Chapter Text
"Okay, everyone in position?"
As that question was asked, the team all made their final preparations, with the cameramen checking on their cameras and making sure they were working, the guys on the computers outside of the recording area making sure the things were ready for the live transmission, and the make-up team was busy making the final touches on the two anchors who sat side-by-side and were ready to proceed with what could be the biggest news of the century, perhaps even of the millennia.
One thing they all knew, they were currently being part of history just as it was written, and they could not afford to slip up now.
Soon, they were all giving the thumbs up to the director, who nodded.
"Alright then, on your marks! Lights! Prepare the jingle! And four! Three! Two!"
And so, it started, with the music playing on the background, the snow leopardess and moose both sitting professionally, from their perfectly groomed fur to the expressions on their faces as the lights came up.
"I'm Peter Moosebridge."
"I'm Fabienne Growley, and we are back with the ZNN's special reports, covering the arrival of an alien ship on Zootopia."
"For those who started watching now and have not followed out previous segments: yes, you heard it right." The moose said, his composed expression and tone not betraying the internal freak-out he was having, like possibly every single other animal who was currently watching the news. "Earlier today, an extraterrestrial ship has landed in the United Herd Square on the southwest part of Zootopia."
Behind them, a video started playing, showing what happened earlier.
"It was in the middle of a rally for species integration, supporting the immigration of reptile and avian species in Zootopia." Fabianne said as the video played. "Everything was normal, when suddenly an event that some are now describing online as a 'hyperspace gateway' happened, stirring panic within the population."
And the video played, being showed to nearly every corner of Zootopia, including the Fish Market, where a literal crowd had formed around a certain bar where a dolphin was serving drinks and snacks, and every eye was glued on the screen.
"However, the greatest shock was the appearance of an immense vessel hoovering on the center of the square following the atmospheric event, followed by the appearing of an unidentified reptilian life-form emerging from the vessel."
And the video showed the image of the ship hoovering in the air, before the legs came out and then the thing opened, showing a big red crocodile with six legs crawling out of it. Everyone on the bar watched in shock, mouths agape and shocked expressions. Including the dolphin bartender and a certain familiar lizard among the people on there.
"Well!" said the lizard with a fancy hat named Jesús as he held his drink with one scales-covered hand and then other one smacked the dolphin on the head right below his blowhole. "Spread butter on me and call me a toast!"
"By the Great Carrot!"
"You guys seeing that!?"
"I can't believe it..."
Those were just some of the flavors of reactions that the Hopps family was having to the news, as all of them were gathered in front of the TV, seeing the news that were being showed and re-showed by practically every other TV channel on the Tri-Burrow area and beyond.
And now, it showed a familiar face as well.
"Wait... ain't that Judy!?" someone asked as the familiar face of their cop relative showed on the TV, with her fox partner right by her side.
"As the extraterrestrial creature came out of the ship, it was greeted by officers of the ZPD, who were controlling the crowd and were the first ones to have direct contact with it." The reporter said. Stu fainted as the TV showed a close-up of the scene where the alien, snarling and showing a row of razor-sharp teeth, came really close to their little Jew-Jew.
"This contact turned violent, as the extraterrestrial became hostile, and the resulting struggled ended in a number of ZPD officers incapacitated, as well as the alien itself, as it fell while trying to retreat into the ship and then received first-aid at the hands of another police officer, who has been identified as Craig O'Dile, the first crocodile to join Zootopia's police department."
Even on prison, all eyes were glued on the television, as every in-mate and ward of the place was looking at the screen, as the room destined for daily TV viewing for the prisoners was filled with animals who were watching as the crocodile on police uniform applied bandages on the body of the fallen alien while two smaller ones looking closely, followed by images of the alien being welled into a stretcher towards an waiting ambulance.
"However, this story took yet another turn, as it was revealed not only the presence of what appears to be a second alien species aboard the vessel, but also of over a hundred wounded individuals of the same species of the first one, some said to be in near-critical condition." The TV showed now close ups of the smaller, fluffy aliens holding weapons while on a stand-off with the ZPD, followed by the image of several aliens like the first one being carried out of the ship in stretchers by both ZPD officers and soldiers from the army.
A lot of the inmates were murmuring among themselves, or just staring at the screen with varying expressions. Two, however, shared a look. Dawn Bellwether was on a bullet-proof glass box sitting on her own personal chair, and Pawbert Lynxley was sitting right by her side, away from the rest of his "loving family" and both seemed to be thinking about something, as they looked back at the screen with interest.
The ewe, in particular, was tapping on her chin as a smirk slowly creeped into her features, her sharp mind already working out a way to somehow turn this whole situation to her advantage. And the news continued to show on TV.
"Officers of the ZPD, alongside the army, have taken the injured extraterrestrials to Zootopia's General Hospital, where we were informed that an entire wing was evacuated and quarantined for their treatment. Medical professionals are working to treat the hospitalized individuals. We now pass for our reporter in site making the covering, Deerdra Bambino. Deerdra, do you hear us?"
