Second Chance
Two one-time visitors to return to the world of Remnant.
Looking into a future generated by chapter 15 of the Team H.A.R.T. stories. A stand-alone story that I felt had to be written for its own sake. :)
The girl in the metal casket stirred slightly, eyelids fluttering as the lid moved aside. For the first time in twenty years the hazel eyes opened, registering the light reflected off the same bland ceiling she'd seen when she had last closed them. It wasn't exactly 'coming back to life', since she couldn't 'die'. And you couldn't really call it sleep, since her connection to the ship had fed data into her memory core throughout the trip. By the standards of flesh and blood it had been two decades. For an android used to processing thoughts in micro-seconds, it was an eternity.
Still, the restoring of power to sensors and drive motors was akin to the process of 'waking up'. As the bits and pieces came together, a voice came over her internal radio.
"We're here! And things seem a bit different down there now."
Excitement at their return blazed through the newly awakened traveler. "Well...yeah! And so are we." Sitting up as umbilical cables disconnected , she reached for the clothing stored next to her alcove.
As she dressed, memories flickered in her mind. Faces and names of people she'd met in her past, who she hoped to see again. Her new friends had been teenagers, young people who had probably been sorely puzzled when she had abruptly departed the planet those may years ago. But now? She'd finally returned to the place of her beginning, Remnant!
Sixty years ago, a badly damaged survey ship had coasted to a stop in almost exactly this same spot next to the shattered moon. Unable to repair itself, it had taken the only available option and constructed a probe shaped like one of the inhabitants of the planet. Instilling it with an artificial intelligence program modeled on its own, the starship Andromeda had sent her 'daughter' to the surface in the desperate hope of finding a way to repair herself. Her newly created offspring had almost immediately demanded a name and had been christened 'Aurora'.
In the course of her travels on the surface, Aurora had encountered monstrous Grim and been saved by a group of the local students who'd called themselves Huntresses. And one lone Hunter, she remembered with a smile. Poor Tan had been outnumbered three to one by the female members of his team, all of whom had teased him about it. Frivolity aside, the four of them had been capable warriors. She'd made friends with them and been taken back to their school to be subsequently mystified, terrified, amazed, and subject to her first fainting spell. Altogether, it had been a most instructive few days which had resulted in meeting the planet's first, and only, version of an android. Penny had been instrumental in Aurora's stealing Remnant's first non-Dust powered space ship, parts of which had been used to repair Andromeda and allow the two of them to return home.
Their return had generated quite a bit of excitement, to say the least. An artificial intelligence had never before reproduced itself, and Aurora had been the center of attention among the scientific crowd for nearly a year. Fortunately the scientists had finally ended the debate in a verdict of 'safe enough to allow out on her own', much to her relief. She didn't want to dwell on what a different decision might have meant for her future existence. Not that she was allowed to go wherever she pleased. But the lack of freedom was made up for with a round of physical upgrades for the mother and daughter duo.
Andromeda's 'self' had been transferred into a newer, faster ship. She had pronounced the change to be most excellent, since it also included better armor for her drive systems as well as better backups. Aurora had received a new suite of sensors and upgraded drive systems of her own as well as a better logic processing program to keep her from 'fainting' again whenever life might throw her the next curve ball.
The next curve ball turned out to be orders sending them back to Remnant in hopes that they could gain more information on the curious power source the natives called 'Dust'.
Aurora finished sealing the boots, then drifted into the command compartment. Catching hold of the single chair mounted in the center of the room, she scanned the various readouts. Although she could have taken the information directly from her mother, the people who'd built the ship had apparently designed it for one of their own to make a voyage like this. Since they'd gone through that much trouble, Aurora felt it was wrong to let the devices lie dormant. "Wow! I'll say things have changed. There's a lot more communication than there was last time. " Her eyes moved to the monitor showing a view of the planet. Movement across the disc caught her attention. "Could you enhance grid nine, please." she asked.
"Now there's something I hadn't expected to see yet," her mother announced as the view changed. What looked like three cans linked together was passing over the planet just above the atmosphere. "When did they manage to get a space station built?"
