Freedom Planet Trinity Redux (ONGOING)

Prologue

It has been two years since the defeat of Arktivus Brevon at the hands of Sash Lilac, Carol Tea, and Milla Basset. The planet of Avalice is at peace, and yet Lord Brevon's shadow still clings to this planet like a dying cancer, striking fear into the hearts of those who believe he may one day return. The capital lands of Shang-Tu, Shuigang, and Shang-Mu have created a weary peace treaty in the hopes of healing the scars caused by the Invasion. Supplies from Shang-Mu and Shang-Tu have been routed to Shuigang to aid the newly crowned King in repairing his home. Shuigang is not my place of residence anymore, but it still holds a special place in my heart. It was my home, and so I must aid it however I can.
A group of Spectrum Chasers, the faction rebelling against Lord Brevon, have decided to stay on the planet, inducting Avalice into the Spectrum Chaser Corps.
However, all is not as well as it seems. Spectrum Chaser engineers and data analysts have come to Shang-Tu with worrisome news. Energy waves matching the patterns of slip-space technology (something I have little knowledge of) have been observed within the atmosphere of Avalice. I fear that this may mean that Brevon has returned, or is planning to do so soon. I have brought up my worries with my fellow Royal Guard, Neera-Li. She says that we can only hope for the best and do what we can. I see the wisdom in her words.
"Aya?"
"Huh? What?" Aya's daydream was cut short as a voice sharply tore her from her own conscious. Her surroundings weren't that of a blank void like her daydream. No, instead her surroundings were the cheerful city of Shuigang.
"Did you hear anything I just said?" The person who'd torn Aya from her daydream was Neera-Li. Neera-Li, otherwise known as Neera, was one of the most skilled Royal Guardsmen that Aya ever had the pleasure of meeting.
"I suppose I was drifting off. My apologies," Aya's white cheeks tinged a shade of pink as Neera spoke to her.
"The Magister requested that we visit with King Dail here in Shuigang. He said that a transport loaded with equipment was stolen and taken to an unknown location. The Magister wants us to find out where the supplies went, who stole them and why, so I'd like if you didn't waste our time with daydreaming," Neera, despite her harsh words, seemed playful with them, giving Aya a little smile.
"My apologies," Aya frowned, not quite catching on to the smile. Instead, she was more focused on the surrounding city. She was surprised with how well reconstruction efforts had fared thus far. She was also surprised by how chipper the inhabitants of the city seemed, despite their kingdom being the home base to an invading alien warmonger only a few short years ago.
Neera, on the other hand, wasn't paying much attention to the surrounding city. She had her eyes locked squarely on the royal palace, and the two guards standing outside. As Aya and Neera approached, the guards stepped in the way.
"The palace is strictly off limits to everyone," one of the guards, a large polar bear, said.
"We have orders from the Magister himself," Neera said, pulling a small document from her outfit and handing it to the guards. They both looked over the document for a second, rolled it up, and handed it back to Neera.
"Our apologies, go on in," The guards stepped aside and allowed Neera and Aya through.
"Usually there aren't any guards standing outside," Aya said as they entered the palace.
"If your home was the victim of a brutal invasion and then important materials started to go missing, I'm sure you'd put guards in front of your palace too. It's only logical," Neera explained.
As the Shang-Tusian Royal Guards made their way to the throne, Aya was taking in the scenery. The shining walls, the spiraling green pillars that stretched to the ceiling, and the beautiful view of Shuigang Lake all added to the image of a well constructed, well maintained kingdom in Aya's head.
As soon as Aya and Neera made it to the stairs to the throne, they both dropped to their knees, bowing to the person sitting atop the throne.
"Your majesty," The pandas said in unison.
The man atop the throne was adorned in beautiful royal attire, green with gold accents. It was quite fancy, especially compared to the more rugged and practical outfits that Aya and Neera were wearing.
"You may stand," The man atop the throne said, "And please, no need for such formalities, Shang-Tu and Shuigang are allied. You can just call me Dail."
"As you wish, your majest-, erh, Dail," Aya said, rising to her feet.
"King Dail, the Magister informed us that a transport of material vital for the reconstruction of your kingdom was stolen by an unknown thief, do you have any information that we could use for our search?" Neera, who didn't entirely drop the formalities like Aya had, asked.
"Well, yes and no. And before you suggest it, no, the thief was not my brother. He's stupid, but he's not stupid enough to steal from me. I'd beat him good for trying that," Dail let out a quiet chuckle before continuing, "I believe the shipment may have been taken up into the mountains, but I cannot confirm such activity. Perhaps some of the residents in the town saw it. I would have my guards conduct interviews but rounding up civilians and interrogating them for information isn't a good image and may just cause concern when there needn't be any."
