Starward Bound

Chapter Four: Orientation

The General smiles, offering me his paw to shake. On behalf of The Order?...so this is what Rake meant by finding out. Before I accidentally come off as dumb or rude I quickly stop forward and return the gesture of a handshake. As expected his massive clawed paw dwarfs my hand, but he is still gentle and after a polite shake he releases my hand and steps to the side, seeming to look me over as he starts to walk around me.

"Well Vin, I believe it's time me and you had a chance to talk...i'm sure there are many questions you have..." My whole head seems to perk up a bit as he speaks. Questions? Oh finally! I never quite had the courage to really ask Rake about some of the details of well, everything...but now Zepher was giving me a perfect opportunity and plus, he might have a clearer understanding of some things than anyone else.

"Oh, a-absolutely!" I say as I feel his paw on my back, guiding me towards a seat in front of the large desk. "Alright, well first let me properly introduce myself and perhaps give you an explanation to a question I know you will ask..." He says, walking around to the interior of the desk and sitting back down. The General presses a button put of sight and lights along the ceiling turn on, casting a dim light around us and allowing me to see him in almost perfect clarity.

Despite my initial expectations of a scared and grizzly face or a harsh and angery personality...Zepher seems actually quite maintained. His black fur is luscious and thick along his neck and chest.and taking a look at some of his features. First of all, he was very fit. His fur probably coverd up his abs but his forearms were unmistakably chiseled from vigorous hours of physical maintenance. His eyes were the same amber color that everyone apparently had on board the ship.

I hadn't seen anyone without amber eyes yet so it's probably something his species has. He didn't appear to be wearing very much clothing besides a similar jumpsuit that all the rest of the crew were wearing, except this one was black and had a gold patch of some sorts on the shoulders, much like Rake's did. "Alright Vin let me introduce myself, I am General Zepher highest commanding officer of the division. I oversee most of out operations and command our fleet..." He says leaning in a little and looking at me.

"As such, I will also be in charge of everything regarding your presence on board Helios Dawn." That makes sense, being the General and all that...though I hope you don't see me as a threat. "R-Right, yeah I assumed you would be...um you already know everything about me right?" Zepher laughs a little, he looks kind of amused. "Vin I know- actually WE know nothing about you besides your name. No records of your species, home planet, really how you even got here..." He says looking at me with a thoughtful expression. "I know you see us as the aliens, but you are just as foreign to us as we are to you."

...Really? They don't know anything... "But Rake told me I was teleportated here? By something called a warpdriver..." Zepher sighs and looks to the side windows, gazing at the stars as he responds. "Yes...the malfunction with the warpdriver was baffling to say the least, the way it works...it shouldn't have been possible to transport you if your location wasn't within its database." He says. Shouldn't have been possible? The fact that a teleportation device exists shouldn't be possible to me...technically none of this should be.

Zepher continues as his gaze remains fixed on the windows. "We haven't been able to figure out why or even how this happened, all we know is that while transporting some of our own soldiers a large power surge caused a major overload in the warpdriver's navigation systems...and then you showed up." He says turning back to me. I pause for a minute before eventually speaking up. "That's it? I just...showed up? No sparks of light or anything that told you something was wrong?" Zepher snorts and let's out a low chuckle. "I'm afraid not...though I think the scare you have given everyone on board with your presence alone was a very direct sign."