Nox knew that the future of Goobishen Prime, the orphan in her care, was uncertain at best. The adolescent prime was not what she looked like. She was not an intergalactic freight carrier; that was just her disguise. In reality, she was the last of the free fertile primes.

The primes were one of the oldest races in the known universe. They were simple-minded, kind, loyal, and benevolent. Alas, it was these traits that led to their downfall.

At that time, space travel was something only the rich and powerful could afford. Bolater-X, the fuel that could power vehicles capable of space travel, was expensive and limited.
Therefore, when it was discovered that the primes who ranged between ten to twenty meters long and five to ten meters wide, could travel between galaxies, they were captured and tortured till they submitted. It wasn't difficult. The primes' physical makeup made them susceptible to being ambushed.

Once confined, their conciseness was stripped from them, and their nerves were integrated into the mainframe of the metal contraptions, turning innocent, docile primes into the equivalent of space vegetables, doing the bidding of their new masters.

As their numbers dwindled, the need to survive kicked in and the younger primes left their home galaxy searching for abandoned stars. Among them was their last surviving elder, Goobishna, who was finding ways to help her race survive. She was close to finding a solution, when the primeX had located her. Luckily, the elder had escaped, but not before sustaining injuries.

PrimeX were mercenaries employed to scour for the primes, by the rich, powerful  and corrupted individuals from all over the known universe.

Five hundred years had passed since the persecution of the Primes had begun. The primeXs were successful, to say the least; now, only a third of the once flourishing race remained.

Crisamthau, a plant that could be processed into fuel that could support space travel, was discovered on one of the planets at the eastern end of the universe. This pushed research and development in the space travel sector that was, until then, monopolized by those who used Primes. Soon, small load carrying space vehicles littered the skies now. They shuttled between galaxies using the eco-friendly fuel.

Finally, CORIGSA (consolidation of races and inter galaxy space alliance) found their conscience and banned hunting primes. Alas, it was too little too late. As the official hunts ceased, illegal ones began.

As is true for many government-run departments, CORIGSA failed to understand how deep the PrimeXs' connections with large conglomerates who had built their empires on the graves of primes' consciousness ran. Thus, the hunted continued to fall prey to hunters.

Goobishen was one of the lucky ones. She came into existence on Holo-34, a teeny tiny galaxy. It was home to a single race, Hilmus, who, much like the primes, were peaceful and kind.
Nox, a scavenger by profession, had found the infant prime adrift next to a female ten times the size of her home, close to her planet, Holo-34.4's orbit.

The Hilmu was well-read. She recognized the two entities as primes. She approached the older one and noticed that she was down to her last breaths.

The older prime was an entity of superior consciousness; she could feel that Nox was not dangerous. She handed over the infant to Nox, who felt honored to have met the older prime. The Hilmu swore an oath to care for the infant and took responsibility for her safety.

Soon after, Nox and the infant bid farewell to the older prime: the last elder of her race, as the magnificent being turned to dust, leaving all her memories yet no name for her offspring.

The Hilmu were not known for their imagination, and the infant ended up being named Goobishen Prime.

Nox met and fell in love with Ven not long after. The two had legally accepted each other barely three Hilmu-weeks later.

Though a little laid back, and a bit over the weight limit considered acceptable by the Hilmus, Ven was a pretty open-minded fellow.

Goobishen had liked him at first glance. The feeling was mutual. After Nox filled Ven in on the prime race's tragic past, Ven, a Crisamthau farmer by profession, suggested that they disguise Goobishen as a space vehicle. At twenty feet long and ten feet wide, the young one fit the bill, and both Nox and Goobishen hailed the idea as a stroke of genius, and within no time, Goobishen was transformed to look like a freight carrier.

However, unlike the captive ones of her race, Goobishen's mind was her own; it was on her request: to visit new galaxies that the Hilmu couple decided to venture into the freight transport business.

One such assignment had brought Ven, Nox, and Goobishen to the Tourun galaxy, where, after delivering the goods, the Hilmus were taking a break at a local alehouse.

"The galaxy is big enough for us, Nox. You don't have to worry about the future of Goobishen." The Hilmus spoke with confidence, flailing the rightmost of his three arms dismissively; he leaned on the table and caught his mate's worried purple eye. "My lovely, getting worked up over the news is futile. There is a ninety-nine percent chance of it being a hoax. I reckon it's just a trick to fish out the primes."  He assured, referring to the rumors that the primeX had turned their attention to Holo-34 and the surrounding galaxies in their quest to capture primes.

"Will you keep it down, Ven!" Nox's purple eye flew out of its socket, with a single tentacle keeping it attached to her head. Now hovering three feet over them, it took a three hundred sixty degree turn, observing their surroundings before returning to its home. After making itself comfortable in the socket that didn't look so abandoned anymore, the purple eye narrowed at Ven.

The Hilmus male sighed. "Just relax. No one is looking for Goobishen. And even if they are, they won't find her, will they?"

