CYCLES OF DUST

The growth vat's amber fluid drained away, leaving LNA-789 gasping and shivering on the cold metal floor. Harsh white light assaulted her newborn eyes as attendants in sterile suits helped her to her feet. Around her, dozens of identical women emerged from their own vats, each taking their first breath in the city of Apollo's cloning facility.

Over the coming weeks, LNA-789's mind was flooded with neural downloads – language, basic skills, and the fundamental tenets of Apollo's society. The information came in a dizzying rush, filling the empty vessel of her consciousness. As the data stream faded, one concept stood out above all others: the cycle.

Apollo's egalitarian system was built on the principle of shared labour. Every citizen, from the newly-decanted to the most seasoned veteran, rotated through various roles essential to the city's survival. This cycle of shared experience was meant to foster unity and prevent the stratification that plagued their rival lunar cities.

Within a few short months of her birth, LNA-789's first assignment took her deep into the vast underground glaciers that provided Apollo with its water supply. She donned a thermal suit that hummed softly, its internal systems working overtime to keep out the bone-deep chill. The suit's material was a marvel of lunar engineering, simultaneously insulating and flexible, allowing for the precise movements required to operate the massive ice harvesters.

The glacier cavern stretched out before her, a glittering expanse of blue-white ice that disappeared into shadowy depths. Lena's breath frosted in the frigid air as she approached her designated work station, a service tunnel filled with a confusing array of pipes and control valves.

"First day?" a voice called out. LNA-789 looked up to see another worker on a raised service platform, her suit marked with the signs of long use.

"Is it that obvious?" LNA-789 replied, attempting a smile.

The other worker chuckled. "I'm KRA-651. Call me Kara. You’ve been assigned to me newbie. Stick with me and I'll show you the ropes. What’s your name?"

“LNA-789,” came the reply.

“That’s not a name!” Kara chuckled and jumped down from the platform with practised ease. “LNA did you say? I’ll call you Lena, Okay?”

LNA-789 - Lena - nodded in agreement. She wasn’t entirely sure if she had a choice in the matter or not.

Over the next few weeks, Lena and Kara quickly fell into a rhythm. The work was monotonous but crucial. Lena learned to operate the environmental controls of the glacier and the large circular harvester saw blades Lena operated the saws with increasing skill, cutting massive blocks of ice that would be processed into Apollo's water supply. The constant whir of machinery and the occasional crack of shifting ice became the soundtrack to their days.

"Two more hours," Kara muttered as they neared the end of another shift. "Then we can feel our toes again."

Lena nodded, her muscles aching from the constant tension of working in the extreme cold. After they finished their shift, they passed a group of miners heading to the helium-3 extraction zones in a service corridor. The haunted looks in their eyes made Lena shudder.

Three months later, that shudder became a grim reality. Lena and Kara’s cycle shifted, and they found themselves descending into the hellish depths of Apollo's mines. The elevator plunged downward, the temperature rising with each metre. When the doors finally opened, they were hit by a wall of heat and noise.

The mining cavern was a nightmare of industrial might. Massive plasma heated drills bored into the lunar rock, while extractors hummed ominously, sucking the helium-3 released by the process into a network of hoses and tubes. The air shimmered with heat, filled with fine lunar dust that even the most advanced filtration systems couldn't fully eliminate.

Lena's first week claimed Jace, a veteran miner of two whole cycles. They were working a new seam when the tunnel supports failed. Lena watched in horror as tons of moon rock came crashing down. Jace's scream was cut short, her body lost in the avalanche of grey stone. They never recovered her remains.

By the second week, Lena had stopped learning names, especially those of new arrivals.

"Keep your head down and your sensors open," growled SRA-417, her shift supervisor. The older woman's face was a map of scars, her eyes hard beneath the grime that seemed to be a permanent feature of every miner. "The rocks speak if you know how to listen. Hear the wrong harmonic, you run. Don't think, don't look back. Just run."

Lena nodded, her throat too dry to speak. The mask over her lower face filtered out the worst of the dust, but her eyes stung constantly. She hefted her plasma drill, its weight already familiar after countless hours of use. The tool hummed with barely contained energy, capable of liquefying moon rock in seconds.

Days blurred together in a haze of heat, dust, and constant danger. Lena's hands grew calloused, her muscles ached, and she developed a persistent cough that no amount of filtered air seemed to cure. But she survived, outlasting many of her fellow miners.

It was near the end of her mining cycle that disaster struck. Lena was operating a matter converter deep in a newly opened tunnel when she felt it – a subtle change in the machine's vibration. Her eyes widened as she remembered Sara’s warning.

"Tunnel collapse!" she screamed into her comm unit. "Everyone out, now!"

A distant rumble confirmed her fears. Lena abandoned her station, sprinting for the main shaft. The roar grew louder, and she felt the ground shift beneath her feet. A scream cut through the chaos – Kara. Lena turned, seeing her friend pinned beneath a fallen support beam.

Time seemed to slow. Lena knew she should run, knew that every second increased her own chance of being buried alive. But her legs carried her back to Kara. With strength born of desperation, she worked the beam's jack to extend it manually. The metal beam and  fallen rocks groaned and the metal slowly began to lift, allowing Kara to scramble free.

Together, they stumbled towards safety as the tunnel collapsed behind them. Rocks pelted their backs, dust filled the air, and the roar became deafening. Just as Lena thought they were done for, they burst into the main cavern.

They lay there, coughing and covered in dust, but alive. They were the only ones that had made it. SRA-417 came running to check on them, surprised to see anyone make it out alive. Her eyes met Lena's, a mixture of surprise and grudging respect in her gaze. "You got lucky, kid," she said gruffly. "Don't expect it to happen twice."

