On their trip to the next world Alimah and Stranda start dividing the major crew up into teams. For their team Alpha they take the Beastmen Tanya, the half fairy elf Shalena, the terrain Jonah, and the terrain Elizer into their team. Team Alpha will primarily discover worlds and deal with most situations. The vice captain will be in charge of team Beta, they stay primarily on the ship itself while occasionally going down on the world if team Alpha needs extra reinforcements or a shuttle. Team Charlie is in charge of the ship, they consist of cooks, cleaners, and engineers. Once they arrive a message from the bridge pops up on the command panel in the briefing room to indicate they were there. Alimah and Stranda are sitting in the briefing room dealing with their agitated Vice Captain.
“Captain, we have arrived at the world designated as UW 7101.”
“Good work Adjutant, open a message to all the crew.”
“Message open.”
“Team Alpha, report to the briefing room. I repeat, Team Alpha, report to the briefing room.”
“Anyways, Vice Captain I understand you are not happy with my decision but this is what will happen going forward.”
“You are young and new to this. I don’t feel like you're in a strategic mindset allowing new crew as well as a beastmen to be on the away team.”
“The crew I choose to be on the away team is mine and mine alone, it is not up to vote by the rest of the crew.”
“They represent the ship and its crew. I don’t think they can do the job.”
“That is not up to you. Leave where through here.””
“That was rough.”
“Yeah. And the crew is our choice!”
“I know what you mean. It’s okay.”
“Thanks. I don’t know how I feel with such a jaded crew on the ship.”
“A lot of them were either set for great prospects of retirement or easy assignments. They are mad they now have to work. Just ignore them, it's not worth even the smallest thought. Besides, your face is so pretty. Why wrinkle it with all the brow scrunchin?”
“Thanks Stranda. You're always there for me.”
“Forever And Always. We are the best partners in crime muhahahahaha.”
“Wooo crime buddies! Anyways, how goes the scans?”
“The ship is scannin the world below now. Hopefully it will be interestin and we get a good first adventure ya.”
“We can only hope. Oh looks like they are here. You can be the strong voice this time.”
”Nice, I'll do it. Enter, take a seat guys.”
”Welcome guys. This is our first mission so let’s do the best we can.”
“We will do our best Captain!”
“I’ll work hard for that bread. He can chase all the women.”
“How are the scans?”
“Just completed when yall got in here, Stranda is reading them now.”
“The data from the scans of this world seems interestin.
“How so Captain?”
“This world has no name and no heat signatures. The high resolution surface image scans of the world is showin some signs of civilization but I see no people.”
“No people?”
“They are showing mostly huts but I have yet to find any life forms. They seem to be a primitive peoplefrom the scans.”
“If there are no heat signatures then have they all died or did they detect the ship and are hiding?”
“Either is possible. They may be completely out and in the open ready to fight us and we can’t detect them. Who knows?”
“That doesn’t seem very likely. All life forms emit some type of heat, due to the body converting energy to move or do anything. They must be hiding deep underground.”
“What about other lifeforms like fauna and flora?”
“Nothin on the scans either.”
“Weird. What do you think, Stranda?”
“Not all life forms could be usin energy as their fuel sources. Elementals and some spirits consist entirely of pure condensed magic. So a fire elemental will definitely show up on a heat scan but an ice elemental or any other ones won’t. Could be a similar situation down there.”
“That is true I guess. So should we be expecting to meet resistance or hostilities then?”
“We will always go with peace in mind. We want to try and get a peaceful outcome whenever possible to reduce threats and hostility towards the crew. However make sure you're prepared for hostilities at all times. Since we can’t determine what to expect from our current information we will be dropping planet side in current uniforms with small arms and weapons. Take what you're comfortable with but nothing that’s too flashy or exaggerated. Meet on the shuttle in 15.”
“Understood!”
