“Welcome to the Moon.”
The automated voice echoed in the air, it broke the silence lingering in the air.
Eric stood not far by the window, his breath was still he couldn’t take off his eyes of what he just saw, he had seen pictures of it and also on the videos of documentaries and news. But none of it would even compare to the real one that he was seeing right now in front of him, it is the Rift.
It wasn’t just “a hole in the sky”, like everyone was narrated it to be, It tearing apart the space itself like a wound, hovering ominously above the moon‘s surface, shimmering with violet, and deep abyssal blues colored. From this so called “wound”, the “blood” liquid that poured out, filling the what already become massive covering the whole moon itself from the first time this thing was discovered, the Sea of Void.
“We are approaching the Military Stronghold: The Upper Base“, the voice announced inside the cabin, and then follows “Please prepare for immediate disembarkation, the Kaelion Type-B Heavy Lifter does not perform any landing, instead all of the recruit will be transported safely by The “Chariot” to the base”
“Wait, what?” Eric muttered.
“What does it mean by ‘not perform any landing’??”
Before he could process the thought, from the outside above the Sea of Void there was floating object, it was the base! A fortress of glowing with blue lights.
Suddenly, the radar flared red. APPROACHING VESSELS DETECTED
From the hangars of the floating fortress, a swarm of machines shot out. They were flat and shaped like metallic stingrays, moving with blinding speed the moment the shoot out of the fortress.
“Recruits,” Commander Gonz’s voice boomed inside the cabin,
“We will be transferring to the Kaelion Interceptor Rays. Do not panic. The process is automated and it would be finish in an instant”
“Transfer?” Tusk shout while pressing his face against the glass.
“How?” while seeing the vehicle.
The voice then echoed again inside the cabin.
“Disengaging floor panels in 3… 2… 1…”
“Wait!” someone screamed.
The floor was vanished, the panels were retracted instantly into the walls.
One hundred and forty-one recruits fell down, and chaos erupted instantly.
“WAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!”
Eric felt his life was just about to then the second he was free falling into the space, he was still processing what just happened while staring down at the glowing violet ocean below.
Around him, the other recruits have different reactions to this.
Gion was cackling like a madman, he is spreading his arms and legs wide as he spun in the space.
“Finally! A real ride! Let’s gooooo!” he scream out loud.
Arthea was shrieking in pure indignation, she frantically clamped her hands over her jacket to keep it from flying up even though this is space and it won‘t fly away, while kicking her legs frantically.
“Ungraceful! This is ungraceful! You peasants! My father will hear of this indignity!”
Tusk was clawing at the empty air, tears streaming horizontally off his face into space.
“Negi-chan! Save meeee! I haven’t cleared my browser history yet!”
On the other hand Lena didn’t make a sound, she was frozen in fear. Her hands clamped over her mouth, her eyes widen as if she was just couldn‘t believe of what happened and her face turning a ghostly shade of white.
Then, the swarm of the Rays approached, the Stingray drones swooped beneath the falling mass of bodies, the underside of the vehicles glowed with a blinding teal light and one of the vehicle approached Eric, when it was almost near him, it maneuvered straight to above at right angle and then.
HUMMMMMM.
A beam of solid photons suddenly hit him, he didn’t feel an anything, then as soon as he looked down at his legs, they were dissolving into millions of blue pixels.
“What the hel—”
ZAP.
His vision went white. The sensation of falling vanished instantly.
Eric blinked. He was sitting down.
He looked around wildly. He was strapped into a rigid metal seat inside a cramped, dimly lit cabin that smelled of ozone and hydraulic fluid.
“Did I just… disintegrate?” Eric whispered, checking his hands.
“Transport successful,” a robotic voice announced. “Passenger count: 20.”
Eric took stock of his surroundings. The interior of the Stingray was intimate in the worst way possible. There were no rows facing forward. Instead, the seats were arranged in two long benches facing each other across a narrow metal aisle—ten recruits on one side, ten on the other. Their knees were almost touching.
Directly across from Eric sat Lena.
She looked pale, her hands gripping the restraint bar so hard her knuckles were white. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her chest heaving.
To Eric’s left was Violet, looking bored. To his right, Tusk looked like he was vibrating with terror.
Above them, through the reinforced canopy, Eric watched the massive Whale ship dive into the Sea of Void like a submarine.
“Transport initiation,” the robotic voice announced. “Hang on. This unit is not equipped with Class-A Inertial Dampeners.”
“Not equipped?” Eric gripped his harness. “You have got to be—”
BOOM.
The thrusters fired.
Eric was slammed back into his seat. The Stingray accelerated violently, banking hard around the fortress. The movement was jerky and raw. Every vibration rattled his teeth.
Across from him, Lena’s eyes snapped open. They were watery and unfocused. She let out a wet burp, covering her mouth with one hand.
“Don’t do it,” Eric pleaded, seeing her cheeks bulge. “Hold it in!”
The Stingray approached the docking bay. A massive metal rail extended from the base.
SCREEEEEEECH!
The landing skids caught the rail. Sparks showered the canopy. The deceleration was brutal, throwing everyone forward against their harnesses.
THUD.
The drone came to a dead stop. The sudden halt was the final straw.
Lena lurched forward. Her hand slipped from her mouth.
SPLAT.
She didn’t just throw up; she projectile vomited. And because they were sitting knee-to-knee, there was only one target.
Eric squeezed his eyes shut as warm, acrid bile splashed across his chest, his lap, and his boots.
“Oh god,” Tusk gagged. “Oh god, oh god.”
Eric froze, arms hovering in the air, afraid to touch anything. He slowly opened one eye. He was covered.
Lena, gasping for air, looked up. She wiped her mouth, blinking tears out of her eyes. She saw the vomit. Then she looked up and saw Eric’s horrified face. Her eyes widened in mortification.
“I…” she squeaked.
Then her eyes rolled back into her head. She slumped forward in her harness, out cold.
“She fainted,” Violet noted dryly from beside Eric. “Can’t say I blame her.”
A hiss of hydraulic pressure signaled the end of the ride. The side hatch blasted open.
“OUT! OUT! OUT! MOVE IT, MAGGOTS!”
A soldier in full black combat armor stood at the hatch, screaming at them through a filtered helmet.
“GET YOUR ASSES OFF MY DECK! YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS BEFORE I VENT THIS CABIN!”
Eric unbuckled his harness, trying to shake the mess off his jumpsuit. It was everywhere.
“Move it, waste of space!” the soldier barked, storming inside. He grabbed a dazed recruit by the collar and threw them toward the exit.
He stopped at Lena, who was still slumped over, unconscious.
“WE GOT A SLEEPER!” the soldier yelled.
Two medics rushed in, flanked by a hovering stretcher-drone. They didn’t look gentle. They grabbed Lena by the arms and legs and tossed her onto the drone like a sack of potatoes.
“Medics will scrape up the weaklings!” the soldier shouted at Eric, getting right in his face. He looked at the vomit covering Eric’s uniform and sneered. “And you! You smell like failure, recruit! Get out of my sight before I mistake you for garbage and incinerate you!”
“Yes sir,” Eric gritted out, humiliated.
He stumbled out onto the landing platform of the Moon Base, dripping and miserable. Tusk crawled out behind him, kissing the metal floor.
“If you can walk, you move to the processing line!” the soldier roared behind them. “If you can’t walk, stay down and pray the medics get to you before the cleaning bots do!”
Eric looked up at the miles-high ceiling of the hangar, filled with mechs and war machines. He wiped a streak of Lena’s lunch off his shoulder.