2298
Gertok Galaxy
Planet Celestine
The Celestine Kingdom
The Castle of Dragons
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Adel walked into the dining room with an armful of maps he struggled with, not crushing them in his grip as his hands held open a smaller map that his eyes scanned.

Sammy shook his head in dismay at Adel as he entered. "What is with you people and bringing things to the table! First Chenoa, and now you! Who else is gonna bring stuff?" He exclaimed, exasperation laced in his voice as he shook his head dismay.

Adel snapped his head and blinked a few times. "Oh, sorry, Sammy. I didn't mean to bring them along. I sorta forgot where I was heading. I meant to bring them to my room, not the kitchen. I guess I was on autopilot." He apologized to the younger boy, setting them down on the floor in the corner of the room.

"It's fine," Sammy nodded, drumming his fingers on his legs as he rubbed the doorway to see who else was coming. 'We're missing my sister, Luna, and Varian. General Nox and Solana may also join, but I'm not counting on it.' He thought to himself.

Adel pulled out a chair and sat down, then scooted up to the table. "Where is everyone else?" He asked, noticing Malyla, Varian, Luna, General Nox, and Solana were nowhere to be found.

Sammy glanced to the doorway and sighed heavily. "I don't know. You should dig in before it gets cold. We can't wait for the others to join . . . if they join." His tone sounded jaded as he reached for a spoon in a bowl of steaming shimmering white rice-like dish garnished with a drizzle of dark blue sauce.

Adel's eyes swept the table at the plethora of food displayed before them. "You have out done yourself." He said, reaching for the same thing Sammy had gotten for himself.

"Well, this," Sammy pointed to the food he had scooped out of the bowl. "It's called liurna, is a rice-like dish drizzled in carapüse sauce, which comes from a type of sap from a tree." He explained, trying not to bore everyone with his fascination with food.

Hara, without any hesitation, put a little bit of everyone on her plate. "I honestly don't care what it is. As long as it isn't pickles or crabs, I will eat it." She informed Sammy, stuffing her face full of the liurna. "Hmm, hmm, hmm, flavorful." She mumbled, letting out a satisfying hum.

"You know," Summer Dawn began after having stuffed her face full of food and swallowed it after she chewed it up. "Sammy is like our own personal chef. Even the food back at the academy wasn't this flavorful or even spicy."

Logan nodded along as he took a long swig of his drink, chugging it down in a matter of seconds. "Some people have weak stomachs, so spices and some flavors were something you had to do yourself." He added as he pushed up his glasses and set the glass on the table.

Summer Dawn nodded in agreement, a sly grin growing on her face. "Yeah, some people just can't handle anything that has a small bit of spice to it." She said, looking at Logan with a fire dancing in her eyes. "But I think you know that already; I remember when you thought that salt was spicy."

Hara almost did a spit take at that, trying her best not to laugh. "Wait, wait, hold on," She said, holding back her laughter. "Logan thought SALT was SPICY?! When did this happen?"

Summer Dawn chuckled, enjoying the look on Logan's face as Hara asked about it. "Well I don't know exactly when, but I do remember this one time in the cafeteria when he sprinkled a bit of salt on his food and started fanning his mouth as if it was the spiciest thing ever." She said, holding back her laughter.

Logan rolled his eyes and tried to change the subject, clearly embarrassed by the current topic. "I was sick... my taste buds were off..." He said, crossing his arms and trying to look serious. "Can we talk about something else, please?"

Summer Dawn shrugged and decided to go along with it, grinning as she watched Logan try to avoid the topic. "Alright, alright, no more salt talk." She said, stifling a laugh. "How about we talk about something like... how I always kick your butt in combat training?"

Logan groaned, tipping his head back against the headrest of his chair. "I'm not built for combat. Have you seen me? I'm built for sharpshooter, long rage attacks, and air support, that sort of stuff that doesn't require physical activity." He indifferently comments, straightening up and going back to eating.

