This one picks up directly after rollover with Dash and Aleena.

As you can probably see, Cyber Sunset shows up somewhere too along with another familiar name.

 
"Dash?" Aleena asked. The two were sitting on the couch. Dash was clearly uncomfortable with how Konall had stormed out. Thus, Dash's shirt was back on. Distracted, he didn't seem to hear her for a second.

"I've got a favour to ask. I think it's about time I retrieved my ship, and I'll need your help to procure resources, to arrange a meeting with King MTiger, and perhaps even accompany me."

"Done." Dash paused, clearly agonizing over asking it. "Soo.. what's up with you and Konall?"

"Konall seems to have been under the impression that I was his. I may have mislead him in that. It also occurs to me that you may feel similarly. If I have mislead you in this, it is all the more reason I should depart."

"No one wants you to leave. No, I don't think you mislead me." Dash's eyes weren't on her. "Dreams.. well, 'the' dream notwithstanding. But I do like you. I'd hate to see you vanish out of our lives."

Aleena gave Dash a kiss on his cheek. "I am glad, Sebastian, but there is another concern. I am Queen of my people, but will not be for much longer unless I make contact with my people."

Dash seemed to freeze for a second. He turned to look at her. "You must miss them, huh? I know what that's like. I told you how I'd travelled the world before returning to my home kingdom, you'll recall. I guess it didn't really occur to me that you might be going through the same thing. Or maybe I just wanted to think of our world as your home."

"It is not entirely such, Sebastian," Aleena explained. "In my absence, another Princess will be promoted to Queen in my place, and once that has happened, I am abdicated. I have a plan, but it will also require the unique talents of Cyber Sunset."

"He should be recovered soon with that healing factor of his," Dash answered. Aleena had been the first person Dash went to see after he and Sunset arrived to KOKOL's castle. Sunset had been badly wounded. His nanotech had kicked in, saving his life, but even his healing factor was stretched to the limit from the battle. The trip down the distant mountains only added to the strain on his body.

Dash stepped closer to her. "So you've got a plan to get your ship raised from the water? What if it's damaged? And there might be seacritters out there you'll have to deal with."

"That's why I need your help. I can make grenades with saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur and metal to wrap it in. I'll also need wood, metal, sail and rope to build a salvage ship, to get mine near the shore. And then I'll need oxen to drag it onto the beach. Then I can fix it and call for help."

Dash nodded. "I'll do my best. I can't offer much expertise, but I assume that's why you want Cyber Sunset. You should probably talk to Konall before you set off on this. I think I owe him an apology."

"You were right the first time, Dash. I should let Konall cool down a bit first. Maybe after the mission would be more appropriate. I'll go find Sunset now and see if he's up for some adventure."

Aleena shared a brief, intimate embrace with Dash before turning to leave the room. "You are a good friend, Sebastian."

Dash called out after her. "Shall I take you to Sunset? I have a pretty good idea where he's at."

"I'd like that," Aleena said.

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Cyber Sunset carefully adjusted his goggles and looked deeper into his patient. He frowned, reached for the screwdriver on the nightstand next to the inn’s bed, and shined the light from the flashlight into the interior of the cybernetic suit of armor that had been his "companion" since before he left Lonestar to pursue the life of adventure in Honorburg.

His work was interrupted with a knock at his door.

Sunset almost dropped his flashlight and became tense for a moment. "Just a few seconds, let me get decent!"

He took a moment to turn off his flashlight, set his tools back onto the night stand, and then covered the suit of armor with a sheet.

"Okay, come in!"

Aleena pushed the door open and Dash quickly followed her inside. "Cyber Sunset. I need your help."

The door squeaked as Dash closed it behind them.

Cyber Sunset looked confused but smiled. "Well...sure thing. To what problem am I owin' the chance to lend a hand?"

Aleena smiled. "I think it's time I retrieved my ship, but as you might guess, this island has more than its fair share of over-sized cephalopods. I'm arranging to acquire some explosives. If you can teleport them into critters, it will make the effort much safer."

Cyber Sunset nodded, smiling. "Soon as I get my suit back up to full spec an' beyond, I'm at your service. It'll be a piece of pie if they're big enough."

Dash watched the two. "There's also the risk of the infestation of the Catalina slavers, and the increased Penguin Mafia activity to be concerned with."

"Not my problem. Not this time. There's always going to be problems that 'need' solving. I cannot be distracted from this, not while I still have time," Aleena stated to Dash, firmly setting her tone.

"The point is, you'll need to cross south to get to your ship," Dash answered. "They're not going to simply go away because you want to ignore them."

"They will keep. The three of us are too small a company to be bothered with, and our power is great. Sebastian," Aleena gazed directly into his eyes, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I need to regain contact with my people."

Aleena bowed her head and closed her eyes. "I'll need to meet with king MTiger and request what aid he can grant."

Cyber Sunset chuckled. "Wish I could just go to a king whenever I needed a little extra help. How long'll it take to see this tiger fellow?"

"He will want to grant my request. He will want to be my ally. I am a Queen, after all." Aleena sighed. "I do not know how long this will take, but when I have a moment, I will return to help you with your suit."

Cyber Sunset nodded and glanced at the sheet covering his armor on the bed. "'l appreciate the help, certainly, though it may be best if I act as a middle man for whatever aid ya've got for me. She doesn't always appreciate other operators runnin' repairs."

