The Mak Toras Chronicles

Chapter 10 - The New Earth

    He suddenly awoke with the thrust of the ship's descent. The shaking and vibrations grew louder and more prevelant as it gained speed.
    Sitting up on his seat, Tanner quickly shot his head around at the cabin and its members. Each and every one sat much taller than him upon first glance. He couldn't recognize these figures at all. Despite his first contact, he was completely unaware of who these beings really were let alone where they came from.
    They wore masks to hide their facial appearances in pair of armor that only partially covered their massive bodies. Although humanoid in stature, they were not built like Tanner was as the beings were much stronger and, compared to Tanner, were colossal. From head to toe, these beings bore ancient armor unknown to his kind. Some had morbid, nightmarish faces embedded onto the mask; others with odd looking glyphs engraved on the forehead.
At first, they seemed to ignore his awakening. The beings rather conversed in their mutters to each other in a dialect Tanner couldn't decipher on his own. He gazed at them carefully, hoping not to get noticed. Who are these people? Where am I His gaze soon met the eyes of one them who happened to tilt its head in curiosity. Tanner froze in place. He didn't know how to react, petrified at the sight of the armored entity. Instead, it only snorted and resumed speaking to its comrade beside one another.
Tanner let out a sigh of relief, yet still felt an anxious pain lingering in his gut. It grew at a staggering rate the longer he remained in their presence. These mysterious people from the unknown left with an unsatisfactoring taste in the air around him. Being taken so suddenly, everything was at a swift pace. But on the brighter side, these beings saved his life from a destined bloodbath. Yet he did not fully believe they merely saved him just for the fun of it.
    The light of the three suns penetrated through the glass of the ship, lighting the cabin as if phosphorescence had set in. Rays of the three suns were unrelenting and impulsive. It blinded Tanner for a few minutes until his eyes adjusted further to the view. Upon shielding his eyes from the stars, he took a gaze below at the landscape unwinding.
    From as far as his eyes could see, dense, lush jungles filled the surface of the world from afar. Close by, was filled with structures similar to Vale's civilization, but with a rather ancient touch. Temples raised near to the tip of the sky, which was a blanket of orange and yellow from the light rays. To his surprise, the city was even built on volcanic terrain. Each metal structure rose as a monolyth above the flames and ashes from the ground below.
    Everything shifted upward as the ship continued to descend. The closer they got to the ground, the more Tanner anticipated the final destination. There would be more of these untold entities awaiting their arrival. A small trace of fear gripped him. All on about in his head, he could only imagine torture awaiting him in a worst-case scenario. But then again, anything was possible-even a mere sight of hope to live still lingered within him.

    The ship eventually came to a cautious thud. Hatch upon hatch sealed and reformed inward. Each sound projected the mechanics at work like no other familiar noise heard back home. Many pulses sounded like the clammering of chimes in solid steel with no fortold resonance that came outward. Other sounds related to pneumatics yet there was an oddity that sparked the difference between the two types of sounds he had heard. At last, from the sequence of machinery, the lights to the outside closed, leaving nothing but a trace of darkness aided in a dim red hue from floor lights.
    Tanner paused and froze to the loud hiss of the exit hatch, slowly opening a gateway to the outside world. He could already feel a rush of hot, humid air pouring into the cabin, choking the life out of him. It's just like the beach, except hotter... He thought. As much of a handful it was, he needed some fresh air.
    His head swiftly turned to the attention of chatter where the pilot sat. The voice of another language instantly integrated into Tanner's thoughts. Never once he had to deal with speech of another view before. Everyone back at Vale were synchronized to the same tongue. However, these were not his people. Merely wishing them to be, he faced the reality: he was on an alien world. The entire time it never occured to him fully that what he questioned was true. There were life on other worlds. Life that were intelligent; sentient and attentive. More disciplined at first glance as well as the crew members departed outwards into the fray.
   "Sa tei! Ke-ta bpi-saam." Immediately, Tanner whipped his head at the voice towering over him. The voice was deep and embarking, speaking with an authority that sounded above all else; it was the last crew member who had stayed behind-the one who saved him-to negociate. But with a being twice the size of an adult man, he shrunk back instead of standing, shaking uncontrollably while staring to the blackness of its lenses. It cocked its head slightly to the left in curiosity, and instead, let out a cackle of laughter.
    "Ch'hkt-a? Dte h'ko," it said once more, nudging Tanner upright to walk out alongside it, "Tei'sin h'ka-rok fesar." Reluctantly, he followed the being, staying close by as if it were his brother. Mom...I'm scared. Please help me... He held inside. In a way, he felt protected, yet threatened at the same time. They could crush him beneath their shoes if need be and, if not, could find a way to...ease his passing.
Sun rays battered him as they came outside. The air was heavy and the temperature as hot as Vale on a summer day-perhaps even hotter. Heat and light seared his skin quickly in a feeling of sunburn, although he didn't suffer any harm next the tremendous heatwave. Once again, the light blinded his vision until he hid behind the tall entity, seeking refuge of shade.
Unable to see and nearly inadequate for basic locomotion, he clung on to the creature's leg. The leg itself was pure muscle and reptilian-like to the touch; leathery and tough. How the this tall entity achieved such biomass remained oblivious to Tanner. Yet again, he reminded himself of the matter at hand: they were not human. Nothing was as it seemed. Between traveling through space, meeting total strangers from the beyond and nearly torn to ribbons by Grimm, he felt the need to pass out. Well, at least there's no Grimm here...I hope.