The general clung to her seat and the ship screamed as it stretched and tore before being flung into the void of hyperspace, burning through beyond sound and light. Stars whirled and blurred, spewing colour and the sound of the universe roared. Every frequency increased, every sound from every star and planet shrieked past as the ship blasted among them. Across every molecule of the galaxy the ship sliced. The hull cracked, the air escaped, and the engines screamed their last spurt of energy. They dropped out of hyperspace and drifted for a moment until gravity took hold. A planet peered up and pulled them toward it, down into a field of white stems and purple flowers. They were dragged toward it, hurtling to the ground. It raced to meet them, the flowers waving until the ship slammed into the ground. Dirt tore and the glass screen snapped. The hull crushed and burst, spilling its innards across the meadow. Chunks of metal bounced and tore while the ship scraped into the dirt until it eventually stopped.
An eastern pygmy possum girl with black diamond patches over her eyes rode across the field on the back of a great feral lizard. She wore a short red tunic and a her pocket was crammed with flowers. The large lizard strode through the flowers and its long tail stretched out behind it, swinging over the blooming heads. They approached the craft, weaving past the chunks of wreckage, eyes wide at it all. The girl looked around at everything, seeing them new and strange. The lizard kept its distance until the girl leaned forward and whispered into its ear. It looked around, then with a resigning sigh it crept forward. It nosed through the wreckage, past hull plating and pushed through the pierced hull. The girl climbed forward to its head and peered through inside the ship, finding two unmoving humanoids with alien suits.
Lantz pushed the metal card into the computer just as the screen burst into life. He smiled to the tired mechanicus receptionist while Tiz buzzed with cutesy energy. She leaned forward to the screen, staring at the activity in the background.
"Tara, sit down," Lantz said, and pulled her back onto his lap before apologising to the vixen. "Sorry about that. Anyway, we're just here to pick up some of our friends. We've got no cargo except food for the trip." Distractions raced around behind the receptionist, with the loudest shout getting caught by the communications. "I hope everything's okay over there. We're on a bit of a deadline, you see."
Reggie's growls died down as she stepped through, and an almost appreciative look came across him. He looked into her eyes and the look faded. She could barely look at him, so he turned away. Once the clasps were undone, he shrugged the restraints off his large body and got to his feet with the bag at his side. He searched through his clothes and pulled them on, finding them crumpled. They also stank of his sweat. He gave a sigh and a growl crept out. It grew as he pulled clothes on, and watched Tess keep her distance. He could see her shake. He gritted his teeth.
"A thousand credits?" he managed to say while he suppressed himself. "Thanks." He picked the datapad from the floor and looked through the messages, there were none. He shook his head then prodded Tess in the back. "So what happens now?"
The beast spread and grew across the stars, reaching and consuming rocks and dirt far beyond the solar system, out to other stars, even clusters as it stretched, burned and consumed. Its body moved toward Nero, its energy all encompassing. The beast had no voice as it threatened to engulf him.
The captain yelled as the chest piece tore and the talons dug into his flesh. Then there was a sound and a light that glowed from his arm. A small shine and a harmonious hum. It twirled with his screams and soothed the very air it touched. The sound became music and the captain calmed. A smile came upon him as he got to his feet, and the muscles that were exposed reached and grew into the suit, pulling it together. The suit grew and stretched across his front until he was healed and armoured once more. The sound didn't stop, it grew with his body as the dog built and thickened with a stronger, faster and larger self. He stood seven foot tall with a smile on his face.
"This everflame thing. It's great. And with decades of research on it, we've made something even you can't beat."