Mirie gasped slightly as she looked towards a wall, no one else around her.
"he… couldn't be… he's alive. I have to see him… Yeshua… wait for me… we will see each other again soon…" she whispered to herself as she moved towards a window, staring out at Earth.
------------------------------------
Meanwhile
-----------------------------------
"are those… people?" Shion mumbled.
"by the looks of it, fourth century huts, though my timing could be off. Stone and wooden tools, population scans in as one hundred forty six life signs" Garrett rambled out. Shion laughed slightly.
"did I say something odd?" Garrett asked.
"no, you just reminded me of how KOS-MOS used to act" Shion said as she looked at her friend, who smiled and stared at the village.
"we should go around, it wouldn't be wise to interact with them" Garrett said as he started to move forward. A Spear suddenly impeded his progress.
The group flipped around to stand ten feet away from two hunters in animal skins, another spear in each hand, before they turned to find more of them, then more behind them where they were just staring. They were surrounded.
"bata um bada, sajee mahuma nad amiha bagu massa" one of the hunters yelled out at them.
"um… I don't understand what he-" Shion tried to say.
"gana adu mas adega gahuda. Banu bapa natu basamee" KOS-MOS suddenly said. The hunters looked at each other and lowered their weapons, wondering who she was.
"KOS-MOS, you speak their language?" Shion asked.
"before I became human, you did program a universal language listing into me remember? It's Kiswahili, a long lost African language that died out in the mid 32nd century" the blue haired woman replied.
"Kasu, ba abo gonai paku godo mas" Garrett suddenly spoke out of his helmet. Both women looked at him.
"Garrett, you know it too?!" Shion gawked.
"no, but my universal translator is trying to pick up on the language. In all honesty, I believe I just said I fish from the desert old cheese" Garrett said as the hunters started laughing, as did KOS-MOS giggle slightly.
"Shion, it has been a while. I knew you would show up" a man's voice came from behind a group of the hunters.
"that voice… it couldn't be… is it?" Shion took a step forward as a slight sign of white hair was seen behind the men.
"gabo gas nana" the man said as the hunters parted, and out he walked for Shion to see.
"it is, Chaos!" Shion yelled as she ran to him and hugged.
"it is good to see you again Shion. I trust your trip here has been in good health?" Chaos said as he smiled down at her in his arms.
"we missed you a lot! Now we have both you and KOS-MOS back!" Shion beamed as tears welled up in her eyes.
"please don't cry, this is a moment of happiness" Chaos said as he wiped away some of her tears from her eyes before looking up at KOS-MOS.
"ah, hello there KOS-MOS. It's good to see you again as well, as yourself this time" he said, smiling knowingly.
KOS-MOS felt odd looking at him, as before with Mary being her and yet not her, she felt she had to be with him at all times, the partner of the Messiah. Now that she was her own person, not a piece of someone else's life, she did not feel that way, a slight emptiness she wished was there again, but yet she didn't feel towards him.
"it will be good to have you as a friend from here on, KOS-MOS. Life has a good deal to give to you from here on out. You deserve it" Chaos said, smiling thoughtfully. His heart belonged to another as well, in which KOS-MOS softly smiled and nodded, not knowing what to say.
"ah, but you have made new friends while we were apart I see, one that I cannot understand. Hello, kind sir, would you be the one who has protected them since landing?" Chaos asked Garrett.
"oh! I almost forgot, Chaos, this is Garrett, Garrett, this is Chaos, an old friend" Shion introduced them as Chaos put his hand out for Garrett to shake. Garrett looked down at his hand as Chaos smiled up at him, before putting his own hand out and finishing the friendly ritual.
"it is a pleasure to meet you then, Garrett" Chaos said as the shake ended, and Garrett simply nodded.
"why are you here? How did you get to this village? Who are these people?" Shion asked.
"we have much to talk about, everyone, but we should get out of the sun, it will set soon, and it is not wise to be out of the village at dark. Come, the villagers will see you as honored guests" Chaos motioned for them to come with him as he walked towards the village. KOS-MOS and Shion followed before turning around and seeing Garrett staring behind them.
"something wrong Garrett?" Shion asked before Chaos turned to see what he was doing as well.
