The Voyager was a mass of gleaming silver, glinting mirror-like in the sun. It was the size of a tick in comparison to Cautlus, a tiny shape easily lost amongst the red and white of the frozen wasteland below. The Voyager slid through the dark, eerie and silent. Without the influence of gravity, it moved like something wholly unnatural, like a specter, and the ship was a forgotten corpse ready for possession.
“Take us in. Keep it slow,” Pressly said. “Sharpen up those sides,” he told the AI flight assistant. Outside, the engines were cut off. CO2 thrusters shot whispers of mist from tiny exhaust holes throughout the ship’s exterior. These were micro adjustments. They tuned the Voyager’s approach. Soon, the derelict ship was close, a mere arm’s reach, then closer still.
The two ships’ airlocks lined up together with mathematical precision. However, there was no way to fully close the gap between the two airlocks. Only station docking bays had the ability to vacuum seal a ship’s airlock. The boarding party would have to hop across the small gap in Zero G while exposed to the vacuum of space.
“Ready, ma’am,” the pilot’s voice crackled in Juno’s ear. She was in the bay with her squad. They were suiting up.
The SSLPU Series 1 Tactical Armor set is the armor base for all modern human military forces. The Mark 5 is the most advanced suit on the market. It is a mix of heavy plastics and reflexive aluminum rods that, when impacted by a high velocity object, flexes at the position of the impact, effectively catching the bullet before it penetrates. It is made from layers and layers of plastic scaling, hinged with aluminum rods that, when electrical, or kinetic energy is transferred through, retracts the scales into a strict pattern, hardening that part of the armor. Unfortunately, once this happens the armor turns into standard plastic plating.
Remarkably though, after a period of time the bullet will work out naturally as the rods realign. Depending on the kinetic energy of the impact, the process may take hours, or even days. Some stronger impacts may leave the armor completely melded together. This is why most armor platings are made in segments and plates to be easily removable when discarded.
The plastics used are complex and heavy. Though not as strong as metal armor or synthetic fiber plating on its own, when used as kinetic dampening, the plastic layers serve as a stronger, lighter, and cheaper substitute.
Invented and manufactured by humans before their expansion into the rest of the galaxy, manufacturing of the armor was highly expensive, and time consuming before the Prime Discovery. With the resources of more advanced species at their fingertips, human manufacturing of the armor has skyrocketed. Now, the SSLPU series 1, better known as the Jupiter series, is the most popular armor, among those who can afford it, in the known galaxy.
Juno and Koffi already had their little disagreement over whether the First Officer should join in on the expedition or not. Koffi, of course, was adamant about her staying aboard, citing the captain, or acting commander, shouldn’t ever leave the ship, for safety reasons. Juno on the hand argued that Captain Carter was still very much aboard the ship. Besides, it didn’t matter. Juno was First Officer. Her word was final.
Juno finished suiting up before the others. With her were two crewmates. Expeditions Specialist Master Sergeant Hadden was a handsome man for a soldier. He was a model more than a warrior, with muscles bulging, thick bushy close cut hair, dark brown eyes, and a square jaw that made his face poster material. His weathered demeanor however, showed he had seen his fair share of hard years.
The second crewmate was a wiry woman, slender like a twig, but with coarse muscles hiding just beneath the surface. Whenever she moved, tough muscle shifted beneath her skin. She knew how to move.
Her dark, almost black, brown hair was wrapped neatly into a tight bun. A young face, maybe close to thirty, but not above it, gave off the impression that she did not liked to be messed with. This was Ground Specialist, Mackenzie. Juno heard around the bay that she went by Mackie.
Like Juno, Mackenzie wore the standard Mark Five Jupiter armor. Like hers, it was the standard straight black. After Juno was done with hers, she helped Mackenzie prep her suit.
There were two helmets for the Jupiter Five: an exploratory helmet with a wide glass viewport for expansive sight. Gold lined the outside of the glass to regulate temperature. A secondary helmet was made for combat, with an armored faceplate, and two small eye holes instead of a glass face. Mackenzie slipped on the exploratory helmet.
