Transmissions || Dustin Bates

First Light

"What if you had the power to effect monumental change? Would you let fear consume you? Or would you overcome?" The lights on the video flickered. The voice continued to speak, going on about the importance of using that power, and how it was inevitable that change must come. That we are the ones to bring it.

This was the yearly seminar for the engineers of Alexi, our planet. After Earth collapsed, humans dispersed throughout the galaxy. Though we were separated by lightyears, we still had war. That's why we were so important. The Astro-Fighters and the Engineers, more important than politics, celebrities, or whoever else. We were placed on top priority. I didn't want to be an engineer just because it seemed like the best option, but because it seemed the coolest.

The first time I ever met an Engineer was when I was six years old. It was Doctor Lady Thomson, the most famous Engineer to have lived. She was in charge of the special operations team. She designed everything for them and planned everything. She was incredible. She told me to reach for the stars, that she hoped to see me again someday. She even remembered me when I was seventeen and I started learning to become an Engineer. She always was so kind.

This year, Dr. Thomson was the keynote speaker at the seminar. We all were eagerly awaiting her to walk onto the stage. Soon, the video ended and she appeared. The short, gray-haired woman walked onto the stage, heels clicking against the floor as she walked out, waving with a large smile on her face.

"Good morning, everyone!" She continued to grin and wave. She was a fit woman for her age, almost seventy years old.

Behind her stood her four Astro-Fighters, the special ops squad, team number 5501, code-named Halos: Captain Shaylee Diaz, Cadets Ron DeChant, Brock Richards, and Adam Gilbert. They were as legendary as Dr. Thomson. They were the youngest special ops squad. Then, there was the Captain. She was a legend by herself- the first female captain of the special ops squad. She was incredibly strong and talented in her field. I just hadn't heard that she was too friendly to outsiders.

I listened intently to her speech. She got about halfway through her speech when she started coughing. Immediately, Captain Shaylee was by her side, offering her water and support. Dr. Thomson shoed her away after taking a drink of water. The captain went back to her position by Cadet DeChant while the Doctor kept talking.

A few moments later, the woman started coughing again. This time, she accepted the support of her Astro-fighters, even taking a seat during the demonstration they had prepared. I watched DeChant and Diaz go against each other in combat with the technology most teams used, and then they switched to the newly designed tech by Doctor Thomson. The pair dueled, sparks flying as the tech met in a ray of blues and purples. It was breathtaking to watch them fight and watch how they mastered the technology provided to them by their Engineer.

Once Captain Diaz had Cadet DeChant at her weapon's point, they stopped, applause congratulating her victory. The pair bowed, smiling at one another. DeChant put his arm around his captain as they walked back to their positions. Doctor Thomson got up from her chair, continuing to cough. DeChant kept his arm around the captain to keep her from going to the other woman. The doctor kept her coughing under control until she walked off stage after her speech was over. It was the lunch session.

I filed out with the rest of my peers to the cafeteria where lunch was provided for us. I could see the Astro-fighters standing close to their Engineer as she greeted other Engineers. I decided to go and speak with the woman as well. I waited in the long line to get to the front, watching the woman interact with others and her disinterested Astro-fighters. The captain picked her nails and rested her weight on one foot, her black jacket with the organization logo on it, along with the squad number's sleeves rolled up past her wrists. Her comrades were in a similar state Richards and DeChant carrying on a conversation while Gilbert stood tapping out some beat on his thighs.

I had only dealt with a few Astro-fighters, though I knew that they were not big into the science that helped them fight threats. I figured the four of them were bored out of their minds. Soon enough, I reached the front. The captain met my eyes, scanning me over as if she was looking to see if I was a threat or not. Dr. Thomson, however, greeted me warmly.

"Hello! Dustin, right?" She remembered me. She really did.

"Yes, ma'am," I confirmed, shaking her hand. She smiled.

"Of course, how could I forget such a handsome young man. Shay, have you met Dustin?" The doctor turned to the Captain, getting the young lady's attention. She looked up and scoffed.

"Yeah, right, Thomson." She told the woman, a soft smile on her face before she went back to her nails.

"Are you still teaching at the university?" Thomson asked. I nodded.

"Yes, ma'am. I also got my Ph.D. recently as well." She gasped at me.

"That is lovely, Dustin! Maybe now you'll finally look into joining the fight and getting your own team of Astro-fighters." She laughed lightly, nudging me.

"We'll have to see, Dr. Thomson." I smiled at her. She started coughing again, but this time, it did not stop. Captain Diaz was beside her in a second, helping the woman sit down.

"Come on, Thomson," she grumbled, placing a hand on her back. She glared at me. "What did you do?" She growled, the boys of her team surrounding me. DeChant secured my hands behind my back, the other two still holding me back by my shoulders. Thomson put a hand on the Captain's shoulder, shaking her head.

"Let him go." She managed to cough out. Diaz snapped and DeChant let my hands go, but Richards and Gilbert still held me back.

"We're getting you to the hospital," Diaz's voice was soft as she spoke to the woman. "Ron, get help." DeChant listened to her orders and ran out of the room. Seconds later, medics ran in with a gurney. They lifted the doctor up and took her out of the room, her Astro-fighters staying back. Captain Diaz watched as the medics took her Engineer before spinning on her heel to face me.

The captain was around five foot seven, with long black hair in loose curls around her shoulders, striking, angry blue eyes, and tanned skin, showing her ancestry from Earth's Egypt: a once-prominent country. The blue eyes must have come from a different part of her earth heritage. She was a beautiful woman. It was still a wonder to me why she didn't have a man, though, even after being around her for a few minutes, you could see it was by choice.

"What did you do?" She demanded once more, grabbing me by my black tie with such aggression that my tie clip flew off.

"I-I didn't do anything!" She wrapped the tie around her hand more to bring me down to her height. "I didn't! You have to believe me!" Cadet Ron DeChant was my savior. He gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Shay, you knew she wasn't good. It wasn't Dr. Bates' fault. Let him go. We need to get to the hospital." He was gentle with her. She growled and pushed me back, the two men releasing me and letting me fall to the floor. I watched the four of them walk out of the cafeteria.

Two days later, we all received word that Doctor Lady Thomson had passed away in the hospital, her Astro-fighters devastated. There was talk of her funeral, and there was even more talk about what would happen to her special ops team.

Everything was up in the air, and nobody knew which way was up. The world's most legendary Engineer was dead.

A/N: I almost uploaded book three instead of book one.