Prologue

She drifted through the darkness, the glass of her helmet fogging up with every breath she released. Her mission was nearing completion. An endless row of pods were stationed before, the light emitting from them getting brighter and brighter as she floated closer. Almost there. Almost done. The woman only hoped everything else was holding up on the other ends, at least long enough for her to make an exit. She didn’t even want to guess how far the drop would be out of fear of the gravity controls engaging. However, it was unlikely such a thing would happen. It would mean the enemy losing the rest of their cargo. 

The woman came to the first set of pods, carefully reading the numbers at the top to determine how far up she would have to drift. She was thankful they all had titles. 

“Lieutenant, have you reached the pods?” A voice came through in her earpiece. 

“I’m at the pods. It looks like they’ve been busy,” she replied, reading the headings as she slowly passed over them.

“What is it?”

“A database, it looks like,” the Lieutenant glanced over the rest of the pod engravings, “DNA maybe. Biological remnants Eden thinks it can revive. It doesn’t look like they’ve had much success judging by the looks of things.”

All of the pods showed evidence of internal decay, and some even carried a red stain along the sides. 

“You’re looking for pod 42. Intel says that’s the number they recovered, but I feel like this mission is a waste of time. We’re already risking a lot on a hunch.”

The woman dragged her hands on the covers of the pods to slow herself down and to stop if she needed to. “We could find something. We could find nothing. Regardless, the real risk is being wrong and Eden getting their hands on something they can’t control.” 

She stopped for a moment when she realized she was nearing the pod’s vicinity. The woman pulled herself along, carefully examining the number of every pod before she came across one that looked to be in decent shape apart from the others. There it was. She used her arms to hold herself above the pod, studying all of the engravings. Pod 042. Eden Corp. Serial Number DM071292. Her heart nearly stopped. 

“Did you find it?”

The Lieutenant breathed in deeply before reaching to push a button next to a slot on the pod, the cover disappearing to reveal a window. On the other side of the window were two eyes, closed. “Lieutenant to Central, I’ve found it.”

Not a moment after, the cluster of pods began to shake violently. The woman heard a faint rumbling behind her, and she was beginning to startle, one hand gripping the edge of the pod so as to not drift away on accident. 

“I’d hate to bare bad news, Lieutenant, but we’ve been detected. Eden just dispatched their security measures.”

The woman began looking for a way to detach the pod from the rest of the cluster. “How much time do I have?”

“Zero. A dog fight is already breaking loose out here. They won’t collapse the facility, but it’s going to be hell getting you out of there. Should I send out an extraction unit?”

“No time for that.” She was already loosening the latches that held the pod in place. “I know how I can get out. Just have a fighter near my location. I don’t have much oxygen left in my suit.” 

“I’ll relay the information to our pilots. First come, first served.” 

The woman detached the pod, and they began to drift out. With one hand still gripping the side of the pod, she pulled a small object off the strap of her sling pack. After a few swift clicks with her thumb, the woman hurled the object into the darkness above and waited. The rumbling from the battle outside of the facility still raged on. She kicked both her and the pod away from the remaining cluster to get as far out ahead as she could. A chatter of commands and distress rang in her earpiece from the pilots. She hoped this mission wasn’t a waste. 

Force from an explosion above slammed the woman into the front of the pod before the vacuum nearly ripped her off of it as they were both sucked from the facility. She clung to it, finding a grip anywhere she could so that she wouldn’t the lose the pod in the vastness of space, putting death to whatever hope they had left. From the darkness of the facility, the woman was instantly thrown into a chaos of explosions, plasma whizzing by her head, and spacecraft firing back and forth at each other on the outskirts of a ruined planet. 

“Lieutenant to Central, I’m out. Pick up, now,” the woman barked orders not wanting to get blown away. 

“Lieutenant, I see you! I’m coming your way right now,” a pilot’s voice responded to her call. The Lieutenant could see one of the spacecrafts racing towards her away from the bulk of the dog fight. 

“Your timing couldn’t be anymore perfect.” 

“Hey, women love me because I’m always on tim"“ An enemy craft swooped in and unleashed a barrage of fire on the pilot, scoring a direct hit to the cockpit. The craft exploded, hurling chunks of the fighter towards the Lieutenant. She took cover under the edge of the pod, but not before a scrap of metal struck her helmet, a crack splitting down the surface. 

“I’m hit!”

“Lieutenant, we’re coming up on multiple casualties. Permission to order a retreat?”

“Right now!?” The woman was in disbelief despite her position.

“We’re dropping like flies out here! We don’t have that much experience in space combat to handle things on this level!”

The woman slammed her fist against the pod. “I swear, you are worthless! The mission takes priority.”

“We don’t have any other option at this point! It’s either retreat now or we lose the remains of our forces!”

“And what about me, jackass?”

“Jeremy to Lieutenant, I’m coming up on you right now for extraction to carrier.” 

The woman darted her head around to look for the pilot, “Jeremy, what did I say about leaving base?”

“You’ll thank me later.” Jeremy’s tone was incredibly optimistic.