"Why? Does your suit's intelligence object?" Aleena asked, cocking her head to the side.

Cyber Sunset looked confused. "Intelligence? ...what intelligence? It's a suit of armor."

Dash just smirked.

Aleena smiled. "Of course. Our suits have an intelligence of their own. Our bonding is so close, that we are almost even blended into a single consciousness."

"Ahhh," said Cyber Sunset. "Puts a new spin on sayin' that clothes make th' man."

Aleena giggled. "Thank you Cyber Sunset. Dash, let's go see MTiger."

Cyber Sunset waved goodbye and waited for the two to leave before closing the door behind them. He carefully removed the sheet from over the cybernetic armor.

"Sorry 'bout that, darlin'. Duty calls, as you know full well. Now then, where were we?"

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"Ah, there you are, Dash," came the voice from down the hall. Sebastian turned around to see the prince of KOKOL himself, Prince Blahking.

"Blahking, how can I help you?" Dash asked.

"Let's find a more secluded room so we can speak business in outside of the rush," Blahking said. True enough, the hallways were busy with people rushing down both ways. Dash nodded. Blahking lead the two to the nearest war room. Being heavily locked and almost always having at least one or two guards on duty made it one of the most secure spots in KOKOL's castle.

"War room meeting? That bad?" Dash asked, jumping to the wrong assumption.

"Nothing so dramatic," Blahking said. "At least not yet. But I understand you wanted a meeting with King MTiger. He is still on sabbatical, recovering. Hopefully, I can be of assistance to you?"

"Probably," Dash said as he looked over a strategic map which had been left on the table. Most likely nothing important, as it would have been secured otherwise. "Aleena's looking to recover her ship. It's supposed to be capable of traversing galaxies."

"I would suspect she's being honest," Blahking answered. "As she clearly is no elven race this world has ever seen. Even aside from that, her technology defies even my understanding in many - if not most- ways. What are you looking to acquire?"

"Minerals, mostly," Dash said.

"Well, we do have good news on that front. We'll receive our third full shipping from the Chrono mines in a couple weeks. Although there's been little in the way of magically enhanced items, we've found both rare and common ores in different amounts as well as some fairly uncommon spices and vegetable growth."

"That's excellent news," Dash said. Dash had been key in the original incident. Dash and other adventurers helped Catrina, an ally to Dash at the time, break the Chrono Dragon free of an old curse. In exchange, it granted KOKOL access to a so called "chrono mine." It was weeks before KOKOL settled in, and many more weeks before the mining operation began to really start to pay off.

Blahking asked, "What kind of materials do you need?"

And Dash answered, "Materials for a ship, of course. Wood, metal, rope, that kind of thing. She wants some oxen to pull them, though I doubt we have access to those. Some manpower to assemble the ship. It sounds like it'll be at least a few days project, so we'll need provisions. If I'm not asking too much."

"More than you seem to think," Blahking admitted, tallying up the effort it would take to get all of that. "You'll need more than that. Wood, metal, and rope are musts. I'm thinking you'd also want potassium nitrate. You might know it better as saltpeter. Maybe even. charcoal and sulfur."

"Aleena mentioned those, yes. If it's too far off shore, we're going to need a sturdy ship," Dash added. "She has a plan for the seamonsters, but we can't take any chances. I guess I'm asking for a lot, but she's been a valuable ally. She wouldn't be asking for this assistance if she didn't need it. It's the right thing to do."

"She does seem like a good ally to have on our side," Blahking admitted. "Truth be told, I can't make any promises, even vague promises here. But I will do my best to see what assistance we can be. It sounds like a powerful ship to have in possession of an ally."

"I can't promise she won't be leaving as soon as she gets her ship," Dash admitted. "I hope she stays around, though."

"It's a chance worth taking. I'll update you on if this is possible by noon tomorrow."

"Thank you," Dash said. He turned to leave but alas, there was more to be said.

"I'm hoping I can get your assistance on the matter of our former outpost, too," Blahking said, right as Dash grabbed the doorknob to leave. "You're familiar with Konall."

"I am," Dash said, not pointing out he planned to visit Konall, anyway. Better to see how the conversation pans out.

"I need you to ensure he's still with us in spirit, if not in presence."

"So the outpost has nothing to do with this?"

"It might still have.." Blahking paused a moment. "Strategic advantages."

"So what exactly do you want?" Dash asked.

"To the best of my knowledge, he's still a part of this clan. Our decision to abandon the post to the Penguin Mafia was an unfortunate necessity. If he wishes to lead it, he's going to need our support. More to the point, we need to be sure he's capable of handling the fort."

"Why the sudden interest, though? You just said you had no problem with the Penguin Mafia taking it over."

"The slavers are another matter," Blahking answered, frowning. "They're the real threat here. We must never forget this. I simply want you to ensure Konall knows we'd like to assist. Some negotiation may be required, but he'll be smart enough to realize we need each other."

"Yeah, I'll mention it." Dash opened the door and left, though Blahking was sure he heard the last statement.

"Be sure he's receptive to our offer," Blahking said.

There was a sense of uncertainty in his voice. Dash turned back towards Blahking, giving him a slight nod of acknowledgement before Dash turned to give Aleena the news.

Heh. That sets up Aleena's eventual departure, but she isn't done with the AIL story even when she does leave! But that's later on. Next up - Aleena and Kadlin.