Act 36: Prisoner of War

Duci looked back over the Synth's shoulder when she heard the doors close. Oh no...was this a trap? They recognized her? "I...you...how?!" She looks to the Leafeon once more. 

The Synth's grip on her shoulders tightens, but only slightly. The atmosphere gets tense as Rali reaches into her jacket, but the Leafeon, and then Nezo holds out a paw, silently telling them not to. "You what, Duci?" The Leafeon says. "You didn't really think you were going to sneak in here and sneak back out or that no one would recognize you? Even if my benefactors weren't watching your every move back in your camp, it would have been only a matter of time until I or another one of the ex-Grovers would have recognised you."

Now she remembers. Lea. That was this guy's name. He was a soldier in the grove's army. She only saw him a few times. Used to be under her command. He went missing after the battle of Bad Canyon.

Lea? Is that really him? She thought he died...why is he here of all places? And working with the enemy no less? She can't even believe he is still alive in the first place. "Lea..." She began. "How are you alive? How did you end up with them?" She has a lot of questions right now.

"No. My name is no longer Lea." He almost snarls at her at the mention of that name. "That's the name they gave me, after they dragged me from my home, my dying mother, and forced me to evolve into a leafeon for this idiotic war of theirs. No, I've chosen a new name now. An AVALI name. You may call me Easani now."
He takes a breath, and continues.
"As for your other questions..." He looks at Duci with a hard look. "It's a long story, and it doesn't look like you're in the condition for long stories. But I'll give you the 'short' version." He says short with air quotes.
"As I mentioned, I was forced into the Grove's 'service' when, while getting food for my sick mother, I was pulled aside, a drafting notice was shoved into my hand, and before I even had a chance to set my affairs in order, or even find someone to take care of my mother, I was pressed into a war I never wanted to fight in. I... I later learned she'd passed away without me."
He sniffles a little, and Nezo comes over to Le- No, Easani now, and pats his back. He smiles at the not- wait, he mentioned something. 'Avali' he called them? The Avali and Leafeon smile at each other.
"Thanks Nezo." Easani looks back at Duci with a scowl and continues his story.
"When the battle happened, I pretended to be dead. I wanted out of that nexus-damned army. Away from the Grove. So I pretended to be dead, and when my body was thrown out with the rest of the corpses after the initial attack, I got up, and wandered for months... or was it years? How long has this pointless war went on? I drifted from place to place. I saw the sand towns, I saw the ones we 'improved'. I saw what they were like before and after. I tried to help the victims of those places, but I was just one mon without a weapon. What could I do? 
Eventually I made my way to this maze. I'd been living here, as little more than a dungeon dweller, for about a month, and then... they came. They found me, offered me medical aid, and I told them my story. .And here I am."

At this point, there is really nothing she can say to denounce him, it looks like his anger is totally justified, Bad Canyon was...a horrible battle, even she can admit that. Her own reason for working within the Grove's army was not just because she was expected to by her family, but because she has a belief that the Grove is best, compared to the Land of Sands or even the Land of Snow, it is easily the most livable place for many. "I see." At this point, Duci is expecting this to be the end of her, and by the sound of it, doesn't look like Easani is going to want to make it gentle for her. "...I suppose...you want me dead then."

"Part of me does." Easani says. "You're part of the machine that's robbed so many lives, ended many and forever destroyed others. And I'm not just talking about your soldiers either. In fact, fuck the grove's so-called 'soldiers'. I'm talking about civilians."
He takes a breath. 
"...But that's not up to me." He sighs. "I know this is going to come as a bit of a shock to you, but around here, we have rules. Regulations. Things that guarantee prisoners of war safe treatment. I should know. I fully expected them to kill me too for the things I was forced to do, but they didn't. Around here, we aren't allowed to simply kill prisoners of war, let alone rape them."
"When I said we'd give you medical attention" Seph finally added in ."We were not lying."
"We should do that now." Raliadds. They turn away from him, and head to a nearby building. 
"Oh... and Duci..." Easani adds. "One more thing."
Seph stops long enough to allow her to hear it. 
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry to hear about what happened with your bastard of a commanding officer.  No one deserves that, not even you."

That certainly does come as a shock, even if they got all this power they also have regulations to treat their prisoners fairly? That's practically unheard of...is it actually serious? That doesn't make any sense at all to her. "...No one deserves to die such horrible deaths either." She says to him. "That is what I want to prevent right now..." She is of course, talking about that bombardment that massacred a portion of the Grove's forces and routed the rest, what is to say they won't do that again?

Unfortunately, Easani didn't hear her, for he was now out of earshot. However, there's a good chance that this isn't the last she'll see of him. "I'm honestly surprised you didn't attempt to fly off once you realized we were onto you." Nezo tells her as they approach one of the tents. "... Not that it would have helped you much."

"Yes, it wouldn't have..." She reasons that the Synth probably would have grabbed her leg and pulled her back down, she was at their mercy the moment she let him pick her up when they found her.

They open the tent. There is a bed, a desk, and some other unidentifiable dodads around. In the midst of it, there is another one of the 'avali', another light brown one but with blue highlights. It appears to be wearing some sort of white coat.
"Ah, she's here. Good. Set her down on the bed, and we can begin the examination." The male Avali, presumably some sort of doctor, tells them. Seph does as instructed, and gently lays her down on the bed. 
"Seph, would you mind if we take a break while you stay here with the prisoner?" Nezo asks. "I'm feeling kind of hungry." 
"Of course not." Seph tells him. "Go take your break you guys."
Nezo nods and he and the rest of his pack, minus Seph, but including Veers, leaves.
"Dibs on any tacos!" Veers can be heard shouting from outside.
"Well..." The doctor clears his throat. "Now that we have that out of the way, allow me to introduce myself. I'm doctor Tasumi, and I'm one of the medical staff at this place."

At least this bed feels comfortable to Duci. "Hhhmmm, alright then.......Doctor." The Decidueye  is eyeing the place around her, she might be looking for some opportunity to escape.

Unfortunately for her, Seph is still there, so there's no escaping that way. And that was discounting anything else they had to bar her escape attempt..
"Alright. So Eilali already gave you a once over with the scanner. So we'll start from there."
He pulls over a chair and sits down. 
"I know it might be painful, but please try to recall what happened."

"Fine..." She sighs. "I was in the camp talking with my commanding officers about what we were going to do after what happened in Sandstone. I tried to tell that we had to change our approach here, we couldn't take sandstone but we couldn't ignore it either. But instead he was worried about his reputation, and was eager to punish me and put all the blame on me. And by 'punish' that means raping me, and threatening to have all the soldiers do the same..."

At that moment, she feels something softly pat and pet her head, slowly. The doctor seems to be petting her, comfortingly as she finishes her story.
"There there." He says sorrowfully. "You're safe here, there won't be any of that around here."
"That sounds pretty par for the course there, if Easani and other defector's stories are of any indication" Seph comments. 
The doctor's hand leaves her head and returns to his side.

Being treated nicely as a prisoner...it certainly feels odd to her, it's one thing after another with these Avali. "...I don't understand. You have all this power, yet when you have someone at your mercy you don't slaughter and take advantage of them? Why?"

"Would you prefer it if we did?" The avali asks her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm assuming 'no'."

"No, of course not..." She looks away from him, not really able to put into words what she is feeling. She has seen such things happen for so long that she thought it was just how things were always supposed to go, that it was the way things always turn out. Seeing that not happening right now feels alien to her.

"I didn't think so."  he says. "Alright, next question. Are you experiencing any physical pain at the moment?"

"Yes..." She nods. "In both places 'down there'."

"Hmmm... I think I might have some things for that. One moment." The doctor gets up, and goes to a nearby cupboard, and searches around inside it. A few rattles and things being moved aside as those feathered talons move objects and items aside to find whatever it is he is looking for.
"Ah, here we go." He takes two items out of it, and returns with two objects in hand. A tube that rattles as he walks back, and what looks like a small can of some sort. 
"Some pain relief. A bit of cream for your rear and the area above your upper holes." He says as he takes the cap off the can and applies it to some to his hand. "Erm.... if you don't mind."

"Right..." The Decidueye  proceeds to spread her legs for him, so he can get to work on putting that cream there between her legs.

The doctor gently applies some of the cream around, but not directly onto her pussy lips, the cream feels rather cold at first, and then warms up in a good-feeling way. 
"I'll need to do the same to your rear. Don't mind if I lift you up a little."
He pushes one of her legs up and back, gently of course, and gains access to her rear.
"Oh yes." He comments as he sees it. "That's really swollen." He applies the cream to her rear hole, his practiced hands rubbing the rear orifice as he applies the cream to it, which reacts in much the same way.

She let out a few groans when he touched her down there, when it was time to work on her rear orifice she groaned in pain. Damn that Skiddo...he really made it difficult for her to walk or sit. Hopefully this cream they are putting on her intimate parts will soothe the pain. 

