Chapter 5: Definitely Not Earth

Time: Unknown // October 31st
Location: Unknown

Jake slowly regained his senses, the first and most obvious of them being touch. With touch came pain, immense pain. Next was taste, where the overwhelming flavor of blood filled his mouth. Opening his eyes was met with darkened, black splotches wherever he looked. With a groan he rubbed his eyes, the feeling of cold metal on his back as a red light intermittently blinked every few seconds.

Taking in a breath, Jake violently hacked before clearing his throat. "L-Lucy.... damage report." He spoke with a strained voice, rubbing his eyes some more as he tried to sit up.

The AI chirped in overheard, the speaker just barely managing to convey her words. "Sir*Krczzz*, both wings- *BZZZ* inoperable. Left engine offline, and- *Krrrrrzzt* heavy damage to electrical systems." Lucy managed to explain through the barely working speakers.

Rolling onto his stomach, Jake got onto his knees as he tried to push himself up. After a few failed tries he finally stood, supporting himself on the wall of the ship.

"Weapon systems?" Jake questioned.

"One moment..." Answered Lucy, a random spark of electricity popping from a broken wall panel.

While Lucy checked the weapons, Jake pushed off the wall and hobbled across the room. There was still immense pain in his left leg. But now his chest and head were added to his list of growing injuries. Limping to the other wall, he pushed a small button causing a section to pop out and unfold. A long table formed out of the wall as he lay down with a grunt.

"Med-scan, please." He asked, an affirming beep coming from the wall.

A small piece of metal shot out above him, producing a long red wave that slowly swept his entire body. As it passed his head, it folded back up and retracted.

Lucy chimed in. "Sir, the scan indicates multiple injuries, not limited to: heavy plasma burns on *BZZZT* your left leg, deep tissue damage on upper back, and *KRRzz*... -a mild-to-sever concussion. I recommend resting and-"

"No..." Jake said sternly, interrupting the AI. "I should check outside and make sure we’re somewhere… stable. Where'd we land?" He asked between pained groans, limping towards the exit door and grabbing the Plasma Rifle he took from the Verix.

"Unknown, this planet is currently off of my map system. There was no coordinate data, I just flew." Lucy replied, getting a groan from Jake as he stopped to rub his face. "Verix bombers had eyes circling the Starstreaker. If I had not used the hyperdrive, we would not have escaped." She added, electing a defeated sigh from the marine.

Jake stepped up to the exit door and shook his head. "So... we’re in uncharted space. Well, begin repairs. Need to get to earth as soon as possible, can you tell if the air is breathable?" He asked, hovering his hand over the door's button.

"Yes sir. Also, all outer weaponry is still functional with the exception of the underbelly rocket turret." Lucy said with a happy tone.

Lucy was currently one of humanity's greatest AI iterations, and at times she really blurred the line between human and machine. She could think faster than any quantum computer while adapting to almost anything, but sometimes she could be… emotional.

"Ok, I'll be back soon. I just want to scout the perimeter, ready the guns in case I need help." He ordered to Lucy as he pressed the button to the door.

With a hiss, the world beyond was revealed to Jake as his eyes widened. He was in a dark forest, one that seemed to stretch on forever. The immediate area was a hot zone, a large crater visible around where the ship had impacted. Nearby broken trees smoldered as pieces of metal wreckage littered the ground and flickered in the fire-light. There was no way he'd step into that place with just a gun, no way.

With another press of the door's button it closed, blocking off the alien environment in an instant.

"Having second thoughts, sir?" Lucy prodded.

'No reason to neglect all my options' He thought to himself as he limped over to where the living quarter's bed was. 'Emergency plates should be here...'

He came up to a large protrusion by the bed that was attached to the wall, pressing a button that caused it to slide open. Jake's eyes widened as he looked inside, at what was supposed to be simple level 1 plated armor...

The armor greeting him back was anything but.

The suit itself was a smooth black, a sleek elegant design that curved upwards on every angle. The helmet followed the same aesthetic, a red V shaped visor contrasting the black design. Jake brushed his hand against the suit, shaking his head.

"H-How... Lucy, why is a Starstreaker prototype armor here..." He asked, a confused look on his face as he looked the suit over.

