Disclaimer: I don't own any Glee characters, and the name of the story is from the first episode of Cowboy Bebop to tribute my love for it.
AN: Alright, as stated in the disclaimer this a AU based in space [if you didn't catch that]. Why? Because space ships are awesome. This is Santana centric, so the major focus will be on Brittana XD, but other relationships will be pointed to but not have major impacts on the story line well maybe one. But don't worry your pretty heads.
Mission Statement:
This is about Santana as the leader of a group of people that investigates planets and collects data regarding the planet's possible habitation. The team is composed of technical specialists and a small militarized group that protects the specialists; collectively they are the Terra Team. The ship known as New Directions, under control of the United People's Republic, is a Prospective Colony Investigation Unit [PCUI]. As stated the main purpose is recording data of the environment found on the planet. Other units take action on the planets, such as developing the planet for habitation or exterminating pests. The New Directions is only to function as a silent collector. This is why the crew of the PCUI is so small, think of the unit as a tactical team making a preemptive strike on a possible inhabitable planet.
Chapter One: Take It Easy
|x|X|x|
It was the most insufferable cabin on the entire ship. It was small and unkempt, but the room served its purpose well enough. Though Santana had never been suspect to its particular duty. Every ship in the Republic had one; New Directions even had a holding cell that they used once. As a joke.
Santana had only a few minutes to herself, after shuttling her team into the infirmary and quickly clearing her head, before she was barked into the seldomly used room by Quinn.
The harsh lights and cold metal décor was rivaled only by her Captain's hard glare. Having spent her entire life in less than pleasant dormitories, and not to mention the four years butting head with Captain Fabray, the tag team bout between Quinn and the interrogation room was lost on her.
The Captain slammed her hand against the table, breaking Santana from her thoughts.
"Lieutenant Lopez, I will not ask you a third time. Why wasn't Rutherford wearing the regulation protective gear during the scouting mission?"
Santana scoffed. Quinn was pretending that Matt wearing a fucking vest would have saved him.
Santana had always managed to agree to disagree with her Captain, however in a case such as this there was no room for petty name calling. Not when her reputation and career were on the line. Not when her team mates were injured. Not when a friend died.
She set her eyes to Quinn and bit her tongue, doing her best to ignore the blinking green light behind her captain.
"During the last scout the team concluded that there were no active life forms within the territory. The air suits themselves weigh twenty pounds, the armor adds another thirty. There's no need for a lab tech to be hauling that unnecessary weigh around while scraping together soil samples."
There had been plenty of missions where the nerds complained and Santana allowed them to breach procedure. But never again. Not after this mistake.
"To clarify, you ordered Specialist Rutherford, as well as Specialist Cohen-Chang and Sergeant Zizes to forgo their protective gear."
"I did not give those orders. When the tech team arrived at the dock to deploy without their protective gear I did not correct the error, because of the finding from the day before."
"Are you not taking respons-"
"I am well aware of my actions Captain. I hold full responsibility for the Terra Team and all of the injuries sustained during the last mission." Santana's eyes swirled with unease, she did her best to read her old friend, but the woman in front of her was nothing more than an administrative shell.
A short and heavy silence filled the small room, Captain Fabray studied her tablet laying on the metal table and Santana studied her in turn.
"Lieutenant, state the events of the last scouting mission."
"You know what happened. Why do I-"
"The Republic needs a video statement. Now if you will Lieutenant Lopez." Quinn motioned behind her to the camera built into the wall that Santana was well aware of.
There was no use fighting it. This was an event that she would have to remember again and again. More times in her dreams, rather than to another person. It was a weight for her to forever carry, the story to the slice on her thigh that would scar her.
"After I didn't order the tech team to retrieve their gear, we boarded the PF and descended to the planet's surface."
|x|X|x|
"Let's go Cohen, I don't have all day." Santana stands at the loading dock of the planetary flyer, or as most people called them PF's, observing the crew and checking off her mental list.
"Well it'd be pretty shitty to get down there and not have anything to record the data sets on."
"Can I start it yet?" Finn's voice over the radio in Santana's ear sputters to life. As uncoordinated as Hudson was, he was a good pilot. There were many times where he's skills got everyone out of trouble. But unfortunately he had the maturity of a sixteen year old.
