Braxton knew the Major wanted a Dragon's eye gem. He had a possible lead where to find one. The trip would be risky for sure but he wanted to go. He was here and had survived for longer than he expected already. The real trick would be getting approval.
He spent the rest of the day trying to dream up a way to make it seem like a good idea. He was scheduled for scouting missions for the next five days anyway. If he didn't run into any trouble it wouldn't be impossible to scout that far out and return unnoticed. It would be a straight run there and back but he had the map for the first portion of the trip. The map made it look clear for the first eight to ten miles.
His next step was reviewing his inventory. Any plan, even a crazy one, needed proper preparation to maximize the chances for success. He had the Regal sniper rifle with the near perfect scope. That would allow him to scout the areas from long range. He had recovered energy cells that held energy for nineteen shots when he turned in the charging station. He handed over the empty ones.
He kept the pulse rifle and the railgun. He railgun used a weird metal pin, even Alpha didn't recognize the material. It had seventy three of the pins loaded. They were the ammo. It also required energy crystals to power it. This weapon wasn't one he received training on and Alpha didn't have any information built in on its power usage. That would be a trial and error test.
The chain sword required power cells too. It was like a sword with blades that ran like a chainsaw. It looked like a wicked blade but, he didn't want to carry it. The pulse rifle and chain sword required the same ammo, carrying them both would deplete his limited reserves too quickly. He returned the 7.62 sniper rifle. It wasn't as good as either of the others.
Rounding out his ranged weapons were the two 9mm handguns and his bow. He still had 100 rounds of ammo loaded in his clips. For the bow he had 96 arrows.
He offloaded the table leg too. He kept the sword, spear and club for melee weapons.
He still had twenty MRE's. Of his six blood vials, one was empty and he would empty another each day. Braxton had taken Blackjack serious about his scent issues and took one of the nightstalker hide blankets from his kills. It stunk, but he got used to it pretty quick and he carried it with him. In this area, they were one of the top predators. The scent from it would keep most creatures from approaching him.
Braxton set off first thing the next morning before sunrise. He wanted to be clear of the lizard's tower view before the sun crested the horizon. It wasn't an issue running his camo at night, he only had to worry about creatures with night vision seeing him. He was jogging at a brisk pace. His increased constitution and youth made running long distance pretty easy. He could maintain this pace for almost an hour.
Braxton traveled about four miles before the sun crested. He slowed down to a brisk walk. He wanted to recover a bit and make use of his camo better. Moving too fast, made it pointless to run it at all.
Braxton stopped from time to time and tested his Burrow skill. He was able to submerge easy enough. There was no moving or traveling great distances when he went under. He was able to submerge most of his body and equip his weapons above ground. He spent a lot of time practicing with this. He was able to go up and down pretty much at will. Most of the aiming had to be done before he summoned his weapon. The pulse rifle and laser rifle had no external moving parts so firing them under the surface wasn't an issue. He knew next to nothing about the railgun. He didn't want to risk damaging it attempting to use it this way.
Learning his new skill was fun. He figured it would be useful for resting too. He could sink shallow and keep his mouth near enough to the surface for the suit could filter in fresh air. He confirmed with Alpha that he could stay this way indefinitely. In a pinch, this could make it look like he vanished.
He pressed on after two hours. The delay might have cost him some of the distance he could make today but the training had been worth it. The ground started getting more rocky after noon. He saw some hills in the distance. The vegetation was odd on his planet. The roots were exposed to the air the fruit and leaves were under the surface. This didn't apply when they grew in caves. In caves or underground they grew like normal. Combat suits pulled moisture out of the air and filled the canteens. No one had seen any bodies of water anywhere.
Traveling without a suit to filter out the moisture on this planet would likely cause you to drowned. Braxton considered this might have had something to do with the tank. The one he was submerged in prior to being sent through the gate. He had not noticed a difference in the air after he got out of it then. Now that he was thinking about it, it did seem like the air was heavier. It was similar to this place. It also made sense to do the range training after. It would effect projectiles.
Braxton stopped to scout with the scope. On the hills ahead, the roots looked like trees on Earth some of them were huge. He saw a couple of large lizards that reminded him of dinosaurs. They were moving among the roots and pulling them out. They feasted on the massive white materials that were pulled to the surface. The hundred foot long plants pulled out, the same as if he went to his garden and pulled out a carrot. The beast were massive and powerful. There were a variety of different types moving together. They even shared the spoils. The smaller ones ate the leaves and the large ones ate the cores. The level of cooperation surprised Braxton. He spent a while watching the scene unfold. These creatures didn't seem like they would be hostile.
