Chapter 2

My wristwatch ticked past midnight as we cleared the tree line. The report would span two days, a bureaucratic footnote to whatever happened here.

We stood side by side and gazed at the wreckage on the ground. It had been a ghastly sight from up in the sky, but now it looked even more dismal. Everything lay in pieces, smashed, charred black, or still aflame. Wires, bulkheads, and other sections of the vessel were scattered everywhere around us. But there was one large chunk of the ship that was still intact; I suspected that we could climb inside if my hunch was right.

We all surveyed the wreckage for a few moments, trying to make sense of it all. It was clear that whatever had sent this vessel careening into the forest had exploded close enough to the surface that most of the wreckage hadn't been scattered too far away from the point of impact. “Let's fan out,” I said after a few moments of contemplation. “See if we can find a way in there.”

I'd no sooner gotten the words out of my mouth than Rafaya's tablet gave off a beep and started vibrating wildly on her belt. She pulled it free and tapped open the screen, eyes widening as she read whatever it was that had just come through. “Sun Jin forces have been dispatched,” she said flatly. “They should be here in roughly thirty minutes. We need to hurry up and get out of here before they arrive.” She stowed the tablet and gave me stare for a moment to see my reaction.

Shaking my head a bit, I moved to one side and began scouring for any sign of an entry point while Chambers took off in another direction towards what looked like some sort of hatch at the back end of one piece of metal debris from the ship's hull. I kept my rifle at chest, but ready.

"Rafa," I murmured.

"Yes, sir?"

"Go join Chambers."

"Understood," she responded quickly and quietly, before beginning a jog to catch up to him.

“Sir,” Chambers said over the communications, “I think I can get into the cargo hold. No visible fire, but it looks like one may have been here earlier. I was able to force the door open and I can see around. It's all banged up and empty, but there aren't any blockages that I can see.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Permission to go deeper inside? I want to check the interior out. It looks like this area is relatively intact inside.”

Rafaya chimed in, "I'm coming with you, Chambers."

I stayed quiet as I pulled myself up onto an extension of the superstructure so that I could search for another way in. From my vantage point above, I finally spotted the front windows of what must be a cockpit or command deck and felt a glimmer of hope. "Granted," I replied. "Let me know if you need me. Just be careful. I'll look for another way in."

Chambers and Rafaya had gone ahead, leaving me to find my own way. As I circled the wreckage, the twisted metal reminded me of the Shrike Program's grueling missions. Of Kaisara. A flash of memory: a high-rise rooftop on Amber Krowe, her face contorted in an agony so profound it felt like it could tear the city apart. She was more than a mentor, and that memory was a scar I couldn't stop touching. I shook it off, focusing on the hull.

I was so lost in my memories that I didn't even realize I had found what I was looking for until I was standing right in front of it. The side hatch to another cargo area was partially open, wires and circuitry hanging out of it like entrails. It was a tight fit, but I managed to squeeze through the opening and get a good view of the immediate surroundings.

“Sir! I’ve got movement.” Chamber's voice.

I stopped what I was doing and walked backwards to try and wiggle my way out of the same entry I had came in. “Movement? Survivors? Rafaya go-“

Before I could finish I heard the sounds of rifle fire over the radio. I immediately tried to turn around in the tight space, but my gear got snagged on some hanging debris. I growled and was able to finally free myself as the gunfire continuing. Finally free of the doorway and in the open, I started running down the length of the superstructure towards the rear end, where the cargo bay was. I ran over the top of the flat debris and tried my best to navigate around some of the destroyed parts.

“Where are you,” shouted Rafaya into the radio. There was no reply. “Forza? Are you on your way?”

“I’m almost there.” I slid down a large flat surface and made my way down the side until I was close enough to the ground to just drop the rest of the way. I landed firmly on my feet with a thud and got up with my rifle in hand, looking down the rifles sight as I approached Rafaya at the back gate. She looked frantic.

“Forza. He’s not responding.”

I took a deep breath, nodded firmly at Rafa, and stepped through the large open exterior door. I had to be careful; the door was surrounded by razor sharp jagged metal shards twisted and reaching outward. I had my rifle raised as I clicked on the flashlight at the end of it. The bright beam illuminated the area, picking up every detail in its path. The dust and ash kicked up from our presence rained from the ceilings. The hall was just as Chambers described: intact but warped. The floor canted at a sickening angle, slick with something I couldn’t see in the dark. Dust and ash rained from the ceiling, kicked up by our entry. Every step was a risk, every shadow a threat. We had to move fast, but the mangled corridor forced us to be careful.

I took a step forward, Rafaya close behind me. After we walked in, she had stowed her rifle and slung forward her shotgun with an extra flashlight attached. Probably a good decision in case we have a close encounter in the hallway. We moved ahead cautiously.

“What's going on, Forza?”

“I don't know yet,” I said. “Where is Chambers?”

“I'm not sure. We'll find him.” I slowly knelt over a bit, loosed a shoulder strap from my backpack and let it slide down my arm onto the ground. I slung my rifle aside, and from my pack took one of the two standard Systems Alliance military issue close quarter swords from its sheath, leaving the other for now. “How far ahead of you was he?”

