The Republic

Spinning. Char had taken to dancing across the sand. Her smile hadn’t been wider since they met.
“It even smells right.” She jumped as high as she could, clearing about a vertical foot. “Gravity’s the same too.” She advanced towards Lore and intertwined their fingers.
Hand in hand, they moved towards the oasis ahead of them. Despite this environment’s position on the inside of a spaceship, you would be hard pressed to assume that. The landscape appeared to be endless, with the horizon being at least a mile away. The oasis village was only a half mile away from the room’s entrance but with the doors closed, the illusion was complete. The settlement highlighted how few had survived the purge. There was one tower building and four small houses that seemed to be used for habitation. The other three buildings in town were recreational. Walking towards the oasis saw the sand become grass and dirt.
“I bloody hate sand.” Lore balanced on one foot emptying their shoe. They hopped towards the tower to get a better look at its sign. “Why?” The revelation nearly caused them to lose their balance. Char moved over to stabilise them. “That’s kind of funny.” She smiled. The sign indicated that the tower apartments were for the Lores and Chars only.
Sand emptied out, they continued into the village. Children were running in all directions, chasing after each other, pistols in hand. Seeing them, Char brought Lore closer. For a people who were very nearly extinct, there was an air of true happiness. One of the children stopped in front of Lore. They bent down into a crouched shooting position and fired. Lore was astonished when out of the pistol came not water but a bolt of golden light. The child hit their mark who was now on the floor laughing, clutching at their burnt shoulder. Lore went to run to them but Char stopped them. The child’s arm erupted with golden light; the flames rapidly engulfed their shoulder but soon died down and the child was back to playing. Lore stood shocked at what they had seen.
“Even if you can’t die, that’s got to hurt.” They shook their head.
“Oh it does but that’s part of what makes it fun. Plus it’s great for training.” Char smiled.
With the exception of the tower, all of the signage in the settlement was written in Quatarrii meaning Char had taken the lead. She stopped in front of a reasonably sized building.
“This looks like a town hall, going by its roof but it’s too wide.” She got closer to the sign. “Multipurpose building. Fair enough.”
They approached the door but before they could open it, it evaded.
“Told you they’d come here first.” A white haired woman stood before them shouting over at the saloon opposite. A second, defeated woman approached.
“They almost always hit the saloon first. Lore reads the sign and they head straight for the saloon.” She grumbled under her breath as she handed her partner a handful of Rel.
Lore squinted at the white haired lady before wrenching their neck up to inspect the other woman’s face. “Allana? Luscillus?”
“Well, at least they remember us.” More Rel changed hands. “Good to see you again.”
“Feels like we only saw you yesterday.” Luscillus added jokingly. “Come in.” She ducked her head as she ushered them into the building.
The hall was empty save for a permanent stage at the end. The room appeared to have been designed to accommodate a variety of indoor and outdoor sports while at the same time being suitable for meetings and schooling. Allana tapped her foot twice on the same spot, summoning a chair and table from below the floor. Lore and Char followed suit and the four of them sat down.
“I think you’re the youngest Lore we’ve had come through here.” Allana looked them up and down. “How come you know us?”
“A cube told me everything about the war.” To anyone else that sentence would have made no sense but they accepted it.
“Does the armour work?” Luscillus rubbed her hands together in anticipation.
“What do you mean, work?” Lore swept some of the sand off of their shoulder. “It can take a hit if that’s what you mean?”
“Char. Put your ring on then touch Lore’s right hand.” Luscillus waved impatiently as Char put her ring on and held her hand out.
Both making fists, their hands collided. At first nothing happened but as they came to separate, their rings collided. Char erupted into an inferno of golden light which travelled along Lore’s arm and across their body. Lore stood, their eyes burning with energy; they had felt like this before. Both Allana and Luscillus were applauding as they received their confirmation. The Reaper walked away from the table and knelt down. The golden glow faded as Char appeared at Lore’s side.
“You made that?” Lore squeaked out breathlessly.
“How many times have you used it?” Allana ignored their question.
“Once.” Char replied as Lore tried to compose themselves. The women looked insulted.
“Once.” Allana repeated. “We make a marvel of combined human and quatarrian biology and physics and you only use it once.”
“What is it?” Lore dragged themselves to their seat.
“There was an old legend amongst our people about a warrior called the Reaper. They were the being that inspired our weaponry, they could use their energy as a weapon or even to manipulate time itself.” She took a breath. “We made The Reaper’s wings and the divining amulet and sent them back in time. The Lores made sure they found their way to the right place at the right time, then we tweaked an old journal to make a manual on how it all worked.”
“The book I got from Brian.” Lore reached into their bag. “No where in here does it say anything about tapping rings.”
“Ah.” They collectively sighed. “Knew we had forgotten something.
Their rings collided once more and the building was set to earn its title. Within moments, the women had transformed the room into a warzone, complete with opponents and live weaponry. The Reaper extended their staff. They reached into Lore’s satchel and removed the band they had found in the mines. Affixing it to the staff caused a beam of energy to arc from the staff’s end, forming a scythe head. Using only the newly created blade, The Reaper cleared the room with ease, their wings to gliding across the mock battlefield. The Plan.