Imperial Orders

♕The New Plan♕

"Okay, that's really a stupid idea. Even coming from someone who's managed to be hated by both intelligent races." Tuofah shook her head, standing up with purpose as she stared down at a still seated Hugo in irritation. "I'm very glad we're still on Celatys, because I'm going to catch a train back to Nardysk, like, right now. I don't need the hundred thousand marks you probably won't manage to steal anyway...you failure of a Djaren." 

The tired girl crossed her arms, giving the cratered clearing one last glance before deciding that she would never again trust strange boys who offered to take her on long journeys...regardless of how much money they offered for said journeys. She squeezed her eyes shut, tearing her gaze away from Hugo as a single tear managed to slip past her eyelashes. 

No college, no Tactile-run technology firm...it was back to Nardysk, back to her mundane little shop, back to unappreciative businessmen and other cranky customers. 

It was only as that time seemed to be coming to an abrupt end did Tuofah begin to realize how much she had enjoyed her time aboard Hugo's ship. The children were delightful to be around, especially little Nut, and Hugo himself wasn't half bad- unless he was trying to be. 

But her little adventure was over now. Done. Gone forever. 

"Tuo, wait." 

She blocked out his words, steeling her heart and squaring her jaw as she stormed away, her thick boots squelching in the fresh mud. She needed to get away before the rest of the Peenutz returned- she was not in the mood for a sore goodbye. 

"Tuofah Lynnstrijker, you are in grave danger."

This got her attention. The Tactile gingerly turned around, her hands apprehensively clutching the thick, brown strap of the messenger bag of supplies she had scavenged from the wreckage of the Peenutz' ship. Hugo, still seated on the ground in front of the fateful black crate, looked up at Tuofah, his milky eyes heavy with genuine concern. 

"You have a potentially lethal mutation of your Gift that has just been activated. There's only a handful of people in the entire galaxy who know anything about it, all except for one of whom you do not want to meet. Trust me. Remember that guy who tried to kill us the other day? Yeah, they'd be his bosses. As for the one, that would be yours truly. Now, I know what you're thinking, and you're completely right about me- I'm a failure and I let you down- but at least I wouldn't throw you out of a spaceship into a tornado."

"Listen to me, Tuo, whether we like it or not, I'm your only chance. You and I both know you weren't controlling your Gift when you saved all of us from that tornado, and that was far from the last time it's going to go haywire. Next time, it might not decide it wants to be so heroic. There's only two things in the universe that can get your Gift under control, and I happen to know where one of those things is."

Don't let him get to you. Tuofah gritted her teeth, but her former resolve to leave the Peenutz behind as soon as possible was no longer as solid as it had been. Hugo's argument made sense- even if she returned to the magnetically protected Nardysk, what was to say that her mutation, now activated, would go back to sleep? As much as she now disliked him, he had information that she needed. 

"Alright, Captain," Tuofah grumbled resentfully. "What's the plan?" 

"That's my Tuo!" Hugo perked up, leaping to his feet with an overly jubilant grin plastered across his face. "What you need are the Robust Armlets. There's two sets of them, both of which have the unique capability of subduing a mutated Gift. The set we're after is currently located in the Temple of Ikmanon." 

"Ikmanon?" Tuofah raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that the crazy survivalist guy who wanted humanity to stay on Earth and 'fight the forces of nature like true men'? He was killed by an angry mob! Who in the galaxy would build a temple for him? And how would something in it help with my Gift?" 

"He wasn't as crazy as people thought he was," Hugo explained. "He actually had a lot of followers, people who chose to remain on Earth to serve his spirit eternally when the rest of the population was transferred to Celatys. They built the temple to commemorate their leader long after the rest of humanity decided to believe they were dead, and their civilization has thrived ever since. Ikmanon was one of the first Tactiles- he had a way with metal. He built several interesting trinkets in his free time: the most complicated of these were the Robust Armlets, which no one has managed to replicate since his death. His followers stored all four of them very carefully in the Temple...until two were taken." 

"Who took them?" Tuofah raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious. 

"Who else, but the one and only Nexetra Serpis?" Hugo laughed humorlessly. "Her dad knew she'd end up seriously messing things up without something to help her control her Gift, so the two of them went down to Earth, killed a bunch of humans, and skipped on back to Djara with a set of Armlets. Needless to say, that set is off limits to us at the moment." 

"So, how do you propose we steal a pair of metal bands from the temple of an ancient lunatic?" Tuofah asked. "Because I'm not doing anything with you unless you inform me of the entirety of a solid plan." 

"Well, first off, this means you're back on the team," Hugo grinned. "So once we've got your Armlets, you'll be cruising up to Relorio with Prince Arafien Tyllanie of the Hominan Empire himself. Don't worry, the hundred thousand marks part of the deal is still on, too." 

"I did not agree to-" 

"It's a package deal, my friend," Hugo chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. "So, if you don't want your Gift tearing buildings out of the ground in the near future, I'd suggest that you play along. Now, continuing with the entirety of my solid plan as you requested: if we want to get to Earth, we're going to need a ship. Mine obviously isn't going to be of much help to us, and I can't exactly steal another one from the other Djareny. They're already half ready to kill me on sight. That leaves us with just one option...a spaceport." 

"Except for the fact that neither of us has any money," Tuofah placed her hands on her hips. "In fact, I'm probably knee-deep in debt thanks to all of the time you got me to spend away from my shop!" 

"Relax, your hundred thousand is already on its merry way to your pocket!" Hugo chirped with irritating cheer. "And who said we would need any money? Tickets are for losers. I'm talking about stealing a ship!"