If the doctor is getting any sort of sexual enjoyment out of this, it's not evident at all, as his demeanor remains very neutral and professional during this whole ordeal. 
"There. That should do for now." The doctor says as he lets her leg down. "At least for the outside. As for the inside, well... that's a bit trickier, and the only thing I can afford to give for the moment" he says as he sets the cream down beside her and reaches for the other bottle. "are these pills. " He pops off the top and tilts the bottle into his hand, a small white object landing into his hand. He puts the cap back on the bottle and hands her the pill. "Standard pain relief medication. I'd suggest you take it with water.  Speaking of which, I'm going to presume you've not had anything to drink or eat in a while, have you?"

She sighs and nods to that question, and as if to drive it in further, her stomach growls too. The Owl then proceeds to take the pill from his hand with her beak, before angling her head up and easily swallowing it. "...I'm still gonna appreciate that offer of water."

The doctor nods, and goes over to one of the counters, which sports a long pipe sticking out the top of it that goes up and curls over, and has a few buttons by the side of it. He takes a cup in one hand, and holds it under the pipe. He presses a button, and water falls out of the pipe, and fills the cup. He presses the button again, and the water stops. 
He returns, cup in hand, and hands the cup of water to Duci. "There, that should do for now. If you need more water, there'll be a sink in your cell. Your food will be served there shortly. If there is nothing else, Seph will take you there now."

She takes that cup with one of her wings, the three feathers at the tip of it are structured similar to fingers which she uses to grip it. "I don't think there is anything else..." She said before drinking the water in the cup. Hopefully from the cell she can start thinking of a plan to escape, she HAS to escape, she MUST tell the princess what is going on here. 

"Good. Apply the cream to your affected areas every few hours, ring someone if you need help with it. As for the pills, one or two every day. It's not going to eliminate all the pain, but it should reduce most of it. I would recommend not engaging in any strenuous activity such as exercise for the next week or so." The Doctor finishes as he nods to Seph. 
Seph comes over to her again. 
"I will carry you to your cell." He announces to her as he puts his hands under her back to carry her bridal style again.

Duci just let Seph pick her up. She is not going to try anything...not with him.

"I'll have you check back in a week or so." The doctor tells her as Seph carries her. "If you're here that long."
Seph carries her out of the tent. Just as before, the avali and various mons are walking about. He carries her towards one of the large metallic buildings.

From what she can see it would appear that these 'Avali', whoever they are, are allowing the dungeon dwellers within their ranks? It's almost as if they took over this dungeon for themselves, usually the pokémon of the dungeon attack anyone who invades their place of worship, so why are they working together? 

Seph meanwhile says nothing as he opens the door to the metallic building. A small "prison" of sorts. Most of the cells are empty. in fact, they all are, from what she can see. The giant Synth stops at one, opens the cell door, and steps inside. He sets the Decidueye down, gently, onto the bed. 
Which, for a prison bed, is pretty plush and comfortable. He sets the pill bottle and cream can  on a dresser next to her.
"Press the button by the door and ring if you need anything... within reason of course. Food will be arriving shortly." He tells her. 
"I'm afraid I must leave now. Have a good day." Seph nods as he leaves, and closes the cell door, the door seemingly locking itself with another buzz.

After the synth is gone, she finally feels safe enough to relax on this surprisingly comfortable bed. She settles for resting here for a while. The pain seems to be going away too, so this cream and that 'pill' must really work...such strange but effective medicine these Avali have.

After about a quarter-half of an hour, she hears the hiss of a door opening, the same one she heard when Seph entered this building. She can smell the scent of freshly cooked food.
"Dinner for you, Duci." 
True to their word, dinner has been served. Some sort of steamy hot soup. 
The downside? It's being carried by Lea- er, Easani.

She was almost dozing off when the sound of the door opening woke her up again. She really didn't sleep well last night. She sat herself on the bed, seeing who brought her the food. "You again..."

"Yes, it's me again." He opens a small compartment on the cell door, and slides the soup in. "You don't seem happy to see me."

"I still don't know if this is all really happening." She gets up from the bed and walks to the bars to talk with the Leafeon. "These Avali...what do they want here? Do you know what they did to the Grove at Sandstone?"

"The great and glorious Avali are coming here with thier big massive army and artillery guns and they're going to march over every single town and city and bring prosperity to every citizen of The Sands, The Grove, and The Snows by marauding and raping everyone they come across and then eventually they'll do... something and then everyone will be prosperous and happy and stuff and they'll rule over us all with their benevolent king! All hail the Starbound Ones!" Easani tells her, sarcasm dripping from his voice. 
"Of course, I'm Taurosshitting you. That's not what they're doing here at all. But if you replace 'Avali' with a certain kingdom, it starts to sound very... familiar, doesn't it?" He says with a raised eyebrow.
"As for your other question... Yeah. I do. After all, I'm the one that loaded the shells into the gun the previous day." 

She glares at him now. "So that rain of death really came from here...do they intend to destroy us? Why are they helping Sandstone and not us? We are a strong kingdom... Sandstone is just a town."

"Congrats, Commander Obvious." He responds to the 'revelation' that the rain of death came from this base. "You figured out something that anyone with half a functioning brain could figure out just by looking at the thing."
"As to why they're helping Sandstone? ..." He shrugs. "I dunno. Maybe they really like that Four-Eyes guild? Maybe they like defending weak people? Kinda explains why they're so chummy with the dungeon dwellers too. Hell, maybe what you just said is the exact reason they're doing it? After all, their motto is 'protect the weak' or something like that. I'm sure they've got bigger grander plans than helping one tiny little town, but hell of I know what those are. I was being sarcastic earlier, but maybe they really do have some sort of 'prosperity-bringing' plan. Kinda seems like it.  And so far they've seem like pretty good company, so who am I to judge?"
He takes a breath of air as he continues. "What I do know is I wouldn't help 'us' if I were them." he says 'us' with finger quotes.

She closes her eyes and sighs. "Easani, I need you to help me right now. The princess needs to know what happened in Sandstone the previous day. She could send thousands more to their deaths if she doesn't know about those 'guns'. Please... just release me." By her tone, it sounds like she is trying to appeal to him here.

Easani gives a hard look...
... And then promptly laughs hard in her face.
"No." He expression turns hard and serious. "I think not. Besides, it's pointless anyway. The camp has already moved on out of range and has given up on Sandstone. Just like what the warning shot was supposed to accomplish. Or... at least that's what I'm hearing from the reports anyway. And secondly, why should I give a shit if the Bitch Princesss sends a bunch more murderers and rapists to their deaths?"
His expression softens.
"Okay, okay, that's cold of me. I mean, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people among them that never wanted to fight in this pointless war and got dragged into it by that noble harlot's desires. Like myself." He sighs. "Yeah, pulling the trigger on them does fill me with at least some regret in that respect." He admits. "Necessary, but regretful."
"Still though. What the hell do you think she's going to do if she knows? Hmm? You think Ivy gives two fucks about those soldiers that died that day? You think she gives enough of a shit about you to even listen in the first place?! She sure as fuck doesn't give a shit about all the innocent sand mons that have had their lives ruined in this campaign. That's for damn sure."

When he began laughing it took a lot not to reach through the bars to strangle him. "I don't know! But I was hoping she could try to end things peacefully with Sandstone."  She has lost her cool at this point. "If word of me 'deserting' gets to the capital first it's my family that is going to suffer as an example!"

"If she had any intention of ending things peacefully, she wouldn't have started this war in the first place. And not to mention..." His eyes narrow. "Sandstone already gave you the chance to end things peacefully. You said you took it, then stabbed them in the back. Or was that your superior's braindead idea? Why did you even do that anyway? What were you hoping to accomplish? Please don't tell me you actually buy this 'bringing prosperity to the sands' taurosshit. "
He sighs. "Assuming you're not trying to taurosshit me here, I am sorry about your family. Then again maybe not. After all, how many families have we Grovers, quote, 'made suffer as an example?' during our campaign? How many innocents died and/or raped to death? Where's your sympathy for them, huh?" He almost shouts the last part, but then calms down. "Either way, there's little anyone can do at this point. You're not getting out of that cell, and I'm certainly not letting you escape. Don't worry though..."
He says. 
"There's a good chance you won't be staying here forever anyway."

She kept glaring at him in silence until he said that last bit. "Why? I am going to get a public execution for all to see?"

"Probably not." Easani shrugs. "The Avali follow the 'Kentaries Accords', whatever those are, though that's probably also the reason you're not being tied to a stake or table and raped by everyone in the base. Or turned into the base commander's personal sex slave. Unlike what a certain commanding officer of yours tried to do, from what I hear. No... from what I heard, they're trying to ring that 'Stic' guy right now to let him know we caught you."
---
Sure enough, several miles away in the sandstone manner, the image of Khaako suddenly appears in the war room.
"Hello? Stic, are you there?"

