Eve and I made it to the downtown area and had been wandering around for a couple hours when we decided to catch another movie. It was wild how so many alien civilizations had movies and TV shows sa as on Earth, but as I was told back in the Holistia Nebula while watching fucking jousting, peak civilizations evolved along similar pathways, leading to wildly strange coincidences in our histories and weirdly repeating inventions, including dia and entertainnt.
Once we were in line for tickets, I saw so kind of commotion happening up front, and then a few monts later a manager ca out saying the other patrons weren’t comfortable having ard soldiers in the theater with them. He apologized and offered us free tickets for a later show in the evening, and I took the offer quickly as Eve started throwing out a little attitude.
Who would dare deny the Outsider god her ti at the movies?
“What bullshit, don’t they realize we’re here to free them from their oppressors?” Eve demanded.
I just shrugged as we headed out into the movie theater alley, “Probably not, and considering we’re strange, ard aliens in unknown uniforms, it makes sense we’d make the civilians uncomfortable.”
Eve scoffed, “Unknown uniforms? At the very least they can tell we’re Imperial, and they definitely know the Empire’s assisting their world now.”
I laughed at that, “You don’t care about the Empire at all, or even this world really; you’re just upset because you feel personally offended they kicked you out—how dare they not show the Predazoan her due respect?”
Eve glared at , “Damn right! Do they not realize I could take over this world whenever I want? Forget their dumb separatists and the resistance, I could consu them all in a matter of days!”
I quirked up an eyebrow, “All because they kicked us out of the movie theater?”
Eve crossed her arms in an angry pout, “Yes.”
I rolled my eyes, “Might be taking things a little far there, sweet-thing.”
Eve sighed and turned around to stand before , wrapping her arms around my neck, “Maybe a little.” She cocked her head to the side, “But I can see how restless you are lately, and I figured sitting down to watch a fun alien movie would be relaxing.”
I wrapped my arms around Eve’s waist, “And you’re not restless?”
Eve shook her head, “My mind wanders far beyond this planet now; I find it difficult to remain engaged with this silly mission.”
“Wait, I thought your mind was wandering towards Beta-09? Or are you not concerned with her now?”
Eve shrugged, “Sowhat, but I find myself thinking of my other sisters too, of how they might be assimilating planets, how many others might’ve reached perfection. The Empire will surely send after all of them in ti, but the more they try to limit my powers, the harder it will be to fight and consu them.”
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
“Nothing really, just letting my mind wander I suppose, thinking of what could be or what should be.” She offered mildly.
I felt like there was sothing Eve wasn’t telling , but it seed like it would be a Predazoan secret if anything, so it wasn’t like I would understand even if she told .
“Well, I’m here if you need a soundboard at all, sweet-thing.” I told her, then leaned down for a kiss.
Interrupting our affection, I heard shouting at the end of the alleyway and turned to see so young vyrane girl running our way. She seed like a street punk, with dark red hair done up in two spikey pigtails, with an outfit that looked like it would’ve belonged to an elf that was into skateboarding—elegant, yet rebellious.
The girl seed surprised when she saw us, but she didn’t slow down at all, running right past.
“You never saw —I was never here!” She said abruptly, then hurried on through, cutting around a corner to the squat do building beside the movie theater.
Just then, four vyrane militia soldiers rounded the corner, heading right towards us. They too looked surprised to see us, and unlike the punk girl, they stopped, all trying to catch their breath.
“Did you…” The one in front wheezed, and I realized they all looked quite out of shape. Most vyrane n were stocky, but these four were straight-up portly, “Did you see a…a girl…run through here?”
I rembered a ti when I was a young, dumb punk running from mall security back on Earth—always trying to impress a girl of course. I had no idea what life was like for vyranes, no idea what led up to these current events, but when I saw four soldiers chasing after one young girl, I sided with her imdiately.
“A girl? No, no one’s co down the alleyway while we’ve been here.” I answered, moving away from Eve to show it was all quite empty.
“Shit, I told you it was the next alley.” One of the vyrane soldiers snapped.
“Oh, shut up, no one said anything like that.” Another argued.
“Both of you shut up and lets just hurry before she gets away!” The front man said, recentering himself—preparing for more physical activity, then the four soldiers rushed off at a sloppy jog back where they ca.
Eve and I watched them go, both quite confused over what transpired in the alleyway.
“What the hell was that about?” Eve asked.
“No idea, but I don’t like the idea of four grown n chasing after one girl.”
Eve turned to and smirked, “Or it’s just your default response to rebel against authority at every opportunity.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled Eve back towards , “You certainly know .”
Eve trilled a cute little giggle, “More than that, I love you.” She said, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss .
“Are they gone?” A small voice asked behind us—interrupting our kiss once more.
I sighed and pulled away from Eve (who growled quietly in her throat) and turned to face the small vyrane punk. It was hard to guess how old she actually was, she could’ve been in high school or college, maybe even junior high or been a full-fledged adult. Being so small, the vyranes generally looked younger, but I could see the punk girl already had significant curves to her fra. Her eyes were big and expressive, and it looked like she was wearing dark makeup that contrasted well with her pale grey skin.
“Yeah, they’re gone. Why were they hassling you?” I asked.
The vyrane shrugged as she straightened the large backpack on her shoulder, “They’re just a bunch of assholes taking advantage of the chaos of warti. Originally they were just regular security enforcent for the cities, but ever since they were upgraded to militia, their egos have inflated like a hundred tis.” She explained, then looked over Eve and my armor, “You guys with the Imperial military?”
