Alpha Squad - Vecto: Voyage

Part 8.1

(Previously: Chais revealed that ninjas, which may be the Nagora Clan from Earth, had visited Zendora and may know where it's located.)

The two were transported to old Earth downward instead of up. The gravity was too intense for an upward transport so they went feet first for their safety.

As Chais descended into the transport disk, it felt like his feet were being yanked from the other side. When his whole body exited the transport, he crashed to his knees and fell face-first into the dirt. Vecto landed effortlessly beside him.

Vecto wasn't kidding about the gravity, Chais thought. It must have been ten times what he was used to. It forced him down with intense pressure, but Chais wouldn't give up. He strained to lift his head up, slid his arms across the dirt to near his shoulders, and then used his strength to push himself upward. He had trouble holding his head up, but managed to slide a knee to his chest. He slumped on his knee for a second to catch his breath, then continued his struggle.

In about a minute, he managed to stand, wobbly at that, but still standing. And when he lifted his head, he noticed how badly off Earth actually was. All he could see were ruins. Collapsed buildings and crushed streets and vehicles-all rusted or decayed. No plants were in view-only the site of black, gray, and brown destruction.

"Welcome to the metropolis of Greenwood," Vecto said in reference to the old name for the city. "I'm surprised you can stand. A human would have died due to the lack of blood to the brain. But I guess Zendorians are a bit stronger."

Chais ignored that comment. "You ... said Earth was full of life," he commented instead, trying to regulate his breathing. He could see Vecto now and noticed that he no longer had the image of Robert Newman that he became so accustomed to. Instead, Vecto had the body of some robot with melted metal, as if acid had burned through it.

"Was," Vecto emphasized. "And I told you it was destroyed."

"Didn't think this much."

"I'm sorry to disappoint," Vecto mocked. He was sitting on some rubble, having waited on Chais to stand. He jumped off the rubble and turned around. "The Nagora clan is this way."

Chais slowly moved his body around, being careful not to fall. But he stopped in bewilderment when he saw the horizon, his knees shaking only because of the gravity. Reaching possibly into outer space as far to the sides as he could see was a curved wall of gray matter.

"Either my eyes are deceiving me or that's one heckuva huge wall."

Vecto realized what he was referring to. "Correction: it's the moon."

(What happened to the moon, and will they find the Nagora Clan? Find out more in the next installment of Vecto: Voyage!)