The redhead gazed at the endless field of stars out of her shuttle's window. It reminded her of her childhood when she'd look out the window during the night at the snowfall and feel cozy and warm drinking her mother's delicious hot chocolate. She was lightyears away from her mother now, and didn't even have bad hot chocolate. Anna shifted uncomfortably in her new jumpsuit. The dark green color indicated she was part of Arendelle's navy, but the patches set her apart as a member of the Ranger corps. The rangers were respected as explorers, investigators and diplomats - representing Arendelle in the far reaches of space. Her first orders were to report to Epcot station, which was one of the many bustling depots serving as hubs on major trade routes between different systems. The final test before becoming a full ranger was serving six months with a veteran ranger, and earning their recommendation before being officially commissioned.
Anna grew up in a small agricultural community where people rarely left; they were content to work on the farms that fed the empire. Anna had always wanted to leave, eager to explore new planets and meet new people and the other exotic life forms that populated the galaxy.
She took a deep breath, after all her training she was ready for this. The airlock opened up and almost immediately Anna was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the cavernous station. It was the biggest space Anna had seen outside of being on a planet, and perhaps housed the most sentients she had seen in one place. The airlocks opened out into a busy market full of stalls that seemed more at home in a planet side town. Taking a deep breath, Anna noticed even the smell of the station was filled with all kinds of aromas, from the familiar scrubbed air to spices and… chocolate.
Eyes widening, Anna scanned the stalls and noticed one selling a selection of candies and other confections, briefly forgetting she was a representative of Arendelle, she rushed over. The chocolates were the traditional desserts of her homeworld.
"What would you like, dear? The friendly shopkeeper asked. Anna was immediately reminded of the kindly old woman who ran the bakery she used to sneak to after school to buy chocolates.
"Oh my gosh, just about everything! But let's keep it reasonable and go with four bars of the dark chocolate you're keeping at the back." Anna babbled excitedly.
Before the shopkeeper could comply with the request Anna noticed the chattering crowd hush to a silence. Her instincts kicked in and she quickly glanced around to see what could have made the hubbub quiet. Anna didn't really need training to find the source. A being in black power armour that exuded menace strode towards Anna. Recognising pieces of the armour as the same kind the elite Arendelle marines wore but modified and painted over quickened her pulse. The crowd parted before what could only be some kind of mercenary.
"Listen, I don't want any troub-" Anna stammered, but the mercenary ignored Anna and just held their date slate towards the shopkeeper.
"Oh, you'll have the usual delivered to your ship? Right away!" beamed the elderly woman. After completing the transaction the mercenary strode off and the crowd resumed its chatter.
"Wow, what was that? That guy looked a bit too mean for chocolate!" Anna said as she gathered herself, inwardly blushing at the embarrassment of the incident.
"Nobody is too mean for Gerda's chocolate! Best in the sector." the shopkeeper laughed.
A sibilant hiss startled Anna. Fortunately she wasn't as naive as she was when she first started at the academy. She turned to face a reptilian figure.
"Don't let Gerda fool you. That was Frossst," the unblinking alien hissed. "The mossst feared mercenary in five ssssectors."
"Oh, hush Pascale. Frost has never brought any trouble to the station. His money is as good as yours," Gerda scolded the lizard.
"So who or what, is Frost?" Anna asked the pair hesitantly. "I haven't come across his name in any of our briefings."
"Pssssh," Pascale hissed, "The rangers aren't what they were when Arendelle had a ruler." The lizard referred to the void of leadership left when the old King's ship had gone missing, and his heir shortly followed his footsteps. Leaving Arendelle ruled by a bickering council of advisors.
"Some say Frost is a gun for hire to anyone with the credits, others say he's a bounty hunter with no regard for harming women and children," Gerda added. "Here's your chocolate, honey. On the house for a rookie ranger."
"Oh gosh, thank you so much." Anna blushed as she accepted the wrapped parcel. "I can't wait to finally try something sweet after the academy sent me straight to my posting." Anna slid the box into her pack and said her farewells and took her leave, nodding as she left.
Anna checked her data slate for her schedule. She hadn't received details of where she'd meet her mentor yet, all she'd heard was that Kristoff was new to the station as well, but he'd just returned from an exploratory mission from one of the outer sectors. Rumour had it that he was a bit of an outsider and the upper brass wanted him to partner with a rookie as a way to get one of their best rangers more social before they promoted him up the ranks. Despite that, Anna was excited to get to learn from someone as legendary as Ranger Kristoff.
