Silence… cold and blissful silence. It was honestly a strange experience for the young soldier as he felt himself drift through an endless void within his mind. Why was he here again? For the life of him he couldn’t remember anything. Who was he? Who put him here? Was his body always so numb, so cold? He couldn’t feel an inch of his body, yet he could still feel a freezing cold spread through his existence and make his soul shiver. At first it was terrifying, but now his terror seems to have been replaced with an odd feeling of blissful peace. Being able to scratch his nose or stretch his legs would be nice, but he was honestly beginning to get used to this feeling of nothingness. Unfortunately the nothingness would soon finally fade as a small light flickered within the dark void of his mind, sending a wave of warmth through his numb body until he slowly began to feel his limbs. As his cold limbs returned to him he began to remember who he was. Sean… Sean O'Brien. That’s right, that was his name!  As the light began to consume the void all of his memories began to flash back into his mind, every horrible memories along with the good ones. It was time, time to wake up and get to work.

With a gasp Sean awoke within his cryo pod and took in gulps of air as the pod door slowly opened. Everything was so blurry and muffled, but his only concern was his empty lungs as he concentrated in refilling them. Soon he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and felt his body relax a bit before finally calming down. Through his blurred vision Sean managed to see three dark figures in front of him and tried his hardest to understand what they were saying, but nothing but muffled chatter met his ears. Slowly the strangers gently helped him sit up before two of the figures left, leaving him and whoever was helping him alone. With a few calm and steady breath Sean slowly regained his senses. [i]“...you okay?”[/i] were the first words he managed to hear before he looked to the figure with dazed confusion. With a few quick blinks his sight returned to him and the face of a young scientist met his gaze. 

[color=a36209]“I-I’m, sorry. What?”[/color] was all he could mutter before bringing a hand to his head. The scientist gave a small smile before chuckling and taking a step back to look at her tec-pad. 

[i]“I asked if you were okay, but since you’re talking I guess that’s a good enough answer,”[/i] she said with a bit of amusement before looking back at him. [i]“Anyway, let me be the first to welcome you to the first step to our future within the Andromeda project. Now before I let you go I have a few questions, just to insure everything is still working upstairs. Do you mind?”[/i] she asked politely. Sean silently took in her words before shaking his head. [i]“Perfect! Now, can you please state your name and rank?”[/i] she asked looking down at her tac-pad.

[color=a36209]“Sean O’Brien, staff Sergeant within the U.A.F,”[/color] he answered quickly before looking around him to see plenty more pods gradually beginning to go through the same process as him. “Has it… has it really been 700 years?” he asked with a low voice. The scientist smiled and nodded. 

[i]“Yes it has, our 700 year long voyage was a successful one. We are now in the process of awakening a new wave of pioneers, such as yourself, to begin their own personal journeys within our new home. Now back to the questions,”[/i] she said before tapping on her tac-pad some more. [i]“Are you feeling any discomfort?”[/i] Sean took a moment before holding the side of his head. 

[color=a36209]“Just a bit light head. My limbs feel a little like jelly as well,”[/color] he answered before rubbing the side of his temple with a low sigh. 

[i]“Well that’s normal, you have just awoken from a 700 year nap. I have to say though you’re doing much better than me when I woke up, took me a little while to actually get my thoughts straight,”[/i] she chuckled before turning of her tac-pad and holding up a single finger.[i] “Now follow my finger without moving your head,”[/i] she requested before moving her finger from side to side. Sean followed her silently before she finally gave a satisfied smile. [i]“Well Sergeant I say you’re good to go. Here let me help you up,”[/i] she offered before gently taking him by the arm and slowly helping up to his feet. Sean stumbled a bit before quickly catching himself with a low sigh. [i]“Don’t worry, it’ll wear off in no time. Now I imagine you want to get straight to work so please make your way down the hall over there. If you want to collect your gear it should be in the locker room at the end of said hallway. Once geared up make your way to the docking station, there you’ll be briefed of you new task,”[/i] she finished before giving a brief goodbye and quickly leaving to continue her work. 

Sean gave a small sigh and rotated his shoulder before slowly making his way down the long hallway, his mind finally beginning to take hold of the situation. This was it, they were finally here. It all seemed so unreal to him that they’ve actually been asleep for 700 years, but here they were. With their voyage finally completed, it was time to get to work. Sean soon reached the locker rooms and glanced around to see a few more people getting dressed and suited up. Wasting no time Sean located his locker and began to collect his gear. They could be jumping straight into it so he began to put on his suit, securing his light armored pieces over his camoed clothing with a few hisses before it felt studying his helmet with interest. To make sure everything was functional Sean activated his tac-pad and soon enough his suit came to life, his helmets single eye coming to life with a golden glow. After a quick run through of his life support systems and jet packs boosters Sean gave a satisfied nod before he collected the rest of his gear. A standard issue assault rifle provided by the U.A.F, his trusty thermal knife and finally his old mentors revolver. 

