Osbert

  The shuttle vibrated as it entered the atmosphere, just enough to remind everyone onboard that controlled descent was still, at its core, falling with intent.

  I sure hoped the pilot knew what he was doing.

  I looked through the forward viewport as cloud layers rushed past. Sunlight scattered through the air, casting everything in muted gold and rust tones.

  -Strap in!- Liam said over comms from the cockpit. -Turbulence band ahead.-

  As if on cue, the shuttle bucked once, then again. The inertial dampeners smoothed out most of it, but not all. My stomach disagreed with the remaining fraction.

  -So sensors still miss stuff?- Corporal Bellatrix Foley noted.

  -Sensor sweeps are optimistic, at best.- Specialist Haidar Archer said.

  -Good thing we’re not here to dance.- Sergeant Magnar Lane replied.

  -No.- I muttered. -Just to get some samples, and not get eaten.-

  The terrain finally came into view: rolling highlands fractured by shallow basins and winding waterways that reflected the sky like broken mirrors. Vegetation grew thick in patches, hugging the ground.

  -Surface soil cohesion looks decent at the selected site. - Ellian reported over comm.

  -Decent’s doing a lot of work there- Liam replied -I can’t get visual confirmation of the ground with all this foliage!.-

  The landing struts extended with a mechanical thud. The shuttle settled, sank a fraction of a meter, then stabilized.

  We were down.

  The engines powered down in stages, their roar fading into a low hum before cutting entirely. For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of our own breathing over comms.

  “Landing confirmed.” the shuttle’s system announced. “Hull integrity 100%. ”

  Liam was already unstrapping.

  -Move with purpose- he said. -No heroics. Lieutenant, you’re up front with me. Sergeant, you take the privates and secure the landing site. Corporal, Specialist, left and right flank cover. -

  - We got thick foliage on site, the suits are armored, but still watch your steps. You don’t want to fall. Sergeant Magnar, I want samples around the landing site. Soil, plants, insects, and animals, if you kill anything in self-defense.- I stated.

  -Yes, Lieutenant.- He said after glancing at Liam’s expression.

  The hatch opened, and air rushed into the shuttle, making the pressurization filters and air scrubbers protest. The suits compensated instantly, filters engaging as atmospheric data streamed across my HUD.

  The sky overhead was a pale, washed-out violet near the horizon, deepening to purple as it rose higher. Two small moons hung low, one partially occluded by a drifting cloud.

  I activated the overlay of the helm and radioed in - natural satellites confirmed, 45° northeast and 45° southwest of our current position.-

  -Acknowledged, the candidate has a total of four, all in stable orbits. Residual particles in orbit suggest there may have been more. It could have a slight halo in the night sky- Replied Ellian

  -I’m starting models on climate patterns considering the satellite inference. I’ll ping if needed.- Chimed Seren.

  The first step felt heavier than expected. Gravity pressed down, not crushing, but insistent. Every movement demanded a little more effort. My suit’s servomotors compensated, but only to a certain extent.

  -Gravity confirmed at one point six five- pinged Kit from comm, as if I couldn’t see the data for myself. -We’ll be burning energy faster than projected.- Haidar said.

  -Great- Bellatrix muttered. -Leg day on an alien planet.-

  I chuckled a bit. - Let’s plan accordingly, people. Two point five hours of march, then we come back to the landing site. Let’s try to explore as much as we can. -

  I checked my sidearm, the compact beam pistol riding low on my thigh. It was charged, safeties were green, and it was exactly where it was supposed to stay. Then I concentrated on the scanners.

  We moved out from the shuttle in a tight formation, security spreading around the shuttle, weapons angled outward but down.

  The ground was firm beneath my boots, but I couldn’t see the soil behind the red leaves. Life was thriving.

  The shuttle’s landing had scared the local fauna, the small ones at least.

  The terrain dipped ahead of us, the highland giving way to a shallow depression thick with reed-like vegetation. Dark water glimmered between stalks, reflecting the sky in fractured patches.

  I slowed, raising a fist.

  -Terrain and airborne hazard.- I said calmly. -This area is wetland-adjacent. Higher methane concentration, so let’s avoid weapon fire. Also, if you step wrong, you sink. Or worse, get dragged all the way down.-

  Liam halted immediately, signaling the security detail to hold position.

  -Ground scans?- he asked, eyes still scanning the perimeter.

  -Geological profile similar to a Cenote. Fifteen meters of radius.- I replied, pulling up the overlay. -Surface may look firm, but as you get closer to the visible edge, it isn’t. These are all plant roots and branches. Below that, it’s water. It’s a two-meter fall, with this gravity. We’ll want to circle it with no sudden lateral movement.-

  Liam nodded once.

  -Security, adjust formation. Slow advance. Hazard to the left.-

  The team complied without comment.

  That was the part I earned after countless missions together with Liam.

  We advanced another twenty meters, avoiding the pit before my HUD spiked again.

  Subsurface movement. Large mass. Slow.

  -Stop- I said. -There’s something big under us. Probably herbivorous, but…-

  -I don’t care what it eats- Haidar cuts in. -If it’s underground, it’s not our problem unless it pops up.-

  -Specialist- Liam said flatly. -You’re not helping.-

  I ignored them, eyes locked on the data.

