In the far corners of known Magnus was a scientific vessel investigating an unusual comet. Signature readings on the ice ball had indicated an unusual blob of heat in the middle of it, but not much else was clear. They approached the slowly deteriorating object with the ship’s analysis equipment out in front, the robotic arms pushing forward to scan the object up close. The equipment whirred, the vibrations sounding into the cockpit of the ship as multiple Kelai scientists watched the readouts.
“This is… strange,” one of the scientists mumbled, zooming in on the heat scan of the comet and re-running it. “Seems like the heat blob wasn’t interference… We ever seen this before?” He swiped on the screen, sending it to the other’s screens.
“Wolfy ears. It looks like a Valen to me, just frozen in a comet. Based on the size of the comet this guy’s been flying through space for years.” The scientist looked at the heat map again, then back at a density map. “You sure that’s reading from the right sensor?”
Another scientist piped in. “It’s actually moving in there!” The others turned and looked at the large, shared monitor above their workstations, completely baffled. There wasn’t quite a way to communicate with the being in the ball of ice, so the scientists deployed a craft usually intended for capturing meteors and other “Objects Of Interest.” The small self-propelled and roped-off craft flew out from the bottom of the ship and closed itself around the comet, pulling it into the cargo bay of the science vessel. The crew headed out of the cockpit and into the cargo area with bits of tooling.
The heat was cranked up in the storage area to max, the scientists cutting through meters of ice for hours to try and free what was contained inside. They could hear shuffling inside of the comet, some of them continuing to use equipment to analyze the occupant just out of curiosity. Was this a living being suspended in some sort of medium they hadn’t seen before? How was this accomplished? Was this some contingency plan by the Valen in case the war went sour? If so, why hadn’t it deployed?
Finally, after hours and hours of carving carefully away at the massive comet, the ice cracked throughout the object and rapidly crumbled around their intended point of entry. A rather sloppy hammer strike at the thinning surface of ice split the side of the comet open wide, a slurry of who-knows-what in liquid form pouring out and knocking down most of the feathery scientists. They hadn’t checked to make sure there wasn’t a liquid in there before, you know, cracking it open.
Out of the newly split meteor emerged what looked like a Valen with black and white fur, eyes closed with fur dripping with the watery mess he’d been submerged in. The scientists looked up at him confused, let alone baffled, the massive 7-foot canine towering over them. The canine wore no equipment nor coverings, featuring no genitalia nor nipples on their chest. Their fur pattern was rather deliberate and precise, the husky-like pattern ending on his thighs with separate, black, caret-like markings. To say they were confused would be an understatement. The Valen’s eyes opened, but they were unnatural and had a slight glow. Pitch black with a red dot seeming to resemble a pupil, digital and snapping to look at the birds. He spoke, but his voice wasn’t in the slightest robotic, just on the lower end and smooth.
“Have I been captured?” the Valen asked, seeming to carefully analyze the scientists.
One of the scientists stood up. “No, this is a scientific vessel, we merely had captured the comet you were trapped in to release you. We found you from your body heat!”
“Who are you affiliated with?” The Valen was very convincingly living, ignoring his eyes. “Where are we?”
“We’re, well, on the outskirts of charted space right now. About 2 months out from Tressa.”
“Tressa?”
“The home planet of the Kelai?” The scientist looked at him puzzled, albeit a bit curious. “That’s been the name since the war ended.”
One of the other scientists seemed to run a scan on him, their tool beeping. “You’re… non-organic? Non-organic Valen?” This question made the large Valen look rather angry, immediately turning to him and lifting the bird up off the ground by his neck. He let out a strained squeak, thrashing around as the comparatively tiny bird was held in a hand without even the slightest waver.
“Your suits have military markings. Clearly, you’re lying to me. Tell me what ship I’m aboard, now.” The large android growled at an incredible volume. The scientist in his hands cried o
“Wait, no, we’re a scientific vessel! We have no military interests!” The others were scrambling, one of them grabbing one of the blasters off the cargo bay wall intended for defense of the craft.
He aimed the large blaster rifle at the Valen, shouting. “Drop him, now!” The droid looked at the blaster bearing bird and then at the one he was holding, closing his fist on the bird’s neck as he let out a scream before going silent. The energy blaster was fired, hitting the Valen in the face, but it simply singed the white fur of the Valen and reflected the shot to the ceiling where it made a considerable dent.
The others panicked, running into the cockpit and signaling for help. He tore through them one by one, picking off the scientists using just his strength at first, then picking up one of the blasters and blowing holes in them as he made his way to the cockpit. The ship went silent, only the smell of burnt flesh and smoldering synthetic clothing filling the ship as the air circulated. They entered the cockpit, taking an energy shot in the chest before returning it with four, the monitors and other equipment exploding in flame behind him as the bird’s body fell onto the equipment. Blood was all over the star shield.
They hadn’t been there in time to block the distress beacon, but it didn’t matter. It’d be quite some time before any reinforcements would arrive, and by then the ship would be gone and completely off radar.