The girls head to the shuttle and have the pilot get it prepped and ready for take off. Once team Alpha gathers they depart the ship and descend onto the world. The world is very bright with 2 suns on each horizon, one with a blue tint and the other with a greenish tint. The ground is a hard thick metallic like rocky world. The entire world is made of this dark thing metallic earth. The trees, the rocks, everything is the same. Even the flowing water has traces in it. All plant and animal life are the same. After analysis it is discovered that this is a world of iron. Everything from living creatures to rocks and trees is composed of around 97% iron. The wildlife and fauna that were present were scuttling around but were undetected by heat instruments.
“Woah did you see that?”
“See what Tanya?”
“It looks like a boar yet I don’t see any horns and ramming plates.”
“Horns? Ramming plates?”
“Yeah big metal plates meant to ram and charge into stuff.”
“I can guess what it is by the name.”
“Boars don’t have any horns, Tanya.”
“Yes they do. It’s the big pointy thing on their head!”
“Boars don’t have horns. They have large tusks from their mouths.”
“Mouths? From where? Their sharp teeth? You mean the large flat ones?”
“No, their super sharp, spikey teeth. If one bites you it's over, their teeth shred and tear skin and chunks of meat. We lost many due to them being used in the wars.”
“Sharp teeth? Tanya, what kinds of boars have you been hunting?”
“I have seen both of these boars of which you speak.”
“Really Captain? This isn’t a made up boar?”
“The world is a big place as they say. Many different animals and creatures differ from different environments and worlds. Make sure to respect each other's opinions, it may save you later on!”
“Yes captain!”
“Also Tanya is referring to a Demonized Terror Tusk or some variant. While you are referrin to a standard huntin boar. Both are valid and real but I’ve only eaten a hunting boar.”
“As well as a plagued, horned, and carnivorous boar as well as many other types. Hunting boars are boars with no cool features in simplicity which makes them easy to breed and hunt for sport.”
“Interesting. I wouldn’t want to fight one of those Terror Tusk things.”
“Yeah no. 0 out of 10 do not recommend! If I smell one I'll let you know to start running.”
“Heard, thanks Tanya!”
“What shall we do, Alimah? My magic sense is detectin many different wildlife and fauna but I see nothin.”
“I don’t see anything but can detect them as well. Keep an eye out for anything.”
“Look at these!”
“What?”
“Metal plants! There are flowers everywhere!”
“Ewww tastes like Iron!”
“Tanya get that out of your mouth!”
“Send them to the Garden. Let them figure it out. Also requisition like 15 cells and a few massive ones just in case. Get samples of all the rocks, plants, and anything else you find. “
“Understood Captain!”
“Also Tanya, don’t just randomly eat things nilly willy.”
“Okay!”
For their curiosity, Stranda sent the request over and started gating a few of each animals and fauna nearby to their own holding cells on the research ship Garden-1. She leaves them a note that they are on a world of iron and the researchers begin studying it with a curious vigor. They began exploring using Magic Sense to detect what was around as they began to gate chunks of the earth and trees with plants to entire holding cells. Almost like a large diorama or museum exhibit. As they wander endlessly they pick up life signs via Magic Detection but shortly after the signal disappears as if the life sign vanishes in thin air. They spot a large boar-like animal that is drinking water from a stream, however once it detects the crew its body hardens into iron and it charges the party.
“Well look at that, the boar’s life signs just disappeared.”
“I don’t think that's really important right now, the boar is chagrin us.”
“Tanya, do you want to try punching it?”
“Of course I do, Captain. It’s the best combat strategy!”
“Well go and punch it to your heart's content.”
“Roger that!”
Tanya dashes forward and smashes her fist into it causing it to stop and look at her for a moment. Anger fills its eyes as the damage resounds through its body.
“Huh, well that didn’t send it flying like I thought it would.”
“It seems like it is a mass of iron. Punch it again, see if it is heavy like a mass of raw Iron. Just don’t hurt yourself Tanya.”
“Copy that! Will hit it harder!”
Tanya smashes her fist into it much harder, causing it to slide back stunned from the impact. Tanya’s fist bleeds slightly from the hardened iron like skin. After they view the boar's curious actions they decide to send it through the gate to the research facility.
“You okay Tanya?”