Not having anything else to say about the subject, Duci looks down at food he brought to her. "....And what is that?"
---
Still sitting at his table sorting paperwork, the Meowstic looks to the Avali councilors. "Yes, of course. Did something happen? I am usually the one calling you."

"It was something called 'chicken noodle', but... it seems to have gone cold." He sighs. "Would you like me to reheat it for you?"
-----
"Yes, it normally is. However, I just got a rather interesting report from Sandgun base. One I thought I should alert you to."

"Just give it to me, as is." The owl is too hungry to be picky right now.
---
"Well? Let's hear it then."

"Well, I already slid it under the door, so it should be right there for you to pick up." Easani deadpans.
---
"Well, you remember that 'Duci' girl from some time back, right?"

Duci picks up the bowl, looking at the 'chicken noodle' inside. "Hhhmm, is this some sort of...meat soup?" She said that last bit like she is accusing the Avali of having killed a mon for meat.
---
Stic nods. "Yes, how can I forget? Has she tried something else again?"

"Well yes but actually no. It's actually a meat replacement grown on something called 'meatvine', we have a few of those growing over on the hydroponics tent." He says proudly.
He leaves out the description of said vine, as just looking at things or even imagining it could quickly turn off even the most gluttonous meat-hungry Noble's appetite in an instant.
"It's not made out of any mons, so it's safe for you to eat."  He pauses. "Though I'm a little surprised you even care enough to ask."
---
"Well, she has been captured. She is currently residing in a holding cell in Sandgun base." Khaako informs him. "Sadly, they do not have the facilities to keep her a permanent prisoner, and they're requesting a transfer over to Sandstone. And your presence beforehand, at the earliest possible convenience."
Khaako puts a hand to her chin in thought. 
"Oh, you've never actually seen Sandgun base yourself, have you?" She says thoughtfully. "Well, no time like the present, if you are not too busy with anything else at the moment."

"Really now?" She takes a spoonful and brings it to her beak, swallowing it up. It does taste pretty good, and it shows as she is looking at it in surprise.
----
If that's how it has to be, then Stic is alright with it. "If my presence requires them I will make my way there as soon as possible. I will just get someone to escort me and I will be on my way."

"Good stuff, no?" Easani smiles as she eats it. "A lot better than the slop we got back in the grove. That's for sure.... though it would probably have tasted a little better when it was still hot. Ah well."
------
"Good. Have Ranii teleport you to her ship, then teleport you to Sandgun base. I will send her the teleporter coordinates."
Khaako goes wide-eyed for a second, and seemingly writes into the air.
"Note to self: Install teleporter pod in mansion for easier teleportation to and from sandgun base and other destinations in the future."

"Yeah, it is good." She swallows another spoonful of it. "That 'Seph' creature, he killed those Grove deserters like they were nothing...he didn't even used Iron."
----
Another thing they want to put in his mansion? If it's in the war room he opens it doesn't take a lot of space. "I will be waiting for Ranii here then."

"Not surprising." Easani takes out a bar, unwraps it, and begins to eat it. "He is made of something called 'Durasteel' after all. As in, completely made out of it." He chews and swallows before continuing. 
"What were they doing by the way?"
---
"Very good. I'll leave you to it then." Khaako's image disappears. Now there is only the wait for Ranii, and presumably Luca as well.

"Those deserters? They were trying to force themselves on some of the dungeon savages." She replied to his question, then gives a question of her own. "And what is Durasteel then? Is it Iron?"
---
Eventually the Lucario, followed by his Avali parthner and lover, come into the room. "Hello, Master. Ranii said that Khaako ordered us to escort you to Dynamon Sands. What gives?"
"You two are inseparable as always." The Meowstic comments at them being together. "As you know, the Avali have made a base there, it's where the artillery came from. I haven't been there myself. We are going there because they have captured a certain prisoner.........Duci."
"Her...?"

"Hmph, typical." Easani takes a bite of his bar. "They didn't get any ass in Sandstone, so they tried to get some here. Scumbags. Exactly the reason I defected."
He chews as he answers her other question. "It's basically iron... times a hundred." He says.  "Or at least that's the way I understand it."
---
"Yeah, we were enjoying a moment in the sands when we got the call." Ranii says. "But yeah, we're quite inseperable these days. Quite literally sometimes." She says with a laugh and a blush.
Once she hears what they were called in for, her mood turns a little flatter.
"Oh boy... her again."  She says. "Good to hear they caught her. Though..." She scratches her ears. "The artillery base? I wonder what in the stars she was doing there I wonder?"

"I see." She stopped eating for a moment as she took that in. "So they are the 'humans' from the legends then? bringing new ways to kill our world?"
----
Stic wonders that too. "I suppose we are going to find out. So let's set out immediately," He says.
Luca nods. "Understood, master."
He looks to Ranii. "Khaako says you will use a 'teleport' to get us there quickly. So how does that work?"

Easani simply shrugs. "Might it be? I don't know. Don't humans usually come as 'mons though?" He shrugs. "Still, so far at least pretty much every action they've taken has been defensive. Or... haven't you noticed that little detail?"
---
"Oh boy." Ranii says. "Well, first we'll have to beam to my ship. Unfortunately we can't do that in here, we have to step outside."

"Iron was also made for a 'good cause' too once. And look what it's used for now." She retorts. "What's to say they won't rain death against enemies on all the battles they fight?"
---
"Alright then, you two lead the way."

Easani finishes his bar.
"As opposed to... what?" He grumbles. "Running around razing and raping everything in sight and getting even more mons killed? Let's say your little plan succeeded and the big boom didn't happen. What do you think would have happened to the town had you succeeded? All those innocent mons now at the mercy of a raping, murdering, looting army no better than bandits. From what I hear, the first time around they didn't even wait until victory was declared before they started fucking everything in sight. And please don't give me this nonsense about 'Oh they would have been better off in the long run'. That's Mukshit. I know it, I've seen it first hand. The people you tried to conquer know it, the commander that raped you knows it...  And deep down, I think even you know it, but just don't want to acknowledge the fucking obvious."
He takes a breath. "So let me ask you this: Are you really so concerned about innocent lives? Or...." His eyes narrow. "Are you just pissy because you got cockblocked by people that told you 'no' in the most explosive way they had?"
--
Ranii leads him outside. She grabs onto him, and onto Luca. 
"A little heads up, but my ship is a little cold. Don't worry, we won't be there long."
She nods towards the latter, and they're surrounded by light. Soon they're on the teleporter on the ship.
"Welcome to my ship." She says with an extended arm. "I would give you the full tour, but not only is there not a whole lot to show, it sounds like we're needed at the base as soon as possible."

"GROVE TOWNS ARE STABLE, LEA!" The owl suddenly shouts. "There are no such things as bandits in our lands, it's safe! We grow sizable crops, we can more than sustain ourselves! And what does the Sands have?! Just sand and more sand! After all those hardships they would be as prosperous as the rest of us! I do care about our own mons, of course i do! I have suffered just as much as they have throughout my whole life! So did my ancestors who served the Grove!" She is really exploding on him right now... "What gives Sandstone the right of receiving divine assistance from outsiders?! Why are they worth of it?! The Grove survives and manages to thrive! What is Sandstone but a insignificant town unable to defend itself alone?! It should have been us! THINK WHAT WE COULD HAVE A COMPLISHED IF THESE 'AVALI' SIDED WITH US!"
---
This place certainly has a nip in the air. "Yes, it's best if we go there quickly." Stic says.

