Fallen to the Planet

Chapter 2: Dangerous Discovery

"A meteor crashed, you say?" Reeve rested his cheek against his fist and stroked at his chin in deep thought. The WRO officer waited for a response from his Chief Commander. pushed a few papers around on his desk, the early morning sun shining brightly through his office windows.

"Go check it out. Make sure there are no aliens trying to invade." He gave a soft chuckle to himself, and the WRO officer did as well.

"At the very least, we can give the rock to some astronomy kids at a university somewhere." The wise man then dismissed the young officer, informing him to take a squad out twenty miles south east from the city of Kalm, where the meteor was supposed to have taken up a residence. The officer stood straight, saluted his superior, and walked out of the office.

"Would you like to accompany them, Vincent?" Reeve smirked as he swiveled in his large and comfortable chair towards the tall and brooding man in the corner of his office. The man in the red cape was preoccupied with gazing out the window to some random, faraway spot. His only response was a mild rumble in his throat that he acknowledged his friend's words.

Reeve's smile faltered a bit, but quickly found something else to grin about. "I only ask because you seem so bored with life and everything. I mean, all you seem to do is wander around. One would think you had an agenda or a list of to-dos to do. I'd imagine right now someone could be needing your help." Vincent began to glare at the talkative man from the corner of his vibrant, red eyes. "Tifa is quite the damsel in distress. Isn't that Shelke girl of yours boarding with her? You should really help the woman out Vince--"

"If you wanted me to go and supervise the meteor site, all you had to do was say so." Vincent was already halfway out the door by time he finished his sentence, and it gave a light click as it shut behind him.

Reeve gave a good laugh after the other man's annoyed departure. "Yuffie was right; that is fun. Almost as good as teasing Red, I bet."

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A small commission of WRO soldiers, no more than six, jumped out of their transport jeep a few yards away from the meteor site. The crash site was located in the middle of a vast field, dotted with few, young trees. The day was bright as the sun was reaching the highest point in the sky, a cool light breeze accented the air and the clouds were few and far between. The soldiers unhastily made their way to the shallow sunken hole in the Planet.

"It's too pretty outside to be working." Commented one of the female soldiers, hoisting her riffle over her shoulders and resting her arms on it like she was a milk maid. She looked up at the calming blue sky and sighed. Her male peers just laughed at her.

"Like this is hard work, right Mr. Valentine?" One of the younger males asked their informal supervisor. Even though the older man's presence was something to be uneasy about (for he didn't give off a completely friendly air), all the soldiers tried to treat him as one of their own. He proved to be a friend in the battle with the Tsviets, fighting right beside them.

Vincent only gave what looked like a nod, more of a sign he was listening, rather than agreeing. He may be a friend and all, but the sharp-shooter was a hard person to get talking. "This is it." Was his only comment as he stopped right at the edge of the tiny crater that the meteor had made. The rest of the WRO gathered around the edges to look.

It was a really pathetic crater. It maybe reached twelve feet in diameter, and was only deep enough to bury a man to his chest. Very unimpressive. And right in the middle of this over grown hole, was the remnants of what appeared to me a mix of rock and metallic parts. Why would rocks have armor?

"That's a strange piece of sky." One of the men tilted his head at the lump of coal. "I'll check it out." He offered, and slid his way down the slope of blasted earth to the bottom. The rest of his comrades watching him.

The young man kept his rifle in his right hand, and circled around the thing, examining it all around. It was maybe four feet long and three feet wide, spattered with random, shiny spots. It didn't radiate heat, nor oozed space fluid everywhere, but sat in the earth. Comfortable and fat. He gave a good kick at it, it crumbled away a bit, but hardly moved. It was heavy.

"We should come back with a crane or something. It's gonna weigh a ton."

"Oh don't be such a wuss." Another man slid his way down the slope to stand next to the initial examiner. "I bet we could lift it together." The men slung their rifles over their shoulders and onto their backs. "Toss us some rope, will ya." And the girl of the group tossed one rope end towards them, keeping the excess rope secure in her hands.

Just as one of the men was rolling the big rock over to secure it with rope, it all began to crumble away quickly. It basically faded to dust at his touch, and what was left was the body of a young girl partially concealed in rubble. She was covered with dirt and dust from head to toe, and her strange outfit was torn in a few areas.

"What the hell..." No one knew how to respond. Vincent too was confused and even tilted his head in befuddlement. They all just stared at each other and glanced at the girl.

"You don't think she was hit, do you?"

"She couldn't have. She wouldn't be in such good condition."

"She would be half blown to bits."

"Do you think she fell in and got trapped under it?"

"When would this have happened? There are no houses nearby."

"Bring her up." Was Vincent's command. At the very least, the girl should be taken back to the city and a poster be put up for a lost child if she doesn't have one already. Dead or not, there should be a guardian for her that should know of her condition.

"You're the boss." Affirmed one of the men in the crater, and he bent to pick the child up. She was small, no taller than 5'4" and seemed deathly thin and light in his arms. Her short hair was a surprising shade of white and the ends seemed to be burned. When the man stood up, the body lurched and arched its back as it took a very deep inhale of oxygen. The man and his partner were shocked by the sudden show of life, and jerked away as if to distance themselves from it, but the man holding her kept his hold of her in his arms. The remaining team on higher ground stepped back at this sudden movement, completely surprised as well.

Quickly, the thing's hands latched onto the vest of her carrier's, her knuckles turning white with how hard she was clutching. She then raised a hand and shot to grab the man's bare neck, squeezing it so tight the man fell to his knees. Her eyes opened wide and her mouth barred teeth, as the man holding her began to go pale. In turn, she raised her body and looked directly into his eyes. They were becoming dull. His life was becoming her life.

But she was thrown back. The other man retched at her hands and tossed her against the slope of the crater. She made a heavy thud as her back hit solid earth and slid down to the dusty floor, crumpling into a mess of limbs. She rolled her face towards the two men, and gave an ungodly screech at them. Her carrier managed to regain his strength and he and his partner looked at her in a strange horror. Her eyes gleamed like a predators.

Just as she was begining to slowly lift herself up with one arm, a gunshot rang through the air and she crumpled again, screaming in agony, blood slowly pooling around her shoulder. But her pain was short lived, as she became quiet and layed just as lifeless on the ground when she was first found. All soldiers looked it the direction of their quiet friend, who calmly replaced his faithful gun to its holister. "Take her to the jeep and keep her at a safe distance. We have to take her back."