Arriving back at the Tin-Can, Twy'la climbed inside, and saw Jarvell was sitting by the table, with Gum turning to look at her.

"Well? Got things to move faster?" Jarvell asked, taking a sip from a bottle of water.

Twy'la shrugged "I hope so. Tried cooperating the best I could with them. Even got to meet one of the advisors already, but-"

Jarvell turned to look at her "You did? Lucky girl."

"Yeah, but there wasn't promise of any immediate action. Only that they would keep us updated when something will happen." Twy'la said, sitting down across from Jarvell.

"That's it huh? Tsk. Bloody politicians. Always talk and rarely act."

"We just arrived, you can't say that when you've barely given them a cha-"

"Just arrived? Twy'la, its been three months since you went to talk to them!"

"W-what?" Twy'la's expression turned confused.

"Three months. Whenever I kept asking about you, they kept telling me 'you are currently a guest at the king's castle'. But I didn't rely on just their word, of course. Started talking to people, and managed to actually get that verified."

Her mouth slightly open, Twy'la blinked a few times. Standing up, she quickly went to the cockpit and checked the stardate on the ship's systems. Jarvell was right. It has been three months.

"H-how? I don't think I spent more than three hours with them." Twy'la muttered, sitting down.

Walking into the cockpit, Jarvell raised his eyebrows "You really weren't aware, were you?"

Shaking her head, Twy'la put her hands on her face "Three months. I let Kree'aria stay imprisoned like that for three months," she glanced at Jarvell "How? How could this happen?"

Shrugging, Jarvell patted her back "If you didn't intend to be away for this long, then I'm sure Kree will understand. Don't be too rough on yourself. But between this, and how long they get people waiting, I'm wondering something. Come on, we need to go meet someone."

"Someone?" Twy'la stood up and started following Jarvell out of the ship.

"One of the contacts I made here. He might have an explanation. And also need to bring you up to date on my plan."

"Plan? What are you planning?" Twy'la asked, as they both climbed down on the ladder "Is it about Kree'aria?"

Jarvell nodded, before putting a finger on his mouth. After locking the Tin-Can, they started to go into the city. Through a few main streets, before heading into an alley, and then coming to a halt in front of a small store that seemed to be somewhat of an average grocery. Entering it, Jarvell approached the counter, and looked at the green-skinned Una behind it.

"Came here to collect some fresh galtirs."

The green-skilled Una looked at Twy'la.

"It's an extra big package today." Jarvell said.

Nodding, the Una pressed a button, which caused the back door to open. Jarvell led Twy'la through, and they arrived at a smaller, back room, and the door shut behind them. They waited in the darkness for a couple of minutes, before the light turned on, and a different Una, comparable to Jarvell's size, came in and sat down by a small table.

"Jarvell. You got your little friend back I see."

Nodding, Jarvell went and sat down next to the small table as well. To Twy'la it looked like two grown men just sat at a children's table.

"Yeah, I did. I came today about the other matter." Jarvell said.

The large Una looked towards Twy'a "She knows?"

Jarvell nodded.

"Well, you're the one executing it, so up to you who knows I suppose," The Una shrugged, before pulling out a worn bag and tossing it, with the bag landing at Twy'la feet "That's the plan for you to learn missy."

Picking up the bag as Jarvell continued talking with the Una, Twy'la started looking through the bag. There were schematics of a very large facility, a couple of ship schematics, several blurry photos, and several blocks with a button. Taking out the photos, she took a closer look. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"When were these taken?!" Twy'la asked, beginning to frantically go through the different photos. All the photos had the same blurry figure, pink hair, pink and white folded wings, beaten up, bloodied and bound. But they were too blurry to completely make out her figure.

"Those? A week and a half ago. That's what got your buddy here riled up about figuring out an escape plan. That prisoner ain't on a fleet ship no more. She's arrived at the Uma Intergalactic Prison, over at the Alys system. Which as I told your friend, is a suicide mission to fly into."

"And I told you, I don't care. We're getting her out," Jarvell slammed his fist against the table "She went and put herself on the line for us, we are not leaving her there!"

"Why is it a suicide mission?" Twy'la lowered the photos and looked at the Una.

"Maybe you could put some sense into Jarvell. Its a prison that is locked into place in space via some of the most advanced technology both the Una and Uma had. Used to be the Unma prison. But that isn't what makes it dangerous. Its the fact that its right next to a blackhole that makes it dangerous. Can't land unless you're cleared, and can't keep a ship outside without losing it. to the black hole's pull, or to the prison's defenses."

