...

Apollo

...

Weightless...

Everything was weightless...

Jack felt a rush, as he sailed through the air, or rather, the lack of it. His suit automatically kicked in the impact dampeners, but Jack didn't need them. His helmet's holographic HUD immediately gauged the height he attained, as he climbed higher. He then landed softly, ungracefully and awkwardly yes, but softly. His armored feet touched the greyish earth kicking up a cloud of dust. He watched, fascinated, as it dissipated completely.

"Wow..."

"WOOOHOOOO!" yelled a voice over the vox feed. Jack looked around just in time to see Miko slowly fly above him. She wore the same suit he did; armor that was heavily reinforced, yet streamlined, and surprisingly unconfining. That, and the fact that it almost seemed to conform to the contours of the human body, very unlike the space suits of yesterday.

Miko landed directly in front of Jack, and threw her arms up in triumph. "Oh, hell yes!" she cheered. She then turned to Jack, a wide grin on her face. "Dude, this is fan-fucking-tastic! We're on the moon!"

For once, Jack was too thrilled to chastise her on her swearing. "I know!" he said, grinning just as wide as Miko. "This is amazing! I can't believe how light I feel!"

"You kids having fun?"

Lennox slowly descended, his own bulkier military-green armor easily discernable. He touched the ground with a relaxed ease that could only come from months and months of practice, and flashed a good natured smile at the two. "Glad to see you're adapting well. Most people get sick on their first moon walk."

"Dude, come on!" laughed Miko. "We're on the moon! Who gets sick on the moon?!"

"Raf did," said Jack.

"Oh, right..."

"Alright, kids," said Lennox. "Me and Epps are gonna be busy here, so why don't you go explorin' a bit? Your suits are checked out, right?"

"Of course they are," said Jack. "You know what Ratchet's like; he wouldn't let anything past him without fussing over it..."

"Good, good," said Lennox. "Oh, and Bumblebee's tagging along...".

"I've tuned your vox onto mine, so if something happens, we'll be in touch, alright?"

"You got it, Will," smiled Jack. Lennox nodded, and then he kicked in his suit's boosters, and sailed off back to the Hab-Crawler, were Epps and the rest of Delta Squad, along with a couple of Autobot troops were waiting. Their mission: set up an omni-sensor on this sector of the moon for the purpose of detecting any orbital Decepticon raiding parties. So far, it was working well.

Jack nudged Miko's elbow. "What do you wanna do first?" he asked, as he gazed across the lunar horizon. Miko did the same. It was strange, strange because the moon was so familiar when you gazed up at it in the sky, and yet so alien when you stood upon its surface.

There was no wind, as there was no atmosphere, and as such, everything was absolutely still and silent, completely undisturbed. The were dips and eddies, and the surface was pockmarked by pebbles, rocks and small craters. The lunar earth was a dull cement-grey, yet it felt soft and crumbly, like finely powdered snow when you stood upon it. The stars shone bright above their heads and all around them, like a giant, glittering, celestial blanket, and it suddenly felt like you were tucked in bed...

It was so very strange, all of it, but strange in a good way...

Jack broke the silence. "We could see how far we can jump," he mused thoughtfully. "Man I wish Arcee were here...we could see how fast we'd go on the moon...Oh, I know! We could head over there and see if we can reach the dark side of the moon! Like in that one movie we saw...Or we can check out what's behind that...that...err..."

Jack petered off when he noticed how silent Miko had become. He turned to her, and was surprised to find that she had tears brimming in her eyes. Immediately concerned, Jack touched her shoulder pad. "Hey," he said softly, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Miko started, and shook her head. "N-Nothing," she said. "Nothing's wrong..."

Jack frowned, unsure if she was telling the truth or not. "Okay...If you say so...," he mumbled, though he silently resolved to keep a close eye on her. "Well, if there aren't any more complaints, I say we head over there and-"

"Wait!" exclaimed Miko, as she suddenly grabbed Jack's arm. He looked to her, surprised at the sudden force. "I mean, wait...," said Miko, more softly. "There's...there's this one place that I want to go." Jack frowned, feeling wary.

"Okay..."

Miko let go of his arm, and activated her wrist mounted nav-computer. She quickly typed a series of commands, and sent the information to Jack's HUD. Jack opened the file, and quickly skimmed over its contents. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Miko. "The Sea of Tranquility? You want to go there?"

"Can we?" she asked, almost pleadingly. "It's kind of personal..."

Jack frowned again, not sure what he was getting himself into. But then again, Miko looked quite serious...

"Well," said Jack. "It's not far...it's very close, in fact...I suppose we could go..."

Miko's face suddenly broke into a huge smile. "Really? You're not kidding?!"

"Of course not. Now if we can just-"

But he was cut off, when Miko jumped and sailed away, the girl covering a huge distance thanks to the weak gravity. Jack sighed, in defeat and followed her, wondering how much trouble he would be getting into this time.