The news then cut to a familiar doe who stood before the camera seriously, before speaking directly to it:
"Yes, I hear you, studio. Here I am, right in front of Zootopia's General Hospital, where the extraterrestrial visitors are currently being treated for varying injuries. We cannot go inside for, as you can see behind me, the army has set a perimeter around the hospital, due to the great amount of people that gathered around the place as soon as the visitors were taken inside, from other reporter teams to curious onlookers and, as you can see, even protestors."
The camera panned into the crowd, showing a myriad of animals in there, both mammals and other types (bless Zootopia's new animal inclusion laws) who were either carrying cameras or mics, or phones to record and take pictures, or even posters with messages that went from "WELCOME, MAKE YOURSELVES AT HOME" and "TAKE ME WITH YOU" all the way to "YOU WON'T TAKE EARTH WITHOUT A FIGHT!", all the while animals on military uniforms stood on attention, holding their weapons while forming a living fence to keep anyone from going inside.
They did, however, open space when a limo stopped by and a familiar horse with his own security team walked forward.
"Wait, Mayor Windancer has just arrived! Let's see if we can catch a few words!"
Windancer was still new to the whole thing of being a mayor. He has been struggling to get the hang of it, especially since he no longer had the Lynxleys' support (good riddance to them, still), but one thing he had always been good at was dealing with a crowd. That was an important skill to any actor, after all.
"Now, now, citizens!" the horse had that practiced confident smile that sold dental products as talked to the crowd. "Do not worry, I am here to access the situation. I promise you, I'll not allow any harm to befall this wonderful city just because some aliens decided to crash-land in it coming from somewhere else in the cosmos. And if their plans involve taking away any mammal, reptile or bird in here, then I'll deal with them the same way I did with the Poacher." The horse said, referring to that one alien movie he did back on the beginning of his career, about a hunter from outside of Earth that came to capture and abduct animals to take back to his homeworld for experiments and to be sold as commodities. It was an instant classic, although not as much of a success as The Nay Slayer trilogy.
A lot of people clapped at this with their respective paws, claws, hooves and wings, with some agreeing that the horse was the best mayor they could have during an alien invasion.
Windancer was distracted as the familiar figure of Chief Bogo came and whispered something on his ear, to what the horse nodded and then they were walking into the hospital, with the mayor still addressing the crowd and assuring them he could deal with anything.
As soon as the doors of the entrance slid close, cutting them from the outside, it was like a mask slipped clean off the horse's face. All that confident façade cracked instantly and was replaced by panic as he grabbed the collar of Bogo's shirt.
"CHIEF BOGO, PLEASE TELL ME THERE WON'T BE AN ALIEN INVASION IN THIS CITY! I CAN'T POSSIBLY DEAL WITH THAAAAA-A-A-A-AAAT!"
The mayor sounded like he was about to cry for real, and that was... well, understandable, all things considered. I mean, who would want to be the mayor when there's a possible alien invasion going on in the city? Bogo was having go be the one to tell him to compose himself and that he needed to remain firm for the city. And, in perfect timing, a certain bear cleared his throat to catch the attention of the two.
"Mayor Brian Windancer?" the bear asked, to what the horse, managing to regain some of his composure, said that he was, indeed, the mayor, and the bear introduced himself in turn.
"Right, got it." The horse said, with the same confidence he was showing outside, despite both Bogo and the major having already seem him breaking down. "So, Major Fitzpawtrick, what's your opinion? On the alien invasion, I mean."
"Well, I'd say it is still early to properly call it an invasion." The bear said, as he gestured for the mayor and the chief to walk with him, and they both did. "We have accounted for around two hundred individuals on the ship, most of which seem to have come to the hospital, either for being wounded or to accompany them. We estimate that around twenty individuals may have stayed on the ship, which has sealed itself as soon as we left, and has been standing right where it landed and has not showed any activity, according to what our stationary forces have said."
"I see, I see... and the aliens?" Windancer asked, and the major, after looking at him for a moment, said:
"We managed to... establish some rudimentary form of communication with them. It appears that they can understand visual cues and gestures, and they also showed to be able to repeat certain words they hear, although it's unclear if they fully grasp their meaning."
"We can actually thank Hopps for figuring out how to get them to understand." Bogo mentioned, and Windancer nodded. He had seen footage of the event, and he was impressed by Hopps' bravery... while he hid under his desk whimpering until his phone rang on his hooves, nearly prompting him to smash is due to the startle.
"I also heard she was among the animals who entered the ship to retrieve the rest of the wounded aliens, is that correct?"
"Yes, Mr. Mayor." Bogo said, "Her, Wilde and also O'Dile, or first crocodile."
"Ahhh, yes, the one who paid first-aid to the first of the aliens." The horse nodded, "Where are they, by the way?"
"In this very hospital. Not harmed, mind you, they just insisted to come." Bogo's words were accompanied by a nod from the major, who then took them to what seemed to be a waiting area, where military officers and officers of the ZPD were gathered and standing guard. And, among them, three of them were sitting in a corner.
Well, two of them were sitting, while the rabbit was pacing back and forth while talking on her phone.
"Yes, dad, I'm fine!... No, I was not abducted... No! I mean, yeah, I entered the ship, but I did it on my own!... Dad, no! I didn't arrest the aliens! I went there with the army!..." the bunny stopped, letting out an exasperated sound. "No, dad, the army did not arrest the aliens, they brought them to the hospital..." she then looked to the side, seeing three big mammals coming her way.