“Yeah! My fist stings but it’s nothing serious.”
“Here come here, I will heal you back up.”
“Wait captain, you can heal?”
“Yeah, both me and Stranda can.”
“Wow, that's super cool and helpful!””
“Now hold still.”
Alimah holds her hand out and in moments white golden light glows around her and her wounds are healed.
“Wow captain you can use magic without chants? That’s so cool!”
“Yeah we both can. You seem to be able to do it as well.”
“Do what as well?”
“Castin magic.”
“What magic?”
“What do you mean Tanya? Didn’t you cast like body enhancement magic or strengthening magic?”
“No. I just hit really hard!”
“Interestin.”
“Yeah you can say that. Well I’m glad you're a-okay.”
“Alright, let's continue on.”
They continue onwards, gating things to the research base but grow tired from the magic drain. They stop and set up the most basic camp as they are in unfamiliar territory. They sit around the fire as it glows much brighter. It glows like a large chunk while it cracks and pops more violently than before due to the iron in the wood.
“Don’t ya find it weird that all the trees, rocks, and flowers are all iron?”
“It seems more eerie and creepy honestly.”
“Speaking of being all Iron. Adjutant. Have we gotten results from testing yet?”
“The results are the same. Everything contains a super high trace of iron within their bodies. Less in living creatures at about 80+% while plants and trees are closest to 96+%. Rocks and water are 99% Iron.”
“Even the water?”
“That’s what the report says.”
“Thanks Adjutant.”
“Roger.”
“Are you okay captains?”
“We are okay, just tired. Thanks for your concern Shal’ena. If only the boys cared as much as you two do.”
“We care. Well I care, idk about lover boy. You're just super strong so we don’t need to worry about you.”
“Same here.”
“Thanks I guess?”
“You know my dad used to alway say, when you're feeling down just hit something. It always makes me feel better.”
“Thanks for the kind words of advice Tanya. I don’t think it will help our fatigue but it's a good secondary option.”
“Why are you so tired? You haven’t hit a lot of things yet.”
“Using the gate takes a ton of magic power. It's wasted in the transfer but it is what it is.”
“What do you mean it’s wasted?”
“Well the gate is actually energy based. One of fathers creations. Due to its nature to instantly connect any two points in space together it requires a good amount of energy to do so. Since we can’t use energy and use magic as our natural power we need to convert it into a usable form.”
“If the magic requirement is so high does its cost change based on its size?”
“Yes. As well as what's inside what is moving through. If it's 2 boxes high with potatoes, or a Tanya, the Tanya requires much more energy to keep safe and intact whereas the potatoes can be damaged and still be okay.”
“But aren't there some who can use the gates even when they are energy based?”
“The best example is Supreme Queen Daka. Before she became queen of the empire she was a proficient battle mage of demon and swarm essence. She was nicknamed Daka of the Thousand Gates due to her opening over a thousand monstrous sized gates to allow the entire fleet of ships of all sizes in a major battle. Although she passed out shortly afterwards consuming so much of her power she became a hero.”
“She also is super strong now. Readin her files is crazy! She is super strong nowadays due to her immense hunger for power. She is queen for many reasons, one being her intense magical power.”
“Other than her, all of the supremes can use gates, especially now. There are a lot of Magistrates that can use them, and some specialized people who can use them for transportation and other things. The average person never will due to the crazy cost but to a supreme they will open gates willy nilly.”
“I’ve seen em open a gate to get a drink from across the room. Yumiko Fallenone, the head of high command will just open em to get stuff from her desk if she is somewhere else at high command.”
“You can't be serious! You're kidding, right captain? Who would do that for something so stupid?”
“I’m not, you can do it too with enough training Shal’ena.”
“Oh yeah let me grab stuff from far away. Wooo hooo.”
“Oh my god, Captain!”
“What Tanya?”
“Does that mean I can punch things from farther away?”
“Yeah I believe so, Tanya. You would have unlimited range to hit things if you punched them through a gate.”
“Unlimited Punching Power!”
“Oh no, now she's all worked up Jonah. What are we gonna do?”
