Deathworlders Should Not Be Allowed To Date! 28 (Patreon)

Luna VI query: Set the source to the leaked files of the first reconnaissance operation of Irisa.

Certainly!

Luna VI query: Narrate how Ryo found out about the impending war.

***

Ryo and Elysira waited side by side as Ryo’s tent folded itself back into a compact form. The meticulous folding process transformed the tent from a modestly roomy resting place into a slightly heavy object that could easily be held with a single hand. Elysira was used to witnessing this at this point, but that didn't mean she would be satisfied with just standing there in silence for once.

"Isn't it weird that Amara kept us here for two days?"

Ryo recalled how they had arrived in this weird place where the only source of light was the strange shining leaves, but, instead of hastening their pace to reach the valleys sooner, Amara had instructed the group to stay there and rest. Something that she had done yet again in the morning.

The only reason his view of the princess had not hit an all-time low was that at least she had asked Igmila and her subordinates to take Efeela’s body higher on the mountains, which would preserve it for longer in the cold until it was safe to recover it.

"Maybe that princess wants to use the cover from the trees to keep us hidden; not a bad idea." Even without proof to back up his claim, Ryo had his opinion. 

"I don't know..." The dim light made it hard to see it, but some gray appeared among her back spots. "She might have something else in mind."

The folding of the tent finished and Ryo retrieved it to store in his backpack. "Like what?"

"Like… fulfilling the wishes of the plant lover to get his favor."

Ryo stared at her for a second, and then burst out laughing, ruining his serious demeanor. Elysira had always referred to Nathan as Earth's representative, but it seemed his influence had corrupted her a little too much.

She didn't look pleased at his unusual reaction. "What's so funny? You are the one who wouldn't stop saying that Amara's only goal was seducing him."

"They are both fools." Recovering from his laughing spree, he went on trying not to smile. "Even if she succeeds she will get nothing from Earth, and he is even worse, just falling for a cheap scheme after being warned about it."

"What if she's not doing it to get anything?" Elysira’s skin transitioned to light purple.

"That's stupid! You forgot how many times you said we look ugly to you? And even if she is slightly different, don't all of you think we look expressionless and boring?"

"That is our first impression..." She looked away and, by chance, her eyes landed on Zara, who seemed to be walking toward them. Elysira, taking a step to his side, whispered in his ear, "Is she coming to offer me something again? What do I do?"

"Listen to her, ignore her, tell her to fuck off." Ryo was curious about what she didn't say, but even admitting that to himself was hard, much less asking her. "That's up to you."

Zara was alone, exhibiting a fake smile as soon as her eyes connected with Elysira’s. She kept getting closer until she was right in front of them. "Listen, I know we started on the wrong foot, but I really don't mean harm to you or your species. I could use someone like you to bridge the gap with the elders, and you would gain so much more working with me than with this brute."

"It's funny you call me a brute when your boyfriend is no different." Ryo did not feel like letting Zara do as she wanted this time.

Zara’s attention turned to him; ever since their altercation during their landing on Irisa they had been mutually avoiding each other to avoid drama. "Zaenvalor is not my boyfriend and you know it. I could stoop to your level and say the same about you two, but I also know it's not true. I don't think a woman of any species would willingly spend time with you."

"Representative Zara," Elysira interjected, her skin filled with blue and not a trace of other colors around her black spots. "If you come here to try to change my mind about joining Zaenvalor’s clan, y-"

"No. I know you won't accept it." Zara smiled. "Zaenvalor mentioned that perhaps you are afraid that Elder Khevor will sell you off to the queen when you stop being valuable and nothing I say will reassure you otherwise. But don't worry, I thought of something better for both of us."

"I... will hear you." Even though her voice faltered, Ryo hadn't seen a single change on her skin, which made him worried. She had made some progress in concealing her emotions after he had pushed her to face Amara. But, being calm under pressure was something she still had to work towards learning in his opinion.

"I'll be frank. The O'Neill Conglomerate is interested in this planet. Of all new places the Core Galaxy Alliance allowed us to visit, this is by far the more promising when it comes to long-term profits." Zara smiled, this time it looked like she was being sincere. "And I don't mean that in a bad way. 

The lives of your species will be improved in every single aspect and everyone will win, life is not a zero-sum game you know." Zara took a deep breath and went on, "To sum it up, what I'm proposing to you is that you become my apprentice. After the mission ends, you can go to live in space with us, but nothing will keep you from returning to Irisa from time to time. The doors to Mars and Earth will also be open to you when we overcome the hassles of accepting you as a citizen."

"Bullshit!" Ryo didn't even wait for Elysira’s reply to point out every imprecision in Zara’s explanation. "The O'Neill Conglomerate can't even agree with who can cross their inner borders much less give you access to Earth and Mars."

Ryo doubted Elysira's entrance wouldn’t be vetoed almost anywhere given that humanity lacked any regulation to encompass nonhuman races.