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Her head popped up inside. Juno latched the piece to the chest plate. Mackenzie met her eyes.
“Good to have you going with us ma’am. I appreciate a leader who leads from the front.” Juno knocked on the glass with her knuckle.
“Likewise. It’s getting stuffy inside this ship.” Mackenzie went to the lockers to finish gearing up.
“You know, ma’am, if you’re already sea sick then you’re gonna have a hell of a time aboard this vessel. Exploration groups aren’t exactly known for their shore leave options,” Hadden chided as he stepped up to her. He towered over Juno.
Instead of the Jupiter Armor, Hadden wore a different set. It was mostly metal plating, with thick metal molded to fit his specific body type. It looked heavy, like he weighed four hundred pounds. And it was blue. Odd, Juno noted. The standards are black. How did he get away with that under Carter’s eye.
She fiddled with his suit, securing different pieces.
“Yeah. So I can imagine. You’ll just have to stop sometimes and let me out to stretch my legs.” He laughed.
“Yes ma’am.” For some reason she could feel his eyes on her. He slipped on his helmet. It was a semi-combat helmet with a faceplate of glass; a mix between exploration and combat, it seemed. She could barely see him in there.
“What are you expecting to find in there, Hadden? A tank?”
“No ma’am. Just like being prepared. That plastic armor might be light, but one bullet and it’s nothing more than a dinner plate.”
“Yeah. At least I won’t fall through the ship.”
“Don’t worry about me ma’am. You could drop me from orbit and I wouldn’t feel a thing.” She chuckled. That she could believe.
She slipped on her exploratory helmet, feeling it squeeze over her head. The air conditioners kicked on, whirring. Fresh air massaged her face. Hadden double checked her fastenings.
He had to look down to see her. Juno was not considered short. As a matter of fact, some of the men she’d “known” in her younger years had been so intimidated by her they used her height as an excuse to break it off. She was five ten…
He on the other hand was huge. Juno figured this was what shorter women like Mackenzie felt like on average.
At the lockers, Hadden and Mackenzie drew out rifles and ammunition. In contrast, Juno pulled her sidearm, and latched onto her belt. It was a perfect fit.
“You guys expecting resistance for this rescue mission?”
“Ma’am?”
“We don’t know if anyone’s even alive. Unless you think we’re gonna shoot our way out of an empty ship, I suggest you put those back.”
“With all due respect ma’am, you never know what you’re gonna run into. Out this far, there could be pirates, hostile species, god knows what. I’d rather have it and not need it.”
“I understand your concern, Specialist Hadden, but it would look bad if we boarded the ship on our first interspecies meeting, and started waving around assault rifles. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying in this situation, we’re gonna have to eat the risk. Stow it.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Of course, ma’am.” The two pulled out side arms instead, following Juno to the elevators like puppies to their mother.
“We’re prepped and ready, Pressly. What’s the situation?” Juno asked.
“We’re docked, ma’am. Ready to board.”
“Good. We’re headed to docking two.” The three of them entered the bay elevator.
As the doors shut, Hadden remarked, “I heard you were from Earth, ma’am.”
“That’s right. Born on the islands near Japan.”
“Me too, ma’am. I’m from Earth, I mean. I was born in a little border region between Texas and Mexico.”
“So what? That's supposed to make us friends?” Juno mocked.
“Uh, no, ma’am,” Hadden replied with careful deliberation. He ran through what he said trying to find something he did wrong. “Just nice to see another Earthling. That’s all.” Mackenzie felt the air shift too. So that’s how it’s gonna be, she thought to herself.
The elevator was on its way before Juno tapped Hadden’s chest with her knuckle. “That was a joke, Specialist.”
“Right, ma’am,” he said with a noticeable sigh. Machenzie, on the other hand, cracked open a laugh.
“Good one, Commander,” she chuckled to herself as the elevator rose.