Once More into The Void.

Chapter One: Corporal Ethan Walker.

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Which is probably a good thing, because this fella would have deafened anyone close by, the pilot thinks to himself as he looks back at the deceased body which is currently harnessed in floating above the floor in the back of the small scouting ship.

“This is Corporal Ethan Walker, package is secure. Permission to return back in the Venture two?” Ethan asks as he presses the commutations button.

“Corporal Walker, this is hanger control you have permission to land.” Hanger control acknowledges.

Ethan moves the throttle forward, his scouting ship picks up the pace and flies faster towards the large exploration vessel known as Venture two.

Landing has never been a hassle for Ethan, he just follows protocol and safely lands inside the hanger bay. As he is climbing out of the cockpit, Ethan takes off his helmet and leaves it on the pilot's chair.

He stretches his body out then proceeds to walks around to the back of the scouting ship. He opens the rear doors to see the deceased's body is still in one piece harnessed and hovering about the ground.

“How long have you been like this?” Ethan asks to the body.

The deceased's helmet has a wide crack on it, his uniforms colour has faded to white. The skin on the deceased's man has frozen turning a pale blue.

“Ethan!” a familiar female voice calls out from the front of the ship.

Ethan looks over and recognizes the female medical personal approaching with the two automatronics and a hover stretcher.

“Alexia.” Ethan joyfully says putting his hand out to meet hers. The two shake hands but Alexia is the first to let go as she spots the deceased body.

“Is this our mystery man?” Alexia asks.

“This is him, sensors picked up an anomaly. The First lieutenant sent me to take a look and I discover this fella floating around.” Ethan says.

Alexia takes a closer inspection, she studies the suit and the condition it is in. There is a badge stitched onto the deceased man's shoulder, a circled emblem of a rocket launching with a couple of stars in the sides of the badge, the number four written in text on the bottom.

“A Reclaimer Four crew, question of the day is why is he out here and how come Reclaimer Four hasn’t reported a missing person?” Alexia asks as she proceeds to inspect the impact on the man's broken visor.

“Not a clue and not a clue, figured the higher ups will have the answers shortly. Want my guess?" Ethan asks

“If its long-lost ancient aliens again I will make sure you join our frozen friend here.” Alexia jokingly threats.

“Look I was on to something that time but maybe just maybe the Reclaimer Four could have hit an asteroid belt during a hyper leap. The ship might have broken apart and scattered all over the universe at that speed.” Ethan theories.

Alexia presses a few buttons on her wrist link, the hover stretcher floats over to the deceased and lands underneath it. Gently it cuts the harness loose allowing the body to land on the stretcher.

“Not unheard off but would there not be debris?” Alexia asks.

“I don't know.” Ethan replies.

“And that’s the answer.” Alexia smiles.

Ethan just gives a cold stare back at her

“I'll take our new friend here to medical; can you sign off on him?” Alexia asks as she walks towards the exit.

“I'll get to it.” Ethan says

“Good, I’ll catch you around then.” Alexia says as she leaves the docking bay.

The doors to the common area slide open as Ethan enters inside. Some workers who are on a break are lounging around on couches others are on holographic computers. Two bulky men are arm wrestling a job assistant robot, neither of these men are winning. Ethan takes a seat on one of the leather couches and activates the holonet using his wrist link. As he is mindlessly scrolling the news one of the bulky men sits next to him wiping the sweat out of his beard.

“What's the pool up to this time?” Ethan asks the man.

“Five hundred.” he says sounding ashamed.

“I keep telling you, no human without enhancements will beat a JAM unit in arm wrestling, have you tried boxing, you might have a chance there.” Ethan states.

“You keep telling yourself that fly boy. Speaking of which, what did you pick up out their?” the bulky man asks.

Ethan looks around the room to make sure no one is around listening in to their conversation.

“You got to keep this to yourself Hudson, look its nothing super exciting but we found a dead crew member from Reclaimer Four floating around.” Ethan says.

Hudson laughs to himself.

