U4: The Space Wanderers

Chapter 1: Awaken

A young child no older than 12 years old floats in the endless vacuum of space. Unconscious due to unknown reasons, his motionless body stands still as vague memories from his past keep him from the brink of death. A shadowy flashback to years before, where the child stands before two unknown beings in an abstract, green and gold palace...

"Hello? Helloooo! Dammit, I hope this thing ain't busted." "He needs to be taught, my lord. You can't just expect him to understand what you're saying just like that." "Well, what's it gonna take for him to learn something simple, like talking?" "I'd say a few months. He should learn faster than any normal mortal, but teaching him anything will still take time." "Well ain't that my luck..."

His memories flash forward a few more months... 

"Hey, you doing alright kid?" The child stood silently, as if he was waiting for something. "Oh right, you don't want to be called 'kid'. Uhh, what named did you give yourself again?" The child looked up at the guy with a blank expression. "... Don't you remember?" The guy let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Sorry, I got a hazy brain. I believe you said it was Goddard? Pretty interesting name..."

Flash forward a few more months later...

"Welp, it's been a good run, but it's time you follow in my footsteps." Goddard looked up at the guy with a confused expression. "Aren't I a bit young to do something this... important?" The guy reassured him with a pat on the head. "Yeah, but I can't keep doing this job forever, plus there's no one else in this universe who can take my place except for you." "I guess..." Goddard said with a heavy sigh. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. All you have to do is fly around the universe and check up on everything. It'll take time, but it's not like anything will go wrong-"

Suddenly, Goddard was bolted wide awake due to being hit by an on-going space ship. Two of the ships inhabitants, a girl with a red hat and a guy with purple hair, were startled awake by the sudden collision. "Dammit, the Ultimatum's autopilot hit something again. Lights on Ultimatum! Dirken, would you mind checking it out?" said the girl. "Aww come on Sighlan, why do I gotta do it?" said the guy. "Because I'm a normal person and you can make an electro-whozits barrier that won't let you die in the emptiness of space. Now get a movin'!"

Dirken then activated his electro-barrier, went to the top of the Ultimatum and opened the hatch outside. "You just don't wanna use your space suit because it chafes," he mumbled to himself. "Hmm, seems okay out here. Probably just got banged up by an asteroid. I should probably check the front of the ship, just in ca-" Dirken then spotted Goddard on the ship's windshield, somehow still alive. The two of them just stared at each other in silence for a while.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The two then just screamed at each other for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

Later, back in the ship, Sighlan and Dirken try to figure out the situation at hand. "Sighlan! We somehow hit a child!" "WHAT!? HOW!? WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF SPACE!!!" "I dunno, some idiot probably tossed it somewhere." "Better question, how is it still alive? We probably hit the poor thing at near lightspeed, and it barely looks hurt whatsoever!" The two of them look at the child, who's just sitting in a chair and waving at them. "That... that's a good question. Little guy should be a meat puree, but he only has scuffs on his rags. Should we ask him some questions? Can he even talk?" "I'm sure it can understand, it looks sentient."

Sighlan then walked up to Goddard. "Alright kid, uhhh, what's your name and where do you come from?" Goddard pondered for a second before responding. "My name... my name is... Goddard. I think that's what it is... It's the only name I can remember. Where... do I come from? I can't remember anything at the moment, but... I do remember something... I remember... some sort of large place, kinda like a castle? It looked... shiny, I think. Gold lining various, misshapen jade windows. Very weird looking. I don't... really know much other than that..."

Dirken and Sighlan looked at each other confused. "Huh... hey Sighlan, ya know what he's talking about?" "I don't recall any nearby planets having structures like that. He probably might be from the other side of the galaxy for all we know." "Damn, he must've been drifting in space for months. What a durable kid!" Sighlan then placed her hand on Goddard's shoulder. "Hey, uh... Goddard? We have no idea where you're from, so you might as well stick with us for a while. Luckily for you, we do have a uniform that can fit ya!" "Aren't you talking about the uniform that was for-" "Sorry Dirken, but 'that' can wait for now. I'm sure you're patient enough."

A short while later, Goddard comes back wearing his new uniform. "So, what do ya think kid?" said Sighlan. "Feels nice, definitely better than my old robe." Dirken let out a hearty laugh. "Well kid, you're a part of the crew now!" "So, what do you guys do?" Sighlan then explained their jobs. "Oh, we're just regular delivery people. We go planet to planet to send and receive packages. We call ourselves 'The Space Wanderers'."  Goddard then looked down at his uniform. "The Space Wanderers... I like it. So... where are you guys headed?"

Dirken pointed at a small cluster of planets in the distance. "We're headed back to our home solar system, B-95. A small system of 3 planets. Got a lot of stuff to do over there!" Sighlan continued while fiddling with the control panel. "Yeah, no kidding. First, we got to deliver a trophy on Planet Grate, then we gotta get my weapons fixed up on Planet Shri, and finally we gotta stop by our homeworld, Ballex, to refuel our ship. It could take us a good few days to get everything done. Luckily, the Ultimatum should have enough juice to last us the entire trip before heading to Ballex."

Goddard was giddy with excitement. "That's pretty cool! ... What's the Ultimatum?" Sighlan the lightly patted the control panel. "You're sitting in it. It's our trusty delivery ship! Sure, it ain't as sleek as other ships out there, but it's tech is still pretty up to date." Dirken butted in with his take. "We've had this thing since we started up this whole shindig, and it's lasted us a damn good while. Hmm... it's been almost a decade since we left our little solar system, I wonder if people still remember us." "Eh, I'm sure they're not THAT forgetful. We did deliver mail and packages for Ballex, Shri and Grate for many years before going beyond B-95." "Heh, I hope so. I can't wait to get the Girken McDirken Special on Grate, I'm starving!" "Always you and those girken dishes, huh? And you wonder why they named it after ya... But, getting something to eat wouldn't hurt."

The Space Wanderers then start heading towards the solar system. "Alright, we're entering B-95. Setting coordinates to Planet Gr-uh... what the..." Sighlan stumbled with her words, looking forward at something. "Something wrong..?" said Goddard. "There... should only be 3 planets in our solar system." Dirken looked at Sighlan's frightened expression. "Wait, what do you mean by that?" Sighlan then pointed forward. "There's... a 4th planet. There's a 4th planet in B-95..."