"nothing, don't worry about it" he said before putting his scan on standby and followed after.
"Garrett, you should rest when we get to the village" Chaos recommended.
"I'm fine, but thank you for the offer" Garrett replied.
"I doubt that you are. The others may not be able to tell, but you hide much pain right now. Let yourself heal, I can fetch the medicine man if you wish" Chaos said as both women looked up at Garrett in confusion.
"what? Garrett, are you ok?" Shion asked.
"nothing to worry about, I'm just a little bit beaten up, I'll be fine" he responded as Chaos smiled with his eyes closed.
"your breathing is labored and though you don't show it, your walking is difficult, and your skin hurts. Rest, we will clear a hut for you, do not worry. You will have complete privacy" Chaos offered.
"but… understood" Garrett finally said, realizing he would have to eventually take off certain armor panels to check his body's condition and apply any ointment to the skin burns.
"Garrett, if you're hurt, tell us, don't hide it from us in the future alright? I can't bear the idea you're hiding being in pain just to keep moving forward for us…" Shion said.
"I… understand. I'll notify you if I become wounded in the future" he said.
"ok" Shion smiled and patted him on the shoulder, in which he ever so slightly twitched, but it was still noticeable.
"oh no, I'm sorry! Did I touch a burn spot?" Shion became worried as he forced the pain out of his mind.
"no, it's alright" he said trying to calm her down as she panicked slightly.
"we're here" Chaos said as he waved towards the bustling village, fifty huts, three larger huts with one marked as the Chieftain's hut, the second marked as the medicine man's hut, and the third marked as the council hut. There was a large teepee in the middle, it's purpose unknown as yet.
"well, let's get out of the sun now. Basu mamasai go saturo jobaga" Chaos said as a man escorted Garrett to a nearby hut, before motioning the two women inside the chieftain's hut.
"where is Garrett going?" KOS-MOS asked.
"he will rest away from us, as I have offered. I believe he is a man who wishes to not be seen under his armor, and I give him the respect of privacy he wishes for. He will want to tend to his own wounds as well. Don't worry, you'll see him later" Chaos said as he motioned again towards the hut. KOS-MOS noticed that the same feeling she felt for Chaos when Mary and her were one… was building again.
She came back to her senses when she heard the hunter who escorted Garrett bark in laughter again, he most obviously said something stupid with his universal translator.
"please, rest here" Chaos offered, two pillows placed on the ground for both of them to rest on. Both were quite huge, and as Shion and KOS-MOS sat down, Chaos looked at them quizzically before chuckling.
"what's funny?" Shion asked.
"you don't sit on those, you sleep on those" Chaos said as Shion looked at him oddly before yawning.
"I guess I am a little tired…" Shion said sleepily.
"do not worry, we will speak later, please sleep until then. You may ask all your questions afterwards" Chaos said, nodding.
"alright. See you then, and thank you" she said, Chaos smiling.
"this home, is your home. Rest well" he said as she lay her head on the pillow, curled up. KOS-MOS looked at Chaos as she herself felt her body be weary, and as he was about to leave the hut, he looked down at her.
"sleep well KOS-MOS, this time you will awaken without anything to worry about" Chaos said as she nodded. He left, and she laid her head against her pillow, watching the flap animal door close, incense burning in the corner making her drousy as she drifted to dreamland.
----------------------------
Four hours later
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"ok, where the hell did they land, go, and do?" Archerson said as they scanned the ground, ECM jammers building a concrete blocker signal in the upper area of Kenya.
"I don't know, but the ECCM countermeasures can't punch through the amount of interference they've placed in the area. They're effectively cut off from us until we can figure out where the crash site is" Miyuki sighed.
"can't we launched a search party?" Magen asked.
"not without the dropships being blown out of the sky. The anti ship weaponry is still down there shooting at anything that tries to land. And we can't take any of those out with orbital weaponry cause they'll down the orbital rounds we fire before they even hit, and we have no ground forces to neutralize them from below" Archerson replied.
"unbelievable, so we're stuck with our thumbs up our asses with no plan as we lose three people in one go…" Wilson grumbled.
