Chapter Text

"A rescue mission?"

The old man leaned forward, scanning the document slid over his desk. His eyes paused on a collection of words near the bottom: UES Contact Light.

"Yes.", Said a UES Agent, sitting across from the Old Captain

He continued to read the document. The Safe Travels? For a rescue mission? As one of the few surviving captains of the old colony ships, he knew all the designations by memory – and the Safe Travels was not a rescue ship.

"Any armaments?"

"No."

"We’ll have to fix that."

With a sigh, he stood up. His prosthetics tugged at his joints – despite being lighter than his original limbs, they always felt heavy.

"And let me guess - top secret, right?"

"Yes."

He gave out another sigh. He glanced up to his old Radio Helmet on a display shelf.

He did miss it. The adventure of journeying to undiscovered planets, the thrill of discovery. The stories he could tell his Grandaughter...

The Captain spaces out for a moment, thinking on nostalgic memories of bedside stories. Slowly replaced by stories getting old, teenage troubles and fewer visits...

The Captain snaps back to focus.

"A Crew?"

"Aside from necessary spaceship staff, A UES Commando and 2 Mercenaries."

"Only 3 Capable combatants?"

"The assigned engineer also has militech experience."

The Captain gives a tired look to the uncaring Agent.

This wasnt a real rescue mission.

They didn't care about the survivors, or the cargo.

They just needed a crew to get to the planet and keep the ship in orbit long enough for them to gather their data...

But a rescue mission is still a rescue mission. There might still be survivors that need help.

The Captain looks back to his radio helmet. A small smile creeps onto his bearded face.

He had been bored in retirement anyways.

Chapter Text

"Im going to be away for a while..."

"For how long?", asks the young woman on the other side of the call.

"Don't know..." he lets slip a light chuckle "and i couldn't tell ya even if i did.

"Are you gonna be safe gramps?"

A silence comes over the call.

"...Im sure ill be fine, Shooter"

"I can come with you, Im certified now gramps I can take care of-"

"No."

More silence.

"No Shooter... its uh, its alright. The crew's already been picked."

"I'll do it for free."

"And here i thought you were tired of my adventure stories."

"Grandpa! Your supposed to be retired, stars damn it!"

"Don't you raise your voi-!"

The captain takes a deep breath of restraint.

"Theres commandos and mercenaries coming with... I'll be fine shooter."

The young woman simmers down and hunches over the call.

A long silence echoes through the room.

"Come back safe gramps..."

"Of course... Ill be back before you know it. Hold down the fort while I'm gone?"

"aye, aye, Captain..." her voice trembles slightly.

The call ends, as a tear falls onto the calling machine.

Sadness turns into rage as the young woman tears apart the room.

How could they do this? It's a fucking suicide mission. He's going to die. Im going to lose the closest friend I've ever had without even saying sorry.

The woman's rage pauses as her rampage reaches her railgun, a weapon so ridiculously powerful it requires her to wear its power supply as a backpack.

She stares at the weapon.

Shes good at shooting, more accurate than any commando or mercenary could be.

Sorry Captain, but its better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

The young woman presses a code into her calling machine.

A voice comes through the machine.

"Gunner... I knew you'd come around."

"I have a job for us."

Chapter Text

The Gunner crouches on a platform overlooking the launch bay of the Safe Travels.

Shortly joining her, a Bandit with modified old era gear.

An outdated gun refitted to be up to standard, an old revolving pistol engraved with fancy markings, and a bright blue cowboy hat, over his helmet.

He readjusts his coat as he approaches the stakeout spot.

"You brought your coat?"

"I’m a thief - not a plumber. Of course I brought my coat, the camo suit still works with it on, if thats what you're asking."

The Gunner looks back to the launch bay.

"Thanks for coming Blue"

"You kidding me? it’s the goddamn Contact Light. Think of how much those higher security chests could flip for! And some of the militech on that ship? How-dy Hey!"

"Easy, Blue, long game remember?"

"Don't 'easy' me, kid. A secret mission means low profile – and low security. Besides, everyone is wearing environment suits before we leave orbit. They wont even notice we're there."

"So wheres our in?"

The Bandit produces a black and yellow card from his sleeve."Loading bay." He smiles under his helmet.