"Stable? STABLE?!" Easani shouts back. "I don't know where you came from, but it is not the part of The Grove where I came from! I'm going to guess you were some hotshot coffer's daughter before you joined the military, of your own will, before all of this? Or some high-ranking Guilder or some other position of privilege? In that case, yeah, it might look stable from your point of view, but we actual citizens of the grove, well, ex-citizen in my case, those of us who grew up poor barely clinging on and barely supporting our families, only to be whisked away by recruiters needing more meat for the grinder know the truth. Not only that..."
"You SERIOUSLY think there is no such thing as bandits in our lands?!" Easani rubs his temples."Sweet fucking Mew with a blowjob and a lapdance, what kind of propaganda have you been huffing, Duci? Of course there's bandits in the Grove! Don't be a dumbass. Hell, where do you think they get some of their more vicious recruits from?! They 'solve' their bandit problem by exporting it over here and letting them loose on the population. Hell, you're lucky there isn't anyone else in here right now, because I think I just became slightly dumber from having listened to that. If what I saw in town after town isn't banditry, I don't know what the fuck is!! You say we don't have bandits in our lands?! We have a whole army full of them!!"
"And as far as our prosperity goes... You know why we're so 'prosperous'? Because we're geographically lucky. That's it. There's no other reason. And it's a farce anyway. Oh sure, in the capital and the larger cities, among the rich and elite, yes. And like I said, if you think we're actually here to 'make them prosperous', then... really? Just... really? Open your fucking eyes. You seirously think that razing and raping everything in sight brings 'prosperity?' Seriously? How are they supposed to 'become prosperous' when we're burning everything in sight, stealing their belongings as 'mementos', and doing whatever we please to their bodies? Hmm?! Yeah, let's solve the problem of nothing growing in the sands by adding a layer of ash, blood, and decomposing bodies to it! I'm sure prosperity will magically grow out of the asses of the deceased and those too broken to even interact normally in society! MUK. SHIT!!"
Now it's his turn to scream back.
"Let me ask you something... If the Grove is so stable, then what the hell are we even doing here?! If we were really as 'stable' as you claim we are, why are we not back home, living it up in our stability? Invading other countries, letting loose the houndooms of war upon the populace. That is not what stable countries do. Are you really that dense?! You seriously cannot see the leaves for the Grove, can you?! Let me put it as bluntly as possible then: WE. ARE. NOT. HERE. TO. HELP. THE. SANDS." He says this slowly and angrily. "WE. WERE. SENT. HERE. TO. PILLAGE. AND. BURN. IT. All so that fucking little whore of a princess can have her roast suckling farfetched on her table, and her noble buddies can have more il-gotten money in their coffers."
"And what gives Sandstone the right of receiving Avail intervention? I don't know... NOT STARTING A BARBARIC WAR OF AGGRESSION BECAUSE SOME STUPID CUNT WITH A NOBLE BADGE WAS ON THE RAG ONE DAY IS A GOOD FUCKING START!"
He is about to say more, when suddenly there is a voice coming from somewhere.
"Will Easani please report to the Flag? I repeat, Easani to the Flag."
"Huh... wonder why they want me there of all places?" He gets up. "Well, I'm afraid that's it. I wish I could say it was a pleasure talking to you, but... I think we both know better."
He turns and is about to leave when he stops.
"Let me give you some advice. And if you don't want it, too fucking bad..." He pauses a breath. "If you're as concerned for the state of the world as you say you are, if you want to see the sands brought to prosperity as badly as you say you are... Or hell, if you'd rather not spend the rest of your life cooped up in a cage somewhere and/or being the rape toy of some commanding officer who doesn't give a shit about you or their men, let alone the civilian population." 
He looks over his shoulder.
"DEFECT. Trust me, it's for the better."
He then leaves, before he can even hear Duci's response, the door to the 'jail' building opening and closing with a hiss.
-----
"Alright. Here we go again." She grabs onto Stic, and having never let go of Luca during all of this, they are all surrounded by light again, and reappear, this time in a not-quite so familiar location.
They have teleported to a flag, right in the middle of Sandgun base.

She was left there, speechless. And when the Leafeon finally walked out of there she began shaking and crying. There are so many things in her mind right now, anger, and doubt being chief among them. She slumps against a wall to her side and slides down to the ground.
----
Luca and Stic look around, both of them have been to this dungeon before, in different times of course. Now they can both see that the Avali really made some changes to the place, with those metal buildings and all. It looks like they are really serious about turning this place into a base, they wonder how hard it must have been to get the dungeon to 'comply' with all of this.
"So this is the base providing help to our Town." Stic commented. "It sure looks impressive...how long have they been setting this all up?"
"Woah..." Luca looks at structures around, and at the artillery pieces too. "Are we...really in Dynamo Sands?"

"Yes you are." 
They turn, and there is a very large serpentine creature. Big enough to put even Nine to shame. And in front of him, a few Avali. And one Eevee. All in uniform.
"You must be Stic." The brown-coated Avali steps forward. "Welcome to Sandgun base. Our little melting pot of Avali, other outsiders, dungeon dwellers, ex-dungeon dwellers, and, more recently, Grove deserters-slash-defectors. I'm Nezo. This is Rali" He points an open palm towards the white-coated Avali. "This is Eilali" He points to the black-coated avali. "And this big guy..." He points up to the giant serpent like being. "Is Seph."
"Or as the dungeon dwellers around here like to call him, 'Big Daddy.'" The Eevee quips up. "Especially the younger ones."
"Oh, and that's Veers." Rali adds. "Our packmate-in-training."
"Wow...." Ranii gasps as she sees Seph. "An actual, heavy-model Synth!"
"You've seen synths before?" Seph asks Ranii.
"No. I've only heard of them. Never thought I'd see one, let alone meet one!" She says a little embarrassed. "You're so... big."

Stic has to admit, that one behind all these Avali is surely big. He then looks to Nezo. "Yes, I am Stic, leader of Sandstone." He offers a paw for him to shake. "It is nice to meet you all."
Luca almost mistook Seph for Joshua with how big he is, but he sees that he has more similarities with Nine. "What's a Synth?" He asks. He wonders why Ranii is taking an interest on Seph too, he is not jealous, he is just worried he might be too small for her taste.

"They're robot creatures." Ranii explains lightly. "I think you encountered one once?" She tries to recall from her briefing. She shakes her head soon after. "No wait, that was a Protogen. My bad."
"The difference between me and a 'protogen', such as the aforementioned Ghost-Bear pack member, is that Protogens are partially organic, partially robotic. While their exact origins are unknown, it is believed they are created from already existing creatures." Seph explains. "They are not modular, and their augmentations are permanent. A synth on the other hand, is 100% robotic, no organics, and our parts can be swapped out at will. Even hot-swapped." 
Ranii notices Lucario looking at Seph a bit funny. "Hey is something wrong Lukie?" She asks while giving his shoulder a small shake.

While he is listening to Seph explain himself to the others, Stic decides to ask a question to Nezo. "So...about the prisoner you got recently. How did you manage to apprehend her? Do you know why she was here?"
"Huh?" Luca looks down at her. "No, no. He just kind of reminded me of Nine, another tall creature that was here with those first Avali that came here before you. This guy is uuuuh...certainly bigger than him though."

"Well, I am running on the 'large scale' blueprint." Seph replies to Luca. 
"Actually we just sort of found her." Nezo explains "One of our guide drones spotted her hiding out in some rocks while Seph was dealing with some Grove deserters-"
"-The bad kind." Veers adds. "We've been getting a lot of those as of late ever since the big boom. Mostly the bad kind. Not like-"
"Right right."  Nezo deapans. "Anyway, some bad grove deserters were trying to force themselves upon some dungeon dwellers. And on top of that, a group we've had contact with previously. Well, unfortunately for them, Seph, or 'Big Daddy' was in the area, and... well, said deserters didn't last long. Wait, what were we talking about again?" Nezo scratches his ears.
"We were talking about the prisoner." Rali replies flatly. 
"Oh right right." Nezo replies with embarrassment. "Anyway, while we were trying to catch up to her, our guide drone spotted her, scanned her, but we were in a hurry so we told it to follow us. It wasn't until the next day that another drone picked her up, and we were sent to investigate. We found her sleeping face down in a maze corner."

"So you must have found her alone then." The Meowstic rubs his chin. "And just...sleeping there on the ground? Strange...anything else to add to this?"
The Lucario looks at the Eevee in uniform, the one they said is their 'packmate-in-training'. "You are one of the dungeon dwellers that joined the Avali?"

"Yep! Sure am!" Veers replies cheerfully to Lucario. "I have to admit, I was nervous of them at first. But they were nice, they offered me free food. So I followed them. And long story short here I am!"
"Yes." Nezo adds. "There was the fact that-"
"What's going on here?" Someone interrupts Nezo as they approach. The others turn towards the voice. A leafeon approaches them.
"Ah, there you are, Easani."Nezo greets him. "About time, I was just greeting our guests." 
"Guests huh?" He looks at them.  "So to whom and what do I owe the pleasure?"
"'Easani?' Ranii comments. "That's an Avali name."
"Right you are." Easani replies. "I hated the name that The Grove forced upon me when they drafted me into this stupid war of thiers, so when I defected to the Avali, I took one of theirs instead."

"Oh, you were with the Grove?" Stic questions as he turns to this new arrival. "Were you part of any of the two attacks against Sandstone?" 
"What about the other pokémon around here? Are they also dungeon dwellers?" Luca asks.

