The blue streaks outside the ship’s windows calmed to the black void of space as it dropped, and the fiery red and brown surface of Aeten II appeared before their eyes. If the others had been nervous about a blind girl flying the ship, hopefully they would be reassured by now. Though Malou could not see the brilliant blues of hyperspace or the volcanic hues of the plant before them, she was otherwise able to navigate just fine.
“We’ll be on the ground in five minutes.”
Malou, in her master’s absence, figured she might take the initiative in expanding the Kingdom of Avilion. Aeten II, though a volcanic wasteland of a planet, had a few small settlements which oversaw the mining of the planet’s most valuable resource: stygium crystals. The crystals could be used to power cloaking systems. They were an expensive, but valuable resource. If Malou could convince the few inhabitants of Aeten II to join, she was sure Artorgias would be pleased.
She did not expect to do it alone, though. The acolyte had reached out to her fellow acolytes, Senin and Soren, both of which she had met not long before. Malou purposefully asked for their help rather than someone of a higher rank; she did not want the credit for this expedition stolen by a prideful champion.
The Miralukan acolyte piloted the ship down to the largest settlement on Aeten II, which had a population of maybe 20,000, and served mostly as the main hub for the industry on the planet. Other than the planet’s crystals, Aeten II had few other resources and especially not any that could nurture a population. They had to import most of everything. After money from the crystals was spent, they weren’t left with much. It did, however, leave her something to work with.
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“Alright, are you all ready?”
Malou had changed from her traveling robes to robes much more suited for this diplomatic excursion. The others on the trip had been asked to bring something that looked wealthy, but wasn’t too over the top. Her plan was to have the air of casual wealth. She wanted to look as if they would have no trouble being able to supply the planet with aid--which they wouldn’t--but she didn’t want them to look greedy or as if they had ulterior motives. Whether the subtleness would work or not, she wasn’t sure. But if Malou knew one thing from her noble upbringing, it was that clothing could have a lot of influence.
They had landed not far from the settlement’s main building. They had about ten minutes before the scheduled meeting.
tags: @LouJoVi @Scoobert