Episode 6- The strangely idyllic world.
They didn't see any flames, usually accompanying the ship descending into the atmosphere. From so high up, they could only begin to see the blue sky. Further down and they could see clouds, still being above them. Finally they descended through the clouds, finally seeing the life below them. They could make out trees, fields, lakes, some marshes in the distance, and of course the colony. It was a rather small city, with a lot of different kinds of farms dotted everywhere. City itself was generously decorated with greenery, in the forms of trees, bushes and stripes of green. But to tell the truth, there was only a small part of the dense city, with small skyscrapers, not bigger than 20 floors. The rest were blocks of flats, with rather rich greenery everywhere. On top of most buildings were solar panels, not seen in such density in any other city.
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Through their gawking they heard a soft humming from under the ship, together with a slight vibration.
"What's with the ship?" Asked Jim.
"Those are thrusters, slowing us down. But it's not enough, so if you excuse me, I must prevent us from crushing down." With that, he walked off, disappearing under the deck.
There was heard a dull thunk, and with that wings unfurled from sides of the ship, making them practically gliding down from the sky. The wings themselves were segmented, with giant golden feathers offering most of the resistance.
Returning to the trio, he started to explain "Those wings are not enough to deal with the initial force of the ship, but with thrusters used earlier, it's easy enough."
"Why the wings though, you have thrusters?" asked Ariel.
"Our batteries aren't big enough, so the wing must do. Another thing is, the ship is mostly a prototype, much smaller than older models. Anyway we will land on the outskirts, where we will meet with my father".
After a while, they landed on a specially prepared dock, where the ship slid in, secured by docking clamps. (something like this -V-, v is the ship). Dobromir hopped over the broadside, landing in crouched position, and seemingly unfazed bringed over a nearby ladder, just for this situation. He pushed the ladder into standing position, and then leaned it to the ships deck. The three passengers were met with top of it, with two solid hooks attached at top. Ladder itself was wide, so after making sure it's stable, Tychus climbed down first, easily managing even with his bulk. Two others followed after him. Some men walked over to the teen, who seemed to be waiting for their arrival.
"Your dad is over there" one of them said, showing behind his shoulder, "where's the cargo?"
"Maria is still there, she will show you". With a nod the group started climbing the ship. "Follow me". With that he started to lead them to a group of people, not far from the ship. They walked a small cobblestone road, with no trees or bushes around. Seems a safe precaution for landing ships.
With them closer, the three newcomers noted with surprise that a group of men and women were in heavy armor riding giant boars the size of big bears, with their own heavy barding. And not the marie armor or bulletproof vest either, but rather wearing plate armor, so familiar to the one from humanity's past, but slightly different. One man was in light clothing, waiting for them.
When they drew near they heard him say to the teen "Your mother found a job for your team, gear up and the rest of info you will receive on the way."
"Ehh… not a minute of rest." Turning to his traveling companions he said "We will meet later, but as you see, duty calls." With that he walked over to a free boar, taking armor from saddlebags, gearing up.
The man walked over to the trio and started with "Welcome, to our precious little colony, as you can see we deal with our problems swiftly, and efficiently. And you young miss, must be Ariel Hanson, yes?"
"Yes. But why is he-" pointing with hand at the only teen in their group, who was half done already, "-is going into a dangerous situation,when he's only fourteen!" She heard some stifled chuckles from the armored group.
"Oh believe me, he's not ONLY fourteen, but that's a thing you should talk it over with our lead researcher, your dear friend. Anyway-" he said, turning to the duo, "you two gentlemen will be coming with us, meet the lead lady for a short talk, and then someone will escort you to your abodes".
The teen hopped on his boar, with full armor little different from the rest. It was adorned with several small crystals, barely peeking from behind his armor plates.
"Let's get this show on the road!" With that, the group started to slowly increase pace, moving to visible treeline. On the raiders' backs were visible a pair of curved wood, with white feathers attached to it, moving in the wind.
"It's those aliens again? Stubborn little buggers" The youngest band leader was holding a datapad with information, layout of terrain, and few other details.
Turning to the rider beside him, he asked "Anything different from last time?" The very muscular woman replied "Some new strain arrived, something like giant snakes with big ass spikes, and there are more xenos to kill overall."
Seems they choose a better position to defend too, we will need to deploy more advanced tactics than Charge and kill everything. Anyway, what happend when I was away Katarina?
"The gooseberry beer is already on shop shelves. Well, if it's not already sold, very big hit, I can attest to that. What else… ah, there was a commotion, two idiots stolen…
To tell the truth, the house they were walking towards was at the edge of the airship port. They were informed that this is the smallest one, mostly for testing and experiments. Ten minutes of walking and they were standing before the modest two story brick house, painted in pastel white, with a small radio tower near it.
