Blah blah chapter for a story no one seems to care about. Hope you enjoy it

Discovery 1

Will felt very ill at ease sleeping on that first night on NW2043. He woke early, before the sunrise, though that was to be expected considering that both the days and the nights were longer on this strange, new world. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something wasn't quite right.

Not that that needed to be stated. Something wasn't right. There were people, who were less than moral, that are exploiting the native wildlife. That very thought alone was frightening.

The illegal market had existed ever since markets have existed. No advancement in technology or innovation of the justice system would change that. The conquering of the final frontier simply expanded the range of products. From exotic animals to exotic materials, all manner of useless and frivolous to dangerous and ill-advised transactions were conducted.

Homestead II and Cletus Proxima each had their own unique range of flora and fauna, with exception of the pets and livestock brought in from Earth, though those were quickly being replaced in favour of what these new planets had to offer. It was almost funny how a dog, regardless of the breed or pedigree status, on Homestead II now cost five times as much as what it was back on Earth simply because it was a 'rare token from home'.

It was this idea that rarity means more value that lead to 'exoplanetary poaching'. While NW2043 was not colonized, and likely wouldn't be for a long time yet as there were so many other planets many lightyears closer to Earth, Homestead, and Cletus, these horns, apparently promoted as dragon horns, that were confiscated during a set-up have apparently been somebody's source of income for decades now.

That meant that somebody has been getting free reign of this planet for a long time. That they have much better knowledge of the terrain and probably have some sort of security system set up already, or a monitoring system at the least. They were already several large steps ahead of Will and his team.

Which begged another question. Why send a team of twelve to investigate and likely take down a crime syndicate? Sure, they had people who specialized in most of the necessary fields needed to solve this issue but one or two experts was nowhere near enough. It was like they were set to fail.

In fact they probably were. The only reason a team had been sent was due to public outrage from all three home planets. The public wanted to know where these horns were coming from and what these animals were and for the poachers to be brought down once and for all. The Interstellar Confederation probably wasn't expecting them home.

Perhaps Will was overthinking it. He tended to do that when he had time to think. The team was still too small but they were meant to scout, assess, and report. Backup would probably be sent if the IC decided that the situation needed to be prioritized. They've invested too much in this team in any case. The Magister wasn't a cheap build and Taylor and Johnson's pay rates were insane.

Still, even after calming his racing thoughts Will felt odd. A small, nagging feeling at the back of his mind forced him out of bed. He padded to the window and squinted out into the dim light of just-before-sunrise combined with the thick rainclouds and light shower.

Perhaps his slight paranoia was also due to the apparent signal distortion of whatever ore or mineral they were on. The motion sensors were going haywire from the disturbance and Epps and Fig would be trying to deal with them today. The infrared sensors had been damaged during atmospheric entry and needed to be replaced. The dogs were their most reliable alarm system at the moment but because they were inside they couldn't exactly notice anything outside.

Will looked to the treeline and took a moment to take in the details. They looked surprisingly almost identical to trees on Earth or on Homestead. Cletus had really tall grasses and bush type plants. He couldn't quite distinguish the colour of the bark and he hadn't really taken the time to look yesterday but it looked dark, a bit patchy in places perhaps due to some version of moss or lichen. The leaves were definitely green as he'd seen from space. The familiar scenery was comforting.

But there was something…

A shadow that stood out a little more than the general darkness of the forest. Will stared hard at it as a frown settled over his face. "Magister, zoom in on the treeline directly ahead." A holoscreen was projected on the wall next to the window that zoomed into the area. Will grimaced slightly at the grainy image caused by the interference. It was like one of those home-videos they kept at the museum from 1994. He turned away from the screen and waved it off, his eyes seemed to be more reliable right now.

The shadow seemed to have moved a smidge to the left from where it had been before. Now the meager morning light seemed to reflect off of two tiny blue dots near the top of it. "Magister, image capture, same spot!" The Magister did as asked and by the time Will glanced to and from the picture whatever had been in the treeline was gone. But the image still remained.

.o.

"What is it?" Maggie mumbled as she stared at the image Will put up.

It was still raining outside but it was brighter now than it had been before. Some harsh winds had appeared out of the blue soon after sunrise and were now battering the landscape. Everyone was snuggled on the couches and armchairs with their respective cups of hot chocolate and coffee. They all stared blearily at the image and grunted in displeasure as it zoomed with stunningly low quality.

"Not a clue," Will said. "But it's definitely something that had its attention on us. And even if it wasn't investigating us it's still worth checking out."

Angie nodded in agreement. "Something that big lurking this close is definitely a cause of concern."

