Valerion VI, The Queendom of Shandalaar
The recovery operation for the Asterism was going a lot smoother with the help of the Coalition. Every day our troops along with the remaining supplies from the ship poured into the Queendom. Jugen advised us to use different routes for each transport to throw off the enemy. Plus we've even had to use dummy transports so that the Dreg or the Collective wouldn't notice our movements. As smooth as things were going we had a few dicey encounters that increased our injured and casualty numbers. Though to bring more good tidings, Andrew woke up a couple of days ago. Even though he awoke to his Anima, he still has to get used to healing. Seraph on the other hand is still in recovery meaning that combat wouldn't be easy.
Today I was going with Jugen and Minerva to the vehicle bay. Jugen wanted us to meet someone since we settled down in the city for the time being. Minerva and Jugen had been discussing the former's new life as a halfling. Since Minerva hadn't awakened to the Anima yet she didn't have much to say other than the strangeness of having the ability to go so long without eating. The way Jugen had been asking so many questions rekindled my amazement in Solomon's research. From the stories Seraph used to tell me of her brother, she always said he was a pretty awkward guy who kept to himself until the early days of the war. There was one day he suddenly just changed. He started doing so much research into our physiology and working on so many secret projects you'd have thought he went mad. But when the day came, Lucian lead his coup and Solomon's days of seclusion and research had culminated in Soran.
My time admiring Solomon would come to a close as we'd arrive at a vehicle bay containing the Valeri's mechanical suits and tanks. It seemed just as busy as the Ghost hangar on the Asterism. I could even see some of our Ghosts being repaired by Talia's crew. "Just to be clear I'd like to apologize for my associate," Jugen said, "If there is one thing that is consistent about her is that she's a bit... eccentric."
"Nonsense," Minerva scoffed. "Being eccentric is a badge of honor among the crew of the Asterism. How bad could she possibly be." As we began to approach the second vehicle bay we saw many workers outfitting tanks I'd seen in the reports Queen Korsica shared with us. They were heavy tanks called Bandervarrens and they served as the main artillery for any frontline fighting. As we approached one of the Bandervarrens I could see it was raised and someone had been working on the tread underneath. Now normally nothing would be wrong with this. But when you see someone lying on their back in midair that could drum up a few questions. Now it wasn't like this person was flying or some anti-gravity generator was running. The air beneath this person seemed as solid as the floor. Jugen sighed then approached the tank knocking on it a couple of times. "Excuse me, but I believe we talked about this." The person underneath jolted up and hit their head like they were asleep. Hearing the "oww that hurt!" Confirmed it. "Ugh, what I was having a good nap... Oh... hi Jugen." Swinging her legs over like she'd been laying in a hammock the girl climbed down to the ground and came out from under the tank.
She'd been wearing a white tank top with orange stripes and a jumpsuit with the upper portion tied around her waist. She looked about my age but I could tell there was something familiar about her. Then when I saw the tattoo on her shoulder depicting a woman under a star by a river it began to make a little more sense. "You're one of us?" I blurted out. The girl grinned, placing her hands on her hips she proudly declared, "The name's Freed. Freed Alfar. I'm the star of this operation! Hehehe... sorry that's an inside joke."
"No I get it," I said, holding out my hand for her to shake. "You're the Star. I'm Alice the Magician." Her eyes widened once she realized we'd been on the same page. Then she ran up to me and shook my hand, beaming with delight. Combine that with her bright orange hair and you'd almost think she was a sun. "Wow another one of us! I heard we got some strange new allies but I didn't think any of our kind would survive." She then tilted her head looking in Minerva's direction.
"Salutations," Minerva greeted with a bright smile. "I'm the illustrious Minerva von Galatea, Vice Commander of Nova Astra and the exalted holder of the Empress, you may applaud or dazzle in my greatness if you'd like." Freed was awestruck, Minerva usually carried herself with tremendous panache but this was something else. "I've never heard of an Arcadian with pointy ears like yours Miss Galatea."
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Minerva brushed her hair to the side showing off her ears a little more. "Thank you for noticing Ms. Alfar but I cannot be so bold as to allow anyone to call me a complete Arcadian." Freed raised a brow, confused by Minerva's statement until Jugen explained it for her. Freed took in the information as well as any studious pupil would and when Jugen was finished she tapped her fist against her other palm and said, "I get it I think. Anyways, you've probably heard this a lot by now but welcome to Shandalaar. It's good to meet you both."
