A monolith was discovered on Zanari planet, the human-likes' world. No IC treaty existed there. Eve was on her own.
She took an interplanetary ferry and headed to the hostile world where she had no allies... disguised as a tourist. Thanks to her alien genes, she had transformed into a human-like. A really hot one.
The monolith was in the local government's custody, guarded by military. There was no point infiltrating it. A creature from the Dark Galaxy was bound to show up, attracted by the monolith's beacon.
An IC agent, human-like, met Eve at a local pub. She joined her at the table.
"You are indistinguishable. I wish I was a lesbian right now."
Eve's blue-screen eyes scanned the woman. She had been undercover for five years.
"The horns though."
"You'll get used to it," the agent said, looking at the pair of horns on Eve's head. Human-likes didn't have hair. They had horns.
"You got my ID?"
She slid an electronic card across the table. Eve grabbed it and stood up.
"Remember, no check-ins into any military zone. The fake ID won't work."
"Gotcha!" Eve left.
She walked around Zanari city, exploring different tourist sites while she had time on her hands. There was absolutely no communication with Nomad, because all comm-frequencies were always under monitoring.
She was walking on a bridge, enjoying the beauty of the river and sunset, when someone slipped something into the pocket of her coat.
She turned around. No one was there. She took it out. A paper note said: *"Agent compromised. Requesting assistance."* On the backside of the paper was the location of police HQ.
"Damn it! I have to break my cover now," she said, ripping the note and tossing it into the air.
That night, fury stormed the Zanari police station. Eve only used stun-bullets. She broke into the cellar and raced toward the exit.
"I'll distract them. Find cover, stay low, wait for extraction. Your job here is done," Eve said, running through the corridor. She had already transformed back into her human form.
"Sorry I got into this mess, Commander."
"Dawn's about to break. Head to the rooftop, get to the river. Swim to the park. Wait there until someone contacts you," Eve said and raced down the stairs. The agent started climbing up as they split.
At the gates, military vehicles and choppers had her spotted. Eve fired a few blank rounds and vaulted over cars and building walls as police chased her.
Eve hid under a bridge, clasped underneath with her magnetic gloves. The military had now joined the police's search operation.
It was still dark.
A roar in the sky.
A mutant had appeared, towering over the cityscape.
"That will take a bomb," Eve said to herself and put on her earpiece. "We have a mountain-sized problem here. Mutated, spitting plasma charges."
Mira responded after a minute as Eve raced toward the giant.
"Comms hot... guess the Zanari are already on your tail."
"It's a good time they focused their fire on that thing instead of trying to bring me down."
"I'll contact the local government. Give me a minute."
Eve ran along the road, wall-running on buildings, diving through openings, avoiding gunfire from the choppers.
Mira chimed in, "Zanari will be more than glad to help you."
"That's what I thought. Now I need an arc-reactor, the size of—"
"They don't have that kind of tech, but I'll see what we can get you. Sending you the coordinates. I have live feed now." Mira looked at her screen, watching the live transmission of the monster from street cams and military choppers.
The monster ravaged the city. Civilians ran for their lives. Military forces charged the monster, but to no avail. Huge tentacles wrecked the choppers, buildings, everything, while plasma discharges caused massive explosions.
Eve had only her plasma blade and plasma gun. She grabbed its attention, but no actual damage was being done.
Coordinates pinged her visor. She picked up the briefcase. Inside: a fusion bomb.
"Mira, it's going to flatten half the city."
"They are already evacuating the city. It's all they've got."
"Well, how much time before I detonate the bomb?"
"Thirty minutes... is what they tell me."
Eve picked up the briefcase and stood on a skyscraper, watching the burning, crumbling city. Twenty minutes out, and she went for it. Timer was set.
Running on its tentacles, firing at its head, cutting through the monster's flesh, she approached its mouth and flung the briefcase inside.
The monster blasted her with a plasma beam, but she dodged.
"Timer set, evac now!"
"I'll send the word," Mira responded from Nomad's command center.
A chopper picked up Eve from the rooftop and raced off into the horizon. A massive explosion engulfed the city. The blast wave almost sent the chopper plummeting down, but the pilot managed to control it.
A Zanari soldier looked at Eve.
"Thanks for your help, Commander. If it weren't for you—"
"Save it, trooper. All of this could have been avoided if your government listened."
The soldier became silent. Then he spoke.
"Taking you to the extraction point. IC vessel inbound."
She said nothing. Morning winds blew her hair as she looked at the mushroom cloud blooming over the horizon.
The Zanari government pardoned the IC agent who had assisted Eve in the mission. They left the planet together. Two months later, Zara joined the Nomad crew. Eve welcomed her to the team.