"Come in, come in" said the mayor, opening the doors and walking in, the rest followed.
They were met with a spacious dining room, at the head of a table sat a woman, watching something on the computer before her. Noticing the arrivals, she stood up, walking over with a reinforced suitcase. Without any fanfare she thrust it into Tychus arms saying "it's you pay", and giving Raynor two cards, she continued "And those are the 50% checks off for anything on this planet, they last for a month."
"Matylda dear?" At those words an older woman in her seventies walked over, from another room. "You can show those two to their quarters, I have much to talk about with Miss Hanson here."
Jim and Tychus were ushered out, too shocked about the abruptness of it all to respond.
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"Welcome little Ari", with that hanson was swept over in a hug, head buried between two huge fleshy mountains, barely able to breath. Ariel being still rather young, having the age of twenty-six, was really small compared to the woman hugging her.
"Ekhem, Magnolia?" asked the only man in the room now.
"Yes?" she asked, lifting her head, with the young woman still in hug.
"My wife isn't the most patient, so we should move now."
"Spoilsport", disengaging from the hug, she took the younger woman by hand, and started dragging her in the direction of the basement stairs.
"With a red face and still short on breath, the dragged woman said "I can walk by myself, you know?"
"Yes, yes, you are a very capable girl, but when it comes to Maria, nothing is fast enough". And with that she started dragging her more.
Mayor followed them, with a smile on his face.
The older female led them outside, to the backyard where a boar half the size of others was waiting, harnessed to a small, one person chariot.
"You will have to excuse me, dears, but those old bones get creaky with age". With that she walked in the chariot, sitting on a side folding chair. (Like folding from left to right). With little prompting, the boar begins to walk, at a casual strolling pace.
Jim and Tychus looked at each other, then shrugged, the later one saying "It's reasonable, I guess". They were still a little shocked, so granny using this kind of transportation wasn't that surprising. They started following it, to the right side.
"Anyway, why was the woman so fast? I thought she was the lead researcher or something? asked Jim.
"You mean magnolia? She isn't anything of that sort." replied the sitting older woman.
"Wait, then why the leading lady didn't meet us?"
"She has a very short temper, and gets annoyed easily, and is antisocial and, I could prattle on the whole day, but you get the idea. She sent Maggie because she didn't deem meeting with you necessary."
"But why was this Magnolia so quick in getting rid of us?"
"You see, she's not the brightest, but get's along with children pretty well, so she was taking care of little miss Ariel, and little mister Dobromir too."
They walked a few minutes in silence, until Raynor started looking at his surroundings more closely, finally being aware of their surroundings.
"It's… much more lush than my homeworld, and the crops look healthier too."
Turning to Jim, granny asked "Where are you from, young boy?"
"Shiloh". It was said with a sigh.
"Guessing from where you are right now, you grow up on the rocky hills, with the poorest soil. A shame, really."
"What is there to do in the city?" Asked Tychus, trying to steer Raynors thought from the past, toward the future.
"Oh there are parks, a cinema or two, some cafes or restaurants, a spa and some beautiful forest paths." She wasn't facing them, so Tychus was disappointed hearing nothing he was after, that is until granny turned to them, with a crooked grin on her face. "Of course if you want real fun, there are a lot of bars, and more intense places.
But I'm out of loop, so you will need to find those places for yourself." With that she turned back to the road, still traveling at leisure speed.
Findlay brightened at those words, already starting to imagine the fun he will have.
After another moment of silence, they heard
"Look to your left, there is the Old Fool apiary, it supplies a great amount of honey to breweries. The rest goes to export, with highest price and quality in the whole Koprulu Sector. A few florists work there, constantly taking care of flowers, to increase the quality even more."
"Wait, is this really named the Old Fool apiary? Jim was successfully pulled away from the dark thoughts, fascination taking over.
"Why yes, the founder was declared an old fool, after he put an offer on the market, stating that he will produce the finest of honey, a legend on itself, without any stimulants. A lot laughed him off, and ridiculed him, but there was one person, which gave him a chance. Our planetary founder was looking for various specialists in different categories, to use the fertile planet to our biggest advantage. The Old Fool was founded, and exceeded the biggest expectations, bringing more attention to our top notch products".
"Oh and there, do you see the many vines on trellises? It the Big Bummer Vinery, its history begun with…
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Author's note:
One more chapter on planet of Po'midor, and then time skip to starcraft 1.
Also I finally found a job, after half a year of looking, so I may post more sporadically, but I will lead this to the end, end being the defeat of amon, maybe with nova missions included, maybe not.