Something was bothering Steele, you could tell by the changing of her tattoo colors. While usually the weaving lines running up and down most of her left side maintained a light sky blue color, the glow intensified and changed colors when she became agitated.

She rarely spoke of these tattoos, where they came from, what they mean, and how they seem to be connected to her special abilities. The void of answers was filled with many theories from the minds of bored soldiers. Some thought her an android, or at least some kind of bionically enhanced cyborg. Others spoke of magical space creatures from myth. A kind of legend had begun to form around their mysterious commander.

As curious as these soldiers were, one person burned more for truth than the rest: Steele herself. The tattoos had appeared spontaneously only a few years before the Pandora Liberation, and she discovered special abilities soon after. So in fact, nobody at all knew Steele's secret.

Nobody knew what she was but the person closest to her.

Nobody but me.

I'd traveled to Pandora as a research scientist for Dahl Corporation, but when Atlas forced Dahl off the planet I opted to stay. I'd received new directives, ones which superseded those of my employer. I only first needed to find something.

"Hey! Last chance to get off this quagmire!" shouted Liam, my research assistant, over his shoulder as he dashed toward the Dahl transport shuttle. I shook my head. "Seriously?" He stopped running and turned his whole body to face me. "What on Pandora could possibly be worth throwing your life away?"

I hesitated before answering.

"Hope."

"Uh-uh. No way, you gotta give me more than that. Why come here, to this old dig site, and wait around for our only rescue to leave you behind? Huh? What are you looking for here?"

I couldn't think of what to say.

"HEY!"

"I don't know! Not exactly. I'll...know it when I see it."

He stared, jaw agape. His lips appeared to try and form words, but everything else seemed to fail him. I turned back and searched along another wall.

"...so, what happens after you find this unknown thing?" Liam's voice had fallen and taken on a dejected tone. I couldn't feel bad. No time. I turned my face to him and shrugged.

"Dunno."

Liam glared at me, hands on his hips. After a moment his head fell, he sighed, and turned back toward the landing pad. "Get out alive. Please." I didn't answer. No time. No reason. My former subordinate took off again in a mad dash to board the shuttle. I waited until he was safely out of sight, and returned to scanning the walls with my eyes and ECHO device.

"Where is it?" I asked aloud. My ECHO device flickered, and a single lightbulb deeper in the tunnel flashed simultaneously. I heard Tannis' self-righteous, aggravating, lovable voice in my head. "Proceeding any further in this direction is nothing beyond simple suicide. Trek any deeper into that labyrinth and you are definitively proclaiming that you forfeit all claims of sanity and that you have no regard for your own life. However, since you are-"

Even the imaginary Tannis won't stop without help. I shook my head until she was gone and moved toward the light that had flickered. As it got darker and I turned on my flashlight, I saw what I had come for. An artifact, possibly Eridian in origin. I stashed the relic in a protective lockbox and began making my way back out. Then all of hell was released from the sky.

Explosions rocked the tunnel around me. I heard crashing and instinctively knew the entire cave was collapsing around me, and was fatally close to crushing me. Not good. I ran as fast as I could, clutching the mystery box in my arm.

I could see the landing pad. No, I could see where it had been.

In its place there were only flames.

I gasped. Not that I was particularly fond of anyone save a very select group, definitely not my coworkers. Liam, though, had been my assistant for a long time. We had spent a lot of time together due to the nature of our work, and had experienced many discoveries and events in our time as colleagues.

I was hit by a wave of unexpected despair that nearly knocked me off my feet.

I was also struck by a falling rock, which successfully knocked me down. Then all was dark.

I came to in a dark cell. Atlas, most likely. I took a moment to gather my bearings and suddenly remembered the attack. "Liam..."

"Sup?"

I turned. Liam was in a cell opposite me, apparently fine.

"Yeah, I came back for you. Lucky thing, too. Atlas came in and blew up most of the shuttles before they even left orbit! So there I was running back to the dig site, and then there you were with your head all bloody. So I picked you up on my back and carried you to safety! Pretty impressive, eh?" It was dark, but I could see his wide goofy grin. For once, his endearingly goofy antics failed to annoy me.

"This is not precisely an accurate assessment." A cold voice spoke with a harsh accent from another end of the room. Both Liam and I looked up to see a pale woman with blonde hair and blue markings along her arm. I knew immediately what she was and tried to remain calm.

Siren.

Sirens were uncommonly gifted humans with the ability to harness other-worldly powers. I wondered what specific set of gifts this one had received. I waited to find out. She didn't seem the type to hold back, and as a Siren she was undoubtedly capable of massive destruction. She began to speak again as if we had asked her a question.

