This was originally posted on Tumblr, and I hesitated before deciding to upload it elsewhere, to be honest? Not entirely sure why. I've only seen the opening cutscenes of XBCX, so...this might one day get more chapters if/when I get the game? I don't know, lol
Gaignun found himself gradually waking up, a bright light shining in his eyes. He grunted, trying to look away from the bright light.
"Hey, are you alright?" a female voice asked. "Are you injured in any way?"
Gaignun slowly opened his eyes, squinting. He could gradually make out a woman standing before him, dark skinned with silver hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing…some sort of armor? He was unable to tell.
"Are you alright?" she repeated. Gaignun nodded, trying to figure out what was going on. The last thing he recalled was saying his farewells to Rubedo and Albedo, and then…he was here?
He stumbled forward, his legs feeling like lead. The woman helped him stay upright, and he mumbled a word of thanks.
"It might take your senses a while to come back, your pod looked damaged when I approached it…can you speak any?" she explained.
"…y…yes, I can. I…I'm sorry, who are you…?" Gaignun asked, voice hoarse.
"My name is Elma. Do you remember your name?" Elma answered.
Gaignun reluctantly nodded. "…Gaignun. My…My name is Gaignun Kukai."
Elma looked relieved, a small smile forming on her face. "Good. I'll explain as much as I can while we head to New Los Angeles."
"New what? Where are we? Why…Why was I in that pod?" Gaignun wondered aloud as they began walking. The land surrounding them could only be described as a wilderness of some sort in Gaignun's eyes, with grass everywhere and a gentle wind blowing. The sky above him was dark, dotted with clouds. But…why was he here? He was trying to sacrifice himself so Yuriev wouldn't come back, why…why was he still alive?
"Don't you remember? Maybe your memories are taking a while to come back…I'll get you up to speed. Earth has been destroyed, as a result of our planet being caught in the crossfire of an intergalactic war between the Ganglion and the Ghost. Humanity boarded several arks in an attempt to flee Earth before its destruction, but…the only one we know that got out in the end was the White Whale, which crashed here on Mira," Elma explained. "We placed ourselves in stasis pods, and they've been scattered across Mira's surface. Right now…we're trying to recover whoever we can. I found your pod just a few minutes ago."
Gaignun's head was reeling. Earth…wasn't that Lost Jerusalem? Had he traveled back in time, or…no, there were no mentions in any history books or files about it being destroyed by anything called Ganglion or Ghosts, it only disappeared one day…
"I figure you must have a lot of questions, but I promise everything will be answered once we're at NLA," Elma assured. "We have to be careful out here. The Ganglion followed us here, and Mira alone is not a very friendly planet to be on."
"…understood," Gaignun simply answered, nodding. Maybe it might be best to pretend he had amnesia for the time being…
"Oh, and before I forget, you'll be needing a weapon," Elma added, taking out a gun and handing it to Gaignun. He did his best not to gawk at the weapon, considering he hadn't used a gun since the Miltian Conflict. Well…he hadn't, but…
The two started walking on in silence, Gaignun taking a moment to examine himself. The first term that came to mind when examining his outfit was 'civilian clothing', as he was now clad in a t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of plain shoes. Compared to even his old outfit and Elma's armor, he…felt somewhat under-dressed for someone just waking up on a new planet they had no clue even existed until now.
One part of him wondered if he was going into some sort of shock. Maybe it just wasn't sinking in yet that for all he knew, he was either very far back in time or very far into the future and was possibly the last URTV alive. Maybe it was sheer exhaustion from not being completely destroyed by Yuriev over the past year or so. Or maybe it was him wanting to believe this was all a bad dream, any minute now he might just wake up at the Facility or the Foundation, and–
A roll of thunder brought him out of his thoughts, and rain began to pour from the sky. He couldn't help but make an irritated noise as he started to get soaked.
"Not a fan of rain?" Elma asked, lightly.
"No, I just…hoped it wouldn't rain while we were still heading to New Los Angeles," Gaignun answered, shaking his head. The two approached what seemed to be a broken pile of machinery, an intact part giving off a bright golden glow in the dark.
"…most of the White Whale's lifepods didn't survive the crash…like this one," Elma explained, quietly, causing Gaignun to cringe. "You're one of the lucky few."
She paused. "…how much do you remember, Gaignun?"
"…not much," Gaignun answered, not looking at her. "I…remember the faces of my siblings, but…aside from my name, that's all."
"It might just be the effects of being in stasis. Hopefully you'll remember more as time goes on," Elma mumbled before the sound of something rustling and squeaking made Gaignun turn around. He saw something scuttle by in the dark, but he couldn't make out what it was.
"I know, it's been following me for a while now," Elma admitted, drawing a pair of guns on her back. "Didn't want to alarm you, but we'll have to defend ourselves. You up to the task?"
Gaignun simply nodded in response, turning back around to spot one of the biggest bugs he had ever seen, rearing up and preparing to attack. He was privately relieved that it definitely wasn't a Gnosis, but it was still nothing to celebrate about.
Gaignun chose to keep his distance from the large insect, Elma dashing in and shooting at it at close range. It didn't take him long to figure out how to use the gun he was given, and he started firing at the bug. Compared to Elma, he wasn't doing as much damage, but it seemed to be whittling down the insect nonetheless. Before long, it crumpled to the ground, dead.
"You're not half-bad," Elma noted. "There's plenty of work back in the city for someone who knows how to handle a weapon, you know."