"Nah." Easani replies. "I deserted during the battle of Bad Canyon. I did visit Sandstone for a while, before moving into the maze to try and hopefully find some sort of life here, as little as it would have been. But that was before the Avali showed up. Actually..." He puts his hand to his chin in thought. "I've been needing to go back there as soon as I have some leave time. I hear you guys have done a good job fixing up the place.... plus I still have to pay my tab at the Barthol..."
"Some of them are, some of them are, as I've said, grove deserters and defectors." Nezo explains.
"We should get back on topic about Duci." Rali sighs.
"Oh... right." Nezo explains. 
"Wait, that's what this is about?" Easani "Ah, I see. You're here to pick her up. Huh." He nods thoughtfully with that paw on his chin. "I was honestly expecting for us to have to hold onto her for at  least another week. Ah well."
"We were just about to explain how we found out that she'd been raped... by her own commanding officer... when we found her." Eilali interjects.
"I'm pretty sure they already know about that." Easani tells her, he then looks over and sees the shocked look on their faces.
".... You... did know about that.... right?" Easani says awkwardly.

The meowstic sighs and shakes his head. "No, we did not know that..." Given Duci's rank he never expected that to happen to her. "So I think that she must be injured then?"
"They raped her?!" Luca is shocked too. "Is the Grove THAT insane? I thought she was important to them!"

Ranii is just as shocked, and horrified. 
"Yes, yes they did." Easani sighs. "I suppose we'll have to give you the drone footage too. It's... not pretty. But I'll sum it up. Basically, when Duci failed to take Sandstone for the second time, her commander, a Skiddo, got real pissy about his men not having holes to fill. So he 'punished' her by raping her, and threatened to allow every soldier in the camp to do the same. But instead he plans on turning her into his private little sex slave under the guize of 'disciplinary action'. When we fired the warning shot near their camp, she took the opportunity to fly off, towards the dungeon. And that's when we found her."
He looks towards Luca. "Yes... yes they are that insane. Why do you think I left the army? Though then again it wasn't like I really wanted to join in the first place."

"So she came here out of her own volition?" For Stic this is certainly a turn of events which he didn't see coming, much less involving Duci of all mons. "So did she leave the Grove too then?"

"Er... Well yes but actually no." Easani replies with a sigh. "She deserted the camp, that much is right. Though she didn't come here to try to defect, if that's what you're asking."
"It seems she came here to try and find out what the big booms were coming from, with the idea of reporting back to this 'Ivy' person to try to prevent more grove lives from being lost." Nezo explains. "It seems she was hoping that her 'deserter' status would also get lifted if she did that."
"Something that would have backfired spectacularly, I might add." Easani adds with a huff. "On both counts. So, no, she hasn't 'defected' like I did. Sadly. I tried talking with her earlier but I don't think I was able to get through to her. Maybe you guys will have more luck?"
"Wait." Ranii says. "'Warning shot near the camp?'" She asks, noticing that Stic and Luca had apparently missed that little detail. "You mean you guys fired the gun again?! How many more did you kill!? I mean I know they're Grove soldiers and everything, but-"
"None!" Nezo protests. "It was just a warning shot to get them to disperse from the area."
"He's right." Easani replies. "Knowing what I know of the Grove, their next go-to plan, especially without any real voice of reason, and horniness guiding their actions, would have been to camp around the outside of Sandstone and starve it until they either capitulated or they grew weak enough for another attack."
"Right." Nezo replies. "We simply fired a warning shot at an unoccupied area around the camp, just to say 'no, we aren't going to allow you to do that either. Get out of here.'"
"And from the drone reports, it appears to have the intended effect." Easani finishes. "Duci's former camp appears to have moved on."

So the guns didn't kill anyone else? Good. After what happened that day Stic really hopes to not have to use it again against living targets. Still, a little heads up would have been nice. "Right, so Sandstone is no longer under threat, and is unlikely to come under further threats any time soon. Good to know that is confirmed now."
"Well Master...what do we do with Duci then?" Luca asks.
In truth, Stic still doesn't know just yet, he is trying to calculate what might happen with her from here, it is too soon for that though. "I suppose that from here I can go talk with her, Luca, Ranii, you don't have to come with me if you don't want to." He then looks to Easani. "Might ask for some guidance as to where she is being detained right now?"

"We'll come with you." Ranii replies to Stic. "Just in case."
"Yes of course." Easani replies. He turns and motions for them to follow as he heads towards the jail building. Ranii nods towards Stic and follows.

The Meowstic and the Lucario follow the Leafeon to the jail building.
"Was the dungeon very problematic to your attempts to settle in it like this?" Stic questions while they are on their way to their destination. "There is talk of it having a will of it's own. It hasn't tried to expunge you or anything, has it?"

"I wasn't around for that part of it, but I heard that it did at first." Easani responds. "They had to put a shield generator up just to keep the walls outside of the base instead of trying to intrude inward. Though now... from what I've heard the dungeon has become a lot less 'persistent' with trying. If there is some sort of 'Maze God' or whatever, it seems like it's either given up, or realized that we were giving the dwellers food and medical care and generally being nice to them, so it decided to lay off.'"

"I see. Intriguing."
Meanwhile, in her prison cell, Duci had finished her meal long ago. She is currently lying on her bed, curled up and thinking about what Easani had said to her earlier.

"And here we are." Easani announces as he opens the door for them. It opens with a hiss, two halfs retreating into the walls. He goes first, and leads them to the cell. He knocks on the cell to get her attention.
"Wake up Duci. You have visitors." He speaks loudly, yet not quite shouting at her. "It seems your stay here was a lot shorter than I expected."
Ranii looks on at the Decidueye laying on the bed, a twang of pity filling her chest as she sees what state she's currently in.

"I might ask you to hold on to her for a while, she looks like she is in bad shape." Stic whispers to Easani, after seeing how the owl is.
Luca can't believe he is feeling sorry for the mon who tried to run him through with a spear. "Hhhhmmm... can't believe they really did that to her...." He says to Ranii.
The decidueye turns on her bed to face them, seeing those familiar faces. She already doesn't look happy to see them.  "...What? Why are YOU here now? You want to laugh at me? Humiliate me further...?"

"Well, I was under the impression that they were here to take you back to Sandstone, but apparently not." Easani is getting a little confused now.
"Laugh at you, what for?" Ranii asks.

"Just until she is not as injured as this. We can't quite provide the care you can as of yet." Stic explained before stepping towards the cell.
She doesn't know how to reply to the Avali, so she says nothing to that.
"Duci." The Meowstic talks to her now. "Just tell me, what do you hope to accomplish here..."
"Stic..." She scoffs. "I want to report to Princess Ivy what happened here, she...she should know what to do."
"Do you know princess Ivy well enough, Duci?" He asks. "What exactly do you think she would do about this? Moreover...are you really doing this for the Grove? Then why did you desert?"
"I didn't desert." She insists. "Those fools back at the camp...they couldn't see reason."

Easani sighs. "Duci, we talked about this. This isn't just a problem with one or two people back at your camp, it's a Grove problem in general. And as for Ivy... Well I don't know her all that well either, but based on her current actions and the actions of every noble I've come across, Grove or otherwise, At best she'll simply dismiss you out of hand, you'll be carted off to a far less comfortable dungeon with no rules against rape or torture to hold the scum back, to rot away for the rest of your life, if not publicly executed. At worst..."
He sighs. 
"She'll believe you, and do the exact opposite of what you're trying to do: She'll send a whole army to invade Dynamo Sands because she's that vain-glorious. A move that I'm sure even you know is suicide on its own, let alone with the Avali this dug-in. We can't even conquer the Mystery Dungeons back in the Grove with ample logistics and reinforcements, let alone way out here. And then when you try to protest that... well, I already mentioned the whole 'thrown in the dungeon' thing."

Perhaps there is a way to convince Duci, or at least get her out of this stubborn stupor, it might hurt but Stic will have to deconstruct her logic. "Tell me, what makes you so certain that the princess will do what you expect her to do? What is happening here is something the rest of the world doesn't know about, there is a big chance that she won't believe you, you know that." He gives a small pause. "If I let you got, and you made it back to the Grove, what do you think would happen to you? Be honest...I know you are smart."
The owl lowers her head. "I would die...I know it. I'm not sure if I would be able to explain to the princess what is happening here right now." She begins to shake as she imagines the scenario playing on her head, never ending well for her. "But I must at least beg her not to hold my family accountable for my cowardice and desertion by offering my own life..."
"Hhhmmm, the pressure on you must be a lot right now, I understand." Stic says. As far as he knows, it seems that there is nothing that can be done for her family right now. "...But you can not put aside the possibility that the princess will do worse to you than that. She could kill you WITH your family all the same. It doesn't matter how much you apologize or try to sacrifice yourself, she won't care about that."
"No...no." The Decidueye gets up from her bed. it looks like the Meowstic's argument must have hit something there. "That can't happen! I served the Grove loyally my whole life! S-she must have some modicum of mercy for me!"
"Like she is showing mercy to the land of Sands?"

"Just like I was trying to tell you." Easani adds in. Before he was content to just let Stic have his turn. 
"Believe me, I've seen how the Grove 'improves' the lands of the Sands. It isn't pretty. Or 'improvement' by any sort of metric."