“At Least she's not trying to eat rocks.”
“Yeah. You can say that again.”
“Anyways team, let's take a break and rest up. Tanya you're on punching duty.”
“Yes. Punching duty is my favorite!”
They rest to restore magic and the energy to continue on. After some time they began heading to the nearby forest. As they trek through the forest gating various plants and trees for study they begin to approach the center of the forest. It is an eerie dead silence with a light misty fog rising from the forest floor. Skittering and screeching in the distance and high above can be heard.
“What was that?”
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“Sounds like some kind of arachnid.”
“Spiders! I hate spiders!”
“They aren't so bad, just ignore them and walk around them.”
“That would be great but what if they are giant spiders?”
“Giant spiders taste great when roasted”
“Giant spiders don’t get too big so we should be fine.”
“This isn’t a normal place. What if they are giant metal spiders?”
“Wait, go back. Tanya, why do you eat all their weird things?”
“What do you mean?”
“One does not simply eat giant spiders.”
“But they are so yummy. I wonder what a metal spider would taste like?”
“Metal, what else would it taste like?”
“You don’t eat a lot of things Jonah and it shows.”
“What?”
“Most creatures with a thick armored or carapace body means their body is tough yet their meat is soft and delicate which is why it's protected by their natural armor.”
“As weird as that is, it's interesting to know.”
“Oh ho, no that would be interestin to fight. A giant metal spider, maybe it shoots acid.”
“Fight? Where? I wanna fight! I’ll make it rain acid!”
“Good thing it's broad daylight, cause it would be extra bad if it was night time.”
“Captains, have you noticed this rising mist? It’s getting dangerous.”
“Its only like waist high. Don’t worry you won't drown in it.”
“Ha ha very funny. I can’t see my feet anymore. It’s like a thick fog.”
“Just step better and you won’t trip.”
“Yeah thanks for that, I'll totally do my best.”
“Let's go deeper into the forest, we are over half way.”
“The end is in sight! Quick go, run, the fog has almost no visibility.”
“Ahhhhh!”
“What was that? Where am I? Tanya? Stranda? Alimah? Jonah? Elizer? Where am I?”
“Duh duna nuh! Tanya to the rescue! I am here, don't worry small child.”
Tanya flies through the mist slamming her fist into the large metallic spider stopping the mist from spreading further. Another flying spider corpse rips through the fog as Tanya hits another one. The fog lessens with each spider she one punches and send flying past them.
“Tanya, did you get them all?”
“Yeah! My nose doesn’t lie!”
“Good job. You did such a good job ill let you eat one of them. The rest are to be taken back for research.”
Alimah snaps her fingers sending a shockwave to clear the mist. Stranda walks over to two spiders and insta heals them by touching them to gate over live specimens.
“A giant metal mist spider! That was fun!”
“Good, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, Tanya. Now let's continue onwards.”
“Roger that!”
They leave the forest and are traveling through open desert like terrain with a large mountain slowly growing larger as they head towards it. Dust begins to blow, every slowly as it picks up the pace growing rapidly.
“Captains, I'm picking up a dense sandstorm like pressure moving in our direction. I recommend finding shelter of some sort to use as protection.”
“What is around that we can use?”
“We have forests behind us and mountains ahead. I see nothing but open plains all around.”
“Adjutant scan the area quickly for what we can use as protection.”
“Very well. Scanning now.”
“Make it snappy Adjutant.”
“Scan complete. The forest can be used by using trees as coverage, there is a 56% survival rate. The mountains have a cavern-like system which can be used to hide in, there is a 83% survival rate.”
“Very well team, we will take cover in the nearby cave system.”
“Sounds like a plan to me Alimah, lets go.”
“Double time. Let's get moving!”
The crew begins their jog towards the cave system keeping their shields up with Alimah sending out an aura of fleeing to nearby desert creatures keeping them away.
“Wow captain! Teach me how to intimidate smaller creatures!”
“I will later, for now run Tanya run! The storm is getting more violent, our shields are starting to crack!”