“That is not what I said,” the woman argued with the other pilot, seeing his craft come into view from the fight. Another layer of disbelief piled on top. Her men appeared to be very neglectful of following orders today. Jeremy managed to bring his craft above the Lieutenant and the pod while the fight raged on around them. The pilot flipped a switch that activated a magnetic field, securing the pod at the bottom of his fighter. 

“The boys really do think of everything,” Jeremy cackled.

"Let’s just finish the mission. I’ll have a word with you when we get back to base.” The woman was not pleased with him. She pulled a small line of cable from her belt to attach herself to the pod as Jeremy taxied them both away from the dog fight. It was almost over. This was by far the hardest mission she had ever been on. The remaining fighters were starting to force back Eden Corps’ pilots, as she knew they would. However, one enemy pilot had taken notice of Jeremy’s craft and the cargo it held. The woman looked back in time to see a stream of plasma flash by her, the heat being felt through her suit. 

“Jeremy, you got one coming at you!”

“I see him. I see him. Hold onto that pod, Lieutenant.” Jeremy opened the throttle up, preparing for evasive maneuvers. The woman tightened her grip, looking back at the enemy craft firing another bolt of plasma at them. The fighter made a hard right, the plasma barely skimming one of the wings. The enemy craft unleashed a stream of fire, and Jeremy yanked the controls back and banked to the left. The Lieutenants arms felt like they were going to be torn off as she held on for her own life. 

“I could really use some cover fire!”

“You better not be talking about me,” the Lieutenant snapped at Jeremy, her hands slipping down the edge of the pod. 

“I can’t land inside the carrier with this guy on my tail!”

“And we can’t risk losing the pod!” The woman almost lost her grip when the fighter dove to avoid another barrage of plasma. 

“Well, if you have a better idea, enlighten me,” Jeremy retorted, cutting through the debris of a larger ship in hopes he’d lose the enemy craft. He could see the carrier in the distance waiting for them, the cargo hatch left open for their arrival. The woman had also spotted the carrier. She knew Jeremy could easily handle one bad guy on his own, but he wouldn’t do it with her hanging off the bottom of his fighter. 

“I have an idea, but you won’t like it.” The Lieutenant began detaching the cable from the pod. “Just get me as close to the hatch as possible.”

Upon hearing her plan, Jeremy shook his head in utter disagreement. He didn’t like it, but what else could he do? The rest of the forces were holding back the rest of the security unit while they made their escape. Another bolt of plasma grazed the plating under the wing near the Lieutenant, partially burning the arm of her suit. 

“Now would be a great time, Jeremy!”

Jeremy scoffed then turned his fighter to the direction of the carrier ship. Plasma screamed by them as he tried to keep his craft steady, one hand dangling over the button to deactivate the magnetic field. His aim had always gone without question, but now he was beginning to have his doubts. Plasma charred the side of his canopy, the brightness dimming his vision briefly. They were getting closer, maneuvering just enough to avoid any direct hits while staying on his trajectory. In the final stretch of this lunatic idea, Jeremy aligned his fighter with the back end of the carrier. The crew of the carrier unleashed firepower of their own to cover them just enough to complete their plan. 

“You better be right about this, D.” Jeremy’s hand began to shake.

“It’s a lot of space to cover, but I’ll be fine.” The woman felt the fighter pull back on the throttle. 

Jeremy started a countdown. “Detachment in five"four"three"two"“

The Lieutenant hugged the pod as if to try to become as one with it as possible. 

“One.”

The pod left the bottom of the fighter as Jeremy pulled up to engage the enemy. The woman was sent adrift towards the cargo bay of the carrier. She was coming in hot and at an angle she did not like. Both her and the pod passed through the threshold, a clear shield that prevented the vacuum from casting the crew members into the depths of space. This also meant gravity would now take into affect. Both the woman and the pod crashed to the floor, skipping across the cargo bay like a rock over the water. Her world began spinning. The crew members cleared the scene so as to not get caught in the path. As the pod flipped and rolled, the speed finally threw the Lieutenant to the side. She hit the floor and began to slide, breaking the visor of her helmet when her head made contact. She became a rag doll, unable to do anything to slow herself down. The pod continued its own form of destruction as it smashed through crates and other cargo, even taking out a few large pieces of machinery before it eventually rolled to a stop. The woman found herself on her side. After the room stopped spinning, she pushed herself up to her feet and looked around to see if there was anyone injured by her unorthodox entry. Thankfully, the crew had taken cover on the higher platforms, their heads peeping over the railings to see what madness had unfolded for what they thought was a routine mission. The woman looked back to the hatch and saw Jeremy in pursuit of the enemy craft that had attacked them earlier. 

“It’s okay, It’s all clear. We’re good.” The woman held her hands up to try to reassure the crew. The crew began climbing down from the safe place to inspect the damages, some running to look at the pod. The woman was concerned herself, hoping the violent entry didn’t damage what was contained inside the pod. Together with the crew, they turned the pod over so that it was facing up. They marveled at it. Some were afraid to even touch it. The woman, however, jumped on top of it again, pulling back the covering to see that the eyes were still closed, and the readings were still normal.

“You better be worth all of that fuss, Desley.”