Laura and Marin continued to stand in the airlock. Squeezing each others hands tightly as they stared cautiously into a dark hallway in front of them. The lights in the airlock giving some clear vision to the mass of cables and tubes that spaghetti through the walls. The floor is a simple metal grating all the way through to the end at a slightly battered metal door that has the unmistakable glow of natural light shining through the cracks.
But intertwined throughout the cables, the grating, and every slight gap is copious vines and roots. Curtains of moss hang from the rafters and walls. Complete overgrowth.
Marin clears her throat, her voice modulated through the respirator. "Well…safe to say the maintenance guy hasn't been here in awhile."
Laura nods slowly as she cautiously steps out of the airlock with Marin in tow. "No kidding. Must have been quite a long time ago since this was built with how much overgrowth there is."
The two women slowly make their way through the hallway. The metal grated walkway beneath them creaking with every step. Laura brushing the moss curtains out of the way at some points until they finally reach the door. The sound of wind, trees rustling, and the unmistakable chatter of birds outside. The cracks in the door shining sunlight aren't big enough to see much of anything outside.
Marin tries to will the door open. They hear creaking noises all through the hallway before a loud CLUNG sound coming from the door as it attempts to open but doesn't. Then a warning pops up in Marin's eyes.
//Door Mechanism malfunction
//Extensive Damage detected
Marin sighs. "Yeah. That is fair. Doors busted as hell." Placing her hands on her hips and is about to suggest prying it open before she hears a gasp from Laura behind her. The blonde rushing up beside her.
Laura unhooked her blade hilt from its holder and gently shifted Marin off to the side before she ignited the brilliant blue curved blade. "I've always wanted to do this!" She says rather giddily, plunging the blade into the door where it meets the frame. The strange blade of energy cutting through it with very little resistance. "Yessssssssss!" The blonde exclaims before she starts tracing a cut through the outer edges of the solid metal door. Marin watching in astonishment.
The taller girl standing with her hands on her hips and her eyes wide like a father watching their child play with an electric fence.
Laura made short work of the door as she cuts a new opening into it, removing her blade and shutting it off before sliding it into its holster. Marin can't see the blondes mouth but she can certainly imagine the wicked grin on her girlfriends face just by the look in her eyes.
The blonde looks over to Marin as she gets into a readied stance. "Milady. I shall open the door for you." She states with a playful giggle that Marin can't help but chuckle at. Laura winding back a judo kick before her heel strikes the surface of the loose door in a split second.
Marin has to cover her ears as the metal clangs sharply like a bell for a brief moment. Getting sent back a few steps into the wall of cables and vines by a gust of wind. The force of the kick echoing down the hall and shaking the structure.
Marin uncovers her eyes, even wider than they were before as she looks down at Laura who looks just as shocked. Sunlight has completely spilled into the hall as the sound of terrified birds escaping fills their ears.
Laura was sent onto her ass with the force of that kick. More out of surprise than anything. The blonde slowly turning to look up at Marin. "Is it just me…or did that kick have a lot more UMPH in it than I expected?"
Marin shakes her head at her girlfriend as she walks over to help her up. The blonde accepting the hand as she comes to a stand next to the other woman. Marin patting the dirt off of Laura's suit. "Uuuuh nope. That definitely had atleast TRIPLE the umph I was expecting."
Laura looked down at her leg that she used to kick the door. Half expecting it to be mangled after exerting a force like that but it appears totally fine. The blondes attention finally settled as she looks out of the shining hole in the doorway to see the most comforting sight of grass, bushes, and trees outside. She had been terrified for ages that it'd be some kind of desolate wasteland outside. And Marin certainly shared the same sentiment as the taller girl grabbed Laura's hand again and finally lead them outside.
The two girls truly did not realize how stressed they were over the last several hours. Only until the weight was lifted from their shoulders did they finally notice.
Like a religious experience it lifted away a good chunk of the worries that were plaguing their thoughts. The crunch of grass and twigs under foot sending vibrations up their bodies that are almost therapeutic.