I waved it off, “Yeah, supposed to be teaming up with the resistance to help combat the separatists.” I hooked a thumb back towards the end of the alley, “So how exactly are the militia taking advantage of this war? What, stealing from citizens or so shit?”
“Sothing like that.” She held up her bag, “I was just taking back what’s ours.” She nodded to and Eve, “What do you an you’re supposed to be teaming up with the resistance?”
I was about to answer, but Eve pushed aside as she let out a frustrated huff, “The two of you are trying to have two separate conversations; it’s quite annoying.” She pointed to the vyrane girl, “You first, introduce yourself and tell us your story, then we’ll tell you ours.”
I was surprised, but the punk girl looked properly admonished. She straightened right up as though she understood Eve was a proper authority figure. Finally, Eve got the respect she deserved.
“Sorry.” She bowed her head, “I’m lna. I’m a high schooler, but since our school’s being used to house displaced people, classes are all being done virtually, but really that just ans everyone can skip them. With all this free ti, and my friends have gotten involved in volunteering with so of the refugees, but anyti we pass by the checkpoints, those militia guys give us such a hard ti, going through our stuff and confiscating contraband—total lie, by the way, they’re just stealing. And any ti we complain, they get all weird and creepy with us—bunch of soldier n harassing high school girls. I’d had enough, so I broke into one of their barracks to get our stuff back…and destroy their plumbing as revenge.”
I barked out a quick laugh, “Nice.”
lna smiled, “Well, it was nice, but I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought, and those dickheads caught , and I swear I’ve been running from them all morning.”
“Did any of your friends tell your parents about the soldiers stealing from you?” I asked.
lna shrugged, “No one cares, they’re all too worried about the war now, that’s why the militia can get away with everything.”
“And your parents?”
lna shook her head, “Just and my sister in the city.”
I crossed my arms as I thought over the situation, the militia soldiers taking advantage of all these poor citizens—abusing their authority. Sa as every person or organization with authority, whether it be on Earth, a random frontier planet, or the Empire itself, it was all the sa.
I opened my mouth, ready to tell lna we would help her get back at the militia, but Eve put a hand on my shoulder, “Adam, you know we can’t get involved. We’re supposed to behave, rember?”
I turned to Eve and saw her expression was rather serious and let out a quick sigh when I realized she was right, “Yeah yeah, you really do know .”
Eve smiled softly, “And love you, rember.”
lna’s eyes grew wide and hopeful, “You want to help us?”
I shook my head, “Sorry kid, I’d like to, but we’ve got our own mission.”
lna’s face scrunched up in displeasure, but then she grew thoughtful, “So what’s your mission? Why are you trying to get in touch with the resistance?”
I looked at Eve, but her expression was rather blank now, leaving it up to how to divulge. Really, how much should I tell this random girl?
I shrugged, “We were supposed to et up with a contact from the resistance, but we crash landed when we ca down planet-side, and our Imperial contact was killed, so now the resistance leader wants nothing to do with us—worried about information leaks with separatists I guess. Sucks for you all, because we’re probably the only chance you all have in ending this war?”
nla’s eyebrows shot up, “Really?”
I nodded, “Yeah, we’re a special infiltration team; supposed to head straight for the capital.”
lna cocked her head to the side, “How would you do that? There’s shielding all around the capital city.”
I waved my hand out vaguely, “That’s where the resistance was supposed to help, get us into the capital so we could end things with the separatists.”
lna looked thoughtful then, “So what are you guys actually doing in Wesseran?”
I laughed at that, “Nothing really, trying to connect with other mbers of the resistance I guess.”
lna quirked up an eyebrow, “And hanging out at the movies?”
Eve and I laughed together then, “Oh no, we’re not part of the investigation team.” I gestured to Eve, “She’s a heavy weapon specialist, and I’m her communications technician.” I shrugged, “We’re basically useless unless our team can get us into your capital.”
lna looked like she was thinking sothing through then, so hidden agenda I couldn’t even begin to guess.
“Would you two mind escorting ho? I would hate to run into any militia soldiers on my way back, and I’m sure they wouldn’t ss with if I was with two Imperial soldiers.” She finally asked.
“Well…” I turned to Eve, but lna stepped in between us quickly, a cocky smirk on her face.
“You said you aren’t doing anything—useless until you can get into the capital, so I know you’re free.” She added quickly.
lna moved away then so I could see Eve’s expression, but once again she was leaving the decision up to . Really, what else did we have going on? Kicked out of the movies, sitting around waiting for our team to connect with the resistance. And honestly, I really wouldn’t want the little rebel to get in trouble with those asshole soldiers; if it was up to , I wouldn’t mind heading over to their barracks right now to test out my new superstrength on them.
“Sure, why not?” I said.
lna smiled, “Great, aweso, thanks so much!” She said brightly.
I turned back to Eve, “You mind ordering—”
Already with the tablet out, Eve held her hand up to silence , “Got it.” She finished ordering a car to pick us up, then looked at with an amused expression, “So you’ll just take care of any alien in distress, is that it?”
I cocked my head to the side, “What do you an?”
Eve rolled her eyes, “I seem to rember a silly human boy finding a strange squid alien in the woods back on his ho planet, taking it to his house to nurture and protect.” She smiled, “I think I see a pattern forming.”
I laughed at that and just shook my head, “Please sweet-thing, a pattern isn’t forming, it’s already been long since ford.” I confird, waiting in the alleyway with two different alien girls I’d rescued—but hopefully this lna wouldn’t so drastically change my life the way Eve had. Of course knowing my luck, nothing was certain.
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