"Maybe if KOS-MOS was not so witless she would have seen that debris piece fly away, but then again, that pathetic excuse for a human will never gain what she needs to be perceptive…" T-elos smirked against the wall, staring at the view screen scanning.
"can it trash, unless you have something to say that benefits us, we don't wanna hear your mouth speaking anything bad about her" Archerson growled, and she scowled at him.
"T-elos, you have bad feelings towards me, do not place them on someone who never did anything to cause you to speak ill of her" Mirie told her.
"pfft, whatever… dropping the blame on her as well as you works just as well" T-elos said as she turned her back to everyone and crossed her arms over her chest.
"that's it!" Wilson yelped out.
"what? What's it?" Archerson said as T-elos turned around, confused if Wilson was angry or talking about something else.
"what she just said!" Wilson said as he snapped his fingers with a smile.
"have you lost your mind? You want her to talk shit about KOS-MOS?" Magen looked at him as if he was crazy.
"no no no, the drop thing! We need to do a hard drop!" Wilson replied.
"we don't have any drop pods available dumb ass" Greys grumbled out.
"our replicators can probably create something for you according to your designs" Miyuki spoke up.
"then maybe we might be able to place ground troops on the planet after all" Ziggy said.
"it'll take some time to get the plans in order, but I think we can drop faster than the anti air can touch us, with a bit of effort of course" Wilson said as he started to type away at a keyboard.
"hmmm, it just might work. Get on… never mind, tell me when your finished" Archerson said as he already saw the initial designs start appearing on the screen.
-----------------------------
Meanwhile
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KOS-MOS awoke to find Shion wasn't in the hut anymore, and looked around. The hut was empty, save for her.
She got up, her hair falling effortlessly to her back as she straightened her miniskirt, and exited the place as villagers looked at her as they walked by. Most of them were preparing for a feast of some kind, bringing vegetables and fruits and meats towards the huge teepee.
"excuse me, bato ama?" KOS-MOS asked a passing villager.
"gada udo?" the woman asked with a pot on her head.
"basa topo ma Shion Uzuki ramudusa?" KOS-MOS asked.
The woman pointed towards the teepee as she walked on, KOS-MOS staring up at the torches placed and the men painting their faces and gathering what looked like instruments.
KOS-MOS cautiously walked up the skin door as men pointed at her and smiled and laughed, some doing what looked like a very vulgar hip thrust towards her then shaking their hips, before turning around and stomping their feet. She felt embarrassed as they did this, and backed up slightly before bumping into a masked man who shook the mask around, scaring her slightly as she backed up again.
"atu sama!" Chaos suddenly said as KOS-MOS turned and walked right into him.
"it is alright, I am sorry if they scared you, they are preparing for the feast of rebirth" Chaos told her, smiling down.
"a feast? Is the dance part of the feast?" she pointed towards the men who did the hip thrusts towards her.
"oh! That, haha, it wasn't intended towards you, though you were the target to test it on. They are practicing for the dance of rebirth, in which the women of the village will do a similar dance towards them, it was not meant to do any harm" Chaos chuckled.
"ah, I see" KOS-MOS relaxed as Shion walked up, wearing her jacket tied around her waist with a few paint lines around her face.
"ah, I see Shion is enjoying this" Chaos said as she smiled.
"this village, everything you've told me about them, they are so lively now. The rebirth of them to humans again, it's hard to believe they were once gnosis!" Shion said as she saw two boys run by, stop at KOS-MOS and touch her hand before making weird faces towards her, before running off to play with their friends.
"why do they have an interest in me?" KOS-MOS asked.
"your hair is different, and your skin is much lighter than theirs. They believe you a princess of Batuo, the god of light. They expect your skin to be covered in paint that will come off if they touch you" Chaos chuckled.
"oh, but I am not" KOS-MOS said, looking around at everyone.
"do not worry, they will not harm you, if anything, they would protect you if they believe that" Chaos explained. A little girl walked up to KOS-MOS and offered up a flower tiara she made, and KOS-MOS kneeled down and thanked her before wearing it.
The little girl smiled and giggled before yelling and running off, "basa mameesa! Basa mameesa atu!" which KOS-MOS translated to Princess of light accepted it! Princess of light accepted it!
