"Why do you have to do something to stay ahead of Empress Revi? Has she told you that she is aiming for Adam?" Lorelie asked suspiciously.
"Well, no," Tephe admitted.
"Then there is no need to rush. Empress Revi is famous for not having been with any man and claiming to be waiting for some …. Special." Lorelie said before trailing off as she thought of something.
Slowly, her head turned towards Stacey, who looked back at her as they both shared the same look and seemed to be having a silent conversation.
"Lorelie?" Tephe asked curiously.
"Huh, oh right, sorry Tephe, I just thought of something important that I need to do later. Where was I? Oh, right." Lorelie said, but just as she was about to continue her conversation, her uniband suddenly notified her that she was receiving a call.
"Tch, Saved by the holocall, Classic," Erkath grumbled after she clicked her tongue in disappointment.
"It's Queen Marilla," Lorelie said in slight surprise before accepting the call and sending it to the nearby console, causing it to project Queen Marilla's beautiful face on a large holographic screen.
"Hello, everyone, I see you're all together again, and I see you and Adam are finally home," Marilla said in a knowing tone as she winked at Lorelie, causing Rowena and Erkath to chuckle.
"Is there something I can do for you, Quenn Marilla?" Lorelie asked politely.
"Booo, you're no fun." Marilla pouted in mock disappointment before smiling again and saying, "I just received a call from Matriarch Maiya."
"Is there something wrong with my choosing Eri over Prime as my chaperone?" Lorelie asked with a slight frown.
"No, no." Marilla replied before explaining, "As I told you before, that's all arranged.
Honestly, Maiya was happy and quick to agree to your request, too quick, really. If you ask me, I don't think that old friend of mine likes Prime." Marilla replied while giving a subtle wink.
"Who does like him, honestly?" Stacey commented, making Rowena and Erkath chuckle.
"Then what could Matriarch Maiya be calling about?" Lorelie asked curiously.
"As I'm sure you're aware, the Felidae Galaxy was chosen to hold the UMB Cup this time around, and it is scheduled to start in a few weeks. It seems Director Brarseth Opalbeard of the UMB Cup contacted Maiya and asked if you could perform at the opening ceremony." Marilla explained.
"I see," Lorelie replied thoughtfully.
"Having Lorelie perform at the opening ceremony would certainly bring in people who are not interested in mech battles," Rowena remarked.
"Mech battles?" Adam asked with interest
"Oh, right, you have probably never heard of the UMB Cup," Rowena said before explaining. "UMB stands for Universal Mech Battle. It's a competition featuring Mech battles that's held every four years and in a different galaxy each time. This time around, it's being hosted by the Felidae Galaxy.
Before the start of the UMB Cup, the MBG Cups or Mech Battle Galaxy Cups, are held in all the individual galaxies that wish to compete. The winning team from a galaxy then represents that galaxy on the universal stage, hoping to become known as the best mech pilots in the universe."
"Why have I never seen any mechs before? Like when I fought the pirates or the TISF?" Adam asked.
"Mechs are normally only carried on large-class ships and above, and even then, they are rarely deployed unless it's a major battle or necessary because of how much each mech costs to produce and repair.
Mechs in general are much smaller than ships, so their components also have to be much smaller, which in turn makes them more expensive."
"If they're so expensive to run, why is there an entire competition revolving around them?"
"Because of their popularity. Before the UMB Cup, people could go their entire lifetime without seeing a mech and yet something about them fascinates and excites people.
Because of this and because of his own love of mechs, Director Brarseth Opalbeard worked tirelessly to find support and funding to create the very first Mech Battle Cup.
Back then, it was only a handful of Dwarfinians that competed, since Director Brarseth is a Dwarfinian himself. However, it ended up attracting so much attention that many different races stated their interest in competing, and megacorps approached offering sponsorship.
Because of this, the UMB Cup can offer the winners a substantial prize that dwarfs any expenses races may incur from designing, creating and maintaining a mech."
