Space was cold, dark and deadly but it was also serene and magnificent, something the ocean appeared to share in abundance. As Jason was dropped into the ocean in a submersible it had initially felt turbulent and angry, yet the deeper he went, the more it reminded him of the dark unknown.

The blue water gradually turned black as darkness enveloped him, yet the darkness was different from the great beyond. In space, it was a clear, endless void that appeared to spiral into eternity. The ocean, however, felt like a heavy curtain, clouding all around him and causing the submersible to creak in protest.

Space was devoid of life, yet the ocean had it in abundance. Even as the submersible reached over one thousand metres in-depth, the creatures that littered the area were rampant, swimming around in their seemingly random patterns, looking more alien than the ones that humans were currently at war with.

Gliding through the blackness of the ocean, in the far distance, small balls of light, no bigger than a pinprick, could be seen struggling through the water. As the submersible edged forward and the light appeared less blurred, Jason knew the journey was coming close to an end.

The autopilot, with its impressive almost quiet propulsion system, had been pushing Jason for quite some time and he yearned to place his feet on solid ground, so as the huge underwater facility came into focus he sighed in relief and anticipation.

The mysterious dark cloud the ocean provided meant that, despite getting closer to the facility, he was unable to see its end, with only the opening hangar doors and some other habitats visible from his cockpit.

Gliding into the facility seemed to replace his anticipation with trepidation when the darkness was replaced with the overwhelming light of the hangar bay. Bobbling up to the surface compounded his apprehension when several members of the security personnel, with pistols resting in their holsters, when waiting for his arrival. The crash of the waves against the submersible seemed to only add to the turmoil running through his mind.

The cockpit opened, allowing Jason to stretch his aching legs. Grabbing hold of a rail lifting up to a gangway, he pulled himself onto the sturdy walkway. He felt his legs groan in pleasure as each step forward eased his muscles back into life and a small smile edged his face as he noticed one of the security personnel was that of his lost love Jacqueline Donnelly.

"Mr Standerwick, welcome to the Eagle's Den." the head security guard commented as he moved forward to intercept Jason.

"Eagle's Den?" Jason asked, "I can't imagine an eagle would be fond of a place like this."

The Head of Security reacted minimally, disregarding Jason's attempt at humour with ease. His glazed look from his hazel eyes was full of suspicion, watching Jason's every motion.

If being one thousand metres under the ocean hadn't already placed Jason on edge, then this man certainly would have.

Jason raised his hand in greeting towards the security guard. The guard looked, and smirked, before turning and heading towards the end of the gangway.

"I am Jackson Turnball, the Duchess' head of security, and your escort for the duration of your visit here. I run a tight ship here and expect you to follow all the rules I set while you perform your repairs on the sewerage system. Do you understand?"

Jackson Turnball's abrupt and stern behaviour, backed by his greyish black buzz-cut hair and his determined posture, screamed of an ex-military background. Turning toward the other members of the security team, Jason noticed the similarities in posture and hairstyles. Each of them must have had a background in the military and was now earning a hefty package in private security.

"Do you understand?" Jackson responded once more, his tone more agitated than previous.

"Uh, yes." Jason eventually responded.

"This is a highly secure facility, and all new personnel are intensely scrutinised. In other words, I don't know you, therefore, I don't like you. If you do anything I consider puts the Duchess or the station at risk, you'll be sent back to the surface but without the submersible. Do I make myself clear?" Jackson's tone was harsh and unfriendly suggesting he must have been a Sergeant Major or similar during his military days.

While Jason was tempted to respond flippantly to the megalomaniac, he was aware that drawing any attention to himself would be detrimental to the mission. His desire to mock the golden uniformed man was instead replaced with a mediocre and unenthusiastic "Yes."

Realising that Jason was unlikely to rise to any bait that he was throwing at him, Jackson frowned before turning around abruptly and heading towards the door. "Josie, you're with me, the rest of you, back to your posts."

Jason watched as the security guards all headed for the exit, with only Jackson and Donnelly remaining. Jason assumed that Josie was Donnelly's undercover name, and it was obvious that she excelled at this type of task. The glancing looks of wariness from Donnelly toward Jason brought him unease, yet the kindness in her eyes still shone through at every opportunity.

