The Next Life.
By Kaimaler.
HEY HEY HEY! Read this please!
Oh yes! Please, take the opportunity to go to my user page and at the very top they'll be a "Poll", please! Vote! Your vote counts! :D
When it's over, I'll rally the votes and publish my new story! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone chooses! Currently, only two people have voted so I'm sad right now. But! With any luck (of which I have NONE) more people will go and vote on the poll while they have the chance.
You can decide my next story! Though options are limited I'm willing to hear any suggestions, send me a PM if you have any at all! I may say yes! :)
Review Replies:
Smoltwire:
Well, you never really know. Poor Gaia is alone on a planet and her only friend is an alien who knows less about humans then a hampster. :)
You'll just have to see how it plays out! I'll make the whole thing more interesting then just a "decision", it'll be quite emotional for Gaia. She'd been on the Corsair her entire military career, most of her life was spent aboard that ship with those crewmates.
It'd be mightly painful knowing everyone you spent your life with was dead or hurt, right? I'm not going to play off the Corsair and Gaia's reunion as simply "Oh, I knew it was destoryed." Nothing will ever prepare a person for the loss of their family and friends. :( So be warned! Sad times ahead!
Nah, you didn't give me that feeling. I just saw "I'm desperately confused..." and I thought "Oh shittake mushrooms! I've been a baa-aaad author!" then I saw you liked it and I smacked myself for jumping to conclusions.
So far I've not gotten a single flame or contructive critism on this story so I'm rather pleased! :D
Great Diabla Assassin:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK.
Wait. Was this a compatition?... No...? Oh... Well then. ;)
The start? Man, Orion and Gaia hit it off like fire and a log cabin. :D
Ooooooooooooooo, I'm bad at those, but I'll make sure it's the best I can do of it. Speaking of horribly violent scenes, I've been playing Dead Space as my inspiration. YAY VIOLENCE
crystalfeathers:
~.^
Horser01:
Yessss, because it was. :( I'm sorry, I just tried to do something interesting and not push it. I know it's horrible but I had just gotten back from my brothers house and I NEVER SLEEP there. Partly because his cats are whiny little bitches and partly because I love staying up with him and his wife playing Trivial Pursuit and video games. :)
Yes, no, maybe, perhaps, possibly, you never know, sure, whatver, nada happening. WHO KNOWS... I'd like to know...
I have something planned and at the end of this chapter we'll get an idea of what is coming. :D
Yay! I love torturing my characters! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Time went slower and slower, Gaia felt as if she'd never reach the Corsair in time. In time for what? She scoffed, To watch the fires burn? To watch the corpses of my crew decay? She reminded herself there was nothing to rush for. The telecommunications array would take some time to repair just to get a distress signal out to military space.
Not to mention the possibility of the transmission being intercepted by Scavengers who dive to the planet surface to excavate the Corsair's remains.
Gaia still moved on, her mind pounding while her body went numb. She marched without even thinking about it and, after awhile, she realized it was probably a bad idea to continue on like this. She was watching her radar, not scanning the area; a Decepticon could strike them at any moment and she'd be last to take cover.
What does it matter? Gaia blinked, resisting the urge to smack herself. I have to know if the crews sacrifice allowed the others to survive... But wouldn't they have sent aid? At least a recovery team?
She sighed; of course they would, they just couldn't make it within a week of the crash. Two months, at best, and even then recovery teams were notorious for arriving late to the party. Her crewmates would see to their early arrival if they had to do it themselves. The crew was a respectable family of tight knit soldiers, engineers, and analysis's. There wasn't a thing they wouldn't do to ensure the Corsair got the send off it truly deserved.
Of course, Gaia was assuming they all made it back safely and the patrol vessels actually believed their story.
One other thing crew and Captains of Corsair model ships had to accept is that sometimes their stories are just to bizarre to be legally documented without a psychological exams, mental stability, physical stability, and drug tests. Corsair flight members were commonly people who had nothing else in their lives and wanted to do one notable thing before they pass on.