The Gunner does not see his expression, but knows it all too well, and is not impressed by his theatrics.

The Bandit disregards her apathy, only thinking on the riches ahead.

"Alright... Lets get to it."

The Bandit activates his camo suit as light begins to bend and warp around him, turning him translucent.

The Gunner sticks to the shadows, as the two of them make their way onto the ship.

Chapter Text

A large metal box, about large enough to tightly fit two people in it, is grabbed by a mechanical hand.

The Cargo Loader's Exo-suit does most of the lifting with assistance from motors and gyroscopes, but some elbow grease is still needed for a job like this.

She lifts the box with one hand, spins the box on her mechanical finger. And lifts a separate box with her other arm.

Shes only supposed to be carrying one box at a time.

An Engineer yells from the other side of the loading bay, tinkering with a mechanical turret."If any of my tech is in there, you're paying the damages!"

"Cool it, will ya egghead?" Shes done this hundreds of times, some people consider loading a dull job. Not to her.

She heaves the second box onto the first, and secures it between her arm and the safety railings of her exo suit.

Her free hand points up to a designated grapple point on the roof, as her fist shoots off and grabs onto it.

Winches whine and churn as she is lifted up with the boxes, she tosses the boxes into the designated spots in the cargo hold,

Her grappled hand lets go as she falls down to the ground.

A resonating *Thunk* echoes through the ship as her titanium arms brace her fall against the steel floor of the ship.

Two small dents show themselves as she lifts her fists.

"Ah shit... MUL-T!"

Suddenly a Yellow box motors out from a door leading further into the ship.

As it approaches it unfolds into a multipurpose repair bot, it wheels to the Loader and stands at attention.

Vrrrrr?

"Got a bit carried away, fix this for me would ya?

The robot gives a mechanical salute and a whirr of affirmation.

Its arms reshuffle into the tools necessary to fix the dents and starts hammering a way.

"Incredible discovery! It looks like things break when you use tools the wrong way." The engineer says sarcastically.

The Loader stares at him with distain, then her face flashes with an idea.

"Hey MUL-T! Show that thing Hiroshi taught ya to the Engineer!"

With a chirp of excitement, the yellow robot flips the Engineer a middle finger.

"Ha!"

"How did-?"

"Hey!" The Commando walks into the bay.

"Captain says we're leaving in 30 Minutes, make sure we're all set by then."

The Commando moves back into the ship.

Chapter Text

The Commando walks onto the bridge, waiting for him there is The Captain, and the 2 hired mercenaries.

One, a cybernetically enhanced Mercenary, Wearing armor that resembles old era samurai warriors. (more resembling film depictions rather than actual history)

And the other, a seemingly un-augmented Huntress with bright red armor and a tech-bow on her back.

Bounty hunters and Mercenaries being obsessed with old era weaponry is a semi common occurrence.

It still didn't lessen The Commando's skepticism of their competence.

He shakes off the thought and salutes the Captain.

"Cargo is almost ready sir."

The Captain puts up a hand of acknowledgement, still being caught of guard by being in a position if authority after all this time.

"Thank you, Commando. Everyone covering their faces as instructed?"

"Yes sir. No ones Identities compromised, this crew effectively never met."

"Speaking of which, You'll all be referring to each other by your codenames. Breach of security will result in detainment by UES, The Commando and I have full authority to do whatever necessary to maintain the secrecy of this mission."

"So serious~" Says the Mercenary, idly toying with his blade.

"Aye, aye Captain." Says the Huntress, eyeing the Mercenary beneath her helmet.

"You are dismissed, we will meet here once we reach our destination."

The others head off to their rooms, leaving only the Captain and the Commando in the bridge.

"Commando, Take the Contact Lights distress beacon, see if you can trace its last known location"

The commando plugs a data pad into a terminal, does some quick math and calculations on the ship computer.

"Coordinates found captain. Theres also a message log."

"Read through it and report back to me once your done, we need to get this ship in the air."

The engines of the Safe Travels Ignite as the ship rockets from the moon it was stationed on.

The Crew retreat to their quarters as the ships ftl Engines kick on, and rockets towards the unknown.