She took a few deep breaths and looked at me with uncertainty, watching me ready my pack and get back into position. “Swords? In here?”

“You have no idea what I can do with a sword.” The truth was, I had only used a gun in extremely rare cases; before Tier, I'd tested some of the most advanced close quarters combat technology and weapons known to exist, or rather, unknown to exist. My stomach clenched, a cold, involuntary response to the things I'd done under the Sun Jin's researchers' orders against my will. I forced myself to focus and take a deep breath. Sure, I was okay with a rifle but nowhere near an average soldier's level. The average missions we'd done together had never put us in an unknown danger like this.

The situation had changed since then. I was now equipped with these inferior swords, this rifle, and certain aptitudes that I had worked hard to conceal from anyone else. Keeping others safe and alive had become my priority. I had taken on the responsibility of protecting Shiinx and our team. During any Shrike mission, usually by myself, except for when I trained with... ...Kaisara's face appearing in my mind as I recalled the vision of her standing on the cargo ramp before I jumped off, her hair being blown across her face in the wind. Her eyes, this time, staring me down.

We had ventured deeper into the structure by this point. There were sparks shooting from various wires, walls that seemed bent or crooked, and several ceiling panels that were either hanging or laying on the ground amongst the debris, but despite its disheveled appearance, it continued to be structurally sound.

“Let’s stay close, Forza," Raf spoke in a worried tone. I could tell she was scared for her boyfriend's safety; it was a natural feeling.

“I'm right here," I replied in a somber voice. It was obvious to me that something had happened to Chambers and he wasn't responding anymore. A clear sign of trouble. I feared this wouldn't end well for either of them.

Sparks flickered from some loose wiring protruding from the wall up ahead, and we could see that the path was coming to an end. The floor was exploded upward from a sharp rock puncture that twisted the metal into a wall. There was, however, a double-door opening to the right that from what I’d figured about the anatomy of this ship must be the primary underbelly cargo hold. One of the two doors was jammed open, mangled, but the other was bent in place and wasn’t going anyplace. We approached. It was indeed the cargo hold, full of open-carriage all-terrain vehicles and tossed cargo containers. It was obvious that they had seen better days; the carriages were bent and battered from the crash, and several of the machine guns mounted in the rear had been torn off. The emergency red track lighting along the corners of the room provided minimal illumination but was mostly drowned out from the flickering of a small, isolated fire coming from a rupture in the wall. It was a complete mess.

“Look,” she shouted as she ran inside, passing me.

I shouted Rafaya’s name as I stepped back and quickly surveyed the corners and dark places of the hold from where I stood. Her flashlight illuminated what appeared to be a body in the center of the room. I could see it was Chamber, lying there in a pool of blood. Something terrible had happened here... and then the wave hit me.

I could fell it. The heavy weight of time coming to a standstill. Raf, frozen in time, was running away from me with a fear-stricken face towards the body in full stride. Time stood still and I saw it all - the setting laid out before me. The amount of running paces from the doorway to the body, and the distance from the body to anything else around it. The lighting in the room and its strung-out debris. The corpse was spread out before me like a morbid offering, and like a seasoned traveler of death, I could see the artistry at work. It was too perfect to be just chance. The artist chooses not only the right brush for the painting but mixed the colors themselves, and time stood still.

My eyes were locked onto the back of her head, the spark from some damage elsewhere failing to pull my focus. No... I was locked on her. I stared at her hair flying in the air from her stride. I stared at her, watching her move further away. In this moment, she was racing at full speed into a portal to hell, and yet I had to find a way to cherish it. I had to remember our times together; how we would all laugh together. How Chambers would lift her up high up by her hips and swing her around wild dancing. This creature. This woman. She was kind. She was nice. Unlike me, she was the good guy in the story of fate. She deserved to be happy, to live a full life with Chambers, to smile and laugh. I had to stare at her as long as I could because ... I knew I wouldn't be fast enough. I knew she was about to die.

I screamed her name, my vision still locked. I didn't need to focus on what I saw out of the corner of my eye atop the cargo containers. I knew the way this game was to play out, as they darted from their perch directly into Rafa, shoving her with all their might and pinning her to the ground before she could even scream. The glint of sharp steel crossed through her body before I could close in. Blood rage. I yelled in an animalistic mess of wrath and fury as I charged towards them with no plan or regard for consequence. It was... just us now.

They began to upright themselves. As I drew nearer, I could make out what was between the glint of Rafa's flashlight and the dark atmosphere. It was a woman, resembling Rafa or Shiinx in her felinity, having a tall figure but one which exuded a larger presence. Her braided long blonde hair was disheveled with dirt and muck. She seemed filthy, wearing a mishmash of stained torn cloth covered in dirt and dried blood over her aged bone-colored half-plate armor. She had been crouching before Rafaya but now shifted her head to face me. Her green eyes fixed. She looked like a lioness, or tigress. I couldn’t tell. Mighty and proud, but clearly a hunter. This amber-furred beast did this on her own.