Ruins of Cryos Forge, Planet Gendros.
Snow howled through the wind-shredded towers of Cryos Forge—once an orbital repair station, now crashed and half-buried in ice.
Anya was elbow-deep inside a twisted mech arm, sparks flying as her tool-glove welded damaged hydraulics back into shape.
"You're wasting your time. That rig's dead," came a calm voice behind her.
Without turning, Anya snapped, "That's what everyone says before I bring it back."
Anya sealed a power line, then kicked the mech once. Its eye flickered to life, coughing static.
"Told you."
Anya finally looked up. "You're her," she screamed and hugged Eve instantly like an emo teen glomming metalcore singer."
"Anya is at your service. Just let me get this tincan back to my contractor's ship and I am yours."
"You are looking at more than a contract."
"Usually I charge per assignment."
Eve just waited for more of a response.
"So we are saving galaxies?"
"Trying to put together a team for that."
"Wait, there is a whole bunch?"
.
.
On Cygnus Arcina, a black-market world shrouded in perpetual twilight, Salam Shah worked in a clandestine lab, illuminated by the sickly green glow of his bio-tanks.
A soft hum. The lab door hissed open. Salam didn't look up, "You're late, admiral."
"I am not an Admiral," Eve replied, "And I'm not here for your fungus."
Salam finally turned, "Eve. Dr. Kael Seraphis's finest work," His eyes sparkled. "I've heard the rumors. A hybrid of machine, alien, and human genes. I'd always wondered if it was true."
"It is," Eve confirmed, unfazed by his scrutiny. "And I am here because I need a polymath. A biomechanist who dares to tread where others fear."
"I have no interest in galactic politics. My work is my sanctuary."
"Your work," Eve countered, stepping closer, her voice dropping, "is about to get more interesting."
Salam's eyes widened slightly. His monocle glowed. "You… you propose I study you?"
"Yes, among other things."
"Where do I sign up?"
.
.
.
Eve turned around and started walking.
Vayne got up and started after her anxiously, "Ma'am, you're looking at the best damn pilot in three galaxies! I can fly anything, anywhere, blindfolded, with one hand tied behind my back, And for you? I'd fly into a black hole just to see your smile!"
Eve chuckled softly, a rare sound around somebody she just met, "I appreciate the… enthusiasm, Vayne."
Vayne's face fell for a second, then he brightened. "So… I'm in? You have to put me on your team. Don't even pay me much. I am a huge fan… of Nomad… and you as well. I mean not just your body… not your body at all… don't take me wrong you are hot… just please let me tag along like a few missions at least…"
Now she laughed, lightly but whole heartedly.
"You're in," Eve confirmed. "Report to the Nomad. Get your ship. And try to keep your adoration within professional parameters, Pilot."
"Yes, Commander!" Vayne practically saluted, already imagining his next daring flight, with Eve's watchful eye upon him. "Anything for you, Commander! Anything!"
.
.
Jax, Eve's heavy gunner, she met on a battlefield. They fought together once. Eve offered, he joined without hesitation.
Eve met Hannah, a cybernetic ninja assassin, during her bounty hunting days. They fought for the same bounty and split the money. They teamed together for multiple bounty hunting missions. Eve tracked her down after nearly a century. She was pleased to meet her and joined the club instantly.
Axel, the sentinel android, was a different story. Eve was supposed to kill the bounty Axel protected. His precision shooting was matchless. Eve eventually overpowered him. The warlord saw his death nearing, so he offered Eve a deal. Let him go, and he'll free the enslaved android. Axel didn't know what to do when Eve left. He became a gardener. When Eve thought of a team, he just came to her mind. Eve had to rescue him again, this time from his floral nurseries.
.
.
Back at Nomad Hanger Bay Kai, Jax, and other squad members stood as Eve walked in with Mira and Vayne.
"Vayne, meet SoulDrifter," Eve said in a confident voice.
"Wow, she's magnificent!"
Mira slapped a data pad and authorization key and modules in his chest, "she all yours," as he grabbed it without taking his eyes off the ship.
"Need modifications, let me know," Anya put her arm over his shoulder standing side by side, both looking at their prized gift. She was not only Eve's gear, and weapon architect, ever since Anya knew Eve designed the SoulDrifter herself, she had to put in her touch. Added thrust boosters, stabilizers and fine-tunes weaponry.
"Who am I flying?"
"Me," Eve quietly cleared her throat. Vayne knew he was flying the squad missions, he just didn't know Eve was going to be part of it.
Vayne's heart missed a beat as he flung towards Eve like SoulDrifter wasn't the true love of his life a few seconds ago…Jaws dropped everywhere, even Nomad workers froze.
