Just like Carl predicted, the metal door slammed shut when the last mercenary, the medic, entered the hallway.

“Kaplan!”

“Must have been some sort of dormant defense mechanism. We must’ve tripped it when we opened the door.”

“Put it back to sleep!” Shade was shocked but not scared.

Suddenly a siren rang. Carl could see a line on a computer screen that said “Level 5 weapon activated.” This was not good.

“Hold your positions. Everyone stay calm.” Shade ordered while looking around alertly, trying to detect any danger before it actually appears.

“You can’t open that door in time.” Carl realized and turned to Ivan and Jean. “We need to open that door!” The two didn’t do anything. “We can use four extra guns!” He pleaded.

Ivan shrugged. Most voyagers that were this emotional and naive would die in their first few missions. Those that lived learned to be cold calculating and to keep their eyes on the prize. Only noobs would waste resources on something/someone that couldn’t help their mission.

Jean didn’t give a damn about the mercenaries either. She had, directly or indirectly, slaughtered billions. But she realized something. Carl was a fool, but he was compassionate. This type of people tends to trust people easily, which made him the prime choice for her cover. If she could gain his trust, make him the team leader, and then hide under his command, he would never suspect any foul play from her. She could easily manipulate him and use him as a shield to fend off suspecting views from potential enemies. The Supreme One was powerful, but he was not all-knowing. He had surveillance on voyagers, but this surveillance was limited and required resources. This meant he could only choose a few targets to focus on. Who would attract more attention? A general who commanded an entire army or a random soldier in that army? Jean wanted to be the insignificant soldier and Carl to be the attractive general.

Jean didn’t care whether the four men lived or died, but she did see a chance to make Carl a hero and possibly a leader. Of course, not immediately, but she could make Carl more and more significant in this mission. She was confident she could make him a leader without attracting too much attention to herself.

That was why she tossed something to Carl. The recruit caught it and gave Jean a questioning glance.

“Charger.” Jean said one word.

Carl nodded thankfully and ran to the metal door. “Stay clear!” He yelled as he tried to attach the explosive on the door. It stuck immediately and started beeping. Those on the outside backed off.

“It’s not going to work! This door is impenetrable! It is designed to withstand…” Shade’s doubt was immediately cleared when the sound of an explosive pierced the room. When the smoke cleared, a two meter tall, one meter wide hole was opened up in the metal, ‘impenetrable’ door.

Even Ivan was impressed by the effect. “You wasted something this powerful on four mercenaries? It can take down a tank.” A slight annoyance was in his voice. Carl might thank Jean, but he just thought it was a waste of resources.

Jean shrugged. “A friend is always better than an enemy.” The explosive she gave Carl was a breaching charge from the starcraft universe. Designed to take down doors decades more advanced than this one, the charge easily completed its mission.

The door was opened, but the Red Queen had no intention of allowing the intruders to just leave like this. A blue line formed at the end of the tunnel and approached the mercenaries, quickly.

“Behind you!” Carl screamed as all the mercenaries were looking at the opened door, not able to see the incoming danger.

Jean shook her head deep down. Carl was still inexperienced. If it was her she would’ve yelled ‘get down’. Normal people, when hearing ‘behind you’, would turn and look...and probably die.

Shade was talented and clever. Instead of turning around, he knelt down on the ground and kept his head low, pushing two of the three mercenaries, who were about to turn around, down with him as well.

But the medic wasn’t so lucky. Shade only had two hands, and the woman was too far away for him to reach.

Carl watched in horror as the blue light beam swept through the medic’s neck. At first nothing happened, but the next second the medic’s head simply fell off. There was no blood as the heat from the laser beam burnt all the blood vessels close. The body collapsed the next second.

One life. Gone.

“Go go go!” Shade yelled as the rest were still shocked by the death of their comrade. The man knew there was no time to waste. The two mercenaries recovered as well. The first ran past the beheaded body and jumped out of the hallway. The next one did the same thing. When Shade was about to leave, the light beam appeared again. The speed it approached was enough to make most freeze in fear.

But Shade was calm. He quickly calculated the distance he was away from the door and the speed and distance of the laser...and then casually walked out of the hallway. The laser reached the end of the hallway two seconds later.

One second after Shade left the hallway, the metal door swung open.