Gaia had one foot in on that category. With her brother's medical expenses rising, her position in the military wasn't earning her enough money to pay off the bills; her only answer was to take up a high risk mission on board the most feared ships in the galaxy.
During this time, the Corsair model line was at its beginning; no one knew what to think of the few massive Corsair's in production. Her Corsair Escion was the third ever built, but the one that set off the Corsair model production rates into overdrive. With said model now a key to the defense and protection of military space and Earth, the Corsair Escion lived up to all the hype.
People joked about it being the Suicide Ship and only people with a death wish would register to be a crewmate aboard. Gaia hated it when potential soldiers or technicians would be scared off when she requested their transfer due to a recent loss of the crew member in a certain position.
That probably set them off even more; hearing the rumors, shaking in their boots when the request came in, reading the explanation behind it. It all played a part; only the brave could step foot on the Escion without their teeth chattering.
Some crewmembers came aboard the Escion shaking; some took to solitude not wishing to participate in whatever the rest of the crew did.
Gaia couldn't really blame them. With these turn of events, crashing on an uncharted planet known only to an alien race of organic machines? Seems the rumors all came true.
The Corsair Escion was lost in the fringes of space; no one knew where it was now; not even the crew who took the shuttles back to UN claimed space. There wasn't a single human life form on the planet that could help her.
She'd argue with herself that the Autobots were helping, they would get her to the Corsair Escion's crash site and, with any luck, help her repair the communications array; if not, she'd do it herself, bid them farewell, and wait for rescue.
But wait. Did she want to know if the crew didn't make it? Would it be better to just hope they made it? What would she do if they didn't, she couldn't stand knowing she was the only one who survived.
"De Mercurio, we're nearing the first outpost." Orion stated, looking forward to the list of towers in their path, "It is the double tower to the right. That is the largest outpost on this side of Iacon; we will be safe and regroup with the Autobots there before moving on. Most of the group will stay below to guard the entrance, just to watch for Decepticon scouts."
"How long will this all take? We staying to rest like usual?" Gaia spotted the tower, a typical gun metal grey with a few lights at the top.
Oh no, that's over a dozen storey's up. I hope there's an elevator... She inwardly winced; she'd be exhausted barely even halfway to the top if there wasn't.
"No, only for a short time. The Decepticons will not wait for us to arrive to begin advancing; we can afford an hour off of traveling else they gain miles in our territory." Orion explained. Gaia understood clearly, the less battlefield on their side the less chance they had at actually coming out victorious.
"Alright." She sniffed, "Is there an elevator?"
Orion glanced her way, "No, is that a problem?" He hadn't a clue how it could be...
"Unfortunately yes. I see the lights of the outpost, it's at least fifteen storey's high; I'll never reach the top on stairs without tiring out." One more thing about humans he was eager to learn the logic behind, "How about I stay down a few storey's or so; I'll eat, drink, rest up, and by the time you all come back down I'll be more then ready to head off again. I can't go too long without food and it's been over six hours since I last ate. I'm starving here." She smiled, once more wishing that she didn't need to wear the HUD around the Autobots.
"You will have to inform Prime about your plan, yet since you are not an Autobot you can do as you please so long as it does not cause any harm upon the Autobots." He looked to Prime, still marching forward without any outside interruption Sentinel was in deep thought; any Autobot could tell.
Gaia nodded, "I'll tell him when we get there."
As promised, once they all reached the outpost they began climbing the staircase. From what Gaia could tell it was an emergency escape route they were using backwards to reach their destination.
After a few storeys' Gaia could already feel herself becoming tired. The Autobots showed no signs of wear or stopping, each one taking each step like it was the first. Somewhat jealous, Gaia stopped at a door ten storey's up. She had been pushing it since they passed a massive two storey room earlier. If she decided to continue an hour wouldn't be long enough to regain her breath before moving out again.
"Sentinel." She was outside the door. "I'll wait here, rest up a bit and I'll see you in a little." Sentinel was clearly taken off by the suddenness of it; he wanted to know more before allowing her to stay alone without Autobot watch.
