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Blueden, Town Hall

Lana blinked in stunned shock as she read the message on her terminal for the 3rd time. Great, she grumbled inwardly, just when I can finally be myself, some stupid p __rince decides he's going to screw around at Briskwind's Den. Need to find some way, to warn Van - pissing off a Noble is one thing, but a_ p_rince? That's far worse, and I'll have to stop shaving my mane and painting claws, in case he show up in town...

It wasn't as simple as it sounded - regulations required that she carry a field radio on her if she left "the compound" (even if it was just the old town hall) which was certain to monitor everything she did or said. Worse still, she knew she had an embedded tracker in the back of her neck, which Garrison Command would activate if she so much as sat the radio down somewhere. She knew it used to be implanted in the shoulder, and why that had changed, but it wasn't something she wanted to think about.

Could have hercome in, some sort of discrepancy in her last payment, probably..._she thought to herself as she started using a backdoor she'd found some time ago to doctor the records with an innocuous accounting error that would not cause serious issues, but would justify calling her down. _Yeaaaahh, that'll do it; she's gonna be mad at me, though.

Nova's Diner, Tigra

Donna sat with Tallia in a booth in the back of the diner. Lia had elected for a table near the door, quickly ordering a salad and tea; it looked to Donna like she was pretending to relax after a long day, but she knew Lia was paying close attention to everyone. Most of the people in the diner were offworlders, and mainly doctors and nurses, and the establishment itself was a new structure - built seemingly from leftover concrete after the hospital was renovated at some recent point. The diner's staff were Tigrin, but they seemed to be the oddity - all of this seemed both unusual and concerning to Donna.Why are there so few Tigrin, and why do essential ser __v_ ices in a spaceport city seem an afterthought?_

A black and white furred Huscanid in a white doctor's coat entered, the electronic bell on the door chiming softly to alert the staff. He waived to the Captain and approached their table casually.

"Good to see you again, James," the Captain announced with a smile as the doctor took a seat across from her and Tallia, "how's working on Tigra?"

"It pays the bills," James muttered, his brow furrowing a bit, "seems to be fewer people every year though. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, Tallia is the one when keeps the ship running..." she answered with a slight blush.

"And I keep you running, too, dear!" Tallia snickered, giving her a kiss on the cheek and making Donna blush a much deeper shade of red.

"A-anyway," Donna replied quickly, setting her jaw in an attempt to focus, "I have a few new crew members, one of them is from this planet... but the place doesn't seem to be how any of us expected, including my Tigrin cook. He's visiting his family, who have a farm down here somewhere."

"Hmmm..." he murmured, seemingly deep in thought, "son of a Landholder then? Let me guess, his father is having greater and greater difficulty growing anything and keeping his livestock healthy? I wish I could say that's been an isolated issue but that is happening more frequently all the time... along with chronic medical issues, which I deal with first hand."

"That's... exactly what's happening," Donna almost gasped, "wait, chronic medical issues are common here? Isn't that usually something that happens in industrial centers?"

"Well, the Vulpin were here..." Tallia thought aloud, "they see everything as something to be strip-mined... including people."

"Yes," James nodded as some stew was delivered to the table and he began to take a bite, "and the Tigrin hate them more than any other species for it."

"Lupin too I take it?" Donna asked, glancing around the room nervously. "Because his father thought I was one when I first spoke to him, and... he wasn't very friendly."

"You got that too, huh?" He let out a bitter chuckle, taking a drink of water with a sigh. "There's the general belief that the Lupin who drove off the Leonin occupation sold out the Resistance to the Vulpin... that isn't accurate, corrupt Resistance leadership did that. Of course, that's too painful for most of them to accept. Sabre would talk at length about that, I'm sure, if he weren't bound by Lupin law over it."

"That actually gets into why I'm here," Donna took a deep breath, as she tried to figure out how to describe what brought her here in the first place, "I can't get into details but... I've found things recently that lead me to question if my mom's decision to stay on Huska really had anything to do with running a ski lodge, and how much my father knew about what was really going on."

James sat there, giving Donna uncertain looks between glancing area the room nervously for long moments. Finally, he responded in a low voice, loud enough to hear but not to draw attention. "You mean, he never told you about the Snowlit Dawn's real mission?"

"I was a little girl, just lost my home, was told I was likely never going to see my mother again, and later watched as the family I had with the crew left one by one. When would anyone have told me about a so called 'real mission'?"

