Meeting the locals (Bloo)

Upon hearing of her redeployment, Second Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff was optimistic. A redeployment to a first world country that had no history of Separatists? Simple observe and report? Her mind danced with the idea of sitting at a cafe all day, trying all sorts of different tea flavors and the occasional pastry. Oh yes, life in America was something that had been built up in the young girls head to the point of redeployment sounding more like a vacation.

There must have been some higher being in her life though. One determined to bring Chaos into her orderly and lax life. The child's plane had landed in the early AM, and she was upset to know that she had to fly as a mandatory "unaccompanied minor" despite the fact that she was more capable than the entire staff of the stupid plane. Then, after the several hours (just over half a day) of being treated like a useless toddler, Tanya landed in the busy and crowded airport to find that her weapon was taken through intense customs.

Yet another annoying drag was being led around by the airport staff to the office to retrieve her weapon. She had to tell the man that it was a toy. Degrading her weapon so. It helped that normal humans couldn't shoot it.

Alas, Tanya was determined to save the second portion of her day. Once discharged from the security's holding area Tanya went straight to the most reputable cafe on the shore front. With her pay from the army, affording the fancy bubble tea was easy. Just when it was brought to her, and she was ready to relax and enjoy it, was when the commotion on the sand started.

"Oh no..."
She ventured aloud, spotting the snake creature immediately. Empire protocol required immediate investigation and appraisal of all possible magic entities spotted.
"It's so troublesome being a salaryman..."

Her feminine voice came out with a sigh as she stood and left her cold and refreshing bubble tea to approach the snake. Coming up behind it as a crowd pushed passed in terror, Tanya rested her gun on her shoulder and spoke in her most authoritative tone.

"Halt, strange creature. As part of rules section 1908 you are in violation of protocol. I, Second Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff, offer you this chance to register yourself and your abilities with the Empire database with no violence. If you refuse, I will be forced to use hostility."

The serpent requested a copy of the rules and protocol, making Tanya scowl a bit. She didn't carry manuals around! She was a soldier, not a police officer! Though the thought and her actions seemed to be at odds with each other at the moment. Was this new job just her being a police officer? Even so, Tanya was relatively certain that police officers in this country were not required to carry written copies of all the laws on them. That would be ridiculous!

"Rules section 1908 exert: All beings that defy traits of natural and normal sapien-sapiens must register with the directory of the Empire for possible future research or weaponization."
Tanya did her best to quote the text word for word, and though she had doubts in her own abilities her years as a studious and obsessive learner payed off. She could probably write the whole book from scratch, honestly.
"I am not required to show a written version of these protocols to enforce them, but I was kind enough to read them off to you. These protocols apply to all lands under Empire control... though... wait..."

As she explained further, Tanya stumped herself. The Empire had no control over Jump City. Not yet, anyway. Her mission was to decide if the place was worth expanding to. Did that mean that she was expected to ignore the blatant disregard of their statues here? The thought mad the little girl cringe. She reached to her communicator of her shoulder, gun still resting her her other one.
"Tanya Degurechaff to HQ, I have found a creature in violation of protocol 1908. Please advise."

She spoke loud enough for the snake lady to hear, but didn't get an immediate reply back. The operator was probably researching himself.
"As I'm not sure the protocol, I suppose you ca go about your business 'enjoying the sand'. I will remain here watching until I've been advised."

Tanya squinted at the snake, examining it up and down as if staring at it for long enough would expose some secret plan the creature was hiding. A chat, she demands? What information might the enemy be trying to extract. Tanya was definitely going to remain on guard around the beast, then.
"I can't promise the Empire's response time, so I suppose something must be done while we wait."

Tanya relented, struggling for a second to holster her weapon on her back as she usually did. They needed to design a uniform for her size! The Empire had vast resources... ugh, but they shouldn't waste them on their youngest and smallest soldier any more than they already had. So, with a frown, she shimmied her gun to the holster on her back. It was way easier to get out than it was to get in.
"Identify yourself then, creature. What should I refer to you as?"

Though the 'chat' was supposed to be friendly, Tanya remained formal as ever. She often worried that if she'd ever let her guard down people would look at her differently because she was a child. After her experience on the airplane, she was rather sick of being coddled. She'd had enough of it for the day.
"Do you have family? Are they nearby?"