"We'll head over to the storeroom to get the tools that you requested," commented Jackson, "they have already been vetted, however, if anything is missing, you'll need to put in a requisition request, and it will then need to be approved. Therefore, do all you can today, as ideally, we don't want to need to arrange another visit."

Jason followed Jackson through the facility as Donnelly flanked them both a few steps behind. He didn't need to be close to her to know that she was anxious and apprehensive about the task at hand. Her breathing appeared more laboured than normal, and the constant rubbing of her fabric indicated that her eyes were continuously darting around, examining the facility; she was waiting for something, but she did not know what.

Jackson's lack of conversation added to the tension, the whole situation felt like a powder keg ready to blow, and Jason was stuck right in the middle of it.

As they stepped through the smooth, round, clearly lit corridors, some voices could be heard in the distance. As the two voices grew louder, one male, one female, Jason could feel that Donnelly had relaxed somewhat.

"Ahh, Mr Turnball, just the man I wished to cross parts with."

The female voice from around the corridor came into focus as a short, silver-haired woman slowly appeared. Her chiselled face, and off-centred jaw didn't hide that this elderly woman had never been blessed with good looks, but yet something in her hazel speckly eyes spoke of a beauty that could not be seen. Aided by a walking stick and a tall well-dressed man to her side, she edged forward, hoping to intercept Jackson at the earliest opportunity.

As soon as the voice could be heard, Jackson had stopped like a robot, awaiting for the Duchess Heissenberger to slowly make her steps forward towards them.

Jason could feel Donnelly breathing down his neck, a show of force to the uninitiated, but to Jason, a sign of preparation. The next step of the job was about to begin, just as the Blue Raven Lieutenant had planned, and it was up to Jason to be prepared for anything.

"Ma'am," Jackson nodded towards the elderly woman as she closed ground on them.

"That damned security feed you set up has stopped working again," the Duchess' crackly voice commented, "I will need you to return it to a working state this instant, I can not perform my duties should it not be of adequate functionality."

Jason could swear he heard Jackson grunt in frustration, and the disapproved look from the much shorter woman in front of them suggested she had heard it too.

"I apologise, ma'am, I thought it had been resolved. I need to escort this man to his task, then I shall return to your quarters to resolve the problem." Jackson compromised.

"Mr Turnbull, I need the security feed this instant." the Duchess demanded, her hands placed on her hips.

Jackson turned to Jason before turning back to the Duchess, his frown was more burrowed than before. "With all due respect ma'am, but I need to escort this man to perform his duty."

"You sir?" the Duchess abruptly switched her focus to Jason, causing him to feel a pang of discomfort.

"Uh, yes ma'am?" he responded, hoping to give her the level of respect she craved.

"Your role here, what is it?" she demanded.

Jackson quickly attempted to explain "Ma'am, this gentleman..."

"I'm asking him, not you." the Duchess interrupted suddenly.

"We received a report that your sewerage system is blocked at one of the key junctions. I've been tasked with resolving an issue," Jason explained.

"Ahh yes," the Duchess replied, her eyes gradually descending to the floor, "Hopefully you can resolve that god-awful smell."

"That is the objective, my lady," Jason responded.

"Don't 'my lady' me boy. Makes me feel older than I am." despite the rebuke, there didn't appear to be any animosity in her words, as if she was determined to display to the world a hardened exterior to her softened heart.

"Sorry, ma'am."

"Good!" the Duchess continued, "I'd best leave you to your crappy job," she commented, chuckling to herself as she turned away. "Mr Turnbull follow me this instant, I'm sure Josie can escort this handsome young man to his destination without incident."

Jackson looked at Donnelly with a hint of rage in his eyes before taking his position a few steps behind the wealthy Duchess.

Within moments, despite the commotion, the only two people left within the corridor were Donnelly and Jason. As the drone of voices gradually faded away, and the silence in the room grew louder, Donnelly took one look at Jason before launching herself into him and placing her lips deeply on his.

"God I've missed you!" she commented, her face lighting up as their lips parted, but just as her face quickly lit up, it quickly darkened and a determined focus returned to her gaze. "We do not have long, Jackson will be expecting us to follow a specific timescale, failure to follow that timescale and he'll get suspicious."