"Fair point, we never told Sabre since he had his own troubles and by the time you were aboard it was, for all intents and purposes, over. The Snowlit Dawn had provided intelligence for Zern since your great grandfather purchased it second hand. It was just convenient that Jerry fell in love with Vanara - she was his contact in Zern Central Intelligence. The ski lodge had long been a front for them..." James paused and chuckled, "and you wouldn't believe how much the agency balked at renaming it Briskwind's Den."

"She what???" Exclaimed Tallia, drawing curious glances from the previously disinterested patrons and staff, as well as a subtle head shake from Lia, who turned back to her salad. "Uh, sorry, I er, just stubbed my toe, sorry." Tallia lied with a blush, causing the other diners to return to their meals, and the staff to roll their eyes and grumble under their breath. After a few awkward moments of silence Lia nodded slightly and Tallia continued in a appropriately low voice again. "You're saying Donna's mom and dad were spies? Are you shitting us?"

"That's one way of putting it..." replied James with a sigh, "but no, I am not joking. I suppose your father didn't want to stress you over a lost cause. I hope this doesn't upset you too much, Donna."

Donna had been sitting with a blank look and a slightly open maw since before Tallia's outburst. Finally, she spoke up. "I had already learned there had to be something more to what my mom did, for reasons I can't tell you right now, but... why did Zern need a trader to play spy?"

"The main reason was to get information that other powers do not broadcast, " James explained, "or suppressed as long as possible. We'd have gotten far less of our people out of Zern had it not been for advance intelligence the Snowlit Dawn carried. There was also another long term contingency purpose, but that matters far less now."

"And what was that?" Donna raised an eyebrow as she poked at the last bits of solid meat and veggies in the now depleted bowl of stew broth.

"Zern only had one system-wide grade Quantum Chain Comms unit. I don't think I have to tell you that only the Ragerians know how to fix or manufacturer those... no chance those high and mighty know-it-alls would help with that, so the Snowlit Dawn had orders to act as a high priority courier if that ever went down... what's so funny?"

Tallia had been chuckling, and Donna was grinning slightly, she wished she could tell James just how wrong he was about help from Ragerians. "If my latest mission works out, maybe I'll be able to tell you later." She said with a wink, getting up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have another meeting." She gave James a quick hug before departing with Tallia and Lia, on their way to meet with Dorrin and the others not aboard the ship.

Redvale Region, Tigra

A pot of stew bubbled along in the denhouse's kitchen, which remained bright and colorful in spite of the old and faded paint adorning the walls. He'd almost tripped on a crack that was more exposed and split than he'd remembered, though unlike the last time that had happened it hadn't been from a creeping vine breaking through the foundation. No, this time it looked more as though someone had either dropped something particular heavy, or slammed something hard down in anger and disgust. Dorrin stirred the meal, deciding that it wasn't ready yet, and he looked up at the tar sealed dried grass panels which made up the ceiling. It looked like a leak had developed, and he was extremely grateful that it wasn't raining today. He hadn't been happy when he found out that his mother had decided to leave his his father and the planet, earlier this morning. Not surprising, she didn't sound satisfied in her messages to me, but this feels like a sudden and odd time, why didn't she tell me she was doing this? I told her I was visiting the same time I told dad!

As Dorrin mulled this over, he started setting out bowls for the stew - all plain fired clay, a few of which his father had him make as a young child, after he'd ruined older dishes the family used. The cast iron cookware, however, was much harder to damage and had been made by some grandparent he'd never met. Ellia entered the kitchen after having already set the table, quickly giving Dorrin a concerned look. "Your father told you something that bothers you?"

"You could say that, E;" he sighed deeply, "I'm not sure I want to bring this up to Sabre or anybody else yet, but my mom packed up and left this morning."

"What?" She practically yipped aloud in response, her eyes going wide in shock and ears sticking straight up. "That's horrible! No wonder he's so upset!"

"No E," he groaned as he checked the stew again, turning the stove off and ladling it out into the bowls, "he's not angry she left, he's angry that I didn't stick around... and that the farm isn't doing well. My response to him telling me was 'just now? I was expecting she'd leave after I did!' Marla told me Ragerians normally stay with their mates for life, even if they tend to have several, but for Tigrin... it's usually less a commitment and more an arrangement of convenience and desire."

"I..." she shook her head with her own sigh, "I find that difficult to understand. Ragerians get attached to others so easily... I can't believe he doesn't feel something towards her."

"Can't say; what's bothering me is that, at least as far as I can tell, she didn't let me know what she was doing or where she's going. Tigrin do feel attachment to their children more than their mates."I really don't want to discuss this here... he thought to himself as he picked up two bowls and headed towards the dining room. "Anyway, supper is ready, would you please help me carry it out?"