Chapter Text

The Safe Travels slowly comes to a crawl to the last known coordinates of the EUS 'Contact Light'

In the shadow of the 5th celestial body orbiting the Star of Petrichor. EUS protocoll would have this planet be simply named "Petrichor V"

The Captain stares out of the large viewport of the bridge.

The planet is completely dark in front of its star, save for a blue glow around its edge as the star leans more toward it.

It has a foreboding beauty to it.

The Commandos voice comes through a comm system closeby to the captain.

"We're here, Captain. The distress beacon came from this exact coordinate."

The Captain simply stares at the planet before him.

"This planet... It isn't on any star maps we know. This area wasn't even on the Contact Lights route..."

Uncharted planets werent uncommon in the Captains youth, but with humanity spread so far and wide, its practically unheard of nowadays.

The Captain continues to stare the planet. It stares back thoughtlessly.

"Any visuals on the Contact Light?"

"No sir... just debris."

"Any signs of survivors?"

"....No sir. Bioscanner is dark."

"Atmospheric Interfearence?"

"Possibly..."

"Sir... the distress beacon. It mentioned... it mentioned a lot."

"Monsters, and fighting and..."

The Commando sits in the weapons bay next to his comm device. Finished with all his checks he simply sits... waiting...

"...Sir... do you think we're ready?"

"..."

"Sir?"

Chapter Text

"All crew members to the bridge... we've arrived at our destination."

The crew gathers around a holo table, showing a map of the planet.

He points to 2 highlighted areas on the map. "We'll need to split into 2 teams. Team 1 investigates here." He points to a forested mountainside with a red icon of a crashed ship overing over it.

"This is where the largest chunk of the Contact Light crash landed, the satellite images are clear as day, this is where cargo hold and crew quarters are..."

"What about the bridge?", asks the Huntress.

"Unknown... possibly masked by planetary interference... Which reminds me..."

The captain scrolls to a more blurry area of the map, covered in clouds and snow. "Team 2 will go here. We're detecting faint energy signatures coming from below the snow clouds, it could be a survivor camp."

"Thats at least six days travel from the crash site... They must have had a good reason to leave..."

"Monsters." An eager smile forms under the Mercenaries helmet.

"The black box from the contact light reports some... "exotic" wildlife... This planet isn't under any protection, you have free rein to defend yourself."

"Hell yes... I'll join team 1, Captain."

"Hold on... were only 4. 2 per team seems a bit slim... respectfully, Captain"

"Thats why the engineer and loader will be joining us."

The loader snaps out of her daydream. "Who us?..."

"We need all the help we can get down there... Were splitting into 2 teams of 3."

Loader tries to hide a little arm pump of exitement. "yesss..."

"Who will stay behind to operate the ship's systems?"

"Nobody." The captain raises his hand to show a biometric controller, an old system that reads hand movements to input commands. "I'll have full control of the ships systems from the surface."

"Right. I'll join Team 1, Captain. Ill see if I can salvage any of the cargo for our mission.

Not paying attention, The Loader instinctively picks. "Team 2." not as if it was an informed choice, she just doesn't want to be around the buzzkill engineer.

The huntress gives her answer immediately. "Team 2..." After a short silence she feels the need to defend her choice "You'll need help with navigating the blizzard." The huntress seemingly retreats into a memory of some kind.

Perhaps its because they come from similar lines of work, perhaps its just a guess, but Mercenary can tell something is drawing her to the supposed survivor camp. "And here i thought we were gonna have some friendly competition... Should we count and compare once we regroup?"

The challenge brings the Huntress back to reality. "I do not hunt for games Mercenary, I hunt to survive."

"Winner gets the others weapon."

"Ahem... Commando and I will take charge of our respective teams. You may offer your expertise and counsel, but our word will he final. Commando, go with Team 1, I will lead team 2"

"To avoid whatever happened to the Contact Light happening to us, well be dropping to the planet with escaped pods, so carry everything you need on your person."

"What about MUL-T?"

"... what?"

"The MUL-T... he wont fit into an escape pod..."

"I don't think it'd be wise to take a repair bot on a mission like this..."

"it's smart for a MUL-T unit" Which is especially strange considering MUL-T's don't have learning chips. "But it still isn't made for extreme environments"

"We can keep a communication link with the MUL-T, in case my remote controls of the ship fails. The MUL-T will stay behind."

"Damn :("

Some time later...