Around them is a dense forest of large oak-like trees covered in pale yellow leaves. The trunks of the trees are webbed with cracks in the bark where thorny little bushes sprout. Vines hang from the branch's loosely and curl together into net-like groups.The grass beneath their feet is a vibrant green that reaches up to their knees.
The door where they came from was actually built into the sheer rocky side of a hill. The back of the door camouflaged to look like rock. The door of which they do find rather quickly as it is now crumpled up and smashed into one the trees. The impact having left a splintered wound in the trunk.
Laura stares at the metal door folded almost in half and slightly embedded into the tree. "How…did I do that?" The blonde mutters under her breath. She isn't really sure how to feel about this.
While Laura is flabbergasted at her own strength, Marin is starting to wonder if this is the same for her. Her curiosity getting the better of her as she walks up to the already wounded tree, gets into a steady stance, cocks her fist back and punches the trunk as hard as she can. Laura widening her eyes in surprise.
Splinters suddenly shower outwards against both of them as Marin's fist connects and erupts a decently sized crater into the side of the tree. Breaking past several layers. But the tan girl grimaces a bit and pulls her hand back gingerly. "Oowwwwwwww…" Her knuckles throb with a dull pain that shoots up her forearm but the pain quickly begins to subsided as a cooling sensation wash's over it.
Laura reaches over and touches the spot where Marin punched. "I guess…this shouldn't be surprising? With the nanites and all?" She remarks but still doesn't sound entirely sure.
Marin shakes out the numbness in her right hand before giving an honest shrug. "I don't know. Probably. But it definitely looks like you might be stronger than me."
Laura furrows her brows. "You think so?" The blonde looks down at the broken door again and then at the spot that Marin punched. Biting her lip and flexing her fingers awkwardly. Staying in place for a moment. But ultimately she groans and walks over to another tree. "Uh…sorry tree…" She comments before she cocks her fist back and snaps it forward at a speed that Marin can barely keep up with. The impact echoing out into the forest as Laura's fist plows straight through the trunk and embeds halfway into it. The bark on the tree shattering and the whole structure itself nearly uprooting on Laura's side. White sap beginning to bleed from the trees extensive wounds as the blonde wrenches her fist out.
Laura turns around to see Marin staring at, eyes wide. The blonde feels her heart drop as she starts to think her girlfriend might be terrified of her now. That is until Marin has suddenly strided over to her, placing her hands on Laura's shoulders. The serious piercing stare in the taller woman's eyes makes the blondes heart pound.
"That was the hottest fucken thing I've ever seen in my life."
Laura's eyes widen at that response, her cheeks getting bright red under the respirator. "Uh…um…I'm glad you liked it?" A little taken aback by the obvious fervor in Marins eyes. Which to be honest she doesn't at all dislike. But it's just a bit surprising.
Marin nods sagely as if it's the most natural thing in the world. Removing her hands from Laura's shoulders so that she can access the damaged tree. "I don't know who I can brag about this too yet but it's definitely going to be the first thing I mention to anyone we meet here."
The blonde cocks a brow. "Brag?"
Marin looks over her shoulder and smirks beneath the respirator. "Well yeah. I have to let people know my girlfriend can kick down solid steel doors and punch holes through trees. It's important information." The tall girl remarks.
Laura's face continues to get redder with Marin's compliments. "Well. I don't know if we'll bump into anyone just yet. Gotta find some sort of civilization first." The blonde states while trying to calm her heart rate down as Marin rejoins beside her and takes her hand.
"Agreed. I mean there has to be if there's a bunker here. We should try to get a higher view of the area. Maybe climb one of the trees or find a clearing." Marin suggests, tugging the blonde along with her. The forest around them is tall and pretty dense, making it hard to make out what's actually around them.
Laura stammers a bit but follows. The two of them heading a little deeper into the trees. "Uh…are we not going to talk more about my surprise hulk strength?" She asks, still very much overwhelmed that she can cause that much damage now with her bare hands.