Puckerman saunters from the weapons locker on the PF, stretching himself out in front of Santana. "Why are we going down there with them? There ain't nothing going to eat them."
Santana ignored him, the nerds needed protection, but that didn't make Noah's statement any less false. The last mission's reports showed that there was no presence of alien life on the planet. And it looked much that way to the naked eye.
Of the areas they scouted, the whole planet was nothing more than a desert. She didn't understand why the Republic invested interest into this planet. Empty vast, and hot as hell; really doesn't scream inhabitable.
"And I thought you liked me Puckerman." Zizes sends her quip from across the small cabin. As much as the woman annoys Santana, she did enjoy the fact Noah could be easily distracted by her.
"Baby you know it ain't like that." Another whine over the radio from Finn, a giggle from Tina and Matt, and Santana realized she wanted to be in the air not standing around listening to her team's antics.
"I hear a lot of talking and not enough shutting the fuck up. Finn start the engine. Puck help Rutherford and Cohen with that lab box. Lauren, go eat a snack bar or something."
In a matter of minutes, after the crew and equipment were strapped down, they were blasting out of New Direction's air bay making headway to the planet dubbed by the United People's Republic as A-STOR 3.
Santana sat co-pilot to Finn, carefully watching the radar and coordinates. They were heading to 1.23x, 12.34x for some dirt collecting. She knew it was more than that, but this planet was a total bust. They'd probably be headed off to a new scout in a matter of weeks, instead of spending months hovering over the planet. Santana reminded herself to ask Zizes about that later on.
As they landed the screens in the cockpit where useless, the power of the jets threw sand and dust up in a cloud over the PF. Santana threw off her harness and stepped into the cabin to give her usual speech.
"Alright people. No fucking around. Nerds, do your shit. Don't wander away. Just because there's no little monsters crawling around doesn't mean there aren't sink holes or some other shit for you to fall and die in." Santana scanned her crew for objections, but as usual there was none.
"Put on your helmets, three hours of air. We're shooting to complete in two. Hudson draw the gates." At her signal Finn entered the keys to open the loading bay, the ramp settling into the sandy earth of the planet.
Noah and Finn fixed their rifles against their backs and moved to help the tech team with the equipment. Santana retreated into the cockpit to make a transmission back to New Directions. It was one of the most hated of her duties.
Santana sat in her co-pilot seat and tapped on the keyboard to start the check-in. A small video feed box on the wind screen of the PF lit up and showed the face of the New Direction's navigator, Rachel Berry.
"We're on the surface, next contact at 13:00."
"Very well Santana. Be careful down there. We look forward to your return." The woman beamed over the video call. All Santana was looking for was a message received and her proper title.
"Berry, for the last time. It's Lieutenant Lopez. We're not buddies, this is an official record you idiot."
If Santana hadn't been wearing her helmet she was sure that Berry would be quivering in fear, but each of these check-ins were procedurally done after making initial contact to the planet's surface. Meaning Rachel would never see the angry look on Santana's face.
"Santana, if I may be so bold. You are simply informing the ship that you made it safely to the surface. I don't think that holds to official record standards."
"Whatever, next contact at 13:00"
"Ten-four." Santana smashed the buttons to end the call and made her way out of PF and out onto the surface of the planet.
The heat of the planet radiated around her, even in her cooled suit. The planet was very close to a star, and it was probably the reason that the whole thing was covered in pale sand enveloped in a brownish sky. The lab team was setting up the equipment, her own pair of professional idiots off performing their duties.
On the small screen attached to the arm of her suit, Santana opened the radio channel open only to Finn and Noah. The tech team was probably chatting away at this point and Santana never cared to listen in. Though the nerds could still contact her if need be, thanks to name recognition. That feature also kept gossiping on the job to a minimum, though after a few weeks with the team she also added Satan to her radio's recognition system.
"Hudson, how's the PF lookin?" Santana walked around next to the lab techs, there wasn't much else to do. Watch the nerds and worry about the sand screwing with the ship. Normally she'd be scouting for too curious fauna that would walk into the perimeter.
