Vahl took Umana to his house so that they could eat the food they bought in peace, though the desk in his room was too small and dirty so they ate on the floor. Vahl ate right away but Umana seemed more interested in asking questions.
“That child, was he someone you trust?”
“Nope, not one bit.” He said, between bites. “If he had his hand in my pocket, I would’ve smacked him.”
“That seems a little too excessive, you didn’t even have anything in them.”
“Evil people are evil people Umana, children or not.”
“But he wasn’t doing it out of evil intentions! He just wanted some money or food, so he didn’t starve. Can’t you see that the child isn’t an evil person, just a misguided good one.”
“He is a pickpocket; he doesn’t have any good in him. He might grow up to be a pirate overlord or something.”
“Now you are just being silly Vahl, can’t you at least recognise a little bit of good in people? Or are you the only good person on this planet in your head?”
“No… I… Fine then, ill consider it.”
Umana sighed, finally convincing him to look at something in a brighter light, “Good, and yes, you are right too. I’ll try recognizing that there are evil sides to people.”
They went quiet for a bit, making the air awkward for Umana. To repair their relationship, she asked, “What kind of planet is this anyway? I haven’t learnt much about it yet.”
Vahl thought back to the little information he had, based only on stories and things that he had to infer from, “Well, I only know about what Korva told me. She said that it began as a resource town designed to collect the tar from the massive tar oceans that cover the planet and refine it into a useable fuel to ship to the mother planet. But since it was the only place on the planet for any civilization to settle it eventually became a city that solely relied on the mother planet for food and resources. It was successful for a while, but the mother planet was conquered, and this city was abandoned, the entire city technically relies on the supplies that are brought in by traders that wander around star systems with food stocks and refill fuel here. There isn’t any kind of law enforcement or government, but the star port is always being guarded by the hired men of some merchant traders, the pirates don’t fight or cause trouble around there.”
“Speaking of the pirates, are they apart of the Free Captains?”
“No, Korva told me about those kinds of pirates but these ones aren’t apart of them. The pirates here attack each other on site, and they don’t have any of that pirates or captains honor stuff. Though I bet they would get kicked off the planet if the Free Captains were to learn about it.”
“That would be an odd situation to be placed in, pirates coming to kick off other pirates from the planet and calling it justice.”
“Well as long as we paid the Free Captains we would be in far better hands.”
“I’ve heard things along that line. What about the planet itself? What is the name given to it?”
“The planet was never named, neither was the city. I think they just wanted it to be something they forgot about and benefitted from on the side. Why don’t you just hitch another ride and get out of here?”
“I spent all my money on the last ride, so I was planning on making some good money and getting out of here eventually. That is, if I can’t make some good friends”
“I see...”
Vahl regret asking that and ruining the mood, he had finally warmed up to her and started to trust her character. Vahl wanted to take her and Korva’s advice, though it was tough to change like that. As such, he decided to change the subject.
“I was born on Vesk Prime.”
“Oh? You are finally willing to tell me more?” excited to learn more about the man she knew little about.
Umana was surprised, but happy that she had somehow managed to prove herself worthy of learning more about him.
“I soon found myself on this planet at a young age and was taken in by Korva who raised me and took care of me until I could fight and make money on my own. She couldn’t train me, but she could tell me stories of soldiers and how they fought and let me watch pit fights.” Reminiscing and evoking the memories of when he was younger.
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Umana could take the hint, he wasn’t much interested in sharing his early life yet, “You are one hell of a solider, but I’m amazed because you are such a good Blitz fighter without anyone guiding you.”
“Blitz? Is that really a soldier fighting style?”
“Oh, you didn’t know, I suppose that makes sense for someone on this planet. There are plenty of different fighting styles but the ones that are commonly practiced by soldiers include Blitz and Armor Storm, there are more but I do not know them. Usually its rare to find someone that can classify and improve their skills like you have on a planet like this, I expected to be the only one.”
“You are too? You used a weird ability to make those two humans attack me without fear, is that your ability?”
“Well yes but there are other things I can do, the abilities I train fall under what is usually called an Envoy which are very charismatic people who either lead countries, armies, or even become holonet stars.”