They had moon walked for a good thirty minutes, according to Jack's chronometer, a feat assisted by the distance they were able to leap on the lunar surface. On Earth, jumping at this great height would have required the use of jump-jets, but on the Moon, this was not necessary.

Jack was wondering how much farther they would have to go to reach wherever they were going, when they sailed over a small hill. It was there that Jack finally set eyes on their destination. His breath caught in his throat.

"Is that...?"

"Yeah..."

They descended, and walked the remaining distance. Jack didn't mind; he was too much in awe to care. In front of them, like some high-tech insectoid, rested the lower section of a lunar module, its metal legs shining. A set of still-fresh boot prints trailed from a ladder mounted on one leg. A small United States flag stood a little ways off.

"Apollo Eleven," whispered Miko, though she was audible over their vox feed. "The first manned mission to the moon." She stepped forward, and then, to Jack's surprise, she settled into a kneeling position, hands clasped in front of her, her eyes closed respectfully. Jack coughed, and after a moment's hesitation, came forward, and sat cross-legged next to Miko.

The was a long silence, as the two sat there together. Only the sound of their breathing could be hear dover the vox-feed. Jack was stunned completely. He had always entertained the fantasy of being an astronaut; the space programme had truly captured his imagination when he was younger, and he took every opportunity he could to replicate the moon landing in his backyard. He'd even tried to build his own version of the lunar module, and failed miserably. But he had never realized he would be seeing the real thing right in front of him. And just how did Miko know it was here, anyway?

Miko opened her eyes, and let out a sigh. Jack looked ot her uneasily, and saw that the tears were once again threatening to spill over.

"Miko...are...are you alright?"

She took in a breath. "Yeah...I'm fine..." She sniffed, and looked back to the lunar module, and stared. Jack followed her gaze, and found an object attached to the rungs of the lunar module's ladder. Closer inspection revealed it to be a small, square plaque that still shone, untarnished after all this time. Jack leaned forward and enhanced his helmet's magnification, the better to read the words inscribed upon it.

Here, Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon The Moon

July 1969, A.D.

We Came In Peace For All Mankind

...

Neil A. Armstrong, Astronaut.

Michael Collins, Astronaut.

Edwin E. Aldrin, Astronaut.

Richard Nixon, President, United States of America.

"Wow...," breathed Jack, as he leaned back. He hadn't realized that the Apollo team had left a plaque behind. He felt shivers up his spine as he re-read the inscription, a tribute to the three bravest men mankind had ever known.

"He was my hero, you know," said Miko, breaking the silence. Jack looked at her. Miko's tears were flowing freely now. "Neil Armstrong, I mean... I read all about him. He was the only person I even bothered to read a book about..."

She took in a shuddering breath. "You know, I was born the twentieth of July? I looked up the date because I was bored...and when I reached 1969..." She sniffed. "I was so excited...I mean, Iwas born on the day of the moon landing...Armstrong became my hero...I actually thought I would be special..."

The was silence once again. Jack, despite himself, smiled, and gripped Miko's shoulder. "You are special," he said. "Not in the way you think you might be. But trust me, you are..."

Miko smiled at him but otherwise said soon broke the silence again. "You know, when I was younger, I actually fantasized about marrying Neil Armstrong..."

Jack looked at her. "Seriously!?"

"Seriously..."

"Oh my God!" said Jack, as he threw back his head and laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want," grumbled Miko, as she playfully punched Jack's shoulder. "He was just that awesome, you know." She sighed. "And when I heard he died..."

Jack's laughter petered out, and his expression became solemn. "Yeah...I felt bad too..."

There was another respectful stillness, as the two sat. The time ticked on, and Jack's hand found Miko's. Surprised, she looked at him. Jack smiled.

And then Miko saw the most wonderful thing she had ever seen, and gasped. Jack frowned. "What? What is it?" And as Miko shifted slightly, he too saw what she had seen.

"Earth," Miko breathed, as she softly brushed her hands against the front of Jack's helmet, caressing the planet's reflection. Jack nodded stupidly, as he reached out and did the same to Miko.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I see it too..."

They both looked upwards, to see their home planet. Blue and white were condensed into a sphere, where they seemed to be locked into a constant battle of supremacy. Clouds roiled and twisted, and if you could see well enough, you could spot a hint of green.

They didn't know how long they sat there, shoulder to shoulder, gazing up at Earth, and they didn't care. It was only when their vox feed started beeping that they snapped out of it.

"We have to go...," said Jack, already feeling reluctant to leave. Miko shared his sentiments as well, but even she knew better.

"Right," she sighed. "But one more thing before we leave..."

And with that, she stood up from her sitting position, stood to attention, facing the lunar module, and snapped a salute, her jaw clenched, and her eyes fierce. Needless to say, Jack did the same with no small amount of hesitation.

Overhead, like a great blue eye, the planet Earth shone in the lunar sky...

R.I.P, Neil Alden Armstrong...

You Were, And Always Will Be, My First, And Most Awesome Childhood Hero...

-This is Zapwing, Signing Off.