[Location: The Beach - Wreckage Site] [Time: Day 1. High Noon.]
The sun was an enemy. In the void of space, cold is the killer. Here, it was the heat. It pressed down on us like a physical weight, baking the white sand until it burned through boot soles.
Captain Silas was already shouting orders.
"Rook! Perimeter check! Vesper! Inventory the rations! Caelum! Get that transmitter working!"
She stood atop a piece of the Icarus's wing, her white armor stripped down to the undersuit, her blonde hair matted with sweat. She still looked like a Valkyrie—terrifying and in charge.
I didn't move. I was sitting in the shade of a palm tree, sharpening a piece of scrap metal against a rock.
"Specialist!" Silas barked. "Did you hear me?"
"I heard you," I said calmly. "But you're wrong."
Silas slid down the wing and marched over to me. Her shadow fell over my face. "Excuse me?"
"The transmitter is fried," I said, pointing to the smoking wreckage. "If I try to fix it now, I'll waste daylight. And Rook shouldn't be doing a perimeter check in full gear; he'll die of heatstroke in an hour."
"I am the ranking officer," Silas snarled, her hand drifting to the empty holster at her hip. "And we are in a hostile environment."
"No," I stood up. I was shirtless, my scars exposed, my mechanical arm whirring softly. "We're on a desert island, Silas. The Federation manuals don't apply here. There is no supply drop coming. There is no evac."
I looked at the group. Rook was panting, his face red. Vesper was staring at a datapad that had no signal, looking lost. Lyra was curled up in a ball, traumatized.
"Rule number one," I said. "Water. We have three canteens for five people. If we don't find fresh water by sunset, we start dying tomorrow."
Silas stared at me. Her jaw worked. She knew I was right.
"Fine," she spat. "You lead the water team. I'll secure the camp."
"Good," I nodded. "Vesper, you're with me."
Vesper looked up, startled. "Me? I... I am not field-rated for reconnaissance. My physical stats are below average."
"Exactly," I said, tossing her a canteen. "That's why I need your brain, not your muscles. Let's go."