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“Entering atmosphere now, Ma’am. Beacon rendezvous in five.”
“Very good. Double diamond formation. Sweep and secure the area, then defensive positions.”
“Yes Ma’am!” The warriors responded. Ziara glanced at the figure standing beside her. “Mid-Commander Thrawn. When the all-clear is given, I want you to inspect whatever you can find for a sign of what we’re dealing with.”
“Yes, Mid-Captain,” Thrawn acknowledged. The language the distress beacon was broadcasting in was unknown, and no Chiss vessels had been reported missing; that meant an alien of some sort had breached the borders of the Ascendency, and the CEDF took such incursions into their space very, very seriously. The shuttle touched down and the warriors flowed out, charrics at the ready; Ziara followed at a more leisurely pace, Thrawn just behind her. After a few minutes the Warriors declared the location secure. The Mid-Captain issued orders for them to establish a perimeter while Thrawn began his examination of the site.
The ship in the clearing was boxy and angular, clearly of alien design; its engines were cold and there was no scent of exhaust from any of the vents. Its landing had been rough, implying that the pilot was either unskilled or there had been some sort of mechanical trouble. It appeared to be a shuttle or some other small craft; a glance inside the viewport showed nothing he recognized as a Navigator station in the double-seated cockpit. That suggested the pilot was not actually unskilled; moreso, it suggested they had been aboard quite a long time, to have gotten so deep into Chiss space. There was a short but stable hyperspace lane that ran though this system, suggesting that the pilot had made it this far, then suffered whatever it was that had necessitated landing. Perhaps a lack of fuel?
Thrawn saw no shelter to indicate a camp, but there were the remains of a small fire, the ash and coals still warm when he passed his hand over them. There was disturbed earth and rotting fruit cores in the bushes, as well as a simple animal trap nearby. He did a slow circuit of the clearing, ending up at an expectant-looking Ziara, her arms crossed over her chest. “Well?”
“As suspected, it’s an alien. I believe the creature has been living inside the ship with excursions out into the surrounding area as needed; it does not appear to be present at the moment.”
Ziara nodded. “Did you recognize any of the markings on the ship?”
“Most of it is unfamiliar, but there is one line of text I can read, written in Sy Bisti. Are you familiar?” Thrawn continued when Ziara shook her head. “It says ‘Vanto Shipping, Lysatra’. A location, perhaps.”
“Then we will know where to send the creature back to when we find it.” She looked around, raising her voice. “You, and you - “ she indicated two warriors - “remain here with me. The rest of you, fan out. It won’t have gone far.”
Thrawn and the other warriors saluted, then headed for the treelines.
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It didn’t take long for Thrawn to pick up on the trail the alien had left behind in its effort to flee the incoming Chiss shuttle. Moving silently along the makeshift path, he noted broken branches and disturbed leaf litter, the scent of fresh sap and.. there. Just ahead, hiding in some deep brush was a heat signature. Humanoid in shape, warmer than a Chiss, crouched. Thrawn stopped and held up his hands, speaking in Sy Bisti. “I mean you no harm. We found your beacon.”
The alien shrank back deeper into the greenery.
“Come out, please. We can offer you assistance.” Maybe not the kind of assistance it would want, but it didn’t need to know that. After a few tense moments, the leaves rustled as the alien came out of hiding, a strange-looking weapon trained on Thrawn.
“Is that a vow, Chiss?”
Thrawn’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. The alien knew enough to not only identify his people by name, but also their habits; he also appeared to be wary at the situation he found himself in, but not afraid. Thrawn studied the figure as he straightened. Warm brown skin and unruly brown hair; a slim body, delicate seeming at first glance, but movements indicating that the species was predatory in nature or had been at some point in their recent evolutionary past. The clothing and weapon he bore he identified as being from Lesser Space. “You are a long way from home, Human.”
The human’s dark eyes - so expressive and compelling despite being so flat and liquid - narrowed.
“It isn't by choice, I promise.” His words were accented in a way that was extremely pleasing to Thrawn’s ear. Was it a quality of all humans, he wondered, or just this one?
“Who are you, then, and why are you here?” Thrawn asked. The human lowered his weapon, brows drawing together as his heat signature rippled. After some hesitation, he stood to his full height and answered, voice solemn.
“My name is Eli Vanto. I need your help.”
Thrawn raised a brow, intrigued. Ziara was not going to like this. Not at all.