“Maybe he had a date with the airlock, could have pissed off the wrong people and then voushhh out he goes.” Hudson says as he makes an airlock gesture with his hands.

Ethan gets up off his seat and walks over to the vending machine emplaced inside the common rooms wall, Hudson stands up then leans against the wall next to the machine.

“Does Reclaimer Four know they are missing a person?” Hudson enquires.

“They didn’t tell me, my job is to fly out, collect crap and scout the area for any trouble.” Ethan says as he orders himself a bottle of water.

“At least you get to do something, we haven't been to a new planet in a couple months now, the vanguard here are getting bored.” Hudson says.

Ethan takes a sip of his water.

“At least you're not out their fighting the Relics, those extremist bastards taking over small colonies over at the known borders.”

As Ethan goes for another sip of water his wrist link starts to beep, the light at the end of his contraption is blinking blue repeatedly.

“Look at you, busy once more.” Hudson remarks.

Ethan presses a grey button next to the light.

“Corporal Walker this is First lieutenant Levine do you copy?” She says over the coms.

“Copy” Ethan replies.

Hudson is gently kicking Ethan’s leg trying to make him fall over, he giggles to himself as he proceeds to kick.

“Report to the briefing room, is that understood?” She asks.

“Understood sir.” Ethan replies kicking Hudson in the shins.

“Good, Levine out.” the conversation ends the blue light turns off.

Hudson mockingly salutes Ethan.

“Best be on your way corporal Walker.” He says mockingly.

Ethan walks towards the sliding doors.

“Don't make me report you for misuse of a JAM unit.” Ethan Jokily threatens flipping Hudson off as the sliding doors shut behind him.

Inside the briefing room the first lieutenant is waiting, she is standing over a table that is projecting a map of the area of space that they are located. Ethan walks into the room, he salutes the first lieutenant before he takes one more step. Levine stands up straight, straightens her dark blue officer's uniform then looks over to Ethan.

“At ease corporal.” she commands.

Ethan lowers his hand and proceeds to walk closer to the first lieutenant. The doors behind Ethan close.

“Sir, why the urgent meeting?” Ethan asks.

“I’m glad you asked, saves us from any awkward small talk. Chief medical officer Alexia Luna will also be participating in this meeting, due to the schedule of her research she will appearing via comms.” The lieutenant states.

“I hear you loud and clear sir.” Alexia says over the comms. “Hello to you too corporal, what's it been sixty minutes?” she jests

“Seems like a lifetime ago, Sir what about the commander?” Ethan questions.

“Commander Pierce has been called to a meeting in his quarters and has entrusted me to run this debrief.” the lieutenant states

The lieutenant leans back down to the table and presses a couple of buttons makes the holographic map zoom closer to the ship.

“Another crew member of the Reclaimer Four has been detected by our radar techs. This particular crew member is hovering just two planets away above the planet Theseus. Theseus is a neutral planet so we have no jurisdiction there. However, we can leap to their spacial border. Corporal this is where you come in, you fly in collect the body, do not get caught then return home." The lieutenant explains.

“Will be a bit tricky but I understand sir.” Ethan replies.

The sliding doors opens up and a tall wide shouldered man walks inside.

“Commander on deck.” Lieutenant announces as she salutes.

“At ease all, change of plans, lieutenant zoom out a bit more please.” the commander orders.

Commander Pierce walks over the table and takes over the lieutenant's position.

Ethan is trying to study his expression it appears to be a hint of concern.

“Officer Luna, do we know how long the body has been deceased for?” The Commander asks.

“We have estimated that this individual has been deceased for over a week sir, his internal organs are decomposing and some of his skin has become rotten from within.” Alexia replies.

“A week.” the commander states.

The commander looks around the room then straight to the map.

“We are not the only vessel to find crew members of the Reclaimer Four. A week ago, the assault class carrier known as The Almighty recovered one of their deceased. The Almighty is stationed half a light year away, today just like us they have discovered a secondary crew member.” Commander Pierce confirms.

“How is that possible?” Ethan asks.

