Planet XX Attack

Thousands of imperial soldiers had died on the worthless planetary object known informally as XX in a lonely quadrant of the empire. The planet had few resources, a miserable climate, and almost no water. Yet the Emperor demanded it be taken, and intact. It was a growing embarrassment that the female population of the planet, a bunch of savages, was refusing to bow to his control.

A fleet of powerful warships orbited the planet, their guns ready but silent. The population of the planet was dispersed and primitive and the military superiority of the large ships was incapable of laying waste to the whole planet. So yet another expedition was sent to find and capture the Blue Queen. She was named so because of the strange mutation among the indigenous population to have blue hair.

A young officer was sent with a team and he had a novel plan the others had not yet tried. He was expendable and the Admiral was willing to send him to his humiliating death should he fail. The officer found success; his team had captured the queen and were taking her back to their enormous armored vehicle to be transported to the flagship.

The men were big and strong and wore the typical dark red and black imperial uniform. It was tight and smooth and hugged their bodies in every way. It was a smart object which kept them cool, deflected energy weapons, healed itself over their wounds, and provided protection from radiation. Their helmets were more impressive. The soldiers had no senses of their own as the suit and helmet provided them everything they needed. The helmet had no transparent material and instead projected the outside world to them in vivid detail. They could see and hear infinitely more than their senses could ever provide them. The men did everything but sleep and bathe in their uniforms and the natural world was forever a simulation to them.

As the team approached the armored vehicle, the young officer noticed beneath the shock of blue hair on the woman he captured there were light brown roots. Clearly she was not the queen although the best information provided to him indicated she was. He would bring her home anyway, an alien captive would still guarantee accolades and perhaps lead to the queen. And, it was likely the Admiral would give her to him as a prize and he desired a new female in his quarters.