  -If we keep moving like this, we risk triggering a defensive response. It may react to vibrations .-

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  -I hear you, Oz- Liam interrupted, not unkindly. -But if we halt here, we’re sitting ducks. This basin’s a funnel. No cover. No sight advantage.-

  He turned slightly, just enough to meet my visor.

  -I respect your science. However, tactically, stopping here is worse than moving.-

  I hesitated.

  He was right. Motion pings were already lighting up the periphery. Nothing close. But too many blind angles.

  -Then adjust route- I said after a beat. -Thirty degrees west. Rock formations are emerging there.-

  Liam glanced at his HUD, then nodded.

  -That I can do.-

  He signaled the shift.

  -Advance. Same spacing. Eyes peeled.-

  We moved again.

  I felt a flicker of something like relief.

  As we crested the edge of the basin, the ground changed beneath our boots. The vegetation thinned, giving way to low, broad-leafed plants that released faint bursts of spores as the wind started to pick up. My filters ticked softly as they compensated.

  I knelt carefully, movements slow to avoid unnecessary agitation. Gravity made itself known immediately, the extra weight pressing through my joints as I steadied myself.

  My suit compensated, servos humming softly, but I could feel the strain.

  From the hard case on my back, I unfolded my sampling kit.

  It was bulkier, packed with modular tools and sealable canisters. This was the equipment I trusted.

  I took a pump, a canister, extended a slim intake pipe, and adjusted the flow rate, letting the spores drift naturally into the collection chamber.

  -Haidar, mark this zone- I said. -We’ll want comparative samples at a higher elevation.-

  -Affirmative- he replied, already placing a beacon at the perimeter, rifle never leaving his shoulder.

  Bellatrix shifted her stance nearby, eyes scanning the reeds while Haidar muttered something about “alien pollen allergies” over a private channel. Liam said nothing, but I could feel his attention tracking both me and the surrounding terrain.

  I sealed the canister with a soft hiss and logged the sample, tagging it with environmental context and time stamp. One down, dozens to go.

  This was the part of the mission that never made it into recruitment vids.

  Just a repetitive, boring job. And the quiet understanding that the smallest things on an alien world were often the most dangerous.

  I stood, joints protesting slightly, and slotted the canister into my pack.

  -Alright- I said. - We don’t get out of the suit before it’s decontaminated. Let’s keep moving. Give the plants a wide berth. We don’t want to find out just how many spores they still have.-

  //elsewhere//

  It was not the Preservation of Primacy; that was clear.

  They were too few, even if most of them smelled like warriors.

  There was a staggering number of things they weren’t, now that she considered them properly.

  The most glaring was that they weren’t made for this planet.

  She could hear it in the way they moved: slow, deliberate. Each step sounded wrong, as if something other than muscle moved their pace.

  They weren’t the armored suits of the Primacy, and yet …

  The design tugged at old memories. Tales carried through the link she shared with her kin, of a race who had once faced her kin with steel in their hands and faith in their voices.

  It was the same utilitarian design, the same lines optimized for one thing and one thing alone: war.

  Their heat signatures were contained, caged behind their artificial skins. They were alive, but separated from wind, soil, and sun.

  That alone marked them as outsiders.

  Living things belonged to the world they fed from. They breathed its air without filters, drank its water without testing it first. Their rhythms aligned, over time, until even the stones recognized them as part of the long cycle.

  These did not.

  The planet tolerated them the way it tolerated a falling rock or a sudden fire: without attachment.

  She felt their passage through the ground more than she heard it. Vibrations carried through root and stone, clumsy and uneven. Too much mass concentrated too high. Armor fighting gravity instead of yielding to it.

  Predators adapted. Prey adapted.

  These… compensated? It was a form of adaptation, nonetheless.

  Interesting.

  They tried their best not to wake the world. No screaming yet, no thunderous explosion tearing at the air to attract the attention of the strong and scare the weak. That suggested discipline, or caution, or both.

  Not there to defy the planet, at least that was good.

  They didn’t feel explorers either; two knelt to disturb the spores.

  Explorers sought places; they appeared to be doing something to the plants.

  Yes, that one with the canisters was different.

  He moved with care, slow enough that the ground barely flinched beneath him. His attention flowed outward, not just ahead. He listened to the land, even if he did not know its language.

  Good instincts. Still, instincts didn’t make him safe.

  The spores he gathered drifted lazily into his vessel, unaware that they were being stolen. They did not react as they would to native grazers. No defensive bloom. No chemical scream.

  It was due to the artificial layer they wore, and it was a sign the world had not yet decided what these creatures were.

  She felt frustrated; her original plan couldn’t be carried out any longer.

  Infiltration required crowds. Noise. Confusion.

  These were too few, their movements too deliberate, their awareness too tightly braided together. Remove one, and the absence would echo.

  They watched each other, maybe they even knew each other. If questioned, her cover would fail.

  No. This was not a group to slip among unnoticed.

  A flicker of irritation stirred beneath her scales, quickly smothered.

  Adaptation was not shameful. It was survival.

  If subtlety failed, then she would need a different opening.

  One that made her presence natural rather than suspicious.

  She lowered herself closer to the stone, listening again.

  She did not focus on them, but on the world around, and began to consider how much disturbance this land would tolerate. Yes, there was a herd close by; she could make them run.