A few weeks later, after their last shift in the mines had ended, Lena and Kara found themselves with a rare day off between work assignments. They had spent the day resting in the dormitory, as Apollo had very little to do for workers on downtime. In the evening, sleep eluded Lena. Tomorrow, they would begin their cycle in Apollo’s surface corps, and the thought filled her with a mix of anticipation and dread. She lay on her bunk, listening to the soft breathing of her fellow clones in the dormitory.

A rustle from the bunk beside her caught her attention. "Lena? You awake?" Kara's whisper was barely audible.

"Yeah," Lena replied softly. "Can't sleep."

There was a moment of silence, then the sound of Kara's feet hitting the floor. "Come on," she murmured. "I’ll show you something."

Curious, Lena followed Kara out of the dormitory and into one of the small observation alcoves scattered throughout Apollo. These spaces, with their reinforced windows looking out onto the lunar surface, were meant to prevent claustrophobia among the population. At this hour, it was deserted.

They stood side by side, gazing out at the stark lunar landscape bathed in Earth's blue light. Lena felt the warmth of Kara's arm against hers, a comforting presence in the cool, recycled air.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kara said softly, her eyes fixed on the distant Earth.

Lena nodded, not trusting herself to speak. There was something about this moment - the quiet, the view, Kara's presence - that felt significant, though she couldn't quite understand in what way.

"Do you ever wonder what it's like up there?" Kara asked, nodding towards Earth. "To feel rain on your face, to see a sky that goes on forever?"

"Sometimes," Lena admitted. "But it doesn't seem real, you know? Like trying to imagine a colour we've never seen."

Kara turned to look at her, a small smile playing on her lips. "I like that about you, Lena. The way you see things... it's different."

There was something in Kara's voice, a warmth that made Lena's heart beat a little faster. She felt an urge to move closer, though she didn't quite understand why.

"Kara," she began, not sure what she wanted to say, but feeling like she should say something.

Precious moments passed, Kara was waiting for her to continue.. After a few seconds of silence, Kara turned back to the window. "We should probably head back," she said. "Big day tomorrow."

As they walked back to the dormitory, their hands brushed against each other. Lena felt electrified at the contact, but before she could process the sensation, they were back at their bunks.

"Goodnight, Lena," Kara whispered, squeezing Lena’s hand briefly before climbing into her own bunk.

"Goodnight," Lena replied, her hand tingling where Kara had touched it.

As she lay in her bunk, sleep still elusive, Lena replayed the moment in her mind. There had been something there, in that quiet alcove with Earth hanging in the sky above them. Something important. But like trying to grasp water, the meaning slipped through her fingers, leaving her with a vague sense of having missed something.

With a sigh, Lena closed her eyes, willing sleep to come. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new dangers. As she drifted off, her dreams were filled with the blue glow of Earth and the warmth of Kara's smile.

The transition from miner to soldier was jarring. Lena's muscles, honed by months of physical labour, ached in new ways as she and Kara were pushed to their limits. Each day began before the artificial dawn, their bodies jolted awake by the harsh blare of alarms.

Lena's lungs burned as she ran endless laps around the training dome's curvature, a constant reminder of their confinement. Kara paced beside her, their laboured breaths syncing in a rhythm of shared suffering. Sweat plastered their short hair to their scalps, leaving dark trails down their necks.

"Keep moving, maggots!" their drill instructor bellowed, "The Artemis dogs won't wait for you to catch your breath!"

Obstacle courses tested their agility and strength. Lena's arms trembled as she hauled herself over a towering wall, the rough surface scraping her palms raw. She reached down to help Kara, their fingers interlocking as Lena pulled her friend up with a grunt of exertion.

Their first experience with space suits was claustrophobic and disorienting. Lena's breath fogged up her visor as she struggled to control her panic. The suit felt like a coffin, constricting her movements and muffling the world around her.

"Breathe, Lena," Kara's voice crackled through the comm. "Focus on my voice. You've got this."

Lena closed her eyes, centering herself on Kara's steady tone. Slowly, her breathing evened out, and she began to feel the suit as an extension of herself rather than a prison.

They practised emergency procedures until they became second nature. Lena's fingers flew over the suit's control panel, patching simulated leaks with quick-hardening foam. Kara worked beside her, their movements synchronised as they fought against the clock.

"30 seconds to depressurization," the instructor’s voice announced. "20... 10..."

With moments to spare, they sealed the last leak. Lena sagged in relief, her hand finding Kara's in a quick squeeze of triumph.

Weapons training brought a new level of intensity. The weight of the gun felt alien in Lena's hands, its advanced targeting system projecting a dizzying array of data across her visor.

"Remember," the weapons master growled, "in vacuum, there's no sound. You won't hear the enemy coming. Your life depends on these sensors."

Lena squared her shoulders, sighting down the barrel at a distant target. She exhaled slowly, her finger tightening on the trigger. The gun bucked in her hands, the recoil far stronger than she'd expected. Her shot went wide, missing the target by far.

"Pathetic," the instructor spat. "Again!"

Hours blurred into days as they drilled relentlessly. Lena's body ached, covered in bruises and minor suit burns. But with each passing day, she felt stronger, more confident. The suit became a second skin, its systems an extension of her own senses.

In low-gravity combat simulations, Lena and Kara moved like dancers, their bodies twisting and spinning in the eerie silence of vacuum. They learned to use their environment as a weapon, launching off walls and using debris as improvised shields.

One particularly gruelling exercise found them back-to-back, surrounded by simulated enemies. Lena's gun sang as she picked off targets with growing accuracy. Kara guarded her flank, her combat knife flashing as she dispatched a simulated attacker that got too close.

