prologue

The comms relay of sector 138's military base of operations was alive with speculation as the Refined approached.

The hulking station, affectionately referred to as Branch, was truly a marvel of the Painful Dynasty. Comprised of 5 interlocking vessels, each themselves hundreds of [kilometres] squared, made with the finest materials the Council forces had to offer and loaded to the teeth with plasma, biochemical and radioactive slag cannons, Branch was the perfect arsenal to fight the ever-looming Rajavan and pirate threats.

The Lieutenant Commander of The Refined (73859251) Sir Tar Nako had been granted a short leave to finalise any personal affairs in the sector before he was station bound. The reason for his detention was tethered to the engineering wing of Branch, a Rajavan troop transport ship, captured and mysteriously immobilized. The ships carcass slowly leaking the most confounding treasures within its hull, and rumours abounded that Nako was returning with the key to unlock its secrets.

Even the honoured and disciplined Knights of the Galactic Council were not immune to the allure of gossip, whispers of unusual vehicles and data-slates clashed with unopened, stealthed stasis pods and unaccounted for DNA. Whispers that grew louder when the Refined docked with additional crew members. A reinstated sulin veteran, a captain who had already served his time rejoining the ranks, and a citizen model, Zenthi doctor with his own set of military-grade armour and interesting Frequency quirks.

The pair were given a special escort by the lieutenant himself to a secured office and living quarters, many noted the two shimmering black stasis pods being transported with them, being handled with a reverence reserved for corporate dignitaries. The guests were settled and secured with strict instructions not to be disturbed. Guards stood outside the room with orders to keep everyone away, even the Knight Commander himself.

Sir Dejan Rynard (Serial number 020308) and Dr Uru'Nav Xant breathed a sigh of relief once left alone. The pair were finally able to remove their encasing power armour after two long [weeks] of travel. One by one the securing nerve pins released from their flesh, old wounds reopened for the veteran, fresh scars endured by the doctor.

"You holding up okay Doc?" Rynard stood towering over his companion. 10 [feet] tall and nearly as long, the reptilian soldier was engineered to be the epitome of muscle and claws, baring his sharp teeth with a mischievous smile.

"I'm doing surprisingly well Captain, I almost miss the extra weight," Xant was curious even for a member of the Zenthi race, he was only half the size of the captain, covered in a dark green and black skin, a long tipped snout and two thin, antennae-like ears that hovered over his head. A four-fingered hand smoothed over Xants ears to his scalp, and he let off a freq pulse of anxiety as looked over to the black stasis pods.

Rynard chuckled knowingly.

"Do you really want to wake her so soon? We haven't even unloaded yet,"

"I promised her it would wake her as soon as we were able," Xants ears bobbed up with his head "besides, the anaesthesia will take a few hours to vacate her system, we will have plenty of time to unload then."

Rynard shrugged his enormous shoulders,

"Well, you're the expert," he said.

Xant approached the pod's interface and initiated the unlocking sequence. Hydraulic locks opened, precious antioxidant fluids were pumped out and the seal of the stasis pod released...