The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The Queen

The Hornets had been called to respond to smuggling rings and hostile native creatures, but never to an alien invasion. Tao slid into their seat on the shuttle beside Mura, one of the last Hornets on board. There were ten of them crammed into a shuttle retrofitted to hold them all. Originally meant for five, it was a tight fit.

Tao wasn’t a large person, tall, but not broad by any standard. Mura, on the other hand, was thicker and stronger in every dimension, which left her power armor overflowing the seat in odd proportion. Mura didn’t thrive in compact environs. She was a woman meant for open spaces.

Tao breathed out slowly as their body-covering power armor morphed to the seat back, locking them in more securely than any harness. They triggered their helmet, which emerged from the back of their power armor, moving almost like a liquid, then snapped overhead and instantly provided bio statistics and HUD details. Names hovered over specific Hornets like gamer tags, moving as they did, and thanks to the suit’s near-field, Tao could call up data at will.

The team’s names cascaded into view on their left, all green, Paracitica Jin at the top as he initiated role-call.