In a not too distant past, when the spaceship Martin Alphen was still drifting towards its doom of crashing to the newly discovered planet, a much smaller ship scrambled out of it. It was the only space-worthy escape ship remaining in the aftermath of the sudden explosion within Martin Alphen’s engine room. It carried ten people within, leaving forty crews behind inside the drifting spaceship.

Among the ten escapees was Renne Alphen, the overall leader of the crews for the mission and the head of the research division. Her team of five had been ordered by Captain Elana Mayer to board the sole functional escape ship along with Nathan Brevand and Storm Squad, who were the people Elana trusted the most.

“Lana..! Everyone..! Dammit!” Renne shouted with gritted teeth and clenched hands.

“Easy, Miss Alphen.” Nathan said. “Believe in Captain Mayer. She will make it through.”

“Must be nice to have so much faith.” Renne said. “Planetary crash landing survival rate is nine percent at best. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in her, but I don’t want to harbor much hope only to be crushed in the end.”

“But whatever happens, our job now is to return home and come back to rescue whoever survives the crash. Before that happens, we can only pray.”

“Yeah...” Renne said with her head lowered. “Hope for the best, expect the worst.”

Nathan then turned his head towards the person sitting the closest to the control panel of the escape ship’s auto-pilot system. “Storm Three! How does it look?”

Storm Three immediately took a good look at the control panel without leaving her seat. She then replied after ten seconds. “The closest safe spot for engaging hyperdrive is fifteen minutes away, sir!”

“I see. Too bad this escape ship doesn’t have a short range warp drive.” Nathan said. “Well, let us sit back and wait!”

Everyone waited in silence for what felt like the longest fifteen minutes of their lifetime. There was also the lingering sense of guilt for having left forty people for dead in the falling Martin Alphen. Nobody wanted to talk about it, fearing that it would serve nothing other than making the already gloomy atmosphere worse.

Fifteen minutes passed, and it was finally time to engage the hyperdrive to Columbus, the gigantic space station where Martin Alphen and all its crews originated from.

The AI of the escape ship spoke through the sound system for everyone inside to hear. “Hyperdrive jump destination: Columbus. Estimated time to arrival: thirty days. Awaiting confirmation to engage.”

“Alright!” Nathan said. “Everybody, check your cold sleep capsules!”

All people in the small space, Nathan included, immediately pressed a few buttons on their respective seats. Unlike Martin Alphen itself and all ships of its class, an escape ship didn’t have the features necessary to sustain its crew for an extended period of time. Therefore, if an escape ship had to engage a long-duration hyperdrive jump, all escapees within had to undergo a cold sleep throughout the duration of the jump. For that purpose, the seats within the escape ship could function as cold sleep capsules when needed.

“Uhh... Vice-captain...?” One female researcher spoke out. Her eyes were on the verge of tears. “My seat fails...”

“What?” Nathan gritted his teeth and looked around. “Anyone else!?”

“Mine doesn’t work too, sir!” Storm Three declared.

“Mine as well, sir!” Storm Four exclaimed.

“Drat!” Nathan slammed his fist on the armrest of his seat. “Actually mine fails too. Is there still anyone else?” He asked, to which there was no answer. After five seconds, he spoke again. “So only six out of ten...”

Nathan then stood up from his seat and walked towards a compartment at the back side of the seating space. It contained supplies of food and drink, but he doubted that it would be enough to sustain four people for 30 days. Within the next few seconds, the doubt turned into certainty that it was not enough no matter how frugally four persons would consume it. At best, it was only enough for two.

“How is it, Nathan?” Renne asked, to which Nathan’s response was only a lowered head, shaken in dejection. “So that’s how it is, huh...?”

It was a sadistic choice for everyone involved. Among the four without a functioning cold sleep capsule, only two would survive at best, and that was still not for certain. The only way to ensure the highest number of survivors was to have two or three volunteers throwing themselves out of the airlock. Nobody in the right mind would choose to do that.

Nathan walked to the front side of the seating space, stood upright in front of everyone else, and made a declaration with a determined look on his face. “I shall volunteer to throw myself out!”

“No, Nathan! I forbid you to do that!” Renne suddenly stood up from her seat and spoke with a glare which matched Nathan’s determined eyes.