Elysira was only listening, and Ryo had no idea what was going on in her head as Zara’s eyes turned to him. "I never said there would be no hassles. But you can't deny that her life will be much better if she follows me. Mars is a sad place to live in, and all of you are poor because of all the military spending trying to keep up with Earth's bottomless pockets."

Ryo couldn’t argue about the fact the average Martian citizen lived a less opulent life when compared to those rich folks from the O'Neill Conglomerate, but what did being poor even mean in the post-scarcity era? To not be able to live a never-ending partying life traveling from one exotic artificial construction to the other? To not be able to afford a private spaceship?

"You gotta be kidding me," More than Zara herself, Ryo hated the very way of life of her people and their wealth paradig culture. "Just because we have to work a little to have some nice things it doesn't mean we are poor."

Elysira was still keeping her cool even though, indirectly, she was the center of their discussion. 

Zara smiled and said, "The only entertainment you have on Mars are those bubbles of forest that are always crowded, this must be why so many people get addicted to virtual reality over there, right?"

Ryo, however, nearly snapped. It seemed Zara’s people had investigated his past to hit where it hurt the most; he was forced to take a deep breath, ignoring Elysira who displayed a hint of red on his behalf.

Zara’s demeanor changed when she noticed that Elysira had also understood her personal attack on Ryo, but before she could grasp the extent of the damage, he spoke again.

"You did some digging on me huh? But guess what? I also know a thing or two about you." Ryo noticed how uncomfortable he was making her, but he just went on. "It's curious that you had some long and nice blonde hair before this mission. Do you know what our intelligence department thinks about it?

They suspect your nanites might be a few versions older than ours. Your hair being short now might be to avoid the embarrassment of having some of it shedding due to the radiation. But your people can afford to pay for the best of our doctors to fix you later. Not a problem right?"

Zara’s rigid posture coupled with her intense gaze led Ryo to believe she would slap him, but the words she uttered seemed surprisingly composed. "We might be a little behind on some fronts. We never took part in this ridiculous arms race that Mars and Earth are so fond of. But I assure you that my hair will be fine. I might even let it grow again just to shut you up, Ryo."

He was about to reveal the questionable activities of Zara’s family when Elysira broke the flow of the conversation out of nowhere. "There! I think I heard something there." She pointed at a tree trunk right behind Zara with her tail.

Zara glared at her with a puzzled expression. "Are you trying to protect this brute? If you think I'm letting him off the hook-"

Zara swallowed her own words as something heavy hit the ground, lifting a few dead leaves and slightly deforming the surface. "What the fuck!" 

She jumped and stared at the item on the ground, but she hadn't even done the basics of either getting ready to face the potential threat or running.

Ryo didn't think twice before pushing Zara out of the way and inspecting what had fallen there, but the moment he saw it was a gun on the ground his hand automatically reached for his belt as his eyes surveyed above, not even inspecting the item on the ground.

As he faced up though, he saw a part of the trunk separating, or rather, an Irisian releasing their claws from the tree and jumping from high above, as if in a hurry.

Noticing it was a female, he watched her fall gracefully, using her five limbs to cushion the impact with the ground.

When their eyes met, she was about to recover her gun, but before she could do so he broke the silence. "You are one of Amara's guards. What are you doing?"

She replied as she cleaned her claws from dirty. "We've been ordered to gather here."

Before he could ask more, another rustling noise from a gun being dropped from a tree caught their attention. It was clear that neither Zara nor Elysira knew what was happening as another of Amara's guards jumped from above, immediately springing to the even ground where Ryo’s tent was previously positioned and staying there.

This scene repeated itself many times, and during the short time he exchanged a look with Elysira, it was enough for an organized line containing a few of Amara's guards, standing attention side by side, to take shape a few steps away from them.

Ryo observed with interest as an increasing number of Irisians gathered—their tails would coil around their legs, and their clawed digits would interlock behind their backs as they found a spot in the line.

"Any idea what's going on?" He asked Elysira directly, not bothered by Zara's curious gaze.

"For Amara to order this... she might suspect there is a traitor among us." Elysira’s facade finally crumbled and purple took over.

"A traitor?" 

Zara was puzzled. But the situation got even more complex as Amara left her tent in a hurry, marching towards them at an unusually fast pace; Ryo noticed many heads turning, some of the Irisians in the line showing hints of purple behind their backs at her imminent approach.

Somewhere along the way, he noticed three shadows unbending from the background and joining Amara. There were two females and one male, all of them holding their guns firmly and looking ready to use them if needed.

Ryo had tried to find any sort of hierarchy among the members of the expedition on the previous days but failed due to their secretive nature. Which meant something serious had happened for them to be willing to throw away all secrecy.

The Irisians were naturally silent, but he noticed that, as soon as Amara's eyes connected with the first of the line, it was as if the whole planet had tuned silent and his own heart became the only source of noise he could hear.

Unlike most instances where Amara would take her sweet time to move, she walked fast, scanning each of them from head to toe. Strangely though, she reached the end of the line without saying a word, and her eyes sought Zara and no one else.