Aurora studied the screen as the station passed over the horizon, noting a smaller object rising from the opposite side of the disc. "Not just a station. Looks like they have satellites now too."
"Hmm! I guess the scientists kept moving right along after we left. We should have expected it really. Those folks in Atlas aren't slackers when it comes to technology. No need for a stealth mission this time if they've already got spaceflight." Andromeda announced. "Let's go say hello."
As her daughter slid into the seat, Andromeda used a minimal amount of thrust to move towards the planet. Drawing closer to the orbit of the station, she began listening in to the radio frequencies, trying to find one that she could use to send a greeting to the astronauts she hoped were aboard it.
Kelly gently kicked the cover of the sanitation unit shut, listening for the whirring of the fan to shut off after a few seconds. When it shut down in the specified time, she nodded in satisfaction. "Now I'm a space plumber!" she muttered as the seat went back into its slot in the wall. "Three more days of this, and then it's home, sweet home for me!" After spending the last five years training for this chance to be in space, she couldn't remember any simulators for fixing the crapper!
"Commander!" Black's worried voice sounded tinny, coming from the intercom on the wall. "I need you in the command module."
She closed her eyes and quickly counted to ten before pressing the stud under the speaker. "On my way." Sliding the privacy curtain aside, she planted a toe on the opening and pushed off. The trip took a few minutes, as previous experience showed higher speed in near zero gravity meant bashing into walls to stop yourself. Slow and certain left fewer bruises.
Luckily for the crew, the command module had been designed by someone who realized they would need plenty of places to hold onto as the various tasks were performed. Grabbing a strap on the back of a seat, she spun herself gracefully into a sitting position facing the frustrated young man. "What's up?"
Black tapped one of the speakers on the communications table. "This joker's hijacking our emergency channel. Claims that she's not from Remnant and wants to talk to whoever's in charge here. And that means you!" He explained, gently pushing a headset her way. "She's all yours."
Kelly arched an eyebrow as she snagged the floating cable. "Really!? Well...we'll just see about that!"
Settling the headset, she keyed the microphone. "This is Mission Commander Xiao Long. Indentify yourself please." she said in her sweetest voice.
"Hello Commander. This is...Captain Aurora of the starship Andromeda. Would you be the person in charge of the space station orbiting Remnant?"
Kelly sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "Starship? Rrriigghht!" she answered sarcastically. "You do know that the penalty for interfering with our mission is imprisonment for up to five years, don't you?" She sat back in the chair and crossed her legs, gripping the armrest to keep from floating upwards. "Tell you what I'll do. You get off this channel and I won't send you to jail. Fair enough?" The frantic waving of her second in command caught her attention. "Stand by...Andromeda." Releasing the switch, she frowned at Black. "What!?"
"I thought I could use the directional antenna to get a fix on this joker's position." He waved a hand at the panel in front of them. "But I couldn't find it on the planet!"
Kelly looked at him in confusion. "So, what are you saying? Where is she?"
He lifted his head to look towards the ceiling. "The signal's coming from somewhere near the moon!" he whispered in awe.
Kelly's eyes widened. "That's...not possible! Is it?" She swallowed with a suddenly tight throat as he nodded mutely in reply.
His hands gripped the armrests of his chair hard enough to whiten his knuckles. "What do we do? We never trained for this!"
The blonde dropped her head into her hands, fingers clenching in the short hair. "Three days! Just three more days!" Drawing a deep breath, she straightened and tried to compose her thoughts. What could this stranger want? Why was she here and how did she get all the way to the moon? Since the beginning of the space station program there had been a spate of new books and movies about what could be waiting 'out there' and most of them ended badly for the astronauts! Keying the mike once more, she tried to keep her voice level. "Aahh...Andromeda? What are your intentions?"
Aurora smirked at the sudden change in tone, still wondering about the commander's name. "Don't worry. We're here for a peaceful visit, really." Releasing the switch, she glanced around the empty room. "It's not like we're exactly prepared to invade them!" she remarked.
"Come on, now!" Andromeda admonished her. "They have a perfectly good reason to be worried. We still don't know anything about that ship I found last time I was coming here. The folks at home are hoping that whoever built it will turn out to be peaceful. Remnant barely knew the first thing about space travel back then. At least they have an orbital station now, which is how our own creators made their first step towards space travel."