“Captain Mayer is not here, so indeed you are technically the one with authority right now. Are you certain about this, Miss Alphen?”

“Yes. I’m as certain as I can be.” Renne answered while standing unfazed against Nathan’s glare.

Nathan slightly lowered his head and closed his eyes. “Then I shall obey. However, I must ask you this question. Is there any idea in your mind that is better than having at least two people throwing themselves out?”

“Whatever happens, I don’t want to see any more sacrifices. Not on my watch!”

“With all due respect, Miss Alphen. Having all four staying without cold sleep is 100% unsustainable. I did the calculation just now.”

“Then we don’t go home.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“We send a distress beacon, then we go back to that planet and stay there until help comes.”

There was a few seconds of silence as Nathan stared at Renne with his mouth agape. Meanwhile, Renne still maintained her sharp, determined look in her eyes.

“Miss Alphen. Have you carefully considered your decision? Are you aware how... unwise it sounds? Distress beacons can’t do hyperdrive, and at this distance from the nearest port the signal will take, well, forever to reach anything! And you know that Captain Mayer went out of her way to send you home, right? Now you’re saying that you’re squandering it?”

“I know!” Renne shouted, visibly gritting her teeth afterwards. “I know everything you just said! But I don’t want to let anyone die on my watch! Not anymore!” Renne panted briefly. “Nathan, answer me. Are you willing to die for the rest of us?”

“Of course, Miss Alphen. That’s my duty!”

Renne walked up close to Nathan and looked at him directly in the eyes, basically breathing at his neck due to the height difference. “Do. You. Want. To. Die?”

Nathan didn’t immediately reply. He looked stunned, his mouth once again agape. After a few more seconds of silence, he gulped, lowered his head, closed his eyes, and shook. “No, Miss Alphen. I don’t want to die, if I can help it.”

“That’s right. It’s simply our nature not to want death. And therefore I’ve made my decision so everyone lives!” Renne put her hands on her hips then she gazed upon the control panel. “Send out the distress beacon!”

“Affirmative” The AI responded, and soon the sound of something being launched was heard. “Distress beacon sent. Awaiting further orders.”

Renne turned around from Nathan and looked over the rest of the people within the escape ship. They were all still sitting tight on their seats not saying any words, each for their own reasons. The Storm Squad members were most definitely awaiting orders from Nathan, while Renne’s subordinates were worrying over their lives and not knowing what to say.

Renne sharply looked at her subordinates and began speaking. “I know what some of you are thinking, but let me ask this: Will you be able to withstand the fact that someone died for your sake?”

Nobody among Renne’s subordinates replied. In fact, a few of them could be seen shaking their heads very slightly. Noticing this, Renne looked at the AI control panel again and spoke. “Go back to the planet behind and make a landing!”

“Warning: This ship was not manufactured for planetary launch. Making a landing on a planet surface may render this ship unable to leave the planet. Confirm your order.”

Renne turned her head at Nathan. “Are you with me, Nathan?”

“To the ends of the universe, Miss Alphen.” Nathan replied.

***

“And now we’re here, in the middle of a pitch black wilderness where strange monsters can come from anywhere and eat us alive.” Renne said before letting out a sigh. “Maybe this was a bad idea after all. I screwed up. Go ahead and lash out at me all you like.”

Nobody else among Renne’s subordinates said a word in response. They only lowered their heads with their eyes staring into space.

“Miss A- I mean... Renne.” Nathan said, briefly clearing his throat. “They all agreed with your decision back then. You’ve known them for years, so you should know better about how they feel.”

“I know! But look at how miserable they are!” Renne said. “I need to make them feel better, even just-!”

Flick!

Renne suddenly felt a small but pretty hard impact on her temple. It didn’t hurt much but still surprised her regardless. She immediately looked to her left and saw Anton, one of her subordinates, standing right there with his hand showing a clear implication that he had just flicked at her temple. Looking at his face, it was easy to guess that he was upset.

“There, I just lashed out at you. Happy now?” Anton said.

“Well... umm...” Renne was at a loss for words, her eyes glancing left and right trying to avoid contact with Anton’s.

