Hollow Sun
Chapter 1: "Burning Sky"
 The storm roared like a living creature, slamming into the Arc Bastion as it descended through the swirling clouds of Feros VII. Captain Orin Raithe stood on the bridge, gripping the edge of his console, watching the readouts flicker erratically across the screen. The planet's atmosphere was far more unstable than the reports had suggested—violent electrical storms crackled across the surface, twisting in and out of dark clouds like cosmic serpents.
 "This place should be a rock," he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing at the chaos outside. "It's not supposed to have weather like this."
Lieutenant Kyra Valk, his second in command, stood beside him, visor down, scanning the rapidly changing atmospheric data. "We've dropped out of hyperspace into the eye of hell, Captain. The colony signal cut out three weeks ago—now we know why."
 Raithe grimaced. He didn't trust the mission brief from the start—too vague, too many unanswered questions. And now, staring into the storm-choked planet below, he had a gut feeling that things were about to get worse. "Prepare for an emergency landing," he ordered. "We touch down on the colony's outskirts in five. Let's hope this rust bucket holds together."
As if in response, the Arc Bastion shuddered violently, a plume of lightning striking the hull, sending sparks flying through the cabin. Alarms blared as the ship's stabilizers struggled against the turbulence. Raithe's hand shot to his comm unit.
 "Falke, Danner, Ren—prep for a hard drop. We've got a bad situation down here."
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 Sergeant Torin "Grim" Falke slammed a fresh battery into his heavy repeater and shot a glance at Private Jax Ren, the youngest and newest member of the squad. "Kid, this is your first mission out of training, right?" Grim's voice was a rumble, barely audible over the screech of the ship's hull fighting the storm.
 Ren's eyes darted around the bay, sweat glistening on his brow. "Yeah… first time on a real op."
 Grim grunted, giving him a sharp look. "Good news is, it's not always this bad. Bad news is, it gets worse."
 Ren swallowed hard, clutching his rifle tighter as the Arc Bastion jolted again. Corporal Bryn Danner, a hulking figure in her exosuit, laughed darkly. "Don't listen to Grim. This is the fun part."
 The bay door lights flashed red as the ship's computer announced the imminent landing. Grim turned to his squad, his voice serious now. "Eyes up. This isn't a rescue mission—it's an extraction. We're here to find out what went wrong, and odds are, something's still down there waiting to finish the job."
 The landing was harder than expected. The Arc Bastion slammed into the surface of Feros VII with a screech of metal, the storm outside tearing at its hull like claws raking across flesh. Inside, the squad braced as the ship groaned and finally came to a stop, half-buried in the rocky terrain outside the colony perimeter.
 Raithe unbuckled his harness, rising from the command chair. "Systems check."
Valk tapped her wristpad, bringing up the diagnostics. "Partial power, comms scrambled, but we're not dead. Hull integrity's at seventy percent. We can hold here for now."
 "Good enough. Let's move."
 Raithe led the squad down the ramp, the howling wind immediately slamming into them as they stepped out into the hostile atmosphere. The colony loomed ahead—dark, abandoned, with only the occasional flicker of power lighting up its skeletal structures.
 Something was wrong. Even from this distance, Raithe could see strange growths creeping up the sides of the buildings—organic tendrils that pulsed faintly with an eerie, bioluminescent glow.
 "What the hell happened here?" Grim muttered, taking in the sight of the corrupted structures. His heavy repeater scanned the horizon, fingers tight on the trigger.
 "No life signs detected," Valk said, checking her HUD. "But there's something else. Ambient biological activity—off the charts. Whatever's down there, it's not human."
 They made their way toward the colony, moving in formation, weapons drawn, eyes darting across the desolate landscape. The wind carried strange sounds—whispers, or perhaps the distorted echoes of long-dead machinery. Ren's eyes darted nervously.
 "Stay sharp," Raithe said quietly, leading them into the colony's main courtyard. The place was a ghost town—vehicles overturned, equipment scattered. But no bodies. No signs of a struggle. Just the creeping growths that twisted up the buildings, pulsating with that sickly glow.
 "Captain," Valk said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You should see this."
 She knelt near one of the colony's main structures, pointing to a mass of growths at its base. Raithe crouched beside her, narrowing his eyes. The tendrils were entwined around a figure—a body, partially consumed by the mass, its face frozen in a grotesque scream.
 "Looks like someone didn't get away fast enough," Raithe muttered, standing back up. "But where's the rest of them?"
 As if in answer, a sharp, high-pitched screech tore through the air, echoing off the colony walls. The squad froze, weapons raised, as something moved in the shadows—something fast.
 "Incoming!" Grim shouted, opening fire.
 The creature emerged from the darkness—twisted, insectoid, its many legs skittering across the ground as it charged the squad. It was covered in the same pulsing growths, its mandibles snapping as it lunged toward them.
 Danner fired first, her heavy rifle lighting up the courtyard with rapid bursts of plasma. The creature shrieked, its carapace smoking, but it didn't slow down. More of them emerged from the shadows, their eyes glowing with malevolent intent.
 "Fall back!" Raithe ordered, his pulse hammering in his chest. "We're outnumbered!"
 The squad retreated toward the ship, firing as they went, but the creatures were fast—too fast. One of them leaped onto Ren, knocking him to the ground, its mandibles snapping inches from his face.
 "Get it off!" Ren screamed, panic in his voice.
 Grim barreled into the creature, slamming it with the butt of his weapon and sending it skidding across the ground. "Stay close, kid!"
 As they neared the ship, the creatures suddenly stopped, retreating into the shadows as quickly as they had appeared. The silence that followed was unnerving.
 "What the hell just happened?" Valk asked, breathing heavily.
 Raithe looked back at the colony. The pulsating growths were glowing brighter now, almost as if they were responding to the creatures. Or controlling them.
 "We're in over our heads," he said quietly. "This planet isn't just infected. It's alive."