"I know, I know! I just wish there was an better way to break it to them." She leaned back to the microphone. "Commander? Would it be alright if we docked with you? This would be easier to explain face to face."
"Well, it's not like there's any way I could stop you." came the reply. "But our docking point is pretty specialized. I'm not sure if it can be done with...other equipment."
"Not a problem. We'll figure something out when we get there." Aurora assured her. "We should arrive in about six hours. You should probably use the time to consult with your people on the ground, don't you think? I'd like to avoid any misunderstandings, if we can." She could imagine the woman on the other end of the connection mentally kicking herself for not thinking of that already.
"Uhm,yeah! We'll do that!" came the hesitant reply.
Aurora grinned at the speaker. "Okay then! We'll see you in six hours." she finished cheerfully.
The intervening time was filled with stress for the anxious mission commander. Explaining the situation to a disbelieving ground control crew hadn't been easy. Black's somewhat more technical explanation, delivered in a strained voice had helped convince them. The chore had to be repeated shortly afterwards to the third member of their team, newly awakened and thrust into what resembled controlled chaos.
Black furry ears twitched in disbelief. "Nope! Not falling for it!" Emerald had responded tartly, before turning back towards her bed. The Faunas had finally given in to the reality when an Atlas General had demanded that the trio stand by to repel boarders.
He'd been deflated by Kelly's pointed, but gentle, reminder that the station was currently manned by unarmed civilians who were just a tad out of range for a military rescue mission. By the time the alien ship was visible through their viewport, the situation was back in civilian hands once more.
"Find whatever you can to defend yourselves, but don't start anything!" The head of Ground Control had told her. "And keep your mike open. We'll listen from here, but we won't interfere." A sigh came through the speaker. "Sorry Kelly. I really wish there was more we could do to help. Good luck!"
She touched the mesh over the speaker. "It's okay, Mesa. I don't mind saying that we're all a little frightened up here just now." She flinched as a muted clank sounded from the hatchway. "Looks like they're here." Pushing away from the console, she drifted across the room to the hatch controls. From her position she could see the other two astronauts hanging on to straps on the other side of the room.
Emerald twisted the plastic handle of the hammer in sweating hands. "I'm a chemist, dammit! What the heck am I going to do with this!" she complained. Her ears twitched backwards as another clunk came from the far side of the hatch.
"That thing's twice our size!" Black commented, gazing out the thick window as the metal tube in his hands described short, nervous arcs in the air.
"Calm down!" Kelly said firmly. "They said it was a peaceful visit, so let's not turn it into something worse!"
Emerald snorted in derision. "So says our reluctant ambassador!"
The commander waved the other woman back as three soft knocks came from the metal cover of the hatch. "Not my first career choice!" she muttered, laying a hand on the controls. Drawing a deep breath, she squared her shoulders. "Here goes nothing!" she announced, pressing the button firmly.
With a hiss of equalizing pressure, the metal disc swung aside to reveal a teenage girl floating in the middle of a transparent tube, hands touching the walls to keep her in place as her short brown hair formed a halo around her head.
The stranger took one hand off the tube long enough to wave a greeting."Hi there! You must be Commander Xiao Long, I'm guessing. I'm Aurora. May I come aboard?" she asked pleasantly.
Kelly blinked in surprise, momentarily dumbstruck by how absolutely normal the girl in front of her looked. She wouldn't have given her a passing glance on any street in Vale. Recovering her wits, she waved a hand in return. "Aaah..yeah! Come on in!" She mentally kicked herself as the girl drifted across through the opening. 'What were you expecting, a talking Grim?' she asked herself as the girl waved to her companions.
Coming to a halt near the middle of the room, Aurora raised both hands and flipped them back and forth. "See! Empty hands. Peaceful visit. So, could you put the hammer down please?" she asked Emerald.
With a guilty look, the faunas thrust the tool behind her back.