"It would be beneficial to sample the local wildlife," Taylor said. "We need to know what to prepare for."

"I think that should wait until we finish securing the outside," Marty said as he scratched his Malinois, Ritchie, behind the ears. "Can't keep the dogs in forever."

"We've already got basic fencing in and the dogs are well-trained, they won't run away," Ferny said. "We just need to set up the kennels."

"Marty, Gaby, and Johnson can work on setting up the kennels," Will said thoughtfully. "Donelly and Maggie can finish up communications. Maybe Fig can help you." The man had a surprising knack for dealing with stubborn tech. "Donelly, send out drones to scout the perimeter and we'll review the footage when they return. Meanwhile, Epps, Stewart, Angie, Ferny, and I will head out to see if whatever was here this morning is anything significant."

"I'll bring Swinger with us," Ferny said. "He's been a good tracker for a while yet."

Swinger was Ferny's younger dog at three years old. He was a large Swiss white shepherd that he'd adopted after he and Mindy had retired from the military. Mindy was a very loyal and obedient single coated, red and black German shepherd. She was a good five years old but with the technological advancements of the last century the lifespans of many pets had been greatly extended. She had a good fifteen to twenty years to go.

"And find good spots for cameras in the canopy," Donelly requested. "We have several lengths of cables and we might be able to get them set up via ground wires. It doesn't seem like the magnetic field we're sitting in will waste any significant amount of power."

"We will," Will said as he glanced out the windows. "We're going to need to grab our boots and raincoats it seems."

Angie seemed to jitter as she stood up quickly. "I'll go grab my camera."

"But we have drones?" Epps said, slightly confused.

"PAC Airview c3000," Angie stated pointedly.

"But that model isn't coming out for like another six months," Epps said, still just as puzzled.

Angie seemed very smug and kind of giddy as she gave her answer. "I made a deal with the company to test out their camera on this mission and send back the photos so they can start making their promo."

"And what do you get out of this?" Marty asked as he headed to his rooms to grab his raincoat.

"A free camera and five thousand dollars," Angie said. "I think it's a good deal considering that PAC has agreed to cover whatever costs my health insurance doesn't."

"Alright, I admit, it's a good deal," Epps said as everyone left to get their raincoats.

Outside the winds were still blowing strongly but the rain had lessened to a drizzle. The PAC was apparently waterproof and it completely ignored the rai as it floated next to Angie. Meanwhile Swinger had a small set of boots and a clear raincoat too. Swinger and Angie seemed to be the only ones excited to be outside.

Angie walked with Stewart who was observing the plants curiously. "Could you share some of the plant pictures with me?" he asked politely and Angie had agreed happily. Stewart was Johnson's medical assistant on this mission but was originally a field medic. Adding to his skillset was a degree in botany which he'd use to make a portfolio of the native flora just as Angie would do the same with the local fauna.

A startled shout paused the group halfway across the clearing as they turned to look at Marty. The man had hand on the back of his head and a sheepish grin on his lips. "Sorry, a bug or something just flew in front of me," he chuckled at himself as he pointed at the something. There on a blade of grass was a peculiar bug-looking thing with a blue-green body and four large clear wings.

Angie stepped closer to it and went down on one knee as she gestured the PAC over. She fiddled with a tiny remote in her hand as the camera drifted closer. Each time she pressed one of the buttons it took a picture. Just as it was taking the last picture the creature hissed at the camera and spread its tiny wings before flying off.

Angie seemed to be shaking with excitement as the men crowded to look over her shoulders at the camera screen. They were all surprised to see that the bug-looking thing actually didn't look like a bug at all. Its eyes were large and dark but its body appeared like that of a skink. A very tiny skink with six legs, that's two sets in the front and one in the back. "I love this planet," Angie sighed as she hugged the camera.

"At least one of us does," Epps muttered as they set back on their trail. Despite his grouchy exterior even he couldn't restrain the glint of fascination in his eyes at this odd new world.

They made it to the treeline with no more disturbances. They stepped over the makeshift hedgeline of brush that looked more like really large broccoli. There they saw what they'd been looking for.

"Holy shit," Marty muttered.

They stood around what looked like paw prints except… huge. Like huge.

"The toe bean is like half the size of my face," Epps said.

"Toe bean?" Will asked and the others looked at him with odd expressions. "Never mind. Any thoughts?"

"Well I don't keep a chart on the general paw to body size ratio of animals," Angie said. "But I'd wager this thing is six feet at the shoulder."

"Welp," Epps clapped his hands, "that's great. Let's head back."