"Ah- alright..." she practically whimpered, picking up the other two bowls and following him into the dining room. Erlash was at the table, his muscular arms folded in front of him as he purposefully looked away from Sabre - who was, for his part, calmly reading something on his pocket comms unit. The table itself was old and a bit scuffed, but a well-carved wooden heirloom.

"Ah Dorrin!" Sabre said with a slight smile as he looked up at Dorrin, "I just received good news: Captain Briskwind is on the way with Tallia and Lia. They should be here within the hour."

"Oh, yes," Erlash grunted, glaring at Dorrin as he sat the bowls down in front of him and Sabre, "because my son knows I just love havin' offworlders under our roof. This is our roof Dorrin, the farm is your birthright, or have you forgotten?"

"Mr Redvale," Ellia responded as Dorrin rolled his eyes, "I know this has to be a difficult time for you, with your mate leaving home, and I'd to apologize for intruding on-"

"YOU TOLD HER?!?" Erlash snarled at Dorrin, slamming a fist on the table, causing the stew in his bowl to slosh around and spill on the threadbare tablecloth. "I'm not feeling hungry, and I have work to do. Not like you're know anything about that, son!" With that he stood and stormed out of the house.

Ellia's ears somehow fell even more, her tail between her legs as she sat her bowls down at the open places and took a seat. "I'm... I'm sorry Dorrin, I didn't think he'd..."

"Don't blame yourself, Ellia," Dorrin sighed as he sat next to Ellia, giving her a gentle nuzzle, "he's always like this."

"One cannot change a person," Sabre spoke gently, pouring some tea from a stained and slightly chipped pot on the table into the crude cup he held, "you can only point them to change and allow them to choose it." Sabre took a sip of the tea, then smiled. "It has been too long since I had fresh Stripeblossom tea, it was one thing I enjoyed when I was deployed here as a young man."

"Gramps, I'm sorry you had to deal with my idiot father, and I appreciate your wisdom, but-" Dorrin's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "That couldn't be Donna, could it?"

Sabre shook his head, and Ellia just shrugged, so Dorrin opened the ragged wooden front door... to find a familiar, dark furred and uniformed Ragerian.

"Pardon me, sir," he began, before looking up at Dorrin and squinting, "wait, I know you... we met on the New Dawn, Dorrin was it?"

Dorrin just nodded, barely keeping his jaw from falling open in shock, how the hell did _ he _ get here?

"Good, you already understand my trouble then. You see, I've learned from a reliable source that my daughter stowed away on a freighter and is on this world." Denal sighed and shook his head, as he held up a holographic projection of Ellia. "She's decided to get herself into far more trouble than usual this time and I'd like to-"

"Forget it, Denal!" Ellia screeched as she stomped over to the door, "I'm not letting you drag me back to Unity. Besides, you're not my real father!"

"E-Ellia..." Denal panted wide-eyed, is face a bit flushed in embarrassment and ears lowered, "I know you're mad at me for a number of reasons, but I only have what's best for you in mind. And no, I'm not taking you back to Unity: even if that's what I'd like to do, I already made a promise to return you to the New Dawn."

"Dammit..." she grumbled, gritting her teeth, "I'll be having a very pointed conversation with someone about that later... after I find out what happened to my realfather! I will return to the New Dawn once that has been done, this is nonnegotiable!"

"E, please," he whimpered, shaking his head, "this is liable to get you killed. I may not have seen eye to eye with Llorien on many issues, but I mourn his disappearance as much as you. We've already tried to find what happened for years, you should-"

"YOU SHOULD GET THE HELL OFF MY LAND, VULPIN!" Erlash snarled, rushing towards Denal to tackle him. In a lighting quick rush of black fur, Denal stepped aside and reversed the attempt, pinning the much larger Tigrin to the ground. "Get off me!" Erlash yowled.

"I will once you have calmed down," Denal huffed indignantly, somehow keeping Erlash from kicking free, "and recognize I am not a bloody Vulpin! I have fought much larger combatants than you and trained for centuries. I'm a Ragerian, sir!"

"Fine," Erlash finally grumbled, "but I want you off my land, NOW! You are not going to take our world from us again!"

"And why in the Order's name would we want a dying planet?" Denal growled, gripping Elrash's scruff tighter. "Look around you, fool, it's obvious. Your son has the right idea - in 50 years or less, nothing will grow here!" Denal huffed as he released Erlash, and stomped off. "Ellia, I urge you to reconsider, before you go somewhere I cannot extract you from."