Those two days passed really damn fast. The company is too damn boring, i have to say, but i really love having Hallie. I can ask whatever dumb question and i get a full, complete and detailed answer.

And the best part, she even does reading comprehension!

After I read the documents regarding the mission, Hallie gives me a brief resume of key points and ignores the useless stuff after I tell her to.

So, in regards to the mission: There’s a problem with alien wildlife in a place called Nemea-05, a recently terraformed planet with a small colony that is just starting to colonize. Several colonies have reported encounters with monstruos creatures similar to earth’s wolves and the casualties are close to thousands. There’s also the issue that the system in which Nemea-05 is located has sighted somewhat often alien spaceships of unknown origin and slaver pirates, and there have been several incidents of colonies reporting abductions. Nice place, right?

And I'm about to join the crew of the SUH-Sleipnir, a combat ship, as the commanding officer. The crew is a mix of veterans and rookies, none with a good resume, and some of them have experience working together before. I don’t know if they gave me these people as a punishment for me or for them. It’s a time bomb, a ragtag group of soldiers and a commander that has basically no idea how the universe works.

Anyways, it looks like we are about to arrive, as Lai said via intercom. We are supposed to dock inside the Sleipnir, which is stationed in the orbit of Nemea-05. There we’ll be briefed by the team and then go to the landing zone, one of the colonies that has reported trouble.

I get up from my bed and leave my room to join Lai on the navigation panel, I want to see the process. I pass by Novak who is staring eerily silent at a handgun but says nothing to him; these two days I have tried to talk to him several times and all I've gotten have been monosyllables.

As i sit down in front of the flight deck, Lai looks at me and nods.

- ETA in seven minutes, commander - She says - We’ve sent an arrival signal to the Sleipnir and docking has been approved.

- Good, do you know the crew?

- No, I haven't had the pleasure yet ma’am. Although I do know about the Sleipnir, it’s quite infamous in the Union.

- Why is that?

Lai looks at me surprised, as if it’s weird for me not to know. Yeah, I’m an ignorant officer, I'm aware.

- Originally, it was a ship from the Alari, but after the crew was boarded and killed by pirates, the Union recaptured the ship and it was gifted by the Alari to us. Then, the next crew that was assigned to the ship died during a skirmish with the Val’re hivers. Most of us thought the ship was decommissioned but they repaired it and it’s now here.

- So our new home it’s a cursed ship basically?

Lai laughed, and denied with her head.

- I don’t believe in superstition, ma’am; what I do know is that the Sleipnir was a top of her class ship. It’s a mix of Alarian and human technology, although slightly behind the newest ships, it should hold her ground against most.

- Good to know, thanks Corporal.

I don’t believe in those either, but well, I didn't think coming back from the dead was possible and here I am.

We spent the rest of the remaining time in silence, as I was just watching at the screen in front of me. Beside the infinite amount of numbers, percentages, 3D holograms and a myriad of stuff, there was the view of the galaxy. We were using warp drive, which moves us almost immediately from system to system, there were intervals of time in which we just flew at light speed, and you could really admire the view, the lights, the distant planets and stars. That was one of the few pretty things to find in space.

- We’ve arrived - Said Lai.

As soon as she said so, a medium sized ship was displayed on the screen. It’s form similar to a shuttle, although significantly larger, and with larger wings.

An intermittent red light flashed through our little transport ship, indicating the start of the docking process. Novak stood up, and headed to the front of the decontamination bay. I stayed on the flight deck, looking at the process with attention to what Lai was doing. It was good to at least understand what she was doing, i was never fond of having to rely on someone else for everything.

Hallie, record the process for further review.

[Acknowledge]

The moment her hands stopped moving, we could see a hatch opening in the rear part of the Sleipnir, and our ship started moving automatically towards it. Lai stood up then, signaling me to accompany her.

- The ship is connected to the Sleipnir’s AI, the rest of the docking is automatically resolved - She explained.

Convenient.

We joined Novak, and proceeded to the decontamination bay when the lock on the sliding doors was retracted. After the process, we exited the ship, and there was one guy standing in front of the exit.

He looked at us, examining our rank identifiers in each of our chests, and did a full bow towards me when he identified me as the commander.

- OOD Kyle Rovers, reporting in - The guy said while his head was still down. A tanned skinned, short man, around his twenties i guess.

- Easy officer, say, where’s the rest of the crew? I’m not complaining but i expected some besides our helmsman to welcome us - I say, taking a look at the scenery. We are at the cargo bay, and I can see another small ship stationed inside. My question seems to be the same one in the minds of Lai and Novak, as their expressions seem like questioning the situation.

Kyle rises and stands up firmly, but his eyes betray his formality. Something happened, didn't it?

- Seventeen hours ago, colonies from N-01 through N-08 reported a massive attack of native beasts. Lieutenant Commander Santángel ordered the deployment of all personnel to assist the colonies.

- LCDR Santángel doesn’t have the authority to deploy troops - Lai intervened, knitting her brows.

- LCDR said he’d take responsibility for this, the rest of the crew followed - Kyle answered, avoiding her gaze. It seems he agrees to the actions of this Santángel but is scared to say so to Lai.

Novak doesn’t say anything besides drawing a long sigh. I more or less understand the line of thinking of the LCDR, although it puts us in a difficult situation.

- Are comms open to the team? - I ask.

- They were reporting an increase in the amount of hostiles until a couple of hours ago where comms started failing and we lost contact.

I put both my hands in my hips, looking at both Lai and Novak.

- Looks like we are having some early action team.