Just over a year ago
Galleon-6
Galleon-6 had been M'Gann's home since she could remember. The cold, dark, derelict mining station drifted in orbit like a forgotten memory. A skeletal construct of old Martian tech from long before the Martian civil war, tucked between asteroid shadows in a place no one thought to look, not that anyone was. On its surface, nothing stirred amidst the silence of space. But inside, panic simmered beneath fluroescent lights.
Red warning lights blinked down a narrow corridor. Footsteps echoed against sterile metal. M'gann pressed her back against the wall, breathing shallowly, the psionic static of approaching minds scraping against her skull like rusted wire.
Almost there.
She clutched a small orb tight against her chest, a neural decryptor she'd risked everything to steal. It hummed softly in her grip, glowing faintly green. With it, the Bio-Ship, stashed just beyond the outer bay doors would finally respond to her thoughts. The last hope for escape was just beyond her grasp, it was too late to turn back now, this was her only shot.
Voices closed in.
"Zone 4's compromised. She must've looped the feed, check the hangar!" The voice was of Va'korr Rhezz, her uncle. She didn't recognise his harsh tone as his voice bellowed through the halls. It was sharp, commanding, and far colder than the gentle voice she remembered from childhood.
A shiver ran up her spine. Not out of fear. Guilt. She still felt them all, her cousins, her kin, the neural imprint of their thoughts brushing hers like static snow. Even now, they didn't hate her. Not really. They pitied her. Pitied her for even having the thought of escaping.
M'gann pushed the feeling down and ran.
Her boots struck the grated flooring, limbs narrowing and features softening mid-stride as she shed the last vestiges of her Martian form. Her body shimmered, smoothing into the shape of a human girl, still bearing the same build, the same posture, but now with freckled skin and auburn hair, her eyes a striking green that masked the glow beneath. She'd practiced this form for months in secret, copying the transmissions that came through from Earth and making sure no one else on the station caught her.
She didn't need the disguise to fool them, they'd see through it instantly. But shifting into the human girl felt right. It was the version of herself she'd spent months quietly perfecting. This form was hers, not something inherited or assigned. It reminded her what she was running toward, not just what she was running from.
The launch bay loomed ahead, the curve of the Bio-Ship's hull reflecting crimson pulses from the ceiling. It saw her. She could feel its silent thoughts stirring, melding with her own mind as the neural decryptor began to glow more vividly.
The bulkhead behind her hissed open.
"M'gann, stop! You don’t know what you're doing!"
Her brother's voice. Garrek. Always the loyal one. Always louder in her head than anyone else. He stopped for a moment, taking in the sight of the strange alien being that his sister had taken the shape of.
"I do." she said, barely louder than a breath. "That's why I’m leaving."
She didn't wait for the reply. Nothing he could have said in that moment would have convinced her to stay.
The ship's ramp descended as she reached it, tendrils of light wrapping gently around her arms, pulling her in like an embrace. The metal screamed as doors slammed behind her, plasma bursts rattling the air as her brother's team fired after her retreating form.
The Bio-Ship surged forward, bursting from the station's hangar like a bird breaking free of its cage. Alarms faded into the vacuum of space as M'gann collapsed into the cockpit, she could feel herself shaking as the silence overwhelmed her. For a moment she felt doubt within her, it wasn't just her family and friends she was leaving behind, but to her she was abandoning the entire known universe to set sail for the new world. She pulled her knees up to her chest as anxiety rippled through her.
A voice, not hers, but inside her mind all the same, broke the silence whispering gently.
"Destination?"
She didn't answer right away. For a moment she was startled, before she quickly understood the Bio-ship had fully merged with her mind. She rose to her feet, making her way over to a window and peering out. Through the viewport, Galleon-6 shrank behind her, a dying light among stars that no longer held meaning. M'gann closed her eyes, steadying herself.
"Earth."
And the stars bled into streaks as the ship slipped into FTL, carrying her what felt like a thousand light years from home, and finally, toward a place to begin again.
Present Day
Titan Tower
Megan had been awake for a few hours now, she'd struggled to sleep after landing on earth, and struggled even further after arriving in San Francisco. She spent the wee hours of the morning in the living room, curled on the far end of the living room couch, eyes glued to the flickering images on a flat-screen TV as the movie 'Airplane'. She was watching like it was the news, studying every exaggerated gesture and over the top joke. To her this wasn't a wacky comedy, it was homework. If one thing had eluded her about speaking with humans, it was humour, that and sarcasm. On the screen, a man piloting the plane was sweating profusely while the music swelled, wiping his brow with a nervous look on his face. Megan blinked, trying to piece it together. Why was it funny that he was sweating? Was the plane hot? Was it a metaphor?
She rubbed the centre of her brow, squeezing her eyes shut. The headache's had started not long after she'd arrived in San Francisco. A soft throb behind her eyes, like her thoughts were trying to stretch into too many shapes at once. She'd put it down to the jet lag and lack of sleep, but in truth it was taking a lot of her mental power not to have her telepathy on all the time. She'd made for an awkward introduction to the rest of the team after communicating with them mentally when they first met. Something which she quickly came to realise was somewhat of a
faux-pas.
There were so many minds on earth. Alien in their familiarity. Scattershot and fast-moving. Even now, at this hour, she could feel the edges of them brushing faintly against her own. She took a deep breath, reaching out for the still warm mug of tea on the table in front of her and taking a sip. She'd been told tea helped with headaches. It didn't.
The alarm sounded, not exactly helping the headache, but nonetheless a break from the monotony. Her eyes drifted upwards to the speaker system in the corner of the room as Jupiter's voice rung out. She hit the off button on the TV as she rose to her feet and hurriedly made her way back to her room.
The space was still mostly empty, just a bed, a desk, and a few small things she'd brought with her. A photo clipped from a decades old Earth magazine, taped next to her mirror. A potted plant she wasn't sure how to take care of. And a small carved token from her bunk back on Galleon-6, tucked carefully between the folds of a spare sweater. She moved to the mirror and caught sight of her reflection, still in the oversized sweater, hair slightly frizzed, eyes heavy with sleep and thought. For a moment, she just stared. She hadn't shifted back yet.
The human girl in the mirror looked out of place among the futuristic tech and stark lines of the Titans' Tower. Her freckles were smudged from sleep, her hair wild around her shoulders, and the band logo across her sweater,
The Flaming Lips, was cracked with wear.
The uniform was folded neatly at the foot of her bed. It still felt like a costume, but one she'd chosen. She slipped out of the sweater, shaking herself out of the lingering tiredness, and began dressing with practiced care. The suit clung and adjusted, syncing to her frame with a soft whisper of fabric against skin. It fit better today than it had during their first encounter against Cinderblock. That was something at least. She added the final touch, changing into her Green Martian form, her iris' fading until her eyes became a solid red.
She left her room, gliding along the floor towards the briefing room, the doors sliding open with a hiss as she approached. Troia had made it there before her, ever the eager warrior. She'd arrived just in time to overhear Jupiter clarifying that Cinderblock was back.
"Good morning, everyone. Cinderblock again?" She spoke, crossing her arms as she floated inches above the floor. She glanced toward Troia, offering a a half-smile.
"Is this a regular thing for Earth criminals? Show up, get punched into the ground, then reappear like nothing happened?"