Ships from all kinds of star systems would travel to Epcot to bring people and goods and fill their holds as they travelled onwards to other planets and stations. The ships docked to the station ranged from small pinnaces to colossal freighters. Epcot was so important that it was considered a neutral zone, policed by its own independent security force and wasn't governed by any of the great powers in the galaxy. The neutrality and size encouraged many smugglers and independent traders to consider Epcot a homeport and the lower decks were considered to be a fairly dangerous area as Epcot's police were happy to be hands off as long as no trouble interfered with commerce. Arendelle rangers were welcome on the station as they weren't considered a martial force, and helped ease the workload by assisting with investigations concerning Arendelle citizens. Keeping some rangers on the station helped speed the response time if they were needed in areas that Arendelle ships did not frequently travel to.
Anna was overwhelmed. Previously the biggest city she had visited was Malmax, where her academy was located, which wasn't even the largest city on her home planet. It wasn't just the size of the station, but the cacophony of sounds, smells, and colours. Nobody really knew when Epcot was built but new sections had been added to it over time, parts were modernised and built over. So rather than utilitarian spaces which most space stations were made up of, there was enough room on Epcot for structures to spring up of all kinds of different architecture. They were built in the huge open spaces of the station, as well as a deep warren of large corridors that were packed with all kinds of sentients of different species. Anna patched into the information network on her console, and made her way to the cheapest hotel recommended. After all, she didn't want to abuse her travel expenses on her first mission. She figured she'd find a place to stash her pack and explore a small part of the station until she received communication from Ranger Kristoff. Delays were common in space travel so she thought it might be a few days before she heard from the senior Ranger. There were all kinds of stories surrounding his legend but punctuality wasn't one of them.
Anna did what she joined the rangers to do; explore. Wandering around the shops, trading floors, and taking in the spectacular views of the nebulas through the huge viewing panels was an exhilarating experience. She was warmed by citizens of all kinds that recognised the uniform, and waved or offered a hello and an anecdote about how a ranger had assisted them. Anna was buzzing on the pride of her organisation. Her stomach grumbled while exploring some of the lower levels near her hotel, when she spotted what looked like a simple cantina. Eager to prove to the accountants back home that she could manage expenses, Anna thought she'd grab a simple meal and enjoy some chocolate before enjoying a good night's sleep.
The cantina was dimly lit with old fluorescent lighting and filled with more people drinking than eating. The surfaces were dark with wear and tear. There were some simple tables bolted to the floor in the center of the room, while booths occupied the sides of the restaurant. The crowd looked… rough. Individuals of all sizes and shapes hunkered over foaming mugs of spirits. The hushed conversations and occasional yells filled the air with a steady background noise. It was the kind of place you didn't want to make eye contact. Anna didn't want to show weakness again on her first day and retreat to safety.
Anna gulped. She would have to get over her fear if she wanted to be taken seriously as a Ranger. Several of them eyed her uniform, and there were a few leers that made Anna worry they were eying more than that. Appearing more confident than she felt, she kept her head high and tapped an order on a vending machine, waiting a few seconds for her meal to heat up. Remembering one of her lessons, she found a table where she could sit with her back to the wall and survey the whole cantina.
Picking at her food, which although greasy was way better than field rations, Anna's eyes were just becoming accustomed to the dim lighting when she walked in.
She was the most beautiful woman that Anna had ever seen. A tall, crystal eyed blonde with legs than went on for parsecs. She was poured into a black skin tight flight, suit topped with a blue cropped synthetic leather jacket. Knee high flight boots added to the ensemble, her blonde hair was collected in a loose braid that hung down to her lower back. Her cold eyes swept the room for a second, then locked on Anna. She felt a shiver run down her spine. Flustered she looked down at her instant meal, sneaking a glance, Anna saw that the blonde was making her way to the bar.
"Hey blondie." A hulking human slurred as he grabbed the blonde's arm. His eyes full of menace. Anna saw a flash of fear pass through those blue eyes that tugged at her heart. Before she knew it Anna was out of her booth, and racing towards the altercation.
"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Anna shouted as she stormed up to the brute. The man was muscle on muscle and must have been double Anna's weight, nearly a meter taller than the feisty Ranger. His eyes fixed onto Anna hungrily as he pushed the captured blonde to one side, sprawling her onto the dirty floor.
That was it. Anna saw red and swung at the man. Her first punch caught him by surprise and her trained body sprang into action before the drunkard could respond. A few choice kicks laid out the lumbering man. Anna turned to check on the blonde who was just picking herself up, the two made eye contact. It was electric. The blonde's eyes slipped from Anna's and looked over her shoulder in fear.
Everything went black.