| Return to Farandia Arc | |
|---|---|
| File:Placeholder person.png | |
| Information | |
| Author(s) | Krayfish |
| Timeline date | 2065 |
- "You've got a lot of nerve showing up back here, Riley and Brynia. Ever since you murdered the Toad Queen, everything on Farandia has gone to hell."
- ―Farandia Prime Minister to Squad K7
The Return to Farandia Arc is set two years after the events of the Hundred Moon Clan Arc. Below is a synopsis.
Synopsis[]
Lost Colony[]
For several months, contact was lost with the colony of Farandia, Riley's and Brynia's homeworld before they escaped from it during the events of the Riley Story Arc. However, the Global Federation of Research and Defense never bothered to check up on them because the inhabitants had always preferred to be isolated from high technology. Squad K7 was sent to investigate consisting of Savien Wesiford, Riley Malsworth, Brynia Malsworth and Miles Noahson. Galvon Raminti, while he did want to come, had decided to return to school pursuing a career in quantum physics.
Upon arrival at Farandia, the group had found it to be in a dire situation. Without the Toad Queen, Farandia was suffering from famine, and as the emergency food rations became more and more depleted, many of the citizens had opted to eat fruit from Farandia's environment. However, this had a terrible side effect: one particular fruit known as the Faranapple made the consumer so ravenously hungry that they went so far as to kill and eat other humans on sight. At least 80% of the population had consumed some Faranapples making Arcana City a violent, dangerous place.
When the group attempted to reason with the unaffected inhabitants, they did not initially succeed. Riley and Brynia were not especially welcome because they were blamed for the collapse of society due to the two of them killing the Toad Queen. The Prime Minister, who had absolutely no clue how to resolve the situation with a win-win situation, was not being rational due to the crisis, and thus, he banished all of Squad K7 to live in the wilderness lowlands while stripping them of all their technological gadgets. They were trapped.
Looking for a Cure[]
Stuck in an alien environment having to fend for themselves, Squad K7 realized that the only way off the moon would be to develop an antidote to cure the Faranapple's effects. While Riley could call out to her puppets, it would be a long time before either of them would show.
Brynia, however, was the only one with the skill to be able to figure out how to obtain an antidote. A new challenge lay before them. Not only would they have to search the wilderness for the antidote's ingredients, they had to avoid Faranapple plague victims as well as avoid any poisonous food themselves.
It was only a short time after they begun their search when the first plague victims appeared. Starving people who were so hungry that they attacked Squad K7 on sight. To make matters worse, they also happened to be magic users - students that Riley and Brynia had actually known during their years at the Arcana School of Sorcery.
Not knowing how to deal with the situation, the group fled. During the commotion though, one of the infected students got too close to Savien who was still not used to the concept of limited stamina. He was bitten in the arm, and he was infected with the toxin.
After getting to safety, Brynia examined the wound and discovered a possible cure, but she did not know of a way to remove the toxin from Savien's system. They had to find the cure and fast.
The group had managed to gather the ingredients, but Savien started to show his first symptoms. His appetite was increasing to beyond reasonable levels, and his mind was warping. Unexpectedly, Savien's Avatar cells kicked in flickering in for a moment. His powers were suddenly coming back even though Salvation was closed down. His hunger soon turned not to food but to just raw power and violence as Salvation overenergized him.
Like a beast, he attacked Brynia on sight and Miles came to her defense. A short battle ensued between them all. Brynia finally stopped it when she used adrenaline sap to cause Savien to fall asleep. They had to hurry.
A week had passed since they were sent here. After Brynia gathered all of the ingredients, she concocted a counteragent against the Faranapple toxin. She gave it to Savien, and it worked. This time, Savien got his powers back, but he was still very fatigued. He could not use them to full potential, but he could still teleport about.
The mission was complete, and now they had to return so that they could find a suitable way to spread the cure.
Unwelcome yet again[]
Using Savien's reawakened powers, the group managed to teleport back to Arcana City to find the area heavily guarded, and they were not allowed back into the city walls. Thus, they split up to eavesdrop and find out what was going on, and eventually, they made a horrifying discovery about the intentions of the Prime Minister.
With the scarcity of resources, the Prime Minister begun to ration out edible food, soon reserving it only for those who could do work for the colony. He begun exiling the poor and sick out of the city's boundaries in order to reduce the population to allow the few remaining ones to survive. Squad K7 confronted the Prime Minister directly who pleaded that it was a necessary course of action.
Endgame[]
Because the Prime Minister went against the GFRD's ideals, he was apprehended but it left no one in charge of the colony. As a result, Squad K7 stayed for an additional few weeks to get Farandia back in good hands. Through Riley's and Brynia's leadership, the colony was eventually restored and they were forgiven of their past crimes. New farming methods were introduced so that the edible supply of food was sustainable. The ingredients to the cure would also be grown in the colony so that the Faranapple plague could be combated. It would be many more generations until the threat would finally be rendered null and void.
With the colony back on its feet, Squad K7 was about to leave, but Riley chose to stay behind to watch over the colony to make sure it was doing fine. Savien decided to do the same and help out as well. Brynia and Miles said goodbye to them, and they returned to the GFRD to report the news.