Nausea bubbled in my stomach as we hurtled towards the flat, barren wasteland of a planet before us. There was nothing there. There was no trace of the lives that flourished on this planet many years ago before the Council destroyed them.

Maybe that was intentional. Maybe, they chose this planet not just because they knew they’d have no witnesses to what was about to happen but also because it was a message. A symbol of their power. It was to show us that they could easily destroy people if they wanted to.

My hands clenched around the armrests as the ship shook and I forced myself to breathe deeply. Part of me wanted to close my eyes until we landed, a childish impulse I hadn’t had since I first started flying the simulators.

It was a control thing. When I felt out of control, like when I wasn’t the person in charge of flying the ship, I always wanted to shut my eyes and hide away from whatever was happening so that, if the worst happened and I died, I wouldn’t see it coming. It was dumb though. If my eyes were closed, I couldn’t do anything to help. Plus, I wasn’t sure if death would be the worst thing at that moment.

Elliot pulled us out of our swift descent, levelling off and slowing down until we were cruising slowly over the blank, strangely yellow dirt.

Coming up on the coordinates now, I updated my crew.

No sign of the Council up here, Cas replied immediately.

I nodded, despite them being on a different ship and therefore unable to see me. I longed to check the scanners again, just to make sure. I needed them to be here soon. The sooner they got to Romikhi-Eight, the sooner we got Peg back.

Unless this was all a trap. It would be a good one if so. They had so many Freo fighters nearby. If the Council were smart and well prepared and somehow found a way to overpower us all, but by the end of the day they could have my whole crew as well as Andy, Elliot, Tuc and even more people they have been hunting for years.

Well, shit, I thought to myself before pushing that thought aside.

I had to believe that we would do better than the Council otherwise I would have given up but it was hard.

“This should be us,” Tuc said as the ship slowed to a stop, anxiety bubbling behind his words.

It touched down gently and my hands immediately went to the harness, fumbling as I tried to open it. I pulled the screen out of its pocket, immediately running a scan on the planet around us. It was dumb but I hoped that she was somehow there. I convinced myself that maybe their shield tech had improved a lot since I’d left the base and there was actually a whole ship out there but the scan came up empty.

I tried not to let myself look too disappointed but thankfully, Tuc and Elliot were too busy doing their own scans to pay much attention to me.

“Nothing, what about you?” Tuc asked.

Elliot looked up from his screen, squinting out through the window for a long moment before shaking his head.

“They aren’t here yet. There are a couple little devices out there but nothing too concerning,” he replied.

I stood quickly, staring out the window and blinking hard to cycle through my mods. He was right. There were small devices out there and it seemed like they were transmitting something but I wasn’t sure what.

“What are they? They’re not bombs, right?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think so. I assume they’re just cameras so that the Council can watch what’s going on,” he replied.

“But didn’t we only give them the coordinates today?” Tuc asked, glaring out the window.

“Yep,” Elliot said.

There was a moment of silence as we stared at the planet before us.

“How many cameras are out there?” I asked finally, not really expecting an answer.

There were hundreds, probably more. The Council must have covered the planet with cameras the second they decided to meet us there and then were only watching the ones they needed.

“Enough,” Tuc answered, a look of disgust on his face. “They have enough money to pepper a random planet in cameras but not to keep their orphans well-fed.”

He looked away, his hands curling into fists as Elliot shot him an understanding look. I understood what he meant but I had no clue where that had come from. I opened my mouth to ask before forcing myself to close it again, this wasn’t the right time.

We’re there now. There’s nothing here apart from a bunch of cameras. They’ve like covered the planet in them, I told the others.

Of course they have, Cas sent back darkly.

Want to go outside and send a quick message to Harvey for me? Gem asked, her anger barely suppressed.

A shudder went through me at the mention of Harvey but I ignored it.

Don’t tempt me, I tried to joke.

How are you feeling? Cas asked.

I’ll feel better when they get here. It wasn’t a lie but it was close.

A creeping sense of dread was building in my stomach mixed with anxiety. I wasn’t sure if I needed to go to the toilet or throw up or maybe just go for a run. Nervous energy ripped through me making me twitch.

“Do we have time for me to run to the bathroom before they get here?” I asked, pretty certain that it was just nerves and that I didn’t actually need to go.

“Sure,” Elliot said, his eyes on the skies.

I nodded, quickly turning and rushing into the tiny bathroom in the cockpit. I locked the door behind me and leant back against it, giving myself a moment to relax and breathe deeply before stripping out of my suit and using the toilet.