"Ah, well…it was a spur of the moment thing, it wouldn't be well of me to die to an insect just after waking up," Gaignun answered, shaking his head.
"Even so…I think I have just the job for you, Gaignun. But we should talk details at NLA, so let's keep going," Elma decided. The two pressed on, the sky gradually lightening up. A large cliff rose above everything off in the distance.
Elma's eyes lit up. "The rain's starting to let up just in time for sunrise…follow me, I promise you're going to love this."
The pair approached a cliff, overlooking…well, Gaignun couldn't tell, since a good portion of it was covered in a thick fog. A few moments passed, and suddenly light burst through the clouds, lifting the fog and revealing a large city in the distance and a large landmass sprawling out between them, the fog slowly evaporating. Gaignun's eyes widened as the fog gradually pulled away, and some sort of creature appearing from below the cliff. It reminded Gaignun vaguely of the dinosaurs mentioned in one or two of the books Jr had, but somehow more…alien in nature.
"W…What…"
Another creature flew past Gaignun, resembling some mixture between a fish and a bird. He held back a yelp of surprise as it soared past, other similar creatures flying in the air.
"Pretty wild, huh?" Elma asked, noticing Gaignun's bewildered expression. When Gaignun nodded, she added, "They're all indigenous, as far as we can tell. We need to learn to play nice with these guys if we're going to try and coexist together."
"…there's…there's so much to take in here, I've never seen anything like this before…!" Gaignun admitted, realizing he sounded breathless.
Elma nodded. "As you know, we call this planet Mira. You won't find it on any starchart, but it's our new home."
Gaignun's wonder at the new world around him was suddenly replaced by sorrow at the word 'home'. Home…there was no way to return to the Kukai Foundation, he was starting to realize. This wasn't a dream, somehow he was given a second chance, and he was on some uncharted planet, more than likely in the past, and…and he would never see his friends or family again, unless by some miracle he was transported back to his own time and place.
"…are you alright, Gaignun?" Elma asked.
"I, uh…I'm fine. I assume that's NLA over there?" Gaignun quickly changed the subject, gesturing to the large…thing labeled 'United States' with crystals jutting out from underneath it in the distance.
"Ah, yes. That's where we're headed," Elma confirmed. "You have your pick of the high road or the low road–you could handle the jump down this cliff, but there are plenty of Indigens down there who would put up a tough fight. The high road is much safer and a quicker way to NLA."
"I would…feel much better taking the higher road, honestly," Gaignun decided, backing away from the cliff and proceeding towards said higher road. NLA was…much larger than Gaignun originally thought, and he tried to push away the sadness he felt with wonder again.
"Looks larger up close, doesn't it?" Elma guessed. "And this was just the Habitat Unit. The White Whale was a hell of a ship."
She hesitated. "…until it all came crashing down, at least. Anyways, that's the west gate. It's closed off right now for security reasons, but there's a freight elevator that'll get us inside…"
A large snarl made Gaignun jolt, and he turned to see some kind of creature on a cliff above them, rearing up as it prepared to attack. A few similar-looking creatures slowly stalked up to Elma and Gaignun, baring their fangs.
"Grexes…but they're riled up," Elma realized, surprised. She and Gaignun drew their weapons, standing back-to-back.
"Just our luck," Gaignun commented. "I know for a fact I've never fought creatures like these before…"
"Never a better time to learn how to," Elma answered. "C'mon!"
The Grexes posed more of a threat than the insect from before did. They were bigger than that bug, and there were more of them to fight, proving it harder to keep his distance and shoot. One attempted to get up close to Gaignun, trying to rend him apart with its claws. For a split second, he panicked as it tried to claw him; the next second, Elma darted in and fired off her guns at the Grex's face. It shrieked in pain before falling the ground and staying there.
"Easy there! Try to stay out of fighting range!" Elma suggested, dashing to another Grex. Gaignun held back a retort as he tried to keep fighting, feeling worn out by the battle. He focused his shots on one Grex, and before long it tumbled to the ground and didn't move again just as the one Elma fought fell.
For a few moments, Gaignun and Elma stared at the fallen Grexes before she spoke up. "It's a shame we had to settle near so much wildlife…luckily, some species aren't so hostile, but they aren't necessarily friendly either. I've come to learn there's a fine line between self-defense…and provoking a fight."
"And we need to walk that line carefully," Gaignun assumed.
Elma nodded. "All right, let's head in. Who knows–maybe seeing the inside will jog your memory."
–
Gaignun slowly followed Elma into NLA, unable to stop looking around him every step of the way. He was reminded of the Foundation already, even without seeing the entire city. Elma came to a stop at a platform overlooking the city, and Gaignun darted up to her side, resting his hands on the railing on it.
"Well? Here we are. Not too shabby for a beached spaceship, huh? But…like it or not, this is our new home now," Elma declared. The city was huge, Gaignun thought; buildings spread out beneath them, all sorts of small lights decorating the ground below, massive buildings scraped the air…
"We took the name after the city the Habitat Unit was based on back on Earth," Elma explained. "Welcome to NLA."
Gaignun found himself unable to stop staring at the land before him. A growing feeling of homesickness started to form in his chest, and nothing he could think of would push it away. This…This place reminded him too much of the Foundation, of Mary and Shelley, of Rubedo, of the other URTVs…
He gripped the railing tightly, taking a deep breath. This was home now, and he wasn't throwing away his shot at living again. Yuriev was gone, and Gaignun was going to live.
"…alright," he finally spoke after several minutes, "what do we do from here?"