I check my weapons for the third time in ten minutes. My DMR is ready and loaded in my hands, my pistol's on my hip, I have plenty of extra ammo, one of Yttri's stunners is on my back, and there are enough knives circling my waist to count as extra armor. I'm ready. I know I am. That doesn't seem to help the nervousness.
The hangar looks different today that the last time we left for a mission, and not just because it's a different place. No one's here excitedly helping prep the ships. No one's come to wish us good luck. Last time everyone was expecting us to come back with Gold. This time, I doubt they expect us to come back at all.
There's no ramp leading into Carolina's ship, just a three foot drop to the hangar's floor. My feet swing absentmindedly over the ledge as I wait for the rest of my team. Nick's getting a last minute checkup from Rhodi and Yttrium. Doc's in the infirmary with them, double and triple checking his medical bag for supplies. Tinu's probably saying a tear filled goodbye to Donut and promising to bring back a souvenir like this is some sort of vacation and not a mission. Carolina's standing in a corner of the hangar, arms folded as she and Church discuss something, his avatar illuminating the shadows around her face.
As for Washington, well, I'm not really sure where he is right now. I haven't seen him since yesterday.
Rho pops up in front of me, standing on my leg with a sympathetic tilt to her head. "You ready?" she asks, a touch of apprehension to her own voice.
I nod. "I'm ready to finally end this," I say, forcing a smile.
"Church and I agree it's best if we stay dark as long as possible," she continues, mimicking my pose by dangling her legs over the edge of my knee. "Y'know, to help with the whole 'radio silence, stealth' thing."
I smile down at her. "You mean our desperate hope to not get shot down before we even reach the base?" I ask.
"Precisely," Rho says, sounding smug.
I wave a hand through her avatar and feel an annoyed hum in the back of my head in response. "When do you plan to log off?" I ask, hiding a smile as she turns to glare at me.
"Once we reach slipspace," she answers, flashing out of my reach.
I nod, looking up when I see movement near the hangar doors. Doc waves for a second before sprinting into the pelican. Since it and Carolina's ship are the only two we have with slipspace engines, they're our best bet for the mission. It's an added bonus that the ship mom used to send the copies also has the largest capacity for passengers, so if anything goes wrong it can get everyone out of the base. I guess sometimes fate works in our favor.
Within a few minutes Tinu and Nick arrive. Tinu sprints happily into the ship while Nick veers to meet me.
"Good to go?" I ask, looking up at him.
"Rhodi said I'm healthy and Yttri said the arm's good," Nick reports. "I'm as ready for this as I'll ever be."
"Nervous?"
Nick nods, a small sigh escaping his lips. "We haven't seen mom in over a year," he says. "I haven't seen Gold in person in nearly six months. Now I might see both in one day."
"Boron might be there," I add. Nick doesn't respond. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."
Nick looks down at his feet, shaking his head. "I hate him," he whispers. I look at him in mild shock. There's many things I consider Nick capable of, but hate isn't one f them. "I've always hated mom, ever since we were kids. I knew she never cared about us. Boron knew that, too, but he still chose her. He chose her over all of us. I…" Nick trails off for a second, eyes unfocused. "I hope he isn't there," he finally admits. "If he is, I think I'll try to kill him, and I don't want to kill my brother."
I nod slowly. I understand how he feels. I've never wanted this to turn into a revenge mission. I don't want us to stoop to mom's level, never being able to move on from some wrong that was done to us, always wanting to give someone else our pain. I can't deny, however, that the thought of seeing Dr. Han dead at the end of this has been comforting. It's not something I like about myself, but it's true.
"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," I say.
I jump the short distance down from the ledge, barely keeping my fee under me when they touch the ground. Nick catches me in a desperate hug before I can correct myself. I return the embrace, glad that it's my turn to comfort him again.
"Let's not have anything fall apart during this mission," Nick suggests once he lets me go.
"Agreed," I say. I smile up at him expectantly. We both know what's coming next.
Nick takes a few steps back toward the pelican. He waits just long enough that I think he might forget before speaking. "Don't get killed," he instructs, grinning.
"Don't worry," I say, returning the grin. "I won't."
Nick sprints up the ramp into the pelican, and it closes behind him. I won't see him again until the end of the mission. I try to not be scared by that fact.
A few seconds after Nick disappears, Washington steps into the hangar. We lock eyes for a moment before he turns to Carolina.
"Alright," the redhead says, snapping her helmet onto her head. "We're all here. I guess that means it's time to go." She looks at me, waiting for my order.
"Right," I answer, putting on my own helmet.
Wash climbs into the ship first, offering down a hand to pull Carolina up after him. He turns away when I approach, and I end up climbing up on my own. It's not an issue. I'm more than capable of getting into the ship by myself. Still, it stings; just a sample of what I know I've done to him.
Carolina walks to the front of the ship while I radio Nick. "Time to go," I announce.
"Alright," Nick answers as I feel the rumble of the ship's engines starting.
I turn off my radio and know Nick's done the same. They'll stay that way for as long as we can keep anyone from knowing we're in the base. Once we're spotted, we'll use them for communication again.