A small chime played as Lucy replied. "You told me 'Don't leave the Verix anything I can't take.' Was this *KRrzz* not what you meant?"

Jake shook his head, "Nono! I just... didn't think you'd secure something like this." He replied, pressing a button on the suit's wrist and electing a loud hiss from the chest cavity.

The front opened, splitting in half down the middle and down the limbs. Jake blinked at the display, but a small hint of nervousness crept into his features as he stared into the suit's interior... all up it's spine. Multiple needles were visible, not yet engaged and ready to 'jack in' to the users nervous system.

Jake pushed his fears down. This was Mk. III Spartan armor... they worked out all the nerve connector kinks in the second iteration, or so he heard. Taking off his leather jacket, he set it down on the bed nearby before carefully stepping into the suit. It felt plush on the inside, almost comfortable. He wiggled a bit, settling himself in place before squeezing both hands and engaging the suit.

It closed around him, sealing him inside as everything went dark for a moment. There was a small whirring sound, a loud click, then light. Boxes with information on them sprawled infront of his eyes, faster than he could read any of it as each system powered on in sequence. It all came to a stop, with one single message blinking in the middle.

Initiating bond...

Jake tensed just as the needles pierced his skin, going uncomfortably deep while the hot pain shot up his back. A moment later and his environment lit up, the inside of the helmet being replaced with the world around him… as if he wasn’t even wearing a helmet at all. A couple locks unlatched from the wall, and Jake stumbled for a moment as he exited the holding pod. Steadying himself, he looked at his hand and the suit he was wearing, unable to stop a small grin from forming on his face.

Layers of new information flooded his vision as he raced to look at it all.

At the top he could see his medical condition, which currently was blinking a not so pleasant shade of red due to his... current injuries. On the bottom right had an unfilled display, he wasn't sure what it was for yet. Top left, motion tracker, while the top right showed him his current shield power. From what he could see, the shield was already at 56%... probably from damage during the crash. The shield itself acted like an invisible force field, hovering just above the armor itself. Anything exceeding a certain velocity or from a certain electrical origin would be blocked by it. Including liquid plasma explosions and punches.

Picking back up the Verix plasma rifle, the bottom right display suddenly lit up with information.

'Standard Verix rifle... 56 rounds'

"Can you hear me Lucy?" Jake spoke into his helmet.

"Loud and clear sir." Replied the AI, her voice sounding like it was in his head. "I took the liberty of copying a very simple engram of myself onto the helmet's on board memory, so if you move out of range a simplified version of myself can still assist you. I would not be able to contact you, or provide you with any details on the repairs." She finished as Jake nodded.

He found it strange how she could just duplicate herself like that. It was not actually something a lot of AI's could do consistently, and so efficiently. Lucy really was one of a kind.

'Now we just have to hope we've got good signal here... in the middle of a forest' He thought, pushing the button on the ships door as it hissed open.

Lucy chimed in, startling Jake. "From what I can detect, the trees surrounding us should not impede the ship's signal very much."

There was a moment of silence, until Jake finally spoke up. "Lucy... can you hear my thoughts?"

"... yes. A function of the Spartan Mk. III's nervous system link. Would you like me to disable it?" Lucy asked after a moment of hesitation.

Jake shook his head. "No, it's fine. I just... didn't expect that."

Putting the strange revelation behind him, he stepped out into the world and glanced to the massive ring of destruction their ship had caused to the surrounding forest. The sky, while partially covered in clouds, seemed to be brightening up. None of that light, however, made it even a few feet into the forest surrounding them.

"Lucy, think you could tell what time it is looking at the sky?" He questioned.

After a few seconds of silence the bottom left of his hud screen changed. Sitting there was now the correct time, 7:40 am.

"Huh... must be just hitting sunrise then." He said to himself as he began to walk, the pain in his leg nearly forgotten thanks to the suit's hydraulics. "Lucy, I changed my mind. I want to see how far I can get until we lose signal, if you say it shouldn't be a problem then maybe we can find out where the forest ends." He said as he marched forward, still holding his rifle in both hands.

As he walked he'd occasionally ask Lucy about the signal strength, getting her to respond with, "Still perfect."

This continued on for a bit, until Jake noticed something up ahead. About 80 feet ahead he could see light break from the trees, signaling the nearing end of the forest. Picking up his pace, he dart towards the edge, bringing his rifle up to bear as the branches parted for him.