"Where is Zaenvalor?" She asked. 

"Isn't he with you?" Her eyes filled with worry. "He said he would try to solve the matter of the communicator again."

Amara didn't waste a second replying and simply returned to the front of the line, gathering all attention. She raised her voice and announced. "I want each of you to inspect your equipment. More precisely, I need you to account for your communication equipment."

Ryo saw a wave of purple traveling through the backs of Amara's staff as each one of them began their search for the little device, that some kept inside their ears, and others chose to keep it attached to their guns.

Elysira tugged at his sleeve; there was little to read on her skin, but her tail was pointing at one of the Irisians standing in the middle of the line. The female she pointing at had some deep purple squeezing her black spots. Ryo noticed easily that this individual was standing out from the others, which could only mean one thing...

"You." Amara noticed this detail as well. "Zaenvalor stole your communicator."

"Princess, I... don't know how this happened." Her black spots were conquered by all the purple as her knees bent. "I swear I haven't betrayed you and the queen. My p-punishimet..."

She was overwhelmed by fear and could not finish, but Amara lowered her body so that their eyes would meet.

"You owe me." Amara's first three words were devastating, but before they could fully sink into the kneeling female, she went on. "The cost of the communicator will be deducted from your wage."

Ryo had never seen such vibrant yellow as that of the kneeling female. Amara, however, surveyed Ryo, Elysira, and Zara before attracting everyone's attention with another announcement.

"Zaenvalor and his remaining crew of two are missing. We will take a longer path to the valleys, and we are departing now. Take everything easy to carry, but tents and nonessential supplies are to be abandoned, mine is no different." 

There was a small delay in her speech as her eyes landed on Zara.

"Zaenvalor and crew are to be arrested if they return before we depart, if not, we are leaving them behind." 

As if waiting for Zara’s complaints, Amara's attention remained on her. Zara did as predicted to the surprise of no one. "You can't leave them behind, that would almost be a death sentence in a place like this. Just arresting him without a proper judgment is already excessive. Don't forget that he only took from you what you had taken from him first."

"You reminded me of something important, Zara." Amara's tone was ice-cold. She announced again for everyone to hear. "If Zaenvalor is found following us after we leave, anyone is allowed to treat him as an enemy and shoot to kill."

Zara was speechless.

Elysira sought Ryo's eyes as if not believing her ears.

Ryo, on the other hand, felt that something was wrong. Amara's rush to leave this place after two slow days of 'resting time' was not something that he could comprehend.

"What are you not telling us, Amara?" Ryo went straight to the point. "You can't ask us to follow you blindly as you do to your own people."

"T-that's right." Zara supported him this time to his shock.

"A war broke out." Amara's words sent another wave of purple among her staff—one that didn’t look like it would disappear anytime soon. "The first layer of defense around this mountain range has been breached, the casualties are in the hundreds, and some of my allies abandoned the fight. Queen Khaala will intervene soon, but we must relocate to ensure our safety.

Zara froze, her mouth agape.

Ryo's eyes widened but he was still calm, as far as he knew the situation was not ideal but it was still far from terrible. "If Zaenvalor left some guns behind I'm taking it."

He spoke on a whim, but Amara agreed easily. 

"Do as you wish, but no one will teach you how to use it." She then addressed all her staff again. "I will inform Nathan and Yelara now; when I return with them we must be ready to leave"

Amara left without anyone bothering her.

He had nothing more to ask and considering he had already packed his belongings beforehand, he got to watch the normally quiet and secretive Irisians running from place to place in a hurry to collect what they could.

Zara and Elysira were both quiet, and strangely, he had some ideas of what might be happening inside the head of the latter, but Zara’s vague gaze to the ground told him nothing of what she was thinking.

"Let's see if Zaenvalor left something interesting behind." He didn't make it clear, but he was only inviting Elysira to come with him. The way that she was pulling his sleeve hinted that she wanted to talk in private.

"Wait!" Zara panicked at being left alone. "Will you use the emergency channel to request an extraction?"

After being abandoned by Zaenvalor among a bunch of human and nonhuman individuals who didn't like her, Ryo could almost sympathize with the scared look in her eyes.

Almost.

"You can do that," Ryo told her the truth. "But I don't think your career would ever recover if your actions gave away our position to the enemy and caused that princess and her people to die."

Ryo might not be fond of Amara, but that didn't mean he wished to see her dead. Additionally, the way she handled Zaenvalor’s betrayal improved his opinion of her ever so slightly. He had the displeasure of having served under worse human leadership a few times and he knew she could have handled it worse. A lot worse.

So, with Zara’s gaze piecing them from behind, he and Elysira rushed to Zaenvalor’s tent, Ryo nurturing some mild expectation about what he might find there.

***

This was an account based on how Ryo found out about the impending war. The previous narrative is based on the events of the nineteenth day of the exploratory mission of Irisa. According to your current settings, no queries will be suggested.