A boom from the parking lot made him stop and turn.

"This child!" Nox ejaculated and rushed off towards the parking dock without warning, while Ven took his time clearing their tab and getting his butt cheeks to cooperate before strolling out of the pub and making his way towards the dock. Ven was worried about Goobishen too, but he was sure that the explosion was not related to their adopted child. After all, though he was not the best at earning Dodol, the universally accepted currency, Ven was exceptionally well-connected. This helped him stay well informed about the current happenings in the known universe. If anything hinted at the primeX scouring in their galaxy, he would know.

When Ven reached the parking bay, he saw Nox standing around looking distressed. Goobishen was nowhere in sight.

Ven approached his mate, fearing the worst, but before he could put forth his doubt, Nox's purple eye shot up, and the Hilmu female unclipped the hover pad hanging from her waist and mouthed it, and disappeared from her husband's line of sight.

Naturally, Ven followed. It was all thanks to the pads being linked that he found Nox. She was standing at the edge of a mountain, the largest one on Tourun-4.

"What's the matter?" Ven placed a comforting hand on his mate's head; stroking it lightly, he reassured, "They won't hurt Goobishen. She is much too valuable."

Nox said nothing, but her eye hovered lowered, taking in the happenings at its lower levels. Then, turning to face Ven, she gestured to him to stay silent. The hoverboard in her hand vibrated and fell silent as well.

Not a moment later, Nox smiled. "She found one of her kind, Ven." she whispered; catching her mate's eye, she added, "I need you to call in a favor. We might need to build another freight carrier, a slightly bigger one."

Ven nodded obediently. He could tell that Goobishen was safe. With that weight off his chests that held his three hearts, he asked, "Alright. Do you have a work-base in mind?"

Nox felt proud of her choice, her Ven. "Not exactly," she replied and took out her communicator. She punched in the coordinates and sent it to Ven. "I will keep you updated."

Though curious, Ven left without another word. Left alone, Nox mounted her hoverboard again and flew off the edge. Her descent was fast and steep.
She jerked to a stop inches before hitting the molten lava that swirled around the base of the mountain. "I am here." She announced to no one in particular. Closing her eye, she waited for Goobishen's response.

Her mind-link buzzed, and she was moving again. She took a sharp turn to the left, bringing her to the other side of the landform where Goobishen Prime was waiting for her, still disguised as a freight carrier.

"There you are, my lovely." Nox cooed and approached the freight carrier, which drifted towards her adopted mother.

Nox held still while Goobishen explained the reason for her sudden disappearance from the dock.
After hearing her out, Nox entered the metal contraption hiding Goobishen's true form, and dismantled it.

Goobishen's inky smooth skin caught the light and shone, reflecting it back on Nox."Ah, rainbows!" she grinned, running her fingers over the now exposed frontal fin of her adopted child.

The young one leaned into the motherly touch.

Nox's mind-link buzzed again. She chuckled. "I don't mind sharing you with your friend," An instant later, however, her tone sobered, "what I am worried about is you. To make a trip to save your kind is a noble cause, but I can't bring myself to let you go alone."

Nox's eye shot up at the sound of scraping coming from behind her, but before she could take a defensive stand, her eye found the cause. The newcomer looked like Goobishen's twin, only larger. Unlike Goobishen, however, his tail was snubbed.

'Result of an accident, perhaps.' Nox concluded.

"You must be her guardian. I am Xoolbishen." The newcomer, who was without a doubt a male, stated. His voice was deep and smooth, just like his skin. 

Nox had never heard of a prime that could communicate with other races using anything other than mind-link. The Hilmu was surprised, to say the least. She staggered back.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." The one who had called himself Xoolbishen apologized, "I mean you no harm." he spoke again, pointing his large, flat fin at his nerve center. "I am a Prime, an awakened one."

Nox's eye narrowed, "Awakened?"

"I have superior hearing, sight, and speed." He elaborated, "But what I need is trapped inside Goobishen's mind."

"Her mind!?"

"Location of our base," Xoolbishen replied. He explained how the last elder of the primes, Goobishan, had found a way to release her brethren from captivity and activate a dormant nerve that would make the Primes less likely to fall prey to those who bore ill-will against them.

Xoolbishen told Nox how he had been searching for his sibling all this while;  how his mother had split the information between Goobishen and him so it would not fall into the wrong hands. In the end, he revealed his plans that involved taking Goobishen to a secret location on their now abandoned planet, activating the dormant nerve in his sister. After awakening Goobishen, together, they would proceed to remotely awaken every surviving member of their race.

Nox heard Xoolbishen patently. She wanted nothing more than to keep her charge safe, but offering the primes a second chance at a secure future, a future where they could protect their freedom, was something she could not turn her back on.

Nox decided to do what any mother would: she sighed exasperatedly, looked between the two primes, and standing as tall as she could, she declared, "Fine. I will allow it, on one condition: Ven and I are going to tag along!"