Chapter 328 – Tonight, On Unsolved Mysteries

December 12th, 2499

19:06 SCT

Wasteland Evacuation Zone

"Ma'am? You know, we have people for that, right?" Diaz said, walking up beside her. His visor was closed now, and he was lugging around a massive rifle that had seen better days. 

"Then put them in a suit and send them to work! We have to put up hundreds of these temporary shelters to house everyone, so unless you want people to be sleeping in the backs of those trucks, I need anyone who can handle one of these SceeeVees working overtime." Aqua replied as she welded the joint of the prefab structure she was putting up alongside a few other people driving the T-280 SCVs.

They arrived at the evacuation area early that afternoon, and after she had her team hastily assembled a Command Centre, she started issuing orders to build other facilities to prepare for the other convoys' arrival. The dozens of people that were part of the colony leadership already knew what needed to be done, so she quickly found herself without anything to do but supervise and wait for calls. 

She had considered contacting John over the comms to let him know where she was, but her memories from her time as a Ghost told her not to, since all the adjutant's calls would be recorded and sent to the Confederacy. She didn't want either of them to slip up and say something that might give them away as people they might not seem to be. So while he was supposed to be her right-hand man, she decided to let things slide for now and keep employing Diaz as her liaison, at least until they could meet in person. 

So, with nothing else to do and many construction jobs needing to be done, she popped on the mobile headset, jumped into an empty SCV, and started assembling the temporary structures with the other engineers. With the Piloting skill she had... received from John, she was able to operate that piece of machinery fairly easily, and her own Construction blessing let her master the process in moments. Now she was moving faster than any of the other workers, limited only by the equipment itself. 

Well, the equipment and the constant nagging of her babysitter.

"Yes, but you're the Magistrate!" He said, clearly trying to get over the shock of some Confederate paper pusher operating a SCV like a seasoned professional.

Not long ago, I might have taken him up on his offer. But I've fallen back into sloth too many times before. I won't do it again. I like my new life too much for that!

"And? Does that put me so far above people that have just been evacuated from their homes that I don't need to work as well?" She said, pointing her plasma torch towards him.

"It's not that, Ma'am. It's just that you haven't slept since your arrival."

Oh...this might be coming from a place of concern. His thoughts... hmm... He thinks this would be trouble if I end up getting hurt, and he doesn't want Johnny to kick his ass if that happens? Really? I'm welding walls while in power armour, not fighting zerglings with my fists like some idiot I know! 

"That's not true; I took a nap in the truck. Maybe you should put your head down for a bit and let me get back to work." She replied, then turned back to the task at hand.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She replied curtly.

"Did I do something to offend you, Ma'am?"

"No. Why?"

"You just seem... angry."

She sighed… she wasn’t angry, but maybe she was a little cranky. "It has nothing to do with you; I'm just a bit frustrated, that's all. Now, unless you know how to use a SceeeVee, go get some rest. The Adjutant is already routing my calls out here."

"Right, Ma'am. Just don't work yourself to death. No one will think less of ya for taking a break; you've already shown us that you're willing to work for the people, not just rule over them."

"I'm fine, Diaz, but thank you for your concern. Oh... before you go. Was there any word from John's team yet?"

"No, Ma'am, not since Alpha Squadron conscripted him and the rest of Charlie's squad to help conduct the investigation into the mysterious deaths of the local wildlife."

"Fine. Such a dumb thing to have a man like him doing." She muttered. That was the other thing that was bothering her. Just when the leading convoy was going to arrive, some of the Colonel's men had shown up and grabbed a chunk of her militia to investigate the dead 'animals' they found around the evacuation point. She knew exactly what happened, but wasn't going to out John as the perpetrator. 

Oh, that was my fiancée, running around in a seventy-five-ton death machine with more firepower onboard than one of your tanks. Don't worry, he is on our side. Not that I'm sure the Confederates are on the side of these people right now. Every time I ask Duke why we were sent here, I get static. Maybe I should talk with that reporter? He is supposedly somewhere on the planet right now. Or if I can find our contact in the Sons of Korhal, I can get a message out to Sarah and see what the new plan is. Argh... there are so many moving parts with this, I can barely keep it straight. 

"Pardon, Ma'am. Do you... do you know Johnny?" Diaz asked, interrupting her internal grumbling.

"That will be all, Diaz." She replied, dismissing him. 

"Yes, Ma'am," He replied, turning around and walking away.

Get it together, Aqua. You can do this. It's only been a day; you don't need to run and hide in his eye just because things get difficult.

John sighed as he dismounted his Vulture to join two of his squad mates over by yet more dead Zerg he had killed last night. 

