Final Space One-Shots

Depression Of Cybernetics

A massacre.

That's the first word that came to Avovato's head at the sight of this planet. The planet that Lord Commander had ordered them to destroy—but before all that, they had one mission that could make or break it all. The Lord Commander needed this to happen, and if it turned out successfully, everything would be alright again.

He might even give him what he wants.

"Avocato! The hell you on limbo for? We've got a leader to take down."

Right. The mission.

Avocato and the other bounty others began to deploy, jumping off using the technology given to them to disguise themselves of any trace that had once belonged to them. Avocato's thoughts began to race as he looked down to the city in front of him. Fires were breaking out in nearly every corner, and the screams and cries of aimless citizens could be heard from light years away. It was indeed, the definition of a city on the brink of collapse.

A city that he'd help bring to ruins.

~

"--vocato?"

"Avocato? Buddy? Amigo?"

A hand to Avocato's shoulder brought him back to reality. He blinked twice, and remembered the task at hand. HUE had taken an emergency landing on the planet of Burmir in need of a certain substance to run the Galaxy One. The substance was known as Salamic Aloe, a jelly-like property that's used as a component to apply defensive and constructive mechanisms on high-energy ships, mainly those of the Infinity Guard. Without this component, the ship would be at a much higher risk of permanent damage, and the low repair times on the Galaxy One would not be possible. Gary and Quinn looked in awe at the city, battered and beaten. Barely a single sign of life could be seen through the streets, other than the plants that were able to withstand the sort of destruction that had taken place.

"It's almost like the place was destroyed--wiped out of all life." Quinn said as she looked around.

Avocato had known that, and he'd kept it to himself. Memories of the battle flashed through his head almost cinematically, in such a vivid way he could probably recall every detail. He could almost smell the flames that engulfed this city years ago—the one's that had erupted from their own chaos.

~

"Where's the core?"

The female alien shivered at the brutality of the Ventrexian's comment. His words shot at her flesh like bullets, filled with desperation and urgency. From the look in his eyes, it didn't seem like he was going to kill her, despite the fact that he was, indeed, pointing a gun at her. Maybe he'd let her live if she told him the right thing. Problem was, Any sort of commoner on Burmir had zero clue where the core was. All they knew was that it was a major power source to all sorts of places on the planet.

"S-Sir, I...don't know where it is...no common person in this city knows anything. Only our council knows where they're located.."

The Ventrexian looked at her with the same blank face expression. She looked at him, her eyes pleading for mercy.

"Well then, I guess if you don't know anything, you're no longer of use to me."

By the time the alien noticed what was happening, it was already too late. The remains of her brain had splattered as the impact of the Ventrexian's bullet killed her in an instant.

"Zarlack, do you read? It's Avocato."
The Ventrexian began to transmit message of upmost urgency, shining in his shape of voice.

"Tell everyone to move up to the capital. Passerby claims no one but the city's council knows the core's location."

~

"So you think it was some sort of like, big raid that wiped everyone out?" Gary said.

"For sure. From what I've seen this wasn't just some sort of natural collapse. This had to be the result of an attack." Quinn replied.
"If anything...the Lord Commander could've caused all of this."

"That little prune? Wiping out a whole planet? Impossible." Gary said, snickering a bit.

"Just him? Yeah, you could be right. But there's one thing the Lord Commander has that we don't—an army."

Suddenly, Quinn's eyes widened as she saw the building in front of her. It seemed to be a sort of town hall, but it looked far from the polished, constructive building it should've been. Pillars were cracked, some parts had fallen off roughly, causing large chunks to be sprawled out to a dangerous degree. Nearly a fourth of the building was collapsed, with several possible entrance points seeming impossible to trudge through. However, she could also see something shining in the distance--which Gary had immediately ran to.

"Check out this stuff! It's like a blob of glow in the dark slime!" Gary said.

"Except it's still morning, so--"

"Gary, I think you just found what we're looking for." Quinn said.

"Exactly as HUE described it. Good work, Gary."

Avocato could see Gary cheeks become rosy, and he nodded with a soft grin on his face. 

You idiot.

Avocato couldn't help but grin along with him. It almost felt as if those thoughts from earlier had nearly gone away. Letting these thoughts consume him wouldn't do him any good. So maybe, even fro a little bit, he wished for hope. Hope that one day, all of this would come to an end. He could live happily. with his on, and he could meet Gary and Quinn.

And as he ran over to collect their findings, a dash of hope began to follow him, ever so slightly.

In hope that someday, that happy ending would come soon.

~

"Go."

As he held the gun firmly in one hand, and fragments of Burmir's core in another, Avocato looked at the prestigious alien with much hostility.

"W-W.....Why?" The alien cried out.

The alien had already been shot in the arm, purple blood gushing out from it's arm at an alarming rate.

"Just do what I said. If you have a death wish, then I'll finish you off myself."

The aloe illuminated the room, flashing a dim blue aura across its perimeter.

"The look in your eyes. I can tell you're desperate to save something that isn't your own. Like...like me."

"B-But--"

"Run."

"Run with everything you've got."

And so, the alien ran. Turning around, Avocato bit his lip, anxiety brewing in his chest. As he heard the gallops of his fellow bounty hunters, he whisked his gun away, and held the core fragments tightly. 

Waling towards the footsteps, he realized his emotions had come to a standstills. Maybe the experience of war had become nothing to him. 

But war was something he just couldn't erase, no matter how hard he wanted to.