Chapter One – The cleanup crew

Hunanda was a Floran female, standing a metre and seventy centimetres tall, her cobalt blue fibre like skin and dark orange leaf features making her stick out from the group. She was short amongst the towering individuals there, but her presence still demanded respect, and soon enough she began relaying the orders.

"I want a camp set up here!" She said, pointing down to the landing platform that was the rooftop of the building they stood on. This building was shaped like an Egyptian obelisk, with the two significant differences being the flat top and the sudden curving of the base of the structure, making a format that allowed a smooth transition from obelisk shaped tower to the flat rooftop of the complex blow.

There were eight other structures such as this, all of them placed at an equal distance of one another, in a three by three type organization, forming a square of sorts. The top ten floors of all nine towers were surrounded in glass, and plants could be seen on the inside, giving a clear indication that this colony was prepared enough to become a serious endeavour by the part of its ruling government.

This same government is the one that sought out the services of the Crimson Syndicate. Without hesitation, the group's mercenary forces came to handle the situation, and by now, most of the job had been done.

Hunanda raises her voice. "Alright, troops, you know the drill! This is the last part of the assignment, and we are going to need to be more careful. We cleared and locked down the other eight towers, but in this one, we will continue further down for the first time, and clear the lower building. It is tricky, has a lot of small rooms, blind spots and corners, so be attentive; I'd hate to come back to the base today with part of my crew missing."

She receives a signal as her mercenaries use their Matter Manipulators to drag out equipment and materials from two hovering ships that were just above the landing pad, quickly setting up a basic tent and fireplace camp. Taping her earpiece, she hears the voice of her strategic advisor, Rylan, a floran male that has the duty of directing a team responsible for taping into systems and giving as much information as possible, as well as give the mercenaries a heads up regarding any new developments. "Talk to me."

Rylan, a light green skinned floran of eyes and floral features as black as a Raven's feathers, has a wireless headset on, bending over one of his support teammates by looking at her screen. "The test results just came in, Boss, and apparently the sickness is unable to affect neither the Floran nor the Novakid; and its effect on the Glitch goes without saying..." He stands up straight and returns to his station.

"Alright, thanks for the heads up, White Cobra; Boss, out." She turns to her mercenaries and raises her voice. "We have some interesting news, people: the Floran and the Novakid are seemingly immune to the disease."

A Glitch, covered in the mercenaries' usual Infiltrator's armour set, with the exception that he had a hood on that only let out the glow from his eyes, as well as the fact that every armour set was black, approaches Hunanda, his metallic voice being heard easily. "What about the Glitch?"

Hunanda blinks twice at him and admonishes him. "You are made of metal, do you expect something biological to affect you, Bug?"

A quick monotone electronic laughter comes from the robot, who only witnesses a sigh from his leader, before being punched in the face and thrown backwards. She then turns to the others and clears her throat. "Alright, I will give you guys an hour to clean, verify and organize whatever you need, before we move on to this part of the assignment."

Everyone got to their tasks, and Hunanda took the chance to walk to the edge of landing platform, and looked beyond the colony itself, which was all enclosed within this singular building. Outside she saw an enormous and continuous forest that bordered the entire complex, and she couldn't help but be curious as to what was beyond: an orbital scan could only go so far in telling you what was on a planet's surface.

A Novakid approaches Hunanda and leans on the railing of the edge of the roof, looking at her, his head glowing lighter every time he spoke, his voice having a tone of echoing into the far off distance but not doing so, a supernatural effect of the Novakid's voices. "Everything alright, Cobalt?"

Hunanda looks at him and shakes her head. "We lost an eighth of the mercenaries we came here with so far, and it was only to clear these towers. The underground complex itself is going to be a maze, and I am afraid of what might happen if we are not careful enough."

He chuckles and nudges her. "Come on, it will be fine." He stretches himself and starts gesturing a lot, a reflex of his hyperactivity. "Instead of thinking that we are going to lose something, we are going to be kicking some ass!"

She smiles. "Yeah, you are right. I just fear that your glow might attract them... you are like a lamp for flies..."

He stares at her. "Correction, I am a Gas Lamp!"

She snorts. "Yeah, good joke, you universal fart."

He starts running to the other side of the roof, passing by his numerous teammates, whom despite knowing him ever since they joined, still can't help but stare in confusion or be amused of his behaviour, as he screams: "I'm a fart!"

Hunanda grins at her friend's idiocy and after an hour of preparations, everyone tight fits their gear to prepare for what is ahead. All but the Glitch, Floran and Novakid put on helmets, as they can still be infected by splatter or biological matter.

It was still fresh in her mind how this all began, five days before: Hunanda sat in her office, back at base, going over quickly any issues that demanded administrative attention, when she was contacted by the head of the military of the Union of Free Systems and People.

She heard a hum that increased and decreased in pitch at equal intervals, with an electronic beep being heard at every peak of pitch of this hum, a sound she was well accustomed to as it warned her that someone requested a conversation.

She finished her affairs on the holographic table in front of her, tapped a button underneath the same desk and the entire room darkened; her chair turned around, and the only light came from the hologram she was now facing.

A human female, dressed in a richly decorated uniform, smirked while looking at Hunanda. "Good day, my dear."

Hunanda, never having a liking for the political class, did a great effort to keep her polite posture, even if the woman in front her was supposedly military. "Good day, Senator Anna. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Of course; the UFSP has an issue as of now: one of our colonies suffered a biological attack, and most of its population has been rendered into a primitive state, very aggressive."

Hunanda groaned. "And you want us to go clean up the mess?"

The woman nodded. "Capture or terminate any individuals present at the colony; we need to have it cleared so we can repopulate it and continue its running operations."

Clever as she was, the Floran's gaze squinted, making her inquire in a crucial matter. "So if you are allowing termination, then the situation is more serious than usual, especially since they are your people. What are you paying?"

Senator Anna sighed. "A hundred thousand pixels..."

Hunanda chuckled. "You think we can keep our eyes closed to unknown biological dangers for only that?"

Senator Anna groaned of displeasure and nodded. "Fine, we will double it, but I want the colony cleared in two weeks, maximum."

Hunanda nodded. "Deal done; just forward the coordinates of the system and the specific planet, and we will go there as soon as possible; Cobalt out." The hologram shut down and the chair turned Hunanda back to her desk.

She snapped back to the reality of the moment, where one of her mercenaries was going to open one of the doors that lead to the complex below; as the door open, a somewhat mangled apex jumped out, only to have his head pulverized by the quick trigger of Rax and one of his trusty energy pistols.

The Novakid chuckles, his entire face lighting up with every chuckle, as Hunanda looks at him: "Admit it, you will always like having this Gas Lamp around." She shakes his head at him, completely amused, as the four squads make their way down the stairwells.