Awakening of the Shadows [COMPLETE]

Eternity

Our exploration craft we'd sent down had landed on a small island in the middle of an ocean, the geological scans of which identified rich mineral deposits, like titanium, copper, and gold - all of which we would need to survive. It also had a wealth of tree-like lifeforms that grew across the planet's surface.

First things first, however: we needed food, and water. Badly. So, logically, we needed to send out explorers into the jungle.

As for me... well, I decided to go down into the jungle as well. Partly because I wanted to see the alien world, and partly because it was sort of my entire job to keep the Human race alive.

. . .

I stepped into the jungle undergrowth, pointing my flashlight forward to light my way. It was dark - the canopy was extremely thick - and strange noises filled the air, noises I'd never heard before, at least not on Earth. And that's saying a lot, since I spent quite a lot of time in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.

Thinking about earth reminded of what I - no, we - had lost, and it tore open not-yet-healed wounds in my emotions again. Blood didn't flow, but it might as well had, given how painful it was.

I ripped my thoughts away from Earth. I knew thinking about it would tie my emotions into a knot - something I couldn't afford to have, not when the survival of our race was in jeopardy. I started forward again, my white leather combat boots making a crunch sound each time they hit the leaf-littered ground of the jungle.

I pulled out my Cypremacy 3 phone and flicked open the Professional Cartography app I'd downloaded. Swiping through a few tabs, I finally found an open slot and opened it. The phone made one sharp BEEP noise, and a detailed map of the area around me began forming on its screen. As I walked, the map was developed more - reading the geographical data around me and converting it into a readable map.

Hours passed - well, I thought so. Not that I could tell. During the end of Earth, or, as we called them now, the atomic clock in Denver, Colorado, that most American Cypremacy phones used had been most certainly destroyed, given that none of our Cypremacy technology had a reading on the current time, instead just stuck on eleven-twenty-one for the rest of time. Normally, we'd be able to tell the time by looking at the position of the sun, but given that I couldn't see jack shit through the canopy above me, that wasn't really helpful.

Stop thinking about Earth, I told myself.

All of a sudden I heard a CRUNCH noise coming from my left. My hand moved like lightning, pulling out my pistol and pointing it in the direction of the sound.

In front of me was a large clearing bathed in golden light - must've been late afternoon - and standing in the middle of my line of sight was a woman with auburn hair, holding a strangely-shaped firearm of her own trained on me. A laser sight rested where my heart would be.

She wore a black leather bodysuit with neon-orange circuit-like designs on it, and her eyes were a strange shade of fire orange I couldn't say I'd ever seen before. Her skin was white, unlike my own (very very very very (and so on) light brown skin if you're interested), and she was maybe about six feet tall if I had to guess. I wasn't completely sure. But plus or minus six feet

For a moment we just stared at one another, eyes wide and guns loaded.

Then, warily, she said, "Which fleet are you with? Or are you not even Federation? If you're Triangulum, I will shoot you."

Now logically, I knew what the words she had said meant. But in this context, the way she put them together... well, they didn't really make much sense.