Chapter 74 - Landing Zone

Red dwarf light spilled through the Peregrine’s window, warm but dim, barely touching the walls.

The forest, still heavy with the scent of rain, felt muffled, the morning silence broken only by the occasional drip of water from the massive trees above. At least it’s down to a drizzle.

Inside, bacon sizzled in the kitchenette, its smell mixing with the familiar, earthy smell of the crew.

Luca shifted on the dinette bench, blinking away the sleep as he straightened. Damn, I’m stiff. He’d taken the second watch and gotten maybe three hours on the bench after it. Emily was still curled up on his lap, her head nestled against his shoulder. Her breath was warm and even, her face softened in sleep, a rare sight he allowed himself a moment to appreciate. But his legs were completely numb, and he had a serious cramp in his left calf. Time to move. He stretched and shifted slightly, careful not to jostle her too much.

The movement stirred her, and her eyes fluttered open, her gaze a bit startled before it settled, and she smiled.

“Good morning, Luca,” she murmured, her voice drowsy as she rubbed her eyes.

“Morning,” Luca replied, a grin tugging at his mouth. “Next time, you get the bench.”

Emily laughed softly, sliding off his lap and stretching her arms overhead. She gave him a playful nudge as she headed over to the larger bed, where Danny lay propped up.

They were tangled up comfortably, Zoe’s arm looped loosely around Danny’s waist, her face relaxed, pressed against his side. Danny’s hand rested lightly on her back, his thumb tracing idle patterns along the fabric of her shirt. Looks like someone had a good night.

Emily slipped into the bed beside Zoe and curled up with her eyes closed.

Luca stood and stretched, his joints popping in protest from having fallen asleep on the bench. He rubbed the back of his neck, wincing a little, and wandered over to the small kitchenette, where the smell of bacon was making his stomach rumble.

They needed better gear; that much was clear. They needed to hit more portals, take on more risks, if they wanted to survive this damned planet.

One step at a time, he told himself.

Joey was flipping the strips in the skillet. “Hope everyone’s hungry,” he said, casting Luca a quick grin. “I had to use the last of our bacon to make this. Figured we earned it.”

“You figured right,” Luca replied, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Joey’s coffee? Absolutely perfect.

Outside, the forest was brightening slowly under the glow of the red dwarf, the rich, damp earth steaming slightly in the cool morning air, the ground softened by last night’s rain. Luca took a sip of coffee, his mind already turning over the plan he’d been chewing on half the night, one that hopefully wouldn’t get them all killed.

They were close now, within reach of the energy signal they’d been tracking, and a few portals dotted the area around them. But the Peregrine was overloaded, weighed down with samples and gear from their excursions, the load pushing it to its limits. If they were going to reach the signal site in one piece, they needed to lighten the Peregrine’s load, and maybe make a few upgrades.

Luca’s gaze drifted to the plasma chainsaw strapped into the storage compartment. The solution was simple. They’d clear a landing spot for the Percival and call it in, offloading the equipment they didn’t need to carry with them.

He looked around. “Guys, rise and shine, I’ve got a plan to clear us a path and lighten our load.”

Complaints filtered back as the crew began getting up, the promise of a real breakfast bringing them out of their slumber. Ryan and Chris shuffled out of the bunks and reached for the coffee pot with bleary eyes.

Zoe stretched like a cat as she untangled herself from Danny. “So what’s this plan, Luca?” she asked, checking her gear.

When everyone was gathered, Luca outlined the plan, explaining how they’d use the plasma chainsaw to cut a wide enough clearing for the Percival to land.

“A landing zone, huh?” Ryan rubbed his chin, glancing out the window at the dense, ancient trees surrounding them. “It’s thick out there, but it’s doable.”

Luca nodded. “It’ll take some work, but the chainsaw will help. Once we offload the samples and the extra equipment, we can move faster and see about running a couple more portals before we get to the signal. Maybe we can complete an armor set or two.”

Danny perked up, his hand hovering over the chainsaw. “So, I get to use this thing already?” he asked.

“Depends on your leg. If you can walk, sure,” Luca replied with a grin, clapping him on the shoulder.

Danny laughed, hefting the chainsaw as Zoe nudged him. “Just don’t get too carried away,” she murmured.

Joey stashed the last of the supplies and wiped his hands. “Alright, I’ll check the gear for the offload list. Let’s get this clearing started.”

They worked through the morning, chipping away at the dense forest. Ryan guided the Specter, the hovercraft’s engines humming as it pulled enormous felled trees away, clearing the ground bit by bit as they carved a path for the Percival.

Their progress was interrupted when the first attack came.

From the shadows of the surrounding forest, six of the Varnathi skirmishers appeared. Plasma fire erupted, and the crew sprang into action. Emily’s blasters were the first to fire, her shots bright and sharp, catching two of the weasels squarely. Danny wielded the plasma chainsaw with surprising finesse, bringing it down in an arc that cut through a third.

