Vikkron (DISCONTINUED)

Event Horizon

It had been few weeks after the initial destruction of the foreign ship. As the days passed, the Izal managed to retrieve a few lightly damaged, unused escape pods. After even more weeks of tinkering and de-coding, it was understood that what the Izal had come across was a Terran Zifer C-Class. This was one of the weaker variants of their warships, generally used for transport of goods or patrolling near galaxy borders.

After further digging, the Izal had uncovered the major Terran language, something called English. There were lesser languages like Spanish, Italian, and German, but it was decided that if they wanted to communicate with the "Terrans," they'd have to learn how to speak English.

Furthermore, to even communicate with these Terrans, the Izal would have to first try to ally or at least get on good terms with any other groups in the galaxy, now known as Hallow. This was a necessity as the Terrans did have allies, some of them being the Frontier, Tekenhalmians and Vitarians. These other groups were assumed to be different intellectual species, noting the black creature in the first transmission with the Terrans.

Again, the Izal were rethinking their decisions. Where they were on a grand voyage to discover what was in the Realm Beyond, they had never thought about there being others who could travel through the stars. If the Terrans had made allies in their galaxy, maybe the Izal should make some in theirs. After receiving the news, the Greater Council sent ships to find any live supporting planets in the vicinity of their capital planets. They flew off into the distant void, carrying small crews for the travels.

Back in Hallow, the repaired and upgraded Genesis was traveling deeper into Hallow at faster than light speeds, scanning for any signatures of Terran or forgien ships. As Hallow was very new to the Izal, taking a wormhole through was a bad idea lest they end up in front of a Terran fleet. A navigator contacted the bridge. "Sir, we've got a unknown station up ahead. It's quite small, a bit rugged. Two minutes till interception."

"Noted," the Commander said. "Prepare a small crew for landing, including me. Rel, you're in command."

"Yes sir," Rel said. "But, are you sure?"

"Am I sure?" The commander paused. "No, I'm not." She walked off to the shuttle bay. Acomponied by two troops, a pilot and a soldier, they walked into the shuttle and waited for the Genesis to arrive.

"We're here," the navigator said. "Looks to be no Terran ships. You're go to launch."

"Aye. Launching now." The shuttle flew out of the shuttle bay, heading towards the unknown station. The Genesis towered above, angular and shinny, honorable as it should be. The station, however, was small with a hull built of scrap plates. Still, it seemed stable. The shuttle landed in the station's bay, the commander and soldier walking out, helmets on.

The interior of the station was rugged like the outside. Covered in grime and dirt, it was doubtful that anyone came by at all. Dim lights could be seen down the corridor, flickering every few seconds. Silently, the soldier paced forward, crouching slightly with their rifle steady. They scanned the room ahead with a signaled "clear," going on to the next.

A few rooms later, the commander noticed a blue light coming from a closed door. She beckoned the soldier over, signaling to breach.
Kicking the door down, a bald, purple skinned, black eyed humanoid being held a shotgun, sitting behind numerous terminals. It dressed in a long, open trench coat, tall boots and rugged pants. "Well," it said, not looking at the Izal. "Welcome to Hallow, outsiders."

The commander was surprised, yet the soldier kept his aim. "You speak our language? How?"

"Dandy little tech I stole from the Terrans a while back," the creature laughed. "It's a translator. We're speaking our own languages currently, but it messes with your head and makes you hear speech in your language."

"Odd," the commander said. "You say you stole it from the Terrans?"

"Yeah, they don't really like our little thieving faction. Anyways, I heard of your fight with that C-Class Zifer. Not to shabby, no?"

"We never intended for a fight. How do you even know what we've done?"

"These terminals, lass. I watch everything. And for the fight, of course you didn't. We all never do, the Terrans are just defensive to anyone they can't recognize. I'm Noir. Daft Smuggler. You, space knights?"

The commander looked at her armour. "What is a 'knight'?"

"Ah, forget it," Noir said. "Look, it's obvious that you're in a real bad position here. New galaxy, barely explored, and you started a conflict not even twenty minutes in. The Terrans probably got a whole fleet coming for you."

"And you? Why are you even out here?"

"Me? This isn't a station you know. It's my hauler. Engines are fried. Say, you won't survive out here. So, if you fix up my engines, maybe we could broker a deal."

"Sir," the soldier said, "think about this. Yes, we need allies, but should we really trust the word of a stranded smuggler?"

"Lass," Noir said. "The Daft are very open to anyone who can complete a bounty or lend us a hand. Besides, I can make things... disappear if needed, and I've got a map of the nearest three galaxies."

"Sir," the soldier said again. "Don't let their bribes get to you. Be rational. We shall not ally with a crooked faction."

The commander sighed. "Keep an eye on them. I'll grab a text to fix the engines of the ship."

The soldier didn't attempt to resist. "Yes sir," they said, slackening their grip on the rifle and leaning against the rough metal wall.

***

It had seemed, coincidentally, that the Izal had found an ally—the Daft, usually neutral to all others. Maybe they were just being nice, but the Izal would be thankful in the future. The maps that they received would be a great help for navigation and possible communications with other species.

Maybe, if the Izal played their cards right, they could be redeemed of their actions, maybe given a second chance. But now, they had to realize that this might be their event horizon, their point of no return, and for now, they had to fight.