Milly had decided that the easiest way to infiltrate the ships structure was through the missing section on its left side. So, with the tether still attached to keep it in place, before running the Ventra on batteries she manoeuvred it closer to where she believed would be the best possible entry point.

Once in place, she headed to the top deck and then to side air locks. There were a few airlocks on the Ventra, but it was only the two on the sides of the top deck that were attached to rooms specifically designed to hold space suites. It could be said that these airlocks were in fact spacewalk access points.

The airlock she walked to, was the portside airlock since that's the side closest to the suspected entry point for the unknown alien ship.

It took her awhile to put on her spacesuit but once it was on, she was about ready to head out. The suite itself was a reconditioned ex-military suite from seventy years ago. It was designed to be lightweight and durable allowing for near perfect movement on land and in space. Coloured in a slightly less than shiny dark blue and white with the words Tartarus printed in dark blue over the white right side of the collar. However, despite this it was quite banged up with areas of the suite sporting a scorched patina caused by heated impacts and eventual aging. The reason she was using it was because it was the only suite provided by the company.

The same could be said for the rest of the ship. It was pretty old, with the exception of the scanning and sensor equipment which the company for some reason felt needed to be top of the line.

The helmet was small with a fitted face mask like a pilot's respirator that covered the nose and mouth. It was designed like this to prevent condensation forming from the user’s breath, while the space between the eyes and glass was constantly ventilated enough to remove any unwanted water vapour. It came with an inbuilt rebreather that, given sufficient energy could keep going for a few hours, maybe even a day or two if it was in peak condition. A square light and complex set of cameras was attached to the right side of the helmet along was a tiny dome that held a spinning radio-based sensor unit for auxiliary spatial mapping.

“Ventra, could you prepare the science kit for me? Preferably in a small shoulder bag or belt attachment if possible. I don't have time for anything larger.”

“You’re not a scientist, are you? Why bother with something like that? Recorded footage should be enough. We can leave the rest to the experts.”

“No way! I want to be the first to at least get some samples. I’m not so dumb as to mess that up, now am I?” Milly raised an eyebrow in protest, feeling like the constant nagging becoming a reminder why she turned Ventra’s audio off to begin with.

“Debatable…”

“Listen here! I did the orientation for beginner lab assistance as part of my training, so you can shut the hell up! It’s... not my fault I failed the exam.” The last part of her rambling turned into a mumble, as she walked to an equipment closet on the other side of the room.

Upon her arrival, she opened the door with a keycode and picked up a white painted assault rifle covered in scratches. The gun was rather long and had two mag slots. The one under the trigger was the black battery mag, while the other slightly further forward was the slug mag where the projectiles were stored to be fired.

“Don’t tell me you’re going in armed as well?!--” but before Ventra could continue Milly Interrupted while looking down the sight to test the feel of it in her hands before detaching the battery bag to assess the condition of the electrical contacts.

“I know how to use a coil gun. Do you think I’m stupid enough to go in there alone without it?” Satisfied with the gun in her hand, she placed it down on a nearby bench, and then proceeded to order five slug mags from the 3D printer. “Hmm… I need an extended sensor suite attached to the gun… no point in having that separate or I won't be able to use the damn thing…” To this she went and rummaged in the equipment locker again to see what she could find.

“Your ‘Science kit’ is ready… since you said you mainly want to take samples, I’ve only included five Vac tubes, Grav samplers, and sample storages. There is also an additional medkit should you need it.”

“You could have also added some small hand tools… you never know if I’ll need to scrape some stuff off of something…”

“Sigh…”

“Also, about the sensor suite…-”

“There’s a new one on the left. It should be fine to use but you’ll have to swap it over from the grenade launcher under the gun. The optic data cord attaches to the right auxiliary port above the trigger. The power cable directly to the battery. There should be some cable management clips on the side of the gun. Just don’t expect any readings while you fire the thing. The EM field from the coil gun will make the sensors go blind for 4 seconds.”

“I know, I know… It’s just like the A-Cox from training…”

“So it should be, since the ones in training are A-Cox A20’s, while that one is an A-Cox C15, about three generations older than your training rifle.”

“Huh… no wonder it felt nostalgic… it looks a bit different but there are plenty of similarities.”

After the slug mag printing was done, she picked up the rifle and attached three mags to her belt, one to the side of the gun, and another locked in for use. Her next job was to attach the white coloured sensor system to the gun. It, like the grenade launcher was a small cylindrical item that attached to the bottom on the gun not far from the nozzle, only instead it was capped with a geodesic dome at the end. She then proceeded to attach the small science kit to her belt and after that a tether line from her belt to the butt of the rifle to guard against any instance it might drift out of reach.

“Ok, the sensor suite is all linked in! Tartarus, A-Cox begin system startup.”