"Dad, the mayor is here, I gotta go, bye... Bye, dad!"
Judy hang up on her father just as the three mammals, which included her boss, came forward, and she was soon greeting the two of them alongside O'Dile, who stood in attention, and alongside Nick, who was still sitting on the oversized chair while eating from a bag of chips from a vending machine.
"Glad to see you are all okay." Windancer said to the three officers, two of which were old acquittances and one of which's graduation and gifting of the badge he oversaw himself.
"We didn't really get hurt, Mayor Windancer." O'Dile said, "The same cannot be said about a lot of the aliens. Some of them were bleeding pretty bad." The croc looked at the floor a bit, at the purple stains of alien blood left behind as the aliens were taken into the room where they were currently being treated.
"Don't forget everyone who got hit by the quills." Nick chimed in. "Wolfard was still chasing his tail when they took him on the stretcher. I made sure to take a video of it." The fox said that last part with a mischievous smirk. Bogo would have addressed him about that if he did not have more important things to worry about now.
And one of those things made itself present as there was a sudden commotion somewhere nearby.
"Get off me!"
The voice made a lot of the soldiers and cops stood into attention. Windancer jumped back a bit as he neighed, but he ended up following the others as they went to see what it was.
They found one of the smaller, fluffy aliens on the head of one of the doctors, shouting something on his language while the doctor tried to shake him off, and the others tried to help.
The cops and soldiers, of course, were soon barking orders, pulling their dart guns and firearms as they commanded the alien to let go of the doctor. It was Craig who stepped forward and managed to pull the little fluffy thing from the doctor's horns.
"That... thing jumped on me!" the horned mammal said, and the little alien, still on Craig's arms, was gesturing wildly as it shook the object it was holding: the medical fluid bag they just took from the doctor and that he was about to use to inject in one of the big crocodile-like aliens.
"It's just a saline solution! To refill the lost fluids!" the doctor said as he gestured to the alien in question, which was groaning softly, as they shifted on the bed, the bandages on one of their arms stained purple with their blood.
The little alien, on their end, continued to gesture while speaking on their native, musical language. They were gesturing at the big alien, and at a smaller friend, who looked scared as they held a device.
"Wait, I remember that thing!" Craig said as he gestured to the item being held by the other alien. It was the same one they used to scan the first-aid kit.
"Doctor, did one of them scanned that bag before the alien jumped on you?" Judy asked. And the doctor confirmed they did. That they scanned the bag as he brought it to put on the alien, and then the started getting agitated. The doctor had to push one of them out of the way so he could proceed to find a vein and place the needle, but that was when the one Craig was holding jumped on him and started pulling on his horns while screeching.
"Doctor, I think they use this scan to analyze substances to see if they are dangerous or not!" Judy turned to the doctor. "They must think that this will harm their friend!"
"But it's just a saline solution! I've been using it on mammals for years!"
"Just mammals?" Nick stepped in. "Not reptiles or birds or, I don't know, aliens? I mean, even I know that what is safe for a species might be dangerous for another, so you should know that too, right doc?"
The doctor looked like he wanted to say something back to the fox, but he could not. He instead looked away, rubbing his arm in silence, and the other doctors said nothing.
From there on, Judy came with a new idea: to let the aliens use their device to scan everything and use their input to know how to help their friends.
With this new method, they placed all their medicine and solutions before the aliens and let them scan it with the item, and then, depending on how they acted, they would decide if they could use if for treatment or not.
This way, they could avoid accidentally killing the big aliens by giving them something that could put them in danger. However, since it was all limited to seeing the gestures and tone of the aliens, this method was not exactly the best.
"So, I do not use this?" the doctor asked of the alien, who then produces strange noises as gesturing to the substance, and then to another vial with another medicine.
"Oh, I use this one instead?" the doctor asked, to what the alien gesticulate again while talking on that sing-like language.
"Wait, so what? I can use both? Or I can't use any?" once more, the alien gestured, pointing at the two vials whole talking.
"I can't understand you!" the doctor yelled in frustration, while the alien yelled something back on their own language, before lifting their tail and swishing the tip around on what could either be a display of frustration or the alien equivalent to flipping someone the bird.
"Ugh, this is not working!" the doctor turned to the rest of the team. "We can't just rely on this! With them not speaking English and we not speaking alien-talk, we just can't reach an agreement!"
Yeah, that much was true, as it was clearly perceived by both the natives from Earth and by the visitors. The aliens were clearly as frustrated as the locals, since apparently the look of exasperation in an animal's face was literally universal.
And that was when a deep voice spoke in a guttural dialect, causing everyone to turn. It was one of the bigger aliens, which was laying on a nearby stretcher alongside the other ones, a clawed hand lifted as he gestured to the smaller aliens, who came to them and then they started discussing, while the other animals all watched.
"Oh, what are they doing now?" Bogo asked as he watched the aliens have what it seemed to be a discussion, which included taking a lot of looks towards the other animals, and that was enough to make the Major weary. He was still not sure those strange creatures coming from another part of the galaxy were not plotting something nefarious...
