Futuristic ✰★☆Lost Between The Stars✰★☆Poppy x Wolfina

[PoppySeed]

This is a one x one between PoppySeed and Wolfina2.

You're welcome to look, but don't touch!

 

[Wolfina2]

They had been travelling through this galaxy for sometime, finding a good place to refuel and gather sustenance wasn't always easy. The Te'rugh were a spacefaring race they had been for at least half a century now. After the destruction and decay of their home planet they had no choice, there was no nearby planets they had settled on. Luckily they had perfected space travel and travelled the cosmos returning home seldomly to see if it had recovered. Urtagor sat at the helm of the Genesis 9. It was 9 of the 12 fleets that originally left the planet, they had to leave some of their brethren behind, there were some moon colonies; but they did not know how long those would last for.

Urtagor had never seen his home planet, the comfort of the stars the only home he has known. Taken the role of captain after years of dedicated service and skill. Many of the crew felt he was too young to take the role of captain however it was Nr'alth's dying wish that Urtagor take over his role of Captain. Urtagor had proven himself on several occasions, navigating through asteroid fields and creating an alliance with a more primitive race of aliens. The Te'rugh were a tall race standing between 6-7 feet, their skin was a pale blue and their limbs long and slender. They had an extra set of eyes and an extra finger on each hand. Their eye colour and hair colour ranged widely, from varying shades of white to black, to odd colours like green and even blue.
Urtagor himself stood at 6'1" and had a sharp brilliant white hair. His eyes were a deep emerald and he wore a silver outfit that draped his body much like a dress.

It was a day settled in deep routine, they had been running low on supplies for a few days now. They were keeping an eye out for a nearby planet that might be hospitable or have ample resources to help stock up their ship. Urtagor sat in his seat listening to the gentle hum of the ship's engines as it glided through space, the navigator spoke up suddenly. "Captain, there is something coming up on the radar. It looks like a small mining ship." Urtagor couldn't help but hold his breath for a moment. A ship that meant intelligent life. Could this be a new friend or.. a foe? He let out his breath quietly, "See if you can hail them on the wireless frequency.. if no response try the radio frequency." they had to install a few different frequency types to their ship with help of a few other races through their travels.

 

[PoppySeed]

Szekh'ed sat at the bridge, his fingertip tracing the circles in the arm of his chair. The beeps and clinks of the computers around and the shuffling of his fellow crew mates irritated him. He could almost see his brother's face now, smiling in its wide, sharp-toothed grin. He clenched his fist and slammed it against the keyboard. He examined his hand, holding it out under his red-eyed reptilian gaze. His tanned skin was embedded with purple scales, and thin, pricked red hairs ran up his arms beneath his clothing. He sighed, letting the anger rush from him in a huff. This was necessary, he reminded himself. This journey was just the next step into their galactic expansion; more resources to build ships to transport economies beyond their terrestrial boundaries, making space travel affordable to wayward citizens. Like moving from continent to continent. They had just established the colony on Khevihd, the primary of three moons orbiting their home planet. It was only a matter of time before they went to the next moon, the next planet... It was going to be a long road.
Step by step, he repeated in his mind, over and over.
The ship dipped and oriented itself in hyper-speed, knocking Zekh's head back against the back of his seat, hitting the base of his skull painfully. He grimaced, running his hands over his thick red mane and frowning to himself, rubbing his newfound injury gently. He wasn't built for space travel. If only his brother was in his place.
But he knew it had been decided for means beyond his knowledge. He was the younger of the two brothers in line to lead the solar system. It was originally the first son's obligation to lead their miners into space, but some strings were somehow pulled in the vast puppet theater Zekh had only glimpsed, and here he was. Sitting in his least favorite seat on the whole ship. Heading into the far reaches of the system.
Pings radiated through the hold, red lights swarming. "Something's on the radar!" A woman shouted over her shoulder, startling Zekh from his brooding. Her blue hair was tied tight into a bun high on her head, clean. Government flyer.
"Put it on the main screen," he said, sounding as official as he could manage.
The blue screen flashed above his head. "Out of hyper speed, take it slow," he ordered. He eyed the object on the screen, mouth slowly falling to awe. Silence permeated the room. He glanced around the cabin with expectation, but nobody had an explanation. "Has anyone ever seen the likes of this?"
One of the flyers stepped forward from his position, head shaved so the scales along his scalp were surgically fashioned into spikes, and tapped his fingers along the diagram. "My Prince, it's not of organic nature."
If they still had forked tongues, Zekh would hiss. "If I was looking for obvious responses, I would have asked a Draccus. What is it?"
The man slithered back to his station, and a woman carefully offered her opinion, "I..If you don't mind my... Your Grandness.. It looks to be a ship."
"Scan the records for any ship similarities. Make sure it's not a rogue ship. Are there any markings?"
"No, Prince. We don't have any record of its shape. The markings are foreign."

