(OXYGEN SURPLUS EXPIRED. SEEK STABLE ATMOSPHERE IMMEDIATELY.)

as ICI explained Dax felt the air becoming thin, and the instincts drilled into him over servel drills and training sessions, he was feeling the early effects of hypoxia.

"okay questions later, can you release me from this chair?"

(AFFIRMATIVE. SENDING KILL-ORDER TO ALL NAn.o.bOTS IN AFFECTED AREA. DISCONNECTING LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS… STANDBY)

immediately after Dax heard ICI's cold voice, the gel like grey substance holding him in place started to dissolve and he felt multiple cords and cables disconnecting from his back.

(RESTRAINTS RELEASED. FULL CONTROL RESTORED. WARNING: BLOOD OXYGEN LEVELS FALLING. SEEK STABLE ATMOSPHERE IMMEDIATELY.)

"yeah i feel that, let's get out of this death trap now"

(CONFIRMED. a.n.a.lYSERING TARGETS STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY...COMPLETE PLEASE APPLY 5432.3 NEWTONS OF FORCE TO TARGET POINT ALPHA.)

starting to feel faint due to hypoxia, Dax only managed to stand up before he felt faint, and he struggled to understand the cryptic commands issued by ICI

"what. the. h.e.l.l. do. i. need. to. do. ICI, please."

(PERFORM OPEN PALM PUNCH ON THE MARKED TARGET NOW!)

"with…. pleasure!!!"

using the last of his strength, Dax lowered his center of gravity, taking the cla.s.sic qiton close quarter stance, before inhaling the last oxygen in the room and rus.h.i.+ng to the wall, delivering the strongest open palm punch to the wall he could muster before pa.s.sing out.

(ATMOSPHERE RESTORED. COMMENCING SPECTROSCOPY a.n.a.lYSIS….. COMPLETE:

78.084% NITROGEN

20.946% OXYGEN

0.9340% ARGON

0.004% CARBON DIOXIDE

0.001818% NEON

0.03% UNKNOWN

WARNING UNKNOWN PARTICLE DETECTED

CHECKING CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL AND RADIOLOGICAL WEAPONS DATABANKS…. NO MATCH DETECTED.

CONCLUSION: CONTAMINATION CAN NOT BE RISKED AS PRACTICE EFFECTS ARE UNKNOWN. SUBJEKT: COMMANDER DAX HELMET BREACHED. ALSO TACTICAL CALLOUTS APPEAR INEFFECTIVE. SEARCHING DATABANKS FOR COUNTERMEASURES....

COMPLETE.

GUARDIAN 47 REAPER PERSONAL SENSOR UNIT "REAPER'S MASK"

ALL MATERIALS PRESENT IN ORB

TASKING REMAINING NAn.o.bOTS FOR CONSTRUCTION…..

ESTIMATED TIME TO BUILD: 10 MINUTES AND 3 SECONDS.

as Dax laid unconscious due to acute hypoxia, the still operational nan.o.bots around Dax started to work on something. Using parts of broken hull segments that contained a mix of computer parts and leftover armor, the nan.o.bots broke down the parts needed and started to a.s.semble a mask covering Dax's face

the mask on his face was known as the reaper's mask, with a clean, gla.s.s like, black surface, covering Dax's face in a smooth slightly oval shape.

Guardian 47 Reaper personal sensor unit "reaper's mask"

A black armored facemask worn by members of the 125th h.e.l.lwalkers born from a cooperation between Guardian Defence Systems and the 125th h.e.l.lwalkers, the so-called reaper's mask is an integration of serevel sensor systems in a compact package. LIDA, RADAR, Infrared and ultraviolet sensors all feeded to a single combined data output that interfaces with existing optical cybernetics.

in essence making the user able to see any combined mix of sensor data required at the given time including targeting data from a Integrated combat intelligence, effectively increasing overall combat effectiveness of the user drastically and acting as a advanced hazmat filter.

"ICI?"

(YES)

"what the f.u.c.k did you put on my face?"

(A GUARDIAN 47 REAPER PERSONAL SENSOR UNIT.)

"ICI. WHAT. THE. f.u.c.k. DID. YOU. PUT. ON. MY. FACE!?"

(A MASK TO PROTECT YOU FROM THE UNKNOWN PARTICLE LOCATED IN THE ATMOSPHERE)

"now was that so f.u.c.king hard to say?"

(I'M PROGRAMMED FOR SHORT AND PRECISE MESSAGES.)

"you know what, forget it."

feeling that he would never reach an agreement with ICI on that topic, Dax decided to move on to more pressing matters. looking through the small hole he had managed to punch in the outer hull of the orb, Dax could see he managed to land in a dense forest with a mountain range 52.567 kilometers away

"hey ICI? why do i have a rangefinder?"

(THE REAPER MASK INCLUDES SEVERAL SENSORS. INCLUDING A RANGEFINDER.)

"huh. well ain't that neet. What's the plan now?"

(FOR NOW CURRENT OBJECTIVE IS TO OBTAIN NECESSARY RESOURCES NEEDED FOR YOUR SURVIVAL. FIRST OBJECTIVE IS BEHIND YOU 5 METERS AWAY.)

turning around, Dax found the chair he had spent the last while strapped to being 'repaired' by ICI's not so gentle hand.