6 Escape pods jettison out of the Safe Travels, all falling down to the surface of Petrichor V

They split into 2 groups. Commando, Mercenary and Engineer falling toward a forested mountainside, close to a crashed wreckage. The Captain, Huntress and Loader head toward snow covered highlands, investigating a mysterious energy reading.

MUL-T sits idly folded in a charging station, startled awake by a distant *Thunk* "...uuugghhh..." Coming from the Cargo bay of the Safe Travels.

The bot folds open with an inquisitive chirp?, as it starts moving toward the source of the noise.

Chapter Text

Railgunner has a blinding headache as she stumbles out of the cargo container. The Pod-less hibernation supplement worked, although the lack of fluid intake usally supplied by said pods does certainly have its side effects. "Fuck... my head..."

A container closeby suddenly gains a sparking light, It traces a vaguely door shaped hole on the containers side, leaving molten metal in its wake. It slams open

Bandit steps out of the container, dusts off his hat and cloak, unnafected by the journey. The good thing about picking a sealed container is that it keeps the moisture in during hypersleep.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty! "

"So... Stars-damn... loud..."

Railgunner was unaware of this, and is currently suffering from a hypersleep hangover. (Mostly caused by dehydration)

"Go find the kitchen, Gunner. Some water and electrolytes should fix you up."

"What about-"

"I know the sound of escape pods, friend. I counted 6, which means all of them already left, leaving the whole ship to us."

"Great...", She stumbles past Bandit toward the doorway into the ship.

She reaches the doorway only to be surprised by a Large yellow construction bot on the other side.

"GAH!", Railgunner falls on her back.

"A MUL-T! Boy am i glad to see one of you." Bandit walks up to the Robot cassually.

"Something burned a hole into that container over there, friend." He points to the container he just burned a hole through.

"Would you mind patching that up? It should be spotless, like nothing ever happened to it."

MUL-T simply stares at the Bandit for a short while... Then tilts its head in confusion. [It doesnt recognise the crew member]

Bandit stares at it for a little bit. "Hello..? Are you busted or something?"

The MUL-T moves its head back, disregarding the conflicting logic and reverting to its base programming. It shakes its head, giving its denial of being broken.

"Well alright then... go fix that hole!"

MUL-T gives an affirming salute and a whirr and goes to fix the hole in the container.

"Weird ass robot..."

***

Railgunner is on the kitchen floor, with her helmet to her side, her face covered by her hood and her dirty blonde hair peeking out from the shadows.

Empty bottles of water and blue cans of NR-G Sports Soda litter the floor around her.

She hears the Bandit approaching the kitchen, she regains her composure and puts on her helmet.

"You didnt exactly warn me about hypersleep hangovers..."

"Its supposed to be common knowledge to anyone whos traveled before."

The Gunner stays silent at the reply, come to think of it, this is probably her first time on a non comercial spacecraft. It feels much different, new, exiting.

"Im gonna go fetch my gear..."

Bandit stops her in her tracks with a gesture. "Hold on!... check this out... MUL-T?"

MUL-T wheels into the kitchen with Railgunners Gigantic backpack and railgun in arms. "Beep!"

"Woah... Thanks... How did he-?"

"I was snooping around the place looking for anything I could swipe... found the Engineers quarters with this." Bandit hands Railgunner a couple piece of papers with scribbles, diagrams and math on it. All hovering around an ilustration of the MUL-T's head.

It shows that Inside the MUL-T's head is a large chip, effectively the robots brain. Railgunner cant make sense of it all fully, but she has slightly more knowledge than Bandit from tinkering with the electronics of her Railgun. "It looks like theres two chips here actually... One for the Regular MUL-T functions and programming... and the other is labled, "Learning Module"... Usually its disconnected, but this MUL-T has his turned on i think."

"Ohh... so it can learn new stuff? Like those chef bots when you ask them to look at a new recipe and cook it?"

"It also means they remember things they learn, and see, Blue..."

"Like us being here..."

Railgunner nods her head, then she looks to the oblivious MUL-T, almost in pitty.

"Thats a shame... well it was fun while it lasted." Bandit, takes his revolver out of its holster and points it to the MUL-T's head.

BANG

The shot echoes through the cold halls of the Safe Travels