"Look here, Johnny! Another pair of these things. Looks like they got stepped on by something big." Charlie said, pointing to the two squished Zergs at the bottom of two large indents in the ground.

"Something big, you say? Holy crap... what in the world is going on here? Take a couple of pictures for the Confederates and let's move on." He said from behind his closed visor. He shook his head ruefully at the absurdity of it all. They wanted the Marshal to investigate these unexplained animal deaths instead of aiding with the evacuation of the civilians, then send them a report on his findings. 

This is like some weird crime show where the perp is actually the detective, and needs to hide his identity from his co-workers.

"Ya think it's the same t'ing that killed the 'ther ones?" Bubba asked, the man's helmet open as he took pictures of the scene. If John's memory was correct, out of his armour he was rather rotund, with a bowl cut, a fat nose, and missing half his teeth. He was a simple man, usually working with the militia only a couple of days a month and running deliveries to different mining sites the rest of the time.     

"Well... depends."

"Depends on what."

"If the machine that was carrying that kind of firepower is big enough to stomp these flat. See... the damage on the others is similar to what a Goliath would cause, but those walkers are not much bigger than we are in our suits. These indentations around the bodies tell me whatever it was was much larger and a whole lot heavier than a Goliath." John said, pointing at the footprints his Timberwolf left in the hardpacked ground. The weapons of a Goliath were similar in size to that of his mech's machine guns, albeit with much smaller cartridges because of the lack of storage space, but the walkers themselves were about the same size as his power armour on board the Phoenix Hawk. 

"Huh, I didn't see that till ya pointed it out. I guess that's why yer the Marshal, Marshal." Bubba said, pointing the old camera he was carrying at the prints. John didn't even know where he had found the thing, since most cameras he had seen in his memories were like floating orbs that would hover beside the user. This one looked almost like something from the turn of the 20th century.

"Yeah, Bubba...  I guess so. How's your momma doing?" He asked, changing the subject from the 'Investigation' to anything else.

"She's alright. She had to drag ol' nan off her rocker to get out to the truck, but they made it to the rally point just fine. Ya think we'll be okay? Ain't seen a full evacuation like this since them Rippers dropped on us back in 88'."

Rippers? Oh... the name for the Kel-Morian's infantry. Yeah, this body fought them a lot. 

"Should be. Arnold says the Magistrate has everything well in hand over there, so as long as Alpha Squadron is in orbit, we should be safe from those Protoss. Now, c'mon. We got more ground to cover to satisfy our new overlords up there." John said, turning back towards his Vulture.

"Ya get to meet her yet? She's a real pretty one, seems smart too. Little short for my taste, but with blue eyes like hers, I don't think many men could resist." Charlie said, walking towards his own bike. His was a different model, with a sidecar that Bubba was riding in.

"No. I was finally about to, then I got orders to come out here with you boys."

"Really? Ain't ya supposed to be her direct subordinate or sumthin? Her right-hand man and all that?" Bubba asked.

"Yeah, boss, with yer rugged good looks ya might have a chance wit her. It's been years, ya know. Liddy wouldn't mind-" Charlie added, but John cut him off.

"Leave it be, Charlie. We're in the middle of an investigation, evacuation, and possible alien attack. My love life isn't exactly high on my priorities right now."

Heh, if this Magistrate is so beautiful, she is probably the love interest for this character's story. I should try and stay as far away from her as I can and see if I can score some extra points destroying the canon. Hah, imagine one of these worlds, and I DON'T try and find love again. 

"Just sayin' you should try. Ain't no 'arm in tryin', is there?" Bubba said, then turned and rushed after Charlie.

John just shook his head at the man's retreating form. Apparently the people around this body had cared for him more deeply than his memories had let on.

Guess he was always the lone wolf type. Now for the more important bit. Alec! What did you do with Aqua?

{Nothing at all, Johnny boy. Why do you ask?}

Because she hasn't come out of my eye even when I was alone in the Timberwolf.

{She does get quite motion sick in those things.}

Seriously? I know something is up. What did you do with her?

{Nothing. She is safe and sound, and maybe a bit annoyed. I'm sure you will cross paths, eventually.} 

Annoyed? Cross paths? I thought she was going to tag along with me when I came to these worlds?

{That was for the ones you opened already and progressed the story. However, we reset this world. Just. For. You! So have fun! And remember, don't drop the soap!}

Don't drop the what? What in the hell are you talking about, man!?!

Alec didn't respond. John gritted his teeth and jumped back up on the Vulture. Once he was alone again, he would cast a scrying spell to see where in the hell Aqua was. He just hoped she was on the same world as him, else he might end up stuck in this door for longer than he had planned. 

