Rescue mission two

“Keep the ship ready for take-off. If we aren’t back in an hour, take her home.” Ashley sternly commands as she puts on the Mark VI spacesuit, gearing up with an automatic weapon, a cutter, a motion tracker and some medical tools.

“I’m going with you!” Amanda exclaims as she grabs another suit. Ashley steps forward and pushes her back with an arm. “No. You shall stay here with Kristen.” the captain affirms. “I can’t afford to lose my sister!” she says as checks the magazine and charges her weapon. “Stay on the ship and guard her. Keep all the doors locked while we are out and only open if you recognize us on the feed.”

“I’d go.” Evelyn speaks as she brushes past the sisters to gear up. “I’ve set the ship controls to auto-pilot back to the nearest station using the navmesh we have mapped coming here.” She looks right into Ashley’s eyes and nods. “I know a little more than just flying a stick...”

“Amanda, the Winterlynx’s yours. Take good care of her.” Ashley nods as the two girls head towards the airlock, dragging the body of the man with them.

"Warning! Depressurization is active, stay clear of airlock while in operation!" the computerized voice plays again as the lights in the airlock flash orange. Standing beside, Ashley looks over her shoulder at Evelyn and nods. The women check the lights on their suit helmets, as well as their spare torchlight. The lights switch on and off on cue.

As the airlock doors opened up and the territory of the Avalon appeared before them shrouded in complete foreboding darkness, the two women felt a sense of dread. Each step on cold metal resonated its loud thud down the seemingly endless corridor. Remnants of a once-bustling colony ship left its mark, some emergency lights and signage blink and flicker at intervals. Doors occasionally slide open and close partially as the automated systems spark and malfunction.

Ashley stops herself for a moment, feeling her heart rate exceeding fast as she breathes faster and tries her best to overcome her dread. This was the first mission where she had to face such a danger, a seemingly dead vessel that somehow had a man come out of, with more unknown dangers within. Still, she took it upon herself to see to her new crew’s safety, and if anything, she will not leave them behind.

“How are you so calm?” Ashley asks as she notices Evelyn casually strolling and looking around. Evelyn shines her flashlight back on Ashley, illuminating her visor. “A few years ago, well…” Evelyn speaks calmly as she recalls, with Ashley using her motion tracker to scout ahead, no detections except for each other returning. “We were out on a routine training flight into the Andromeda Majoris, a quick dock and search to find a dummy target for extraction… We docked to the vessel, ran through everything we should. Sent a few of our men in to investigate..”

“What the-” Ashley interrupts as she picks up a blip on the tracker moving past them perpendicular a bit of distance down the hallway. She instinctively shines her light down the dark hallway, only to be greeted by nothing at all. “We are not alone.”

“Hmmm..” Evelyn places her arms on her hips as she looks ahead. “Did you hear that?” she asks.

“What?” Ashley fearfully replies, feeling her hands frozen on her weapon, aiming forward.

“The hissing…” Evelyn ponders. “Could be a steam valve somewhere going off. Not sure.” she shrugs. The two women look at each other and nod, as they continue advancing slowly forward, step by careful step.

“It’s red!” Ashley exclaims as her light reflects off a dark red liquid splattered across the wall. “Not a fan of contemporary art huh?” Evelyn asks as she approaches the liquid and takes a closer look.

“It’s blood, human.” Evelyn squints and comments. “Yeah well no shit!” Amanda anxiously retorts. The women look around more cautiously, inspecting the scene. Ashley comes across even more blood, this time a trail on the floor that leads into the darkness. A few bullet cases lay dormant on the ground. Ashley swings her torch over towards the trail’s direction down the corridor.

“Haaaaa!!!!” a female voice moans loudly as its sound echoes off the walls down towards the girls. “It’s Julie!” Ashley exclaims, recognizing the voice as one of the medics attached to the forward team. “We have no time to waste!” she bellows as she begins to pick up her pace, taking faster steps into the darkness with her weapon ready.

“Wa-Wait!” Evelyn exclaims as she stands by the bullet casings holding one up and inspecting it. “These aren’t our bullets!!” she opens her eyes in realization as she turns around and loses sight of Ashley in the dark corridor ahead. “Captain!!!” Evelyn exclaims.