Zekh's mouth was becoming increasingly dry, his blood running cold. Silence hit the air again, tension filling the cabin.
Zekh swallowed deeply after a long moment. "Alright, open up comm channels, keep the crew on standby at combat stations..." He frowned, scratching at the bright red scruff on his cheek absentmindedly. "Shoot out a message. See if they're hostile. I do believe we're making contact with the unknown." His heart thrummed heavily in his chest. This was unheard of. There was never any training on this. The Far-Seers had never predicted anything like this... And Zekh was at a complete loss.

 

[Wolfina2]

Urtagor bit his lip impatiently, there a slight ping as the radio communicators sent out their signals. The communication officer chimed in again, "No response from the wireless or radio signals... Captain?" Urtagor rubbed the back of his neck digging his fingers in slightly to massage his neck muscles a little. "Are they sending out any transmissions T'lyth?" the communications officer pursed their lips and pressed a few buttons on the slick glass in front of him. "Not on any of the frequencies or communication channels we have open sir." The navigation office chimed in again, "It looks like they have slowed down and have taken notice of our approach captain." Urtagor pointed at T'lyth, "Try sending out those frequencies again, wireless then radio. If there is no response then.. then.." he churned the thought in his mind for a moment. Then what? What was he supposed to do.. "Then we will take further action." he decided to delay that for now.

Since taking office this was the first race he had encountered that had space travel. It had all been small communities or villages on planets, but he knew what Nr'alth would have done. If hailing them on known frequencies failed he would have captured the ship and talked to them face to face. Urtagor shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the loose fitting cloth around his neck feeling unordinarily tight. He didn't want to do it, but he knew what was expected of him. He knew the procedure and the past experiences of his former Captain. He always felt a little guilty when Nr'alth would capture ships. How scared and confused the other aliens would be. Their ship was massive, it had to be. In the ship was housing over a hundred of them. If it was a small ship they could not all live so comfortably. The small mining ship in comparison seemed so small. He knew that the aliens that had been talked to face to face probably felt a bit intimidated. "Nothing on wireless. Switching to radio frequencies." T'lyth spoke suddenly snapping Urtagor to the present. Perhaps there was still time now, perhaps he didn't have to take such rude and rash decisions.

 

[PoppySeed]

Zekh raked his brain as the chimes came back unheard, bouncing back and forth between the ships like sonar, with little effect. His hands ruffled restlessly through his bright red hair. What is the next step? As they continued to ping, more ships appeared on their radar, lighting the room with the blue light of the screen. He paged home and spoke to ambassadors and government officials, and was following hastily-prepped protocols, but time was dwindling short.
What was the best way to let the other... fleet?? astonishing as that thought was... know that they weren't hostile?
And what if the approaching species was hostile? Would their weapons be enough? They were obviously more technically advanced. The Dress had never seen the like of these ships in its borders, even after hundreds of years of throwing signals through the space between stars with little response but dwindling suns in other systems. That proved to be that this was a traveling fleet--they'd traversed the stars for a very long time, Zekh imagined.
Of course, the opportunities with meeting such a species was mind-blowing. They would have insight that the Dress had never considered, even with their remote interplanetary expansions. But how would they communicate? Say that they were able to intersect the two ships and were able to... heavens the very idea!... converse face to face... Would there be any way to demonstrate communication between them?
Maybe this new species was all tentacles... or large amoebas with dangly arms? Water morphs?
He couldn't fathom what sat in the opposite ships.
The best he could do was order his crewmates to sit still, hovering with suspicious tension in static x,y,z coordinates, and wait. The battle stations were manned just in case, but Zekh even wondered if that was the wrong thing to do. Should he wave the guns? Or would that be mistaken for an act of aggression. It wasn't as if he could bloody climb to the top of the ship and wave a white flag, could he?
And what would that even mean to the other species?
He called the interpreters to the bridge and tried to relay that they wouldn't be able to communicate with language--but body language...? Maybe?
Really, Zekh was just at a loss.

