The Dekmár Roads: The Factions of Natorna

Chapter 1: Routine Shipment

        'The sky is glowing brightly tonight,' thought a middle-aged Norpeal male in his native tongue. The race of people as a whole could only speak Natecz and most were not even aware that other languages existed. He lived in a place called Natena, a planet whose people were specified as Natenta. As a singular Natent, a faction member who oversaw services and transporting of goods, he was able to easily move from his home world to other planets like this one without suspicion.

        Cearfer, like all Norpeala, had skin like amber with brown undertones. He had short hair on top his head that resembled bristles from a comb. He continued surveying the sky. 'That gas planet Beonaiha must have gotten a bit closer to the sun recently for it is glowing bright red as opposed to a dull yellowy orange. It is even illuminating better the other gassy planet Goryuna. It looks like there is a red ring around  Beonaiha also.'

        The Norpeal looked away from the massive objects in the starlit sky and focused on his work. He finished loading up his transport with full carts of raw metals. He turned to a black garbed guard who stood by the loading bay door, "Looks like we are all done here."

        "Cearfer, prompt as ever. Alright, you take a seat. We will get the shipment secured. I will go and tell the captain that we are ready so we can head to the next station. There is metal that needs to be worked on."

        Cearfer nodded his thanks but he thought that the guard's help was slightly peculiar. Still, he smiled as he headed to his seat. 'Maybe he is just being courteous. I wonder if he really just wants to leave. I'm not certain about that as I thought he was from this planet. Maybe I am wrong. Either way, I am not used to these guards even being here.

        Cearfer, like all Norpeala, stood erect on two legs with long arms reaching past his knees. His well-tanned skin was contrasted against the blue uniform he wore, whose white stripes led down to his rank which rested by the cuffs of his sleeves. Cearfer made his way to the control room and took his seat. As he went, he thought more on the subject of the guard, 'It would be different if these guards were from the Natent faction, but they are not. The Lascart and Liscznat factions supplied them themselves. I understand their purpose. They specialize in defense and offense respectively. For either task, it was never made for a simple routine transportation of goods. It's not even that valuable. It is only raw metal. When the Lascarta only focuses on protecting things that have actual value, like a government building. Or the Liscznat going out and fighting things like unruly wild animals, possibly other faction members I imagine. It is strange that they would be here. I wonder what is going on with this new policy change.'

        Cearfer took his seat and pulled out his work tablet. Many jobs were listed on this planet, Esca, which was highlighted to show where he was. He zoomed out to see all the other planets, then further to the two gas giants that occasionally had jobs, although not at the moment. When he was assigned to them, which he always hated, he had to stop by Esca's space station first to pick up a fortified vessel specially designed to withstand all the effects the giant planets had to offer. One of their most chilling features was their huge magnetic fields. If something went wrong with the vessel's shielding, the electricity could filter through the ship and effectively fry him. He could not understand how anyone would volunteer for such a job.

        Cearfer moved the image over to his planet, where it was only slightly past midday. He was used to the bizarre time changes caused by the unique rotation rates from various planets changing the lengths of days and nights. He wondered how other people, like the guards, could deal with traveling from one planet to another as quickly and often as he did. Cearfer thought back to the day's work, going over everything, so he could have an accurate report. Although regular reports were required, he had his own reason for this one which differed from the standard.