Stic continues. "Your idea is noble, Duci, wanting to protect one's family, but it is not going to work. Bowing down to the Grove is not going to make them go easy on you. Your faith in Ivy is very misplaced."
It looks like the owl is about to have another breakdown again...and it happens. "THEN WHY DID I LEFT THEN?! FOR NOTHING?!" With shouting and crying, she continues. "I should have learned how to enjoy getting raped by them...shouldn't i? If only I kept my mouth shut and obeyed him then...then..."
"No." Stic interjects. "You would have had a far more painful and disgraceful fate if you didn't run away from your camp when you had the chance."

"Perhaps you left for the same reason I did, but don't know it." Easani tells her. "That somewhere deep down, you knew it was all wrong. That just about everything you've been told by those two-faced fuckers is a bold-faced lie. You wanna know why you left? The answer is staring you right in the face, and yet you're still so hung up on Ivy-Worship that you refuse to see it. "

Stic points at her. "I know you are not doing this for Ivy, or the Grove. If you were like that you will be far more vocal about the 'good' of the Grove. But you aren't blind to it, you know it's there." He gets a little closer to the bar. "You have just been doing what you have always been doing: being submissive to those above you, hoping that they will show you mercy. A military career on the Grove can not be a straightforward one."
The Decidueye is looking defeated right now, her head hanging low, tears falling to the ground. "It...it wasn't...good, but I had to give myself to others to secure my future in the Grove...I praised those unworthy of praise, I allowed them to use me as they saw fit, I even had to endure laying an egg because of it." She sobs. "Still...i was lucky, depending on where you are from, you either have a chance to climb the ranks or remain a soldier forever..."
Hearing all of this, Luca looks down to Ranii. "She sounds like...she really had it rough."
The Meowstic decides to move to the next point to prod at, perhaps the one that might be the hardest one since it's the source of why Duci is doing all of this. "What about your family, Duci?" 

"Wait... were you ever forced to actually lay eggs for them?" Ranii asks in surprise.

"Yes...but not...in the way it sounds..." She said between sobs. "Sometimes a superior would put an egg in me by accident, and they didn't want to tarnish their reputation by having someone find out that they impregnated their subordinate with a child they did not want. They forced me to keep quiet about it and when the eggs came out...they took them away. I don't know what they did with it, but I never saw those eggs again. This happened twice...with two different pokémon..."

Ranii is horrified to say the least. 
Easani is visibly less so, having seen shit like this throughout his military 'career' in the Grove. 
"If the bars weren't in the way, I'd give you a comforting pat on the back." He says. "I know... saying this doesn't take away the pain you felt then, and it won't bring your eggs back, but I can assure you, that no such thing occurs here with these guys." He nods towards Ranii, indicating he's referring to the Avali as a whole.
"He's right." Ranii assures her. "Rape in Avali society, let alone in the military like this, carries a very severe punishment, regardless of who does it or who receives it."

Luca doesn't know if he should say anything, it looks like Stic is not done talking with her.
"Well?" The Meowstic still has a question up in the air for her of course.
"I don't...know anymore..." Duci says. "If I try to warn them of what I did, even if I try to get them out of there, they will certainly not accept me." She sounds hopeless now. "Can you please just...kill me?"
Stic sighs and shakes his head. "No, we are not going to do that. Don't misunderstand, we do not want you to suffer, but that is not a way to deal with this."
"Then what do you want from me then...? You want me to end up like him?" She looks to Easani as she says this.

"Why not?" Easani sounds a little indignant. "It's better than your other alternatives, that's for sure."

Stic sees that Duci is not saying anything else right now, perhaps it's best to let her think things over. He turns to the others. "Easani, can we discuss outside for now?"
Oh, so they are going to leave this little prison already? Luca gives one last pitiful look at the owl behind bars.

"Alright." Easani nods. 
He gives one last look at her. 
"Think it over." 
He heads out, Ranii follows him.

Once they are out of there, Luca speaks up. "So what are we going to do with her, master?"
"That's what I want to discuss right now." Stic says. "I know for a fact that we can not let her go back to the Grove, what is trying can only end badly for her. Also Easani, i wanted to ask you to keep her here for a little while, from what i can see in this place she can better recover both in body and mind. The dungeon under the mansion was not built for comfort I'm afraid...we have the previous owners to thank for that."

"Well I'm not the base commander, not by a long shot." He chuckles a bit at that last part. "But I'll pass your request onto them, and, given that it's you, I can almost guarantee that it'll be accepted. I mean I can definitely see where you're coming from here. And I imagine that the dungeons in Sandstone aren't very comfortable. I just thought that since you and the other two-" He looks at Luca and Ranii "-have a history with her, that you'd want to keep an eye on her yourselves."

"Hhhmmm, I suppose we could? What do you think, Master?" Luca says.

"Doesn't sound impossible to me. Khaako said that she is going to put a teleporter in the mansion, which I think will make it easy to come and go from there to here, which should make it easy to visit her if needed." Stic nods. "But if the base commander doesn't accept it, it's fine, I will think of something else. I know we are hoping for Duci to change, but that's not going to happen overnight."

"Wait we're getting a teleporter to Sandstone now?" Easali says. "Oh that's neat! Maybe I can finally go and see what you've done with the place. I mean, I've heard good things, but I haven't been there since... well, since about a month or two now."
"Plus I really need to pay off my Barthol tab." He says under his breath. "Now that I actually have income." 
Ranii's ears twich as she hears some joyful shouting. She looks over, expecting to see something going on... only to find that Synth from before, he's running around the base on all fours while a Pichu and a Cubone ride on his back, laughing all the way while a furret looks on with a happy look on her face.
"Aww... how cute." She remarks, thinking back to her childhood when she'd ride on her adoptive father's back. 
"Heh, looks like 'Big Daddy' is playing papa with some dwellers again." Easani replies.
Seph stops after a while, and the Pichu and Cubone get off. Seph gives the two of them a hug.
Suddenly, the Pichu is surrounded in a bright light, and the other three shield their eyes. Even from that distance, Ranii is forced to not look directly at it. The light fades, and they look and see, not a PIchu standing there, but a Pikachu.

"Well, come visit whenever the teleporter is up and running them." The cat then turns to Ranii and Luca, but it seems like they are looking at something right now. Oh, it looks like that little one is evolving.
Luca was wondering what Ranii was looking at, then he looked at the mons playing with the synth. He also got to witness that evolution happen. "Oh, that Pichu evolved!" He says, surprised.

"That's what evolving looks like?" Ranii has heard of it, but she never saw it first hand.
The pikachu looks at itself, and then there's joyful shouting over there. The cubone hugs his friend very tightly, the Furret comes over and does the same, and then invites the very confused Synth over.  The synth scratches the back of its head, but shrugs and comes over and hugs him... her? Ranii can't tell from there which it is.

"Yes, that's what evolution looks like." Stic says he walks to their side. "What do you think, Ranii?"
"Oh yeah, this is your first time seeing this huh?" Luca should have thought this was the case, he hangs out with her the most after all, but he thought there would be a chance that she saw something like this already.

"I... Don't really know how to describe it." It's weird. Definitely not something she's used to seeing. And something she's going to have to get used to seeing. "I'm honestly surprised I never saw it happen earlier with anyone else..."
She turns to Luca.
"Wait, does that also happen to you? Or Stic?"

"It happened to us, yes." Stic holds a paw at about his waist. "I used to be this tall before i evolved. Small, with wide eyes and uncontrollable psychic power. I was also known as Es at the time."
"And well, you know about me." Luca said. "I told you that i used to be a Riolu before Stic found me, i was called Rio too."

"Ah...." Ranii does recall Luca's story at least, this is the first time she's heard Stic's story though. 
This was not really what she was asking though.
"I mean, is this going to happen to either of you in the future?"

The feline shakes his head. "I'm afraid not, this is as far as both of us can evolve."

Ranii breathes a big sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good." She hugs Luca. "I like my blue fighty fluffy dog just as he is."

The Lucario blushes and chuckles. "Thanks for liking me the way I am." He gives her a hug with one arm.
Stic smiles seeing them like this, they are a cute couple. "Well...so Ranii, we will go back to Sandstone the same way we left?"

"Alright. If there's nothing else..." She doesn't think there is, but she does have to ask in case there was any lingering business here.

"Not here. I gotta get back to crossbow training." Luca says.
Stic gives a nod. "Yeah, I think we are clear to go back but...while we are on the ship, could I have a look around?" Even if he saw it for just a moment he did get a bit curious.

"Alright. I'll beam us back to the ship, beam Luca back to the mansion, then come back to give you the tour." She says as she grabs the two of them. They're surrounded in light, and then they're back on the ship.
Once they're back on the ship, true to her word, she lets go of Stic, and disappears with Luca. Stic is left alone on the strange, rather chilly vessel for only a few moments until she comes back, also alone, in a flash of light.
"Alright. I know I didn't really say it before, but... welcome to my ship."

