She couldn't breathe. She couldn't smell. She couldn't think. The last vision she had were of the walls crumbling around her.
They must have found us.
She tried to move her body – there was a sudden sharp pain in her arm.
Probably broken.
They were counting on her. If she'd blown it, her ass was on the line. And that was more than likely. She only had four years experience in the Alliance Navy since joining at twenty. Yet her dedication and commitment earned her at least the more respectable role of bomb disposal expert. And this was why she was here. It'd been nearly three months since the First Contact War started, since they first met an extra-terrestrial species. As warned by countless scientists, media and popular fiction beforehand, these sentient species were not friendly in the slightest.
The Alliance Navy on a top-secret mission had sent her with four others, one her superior, to disarm a probe armed with nuclear fusion warheads. Why had it been her, not someone with more experience, with more expertise? Her superiors must've trusted her, wanted her to rise further up the ranks even though she was an NCO and could only get so far. Their forces had been stretched enormously, and she was the one tasked for the job.
Something suddenly shifted and light broke through. It was difficult to remember what had happened. She heard voices, deep rumbling voices with a distinctive flanging. Fear struck her heart, as she lay there inert. It was a miracle she was even alive. But in this moment she wished she were dead. As more rubble was shifted off her, the pain from her upper arm soon spread to her entire body. All she saw at first were tall, armed figures with incomprehensible, fearsome faces. There was a hollow scream at the back of her throat, but nothing came out of her mouth. Two figures took her arms and heaved out of the remains of God-knows what building there were in.
She allowed herself then to shriek with pain as they tugged on her arms and forced them behind her back. She didn't really remember the journey after that, only the smoking ruins and the hot air dense with humidity. Warm blood ran thick down her temple. She was transferred to a makeshift prison, still unable to understand the language of those around her. But she knew who they were.
Those aliens. She was a dead woman.