"Nice work, rookie," Kara panted as the simulation ended. "Maybe we'll survive our first battle after all."

Lena grinned behind her visor, bumping her helmet gently against Kara's in a gesture of affection. "Not bad yourself, partner. We make a pretty good team."

As they stood there, catching their breath in the aftermath of the simulation, Lena felt a surge of pride.

But beneath the pride lurked a growing sense of unease. They were being moulded into weapons, their bodies and minds honed for a war whose purpose was unclear. As Lena looked at Kara, seeing her own conflicted emotions mirrored in her friend's eyes, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were simply pawns in a game far larger than they understood.

Too soon, simulation became reality. A blaring alarm jolted Lena, Kara  and the rest of their platoon out of their sleep. Still half asleep, they suited up and equipped their weapons.

"Check your seals!" barked the squad leader as they piled into the airlock. "Check comms, check your weapons. Remember your training!"

Lena's gloved fingers traced the connections of her combat suit for the hundredth time. The armour was a technological marvel, designed to protect against both enemy fire and the unforgiving lunar environment. The HUD in her helmet flickered to life, displaying oxygen levels, suit integrity, and targeting information.

A wave of nausea swept over her as the airlock cycled open, revealing the stark lunar landscape. The horizon curved noticeably, an instant reminder of the moon's small size. Stars blazed in the black sky with an intensity Lena had never seen before, unfiltered by atmosphere.

They bounded across the grey expanse in low gravity leaps, each step sending up puffs of moon dust. Their target was an Artemis mining outpost that had encroached on Apollo territory. As they approached the target area, they spotted flashes of light in the distance that betrayed the enemy position. 

Suddenly, the ground erupted before her. A proximity mine, undetected by their scanners. The soldier to her left vanished in a cloud of dust, frozen blood and shredded suit material. Lena was thrown backwards, her helmet and visor making a frightening crunching noise on impact. Warning lights flashed across her HUD as the suit’s systems struggled to compensate for the sudden violent impact.

She scrambled to her feet, disoriented. Through the dust on her visor, she saw chaos. Gunfire crisscrossed the battlefield, tracer lines slicing through the vacuum, bringing death to anyone’s suit they touched. Silent explosions peppered the lunar surface as more mines detonated. Bodies collapsed lazily in the low gravity, trails of frozen blood marking their trajectory.

She found Kara, and they began to move in tandem, their months of training evident in every coordinated step. They bounded from cover to cover, returning fire when they could. Despite the madness around them, Lena felt a sense of calmness fighting alongside Kara. They were a team, in sync with each other.

A barrage of enemy fire pinned them down behind a rocky outcropping. Lena's breath came in ragged gasps, amplified in the confines of her helmet. She turned to Kara, about to suggest a flanking manoeuvre, when she saw it - an impact against Kara’s helmet, a hair-thin crack spreading across her faceplate.

Time seemed to slow. Lena reached out, her mouth opening to shout a warning, but it was too late. The crack spiderwebbed, and then, with an almost beautiful explosion of glass fragments reflecting the sunlight, Kara's faceplate shattered.

In the vacuum of space, there was no scream. Kara's eyes went wide with shock and fear, her mouth opening in a silent cry. Lena lunged forward, desperately trying to cover the breach with her hands, but the damage was too severe.

Kara's body convulsed, the moisture in her eyes and mouth boiling away in the vacuum. Her hands clawed at Lena's arms, whether in panic or an attempt to push her back into cover, Lena couldn't tell. 

Through the damaged faceplate, Lena's eyes locked with Kara's. In that moment, a lifetime of unspoken words passed between them. Lena saw fear in Kara's eyes - and something else - an emotion Lena couldn't name, but which made her heart ache with a pain she'd never known before.

Then, in a final, terrible moment, Kara's eyes glazed over. Her body went limp in Lena's arms.

Lena screamed, the sound reverberating in her own helmet. She clutched Kara's body to her chest, heedless of the battle raging around them. In that moment, nothing else mattered - not the war, not her duty, not even her own survival.

The dust cloud of a nearby explosion and small pieces of grit peppering against her helmet snapped Lena back to reality. She looked down at Kara's lifeless form, feeling something fundamental shift inside her. This wasn't right. None of this was right. There had to be more to their existence, surely they were more than just disposable clones to be used and replaced.

With shaking hands, Lena reached out and closed Kara's eyes. Then, with a gentleness that belied the violence around her, she lowered Kara's body to the lunar surface.

As Lena stood, something hardened inside her. The pain of Kara's loss crystallised into a resolve she'd never felt before. She picked up her weapon, her movements mechanical, her mind eerily calm.

Lena rejoined the battle, but something had changed. She fought with a cold efficiency, her actions driven not by duty or training, but by a rage against the impossible situation they all found themselves in. Did no-one else feel this way? Was everyone else just resigned to be a cog in the machine for their short lives until they died? She directed her rage against the enemy, although deep-down she could rationalise they were simply in the same situation.

By the time they had overwhelmed the surface defenders and breached the small Artemis outpost, Lena’s unit had lost so many that she and the other survivors were in no mood for pity. They killed everyone inside, even when they tried to surrender.

As the dust settled and the pitiful handful of survivors began to retreat towards the domes of Apollo, Lena walked by herself, her gaze fixed on the distant Earth hanging in the sky. She thought of the quiet moment she and Kara had shared in the observation alcove, of dreams of rain and endless skies. Of possibilities now forever lost.

As they trudged back to base, Lena's hand absently traced the spot on her arm where Kara had touched her that night. The memory of that gentle touch, contrasted with Kara's final, desperate grasp, sent a shudder through her body.

