“How do we go there?” I ask Kyle.

“The team used one of our landing ships, we still have another one, but it’s under maintenance” He points nervously at the other ship parked in the cargo bay.

“Is it working?”

“Yes ma’am, but the landing gear is damaged, it can’t land… you’d just crash!” He starts fidgeting around as if the thought of it makes him nervous.

“Relax kid, worst case scenario, you just get assigned to another crew, don’t worry and sit your ass on the comms panel” I make a thumbs up sign and then signal both Novak and Lai to follow me.

Lai’s expression is a mix of disbelief and disapproval, on the other hand, Novak has a slight smile on his face and a smug look all around. Different opinions, I see, but well, that’s the life of a soldier.

“Can you drive it?” I ask Lai, who just nods.

“Commander, with all due respect, i can drive anything”

Oh, wow, someone’s feeling high and mighty.

I see little Kyle running to the inside of the ship, hopefully to the comms panel as I just told him to. The logical course of action would have been to settle in first, take a thorough review of the situation, repair the ship ASAP and stock up on weapons.

But fuck it. I am trying to test my reach within this position, and this type of situation is perfect for that. Besides, actually going there without wasting any time is the best thing if i would prioritize trying to save the most lives, as taking too long might be safer for us but also can be a death sentence to the team on the ground and the colonists, assuming they are still under attack, which i’m of course assuming. If there are several variables, just plan around the worst one.

We get in front of the landing ship, which still has some tools and maintenance equipment around it, and board it without much care through the load ramp on the backside of it. The inside is really small, it's really just meant for landing, there’s the cockpit and 10 seats and that’s it. There’s some handguns beside the seats, and as I get comfortable I pick one to examine.

Thing is, I haven't shot anything for a hundred years before, but looking at things it seems like there’s nothing new to learn. There’s a sight, there’s a trigger, that’s all I need to know.

And in case of a surprise, I have my trusted friend.

Hallie?

[The OVP5 Overlord is a standard issue gun for the Stellar Union, it’s used as a backup weapon in most cases due to its low weight and high battery efficiency]

Oh, battery? It’s an energy weapon?

[Affirmative. The Overlord gun shoots pulsed laser blasts. The battery is located in the lower part of the handle, it’s average amount of use is around four to five hundred shots before the need of replacement]

In my view, the parts of the weapon get displayed in a convenient way, giving me a detailed knowledge of the gun. I also take a closer look at where the weapon was stashed and there’s a belt with three more batteries, and I promptly equip it on my hip. I also equipped the holster which was holding the gun, as I was lacking one. This jumpsuit is elegant and all but it feels like it’s not meant for combat.

Static resonates inside the ship before we can hear little Kyle on the comms.

“Commander, i’ve positioned the ship as close as possible to the landing zone and sent you the coordinates, proceed at your convenience”

Oh, nice initiative kid!

And damn, i didn’t even feel we were moving, this is quite a smooth ship.

“Let’s go Lai”

“Of course, commander”

The landing ship takes off from the ground with a subtle sound, and we begin moving towards the same hatch we went in just a moment ago. But the scenery this time, it’s quite different. We can see Nemea-05, which was obscured by the Sleipnir before. It’s a green, lush planet from here. Damn, feels like I'm looking at Earth before all the wars and migrations. If it was this beautiful before, no wonder so many people were angry about what happened there.

“Hold tight, we are entering the orbit of the planet” Lai says, but she doesn’t seem all that flustered.

Novak, who is seated in front of me, holsters his handgun, the same one I've seen him holding all this time, and grips strongly the handle above our seats. I imitate him, as we start shaking from the effect of entering the atmosphere.

Couple of minutes later, we are smoothly sailing through the skies of Nemea-05.

I got up from my seat to take a look at the scenery. Blue sky, white clouds, green forests, feels like a dream, I've never seen anything like it. Neither Lai nor Novak are surprised so i’ll assume this view has become normal once again, but excuse this grandma as she admires nature.

But enough of that.

“How far are we from the landing zone?” I ask Lai.

“We should get a visual in a moment... see, there’s the other ship” She points to the left, where there’s a ship identical to this one stationed on the ground below, next to what looks like a colony. It’s basically a bundle of microthread tents and some synthetic palisade, at least from here.

As we get close, we start hearing the sound of battle, there’s several gunshots from different calibers. They are engaged with hostiles.

I squeeze to the cockpit, getting a bit in the way of Lai, who is surprised by this but doesn’t say anything. Just bear with me.

I can see some dots in the distance but we are still far. Hallie, analyze the situation.

The dots get colored green, and some of them in the distance get colored red.

[I’ve marked them in your HUD. Green dots are humanoids, red dots are unknown]

It’s safe to assume those unknown are those doglike creatures from the report. There’s a whole lot of them coming from the forest nearby. As we get closer, I can now manage to get a better look at the ground. It’s littered with corpses, both human and something else, I can't still discern the actual form of those creatures.

But it’s certain we need to go there. Problem is the landing.

I have an idea.

“Lai, how close can you get to the ground without having to land?”

“Probably around 50 meters from the ground”

“Position us at that height, right in front of the colony, and then open the ramp”

“Roger”

As she steers the ship to position ourselves, I retract from the cockpit and head behind. Novak looks at me questioning my actions, and keeps looking at me when I step right above the ramp.

“We’ll get in position at ten… Wait, Commander! What are you doing?!” Lai asks, surprised as she glances back.

“Just do as i said” I tell her with a wave of my hand.

“Can’t do ma’am, I’d be putting you at risk, and we have specific orders to…”

I just stop listening. She said ten, so i have seven now.

Hallie, highlight what do i have to shoot to open the ramp

[Highlighting]

A couple of pistons get colored red in my vision, and I turn my head towards Lai and Novak.

“Grip hard” I say as I shoot both pistons with the Overlord, sending a laser blast towards them, drilling a hole in each. The ramp trembles a bit after the first one, and after the second it just falls limp.

I go with the current of the wind and just let myself drop.

At this height, it would normally mean death for a human. The thing is, most humans don’t have metal legs.

I look down below, now with a clear view of the situation, and I see that everything there is looking at me, both humans and creatures, as I fall.

And boy do i fall good. As if I was a piece of lead, I quickly lose altitude, as I try to find a good place to land.

Lo and behold, there’s one of those creatures just below me, one that rushed the colony to get a bite.

Well, surprise surprise.

As soon as my boots touch the beast, it receives the pressure from my fall, and gets magnificently crushed to death in an instant, what’s left of its body convulsing beneath me.

I marvel at my hardware, I hardly felt that. I have to test this more.

There’s a lot of eyes looking at me, and the closest human, wearing just a simple rag that reveals him as a colonist, asks me.

“Who are you?!” He mumbles, as he points his gun at me. Might think I'm a pirate or something.

Well, it doesn't matter. The rest of the creatures slowly start surrounding me, detecting a new threat and moving accordingly.

Hallie…

Enter Combat Mode.

[Combat Mode: Active]