September 4th, 2186
I sit here on Ursica XI with retired members of the 14th Ursine Corps. They all decided to rest now on their homeland. Even though they’re retired, they’re still our allies. I’m sitting with their research team as we look at and dissect samples I still had from the Void source planets. The scientist said “We couldn’t leave for 2 weeks before you Salamanders decided to get into some trouble.” He laughed, trying to lighten the mood but I stayed silent. The results came and showed nothing out of the ordinary with the samples. The scientist said, “Nothing new. Same old corrupted stuff but nothing that could’ve affected the Salamanders. The energy produced from these rare samples could've affected someone but they would’ve had to be in close proximity for 4 days without armor to even have any slight effect.” I sighed and slammed my fist into the table. I say, “Then what could it be? No way that multiple high ranking and strong minded Sally’s would just turn to the Illuminate and abandon everything we stand for?” The scientist stood quiet but then asked, “Where’s your gear?”
I bring my gear that I used on the Void Source planet. It was covered in purple blood and dirt. The scientist took samples of the blood and looked into it. After a moment, he came back and said, “This blood is very sensitive. Simple exposure to human skin can cause the body to immediately shut down the entire nervous system if not treated immediately but that doesn’t explain the control.” He stood silent some more and grabbed my helmet. He looked inside then asked, “Are all the salamander helmets designed with hearing protection?” I nodded and said, “All our helmets had hearing protection, why do you ask?” He showed me the helmet and inside the hearing protection was damaged. He said “With this protection damaged, the strange voices we recorded from the planet could’ve affected the Salamanders.” My heart stopped as he said, “You have a mole in your ranks that damaged the hearing protection. The only way these could’ve been damaged was with the helmet off and someone got their hands inside the helmet.”
I stood silent for a bit till I said, “There’s no way. None of our siblings would do that. Why wasn’t I affce…” I was about to ask why I wasn't affected but I remembered. I was called away from the fight on the last day of the battle before we liberated the planet. That could’ve been when my helmet was damaged. I stayed silent as the scientist said, “Listen, Captain. I understand how you feel right now but there’s nothing I can do. Unless you bring me back one of the Salamanders affected so I can run tests but till then, you’re flying blind.” I grabbed my helmet and didn’t say anything as I walked out. I looked around the city of Ursica. Almost all of the Ursine Corps members have retired here. I watch as they all walk around, happy with their families. Enjoying the peace away from the war. I looked down at my feet and thought of retiring, staying on this planet, not risking losing myself to the Void but I shook those thoughts away. I knew any form of rest would be a dishonor to my siblings who are affected. I immediately walked back to my ship, ready to come up with a plan.