"i'm not getting back in that chair"

(TARGET IS BELOW IN STORAGE COMPARTMENT #34. 1 REX-7 SEMI AUTOMATIC HIGH CALIBER HANDGUN AND 4 X 8 CAPACITY MAGS OF Ca.s.sELEES ARMOR PIERCING AMMUNITION.)

"wait is it the one i got from mom after pa.s.sing the officers test?"

(AFFIRMATIVE.)

"sweet."

Dax quickly located the storage container under the chair, when he opened it he found just what ICI described, the REX-7 handgun he had used all the time he remembered serving in the galactic navy. The about 30 centimeter long handgun looked way more worn than he remembered but it was still in the same leather holster, inscribed with the 125th icon, a cla.s.s 1 omega destroyer doing orbital reentry under enemy fire. He also found a carbon fiber ammunition bag containing the spare magazines.

after equipping the ammunition bag and holster with the REX-7, Dax broke down the rest of the wall separating him from freedom, and walked out the orb.

(OBJECTIVE COMPLETE *Congratulations* NEXT IS OBTAINING INTELLIGENCE)

with a weird voice ICI congratulated Dax for walking about 20 steps and tearing down a wall.

"hey ICI"

(YES?)

"never do that again."

(CONFIRMED.)

making his way out of the impact crater, Dax got to a flat piece of ground.

"ICI, you're scanning the environment with LIDAR and all that right?"

(CONFIRMED.)

"okay get ready for a whole lot of data"

not waiting for ICI's reply, Dax squadded down and then jumped in place reaching a height of about 20 meters, before falling down again landing and leaving a small crater.

"well? did you find anything useful?"

(AFFIRMATIVE. I DETECTED WHAT APPEARS TO BE A FRUIT TREE 55 METERS NORTHWEST)

moving about 50 meters northwest, Dax found the supposed fruit tree. Standing about 60 meters tall, and with large purple apple like fruits hanging from it.

"that reminds me, i haven't eaten anything after getting out of cryo."

quickly jumping up into the tree and getting one of the apple like fruits, Dax was about to take a giant bite, but disappointingly he was met with a dull splat, as he squished the fruits against the mask he was wearing.

"ICI let me remove the mask."

(NEGATIVE.)

"why! i need to eat so i can stay alive!?"

(UNKNOWN PARTICLE STILL NOT a.n.a.lYSED. CAN'T RISK CONTAMINATION.)

"then how the f.u.c.k do i stay alive?"

(CONTINUE TO SMASH SUBSTANCE AGAINST THE MASK, I WILL FILTER IT AND TRANSFER IT TO YOUR SYSTEM.)

"are you taking a p.i.s.s on me right now?"

(I'M PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO DO THAT. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO SUBMIT THAT AS A FUTURE DESIGN FEATURE?)

*sigh* "you know what, just forget i said anything. Yeah this is soooo satisfying, how i love smas.h.i.+ng fruits against my face."

After having the most embarra.s.sing meal of his life, and was.h.i.+ng off in a nearby river, Dax crawled on to of the orb he arrived in to watch the sun set between the trees.

"so ICI, what is my long term objective, beyond survival?"

(RECOVER THE PROPULSION UNIT FROM OMEG7, AND RETROFIT TO REJOIN THE GALACTIC FLEET)

"wait that thing survived?"

The reason for Dax's surprisal was the fact that the propulsion unit survived, basically a cl.u.s.ter of engines, fuel and a highly explosive cla.s.s 7 anti gravity fusion reactor.

(I DETECT NO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE FLUXUATIONS. REACTOR IS SOUND. ALSO LOGS SUGGEST MULTICAL FTL STABILIZERS HOUSED IN THE PROPULSION UNIT.)

"are you sure the reactor didn't blow?"

(TURN TO THE SOUTH EAST.)

as he turned around and wondered what to look for, ICI's cold voice rang out in his head.

(DO YOU OBSERVE WHAT LOOKS LIKE A 250 KILOTON COLD FUSION WARHEAD DETONATING?)

"fair point. On another note, what the h.e.l.l is this arm?"

finally having some time to think, Dax now started to question the cybernetics he had no earlier knowledge about.

(COMMANDER DAX SUPPSTANED 95 DIRECT RAILGUN HITS ALONG WITH 875 DIRECT GAUSS RIFLE HITS AND AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF SHRAPNEL HITS FROM EXPLOSIVE MUNITIONS, DOING THE GEMINI-5 INVASION. INVASION WAS SUCCESSFUL AND COMMANDER DAX WAS NAMED 'THE IMMORTAL' IN HONOR OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS. CUSTOM REPAIR WORK WAS CONDUCTED BY GUARDIAN DEFENCE SOLUTIONS AND REX WEAPONRY.)

"so the 2 most iconic and expensive weapon contractors, that hate each other, worked together?"

having been created for warfare, every qiton loves weapons. Dax is a prime example as his face lit up like a child christmas morning.

"so what weapon systems are included?"

(CLa.s.sIFIED.)

"wait what?"

(COMMANDER DAX DOES NOT HAVE NECESSARY CLEARANCE FOR WEAPON SYSTEMS WITHOUT INTACT MEMORIES.)

"so there are weapons in this thing.."

looking with curiosity at his black t.i.tanium alloy arm until the sun had completely set, Dax started to doze off until a high pitch beep interrupted his sleepiness.

"what's that sound?"

(PROXIMITY WARNING, MOVEMENT DETECTED, DUE NORTH 500 METERS)