"WARNING, ENGINE POWER DECREASING"
"Redirect energy flow to the main thrusters 1 and 3"
"WARNING, HULL INTEGRITY CRITICAL"
"Deviate the course from 2.5 degree up, concentrate repair nanobots to the front hull plating"
"WARNING, LOWER DECK POWER LOST"
"Shit !... Gladia, send a batch of drones to repair the lower deck, quick !"
[Yes !]
This was by far the most difficult atmospheric entry we had to do. All lights on the control panels were red, and every few seconds the operator drones in the control room announced a new problem. I had trouble keeping the rhythm, but as the ship commander, it was my job to coordinate the crew and ship systems.
Gladia was in charge of managing the circuitry so it doesn't fail us, as well as doing all the complex calculations needed to land safely. Even though the operator drones in the control room were also doing their job quite well, we still had trouble keeping the ship intact. This landing was taking such a big toll on the ship's hull that I doubted it would remain in one piece before we hit the ground.
"WARNING, SECOND AND FIFTH LEAK STABILIZATORS DESTROYED."
"WARNING, UPPER DECK VOLTAGE REGULATOR DAMAGED."
"For fuck sake, why is this atmosphere so dense ?! If we keep going like this, the flagship will be pulverized into dust before we ever land !!"
[The landing course I calculated is supposed the be easiest one to go through the high atmosphere, but even I didn't anticipate this... It seems like a dense but invisible matter is present in the air, I've never seen something similar to this even in the Singularity...]
"The flagship won't last long at this rate !! Adapt the landing course to fasten our descent and lessen the time we spend at high altitudes. We need to reach the land as soon as possible !!"
[Doing this might cause irrevocable damage to the ship, are you sure Jun ?]
"Of course I am !! Don't you see our situation right now ?? If we don't pass through this dense atmosphere quickly and land faster, forget about irrevocable damage we will just explode in mid air before touching the ground !!"
[Alright... Please hold on to your seat tightly, this will be rough.]
Time passed, and I continued to madly give my commands to the operator drones with Gladia assisting me. Alice and Kat were staying silent on the seats behind mine ; I guess even they were anxious, now that their emotions are resurfacing since the Scylla mind control vanished.
These few intense minutes felt like hours, it was mentally exhausting to take care of so many things by myself when the survival of everyone inside the flagship was at stake. We knew landing on this planet would be difficult, and we planned our fall accordingly to the planet's characteristics, but we never anticipated the atmosphere to be filled with a mysterious energy that even the best of our sensors couldn't detect from orbit.
Fortunately, through the years I got used to commanding a ship, and we went through worse situations than this during the battles we waged in the Singularity.
Still, I never had to give so many orders at the same time, even during the biggest battle we took part in. I felt like I would transform into an operator drone myself if this continued longer.
"ALERT, LOW ATMOSPHERE ENTRY. SECOND LANDING PROCESS ENGAGED."
"ALERT, MULTIPLE LIFE SIGNATURES DETECTED."
When we eventually made it through the planet's upper atmosphere, our sensors were finally able to reach the land and check the region around our predicted landing site for life signatures. I was expecting that some surface monsters or indigenous life-forms were living here, but I didn't expect to see so many life signatures appearing on the map...and this was only for the small forest where we planned to land.
If we detected so many life-forms in such a small area, I can't even imagine how high the population of this Giant Planet is. It seems like the events on Kar'goth will repeat themselves but on a much bigger scale this time...
"WARNING, HOSTILE SIGNATURE DETECTED."
"What ??.."
"WARNING, HOSTILE SCAN DETECTED. SHIP LOCKED."
"Shit !! Activate the countermeasures, power up the front shields !!"
"WARNING, HOSTILE ENERGY FLUCTUATION DETECTED. SHIELD DEFLECTORS LOW."
[We don't have any more power left to spend on shields Jun !!]
Just when we were about to crash, the drones kept sending me reports about a hostile presence scanning and locking our ship. I thought only primitive life-form populated this planet, but it seems like a powerful entity is residing nearby. If we have been scanned and our ship has been locked so easily, it means that this entity has a power equal to or greater than a Scylla.
'Jerome, Douglas, are you ready ?'
'We are, Leader.'
'Prepare for a code 2 threat, I will join you soon.'
'Affirmative.'
When we were on Kar'goth, I designed a threat level system to make the squad ready to face any kind of situation without giving additional orders. At this time, it was needed because of how much they were depending on me. The squad members have improved since then, and they no longer require regular directives as they did in the past, yet we still continued to use the threat system.
Code 2 is a menace equal to a whole mega-structure garrison, which is at least a Scylla commander in a Paladin clone, three to five Scyllas officers and a dozen of Scyllas guards in their Templar clones, escorted by at least a hundred Void Rifters.
Until we identify and evaluate this unknown creature that was able to bypass our shields and scan our ship, its danger level would be the second-highest. Code 1 is only designated for high-priority targets like Primus One and the Revered Mother, or a huge army of more than a thousand Void Rifters.
