0962 PF
Mission Status: Live
Since the so called apocalypse, man has rebuilt itself under a unified empire now spanning the cosmos. Military starships lead expeditions to find worlds for colonization and terraforming. Nanite augmented soldiers are the public face of this new era of exploration. Man is truly the dominating force in this world.
Or so we'd like to believe.
"Alright Lieutenant Commander, humor me. Why are you proposing a change in how we approach Gliese 581g?" Admiral Killip sighed, looking out the window. From his quarters on the ECS Rival, he could see the planet in question, slowly turning around the sun. A seasoned veteran of space and the wonders it entailed, nothing excited him anymore, and his age clearly showed.
The Rival was reminiscent of American space shuttles but sleeker, a gunmetal grey boat in the galactic ocean. The Earth Collective's insignia rested on the rear of both sides, the first and capital planet of this empire, back at its most verdant form.
Back in the Admiral's quarters, Lieutenant Commander Jon Dutra began to explain his position. "We have no idea what could be on that planet. It's the first one with natural atmospheric conditions almost in sync with Earth. I mean, it has about a thousandth of a percent less carbon dioxide, but that's about it. What I'm trying to say-"
"Spit it out," the Admiral deadpanned.
"There could be actual, human-like life on the planet. We should try and let out a broadcast in case there's something, and it can respond," the lower ranked officer finished. The Admiral gave him one look in the eye, and then gave his final answer.
"We proceed as normal. As the field commander, I want your troops ready in 30 and down on the ground by this evening. Don't disobey my orders."
"Alright, we're ready to go. This planet has eight main continents, and several minor island chains to go with them. We're targeting our arrival on this point here," John explained to the troops gathered in front of him, gesturing towards a point within the western section of the largest continent, as displayed on the holo-projector that took up most of the briefing room before continuing. "This will be our home for the next six months as we help convert the landmass for human settlement. Science teams will then catalogue native flora and fauna in the other continents that will remain untouched as long as possible. As is protocol, we'll be spread across four drop ships. Three of them will carry exclusively troops, the fourth will have equipment and a pair of hover trucks for transport. Let's mount up!"
Wiping the sweat off of his brow, Jon then entered his ship, but all sorts of questions were flowing through his mind. For starters, what if that one unknown chemical in the atmosphere was toxic to humans? It had been his call not to pack respirators, and Jon now wished he'd thought ahead.
Plus, there was that garbled signal communications had picked up. It seemed old though, so it had been written off as a pre-apocalypse thing. All they'd gotten clearly was the word "Oak".
Slipping his helmet over his dark brown hair and fastening his flack vest onto his toned chest, all he could do now was follow procedure.
"Did anyone else see that?" the radio buzzed, as Jon peered into the cockpit. The drop ships were like smaller versions of their parent, with the smaller range and less ability to function outside an atmosphere. Each held maybe fifty troops counting the pilots, at maximum capacity.
"What's the matter?" Jon asked, somewhat panicked by the development.
"The radar picked up this long serpentine object coming in hot. It's not one of ours. The boys up front thought they saw something," came the monotone answer, like nothing had happened.
An explosion then captured the lead ship, while the unknown object came fully into view. Long and green, with a draconic quality to its skin, a black pattern pulsating yellow covered its length. Pulling up close, its yellow eyes and sharp teeth were clear across the viewport. Flying by, it brushed dangerously close to the right wing.
"Sonuvabitch! That thing's gonna kill us!" Jon swore, before a warning light began to blink.
"We were hit! It's moved on, but not for long," the pilot yelled.
Jon then gave the only order appropriate for something like this. "Escape pods, now!"
Rushing back in with the troops, Jon scrambled to get into a pod. Ejecting at the last second, Jon saw that only one of the other ships had given the same order through the tiny porthole as they fell helplessly onto the unknown planet.
Mission Status: Unknown.
Not a bad idea, huh? I'm debating whether or not to make this an OC story. It won't be death heavy, but it's not going to be sunshine and rainbows either.