Lena didn't fully understand the emotions roiling inside her. But she knew, with a certainty that scared her, that she would never be the same again.

At that moment, Lena made a decision. She would find a way out to break out of this cycle.

The following cycle found Lena in the hot, labyrinthine maintenance tunnels of Apollo. After the horror of battle, the solitude was almost welcome. Her heart broken from the loss of her only real friend, she worked methodically, repairing conduits and replacing filters, letting the mundane tasks numb her mind.

The maintenance corridors of Apollo were a labyrinth of steel and steam, a circulatory system pumping heated air throughout the lunar city. Lena moved through these arteries like a blood cell, her body glistening with sweat in the oppressive heat. Her tank top clung to her skin, darkened with moisture and grime. The minimal clothing was all that was bearable in this heat, but it left her arms and legs exposed to the constant abrasions of the rough metal surfaces and the insidious lunar dust that seemed to permeate everything.

Lena's short, dark hair was plastered to her forehead, and streaks of oil and dirt marked her face and bare skin. Heavy work boots and fingerless gloves were her only protection against the harsh environment. A tool belt hung low on her hips, the weight of it a constant reminder of her purpose here.

As she crouched to adjust a valve, Lena winced. Her muscles ached from the constant physical labour, but the pain was almost welcome. It was a distraction from the hollow ache in her chest, the void left by Kara's death. In the weeks since that fateful battle, Lena had thrown herself into her work, hoping the mindless routine would numb the pain of her loss.

A distant clang echoed through the corridors, pulling Lena from her thoughts. She paused, listening intently. The maintenance tunnels were crawling with workers like herself, but the network was vast and she knew she was supposed to be alone in this section at this hour.

Another sound, closer this time. A scraping, like something heavy being dragged across metal grating. Lena's hand went to her plasma torch, the only tool that could double as a weapon in a pinch.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice swallowed by the hum of machinery. "Is someone there?"

The answer came in a low, guttural growl that made the hair on the back of Lena's neck stand on end. She turned slowly, her heart pounding in her chest.

The creature that emerged from the shadows was a nightmare given flesh. Vaguely humanoid, its pale, mottled skin was stretched tight over a frame that seemed too large for it. Multiple limbs, some vestigial, others ending in wicked claws, protruded from its torso. But it was the face that froze Lena in place - a distorted, almost melted visage with lidless eyes and a mouth full of jagged teeth.

Lena's mind raced, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Stories of the Forgotten, descendants of exiled colonists mutated by generations of radiation exposure, flashed through her mind. But she had always dismissed them as ghost stories told to scare new clones.

The creature lunged, moving with a speed that belied its twisted form. Lena ducked, feeling the rush of air and a sharp pain as claws scraped across her exposed skin. Covered in her own blood, she scrambled backwards, her boots slipping on the metal grating.

In her panic, Lena's elbow struck a steam valve. Scalding vapour erupted between her and the creature, filling the corridor with a deafening hiss. The monster recoiled, giving Lena a precious opportunity to turn and run.

She sprinted through the tunnels, her heart pounding in her ears. The layout she knew so well suddenly seemed alien and confusing. Every shadow held potential danger, every sound a threat.

She ran through the tunnels, taking random turns and steadily slowing down. The echoing howls of the creature had long faded into the distance, but Lena knew she was hopelessly lost.

After what felt like hours of wandering, voices suddenly echoed from around a corner. Lena instinctively pressed herself against the wall, hidden in the shadows of a service alcove.

"Where's the codebreaker, Petra?" a voice hissed, tension evident in its tone. "We upheld our end of the bargain."

"Oh, I've got it right here," replied a voice Lena recognized as Petra who she had worked with before in hydroponics. There was a smug confidence in her tone that set Lena's nerves on edge.

"Then hand it over," the first voice said. "We've got the payment as agreed."

A chuckle from Petra sent a chill down Lena's spine. "About that, Ash... I'm thinking our arrangement needs some renegotiation."

"What are you talking about?" The first voice grew sharp with anger. "We had a deal!"

"Well, deals change," Petra said coldly. "I've realised just how valuable this codebreaker is. So here's the new deal – you give me double, plus anything valuable you're carrying with you, and maybe I'll consider giving you the codebreaker."

There was a moment of tense silence before the first voice spoke again, low and dangerous. "You're making a big mistake, Petra."

"Am I?" Petra's voice dripped with arrogance. "Because from where I'm standing, I'm the one holding all the cards. Now, hand over your valuables before I call back-up and have you both arrested."

Lena's heart raced. She peered around the corner, seeing Petra with a pistol trained on two figures in unfamiliar outfits. One was tall and lean, the other a little bit shorter than her. They didn’t seem to be from Apollo. Outsiders.

"Last chance," Petra growled. "Drop your gear and get on your knees, or I sound the alarm."

Suddenly, the shorter figure moved with lightning speed and unstoppable force. There was a blur of motion as they briefly wrestled for the pistol, a gunshot, and then a thud as Petra's body hit the ground, a smoking hole in her chest and a rapidly expanding pool of blood underneath her.

"Damn it Koda," the tall figure said to the other one, her voice tight with stress. "I didn't want it to go down like this."

Heart pounding, Lena tried to retreat, but her foot caught on a loose piece of grating. The clang echoed through the tunnel. Silence fell, then the sound of rapid footsteps.

Rough hands grabbed her, dragging her into the light. The two figures loomed over her, their faces looking at her in confusion. Behind them, Petra's lifeless body lay crumpled on the ground, her unseeing eyes still wide with shock.

"Well, well," said the taller figure, her voice tense but not unkind. "Looks like we've got a witness."

