Alex and Mira weaved through the throngs of students, their eyes scanning for an empty terminal.
The sheer size of the mission hall was overwhelming, practically a place to show off the university's immense wealth and humanity's grasp of technology.
The floor seemed to stretch endlessly, filled with rows upon rows of terminals, each one occupied by a student intently browsing through the mission listings.
"There," Mira pointed to an empty terminal near the end of the hall.
They hurried over, which didn't take long at all with their speed, slipping into the seats and activating the screen.
The terminal hummed to life, displaying a user interface that was simple but efficient.
"Alright, let's see what we've got." Alex said, his fingers already slapping across the keys of the holographic keyboard.
He quickly applied a filter to only show the missions related to Floodgates.
These were high stakes missions, crucial for maintaining the safety of the federation, but Alex was more interested in killing beasts and harvesting Soul orbs, with the whole saving whole populations of people thing being a side benefit to this.
Alex and Mira had both experienced a flood gate mission before.
They were rifts, cracks in space that allowed dangerous beasts from the Primordial Expanse to spill out into inhabited areas, and clearing them was vital work.
Mira watched as the list populated with available Floodgate missions.
The missions varied in difficulty and location, but all promised substantial rewards.
"Here's an interesting one, and it's right next to us as well! It's in the Proxima Star system, less than 5 light years away from us. A D+ rank floodgate opened up on New Earth, and the military forces there need back up as they don't have enough fighters to clear the beasts."
Alex and Mira looked at each other as they both wanted this mission for themselves.
But they both also wanted to go out on these missions alone...
Since this was the case, there was only one way to settle it.
"Rock. Paper. Scissors. Shoot!"
Alex approached the gate where the captain of the ship, a stern looking man with a military demeanour, was waiting.
"Mission to Proxima system?" He asked, glancing at his communicator.
"Yes, sir." Alex confirmed.
The captain nodded and adjusted the controls on his panel.
The gate separating Alex from the ship opened, and he entered the ship and sat down where the Captain prompted.
***
As Mira's ship disappeared, Alex watched through the viewport as it took off and disappeared into the starry expanse.
The reality of his separation from Mira settled in, but he knew this was necessary for both him and Mira.
Alex's ship hummed with the familiar sounds of engines powering up. He glanced around the interior, noting the efficient design and the small cabin.
The ship soon took off, and Alex looked out of the window at the familiar sight of the city he had just left behind.
'I'll be back soon enough.' He thought.
His thoughts weren't wrong either, as the star system he was going to, Proxima system, was only a few light years away from the Solar system where he had been staying this whole time.
Only a few seconds after they lifted off, Mars was but a small dot in the distance as the ship's acceleration increased rapidly until they left the Solar system, where the Captain jumped the ship into Warp space.
It would only be a few hours before they arrived at their destination.
From that point on, it would be down to Alex to complete the mission.
Along with any other students or mercenaries that had accepted the same mission and made their way over as well, of course.
Alex settled into his seat, the slight vibration of the ship's engines a comforting reminder that he was about to leave and take on his first mission since he had joined Capital Prime as a student.
He looked down at his communicator, and skimmed through the details of his mission.
The planet he was headed to, Ceres-9, had reported increasing amounts of beasts coming over from the other side of the Floodgate.