A/n A chapter I literally forgot to make being preoccupied with Warp's suffering and Zurg's grief.
and oh, there's another chapter i literally forgot to make-
"Attention all Space Rangers, we have a unidentified vessel approaching capital planet and refuse to answer our friendly messages, attend to battle stations, remain on red alert."
Eight months and there was a eventful first contact that Buzz couldn't be part of. It bothered Nebula, looking toward the photographs of the fallen Space Rangers before him, the Space Ranger would have been the first to respond to such a unusual way to begin first contact and dealt with it accordingly, searching for evidence, prodding, sending the rookies out to dig further, all the while he did important work in ensuing that they weren't on a deeper emotional level intending for a nefarious plot with Zurg. Who were they? That was a unusual question that he could not answer.
The commander arrived to the side window gazing on where the new arrivals were coming in. He gasped, in shock, in awe, it was rounded and simplistic, casually floating in space getting near to the planet. The ship was the size of the moon decorated in metal material with windows that were tinted quite dark and floodlights that made it easy to determine a very strong and intelligent civilization had crafted this ship. Fear crept upon the commander that was all too familiar from a texture stand point seeing something new, foreign, and unexpected arrive.
"And that, is why, children, you should not delay very important things. Yes, you, boy from, from, uh, Tangea? Maybe? Did you move from there?"
"My parents moved here from all the arrogants." Was the child's reply. "Where are your kittens?"
"They're not kittens." Warp folded his arms. "Yes, girl, with pink pig tails!"
"But you described them as lumps." the girl with pig tails exclaimed.
"That's the closest approximation of their general form in development underneath my skin," Warp clarified.
"They're literally kittens, sir." the Tangean boy said.
"According to some xenobiologists and xenoanthropolgists who have done some in depth studies with a population of hybrids and full breeds, they're babies." He loomed over the boy. "And boy, they're big lumps at the end," he held his hands out together emphasizing as the children stared in awe listening to his recounting as the team listened afar at his recollection. "I mean, unlike humans we feel their movement inside all the time at any waking moment."
"Didn't you get scared they were going to arrive early?" The Tangean boy asked.
"Me? Scared?" he motioned toward himself with a smirk then laughed. "No, that only happens in pure breeds. They're more prone to that."
"How did you know?" The Tangean boy asked.
"I know a Space Ranger, arrogant, who's a one fifth Ipsedan." Warp proceeded to talk. "Fortunately for him, he didn't get pregnant."
"So?" the entire class asked at once.
"And there are others who are pure breeds, well known Space Rangers, they -" his comn beeped. "I remembered the first time I heard a scream come from a few of them because they refused to take maternity leave, Buzz made a regulation because of that, after that mission against Zurg." It came out quite somberly then his mood visibly perked up in the next moment. "Literally getting beaten up for sixty-three days by babies kicking in there on every bone of your body."
"You were beaten up by babies!" the teacher announced.
"Thankfully, my bones and fractures heal faster than it did in ancient times."
"YOU WERE HURT BY BABIES?" Mira exclaimed.
"It would have been torture if that medication or bedding for that matter didn't exist."
"Literal babies!" Booster added.
"You know the bed is just a warming blanket, wrap it around you like a burrito, nice, cozy, keeps the babies from kicking during sleep." Warp continued to say as the team's jaws had fallen processing this information and his comn continued to beep. "Also makes for a nice delivery blanket because one you use it, you can wash it then hand it off to someone else who needs it."
"What happened to your kittens?" the teacher asked.
"Adopted out in their forever homes." then the older man proceeded to smirk as the comn beeped. "If you excuse the pun."
"Sir, is that a Zurg spacecraft?" The Tangean boy asked, pointing out the window.
"No, Zurg has a definite style, it's not rounded, it's long and narrow with the Z planted on the side somewhere, preferably both sides, that's not Zurg, that's just some person visiting Capital Planet."
It was silent with the children seated at the bleachers staring at him, awkwardly, as Warp shifted through his cards looking for another subject to change to as Mira and Booster were stifling back laughter including XR. It wasn't pity laughter, only the laughter that would be summoned knowing something that the children did not, nearing the bridge of hysterics, about to cry, at his situation.
"Why are you not leaving?" a lone child asked, bravely, without being called for.
"Because unfortunate for me," The older man grimaced before finishing that thought. "I am on official Star Command mission educating children about what it means to be a Space Ranger in the field and I have already been delaying this attendance already as it is."
