Ugly won the last poll. Hehehehehheheheheheheheh. Of all the ones to randomly pick, it had to be that one. At least it'll make things more interesting.

A mountain cliff exploded just as Ryan’s attack drone arrived at the spot she’d predicted as the target for the approaching invasion force. The explosion created an avalanche of rock and snow.

Ryan wondered if Pal had waited for her drone for dramatic effect or if it was just a coincidence.

Several more explosions occurred across the ancient granite cliffs, some large, some small.

The approaching invasion fleet turned away to stay at a safe distance, as well as to assess the situation, or so Ryan thought.

Ryan sent a drone into the dust and smoke of the first explosion once it looked safe enough and found large metal doors in the process of opening. Her other attack drones arrived at several other detonation sites, each revealing their own door.

Ryan slipped a drone through the door and found a large metallic craft easily ten times the size of Luna moored inside.

The craft looked like a 50’s sci fi rocket, but without the fins and had amusingly small rocket engines in the rear. It also had the classic shiny metal hull along with gold tinted windows at the front that made it impossible to see inside. A large umbilical corridor was moving away from an airlock on the side.

Pal’s voice came over the radio, “Ryan! We suspected you would arrive quickly. Do you like our colony ships?”

Ryan looked at the several ships, “You’ve been working on this for a while, huh?”

“Since before the alien attack. Between religious bigotry and under the direction of our prophet, we had already decided to flee Ullia. We also found out about Vof’s and Oln’s plans to capture our farms, so we had to finish preparation faster than we’d hoped.”

Ryan recalled all the hostility around religion back on Earth. Religious wars, believers vs. nonbelievers, persecution, etc… etc… “So you’re running away?”

“All three factions have withheld information from the others. Food was our advantage, so we kept most of the technology to ourselves. We… also found a relatively undamaged Dregasi ship early in the war and have a lead over the others in understanding its secrets.”

There was a loud clang as several cables detached from the colony ships and they began to lift into the air.

Ryan moved the probes from inside the hangars, “Your ships are faster than Oln’s then?”

“Several times the speed of light if our scientists are right, but it will still be decades before we arrive at a place we can call home. Perhaps longer. We already have a place in mind, too.”

Ryan turned the probes towards the invasion force and saw several smaller craft had broken off and were approaching, “I can stop them so you don’t have to leave.”

“We appreciate the offer, but this way no one has to die and it won’t remove their dislike of us. We have left them our technology to grow food and enough supplies to last them until they can grow their own better.” There was a pause, “It’s time for us to go. I am sorry we could not provide more hospitality towards you, but life doesn’t always give us what we want. Farewell.”

The drones nearly got sucked into the hangers as the large ships engaged their warp drives, leaving pockets of vacuum that air rushed in to fill.

It only took a few moments for all thirty ships to jump into FTL.

Ryan sent the drones inside and found vast corridors of empty hallways and rooms and, ther than a few warehouses filled with equipment and food, everything had been stripped clean.

Ryan opened a channel to Vof and Oln’s attack force, “They’re gone. They built ships and left.”

Vof came over the comms, the signal coming from a large transport holding off to the west, “We know. I assume you have already searched the interior?”

Ryan was half tempted to destroy what was left behind, “Yeah. They were nice enough to leave you with food and their farming technology even though you were going to steal it from them. And no, don’t give me sorry excuses about it being dangerous leaving all the food production to them. You know full well they wouldn’t have done anything bad like keeping it away from you.”

There was a pause, “We knew about their plans and had no intention of attacking them.”

Ryan didn’t care what happened with the invasion force anymore, “Can you tell Oln to let us leave the island?”

“There never were any bombs. You can leave whenever you want. Oln insisted you were… in his words 'gullible enough’ to fall for the bluff.”

Oln came over the line, “It is true that there aren’t any bombs on the island, but we needed you to stay put until this operation finished.”

