The snowstorm howled like a feral beast, clawing at everything in its path. Visibility was nearly zero, but the Aegis Requiem squad moved forward without hesitation. Their exosuits, layered in matte-gray armor and thermal shielding, crunched through the thick, frozen wasteland of the northern perimeter.
They had been deployed at dawn—ordered to investigate a faint emergency signal picked up near the ruined outskirts of Sector A-17. An oddity, considering no teams had been scheduled there.
Commander Tasmia Ari led from the front, her HUD glowing with data feeds and thermal maps. Despite the snow's violent interference, something was there. A heat signature—weak, flickering like a dying ember.
"Split formation," she ordered through her comms. Her voice was calm but alert. "Maintain visual. Don't shoot unless I say."
Around her, the Aegis Requiem members fanned out silently. They were efficient, trained for danger, for war, and for silence. No one questioned her authority—not after the years she'd spent fighting back alien infiltrations and human traitors alike.
Then it happened.
"I've got something!" came a voice through the comms—Lt. Kellan. "It's... human. Barely alive!"
Tasmia pivoted sharply and dashed through the snow, following his beacon. Her boots slammed against the frost, and the howling winds seemed to pause for just a moment as she knelt beside the half-buried form.
A girl.
Young—maybe early twenties. Her suit was outdated, bearing the faded insignia of a long-disbanded unit.
Tasmia's heart skipped. She knew that symbol.
**Neon Starlight.**
Three years ago, that team was declared MIA. The case had been quietly dropped, even by the Obsidian Guardians themselves.
Tasmia crouched lower, brushing frost away from the girl's pale face. Her lips were blue, her breathing shallow. The injuries were serious—exposure, blunt trauma, cracked ribs if her helmet's scanner was accurate.
But she was alive.
"She's from Neon Starlight," Tasmia murmured, more to herself than anyone else. "Get the med pod. Now."
No one questioned her urgency. Kellan rushed to deploy a portable stasis chamber while the others tightened the perimeter. Snow kept falling, slow and silent now, as if the storm itself was watching.
Tasmia didn't move. She kept her eyes on the girl's face, wondering just what kind of hell she had survived—and what secrets she might carry.