"Field trip to capital plaza!" The teacher announced.
"YAY!" The entire school cheered.
Warp groaned, covering half of his face, as the rookies departed out of the gym.
"How am I going to write this with the commander not believing my previous excuses?" Warp asked, crestfallen.
The Junior Rangers were the first to depart the bleachers as the captain proceed to make a personal log about the object in question, describing it thoroughly, then closed his comn system, staring at it. A part of him was scared about what he would find when joining the team at the unusual spacecraft, another abduction, another tragedy ready to unfold, and losing? This was new and deserved all the caution with the anxiety playing in the background. He felt a unusual cold chill beside him, staring at the distant view of alliance plaza, then shook his head and looked up finding he were below one of the vents. The captain sighed, faulty air vents. He sported a smirk then proceeded to head out the back entrance in the empty gymnasium.
The flight to Alliance Plaza was fifteen minutes but quite short in the journey getting there. The captain arrived coming to a landing in front of the team. In hindsight, the newly arrived ship was quite smaller than the mothership that could be seen from above making it appear night with how much distance was covered between the enormous ship. The small pod opened then the gray smoke cleared as the members of the team had their hands on their arm ready to fire at the oncoming potential attack. There was coughing heard coming down from the platform.
"Who's idea was it to add smoke to the pod exiting function?"
"Sorry, Eon."
"Really dumb mistakes lead to really dumb results," The smoke cleared to reveal a unique lifeform in a green suit with robotic arms, floating above the ground, on what looked like a balancing related object, the same as his companions, his suit was red and green, not green and blue as it had been decades ago, with four disks installed along the side of his small head among his dark blue hairline, and a small antenna that looked like a pigtail from below his head. And sounded like he were in his early forties. "Tracker, Tracked."
"How did you know I agreed-"
"You're both on the same wavelengths and whenever there is something going wrong, it's normally your fault."
"Turning it off, sir."
"Don't. do. that. ever. again."
"But, we look superior."
"Yeah, you're kinda inferior when you're rude to your friends that way." Eon turned away as the remote device was clicked then shifted toward a large crowd of Space Rangers aiming at him. "We come in peace."
"Who are you?" Warp asked. "And who sent you?"
"I was sent by the council of Chloria," Eon said as he smiled, fondly. "I have known you for a very long, long, long time."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We've been studying your species to determine if you were worth making first contact since your academy days," Warp's eyes flashed open, remembering, driving to a restaurant, blacking out, then discovering that Buzz Lightyear was ahead of him and his girls were bickering about their fingernails. "and as of recent activity since the unexpected loss of Subject Lightyear."
Eon grimaced before continuing.
"You and your team have shown us that at the end of being lost, of tremendous heartache, that Chlorms and the people of the Galactic Alliance are ready to have technology shared by my people, entering the Galactic Alliance, on the same level of respect as we share the same universal feeling when it comes to grief."
"Subject Lightyear, during our initial abduction, my previous scientific partners, and I were cut off from your ride, knocked several asteroids in the way, significantly damaging our ride, while the two of you were racing each other to a nice study area."
Warp looked back. History foreshadowing, he would have done it anyway. Tried his best to help him out. Before he became the good man molded into being by that gas baron's significant part in his life and the tiny family. It only brought a tiny smile to himself at the unheard story.
"We neutralized his ride then yours and implanted you with tags, already removed his tag a short awhile ago and yours yesterday while you were chasing that shapeshifter." He flew up toward the Space Ranger then held his tiny servo out. "The council wants you to know the study is never coming out."
Warp looked down toward the tiny servo. Once you go down this path, you are never going to come out of it fully clean. He stared at the hand then back to the smiling Chlorm, a look of promise, sincerity, and genuine kindness while Warp were making a deal with someone who knew his secret. He withdrew his hand from his weapon then reached a hand out, one gesture to show that Space Rangers weren't interested in violence but in unity.
"Welcome to The Galactic Alliance, Chloria."
"Eon." Eon took his hand.
"Warp." And Warp gently shook it with a smirk. "Tell me about how Lightyear tried to escape your ship, I don't remember it."
"You knew your partner very well."
"Yeah, I did." Was his reply with a laugh as the media drones recorded the first contact. "I did!"
A/n in eon's appearance in blosc, he had green and blue, which was twenty years ago in irl. I added red as a sort of homage to the uniform color that his Va actor wore in Lost in Space forever and Bill and Max: Lost and Found In Space.