The scene was quiet for a while. Kaplan laid back on his seat, covered in sweat. A guilted look was in his eyes. If it wasn’t for Carl he would’ve caused the death of four of his brothers in arm. Even with the man’s help, he had lost a comrade. This wasn’t the first time he had seen a dead man, but the thought of people dying due to his mistake still weighed heavily on his chest.

Ivan kept his cold looking mask on. He was neither happy nor sad at the turn of event. Jean tapped her cheek thoughtfully.

Shade walked to Carl, who was staring blankly at the beheaded medic.

“My men and I owe you one.” He said quietly. “You saved our lives.”

“Not all of you,” Carl replied solemnly. His eyes still at the tunnel.

Usually, Shade would just back off and ignore the man, but this man had saved him and his men while others did nothing. This was enough to earn some patience and respect.

The captain sighed and stood next to Carl. “Things like this are unfortunate, but they happen.” The mercenary reasoned. “It is my duty as a leader to do my best to protect my men…” He paused for a minute. “and when they die, the only thing I can do is mourn their death and...and just move on. Sometimes losses can be painful, but you have no choice but to hide your pain and keep going. If you want to be a mercenary, you will need to learn how to manage this.” He patted Carl and walked to Kaplan. Anyone could sense an oncoming storm.

Carl nodded quietly. He had tried everything. Everything. And still a woman died. He didn’t know the medic personally, but it wasn’t her death itself that hurt him. It was the realization that there was very little he could actually do. So what if he knew what would happen in the future? So what if he had help? A life just perished in front of him and there was nothing he could change.

The sound of footsteps woke him from his thoughts. Jean stood next to him.

“You did well.” Jean put on her benevolent mask. She could sense the man’s frustration and disappointment toward himself, and she knew someone needed to direct his emotions toward the helpful direction. Someone this innocent and stupid wasn’t common in the voyager ranks, and she would hate to lose him to a confidence crisis.

“Did I?” Carl smirked, but it was more to himself than to anyone else. “What have I truly done? The only reason I saved the three men was because of the explosive you gave me. Just by myself, I couldn’t do a damn thing.”

Jean licked her lips. “Do you know what I did in the first combat situation in my first mission?”

Carl’s attention was diverted. “What?”

“I was sitting in a giant spaceship, watching soldiers on a planet below get chopped into pieces by a giant alien creature through a hologram. I threw up.” Only a small portion of that was correct, but the sad look in Jean’s eyes made it seem true.

“Point being?”

“Point being it is normal for recruits to fail in their first missions.” Jean replied. “Why? Because we were weak. We were powerless. There was nothing we could do to reach our goals.” Her voice turned very emotional. “I don’t know about others, but when I heard the screams of the men and women on the planet below, I learned something. I learned how important power is. In this world, strength is the only thing that matters. Whatever opinion you have, whatever decision you make, whatever belief you hold, its success depends on your strength.“

“In this world, only the strongest can get what they desire.“

“Is that why you were ok with condemning seven billion people to death?” Carl asked suddenly.

Jean shrugged and answered the question directly. “Yes.” She looked into Carl’s eyes. “And if you want to stop us, if you want to save all these people, fine. Show me you have the power to back it up. If you can defeat us,” Jean threw her hands up. “we will submit. We will slaughter every single undead here and eliminate any sign of t-virus in this world. But if you don’t have the power to back up your decision...well...no one cares what you think.”

Carl kept his head low. Jean could sense he was thinking.

Jean stood up and retreated. She had accomplished what she came for. She had planted a seed in Carl’s heart, and one day that seed would grow into a tree of success.

You want to save everyone? Fine. Show me the power you have. You are not strong enough? Get out of here before I break your neck. You are a close match to all of us combined? Sit down and I’m sure we can reach an agreement. You are more powerful than all of us combined? Please, you have my blade. I will do whatever you demand. I can even spend my entire life in charity if that’s what you want.

If everything went according to her plan, Carl would one day become a leader that would both care about the innocent and have more than enough motivation to get stronger. Normally motivation was not enough to make someone successful, but the secret help of a xel’naga almost ensured success.

And when Carl eventually becomes a powerful and capable leader, Jean could comfortably hide behind the curtain and pull the threads.