"by the way, where is Garrett?" Shion asked.
"he is still recovering in the hut, from what I have heard from the other villagers, he has not come out since he went in, and not seen anyone since then" Chaos pointed towards the hut with a closed animal skin over the front.
"could he be sleeping?" KOS-MOS asked.
"I doubt that, he does not seem to be the kind to sleep when new things happen. More than likely he is taking care of his wounds. I will check on him" Chaos said as he walked towards the hut, before a villager called to Chaos and bowed.
"ga bobosa natelu bas gada, me ulu tadasa felugoo do" she said as Chaos sighed.
"Shion, from what I hear, it seems your ring you left in the hut before you left has been taken by the children to play with" Chaos chuckled.
"oh no, I need my wedding ring! Chaos, can we get it back?" Shion asked.
"it will be no problem, come, we will get it back before the feast starts. KOS-MOS, would you like to come?" Chaos asked.
"shouldn't one of us check on Garrett?" she asked.
"if you wish, then do so, we shall see you in the teepee then" Chaos smiled and nodded before he and Shion walked off towards the children playing near a bon fire.
KOS-MOS walked up to the hut and was about to enter when she realized he wanted privacy, and patted the side of the hut.
"Garrett, are you in there?" she asked. No response.
"Garrett?" she asked again, peeking through the corner of the skin door to see half a man rubbing a cream on his arm, bad burns up and down it, before placing a bandage that sealed itself into a thin cast around his skin, before placing his armor back on. She never saw his face, his head blocked by a pot hanging from a rope to the ceiling, but from what she did see, he was very muscular, with two tattoos on his shoulder.
KOS-MOS tried to read the tattoos, one saying "SPARTAN" with a visored helmet and two swords crisscrossing, and the second was a barbed wire and rune writing wound around his arm, which looked to be greek. She peered at the writing for a second before reading "O xein angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tede keimetha tois keinon rhemasi peithomenoi" which translated to "Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie."
"please hold for one second, I am getting dressed" Garrett said over his shoulder as she stopped peeking and stood there, looking down at the ground. After a few more minutes, she heard a clamp and a sealing sound of hissing air before the skin moved aside and Garrett walked out, fully armored again.
"where is Shion?" Garrett asked as the villagers stared at him, the ones who were moving stopped.
"they went to see the children playing to get her wedding ring back" KOS-MOS replied as Garrett started to walk forward, the villagers stopping playing music and moving baskets and just watched him walk by in awe.
Both Garrett and KOS-MOS eventually made it to where Shion was sitting, the children laughing and poking at something in her hand as she chuckled, a small flashlight held.
"oooh" most of them said as she pressed the button once, the light turning off, before pressing it again and the children jumped back, laughing
"ah, Garrett, it's good to see you came out for the feast" Chaos said as he smiled towards the two walking towards him.
"Rashere! Rashere!" a child pointed at Garrett as they all suddenly stood up, staring at him, before walking up to him, all reaching out to touch him.
"What are they doing?" Shion asked as KOS-MOS backed away slightly, watching.
"I've never heard them say that before. They called him "Reclaimer" though I don't know what that means" Chaos said shrugging, and watched as well, the children trying to touch his armor, some of them touching his hands, all in awe.
They were very delicate in touching him, running fingers softly against one armor panel before touching his glove, never touching anywhere that would be considered offending, and some poked at the lights on his armor, before trying to touch his armored face. They were not afraid of his blue goggles, more intrigued, as Garrett realized they were of no threat and just stood there, confused.
"I've never seen this before, I didn't expect it that is for certain, though I did expect how they would act to KOS-MOS" Chaos said as KOS-MOS stood by Shion and him, Garrett apart from them.
"why do they call him Reclaimer?" Shion asked.
"there are inscriptions in a cave nearby, an unknown language and a second one that is their language. I will show you them tomorrow if you wish" Chaos said.
"yes, please do, I want to know why they see him as such" Shion said before the medicine man walked slowly up to KOS-MOS, and the children stopped and watched him as he stared at her, old and wise.