“What about you? You aren’t a star on the holonet right?”
Umana entertained the thought, which she found funny, “Huh, maybe I am. No, not really, I was trained like the rest of my brother and sisters to become a good military commander, which is why I have the Envoy power to inspire others and increase their fighting morale.”
“What are these kinds of things called?”
“They go by a whole bunch of names, but I call them Adventurer Classes.”
“Are they common? Outside of this planet that is.”
“Yeah, they usually are, most people find a job that can benefit from them. I find it likely that most people here don’t have them simply because they are jobless, or work collecting tar or whatever.”
Vahl was intrigued, his entire life he wanted to learn more about these ‘adventurer classes’ but could never learn more about them besides from the stories Korva told him. Vahl felt a lot more comfortable around his new friend, he felt like he would enjoy the time he spent with her even if she wanted to leave the planet eventually.
Umana got up after she finished her food and said her farewells, wishing Vahl a good night and heading off to wherever she took as a home. Vahl saw her out the door and immediately got back to training to make up for lost time, trying to think of ways that he can improve his ability to fight along side Umana. Slowly, Vahl forgot about any doubts he had for trusting Umana and looked forward to seeing her again. He believed deep down that she really cared about him, though he wouldn’t admit it out loud.
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Steam rose from the hot liquid of a porcelain cup, the smell of the tea inside permeated into the small room and filled it with a scent of flowers and herbs. A slender black hand gripped the handle of the cup, scratches and blisters covered parts of the hand, showing the hard work it went through on a day to day basis. The owner of the hand sat behind a desk, facing a door that slightly shook with the sound of a knock.
“Come in.”
The door handle twisted, and a man wearing a lack of face paint walked inside, a pained smile could be seen on his face and worry was seeping through out his eyes, “I have come to report about that bar madam president.” Tipping his feathered hat, one that he never took off, in the direction of the lady.
The lady behind the desk placed her cup back down on the table, once again unable to take a sip without being interrupted with work, “Did it go well Jon? Are they willing to help us fight against the pirates now?”
Jon, the man who wore the feathered cap, had started to frown, a look of deep sadness and pain replaced the expression on his face, “No madam president, it seems that unfortunately the owner of the bar is a pirate and they have strong fighters that keep me from negotiating, they even hit me the first time I went inside to talk.” The man took out a picture, one taken from a small camera hidden in the collar of his clothes. The picture showed Vahl, Umana, and Korva, her red scar face paint was in plain view.
The lady could not believe it, such a good man was struck after trying to help them escape from the pirate menace that he told her plagues the city, but no, instead they still turn to the pirates and let themselves be controlled. She calmed herself, feeling it wasn’t right to be angry at those that were manipulated, instead she wanted to be angry at the pirates that were doing the manipulating, “Maybe I should finally take a walk outside and talk with them myself Jon. I should learn things on this planet firsthand, after all you haven’t let me out of this room or even talk with the rest of the commanders to hired.
Jon shook his head, wiping tears from his eyes and placing a hand on his heart, “Madam, I apologize but it is simply way too dangerous for you to go outside without the powered armor we ordered. Besides, those previous commanders that used to be under your parents charge were corrupt and doing evil things.”
“I see, thank you Jon, you may go now, thank you for all this work you are doing. Soon, we will be able to save this planet, I promise! Go, we have a planet to save.” the lady said, with a look a complete and utter confidence and hope.
Jon bowed, then placed his hand on the door handle, he opened it with a swivel and the door was opened. Through the crack in the door a multitude of different men wearing green armoring could be seen, but the door shut before the lady could get a good look at their face.
Once the man stood outside the door, his generally appearance changed, his face was one of annoyance and disgust and two biotech tear ducts were removed from the corners of his eye. The rest of the men and women inside the room were adorned with the same red skull face paint, but they also wore a heinous smile on their face. Jon put his hands together, a smile crept onto his face and his eyebrows rose at the corners, his face looked like the devil of hell incarnate.
“Go, we have a planet to conquer.” He said, the rest of the men and woman in green scattered, leaving to go with the others to their positions around the city.