Summer Dawn chuckled at Logan's response. "Oh, come on, you can't just blame it on your build." She said, looking amused. "I've seen plenty of people who aren't built for combat, but can still hold their own in a fight, like Defense Force Chief Officer Roy Kleinbehl, he's short, skinny, and seemingly as threatening as a chihuahua, but can kick butt and have you on the count in 5 swxonds flat, can handle any weapon- heck he can turn anything into a weapon, has crazy stamina and agility, he's like a beast, and isn't called Earth's Stalwart Soldier for nothing."

Logan rolled his eyes at the mention of Defense Force Chief Officer Roy Kleinbehl. He knew the man all too well, having gotten his butt handed to him during a mock training session when he was guest instructor for PE when Coach Ravello was sick. "I remember him, and I do remember being humiliated afterward..."

Fletcher perked up at the mention of a familiar name. "Roy Kleinbehl?" He echoed, a thoughtful expression on his face as he pondered the name, knowing who he was and having a close connection with the man.

Summer Dawn nodded, noticing Fletcher's interest in the Chief Officer. "Yeah, Chief Officer Roy Kleinbehl." she confirmed, watching his reaction. "You know him or something?"

Fletcher leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I have." He confirmed, a faint smile on his face. "I actually know him personally. We were friends back in college and through high school, along with Simon Tranceski and Cole Tournier."

Summer Dawn's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, so you not only knew Roy Kleinbehl, but where are friends. And Simon Tranceski, I heard about him, never met him, but he is the Defense Force's Star Pilot!" She gushed like a star-struck teen, clearly impressed. "And Cole Tournier? She's famous for her scientific research and engineering, and I've heard she's practically a genius, a unhinged genius, but a genius nonetheless,"

Fletcher chuckled at Summer Dawn's surprise. "Yep, believe it or not, I was good friends with all three of them." he confirmed, a hint of nostalgia on his face. "We were pretty much inseparable back in."

"But, hasn't it been seven years since you've spoken to any of them, especially Simon." Sammy mentioned, knowing it was a touchy subject. "You haven't seen or spoken to any of them since you moved to New York to take care of us,"

Fletcher's shoulders tightened at the mention of Simon, a flicker of pain crossing his face. "Yes, I'm aware of that." He said quietly, his voice tight, guilt over the past he had forgotten about came gnawing at him like a dog on a heel.

Chenoa's could tell they were treading into some touchy territory and decided to change the subject. "Oh, before I forget, I'll send you a link to an app Varian coded to translate the Celestine language to English." She said, pulling out her phone and sending a mass group text with the link for an apk file to be downloaded and installed. "He didn't want to admit it, but making glasses that could translate it wasn't feasible. I tried to tell him it was impossible, but he didn't listen and still tried."

Adel's eyes widened slightly, his jaw almost dropping open, impressed by Chenoa's words about Varian. "How did he find the time to do that? Coding takes a long time. It's a detailed and time-consuming process." He muttered in disbelief, slowly shaking his head in denial.

Chenoa shrugged her shoulders after putting her hands up in the air beside her. "He's Varian. He can master and do things in a matter of hours. It's freaky how talented and intelligent he is, maybe even scary, but he is a prodigal genius after all."

Malyla silently walked in, her arms crossed over her chest as she plopped down in the nearest chair to the door. She was back to being in a bad mood. Even after the heart to heart and apology she had given, something caused her to be in a grumpy mood.

Sammy's eyes widened, noticing Malyla's bad mood. "Is everything okay? You seem grumpy." He spoke, concern evident in his tone, pausing his food in the middle of bringing a spoonful to his lips.

Malyla grunted in response, her face betraying her mood. She looked annoyed by the question, not looking at Sammy or anyone else who sat at the table. "I'm fine." She stared blankly, not giving any information as to what had occurred that caused her bad mood.

Sammy raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing Malyla. He knew her well enough to know that she was lying. "You're not fine. You're being grumpy. Was something said or did to you?" He pressed on, determined to get to the bottom of her bad mood.

Malyla huffed in frustration, her arms still crossed over her chest. "No, nothing was said to me. I'm just in a bad mood. I don't want to talk about it." She responded, her voice clipped and defensive.

