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Firefly was bathed in a sea of red light, warnings and alerts flashing on her HUD in rapid intervals as new active threats appeared.
The cause was immediately clear: the sudden activation of a multitude of defenses, all primed and waiting for her to enter the perfect kill zone for maximum devastation. Just like all Glamoth defensive formations.
Thrusting her hand out to stop her companion’s stride, Firefly quickly broadcast on a transmission channel that likely hadn't been used in millenia. The alerts were the only reason she had enough time to send a response to ensure they lived. Any Knight was expected to respond in time before death struck and removed the unworthy.
“This is AR-26710 responding to Glamoth Empire distress beacon. Priority code: 11-9425. Homeworld communication failure emergency protocol. Command as follows: Force deactivation of automated perimeter defences and provide manual control to nearest ranking Knight.”
Firefly held a breath, noticing her companion’s combat ready and alerted state as she also scanned the horizon for threats. However, the ashen grey wastes of the moon around them remained quiet and unassuming, at least to her. Stelle may not be completely aware of the danger, but the trust she placed in Firefly even after her memory loss was still humbling.
Another sensor broadcast, one her suit automatically responded to this time, identifying her armored suit’s built in rank and status. Searching for the highest ranking Knight in broadcast range per the protocol she sent out. Firefly was very sure this specific emergency protocol, the most dire and urgent, would work. The home world she spoke of has been gone for a few Amber Eras after all. It would be more shocking if it wasn't accepted.
Realizing she never really explained herself in the heat of the moment, she gave a quick update to Stelle. “There’s a few defenses out there guarding this area. Just waiting for them to confirm we're friendly so we can continue on without being attacked. Should just be a few moments…I hope.”
“Huh…how badly did we almost get erased?” Stelle couldn’t help but ask. She didn’t see ANYTHING that looked like 'defenses' among the strewn rocks and rubble. After failing to notice any immediate signs, she started looking a bit more strenuously at the ground in front of them and at the nearby hills and mountains, as if her meticulous gaze would force the bedrock around them to give up their secrets.
“Well, let's just say the type of emplacement we walked into was designed to hold off at least a Swarm Brood Mother and leave it at that.” Firefly replied nonchalantly.
A shudder passes through Stelle as her memories of the simulated swarm disaster play out in her mind. That was a lot of firepower for an out of the way dead world. If it wasn't for the blessing of the trailblaze, she wasn't even sure she would be alive in this atmosphere.
“So…do you have any better idea, now that we're here, what this place could even be? Seems pretty overkill for just some outpost at the edge of the universe.”
Silence was Stelle’s only answer for a while, Firefly seemingly lost in thought. Stelle was more than happy to let Firefly collect herself or handle whatever was going on in the peace of her own mind. She figured now was as good a time as any to send an update to the others.
After the quick exchange of messages, she leaned against SAM's frame, content to wait as long as Firefly needed. After a few moments longer, Firefly finally shifted to look down at her and responded.
“Ah. Sorry, I was a little distracted. I’m…not entirely sure. Considering how far away we are and the amount of deterrent…this location is very important. However, I have no idea what it is or why it exists. It’s not a place I was ever briefed or informed about.” Firefly’s low tone and melancholic sigh was overwritten and covered by the suit’s voice modulation system as it cut the unnecessary… emotional component to her speech, but Stelle seemed to understand anyway. She always could. Even before when…
Ping
Interrupting her thoughts, Firefly received the confirmation they’ve been waiting for. A robotic voice she hadn’t heard in years filled the communication channel. A Glamoth AI control unit. “Full command of facility granted to ranking Knight in broadcast range, AR-26710. Temporary rank Knight Marshal in accordance with emergency protocol assigned. Your orders, sir.”
Giving a signal to Stelle, and casting aside her thoughts for now, she gave a response and commands to the system she now controlled. “Mark all humanoid lifeforms in range as friendly. What is this facility? Give me a status update on primary functions.”
“Four humanoid targets marked as friendly. Status as follows: Cloning Refinement Facility 3. Critical functions are failing and in poor condition. It has been 126,910 cycles since the last Engineer Corps visitation log for routine maintenance and upkeep. Shutdown of all nonessential systems is in effect. All personnel have been recalled to active combat deployments per previous emergency orders received, and automated control of the facility’s functions was given to this unit. Thirteen out of forty-eight clones are alive in hibernation and ready for deployment. For the glory of Glamoth and Her Majesty. Command?” Firefly’s breath caught in her throat as she heard the response, eyes widening in stunned silence and disbelief.
“I –” Firefly swallowed thickly, “Damn it, give me a navigation route to the nearest entrance.” Seeing a route light up, nearby even, she began to walk at a brisk pace. Stelle quickly followed behind, concern written all over her face.