"I am Commandant Helga Steele, commander of the Crimson Lance Pandoran Legion. You are trespassers on Pandora, which is property of Atlas Corporation." Soldiers clad in red armor began to enter the room from behind her. "You have two choices. Pledge yourselves to Atlas, or die now in your cell."

I could feel Liam looking at me. Poor kid. He'd joined my crew to escape his homeworld and travel the stars. The galaxy is a cruel place, but he didn't deserve this end. I knew he would follow my lead. But I could not risk the mission, no matter the consequences.

"Respectfully-" My response was interrupted by distant gunfire. The soldiers looked to Steele, who nodded, and they exited the room. She turned to follow but not before issuing a warning.

"Our business is not concluded. Stay." With that she was gone.

Beep. Click.

The electronic lock on my cage disengaged. I hesitated, suspecting a trap. Another beep followed by a click as Liam's cage also unlocked. He threw caution to the wind, rushing out and to me.

"I don't know how what just happened but we gotta go!" he shouted. Luckily, his voice was probably covered by the continuing gunfire. I walked out of the cage and surveyed the room for my belongings. Not here.

"Liam. I need you to run. Find a place far away from here and hide. Lay low and just wait for my signal." I knew he would never leave unless he truly believed I would meet him, so I faked as much confidence as I could muster. "I still have something I need to do."

"Come on! This again?" he whined. I responded with a stern gaze and he froze.

"Go."

He went. The hurt expression plastered on his face would remain with me, I knew. This time he left without a word.

Silence. Footsteps. I stood with my back to the entryway as Steele and her soldiers reentered. The sound of unholstered guns cocking. I felt them pointed at my back, just as I felt Steele's bridled anger.

"How?" she demanded. I said nothing and a Crimson Lance soldier approached me. I felt the cold steel of a muzzle pressed against my temple.

"Commandant Steele asked you a question, scum."

Now.

In a series of fluid motions I disarmed the private and fired three precise shots: one shot upward from under his helmet to disable his optics, one to his left femur to knock him down, and one directly to his chest. He fell, his armor smoking. All guns remained fixed on me, but a bit of fear and awe had crept into the soldiers' minds. Steele herself was notably intrigued.

"You are, perhaps, more than you appear." She gazed at me, standing upright with my new rifle in-hand, then looked at the incapacitated soldier. His helmet had split in two. She made a motion with her hand and two soldiers rushed to pry the helmet off their comrade. It fell apart as if it had never been one solid piece.

The private lay still, not dead, merely unconscious.

"You are familiar with Atlas technology. How is this, I wonder? You knew of the reinforced chest armor, and how to destroy Lance helmets without harming the wearer." She circled her napping subordinate, no doubt imagining methods of disciplinary action.

Her pace quickened until she stood in front of me. We were nearly the same height, so our eyes met effortlessly. She peered into mine, a hard, invasive stare. I looked back into hers. Coldness, rigidity, and a childlike uncertainty buried far beneath the surface.

"Why you do not simply kill your enemy?" she finally inquired. I pondered the question. Was this the plan, to go out in a blaze of glory? No. It couldn't be, there was still too much to be done. That left only one possible path. I straightened my back and squared my shoulders.

"I'm betrayed and abandoned. There are more than enough feral enemies awakening all over the planet, so I've chosen to explore my options with sentient creatures of reason." Steele almost smiled at this.

"I do not know how you escaped your bonds, answers will come soon enough. I do not care about your assistant. He will be found and eliminated shortly." She nodded to her squad, who broke off into two groups. One group picked up my failed attacker and headed to the infirmary, while the larger group marched off in another direction.

Run, Liam. Don't be an idiot.

Steele's eyes remained fixed on mine. "I do not trust you, but I suspect you will be useful. Come, I will show you to your things." She turned but hesitated a moment before leading me out of the room.

"There are questions you will answer." she proclaimed. I followed her out of the holding area and into what looked to be a converted, decommissioned Dahl mining craft.

"This is Sanctuary, isn't it?" I asked Steele. She silently maintained her stride. "The 'abandoned failure' is actually pretty impressive. How long did it take you to convert a defunct mining rig into a viable settlement, and how do you manage self sustainability? I have so many questions!"

Without moving her head Steele spoke. "Yes, you are inside my base. Only Atlas contractors and employees are allowed within these walls. The only exceptions are prisoners awaiting execution." She turned her head to glance at me sideways. "As you are alive and not imprisoned, you are officially property of Atlas."

That's the story of how I joined the Crimson Lance.