"Likewise," I said. "So how long have the two of you been together?" Jugen crossed his arms as he pondered the question. "Since the fall I believe. Freed was only a baby when we escaped the planet. I've been acting as a surrogate father and mentor to her ever since." So in essence she was as young as Soran in that regard, though technically she was still older due to cryostasis. "Freed, for now, Ms. von Galatea and her people will be aiding us in the fight against the Empire and the Collective. Please treat them as allies."
"You've got nothing to worry about Juju," Freed promised, "I've already started talking to one of them." She pointed in the direction of where our Ghosts had been stationed. Talia was seemingly giving a lecture on the Ghosts to some of the Valeri engineers as well as some of our own troops. When she caught wind of us looking in her direction she gave us a wink. "See?" It was a little scary how easily Talia adjusted to her new environment. But I guess any sort of hangar bay would be a mechanic's home regardless of location.
"So, Ms. Talia told me you've got some missing friends ya need help findin', it's why you've come all this way right?" Thank you Talia for saving us some time. "Yes, some of our friends are missing. One of them is actually on this planet." Freed tapped against her cheek seeming to try and dredge something up from her memories. But it seems the attempt was unsuccessful when her finger stopped. "That's gonna be tricky. We're having problems right now finding one of our own guys too. I'm sorry."
"It's fine Freed," Jugen said, "We weren't coming to you expecting to have the answers." I nodded, agreeing with Jugen. "You're missing someone too? Who might that be?" Freed dug in her pocket and pulled out a small circular device. When she tapped the small glass on top, a display was generated showing a picture of Freed posing with some guy. He was heavily armored like he was some kind of soldier. But he did have some strange brace on his neck with two large cables hanging from it in the back. "His name is Yagyuu," Freed said. "He got attacked while on a mission in Valerion's upper atmosphere. He's been missing for about three months."
"Yagyuu is an Aios," Jugen added, "An Artificially Intelligent Organism. I presume you know what that is Alice." Minerva looked at me and I tried thinking of what I could remember. "Oh yeah," I said, "Those are those droids we created to help us with work and exploration. I thought they were lost with the planet. Jugen shook his head. "Yagyuu is the last of the Aios. It was a gift to Freed from the previous holder of the Star." So it was likely that Soran and co. were under similar circumstances to this Yagyuu machine.
Before we could continue any kind of conversation, a message popped up on the display. It was from an unknown sender and the only thing we could see was that it was from someone who had a familiar-looking crown as a profile picture. Freed was about to swipe the message away when Jugen pressed it first. "Hey, what are ya..." Jugen placed a finger over his lips, silencing Freed before she could protest further. Doing as she was told she opened the message for the four of us to see.
"Greetings mutual genus. I understand that you've recently made some new friends from a very familiar place. I'd like to meet at the coordinates I've indicated below. Bring only the executives and inform no one. Follow my instructions and no harm shall come to your city. Good day."
Jugen pulled out his own device and then pinched the set of coordinates from Freed's display. He then plucked the series of numbers off the screen then instructed his device to open a blank page. He then placed the coordinates right in the empty space then switched the device off and shoved it in his pocket. "You three... with me." Jugen headed for the hangar exit, though not at a speed that would indicate something was wrong. As the three of us followed him, I began picking apart the message for any clue as to who sent it. What stood out to me was the word genus, the mention of a familiar place, and the crown. I'd seen something similar before somewhere.
We'd follow Jugen over to the sand runner bay where he'd commandeered the first one he laid eyes on. As he started it up the three of us climbed in as well. I sat next to Minerva while Freed went to help Jugen. "Ugh... I hope we aren't getting into trouble we can't handle," Minerva said as she sat back in her seat. "It'd honestly be more trouble if we ignored that message. Especially considering..." As I looked at Minerva she had her back turned to me fixing her hair. I could see her marker and an idea came to me like lightning striking my brain.
"Alice dear... are you alright?" Minerva asked as she turned around to check on me. I then touched the back of my neck and muttered, "I think I know who we're meeting."