Ryan wasn’t dealing with this anymore, “Yeah, I’m gullible, but what’s wrong with wanting to trust people?” She jumped the drones back to Luna, save one, “I’m done. Pal’s people kept helping you even though they knew you’d turn on them. They even left food and supplies for you.” She paused to let her thoughts cool off for a moment, “I’m leaving Ullia. You can fight over your irradiated ball of dirt for all I care.”

Oln replied almost immediately, “Good.”

Oln’s transmission ended, and the prototype ship appeared next to the largest dock in the mountains.

Vof spoke not long after, “We thought as much, but my people are of similar mind to Oln’s. We want to rebuild with our own power, although we will help with anything else we can.”

Ryan sent the attack drones to the partly dismantled Dregasi station, “I was going to leave the Dregasi station to you, but now I’m gonna destroy it. Pushing it into the atmosphere should do it.”

“Understandable. We will contact you later and let you know how to contact us in case you ever require our assistance. Until then.”

Vof’s transmission ended and the aircraft continued towards the mountains as Ryan commanded the last drone to leave.

Charlotte was looking at Ryan with worry, “You have your worried face. Did something happen?”

Ryan glanced at the others. Sashae and Charlotte had noticed Ryan’s vacant look and had waited for her to finish whatever it was she was doing, “I’ll tell you after we’re done eating.”

Saki flitted over to Ryan, “Mikan! Aoi wants to keep calling you Étién! Tell her your name is Mikan now, too!”

Aoi pushed Saki to the side, and pointed back at Mikan without looking, “Mikan is there! Ryan is in Étién now, so now Étién!”

Ryan held up her hands, and looked at Aoi, “Sorry, Aoi, but I can’t be Étién. She… He? Is somewhere else and I’m not sure I could handle being called that, anyway. It’ll remind me of, well, about what happened to her… him?”

Charlotte still seemed worried, but joined back in on the banter, “I think you should have a pastry name like me and my sisters.”

Ryan shook her head at that, “I think your sisters already took to good ones, not that I can think of any good ones.”

Sashae turned back to her food, but kept an eye on the conversation.

Saki pushed Aoi out of the way, “Mikan!”

Aoi pushed her back, “Étién!”

Ryan stood up and stretched, “Maybe I’ll ask Mayu. Japanese names are pretty cute.”

Ryan wondered when she’d gone from thinking of Japanese names as cool to cute. She’d also noticed some other changes. She looked at faces more now, was more careful about her appearance, and found her eyes lingering on men more than women. She wasn’t surprised. She had a woman's body and soul now. She still had her male habits, and being a former straight man, a reluctance to view men as attractive, but she could feel them slipping away ever so slowly.

Charlotte looked a little disappointed, “Okay. Shina was the one that named all of us except for Jaren, so maybe we can ask her too?”

The attack and repair drones reappeared around Luna after having pushed the Dregasi station into a decaying orbit around the fourth planet.

Ryan turned to the beach, “I’m gonna relax for a bit on the beach.”

There were still a few hours of daylight left, and Ryan was going to forget about anything serious for a while because she had no idea how long it would be until they could relax at the beach again.

Charlotte’s ears and tail perked up as she jogged to catch up to Ryan, “Me too! Jaren asked me to build a huge sand castle for her and it sounds fun.”

Ryan turned to look at Charlotte, “How is she?”

Charlotte pursed her lips as she thought, “Hmm… Okay. She’s lost in a forest, and keeps getting attacked by weird monsters, but the birds don’t poop on her anymore so she’s happy about that.”

Ryan giggled, “Only Jaren would care about getting pooped on by birds more than getting attacked by monsters.”

Charlotte sighed, “She’s... she’s lost somewhere far away, and she doesn’t care.” Her ears and tail lowered as her face became filled with worry, “I would be crying behind a rock.”

They reached the sand, and Ryan kicked some for fun, “I’d probably be dead, but I’ve already died once, so… meh.”

Charlotte scowled at Ryan and her tail puffed up in anger, “Don’t talk like that! I don’t want anyone to die, even if it's your fifth or sixth time!”

Ryan recalled how the crew and Adventurers revived after three weeks, “Have… any of your sisters died?”

Charlotte shook her head, “No, but Ryo has once before we met them.”