Lena's mind raced. "Don’t kill me!" she blurted out. "I... I can help you. I know these tunnels better than anyone. Whatever you're looking for, I can get you there."

The smugglers exchanged glances. "And why should we trust you?" the shorter one asked.

Lena swallowed hard. "Because I want out. This place, this endless work and war... the cycle… I can't do it anymore. Let me live and I'll get you whatever you need."

A tense moment passed. Finally, the taller smuggler nodded. "Alright, maintenance rat. You've got yourself a deal. But cross us, and you'll end up like your friend there."

Over the following weeks, Lena led a double life. By day, she carried out her maintenance duties, memorising patrol schedules and security protocols. By night, she met with the smugglers, passing on information and helping them move contraband through Apollo's hidden arteries.

The rush was intoxicating. For the first time since emerging from her growth vat, Lena felt truly alive. The constant fear of discovery only added to the thrill. She found herself looking forward to her clandestine meetings, particularly with Ash, the taller smuggler whose gruff exterior hid a sharp wit and surprising gentleness.

As her maintenance cycle neared its end, Lena knew a decision was looming. Another cycle would mean working in the deadly mines again, another tour as a soldier on the surface. The thought filled her with dread and memories of Kara’s death.

The night before her reassignment, she met Ash in their usual spot – a forgotten storage room deep in Apollo's industrial sector. Her rebreather was off, revealing a face weathered by hard living but striking in its own way.

"Tomorrow's your last day in maintenance," Ash said, studying her face. "Am I ever going to see you again?"

Lena took a deep breath. "I can’t go back to my normal life Ash - I need to get out of here"

Ash's hand found hers, rough calluses against her own work-hardened skin. "There's always a choice, Lena. If you’re sure about this, I could always use someone like you in my crew…”

Lena felt a flutter in her chest at Ash's touch. These feelings were new and confusing – nothing in her neural downloads or limited life experience had prepared her for the complexity of emotion she now faced. 

But in that moment, looking into Ash's eyes, she knew what she wanted.

Lena instinctively leaned towards Ash. She was driven by the memories of a moment with Kara, a moment she felt she had missed and regretted ever since. Ash smiled and mirrored her movement. Their lips met, hesitant at first, then with growing passion. Lena lost herself in the kiss, in the warmth of Ash's body against hers. For a brief, beautiful moment, the dangers and uncertainties of their world faded away.

Lena pulled away and looked into Ash’s eyes with a sudden intensity. “Take me with you Ash!”

Ash tried to look at her with a straight face but couldn’t help but smile. “Alright then. We don’t have a spare suit with us. Can you organise one and get out of the dome? We’ll meet you a klick east of the airlock.

Less than an hour later Lena was on the lunar surface once more, clad in the familiar bulk of a combat suit. But this time she was here for herself. This time, she had a plan.

A skirmish was raging just outside the airlock. Traces of gunfire sizzled past as raiders from Artemis were attacking the dome, one of their almost daily probing attacks. Moondust churned beneath Lena’s feet as she was hurrying away from the combat zone, bounding across the lunar landscape towards the rendezvous coordinates.

Her heart pounded as she approached the small crater where Ash's ship waited. Suddenly, a proximity alarm blared in her helmet – she'd been spotted and someone was targeting her. Lena pushed herself harder, each bound covering dozens of metres in the low gravity.

Impacts from gunfire began to pepper the ground around her. Lena wasn’t even sure if it was the Artemis raiders or her own side shooting at her. It didn’t matter. She ran and bounded, trying to use an erratic movement pattern to throw off her pursuers' aim. She was almost there, she could see the ship's airlock opening...

A shot grazed her suit, sending her tumbling. Lena cried out in panic, her suit's integrity warnings screaming in her ears as the suit tried to seal itself. She looked up to see Ash emerge from the ship, weapon drawn.

Time seemed to slow. Lena saw the determination in Ash's eyes, saw her taking aim at the approaching pursuers and opening fire. At that moment, she knew that Ash would risk everything to save her.

With a final, desperate effort, Lena launched herself towards the ship. Koda’s strong arms caught her, dragging her inside as Ash was laying down covering fire. The airlock slammed shut. The ship's engines roared to life, pressing them against the deck as it lifted off.

As the acceleration eased, Lena removed her helmet, breathing recycled air that somehow felt fresher than anything in Apollo. Ash's hand found her shoulder, brushing a thick layer of dust off of her.

"Welcome to the crew, Moondust," she said with a wink. "Hope you're ready for some real adventure."

The ship's engines hummed as they skimmed low over the lunar surface, staying out of detection range of Apollo's sensors. A short while later, Lena watched in awe as they approached a massive crater, its rim casting long shadows over its interior.

"Gamma Ios," Ash said, her voice filled with pride. "The real lunar capital."

As they descended into the crater, Lena gasped. What she had thought was bare rock was, in fact, an intricate network of structures built into the crater walls. Lights glimmered from countless structures and viewing ports and ships of all sizes docked at hidden ports.

"It's enormous," Lena breathed. "How is this possible?"

Ash grinned. "The so-called 'main cities' only see what we want them to see. Gamma Ios has been growing for decades, right under their arrogant AI noses."

They docked at a bustling port, the airlock cycling to reveal a cavernous hangar carved directly into the lunar rock. As they stepped out, Lena was struck by the diversity of the crowd. There were clones like her, yes, but also people of all shapes and sizes, some with obvious cybernetic enhancements.

"Ash, you magnificent bastard!" a booming voice called out. A massive man with a wild beard pushed through the crowd, enveloping Ash in a bear hug. "We thought the Apollo guards had finally caught up with you!"

