My captain watches the sealed doors of Lady Justice slide open before us, him waiting in earnest for the first sight of his home world in thirteen years.

It is my own first time viewing the world that gave birth to my captain.

The doors finish opening, and before us is only darkness, speckled by technologies' minor attempts to interrupt it.

Behind us, Nicholas gasps jokingly, and Killa slugs him. But the Captain slumps his shoulders in a sigh of relief.

My information system, though, glitches. The world I see before me. It is triggering memories I do not have. Like I have somehow been here before.

Blinking my artificial and physical eyes both, I clear my memory banks. And that is all it takes for my captain to step out into the world that birthed his every nightmare and then spat him out into space. Well, not quite; it just gave him the strong urge to flee into the void. Where he found me. Not on this moon.

I quickly follow after, just as the lighting system recharges, and the fixtures all around us. He squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to block it out, but my eyes are still functioning.

The lighting fixtures are stringed from wooden poles that look they have been scavenged. For all the wealth the mining colonies on the moons of Jupiter generate, so little of it actually comes to the people.

But, according to my data banks anyway, this is a common occurrence among humanity whether in civilized earth or in the depths of uncultured space.

Suddenly, my physical manifestation's hand senses warmth, and I turn to see that Orion has clasped my hand in his. Then, just as quickly, his hand is gone and he is striding toward a figure that is now approaching us.

My cameras adjust to the darkness, and I zoom in on the humanoid. They are indeed human, not an AI like myself, or even a cyborg; just flesh wearing rags and something hungry in his eyes.

My physical hands clench, powering on my taze blasts.

But the man doesn't pounce when he reaches my captain and me; he just holds out his hands eagerly. "There's a fine to park on my lot."

Orion doesn't look at him as he drops a fistful of universal into the man's palm and walks past him.

I watch the man happily count out his treasure before looking up. "Wait, Ori, is that you?"

Just then, Killa and Nicholas walk up. Nicholas plays with his guns in the holsters. "Nope."

The man blinks as he takes in the blasters and decides to go count his UDs elsewhere.

Orion turns and grins at them. "Well, that was significantly easier than I thought it would be."

Nicholas nods. "Well, that's how we roll. We walk right in."

Killa purses her lips. "Something still doesn't seem right."

"This is Gaynemade," Orion counters. "Nothing is right."

Nicholas walks backwards so that he still faces us while moving ahead. "Y'all need to stop being such pessimists. This mission is going to be just fine."

Even as he says that, he stops moving and glances behind him.

I turn my vision sensors on more brightly to peer into the darkness behind Nicholas.

And see a small band of individuals that are obviously of little repute.

Nicholas takes in the one he has his back against just as that person puts an archaic blaster against Nicholas's head.

Orion tenses, and Killa reaches for her holster.

To his credit, Nicholas doesn't make any sudden movements; just slowly turns toward us again. "Never mind, guys. You are totally right to be pessimists."

-Banner by CannibalisticNecro

-Signature by -krystallite