"He appears naturally suspicious, and has a major chip on his shoulder," Jason responded.

"That he does, ex-military police, I believe, not that he will discuss his life with anyone. Quick, we must get your tools, and then put the final part of the plan in motion." Donnelly explained.

Donnelly quickly escorted Jason to retrieve his equipment, giving them time to run over the mission details.

"Deep in this facility, there is an entire server farm which houses Exabytes of data related to Operation Rebirth. I need to set up a remote connection to duplicate that information in a private hub I've managed to obtain in the Bernard's Star system. The server farm, to keep it cool and secure, is immersed underwater, but located near the sewerage blockage I've managed to set up." explained Donnelly.

"So you want me to fix the sewerage system and divert resources to gaining access to the servers?" asked Jason.

Pulling out a small device from her pocket, Donnelly placed it carefully in Jason's hand. "This device, once connected will export the data. It will need approximately ten minutes to start sending all the data externally."

"Surely it won't reach your hub in ten minutes?" Jason asked, knowing that his technical knowledge paled in comparison to the anxious Donnelly.

"No, but the package will have left the facility during that time interval, reaching a host of nodes before reaching its final destination."

"And what will you be doing?" Jason asked.

Donnelly looked away, her face appeared to display some anguish at the thoughts running through her head. "I... I will complete my mission."

"Assassinate the Duchess?" Jason asked.

Donnelly nodded, refusing to speak the words that plagued her thoughts.

"What is it?" Jason inquired.

"The Duchess, she... she's inspirational. She's intelligent, caring, charitable, even though she's rough around the edges. I mean, she's a Duchess for crying out loud, an aristocrat taught to speak and act with an air of authority, yet behind her prickly exterior, she's a credit to humanity. She secretly finances orphanages in several provinces, is knee-deep in uncovering conspiracies, yet all the time hiding a thousand metres under the sea. She is not an enemy of the state, but rather someone we should be celebrating, encouraging our younger generations to be like her. I have to kill an unsung hero." Donnelly spoke, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Is there any other way?" Jason asked.

Donnelly shook her head. "No, we must complete the mission, otherwise we will paint a target on our backs. If we get that information, then at least it will not be for nothing."

Jason sighed before running the task through his mind once more. "Ok, so I'll fix the sewerage system, and attach the device to the server farm. I'm not joking when I say this doesn't appear to be one of your best thought out plans. There are too many variables that could cause the plan to go wrong, do you have a plan B?"

Wiping the last renegade tear from her eye, Donnelly once again faced Jason, "Of cause, and I hope to God that I don't have to use it."

Placing her hand on Jason's neck, just underneath his ear she gave her final instructions, "We'll be able to communicate within the facility now, but hopefully this will be the final time we'll need to discuss anything except the completion of the mission."

Jason held Donnelly's face in his hands, he rubbed her soft damp cheeks as he looked square in her darkened brown eyes. "Jacqueline, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, you know that."

A frown burrowed deep in her face. "Plan A is like a surgical strike, plan B is like scorched earth, so I really do hope that plan A works. Right, it's time we make a move, and one last thing."

"What's that?" Jason asked.

"Don't piss off Jackson, he'll be looking for an excuse to drop you out of the nearest airlock" Donnelly responded with the only feeble smile she could muster.

Jason nodded as he followed Donelly from the equipment room.

As they both walked through the bright smooth corridors, they were intercepted by Jackson and a couple of other guards donned in full armour, their faces covered by the golden visor that enveloped it. As they held their rifles tightly, fingers rubbing the side of their triggers, their brisk walk appeared focused and determined. Jackson's demeanour appeared angrier than when he greeted Jason initially, and as the three people walked closer, Donnelly stopped anxiously.

As she held her ground, Jason knew something wasn't right, once the two armoured guards flanking Jackson separated and walked around the back of the two Blue Ravens, Donnelly sighed in frustration, "what is this?"

Jackson refused to respond, his hardened jaw more clenched than normal, it was as he reached for his sidearm, placing his hand firmly on its handle that Jason and Donnelly slowly raised their hands.

Donnelly sighed, this time it was far more exasperated than before as she quickly glanced at the two guards behind her. She turned back towards Jackson once again, commenting with a bitterness that was in her voice for all to hear, "I guess we are going for plan B then!"