TCS: Fate Of The Cosmos

Chapter 3: The fallen federation

Drifting through the infinite dark void, the colony ship slowly snailed its way toward an unknown destination. For over six centuries they had been out here, alone, working tirelessly day in and day out to keep the ship up and running. Soon after the war that caused the earth's fall, the world leaders finally realized that their planet was rotten to the core, dying, and would soon be too dangerous to live on, and with this, two grand projects were established as last-ditch efforts to preserve and save mankind. This starship was one of the two, but its sacred mission was now in mortal danger.

Ever since the day he woke up on that beach, Locke had become entangled in something beyond himself. Finding himself on the ARKs, learning that they were nothing but lies to keep humanity safe from a hellish wasteland of a planet, and endlessly battling against the unknown to find out where his loved ones were, and what had happened to the world. He found similarities between the past and the present situation he found himself in now. Awakening in a whole new world, millions of years away from earth, racing against the devil himself to stop the ultimate end of the universe, he must prepare himself mentally for what awaits him at the very end.

The chosen survivor rests in a deep trance, his senses blocked out by the distraction his thoughts provide. His chest expanded and he heaved. He couldn't feel anything, see anything, nor smell anything. All he witnessed was his own thoughts, images in his head flashing over and over, marking themselves in his closed eyelids. He swore he could hear the voices of his loved ones in his head.

"Locke?" The gentle voice of Aurora's voice spoke time and time again.

"Where have you gone brother?" Another voice echoed, one muffled and tucked away under a helmet of steel and gold.

"We need you." The voice added.

"I need you... dad." The last voice chimmered as it faded, the voice of his daughter crushing his soul beneath the weight of the guilt he still carried. Leaving her and the rest of his family behind on earth was one of the hardest decisions he had to make.

As he began to return to his senses, he felt rumbling beneath him, going up against his back as he leaned back in his seat. A soft, almost satisfying vibrating from the walls around him, sending small chills up his spine and sending butterflies down his stomach as more and more of him came back to reality.

"Locke,"

A voice snapped him back completely, causing him to blink frantically and look around. HLNA waved a small fin before his face, the small blue lights on them blinding him and causing his dry eyes to tear up. With a gloved hand to his face, he wiped the tears away as he keeps looking at his holographic companion.

"It looks like we're here!" HLNA cheerfully announced and pointed towards the cargo bay door that had begun lowering itself. Dust flew into the dark room and bright sunlight blinded Locke, causing him to lift a hand before his face to shield himself, as his eyes were still trying to adjust to the light outside. Two silhouettes gracefully bless Locke's vision as two people position themselves before him in the cargo bay doorway, which he made out to be a smaller girl and a man in armor. Nida and Cole.

"Are you coming, guest of honor?" Cole poked fun at Locke and waved an arm at him.

Still seeing them as featureless silhouettes compared to the blinding light outside, Locke proceeded to pull his seat belts off as he slowly rose from his seat. His back cracked as he got up, and he stretched his arms out as his elbows make loud snapping noises as well. The survivor grabbed hold of his tek helmet and tucked it in under his arm.

Ahead of him, Nida and Cole had already stepped into the light and onto the ground outside the aircraft, but HLNA stayed behind and waited for Locke, hovering next to him as he took his sweet time to exit the aircraft. His footsteps thundered as he walked rather carefully across the cargo bay, coming closer to the bright illumination, raising his arm once more to shield himself from the sunlight. It was bright, much brighter than Locke could remember any ordinary daylight being. Had it really been that long since he experienced the grace of a real sun? Stepping onto the dusty ground beneath him, he took notice that the ground was quite worn down, only having small grass patches here and there, but most of it was plain rock, gravel, and dust.

"Here we are. Eden Delta sector." Cole said, turning around to face Locke, whilst Nida looked around curiously, seemingly a bit unnerved but at the same time intrigued to be in the military campgrounds.

As the blinding light became less sharp, and his eyes adjusted to it, Locke slowly lowered his arm, allowing himself a good view of his surroundings. Fresh air drowned his lungs as he took his first deep breath, feeling like pure ecstasy to his body which had been taking in toxic fumes ever since he popped out of the genesis simulation. The temperature outside was refreshing, the large man getting slightly staggered at how the wind felt brushing against his chin, his neck, and his cheeks, having expected it to feel more damp and warm outside. But no, this felt all too perfect, the sun gently warming his body but the wind balancing the direct heat. His eyes were met by the most beautiful sight that could grace a person like him, an almost scary but solemn sight. Locke's heart pounded as he opened his eyes to a world that he, a lifetime ago, brought into existence and sparked life into.

The shiny metal equivalent to the one that made up his suit of armor reflected light onto the entire environment around them. Circuitry ran endlessly along roads and bridges of tek. The paths were gigantic, seemingly able to let a herd of beasts cross without having to face any problems with space on the walkways. The megastructure of the colony ship seemed so clean, so perfectly maintained, the survivor had never witnessed a tek construction of the old world in such a good shape. It hypnotized him, sending him into a state of complete awe. When he saw the ruins of tek cities and broken down civilizations on earth, he saw nothing but a grand opportunity for mankind that turned to hell, but this caught Locke and his emotions in a whole different way.