Ash laughed, returning the embrace. "It'll take more than a few moon-bound grunts to take me down, Grix. Besides, I had help this time." She turned, pulling Lena forward. "Meet my newest crew member, Lena."

Grix's eyes, one organic and one a glowing cybernetic implant, focused on Lena. "An Apollo clone, eh? You're in for quite a culture shock, little one."

Lena lifted her chin, meeting his gaze. "I'm ready for it. But... How are you here? I thought..."

Grix chuckled, a deep rumbling sound. "The almighty AI overlords taught you that there were no men on the moon? Let me tell you a story, kid. Many years ago, I was running with a Cybernetic clan in the mud lands on Earth - real serious ladies - and we stumbled across this scouting mission of warriors from Luna. Things went bad fast, I mean crazy, they were wiping us out, but I discovered their shuttle in all that chaos. I forced the pilot to take me back here, and found this little outpost of freedom. White haired pilot lady got thrown out the airlock, but I was allowed to stay."

Lena looked at him in confusion. “You’re from Earth? Mud lands? What are you talking about?” Grix let out a bellowing laugh. As they walked through the bustling corridors of Gamma Ios, Grix continued his tale. "I’ll tell you all about the details another time, kid. More importantly, turns out, the all-female clone population was pretty keen on some genetic diversity.” He elbowed her and winked at her. Lena was growing increasingly confused. Grix continued, “I've got more kids and grandkids than I can count now. We've been slowly changing the face of the moon, one birth at a time." Grix grinned from ear to ear, clearly very proud of himself.

Lena's head spun as she took in the implications. All around her, she saw evidence of this change. Young men and women walked side by side, some with small children in tow. It was a far cry from the sterile, controlled environment of Apollo.

They entered a lively bar called "The Crater's Edge." Inside, the air was thick with the scent of “Moonwater”, a synth alcohol distilled in Gamma Ios, and the buzz of excited conversations. Lena was introduced to the rest of Ash's crew: Zeyla, a wiry hacker with neural implants that had turned her into an organic computer; Koda, who she had already met, a quiet strong woman bred in Artemis for heavy labour in the deep mines; and Boris, a son of Grix and cheerful pilot of Ash’s ship, the Dust Runner.

Many drinks were bought, and Lena’s inexperienced body soon felt the effects. As the night wore on, Ash pulled Lena aside. "Time for your first job, Moondust. Grix gave me a tip on a valuable device in a small outpost, something certain people will pay good money for to get their hands on. You up for it?"

Lena hesitated for a moment. This was it – her first step into a life of true freedom, but also danger and moral ambiguity. She thought of Apollo, of the endless, meaningless work cycles and battles she'd left behind. Then she looked at Ash, at the promise of adventure in her eyes.

"That’s why I’m here," Lena said, her voice slightly shaky from the effects of the Moonwater. "What's the plan?"

Ash's grin was fierce and beautiful. "That's my girl.”

The walk back from The Crater's Edge was quiet, the corridors of Gamma Ios nearly deserted at this late hour. Lena felt a pleasant warmth from the synth-alcohol, but more intoxicating was Ash's presence beside her.

They paused outside the door to Ash's quarters. "You OK staying with me until we find you somewhere to stay?" Ash asked, her voice low and inviting.

Lena nodded, her heart racing as she followed Ash inside. The room was small but cosy, filled with odds and ends from Ash's travels - a stark contrast to the sterile living spaces of Apollo.

Ash poured them each a finger of amber liquid from a battered flask. Their fingers touched as she handed Lena the glass, lingering a moment longer than necessary.

"To new beginnings," Ash said, raising her glass in a toast.

"New beginnings," Lena echoed, her voice barely above a whisper.

They sipped their drinks in comfortable silence, stealing glances at each other over the rims of their glasses. Lena felt a warmth spreading through her that had nothing to do with the alcohol.

Setting down her empty glass, Ash moved closer. Her hand came up to cup Lena's cheek, thumb gently tracing her jawline. "Is this okay?" she murmured.

Lena nodded, unable to find her voice. She closed her eyes and leaned into Ash's touch.

Their lips met softly at first, then with growing passion. Lena felt as if she were falling and flying at the same time. All the confusion, the longing she'd felt since Kara's death, crystallised into this moment of clarity and connection.

Ash's hands tangled in Lena's hair as she deepened the kiss. Lena responded eagerly, her own hands exploring the curves of Ash's body, learning her by touch.

They stumbled towards the bed, shedding clothes along the way. As they fell onto the sheets, Lena caught a glimpse of Earth through the small porthole window - a blue jewel hanging in the void. Then Ash's lips were on her neck, and all thoughts of anything beyond this room, this moment, melted away.

Later, Lena lay in Ash's arms, their bodies intertwined. Ash's fingers traced lazy patterns on Lena's bare shoulder as they basked in the afterglow.

"You okay?" Ash asked softly, pressing a kiss to Lena's temple.

Lena nodded, snuggling closer. "More than okay," she murmured. "I've never felt like this before."

Ash chuckled, the sound rumbling pleasantly against Lena's cheek. "Welcome to the world of real freedom and emotions, Moondust. It's messy and complicated, but it's worth it."

As sleep began to claim her, Lena felt a sense of peace she hadn't known since before Kara's death. In the soft glow of Earth-light filtering through the porthole, Lena and Ash drifted off to sleep.

The next day, the crew gathered in the dimly lit cargo hold of their ship, the Dust Runner, the low hum of the engines on standby a constant backdrop to their preparations. Lena watched as Ash laid out a primitive hand drawn map of the Artemis outpost on a makeshift table.

"Alright, team," Ash began, her voice low and serious. "We're going to hit a secret Artemis research outpost. They've developed a new type of radiation shielding, tech that could help to expand Gamma Ios even further, maybe even start building on the surface."