“You’re so unbelievable outside work.” Anton sighed while scratching the back of his head. “Look, Leader. None of us blame you. At least I don’t. Lives were at stake back then and you picked the option you believed to be the best.”

“But I put everyone in this mortally dangerous place.”

“Honestly, if I were the one in charge I would’ve decided the same, so I have no right to blame you or anyone else in that matter. Who would’ve thought that this planet is filled with monsters that try to kill us on sight, really? Remind me, when was the last time humanity discovered such a hostile planet?”

Renne didn’t immediately answer, but she replied after less than five seconds. “70 years ago. Pluma IV. That was recorded to be the most horrible expedition mission in history.”

“Right, and ever since then all expedition missions require bringing armed escorts, like these people standing around us. Isn’t that right, Sir Nathan?”

“Yes, that’s a given.” Nathan replied. “Our duty is to keep the non-combatants in the expedition team safe, even if it would cost us our lives.”

“Please, Nathan. Don’t talk about death again.” Renne shook her head.

“Anyway, my point is, planets with this level of hostility are too rare to be taken into account.” Anton said. “Let’s go to sleep. Sir Nathan is Captain Mayer’s right-hand man and Storm Squad is the elite among elites. We can trust them to keep everyone safe.”

“Yes, that’s right!” Nathan spoke with his face full of determination, pointing at himself with his thumb. “I and the Storm Squad will take turns guarding. Rest well knowing this!”

Night then passed, thankfully without any incidents. Renne and her four subordinates stepped out of the tent and stretched their bodies a little. All of them were still groggy and a few yawned, but they were now rested well enough.

“Good morning, Miss Alp- Renne!” Nathan greeted.

“Good morning, Nathan.” Renne replied. “Did all of you get enough rest too?”

Nathan nodded in response. “All taken care of!”

“Alright. Let’s have breakfast then.”

The group soon had their breakfast while sitting in a circle around the campfire which was now already extinguished. While eating, Renne noticed Nathan writing notes and she couldn’t help being curious about it.

Therefore, Renne stood up, approached Nathan, and asked. “What are you writing?”

“Oh, I just figured that I should keep track of our days on this planet, so I write some sort of journal.”

“So you do that too, huh?” Renne tilted her head. “Kinda... doesn’t suit you.”

“Hey!” Nathan retorted, and everybody else mildly laughed.

“Anyway, I think we could use some recap. Read it out for us, please?”

“Copy that, Miss Renne.” Nathan said before clearing his throat and beginning to read his notes out loud.

Day Zero: Supplies not enough to do hyperdrive jump without losing personnel to starvation. Decided to go back to the recently discovered planet and land there after launching a distress beacon. Landed within the night half of the planet. No sign of Martin Alphen’s whereabouts.

Day One, Morning: The landing site was a seemingly coniferous forest. The escape ship hit some trees upon landing and took damage, and upon assessment it was concluded to be no longer space-worthy. Thinking about it, we were lucky that nobody got injured. Packed all the supplies and we were off to find Martin Alphen, or what’s left of it. I hope everybody there survived like we did.

Day One, Noon: Storm One climbed a tall tree to scout the surroundings. He spotted a river, so we decided to walk along it. Some help in preserving water supply would be appreciated after all.

Day One, Dusk: Good news. We found local wildlife. Bad news. We found local wildlife. While it sounds like a joke, what we experienced was far from it. The aforementioned local wildlife might as well be monsters with the way they attack us on sight. Storm Two and Three killed the creatures, but the noise of gunfire might attract more so we went as far away as possible from the spot.

Day One, Night: Everybody was anxious. It was natural because we encountered more of the hostile wildlife. We had no choice other than storming our way through, killing everything we encountered. I’m honestly glad we have Storm Squad with us. Any other squad, maybe except Mountain Squad, would have had harder times against those strangely resilient creatures. Miss Alphen looked determined to find Captain Mayer and I respect that. Tonight the Storm Squad and I will take turns guarding the tent. Hopefully we won’t get attacked or such.

Day Two, Morning: Now that we are aware about the hostility of local wildlife, we will continue our journey with more caution, keeping ourselves hidden beneath the shades of the forest. Storm One will scout ahead while the rest stay with the field researchers. At least that’s the plan. In practice, nobody knows what will happen.