"I see," Neera put a hand to her chin and thought for a moment, "We'll look around the town and search for any clues. Thank you for the information, your Majesty."
"Yes, thank you," Aya added
"You're welcome. Again, you don't need to be so formal. Now get along, I have important meetings to have and you have evidence to search for," Dail waved Aya and Neera off, as if shooing them like flies.
---
The town around the palace was bustling with activity. Vendors selling items from their carts, children running about tossing snowballs at one another, and people sitting outside cafes engaged in chit-chat were all adding to the utopian feel of Shuigang. As much hardship as these people had gone through in the past few years, they still seemed so hopeful and full of life. It definitely eased some of Aya's anxieties. Shuigang was once her home, and it was nice to be able to see it in such good spirits.
"Here," Neera said, "Let's split up and look for information. Let's meet up here in an hour to report any evidence we find."
"Alright, I guess I'll see you then," Aya said, softly smiling at Neera. The purple panda gingerly moved down the steps and went off in her own direction. Aya decided to take a stab at the people sitting in front of the cafe.
"Hi there," Aya said, interrupting the conversation between a chubbier panda and a small hedgehog. It didn't look like either really minded Aya interrupting them, "Could I ask you two a quick question?"
"Of course, ma'am," The chubby panda said, smiling wide. She was on the older side, possibly in the later years of her life. She was very kind, however, and was wearing a large parka. The hedgehog just nodded along. The hedgehog was also older, definitely around the same age as the chubby panda. The hedgehog was adorned in a blue sweater, with a large tan spot plastered across the sweater's chest, and red stripes running down the sleeves.
"Have you seen any suspicious activity in the mountains? Anything at all could help," Aya asked.
"Not really," The panda said, "I do believe my daughter saw someone in the mountains though. She was telling me a whole crazy story about it. Remember that, Morda?" The Panda looked over to the hedgehog, who just nodded along.
"Yes, I remember. You can go talk to her. She's just playing in the snow over there," The hedgehog lifted a hand and pointed into a pile of snow. There was a young panda girl making a snow angel.
"Thank you two," Aya nodded, "I'll be sure to ask her."
"Good luck with whatever it is you're doing, and have a nice day," The chubby panda waved as Aya stepped away. Aya waved back.
As she approached the panda in the snow, Aya chuckled softly.
"Enjoying the snow?" She asked.
"I love the snow!" The panda giggled, sitting up from her snow angel. She was wearing a frilly pink tutu, and had a sparkly green headband pinned in her white hair, "Do you like the snow?"
"I love the snow," Aya smiled, and politely knelt down, "Can I ask you a quick question?"
The young girl suddenly got very shy. Her face went red and she placed her hands in her lap, "My momma said I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."
"Oh. Well, I was just speaking to your momma over there," Aya pointed behind her to the two sitting at the cafe. They both waved to Aya and the young girl, "She said you could help me."
"Oh," The girl giggled, "Okay then! I'm Nellie!"
"I'm Aya," She introduced herself, "Nice to meet you Nellie. Now that we know each other, I have one question to ask, okay?"
"Okay!" Nellie giggled again.
"Your momma said that you'd seen something strange up in the mountains. Can you tell me more about that?"
"Yes yes! I was outside with momma at night one time, and I saw this bright light coming from the mountains! It was so pretty! It was blue and looked like it was shining into the clouds! But then it went away," Nellie explained. There was a sparkle in her eyes as she described the pillar of light.
Aya nodded, "Thank you Nellie," She smiled and reached over, rustling Nellie's wispy white hair. Nellie giggled in response.
There was a small crackle of sound, and then the voice of Neera, "Aya, there's been a development. Meet me back at the palace now!"
Aya winced as Neera shouted into the communicator. Aya pulled the communicator out and replied, "Got it. On my way," Aya looked down at Nellie and gave her a sweet smile, "Sounds like I gotta go. It was nice meeting you, miss Nellie."
"It was nice meeting you too, miss Aya!"
---
Aya had only just returned to the palace entrance. Neera looked concerned, which made Aya concerned.
"There's been a development," Neera said.
"Yeah?"
"King Dail has just informed me of a surge of energy in the mountains. He believes it to be the thief using the equipment they stole. We don't know what they're doing, but The King wants us to stop it," Neera reported.
"Alright well, I suppose we should move out then," Aya said, pulling her cannon off of her back and activating the weapon. Small green lights on either side of the cannon burst to life, shimmering a plasma green.
Neera pulled her frost spear off her back and nodded, "Follow me."