The Immortal

Prologue:

In ancient ages, those who were oppressed and subjugated could find solace in sleep. It was a prefect state of being, a way to be absent from all the hardship of life and simply rest. Now that void is our enemy. Sleep once kept us sane. Now it keeps us from what we are. We are mortal. And we cannot die.

The life support levels of Pod-3453 were depleting rapidly. Without any intervention, pods normally lasted for about two hundred years. If hooked up to a transport or carrier, they could last for several centuries if need. Pod-3453 was once a chrome cylinder but was now nearing the end of its two-hundred-year life span. Its viewing port was still fogged up by the regulated cold of the computer, but it was on the brink of bursting. The metal casing that housed the soldier within it was rusted, so damaged that even something as mundane as a bullet could pierce it. If a plasma weapon were fired at Pod-3453, well, that would be overkill.

With a low moaning, the pod breathed its final breaths. The life support system gasped for resources while the computer attempted to bring it back online. After all, Com-3453 had been ordering Pod-3453 around for decades. If it could get frustrated, Com-3453 would have been cursing. In fact, it was beeping warning after warning, reading through all its emergency programming. There was nothing to help the computer decide  whether a wake-up order had been given. Without an order to wake up, a pod was to remain in Dormant Mode for up to two hundred years. Like a flared temper, Com-3453 consumed its last remaining power to turn off the frigid cold. Whether it was intended or not, Laura Dreyen had to wake-up.

Dressed in the Orbital Marine uniform of the Morkaalian Empire, Laura Dreyen would have looked at home besides other marines sleeping in their pods. Lieutenant Dreyen was not aboard Orbital Defense Battlement Valor. She was alone, sleeping in a dead machine. Her eyes fluttered but did not open yet. Then she felt it. The cold. The awful cold of Stand-By Sleep. The young marine shivered and tried to turn over but was prevented from doing so by the small interior space of the pod. Finally, Laura opened her eyes to discover that it was time to fight once more. Everything flooded her mind again. The Morkaalian Empire was at war. Reluctantly, she pulled the pod release mechanism and felt the gentle embrace of warm air across her face. As the pod opened she unstrapped herself from its harness and stepped out from the biting cold. It was the first time she had stood in two-hundred-years. How was she supposed to know that? Looking stare ahead she shouted, “Lieutenant Laura Dreyen ready to fight for Morkaal!” Her voice faded like a whispered in a storm. It was not because other voices had joined hers. It was because she was terrified. Beside her were no other marines. Laura took two steps forward, swaying like a drunkard. Then she fell forward. Her cybernetic right arm shot out and grabbed a nearby railing and slowed her fall. Still, she made a loud thud because her metallic right leg hit the ground first. As she stood to rise, she came face to face with a skeletal sneer. With a cry of surprise she jumped back. Whoever was once in Pod-3454 was now dead. As was the man beside him. Laura had awoken from a graveyard. And she was the only survivor.

Chapter One: Living Assets.