Day Two, Noon: We learned that not all local wildlife are hostile. There were several encounters where the creatures behaved like the typical local wildlife of other habitable planets, as Anton remarked and to which I concur. It was also observed that the physique of the non-hostile creatures were more believable to our common sense than the hostile ones. Those hostile creatures looked alien compared to the non-hostile ones. Everyone agreed that from now on the non-hostile creatures would be addressed as animals while the hostile ones would be addressed as monsters.

Day Two, Night: We couldn’t relax at all. Encounters with monsters still happened despite our best efforts to be discreet. Thankfully no casualties suffered, but the fact that there are monsters out there which try to kill us all on sight was very concerning. Miss Alphen blamed herself for this, but I honestly beg to differ. Anyway, the plan’s the same as before. Take turns guarding and be vigilant.

“And that’s all there is to it.” Nathan said. “We’re now in the morning of the third day.”

“That’s impressive.” Renne said.

Nathan smiled a little. “Your flattery is wasted on me, Miss Renne. I have been merely taking notes of our journey so far.”

“Not the journal, but you.” Renne said, which made Nathan squint his eyes and tilt his head. “I can’t believe you could read all those while keeping a straight face all the time.”

“Oh, I was only following orders. Of course I would comply with no emotion attached.”

“It wasn’t even an order. Just a request you could have declined.” Renne said with her hands on her hip. “You’re frankly too stiff, Nathan. Would it physically hurt if you were more laid back?”

“As a soldier on duty, maintaining a disciplined mind is a must. Especially in times of crisis like now.”

Renne rolled her eyes. “Alright, you have a point. But jeez, before meeting you I’ve never thought there would be someone even more stiff than Lana.”

“Nevertheless, Miss Renne. What are your orders for today’s journey?”

“No change. The ultimate goal is to find Lana and the others, but first we need to find a better shelter. Setting up tents in the middle of the wilderness is dangerous with the monsters out there.” Renne replied with her arms folded.

“Like a cave?”

“That’s one good option, preferably close to a water source. But since half the wildlife here tries to kill us on sight it might not be a really good idea.”

“Indeed. Oh, by the way.” Nathan turned his head to Storm One. “Climb a tree again and see if you can spot something of interest.”

“Yes, sir!” Storm One responded, and he left immediately.

Renne glanced at the tents nearby before looking straight at Nathan once more. “Our supplies will only last three or four more days at this rate. We need to secure means to get food and water, especially water since food supply is easier to stretch.”

“Yes, you’re correct, Miss Renne.” Nathan said. “But we have the problem of being alien to this planet. Flora and fauna that look edible might turn out deadly for our metabolism.”

“There’s that, but we probably don’t have to worry too much.” Renne said. “Look around. If I show someone uninitiated a photo of the scenery and ask what planet it is taken from, what do you think would be the most probable answer?”

Nathan looked around briefly before replying. “Hmm, Sol III?”

“Correct. With how similar the nature of this planet is to Sol III, chances are whatever the wildlife here eats, we can eat it too.” Renne said. “At the very least our nanoms should help. And if you’re still worried about it, Hilda brought her own Space Suitcase along, with all the good stuff inside.” She glanced at her brown-haired, bespectacled subordinate as she spoke the last part. In response, Hilda averted her eyes and blushed nervously.

“You’re not wrong, Miss Renne. But let me be the one to taste test everything we find first.”

“Alright. Still, please be careful doing it.”

Right after Renne finished speaking, Storm One returned in quite a hurry. Renne noticed that, and so did Nathan.

“Did you see something?” Nathan asked once Storm One was within earshot.

“Yes, sir! Let me project a picture of it!” Storm One replied, and then he pressed some buttons on the bracer he equipped on his right arm. “Here.”

Storm One’s bracer then projected a holographic image of what he had seen during his recent tree-climbing. At the first glance, it seemed like a normal scenery of a wilderness mostly filled with coniferous forest. However...

“Is that what I think it is?” Renne asked.

“It is, Leader.” Anton said. “Man-made houses. This planet has its own humanity civilization.”

Nathan kept his face straight, squinting his eyes. “All those houses look dilapidated, though. It’s probably an abandoned village with nobody living there.”