Wash and I each move to one of the ship's seats, securing the restraints with a small amount of difficulty. This is definitely not a type of ship I'm used to. According to Church, Carolina stole it along with some Freelancer tech from some kind of crime lord. However she came across it, it's a nice ship.
Small windows line the sides of the sleek vessel. I look up and watch through one of them, seeing the universe flash white as we enter slipspace.
There's no sign of activity anywhere on the planet when we arrive, just a lot of snow and ice. The base looks abandoned as well when we see it from the air. Carolina lands us in a relatively flat area near the base's back entrance. The ship's landing gear sinks a few feet in the snow before the ship settles.
"What are the chances this ship'll be buried in snow by the time we get back?" Wash asks, glancing back nervously as the ship closes.
"With the near blizzard out here?" Carolina asks for clarification. When Wash nods, she continues. "I'd guess pretty good. Don't worry; I'm sure Epsilon will remember where we parked."
I look to where I know the main hangar is, although I know I couldn't see it from here, even without the snow. I have no way of knowing if Nick and Tinu have landed yet, or if they met resistance, or if they need any help. Well, that's not entirely true. Rho's listening for if they call for help. I'll know if they need me. That doesn't lessen how much I hate being away from them on this mission.
"Let's go," I say, walking toward the base. We find a door without much difficulty and Carolina manages to get it open, muttering about wishing she'd have listened to someone more. Soon enough the door slides open and we all dodge in out of the snow.
Carolina does little more than wave as she heads off down the hall, beginning the search of her half of the base. I signal for Washington to follow me as we head the other direction.
The base is dark, which we expected of these abandoned sections. It's also quiet. Our armored boots scrape gently on the ground with each step. I know we're being as quiet as possible, but it still sound like an alarm to my ears. I can't shake the feeling that with every step we're telling mom where we are.
Wash and I fall into a pattern for approaching doors. He stays on the left of the opening, gun drawn and ready, while I work on picking the locks. Once the door opens Wash looks in first, covering me while I run inside. Most of the rooms are empty, while a few have miscellaneous pieces of furniture covered in dust. None of it looks like it's been seen in years.
It makes me nervous, how easy this has been so far. It doesn't feel right. I begin to suspect that either this is a trap, or the base is abandoned. It's just as I suspect this that I hear a noise ahead.
I signal for Wash to be quiet and listen. There's an odd scraping sound, coming from the next room we plan to search. I sneak closer and see that this door is already open, damage obviously visible where something pried it open. These doors are designed to withstand heavy explosive ordinance, and sealed magnetically. I doubt even Manny would have been able to force one open.
I hear the sound again, scraping and flapping. It doesn't make sense. I motion for Wash to stay back as I peek around the side of the door. This must have once been a conference room; I see a table and some chairs, turned over and in some cases clawed to pieces. I take one step inside, pistol in one hand and a knife in the other, glancing around cautiously. My foot barely touches the floor of the room before I fall backward, a blur of wings and claws plastered across my face.
I slash upward with my knife. I don't fire my gun. I don't want to make that much noise if I can help it. I do really want to get this thing off me, though. I can hear its claws scrape across my armor, the noise sending a jolt down my spine but in no way harming me. I know that whatever this is can't hurt me. For some reason I still feel panicked, though. I don't know what it is, and it looks like something in a movie Nick made me watch while we were kids. I don't like it. I don't want it near me.
I manage to catch my knife in one of the flailing leathery wings and drag it sideways, drawing an earsplitting screech from the creature. Dark blood splashes onto my faceplate and I can't see. My movements become wilder with panic caused by blindness. This monster is strong and heavy and I can't get it off.
Suddenly the weight lifts from my chest. I hear another screech as the creature slams against a wall, followed by three soft pops from Yttri's stunner. I drag my hand across my visor, smearing enough blood that I can partially see. The stunner must have fallen off my back when I was knocked down, as Wash is now holding it and standing over the creature.
"You alright?" he asks, offering a hand to pull me to my feet while still aiming the gun at the monster.
"Fine," I grunt, trying to tamp down on my adrenaline. I join him in staring at the strange creature.
"What the fuck is this?" he whispers, sounding more like he's speaking to himself than actually asking a question.
"I… think it's a bat," I say, crouching down to study it more closely.
"That is not a bat," Washington insists.
"Well, mostly bat," I correct. "It looks like mom's been experimenting."
"How do you know it's not just native to the planet?" Wash's voice is half skepticism and half curiosity.
"See this?" I ask, gesturing with my knife toward a rash-like deformity on the creature's neck. "A lot of mom's early, non-human experiments had it. It's a sign of a deteriorating genetic structure. Whatever she put together to make this didn't mix well."
"That's really fucking creepy," Wash comments.
"No one ever claimed Dr. Han was sane," I say in agreement. "Still, this is a good sign. It means she's here, or at least she was at some point."
"Do you think we should warn the others about this thing?" Wash asks, offering back the stunner which I wave away. I prefer him having a quiet weapon on hand. I'll do well enough with my knives. "There could be more in here somewhere."
There's a spray of gunfire somewhere further inside the base. "I think they already know," I say. "If they need help, they'll radio us. For now, we follow the plan and stay quiet."
Wash nods. "Let's get moving, then," he says, falling into step behind me again.