Soon after entering the ship, Pearl understood exactly what Cohen had meant by their earlier remark. It was indeed ‘a bit much’ for Teretiwelligans. The ship was clearly meant for battle and had seen quite a lot of it. Judging by the extent of the damage, it wouldn’t have lasted much longer even if it hadn’t been caught in the vortex. 

Aside from being a battleship it was also out of step with what Pearl had observed to be Teretiwelligan aesthetic values. Though it seemed they’d added some adornments (pastel strips of gauzy fabric hung from the rafters and several doodles and shiny stickers decorated the seemingly endless racks of dusty displayed weaponry) nearly the entire ship was a deep red with only the Teretiwelligan accents keeping it from being entirely so. 

It was like walking through a wound or a brutalized body; parts of the ship jutting out suddenly like broken bones, bullets lodged into metal ‘flesh’, and webs of what looked like battle scars stretching across the interior walls. 

Pearl thought about how some sponsored U.U.C ships would be modeled after the likeness of their benefactors and wondered how it might feel to see a model of one’s own head drifting through the stars - damaged, or completely destroyed.

“Do your people typically travel in such ships?” Pearl asked, running several scans on her Notepad after clipping her flashlight onto her shoulder.

She ducked under another jutting section of the wall then paused to study it, seeing no apparent damage. It seemed it’d been designed that way, but why? Its only function was as a hazard.

“Huh? Oh, no...” Yaann said, stretching out the sentiment. Her footsteps were jaunty and clear, echoing on the metal floor. “We usually travel in whatever ship anyone’ll sell us - but I’ll tell you a little something since we’re friends.”

As Pearl turned and continued down the hall her mind began to drift again, puzzling over the purpose of the sudden spikes in the walls and jutting up of the floors. She’d heard tales of some ships that operated almost as sentient entities, ships which twisted as you moved within them, that could only be navigated by the builders or those it trusted.

Ueda, a crewman from the Arbutus, had told her that some ships could trap you within them forever. She’d insisted, in fact, that there were ships that would swallow you whole.

Pearl stopped walking. “Friends?” she asked, belatedly balking at the title.

Yaann seemed unbothered by both the delay and the tone’s reply, swaying happily from side to side. “Yeah! Like, um…people who’re friendly and nice to each other. It’s good vibrations all around, like rain in a puddle, you dig?” 

Pearl briefly considered explaining that she knew what friends meant but decided to let it go as Yaann gasped, rushing over to a wall. 

“This is what I wanted to show you. Uh, I mean tell you? Or…well, just look! Luuu says it’s too freaky so we used to have a curtain over it but people kept getting all tangled up in it so, you know…”

The grime covering the wall was slowly wiped away as Yaann continued to talk idly but Pearl tuned out the attempts at conversation in order to focus on the picture. Each new detail sent her heart beating faster as the image being revealed came into starker and starker view - until it was all there.

There, behind Yaann, was a mural; countless bodies from different species mangled, smashed, strung up, and torn apart. It had been painted by a skilled hand or perhaps several - fine details shining through. Despite the gruesome imagery, the art itself was beautiful, and that was even worse somehow - to be forced even momentarily to admire the horrific scene. 

Spaced evenly amongst the bodies were three statues, rendered in bright red. It was impossible to tell if they were crafted from some sort of jewel or drenched in blood. The first was a woman with her mouth open, a bird hanging ominously above her maw. The second was a man who appeared to be drinking his own tears. The third was two children, sleeping intertwined. 

In the middle of it all was an engraved insignia. One which Pearl recognized immediately, fear shooting through her body like ice water.

 The Kragorians.

Grabbing Yaann’s arm, Pearl pulled her away from the mural and stepped back, as if the figures dashed across the wall might spring to life and add their blood to the tapestry of violence.

Ignoring the woman’s startled questions, she tapped the communicator pinned to her lapel.

“Pearl to Cohen. I believe we might be in danger.” *

U.U.C ENCOUNTER LOG;

PLANET: Goria

CONDITION: Contains sentient life. Dark and damp, from retrieved probe reports. Air quality is breathable for most humanoid species from retrieved probe reports. 

Technology-Weapons, highly advanced. Unable to confirm advancement of any non-militaristic technology. Unable to confirm any leaders or political ideology. Unable to confirm social organization.

SPECIES: Kragorian
HUMANOID, BIPEDAL
NOTE: Kragorians are considered enemies of the U.U.C and have been in conflict with the committee since its inception. For battle records refer to [...]

DANGER: EXTREME, AVOID AT ALL COSTS

NOTE: Kragorians are a species which seem to value death and carnage over all. Unlike other violent species they are not known to colonize. Though they have attacked planets[p-2] in the past, they seem to focus more on ships. Nearly every U.U.C ship which has come into prolonged contact with the Kragorians has been either completely destroyed or left without a solitary member of the crew or passengers alive.

[P-2: Though there have, in the past, been reports of Kragorians attacking planets these seem to have been retaliatory instances unlike their targeting of ships. The damage has also been less extensive though what has been damaged was done brutally and with total disregard for life.]

[P-2 ADDEN. REPORT from Anlan Bruz on YERALTZ:

“...They destroyed the capital building. The very first thing. Then they sent a message to those remaining. It was…voiceless. They…. [...] Yes. They carved it into the ground. They burned it into the woods. They spelled it out in blood. ‘TWO HUNDRED EYES AND TWO THOUSAND TEETH’. I-I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why they attacked us. You can say it was revenge but revenge for what? What did we do to deserve that? Us, the people. How am I supposed to know what the government does? If that’s who they were angry with then why did-! [...] They took one hundred of us. It didn’t seem like they cared who. One hundred of us had to go. One hundred were chosen and we watched them go up into the Kragorian ship… …. …. … Then we watched the rain turn red.”]
Assessment: NO CONTACT, ACTIVE FOE