 

[Wolfina2]

The pinging of the radio and wireless signals was driving him insane. Why couldn't they have the same technology, why did this have to be difficult. "No responses from any of the frequencies captain. What is our next course of action?" the bridge was quiet as T'lyth spoke, waiting in anticipation for Urtagor's response. Urtagor took a deep breath. He knew what was expected of him, he knew the only course of action in this case. He pointed towards the navigation officer, "Eratoc please open the bay doors and begin the procedure of having them board." Eratoc nodded quickly and started jabbing buttons on the console. Urtagor held down the intercom button. "Hello everyone, this is your captain speaking. We ask that everyone other than Genesis crew members please return to your dwellings. We are boarding an unknown vessel. We ask you remain in your dwelling until further instruction for your own safety." it only ever happened once, but that was enough to raise concerns. During one of these routine missions one of the aliens they had brought aboard was hostile. Urtagor frowned a bit concerned about the aliens he was now inviting into his ship. "That will be all." he finished his announcement over the ship wide intercom and shifted and pressed a different button which was to a personal radio all the crewmembers had. "We are currently taking aboard an unknown alien vessel. Please stay on high alert and keep everyone calm. May I ask the Genesis Guard to join me at the cargo hold?"

As Urtagor made the arrangements Eratoc had been hard at work beaming them aboard. The small mining vessel was surrounded by a light blue haze as it was being slowly pulled into the now wide open bay doors. The beam was powerful enough to prevent any propulsion, but if they had attempted to fire on them that would surely make contact. Urtagor stood up and gestured to T'lyth and a few other members of the bridge, "Come with me, we shall meet our guests at the hold." they nodded curtly in agreement and Urtagor's radio buzzed slightly as it received a response from the guard, "Yes Captain we are on the way." Urtagor turned sharply and paused in front of the bridge doors which after a moment slid open smoothly. The small group of them made their way down the hall, which already quiet. The passengers knew the procedure, it was for their safety after all. Urtagor tapped a button for the elevator and waited patiently, the humm of the ship's engines help calming his nerves. The Elevator's door slid open and they were greeted by the guard waiting for them. It was time for Urtagor to prove to them that he was a competent and reliable captain.

 

[PoppySeed]

It was only a matter of time before Zekh had to make the decision to approach the ship when they watched the bay doors open. It appeared that the main ship was welcoming them in. "Tell the crew to be on their guard. We're not sure if it's a trap, but we will act in the expectation that this is a cordial invitation," he told his attendants, who, in staggered numbness, went about his orders as best as they could. He tapped out on his screen to the intercom, "High order from the Prince, civilians will be required to report to their living quarters and are to stay until further notice." He rationalized how to bridge the gap between the ships in case a speedy get away was necessary.
He gathered the interpreters and a trusted official and donned spacesuits to enter the vacuumed, air-tight hangar of their transport ship. The ship itself was small relative to larger vessels, but would set them and keep a colony fed and housed during their asteroid mining for the next thirty years. The hangar held only a few smaller vessels with enough room to dock a resource ship. As they got closer, Zekh decided that they would stop a ways away and approach using one of the smaller carriers to maneuver into the bay. Assuming this was an invitation of course. He couldn't quite sort out how to indicate he wasn't approaching with hostility, besides bringing a gun-less boat. Of course, he kept a small following of body guards, armed lightly in case of emergency evacuation. It wasn't entirely necessary, outside of their fire power. Zekh, like most notable officials in the Dress, was combat trained from a young age. Bodyguards were too expensive, and violence was not of the Thum. So they entered the carrier and blasted towards the unknown ship, carrying cameras with them as they went.
As they approached the small gap between the ships, Zekh was astonished at the size of the vessel. This was not just a space-faring transport ship, it was meant to hold many people for long periods of time; to sustain a population indefinitely. He commanded the pilot of his own small vessel to flash blue lights slowly at the bay, hoping to appear friendly.
He could feel collective prayers of the people around him, that through the Thum they would live to see another day.