Judy, on her end, was more focused on other things:
"They don't speak the same language..." the bunny said, as she heard carefully to the words the aliens were speaking. She could not understand a word, but she was confident they were not the same language, as the way they spoke was completely different from each other. The growling and strong language of the big crocodile-like being was definitely not the same as the musical and whistling words of the mammal-like beings.
"And they look like they are having a conversation... how can they talk to each other when they don't speak the same language?" the question did make a few people ponder, including her partner, who was right by her side.
"Maybe they just know each other that well?" Windancer offered, and Craig agreed that it could be the case. Meanwhile, the aliens seemed like they had come to some short of agreement, as they were now walking to back to the animals, who perked as they came closer with that scanner thing ready. And the look on their faces told them that this was not about scanning medicine...
"One of us!?" Windancer blurted out, a but louder than he needed and probably intended, as the alien holding the device gestured to all of them. They spoke slowly, as they gestured to the artifact, and them at their own eyes, and then at them once more.
"Guess he wants to scan our eyes?" Craig offered, and that was... strange, to say the minimum. They were, naturally, a bit eerie, but the alien continued to make the same gesture, nearly looking like they were pleading for one of them to comply.
Nick looked to the side and, seeing the look on Judy's eyes, realized she was about to volunteer herself to it.
So, he beat her to it.
"Okay, I'll do it." The casualness on the fox's voice as he stepped forward shocked the others, as they all looked at her.
"Nick, wait!" Judy said, but Nick easily silenced her.
"It's okay, partner. I'll just let the guys make that futuristic eyesight test on me." He said to his partner, "I mean, is not as if you were about to volunteer before me, right?"
The bunny opened her mouth to protest, but then she closed it again as she realized she had no valid answer for that. Her partner had already saw through her and, realizing he would not be able to convince her not to, decided to do it himself so she would not.
And, now that he was the one doing it, the rabbit suddenly had worries about it being safe or not, to what Nick, with a certain amusement, told her it would be fine.
"Just be sure to become my personal assistant in case I go blind." The fox said to her wit a wink, as he turned to the aliens. The one with the device stepped forward, and Nick leaned forward, opening his eyes as much as possible as the part of the thing that scanned was pointed straight at his eyes.
The light coming from it was a bit blinding. Not literally, though, and it was not that bad. By the time they turned it off nearly thirty seconds later, Nick found himself blinking to get rid of the dazzle, and he was pretty sure there were a few dark spots on his sight.
The aliens, on their end, were looking at the readings of the device, chattering between each other, as they looked how the thing seemed to be doing... something.
"So, will they tell me if I need glasses after this?" Nick said as he rubbed his eyes, the glare now vanishing almost completely.
"Well, I do hope that whatever they are doing is worth it." One of the doctors said, as the aliens were gathered around the device, pressing a few buttons and then, as some noticed, they shook their heads slightly and they blinked a bit, their ears flicking wildly as they all shared looked and continued to chitter.
"Ugh, seriously..." the same doctor said, "They are just wasting time! At this rate their friends will get worse! Don't they realize that? Man, I though aliens were supposed to be super smart, but those are all pretty dumb..."
Then, on that moment, the aliens' heads snapped towards him, all of them glaring. This caused the doctor to flinch.
"Wait, did they understand me?" he asked, and the question hang in the air for a couple moments. "I mean, they cannot have understood me, right? I mean, they could not have suddenly become capable of understanding me when they could not just a minute ago, right?"
Once more, there was a couple seconds of silence, before the mayor started chuckling.
"What?" Craig asked, to what the horse mayor just said:
"Oh, just remembering a thing from a movie I almost did years back. It was an alien movie, and it was such a garbage! I remembered it now because there was this thing about the aliens being able to learn to talk by using some device to scan a mammal's brain through their eyes and download our language into their own brains. Heh, heh, such farfetched... wait..."'
Those words, which the horse only spoke because he thought it was so far-fetched it was funny, suddenly made it click on the animals' heads. They all continued to stare at the aliens, who continued to talk to each other, as one of them opened a box they brought with them from their ship. They fumbled through it, and them they pulled a smaller box from it, as they opened it, there was what seemed to be Bluetooth phones in it. Only three pairs, and they were soon offering it to Judy, Nick and Craig.
"O-oh, for us?" Craig asked as he took the ones the alien was offering and gestured to their own ears while making those sounds. The two mammals and the big croc shared looks and, as the alien instructed them to through gestures, placed the devices on their ears/earholes. The small devices fit in nicely, almost molding themselves to the shapes of their specific individual anatomies so they would fit seamlessly in place.
And then, the alien spoke again. The melodic language was still there, forming words and phrases that the animals were not knowable of. However, as they passed by the devices the animals just put on their ears, the sounds made by the alien were processed and then spat out in words that were much more familiar:
"Can you understand us now?"
Now, if you think those three were surprised, then you thought it right. In fact, "surprised" would be a slight downplay of how the three officers felt on that moment, as they suddenly realized they could understand the words of the aliens.
"Wait, is that one of those universal translators from the sci-fi movies?" Nick asked as the fact they could now hear the aliens in English as if someone turned the dubs on sank in. the aliens shared looks that seemed confused. Then, the one who first spoke to then said, with a definitely masculine-sounding voice:
"I... am not sure what the last words just said mean, but those devices are, indeed, standard translators. We have uploaded with the decoded information of your language we obtained through the neural mapping."