"Then how were you planning on doing this?" Twy'la turned to Jarvell.

Jarvell stood up, grabbed the bag from Twy'la, and took out the schematics. Opening the biggest one, he pointed at the lower point of the schematic, what appeared to be a decent-sized hole.

"That's a sewage pipe. Blocked by a railing, but easy enough to remove. Also big enough for me to crawl through. As for a ship, I intended to borrow one to get there, and borrow one of the prison ships to escape." Jarvell explained, making sure Twy'la followed his pathing.

Twy'la listened to his explanation, before looking at the photos again.

"You, uhm," Twy'la looked at the Una "Mister. Couple of questions."

"It's Tyr. And shoot."

"Tyr, sorry. You said the most advance technology. Does that include a technology that affects time inside of the prison?"

Tyr raised an eyebrow "There's been rumours, but no one could ever verify."

Looking at Jarvell, Twy'la nodded, and he understood.

"I think the same technology is used in the King's castle. That's why I was there for three hours, but out here passed three months."

Tyr blinked a few times, clearly surprised. Scratching his cheek, he narrowed his eyebrows "As I think about it, I feel like it would make sense. Since the beginning of the war, the king only appeared a few times, and despite being around four hundred and sixty, he still looks three hundred. And he is not alone in being the oldest possible Una."

"Four hundred and sixty?" Twy'la repeated, pocketing the photos "I was told he was around three hundred!"

As Tyr started to take the details in, he shook his head and looked at Twy'la "You had a second question?"

Nodding, Twy'la grabbed the schematic from Jarvell and put it on the table "Do you know where our friend is held?"

Tyr shook his head "Not exactly. But from the messages, it sounded like she got a lifetime sentence. No exit. Which means this ward," Tyr pointed to a prison ward that was rather deep in "Not many get that type of imprisonment. And they are also the most secure."

"Then that's already some kind of possibility. Jarvell," Twy'la turned back to him "How would we escape?"

Jarvell approached and pointed to a large space at the front of the prison "Right through the front door. Take one of their ships. From the schematics of the standard Una and Uma ships, all have a hyperdrive. And with them being more stable than the Tin-Can, we could make a proper jump without fearing for the ship, to any system we know the coordinates to. So I was thinking Regur, for some low cover."

Twy'la nodded "Sounds like a good spot to drop low. So when are we heading out?"

Shaking his head, Tyr stood up "Whoa, whoa. You're forgetting two things. One, this means you won't have any supplies at all to even treat your beaten up friend. Two, you just confirmed there is a time technology, so who knows how long will actually pass while you are in there?"

Exchanging looks, Twy'la started to ponder on something, while Jarvell looked at Tyr "Don't suppose I could ask you for another favour?"

"At this point, we're just asking. This last one, along with what your friend revealed, means I'll want you to come back here and help me."

"Done deal," Jarvell approached Tyr and the two shook hands "I want to try and find out more about the time-affecting devices."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing," Tyr said as he sat back down "I'll try figuring out how to find any potential specs of those. But for now, you two keep a low profile. I'll-"

"Contact us when you have something?" Twy'la said, looking at Tyr "I'm starting to get a feeling you lot all do that."

Tyr shrugged, before pressing a button that slightly opened the back door of the room. Jarvell raised an eyebrow, to which Tyr nodded "You two were being followed. Heck, you've been followed for at least a week according to my own little spies, Jarvell. But since nothing happened yet, I figured we could try and catch them in the act."

"I've been followed and you're only telling me now? Tyr, you are sometimes making it hard to trust you."

Grabbing the bag from the floor, Twy'la packed everything back into it, before putting it on as if it naturally belonged to her "Then we'll wait. Just try to be quick. Even if she just arrived at the prison, between that time technology and all that time on the Uma ship, who knows what she went through."

Nodding, Tyr gestured for them to go. Jarvell went out the door, with Twy'la following. The two stepped out into an alley, which ended up leading them to a different street. Jarvell took a moment to understand where they were, before beginning to lead them away.

During the way back to the ship, both tried spotting any potential eyes that looked in their direction. Jarvell kept looking around directly, while Twy'la just tried relying on her sense. She had gotten used to knowing when someone was directly watching her. But neither could find, or feel anything. They were left completely alone.

Until they arrived at the Tin-Can. Jarvell came to a sudden halt, causing Twy'la to bump into his back.

"Hey! Watch where you're stopping Ja-" Twy'la quieted down as she stepped aside and saw what he was looking at.