Of course, now he was assuming he could stop her.
"I will assign Ironhide to you until our return-" She raised her hand, "No bodyguards needed Sentinel, if you choose someone choose Orion or none at all."
The Autobots glanced between themselves; their leader and the offworlder were finally butting heads. Nothing dramatic, not a battle or something that would escalate to an argument, but no one defied Sentinel's wishes as he was the savior of the Autobot faction in whole. The offworlder had informed them of her military position, a Captain, but nothing more.
Sentinel stared down the mysterious visor of the Neutral following him. She'd not once caused trouble amongst his Autobots, not a problem in the world. He trusted her around his Autobots not only because they could take care of themselves if anything were to happen, but because Gaia had proven herself an honest companion, she'd not once threatened his command and instead shown herself an ally, someone Sentinel was interested in learning more about.
Yet here she stood, her decision could very well hurt their partnership. He trusted her with anyone of his brothers in arms; but not alone. There was always more with her, she was always outnumbered. Here, alone between the Autobots below and the outpost above, she could actually be a risk regardless of her inability to escape the tower.
Since she was a Neutral, her position on Decepticons and Autobots could shift randomly, she could switch teams voluntarily without rebuttal from the Decepticons, at least, not if she gives them information in return for her safety.
He found himself in the same place he was when he met her; she was too much of a risk to leave alone, she could be honest in her intentions or destroy their entire plans in one fell swoop with the Decepticons right behind her.
Gaia looked down, she knew what he was thinking, and it was hard to imagine his discomfort with her being away from his people in times as drastic as these. A worldwide war fought with only infantry and tactics; her leaving them even if for a short while could bring down his plans.
Decepticons would no doubt be just out of sight, stealing glimpses of their base, watching the Autobots closely with dark intents. If Gaia showed herself apart they would believe they had found a weak spot in the Autobot defenses, the weak link in their chain.
Coincidentally, this was exactly the item Gaia was going to hand over to Sentinel as a symbol of trust; as a promise of her return.
Unlatching a part of her armor, Gaia withdrew a delicate gold chain before closing her armor back up. The chain was bought without anything on it, no pendant or jewels, yet it held the single most valuable item Gaia ever owned. Hanging in place of a pendant was a gold band with small diamonds embedded into the top.
Her wedding band couldn't be worn when she wore her suit and even when she wasn't it was to dangerous to wear, it would get caught on things and, if ever in such a questionable position, it could tell a powerful enemy she had soft spot for them to open fire on.
She mindlessly twirled the band between her fingers, the chain wrapping itself around her fingers. She hated to let it go with another, but she was so very hungry and thirsty, she'd never make it to the Corsair crash site if she didn't eat and drink now; Sentinel stood defiantly in her way, denying free passage to something she needed so badly.
Gaia had half a mind to tell him that her species needed to ingest food and drink else they die, yet that would mean telling him she was human and then going through how the lie came to be.
She couldn't though, not when she was so close to reaching the Corsair, not when she was but miles away from it. She'd never tell him; it would be hers and Orion's secret forever.
The Autobots allowed her this moment of silence as she held the band and chain with dexterous hands. She wouldn't let a thing happen to it, especially since her husband was dead now. This was important, so direly needed that she would pass out by tomorrow if she kept marching and never ate.
"Sentinel, I'm going to entrust you with this and I expect to have it returned to me when you come back from the outpost." Gaia stepped forward, reluctantly holding the band and chain out to him. "If you don't have it with you, if you lost it... You won't make it down from this tower."
Orion spotted the chain and band attracted; Gaia explained only one other thing in their time together that she used that tone with. It was forceful, as if she couldn't continue, though it was strong and demanding. Her voice wavered for a moment then she regained herself with the veiled threat on Sentinel's health.
If the item she handed Sentinel had anything to do with her husband, as her tone suggested, then Orion was surprised she even allowed anyone to see it, much less touch it.
With a sharp nod, Sentinel took the jewelry in his hand, regarding it curiously as he examined it. Even he, without any knowledge on human culture, could understand from what she said that this very thin chain and hallowed circular gold ring meant something of great value to her.