"incredible, KOS-MOS, stand there, let him do what he came to do, he would not come from his hut unless the feast had started, and it hasn't. it is very important" Chaos said as everyone watched him pick up KOS-MOS's hand and run his gnarled finger softly across her glove, before pulling slowly on the fabric to move it away. She realized what he was doing and slid the glove off, showing her white skin before holding her hand palm up again.
He nodded smiling, then looked down at her hand and traced the lines and curves, touching between each finger, before turning her hand over and poking each one, and finally raising her ring finger up and nodded.
"I don't understand" Shion asked.
"something to do with what the medicine man has seen. He might have seen something to do with KOS-MOS in the future, some sort of dream with her in it, but what I cannot tell" Chaos whispered.
The Medicine man looked up, weathered and gray with his hood of beads and feathers on, and stared into KOS-MOS's red eyes, and smiled.
"Maku" he said, still smiling.
"what does Maku mean?" Shion asked.
"it means mother. I don't know why he would call her that, maybe something he has seen in her future" Chaos thought out loud to himself.
"maybe… I wonder if it's a sign of something to come" Shion said as the medicine man pulled out a satchel of paint beads and crushed them in his fingers, and pressed them to KOS-MOS's hand. The old man wrote certain symbols, a circle, a star, a line, and finished his writing softly, almost in a trance, before blowing on her hand, the paint dust swept away, her hand clean again.
He then moved away from her… and towards Garrett.
"Garrett, remain still ok?" Shion asked.
"understood" Garrett replied as he looked down at the hunched old man, seeing him attempt to pick up his heavy hand before trying to help. The man tried to take his armored glove off, but Garrett wouldn't help, and let him try. The man started to get slightly frustrated with the glove not moving, but Garrett wouldn't move.
"Garrett, maybe it's best you take the armor off" Shion said.
"why?" he asked.
"because it might be rude?" Shion said slightly annoyed.
"tanu… tanu…" the medicine man thought for a second before waving his hand in relief, giving up on his hand and looking up at his helmet, before sighing.
"ah…." he suddenly said and pulled more beads out in one hand, before reaching up at Garrett.
"you might want to kneel in front of him Garrett" Chaos asked.
"alright" he said as he kneeled, at eye level with the old man before he touched at his helmet.
"Garrett… maybe you should… never mind…" Shion said before stopping, and Garrett did the unthinkable as the medicine man tried to take his helmet off. He moved his hands to the side and rotated the suction cuff, and a hiss of air was heard as the medicine man just stood there, unphased as everyone else backed away.
Garrett removed his helmet, and revealed a somewhat hardened face. His crew cut was shorn close, his white skin seemed a bit odd but understandable, as the medicine man smiled and touched his face, Garrett closing his brown eyes. On his cheek was inscribed a small bar code, with the numbers 003 tattooed on top of it. He had three scars crossing his jaw line on the left side, and a slight cut over his right eyebrow healing from a fairly large gash before. From what KOS-MOS saw however, was a hansom face, albeit stern and hiding much.
The medicine man pressed his beads in his hands and crushed the dust, then rubbed the symbols on Garrett's forehead before putting his hand on Garrett's cheeks, Garrett opening his eyes.
He tried to concentrate on Garrett's eyes, but didn't see anything.
"what's wrong?" Shion asked.
"apparently, the medicine man can't see into Garrett's future" Chaos explained.
"is it because Garrett has psionics?" Shion asked.
"no, I do not believe that is the case, as Febronia was capable of seeing Jr's future, albeit he has less of a strength than Garrett does from what I can sense" Chaos said as he peered at Garrett kneeling, feeling his aura's strength and power.
"I believe it is because as you said, Garrett and his friends are from a parallel world, one that may not be governed by our paths of existence. They may have their own fates placed on them in their dimension, but here it is unknown, just as ours would not be told to us given the reverse" Chaos told her.
The medicine man finished, and Garrett placed his helmet back on before uttering a word of "daju" in which the medicine man smiled.
"daju?" Shion asked.
"he simply said sorry" Chaos explained as the medicine man started to walk away before turning again towards KOS-MOS. He peered at her in scrutiny for a few seconds before he gasped, his eyes went wide.