"Uh.... Lucy.... what the hell is that?" Jake said as he motioned ahead, towards a small town that looked like it was ripped from ancient earth history.

"Looks like a town, sir." Lucy said with a worried tone.

"I know WHAT it looks like... but I thought you said we landed in 'uncharted space'?" He questioned, continuing to stare at the town in confusion.

"One moment...." Lucy said going silent for a few seconds. "Confirmed... we are indeed in uncharted space. Whatever that colony is, it's not one of ours." She finished.

"Well... it's not Verix, either. Come to think of it, doesn't look advanced enough to be either." He stated, stepping out into the clearing. "I'm going to look, keep an eye out for movement." He whispered both to Lucy and himself.

The walk across the empty field was tense as his eyes darted everywhere, picking up on any little twitch; from a tree rustling to a leaf blowing past his vision. Nothing happened as he made it to one of the first houses, saddling up against the wall and taking a breath. Looking to his left, he made it to the corner and peeked around. Nobody walked the streets, it was completely empty. Moving around the house, he held his rifle against his shoulder and at the ready.

"Anything?" He asked aloud.

"Nothing sir. No movement or frequencies that I can hear... however I'm getting some constant static that seems to be... non electrical in origin?" She finished, sounding unsure of herself.

'Maybe the CPU housing Lucy took some damage in the crash...' Jake thought to himself with worry.

"It hasn't." She replied immediately.

'Right.'

As he looked down at the cobble roads, he noticed they were not really fit for any kind of vehicles. Making his way further into the town he looked past a house and noticed something else far stranger, there appeared to be an.... apple orchard further outside of the town, with no visible hydroponics facility or workers of any kind. He turned and started to make his way there before finally noticing movement. He froze up, before hiding behind a fence next to a house surrounded by... roses? Looking up he tried to get a good look at the creature walking near the orchard, something that appeared to be a large red... horse?

'Must be hungry... but still, red? And where did the townspeople go?' Not wanting to bother the creature, he made his way back into town.

As he walked he began to feel more and more on edge, tightening the grip on his gun. After a few more minutes of walking and listening to nothing but his own footsteps, he noticed a sign by one particular building.

"A... library?" He asked aloud, looking at the sign with an obvious book printed on it.

"Strange architecture." The AI replied back.

The building itself was straight out of a fantasy novel. The thing was not modeled after, but infact was a tree, with a door, windows and everything. The whole package.

Jake approached the town's "Library", stopping just a foot away from the door.

"This doors like half my size... and it's in a tree! Lucy, is this even worth our time?" He asked the AI.

"I'm not sure sir, but I'm not the one in charge. If it was me, I would go in and find some books to learn about what this place is." She concluded quickly.

"You're an AI, all you want to do is learn." Jake replied.

"So?!" Lucy quipped back in an annoyed tone.

Shaking his head, Jake went to push the door open, when a sudden light caught his attention. On his minimap, two small dots showed up just ahead. Pulling his hand away, he spun around and crouched next to the door. Waiting, he pressed a button on his wrist and listened closely as static filtered into his ears. After a few moments it cleared and voices rang though clearly.

One of them suddenly began speaking. ".....-so early still! I don't know why we need to be there at a time like this!"

Jake's eyes widened as he listened, it definitely wasn't Verix... if the town's design hadn't already given that fact away.

Jake found himself leaning in more, pressing against the door slightly as he tried to get a better signal. "Spike, stop messing around! Come on, we need to get to the center of the town before everypony starts waking up. There's gonna be a big announcement for Luna and-" A female voice began, before the door suddenly engulfed in a purple aura.

All at once, everything fell apart. The suit's audio gave a harsh, high pitched feedback as the entire HUD flashed wildly.

Lucy yelled out in worry as Jake held his armored head in his hands. "Warning! Massive energy spike in radius, evade!"

Jake let go of his head as the sound cut out, gripping his weapon in both hands as he took aim at the open door. He froze at the sight, his finger hesitating on the trigger as two large eyes stared back at him in surprise... just before a massive purple explosion filled his vision.

Author's Note

Click here for the stories ask.fm page! Ask the characters whatever you wish!Also.... 2k word chapter!