James Monroe was a very simple man. His day was like that of any other crewman aboard the U.S.S. Faux Pas. He did whatever job he was assigned at the time, and nothing else. He rarely made any friends, as they usually didn’t last long. Naval exploration ships were a dangerous place to work after all, and with the interplanetary wars going on, the ship could be attacked at any moment. The danger did not deter James however. He was dedicated to working on the ship, and helping figure out the mysteries of outer space.
The captain of the Faux Pas was a man by the name of Nathan Aive. He strongly believed that out of chaos, order is formed. Therefore, he created a system on his ship to randomly decide who would accompany him on to planets when they received orders to conduct a ground mission. For every mission, a lottery drawing would decide which one officer, and which other crewmen would join him on the ground. After two years on  the ship, Monroe thought he might never be selected for a mission. After all, there were hundreds of others on the ship, and ground teams only consisted of a handful of men. One day though, he finally was chosen.
In the transporter room Captain Aive briefed the team on the mission at hand. His command gold shirt made him stand out from the rest of the room.
“Today we will be evacuating the people of a small planet nearby our current location. There’re only about a hundred of them, so we can fit the whole group on the Faux Pas. We-”
“Why’re we extractin ‘em? Ain’t the people on Lazda Seven a bunch ‘a bandits?” Asked the loud blundering voice of one of the many red-shirted members of the landing party. Everyone stopped at looked at the man for a moment. James recognized him as Crewman Third Class Samuel Tucker, whom he had attended the academy with. Tucker, James knew, was a moron. He made the minimum grades to pass, and was assigned here as a janitor.
“Would you like to stop interrupting me kid?” Said Captain Aive.
“Sorry Sir!” Replied Tucker.
“Thank you. Now as I was saying, we have to get the residents of this planet to a transportable location quickly. The planet is being overrun by a  mutated alien lifeform that used to live peacefully underneath the surface. Something happened down there, and they have begun to rampage on the surface. Thankfully for us, everyone on the planet lives within two kilometers of each other, as Lazda Seven’s only current use for humans is as a prison.” After the captain said this, the selected crew of about twenty individuals started mumbling and looking at one another.
“I know you may not like it, but these are our orders. So, Lieutenant Schmeck and I will make our way into the facility. The rest of you are to protect the extraction point. Now, you may be wondering why there are so many of you. These creatures threatening the planet are called Reupers, and they are dangerous. Very, dangerous. Your personal lasers will be able to kill them, but our intelligence tells us that they travel in packs of at least 50. On top of their sheer numbers, one of these things can easily kill you. That means that it is essential that our extraction point needs to be absolutely clear of all of these Reupers. Is that clear?”
“Sir, Yes Sir!” Yelled the crew. At that moment, the only other non red-shirted person there, Lieutenant Schmeck stepped forward. His blue uniform denoted him as one of the ship’s science officers. He described the anatomical structure of a Reuper, and lectured everyone on the correct way to fight them. He described their extraordinary ability to shoot the spikes on their bodies out like bullets, making them very dangerous. Thirty minutes later they were prepared to go.
Down on the surface, the crew waited around near the extraction point while Captain Aive and Lieutenant Schmeck went inside the prison. There was some chatter between the men.
“Why couldn’t we just beam the people up from inside the prison?” One man asked.
“I dunno, maybe the there’s an anti-transporter field around the place?” Another replied.
“You kiddin’ me, looks to me like they ain’t even able to run a fridge ‘round here, let alone a force fie-” He was cut off as a his chest was opened up by a giant spear. At that moment, whooping calls rang out from all around the assembled crew. The penetrated man fell to the ground, his blood invisible on his already red shirt. Everyone immediately drew their lasers and looked around. The shouts were still coming from the distance, but the jungle-like surroundings didn’t let them see far.
A few moments later dozens of gorilla sized creatures burst from the trees. Spikes from their bodies flew out and stuck into half of the crew. The men who weren’t hit by one of the  Reupers scattered. James Monroe was the first out. Into the forest he fled, hoping to find a hiding place. He bobbed and weaved through the trees nimbly. As he ran, his foot caught a root, and he was sent tumbling. His fall was ended in a large puddle of a thick blue liquid. Monroe slowly got up, and spit out the mouthful of whatever he had just landed in that he accidentally ate. He wiped off his face and looked down. He was absolutely covered in this nasty blue substance, and there was not a trace of his pristine crimson shirt beneath. Before he could begin wiping off his shirt another reuper appeared and growled menacingly at him. Three spikes were launched at him.
Monroe didn’t know what he did, or how he did it. In some sort of spinning move, he managed to not only avoid the projectiles, but launch two of them back at the creature. They landed in each of its eyes, killing it instantly. Monroe looked down at his hands, then to the sky, wondering if God had just taken control for a moment. He picked up his laser, which he had dropped in his fall, and trudged back to the prison.
On his way he encountered multiple hostiles, and he dispatched them with ease. Despite being the one who did it, James was puzzled by this, as he had never even been in combat before. When he returned to where he had last seen the rest of the crew, all he saw was a sea of red. The shirts of the men mixed with the blood on the ground made for a very gruesome sight. A few of the bodies were being dragged off by Reupers. They noticed him and tried to pierce him with spikes, but he backflipped over them with ease. James shot off a few beams, and they were down in a second.
Did that stuff I fell in give me superpowers? James wondered to himself. At that moment the captain burst from the front doors. A puzzled look grew on his face.
“Why are you wearing blue son? Lieutenant Schmeck is the only science officer on this mission!” He shouted. Monroe quickly explained what had happened.  “Well, nice job then kid. Looks like you’re the only survivor. Let’s get outta here. We’ll bring the bodies back to Earth to be buried.”
Back on the ship James Monroe was given a medal for his heroic actions and bravery. Later, He brought his clothes to the science deck to have the liquid he had been covered in analyzed. He was told that it was just something similar to water but thicker and stickier, he had done his actions all on his own, without paranormal assistance. They sent him to the quartermaster to get a new uniform and then back to his room. After he changed clothes, a voice came over the intercom.
“RED ALERT. ALL TROOPS TO BATTLE-STATIONS. WE ARE UNDER ATTACK.”
Thankfully for James, He didn’t have a battle station, and in combat he was to stay where he was and not cause problems. He looked at his new shirt, so bright red it was almost glowing. When he looked up, out of his window, and saw ball of plasma hurdling towards him. The last thing he saw was an explosion.