Into The Vastness of Space

Into The Vastness of Space

It had been several years ever since the Rebel Flagship had been taken down by a ragtag team aboard a ship known as The Kestrel. Countless sectors have been ravaged, many civilizations have been left in ruins. It had taken the efforts of the surviving races to cobble back together what had remained of their homes. However, there is a hope, however far away it may seem. Somewhere, in the vastness of space, there is bound to be new opportunities, new, unexplored territories to colonize.

"And that, gentlemen is why you must go out and find habitable sectors so they may once again live a normal life," Admiral Tully concluded. His gaze swept across the room. Only Virus, the Engi and Captain Steven were still attentive. However, it was clear their interest was beginning to wane. The rest of the crew seemed to be half awake, and a red-clad Mantis warrior propped on a chair could clearly be heard snoring.  "AND WOULD THE LOT OF YOU WAKE UP YOU ALREADY, YOU BASTARDS!?" he exclaimed towards the half-asleep crew.

"Hbwa-wha?" mumbled the Mantis as his slumber had been interrupted. His confusion was quickly replaced with pain, the sudden shout causing him to crash to the floor out of his chair. "Ugh, my ears are ringing," Kazaaak complained, picking himself back off the floor.

"Serves you right," whispered Steven as he leaned over and whispered.

"Shut up."

"As I was saying, we need more habitable sectors to which we can transport refugees so they may have a home," Tully explained

"I understand Admiral, but why us? Surely, there must be much more qualified than us to go on this journey, " questioned Steven.

"You may not be the most experienced, nor the most talented group I've seen, but the way you fought during the apex of the rebellion, you have clearly proven yourselves to be more than capable. As we speak, our scientists are calculating numerous areas that have been shown to harbor new, unknown sectors," Tully replied. "One sector in particular has shown signs similar to those of planets capable of supporting life.  Here, take this," Tully said as he handed Steven a small, green chip. "That chip contains the coordinates to the newfound sector I just mentioned.  I hope your mission goes well."

Steven and the rest of his crew saluted the Admiral as they left the room in order to prepare for the oncoming journey.

~~~

"So, how did it go?" Translator asked once communications were back up. Being a Lanius, he was seldom allowed access to public facilities. The Federation was no exception.

"Eh, pretty much as you expected. We gotta to go out and find new sectors to replace the ones wrecked during the war. We will leave once everyone is ready to go," Steven replied as the crew teleported back onto the ship.

The ship in question, while not the most optimal vessel, had been through hell and back during the Rebellion. After the war, it had been praised as "The Underdog," taking down the impressive Rebel Flagship by itself.  The crew acted fairly modest about the endeavor, bar Kazaaak, yet not even the best of Federation pilots would be insane enough to take on the Flagship solo. This ragtag team had accomplished just that. It was hardly a surprise that they became majorly decorated war heroes upon their return. The crew acted fairly modest about the endeavor, bar Kazaaak.

Once aboard the Kestrel, the crew began to prepare.

Kazaaak, the self-proclaimed 'badass' weapons expert, was busy cleaning some weapons in the weapons room. Virus, was fine tuning the the ship in preparation for the mission. Translator sat in a sealed room, tinkering with some scrap metal salvaged from the Flagship. Mike merely snoozed in the door control room, waiting for everyone else to ready up. Steven gazed upon the emptiness of space from the captain's chair, a picture of him and his family sitting just above the main controls. Zeus stood at the helm of the shields system, fiddling with the shields system.

~~~

After a few more days of preparation, the crew of the Kestrel was finally ready.

"Alright, here are the coordinates," Tully spoke as the Kestrel was about to FTL jump. Steven took a quick look at the coordinates that had been sent over, locking in their sector jump into the ship's navigation system.

"Alright men, buckle your pants, we're about to jump," Steven said over the comm.

After a few seconds, the crew of the Kestrel found themselves in a completely new sector, untouched by the Rebel Fleet.

"Virus, I want you to scan the area for any life-forms before we go and check the area."

"Yes, sir!"

After a brief scan, the engi noticed something that should not have been there.

"Sir, I think I have found a sign of life," said Virus.

"What is it?"

"I don't know how, but somehow, there is a beacon by this solar system, sir. There also appear to be some signs of life on a planet nearby it too."

"What? I thought this sector was untouched by the Rebels?" Steven questioned, a sense of shock in his voice.

"Should we make our way toward the beacon, sir?"

The captain thought about it for awhile. The last time they found an 'untouched' sector, they had stumbled upon the Lanius. While not the best... diplomats, Steven made up his mind. They would go toward this beacon, and try to open diplomatic relations with whatever life they found there.

"Yes, we shall. Whatever form of life we find there, remember to keep your guard up."

Virus set the coordinates for their next FTL jump, and The Kestrel made its way towards the beacon. As they arrived, they saw something that could only be described as 'what the heck.' They watched as the Sun and Moon moved as if they were controlled by a dog running with a laser pointer.

"What. The. Fuck."Kazaak said as he broke the silence, his jaw nearly hitting the ground 'The hell?' was absolutely correct in this situation though. Usually, the Sun stayed stationary as the planets revolved around them. In turn, the Moon was supposed to revolve around a certain planet. In this case however, both moved around wildly before taking their places on opposite sides of a nearby planet.

"Well, that was... interesting," Virus concluded.

"Virus, can you explain what the hell just happened?" Steven said.

"I have no explanation for what just happened."

"Virus, can you scan that planet the Sun and Moon took sides across?"

"Yes, sir."

A quick scan of the planet showed that the dominant species were... ponies.

"What," were the only words that left crew's collective mouths as they looked at the outcomes of the scan.

"Virus, I want an anti-personnel drone equipped with a camera down there, stat," Steven said as they powered up the teleporter.

As Virus launched the drone towards the planet, Steven configured the teleporter to teleport the entire crew, minus Translator down to the planet.

"Virus, can you also scan the atmosphere of the planet to see if we won't die from asphyxiation?" Steven said as he and his crew prepared teleport down onto the planet.

"Can do," Virus replied.

"Translator, in case there is oxygen, I want you wear this suit," Steven said as he dropped off a space suit by Translator's door.

"Sir, scans have shown that the composition of the air on the planet is very similar to the air we currently breathe."

"Ah, good," Steven replied, "We shall leave now, then. Crew, ready up."

~~~

The crew of the Kestrel had landed somewhere in a forest, it seemed. After a few hours of walking, they found some definite signs of life by the edge of the forest. A modest cottage stood in front of them.

"Wow," Zeus said.

"You said it," Mike agreed.

"How did they build this?" Virus said.

The crew pondered how ponies, FREAKING PONIES, could build a simple cottage such as this, they heard a resounding smash behind them. Standing right behind them, was a giant red centaur, staring down at them. As Kaaazak's jaw hit the ground for the second time that day, the centaur had inhaled loudly, the crew of The Kestrel standing there with a look of surprise.

"What? You have no magic?" the centaur exclaimed, "How is this possible!?"

Steven blinked, before pulling out his trusty blaster, and pointing it at the centaur.

"And what, pray tell, is that?" the centaur said, amused.

Steven said nothing as he pulled the trigger. A laser shot out from the gun, hitting the centaur in the eye.

"AH!" the centaur exclaimed, before sending a glare that sent death threats toward the group of aliens. The group took the hint long before he even thought of taking chase however, and were sprinting away from the centaur, in the direction of a path next to the cottage.

"Come back here!" the centaur shouted as he began to run after the group that had eluded him.