It seemed like the serpent creature was being honest when it said it didn't want to fight, and despite all of it's prior resistance it offered up what it's species was. Tanya made sure to commit this to memory, and include it on her first report back. She'd have to write a coded letter when she got to her hotel. She wasn't assigned a permanent residence yet, and Tanya wasn't sure if that was because they didn't want her to stay long or if it was just laziness on the part of whoever was assigned to look after her. There was a rampant plague of uselessness among the deployment officers.
"I already told you who I am. Second Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff. I guess that's a mouthful, though. I suppose as long as it's casual you can refer to me as Tanya."

She repeated, looking around at the civilians that still seemed to have no intentions of getting anywhere near the snake--Zil'costa. Tanya diligently adjusted her uniform, making sure everything remained straight and proper after she'd holstered her rifle.
"If your family is not near, where are they?"

Tanya pressed for information under the guise of 'chatting', though her intentions probably weren't hard to discern. The girl was formal to a fault sometimes, and anyone that saw the conversation could probably deduce that it was going as if it was an interrogation.
"You're clearly new to the area, as the locals aren't accustomed to you yet. What are your intentions?"

Tanya remained ever vigilante towards the way the other girl spoke. Making notes about her being a soldier, and keeping in mind that she wasn't a brainless soldier, either. She made some pretty astute counter observations about Tanya that the younger girl didn't think would be overly apparent. Though, when she was in the War College and on the battlefield soldiers and her uniform blended in rather easily... so it was never really a problem to her.
"There's a time for loosening up and a time for order. I think this is one of the latter."

Zil'costa repeated that her intentions were to relax and enjoy the sun again, making Tanya long for a vacation herself in honesty. She wasn't sure where she would spend her dream vacation, but the beach was certainly not a bad pick... she'd just worry about all the people thinking she was some lost child and trying to help her. When she was out of uniform, it was a situation that happened a lot.
"Tell me then, you say your family is back home. Where is that, exactly?"

Tanya kept the interrogation going, but her shoulders dropped a bit to show she'd started to relax. The Empire was taking a while to respond, making Tanya tempted to ask her question again.
"And why a beach? Can you even swim?"

That last question was more for her curiosity than her duty...

The snake lady, who Tanya had trouble associating a name with for some reason, repeated how much she enjoyed the sand on her scales and whatnot. The child couldn't relate at all to the opinion, so decided not to comment and just watch the strange way the sand moved when she wiggled under it. Tanya read somewhere that snakes were supposed to be scary for little girls, but she remembered playing with the gardener snakes in the back yard at the orphanage before her magical capability was discovered.
"Not at liberty to say where you're from or the name of the army you serve? A diplomat might call that cowardice on behalf of your nation. Are you sure that you're comfortable serving a nation of cowards?"

Her words were scathing, something that Tanya was exceptionally good at. Most people took extra offense to a child lecturing them. She didn't really understand why, because if someone was superior to you in some way that they had the ability to scold you, it shouldn't matter their age.
"I couldn't imagine you swimming, really. And no, my age is abnormal for the EMpire's military, but my skill is above average."

She added lightheartedly, tactically trying to avoid a conflict now. Damage control, she rationed. It was then that her comm tool buzzed to life, and Tanya put it to her ear to listen. She nodded a few times, looking back to the serpent as she did.
"Roger. Understood."

She put it back, crossing her arms.
"I have orders not to attack unless engaged first."

Vague.

The serpent said something that Tanya found herself scuffing to. Diplomats being windbags? Hardly! Diplomats had the most important job. Keeping Tanya in the safety of a homeland position that saw no combat at all because the diplomats negotiated peace! The small blonde relented at the second part of the statement, though.
"Diplomats that manage do avoid war are respectable. Certainly make a soldiers life easier. Though, I suppose we are just destined to serve out whatever orders come from their negotiations anyway... It really is tough being a salaryman."

Tanya says with a sigh, looking around for some sort of a chair to sit in while she observed the serpent creature. She really didn't want to get sand on any more of her uniform than necessary. Her survey turned up fruitless, but while she was scanning the serpent said something interesting.
"From this planet? How strangely worded that is. Are you implying that you, yourself, are from another planet? It'd certainly explain your existence. I'll have to add this to my report."

Tanya said, nodding as she made another mental note. She'd really need to start carrying a notepad around so that she could make these notes easier.

It was at that moment that her body chose to betray her. Her stomach growled loudly, and though Tanya was sure the serpent heard it she paid no attention to it. She was on duty after all.