"Hhhmmmm..." The Meowstic gives another curious look around. "So is this place your home?"

"Pretty much. It's not as fancy as some other pack's ship. I'm not sure if you saw the Ghost Bear's ship when they were here or not, though I hear it's much fancier. This... is basically just a hollowed out ice comet in a dome with some life support, some engines, and some living space." She says. "I'll take you down below first, then topside. though the right smack dab in the middle is my living area. It's got hammocks and stuff. Not much to say here."
She then takes him down below via the elevator.
"And this is my biolab. Honestly, before I learned about Luca's... erm... 'penile problems', or rather, lack thereof, I'd forgotten I even had it. Let's just say it's gotten more use as of late." She gives a nervous laugh.

He looks at all the technological stuff in the biolab. "So here is where you fixed Luca's 'problem' you say? Hhhmmm is this some sort of medicinal place?"

"Yeah, you could say that." She says with a bored handwave. "I honestly only ever used it in emergencies or when I was still doing science missions when I was just starting out with the AEF. I... really don't miss those days." She says with a sigh. "I'd try to explain how everything works, but it would probably take hours."

"I see. Say...where exactly is 'here' right now? As in the location where this ship is?"

"It's in orbit high above the planet." She answers matter-of-factly. 
"Oh!" She says with a wide-eyed expression. "I guess I should show you that now. Follow me."
She leads Stic back up the elevator, and up to the other one. To the glass dome part.
"This is my 'garden' per say. It's where I keep interesting plants to grow to make into meals to eat ...when I'm not down below. Buuut speaking of whiiiich...."
Her hand outstretched toward the glass dome. Towards the planet below.
"Say hello to your world."

Stic stared at the plants for a moment. When he looked towards the edge of the dome though, he could see the planet, and was left stunned. He walked closer to the glass, placing his paws on it. He can indeed see everything from here...the desert where the land of Sands are, and to the north is the white of the land of snow, and down to the south he sees the vast green of the Grove.

"Seeing the planet from up here... It almost makes you forget about all the troubles the world is in, doesn't it?" She says calmly.

"Yeah, it really does. I could just...look at this forever."

She places a hand on his shoulder, as she joins him in watching for a long, long while...
"I guess we found another way to help you relax, didn't we?" She suddenly makes a small joke there.

Stic kind of got lost in the beauty of the planet, when Ranii spoke he finally snapped out of it. "Huh? Yeah, you definitely did." He smiles. "So why is this called a 'ship'? does it sail?" He does know of 'ships' that sail the seas of his world.

"In a manner of speaking. It flies... through space. 'Space' being all that black stuff around you."

"Hhhmmmm..." So space is like an ocean and planets like his are land, he is thinking this metaphorically but it's one way to understand it. He looks back down to the planet once more. "I never imagined there being much beyond this world...until you came along that is."

"Yeah, it's a big universe." Ranii answers him, also looking at the planet.

"I can't imagine how big." Stic gives her a small pat on the back to get her attention. "Well...this has been good but, I think it's high time I go back to the mansion, I'm only going to get busier from here until I get someone with experience in management to share some of the workload."

"Yeah, I'm sure Khaako's got her own issues. Hmm hope you get someone soon." She says. "Anyway, hold onto me, and I'll teleport us right outside of the Manor."

"Okay." One of his paws is placed on her shoulder, he is ready to be teleported with her.

They are surrounded by light, and one moment later, the light fades, and they are back at the Manor. "Well, hope you enjoyed that." Ranii lets go of him as soon as they arrive. "Let me know if you want another planetary viewing session."

He nods with a smile. "Yes, of course. Thank you for that by the way."

She nods back. "Well, off to find Luca again." She says. "Oh, and once the  teleporter is up.... good luck with Duci."
-----
Meanwhile, back at the base, Easani comes back to the cell.
"I'm here to pick up your bowl from earlier." He tells the captive Duci. "Oh, and it seems I've been assigned to be your caretaker." One can tell he's not very enthused with that bit of news.

"I hope for the best with her." Stic looks at the mansion. "Is there anything else you want to say before i go back to work?"
---
The Owl is currently sitting on her bed, her head hanging low as she stares at the ground. "It's...it's right over there..." By that she means the bowl, empty of it's contents, is on the floor next to the bars, the Leafeon can probably pick it up from there?

"Not really. Other than have a good day." 
She nods to him and wanders off to find Luca.
---
Indeed he can. He squats down, and picks up the bowl from the place right by the door she left it in. 
"Do you need anything else?" He asks. "Er, within reason, of course."

"Have a good day as well." With that, The Meowstic makes his way back to the war room. He passes by the round table in the middle and goes to his own smaller table. Now he is back here, it's time to get back to work. "Khaaoko, Mattias." He calls them.
The human's hologram flickers into being from the medallion. "Hhhmmm? Did i missed a lot?"
----
"I'm...starting to ache again. That Avali that helped me told me to use more of that..." She looks to that drawer that has the pills and that cream, it's later that she is looking at though. "...can you...do it for me?"

Khaako's likewise flickers.
"Yes, Stic?" She asks. "Did your visit with the prisoner go well?"
----
"Well I can. Buuuuuuuut first, I should warn you of a few things. Just on the off chance this is some sort of scheme to try to knock me out and get out of here." He tells her sternly. 
"First off, if you're spotted getting out of here, this base will go on alert. A base full of Avalis with weapons that are like iron... except they can hit you from a distance with them. And very accurately too. With multiple shots. Really fast." He warns. "Oh, and don't think you can just grab one off of them or from somewhere else.... I don't know how they work, but they can tell when they're in the hands of someone they shouldn't be. We already had one guy out in the dungeon trying to be a real smartass and grab one of the guns of the avali patrols.... it blew up in his hands. Messy."
He takes a breath.
"Also, even if you were to get outside, you couldn't escape anyway. The doors are all locked when they're not in use. And as for flying over the wall... well... from what I heard, they have this 'shield' that basically keeps the dungeon walls from creeping inside of the base. Though, unfortunately for you, it also keeps anything else from getting in or out, save for the doors. I think they lower them whenever they fire the big boom, but since that's not going to happen again for the foreseeable future... well.. you'd fly up, and then basically hit an invisible ceiling."
He finishes. 
"Okay with that warning out of the way, I'm going to open this door, and come in. No funny business, got it?"

"Yes, it went well. She will remain there for the moment though." The Meowstic said before placing his hands upon the table. "I know plans to start farms are underway. But is there anything else?"
"Hhhmmm, well you know one way to create more jobs and improve the quality of life of everyone in town should be to be a sanitarium." Mattias suggests. "You don't have anything dedicated to healing as far as i know."
---
"I already figured..." She laments. Seems like Duci is just going to stay there and not try anything. "They bested the Grove with no difficulty, saw through my disguise and conquered a dungeon. I knew it wouldn't be different if I tried to escape..."

"Well, I quite agree with that notion. Health Care will go a looong way." Khaako adds. "But to run such facilities, you also need education. I'm going to assume the sandstone lord didn't put a very high priority on public education. Or any at all. Or even had any concept of it?"
---
"Alright." He presses a button on the door, and the door opens. He steps through, and the door closes behind him.
"I assume that's your cream over on the desk?" He inquires as he picks up the can.
"Okay. So I wasn't there for the doctor's visit. Where did he say you need this applied to?"

"Unfortunately he did not." Stic comfirms.
"Well, I think it would be possible to teach medicine at the sanitarium but it would be a must for people to have basic education first before trying to learn it." Mattias adds in. "So I suppose we are building a school? Then I guess that moves the issue to 'who is going to be teaching the students'."
----
"If i remember correctly the doctor spread it around my vagina and my rear entrance..." It feels pretty shameful to ask for this sort of help.

"Hmm It would be best if we had locals teaching, it would look out of place if we had avali running around. That said... We can put together a curriculum. However, a literacy campaign might be the best place to start. Short term goal: Zero percent illiteracy in the next few months."
----
A blush forms on the Leafeon's face. He may have gone through a lot. He may have a lot more discipline than most. But at the end of the day... he's still a male, in the presence of a quite attractive female. And he isn't as 'medically detached' as the good doctor.
"Er... uh... alright." He applies some cream to his paw. "If you'll uh... spread yourself for me.... I mean... for this. Yes."

"Hhhmmm..." Stic things for a moment. "Alright, then, I believe that we can get someone to start teaching the citizens how to read. And we could make the 'curriculum' happen." That word must be foreign to the Meowstic.
"Alright then, we just need to decide on a good place in town to get this going!" Mattias sounds enthusiastic, it does seem like a good plan is coming together here after all. "There is probably space for you to start up a place of basic teaching."
"Yes, indeed. But we will probably need a few things..."
"Oh yeah, in order to teach words you need to write them."
-----
The Decidueye complies and spreads her legs to allow him access to her lower parts. "There..."