Ryan nodded, “I think I heard about that. Something about having to run away from that island to the southeast of the continent?”

Charlotte nodded, “Mmhmm. The Chinese Adventurers tried taking over the island where the Japanese Adventurers lived.”

Ryan recalled seeing the various different settlements spread around the continent and how their architecture reflected different cultures, “Maybe I can help them if we can get Luna back there. I kinda want to check out the other cultures too.”

Charlotte smiled, “I can come too?”

Ryan shrugged, “You’re pretty much part of the crew now. Don’t see why not.”

Saki fluttered over their heads, “Come on Mikan! Let’s play!”

Aoi sped past Saki and headed to the ocean, “Aoi saw lots of fish. Let’s try catching some!”

Mikan followed past Aoi.

Ryan turned to Charlotte, “That reminds me. Look what I found out how to do with Mikan.”

Charlotte turned to watch Mikan, only for Ryan’s fairy self to disappear.

Charlotte clapped, “You found out how to turn invisible!”

Mikan reappeared a few seconds later, “Not as long as Saki. Seems like turning invisible is her speciality.”

Charlotte turned to Aoi and cocked her head to the side, “And Aoi is fast?”

Mikan reached the ocean and Ryan found a large fish not far off, “Yeah,” Mikan pointed her arm towards the fish, “and Mikan’s specialty is the plasma beam.”

A beam of bright light shot from Mikan’s outstretched arm, vaporising the fish and leaving a burst of bubbles in the water as steam from the attack roiled towards the surface.

Charlotte clapped again, “Wow!”

Ryan felt a smug grin appear on her and Mikan’s face, “Three times stronger than Aoi’s, and four times Saki’s. Mikan could probably shoot someone’s arm off.” She sent Saki an angry look and rubbed the faint scar on her leg where the fairy had shot Étién, “Fortunately Saki’s only causes bad burns.”

Charlotte noticed Ryan rubbing the scar, and her face, ears, and tail showed her sadness, “Yeah.”

Aoi was looking around for the fish Mikan shot, “Mikan got it good!”

Saki beamed with pride, “Yeah! Mikan is amazing!”

Charlotte twirled her index fingers around each other for a moment, then turned to Saki, “What are you going to do with her?”

A rustle of beach grass behind them alerted them to Sashae.

Sashae didn’t stop and walked past them, “Leave her here,” she turned to look at Ryan, “Right?”

Ryan shrugged, “You’ll have to ask Mayu that. She’d kill us if we dumped Saki here.”

Sashae turned and continued to the beach.

Charlotte stood up, wiping the sand from her round bottom and the base of her tail, “Alright! How about you teach me how to build a sand castle?”

Ryan stood up, not bothering to wipe any sand off, “Uh… I didn’t live near the ocean, so I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, but we can figure it out together.”

Sashae turned around and walked back to them, “Sandcastle? What is that?”

Ryan waved them over to a spot and sat in the sand, “Make a building using sand.”

Sashae nodded in understanding, “Oh. I can teach. I made with family when small.”

Charlotte knelt next to Ryan, looking very excited, “I’m ready!”

Sashae knelt across from the others, “First, water sand is best.”

Ryan turned her attention to the Mk. I and started scouring the tents for bombs. She also activated Luna’s anti FTL field so the Ullians couldn’t use their prototype to warp in on them unexpectedly. Next, she used the repair drones to push the derelict Dregasi ships currently in orbit into the atmosphere. She knew she should probably leave the Ullians alone now, but their betrayal of Pal’s people and the supposed bluff with bombs on the island left her smoldering on the inside and she felt they didn’t deserve any more advanced technology. Of course, they’d want to leave before Vof or Oln noticed.

She also knew she needed to be less trustworthy of people. First, with Étién’s mother, then with the Ullians they’d been burned by trusting people too much. But she found herself not wanting to do so. She wanted to expect the best from people. She didn’t want to become someone that was paranoid all the time, waiting for someone to betray them.

