---Victor POV---
Taking us to the passenger cabin, the refugees shakily pointed their laser rifles at us as we entered the room. Believing that we were with the pirate's boarding party, they shielded the children with their bodies and demanded we leave them be. Pushing their way to the front of the group, the young boys who had acted as reinforcements for the crew told the adults to stand down. Informing them that my crew and I were from the ship that answered the distress call, the adults collapsed to their knees with relief. Hugging each other and their children, they were extremely apologetic for pointing weapons at us and grateful for coming to save them.
"Think nothing of it, you were acting defensively to protect your children.", I told them, "If any of you are injured, please raise your hands. I brought medics over to administer first aid."
"We…we cannot pay for such things…", one of the women said.
"I do not expect anything in return from anyone here. Medical care is not something I believe should be withheld because one cannot pay for it.", I remarked, with a nod, "I swear to you that my offer is free and without any strings attached."
Deciding to trust my words, the families began bringing forward their injured relatives. Leaving things to my men, I took the opportunity to speak with the captain about the circumstances that brought them here. I was curious if these people were war refugees or if something else had happened that forced them from their homes.
"I hate to pry into your situation, but what brought you out this far? Did something happen recently that drove these people from their homes?", I inquired.
"These people are from a world called Alnus. About a month ago a Herald of Galactus arrived on Alnus and informed the populace that Galactus had set his sight on their world.", the captain stated, "When the populace began to evacuate the planet, the herald started killing people indiscriminately. Alnus' military fought bravely against the herald, but they were outgunned and outmatched. While they were unable to eliminate the herald, they did buy most of the civilian populace time to escape. We were one of the last ships to leave before that monster showed up. Unfortunately, we had to watch him devour their home world before we could safely jump to warp."
'Damn…I forgot all about Galactus and his Heralds, I will need to figure something out to deal with him. The BFG 10,000 would probably not even tickle him.', I thought.
"As for how we ended up here, I was trying to avoid space pirates along the more heavily used transit routes. Those bastard pirates follow Galactus around the universe as the people he uproots are free, easy money in their eyes. Usually they go after the wealthier people to take their vast fortunes, but they will not hesitate to capture transporters like us to sell our passengers and us into slavery.", he stated, "What I do not understand is why a fleet of seventy ships was out here in the middle of nowhere. The only thing out in this part of space is the Space Port Polaris. Do you happen to know anything I do not?"
Wondering if Polaris was the space station we came across, I pulled up an image of the wreckage to show him. Taking one look at it, he immediately confirmed that it was Polaris and asked for details about what happened. Showing him footage of the internals of the space station, when we reached the point where the Black Legion emblem was shown, the light bulb went off in his head.
"We were just unfortunate enough to catch them on their return journey back from destroying Polaris…", he said, collapsing into one of the passenger seats.
"Sir, we are done here!", one of my medical officers announced, giving me a salute.
"Alright then, we will head back to my vessel. Till additional help arrives, we will stick around as a safety precaution.", I told the captain, "I wish you all safe travels for the rest of your journey."
Promptly teleporting us back over to Yamato, I was immediately bombarded by questions from the ladies. Wanting to know about the humans aboard the other ship, they were very interested in how their lives differed from ours. Getting them up to speed on everything I had learned, when I brought up Galactus, their excitement quickly turned to horror.
"You mean he eats literal planets?!", Clarice gasped, unable to comprehend that.
"Yes, he devours them to absorb the life essence they contain. Normally his heralds allow the inhabitants to leave peacefully, but the one they got slaughtered people that tried to leave.", I said, glancing over at the transport ship, "The way the captain makes it sound, Galactus devours worlds on a regular basis. We have been lucky enough not to be discovered yet, but I am not going to wait around for it to happen."
"Yes, go ahead and show me.", I said, taking a seat in my chair and removing my helmet.
Taking us to news reports from several days ago, according to the stardate timestamp, it appeared the situation in the wider universe was a lot more chaotic than anticipated. Starting with the Imperium, the Ultramarine Primarch Roboute Guilliman was currently preparing for another crusade. While his intentions were noble, his military preparations were striking fear in his neighboring nations. Having suffered greatly during previous crusades, many of their smaller neighbors were evacuating their citizens from the border to lessen the number of casualties they would have this time.
In the Galactic Republic, the jedi and clone troopers were busy putting down another droid uprising. Based on the information Luxion had decrypted, the Clone Wars had only started two months ago which meant I had time to interfere with Palpatine's plan. All the chaos he would cause in the universe would create problems for my spacefaring adventures, so he had to go. Finding out where his backup clone was right now would be a bit of a hassle, but I was certain the jedi would be willing to help once I showed them the truth.
The Algrand Empire, the country closest to our planet, was in a much better place than the last two nations. While corruption and over taxation were rampant, they were at least free of any major conflicts. Space Pirates were a big problem here, but there were plenty of mercenaries around helping cull their numbers. One such mercenary, nicknamed the Pirate Hunter, was especially hitting them hard having taken out an estimated seven percent of the total number of pirates in his country over the past few years.
'Haha, I look forward to fighting Liam and his mech Avid. I will have to make it a priority to visit his world first before continuing my journey.', I thought, eager to test my skills against an equally talented mech pilot.
Skimming over the reports for other nations, the Daedalus dropped out of warp roughly two kilometers from us. Immediately hailing us, I put my helmet back on and gave Luxion an order.
"Luxion, I want you to piggyback on the communication channel and hack into their systems. Do not access any vital systems, I need to confirm what level of technology the Galactic Empire has right now.", I told him.
Giving the communication officer the thumbs up, she accepted the call and transferred to my station. Giving the connection a moment to stabilize, I was greeted by an older gentleman sitting in his captain's chair.
"This Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Smith, please identify yourself and your vessel.", the Daedalus requested.
"I am Commander Victor Stark, captain of the Star Battleship Yamato. We came in response to Helios Alpha's distress call; the Black Legion marines and the pirates have been eliminated.", I told him, "Are you able to take over protecting the damage vessel, or do you need us to stick around a bit longer?"
"We can take things from here.", Alexander said, confirming with his ship's scanners that all five hundred souls were accounted for, "Thank you for rendering aid to them. Safe travels out there!"
"You too, Lieutenant Colonel Smith.", I stated, before ending the call, "Alright team, lets head back home. Prepare to engage the Folding Drive!"
"Roger that!", the helmsman acknowledged.
Charting us on a two jump course, in case they could tracking our Folding Drive, we charged up the drive and began the brief journey home.