Imperial Orders

♕The Desolate Homeworld♕

Tuofah awoke to the nagging feeling of Nut's small hands pressing into her shoulders. 

"Wake up, Tuo! We're here!" 

Tuofah rubbed her eyes groggily, feeling the foreign touch of a silk nightgown against her skin as she sat up in her circular bed, pushing the thick covers aside. 

"Here where?" she asked softly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed before walking toward her room's largest window. Surely they couldn't have already reached Old Earth...the Minister's ship, fancy as it was, couldn't be that fast. 

Yet, as the curious Tactile pressed her face to the window's tempered glass, Nut's claim was confirmed. Where just last night there had been nothing but the vast, unending expanse of space, there was now an oddly familiar blue-green planet, marked by large swaths of brown and gray where the once fertile land had turned to desert. Yet, despite its scars, Earth had not lost its awe-inspiring beauty: unlike Celatys, which had been engineered to support human life, the homeworld had been a gift from the universe, a mild planet perfect to nurture the human race for nearly all of its history. Its streaks and curves were completely natural, not having seen a human hand in centuries, and its surface was enveloped by a thin layer of wispy clouds.

"By the way," Nut whispered with a soft giggle, making her way to Tuofah's side. "I'm glad Hugo found you. You make each other happy. We can all see it."

Tuofah looked away, feeling herself turning red as a beet. "Oh, no, it's not...we're not..." she trailed off, thinking. Were they? She could easily recall her first days on the Peenutz' ship, when all she could think about was getting her hundred thousand marks and never having to see Hugo's self-satisfied face again, but now, she could hardly imagine having to part with the oddly charismatic Auricle captain. 

"Yup," Nut bobbed her head playfully, skipping to the door. "That's what they all say. Captain wants you down in fifteen minutes," she added before darting out of sight. 

Tuofah sighed, making her way toward Carlotta's unnecessarily tall dresser. She pulled open drawer after drawer, biting her lip in irritation at the fact that though fully stocked with fur vests and neon miniskirts, none of them contained a single functional outfit. Finally, she settled for her own torn cargo jacket and combat boots over a pair of skin tight black leggings and a sea green turtleneck. 

Grabbing the knife that sat at the bottom of the lowest drawer and slipping it carefully into her satchel, Tuofah exited Carlotta's room, making her way through a narrow hallway and back to the spacious dining hall where just a few short hours earlier, she and Hugo had shared their first kiss. Not surprisingly, Hugo was already wide awake and sitting at the head of the table, sipping from a mug of coffee as he adjusted the sleeve of his jacket. Clearly, the Minister owned much more practical clothing than his wife did. 

"Morning, Tuo," he smiled as she sat down next him. "Slept well, I assume?" 

"Yeah," she nodded. "And you?" 

"I'm not one for soft beds," he shuddered, cracking his knuckles before downing one last gulp of coffee. "They remind me of the people in this universe who hate me...which is, like, everyone with money," he laughed. 

"Hey, we pull this off and you'll have money, too," Tuofah smiled. 

"You bet I will. Enough money to never be indebted to Nexetra Serpis or her father or anyone else ever again. Enough money to be free, to travel the galaxy stealing, running, adventuring, really living." 

"Yeah," Tuofah nodded, a small lump forming in her throat. "It's just...this is so stupid...but will I ever see you again?" Her eyes rose to meet his just as he began to laugh mirthfully. 

"I thought it was implied that I'd be taking my crew with me, and that includes you! We survived a tornado and a Djareny attack together. We stole our new ship together. We escaped from the Hominans together. You're a Peenut now, Tuo! You're one of us...and we take care of our own." 

"Does that mean we get to keep her?" Dot wondered aloud in her shrill voice, grabbing the back of Hugo's chair in excitement. 

"Oh yeah, we're keeping her," Hugo grinned. "Of course, only if she wants to stay." 

Thankfully for Tuofah, he didn't wait for her answer. The ship had drifted into Earthen orbit and Hugo rose from his chair, heading out of the room probably to execute the landing. As she watched the iconic planet grow closer in the windows all around her, she began to ponder his offer. While an adventurous lifetime of petty crime alongside a captain and crew she had grown to know and love sounded like a dream compared to her fearful, monotonous life in Nardysk, she knew what her mother would say. She would say that Tuofah was just like her father, impulsive and irresponsible, running off with a poor Djareny boy with no regard for the fate of her family...and she would not be wrong.

"Please prepare yourselves: landing gear engaging," came an automated voice from the speakers all around her. Tuofah felt a shift in gravity as the ship lurched forward, beginning its long dive toward Earth's surface. Something clicked under her feet as the legs of her chair fastened themselves to the floor and a metal harness slid over her shoulders and legs. The floor vibrated underneath her as the ship soared through a cloud cover much thicker than that of Celatys and coasted over a wide expanse of green treetops that stretched as far as the eye could see. Tuofah held her breath in wonder as the lush forest, punctuated by snaking rivers, grew larger and larger underneath her until the ship was among the trees, tearing through foliage as it lost momentum, finally coming to a screeching halt. 

The landing was surprisingly smooth- Hugo must've been a better pilot than Tuofah had originally given him credit for. 

"Alright, alright, everyone except Koot to the hatch! Koot, since you're the only one here besides me who has a decent idea of how to fly a spaceship, you're going to be our escape pilot. Your job is to get us out of here quickly in case we end up running from something not too friendly," Hugo had emerged from the cockpit and was standing in the doorway to the dining room, a determined look on his face. 

"Wait. Define 'something not too friendly'," Tuofah raised an eyebrow. 

"I dunno," Hugo shrugged. "Evolution's been doing its work on this planet unchecked and unobserved for a thousand years. Absolutely anything could live here." 

"Well, that's wonderful," Tuofah smiled sarcastically. "Just perfect." 

"If you're leaving the ship, I want you armed," Hugo continued, ignoring her comment. "There should be enough ray guns for us all by the exit. I've got a PortNav programmed with the temple's coordinates. We're taking the shortest route there, grabbing the Armlets, and coming right back here. We don't want to spend any more time on this planet than we have to."

"Got it, captain," Nut and Dot chirped simultaneously, grinning at each other. This was probably the most exciting thing they had ever done...and also the most dangerous. 

Tuofah heard the sound of a lever being pulled and watched as the hatch dropped down in front of her, revealing the sandy banks of a swiftly flowing river surrounded by dense jungle. The soft sounds of early morning birds echoed through the trees. 

"Well, this is it." Tuofah felt Hugo's hand on her shoulder as the kids picked up their ray guns from the stack by the hatch and crawled excitedly through it. "After this, you'll no longer have to be afraid of powers." 

"Let's just hope we make it," Tuofah smiled tersely, fitting her hand around a sleek, black ray gun. She had repaired thousands of them in her life, but had never actually used one. Fastening the holster around her waist, she hoped that she wouldn't ever have to.