“We do not know, on top of that Reclaimer Four has been announced M.I.A, its tracking beacon has been turned off. The second crew member that has been discovered by The Almighty was quick enough to leave us a short recording.” The Commander inserts a small data chip.

The holographic map quickly moves to the last known location of the recording.

“I don’t have much time, do not rescue us. Oh god, no!” the deceased crew member warns. In the background of the voice clip, it sounds as though explosions are going off.

“Me, Commander Gray of The Almighty and high command have noticed a pattern. The bodies seem to be leading us towards something. Most likely a trap, as if someone is placing the bodies like bread crumbs wanting us to recover them all.” Commander Peirce suggests.

“Are we certain of this?” Lieutenant Levine asks?

“No, but this is the theory that fits.” Commander Peirce admits

“What about Reclaimer fours last known location?” Alexia asks

“The beacon turned off a week ago somewhere in the center of the deceased's location. High Command has decided to make this a joint operation between us and The Almighty. The plan we have so far is to send out a forward scouting party. High Command is letting us play with their new toys, ships known has the Hummingbirds. They are a small compact ships that have proven to not be detectable on any sort of radar. Corporal Walker, since you already know the recover procedure you will be assigned to this scouting party.” Commander Peirce says.

“I thought we are following them?” Ethan asks.

“In the event that one of the deceased has something we can use to help us solve this mystery, you are to tag it and claim it for later recovery. For now, follow the bread crumb trail, find out if it’s a trap or what's on the other side then report back.” Commander Pierce commands.

“Understood sir.” Ethan replies

“Good. We have several hours until The Almighty rendezvous with us. Get some rest, eat some food, do what you need to do before they arrive. Corporeal you are dismissed.” The commander commands.

“Aye sir.” Ethan says as he salutes Commander Pierce and proceeds to walk out of the briefing room.

The alarm on Ethan’s wrist link goes off waking him up from his slumber. Quickly he slaps a button on the gadget to turn off the alarm. He sits up from his bed, thankful there is no one else in the crew quarters to awaken. Looking down at the wrist link the name on the monitor

First lieutenant Levine keeps flashing awaiting an answer.

Ethan lets out a tired disgruntled moan before answering.

“Corporal Walker reporting.” Ethan announces.

“Corporal, you are needed at the hanger bay. The Almighty is on approach and will be alongside us within the hour.” Lieutenant Levine commands.

“Understood.” Ethan replies turning off his wrist link not wanting to continue the formalities.

After a small amount of time getting freshen up Ethan leaves the crew quarters and proceeds towards the hanger bay.

As he is switching his wrist link back on Alexia walks out from the common room and proceeds to walk parallel in the same direction.

“Didn't think you had breaks.” Ethan says.

“I don’t, this is one of the rare special occasions where I needed one.” Alexia says.

“The popsicle man giving you grief?” Ethan jokes.

There is a moment of silence as the two continue walking towards their destination

“No not him, there is very little I can determine from him that we don’t already know.” Alexia reassures.

The two get to a cross section of the hallway, Ethan stops.

“Then what?” Ethan asks.

Alexia looks around the hallway checking for anyone close by, she even looks at the roof for any cameras on them.

“I’m not normally opposed to high commands orders but we are warned not to rescue the crew by their own. Why send out scouts? Why not drones?” Alexia asks.

Ethan pauses for a brief moment before answering.

“Could be anything, could be people in danger, we just don’t know, best to send out humans and best not to over think it right?” Ethan answers.

“I don’t want to spook you before departing.” Alexia says

“Oh, trust me you do spook me sometimes, but this is not one of them.” Ethan teases as he makes his way down the hall towards the hanger bay.

“I'll see you later.” Ethan says as he enters the hanger bay.

Several JAM units are shifting boxes out of the hanger and leaving towards a storage room. Hudson is standing in the middle of the hanger commanding the robots as they work.

“No, you pick up the box and walk towards the storage room, then place the box inside of it. Not leave it in front of a door you piece of bolts for brains!” Hudson yells at a JAM unit.

The Jam unit looks Hudson up and the down.

“Understood sir, will procced with the task.” the JAM unit complies.