In seconds, the transparent visor of her helmet shone with holographic images, as the suits auxiliary computer system activated. Two voices of the internal voice command system for both the Tartarus suite and A-Cox rifle responded one after the other.

--User interaction recognised, starting system initialization--

The voice of the suite, a deep male voice with large reverberations as if created from a synthesiser spoke out along with the command line text on her holo display.

~~User authorisation: Milly Sayer, recognised, system starting~~

While on the other hand, the rifle, a cold unfeeling female voice responded in sequence after the suite.

--Beginning environmental calibration. Biometric control implant detected, starting handshake procedure--

~~Registering user defined utility attachments. Running safety diagnostic~~

--Implant connection established, calibrating to biometric variables. Eye tracking calibration complete--

~~Registration complete. All systems within safety parameters. Startup complete. Thank you for choosing Fal Industries A-Cox C series assault coil rifles.~~

--Initialization complete. Tartarus Tactical EVAS at your command. In the name of the future:

~~For the sake of humanity:

--~~ To win is our goal!~~--

‘Dunno whose idea it was to get them chanting out slogans together, but every time they speak at the same time it gives me chills!’ Milly thought while shuddering, not sure if it was out of creepiness or the feeling similar to ASMR. The images of the holo display changed, and outlines began to superimpose onto nearby objects with information about them if she looked at them.

“Right looks like I’m ready...” Holding the rifle in hand, she made her way to the airlock. The moment she entered, the door shut behind her and the air pressure began to drop as the space started to come close to the vacuum outside. Dazed a little from the sunlight shining through the small windows in the airlock door in front of her, she waited. Milly found herself excited, scared and extremely jittery about the task ahead of her. What things will she see? How will things change from here? She knew this was her transition. Her make or break. The sensation from the adrenaline running through her body. She could still breath normally, but a slight labour in her chest could be felt from the excitement.

Soon, a red light popped on, and the door to the outside opened, revealing the bright sun-drenched light grey hull of the Ventra right before her eyes, hurting them a little. At first, she raised her arm up to cover her face but then her helmet dimmed to a darker brown colour, reacting to the light, but she still had to take a little time for her eyes to adjust.

Lowering her arm while getting used to the light, staring at the space in front of her, her mind filled with reflection, as if standing at the edge of a cliff with a bungee cord. The thought of flying over to that strange place, then finally she took a step forward.

“I’m… I’m really doing this… aren’t I?” Calm and quiet but almost in shock of her bravery to take the first step, she moved past the threshold. As soon as her foot left it, the suite automatically activated the electromagnets in her boots, as artificial gravity no longer existed out here.

The hull in front of her was smooth, made of geometric plates seamlessly joined together at chamfered angles. Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle all neatly fitted together. In the distance here and there, devices jutted out that would spark occasionally, such as the shield emitters. Those were places no man should go to while they were still active.

Bathed in the slightly blue white light of Vihkar, a blessed and auspicious sun, Milly continued to walk along the remaining breadth of the hull until she got to what she believed to be the closest distance to the alien ship.

She looked up. At this angle Ventra was parked at exactly the point where the part of the ship was missing, or what could be called the cross-section point since it looked like a cross section of the ship. Not that Milly could make out much right now, since most of it was in shadow, facing away from the sun.

With a single tap on her belt buckle, the electromagnets in her boots disengaged, and with a hop, she started to drift in the direction of the object. The plan was simple, drift over there until close enough, and only then use the suites propulsors to fly her around to find an entrance.

Stabilizing her breathing, Milly calmed herself while taking in her surroundings. It’s when it hit her. It always hit her in these situations, to a suffocating degree. Other than the sound of breathing and the faint thump of her heart, the only thing she could hear was silence, a thick unending silence. She had felt this before on her training, and it was something she was still not used to. The void was cold, the void was unforgiving, the void was silent and yet amidst this silence, her small insignificant self was set afloat. They say some would go insane staring too long at the vast eternal expanse of nothingness.

‘Alone… I-I am alone…’ the void was like a reminder of her reality, a reality given to her by powers higher; a power that was neither a test of faith or a gift of some benevolent god, but merely the choice of people she didn't know nor had ever met, that for whatever reason had more say over her life than she did.

The uneasiness she felt, she didn't know why, but she had always felt something was wrong. Her life felt wrong. It wasn’t an easy feeling to shake off, but the sensation of loneliness and powerlessness her life had just didn’t feel right. It was why in some sense she hated space walks. They reminded her of the unsettling feeling she had left buried in her mind and ignored.

That was, until the shadow engulfed her. Looking up towards the source, she was reminded of what it was she was doing out here. God rays of light marked the objects outline, created from the remnant dust caught up from the warp bubble. The particles of dust no longer moving thanks to the sudden warp, giving the light it passed through a faint yellowish tint despite how thin the cloud was. The cross-section that was filled with what looked like nothing but darkness, giving her the impression that she was about to be swallowed up by a maw more devoid and more empty than the void of space itself.