They arrive at the large cave system and take shelter immediately diving into the cave getting out of the storm as their shields begin to break and they get damaged by the spinning swirling iron sand. Alimah and Stranda glance at each other and smile before they stand next to each other. That clasp a hand together locking fingers, magic power pours together in harmony, in unison, in spellcraft. “Unison Magic. Twilight Healing.” Their voice echoed through the cavern filling the entire group with a thick blackness. They look around as stars and worlds apart all around them. It begins to rain small golden luminescent magic drops that instantly heal anything and everything they touch that the casters haven’t excluded.
“Oh my god Captains! This is Twilight Healing!”
“Twilight Healing, interesting. I never thought I would see the day.”
“Twilight Healing? What's that, Elizer?”
“The Captains know better than us but it is the highest level of healing magic said to only be used by archangels themselves. It requires not only the greatest proficiency in restoration, holy, and life essence magic but also requires such channeled concentration that it requires hours to perform by a single person!”
“But they just did it!”
“They used Unison magic to do it. That requires such a high level of trust and magical combination that most people train for years to even do the most simple unison fireball magic.”
“Our captains are awesome!”
“Well, now I'm tired.”
“Yeah me too.”
“Everyone, we will rest up here. Tanya, do you have the spare wood from earlier?”
“Yupperz! Here you go!”
“Tanya.”
“Yes captain?”
“I said to take some spare wood from the forest.”
“Yeah, I did. I took some spare wood.”
“This is half a tree!”
“A spare tree.”
“My god Tanya! Is this why we had to drag you along!”
“Hey this is a small tree but it’s heavy.”
“Shal’ena is just irritated, leave her be. Anyways let's rest up guys, it's been a long sprint.”
“Okay!”
They make camp and rest for a few hours checking in with the Adjutant on the ship and getting more scans of the area. Elizer and Jonah began taking research notes on the storm with Shalena and Alimah guarding their 6. Stranda and Tanya began exploring the cave system gating the various plants, ores, and crystals they find to the research station.
“Captain, look at this, it’s pretty.”
“Ya know Tanya I think this is the first gem we found that's actually a gem and not a colorful chunk of Iron. Pretty interestin don’t ya think?”
“Yeah! I like gems and shiny things!”
“Oh yeah? More than you like punching things?”
“Hmmm.I don’t know. Possibly.”
“I wonder if there are natural gemstones or if this is the random one in the bunch.”
“Let's find all the shiny stuff!”
“Okay if we can spare the time. Look sharp Tanya, I’m sensing nearby humanoid presences.”
A few curious humanoid people wander about, they are light skinned and slim while standing 2.5 meters tall or 7 and half feet, they tower over Stranda and Tanya since they are average height at 1.9-2 meters tall or 5 foot 8 to 6 feet tall. They slumber through the cave system, their heads almost reaching the top. When they spot the girls they take a cautious approach and course magic through their body turning their bodies into iron, their skin is a dark gray and their skin is thick. They begin to blend into the various walls and surroundings.
“Tanya make sure ya don’t provoke em. They seem to be cautious and wary of us since they observe us then hide from us. Pretend you don’t see them.”
“Should we also mimic their actions and make shields? If they see the gap in power maybe they will flee?”
“That is a surprisingly good idea, Tanya. Nice thinking!”
“Thanks I try.”
“We will go with caution and shields in case of hostilities. Are you good with shields, I thought you only hit stuff?”
“I can use a powerful magic shield, I’m not an idiot.”
“Never said you were. What effects do you put into your magic shield? Like standard magic or elemental magic like earth for better physical protection or water for better magical protection?”
“I use extra punches!”
“Extra punches?”
“Yeah. I just punch things that come at me really fast. Strongest most powerfulest magic shield there is!”
“What.”
“What?”
”No matter, I will just ignore that. Anyways just don’t put too much power into em.
“Why?”
“If they get scared and flee, they may warn their friends of us. Just keep it a little stronger than their magic power and make it visible so they can perceive it. Normally I would say that but in your case. Tanya. Just make a magical aura bubble and punch things that go inside of it.”
