Chapter 7 - Farewell, Gaia

“So then the galaxy is just like a massive archipelago. The planets are like islands. The big stations you have out there are like the oil rigs that we set up out there in the sea.  Those vessels that you go between the stars in aren’t really that different from our boats and ships. Even those little rifts in space that you use are like the currents in the seas, moving a vessel around whether it’s wanted or not. It’s different for sure, but I think I can understand it like that.”

The first Yujunoan to make direct contact with a Human during the Last Human War reported this quote from a conversation with a sailor who remains unnamed to the Galactic Coalition. 

Even during times of great political strife and death, Humanity was always thinking of ways to frame reality in comfortable terms.

The misconception that Humans were natural-born philosophers spread around the galaxy like wildfire, and Earth was soon welcomed into the Galactic Coalition.

**

“You about ready to go, Quin?” asked Eizik.

“I guess… you sure that I need all of this equipment, though? As far as I can remember, my fist packed more of a punch than my pistol ever did.”

“Although Rangers are strong on their own, most Arima-powered tools become far stronger when handled by a Ranger. Most Rangers choose to abandon nearly all of their tools, they feel stronger without any assistance as they get used to their powers, but some, like Chugol, lack confidence in having a decent output without some sort of catalyst. While you’re still in the process of learning, I recommend you rely on any help that you can get.”

“Whatever. I guess it’s not all that heavy, anyways.”

The door opened up, and Vaichehen was standing in the doorway. 

“We’re leaving. The captain told me to come and pick you up,” he said, then muttered under his breath, “What a pain.”

“Right,” said Quin. He turned to face Eizik.

“Safe travels, Quin.”

Quin extended his hand, and Eizik took hold of it. Unlike the last time, this could be considered a completely normal handshake. Without a word, Quin let go of Eizik’s hand, picked up his luggage, and headed out the door. 

Eventually, they reached the hangar. The squad was waiting for Vaichehen and Quin. 

“Finally. Let’s go,” whined Fenres.

Near the ship that they were about to board, there was a figure waiting for them. It was Lieutenant Ivory. 

Quin quickly snapped into an upright position to greet her.

“No need for the formalities, Ranger Quin,” she said, “We aren’t under the same chain of command, anymore.”

Quin dropped his stance, “Oh, right.”

“I came to inform you of some things. We’ll be holding your personal ship here until you decide what you want to do with it.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant Ivory,” Quin said.

“Also on behalf of the Galactic Coalition, I’d like to thank you for your service here. Check the news, your name should be coming up at some point soon,” she said, proudly.

“Will do, though I was just doing whatever I felt like,” Quin did not know how to respond to the praise.

The squad kept walking towards the ship. 

“I’ll see you around, Lieutenant Ivory.”

“One more thing, Quin,” she said. 

Quin stopped in his tracks and turned around while the others kept moving forward.

“It’s a message from Trial Ranger Sampson,” she paused, “She said that she’ll be catching up to you soon, and when she does… her words were ‘fight me one more time.’”

Quin stared for a moment, then chuckled.

“Tell her I said, ‘I’ll be waiting.’”

He gave her a wave then turned around and caught up with the group. 

They got to the ship. It had a black coating, with gold accents. It looked to be very well kept. 

“So, what do you think, Quin?” Fenres asked, “This it’s a fine vessel, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, looks really cool… It got a name?”

“A name? No, that’s more of a Human or Derian tradition. How about you? Does your piece of junk have a name?”

Quin thought to himself for a bit, then answered, “No, not yet.”

“Tch. Lame,” scoffed Fenres.

“In any case, let’s go inside,” said Seil.

They were lifted up to the ship’s entrance. Teek held on tightly to Seil and winced as they got higher and higher off the ground. They entered the ship. 

The inside was just as large as the outside would imply. The ceiling wasn’t very high, to the point where Teek had to duck his head just to move around, but that was fine with him. There was a ladder going up to the second floor. 

Chugol made his way to the cockpit, Fenres followed suit. 

“Get settled in guys,” said Chugol, “We’re about to move.”

Teek and Seil walked into what seemed to be a proper living room and sat down on the furniture there. Vaichehen didn’t say a word and climbed up the ladder to the second floor.

Quin walked into the living room and set his bags down. He sat down in a chair near Teek and Seil. 

“Oh, hey Quin!” said Seil, “Once we get moving, we’ll give you a proper tour of the place.”

“Sounds good,” said Quin.

The ship started its engines and was released from the docking system. 