Braxton moved closer to the hills. He watched these creatures as he approached them. They were in his way so he decided to travel north skirting the herd. He maintained a mile distance at all times as he tried to go around them and return to his course. He made it past the herd about an hour later and had them behind him. The hills caused him to stop and scout much more frequently than he had to on the flat lands. At the rate he was going he would have to try and be quick with his trading mission.
He was already going to catch hell for going this direction. The only thing that might save him is if he pulled off the trade. None of the creatures he was seeing were from the book. He needed to collect some bodies to trade with too. The pulse rifle was too destructive for small creatures, but these armored dinosaur types might have been why they were designed in the first place.
Braxton took aim at a large land turtle looking creature. The top of it shell had spikes at all angles. The diameter of the shell was about ten feet across. The neck and head had thick scales too. Their eyes looked like the weakest spot. It's tail had a spikes on the end too. It like like a baseball bat with nails driven through. It looked like a deadly weapon for sure.
Braxton targeted the eye. Then squeezed the trigger. The projectile impacted, the beast retracted its head and legs. It's tail started flailing wildly. Braxton watched the creature. The eyelid stayed closed. He could see blood leaking from the wound. He wanted to send another round into eye but, the eyelid itself looked like armor plating. Eventually, the monstrous creature seemed to relax and the tail came to a rest on the ground. It took a full ten minutes for the beast to die. It was not like when he killed the nightstalker or the blood lizard men. Those were life and death moments. This effected him far more. This beast might not have attempted to hurt him if he got close.
He resolved that it didn't matter. He didn't have time to think about such things right now. He needed meat to trade and this creature had a lot. It also had armor plates that might make its value higher and the spikes might be useful too. He walked up to the creature and put his hand on its shell. "Spiked back tortoise discovered and absorbed." Alpha stated.
Braxton didn't bother to stop and smell the roses. The smell of blood was strong here. Since he started drinking it, he could smell it a lot more now. The aroma beaconed to him as it did many predators. He didn't want to linger here and find himself in another dangerous battle. After he got to the top of the next hill the land leveled out again. The surface was covered with large rock formations and boulders. It would be easy for creatures to be hidden in the landscape.
Braxton picked up his pace. He didn't want to get stuck on rocky ground at night. The land he was going into looked like nothing but. "Alpha, how far have I traveled today?" Braxton questioned.
"Fifteen miles. You have drifted off course and are still fifteen miles off your preselected camp sight." Alpha responded quickly.
"Shit! Can you show me the arrow to guide me?" Braxton requested. Then thought to himself I should've activated that when I started.
The green arrow appeared at the top of his UI and he picked up the pace again. He couldn't directly follow the arrow without climbing the rocky land masses and boulders. He stuck to it the best he could to get back on track. His focus was drawn to an odd shape covered by dust. It looked like part of a human exoskeleton.
Braxton slowed his approach. The closer he got the worse it looked. It wasn't a fresh kill by any means. What he found was he remains of a combat suit. The axe that was on the ground beside the body was rusted severely. It wouldn't even be worth picking up. The arms and legs had been removed. The head was missing as well. The ribs were still inside the chest piece. He placed his hand on the armor. "Combat armor located. Armor is at five percent capability. Would you like to recover armor?" Alpha chimed in again.
"Yes, what style armor is his Alpha?" Braxton inquired.
"This was a prototype heavy armor. First generation used by military personnel. This would've been worn by the first players or the relief forces. They were replaced with upgrades less than six months later." Alpha informed.
What was left of the armor was moved to storage. "Can I have nanites move into storage and start repairing the armor?"
"Negative, your nanites are not attuned to this armor. If they were, this would be possible." Alpha responded.
"How long would that require?" Braxton pressed as he started jogging again.
"It would have to be fully repaired before the process could begin. Each armor takes a set amount of time. Heavy armor takes the longest and it wasn't made for you so, I would guess at least a week." Alpha replied.
"How long would it take to repair if I put it on? Just give me a rough guess." Braxton ordered.
"Seven to ten days." Alpha stated.
"Shit! I was hoping it would be faster than that." Braxton thought to himself.
"It wouldn't take as long if it was attuned to you." Alpha responded.
"Thanks Alpha." Braxton said hoping to end the programs responses.
Braxton continue following the arrow. By nightfall, he was exhausted. The green arrow was still active. He had to stop jogging and started walking. He drained his canteen and continued his trek. He finally felt soil under his feet around midnight. His first thought was Burrow. He sunk into the soil and kept his mouth close to the surface like he had practiced. He was sleeping less than five minutes later.