 

[Wolfina2]

The group stood in the hanger, now donned in space suits to greet their new guests, nervousness ebbing off all of them. This was the first intelligent race in a long time, everyone was a little rusty and worried about this new race's actions. T'lyth was mumbling to himself, he was practicing hello in the known languages they had learned Urtagor knew that was fruitless, it was more likely that this new race spoke a completely new language, Hesat was fumbling with a small handheld computer, their translation software they had gotten. It took words and hand gestures and tried to make understandable meanings from it; It had saved them in a couple of spots. Urtagor turned to Hesat and spoke softly, "Is the translation system ready?" Hesat nodded "Absolutely captain!" he saluted clumsily almost dropping the computer, Urtagor sighed, "Please be careful. We don't have time to fix that right now if you break it." Hesat just nodded, looking away from Urtagor feeling a little embarrassed at his clumsiness. Hesat was still in training and the last thing he wanted to do was mess up on an important mission like this.

The mining vessel grew closer and closer to their own, it was slowly making it's way into the cargo bay, Urtagor could hear a slight mumble from one of the guards. He was praying to their former god Itok, most had given up belief on the god after the planet had forsaken them, but there was still a small sect that held a belief in him. The ship released a smaller ship from it, a small transport ship to close the gap between the mining ship and their ship. It neared their small group and landed in the hangar. There was a long moment of silence as they waited for the next steps, the doors to open and the new aliens to come forth.

 

[PoppySeed]

Guided by lights,their small aircraft maneuvered its way into the bay of the foreign ship. Zekh couldn't account for his team, but his hands and feet grew terribly warm, his fingers twitch I my and heart thumping. What if these species were atrocious looking? How could Zekh reliably not gawk? That would be the true test of courage, he told himself in dark humor.
They landed gruffly and the bay doors closed behind them, creating an airlock seal. Oxygen--life breeding oxygen, from the notable increases on their sensors -- pumped into the large hangar.
Zekh felt his godly namesake spill off of his tongue. "Szekhed's heel," he murmured, the men around him echoing it in the dark transport vessel, followed by murmurs of "by the Thum"
They sat in the cabin for several minutes, nobody sure what to say or do next. Zekh chalked it up to waiting to see if they'd be attacked, but it was really mostly out of terror.
Zekh was a Prince, so his command was clearly what they waited for. He swallowed around his fear and cleared his throat. "Alright, men, keep your suits on. Let's see who invited us."

 

[Wolfina2]

The cargo bay doors slowly closed behind their guests, the groaning of the doors echoing through the large chamber. They closed sealing the area and oxygen slowly got pumped in. After a few minutes the doors of the ship opened and exposed Zekh to Urtagor who let out a breath he did not realize he was holding. Urtagor and his crew removed their helmets exposing their faces to the air now that the bay doors were closed and the area was getting pumped with oxygen. One of the trainees who had come merely to observe was tasked with holding the helmets.

The wary mining crew stepped out of the vessel and met Urtagor halfway. T'lyth first tried saying hello in several different languages however none received any response from this new race. They seemed terrifying to Urtagor a race of lizard people, cold blooded. He shivered slightly at their appearance so different from their own. After the failed attempts from T'lyth, Hesat stepped forward with his machine and pointed at the group in front of him and then the machine. It had some images which was of a silhouette with a speech bubble with words, then the computer with a speech bubble and different words. There was silence as they hoped the message was clear to as the intent with the computer. Urtagor kept quiet during all of this, there was no point talking until they could properly communicate.