Ethan walks over to Hudson.

“Job assistance machine my arse, I tell these shiny bots what to do and they stuff it up anyway, leaving crates and boxes in hallways. I found one that just kept walking away. Only half these units work as intended.” Hudson complains.

“They are the older models, getting a bit senile in their age.” Ethan laughs.

The hanger alarm goes off, red light turns on and some of the crew members are rushing to help the JAM units clear the hanger.

“Are they here already?” Hudson asks out loud.

Hudson and Ethan walk towards the control room in the hanger.

When they get inside, they both peer out of the window looking out the hanger door which leads into space.

An assault ship twice the size of Venture Two warps into proximity followed by several small carrier ships.

“Holy shit, look at the size of that.” Hudson says keeping his eyes on the giant vessel.

Ethan doesn’t reply, he instead watches a landing vessel approaches the hanger.

“Landing Vessel is clear for docking procedure, welcome aboard.” The control crew member says over the intercom.

The landing vessel enters the hanger slowly, it takes up half the space of the hanger floor as it lands. Commander Pierce and his entourage enter the hanger, they walk only about a couple meters before they come to a stop.

The landing vessel’s doors opens up, four heavily armored men walk down the landing vessels ramp out to the hanger ground. They line up in a double column formation facing each other as they place their rifles against their chest. A man in a commanding uniform exits the vessel last. His hair is grey with only the tiniest amounts of black remaining so goes for his thick moustache.

“I think that’s him, commander Gray. Bit on the nose with his name, right” Hudson jokes.

The two commanders approach each other and shake hands, commander Pierce says something to commander Gray which makes him turn around and look at the hanger control.

Ethan’s wrist link alarm goes off, he quickly answers it before he sees the name flash on the screen.

“Did a get a nice view?” a rugged voice says over the comms.

Unsure who this is Ethan defaults to the formalities.

“Yes sir. It's quite impressive.” Ethan remarks.

“Good, now get down here, we have work to do. Gray out.” Commander Gray says as he leaves the call.

Hudson looks over to Ethan with his jaw wide open.

“Oh man you're in trouble now, nice knowing you brother.” Hudson says.

Ethan just sighs and proceeds to walk out of the control room.

The two commanders watch Ethan walk over to them.

“Corporal Walker, this is Commander Gray. You will be escorted to The Almighty where we have a Hummingbird waiting for you. You will be briefed on your way to The Almighty.” Commander Pierce says.

“Understood sir.” Ethan acknowledged.

“Good, now go wait in the ship.” Commander Gray commands.

Ethan pauses for a moment before looking over to Commander Pierce who nods to Ethan.

“Will do sir.” Ethan says.

He turns around and proceeds to walk towards the landing vessel entering through the door.

The interior lights of the landing vessel are off, Ethan can only see a handful of chairs attached to the walls, he takes a seat next to the exit then buckles himself in. The armored men that escorted Commander Gray out of the vessel return back inside, they place their rifles near the roof onto attachable straps. One of these men hits a small button next to the exit switching the lights on making them dim before he takes a seat next to Ethan.

After waiting several moments Commander Gray walks in and takes his seat near the pilot's window, he leans his head back and closes his eyes. The landing vessel hovers off the ground, spins around then proceeds to fly out the hanger leaving Venture two behind them.

“Two minutes until arrival.” The pilot announces over the intercoms.

“Corporal” Commander Gray says keeping his eyes closed.

Ethan looks over to Commander Gray.

“Do you think this is a trap?” The commander asks.

Some of the armored men look over to Ethan for his response.

“I’m unsure sir, at first, I thought perhaps the Reclaimer Four had hit some sort of asteroid belt during leap. Now there are crew members scattered all over several years apart from each other. It's hard to say but its best to cautious just in case it is a trap.” Ethan answers.

“Good answer.” he says.

“Sixty seconds until we land.” the pilot announces.