Marin sighs lightly. "We can test it out more later. Honestly…I am compartmentalizing a lot of this right now…but to be fair with the whole magic thing, super strength might as well happen too." Her voice sounding a bit strained as well. But the two continue to weave around the trees.
The two could hear birds and other small animals moving around them but hasn't caught sight of any of them yet. Laura isn't too surprised their hiding from them due to her earlier display of fist based ballistics. But it does kind of make her sad. The plants certainly look a bit weird so she is definitely curious what the animals might look like.
There are a few spots where the trees seem to be warped around pieces of metal that have fused into the bark. And the metal pieces certainly do look machined but their too deeply embedded to tell what they are. But it definitely gives an understanding to how long this place might have been abandoned.
After a few minutes of walking the two eventually see sunlight breaking through more clearly off to the east of them. Mapped by the compass they brought along. Which was a rather odd find seeing all the advanced tech they are dealing with but Marin guesses that for survival equipment you'd want something that doesn't need to be powered all the time.
Cautiously they approach towards the sunlight breaking through the trees. The ground inclining upwards. Large exposed cables snake through the dirt up the hill. The two girls can hear a low rumble in the air as they get closer, their grips tightening on each others hands. Their eyes adjusting to the intensity of the light so they don't need to squint.
They finally make it to the top and shift around one of the large bent oaks that has been slightly uprooted by unearthed cabling. Stepping out onto a grassy cliff. Marin and Laura's eyes widening as they move up to the edge to get the full scope of the area.
The forest spans out as far as the eye can see. Mist clouding the reaches. Some of the trees seem to grow exceptionally large as they can see a few that are as tall as wind turbines and just as wide. But it isn't the trees that catch their attention the most. It's what's up in the sky that astonishes them.
Hanging up hundreds of meters in the air are at first what appear to be floating islands. Dozens of them. Their tops covered in overgrowth as well as curtains of roots and vines off the edges. But with longer study the girls can make out the hard surface metallic structures that make up the lower half of the islands. The shapes of them are unmistakably manmade. Heavily rusted and deteriorating with showers of what is likely scrap raining down to the ground below them as they float along like clouds. A couple of them higher up are what can only be described as GARGANTUAN.
Laura manages to say it first. "Their…ships…"
"Spaceships…" Marin mutters, squeezing Laura's hand tightly. Focusing her vision on one of the big ones. "Uhhh…nanite buddies…can you tell me about that ship?"
//Host Inquiry: Can you tell me about that ship?
//System Answer: Defender Class, Low Orbit Galleon, Standard Sublight Core, identification unknown, system keys deteriorated, extensive damage, Hull Integrity dangerously low, currently on automatic patrol path. Engines and propulsion will fail in 2 terrestrial rotations.
//System Warning: Patrol path of this vessel will overlap with current area in 4 terrestrial days. Seek shelter during this eclipse as falling debre will be fatal on contact.
Marin furrows her brows. "It's going to fall in 2 years…" She mutters to herself before Laura tugs her attention and points out to the Northeast.
"Marin look! It's a town!" The blonde shouts, having been scanning the horizon and managed to spot groups of metal clusters off in the distance blanketed over a hill. On closer inspection with her enhanced vision she could make out roads and what looked like radio towers amongst them. All of it caked in vegetation.
Marin reached over her shoulder to pull out her rifle, the weapon unfolding before she shoulders it and looks down the hologram sights at what Laura pointed out. Her sight magnifying through lenses.
The blonde was right. Marin can see obvious buildings tightly packed together with streets cutting through them. Some of the structures look like they may have been shops, homes, and even apartment buildings. Although it's all very corroded and overgrown. By far the largest structure looks like a watch tower of some kind. The top of it covered in dishes and antennas.
Marin narrows her eyes. "I guess we've found our next objective." Looking back over her shoulder at Laura. "Let's head back for now and assess what we got so far."
Laura nods but giggles. "You sound so tactical."
The taller girl is glad she is wearing a respirator because now her face is red from embarrassment.