“Stelle…it’s well, not bad but—” Firefly did her best to get herself under control, to ease Stelle's concern, but the emotions she felt at that moment threatened to overwhelm her instead. She took a deep shuddering breath and just let the words flow out from her. "It’s bigger than I expected. I thought I buried these feelings and had come to terms with everything about my past…but I never thought I would find so much of it still around intact. I don’t know if I’m ready for this. I can’t believe this kind of place even still exists.” As she rambled, she started breathing more rapidly, hands fidgeting with consoles and eyes flitting around readouts.
Just when it seemed too much to bear, Stelle linked her arm together with her metallic one. She froze, her rapid thoughts finally paused. Able to regain a fraction of calm.
“What can I do to help? I’m here for whatever you need. I mean it, even my limited edition Tatalov figure is yours if you want. But you don’t want that right?” Stelle’s earnest look turned almost pleading as she finished.
Firefly couldn’t help but giggle, the sound that came through her suits modulator morphing it into an odd sort of laugh, which made Stelle grin. Mission accomplished. Firefly looked down at Stelle once again, as she wrapped herself around SAM's arm. Truly, she was still the same girl she'd come to love the first AND second time. There for her in all things, even ones she didn’t even know she needed.
“Don’t worry, your limited edition figure is safe.” Firefly's smile was hidden behind her helmet, but it still felt like Stelle could always see through that metallic cover as she matched it with the soft warmth of one of her own. Stelle then wiped her brow in a theatric show of relief, drawing a few more distorted giggles from Firefly as she pulled her love closer. Whatever they discovered in this long abandonded facility, she would be ok in the end. Together, they could do anything.
Following the navigation assistance, they walked for a few moments to what would be the ‘center’ of the mass array of defenses. Pointing at a spot for Stelle’s sake, she sent a signal. Slowly, a sizable part of the ground lowered before parting down the middle to reveal an opening into a long corridor plunging downwards. From the design and shape, Firefly recognized it as a hanger entrance for spacecraft and Knight squadrons.
After looking down, Stelle looked at Firefly, grinned, and leaned into her expectantly. “Never thought I would need to do this with you again so soon!” With another laugh, Firefly didn't let the anticipation linger for long, lifting Stelle into her arms before stepping over the edge and activating her thrusters to begin their descent.
Before long, they reached the bottom. Once the sensors seemed to confirm their entry into the hanger, they were both cast in a receeding shaft of light — as the ceiling slowly closed to cover the entrance once more — leaving them in darkness. Firefly set Stelle down on the ground, who continued to hang onto her arm for dear life, and proceeded to scan the room using her visor's night vision that had automatically activated in the low-light environment. The air was still, the hanger barren of anything worth consideration; the only discernable distiurbance was caused by their entry.
No hostiles detected. Sector is secured.
Stelle’s hesitant voice cut through her assessment. “Ah, Firefly? Any chance you could uhh get some lights going? If not that’s fine, just would be a bit more comfortable to not stumble in the dark. I guess you can just lead me along too…?” Slowly chiding herself, Firefly sent a command to the base to activate available light sources. Before long, the area was lit with an array of different emergency and non-emergency lights. A few seemed to be non-functional, but thankfully there was enough to see clearly.
Stelle looked around the hanger in awe as they walked towards the entrance to the base proper. Maintenance bays for mech suits, computers and terminals for the launching of different spacecraft, and a number of different odds and ends with a purpose she couldn't begin to fathom — the technology she could see was vastly more advanced than anything she’s ever encountered herself. The Xianzhou and IPC’s offerings both paled in comparison to some of the things she could see here. Amazingly, the whole area looked pristine despite the age. Not even dust touched the surfaces of the different machines.
“Everything needs to be kept at full combat readiness at all times.” Firefly explained, as if sensing that part of her thoughts. Honestly, she felt that Firefly knew her better than Stelle knew herself sometimes, and this was just another example. “Any base or facility needs to be used as a potential staging or fallback point for an offensive or defensive operation. The swarm strikes without warning or mercy, so the priority is maintaining full combat capability.
Even at the expense of the facility’s primary function…Firefly thought about the clones that were left to die to save the others and keep the facility in that full readiness state. She wasn’t really sure about the feelings that gave her. An old part of her immediately mentally reconciled the deaths and the honor it was for them to give their lives for the cause. But, another just as quickly reasserted itself as she remembered that there was no cause anymore.
