"I'll let you know when we reach the site," Arizona responded to Eran, but when Eran made no answer he turned around to see the lifeless form of the drone sitting unmoved like some mechanical puppet. That's not creepy, Arizona thought turning back around. Just as he was about to kick up the interior heating vents the door suddenly swung opened and a red headed girl climbed in. She was young He marked. Not a day older than twenty by the looks of it, but Arizona was able to recognized her as Mary Bohers, the legendary Environmental scientist from earth. As a few soldiers shifted to make room for her Arizona threw her a measuring look.
"I'm Arizona," He said, fastening his harness and locking the door. "I'm not gonna lie to you, you're stepping into some big shoes as our technician. Vance, our chief engineer couldn't make it but he recommended you in his stead. I've read your file and I think you'll do well... Just try to work fast when we reach the AO. We've recently discovered a hostile Alien species, one that I'd rather avoid if possible!"
"This is dragon's tail. We're at the ready!" boomed Ed's voice, and Arizona snapped to alert.
"Dragon's belly is rumbling and ready to roll," The clear cut voice of Eve chimed in a few seconds later.
Arizona rapidly flicked ten top panel switches in tandem. This not only activated the forward facing cannon, it aligned the exterior cameras so that the soldiers had a 360 view of their surroundings. Arizona glanced at the screen and as expected, two Humvees banked on either side of the middle tanker, wrapping it in a flank.
"This is the dragon's wings, we're in position!" One of their driver's said loudly. Arizona bent his mic towards his mouth.
"Well let's fly then," He bellowed over the engine and put his foot on the gas. A long pipe on his tank end shot out a green flare which signaled mission start, and soon enough he accelerated out into the frost. The tankers followed, the hangar gates closed and Arizona's HUD was replaced with a quiet terrain of ice and snow. From his feet Arizona could feel the heavy footsteps of a Titan as it crushed ice. Suddenly, large black figure sprinted past his window and he grinned.
"I've never doubted the Dragon defensive formation. But matched with a Titan, there will be no stopping us," Arizona boasted. He was confident, and it showed. but boasting was a thing very seldom seen on Eden he was quickly about to learn. No person who was forced to use a military class tanker and a flanking cade of armored Humvees just to get access to liquid water had any right to boast.
Book II: The long night
Jonas Short: Eden supervisor
Jonas Short operated his Titan with precision as he made his way through the wreckage of a massive ship. It was a skeleton now, twenty years in the frost had weathered it away, and though its crew members were all dead, their bodies were still well preserved by the cold. They could be found laying here and there, slumped in awkward positions untouched by time. Every now and then Jonas would step on one of them and he would scowl. It was downright disappointing how much money was wasted on them; Venture capital, allocated funds, these useless idiots had drained the corporate reserve. But where they failed he would succeed. Controlling the pedals of his Titan, he lifted a bulkhead from the snow and grasped a large data store underneath. It was large and spherical, and on its panel was written the familiar inscription: Property of the Blackrose Space Corporation.
"Contact Artemis. and tell her we've found the SS Genesis," He said to two other Titan's that stood on either side of him. "Now let's get out of here. If the Guardians find us, these suits will not protect us for long!"
"Yes master," the suits pilot's said clearly in unison. "What of the fruit?" They asked. Again in unison.
"Patience my children,"Jonas said and a smile curled on his lips. "The fruit will come. But it is not yet ripe to devour!"
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