[“All clear over here. Proceeding to the source of the sound.”]
[“Roger! Be careful Jarren.”]
The captain could hear the soft whisper of his 2nd in command as he exited the spacecraft, rifle in hand and stuck to the shadows of the shuttle. He had taken off his shoes and now walked silently in nothing but the inner lining of his boots. Slowly sneaking around the side of the ship to find the source of the knocking which had gotten more and more frequently as time went on.
He was prepared to fight if necessary. Many sacrifices had been made to get here, and it was the dream of many that had given him the chance to achieve this. As long as they stuck together, who could harm him and his friends!
Moving silently but quickly, the figure tall in blue crept up on the right side of the shuttle, toward the source of the knocking. Just beyond the bend of the curved hull, the captain could see an ominous glow and thoughts of tentacle aliens and acid-spitting monsters filled his head.
[“James are you in position?”]
[“Yeah Sir.”]
The captain slotted a rune covered round shot in the breech and switched off the safety. The ammunition for their weapons was desiged to imact only on live targets, so they didn't need to worry about getting into a fire fight and damaging their ship.
[“Sir, it's on the back end of the craft now, by the primary thrusters. Permission to engage?]
After he finished his preparations he sent confirmation.
[Alright, We move on the count of 3. 1..2...3!”]
The man rushed around the corner and turning on his illuminator while his partner opens the top hatch and took aim.
Both figures froze as the small form of a young girl with luminous silver hair. She wore an unblemished white dress with no sleeves and no shoes, like one of those acolytes from the temples. Everything about her screamed innocent, from the tilt of her petite head to the wide eyes that shone like the sun, full of charm and life.
““...””
Neither crew member let their guard down nor said anything. Someone or something had rolled an avalanche right down on top of them and they suddenly find a cute little girl tapping on the side their ship. The child exuded a calming, peaceful aura that contradicted their sense of alert. Not knowing what to do, both sides sat still in silence.
["Sir what's going on out there!”]
No one said anything until the little girl in front of them cocked her head the other way and peered through the darkness at the two strangers.
"Who are you! Where did you come from!" Demanded the captain.
“^*&%)?”
The sounds that came from her elegant little mouth made no sense to both men. Like the whistle of a warm summer breeze, the rumble of mountains, the call of the morning birds, and crash of oceans. Frightening but peaceful, resonating with something deep in the both of them.
[“James here, the source of the knocking appears to be an unidentified humanoid. Possibly of alien origins. Whatever it is it doesn’t speak Terrian”]
[“The captain is trying to communicate with it? Sir! There are first contact protocols to follow! You need to-”]
The man in charge ripped the earpiece out and looked back to the strange girl. He set down the rifle and looked at his partner and mouthed to stay alert.
“Who. Are. you.”
The captain made signs and gestures as to try and make her understand. In the end, the little girl could only wonder what the big blue thing in front of her was doing? It wasn’t as pretty or colorful. Maybe it's a puzzle mommy Asta made for her? What kind of creature did her mommies make for her today?
Oblivious to the weapons the two held at her, she sat down to think what she had to do to solve the puzzle her mommy had sent her.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
[“Sir! I have the scanners online and they're detecting movement to the southeast!”]
The captain turned to gaze expectantly at the forest behind him. Up on the ridge, emerging from the underbrush, a monster, the size of a siege tower burst forth. Fur like a field of hot coals, claws as big as swords, eyes like bonfires, and breath like a desert wind.
[“Ariel! Tell me this thing can fly!”]
[“Captain! We just started. Give us some time-”]
[“You have 10 seconds!”]
The man in blue grabbed picked up the little girl and carried her back into the airlock just as the roar of engines starting up could be heard.
A great and thunderous ROAR resounded like the war cry of a dragon and the ground shook as it made rumbled down the side of the ridge at frightening speed.
“Get us in the air!”
The captain rushed in and left the child on a seat while he started barking orders. The engines that should have been checked and repaired whirled to life as the magic reactor fired to life. The engines roared and were pushed to the limit, yet no altitude was made.
“Why aren't we in the air!”