"Good, there was a bit of sand, but I'm keeping an eye on it." Finn rounded the PF and sent her a thumbs up.
"We're out of here at 13:00, keep that in mind."
"Yes Lieutenant." Noah and Finn chimed together.
It always made her feel good. There was a lack of female leaders in the Republic, and that was mostly due to the machoism of her career. However with Noah and Finn she never faced any problems. Puckerman hated responsibility; he just wanted to be a badass so it was easy enough to keep him controlled. And Finn was forever the dutiful follower.
"Puckerman, you got that perimeter up yet?" Noah was standing in place with his head twisted on his shoulder in confusion.
"Yeah, there's a weird hole over here."
"What kind of weird?" Santana moved away from Zizes and Cohen to where Noah was standing looking down at the ground.
"I dunno it kinda looks like something fell here." He pointed down at the odd indention in the ground with the tip of his rifle.
Santana kneeled to the ground and ran her gloved hand over the deep indention. The hot sand parted and moved like water under her touch. It definitely looked like something was here. A meteor? There was only one way to find out.
"Rutherford."
"Yes Lieutenant?"
"Bring your crap over here and tell me what this is."
Santana stood and watched Matt grab a small case and jog over to her and Noah. If they'd worn the heavy protective gear, there would be no way that the nerd would have done that. Especially in this heat.
Matt peered down at the hole and set the case down. "It looks like something fell."
"Thank you captain obvious. I need something a bit more concrete though, if this planet is privy to getting hailed on by rocks I doubt the Republic is going to want to waste money on setting up a proper atmosphere, especially with this scenery." Santana started to walk away towards the ship leaving Puckerman and Matt to deal with the crater.
Santana turned around to see Finn laying under the loading dock slide. With the shifting sand he didn't need to laying under that thing.
"Finn how many times do I-" A scream blasted over the radio, almost loud enough to be heard through the suit and helmet.
"Matt!" Puckerman shouted over the radio.
Santana whipped around, her gun pressed into her shoulder and fixed on Puckerman and Rutherford. Where there should have been sounds of gun fire there sounds of a struggle.
Noah was lying on the ground, gripping Matt with one hand while he fumbled for his pistol with the other. Then Santana noticed it.
The shiny metal glimmering in the light, blood rolling down the thick blade and pooling in Matt's back where the blade pierced through him.
"Nerds in the PF now!" Santana barked her orders as she ran over to the hole Matt was being dragged into.
Over the radio Santana could hear his pleas and coughing from what she could only guess was blood gurgling from his throat.
Something had Matt's legs, pulling him down into the crater; Puckerman was struggling to pull him up and out. Santana aimed down into the sandy pit and opened fire on whatever had Matt's lower half.
If he was going to die, there was no way a fucking creature was going to keep his body.
The blade in Matt's back retracted from his body with a sick sound of the metal scraping against his spine and ribs. Puck tried to get to him on his feet, but the thing still had a hold on Matt.
Suddenly the ground began shifting under Santana and Noah. Santana jumped back, but Noah was still on his stomach with a firm grip on Matt. The ground opened up showing a heavy blade, she fired down at the base of the hole hoping to hit whatever was holding the weapon.
The barrage of bullets did nothing to stop the blade from slicing through Puckerman's left bicep, severing the link between him and Matt. In the daze of watching Noah's blood burst onto the ground she missed the blade flashing a second time hitting her thigh and knocking her back.
Noah screamed out gripping his shoulder and rolled away from the pit as Matt was sucked down under the sand, Puck's left arm still attached. Santana grabbed the back of Puckerman's suit, pulling him to his feet and throwing his arm around her neck.
"Puck I'm getting you outta here!"
Turning around Santana saw the havoc the hole monsters where reeking on her team. Equipment was being pulled down, Finn was struggling to get an unconscious Lauren to the PF and Tina was watching on in horror at the loading dock. Santana didn't waste any time, dragging Puckerman with her, she kept the ground from opening up underneath Finn and Lauren with a fury of bullets.
Finally the noise the creatures were making settled in her ears over the external speakers. It was muffled from the ground, but the deep growls were more unnerving.
