13 First Planet

The Great Duke Faust Marlekees, second in line for the throne and is considered the bastard prince. A brutish man they say, a man with no manners, someone who is crass and could never be worth anything in his life. Faust is called many things but he stands tall. My name? That is me. I try my best to resist the battering of the ears that is the other royalties banter about me being completely worthless but it is but prattle by those who no naught of who I am. I, the Great Duke Faust, former second prince, am tired.

When it was announced that my brother would take the thrown, my mother was furious. She went to my brother's quarters in abounding rage, smashing the door open to kill him then and there. Unsuccessful it was, but it had brought our status in the family to an all-time low. Leaving me the scraps to their theoretical dinners, but we know it true that they eat barely anything because they find it disrespectful, wasting instead of giving. I spit on them...

Commentaries from the Abyss, The Great Duke Faust Marlekees, Former Prince of Terra.

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It being a desert was a lie. The ground was made out of a tan crystal and the planet was as cold as Lots'miniar. Though the sky is bright, the feeling it gave was contradictory. Both Ren and the Gambler have their helmets on, breathing artificial oxygen as they totter back and forth on unsteady ground, the crystals crunching under their feet. The Gambler resists succumbing to his excitement, Ren was enthralled though, watching as the clouds pass across the sky, walking to a higher place, more and more until... clouds... more of them. All of them gather in a massive cyclone, a massive pillar of light beaming into the middle of it, the clouds shifting from a sky blue outline to a stupifying crimson that spreads through the sky like a phoenix.

The mic to their radio cackles, Ren begins to speak, "Is this your first time on a different planet than your own?" The radio clicks.

The Gambler sighs, looking at the sight before him. "Yeah... this," He nods, "I'm so happy right now."

Ren looks to her Mexe, "This thing is amazing, the fact that it would help me adapt this quickly to this planet's environment is inane to me."

"I was as amazed as you were."

"I only heard rumors about how the Mexe works."

"I didn't hear anything at all - when I woke up, I just had it on me."

"Yeah, isn't it a commanders Mexe too?"

"It is?"

"Yeah, it has an autopilot function and can help you fire high-caliber weapons that only the Enjalsa could wield."

"What's the Enjalsa?"

"An experiment created by the Tuskare. They take weak races in the solar system and turn them into super soldiers."

"Any race?"

"Only humanoid."

"So that's why it..." The Gambler looks at the massive gun kept sewn into his scarf, "Is that why I don't feel any weight here?"

"I would assume so."

The Gambler smiles with glee under his helmet, "Let's keep moving."

They had walked onto a mountain previously, a small path leading to the bottom. From what they could see - They had landed on a high point on the planet, walking up a hill leading to the highest point in said mountain. As they looked down, they could see something called the Pratopic Forest. No specifics of what it is cannot be garnered by sight as it glistens brightly, at night, creating an Aurora Borealis sort of effect.

As they ventured farther down the mountain, the darker it had become. Stepping onto flat land and stepping off of the slope leading them below, a large forest sat in front of them. Massive trees made up of a variety of ores, leaves made up of thin pieces of glass. They walk into the forest, the Gambler calling two drones to his side, a large one with guns built into its sides and another, a smaller more compact drone with a sword wedged in the middle, of course, the small ship drone is with him as well. The ground, as they make their way through the forest, becomes smoother and smoother until finally, it is like marble. Their feet clacking against the hardened ground as if they were entering a building. Though it was dark, the light-emitting from their helmets lit the way, reflecting off of the trees and causing it to be even brighter, to the point that it practically wasn't even dark in the first place.

The Gambler slides his hand across the trees as he passes, Ren, keeping her distance, watches in awe. Some of the glass-like leaves fall onto their person, occasionally brushing them off here and there, the light reflecting off of their helmet's visors.

"This place is amazing..." Ren comments, sticking close to the Gambler.

"It is... I hope we'll be able to find more planets like this in the future."

"Without a doubt. There have been many stories of planets even more beautiful than this."

"It's probably a combination of a lot of things. We're probably used to how our planets looked and the combination with the atmosphere and our suns probably collaborated in making it look dull, but on planets like this, it's a different situation entirely."

"It's just like our planet, the sky that is."

"Yeah... but the geography is like this." The Gambler taps one of the trees with his knuckles.

Ren takes a moment to think, "How long will we be walking?"

"Until our ship finds us our vehicle. I ordered one ahead of time but it'll take a while for our ship to get to it."

"You're saying 'our' now."

The Gambler resists a chuckle, shaking his head. They continue walking until finding a massive chasm in the middle of the forest, separating them from the other side, preventing them from continuing on through traditional means. The trees on the other side look similar to onyx, even when light is shined onto it, glass leaves still falling from it's thickly entwined branches.

"What could've made a planet evolve like this?" Ren questions, walking along the edge of the chasm.

The Gambler examines his surroundings, seeing which tree could tip over and what could not. Suddenly, a massive floating vehicle descends, breaking the branches of the trees and lowering itself to the edge where the Gambler and Ren are. A bulky vehicle, weapons locked into small compartments. "Finally." The Gambler sighs, opening the door to the vehicle and entering the driver's side, Ren following behind him. He closes the door, the drones floating atop it. He adjusts the car, going through the onyx forest. Darker...

The Gambler shakes his head, bringing the vehicle into the air until it finally broke out of the forest, using a mining laser placed onto the vehicle here and there. The Gambler leans into his chair, looking at the sight before him, Ren leaning towards the windows of the vehicle to see the outside.

"Let's visit the pillar of light." The Gambler says, accelerating the vehicle.

"Is this a Yulter?"

"Yeah, it is, how'd you know? I made sure it wouldn't look like the original since they looked like they came from a trash planet."

"The sound."

The Gambler taps the helmet, "You can take it off."

Ren nods, taking the helmet off at the same time the Gambler does.

"Air comes from the core and is crystallized on the surface wherein something called a Kyra buds, then when it does, it cracks and lets out carbon. The atmosphere is breathable outside of the forest apparently."

"When did you find that out?"

"Two minutes ago."

"Ah."