He started to mumble randomly as Chaos ran up to him, the medicine man pulling him close and whispering in his ear as tears flowed from his eyes before they darted towards Garrett then back to KOS-MOS.
"what's wrong?" Shion asked worriedly as the medicine man was carried to his hut.
"from what he told me, he saw a vision, through someone's eyes. they will see Garrett pierced by attacks before them, acting as a shield from attack" Chaos sadly said.
"Garrett… will die?" Shion said, almost choking on the words.
"it is unclear, he simply said Garrett will be harmed defending someone, of whom I do not know, nor does he" Chaos replied.
"that's terrible… poor Garrett…" Shion said as she saw the soldier stand up, his armor doing it's best to morph the shadows around him.
"isn't there anything we can do?" Shion asked.
"as all futures are uncertain, this one can be avoided depending on our actions, but he seemed quite sure this was set in stone, only time will tell" Chaos whispered.
"we'll just have to make sure that the reading will be false then" Shion sternly said.
A gong was heard nearby as the feast commenced.
"ah, it is time to go inside, let us go to the chieftain's table" Chaos said as he motioned with a wave of his hand towards the teepee. The group gathered and entered into the large building, villagers eating and talking as drums echoed and small mouth instruments played. The party sat down next to the chieftain who welcomed them with open arms, and hugged Chaos like he was his son.
"the chieftain is honored to meet you, and greets you as his friends as well" Chaos told them as the chieftain started to speak.
"tell him thank you for his kindness and letting us be here" Shion asked, and Chaos translated. The chieftain smiled and pulled Shion to him, pinched her cheeks, slapped both of her shoulders before barking a laugh and crushing her to his chest in a bear hug, she squeaking in the process. He eventually let go before looking at KOS-MOS, and did a sweeping bow before ripping a pure white tooth from a necklace he was wearing and motioning to her hair, weaving it into a lock hanging over her shoulder.
The chieftain finally came to Garrett, and instead of doing anything to him, his smile faded, and a stern face showed, before nodding to him, then Saluting the Spartan, as did his guards, and pounded his chest as a sign of respect.
"OOOH WHATCHOOO!" he yelled, as did all the men in the teepee echo in a roar, all in unison, to him.
"they hail you Garrett, as Lion brother, strength of the land" Chaos told him.
"I don't know how to respond to that" Garrett told him.
"you don't, it was a prayer in your name. I never expected that either" Chaos said as he looked around.
The chieftain motioned for them to sit, and both KOS-MOS and Shion knelt on the pillows placed for them, Garrett sitting cross legged on the ground as seemed customary for all men in the room.
The chieftain started speaking to Chaos about daily matters, of the food and meat, of the gardens being harvested and of the livestock, and of the weather in the area. KOS-MOS and Shion for the most part, were left out of the conversation, as was Garrett as he did a quick scan of his diagnostic, his armor still repairing most of it's internals. The auto repair unit built inside was slow, annoyingly slow, and Garrett would have to put in a report for it to be the first thing upgraded in the future marks past the M10.
"have you tried the soup KOS-MOS?" Shion asked as she dipped what seemed was some dried jerky into a pot of cooking beans and rice and other vegetables placed for her, before taking a bite with the spices rubbed into it.
"I haven't… is it good?" KOS-MOS asked as two women filled their cups with a strange wine, Garrett declining any in his cup as he sipped from the water nipple inside his helmet.
"hmm, that is strange…" Chaos suddenly said as he rubbed his chin.
"what is?" Shion asked.
"there have been reports from some of the hunters to the east that there have been other men sighted wearing strange clothing. Considering there are no other villages in that direction, I would imagine they are from the ships that had landed south of us" Chaos told her.
"wait, how far out were they? And did you say other villages?" Shion asked.
"quite far, they are not near enough to have any effect to us, but still, we have a watch going on outside of the village after everyone has gone to sleep. As for the other villages, yes, there are many across the world. All of the gnosis Mirie took into herself have been reborn human again, and are starting anew. They are primitive, but can learn very quickly as you can see from their tools here. Humanity's new life is blooming again, and with it's old kind coming to teach them, the future looks bright once we have finished what we came to do" Chaos said smiling.