It implies far too many sacrifices to be employed sparingly.
During a Code 1 threat, the squad members are allowed use everything at their disposal to neutralize and eliminate the target, going as far as self-sacrificing themselves if needed. This is the major difference between Code 1 and Code 2. We just arrived on this planet and we didn't even land yet, so I don't want to send them to their death before I could assess the situation myself.
"Gladia, prepare to extract the core and evacuate the ship the moment we hit the ground."
[Do not worry.]
"WARNING, THIRTY SECOND BEFORE IMPACT"
Gladia changed the Lance of Kar'goth course for us to crash on a nearby piece of land filled with dense vegetation and enough dirt to absorb the shock, but because of the unexpected air resistance in the upper atmosphere, she had to deviate the route and we are now heading straight to a lake deep inside a large forest.
I didn't have much time to observe the land but when we flew over the region, I noticed some buildings that seemed artificial on the outskirts of this forest. I had no time to see more as I was busy giving orders to the drones to stabilize the ship, but now that the landing was near, I had a gut feeling that this planet might be the home of intelligent beings.
Doubt and uncertainty filled my mind.
What if an advanced civilization was already inhabiting this planet ? What if the jamming energies from the three moons were not natural but artificial ? What if this civilization was hiding itself to not be disturbed ? Taking into account that we have been scanned the very moment we penetrated the lower atmosphere, it would make sense that we face an advanced civilization or a powerful entity...
If that's the case, how would they react to our arrival ? Are we powerful enough to fight against them if they are hostile ? The large continent spreading over this giant planet is so wide that it could easily cover a few Kar'goth or a dozen of Earth within it.
I just hope whatever is living there would be more welcoming than the surface monsters and the swarmlings we faced on Kar'goth...
"TWENTY SECOND BEFORE IMPACT"
"Alice, Kat, you two come with me and stay by my side. You should also prepare for the code 2 level threat, be careful."
"Yes, Leader."
"Roger."
I stood up from my seat and hurried to the main hall. When I teleported in, I saw how few drones we had remaining. I hoped it would be enough to defend the ship.
I went to the front of the two drone regiments led by Jerome and Douglas, and waited for the landing.
"TEN SECOND BEFORE IMPACT"
It has been a long time since I have been this stressed. Even when I rushed alone into the Scylla fleet, I didn't feel as anxious as I was today. The Scyllas were a known enemy, but here, we will face the unknown.
"NINE"
"Do you remember the first time we have been deployed to Kar'goth ?"
"EIGHT"
"At that time, I had trouble to lead you well and I was so concerned about the survival of our species that I almost got paralyzed by fear when the surface monsters ambushed us."
"SEVEN"
"Yet, even when facing an unknown threat I never lost my composure, because no matter what : I had to survive and lead all of you."
"SIX"
"WE had to survive. As the last survivors of the human species, we had to fight for our survival."
"FIVE"
"The Scyllas underestimated us. They fought we would all get kileld in less than a hour."
"FOUR"
"Yet here we are, today. Not only did five of us survived, but we also fought back until defeating those who eradicated our people !"
"THREE"
"We are only five remaining, but no matter what awaits us on this planet, we would face it together."
"TWO"
"Do not forget... As long as we stick together, nothing can stop us. We are not only a squad, we are a family. We are not only humans..."
"ONE"
"WE ARE VOID RIFTERS !!"
*KABOOOOM* *CRAAAASH*
"Ugh.. Let's go ! Go go go !!!"
As Gladia said, the landing was rough, if we didn't have our black armors to protect our bodies, we would have been crushed on the main hall walls by the impact. The second I felt the ship stop, I gave the signal and Gladia teleported me, the squad and the two drones regiment outside.
I was blinded by the bright sunlight illuminating the forest, but after darkening my visor my vision became clear enough for me to see our surroundings.
'Jerome, deploy the guard in a perimeter. Douglas, take position at the top of the ship to oversee the area. Kat, Alice, with me !'
Without talking, I gave my orders by sending my thoughts to my squad. I do not know yet if the foreign entity is spying on us, so until we are safe we should not communicate vocally. That was one of the rules I created for code 2 when facing an unknown enemy.
As I started walking, I could finally see our surroundings. The flagship crashed right in the middle of the lake and drifted on the water until reaching the shore. The huge Lance of Kar'goth was still burning and smoking from the atmospheric entry, and from what I could see at a first glance, it would be difficult to make it fly anytime soon.
The ship was half-submerged in water. The outside hull plating was entirely carbonized, the main engines were so hot that the water above them was boiling and a big chunk of the upper deck had completely disappeared, probably vaporized in the dense atmosphere.
The lake was so clear that it was almost transparent, and while my sensors didn't detect any harmful particles present in the water, I couldn't see a single creature living inside.