She pointed to a marked area on the map. "The prototype is here, in the central lab."

Zeyla leaned in, her VR goggle lenses whirring as they focused on the map. "Security systems?"

"Several security doors for you to breach," Ash replied. "But nothing you can't handle, right?"

Zeyla's lips curled into a smirk. "Please. They haven’t invented a system to keep me out yet."

Grix moved closer, his massive frame casting a shadow over the map. His cybernetic eye glowed softly as he studied the layout. In his huge hand, he held what looked like an antique hand cannon, its metal surface etched with intricate patterns. "I know this design," he rumbled. "Standard Artemis defensive layout. They always put their backup generators here." He tapped a spot on the map with one thick finger.

Boris spun a wrench between his fingers, nervous energy radiating off him. "That's great, Dad, but what's our exit strategy? That place is going to be crawling with guards."

Ash nodded. "That's where you come in, hotshot. We need you to keep the ship hot and ready for a quick getaway. If trouble hits, you light them up from the gun turret. You're the best shot we've got."

Boris grinned, catching the wrench mid-spin. "Just try not to take too long in there. I hate sitting still."

Lena cleared her throat, her head still throbbing from last night's Moonwater. "What about me? What's my role?"

All eyes turned to her. Ash's gaze softened slightly. "You're with me, Moondust. I need your soldier training to back me up when things heat up. You'll be my muscle, together with Koda."

Grix chuckled, the sound like distant thunder. "Don't forget about me. This job is too important - I’m coming along." He patted his massive hand cannon. "Besides, Old Lucy here hasn't tasted action in a while."

Koda merely grunted in approval. She patted Lena's shoulder and then began checking her weapons. Lena nodded, a mix of pride and anxiety swirling in her gut. She was part of a crew now, something real.

The next few hours were a blur of preparation. Lena found herself suited up in a lightweight scout suit, a far cry from the bulky combat suits she had worn in battle before. Ash handed Lena a heavy silenced pistol and looked into her eyes with an intensity she hadn't witnessed before. "This scout suit," Ash started, "It's not self-sealing like the combat suits you're used to. If you get hit, even grazed... you'll probably die. Understood?" 

Lena nodded. If there was one thing she was prepared for in her young life, it was death. It had been ever-present all around her since her birth.

The Dust Runner slipped out of Gamma Ios under the cover of a meteor shower, using the natural phenomenon to mask their approach to the research outpost. The surface of the moon stretched out before them, a desolate landscape of craters and sharp-edged shadows.

"Approaching Artemis territory," Boris murmured after a short while, his fingers dancing over the controls. "Going silent."

From his position in the cargo hold, Grix checked his suit seals one final time. "Just like old times," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "Though the mud lands were a damn sight warmer than this frozen rock."

As they drew closer, the Artemis outpost came into focus. It was a trapezoid, pyramidal structure nestled in the shadow of a towering crater wall. Floodlights illuminated the immediate area around it, creating a small island of harsh brightness in the lunar night.

Boris brought the ship down in a natural depression about a kilometre from the outpost. As the engines powered down, an eerie silence fell over them. Through the viewscreen, he watched the team prepare to disembark. "Good hunting," he said, his hand already resting on the gun turret controls. "Try not to need me too much."

The airlock hissed open, and Lena felt the artificial gravity of the ship give way to the moon's lighter pull. They bounded across the lunar surface in long, low arcs, their movements precise and controlled. Despite his size, Grix moved with surprising grace in the low gravity, his cybernetic eye constantly scanning for threats.

As they approached the outpost's outer perimeter, Lena spotted movement. She tapped Ash's shoulder and pointed. A lone guard was making her rounds, the lights from her helmet sweeping across the rocky ground.

Before anyone could move, Koda was already in motion. In one fluid movement, she scooped up a fist-sized moon rock and was on top of the guard, smashing it into her domed glass helmet. The guard's faceplate shattered, and she collapsed, her body convulsing as she desperately gasped for nonexistent air.

They reached the airlock, and Zeyla went to work. Her fingers flew over the control panel, leaving trails of light in their wake. "Thirty seconds," she muttered.

Inside the outpost, they moved like shadows through the eerily quiet corridors. Their footsteps echoed despite their best efforts at stealth. Suddenly, voices echoed from around a corner. Grix raised his hand, signalling the team to stop.

A maintenance crew of four rounded the corner, deeply engaged in conversation. They froze at the sight of the intruders. Before anyone could react, Grix's hand cannon roared - a sound like thunder in the confined space. The massive rounds tore through the first two workers, the impact throwing them against the wall with bone-crushing force.

The third worker lunged for an alarm panel, but Koda was faster. Her hands closed around the worker's throat, lifting her off her feet. There was a sharp crack, and the body went limp. The fourth tried to run, but Ash's silenced pistol barked twice, dropping her without a sound.

Lena felt her stomach lurch. These were unarmed maintenance workers, not unlike herself just a few days ago. Ash must have sensed her discomfort because she squeezed Lena's hand. "It's us or them," she whispered. "But remember, you're free now. You don't have to do this."

Lena swallowed hard and nodded. "I'm okay," she said. "I'm with you."

They pressed on, following Zeyla's directions through the twisting corridors. Finally, they reached the central lab. The door was reinforced, but Zeyla's cybernetic implants made quick work of the security system.

Inside, banks of computers hummed, surrounding a central pedestal. On it sat an unassuming device, pulsing with a soft red light.

"That's it," Ash breathed. "The radiation shield prototype."

As Ash carefully disconnected the device, the others kept watch. Zeyla’s enhanced hearing picked up the sound of approaching footsteps. "Company coming," she hissed.