She’d always felt this way, but recently the feeling had become stronger. If it was part of becoming Étién in body or soul, becoming a woman, or what, she didn’t know, but she felt strongly that she wanted to keep it this way, even if it meant being taken advantage of or being betrayed again and again. She guessed she could still be more careful, like not letting people onto Luna until they got to know them, or checking for explosives before accepting dinner invitations. 

Maybe they should have checked for poison too?

No.

Now she was getting paranoid.

This was why she hated thinking this way. How did pessimists live with themselves? Always expecting things to go wrong? Now, she wasn’t quite ready to go full on optimist, but being a realist always seemed the best. Yeah, they might betray you or trick you, but more often than not they won’t.

Ryan decided to change her train of thought to cool down and studied the images she’d taken using the array of telescopes.

They were amazing. She never got bored of finding another beautiful galaxy. 

So many galaxies in a seemingly infinite universe. To be honest, she wasn’t sure how she or Becky was going to use this data to find their way home as there was no way of knowing how a galaxy looked like from Earth as compared to where they were now or so she thought.

The universe got so big and mostly uniform on the largest scales too, but Becky had mentioned something about using voids and looking for walls of galaxies, but she wasn’t sure how that would work.

So, for now, she did her best to calculate the movements of galaxies and catalogue them. She’d been doing this in the back of her mind for days now, but even with the help of her computer brain it was a constant effort thanks to having to combine the data from each telescope, analyzing the images, and so on.

Charlotte turned to Ryan, “What are you thinking about? You have that look on your face when you’re thinking about something hard.”

Ryan sighed, “Well, at first it was about pessimism and optimism, then I started thinking about the universe and how I have no idea how we’re going to find our way home.”

Charlotte’s ears wilted at the mention of the latter subject, “You can always stay at Shina’s. You and Aoi are my friends now and I’ll be sad if you can’t come see me anymore.” Her ears perked up again, “You… you also made my sisters less villainous.” Her eyes became downcast, “If you leave and Jaren doesn’t come back, I don’t know what to do.”

Ryan thought about the Three Stooges, “Just keep finding them interesting stuff to do.” She thought about the Gateway device Charlotte kept on her, “Besides, you can use a gateway to visit Luna whenever.”

Charlotte smiled, her tail bobbing happily across the sand, “Mmhmm! You’re  right!”

Ryan stood up, purposefully stepping on her crude sand castle, “Who’s up for a game of beach volleyball? Me against everyone else.”

Charlotte furrowed her brow and tilted her head to the side, “Isn’t that unfair?”

Ryan ran full speed across the beach a distance, then back, a trail of sand flying into the air behind her, “Not to brag, but I’m pretty fast.”

Aoi’s ears perked up and she rushed to Ryan, “I’ll play!”

Saki turned to Mikan, “Saki will play if Mikan plays.”

Ryan and Mikan shrugged and spoke at the same time, “Well, we’re the same person…”

Saki froze for a moment, “Okay…”

Sashae shivered, “That is strange talking.”

Ryan looked for the discarded ball they’d used earlier and found it near Luna’s ramp, “Alright! We’ll do a couple games, then go. We’ve had a good break, but we’ve got a meatball infested space station to destroy and lots of attack drones to build.”

Sashae nodded, “Then we come back?”

Ryan realized she hadn’t told them about what had happened with the Ullians, “Right… Let’s talk about that after I single handedly beat everyone.”

Aoi pointed a finger at Ryan, “Aoi won’t lose to Mikan!”

Mikan grinned deviously. No one had called Ryan out on having Mikan on the opposing team and she was going to take full advantage of it for as long as she could.

Charlotte didn’t look sure of herself, “Um… I’ll do my best.”

Sashae looked disinterested, but she was hard to read and didn’t make a move to get out of the game so she was in too.

Ryan brought a repair drone over, “Oh! I almost forgot something.”

The repair drone’s manipulator arms pull a net and two poles from it’s cargo compartment and set them up.

“Can’t play real volleyball without the net!”

I'm thinking of just changing Ryan's name to Mikan. So, unless anyone feels strongly against it... 

I think I'm done with polls. If anyone has a poll they'd like to see let me know.