Finally, they reached the entrance and entered the airlock, stepping in front of the final door to whatever they would find inside the facility proper. Trepidation began to fill Firefly and a slow creeping sensation grew as a weight in her chest once more, causing her to shift slightly in discomfort. She was so excited when first picking up the sudden signal. Now though, so close to the source, the thoughts she was having felt…foreign yet familiar. Training and protocol, responses and thoughts, so many things she believed she would NEVER need to deal with again started racing to the forefront of her mind. She hated it – hated how easily she was falling back into old habits and patterns so easily without conscious thought.
“Stelle I…” Firefly took a shuddering breath, her most trusted person looking over with concern as her hand reached out to brush against her arm. It filled her with a strength she didn’t know she needed. “Aeons, I thought I would be stronger than this. Sorry…”
After a moment, she made a decision. She pushed the communication channel from her suit to her phone, and shooing Stelle away for a moment, deactivated Sam in a burst of flames. At Stelle’s questioning head tilt, she could only say “Being Sam isn’t good for me here. I’m going to face this as Firefly.” And Stelle, the lovable person she always was, immediately understood and held her close in affirmation. The both jumped in shock as a voice spoke over some kind of speaker system immediately after.
“Direct communication method with command unit lost. Resorting to local communication methods. Knight Marshal, I must remind you of Article 4 at this time: Leaving the cockpit is strictly prohibited. Please return to the command unit.”
Firefly’s response was immediate. “No. By the authority given to me as Knight Marshal due to Article 15, until communication with the homeworld is re-established, all other Articles are to be enforced on a discretionary basis.”
“Article 15: In emergency situations and severe circumstances, Knights should immediately obey all orders of the senior ranking officer without question. Loss of communication with homeworld and all outposts acknowledged as severe circumstances. Command received.” Distraction resolved, they both looked at one another, nodded, and opened the door to what was hopefully the answer Firefly was seeking.
But maybe it would have been better for her if they never did.
In front of them, rows of capsules, numbered one through forty-eight; thirty-five contained grotesque bloated things that no one would believe had once been a living creature, much less a person, without knowing beforehand. However, thirteen of them still lit up with active consoles nearby and inside a clear life-sustaining liquid bubbled continuously. Since this was a cloning facility, and a slowly failing one at that, Firefly had expected as much at least. She could remember her training and the first time she donned her armor inside a similar facility even now. What she didn’t expect however…
“Why…why are they all me!?” A pained disbelieving exclamation. Wild eyes roamed over the nearest pod as she raced forward to stand in front of it and take a deeper look, Stelle left behind in her sudden burst of speed. Firefly could hear her name being called, as Stelle scrambled to catch up, but it sounded so distant in the roar of her ears as she looked at something so profane to her being.
She knew she was a…clone of some kind. A created soldier. But, even still, all clones came out slightly differently. The different squads she was a part of during her years of service were filled with different people and, if they lived long enough, different identities.
This was WRONG. Down to her longer hair, down to the slightly different marks on her body that only she knew about. They were exact replicas. She ran down to another, and it was the same. She read the panel, heart in her throat and vision swimming, as dread she couldn’t even begin to understand mired her thoughts.
AR-26710-31
Another.
AR-26710-18
ANOTHER
AR-26710-07
“Facility AI, what…IS…this? Explain. Now!” Firefly hissed into her comm. Stelle wide eyed, stepped back from her desperate attempts to get Firefly’s attention.
The response back was frustratingly calm. “These are the clones part of Cloning Refinement Facility 3. Refining the tissue of the long living soldier AR-26710 for a next generation of superior pilots. Source soldier's current recorded deployments without death: 47. Third longest recorded. Noted for their ability to inspire others to continue fighting past their limits. Noted for being the only one to return from Operation Citu-Dahk alive. Kill efficiency per solider where they are deployed is higher than average. Shall I prep the pods and activate them for deployment and Knight Frame assignment, commander?”
“Shut up...just…shut up.” There was a response, but Firefly did not care. She didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to think. She was too cold, was too hot. She wanted to scream, but nothing came out besides a choked sob.
Hands on her head, she could only plead, “Stelle! Please…I…” Stelle was immediately by her side.
“Hey! Hey. Breathe, I’m here. Hold my hand, ok? Let’s work through this.” Firefly’s grip was crushing. It would likely bruise heavily, if the hand wasn’t broken already. Stelle gladly endured – she’d never seen Firefly like this before. She’d poured her heart out on that rooftop — all her sorrows, dreams, and fears. She was embarrassed when they acted out scenes in a contest to save Penacony. Even their goodbye, promising to see one another again on their journey was heartfelt and full of its own type of sadness. But, in all those situations, she was always in control and collected.
This felt like a new side that she’d never seen before, and yet, was also so familiar. Had she supported Firefly with something similarly distressing long ago? After the fleeting bursts of memory she had on Amphoreous, she wouldn't be surprised. As Firefly slowly sank to the cool metal floor, Stelle sank down with her.