“But it’s still proof of civilization!” Renne said while looking excited. “Also, we might be able to use it as a temporary base!”

“You have a point there, Miss Renne.” Nathan said. “So, we set course to that place?”

“Yes.” Renne replied with a determined smile.

Later, having their goals designated, the group marched towards the cluster of houses. Nathan estimated that with their pace they would reach the area within somewhere between two to three hours.

The destination was located on higher ground, therefore the path towards that place was a slightly upward slope, making each step a little heavier than normal. There was no doubting the stamina of trained soldiers like Nathan and Storm Squad. Renne herself had been an avid trekker, frequently venturing into the wilderness alone much to Elana’s dismay, and therefore she was confident in her stamina. However, her four subordinates were not like the rest. The rough terrain and upward slope were already too much for most of them after two hours.

“I-I can’t take it anymore!” Hilda said with a heavy breath. “My legs hurt so much!”

“Me too!” Sandra said, falling to her knees and on the verge of crying. “I can’t go on like this!”

The other two, Anton and Audrey, were visibly exhausted as well although they didn’t show it as much. The former looked at Renne with pleading eyes and asked. “Leader, could we take a short break here?”

Renne in response turned her head to Nathan and gave an order. “Scout our surroundings and secure the perimeter. We will take a half-hour break.”

“Affirmative, Miss Renne!” Nathan said.

It just so happened that there was a small clearing a stone’s throw away, so the group walked a bit more to go there and sat down on the ground after covering it with a sheet. Hilda and Sandra breathed a huge sigh of relief as they lied down on the sheet, and Renne soon kneeled near Hilda’s legs.

“Alright, let me give your legs a little massage.” Renne said as she rolled up the sleeves of her white coat.

“H-Huh? You don’t need to, leader.” Hilda raised her upper body frantically, and her face became redder. Renne ignored her and began massaging her legs anyway.

“I shall do yours, then.” Audrey said to Sandra before doing the same thing as Renne. Unlike Hilda, Sandra didn’t say a word and kept lying down.

“Uhh, what about me?” Anton asked. “Can I help with anything?”

“Nah, just settle down over there and chill.” Renne replied without looking at him.

Meanwhile, Nathan stood upright on full alert towards his surroundings. His rifle was armed and ready to shoot at any hostile beings in range. Storm Three and Storm Four also stood guard like Nathan at different positions, effectively making a triangle which covered the spot Renne and her subordinates were sitting.

One minute later, Storm Two and Storm One came out from the woods and approached the group in a hurry. Nathan was the first one to ask a question. “How’s the situation?”

“The abandoned village is only one click away from our position, sir.” Storm One replied. “But I’m afraid we must take a detour.”

“Hmm? What did you see?”

“There’s a pack of giant green lizards half a click ahead. They weren’t moving when we saw them so we assumed they were asleep, maybe taking a nap? But in any case, alerting them may be too dangerous. What are your orders, sir?”

“Hmm...” Nathan put his rifle aside and folded his arms. “When you said a pack, did you count the exact number?”

“The foliage obscured the view, sir. But we counted at least five.” Storm Two replied.

“At least five of that giant lizard, eh? We can take them on, but probably not while escorting non-combatants. We also have to consider the risk of attracting more from other places if we decide to fight.” Nathan said before turning around to face Renne directly. “What do you say, Miss Renne?”

Renne replied while still massaging Hilda’s legs. “If those monsters are asleep, can you slay them from afar with sniper rifles?”

“There’s no guarantee the sniper rounds will penetrate their tough scales, Miss Alphen.” Storm One said. “Unlike the Mark F-C Tusk rifles carried by Phantom Squad, our Alexander Z rifles only have half the destructive force in exchange for not having to reload after every shot.”

“Hmm, noted.” Renne said without stopping. “Taking a detour sounds to be the most logical choice, but who’s to say that we won’t encounter a different group of monsters on the detour? If that happens and the ensuing battle attracts those lizards, we’ll be caught in a pincer attack.”

“That’s a valid concern.” Nathan said. “There are monsters other than giant lizards after all, and the monsters in general seem to be everywhere.”

“Despite what I said, Nathan.” Renne said. “The final say is yours to make.”

“Let me think about it while you rest. We’re not really in a rush.”