Fletcher noticed Sammy was about to speak again. He did have a habit of pressing his sister out of both concern and curiosity, but this wasn't one of those times. "That's fair." He nodded his head, giving Sammy a look that told him to drop it.

Sammy, being the persistent type, didn't take kindly to Fletcher's look of authority. However, he recognized the warning and decided to back off, not wanting to cause a bigger argument. Still, his eyes continued to flick from Malyla to Fletcher, his concern for his sister not easily erased.

"Oh Sammy, this spread, it is wonderful!" Luna's bright voice chirped out as she and Varian walked side by side and up to the table. She sat down in her chair after Varian had pulled it out for her. "You managed to make liurna! I haven't had that in years. Thank you so much." She beamed, helping herself to a plate full of it.

Varian turned his attention to Malyla, who was glaring daggers at him. He couldn't understand if it was something he did or just Malyla being herself. 'What's her problem?' He asked himself, assembling himself a plate for his dinner. "It's a nice spread, Sammy," He tried to compliment the young boy.

Sammy beamed brightly with every praise he earned from his culinary skills. "Heh, thank you, you guys. I enjoy cooking and baking, and Mom always used to say: food can mend anything as long as it's good with love." He wiggled excitedly in his chair before digging into his food.

Fletcher softly smiled at how happy Sammy was. He normally didn't get to see the reactions to his food he made and gave away, so it was nice for him to see it first hand. "And she would be right. Food is what brings people to get. It's the corner of all holidays and events."

Luna's expression turned crestfallen at the mention of holidays and events. 'I-I will never get to experience another Celestine holiday again . . .' Her thoughts trailed off as she lightly shook her head, casting those thoughts away. "I am interested in learning about your holidays back on Earth."

"We'd be more than happy to share them with you, maybe even celebrate them when the time comes." Fletcher offered, slightly smiling at how interested Luna was about Earth holidays. "And we hope you can share with us your planet's holidays as well."

Luna's eyes brightened a bit at Fletcher's offer as she began to eat. "Of course. We do not have that many. We have only for both Lunari and Solari, and two separate for each of our races only -" She began to explain but was cut off by someone walking in.

"Oh, you are all here. Perfect," Solana mused as she walked into the dining area with General Nox at her heels. "I have some things I would like to share with you, actually, I have two things I want to discuss." She said, placing her hands on the back of the chair at the head of the table.

Once all eyes turned to Solana, she didn't give anyone an opportunity to speak. "First: we will be going to the outpost tomorrow. I do not feel comfortable putting this off any longer. We need the information in order to figure out the next step." She informed them, her voice haughty with authority.

"Wait, wait, wait! I'm not even fully able to comprehend Celestine technology, let alone Cerkoik! I-I have at least four or five more days to figure it out before I feel comfortable with doing anything!" Chenoa stammered, panic welling in her voice. "What if things go wrong and-and I can't get the information -"

Solana impatiently tapped her foot on the floor and rolled her eyes. "I do not care if you spend the rest of the night without any sleep. We are doing it tomorrow, whether you like it or not. You can continue to practice on our journey there if you must. We are vulnerable at the moment. We have no idea what has been going on in these last 10,000 years! We can not waste any more time sitting around here!" Her voice began to raise with every sentence she spoke.

Chenoa, taken back by Solana's tone, she looked down at her plate. "I will prepare myself to take on this task. I will work on it all night and will also work on it on our way to the outpost to be super prepared. I will take the necessary precautions and bring a brand new hard drive so if Cerkoik finds out that we did, they have no information to track us down. It's a good thing I brought extra hard drives."

Solana furrowed her brows at Chenoa's words. "I am not sure what this hard drive is. However, if it will give us the necessary precautions, then so be it. Just make sure you do not fail because our lives depend on a flawless execution without being noticed."

Chenoa, still in a state of panic, nodded in agreement. "Of course. I will make sure we have a backup plan in case anything goes wrong." She replies, a hint of unease in her voice at meeting Solana's demands.