“Copy that captain, deploying shield now.”
“Totally not a magical shield but okay, heard.”
“They don’t seem to mind too much. M:aybe they are scared of our shields?”
“Terrified. Totally.”
“Rawr!”
“Don’t rawr at them.”
“But how will they know we are scary?”
“If they get closer to us then we will act and they will find out. For now, we will just hold this position until the others finish their scans. Alimah and Shalena are coverin our 6 and we will cover theirs here.”
The curious people keep their iron skin and observe from a distance for a short while with Tanya and Stranda talking of many things from foods Tanya has eaten versus the foods Stranda has eaten as well as Tanya’s combat style and what her job should be on the ship. Footsteps approaching them from behind cause them to look away from the iron skinned people to Alimah and the rest of the crew.
“Did ya finish the scans?”
“We have taken a bit longer than expected due to the iron sandstorm but the findings have already been logged and sent to the research lab.”
“Nice, that’s good news.”
“Anyways, why do you have such weak shields up?”
“We have friends.”
“Friends?”
“What captain, you can’t see them?”
“Hold on, let me look.”
“I don't see anything other than rocks and cave walls captain.”
“Use magical sense or magical detection.”
“Oh. Now that is interesting. Who are your friends staring you down? Were you rude to them, Tanya?”
“I was not! I have done no such things, captain.”
“We don’t know who they are or what they want. They just came around the corner and took a cautious position.”
“So you're holding the front?”
“For the time being. But it is curious to see how they can almost disappear from our eyes and scans. Magical Sense and Magic Detection can perceive them but they are neigh invis.”
“I'll write that up in the report. The storms are over so we have two choices before us. We can go topside and keep exploring this world of iron or we can head deeper into this cave and meet the locals if they are here.”
“The local people don’t seem to be too powerful so we should be fine if we had to fight the entire world.”
“Let’s have a vote shall we? All in favor of cave exploration?”
“Okay so it's 4 to 2 in favor of option 1. Let’s go explorin.”
“Tanya, you're going to stand down.”
“Ah, why?”
“We need you well rested so you can fight the world if we need you to.”
“Yes! Okay! I’ll stand down!”
“I’m kiddin Tanya, we won't fight them all. But let's try and talk to them and see what we can learn.”
“Awe talking is no fun unless it is with fists!”
“We will let you know Tanya. Anyways team, let's copy Stranda and Tanya and keep shields up. Keep them just slightly more powerful than those two over there if possible. Don't run out of magic. Move out.”
The crew waits for the iron people to make their move and it turns into a very long silence and waiting game, that is until Tanya’s loud stomach growls. A loud roaring sound echoes through the cave causing the iron people to flee and the crew stares at Tanya.
“Really Tanya!”
“I’m sorry, okay. Can’t help the fact I haven’t eaten all day!”
“Tanya, it's been like 6 hours since we left the ship. How can you be hungry?”
“Hey man, I'm always hungry. You should know this by now, captain. So when are we gonna stop to eat?”
“After we finish this mission.”
“After the mission! I can’t last that long!”
“Now is as good a time as any I guess. Let's camp here Alimah.”
“Fine. Since Tanya has a stomach which eats and sounds like a wild beast, we can’t really do anything now.”
“Yeah especially since everything fled in terror due to her loud roaring snarling stomach.”
“Hey!”
Tanya is grinning hard like she just won the biggest prize and received all the praise in the world, food. The party relaxes and formulate a few plans for if they encounter hostilities. They use their magic detection and magic wave to map out the caverns.
“Look, look. They are back!”
“Everyone stay alert. Just observe them. Tanya, don’t growl at people like that.”
“But if it scares them away then the problem is solved right? If they flee and tell of my terror and super scary face maybe they will surrender their entire world.”
“The chances of that happening are slim to none, Tanya.”
“So you're telling me there's a chance?”
“I mean you're not wrong, but you're not right.”
“Tanya don’t snarl, growl, or roar at people, even if they are friendly.”
“Shhh be quiet. Don’t scare them away Tanya.”