All around the lake were tall trees that reached an impressive height. It was much more impressive seeing them with my own eyes rather than from the sky. The crater left by the impact of the crash was huge, and the traces left by the part of the ship that drifted on the ground were red from the heat. All the surrounding vegetation burned, but strangely enough, I couldn't smell anything but a sweet scent perfuming the inside of my helmet.
'This planet is weird... Stay on guard.'
'Roger.'
While Douglas took his position at the top of the destroyed ship with the Elite-drones, and Jerome set up a defense perimeter around the lake with the Battle-drones, I decided to explore the forest alone with Kat and Alice.
'Alpha Zero, go ahead and scout the area. If you detect anything suspicious or any hostile creature, do not engage it and just come back to report.'
'As. You. Wish. Master.'
I felt Alpha Zero's presence leave my shadow as I continued to slowly progress through the vegetation.
From the recollection of the few memories I had from my former world, this forest was not so different from those on Earth, except for one thing : everything was emitting faint energy traces that I couldn't pinpoint, even with my improved eyesight and my visor sensors. I could feel it, but only faintly. Just enough to know it exists.
This energy was the same as the one present in large quantity in the high atmosphere, and strangely enough, it felt similar to something I already experienced before...
'Gladia, can you analyze these energy traces ?'
[I already tried but... I can't. It is completely different from everything I have in my database, it doesn't seem like anything I know from our universe, nor the Singularity or the Void. However...]
'However ?'
[I see some similarities with the spells used by the Scyllas, as well as the spell formation the Revered Mother created when she had control of your body. They are not the same, but they share some similar properties. To analyze this kind of energy, I would need access to a more abundant source of it.]
'I see... an unknown power similar to the Scyllas' spells is everything but good news for us, we should be careful. This could be a planet on which an Ancient Scylla resided... The three moons are also too strange to be purely natural.'
[I agree. Proceed with caution, Jun.]
I continued to slowly advance through the vegetation, while Alice and Kat were silently following me. It seemed like both their conditions improved, as Alice could walk on her own and Kat was not looking as exhausted as before.
After walking and exploring the forest for a few minutes, Kat detected something ahead of us.
'Leader, I feel an unknown presence at 12 o'clock. May be hostile.'
'Alright, move carefully.'
After getting closer, we finally encountered the first life form on this planet, and I was surprised to see what it looked like.
'God dammit, these fuckers are everywhere... Even after crossing dimension and ending up in another universe, the first living being we meet has to be one of these...'
We were looking at a kind of big ant covered in spikes, but much smaller and less armored than the Giants Ants we knew. This little fellow was nothing comparable to the Giant Ants species the Scyllas abducted to use as Void Rifters. It was 'only' half a meter tall, and around two meters long. Its chitin looked sturdy, but not as dense as the Giant Ants' armor.
Although this ant seemed weaker than those we knew, it was still an unknown species, so we didn't underestimate it.
I wanted to capture it alive to let Gladia analyze it, but I know how ants tend to form big social groups and it is very unlikely this fellow was roaming around alone. It's either a scout being sent to the place where our ship crashed or a guard patrolling the area, which meant a colony was close by.
'We have to take care of it swiftly, without doing any noise nor alerting the nearby monsters. Alice, do you think you can do it ?'
'Give me a second.'
'...'
*Creeek!*
As she said, she vanished in an instant and just a second later we heard a low-pitched sound before the ant fell to the ground with a circular hole in the center of its head.
Alice's assassination skills would never cease to amaze me.
'Bring its body to the closest drone and tell Jerome to put it inside a decontamination cell.'
'Yes, Leader.'
After Alice departed carrying the dead body of this unlucky monster, I decided to progress a little further with Katarina.
As I guessed, a colony was nearby. The more we advanced, the more ants we detected. We just avoided their path and didn't kill any other of them, as we wanted to keep a low profile. After exploring the forest for half an hour, both Alice and Alpha Zero came back almost at the same time.
'Leader, we need to head back to the ship. Douglas detected an important force of multiple individuals coming in their direction. They are a few kilometers uphill, so we still have time to prepare.'
'I. Also. Detected. A. Group. Of. Humanoids. Life-forms.'
'Humanoid you say ??'
'Yes. Master. But. None. Of. Them. Were. Human.'
'That is to be expected... But still, humanoid life-form potentially means intelligent life-forms... We have to go back as fast as possible. Alice, go ahead and keep an eye on the group Douglas detected. Alpha Zero, you keep an eye on the second group coming our direction.'
'Yes, Leader.'
'You. Wishes. Are. My. Orders. Master.'
After both Alice and Alpha Zero departed at full speed, Kat and I finished exploring the area, before we also prepared to leave. However, the moment we were about to leave, we both felt the same : our limbs stopped, our blood froze, our heartbeat accelerated and an aura that was too special to be forgotten descended upon us.
"Don't tell me..."
I couldn't finish processing what I just felt before this ominous presence fully revealed itself in front of us.
"Welcome to Lunaris, Lucky child."
___
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