Nathan and the Storm Squad continued their guard duty while Renne and her subordinates rested their bodies. The latter group briefly discussed the situation and possible options, but in the end they couldn’t come up with any new ideas. Therefore they only decided to entrust everything to Nathan and the Storm Squad.

Twenty minutes passed, and it was almost time to resume walking. Renne stood up and stretched her body before looking at the sky. For the entire time the group had been on this planet, the sky had always been overcast but not a single drop of rain had happened so far. In fact, the cloud didn’t seem to be moving at the slightest.

“Miss Renne,” Nathan approached. “Let me brief you on our plans.”

Renne folded her arms and her eyes met with Nathan’s. “Go ahead.”

“With the limited manpower we have, we should all stick together. Therefore we will march together and take the lizard head on. First, we engage with sniper shots from a far distance, and then switch weapons if they charge at us. Depending on the outcome after, we either go forward or retreat. Either way, we all stay together.”

“Alright, let’s do this!” Renne said, pulling out a small black cube from her white coat. The cube morphed into a handgun within a second.

“I admire your bravery, but you should only shoot as a last resort.”

“Noted.”

A few minutes later, the group advanced towards their destination. They walked as quietly as they could, trying not to attract the attention of the sleeping lizards ahead or any other monsters that could be nearby. They didn’t walk for too long, because after a few minutes Nathan signaled everyone to stop and lay low. Everyone including Nathan himself crouched, some hiding behind the nearest cover they could find.

“Storm One. Got a clear shot from here?” Nathan glanced at Storm One, who immediately pressed some buttons on his arm bracer. Within a second, a sleek black sniper rifle materialized, which he immediately held and used to take a closer look ahead.

“Affirmative, Vice-Captain sir. I have a clear shot from here.” Storm One said, and then the other three members of Storm Squad pulled out identical sniper rifles. “Permission to engage, sir?”

“Permission granted.” Nathan said. “May your aim be true.”

All four Storm Squad members took aim while Nathan stood by in full alert and his assault rifle readied, guarding Renne’s group from any possible other danger.

“Wait a second!” Storm Three suddenly spoke while her eyes were still at the scope of her rifle.

“What is it?” Storm Two asked.

“The lizards aren’t even breathing...” Storm Three replied. “They might be dead.”

“What? It can’t be...!” Storm One said, but then he retracted his statement. “It’s true! Now that I take a closer look, their heads are bloodstained!”

“Are you sure they are all dead?” Nathan asked.

“It looks like so, sir. But I’m not fully certain. Shall we shoot them anyway to make sure?”

“No. Let’s approach with utmost caution. Switch to close range weapons.”

“Affirmative.” Storm One said, and the entire squad de-materialized their sniper rifles, followed by materializing assault rifles.

The group of ten then slowly approached the bunch of allegedly dead giant lizards. They were as cautious as they could possibly be, and thus it took ten minutes to arrive at the spot, during which there was no movement at all among the lizards. Once they were about ten meters away, Storm One activated the visor of his helmet and scanned over the lizard bodies.

“No signs of life detected. All of them are confirmed dead.” Storm One said which prompted a sigh of relief from Renne’s subordinates.

“But what killed them?” Renne asked. “Whatever could’ve done that is definitely dangerous.”

“You’re right.” Nathan said. “Storm One, try to investigate.”

“Yes, sir.” Storm One replied before going closer and scanning over the lizard carcass once again. After a minute he spoke again. “All of them were killed by the same cause, sir. A single shot to the head.”

“Does that mean Phantom Squad survived and was here a moment ago?”

“I don’t think so!” Storm Four exclaimed while scanning over the ground with his helmet visor activated like Storm One’s. “I’m not detecting any signs of sniper rounds either within the lizard bodies or underground, but I spotted a few cylindrical hollow spaces on the ground. Storm One, there’s one right under your left foot. Try digging it up.”

Storm One immediately took a knee and dug the ground under his left foot. It took him just under ten seconds to retrieve something from there.

“What’s that?” Nathan asked as Storm One pulled out an unknown object from the hole he had dug. At the first glance it looked like a bullet that had already been fired. However, upon closer inspection it was unlike any known bullet. “It’s... completely hollow?”