“Rawr, rawr!”
“Stop ya grinning Tanya, no rawring either.”
“I can never do anything fun!”
“Says the person who scares enemies away with their stomach then eats entire meals for snacks.”
“Hey! Don’t make fun of my meals!”
“Dang Tanya, your yelling scared them all away.”
“This is totally your fault Tanya, now we gotta chase em all down.”
“Hey man, the wisest man once said that you can’t fight on an empty stomach.””
“Don’t you justify your stomach and actions because you heard some wise man say some clever words.”
“Quick get rid of the fire and camp, we now have to chase down some people Tanya scared off.”
They begin to chase after the people of the world while maintaining some distance and keeping a low profile to try and hide from all of those around them. They get to the top of an open section with running water deep below and the darkness is only illuminated by the eerie glow of incandescent mushrooms emanating a faint bluish green glow.
“This is truly an interestin place if you think about it.”
“What do you mean captain?”
“Think about it Shal’ena. How does nothin erode? Where is all the water, is it only in deep caves and caverns? How do the people survive? What do they eat and drink? What is their culture and language like?”
“The more we explore the more questions we have. The only option we have is to keep pressing on to find the answers hidden away from us.”
“We are deep into their territory.”
“Maybe we can meet with them?”
“If we do, you know the plan. I'll try and talk to them while you draw the scenes.”
“Yeah, hopefully we can come to an understanding.”
A larger group of people approach them and put their left hand up. The crew does the same and the people seem to nod and gesture at them. They begin to follow them deep into their caverns to hut like structures. A highly respected person with gems and gold walks out of a large hut like building and stands before them. He lifts his hand like the others and the crew did the same with smiles. Stranda pulls a stick and draws a few scenes while Alimah tries to talk to them. Although the stick figure and shapes are bad they do a good job showing the story she tells.
“We are travelers from a far away place. We come in peace and mean no harm. Is there something we can do for you so you can join us?”
The wealthy man looks at them and Stranda hands him the stick. He draws in a similar way to show five groups of people split by mountains. One has waves, the others have bones. He points at the wall as one with glowing mushshrooms walks to the wall illuminating it showing a scene before them. Many people together with hearts. Big swirling clouds and triangles. Seven people split apart around a mountain. Two have waves, two have bones, two have bones and waves, one has nothing. The one with nothing and one with waves are X’ed out meaning they are no more.
“Interestin. So that's what happened.”
“Adjutant, send a message to the facility, they are to expect and process an entire mountain of iron soon.”
“We really are going to help them, right captain?”
“If we can then yes. We can send someone who excels in pictographs to communicate with them.”
Alimah walks over and the man hands her the stick. She pokes the mountain then points at them then crosses out the mountain. The people look surprised and excited at the prospects of helping them. The leader looks weary but Alimah draws a picture of them giving the people waves and bones. She also draws a mountain being given to them in return. The people begin to screech and dance aggressively. This sets Tanya off but a voice calms her in a mere moment.
“Tanya! Stand down, don’t be hostile.”
“Huff. Fine.”
Seeing how her demeanor changed in an instant with bloodlust emanating from her in that moment the chief put his hand up causing them to all stop their dance to ease the tension. They leave the caverns with the help of the people.
“So lets put on a show for these people. They are ready to accept the mountain and we have the location ready for use. So Stranda you take the other side of the mountain with Tanya and Shal’ena on either side. Due to the storms we will double time and once we are in place everyone throws their hands up and begins chanting something about destroying the mountain.”
“What then captain?”
“Shal’ena can make a super bright light which can cover the mountain for a single mountain and we can gate it away leaving a small crater. Tanya you just make a super loud booming sound at the same time.”
“So we are puttin on a show for them?”
“We are going to help them by showing them our superior power. Maybe they will surrender to us like how Tanya wants.”
“Okay sounds good, let's do it.”
“Also let's get all the smaller dust and debris from the area.”
“Agreed.”
“Why would we do that?”
“Gettin rid of that with no mountain should almost completely remove the storms.”
“Wait really?”
