The pilot spoke over the intercom: ‘Approaching station. Looks like it took heavy damage. Looks like battle damage. Both ballistics and energy impacts. No signs of movement. No communications established. Ready to commence void jumps in two minutes.’

As the pilot finished speaking, he began the approach procedures. The Ciklops began shaking and turning. Indicating that the auto systems were putting it in parallel park to the station. As soon as the shaking stopped, Dane unbuckled himself and pushed himself out of his seat. The rest of the men followed, got their gear together and made way for the rear hatch. It was show time.

‘You heard the pilot, lads. Everyone switch to squad comms channel if you haven’t already. Remember, all inter-team communications will run between Emil and me exclusively. If you got something you think needs to be shared, you share it with me. Voss will be my second in command. Wago is Emil’s second in command. Anything happens to me or Emil, they take over.’

Voss was caught a bit off guard by Dane placing him second in command. A bold move by Dane when half the recruits were still a bit on the fence on whether he should even still be here after what happened with Hiyo and the void bike during the last time they went into the void. It didn’t matter though. The void wasn’t the place to dissolve into petty squabbles about who deserved most to be the leader. If Dane said he was second in command, he was second in command, even if the other men all hated his guts. There was no margin for error on Voss’ part though. For if he screwed up again, he knew the reckoning would come after today was over. Several months of camaraderie and shared hardships may have given them the collective illusion of having entered a new life, deep down these men were still Fosfat’s most dangerous. Each one of them was here because of a tough life that led them to bad choices.

On the other hand, Dane’s choice for him made sense. He was the only other recruit besides Dane that was aware the Fifth had laid down an ambush for them…

His thoughts got interrupted by Dane’s voice. ‘One last thing before we jump, men. I just wanted to let you know that no matter what happens today. I’m proud and grateful I got to train alongside you lot. I couldn’t have wished for a better class. Even if your hygiene standards are abysmal. Now brace yourselves, men. We jump as soon as the hatch is fully open. For the Fifth!’

‘For the Fifth!’ it clattered through Voss’ intercom. Voss bemusedly thought to himself ‘It’s obvious which one of the two squad leaders is the senior one.’. It was for the best. Emil was a smart and capable man, but he was no Dane.

The hatch slowly began to open. ‘Security check.’ Dane said. Voss checked if everything was attached to him properly and if he was secured properly to the men next to him. ‘Everything clear.’ Dane said. Voss grabbed his neighbors’ hands.

The hatch was now opened far enough to reveal the station to them. They were faced with an abysmal scene. The fortified station was heavily damaged. Most of its guns had been taken out. Its hull had been breached on several places by shell impacts. The scene looked like the leftovers from a warzone. Voss made a quick assessment of the H shaped situation. Three of the wings had sustained heavy damage, with the fourth one having taken lighter damage. The central axle of the station was relatively unharmed as well. They were set to jump onto the part of the station that was most heavily damaged. On the least damaged part, large letters were visible, indicating the station's name. Only a few letters remained visible due to the sustained damage. The first two were R and E. The third letter had been painted on beneath a, now wiped out, defence turret and was no longer visible. The fourth and fifth letters were N and H. Any letters beyond that were indiscernible due to the heavy damage sustained to the wing they had been written on. R,E,something,N,H... His thoughts were interrupted when A green light next to the hatch began to flash.

‘Go go go!’ Dane shouted. Voss felt his legs move beneath him as if they operated by their own inclination. This jump was different from their last ones. Faster, more strained. He could tell by the way the men held his hands, that they were tense too. Nobody wanted to admit it, but they were all afraid. It was for real now. They were on their own and they couldn’t afford any mistakes.

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Voss had no idea if Dane was as scared as the rest of them, but if he was, he was excellently hiding it from them. His voice sounded as calm as ever. As if he was fully in control of the situation and knew exactly what was going on. ‘We land in about sixty seconds, men. Standard push and spread five seconds before landing. Hook in, catch red squad and move out according to plan. Jabs, I want that rifle in your hands and ready to shoot at all times. Anything moves, shoot first, ask questions later. Leave the attempts at establishing contact to red squad. Keep chatter to a minimum.’