"So, you guys did scan my brain!" Nick said I shock before he could stop himself. Apparently, his tone was one that made the aliens think they had insulted him, for the next thing Nick knew was that they were apologizing to him rather profusely, saying that they needed to do it so they could overcome the language barrier and reach an understanding.
Nick rubbed the back of his head, saying it was okay.
"But you guys did not get my memories or anything from that, right? There's some personal things in my head I'm not comfortable sharing..."
"Only language-related information. But, since we used a standard field multi-use scan rather than a specialized neural scanner to perform the mapping, there may be some flaws in translation, so let's try to keep communication as concise as possible, please."
"Can you really understand them?" Bogo asked, "And can they understand us?"
To that, one of the aliens said something on their musical language, followed by Craig saying:
"He said: 'yes, we can', Chief Bogo."
Followed that, Judy was the one to step forward.
"My name is Judith Hopps. My species is called rabbit. I'm a detective of the police department of the capital city of Zootopia, where you currently are." The rabbit said to the aliens, who shared looks at the way the female spoke this. To that, the one who had been speaking so far also straightened up, returning her professionalism with his own, as he spoke:
"My name is Enox Javak. Our species refer to ourselves as 'grikan'. I'm the captain of the rescue and emergency response vessel Gentle Hope, which has landed on this place you call 'Zootopia'. Please forgive us for the sudden and unannounced intrusion of your planetary territory, but we were in desperate need for assistance."
Judy nodded, and she transmitted the information she was just told by Captain Javak to the other animals on the room, and they all nodded.
"Rescue vessel, huh?" the major said that as he took into consideration the fact the ship was filled with aliens with severe wounds on their bodies, the kind that would require them to be rescued. However, one could tell from his expression that he was taking that claim with a huge grain of salt...
However, the major's suspicion was secondary in there. The main goal was to ensure the aid to the wounded aliens, of the species known as "dragolt". Craig passed his own "translation earpieces" to the chief physician there and, with this now overcoming the language barrier, they could better coordinate the care for the wounded reptilian extraterrestrials.
The little guys knew their stuff, as they oriented the doctors on the right way to care for their wounds, and on what substances, while safe for most species they were familiar with, could be noxious to the dragolt.
"Please, don't apply anything to them without talking to us first." Captain Javak said as he (yes, "he", the fluffy alien himself confirmed that he/him pronouns were adequate) oversaw the treatment of the wounded dragolt by a joined effort of the doctors of the hospital and the Gentle Hope's own medical team, which was all in there to attend to the many patients.
"How did they even got wounds like that?" asked one of the doctors as they treated a wound on a dragolt who seemed like he had a hole burned into their shoulder, so much that the bone was visible. It was quite the scene, but the doctors from Zootopia's General had already seem quite too many things to be easily shocked over such wounds.
Over the course of an hour, they managed to care for the aliens quite efficiently, as most of then had stabilized, an the few who looked like they were still at risk were being treated with full attention by the doctors.
Meanwhile, everyone who was not a doctor was waiting outside, with the general standing by the mayor and chief while the cops were all sitting in a corner as they waited for news.
"I received news from my superiors. They are sending someone here to oversee the situation." The general spoke, and this caused the two other mammals of authority to straighten up.
"You mean... some who reports to...?"
"I mean someone who will be here representing the government and will report to them, who will then report to who is even higher up." Fitzpawtrick said, cutting the Windancer before he could finish. "It is not like in the movies, Mayor Windancer. There is a whole chain of command to be followed. I was dispatched here because my base was the closest to the city, but I'm not that high up. Now that they are organizing, they are sending someone of greater authority, someone who is qualified."
"And who would be qualified to deal with alien contact?" Bogo was honestly curious, as shown by his lifted eyebrow. The bear simply said:
"Someone appointed by the higher ups."
That was not really an answer and made the buffalo honestly worried.
However, they would not have to wait too long for answers. For that was when Delgato, one of the cops who had been watching over the entrance, came to talk to Bogo.
"Sir, there are two animals outside that are insisting on coming to see all of you. One of them looks... official."
The word "official" could mean different things depending on the context. In this one, they all had the feeling they knew well what the meaning was.
The "official" person in question was a female mare who looked "official" with the uniform and the medals on her chest. Not as many as the bear, but enough that one would know to be respectful around her. By her side, looking like she just arrived, was a barn own wearing a simple blouse and a pair of shorts, her talons painted black and clicking on the floor as she walked side by side, and she perked as soon as they arrived, her neck twisting to look at them on that way that owls were famous for and that many mammals often considered awesome or creepy or both.
"Fitzpawtrick." The mare said, to what the major was immediately saluting her.
"Ma'am."
"At ease, soldier. Good to see you again." The mare spoke as if she and the bear were old acquittances, what no one mentioned about, as she then addressed the other animals on the room, including the croc.
"First Lieutenant Majesty Manestein, head of the army's First Contact Division."
This caused some of them to look at her with raised eyebrows, including the owl.
"The army had a division for something that may have never happened?" The bird asked, to what the mare said:
"'Always be prepared' is not just for Ranger Scouts. And who would be you?"