“Have you looked at that mountain range?”
“Yeah, but what do you mean?”
“As the wind comes over the mountain it hits those weird angled points which cause it to spin. As it’s spinnin it picks up the dirt, dust, and sand. This causes that sandstorm. Removin the mountain should mostly remove the problem.”
“Ah I see! That's fantastic!”
“Let’s move out!”
The group travels at a brisk pace getting to their positions around the mountains. Tanya who got to her position quickly after Alimah did since they exited at the southern point of the mountain was the last to radio in that she was ready due to the people watching her easily slaughter the large back of metallic creatures which had begun to attack them.
“Is everyone ready? Everyone, ready in.”
“Shal’ena here, I’m ready.”
“I'm ready and waitin with Jonah and Elizer.”
“Tanya? Tanya? Tanya? Come in Tanya.”
“I'm busy! Currently engaging the hostile creatures. Give me a minute.”
“Roger that, let us know when you're ready.”
“Heard captain! Hey you! Get back here you metallic bug! Roar!”
“Wow she must have forgotten the button was on.”
“Yeah. Anyways. How are things with you guys?”
“Good, good. A tad bit tired from all the walking but it has been fun.”
“Yeah it has been. I never would've thought that us coming on the ship together would mean we get to see all these cool things.”
“Or even be able to go off ship to other worlds at that.”
“Plus getting to see all kinds of new faces and races. Really gets you excited doesn’t it?”
“I’m not into chasing women like you are, but I do enjoy meeting our new crew.”
“They seem powerful yet nice.”
“Okay guys I’m ready!”
“Alright everyone, ready in again.”
“Alimah here, standing by.”
“Stranda, standin by.”
“Tanya is ready!”
“I’m ready over here.”
“Alright everyone, let's do it. Begin!”
The plan unfolds as they all begin their chant simultaneously with their hands held high to cast the powerful magics.
“Oh great mountain heed my call. May your earth move, the rocks sunder, the peaks break. Your might will bestow power and fertility to all the lands around!”
“Mountain of life, mountain of grace, mountain of might, mountain of no space, remove your rocks, remove your crust, remove your earth, remove your dust, mountain begone!”
“Spirit of Earth, Sand, and Stone. Your power is Patience and Endurance. I call you forth to infuse me with power and growth. Keep me firm and embraced in abundance. Spirits of Earth, Spirits of Fertility, Heed My Call.”
”Punch, punch, mountain punch. Hit, hit, mountain hit. Roar, rawr, roar, roar, rawr! Mountain boom!”
A large ball of light begins to rise high above the mountain and glows so bright it blinds all who look into it. Its light completely consumes the mountain as an echoing ear piercing boom explodes from the center of the light and after a moment the light fades and far off into the distance you can see the members of the crew with no mountain inbetween, just a large crater remains. Stunned, the people rush into the mountain which no longer exists and many others emerge to reconnect with each other and converse while the group sits and rests. After a long deliberation of communication between the people the wealthy one approaches with four others and stands before the group. Standing to meet them the girls smile and place their hands up to show friendship, they people dance once more and Tanya shows no hostility towards it. Stranda draws a map of tunnels from five circles meeting together in the middle and points to the open crater as she draws a few huts. She draws bones and waves in the center huts then puts arrows going to each chief’s circle. The people nod, seeming to understand they are to become one and build a city in the center and share their wealth with each other.
“They seem to be content with the current situation. Should we send a linguist as well?”
“We can request one.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
“I’m tired, let's head back shall we?”
“Yeah.”
“Well it's been a long yet fun first journey.
“It sure has!”
“Let’s head back to the shuttle. Our work here is done. We have to go to the briefing room to submit reports. Afterwards you all are free until our next destination.”
“Yay! Mini-vacation!”
“Don’t get too excited Tanya, you still have your job to do on the ship.”
“I don’t wanna! I just want to eat and sleep!”
“Too bad, let's go.”
The crew gather and board the shuttle to head back to the ship. After they get on the ship they all head to the briefing room to debrief and write their reports of the world. Their first mission completed, success!