"These f*ckers…"

Emma pressed a button next to the top view camera screen, labeled "infrared mode".

[Unlike the ships, heat shield and insulation on an escape pod is extremely powerful. They can't roast people in escape pods with a heat ray like ships, they have to punch through the hull with a concentrated ray like before.]

[If the parameter is the same, it would take around 25 minutes for the ray to finish concentrating.]

[We wouldn't be even close to reaching the planet's atmosphere in 25 minutes. That ray can exterminate at least one of us.]

Emma had never seen such a weapon before.

A concentrated ray that can punch through metal from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away? What kind of lens could do that?

Even with the Federation's manufacture capability, concentrating lens used on military spacecrafts still had tiny refraction imperfections.

And even if they use dark matter negative gravity field generator, (which costs a planet's year worth of energy to turn on for even a millisecond, by the way) to push the photons together, they still couldn't concentrate the laser ray smaller than ten kilometers, if they fire from 100,000 kilometers away.

The fluctuation of the fields would make the ray sway all around, to the point that it would be even less accurate than traditional lens lasers, rendering the weapon useless.

As a weapon enthusiast, Emma had researched all sort of weapons on the neural net, spacecraft weapons included. Not that she ever had the chance to operate one. The universe had been peaceful for thousands of years. No civilian would dare to even think of attacking a Corporation-owned spacecraft.

In this age, criminals were guaranteed to be found out and punished immediately. Forensics tech had evolved so much, the term "perfect crime" had become extinct. What can escape dark dimension projection that can literally reverse time?

The chance of being attacked by an unknown enemy is close to nil, considering how nearly impossible it is to discover new civilization, space-faring ones are even rarer. Too many extinction level events to overcome for that.

As a result, the Corporation did not bother with arming any of their mining vessels. Not only to cut down on costs, but also because they didn't like doing useless stuff.

Back to the subject at hand, Emma needed to find a way to protect her people until they reach the planet's atmosphere, where air refraction and heat dispersal would make laser rays as fatal as sunlight.

***

Anver was keeping the bear-looking beast busy with his spear while Lena reloaded her crossbow. Their third member, a young man, was standing behind Anver, ready to tag in when the leader gets tired.

They didn't expect to encounter this type of beast today. They were in over their head.

Lena finished reloading and let loose another arrow on the beast. It roared loudly, switched its gaze to the one that dared to shoot those tiny things at it. It swiped claws at Anver, to get this pointy creature out of the way to pound at the other one first.

"Kid, you're it."

Anver dodged as he shouted. The young man raised his spear and poked with all his might at the beast's butt as it was looking away. "Hya."

"Leave the spear! Come back here!"

The youth swiftly returned to his original position. The beast turned back and angrily clawed at the air, where the youth had been. The spear handle swung about as the tip was embedded in the beast's behind, looking rather comical.

"Missed me, stupid!"

The youth laughed. Anver shouted to cut his laugh short.

"Stay focused!"

The guy probably had never encountered this beast before, Anver thought. This thing was beyond dangerous. Treating this beast like the small fries the team had hunted before would be very fatal. However, Anver did not have time to reprimand the young man. He quickly and accurately jumped up and speared at the beast's head. He retreated immediately.

"Bingo!"

Anver skewered the beast's right eyeball. That should hurt.

The beast raised an ear-shattering painful roar. Anver jumped back in and retrieved his weapon. He unplugged the spear from the beast's grimacing face. Blood spurted out. That should hurt even more.

At that moment, an arrow plunged into the remainder of the beast's eyeballs. Blinded the beast.

"Yes!" Shouted Lena. She proceeded to reload another arrow.

The youth seemed to have been inspired by the event. He took another spare spear from the bag on the ground and ran to the side of the beast, recklessly poked at it.

"Stand down, boy!" Anver commanded hurriedly. Just because the beast was blind didn't mean it couldn't attack. If anything, a blinded beast would be even more ferocious. He kicked the ground, intending to spear the beast to get the stupid kid out of danger.

He did not make it in time. The claws of the beast tore through the flesh of the young man. He fell to the ground. Anver immediately stopped in his track.

Lena threw her crossbow away, unsheathed her sword as she ran towards the beast. Anver couldn't believe his eyes. [Why are people around me so stupid?]

"He is scratched, there is no saving him!"

Lena realized something and hesitatingly slowed her advance to a stop. She turned around to pick up the crossbow.

The beast punched at the youth, its claws impaled the tender neck of the human.

Anver didn't let this precious chance go to waste. He jumped at the bear, a spear readied in his palm.

The dangerous game of poking and shooting continued, this time with only two people.