"I heard rumours that the prize this time around is ridiculous," Stacey commented.
"That's just rumours at this point since no one knows what the prize actually is before it's officially announced at the opening ceremony."
"Aren't the teams taking a gamble then if they don't know what the prize is before the UMB Cup begins?" Tephe asked.
"Not really, the UMB Cup is well known for its fabulous prizes, plus if the prize turned out to be mediocre, many teams would pull out rather than incur a guaranteed loss, which would look bad for the UMB Cup," Erkath explained.
"I know what the prize is this year," Queen Marilla suddenly said with a mischievous smirk.
"You do?" Rowena asked in surprise.
"Naturally, Matriarch Maiya and I are old friends, so she naturally revealed it to me when I asked her out of curiosity."
"Isn't it against some kind of rule for one of the competing races to learn what the prize is before the competition even starts?" Tephe asked.
"I suppose, however, it's not like it's a huge secret since everyone will find out at the opening ceremony anyway. The main reason they keep it a secret till then is to help build up excitement for the competition and draw in more viewers to watch the opening ceremony." Marilla replied.
"So, will you tell us what it is?" Lorelie asked with curiosity.
"It's a recently discovered moon that has a high quantity of Subrilium," Marilla answered, causing Rowena to whistle in surprise before saying.
"That's definitely one impressive prize this time around."
"Isn't Subrilium the fuel that Subspace drives use?" Adam asked before thinking of something and stated, "Speaking of which, I need to refuel Spector's Subspace drive."
"I can arrange for your ship to be refulled while it's aboard the space station if you wish?" Queen Marilla offered.
"That's very gracious of you, thank you, Queen Marilla," Adam replied.
"Don't mention it, you are Lorelie's bodyguard after all, and your ship needs to be in perfect condition before you depart. Send me a copy of any supplies your ship needs, and I will see what I can do."
"Thank you once again," Adam said with a courteous bow before saying, "Spector."
[[Affirmative, transmitting data now."]]
"Wow, that was fast." Queen Marilla said in surprise as she suddenly received a requisition order and gave it a quick scan.
"Going back to Adam's question, only purified Subrilium can be used as Subspace drive fuel; raw Subrilium is far too volatile to be used," Rowena stated.
"I see," Adam replied.
"So, what do you think of Maiya's proposal?" Queen Marilla asked.
"I don't really see a problem with it. It does mean leaving the Oasis Galaxy earlier than I had planned, but since we are going that way anyway." Lorelie replied thoughtfully before turning to Adam and asking, "Are you ok with that? I planned to show you more of the Oasis Galaxy before leaving."
"You do not need to ask me. While I would like to see more of your home galaxy, nothing is stopping us from returning here in the future when you're homesick. Besides, you still have six concerts to perform here, so it's not like we are leaving straight away." Adam replied.
"That's true. When is the opening ceremony scheduled to take place?" Lorelie asked.
"In just under three weeks. It would take you around three days to reach the Felidae Galaxy using the jump gate, plus if you add in a few days to settle in and view the location of the opening ceremony. I suggest you leave in around two weeks."
"Will that interfere with Lorelie's schedule here in the Oasis Galaxy?" Rowena asked.
"Not at all, we planned to get the remaining size shows done within the next twelve days, which would give you two days of rest before you depart."
"I had heard celebrities had tight schedules, but now I'm really seeing it," Adam remarked.
"This is nothing. Back when a celebrity first starts out, they have to perform almost daily unless they're travelling somewhere, in which case they spend their time training to get better.
Lorelie only has it so easy because she is already at the peak of the music industry, being a Diva, which gives her the privilege to set her own concert dates with companies bending over backwards to accommodate her. If she were a newbie just starting out, it would be her bending over backwards to accommodate them." Queen Marilla explained.
"You're very knowledgeable about this," Adam remarked.
"Well, I wasn't always a queen. Before I married Osharus, I was also a singer like Lorelie, though admittedly not at her level."