Crypto's new quarters were certainly bigger and more cozy than expected. But then again what was he expecting to begin with? He enjoyed the welcome change of not having to share space with other recruits, and the first thing he did after Orthopox had wished him a good night and left him alone, was to lie down on his new bed, stretch his arms and legs and simply enjoy all of that free 'Cryptosporidium-only' space…
He was a tad disappointed that his quarters were located in the centre of the ship and thus lacking any windows to the outside, but he was no bit surprised. After all, Pox had made it more than clear that he wanted to shelter Crypto from… Pretty much anything… A weird concept the boy still did not grasp, but his disappointment slowly faded, the longer he just quietly laid there and listened to the nearby reactor core's low pitch humming. It was a soothing sound; a sound that almost reminded him of slow music playing in the background to help him fall asleep.
He mused about the handful of friends he had at the academy; about his little sister, and whether any of them would like it here... And the longer he imagined inviting all of them one day, or doing more exploration of the mothership, the more heavy his eyelids became…
Subconsciously hearing a noise, Crypto suddenly woke up after an indefinite amount of hours, and instantly braced himself: With bared teeth and both of his hands balled into fists he got up and stared at the source of the noise, only to spot Orthopox hovering in with a little smirk, which however faded into a confused expression, once he noticed Crypto's reaction.
"Easy, Crypto… The war hasn't started yet…" He spoke hesitantly, and half-jokingly raised his hands as if he was surrendering to the boy.
Quietly snorting, Crypto lowered his fists and looked at Pox. "What do you want here? I was sleeping!"
Orthopox slowly nodded and tapped his chin with his index finger. "Yes. I see that. You're not much of an early riser I suppose… Anyway… I actually wanted to show you something… Figured you might… Well... Like it…"
Crypto looked up to Pox, slowly crawled out of his bed and stepped into his boots. "...We're gonna blow something up?!"
With a sigh Pox just shook his head, then offered his hand to guide the boy towards yet another new part of the mothership.
They arrived in a large, brightly illuminated control room. The boy's eyes immediately widened as he looked through place. Multiple holographic displays all around a group of control stations showed countless readings and reports from essential things like status of the vital systems, notification of several other objects within sensor reach or maximum available speed and loading capacity, right down to the position of each life sign aboard or the flashing announcement of an incoming transmission on one of the front displays.
Pox 'parked' and locked his hoverchair right in the middle of the control stations, to have equal access to all of them.
Looking up to him, Crypto followed his moves and tried to understand as many of the readings as possible.
"So…" Pox spoke while setting course and - as far as Crypto was able to interpret the graphics - synchronizing it with several other ships; the ones he spotted on the readings just a second earlier. "...You're still not afraid of brave new worlds and space monsters yet?"
"Do I look afraid?" The boy perkily asked in return, towards which Pox simply nodded and used his psychokinetic abilities, to cautiously lift the boy up and having him sit on his lap. "Press the field to play the transmission, but let me do the talking, understood?"
"Understood." Crypto answered with a bright grin, then did as he was told.
In front of them suddenly the face of an elderly male Furon with blue eyes and a prominent scar across his face was to be seen.
"...-Nitiating conference. Repeat; This is Admiral Cyclosporiasis calling the armada, preparing for departure in T-4 minutes; Expecting status reports; Initiating conference… NOW" Suddenly the faces of several more Furons were displayed, and Crypto already assumed that these were the Commanders of the other motherships.
"Commander Streptomyces here, all systems are go; already looking forward to get the old lady around the block again!" A chubby, dark-skinned male with red eyes and some sort of exotic helmet spoke enthusiastically, followed by a gesture as if he was dancing.
"This is Commander Babesia, we're ready to go and my clone army is already hoping to get their hands dirty!" Was the next report, spoken by a petite female wearing a dark purple uniform and a set of 'mohawk'-like cranial antennae somewhat resembling those of Orthopox.
The next one - a tall and slender male with reflective eyes and accompanied by some sort of robotic creature - did a calm bow, then looked left and right - apparently checking up on his bridge crew. "Commander Sarcocystosis reporting in, all systems are clear and my crew is ready to start."
"Commander Demodex here, we're ready for action... Can't wait to poke some sweet sweet Tharsian booty again!" Was the next status, joyfully thrown out by a small Furon with purple eyes and a huge round head.
"Dammit, Dex! This is not a cruise!" Cyclosporiasis interjected, followed by audible chuckle from most of the other Commanders.
Pox then leaned forward, looking into his camera as well. "This is Commander Orthopox; ship and crew at peak efficiency; awaiting your 'Go', Admiral!"
Cyclosporiasis's smile widened as he folded his hands behind his back. "Move out. Go, and spread civilization! Good luck, Commanders. Admiral Cyclosporiasis out!"
With that the projected faces vanished and the standard displays were to be seen again, yet just for a few seconds, before Pox leaned forward and laid the short range sensor readings onto the holo-displays ; all of them.
Crypto's eyes widened as he suddenly saw a part of the Planet below, the fleet yards nearby, and the surrounding motherships. It felt almost even as if the ship had become transparent (although he of course knew that this was not the case), and he himself hovered weightlessly among them. Slowly the ships began to move forward, including Pox's, and Crypto watched in awe as they were leaving the planet behind and slowly took a triangular formation.
Crypto could feel the warmth in his face rising - he was smiling! The slender recruit was not able to recall having seen anything as impressive as this before… They were really heading out! He was really going to see another world! It felt like a little eternity to him. He didn't even notice that he was still sitting on his Commander's lap like a child. He was… Simply happy…
"Orthopox to space armada, preparing for the jump. Stay in the formation everyone..." The Commander activated yet another set of switches, and Crypto could see a small display showing their course, destination and some further readings he did not fully understand yet.
"Activating in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Arkvoodle-help-us-all!"
Everything displayed around Crypto suddenly turned into a brightly illuminated blue and purple vortex. He was still able to see the other motherships, yet the displayed animations became wobbly and glitchy, almost like oversaturated objects with motion blur.
So they were on their way to the space monsters…
Thoughtfully - almost even timidly - Crypto turned around and looked at Pox. "Thanks, for… Y'know…. This here…"
Pox smirked and nodded. "Don't mention it. It's field experience."
"Mm-h!" He replied quietly, looking fourth and back between his Commander and the vortex. "So… I know you said I'm supposed to stay in my quarters and all. And… I guess I'm okay with that. Just… What if anything gets in or tries to attack when no one notices?"
Tilting his head in surprise about this question, Pox paused for a moment, then awkwardly put his hands onto the boy's shoulders. "This ship is a remarkable piece of engineering, offering security and protection to it's crew, but… If there's anything coming to attack my crew..." He once again paused, noticeably struggling to choose the right words. "...I will personally hunt it down and make a carpet out of it."
Crypto chuckled, and Orthopox - hesitantly - did the same. "...You're a member of my crew now. That being said… You… You know… ...Have my back, Crypto."
Thanks a lot for reading through all of this! Your interest in a sadly mostly dead fandom is very, very appreciated! :)