Pandora: Fire and Ice

Survey 1, conditions nominal for descent.

You are right on target.

Survey 2, thank you for mapping the topography.

Course officer Johan, you're the finest line item

every approved by MCORP accountants.

Don't feel too bad.

I got the same thing for launch prep.

I don't know which red tape is worse,

ours or the government council.

Well, on the upside,

Geo-Recon is reading that this moon near Saturn

may contain one trillion dollars in the Neo-Lithium.

Radioactivity detected.

They must not be lying.

They left a backup supply of plutonium,

enough for mass refueling.

Looks like the rumors of us getting a new space port

must be true.

Approaching coordinates 34.4, 198,

vector 70, Saturn Moon PX1.

It's like deja vu.

What's that, Officer Johan?

34.4, 198, it's...

Ever since we took off, it's like...

Those coordinates sound so familiar,

but I just can't place it.

If I remember correctly,

that's from the training simulator

we used to use years ago.

34.4, 198.

That's right!

But in that simulator, weren't those the coordinates

for a hypothetical moon with hostile alien life?

Sure, but I'm sure they're grabbing

from real coordinates like this one.

No access to brief in the orbital perimeter.

Still looking clear, Survey One.

Oh, so no aliens.

Afraid not.

Touchdown in 300 feet. 200.

100.

And...

Touchdown.

Oh, looks like I got good news.

We got a level 5 reading on the electromagnetic scan.

Okay.

That does mean our odds of this rock

having a ton of Neo-lithium just went up by 5%.

Oh...

Geo-Recon showed our landing strip as solid rock,

but the ship is listing.

Cyrus, the leveling system says

there's a 1.2 grade increase in the port-side strut.

Is the ground unstable or is our strut damaged?

We didn't fly here just to tip over.

Ground instability negligible.

Strut is optimal.

However, the ship has now listed 1.3%,

increasing at a rate of 0.01% per minute.

We should initiate sample extraction immediately.

If we wait too long, the anomaly

may become too hazardous to address.

Thank you, Cyrus. Perform the extraction immediately.

Cyrus...

In MCORP simulator logs,

what are the coordinates of the Pandora incident?

Beth, what are you doing?

MCORP forbids use of the name "Pandora"

in its simulator log.

Gene, the threat example used in our simulator logs

is identical to Pandora.

I think MCORP leadership

used the same coordinates in their simulators.

So you think this moon...

Moon PX-1 is actually Pandora?

Mission control would have told us that.

Not if they were ordered not to.

Cyrus, what are PX-1's coordinates?

34.4, 198 vector 70.

Cyrus, as a matter of historical reference,

what are the coordinates of the Pandora incident?

As an historical reference, the incident

occurred at 34.4, 198 vector 70, 100 years ago.

MCORP renamed the moon,

because its pilots refuse to fly there.

We need to get out of here.

I'm cutting the extraction short.

Gene, start heading to Earth now.

Put space between you and Pandora.

Cyrus, prepare to launch.

Launch sequence initiated.

Beth!

Officer Erin Black.

Report to Hanger 7 for combat training assessment.

Officer Black, hanger 7 for assessment.

Hey Black! Come on, you're up.

Six straight hours of drills

and here she comes for combat review.

So what do you think, man? You gonna pass her this time?

No. No way, man.

Morales, this is her third time.

Hey, Lieutenant,

I heard Nova Force have strict standards,

but if Erin Black can't get in,

almost makes me glad I'm still a combat pilot.

See? Character and consistency.

Even Quint here knows hard work when he sees it.

Hey, Lieutenant, so I gotta head to Hanger 11.

MCORP ship, emergency landing.

Molten plasma on the outside core.

That doesn't make any sense.

MCORP's port is 6 miles away, why would they come here?

Yeah, they probably just melted

through the outer thrust casing.

She broke protocol during the Battle on Titan, man.

We're Nova Force.

We follow protocol and obey orders.

If she wants to run fast and loose, just let her

play with the regular Space Force.

Did you forget what she did on Titan, huh?

She was bleeding out.

Still managed to hold off the enemy.

I know, I know. While rescuing two of our men.

Hey, hey, hey. You were one of those two soldiers.

-Don't you forget that. -That doesn't matter, okay?

Flemming put in lead position that day instead of her.

That militia would have been dealt with in five minutes.

You know, you keep saying that.

Do you realize the reason she broke formation

was to draw fire away from us?

We both know exactly why she even made Nova Force

in the first place, okay?

Her grandfather is Greg Black.

She keeps making waves to the DoD, man,

over upgrading our bioweapons defense.

Just let her go back to research, man.

She's one of the best in the world.

No, no, no, no. She is the best in the world.

The best.

And yet she still chose to come back here

and go into combat with us.

Okay, sure. But she even modified

some of the inflight drones on her ships

because she thought they weren't good enough?

I mean, come on, man.

Those drones are some of the best that we've ever had.

Look, Morales, Flemming is going to approve her,

and unless she does something really, really sloppy

or messes up bad, so am I.

She makes waves, man.

This is her third and last chance at readmittance.

If she doesn't make it this time, she is done.

Fine.

If she gets close to beating Flemming

in hand-to-hand combat, she has my vote. Okay?

All right. I'm gonna hold you to that.

Help me with this shit.

Woo!

And that completes our third review.

Excuse me, sir. Is this some device from the medical team?

It's called a flash drive, sir.

It's also called contraband.

It was willed to me by my grandfather. I--

I wear it for good luck.

Keep it in the safe in your barracks then.

We've had enough trouble today.

Quint from Hangar 11 told me an MCORP pilot

just received an unknown three-pulse signal

from Saturn Moon PX1 after landing here.

I guess your reflexes are intact.

Lieutenant, what's your assessment?

Per S.O.P., they need both my vote and yours.

Officer Black, you were bleeding out

on Titan under hellfire from a rogue planetary nation.

We all saw what you did that day.

Seems like you recovered from your injuries as well.

So for me it's an absolute yes, sir.

That makes two of us.

Morales?

Morales?

No.

Lieutenant, why is that?

She broke protocol, got herself injured, along--

They had us pinned down, Morales.

I had to draw them away.

If I didn't, then every single person on that fleet

would have been dead.

We all know exactly why she was even put on

Nova Force in the first place.

Morales, stand down.

Officer Black, continue.

If you think that I was fast tracked

because my grandfather is Gregory Black, fine.

I don't care.

But I don't think any of this is about protocol.

What is it then?

I think it's because I bothered the DoD so much

about our bioweapons defense

that you think it'll hurt your career.

Officer Black, Lieutenant Dean here