Summer Dawn's mind raced with questions, begging to flow out. "So, do you have weapons? Or at least suits for us to use? Do we know anything about this outpost? Is it on a planet, or is it floating out in space? How long will it take us to get there?" She inquired, taking a sip from her drink.

Solana frowned at the flood of questioning Summer Dawn had bombarded her with. She sighed softly and looked down at the cushion in her chair. "Yes, I recently found some weapons and suits Father had created stashed in the castle-ship. The outpost is floating in space, it is on the outer edge of our galaxy, and it will take about three days to get there using the ships on the castle ship, which Hara, Pedro, you two do not have a problem checking them out and getting them in working order, will you?" She replied, turning her head from Summer Dawn to the two mechanics on board.

Hara frowned but took a small breath and looked at Pedro. "I suppose so, I mean, I don't have any problem with getting one up and running. I wouldn't have the time to do more than that by tomorrow." She replied, feeling a tiny bit of pressure from Solana.

Pedro nodded, chewing up what was in his mouth and swallowing it. "Hara is right. We can't get more than one working. It's impossible to get done in the time frame you want." He backed up Hara, who gave him a soft smile. "But if we have to work on it until you are ready to depart, then we will."

Solana thought about it for a moment. Their replies seemed reasonable, considering she had told them she wanted to depart tomorrow, which she wasn't moving from that date. "As you wish." She added, her tone teetering on the brink of condescension.

Pedro nodded, but then a thought struck him, however, he was hesitant about bringing up whether Solana had a backup plan in case anything went sideways because it seemed she was hingding everything on Chenoa's plan. "Um, Solana, can I ask one more thing?" He hesitantly spoke up, all eyes turning towards him.

Solana glanced at Pedro, giving him a withering look, then raised her eyebrows slightly as she nodded. "What is it, Pedro?" She asked, her tone betraying a hint of annoyance, though she tried to maintain a composed expression.

Pedro shifted awkwardly in his seat, feeling the weight of the group's gaze on him. He took a deep breath before hesitantly continuing. "Well, I just wondered if you have a Plan B, just in case things don't go as planned with Chenoa's plan." He asked, his voice filled with uncertainty.

Solana's expression darkened slightly at the question. She had hoped no one would bring up the topic, but now that it was out in the open, she couldn't ignore it. "Plan B?" she repeated, her tone filled with irritation. "I can assure you there is no need for a Plan B."

The others exchanged glances, silently communicating their skepticism. It was obvious that Solana's plan was entirely reliant on Chenoa's, and they all wondered what would happen if something went awry, especially Hara, she did not want her sister getting caught in any crossfire without a solid plan.

Pedro, feeling a pang of concern, decided to speak up once more. "Solana, with all due respect," He began, choosing his words carefully, "but don't you think it would be wise to have a backup plan, just in case something unexpected happens?"

Solana's irritation flared, her eyes narrowing as she regarded Pedro with a cold gaze. "I don't need a backup plan," She snapped, her tone firm and resolute. "We are sticking to Chenoa's plan, and that is final. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," everyone reluctantly replied. It wasn't in unison that was for sure, nor was the tone resolute. Each tone had varying degrees of hesitation, concern, uncertainty, and anxiety over Solana's plan, but none wanted to go against the stubborn princess.

Solana's glare shifted from Pedro to the others, and a flicker of irritation passed over her face at their less-than-enthusiastic responses. She knew they were uneasy about her plan, but she didn't care. "Good," She said firmly, her tone leaving no room for further discussion.

Pedro bit his tongue, his concern growing as he realized the futility of trying to sway Solana's mind. He bounced his foot on the floor, his gut twisting in knots, wanting more than anything to help come up with a spil plan, but that wasn't possible right now.

Hara noticed Pedro's concern. She leaned over and whispered to him. "You don't agree with her plan, do you?" She inquired, following up with her own feelings. "I sure don't, especially when my sister's life is in her hands."