“Corporal you won't be on The Almighty for long. We have the Hummingbirds ready to go as soon as we land. Your outfit will be inside the cockpit. The hummingbirds and your scouting ships are a similar design, there may be some new flashing buttons here and their but it all starts up the same. Captain Beckett will be your squad leader, he will be waiting for you once we land. One other thing you are prohibited to use long range comms once your are out there, we do not know who or what can be listening in, stick with internal hummingbirds' systems until you come back to The Almighty. Am I clear?” Commander Gray asks.

“Yes sir.” Ethan says.

The landing vessel touches down in The Almighty’s hanger.

“Welcome home sir” the piolet announces.

The side doors open up and a ramp is already in place. Two people are waiting outside already in pilot outfits. A man and a woman.

“Corporal you get going first, they are waiting for you.” Commander Gray insists.

Ethan unbuckles his safety belts, he salutes the commander and walks out onto the ramp.

The man in the group walks up to Ethan and offers him his hand to shake while he holds his helmet under his left hand.

“Ethan Walker, I presume?” the man asks.

“Yes sir.” Ethan answers.

The man laughs to himself.

“Drop the sir, you can call me Beckett. Let's walk and talk.” Beckett says as he proceeds to walk to the end of the hanger bay. The woman that was with Beckett follows close behind the two.

Ethan is matching his pace while observing the hanger bay, he spots Commander Gray exit the landing vessel and making his way towards the exit.

“Old man give you grief?” Beckett asks

“No, he just rested.” Ethan replies.

“You had it easy then, he is normally angry about some spoon in his arse. Surprised he didn’t lash out when he was told to come flying out to the middle of nowhere for some dead crew” the female pilot says in her Irish accent.

“That's Jessie, she my second in command, she will be tagging along with us on this journey of ours.” Beckett says.

Beckett stops and looks forward at the three small ships.

“Here they are, Hummingbirds.” Beckett announces.

Ethan stops where he is, seemingly unimpressed with the ships.

“Best get used to be being squished, not much room to move around in these things.” Jessie says as she makes her way towards the right ship.

“The middle one is yours. Jessie is correct though it’s compact so it won't be pleasant for long voyages, it shouldn’t be any different from starting up a scout ship, same launch sequences. Once we are already just track onto my ship and I'll put us in leap.” Beckett says.

“Sounds easy enough.” Ethan says.

“Great, you will do fine.” Beckett slaps Ethan on the shoulder then puts his helmet on before entering his ship.

Ethan walks over to his Hummingbird and climbs up the small step ladder, a helmet and suit has been left on the chair for him. He quickly puts on the new suit and attaches his helmet before he hops inside. Ethan’s shoulders keep bumping into the side walls as he tries to get himself comfortable. The dashboard looks familiar, Ethan is quickly able to determine what button and lever do what.

“This is Commander Gray, all Hummingbirds report in.” Commander Gray commands.

“H leader reporting” Beckett reports

“H two here.” Jesse says.

Ethan looks around the control deck and spots the comms button.

“H three reporting in.” He says.

“Good, you all know the mission so there is no point for me to repeat myself. Let's not waste any more time. You are all clear to launch, good luck.” Commander Gray says.

“Was that him trying to be nice?” Jessie asks

“I think so, but in his words let's not waste any more time. Sync up on me once we are outside afloat. Start take off.” Beckett commands.

Ethan flips the ignition switch on and grabs a hand on the thruster. All three hummingbird ships float up together at once.

“Take them out nice and slow, let me take the lead.” Beckett commands.

The three hummingbird all line up behind each other.

“Alright sync up, Ethan if you have never done this before, target Jessies ship then hit sync button on the right.” Beckett says.

“Synced” Jessie confirms.

Ethan takes a quick look at the control panel and sees the words sync under a button, he presses it and the ship locks on.

“Synced” Ethan confirms.

“Good, alright we are headed a couple miles just before the last known location of the Reclaimer Four, strap yourselves in.” Beckett clarifies.

“Good luck new guy.” Jessie says to Ethan.

“Once more into the void we go, hyper leaping in three,two, one.” Beckett counts down.

All three hummingbird ships zoom into the space as if they suddenly disappear leaving nothing but stars and space behind.