"M-me? O-oh! Right! Uhhhh..." the owl fumbled, but then she recovered. "My name is Owltavia Owlkoski, and I'm a head of the theoretical xenobiology department on the Aviaria State University, I came here because I was called by someone who sounded like the army and said they wanted me here since I'm a professional on my area of study... I-it was a real call from the army, wasn't it? It would not be the first time someone prank calls me..."
The mare looked at her for a moment, and then she said:
"You are a professor who studies aliens and you are surprised the army has a division that prepares for scenarios of alien contact?"
"Well, my field of study is purely theoretical..." the owl rubbed the back of her head with her wing. "And it is a bit of a small department. We stay on the oldest tower of the university, and we get wind drafts every night, especially on winter..."
"It's alright." Lieutenant Manestein interrupted with a lifted hoof. "And, answering your other previous question: no, that call you received was not a prank. My superiors from the capital warned me about you. You were contacted for this due to your published papers on development of advanced life in other planets and first contact scenarios."
"Some of them were largely discredited, though..."
"Still, it is good to have your valuable input here, Professor Owlkoski." She concluded, before turning back to the group. "Give me a briefing of what has happened until my arrival."
That was a casual request, but it had the weight of an order. Even Windancer was standing straight and stiff, looking like he was ready to start dancing on command. That was the presence that mare had, and that made it clear why she had her ranking.
So, with a professional diligence, Major Fitzpawtrick told the lieutenant all that has happened in that hospital since their brought in the dragolt and the grikan. Including how they knew what the species were called.
"Wow!" Prof. Owlkoski said, "That's just... wow! I mean, not only being able to get complete linguistic information through neural mapping, but also instantaneous translation as well? That's, like, super advanced technology! Well, not really a surprise considering they also cracked FTL travel and all..."
"Uhhh, I'm sorry. FTL?" Windancer asked, to what the owl quickly clarified:
"Faster-than-light. They need it, otherwise they would have needed centuries to arrive here, at the very minimum. Oh, my feathers, that's so exciting! Imagine all we could learn from their technology! It could revolutionize the world as we know it!"
"The priority here..." the lieutenant said, bringing the matter back to focus. "Is to know if they have any technology that they could use to end the world as we know it." She then turned to the major once more.
"Have you spoke to the visitors yourself?"
"No, ma'am. Only those three plus the leading doctor caring for the so-called dragolt." The bear gestured to the bunny, fox and crocodile. Craig smiled politely as he waved at her but lowered his hand when he saw she was not smiling or waving back. Then, at her request, Judy gave her a briefing of her conversation with the alien leader, telling her the things the grikan captain told her.
"A rescue ship is what he said?" the mare asked, and Judy nodded.
"It didn't seem like he was lying, Lieutenant Manestein."
"I'd rather judge that myself... take me to them."
All eyes turned to the doors as they opened and the guys all came back, now with a mare and an owl coming in tow. The mare walked forward with the confidence of someone who was used to be the most important animal in nearly any room, and she certainly looked around as if she was. Meanwhile, the owl was quick to come closer and shower the doctors with questions about the aliens they just treated.
"Well, it was alright, considering we nearly killed one with a saline solution right at the beginning. We managed to stabilize the last ones, and now they are all in observation."
"And you say they have purple blood?" the owl asked, what the doctor confirmed. "Hmm, interesting. This suggests they must primarily have hemerythrin or hemocyanin as an oxygen-carrying molecule, those are also present on the blood of some species of deep-sea invertebrates, which evolved in a low-oxygen environment and have purple-colored blood as well. Say, any chance I could get a sample for study?"
"That can wait." The lieutenant was quick to remind them of their mission and ask to be taken to the one grikan who was identified as "Captain Javak". The doctors took her into one of the rooms, with the doctor who had the translators giving them to her so she could place them on her own ears before they all arrived at the room, where a familiar pair of creatures were by the door.
"Halt!" the blue young dragolt said as they stood with the other one, who had scales in shades of pink, the huge fins on their heads stretching as they looked at the newcomers, among them was Craig, who they recognized.
"The one who helped mother!" the pink one said, and those with the translators could understand their words.
"Mother?" Nick said, and he realized they were talking about the first ever alien they met. "That big mean alien is a woman?"
"Wait, she is!?" Craig sounded surprised. "Oh, gosh, this means I attacked a woman! Mum will smack me in the head with her tail of she hears that!"
The young aliens shared a look, and then looked back at the big nice mister who helped their mother.
Yes, they were siblings, as they confirmed themselves:
"My name is Vorzul! This is my sister Xelkor!" the blue one said, puffing his chest in pride. "I'm keeping watch, for I'm the male and I must defend the territory from invaders and keep the clan safe!"
"Well, good for you, young one." Nick said to the little alien, who puffed his chest even more. Like, literally, he was puffing it so much he was literally inflating.
"Brother! Focus!" the pink one remembered him, and then they went back to the whole "protecting the territory" thing, which included demanding the newcomers to state their business. The two were really behaving like a pair of guards protecting the enemy forth.
"Guess kits are kits in any part of the universe, huh?" Nick whispered to Judy, what caused Vorzul to immediately ask what they were whispering. However, that was soon forgotten, as Manestein walked forward, making he presence known, and she introduced herself to the two, being sure not to come out too strong, since they were still children.