Pedro glanced at Hara, his expression reflecting the weight of the situation. He took a deep sigh, his voice barely above a whisper as he replied. "No, I don't," he admitted, his eyes flickering to Solana before returning to Hara. "I have a bad feeling about this, Hara. But I don't think there's anything we can do to change her mind. She's set on Chenoa's plan, come hell or high water."

Hara nodded, her worry evident. She, too, shared Pedro's reservations about the plan. "I know," she whispered back, her voice thick with emotion. "And I'm terrified for my sister. Solana may be convinced this is the only way, but the thought of anything happening to Chenoa... it scares me half to death."

Pedro softly looked at Hara, his heart going out to her. "I'm sorry, Hara," An idea popped into his head, he knew it would be his backup plan, no, but whether he could plan it... he sighed softly, taking a bite out of his food.

Hara noticed the lightbulb moment he had, and she glanced around the table. Everyone was listening to Solana go on about whatever, but her sole focus was on Pedro. "What's your idea?" She bluntly whispered, catching Pedro off guard.

Pedro nearly choked on his food. He took a moment to collect himself, then leaned closer to her, keeping his voice low to avoid attracting attention. "A last resort if things go wrong with Solana's plan. But it's risky, and there's no guarantee it'll work, and I don't know if it can be pulled off with just Varian and Summer Dawn, and everyone would have to follow my exact command to pull it off, but it only hinges on the blueprint of the outpost."

Hara's eyes widened at Pedro's words, her curiosity piqued. "Last resort?" She repeated, her whisper trembling with a mixture of hope and fear. "What is it? And why does it hinge on the blueprint of the outpost?"

Pedro looked around, making sure Solana was still deep in conversation. Once he confirmed it, he leaned closer to Hara, his eyes intent. "I haven't fully figured it out yet," He admitted, his voice just above a whisper. "But if we can get our hands on the blueprint there might be a small chance of taking the outpost with no casualties, only prisoners, and that only is IF things go sideways, if not, it won't be used... again, it's probably silly."

Hara shook her head, her gaze fierce. "It's not silly," she whispered back, her voice filled with determination. "It does seem like a solid plan for if things do go sideways, and Chenoa can get us the blueprints, and if we can take the outpost, hypothetically, we could use it in our quest for the Celestial artifacts and dragons... wait, how did you come up with such a plan on the fly?"

Pedro shrugged, a hint of a sheepish smile playing on his lips. "I don't know," He confessed, his voice still low, looking away as his cheeks began to flush. "It just kinda popped into my head. I guess I've always been good with strategizing and planning, it's just come naturally to me... although no one ever really listens to my plans, especially in school, and when things go sideways they blame me,"

Hara's eyebrows raised, her eyes studying him with a mixture of surprise and admiration. "Impressive," She murmured, a note of genuine respect in her voice. " We could definitely use your strategic mind in this quest since it's clear no one else has that, well, except maybe Varian,"

Pedro's cheeks darkened slightly at Hara's compliment, a bashful smile on his face. "You really think so?" He asked, his voice hinting a tad of disbelief. When Hara nodded affirmatively, a mixture of pride and shyness washed over him, and a newfound determination that was set aflame inside him. "Thanks, Hara, just don't tell anyone yet?"

Hara chuckled softly, a wry smile on her lips. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," she reassured him, her gaze flickering briefly to Solana, who was now leaving the dining room, leaving everyone talking to each other. She went back to eating her dinner, stealing one more glance at Pedro with a smile.

She was having a newfound determination mixed with optimism that things would work out, especially with Pedro and his backup plan.

🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑

A/N:
I am so sorry that I haven't updated in months. Last year, near the end, wad super busy, so I took a break. Now, I am back and will be updating more regularly. Bare with me, I still have a lot going on, and I'm still on the job hunt, which sucks, but ya know.

Chapter Talk:
I dropped some more lore and new characters you'll eventually meet later. I have been slowly revamping some of the characters and adding new traits to them, and so forth, like Pedro, and that shown in the latter of the chapter between him and Hara. So, you'll see them grow and blossom.

Thanks for reading!