Wondered why I couldn't find this bit on my blog, turns out I stuck it in the drafts of another sideblog :P Anyway
Cal crash lands in 1999 much to Arthur's suspicion and distrust.
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Arthur curled his lip as the stranger that had appeared from thin air reached a hand out to him, smirking.
"Captain Caliburn of the Zariman Ten-Zero. Call me Cal, if you like."
The smirk fell into a self-deprecating smile as Arthur simply continued to glare. "Cal" withdrew his hand and stood back, folding his arms across his chest. It would almost look casual, if not for the stance footing and the 8-foot-tall monstrosity looming over his shoulder.
Arthur's brows furrowed. "And you're from ...where, exactly? You don't look like Navy. Are you working for Dr. Entrati?"
"I'm from your future, kind of," Captain Caliburn said awkwardly, scratching his head. "I'm not sure if you guys know about Eternalism yet or not. I... don't know what 'navy' is, aside from the color. And no, not really. Kind of." The stranger sighed, and turned aside a bit to put his hands on his hips and glare at the wall for a moment. "Albrecht is a fucking loser Orokin and I'm trying to help his boyfriend and his lab creatures fix his fucking mess." The startling orange eyes swung back over to Arthur. "Did anything I said make sense?"
Arthur gripped the hilt of his sword warily. "From the future. Here to fix Entrati's mess. I think I can work with that." He gestured at the preening, purring Helminth. "You don't look infested. But that thing spat you out."
"Ah, yeah." A fond smile grew on the stranger's face as he leaned over and patted it much like a normal person would with a pet dog. "This is Helminth. He's.... special, I think? A friend at any rate. And a crucial part of getting me here into the past."
Arthur squinted at the hell-mouth in confusion and distrust, but if this stranger was here to "fix Entrati's mess" they could use the extra hands. He was going to need a lot more information, though.
"Alright. I'm taking you back to our base for questioning... and then we can start on how to 'fix' all of... this," he finished, gesturing at the techrot around them.
"Sounds good. Lead on."
Arthur knew he hadn't blinked but the stranger disappeared, and the creature that looked like his own nightmares of the infestation completely taking him over straightened up a bit, and even flipped him a sloppy salute. It rankled a little bit.
"Non-military doesn't need to salute. I've no rank anymore either."
It bowed slightly (in apology?) and gestured for him to move forward.
"Just keep close," Arthur growled, and turned to lead them through the rot to "home".
"You're not military, you said."
"No, sir."
"So your ship..."
Cal grinned. "A space ship. Loid told me you guys don't really have space flight yet beyond rocket propulsion."
Arthur nodded, studying the other's face. Oddly bright ember-colored eyes, crayon-bright red hair that seemed natural if the eyebrows weren't also dyed. "Purpose of the ship?"
"Big old colony vessel." Cal leaned back in his chair. "Headed for the Tau system, supposed to start human life anew on a terraformed planet there." He half smiled, a little wistfully. "We never got there. Relic drive malfunctioned and dropped us into the Void with no way out."
"And you were the captain?" Arthur asked skeptically. He didn't see either a military or pilot's bearing in this man at all. Too skittish, too fidgety, too quick to flash emotion.
"Am." Ah. There was a grim smile. "Line of succession, you know? Passes to the last person alive on the ship eventually."
Realisation hit Arthur like an icy fish to the face. "Oh... I'm very sorry to hear that."
"Thanks." Cal tilted his head. "It might be broken to shit and being slowly consumed by the Void but... it was still my responsibility. I looked after it for who knows how long..." He gave a huff of a laugh. "Graveyards need a keeper, right?"
"Mm." Arthur nodded faintly. Captain of a ghost ship... he was starting to get the shape of it. This Drifter was just as broken as the rest of them, victimized by the Void. "Shall we move on to the 'Warframes', as you called them?"
"Please." He looked so eager to change the subject it twisted something in Arthur's chest.
"Good. I need to know why the one you were.... in.... looked like me."