Once in the PF she dropped Puckerman in a seat leaving Tina to properly strap him in and then took Lauren from Finn.
"In the air now!"
Finn hobbled across the cabin to start the engine and take off, while Santana, with her arm tablet, closed the loading bay.
Safely in the air, and the cabin repressurized, Santana threw off her helmet and grabbed a first aid kit from the small store room.
"Puck! Tina take off his helmet." Santana searched through the kit for supplies.
"Puck you hear me?" The man didn't stir or show any sign of hearing her.
Santana wiped at his brow with a cloth; sweat coated his face even though he was cold under her touch. She cut away the shredded fabric of his suit and tied a band above what was left of his arm to slow the blood loss.
"Goddamnit Puck." There was nothing she could do for him in the PF. He needed a proper medic, not her. "Tina check out Lauren."
The girl scampered away from the blood dripping from Noah and over to her superior. Lauren was fine, just knocked out, probably from a heavy case flying through the air from one of the aliens hitting it with its blade.
Tina herself was white as a ghost. She had scrapes, but she wouldn't feel the full effect of her pain until the reality of losing her lover sank in. Santana's chest tightened for the woman, Santana never wanted to feel that pain.
With a last squeeze to Noah's good arm, Santana shifted her weight onto her right left leg and walked into the cockpit. Her bloody fingers ran over keys and brought up the video box. It was taking longer than usual for the connection to establish, probably because they were in flight.
"Finn you ok?" Santana squeezed her own injury, while observing the tightness of Finn's jaw. The blade didn't cut through the suit, but she could feel the blood seeping from her torn flesh.
"I think I broke my leg."
"Santana it is far too early for you to be returning." The woman looked frightened.
"Get me Evans." Santana didn't care why the woman didn't say anything. Maybe it was Noah's blood on her face, maybe it was exhaustion in her eyes. Maybe she heard Finn's omission.
"Yes Santana?" The man's blonde hair looked tussled and he was out of breath.
"Be waiting in the bay. Puckerman lost an arm, Finn's leg is broken, Lauren hit her head I think, Tina's just shaken."
"What about you and Matt?"
"Matt's… dead." Santana swallowed the dryness of her throat and looked over the controls of the cockpit. "We'll be there in fifteen minutes."
She watched Sam nod and jump off screen. After a moment Finn reached over to end the video feed, and let his hand rest on hers for a moment.
His palm was wet and hot. Even under normal circumstance Santana would have thought it to be disgusting. But after what happened, she would allow him this.
"It'll be ok." He retracted his hand after he spoke, placing it firmly on the controls.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
Santana looked back to the cabin to see Noah and Lauren's unconscious bodies and Tina with empty eyes staring at the seat next to Puckerman where Matt would always sit.
|x|X|x|
Quinn's eyes were glassy, not that Santana's were any different.
Quinn may have put forth an air of impenetrable confidence, but the Captain still lost a friend and teammate. Santana could probably expect a much less formal visit later in the evening.
"After hearing your verbal account, I'll have to get Officers Puckerman and Hudson's later, but nonetheless, adhering to standard procedure I have to place you on suspension. Furthermore, due to Officer Puckerman and Hudson's injuries I must pause the Terra Team activities until replacements for Rutherford and a temporary team leader arrives."
Santana bristled, but she expected this. Normally it would have been Noah or Finn to be her temporary replacement, but seeing as she all but got them killed, an outsider was required.
She would be lucky to still have her job, much less her title, when all was said and done.
"You may retire to your quarters Lieutenant." With a swipe to the surface of her tablet Quinn stood from the table of marched through the door.
Every muscle in her back ached. Each cut and bruise abused her nerves. The untreated slice on her thigh throbbed. But the physical pain she endured felt microscopic to the heartache of failing her team. With a heavy exhale Santana pushed herself from the chair and left the empty room.
|x|X|x|
TBC
AN: Let me know about things and stuff. I've been wanting to write this since... before Contract Pending so I'm excited.
Before anyone attacks me. I don't know proper officer rankings, and I'm not an astrophysicsist. And I know most of my names for things, ex. PF (planetary flyers) are lame as hell. Sue me. I wanted an AU with aliens and Brittana.