“Aachat 14, MMXV. Approaching atmosphere of host 716. Will reach destination in 1 hour.” The overwhelming disinterest in Aiduiin’s voice was not hidden as he made yet another report. For the 6 weeks now he had been trapped on this insufferable mission. His whole life he had been prepped for this, when the time would come that he must obtain a wife. Normally this task would be simple. Go to the courts, find a young woman of suitable upbringing then wed and bed her. Not for Aiduiin though. Being born at the wrong time meant that he would have to go far out of his way and work a dozen times harder to obtain his future bride. Tradition, tradition. One must always uphold tradition. Having been repeated to him his entire life, the words now forever echoed in his mind. Regardless of how troublesome or boring this mission was, it must be done, for traditions sake.

From the moment his people had managed space travel this mission had been repeated every 5th generation. By the time space travel had become a reality for his kind, they had long since known the advantages of a large biodiversity. Though after years of encouraging the populace to be adventurous in their breeding partners, they had reached a stagnation. After leaving their planet for the first time, they had found that life existed elsewhere. In a far larger quantity than ever anticipated and by the grave of the Mother they had been genetically compatible with a fair few. And so, with that knowledge the tradition of Mingling began. 

Every 5th generation the current heir to the royal blood must research and document a species from a foreign host planet. And, upon reaching adulthood and marrying age, they were to travel to said host and obtain a partner. Together the heir and spouse would produce a large number of offspring to be released into the general public, increasing the diversity and subsequent strength of their people. This tradition had worked brilliantly. During the stagnation Knurrians had become close to identical to one another, but now they had quite a variance in their appearances. And the planning and timing had been exquisite, the new genetics were introduced frequently enough so that stagnation didn’t reoccur, but also far enough apart that they didn’t become a new species entirely.

Done with his musing Aiduiin removed himself from his seat. Gingerly he moved himself through the halls of the expansive ship, passing the many rooms contained within. Most of them were quarters for the team aboard, a large eatery at the center and the control console at the head of the ship. The rest of the rooms were classes, designed to teach the prince’s future bride in the ways of his people. The purpose being to decrease the shock endured when arriving at Knuddir. As he passed Aiduiin peeked into each one to assure all was as it should be. Satisfied with the results, he continued his walk towards the console. 

Entering the room he was pleasantly surprised to see that they had now entered 716’s atmosphere. Earth as its natives addressed it. It really was a lovely looking planet. Quite unlike that of Knuddirs, this planets climate changed quite dramatically across its globe. Knuddir was hot and dry, a vast red desert with only few areas of lush forest. 716 seemed to be the opposite. While he spotted the odd desert, 716 had a far greater amount of woods and cold parts. The only cold parts of Knuddir were its polar ends. Admiring the view he saddled himself alongside Ecaeris, captain of the ship and Aiduiin’s younger sister. 

“Where to, brother?” Her voice was sweet as usual, betraying her true nature of a cold and calculating. A voice and appearance of a flower, but the heart and mind of harsh commander. A combination that for anyone apart from Aiduiin and their parents had been a source of confusion. Scanning the 716’s surface he pointed towards a heavily forested area in the north-west hemispheres. It was hard to notice from their distance, but a small clearing laid within it. Most likely what the humans referred to as a campsite and the ideal place to pick a person up unnoticed. Nodding, Ecaeris changed gears on the ship and swooped down to just above the treeline.

Slowly they swept through the area before the finally stopped at the clearing they had seen from higher up. Aiduiin’s suspicions had been correct and with a flick of a switch they began scanning for life. It had taken some time, but they eventually came across a tent that held a person within. Luckily for them, based off the scan this person was also female. Meaning they had found a target in their first search. Aiduiin left his sisters side to face a large wall of controls. Quickly he set to work, adjusting the conditions within the ship to match the atmosphere and climate of 716. During the return trip it would slowly adjust to that of Knuddir, adapting the human captive. Once the process was complete, he opened up the hatch for the cargo bay and started the absorption beam. This device had been a genius invention. Before it existed, Aiduiin’s ancestors had to manually retrain and confine their targets. Now? With a flip of a switch they would be pulled off the ground and brought into the shape, as if pulled by a magnet. 

Flipping that very switch, the outside lights of the ship turned to shine down on the camp as the beam made its descent.