"Hmmm yes. That would be quite the priority."
----
Now blushing even further as he lays eyes on that pussy of hers, he steps forward, and reaches out... and rubs the cream onto her pussy, smearing it onto the outside of it. 
It's taking everything in him not to get turned on by this. To keep his dick contained. But so far at least he seems to be doing it. He scrunches his legs a little to try and keep the organ that threatens to poke out of its sheath where it is.
"Okay... and uh... your rear? If you'll turn on your belly."

"I think paper and charcoal should be a good start, if you could find a good provider of it." The human says, looking at Khaako.
"I think for times like this we should look to trading." Stic spoke up. "All the fighting will probably affect merchant businesses negatively throughout the land of sands, but a supply line to import what we need should help too.
----
Duci can see that he is hiding something down there between his legs, it's not too hard to figure out what it is. But at least it seems like he is not going to act upon it. She lays down on her front upon the bed, just like he instructed her to.

"All good suggestions... only trouble is, where do we import from? not from the Grove controlled towns for obvious reasons. I'm not sure the sands-controlled ones will be any more cordial, if there are still any...."
----
WIth a sigh he lets go of his legs, allowing the good size organ to finally pop out free. It's canine, of course, with a knot at the base of it.
Eager to get this over with, he spreads her asscheeks, and rubs the cream onto her ass. All while stray thoughts of getting on the bed with her, touching her, doing very lewd things with his former commander, like sticking that thick meat of his slowly into that pussy of hers and gently fucking her, all pop into his brain of his. He tries to blot them out, but it's of no use. 
By the time he's done, he's got a raging hard-on, and he turns around as he puts the cap back on the bottle, and quickly sets it on the counter.
"Alright, that should be good." He says.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that stopping the Grove here must have saved some other towns. From what I see of their movement they must have been banking on taking as many towns as possible as quickly as possible." Mattias explained.
"You know how they are moving...?" Stic asks.
"Yeah, of course. So there are a few towns that haven't fallen yet, what happened here must have killed their advance on this part of the land of sands, not the others ones though. So you could send someone there, what's more this also gives an opportunity to get imports from the land of snow...maybe. I have the feeling that might another story."
---
"Thank you, L.....Easani." She says to him, glad that he really didn't take this opportunity to not do anything bad to her. Seems like this 'Avali' really does play by the rules they put in place.

"The Land of Snow... sounds like a nice vacation spot." Khaako muses to herself. "But anyway... that sounds like it might work Mattias."
---
"Yeah..." He's too concentrated on hiding his boner to realize that she remembered his new name correctly. He was able to control his actions, easily, but his body, not so much.  "Anyway, I'm going to go. I have to go to the bathroom to do ... bathroom stuff... in the bathroom. Yeah." He quickly goes to the door, and surprisingly, it opens for him on its own. As he passes through, it closes again. He quickly runs off.
"I'll be back once I'm done!" He shouts as he runs off to the 'bathroom'. To do bathroom stuff....
... Oh who are we kidding? It's fairly obvious what he really intends to do there.  To relieve himself of the boner he failed to contain.

"Then i guess it's time we send someone north to those towns then." Stic nods. "Anything else?"
"You going to send some troops to liberate Grove controlled towns, right? How's that coming up?" Mattias asks.
"Training is still proceeding." The Meowstic answers. "But it is coming along nicely, we are building discipline and team work. And of course they are learning the rules of war that the Avali go by, those accords."
---
Seeing the Leafeon like that is almost cute, she didn't know it would be this easy for him to get flustered. Though she wonders if he will really be coming back so soon.

"Very good." Khaako replies to that last part. "Best to instill that now, because trying to foist it on an existing army that's used to raping and marauding would... not go well."
---
A few moments pass, and true to his word, a familiar door is heard, followed by footsteps approaching her cell.
"Yeah... sorry about that." Easani says as he returns, he's holding his paw to the back of his head, and looking off to the side a little. "Anyway, will there be anything else?"

"Alright then, is anything else for us to discuss?" If not, Stic should probably get back to work.
"Not anything that requires any immediate attention, no." Mattias says. Seems like the human has nothing else to say for now.
----
Oh, so he did come back. Duci looks to other grass-type. She has a question for him. "What do you think these Avali want with us?"

"Nothing else on my end either." Khaako says. 
------
"Well, I can't say for one hundred percent certain, you would probably need to ask one directly, but, I can guess..." He says as he sits down outside of the cell.
"First off, it's not a straight conquest. That much is obvious." He says. "I mean if it were, I would not have joined. Not that my being here or not being here would have made a difference. If they were going for straight conquest, they'd have more than likely already taken over the entirety of the sands, not just giving aid to a certain guild, and they'd more than likely be beatting down the Grove's door with their guns, artillery, drones, and nexus-knows what else by now."

"Alright then, I need to get back to work. If anything that requires my attention comes up, please let me know." Stic says to them.
"Okay, I'm gone then." Mattias' hologram disappears
-----
That feels like it makes a lot of sense, the Avali certainly have proven themselves strong. "So you are worshipping this 'nexus' like the rest of this dungeon? How did that started?"

"Same here. Good luck, Stic." Khaako's hologram disappears as well.
---
"I personally don't 'worship' the nexus, and I'm pretty sure the Avali don't 'worship' it either. In fact I've never actually seen them worship anything. Hell I'm not even entirely sure what it is." The leafeon shrugs. "And beats me how it got started. I think the Avali just use it in place of a god whenever they say something like 'Drought knows what's going on' or 'Maze help us all.' And since they became fast friends with the Dungeon Dwellers, I think they might have just picked it up without realizing what exactly it is. That's pretty much how I started doing it. When in the Sands do as the Sanders. Or rather, when in an avali military base, do what the avali do. And all that."
He pauses for a bit.
"Or maybe there is some sort of effort to push 'nexus worship' as some sort of religious motivator. Hell if I know. I mean, nexus-knows the 'gods' we worship, like the drought, maze, the growth, etc. Don't give a shit about us and really don't motivate us to do anything to improve our lives any..."
He takes a breath before continuing. 
"But going back to the previous topic for a moment. One word I've heard thrown around a lot is 'uplifting'. Like, trying to bring us to their level technologically... I think? Or something like that."

"Hhhhhh..." She could probably say something to compare the current events with the past history of human intervention, but she probably mentioned something like that already. "Can they provide other more...helpful things?" So far when it comes to these 'Avali', it's their explosive rain of death that comes to mind.

"Well you've already seen some of the medical care. Some of it, but definitely not all of it. I think I've already mentioned the hydroponics tent where they grow food in trays. Advanced teleportation to reduced walking distance. 'Space' travel, whatever that is. A lot of other stuff I don't know about personally."

"Hhhhmmm..." She really hesitates to ask this next question, as the Decidueye is not sure if she will get mocked for it, and there are some moral difficulties with it too. "... you think they would accept me like they accepted you?"

"More than likely." Easani replies without a moment of hesitation, or mockery. "In fact I think that's kind of the point."

The owl hums in thought. "They are so forgiving...if anyone else captured me, I would be dead for sure." She sighs. "To be honest i.....don't know what to believe in anymore. No longer being part of the Grove, being captured by beings not from this world...feels like I'm going mad..."

"Yeah... it took me several days to wrap my head around it too. I'm still not sure I've completely done it." Easani sighs.

"So if I am not to die, what then?" She looks him in the eyes as asks that, though her own eyes still look defeated. "I can't imagine why they would hold me here if they don't intend to use me...I am to remain locked here forever?"

"I doubt the latter." He says. "And I'm afraid I really can't answer that as I don't have the answer myself."

"I see..." She remained in silence before deciding to tell him something else. "You know, the Grove would not have stopped with just the Sands...Ivy has plans to go for the Land of Snow as well."

"That does not surprise me at all. Ivy always did strike me as the kind that thinks she's the next Iron King." Easani sighs. "It's good to know, but not surprising in the least. Still, I suppose the higher ups would like to know about that... Though it also reinforces what Stic and I both said about returning to her being a horrible idea. She'd rather foolishly decide to double down on taking Sandstone instead of leaving well enough alone."

"I just hope this pain completely goes away soon..." The owl moves herself on her bed a little, getting in a comfortable position. "Can you come back another time...? i'm tired." Physically she is way better than when she was before, but mentally she is still exhausted.

"Yeah..." He says as he gets up. "Once your pain goes away, I'll see if we can't have you out and about to see the base. Or at least get some exercise." 
He gives her a polite bow.
"Rest well, Duci." With that, he leaves her to rest up.

Decidueye is grateful for him, something she did not expect. Hell, she didn't expect compassion from the enemy either, even though Easani has every right to hate her. Maybe...maybe the Avali aren't wrong in their ways.