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The Celestial Venture
Chapter 14 - Desus II - Landing

Chapter 14 - Desus II - Landing

After getting off the ship, Twy'la saw that a group of soldiers were already standing by, and approached her and Jarvell once the ship was open.

"Is one of your the captain of this vessel?" One of the soldiers asked. He had a uniform like the others, only with a symbol what appeared to be a sun, with 3 stripes in it.

"No, our captain is still inside. She needed some reprieve, but you could meet her inside." Jarvell said, upon which the soldier nodded, and proceeded to climb into the ship.

As Twy'la glanced around, she took note that the planet seemed to have mostly the same species as the soldiers on the landing area. Two arms, four legs, four grey eyes with a very thin line that seemingly formed the iris in their eyes. But what surprised Twy'la was the fact that they seemed to greatly vary in skin colour. Green, blue, grey, red, and those were the ones she could just easily spot.

"Please spread your arms and legs and allow us to check for any weaponry, ma'am." One of the soldiers said, once they finished checking Jarvell.

"Uhm, okay." Twy'la followed the instructions, as the soldier began scanning her with some kind of device that seemed to beep softly. The soldier tried scanning her Cosmos rings multiple times, only to repeatedly get no response at all.

"What are the rings and wings? And can they be used as weapons?" The soldier asked, stopping his scanning and looking at Twy'la with a stern gaze.

"They are Cosmos. A natural type of energy that is part of me. I cannot turn it off, if you are wondering it. And," Twy'la briefly glanced at Jarvell "They can be used as a weapon, but mine aren't meant to be used as such."

While the soldier appeared content with the answer, he continued with his scan, before taking a step back once he finished "Your blue companion is free to go about his business. You will remain here until a decision has been made by the chief regarding your Cosmos." he said, turning to look at a fellow soldier who nodded and showed he wrote down Twy'la's description.

Even though he was given an all clear, Jarvell remained with Twy'la, awaiting the chief's return from being on the ship, while the soldiers also remained there, keeping their eyes on the two of them.

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As the chief climbed on board the Tin-Can, Kree stood up and offered a small bow "Welcome to the Tin-Can. I'm the captain of the ship, Kree'aria."

The chief returned the bow and nodded "I was informed the captain remained on board for a reprieve. I imagine it was not simple for a civilian to find themselves amidst a battlefield like that. I am chief inspector Carlaile, conducting the inspection of the Tin-Can."

"It was not, no. But we made it out safe and sound. And pleasure to meet you, chief inspector."

Carlaile nodded once more as he started to look around "What was your purpose for coming into the system at this time, captain Kree'aria?"

"We came in search of a person, and we were told we could find them in the Persus Arm. This was the closest system we could reach." Kree said, following Carlaile as he used his own scanner, and opened the drawer where Kree kept the ship's pistols.

"These will need to remain on board," Carlaile stated, before continuing to the cockpit "And can you elaborate about this individual? Perhaps our force could help with locating them and make your trip to a warzone shortened."

"If you could help, it would certainly be appreciated. But all I have are two details. Her name is Besa, and she has a tail."

Carlaile stopped for a moment and turned to look at Kree "That is certainly not a lot to go on. Besa is a very common name in the Heirarchy. While a tail is a rarity in our kind, there are still likely numerous tailed individuals with that name. Even among the scum that are the Uma Federation."

"We were actually told about them being in an Imperium, not a federation or heirarchy." Kree said, while Carlaile was finishing his scanning of the cockpit.

"Imperium. The Unma Imperium." Carlaile said.

Kree sighed as she could tell from the chief's tone that he considered it a simple story, where his side was right. She also started to wander if Regur might've paid a second visit to these people before departing to his current prison.

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"The Imperium has broken up a hundred and sixty nine years. Since then, there is the Una Heirarchy, and the Uma Federation. This system, the Desus system, has seen fighting between the two galactic empires since the split has occured. Our planet has been designated neutral ground, despited the Una Heirarchy owning the system currently."

As the chief explained some of the background, Kree listened intently. There were still numerous holes in the story, but the time of the split meant that with his timeline, Regur wasn't involved.

"What caused the split, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Hmm," Carlaile seemed to ponder on something as he turned his scanner off "I don't mind, but I do not know the right answer. There are varying answers depending on who you ask. But most frequent answer is 'The Una/Uma assassinated the Unma heir'."

"Unma heir got assassinated by the Una or the Uma?" Kree repeated, confused.

Carlaile nodded as he headed back to the hatch "I am personally biased, as I have no love towards the Uma, so best you mingle, ask more then just me. But what really happened? There are likely very few that know the truth by now."