Not a word more, Gaia shoved the broken door open, a loud screech resonated through the staircase hall before she left their sight into the dark room.
Orion suspected the connection of the chain and band with her late husband and with Sentinel studying the item he decided it best to help his leader understand the alien artifact a bit more as they ascended the staircase. From what Gaia told Orion, this small ring on the chain must be that which signifies a human as bonded; hence its great meaning to Gaia.
It looked as she described though she never showed him it he could guess.
"I believe that is a bonding tool, Prime." He stated, bringing his leader out of his thoughts. He didn't reply, only looked at the item in new light. "It is a wedding ring, De Mercurio told me a wedding ring is unique to all bond mates and this one was given to her by her bond mate. It symbolizes their unity."
"Then that is why she showed so much concern over this small object. I thought it too small for any practical use." The chain was so thin, applying too much pressure would snap it in two and encased in a fist the ring would crumble. "Why such a small thing? It appears as it was barely holding together."
"It is a ceremony between two future bond mates where many attend as they announce their bond. She has not explained to me everything about the bonding of her people, though the quality of this ring is important to both bond mates. I am not sure, however, what happens if the ring of either bond mate is lost." Sentinel held that for a moment. What would happen? If the two are connected by the ring if they no longer had the rings, would they be separate again?
It was difficult trying to understand this alien event, but Sentinel thought it best to question her about it rather then go on possibilities.
As the Autobots left her alone, Gaia immediately removed her helmet and coughed, her throat was dry and her lips cracked. The small amount of poisoning Cybertronian air was giving her had taken affect, but nothing fatally wounding. Though the alien radiation emitting from the plant would kill her it would take at least two months before her health would become permanently damaged by the oxygen poisoning.
She had to eat and hydrate herself now though, even if it did shave a few hours off her previous gestation of survival breathing the toxic air.
It was annoying navigating the massive dark room, it was near pitch black but light snuck in through the windows making it near impossible for her to use her nightvision without blinding herself.
Stumbling over a few piles of rubble, Gaia came to sit on a fallen... Gaia blinked, she was unsure if it was wall, rubble, table, or a bench. Whatever it was, it served as the perfect spot for gazing out through the window to the rest of Cybertron while she met her stomachs demands.
Gaia had five ration bars and knew that within the next two days they'd reach the Corsair crash site, so conserving the bars was no longer an issue. With her moister collector in working order, Gaia drank the water down in large gulps; she was running on empty before hand.
With less food intake and more exercise, Gaia was unhealthily loosing her weight. She was one-fifty-three before taking up arms with the Autobots, now she was a one-forty-four; she'd take ill soon due to the loss of weight. This, unlike the toxic oxygen, would cause permanent health troubles just because of the instant drop. It was unnatural and would destroy any human's natural system.
If looking like a stick was the worst problem she'd encounter on her trip through Cybertron, she could live with that.
After downing the food and drink, Gaia's stomach felt ready to burst. It had been thirty minutes since she and the Autobots parted ways. I ate too fast... That'll cause a problem later. She inwardly growled, eating too fast made the digestive system work overtime to dissolve the food and drink, causing stomach pangs, cramps, and she'd get hungrier sooner.
That seemed the least of her worries at this time.
Thankfully, satisfaction set in, she felt positively worn out. So much marching, so much stress; it was a wonder she was still on her feet. It was true, she was an adrenalin junkie, but in her line of work that's the best kind of crewmate. She'd always be the one to get in a life or death situation, sticking her nose where it didn't belong. She admitted to her crew that she'd always go against code; she'd surprise them with extraordinary plans and throw them all into near death circumstances.
Some times though, the extraordinary plans didn't go quite so according to plan. People died, went missing, quit; she couldn't help her nature and the military supported her. Eventually, she came to blame the people who come aboard. If they didn't want the adventure of a lifetime, her ship wasn't for them.
She remembered when she gave her Navigator a heart attack. Literally. The medic said it wasn't a large one, but he needed to take it easy for a long time.