"I really need to talk to your mother, as well as her friend who is there with her."
"Oh, Javak?" the pink one asked, "He came to see mother and told us to wait outside. Said we need to watch for danger while they spoke about 'adult issues'."
"Oh, really?" the mare asked, "Well, we are all adults. So, I guess this issue is one we should discuss with them too, right?"
It took some convincing, but they let the two small aliens open space and let them knock on the door before entering.
They met Captain Javak there, standing on a chair as he talked to the alien on the bed, who looked alert, despite seeming tired. That was the same alien who Nick and Judy talked with and that Craig wrestled. The first one that they ever saw.
"Hello..." Judy said stepping forward but stopped as the alien locked their... her eyes on them.
"Do... do you remember us?"
The dragolt looked at them, and then her expression softened a she spoke, her voice deep but unmistakably feminine as it went through instantaneous translation:
"Yes. I do remember you two." She turned to face Craig, who was standing right behind. "And I also remember you."
The croc flinched under the glare. He could not understand her, but he decided to just smile and say:
"H-hello, ma'am. I hope you're feeling better. I'm sorry for earlier."
She looked at him, and simply nodded.
She said something and, although he could not understand her words, Craig assumed (correctly) that it was alright.
"We shared pleasantries before." She looked at the rabbit. "But, allow me to introduce myself more properly now. My name is Zavik Yavalag, and I'm the elected representative of my clan. I was told you all did your best to help my fellow companions. I appreciate it." Zavik then bowed her head in respect, and Judy and Nick nodded back at her.
That was the moment when Lieutenant Manestein decided to step forward, presented herself and said she was in there representing the army and the government of the nation, making sure to point out that Nick and Judy, although officers, only represented local law enforcement.
Perhaps it was her tone or her posture as she said those words, but both aliens visibly straightened and seemed to puff out. The captain puffed out visibly as his fluffy fur stood up like he was floofing, and the spikes on Zavik's body straightened up as if she was ready to use them again. The mare, however, did not react to either of those displays, other than for tapping her hoof on the floor while lifting her head higher, in way horses normally did when they were standing their ground.
"You have invaded our aerial space and landed on our territory without permission and without announcing your presence." The mare said, "Some of my superiors are worried this could be a threat to our sovereignty. Which is why I'm here, to determine if you really are a threat or not, or if you represent some organization or government that might be."
Zavik let out a growl, but Javak, who was by her side, lifted a paw as a signal to her. She calmed down once she saw it, but she was still glaring at Manestein. Then, the grikan said:
"We understand. As the captain, I once more apologize for the intrusion of your restricted planetary space. It was truly not our intention, it was simply a desperate action."
"Desperate, you say?" the mare said back, her ears flicking as she looked intently at the small fluffy being from another planet, and at his big, scaly and spiked companion. "I was told you claimed your ship to be a vessel intended for rescue."
"Indeed. The Gentle Hope is a craft made for missions of search and rescue in hostile planetary conditions."
"And it has any offensive capacities?"
A brief pause, before the captain said:
"Only the essential to ensure protection of the crew and of any rescued passenger."
"Protection against what, exactly?"
"Space debris, on the most part." The grikan spoke firmly. "And also, the occasional hostile force."
"Hostile?"
"Yes, hostile. Our galaxy is not a peaceful and safe place." Zavik was the one who spoke now. "If it was, then we would not have needed rescuing in the first place."
The mare rose her eyebrow, a gesture that seemed to make the two aliens uneasy for some reason. Her next words, however, were composed:
"Would you care to elaborate? What exactly was this situation that required a rescue spaceship?"
The two shared a look. Javak looked at Zavik in a way that the animals of the room could somehow understand. Nearly as if he was asking her for permission. She then, with what could be the dragolt equivalent to a sigh, made a gesture that seemed to be one that said he could tell them.
And he did:
As it turns out, the planet where the dragolt had been rescued from recently had gone through some serious turmoil. Local wars had crashed the planetary economy, and in some of their nations there went through violent revolutions, governments were being toppled and the whole global scenario was terribly unstable. So much that a neighbor inhabited planet on the same planetary system, a strong economical ally of that civilization, interfered directly to keep their government from completely descending into chaos.
"It was a tense situation." Javak said, "And, among that chaos, the dragolt ended up being affected."
"Oh... you were caught in the crossfire?" Judy asked, and then Zavik made something that sounded a lot like a scoff.
"We were persecuted. They blamed us for the problems caused by the council, saying that the instability was our fault. We were attacked, some of us were arrested and those who resisted were killed. My mate was among the victims..." she said the last part with a heavy voice, what caused the others to look at her.
"But, why?" Judy asked, "Why would you be targeted?"
She looked at the rabbit.
"Are you asking me a serious question?"
Judy blinked, confused. Seeing this reaction caused Zavik herself to blink, and she looked at the rabbit for a moment more, before looking at Javak, who was by her side, and then he spoke:
"The government of the planet was formed by an herbivore species. The dragolt were always mistrusted due to their nature as obligatory carnivores. So, when the political tensions rose as much as they did, this mistrusted turned into persecution, as a faction decided that a... 'cleansing' could help stabilize the unstable scenario."