“Sigh…” steadying her mind, shaking off this impression knowing it was just this alien ship, shielding her from the light of Vihkar, she tapped on the right side of her helmet to turn on its flashlight.

“What’s the matter?” Ventra’s voice sounded in her ear. During the EVA, communication with the Ventra’s computer was on all the time. Everything was monitored and recorded.

“It’s nothing…”

“It’s you that wanted to go all the way out there, so why the sudden loss of enthusiasm?”

Ignoring the criticism, Milly continued to stare ahead of her. It was hard to judge the sheer scale of the object in front of her, so knowing how far away she was, was also difficult. Pointing her gun forward, she waited until the sensors started to pick up any objects in her path.

“Are you just going to ignore me?! Hmph… Intersection with the main hull in three minutes and twenty seconds.”

“Great…” Milly’s voice turned monotone at this point, in an expression of depressed sarcasm. It wasn’t that the event of this ship had lost its lustre, but the sooner she was on board, away from the void the better. She wished she could just speed things up, but she dares not waste fuel just in case something happens.

So, in silence Milly continued forward…

Eventually, blips started to appear on you AR HUD, as floating objects were highlighted in blue squares around her. Information of the objects were mostly vague to say the least. The majority of them so far, were simple rock fragments left over from the warp. The most reliable scanning range of the sensors she had with her was only up to ten meters in a forty-five-degree angled cone, not unlike that light spread of a flashlight. The sensors could see further but the degree of accuracy was so bad the system would automatically disregard any readings until the ten-meter mark. The sensors in her helmet were worse, at only three meters, but at least it means she could see some information on close up objects she was directly looking at.

Ignoring the rocks that at most could only be considered pea sized gravel, she waited until the first readings from the object in front of her appeared. Once she could see it, she planned to start her manoeuvres.

“Milly, intersection in thirty seconds, get ready.”

“I know…” She said quietly, fully aware of this fact as the dark maw in front of her had expanded to the size of a small cathedral. The light from her helmet had yet to even make a dent to the darkness that confronted her.

It was then she started to notice tiny, almost phosphorescent cyan blue and light green lights of different intensities dotted randomly in the darkness of the ships cross section. Some seemed to slowly move around from place to place, barely illuminating the surface. Some would fade out as if they had vanished, while others would fade into existence. Other times the transition was more sudden, as it something blocked the view. Looking upon it all, was like looking at a field of scattered fireflies.

Milly’s eyes grew wide when she saw this, unable to understand what it was she was seeing. She was slightly scared as to what it might be prowling in the dark. As such, before she got any closer, using her mind, she made the suites propulsors bring her to a halt.

“W-what is that?!”

“It’s too far away to get a reading, you should come back, I told you this would be too much for you!”

“Shut up!!” Milly almost screamed… her frustration at not being allowed to think, her mind in disarray as to what to do next, and the anxiety of her EVA piled up to her lash out reaction. If she knew of any swear words, she would have said them by now.

“I cannot condone any more of your whims! Come back immediately!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shuts up!! I’ve come this far I’m not going back with nothing!”

That was when in the corner of her eye, she noticed one of the lights get closer. Not too close, but eventually it came within her sensor range. Pointing her gun at it to get a better reading from its sensors, she watched it while trying to keep her composure. The light wiggled around until it came to a stop before a tiny chunk of rock nearly thirty times its size. It then seemed to land on. A few seconds later the light moved, but the rock also moved with it as if attached.

“Is it… toeing the rock?”

The tiny light was close enough to make out that it was no bigger than a fingernail. After a while the sensor data came in and displayed itself on her AR HUD. Surprisingly, or Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much to go on… For some reason the sensors couldn't penetrate the internals of whatever this thing was… however the surface had become clear and its surprised Milly greatly. What was displayed to Milly could only be described as;

“A… a Fairy?” a tiny humanoid with what looked like insect wings. The image had her stumped. “Is this for real? Am I really seeing a Fairy?”

“I wouldn’t draw that conclusion… still you should return!”

“I told you to shut up! Look, where on earth is it taking that rock and why?” Curiosity took hold of her again, and for a while her eyes followed this ‘fairy’ as it pulled the rock along. Eventually she ordered a small blast from her suits propulsors in the direction of the fairy, and slowly followed it. The fact she couldn’t get any scan data, didn't worry her all that much. The surprise of the ships form, far more intriguing. Besides, she needed something to distract her from her anger.

