[Sanctum, Sigurd’s Cradle, Decoris System

Terminus Systems space

SSV LOONA above planet’s orbital space] 

/ 

Jinsoul’s hands moved on autopilot while the rest of her body remained still. She was deep in concentration, evident in her stoic face. The sound of sterile gloves snapping onto her wrists echoed through the room. She handled the briefcase with utmost care, its contents still unknown to them. Whatever was inside, it was important enough to force Cerberus to go after the innocent civilians working at the mining outpost. 

Not like it was the first time Cerberus had done it before... 

A frown graced her lips as the thought phased by, breaking her stoic mask of professionalism briefly before it returned. 

Still, no matter how professional she was, she still couldn’t push away the feelings associated with it. The disturbing fact that they were once again dealing with Cerberus, she repressed an involuntary shudder. Jinsoul eyed the briefcase and found herself frowning, again. Despite the battered exterior, the briefcase held together with a secured encryption system. 

No matter. This was one of her specialties. 

And Heejin’s. 

The Commander turned to look at the Ensign next to her. She looked eager, if not a bit nervous. 

Jinsoul addressed the younger soldier with an analysis of the case’s material. “Standard encryption, Rosenkov manufactured, edition 6.7.” 

Heejin was shaken out of her reverie, nodding as she began inputting the information into the terminal. The Commander and her were tasked with extracting whatever was inside the briefcase. She handled the hacking and the encryption process while Jinsoul would be managing the physical extraction. 

Haseul was also in the room with them. As their superior, she had to oversee the entire process. Alliance protocols and all that. (But even if there wasn’t, she’d still be here for all of their safety. Jinsoul liked to call her Mama Bird every now and then.) 

After a short amount of time elapsed, after numerous loading progress bars and heavy paragraphs of coded sequences, Heejin spoke up from the terminal. 

“Data retrieved, finally. Decryption in 3...2...1…” 

Everybody in the room unconsciously tensed up at the countdown. After the count, the briefcase’s security lock lit up in green before unlocking itself with a long hiss. White smoke unfurled from the gap of the case, leaving the occupants in the room with the feeling of ‘cold and ominous and unsettling’. 

Jinsoul looked to Haseul for direction and only moved to open the case after getting a firm nod. The remaining two soldiers waited with bated breath as she popped open the briefcase. 

Immediately, a blue shimmer lit up the entire room as the case was unfolded. It quickly prompted chaos to follow. 

Haseul cried out in alarm, yelling at Jinsoul to close the briefcase urgently. Which she did as soon as the blue light appeared. She knew what it was, she had dealt with it before. Jinsoul’s arms trembled as she held the briefcase down, like her body weight was the only thing between them and death. 

Which it might as well be, Jinsoul’s hands trembled as they fumbled to lock the case up. 

“Lock it down! Security clearance level 5, no one below this level has authorization to open.” 

Haseul urgently rattled her order out to Heejin, who was a bit frazzled at the sudden outcome but nonetheless set up the Captain’s request into the terminal and the ship’s system. 

Jinsoul spoke and the confusion and alarm was clear in her voice. “That was… Element Zero?!” 

Haseul nodded with a grim expression. She kept a steely gaze on the briefcase, almost expecting it to jump out and explode. “Yeah, and a pure raw mineral deposit by the looks of it.” 

Element Zero, also known as ‘eezo’, was an ultra-radioactive and ultra-rare element that was the source of power for many of this century’s technology and development. Including space flight and FTL (faster than light) drive. 

Which also explains Haseul’s adamant command to keep the briefcase closed. If not properly shielded, eezo could easily cause terminal cancer merely through radiation. You could walk by a rock of raw eezo and be diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer the next day. Humanity had to learn that the hard way in the very early stages of its space exploration age. 

Jinsoul released a long sigh, feeling like she aged a decade. “This might explain why Cerberus was on Sanctum.” 

The briefcase clicked as a new encryption and lock was set. Haseul rubbed her face, trying to smooth out the furrow in her brow. She could already feel the stress building from the newly revealed information. “Yes… it certainly does.” 

“Jinsoul, store this away properly. We’ll have to send this to Alliance Headquarters for quarantine. Then we have to figure out Cerberus’s next move fast… especially if we’re dealing with raw and unrefined Element Zero.” 

Haseul paused before taking another step. “After we all enter a sterile chemical shower, of course.” 

She looked at both Jinsoul and Heejin with rightful concern. No way was she risking a few seconds of eezo exposure. 

/ 

Haseul rubbed her hair dry with a towel. She had changed into a simple Alliance tee and combat pants after the chemical shower. 

Jinsoul was busy getting the eezo deposit into quarantine, all but flying out of the chemical shower. Her hair was still wet the last time Haseul saw her. 

Haseul had relieved Heejin now that the decryption was done. The Ensign left to join her friends as soon as Haseul made sure no trace of radiation was present on any of them. 

Sooyoung was busy too—she tasked the Commander with finalizing the reports about their recent expedition to the mining outpost. And Haseul had asked Vivi to check up on the rest of the recruits post-mission. 

That left her the task of Cerberus. 

She leaned back in her desk chair in the Captain’s Quarters. Her terminal was already up and running, several documents and contacts were pulled up on the screen. 

Alright Cerberus...what are you up to? 

Her terminal light blinked: an incoming message. She recognized the sender. She was surprised when she opened it. Her eyebrows raised as she read further. 

A few minutes went by as the Captain mulled over the new intel. If the intel here is right...then… 

Haseul’s hand reached for the intercom button next to her terminal. No hesitation was displayed; it looks like she already came to a decision. 

“Set the coordinates for Omega.” 

Her Comms-Specialist answered shortly, reporting that ETA was in twenty-five. 

Haseul leaned back in her chair and stared at the glimmering stars outside her window. Hopefully they could get some answers soon. 

/ 

Sooyoung looked up from the datapad she was working on. The ship’s drive core could be heard humming before the ship silently launched into FTL travel. Stars and planets and light rapidly blurred by the window of the XO’s Office, becoming nothing but streaks of white. 

She brought her omni-tool up to message Haseul. 

Destination? 

Her Captain promptly responded: Omega. 

Sooyoung let out a small hum of intrigue. Interesting; they were heading to Omega Station now. 

Omega was quite an infamous location. It was physically a mined-out husk of a metallic asteroid. It was also a haven for criminals, smugglers, outsiders—you name it. The station is a major hub for narcotics, weapons, and eezo smuggling (the safe mineral kind, don’t worry). There wasn’t any kind of civilian government or military control over there; rather, it was ruled by factions of mercenaries themselves. 

Which just meant turf wars happened every other day. 

Sooyoung propped her chin on her hand. Her thoughts no longer on formulating reports. If they were heading to Omega Station, then that meant Haseul was intent on getting some information… or it meant she already had some kind of intel, and she needed to confirm it. 

A small wolfish grin formed on the Commander’s face. They were a step closer to getting new intel on Cerberus. 

Which meant she was a step closer to putting another bullet through their ugly orange armor. 

/