Silence followed those words, as the mammals assimilated the words from the aliens, translated to them by the devices on their ears, and let it sink into their minds.
It was because they were predators.
The dragolt were attacked, arrested, and even killed, simply because they were predators living among a collapsing prey society. The implications sunk into all of them.
"Wow..." Nick said, unable to say anything else. "So, aliens got that as well, don't they?"
Zavik looked at the fox with a tilted head, and then Manestein cleared her throat, getting the attention once more.
"And, so you decided to help them evacuate from the planet?" the mare asked of the grikan captain, what he confirmed.
"We received a distress call through our long-range communicators. We knew the situation was dire from the reports on the distress calls."
"My children did those." Zavik said, "They figured how to operate the transmitter all by themselves. As smart as their father..."
"Once we heard how dire the situation was for the dragolt, we knew we needed to do something." Captain Javak sounded serious "Even if it meant violating the regulations, we knew we could not just stand by as an entire civilian community was slaughtered, made into the sacrificial victims of a collapsing social system. So, we arrived at the planet and rescued as many of the surviving dragolt population as we could with our fleet."
"However, since we were invading the territory of a planetary system without authorization, that civilization in the middle of a restructuring has considered us a threat to their emerging sovereignty and answered with violence. The Gentle Hope got separated from the rest of the fleet, and we were forced to activate an emergency orbital jump to avoid destruction. As a result, we ended up lost. That was when we detected electromagnetic emissions from a planet just a few lightyears away that indicated the presence of sentient life and advanced technology."
"And you just came here?" Lieutenant Manestein asked. "After the reception you had on that other planet?"
"We were lost. We could not contact our main fleet due to our long-range interplanetary transmitter having been damaged during our escape. We had over a hundred wounded individuals on our ship, some of them requiring immediate intensive treatment for survival. It was a risk, indeed, but in our desperate moment, it was our only viable option."
Silence followed those explanations, and then Manestein spoke again, carefully.
"So... you came to our planet looking for help for the refugees you rescued?" she looked intently at the captain. "You are not part of an invading force?"
"I assure you, we had no intention of invading your planet." The grikan captain spoke. "We would have made our presence properly known and then stationed our ship on your spaceport as per procedure, but an error on calculations caused our orbital jump to lead us straight into your atmosphere what, as you surely know, is dangerous when it comes to most forms of FTL travel. We would have followed all the protocols on normal suggestions, as per the established regulations of the Galactic Council."
"Oh?" nick asked, "There's actually a Galactic Council, like on the movies?"
Javak looked at the fox with a confused expression.
"Well... yes, there is a Galactic Council. What manner of question is that?"
"Hey, we never had contact with anyone from outside of our planet until you guys arrived, so you cannot blame us for not knowing." Nick said defensively. Javak then blinked as he looked at him, his horizontal eyelids closing and opening as he stared at the fox.
"You... you never... what?"
He looked in between the animals before him. The rabbit, the fox, the mare, the crocodile, the owl, as well as the male horse and the bear and buffalo all in there, alongside two doctors and three nurses of distinct mammal species.
"What do you mean by 'you never had visitors before us'?" Zavik was the one who asked, as she had perked her head in attention. "What are you insinuating?"
"Well, it is as Officer Wilde said." Manestein stepped up again. "We never had interstellar visitors before. Which is why, if you did follow this protocol you speak of, you would not have found any 'spaceport' to station your ship. We didn't yet build such things, just like we have not yet figured any form of faster-than-light travel."
"Y-you... W-what?" Javak looked in between all of them.
"But... you... you all... you are all different species. Carnivores and herbivores alike. And we saw many more!"
That nearly sounded like an accusation, for some reason. Manestein, however, was unshaken as she said:
"All species you saw so far are endemic to this planet. And, honestly? Before today, many individuals did not believe there was any advanced life outside of Earth. You are the first species native to other worlds to ever come."
Another blink. This one somehow even slower than the previous one, as if the fluffy alien's brain was going through an emergency restart.
"You... you all... all of the species I saw... herbivore and carnivore alike... they all evolved in this planet!? Together!?"
The words were rendered in a tone of disbelief by the translators, and it surprised the ones hearing it. And even the ones who did not had the translators could tell from the very tone and expression of the little alien that he was distressed, and that made them think something could be wrong.
Nick, as it so happens, was the first one to recover from the grikan's outburst.
"Well... yeah?" the fox said, shrugging. "I mean, isn't that how it goes? You know, the predators, the ones back on the day, ate the prey, who kept finding ways to escaping them. Then, as the predators got bigger brains and started hunting better, then prey also started getting smarter because the dumber ones kept getting caught and eaten, and that just kind of turned into a cycle until they became smart enough to decide 'hey, we could try getting along steading of killing each other', and then we start 'living in harmony'..." the fox threw in air-quotes, which the aliens most likely had no idea what meant, "You know, like they taught in school? Isn't that the norm?"
Javak looked at him and then he traded a look with Zavik who had the same expression as him, before they both looked back at the fox with the expression still in both their faces. An expression of shocked amazement, of bafflement, which seemed to transcend species even at a galactic level and told Nick that it what he just described was not the norm.
"Oh..."