With her eyes glued to the rock as it moved, it didn’t take long for it to reach what appeared to be a misshapen blotted and dark surface. Light from her helmet just barely illuminating the scorch marks everywhere, but it was then she noticed. What she would normally expect, wasn’t there. The ‘internal mechanics’ she’d wanted to see couldn't be made out. If a normal ship was ripped apart or suffered any kind of explosion, bits of jutting metal and the remains of wires and computing consoles etc, would be everywhere. In this case however, there seemed to be none of that.

“Is that all melted? It looks all bubbled and uneven? What on earth did this thing go through?” Milly’s head peered around a little before returning her eyes to the rock being pull until they came to a small hole that pitted into the surface almost seamlessly. It wasn't perfectly circular, but instead rather deformed. The fairy seemed to reach the surface and then fly along it directly towards the hole, before entering it out of sight.

Backing away a little, Milly started to think while noticing similar actions being done by other fairy like lights around her.

“Is this-? Are they collecting materials for repair? Does that mean this ship has a self-repair function? But how does that work?” Ship self-repair wasn’t something new. It was mainly used in military ships for emergencies, but only considered a temporary fix. This was because the nano machines used to do the repair gave the ship weaknesses that would have to be sorted in drydock at a later date. However, to completely rebuild an entire missing portion of a ship was unheard of… that is if that was indeed what this ship was doing. “It’s trying to rebuild itself isn’t it?” That was Milly’s gut feeling.

With the distance she took, using the gun in her hand she began to sweep methodically in a zig zag so that the scanners could get an accurate scan on the surface. Again, like the fairies, her scans didn't penetrate beyond the surface. What she did get, didn’t look like innards of a ship but a mishmash with hardly any discernible crawl spaces for maintenance or gaps between devices. Instead this cross section gave the appearance of having a roasted fleshy consistency.

Superimposing a map generated by the Ventra’s scans, Milly made her way to where a supposed deck opening should be. Following the arrows, it shouldn't have taken her long, but along the way she saw some things jutting out that took her interest. Like the rest of her surroundings it was all chard. Splayed and broken, jutting out like a stick in the mud it seemed to be a solid object.

“Is this… wood?” Like a huge wooden beam smashed in half in a hurricane, the remains of a pillar stood in front of her. Looking around the slight fleshy mound around its base she noticed what seemed to be some barely intact tubes one of which seemed to secrete something. After a little while a perfect globular sphere of transparent dark emerald liquid started to float away.

After looking at the scene around her, a strange thought came to her mind “You’re bleeding? You’re in pain, aren't you?”

“Ships don’t feel pain, whatever made you come up with that idea? You have those sample bottle, you might as well take that liquid as a sample…” Ventra seemed to be unable to resist criticising, but a point was still well made.

“You didn’t need to remind me, I was going to do that anyway...” Milly, with one hand unzipped the science kit bag in her belt and fished out a Vac Tube and then left it to drift a little before grabbing a Grav Sampler.

Letting go of the rifle for a second, she grabbed the Vac Tube in one hand, and the Grav Sampler in the other. The Vac tube was just a simple lab tube that was sealed with a cap at one end as if it had been melted. At the top near the cap, was a tiny etched ring that went around the diameter of the tube. It is so the tube can be easily unsealed when placed into a sampling apparatus.

The Grav Sampler was a thick octagonal ring with a curved shaft attached and parallel to one edge giving it a ladle like look. The ring part was three times the diameter of the Vac Tube but with a hole in it the same size and made in such a way to allow the Vac Tube to fit within it.

Milly pushed the Vac Tube into what could be called the base of the ring through the hole and gently twisted it. Together it looked like something similar to a very thin hand grenade, with the tube parallel to the handle.

Manoeuvring herself close to the sphere of clear green liquid, Milly pointed the other end of the Sampler towards it, then squeeze the handle towards the tube. This made the lid of the top of the sampler flip open. The cap of the tube had already gone, and suddenly the liquid it was pointed to started to “gravitate” towards it, and then as if in a whirlpool began to be sucked into the tube.

Quickly the tube filled up with the green liquid at the bottom. Milly, without twisting pulled off the Grav Sampler and discarded as per protocol, since it was now contaminated with the sample.

Holding up the freshly sealed lab tube in front of her, she gazed at it and was about to put it into one of the sample storages, when out of nowhere, a fairy zipped into view.

“Wha-!” Startled Milly didn't know what to do but then faster than a firefly it latched onto the bottom of the tube. It yanked the tube out of her hands while she was still in shock and started to fly away with it.

Flustered and without thinking Milly started to chase after it while shouting “Oi! Hey give that back! That’s my sample!” forgetting the fact that no matter how much noise you make, out here in the vacuum of space no one can hear you.

“Milly! Don't follow it!”

“Ventra I’ve had about enough of you as well! Just shut up!” Mainly due to her inexperience and the stress of the day hampering her ability to think straight, she followed the little light into a four-meter large corridor sized hole. Turning the corner into the mouth of the hole and then into it a few meters she came to a stop.