Rise of an Empire

Chapter Four: Meeting Old Friends

The sky was very blue, no clouds in the sky. Buildings were tall and, like Korea, had holographic projections.

"I never knew the Republic was going this well" Dad complimented.

"A few friends of mine here say that the Cascadians are very proud of their nation, and takes all kinds of compliments about them" Dorian said.

"I can understand that" I agreed.

"Alright, another airport, let's go" Dad said. We got our things, a few suitcases, and exited the vehicle. Dad paid the chauffer a few Turogs and we were on our way. The airport wasn't all that loud, but it had some good spots. There were Hawaiian themed restaurants and stores, a few antique shops, and a videogame store. The ceiling above us was made of glass, giving us a good view of the sky, which, as mentioned above, is cloudless. The temperature outside was nice and cool, about Seventy-one degrees Fahrenheit.

We went to a terminal and looked for a flight that was ready. A holographic statistics screen showed three was ready. One was leaving in five minutes. Flight 6017.

"Alright, we're near that, let's take that one" Dad suggested.

"Ok" I shrugged. We all went down the corridor, each side having a different shop.

"Ohh! A clothes shop! I want to pick up some Earth stuff from there!" Alex shouted.

"We can get some from Hawaii princess" Dad said.

"Quit calling me that, I'm too old for that stuff" Alex pouted. Me and Dorian laughed.

"Will you two shut up?" she growled.

"Nope!" we shouted in unison, and then laughed.

"C'mon, we have to get on the flight!" Dad started pushing us. We walked down the hallway, with areas where people are boarding to get to another area.

"Hey, William!" someone shouted. I looked, and saw my old friend, Ernie.

"Hey, Ernie!" I shouted back, and then we hugged.

"How's it going man? Haven't seen ya since junior high!" he said. Ernie was a green furred Trog with sky-blue eyes. He is wearing a white muscle shirt, jeans and Nike shoes.

"Nothing much, can't believe we're both sophomores, eh?" I replied.

"Yeah…hey Mr. and Mrs. Pelekai!" he waved.

"Hi Ernie, how you've been?" Mom waved back sweetly.

"Good, my parents are moving from Honolulu, I think we're settling somewhere here" he answered.

"Hey, we have to get on a flight, I got a cell phone now" I told him.

"Sweet! What's your number?" he asked.

"555-4728-917" I said.

"Got it, talk to ya soon!" he said after writing it down, and then leaving.

"I haven't seen that guy since seventh grade" Dad muttered. "C'mon, let's go"

We continued down the hallway, which had a concrete-silver color with a dark blue carpet. We arrived at Area 67, which is boarding right now.

"Is this towards Kokoua Town?" Dad asked the attendant.

"Not directly, but close, your highness, we're about to take off" she nodded.

"Thank you" Dad said. We both walked down the extending-boarding tunnel, and entered the ship. Just as we sat down, the pilot told us we're taking off. Like the one in Korea, it rose vertically and took off. I looked down and saw a beautiful field. It was very lush in trees and overlooked a field of farms. About ten minutes later, I saw the coastline of Southern Cascadia, an area for the country. I haven't gotten enough sleep on the last flight, because I felt tired again. So, I fell asleep…

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"Hey, sleepy-head, wake up!" I found Dorian in front of me.

"Are we there yet?" I yawned.

"We're just above Lihue, we'll go on ground from there" he said.

I looked out the window. It was almost sun-set, and the lights were already shining. I heard the whine of engines as we neared the airport.

"You may now unbuckle yourselves, we have arrived" the pilot said. He repeated in Spanish. All of us got our things and we left the ship. We walked down the hallway, and found Andrew smiling at the exit.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked us when we got closer.

"We had to land in Pyongyang, then travel towards Albany" Dad answered.

"Ugh, I hated the North Korean's government…" he mumbled.

"Well, off to Lilo's house!" Dorian exclaimed. We all agreed, and Andrew fetched a limo. We drove down the road with various palm trees lining up as a wall for quite a ways. Lihue's tall buildings seem to disappear when we neared the town. After a few minutes, we arrived at the edge of the town.

I wonder how Lilo was doing so far… I wondered.

5 minutes later…

"Lilo!" Dad cried out.

"Stitch!" Lilo replied. They both hugged each other. Then Lilo hugged Mom.

"Oh, you guys grown up so much, I really didn't wanted to take a vacation" Lilo cooed.

"Well, you know me" I blushed.

"How were you guys doing?" Lilo asked us.

"Fine so far" I shrugged.

"You guys want some cookies? I baked them when I heard you guys were coming" Lilo took out a platter of chocolate chip cookies.

"Alright, thanks Lilo!" Dorian exclaimed, taking one.

"Yeah, thanks!" Xarcia agreed, taking one also.

"Sorry Lilo, but my mom made me go on a diet" Andrew pulled down his sleeve to reveal a watch-like device on his wrist. "This is how she knows"

"Talk about privacy-issues…" Lilo said, wide-eyed.

"I may be a musician, but I'm still a momma's boy sometimes" he laughed.

"Your mother is worse than mine" Xarcia laughed along. I saw mom gave her a cold glare, which made her shut up. I snickered, and then heard steps coming down the stairs.

"Oh! I can't be believing my eyes!" Jumba exclaimed, wearing a small red and white Hawaiian shirt with khaki shorts.

"Jumba!" Dad shouted, and then hugged him. Everybody hugged and talked with Jumba.

"Ah, William, how you be doing my boy?" Jumba smiled at me.

"Great Uncle Jumba, and dad was behaving like you expected" I snickered at the last part.

"Hey!" he retorted. Jumba laughed.

"Were you making diabolical inventions Jumba?" Andrew chuckled.

"No!" he exclaimed. "…well, maybe just one…"

"I thought so…" he laughed.

"So…did you get past any mobs?" Lilo cocked her eyebrow.

"Strangely…no, are we not popular?" Stitch gave a worried face.

"No, no! Everybody likes you!" she threw her hands up. "Yet, I wonder why there isn't any need for protection…"

"Guess Hawaii is a very respectful and calm place…" Angel shrugged.

Before I could say something, a loud explosion rang outside.

"What was that!?" Andrew spun around quickly.

"Oh no! It must be the ship!" Jumba cried, racing outside. I dashed towards the window, and confirmed that it came from the ship. Everybody went out to investigate, but before I could get outside after Dorian went, I was knocked out cold…

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Author: Hoo! Sorry about the long delay folks! I got inspired to continue this after playing Sins of a Solar Empire, next chapter will be influenced by Far Cry 2!