“Yes, sir. Not hollow-point but totally hollow. I have never seen any bullets like this. No wonder our scans didn’t detect it as sniper rounds.”

“Neither do I. This kind of design doesn’t make sense, but that’s not the main concern now. Everybody lay low!”

Everybody around who hadn’t already, either took a knee or crouched. Renne’s group was all visibly confused despite complying with Nathan’s sudden command.

“What’s happening?” Renne asked.

“Listen up!” Nathan replied. “The lizards have been killed with a bullet to the head, and the thing we found was a bullet unlike anything we know. That means somewhere nearby there’s at least one unknown sharpshooter with strong enough armaments capable of killing these monsters in one hit each. There’s no guarantee that we’re not their next target.

“But aren’t they our friends if they kill monsters?” Sandra asked.

Nathan shook his head. “No. Can’t say for sure. They could be a group of sadistic thrillseekers who shoot at anything that moves.”

“So what’s our plan, sir?” Storm Two asked.

“We still have no choice other than sticking with the current plan. Advance to the abandoned village and see what we can use there.”

The group resumed advancing while keeping themselves more cautious than before, resulting in a slower pace. But fortunately, about fifteen minutes later they arrived at their objective without any further hitch.

As everyone had previously expected, the place was a cluster of abandoned houses mainly made of wood. The houses were mostly withered, showing their age since the last time their owners had been present. The ground was overgrown by weeds which seeped into the interior of houses. In other words, the abandoned village was outright inhospitable.

“Are we seriously going to live here?” Sandra asked with her face visibly showing disgust.

Renne put her hands on her hip as her eyes looked over the surroundings. “Yes. We need to find a way to replenish our supplies, and for that a base of operations is needed. It’s far from ideal but this abandoned village will have to do. Let’s get to work!”

The group of 10 soon began establishing their base by picking one house which looked the most serviceable, followed by clearing the weeds around it and replacing parts that were too far gone. It was laborious, but they finished everything which needed to be done right at noon.

“Lunch time, everyone!” Renne shouted from inside the house.

Everyone else entered the house showing varying degrees of exhaustion. Renne knew that Nathan and Storm Squad were the ones doing most of the physically taxing work, and she felt impressed looking at how upright they looked compared to her subordinates who seriously looked as if they could faint at any second.

Everyone sat on a large cloth sheet spread on the floor of the house and began having their lunch, which Renne had arranged from the remaining supplies in possession. After the recent laborious work, the meal and drink tasted so good despite them being the same dry rations and plain water, the standard of rationed supplies in escape ships.

“Well, I gotta say that I’m glad that you brought your suitcase, Hilda.” Renne said.

Hilda was briefly startled upon hearing Renne’s compliment. “A-Ah, it was no problem...” She replied with her head lowered.

“But how did you get to own a Space Suitcase?” Nathan asked. “I mean, I heard it’s at least as expensive as a battlecruiser-class warship. Even the Martin Alphen crew was lucky to be supplied with one for the mission.”

Hilda hesitated, keeping her head lowered. “Well... I restrained myself from eating snacks and saved up for a while...”

“...What kind of snacks did you have?” Nathan asked, keeping his face straight but not really hiding the bewilderment in his tone of speech.

Renne then intervened by raising her hand. “Let’s not dig too deep, alright? Instead, we should discuss our plan forward.”

“Right.” Nathan said, folding his arms. “This village doesn’t seem to have a well, but Storm One spotted a river not too far downhill. That’s probably the water source of the people who lived here.”

“Nice. At least water is more or less secured.” Renne said. “Still need to be careful of the monsters, though.”

“Our rations still can last a few more days, but later today I will have two of the Storm Squad go hunting. Hopefully the animals here are at least edible.”

“Don’t push yourselves.” Renne said.

“Don’t worry about us, Miss Renne. We know our body well.”

The group then continued having their lunch, feeling a little glad that now they had a proper roof over their head. Renne mused a bit, thinking about Elana and the rest of the Martin Alphen crew.

I hope Lana and the others were safe.

In the end, Renne knew that there was nothing she could do about it other than hoping. With that in mind, she resumed eating. She would eventually reunite with Elana, and until then she had to stay alive and healthy.

***