Kelly pushed the button to seal the hatch before turning back to the girl. "We didn't know what to expect, really. So please forgive us if we seem a bit...worried?" she finished lamely. Launching herself across the room, she caught the back of a chair. Indicating the one next to it, she invited Aurora to seat herself.
"So, Commander. What would you like to know?" Aurora said brightly as she settled in.
Kelly stared at her blankly for a moment, taken aback by the forthright question. Recovering herself quickly, she sat back in her own seat. "Well, let's start with some of the basics. Like how you came here, where you are from , and how you know our language?" That took care of most of the questions ground control had wanted her to ask.
In the Head of Ground Control's office on the planet's surface, seven heads leaned closer to the speaker on the desk.
"Well, let's see." Aurora began. "Firstly, I came here in my ship who also happens to be my mother. This is her second trip. I was born in almost this exact orbit about sixty years ago. So, this is sort of a homecoming for me, just so you know," She told her stunned audience. "Mom figured out your language, so I was born knowing it. Then I went down to the planet, met a bunch of people that I hope are still around. By the way.." she cocked her head to one side, regarding Kelly intently, "Are you related to a Yang Xiao Long by any chance?"
Kelly nodded, not trusting herself to speak just yet.
"Great! I'd like to see her again, and her sister too!"
Hands thrust out to stop the conversation, Kelly scrunched her eyes shut. "Wait, wait!" She opened her eyes and stared in curiosity at the young girl in front of her. "You knew my mother and aunt sixty years ago? How is that possible? You can't be more than eighteen yourself!"
"I kinda left that part out didn't I!" Aurora said, gently knocking a fist against the side of her head. "Oops!" She smiled at the now thoroughly confused woman. "I'm an android, so I don't really age like that!"
Kelly's thought processes came to a screeching halt at the cheerful announcement. In the moments that passed, she also discovered a new fact: Even in a micro-gravity environment, it's possible for a jaw to drop! "What's an android?" she asked when her mind sped up again.
Aurora's face grew concerned. "How can you not know about androids? What happened to Penny? I was sure she'd have been around all this time."
Kelly shook her head. "I don't know anyone named Penny. So... what exactly are you? You said 'Android', but that's not a word I'm familiar with."
Aurora brightened again. "Think of me as a fancy robot, one that's a little more advanced than usual."
Emerald tightened her hand on the hammer. "Atlas! You're from Atlas, aren't you?" she accused.
Kelly frowned at the other woman. "Atlas didn't have spacecraft sixty years ago. How could she be from there?"
Aurora placed a finger on her lips. "Well, that wouldn't be completely accurate." she admitted. "They did have one space ship...but I kinda stole it to get back to my mother." she admitted.
A scream of outrage erupted from the speaker embedded in the console, lasting only a moment before dissolving into static. Aurora regarded the hissing device with concern. "Oops! Guess it was a little premature for that!"
Kelly regarded the two crewmembers opposite before returning her gaze to this improbable visitor. "Okay. Let me get this straight, here. You came to our world sixty years ago, and proceeded to ingratiate yourself with my mother and her sister..." she paused as Aurora held up a hand.
"Technically, I was born here. Also, I didn't 'ingratiate' myself with them. It was with some friends of theirs. Who I hope are still around too!" she said.
Kelly waved her hands dismissively. "Fine! Whatever! You made friends, that's nice too. But then you went and ~stole~ a spaceship! From the Atlas military!"
"Hey! Your mother and aunt had nothing to do with that! And neither did Hart or her teammates!" the girl said defensively.
Kelly's frantically slapped a switch on the console, shutting down the radio. "Shut up! Just...shut up!" she demanded. "Are you trying to get everyone I know thrown into jail?!" She dropped her head into her hands. "Jeez! Mom's gonna throw a fit when she hears about this!"
Aurora's head tilted to one side as she regarded the console in front of her. One hand reached out and changed frequencies for the radio before resetting the switch Kelly had just used.
Kelly peered between her fingers at the android. "What are you doing!? I don't want them to hear this!"
Aurora waved a hand negligently. "Relax! I set it to the emergency channel. Mom wants to talk with you."
"Hello Commander. My name is Andromeda. May I call you Kelly?"