When he was healthy enough, he left the Corsair, stating it was too dangerous for any sane person to be a part of and that only suicidal people who have nothing more in life deserve to board her ship.
The Corsair was a Kamikaze vessel, delving into untested waters as a past time; most of it included guns and turrets.
She felt the necessity to live up to expectations that were never clear to her, with her husband just as suicidal, the two made a dangerous pair; nothing didn't fall to their usual unpredicted actions. A few times they lost members, friends, but that was life, that was the military.
In such a day an age where exploration was needed even more badly then the discovery of the New World, now dubbed Americas, she felt the Corsair was just the ship to do that. With insane maneuvering capabilities and an adventurous crew to match, they became virtually unstoppable in Scavenger owned space.
She hated to remember the good ol' days now after the crew was gone; she'd be honest to herself, she always took it for granted even if she made a point to thank God she still had the Corsair under her feet, a husband in her chambers, and a crew equal to the Corsair's death defying stunts.
It didn't take long for Gaia to realize that her life as a spacefarer was over.
"De Mercurio?" An Autobot! Gaia snapped out of her memories, the silence now interrupted by another. She knew it wasn't Orion and with her helmet off this was a problem. "Yes, one moment! I'll be right there!" She called back, hastily shoving her pack back on her back while slamming her helmet down and latching it in place.
The Autobot wasn't far and she wasn't done yet. In her rush, her hand slipped from the cords and placed the wrong one in the wrong socket. Growling, she gripped the others and twisted them into place turning each one back where they belong.
Without noticing, the wrong cord was still plugged into the wrong receiver. Unwittingly, Gaia stood and faced the Autobot approaching. "We are leaving now, Sentinel should be along shortly, I was sent ahead to retrieve you."
"Come on then, let's go." Gaia and the Autobot, who she remembered as Sideswipe the nicer of the twins, left the empty level.
In the stairwell, Sentinel was just passing the door as the two emerged. Gaia held out her hand and waited for the return of her wedding band before greeting Sentinel in kind.
Nodding, he opened his hand, revealing the chain and band still attached and unharmed. "Ready to go, Sentinel?" She hooked the necklace back on, her hand holding on a second longer before the descended the stairs.
Orion was a little ways behind Gaia, not attracting her attention so soon. As he smiled when she twirled the band in her fingers, he spotted and odd spark on her helmet. Glancing to the cord, he awaited for it to do so again before bringing it up to Gaia. Staring at it for some time, Orion spotted nothing more and dismissed the spark of electricity as just his imagination.
When Gaia reached the bottom step she regretted eating so fast. Her stomach made all sorts of noises, earning her a few odd looks from the Autobots. She giggled, it was hilarious to watch the aliens on this planet stunned at the sounds her body could make.
They had dozens of more Autobots joining them from the outpost; the battle was going to be too large for anything less then an army to win.
"We have one more outpost before we reach your ship De Mercurio." Sentinel announced to her, "The next will take a little while longer since it will be a much larger number of Autobots joining our numbers. Once that is done, we will be heading straight in the direction of where your ship crashed."
"I guess we only have a little while longer then Sentinel," She stretched out her arms, sore from sitting stationary so long and moving so suddenly. "It's been a true honor being able to join your people, they're all great soldiers."
He grinned momentarily; it did him good to hear kind words. He didn't put on the role as a hard leader all the time, "Thank you De Mercurio, I do not look forward to your departure, though I wish you well when you do go nonetheless."
"Heh, I was just about to thank you for holding onto my wedding band." Sentinel looked down to Gaia, a smiling to her. "I would never loose such a meaningful thing such as that. I am sorry for your loss De Mercurio; most Cybertronians do not survive loosing a bond mate. I will say I am glad you did, it has been very interesting with you around."
"Orion told me that, said when one bond mate dies the other usually does not long after." Gaia shivered, "I can't imagine that. My people don't, it is hard to go through just as it is and sometimes people do kill themselves after loosing their beloved; but that's a choice... Erm, thanks anyways Sentinel, I prefer being alive to."