They were nearing the station now. Voss waited for the signal. Once they got it, he pushed his squadmates away and focused on grabbing the only maintenance safety rail in sight. He managed to get a hold of it with his left hand and hooked himself in with his right. Everything went smoothly this time. Three out of five squad members had managed to hook in. The only ones who hadn’t were Jabs, who had landed smoothly anyhow with rifle in hand, as instructed, and Hoog, who didn’t need to hook in because he had gripped the rail with his bionic arm. It would take ten men minimum to pry his hand open away from that rail.

‘Commence catch maneuver.’

Voss and the others turned around. Red squad was nearing in on them fast. Voss grabbed Atis’ hand and pulled him in. Dane, Hoog and Tick also caught members of red squad. Leaving Jabs free to shoot at anything trying to encroach on them. Landing had been a success. The real mission could now begin.

Dane wasted no time and began barking orders. ‘Everybody decouple and detach from the station. Remember formation. We move fast. Let’s go!’

Voss did as he was told. He understood why they were supposed to detach from the station, but it still instilled a sense of dread in him. He wasn’t a big fan of the idea that they were now decoupled from any kind of safety. Despite the rigorous training from the previous months, they were still inexperienced void walkers. It didn’t help that the last time they were out in the void, it had resulted in the near death of two recruits. The potential threats present on this station were bad enough without having to worry about helplessly drifting off into space.

He drew his revolver. Not that he expected the fighting would happen out here. Void battles seemed unlikely during their exam. Too risky to simulate. One piece of shrapnel hits your suit and you’re dead. Training exercise or no training exercise. Good luck finding instructors willing to sign up for that. No, the fighting would happen inside the station. He was convinced of that. But where? How many enemy operatives would there be? How well equipped would they be and what kind of strategy would they be using? Those were the real questions. Questions to which he had no answer. They were going in blind.

Dane spoke over their intercoms. ‘Team red has entered the station. No contact made thus far. Stay vigilant, men. This whole thing smells like a voidcaper raid to me. Switch to loose formation, sweeper pattern. Be prepared for ambushes and traps, men.’

Voss took up position at the far left flank. Jabs was at the far right and Dane in center. No matter where the danger came from, there’d be a gun pointing back at it.

He understood why Dane had opted for a sweeping pattern, but it meant he now had to move over a pockmarked terrain made up of pipes, scanners, solar panels and other exterior systems. It didn’t help that the part he was traveling across had suffered several impacts. Creating multiple craters and even a hull breach. The hull breach was especially dangerous since there could be enemy operatives hiding within it. No easy terrain to cross, especially considering he was weightless and only had one free arm available, having to hold his gun at all times.

Voss quickly established a pattern that worked for him. Jump towards a good spot, scan for danger, look for the next spot to jump to, repeat. Every few repetitions he checked if he was keeping up with the others and whether they were still in proper formation.

They were nearing the first of the two antennas. It looked like a mess. No shots had hit it directly, but it seemed to have been hit with several pieces of shrapnel that had ricocheted off the station. It would be a miracle if this antenna was still operational with the amount of damage it had sustained.

Dane’s voice broke the absolute silence of the void they had been in since landing. ‘I want Hoog and Tick up in that tower. See if it can be salvaged to at least emit short range. We need to know if they’re emitting emergency broadcasts or if we can establish contact with any crew on board of the station. Jabs, Voss and I will take guard in triangle formation around the antenna.’

Voss moved towards the spot overlooking the direction they had come from.His revolver didn’t have the accuracy that Jabs’ and Dane’s L-rifles had so it was best if he overlooked the safest, and shortest direction. His helmet flashed. Nine bars remaining.

Dane continued. ‘Red squad reported in. Still no contact made. A-wing of the station was completely deserted. They’re moving into B-wing now. Apparently the insides of the station are a complete mess. Something awful took place here. Red leader reported ample evidence of both gunfights and explosives having occurred inside the station. Whatever happened here was big and nasty, lads. Let’s hurry this thing up and get out of here as fast as we can. Hoog, what’s the status on this damned comms tower?’

Hoog replied hesitantly. ‘Eh, hard to tell, Dane. I think there may be a way to work around the damage enough that we can get a signal on this thing. It will be a weak signal and it won’t be aimed properly, but it should be enough to make it to the Ciklops for reading.’

‘Good then get to it. We need to find out asap what happened here. Red squad's lives and ours may depend on it.’