to keep it safe from this planet's contamination." Nanika answered his question.

Han Wu walked up to the floating object and grabbed it. Unlocking the capsule, the whole tech was still intact. "I'm impressed by how you reverse-engineered our technology. And forgive me but according to the Xun Xian Outside Intervention Code 5, all technology similar to the Xun Xian must be destroyed." 

He then pressed a button on his arm and fired a laser beam at the Elder, killing him. Garrick jumped back as his dog barked at him. The tall alien proceeded to kill every Klarton scientist in the lab before the alarm could be triggered. 

Garrick grabbed his gun and pointed it at him. "If you leave here now, you might trigger a war between the Klartons and the Humans." 

Han laughed at him before clapping his hands. "I guess you are as smart as the stories portray. But we got what we wanted. You're the smart one and surely you can figure this out."

Before Garrick could fire the first shot, he was surrounded by a wave of blue light before he disappeared. "Capsule Compromised! Initiating Self Destruct!" The meteor capsule shook violently before glowing red. He then left the lab, and activated the emergency alarm. 

"This should buy me some time. Fuck, if I cover this up I can still keep the peace treaty. Damn you, tall assholes!" He was approached by Klarton security. 

"The Elder is killed and so is the rest of the research! What happened?!" 

"The meteor capsule activated and killed everyone. Han Wu and I barely escaped its defense system and now its self destructing." He lied to them and they bought it. 

"Crap! Okay, get out of here while we rescue the rest of them." Garrick left the facility and ran up the stairs as fast as he could.