I washed my hands slowly, taking more time than I needed, before splashing some of the cold water on my face and staring into the mirror. My eyes were wide. I could see the panic in them and I squeezed them shut, jamming the heel of my hands into them.

It’s going to be fine, I thought to myself. It’s all going to be fine. Soon, you’ll see Peggy again and everything will be back to normal.

I pulled my hands away and glared at myself in the mirror.

What a liar, I thought before looking away and unlocking the door.

“How are you doing?” Elliot asked as I came out of the bathroom.

“Alright,” I answered measuredly.

“Anxious?”

I swallowed, hoping he wouldn’t hear.

“Not too bad,” I lied.

He nodded, ignoring my obvious lie.

“Shall we go through your weapons again and double-check everything?” he asked gently.

I nodded, chewing on the inside of my lip.

Elliot grabbed a screen and typed for a second, pulling up my suit.

“Alright, do you remember how to activate the push daggers?” he asked.

“Thumb and middle finger of either hand for two seconds,” I said, demonstrating for just a moment before pulling my hands apart, seeing the red warning pop up at the edge of my vision.

“Good. Have your hands open when they trigger, then close them around the blades and they should sit in between your middle and index finger. Did the ocular mods work?”

“Yep, no issues there.”

Elliot nodded, checking with the data on his screen.

“Okay, do you remember how to use the tasers?”

“Thumb to the base of my little finger then grab their wrists, fingers pointing into their skin.”

“Perfect. Don’t forget you’ve got two seconds once you trigger them so you’ll need to be careful. I doubt the Guardians will see it coming so they shouldn’t try to fight you but if they do, just point your fingers at them and hopefully, it’ll pierce some part of their suits. We’ve asked for them to come without helmets, like they’ve asked from us so worst care scenario, go for the face.”

I gulped and nodded.

“Alright, do you remember where the rest of your weapons are?” he asked.

“Blade back of my leg,” I said, tapping the area and feeling the reassuring bulge. “Dart phaser in my stomach pocket, pistol here and knives in each boot.”

Elliot and Tuc watched me check each weapon before they both nodded, seemingly satisfied.

“Is your suit ready?” Tuc asked, his face tight.

I instinctively brought my left arm up to check my wrist monitor before remembering that I didn’t have one anymore and turning my arm over to check the small screen there.

“Yep, full oxygen and fuel. If anything happens, I shouldn’t have any issues,” I answered, ignoring the small pulsing symbol showing my rapid heartbeat.

“Good—” Elliot started to say before a loud beep came from Elliot’s screen.

“Hello,” Andy’s voice said, “can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” Elliot replied.

“Can I speak to Aries?” he asked.

“Of course.” Elliot handed the screen over to me before tapping Tuc’s arm. “Why don’t we go out into the bay? Aries can come get us when she’s done.”

“Sure,” Tuc said, a forced smile appearing on his face as they left the cockpit.

I looked down at Andy’s face on the screen in front of me. I could see that he was alone in his cockpit too.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

I suppressed the urge to sigh.

“Fine,” I answered.

He smiled gently.

“I assume a lot of people have been asking you that today. How are you actually feeling?”

I snorted softly before replying.

“I’m alright, honestly. Anxious but I think that’s to be expected.”

He nodded.

“It’s completely normal to feel anxious right now, this is a risky mission, but everyone is entirely focused on you and we will get Peggy back.”

I swallowed, allowing his words to soothe some of the fear inside me. He was right. Everyone in the control room would be watching what was happening, everyone in the ships around us too. This would work, we’d be able to pull this off.

“Do you have everything ready?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Just went through all the checks with Elliot and Tuc. I know where my weapons are and how to use them, my suit is fully fuelled and my oxygen is full.”

“Do you have any questions or anything you’re worried about?”

I chewed my lip, my mind immediately going to my crew. I’d mentioned some of my worries to Elliot before and he’d said he would tell Andy but I needed to make sure.

“My crew. If something goes badly… will you,” I paused, trying to work out how to word what I wanted to say. “Will you make sure they’re alright? Like, that they don’t do anything dumb and that after, they speak to Doctor Hila or someone?”

Andy’s face tightened but he nodded.

“Of course. And, don’t worry, we’ve added some extra security to the cockpit doors. They won’t be able to do anything reckless.”

My shoulders drooped with relief and I opened my mouth to thank him before high pitched beeping came from the screen. Just a moment later, the comms on my ship started beeping too.

Andy jumped into action, checking screens and scanning intently.

“Ships sighted outside gate ninety-seven. Lots of them,” Lace’s voice warned us over the comms.

The doors behind me opened and I span around to face Elliot and Tuc.

“Ready?”