Their arrival was known to the local authorities, so the Exeralune’s descent towards the surface of Tolron went smoothly. There was a minor incident with a panicking Glaizart on board, but the captain was unfazed and didn’t order any kind of intervention on the matter. Kwon steered the ship down through the reddish clouds and towards the dock they’d appointed to land and where the new crewmembers would be waiting for them.

From the sky, the planet looked like an odd patchwork. Although much of the radiation was gone, massive plains of barren red-brown ground still took up most of the surface. At several points amidst the wasteland, small cities cropped up, looking modern and well-maintained in stark contrast to the fields of arid, cracked soil surrounding them to all sides. Although they looked small and scattered, each was several times larger underground, and they relied primarily on underground metros for interconnection. Most of the cities were also adjacent to patches of green, where the ground had, through much effort, been made fertile again, and patches of blue, which were either natural lakes filtered of their pollution, or artificial ones, dug out in recent years.

When they neared the intended landing place, the hangar roof opened to let them in. Soon, they were landed and a group of Valt personnel, red-skinned and three-eyed as they are, were approaching to verify them. After registering the ship’s identification code and the captain’s ID, they were granted permission to stay docked here.

“Captain speaking again,” Ahn Vora spoke into the intercom once it was done. “The entire crew is now officially off-duty for the rest of the day or until ordered otherwise. I’ll be leaving to visit the arena soon, and I encourage everyone to either do the same or check out one of the other sights. But of course, we’ll meet up with the new crewmembers first. I see them approaching already. That is all.”

Aside from the several Valt who were wandering around the hangar doing their jobs, a small group of people had just entered, distinguished by being of various shapes and colours. Little doubt, they were the new crewmembers. Meanwhile, one of the first crewmembers to exit the Exeralune was Gunnos, eager to get on his way to exploring the city. Figuring there was no reason to hold back, he approached the group as he waved his hand at them. “Ay lads and lasses! Yer the new crewmembers I take? Me name’s Gunnos, security personnel. What’s yer names, if I may ask?”