As he got on the ladder, he glanced at Kree's direction "Anything to pass to your crewmates?"

"Just to be cautious."

Carlaile nodded as he climbed down, and Kree moved to lay on one of the beds. Gum jumped on the bed beside her, and she looked at him.

"Another torn nation. The galaxy just loves flinging them in my direction. But perhaps this one still has a chance, right?"

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Waiting outside the ship with Jarvell and the other soldiers, Twy'la turned and watched as the chief got off the Tin-Can, on his own. Approaching the others, he paid close attention as the soldier that checked them updated Carlaile on the findings. Nodding, the chief inspector turned and looked at Twy'la and Jarvell.

"You're both permitted to roam the city. If you wish to go outside the city, then you will need to get proper clearance," Carlaile said, resting his gaze a bit longer on Twy'la, before turning away "Men, we're heading back. Oh, and your captain passed the message to be cautious."

The chief inspector and his men left the area, and Twy'la glanced back at the ship.

"Think Kree'aria will be alright?"

"Yeah. Probably just needs to sleep off the time she spent out in space. Its immense amounts of pressure to be in, the vacuum of space. Then she both got shot at and fired back, and moved back to us, so it was a lot."

"Right." Twy'la said, before feeling a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, we still need to learn more about what's been going on in this system, the Una and Uma, and also figure out if we could potentially find that Besa dragon." Jarvell said, starting to walk away from the parking spot.

"We'll be back soon Kree'aria." Twy'la said, before quickly catching up to Jarvell.

As the two of them started to walk in the city, Twy'la felt a bit weird. No one in the city seemed to fear for their lives due to the fighting in the space above them, nor did they really seem to care, and just carried on with their lives. After looking around for about 20 minutes, Jarvell led them into a tavern.

For Twy'la, this was a whole new experience. Despite Jarvell sharing some stories from bar fights he had back in Water Hole, she didn't expect the place to reek of something strong, and actually have people sleep with their heads on the counter.

"Bartender! Have water to serve?" Jarvell asked, to which the bartender nodded, as he grabbed a pair of glasses and poured water into them, before putting them down by Jarvell and Twy'la.

"Twenty credits." The Bartender said, and put down a scanner by Jarvell. The blue man nodded, before taking out a white card with a red line, and put it over the scanner. After two beeps, the bartender nodded and put the scanner away.

"I was hoping to also ask a couple questions." Jarvell said.

"Everyone can ask questions. No one is obliged to answer." The bartender said as he started wiping some more glasses.

"Fair enough. We heard three months back about an Uma or Una Imperium. Know anything of it?"

"Unma Imperium. The former galactic empire of the Persus arm. Spread across fourteen different systems, and twenty seven planets total. Until it fell apart a century or two ago. Now its a mess. Before you ask, I don't know why."

"Well, thanks for that bit. Ever heard of someone called Besa? She-"

"We have enough Besa's in the former Imperium to consist of about 5% of the female population. Need to be more specific."

"I was about to say, she would have a tail that did not fit her species. She should appear tame while her tail would be dangerous."

The bartender pondered on it for a few minutes before shaking his head "Got nothing for ya. Never heard of any tailed Besa's to begin with. None of ours have a tail anyway. Sorry I can't help ya any further."

Jarvell nodded, understanding, as he finished his water, while Twy'la leaned forward "How come everyone is so nonchalant about the fighting above you all?"

Chuckling, the bartender put down the latest glass he was cleaning and fied his gaze on Twy'la "Because what else we would do? The fighting isn't on the planet. Are we supposed to cower every single time a space fight occurs? We won't be living that way. If the fighting ends up coming here, then we'll panic and hide."

Nodding, Jarvell gestured to Twy'la to follow him "Thanks for the answers. Anywhere we could try asking about our person of interest?"

"Maybe at the port security? They should have a record of who is on the planet too, and maybe in the Una Heirarchy too." Bartender shrugged as he took a bowl of nuts away from a sleeping patron.

"Thanks again. Hope business will be well for ya."

The bartender just grunted at the last remark, as Twy'la and Jarvell exited the place. Looking around, Jarvell sighed "I suppose we need to find the port security again. See if they'd even be willing to share such info. But I already have my doubts."

Twy'la looked around as well, before pointing to a tower "That big tower is near the port. Maybe that's it?"

"Hmm, could be. Even has a communications array, so it would fit the bill. Lets check it out." Jarvell said, and the two started heading in the direction of the large tower.