“Stelle, do you think they’re all like me? Exactly? That’s what cloning is right? And these are even more perfect than I’ve seen before.” Firefly began to ramble.
“I’m sure they’re just as kind and willing to be themselves, like you.” Stelle assured. However, as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized that it was the wrong thing to say. The worst thing. Firefly’s face quickly twisted into a greater mess of anguish and despair.
“Do you think they’d all have the same desires, then? Is my goal to be a normal girl just something that’s programmed into me? Are my feelings even my own or some kind of eventual programming too? There was so much Stelle — so much — that I only knew because it was forced into my head. What if those things are the same? Something we would all feel eventually…something THEY will all feel eventually?” Waving her hand frantically in the direction of the pods, her eyes began to sting with unshed tears — her throat felt swollen as she choked past every breath, sobbing.
“Stelle what have I been doing? Was I wasting my time all along? The right to choose…am I an idiot? Maybe I haven't grown or changed at all from my days as a soldier. Maybe I’m just 'choosing' the same way all of them would have anyway. What kind of choice would that even be if it's just a pre-determined feeling and direction that we were given. I never thought I would feel this way again since you helped me the last time.”
A pause as Firefly takes quick breaths and tries to grapple with the torrent that threatens to overwhelm, not even noticing her mistake in revealing too much. Her hand crushing Stelle's more and more, but wordlessly, Stelle just wraps her other arm around her. The act brings dark thoughts unbidden to the forefront of her mind.
Acting on impulse, Firefly pushes Stelle away — quickly taking her hand back as if bitten by a venomous creature. A wild terror dances behind her eyes, as the life she no longer believes is her own unravels. “Stelle, if they’re all me, would you have loved them instead if you met them first? Am I actually…”
Stelle quickly cut her off, bringing her back into a hug. “Firefly. YOU are the one I love. Nothing will change that. Listen to me, ok?” Beyond a few sobs, she remained silent as Stelle continued, “No matter what they might think or feel that’s similar to how you were, the experiences you had and the choices you made since then make this life your own. THOSE choices mattered. And it’s those choices that made me care and love you in return.”
Firefly looks at Stelle’s face, as if searching for answers. A rueful sigh, “I wish I could believe that, but I don’t know anymore. How can I trust what I’m feeling or what might be there?”
“If you can’t trust yourself, Firefly, then trust me. And know trust in the care and love I have for you, alright?” Firefly refused to meet her eyes, which stung Stelle more than she'd like to admit. However, inspiration struck. If the jumbled memory she had on Amphoreous was even partially correct…
“Our promise. Our reunion.” Firefly’s face morphed into one of shock. It was a much better look than the despair there previously. “When we met, just as two ordinary people that night, the shooting stars in the sky at Dream’s Edge were quite beautiful weren’t they?”
“They…they really were.” Firefly’s wonder filled tone, makes Stelle smile. Despair truly had clouded her mind to forget something so important, huh? Well, she’ll gladly remind Firefly further. “Our experiences and that choice was important to you, Firefly. To us. That’s something we shared, and no one else. So please, trust me.”
Gesturing to the pods, Stelle continues, “I don’t know how exactly you feel, or what might happen if we go through with this. We can destroy it all and leave it to rot if you want. But, if I know you as well as I think I do, that would never be an option. So when you’re ready and if you still want to do this, we can take it one step at a time and find out. Together.”
Standing to her feet, Stelle offers her unbroken hand to Firefly, who grabs it and pulls herself up after a moment. Her face is still a mix of uncertainty and fear. However, Stelle sees that faint spark of determination and hope has finally taken hold once again.
"Remember my love, no matter what happens, I’m here for you. I am yours, and you alone are mine. No one else will replace you for me and nothing would change that.”
With a shuddering breath, Firefly remembers a time when she was just a soldier, and Stelle had another conversation with her about life and experiencing choice. Stelle always did know how to reach her heart.
“Together, then.” Seeing the limp hand Stelle is currently cradling against her body, Firefly winces at the damage she caused in her moment of weakness. Slowly, she reaches out and gently takes Stelle’s other hand. Standing in front of the first pod, she calls out. “Facility AI, activate pod AR-26710-01.”
A whirring sound begins to churn the air, and soon after, the sound of liquid being rapidly emptied joins the noise as the facility comes to life after untold years. Just as suddenly, everything halts, and a cold, familiar quiet pervades once more.
Roused from beyond a veil of eternity, a gasp of breath breaks that deep silence; sunset colored eyes open for the first time, and see an exact matching pair looking back.