TCS: Fate Of The Cosmos

Chapter 9: Offworld vacation

"Alright Terranova, we appreciate all the information you've shared with us today."

"Pleasure's on my end..." Locke sighed as the meeting came to an end, and general Max rose from his seat to raise a hand toward Locke. Content, Locke shook it and looked the man in the eyes.

"Your presence on the ship has helped us substantially. I know we haven't done much in the past week, but... We've had some strong and steady first steps."

"I wouldn't call watching your men die in there 'help'."

"No, it's certainly not, but you did put your life on the line letting our ships escape unscathed, so pat yourself on the shoulder for that. Had you not taken that crazy decision back there, operation comet would likely be a failure, and we would've lost more assets than we could handle to lose." Maximilian reassured the survivor as he let go of his hand. "And to think you nearly got yourself killed... for a bunch of strangers. You're out of your mind, I hope you know that."

"I'll be taking that as a compliment, sir." Locke rolled his eyes back and smirked at the general, shoving his chair beneath the desk they had been sitting by. Locke soon turned away from general Max, to face the bright sunlight beyond the overhang they were currently beneath, but before he could step into the light, Maximilian called to him once more.

"And hey," He started, in his raspy and old voice. "You go enjoy yourself now. It's the last day we let the soldiers relax before we get back to work, to prepare for our next move." The old man then smiled softly at Locke.

The survivor didn't reply but nodded to the high-ranking federation leader before leaving the area and walking into the scorching sunlight. Today was warm, very very warm. The artificial sun scorched the habitat ring with boiling summer heat, to make up for recent dark and cold, nights. The bright light spotted in the sky blinded Locke, and sharply reflected onto shiny surfaces, causing light bloom to appear in nearly every direction one could look.

The chosen survivor took his time to brood about the meeting that had taken place just now, as he walked away from the table, and over his shoulder, Locke could hear Maximilian turning to his two fellow generals. This meeting had differed very little from the last one they had, earlier last week, with Max being the most prominent in the discussion, whilst his fellow generals sat back in their chairs and listened.

Locke swore that the sour one looked like he was about to burst from the temptation of villainizing the survivor, maybe wanting to insult him and blame him for the losses the federation experienced while traveling through Rockwell's innards. He smiled to himself at the thought, almost satisfied. The third general was as quiet as ever, having not muttered a single word while Locke was there. Not a sound came from him as he sat there like a priest, back straightened and his hands in his lap, which Locke found deeply unnerving, however, did his best to ignore.

Amidst his thinking, Locke was called by a familiar voice, and soon, the man that had called out to him stood right beside him.

"AYO Locke!" Cole shouted to Locke as he jogged up to the survivor's side.

"What's up, Cole?" Locke replied looking down at the man. Cole was neatly dressed in a summer outfit, which Locke found particularly odd to see him in, as ever since they had met, he had only seen Cole in his federation-issued tek suit. But Locke had to admit to himself, that the fit did suit Cole exceptionally well. Everything from the dark sunglasses to the flower-spotted shirt he was wearing, to the shorts that Locke had a hard time identifying as regular loose shorts or bathing trunks. Either way, Cole looked quite dashing in it, with his hair glued backward against his scalp, which also made Locke raise an eyebrow, curious as to how much hair gel he must've used to make it stay that way.