“Mr. Captain! I have some of the sensors online and it says gravity around the planet has been concentrated on our location! It's like the moon doesn’t want us to leave!”
As soon as the words came out of the elves mouth, the beastman was the first to react and took aim with his rifle at the young child who was currently staring at the inside of the ship in amazement. There were so many new things she had never seen before, she never knew there were so many people in the whole world. All her life, it had only been her, her mommies, and all her animal friends. Today, her universe grew.
Regrettably, unknown to her, the universe also currently included a furry man pointing a deadly weapon at her.
“James!”
“2nd Lieutenant!”
“Sir! Protocol!”
“Mate! What are you doing!”
The engineer and 2nd in command could only look back briefly before turning their attention back to the controls, unable to do anything about the situation behind them.
“Sir please move! That brat is the cause!”
“You don’t know that!”
"There is a high likely hood it is!"
“Sir the bear!”
From the cry of the engineer, the captain turned to look. Out the front view port, a massive monster had caught up with the shuttle and stood on its hind legs over the tiny little ship. It towered over the landscape roaring as if to declare “Don’t even think about getting away!”.
“WARP NOW!”
“In atmosphere sir!?!”
Before the captain could answer the monster before them brought its paw down on the tiny intruders, luckily the large paw only grazed the ship just before the 2nd in command got the message and the warp engine was engaged. The ship whined and groaned in protest as it was pushed to the limits without proper time to prepare. Green energy lit up the engine core as it began burning away the essence inside its reactor. The increase in power was enough to overpower the gravity well the shuttle had become entrapped in and tear out of the inner atmosphere at breakneck speed.
“Warp Drive at 10% capacity. Artificial gravity is offline but life support is still running. When we get back I'll see about getting it repaired.” the dwarven engineer said as objects around the cabin started to float upwards.
“*Phew*~At least were alive. Now can you release her?”
The captain of the crew asked the man who still had his weapon trained on the young girl who was trying to look back out the window.
She was kept trying to call out to her best friend that had nearly touched the big metal thing she was in. She wanted to go back and get her but she kept getting farther away. The armed beastmen knew something was still wrong but before anyone could say anything, the whole ship lurched and everyone went flying in zero gravity environment.
For the crew members who had trained for a situation like this it was no trouble righting themselves, but for the young girl who had never left the confines of her home moons, she did an uncontrollable flip and slammed into the edge of a control panel. Blood poured out of the back of her skull as she cried out.
Throughout the years and years of exploring the surface of her home moons, she had never experienced pain due to her mother's downright paranoid pampering and worry. Wherever she went, any plants that had barbs would lose their thorns and bloom sweet smelling blossoms, stones and cliffs would turn to squishy mud holes and hills when she walked by.
Simply put, pain was literally not in her vocabulary. Faced with this new sensation, she cried and screamed not knowing what to do.
Everyone was stunned by the sudden outburst. It was just a head wound, not much really. But she was crying like she lost her arm. Her screaming, however, awoke something in them all. It was a cry that made them all want to comfort her and stop such a thing from happening ever again. Even the beastman, who did not entirely trust her, was speechless. He had been bashed a few good times in a fight, even got trampled by a war horse once. The screams and cries of the dying and tortured could not compare.
Screaming in pain shattered the calm aura around the girl. The light in the cabin seemed to draw in away from its sources and try and shield the girl, hiding her out of sight. Every fiber of all the crew members present wanted to go and help her, but they could not move.
The first to break the still was the timid elf who acted as the ship's scientist.
“Sis grab the trauma kit.”
She rushed over and pulled the free floating, crying child into her embrace. She soothed and tried her best to calm her. The child slowly calmed down and, albeit still in pain, recognized that someone was holding her. She looked up, expecting to see the face of one of her mommies but was met with the face of a strange girl with pointed ears.
“Trauma Kit. Now!”
The whole crew that had sat unmoving went back to their jobs while Ariel went to get the Trauma Kit.
The ship creaked and one look out the window told them just how much trouble they were in.
The engines had been melted and parts of the shuttle drifted off into space. Ethereal chains held the shuttle in place as they watched, three glowing dots fly out of the atmospheres of the different moons and began multiplying, surrounding the ship as they went.