 

[PoppySeed]

Zekh's crewman told him that there was little substance in the cavity besides the general atmospheric cocktail of oxygen and nitrogen. So when they met with the large, four-armed beings (as terrifying as they were.) who took off their helmets to reveal four eyes, Zekh (after a long, breathy hesitation, cold running through his veins) ordered his men to do the same. It wasn't as if they weren't temporarily trapped in the first place. Better to be poisoned than shot, he figured. One of the.. aliens? For what could he begin to call them? Tried to communicate with them, moving his arms and speaking in different cadences of who-knows-what, tongue against proper front-mouth teeth and moving cheek muscles.
Zekh's own interpreters tried jumping from foot to foot and waving their own arms in the hopes of some sort of communication, gesticulating in vain.
He took a wary step back when they opened the computer and gestured at it. He gestured for one of the interpreters to step forward. The man had fashioned his facial scales back into spiked bones that curved away from his scalp, his yellow eyes fixed on the computer. The man cocked his head at it, bent forward, and tried speaking to the computer. "Hello," he said, then added humorlessly, "We come in peace?"

 

[Wolfina2]

Urtagor watched as the aliens approached them and removed their own helmets. There was hesitation and fear all around. The aliens tried to also communicate in their language but it was futile. The computer was brought between them and the aliens said a few more words into the computer this time.

The computer compiled the words the aliens said before blurting them out in their own language. Urtagor sighed, at least the computer still worked. Urtagor talked back into it, "Hello. We come in peace." which blurted out the same words the alien had used moments ago, but in a robotic voice. Urtagor spoke into the machine some more, "My name is Urtagor, and we are a space faring race, we had lost our planet and travel the cosmos in search of a new home." after a couple minutes the computer blurted it out into Zekh's language. Urtagor continued, "We were hoping we could refuel on your planet." the computer was silent for another moment before translating it again.

[Let's just say it's magic technology. Like how pocahontas got through the language barrier. Magic]

 

[PoppySeed]

Zekh recoiled as the machine spat back the words in his own language, but quickly settled himself, clearing his throat. He stepped forward, sort of expecting this Urtagor to be their leader of sorts. "I'm Prince Szek'hed, second son to the king of the Dress--err, this solar system. We're on our way to establish a mining colony on the asteroid belt at the end of the Dress. I'm not certain our fuel would.. uh... fuel your ship properly, as we even have... difficulties in language." He hesitated, "Nevertheless, we'd need to send you home with a guide, I assume. That would take two or three planet-side days--about 48 to 72 hours--to assemble for you, but we would be honored to do so."
Zekh was really at a loss to what to say to these species. They were so intimidating with their extra limbs and eyes. He eyed Urtagor up and down, and was surprised to see what he took for kindness in his four pairs of eyes. He fought down a shudder, unsure of whether or not to describe these beings as beautiful or... creepy.

 

[Wolfina2]

Urtagor listened carefully to what the alien said and spoke, "I mean refuel in terms of food and sustenance, and perhaps for my people to spread their legs a little bit on a planet again." he smiled at the Prince, so they still relied on a monarchy how odd. Most space faring races he had met had abandoned such archaic forms of rulership. He of course wouldn't say that aloud. "Thank you for your hospitality, we shall happily wait for the guide" he couldn't help but stare at this alien.

They hadn't met a race of reptilian aliens before so this was quite exciting. They had met amphibians but that wasn't quite the same thing. The prince said something about the trip taking 48-72 hours but of course that meant nothing, hours were subjective to the size of the planet and the rotation of it. Everyone had their own way to measure time. The reptilian race looked menacing from their outward appearance however it seemed as though they would work peacefully with them. Urtagor had always loved looking at all the different alien races they had come in contact with, all the files included detailed descriptions of the differences of each person as well as pictures for examples. There had been vew few that had even come close to a similar to appearance as the Te'rugh.