Sean held the revolver with care, inspecting every inch of it with a small smile before holstering it to his hip. With a low sigh Sean rose from the bench and made his way out of the locker rooms, his helmet at his side and his eyes directed at his tac-pad has he made some final adjustments to his suit. A few seconds after exiting the locker rooms his attention to his tac-pad was soon disrupted as he felt a small force bump into him, forcing his helmet from his grasp and hearing a small [i]'oof'[/i] before a soft thud to his right. Sean glanced over to his helmet with a small frown before looking down to his right to see a small red figure on the ground next to him. After getting a good look at the figure he recognized it to be a female Lorin, a scientist from the looks of her uniform. She winced in slight pain as she rubbed her head and gave a small sigh.

[color=ed1c24]“Oh for goodness sake, how could this day get any more irritating?”[/color] she questioned to herself before looking up to Sean  [color=ed1c24]“I’m terribly sorry sir, I wasn’t paying attention and I was in such a hurry. I hope I didn’t hurt you,”[/color] Sean arched a brow and looked down at the Lorin with an expressionless gaze before offering her a hand.

[color=a36209]“I think I’ll live,”[/color] he said with a slightly amused tone. The Lorin smiled softly before accepting his help and rose to her feet with a sigh. 

[color=ed1c24]“Well that’s good to hear. Again I’m sorry, I’ve only been awake for an hour or so and I’m simply too eager to think straight. I’m usually more composed than this. It must be the after effects from the cryo chambers,”[/color] she rubbed the temple of her head in slight embarrassment before looking down to Seans fallen helmet. [color=ed1c24]“I hope I haven’t damaged your helmet,”[/color] Sean glanced over to his helmet and shrugged before scooping it up.

[color=a36209]“It’ll take more than a small fall to break this thing,”[/color] he assured her before looking back to the Lorin. [color=a36209]“Why in such a hurry anyways?”[/color] he asked, his curiosity growing. 

[color=ed1c24]“Oh, well as I said I’ve been awake for sometime now and I was supposed to make my way to the docking area, but I’ve let my curiosity and excitement get the better of me, so I have been delaying my duties to examine some of the equipment in the cryo chambers. I simply didn’t want to be late for whatever it is they’re briefing us on,”[/color] she said before looking to her tec-pad with slight worry. 

[color=a36209]“Well I doubt you’ll be late. I’m heading there now so maybe we should go together, that way you’ll have a better chance of not running into anymore poor people,”[/color] he said with a small smirk coming to his face as the Lorin seemed embarrassed. 

[color=ed1c24]“Well I wouldn’t want that, I don’t think stepping on a few toes will be a good start to the project,” [/color]she said with a small chuckle before looking to Sean and extending a hand. [color=ed1c24]“Apologies, I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. Aliza Tera, U.G.C science and research branch,”[/color] Sean gave a firm nod and accepted the gesture with a hand shake. 

[color=a36209]“Staff sergeant Sean O’Brien,  U.A.F,”[/color] he stated before gesturing with his head for them to continue on. Quickly the two began to make their way towards the docking area, moving along in silence before they reached an elevator. As they began to ascend Aliza seemed to have finally composed herself and gave a small smile.  

[color=ed1c24]“Amazing, isn’t it?”[/color] she questioned allowed as she examined their surroundings. Sean glanced over to her with an arched brow. [color=ed1c24]“We’ve made it, we’ve done the impossible. A 700 year long journey to distant stars and now we, a chosen few from our people have the opportunity to build a new home,”[/color] she said with a soft and happy tone before looking to Sean. [color=ed1c24]“I honestly had my doubts, but here we are,”[/color] Sean looked to the Lorin with a bit of curiosity. 

[color=a36209]“If you had doubts then why come along?”[/color] he questioned with slight confusion. Aliza chuckled softly and rested a hand against the elevator walls.  

[color=ed1c24]“How could I possibly not take the chance? To explore new worlds and discover so many new things? Just imagine the knowledge awaiting us here,”[/color] she said with a slight glimmer of excitement in her eyes. [color=ed1c24]”Besides, I spent seven years aiding in the construction of the Atlas. I wanted to see if our hard work was worth it. So far I say it all paid off,”[/color] she said with pride in her voice. Sean chuckled a bit. 

[color=a36209]“Well we’re here, now we need to get to business,”[/color] Aliza gave a firm and confident nod before the two fell back into silence. Soon their elevator reached its destination and the two exited before quickly making their way towards the docking area. A group of people seemed to have already arrived and were waiting for the briefing to begin. Sean examined everyone around them, his wandering eyes noticing a few COVSPEC’s in the mix and silently wondered what they were going to be tasked with. With an emotionless expression Sean stood silently near the back, his new Lorin companion near his side as she began to tap away at her tec-pad. Now all there was to do was wait. What assignment awaited them all?