No Turning Back (A Socksfor1 AU)

The Military Base

(SOCK BOI POV)

As Blaza showed me around the village that encircled the hill where MedBay stood, I had time to think over what the zait was going on. My ship is gone, my home is hundreds of light years away, and I'm just stuck here with no clue as to what I should do next. Part of me wanted to get to know these "humans" as they call themselves, but the other, stronger part just wanted to get back to Xero. 

I have nothing against these people. I just wanted to get home.

"Socks? You listening?"

Blaza's voice snapped my train of thought and brought me back to the present. 

"Sorry, I was thinking," I replied with a sigh, "What were you saying?"

Blaza pointed over towards some trees, not far from where the "courthouse" stood (These people and their fancy names). "I was asking if you wanted to see the military base," he said.

"Sounds interesting," I said, "Carry on."

I was not prepared for what he was about to show me.

(BLAZA POV)

I led Socks through the trees outside of the base. I knew these woods like the back of my hand, and found no trouble navigating the thick undergrowth. Socks, on the other hand, kept tripping on roots. It was pretty funny, actually. 

When we finally got to the front of the bridge to the base, I turned and saw Socks stuck in a bramble bush. I ran over to help him, but he held out his hand as to tell me to stop. Suddenly, his hands seemed to shape into claws as he sliced the brambles with no trouble. He stepped out and looked at me.

"What?" He asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I realized I probably looked like a complete idiot staring at him, and I turned away, slightly blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry," I said, "Just..."

Socks walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see him smiling. "Your such a crindni," he said.

I chuckled. "Well, we're here," I said, motioning towards the base. Socks turned, and now it was his turn to stare.

The military base was a giant compound surrounded by a barbed wire fencing. The buildings, although grey in color, gleamed in the sunlight. My Chinook helicopter, still unnamed, seemed to shimmer brightly. The sight of it never got old.

"Wow..." Socks said, still just staring out at the place, "Its... Incredible."

"Just wait 'till you see the inside," I said. And at that we crossed the bridge to the front gate.

I stepped up to the keypad and typed in the code: 6969. Obviously. I should probably change it, it's a bit TOO obvious. I then put my hand up to the scanner.

A robotic voice then said, "Welcome, Mr Blaza."

At the voice command, the gate rolled down, revealing the inner workings of the base. I led Socks through as he looked around in amazement. He's probably never seen anything like this on his planet. Either it's more boring there or it's so high tech that anything that looks cool and isn't that high tech is really cool (??). 

"How did you make this?" Socks asked.

"Well, I didn't make it," I said, "I just got the weapons and supplies. Dino was the one that built the base itself."

As we continued onward, I showed Socks all the areas within the military base. His favorite (I could tell) was the weapons storage areas, where I let him try some guns because he seemed REALLY interested. I actually let him keep one, a sniper rifle that he really liked. I did make him promise not to use it until he knew how, so there wouldn't be any casualties because I gave an alien... no, Xeronian... a sniper rifle.

Then, it was my turn to ask questions.

"So... How far away is your planet?" I asked him.

Socks sighed. "A few hundred light years. Too far, if you ask me."

How the heck did he travel hundreds of light years and not die?

Socks, seeing my confused expression, said, "I had a light speed engine on my ship. Ran out of fuel when I got a bit too close to a black hole, though. That's probably how I got here."

"A BLACK HOL-" I said, dumbfounded. This man just CASUALLY told me that he survived a black hole after his ship's light speed engine ran out of fuel. Something tells me that things can get crazy on his planet.

"Unfortunately," Socks said, chuckling at my dumbstruck expression.

"How do you even survive that?" I asked.

"A human may not," Socks explained, "The gravitational pull would shred a human until only the atoms are left. Creatures on my planet, too, but anyone that must go beyond the Outer Circle of planets has been genetically modified to survive some of the strongest gravity out there. As in, up to two black holes. Anything stronger than your that, you can survive maybe five minutes in before your squished like a bug."

"Really," I said.

"Yup," Socks replied.

And that's basically how the rest of the afternoon went.

---------

LAZY AS ZAIT but I wanted to get this in before the school week... Chapter production will be slower during the week because of this so be prepared for longer waits for chapters lol

Bye bye