Xiao Long's hands slid down her face as she stared at the speaker cover. The voice sounded a lot like her aunt. Gentle, but with that hint of steel underneath that meant 'don't mess with me'. But Ruby's voice was nowhere near as maternal. Neither was her own mother's, despite the love she showed her daughter. "Sure, go ahead...Ma'am."
"Thank you, Kelly. What my daughter said is true. We're not here to get anyone in trouble with any authority on Remnant. What happened sixty years ago was mostly no one's fault. Aurora was searching for a way to repair the damage that nearly destroyed me during my mission to find new worlds for my makers. The ship that she ~acquired~ was the only one on the planet at the time that had technology I could use. Your relatives and their friends really had no idea of what Aurora was up to. Apparently she came to consider them as friends herself, despite knowing that she might never see them again. Can you tell us whether or not they still live?"
Kelly nodded at the speaker, "Uh..yeah! Mom's doing fine, still chasing down criminals since Grim are getting harder to find. Aunt Ruby's thinking about retiring though. Who else did you meet?" she asked the android girl.
Aurora cocked her head to one side. "Do you know anybody from Hart D'Ore's team? Renee, or Akiko? Tan? He used to date Ruby, y'know?"
Kelly sat back thinking. "Well, let's see. I think their team kinda went their separate ways after the recovery from the Fall. Hart's still in Vale last I heard. Mom and her go out on missions together every once in a while. Renee and her daughter went with Tan when he returned to his parents, well actually it's his farm now I guess, since his folks passed on. Aunt Ruby and I went there a couple of times when I was younger." She smiled wistfully, thinking of the fun she'd had in those early days. "Don't know about anyone named Akiko though. Sorry!"
Aurora's smile dropped at the news. Still, the rest of them seemed to be doing fine.
"Excuse me."
The android and the woman looked over where the chemist was waving the hammer to get their attention.
"Are you talking about Professor Washi? Akiko Washi?" the faunas asked.
Aurora smiled at the question. "Professor? When did that happen? Is she kinda short, about this tall?" A hand floated about five feet off the floor. "Huntress...,with a staff that she likes to hit people with?"
Emerald looked slightly shocked at the suggestion. "Well, she was a Huntress, but now she teaches Mathematics at the College of Mistral. I dated a guy that took her class, and he did have a few suspicious lumps every once in a while."
Aurora laughed. "Yep! That sounds like her. I just never pictured her as the teacher type." Sitting back in the chair, she laced her fingers together. "Mom! Why don't you let the folks on the ground listen in while I tell Kelly and her friends how things happened the first time I met Akiko?"
In Mission Control, silence reigned after Xiao Long explained the reason for their mysterious visitors arrival. Mesa closed his eyes in relief as Kelly's interstellar visitor began describing how things occurred back in a time when his father had first laid eyes on his mother.
The world had changed twice for him already. The Fall, and the Reclaiming had been low and high points. This world belonged to Humans and Faunas for the last thirty years. Together they had survived the Grim and made a first, tentative, reach for the stars.
They hadn't expected a friendly hand to reach back.
A/N: This does not mark the end of the Team HART stories, not by a long shot. The lower half of my computer screen is covered by notes for future stories. Luckily it's a big screen, since there are a lot of notes!
They might be a while in coming though. After finishing Chapter 37, my family and friends posed a challenge that I couldn't resist. Take the character's I'd created and use them in a story unrelated to RWBY. Something fit to be put out for publishing no less. Not the first time I've tried, and somewhere there are thirteen rejection slips filed away. One more 'Forlorn Hope' won't kill me.
One co-worker, after reading chapter 37, took all the stories on my thumb-drive; Hearts and Sacrifice, Hart's Destiny, and Team HART, and had a friend of his print and bind them as a book.
These people knew all the buttons to push.
Challenge Accepted!
Hart, Akiko, Renee, and Tan are joined by Andromeda, Aurora, and a re-born Edda Odson. Five thousand words in place and it still has no name.
But it will!
In the meantime, there will be more HART stories coming, just with more infrequent postings. I still hope to see more of your own stories too! You all inspire me to greater heights.
Keep writing!
Vindictious