Vayne was pressing a kiss on Eve's cheeks just where her lips weren't far away, both her arms wound around her like he was a little girl and she was his first Barbie doll.
Mira kicked him in the butt. He snapped out.
Eve lowered his gaze, put a hand on her lips to hide her smile. She wasn't mad, she just didn't know his reaction would be so overwhelming. Everyone looked at her.
"Talk to the crew if you need a new paint job," she said as eyes smoothly rolled towards Mira. Mira instantly followed her as she started walking towards the exit.
Vayne quickly recovered and asked Ayna, "So… I am… flying everybody," he said looking at Anya.
"Everyone but Mira," Eve said loudly, walking away.
What!?" Mira protested in surprise but Eve's arms were over her shoulder and she just kept walking. "We will discuss it in my quarters." And they left.
Axel looked at Vayne shaking his hands, "your records confirm you are the best pilot for the SoulDrifter as per your health, mental control and cool demeanor in extreme conditions," Axel as robotic as always.
Kai gave him a fist bump, "congrats, welcome aboard."
"Jax Conrad, nice to meet you pilot," Jax also greeted him. "Keep the tail door steady for my guns."
Hannah came to him, nodded and started leaving for her quarters. Salam Shah and Jax were talking to him when Anya grabbed him by the hands and started dragging him towards SoulDrifter, "c'mon, you haven't even seen her."
.
.
Back at Mira's quarter, Eve was convincing Mira why she had to stay in Nomad.
"It's barely been a year since I rescued you from Thelarians, and you are already putting me off the hook?"
"It's exactly why I need you on Nomad. To take care of diplomatic wing, politics and stuff that only you can do. Your mother Ammara stood out for me when I cubed myself into stasis for ten years.So be a good girl and vent it out already."
Mira was completely disagreeable, "I am not letting you off my sight," she said in a finalizing cry-baby tone like a mother speaks for a child or elder sister, her cheeks blushing red in emotions and embarrassment.
Eve took Mira's hands, "this is why I put together the squad cause I need friends. So you don't have to worry about me so much… This is why I need you on the Nomad, to be my back up despite my back up. So you are there for us even if we all fail. What you have done for me Mira is so much more than any of your people in your bloodline. You single-handedly rescued me, convinced IC and ASC to sanction a spaceship for us, gave me the freedom to move freely that I have today. You are the reason Andromeda's people worry as much about me as I do about them. You created this set up, so you are the chief. You shouldn't need my permission and authority to steer Nomad as you see fit."
"Eve, I have seen you through the glass since I was a child, whispering my dreams and stories to you. Things I dreamed for us. So don't put this family bullshit on me. Are you listening? I can protect myself very well, I am not just an ambassador like your first Mira, I am a combat specialist, I belong to the field. If you have any problems with that, talk to IC and take me off the command anytime you want, with or without a position in Nomad, I am not leaving your side. Don't give me sister shit, I know what it was like searching for you. You were gone eight years and you didn't leave a note. You just got your squad and you are already abandoning me. These indisciplined wrecks you call your squad? We can get Andromeda's best, most loyal, the best of the best IC can offer."
Eve listened silently and said nothing. She gave Mira a few minutes to process things as she kicked the stuff and walked back and forth in anger.
"I… the squad, I only endorsed them because you said so and I trust your decisions, but taking me out of the loop, that is the next level Eve-not-listening scenario and I am not encouraging you."
"I see good in them, Mira. And you will too. They don't just have the potential, they also have the promise."
Mira still couldn't keep her feet still in Eve-related anxiety. Eve was her life, her purpose, life's mission and whether Mira admitted it or not, Eve was sacred to her like she was to every Saiyaran. In her heart, she was like dearest friend and sister, in her mind, she'll always be her Queen. Mira worried about her like she worried about Saiyara. None of her family line had combat skills. For Eve, Mira crashed coursed through everything there is to it, gaining experience not in training schools but directly on the battlefield. Mira rescuing Eve from Thelarians was still a recent memory to her. And losing her Queen was no option.
Eve and Mira couldn't talk further until later after dinner. That night, Mira was thinking. Eve's new recruits give Eve a new confidence. Besides Eve seemed happy around them. Mira could gather a force of millions of powerful soldiers for Eve, many Nomad like ships but she won't be able to offer Eve friends that make her feel at home. Mira had noticed Eve was happy around her new peeps. She smiled more often, and visited squad quarters more often. They were even beginning to have dinners together.
It ached Mira to see their indiscipline, but to warm Eve's world..? Yes, she would accept them.
Mira wasn't just raised as any other Eve-serving Saiyaran royal girl. She wasn't silk, she was leather and metal. She was brave, well disciplined, and educated. And she was committed to Eve than more anything in her life.