Chugol delicately maneuvered the vessel to the exit of the hangar. The gate opened, and they passed through the veil. 

For a brief moment, they were outside of the range of the station’s artificial gravity. All of the unfixed objects in the ship, including the people inside, lifted slightly off the floor, then the ship’s artificial gravity system kicked in, dropping everything back down. The gravity was nearly 40% stronger than it was inside the station.

Seil stood up, stretched a bit, and turned to Quin.

“Alright Quin, ready for the tour?”

“Sounds good,” he replied.

“Teek, you coming with?”

“No thanks,” the Tothan responded, “I still need to brace myself to climb to the second floor.”

“Suit yourself,” said Seil.

Quin and Seil started walking around the ship. Quin was shown every room inside.

On the first floor, there was the cockpit, the kitchen, the living room, a bathroom, and an empty room, seemingly purposeless. All the rooms save for the cockpit were roughly three meters by three meters.

The kitchen had a fridge, although the crew didn’t keep perishable food items, an oven, a hotplate, a sink, and several cupboards filled with dry and canned food and some dishes. There was also a dining table with some chairs.

The bathroom had a bath, a toilet, a sink, and a shower. Supposedly, there was a water filtration system underneath the ship that would clear out the waste to keep a steady supply of clean water.

The living room had a couch and a few armchairs. There was a video broadcast receiver, or VBR for short; in layman's terms, it was a television. Underneath a long coffee table in the middle of the room, there was a gaming system, but it looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. The handle on one of the controllers was cracked.

The empty room had nothing much to speak of. Besides the scratches and dents covering its solid metal walls, it truly was empty.

Upstairs, there were three bedrooms and a storage room. Quin decided to place his equipment in the storage room, but he kept his necessities, his clothes, toothbrush, and other utilities on his person. 

“On the right here is mine and Teek’s and room, I of course sleep on the top bunk, though Teek rarely manages to come up here, anyways” said Seil, “Adjacent to it is Captain Fenres and Chugol’s.”

“Alright, so where do I sleep, then?” asked Quin.

Seil pointed across the hall, “Right there is Vaichehen’s room. We’re assigning you to there. It’s just… you know what, it’ll probably work out.”

Quin wasn’t sure what that meant, but he shrugged it off. 

“So that’s it, then. If you have any questions, Quin, don’t hesitate to ask any of us,” said Seil.

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Well, with that in mind, I’m going to head to sleep, here. It’s a long trip after all.”

“Where are we going, anyhow? I forgot to ask,” said Quin.

“Talis, the homeworld of the Veetans,” replied Seil, “Fenres says that we might be able to get a lead there. It is where the Unending Promise is being hosted this time around, afterall.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“Right?” Seil said before yawning, “Anyways, goodnight, Quin. You should probably call it a night soon here, too.”

It’s true that Quin hadn’t slept much in the days prior. 

Seil opened his door and walked inside, shutting it behind him.

Quin opened the door to Vaichehen’s room.

The room was dark, so Quin had figured that Vaichehen was just sleeping. 

He tiptoed inside so as to not disturb his rest, only to find that there was garbage and clothes strewn about the floor. He had never seen such a messy space in his life.

He carefully navigated through the disaster of a bedroom floor and set his bags down in a suitable place. 

Now, do I sleep on the top bunk, or the bottom bunk?

Quin thought this to himself, but when he turned to look to see which bed Vaichehen was occupying, he only saw a shadowy figure with sharp, bright-red eyes glaring at him. The figure was holding something in one hand, but it was too dark in the room to make out what it was.

Quin had forgotten that Derians had no trouble seeing in dark spaces.

“What are you doing in here?” asked Vaichehen, clearly bothered.

“Seil said that I was assigned to this room, didn’t they tell you?” responded Quin, nervously.

“Get out.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because, Humans have weird sleep schedules. Besides…” Vaichehen paused, “You look like you snore.”

Quin furled his eyebrows in frustration, “What kind of reason is that? I mean it’s true that I snore, but that doesn’t mean you-”

Before Quin could finish his sentence, Vaichehen had a hand placed on his shoulder.

“I’m not gonna repeat myself, so I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Huh? You can’t just-”

It was then that Quin had realized that he was no longer in the dark bedroom. He was back out in the hall, for some reason, his hand was back on the door handle, and his shoulder felt sore, as though it had been gripped tightly. 

A nervous grin overcame Quin’s face. 

“What the hell was that? Magic or something?”

Quin felt as though he had been challenged.