"Protocol 187, Subject Zion Arakiel, terminated."
A loud, mechanical voice crackled in Zion's ear as his drop pod ejected from a massive battleship, hurling him towards the wasteland below.
"Those fuckers…"
His heart pounded as he stared through the small window with bloodshot eyes, watching the battleship grow smaller between the stars.
The pod shook violently as it flew through space, the metal straps across his arms and legs rattling like chains and cutting into his skin when he tried to move.
"No…" Zion muttered, his eyes locked on the massive battleship.
Its engines ignited, a soft glow building until a blast of white light erupted and the battleship vanished in an instant.
"Damn it…"
A second later, a violent shockwave slammed into the pod. Zion's world tilted as alarms screamed and the capsule spun wildly out of control.
The pod spun faster. Red lights flashed all around him while loud sirens blared through his pounding head.
"Altitude breach. Brace for impact."
"Impact?" he whispered, barely able to breathe.
The straps dug deeper into his aching body, every breath sending fresh waves of pain through him.
Then—
Boom!
The pod hit the ground with a deafening explosion.
Zion's vision went black as the impact slammed his head sideways, leaving only silence.
Time blurred until a sharp ringing dragged him back to reality, his chest heaving with coughs as he forced his eyes open.
'Smoke?' he thought, his mind still foggy.
Looking around, he found his pod on fire and the small window in front of him shattered.
'Am I going to be burned alive?'
For a moment, everything fell silent as Zion stared at the flames with unfocused eyes.
"No," he muttered, his throat dry. "I refuse to die like they want me to."
The straps had loosened just enough to let him move.
Zion grit his teeth, twisting his body with all his might to get himself out.
The harness creaked, then released him with a heavy clunk.
Zion fell on the scorched metal floor of the pod, coughing wildly as smoke entered his lungs. Everything ached, but he pushed through the pain and the intense heat, dragging himself towards the shattered window.
With one good shove, the hatch gave way and fell to the ground.
'Almost,' he thought, desperation in his eyes as he crawled through the open hatch.
Managing to drag himself out of the burning shuttle, Zion pulled himself a few feet away from the capsule before collapsing on the ground.
The air was thin and bitter, tasting like some kind of ash, and the cracked ground scraped against his palms as though it hadn't felt water in decades.
He rolled onto his back, gasping as smoke from the ruined pod behind him rose into a deep red sky with two massive suns.
He stared up at the sky for a long time, his chest heaving as he remembered what had happened.
'My parents,' he thought, tears from anger and sadness welling up in his eyes.
His fingers dug into the dirt, his whole body trembling with rage.
'For something I didn't even fucking do...'
He didn't want to remember.
But the image forced itself back into his mind.
He could still see the fear in his parents' eyes as they were being held down.
"All of them knew it wasn't me… but no one spoke up."
Zion's lungs burned with every breath, the heat radiating from the crashed pod blurring the sky above him.
He pushed himself up with one elbow, ignoring the sharp pain shooting through his ribs.
Through the pain, he lifted his gaze. Endless cracked earth surrounded him, except for a few strange shapes in the distance.
Zion wiped the tears from his face, exhaling slowly as he desperately tried forgetting his pain.
He forced himself onto his feet, narrowing his eyes to get a better look at the shapes.
'Those aren't natural,' Zion thought, gritting his teeth.
He had no gear, food, or even… hope.
But lying here would kill him faster than searching for shelter would.
He took one shaky step after another, gritting his teeth as he pushed through the pain. Memories flashed through his mind, fueling every step he took.
'I have to keep going,' he thought, eyes focused on the shapes in the distance. 'I can't let them get away with this.'
Everything around him slowly began to blur while the sounds faded away. All Zion could see were the shapes resembling buildings in the distance.
Now that he was closer, Zion noticed the buildings were all rusted and half-destroyed.
'An entire city,' he thought, glancing around. 'They really exiled me to a deathworld.'
As the reality set in, Zion stumbled, his legs trembling from pain and exhaustion.
"Keep moving," he urged, trying to at least get shelter near one of the buildings.
But his body didn't listen anymore.
His legs gave out underneath him, dropping him hard into the dirt.
The light in his eyes faded until everything went dark.
Time passed by slowly.
Eventually, Zion's body shivered and twitched as he slowly woke up again.
The suns were gone, leaving only darkness and stars in the sky.
'It's cold,' he thought, dragging his body to lean against a metal structure.
Looking up at the stars, memories flashed through his mind.
He remembered his parents' execution… the person he called his best friend flooding their bodies with nanobots until they burst apart.
"That fucker," he rasped, his throat too dry to scream. "I'll kill him and his entire family for this."
"And then the entire corrupt Echelon Sovereignty."
Words couldn't describe the anger he felt.
He had never been lucky with his condition that rejected nanobots, but he'd always tried his best for the Echelon Sovereignty, serving beside his former best friend on mission after mission as a repair tech.
But it had all been for nothing.
"Now I'm stuck on this forsaken dead planet."
His fists trembled as he pushed his back against the metal wall behind him, managing to get himself on his feet again.
"If I don't move... I'll die here."
"Just like they wanted me to."
He wobbled deeper into the city, hoping to find anything left behind from before the planet had been destroyed.
He pushed through two ruined buildings, finding nothing but dust and metal. With each empty room, the hope in his eyes began to fade.
'I can't give up,' he thought, continuing to the next building despite the immense pain near his ribs.
As he reached what looked like a ruined tower, he suddenly heard a loud metallic scraping noise.
He froze, looking around.
'Am I not alone?' he thought, cautiously.
Zion took another step.
Suddenly, the ground shook.
Silence.
Then again.
Around him, buildings began crumbling as he stood frozen.
Finally, the ground all around him lit up in a bright light.
"What the hell is going on?" he shouted, his voice raspy from dryness.
Unbeknownst to Zion, deep underground, lights that hadn't shone in ages flickered awake.
[Host proximity confirmed. Reactivation process initiated.]