She can just jump into my eye whenever she wants, so there must be a reason why she hasn't done so yet. But what could it be? 

December 13th, 2499

02:53 SCT

Wasteland Evacuation Zone

It was the middle of the night when John finally pulled up to the Command Centre, a bit tired from not sleeping since he arrived in this world, and even more annoyed because, for some reason, he couldn't contact the Adjutant from his bike. He had run the Sonic Screwdriver over it, but the problem didn't seem to be on his end, so he had to drive all the way back to base to transmit his report to the Confederates up in space. 

He was impressed as he idled through the outskirts of the setup; what had been a nearly empty valley was now filled with tons of prefab buildings, depots, and militia barracks. To the north, he could see a few SCVs still working, putting up a couple of bunkers for some reason. A few armoured militia members patrolled the camp, alongside several groups of armed civilians with shotguns and pistols. He guessed it was some sort of citizen patrol to augment the militia, maybe ex-soldiers like him now working as private security, or just good neighbours helping keep the peace. His mind told him this world, and most backwater worlds, were full of people like that. Like him.

Damn... if I didn't know there was supposed to be a massive war in this world, this would be a good place to stay and relax for a long time. Hell, we almost have the same accent and everything. Other than Twinkle, I haven't heard many Southern drawls since I died.

He shook his head and walked inside the domed command centre. It was an interesting construction, used for both military and civilian applications. Most of it was actually space for the Mineral refinery, where workers could dump raw minerals on one side, and it would turn them into the materials used in all the prefabricated construction around the base. It was far less efficient than a proper processing plant, but it could be set up quickly and required very little expertise to operate.

The other part of the command center was a command and control room (CAC), where a commander or site foreman could work and oversee operations until they built a more permanent facility. When he walked into the CAC, he was surprised to find the lights dimmed and no one in sight. 

"You would think that they would have someone on duty here." He mumbled, then looked around for a comms terminal. 

"Adjutant Online. User Marshall John Wayne identified. Good morning, how may I help you, Marshall?" A voice said to the side of the room. He turned and nearly jumped out of his skin. In an alcove he hadn't noticed when he walked in was the bust and head of a robot woman, with tons of wires and tubes running out of its base and the back of her head into the walls. Her eyes glowed bright blue in the dim light, casting an ethereal glow across her…its… white... skin? 

Jesus, why the hell did they make these things look like this? It looks like a damn ghost! 

"Good morning. Can you send this report up to the Confederates on the Norad II, please?" He said, pulling a data chip from his armour and placing it in the receptacle in front of her... it.

"Request Complete. Do you need further assistance?" 

"Yeah. Give me an update on the evacuation."

"Estimate 30% of the colonist have already arrived at the relocation site, with most outlying settlements having confirmed the majority of their populations will be en route by 06:00 today. Expect total evacuation to be completed by 17:30. Militia and volunteer units have mobilized and are escorting the convoys. Construction of the relocation site is 45% complete and is proceeding faster than the original estimate. Updated estimate for site completion is 14:15. Further details are available if you require."

"Have there been any incidents or fighting?"

"No, Marshal. Do you need further assistance?"

"No. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Marshall. Adjutant Returning To Stand-by."

The lights in its eyes dimmed, and John turned to review the camp's holomap, deciding what his next steps should be.

I could probably stay awake for another day or two without issue... but there doesn't seem to be any reason to. I guess I'll head over to the barracks and get some sleep. I'll drive off the camp in the morning and find somewhere out of sight to cast the scrying spell... It's way too bright to cast here in camp, and I'll never know if some security drone is recording me.

"ZZZZzzzz...*SNORT* ZZZZzzz..." He suddenly heard loud snoring coming from one of the side rooms.

"Oh... guess I wasn't alone in here after all. YAWN... Sorry, whoever you are, I'll leave you to your nap." He mumbled, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

I guess all that fighting took more out of me than I thought. 

He left the CNC a few moments later, determined to at least get a few hours of sleep. He suspected tomorrow would be a busy day.

Slightly phased out of this reality, Xiaolin and Tifa looked at each other.

“Is he… really not going to see who it is?” Tifa asked.

“No. Because it doesn’t matter to him. He's had enough hints and warnings that this world is going to go to hell in a handbasket, and he's trying to work out a plan to protect as many people as possible. The problem is, he has no idea how; not without the help of the Confederates, and his new memories tell him not to trust anything they say or do.

As for not immediately searching for Aqua, of course he is worried about her, but more than that, he trusts her. Trusts that she can handle herself, that she will retreat to him if things get bad enough. If he didn't, he would have dropped everything and started searching as soon as he realized that she wasn't with him.”

“Does she know that?”

Xiaolin just shrugged.