Luca dropped to one knee, his own plasma rifle snapping up to his shoulder. His HUD flared to life, tagging the remaining three hostiles as they scattered for cover. He tracked the first, exhaled slowly, and sent a bolt of superheated plasma through its chest. One down.

The other two laid down a barrage of suppressive fire, forcing him to hug the dirt. A bolt seared the air over his head. He shifted, leading the second weasel by a hair, and fired. Another clean shot. The final skirmisher ducked behind a massive root. Luca held his breath, waiting. The weasel popped up, and Luca’s rifle cracked, catching it square in the helmet.

But just as the last one fell, a sniper bolt whizzed past, leaving a searing trail of plasma against a nearby tree. The shot had come from deep in the forest, where their HUD couldn’t pinpoint it. Shit.

“Sniper!” Zoe shouted as she crouched low, eyes scanning the distant shadows. “I can’t get a lock. They’re too well-hidden.”

Ryan’s voice crackled over the comms. “Leave it to us.”

He leaped into the Specter’s driver’s seat and powered it up while Chris clambered onto the back and took hold of the mounted plasma cannon. The Specter hummed to life, and within seconds, they were hovering over the forest floor, weaving between the trees as they closed in on the sniper’s position.

Zoe guided them over comms, directing them through the dense undergrowth toward the sniper’s last shot.

The sniper fired again, and the bolt punched through the Specter’s front cowling and clipped Ryan’s hand on the controls. His glove went up in a puff of smoke.

“Fuck, that hurt!” Ryan yelled over comms, shaking his hand out without letting go of the stick. “He burned my fucking hand!”

Chris steadied himself, waiting until they were within range, then squeezed the trigger.

The plasma cannon let out a deafening roar, the blast so powerful it momentarily pushed the Specter back. The sniper’s position erupted in a flash of green flame, then went silent.

“Got him!” Chris yelled over the comms, pumping his fist as they slowed to a halt, the charred remains of the weasel sniper barely visible among the debris.

Hell yeah.

[+27,637 XP]

[+22,455 credits]

[Item Acquired: Centauri Guardian Mk-64 Tactile Gauntlets]

Luca blinked at the interface, then grinned.

The sniper alone had paid almost as much as the rest of the squad put together.

But the forest had one more surprise for them.

Just as they neared the last loot box, a new sound filled the air, a loud, high-pitched buzzing that cut through the drizzle and static.

From the tree line, three massive insectoids burst into the clearing. Each one was the size of a motorcycle, wings blurring, compound eyes glowing an eerie green. Their mandibles clicked as they hovered above them, spewing streams of acid like pressurized fire hoses.

What the fuck are those?

“Get down!” Emily shouted, ducking as a stream of acid splattered against a nearby tree, sizzling as it ate through the bark. They scattered, firing plasma bolts as they tried to keep the creatures at bay.

The insectoids moved fast, dipping and weaving between shots. Zoe broke right and melted into the shadows. Her active camouflage kicked in as she took aim, her rifle trained on the lead flyer.

“I’ve got this,” Zoe called out.

One clean shot. Dead center thorax, and she blasted one of them out of the sky.

The other two turned to her instantly, tracking her like she was lit up in neon.

Luca swore.

“Shit, shit, they see me!” Zoe’s voice cracked over comms as a ribbon of acid arced through the air and caught her across the shoulder. Her scout suit’s camouflage shimmered, then fizzled out entirely in a burst of static as the acid began eating straight through the armor.

“Zoe!” Luca shouted, already moving, but bolts and acid were flying everywhere.

She hit the ground hard, rolled, yanked out her sidearm, and started firing. Her suit was melting, the fibers hissing and sloughing off in chunks. “I’m exposed! Cover me, now!”

Danny was the first to react, charging forward with the plasma chainsaw in hand. He swung it in a tight arc, the buzzing blade cutting through one of the insectoids as it flew low, its screech silenced in an instant.

“Are you okay, Zoe?” he called out, looking back over his shoulder.

Zoe gritted her teeth, quickly pulling herself out of the remnants of her scout suit. “I’m fine, but my suit’s toast. Guess invisibility isn’t enough for these things.”

Joey rushed to her side, holding his portable shield up to block another acid spray as he guided her back to cover. “Stay low, Zoe. We’ll figure something out for the next run.”

Ryan and Chris finished off the last of the insectoids. Their combined plasma fire lit up the clearing as the final creature disintegrated, leaving a few splatters of acid and shredded bits of wings behind. What a mess.

[+25,509 XP]

[+20,726 credits]

[Item Acquired: Power Cell]

[Item Acquired: Kinetic Pain Gel]

“Alright,” Luca said. “We’re done here. Let’s regroup and finish up the clearing. We’ll figure out new armor options when we’re back at the Peregrine.”

Luca gave Zoe her space. She was staring at the remains of her armor like she’d just lost a limb.

Danny approached slowly. “Hey,” he said softly, reaching out to touch her arm. “We’ll get you new gear. Better gear.”

“That was my suit,” she said. She let him pull her in for about two seconds, then shrugged him off and started picking through the heap for anything Ryan could still use, which wasn’t going to be much with the kit empty.