In the edge of a dark room, a young man who looks like he was still 17 was sitting while floating in the air reading things on the transparent monitor on his handheld. He had really fluffy hair and he had glasses that he uses for reading. His built was thin but wasn’t really small either.

Gravity was 0 and everything else beside the young man was strapped or welded in place. The walls were painted messily and everything that wasn’t too important was floating around as garbage.

As he was reading through his handheld, the steel door slides open and the lights from the hallway illuminated the dark room.

“Hey, ear-swab, we got some work.”

“I have a name, stop calling me with that!”

Ignoring his protest, the large man in a tight suit tosses him another handheld not too large than what he was using.

“An unknown ship signature was detected on the surface of Planet E17B by the Empire’s satellites. We need to get whatever’s in that place or we won’t make money for the next 2 weeks if the Empire gets their hands on it.”

“E17B… wait, that’s Acid Planet! Rather than just your lungs, it’ll melt your skin and eyes if you step into that place.”

“Don’t be such a sissy. We have power suits.”

“You mean YOU have power suits. I got nothing!”

“We just swiped some power suits from the last ambush mission we did on the Empire’s Cargo ship. We have one with your size.”

After saying that, the man floats away from the door. But before disappearing, he peeks back to the young man who was reading the mission details on the handheld given to him.

“Oh right, I almost forgot. Ezra, I heard your sister apparently was sent to the hospital again, so I figured that this mission might help you earn some creds to pay for her medication.”

When the large man then finally leaves Ezra, Ezra looks at his handheld and looked at the photo of his sister which was no younger than 9yo. While he was looking at it, a message box opens on the side of his screen.

[You better thank Crux for including you in this mission. He begged Captain for it.] – Luna

Seeing that message, he can’t help but look at the open door and to the logo on the wall.

[Brotherhood of Fire and Steel]

***

While sitting beside Crux in the transport ship, Ezra’s face was frowning behind his visor while looking at the squad of 4 people sitting on the opposite side of them.

“Tell me, why is Trucker’s team with us?”

“It can’t be helped. Shaun’s got a hangover, only Helen was the available pilot.”

“What about Luna? Even if she sucks at piloting, it’s still better to have her than them.”

“Luna’s on Laundry duty. Moreover, she doesn’t have a power suit.”

“I get that but why does it have to be Trucker and his team had to be with us?”

When he looked at the guy, Trucker makes a displeased expression behind his visor.

Trucker was someone Ezra dislike due to the fact he was Crux’s rival. Rather, he was someone who always mock Crux’s way of doing things like keeping the mission safe for everyone while Trucker was the complete opposite. He was very violent compared to the calm Crux.

However, despite his violent personality, Trucker was greatly respected because of his feats. He is able to complete missions even while destroying their enemies.

“You know Crux, the way you act all chummy with the boss and asking for favors is getting in my nerves these days. You even asked my pilot to come.”

“Mind your own business, Trucker.”

“Also, I heard that you haven’t paid for your tabs in the bar. It’s already three months. Shameless aren’t we?”

“I tried to pay, but they said it was okay to have it on a later date.”

“And by the way, I still haven’t forgotten how you almost fucked up our mission last time when you tried to get those Power Suits. Next time, listen to commands or I’ll be the one who’ll melt that hollow skull of yours.”

“Power Suits are necessary assets, but I will apologize for that.”

After getting a favorable reply, Trucker just smiles mockingly at him while Crux just ignores it by closing his eyes while crossing his arms.

However, that exchange got Ezra heated up.

“Why are you looking at us like that, kid? Are you picking a fight?”

“If I knew that it was you who’d I had to team up with, I would’ve picked dish washing duties. A hundred times better than seeing your ugly face.”

“I see… so beating you once half-dead wasn’t enough.”

Just as Trucker was about to stand, Crux also stands at the same time. However, instead of facing Trucker, he looked at Ezra and suddenly punched his across his face nearly cracking his visor.

“This kid easily gets hot-headed, sorry about that Trucker.”

The punch surprised everyone especially Ezra, but it definitely calmed him down.

For a second, Trucker froze when he saw Crux punch Ezra. But then after a while he laughs mockingly at him which made his other two members laugh along with him.

“You should’ve just broken that kid’s face! It would’ve been funnier! Or better yet, you should’ve let me do it instead!”

Due to the last sentence, Crux looks at Trucker with angry eyes while showing his bloodlust. It silenced Trucker’s other two members, but he himself was smiling over it. It was as if he was waiting for it.

“You know, even if this is just a scavenging mission, people missing isn’t uncommon. Especially on this planet filled with mutant beasts.”

“I know.”

“Watch your back, alright?”

“I’ll take that advice.”

They looked like they were about to jump at each other. This made Ezra worried as he was the reason for this situation.

Then all of a sudden, the ship suddenly shakes and then a female voice comes out from the speakers of the ship.

[I don’t give a damn about your rivalry, but save the baby-talk for later. We’re here.]

“Show us what we’re dealing with, Hel.”

While turning away with a sinister smile, Trucker and the rest looks at the screen that lowered and looked at what the Camera was looking at.

It was an unknown ruined ship that looks like it had been claimed by the land. It had half of its hull buried in the ground while trees and vines have been growing over it. Needless to say, it was a disappointing sight for the scavenger team.

“What the hell!? That looks like a piece of junk. Much less than any tech, even the steel plates look more useless than the plates we plastered on this rust bucket.”

It was as Trucker said. The ship that they came to salvage was beyond useless. It was literal garbage left to rot in the acid filled land.

“Hel, are you sure that the signal was coming from this ship?”

[About 10 minutes ago, I was sure the signal was coming from this place.]

“What do you mean?”

[It suddenly disappeared midway. I thought that the source died but now that we’re here, my sensors are picking up some weak signals inside. Rather than dying, the signal is like fine-tuned to be weak.]

While they were looking at the monitor, Crux walks towards the monitor and points a part of the ship.

“Helen, can you zoom in on this?”

[Will do]

Immediately, that part of the screen zooms in and enhances the image. There, everyone could see an odd opening on the armor which mismatches with the other ruined parts of the ship.

“This looks fairly recent. Helen, can your radar detect anything?”

[My radar is showing several signs of life in the area, nothing odd or anything.]

While looking at the damage done to the armor, Trucker picks up his weapon and switched his magazines. Instead of Energy Ammo, he was loading Lead Bullets.

“Keep your eyes peeled and senses sharp, everyone. There might be Empire soldiers already nearby and are hiding.”

-End of Chapter-