Suspended in darkness, Ravine floated motionless in the water-filled pod, her body waiting like a dormant machine for the spark of life. Her eyes remained closed, her consciousness trapped somewhere between existence and void.

  A bolt of energy suddenly surged through her system. She gasped, drawing her first breath, her eyes snapping open to scan the impenetrable blackness surrounding her. Her hand moved instinctively to her head as fragmented memories surfaced—being shipped from the Mother Ship, the journey that had brought her here.

  "Where am I?" she whispered, her voice carrying a flat, monotonous tone. "Why is everything so dark?"

  As if responding to her questions, the pod erupted with vivid lights that danced across its interior walls. A screen materialized before her, displaying the image of an armored android with flowing white hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes. The figure snapped to attention in a crisp salute.

  "Good, you are finally awake," the android announced.

  "Who are you?" Ravine asked, studying the figure on the screen.

  "I am Irene, captain of the 11th Squadron. According to the squad data, you would be Ravine."

  Ravine lifted her hands, examining her synthesized bronze skin in the pod's illumination. The artificial flesh felt foreign yet familiar.

  Irene's voice remained calm and measured. "It appears we have been separated during our landing due to the inhabitants' interference. We will need to regroup at the location designated by Mother Phoenix."

  Ravine nodded, then asked in her emotionless tone, "What about the others?"

  A sigh escaped Irene's lips. "Unfortunately, out of the seven that were sent, two have already perished. One got her pod shot down—her name was Minerva. The other we tried to resurrect during landing, but he was already gone." She paused. "His name was Leng."

  "I see. Very unfortunate," Ravine replied with mechanical detachment.

  "To tell you the truth, we thought you would be our third casualty," Irene continued. "The last bolt of energy you felt was our third and final attempt to bring you back."

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  "What would have happened if I didn't wake up?"

  Irene shrugged. "According to protocol given to us by Mother Phoenix, we would need to deactivate your pod and leave you for the next generation squadron to collect your data in order to move forward with the mission, as well as report back to Mother Phoenix."

  She leaned forward slightly. "You still remember our mission, don't you?"

  Ravine gripped her head as the information reassembled itself in her consciousness. "I do. We have to uncover as much information as possible about what happened to the humans here and report back to Mother Phoenix, so she can learn from her mistake and prevent what happened to them from happening to us as well."

  A faint smile crossed Irene's features. "Good. It seems your data is still intact. Now, not far from where you are, you should be able to meet two of our members—Zhon, our engineer, and Aria, our navigator. Make sure you stick together, as we have very little information about our current location. According to collected data, we have landed in a country humans used to call..." she paused, "Russia."

  "Russia, huh?" Ravine muttered.

  Irene clapped her hands together decisively. "In any case, I will transfer the data to you as soon as I receive it. Now pick your weapon and make sure to regroup with the other members. Captain Irene out!"

  The transmission ended, and the pod's hatch began to open. Dazzling sunlight poured in, temporarily blinding Ravine as her optical sensors adjusted. When her vision cleared, she found herself gazing upon a field abundant with vegetation and vibrant, colorful flowers stretching in every direction.

  She stepped out of the pod, and the protective water bubble that had sustained her burst, releasing its contents onto the earth below. The soft grass felt strange against her synthetic skin as she activated her light armored suit. The red plating materialized around her body, designed for agility at the expense of defensive capability.

  "Well, time to choose my weapon," she sighed, pressing a button in the center of her palm. A chest emerged from the pod with mechanical precision, revealing three weapons: a lance-spear, brace knuckles, and a chained greatsword.

  She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "The spear is definitely more my style, but the greatsword would be an advantage if I ever got crowded by enemies." Her eyes focused on her inventory storage display, which read "36."

  "Hmm, let's see." She activated her eye scanners and examined each weapon's specifications. The lance registered at 15 pounds, the brace knuckles at 5 pounds, and the greatsword at 25 pounds.

  She sighed again. "I figured. I guess I'll have to make do with the spear and the brace knuckles."

  She selected both weapons on her interface screen, and they were automatically absorbed into her pocket inventory through a port in the back of her armor. The greatsword sealed itself back into the pod's storage.

  Turning toward the desolate landscape, she activated her scanner. A yellow line and a green line appeared in her field of vision, overlaying the terrain with navigational data. The yellow line indicated the rally point 30 kilometers to the north, while the green line pointed to a location 17 kilometers southwest.

  I guess I'm going to have a discussion with Irene about what she considers to be 'not far,' she thought. Seventeen kilometers, my ass... Better get going then.