The lab doors burst open. A full squad of Artemis security forces poured in, their weapons already raised. "Drop your weapons!" the lead guard shouted. "You're completely surround-"

Her words were cut short as Grix's hand cannon roared. The massive round caught her centre mass, the impact lifting her off her feet and throwing her back into her squad. Without hesitation, he fired again and again, each thunderous shot finding its mark. The guards' armour might as well have been paper against the sheer stopping power of his antique weapon.

"Move!" Ash shouted, clutching the prototype to her chest. They sprinted through the corridors, retracing their steps. The alarms were deafening now, red emergency lights bathing everything in a crimson glow.

As they rounded the final corner before the airlock, they came face to face with another security team. Grix's hand cannon clicked empty at the worst possible moment.

Time seemed to slow. Lena saw the guards raising their weapons, saw Ash diving for cover, clutching the prototype. Without thinking, she raised her pistol and fired.

Her first shot struck a guard in the chest, the impact throwing her backward. Lena pushed forward, her combat training taking over. Each shot found its mark with brutal efficiency. Beside her, she heard the distinctive crack of Ash's pistol joining the fray.

Grix had holstered his empty hand cannon and waded into the fight with his fists, his cybernetic strength allowing him to literally throw guards aside like dolls. His augmented eye glowed fiercely as he grabbed one guard by her helmet and slammed her into the wall with bone-crushing force. Her body went limp and she slid to the ground as he let go.

They made it into the airlock just as another security team rounded the corner. Gunfire peppered the inner door as they cycled through. Grix laughed, a booming sound that filled their comms. "Just like the old days in the mud lands!" he bellowed. "Though the ladies there hit a lot harder!"

Outside, they could see the Dust Runner rising from its hiding place, Boris already bringing its weapons to bear. A group of Artemis troops emerging from another airlock were cut down by precise bursts from the ship's turret, their bodies collapsing lazily in the low gravity, trailing frozen blood.

"Incoming!" Zeyla shouted, her cybernetic eye picking up movement. A pair of Artemis combat vehicles crested a nearby ridge, their heavy weapons tracking the fleeing group.

Boris's response was immediate and devastating. The ship's main railgun spat streams of hyper velocity projectiles, shredding the first vehicle and its occupants. The second tried to swerve, but Boris's aim was unerring. The vehicle flipped end over end, its crew spilling out into the dust before being torn to pieces by gunfire from the ship.

"Nobody shoots at my old man!" Boris's voice crackled through their comms as he brought the ship lower, providing them covering fire.

They bounded toward the ship, each leap covering dozens of metres in the low gravity. More security forces poured from the facility, their weapons creating a deadly light show in the darkness. Boris's covering fire kept them pinned down, his accuracy with the ship's weapons almost artistic in its precision.

Just as they were about to reach the ship, a stray shot grazed Lena's leg. She tumbled, panic rising as she remembered Ash's warning about the scout suit. But the shot had only scored the outer layer. Ash and Grix each grabbed one of her arms, practically throwing her the remaining distance to the ship's airlock.

They tumbled inside, the door sealing behind them with a hiss of pressurised air. Moments later, they felt the lurch of acceleration as Boris gunned the engines, carrying them away from the chaos at the outpost.

As the adrenaline of the raid began to fade, Lena found herself grappling with a whirlwind of emotions. Out of breath, she slumped into a corner of the cargo hold. The exhilaration of success mingled with the guilt of taking so many lives. She stared at her hands, remembering the weight of the gun, the precision of her shots.

Grix lumbered over, his massive frame casting a shadow over her. He began inspecting his hand cannon with practised ease, his cybernetic eye dimming as he powered down its combat protocols. "First real firefight's always the roughest, kid," he rumbled, not looking up from his work. "Especially when you've got time to think about it afterward."

“Not my first fight,” Lena replied, keeping her voice low.

Grix gave her a long hard look. Understanding passed between them and he nodded. “You’ll have to tell me your story one day, kid. Whenever you’re ready.” With that, he got up and busied himself on the other side of the cargo hold, muttering something about checking the prototype containment unit.

When Ash found her way to Lena, she sat down beside her, their shoulders touching.

"First time's always the hardest," Ash said softly.

Lena looked up, her eyes searching Ash's face. "I've seen plenty of death before. I've killed before. But I've never had to see their faces."

Ash's expression was pained. "We do what we have to, but we never forget the cost."

They sat in silence for a moment, the hum of the ship's engines a comforting background noise. From across the cargo hold, they could hear Grix telling Koda and Zeyla stories about the mud lands, his deep voice carrying easily despite his attempt to speak quietly.

"I keep thinking about my life in Apollo," Lena finally said. "The endless work shifts, the meaningless battles. Losing my only friend. I thought I was fighting for something, but it was all just... empty."

Ash nodded. "And now?"

Lena thought about the raid, about the rush of making her own choices, about the camaraderie of the crew. She watched as Boris left the cockpit to join his father, playfully punching Grix's massive arm as the older man pulled him into a one-armed hug. They were a family - not by blood or design, but by choice.

"Now, I feel alive," she said. "Scared, confused, guilty... but alive."

Ash's hand found hers, their fingers intertwining. They sat together in comfortable silence.

As Gamma Ios came into view, its hidden structures glittering in the eternal lunar night, Lena felt a sense of purpose settling over her. This was her new home, her new family. And she would fight to protect it, no matter the cost.

"Hey lovebirds," Grix called out, his voice tinged with amusement. "Once we've delivered this prototype, drinks are on me. We've all deserved it."

Lena squeezed Ash's hand, a small smile playing on her lips. The future was uncertain, but for the first time in her life, it was hers to choose.