The older mech turned his attention back to the streets while Gaia took in the Autobots following behind. There were about as many as there were crewmembers on the Corsair Escion; each one prepared to die for what they believe in. She'd be lying if she said it didn't warm her heart to see so many soldiers ready to sacrifice themselves for the good of many.
Taking up pace again, the Autobots marched on through the dark streets of abandoned Cybertron, the cities desolate of life. Gaia remembered when she first laid eyes on this planet with her husband pointing it out.
Just as the planet began to truly come into view, the duo in the cockpit turned attention from their offenders to the metal planet below. "Holy shit." The pilot looked on to the planet, "The hell?" The Captain narrowed her eyes. "Am I seeing this right?"
"Perfectly, Captain. There's nothing wrong with our holographic generators." He said, all the while staring into the planet's core.
This planet appeared manufactured, as if it was built as a city in space. There were cities built upon asteroids or moons, even some with their own orbit pull in space without an organic rock base, but this odd metal looking planet had a golden warm glow from the core between what they could see as buildings.
"Let me get a closer look..." The pilot licked his lips in anticipation; the oddity of this unknown world was putting him on the edge of his seat. Yet as the enlargement of the planet came, it appeared interestingly abandoned. The Captain felt a foreboding presence, something unseen and fearsome, but as they examined the surface of the planet, nothing appeared. No life, only lights that were clearly dying out, buildings rusted and destroyed, some tipping while most remained tall.
It was clear, whatever become of the residents of this unknown planet had been wiped out not to long ago, by a force unseen and very possibly still present.
"The fuck is this place?" The pilot stared with wide eyes constantly flicking from side to side, determined to find some glint of life.
"Where are we?" The Captain gaped in awe, never in her years of service, traveling to worlds uncharted, species unseen, and unmapped vastness of space had she seen a space city built in place of a planet, not on this scale. It was utterly remarkable; it was too bad she couldn't report this sighting to her superiors or the archives.
"We are on the edge of the Void ma'am; it seems that this planet has never been on record, much less has anyone actually been in this area since the great Void Barrier Project."
Gaia smiled, the memory still fresh in her mind. It was a hard ride to the planet surface; it was a crying shame it ended the Corsair Escion's long service record.
It was bittersweet now that she looked back on it, the trip to Cybertron was perilous, and every turn was fraught with Scavengers trying desperately to stop their approach of the barely inhabited manufactured planet. The entire time they fought off Scavengers and never had a hit with another planet nearby.
In fact, all the planets nearby were dead, devoid of resources and only one or two held Scavenger headquarters. The other planets were surrounded by asteroid fields; the gravity of the dead planets had mostly deteriorated after so many centuries of suffocation in the Void.
Gaia was interested in knowing why the Scavengers were here in the first place. Without a proper resource to sell they wouldn't make any money holding this patch of the Void and since it was the Void, no Wayfarer's even went in this direction; hence why Cybertron wasn't discovered sooner.
If they didn't gain resources, they must've had another reason for having such a large concentration of Scavengers in the area.
A light bulb flicked on, Gaia resisted the urge to smack herself. How could she not see this sooner? The Scavengers were right there with the Corsair Escion above Cybertron. How truly bad had her common sense gotten from being exposed to this alien planet?
The Scavengers knew all about Cybertron; it was a cash cow. Landing on the surface without resistance, no one was there to stop them from taking Cybertronian technology or even making bases on this planet. Most likely, since they must've known this planet was a never ending gold mine, that they were here, somewhere, smuggling alien technology offworld and back into their space.
With her crash on the planet, Scavengers must've already been trying to reach the Corsair to utilize military weaponry; with it, they could lock down this entire sector of the Void, destroying any and all military personnel from entering this space. If they get their hands on the Corsair model schematics, if the study the Corsair Escion's skeleton; this galaxy could face a whole new side to the Scavenger - United Nations battling.
It could escalate to a full scale war.
They were here and they had to know the Corsair was.
Errrrrk! Stop right there! Review replies will be posted at the top! :)