"how far out was the patrol? You said not very near" Garrett asked.
"about a day's walk from here, why do you ask?" Chaos told him.
"Albert's men, they're hostile, probably in the process of fanning out to search for us" Garrett said.
"they aren't friendly? After everything that has happened, after everything humanity has been through, they still fight each other even now with so few of us left?" Chaos asked.
"it's sad isn't it? Just when we're so close, we're impeded by this maniac just cause of his crush on one woman…" Shion said as she patted KOS-MOS on her back, trying to comfort her if she felt worried.
"well, we should not worry about how they act tonight, we should celebrate as is right. Come, the dancing will soon start" Chaos said as everyone got up, the music outside getting lower as a bonfire was being made, larger and taller by more added wood.
Everyone watched as the men danced around the fire, doing their thrusts towards the women, some of them did it towards KOS-MOS and Shion, before the women came in, and they in turn did thrusts towards others, even towards the two ladies who were somewhat shocked.
Eventually, both KOS-MOS and Shion relaxed and enjoyed the music as the villagers had a good time, and praised life and the stars.
KOS-MOS clapped softly to the music and smiled as she watched the scene before catching a glimpse of Garrett talking to Chaos off a ways from the bonfire, before her smile faded. Chaos walked back to them as Garrett walked off into the night, pulling his rifle in the process.
"what's going on?" KOS-MOS asked him.
"he volunteered to help with the watch tonight, he's worried the soldiers out there will harm the village. It will be alright, there is nothing to fear, our hunters are quite good at warning everyone of danger" Chaos told her as he tried to turn her back to the celebration.
"I see…" KOS-MOS said.
"don't worry, he will be fine" Chaos said just as a man with a painted face ran up to KOS-MOS and grabbed her hands and pulled her into the circle of dancing, stomping around his feet as he was half crouched like an aggressive animal, before turning around and waving his hands as KOS-MOS didn't know what to do.
"come on KOS-MOS, just follow the circle and clap, that's all you gotta do" Shion yelled out as she laughed, she as well in the circle and skipping around the bonfire as everyone moved. Chaos went to the musicians and picked up a drum and started to bang on it to add even more music, and KOS-MOS started to move with the rhythm as she in turn skipped around the bonfire, before the music stopped and everyone fell to the ground in submission towards some god, all except Shion and KOS-MOS.
The villagers got up and started to clean as they talked amongst themselves, as KOS-MOS and Shion stood around confused.
"the feast has ended, now they go to rest until morning when the daily duties come again" Chaos explained as he walked up to them.
"hmm, well, after the dancing, I guess I'm a bit tired as well" Shion said slightly out of breath.
"the chieftain is spending the night in prayer at the medicine man's hut, you are welcome to stay in his offered home for the night" Chaos smiled.
"what do you say KOS-MOS? Take him up on his offer?" Shion asked.
"I… yes, thank you, I appreciate everything done for us" KOS-MOS nodded to Chaos.
"it was nothing, it is good to see both of you again, and you as yourself, KOS-MOS" Chaos said knowingly.
Chaos escorted both of them to the chieftain's hut before taking his leave and going to his own hut, before KOS-MOS looked out towards where Garrett disappeared.
"something wrong?" Shion asked.
"I'm… going to check on Garrett, I will be back later" KOS-MOS told her.
"alright, don't stay up too late, I'm sure he's fine" Shion said and rubbed her shoulder before laying down on her huge pillow.
KOS-MOS walked off towards a nearby tree, the darkness consuming all around past the torches in utter blackness, creeping shadow that seemed to want to swallow her whole.
"Garrett, are you here?" KOS-MOS asked as she heard slight movement and turned around, nothing seen.
Suddenly, Garrett turned on his goggles lighting under a camouflage netting and looked out at her near the tree, him crouching under it with his rifle at ease, scaring the life out of her.
"oh, there you are, scared me to death" she said in relief as she held her hand to her heart.
"I would say I'm sorry, but that was supposed to be the idea" Garrett responded before looking off towards the shadows.
"oh. So, you are helping the village I see" KOS-MOS said, looking off towards where he was looking, but definitely not capable of seeing with his range, with his armor amplifying his night vision and sensor control. All she saw was darkness and empty landscape. She brought her hand to her right arm and rested it, feeling uneasy.
"they need help until we leave the village, then they won't be in danger. They're helping us, and are completely unprepared for the weaponry a patrol would bring against them should they act hostile towards the soldiers. I'm taking watch tonight until we regroup with the others. You should get some rest" Garrett said as he watched the area.
"won't you be tired?" she asked him softly.
"I've stayed awake for 72 hours at a time, I'll survive" Garrett responded.
"even while you are healing? Won't that have an adverse effect on you?" she asked.
"I'll be fine" he said, straight and to the point.
A long silence broke out as KOS-MOS stood there, shifting slightly on her feet before sitting down on the dirt, her white armored stockings getting dust on her knees as she did so.
"you need rest, you shouldn't stay here" Garrett said turning his head towards her, the eery goggles locking onto the movement.
"I'm not staying, I'm just taking a seat for a bit. The Stars…" she said, trying to make up an excuse for whatever she was doing. What was she doing? She didn't know. She just felt she had to sit down there, to keep Garrett company. She felt butterflies in her stomach, something she had never felt before, and slightly light headed when she was near him. He, on the other hand, almost acted as if she was a liability…
"Stars?" he asked as she pointed up.
"it's so clear… they're beautiful…" she said as she shifted on her knees, before she slid slightly towards the tree, and put her back to the bark before realizing she was sitting on something metallic when she brought her legs to her side. Garrett moved his right leg and shifted, and peeled it out from under her as he altered the camo netting around him.
"oh, I'm sorry…" she said as he ignored it and continued watching, she feeling embarrassed as she didn't have sensors anymore to tell her his life signs placed his body parts at certain areas. Her spatial awareness to others would have to be learned eventually she thought, something new to her life as being human.
KOS-MOS stared up at the stars and watched them, some of them may not have even been stars, but ships moving.
Time past as she watched, her eyes slowly closing as she started to drift to sleep, before she heard noise and saw the black form near her move.
"something wrong?" she asked as she suddenly was wide awake, looking around.
"no, I've been sitting in that position for two hours, my leg was falling asleep" Garrett responded as he continued his vigil.
"oh…" she said, settling down again before shivering slightly. It was cold, the heat gone from the ground now as most of the torches outside were doused, and she realized she didn't have a blanket with her.
"you should go back to the hut, you said you were only staying here for a short time, you should get a good night's rest" he said as she realized it had been some time since she sat down.
"I… I'll go back then…" KOS-MOS said as she got up, her back aching slightly from her position she was in.
"have a good night then Garrett" KOS-MOS said nodding towards him.
"sleep well KOS-MOS" Garrett responded, not moving.
"thank you" she said smiling towards him before turning and leaving.
--------------------------
Meanwhile
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"these are drop pods?" Miyuki asked, astonished at what she saw.
"man planting cargo lockers, yup" Wilson said beaming with pride at the large semi curved canisters he had lined up, all of them prepped for drop.
"so how do we use them?" Jr. asked.
"you don't. we do" Archerson said as he walked past him and checked the door controls, the lid hissing open.
"what are you talking about? We're all going down there!" Jr. said annoyed.
"we're doing the hard drop, you guys are escorting us in with the E.Ss and providing decoys" Archerson told them.
"huh? How?" Jr. asked.
"the countermeasures on board the pods won't be nearly enough to keep the missiles from dropping us, that means we need some sort of anti ground defensive force covering our asses so we can drop safely, get in, neutralize the missile ports and then let the dropships come down with some reinforcements. If you don't, we die, end of discussion" Archerson told him.
"so what do you need us to do?" Ziggy asked.
"simple, shell with impunity and fuck up their targeting" Magen said as she checked a diagnostic on her pod.
"are we ready?" Archerson asked.
"suited up, jack it up good to go" Greys said as he clamped his helmet on, the visor obscuring his face as the other ODSTs did the same.
"let's get loaded up" Archerson said as he put his helmet on and got his pod ready as they prepared to load the pods into the large cannon constructed to fire them down towards Earth.