"The tracks go this way," Will said as he pointed into the forest. "Come on, stick close." He dug into a pocket of the armored vest under his raincoat and took out a small drone. The drone floated up to around chest level and produced a small holographic map, about six inches across, which displayed what the larger drones had already scouted on the perimeter of the clearing. It added to that map with its short ranged scanner as they progressed through the woods.

Stewart took a moment to take sample of the green mossy stuff that coated the trees and Angie took some pretty good photos of the forest. Swinger stuck close to Marty as they walked and seemed to be a bit nervous which was understandable. The large tracks were easy to see in the soft, muddy forest floor but Will was sure that once the heavier rains start up they'll be erased in a but a few minutes. With that thought in mind Will instructed them to move a bit faster.

They came across a small clearing. There was nothing odd about it, some rocks, the alien grass, nothing much. The only thing was that the tracks ended there. Just like that. Even Swinger was looking around in confusion.

"Maybe it can fly?" Angie suggested.

"That sounds horrific," Epps grumbled yet again.

"Well, it seems we're at a dead end," Will said with a frown. "Is there-"

"Woof!"

Everyone looked at Swinger who looked at the treeline a little to the left across the clearing. He began padding across the clearing with determination and the people behind him hurried to follow. "What is it, boy?" Marty asked even though the shepherd couldn't answer.

"Isn't this the opposite of the smart thing to do?" Stewart asked as he jogged with the group. No one answered but he knew that at least one of them shared his sentiment.

They came upon yet another clearing- a small grove rather, of trees and what looked like creepvines. In the center of the grove was a huge rock, at least three stories tall and twice as wide, that the vines and moss and small bush broccoli seemed to make a home of. Except-

"That's not a rock," Marty said slowly as he followed Swinger into the grove. The others followed behind him. "Is this safe to touch?" He pointed at the mossy substance.

"I don't know yet," Stewart answered as he used a small blade to cut a sample off the creepvine and the broccoli bush and put them in separate containers. Then something caught his eye just a little to the left of the not-rock and he went to see what it was.

Marty, meanwhile, had picked up a stick and pushed away some of the vines and moss. "What on Earth?" he mumbled as he found a seam in the suspiciously smooth rock.

"You mean NW2043?" Angie said absently as she took some pictures of the grove.

Will and Epps approached Marty and looked at what he'd found. They took out their survival knives and began cutting away at the vines. Tough buggers they were though. By the time they were done their fingers were aching and stained green. They panted as they stared at the smooth surface. "It's-"

"Hey, Captain!" Stewart called from around the not-rock. "You gotta see this!"

"It's a ship," Will finished as they came around the structure.

It was very clear where the entrance ramp had been because the area in front of where it would drop was paved with flat-ish rocks that were overgrowing with parsley and alien grass and- "Parsley?"

"And avocado," Marty pointed to a tree a little to the side with a few slightly smaller ones growing near it. "And lemons and I think that's a tomato plant."

"Somebody's been here before us," Will said. "It looks like it hasn't seen open space in decades." He scraped away the moss from a panel to the side of the ramp. It revealed a lengthy set of symbols used specifically and only by the space program. "Can you identify it?" he said to the small drone that was still displaying its small map and had taken the initiative to put a location marker over the ship.

It ran a short scan of the sequence and swiftly deciphered the symbols. Exploration Vessel 78-B3. "Discovery 1".

"Discovery?" Epps mumbled. "I thought this one was lost to space?" The Discovery 1 was basic textbook material when it came to space travel disasters and one in a million chances. It was sent out to explore… some solar system, Epps didn't remember, and a month into its journey it was shoved off course by a comet or an asteroid or something. Basically they lost contact with the command center and here was about two months of media attention and thoughts and prayers and deep space scanning before the story lost interest and 'hope was lost'. It was more like the government didn't want to expend more resources on a 'lost cause'.

Yet here it was. The Discovery. In one piece, if a bit bumped and bruised. Will looked at the small panel under the code and he pried at it a little until it fell open. It was an old passcode keypad, the kind they stopped using regularly about ten years ago. It was telling of the ship's age.

The array seemed to be completely dead though, despite being undamaged and only slightly worn. The moment Will touched the buttons however the array lit up with a faint blue glow. Will could see which buttons had been used more frequently, three and four were the slightly cracked, two and five were slightly dented, zero, one and eight were a bit dimmed, six, seven and nine looked as if they'd been seldom used. "Attempt to hack it." Will said and his small drone floated to the array and thin wires stretched from it and managed to force their way under the buttons.

Will was pretty sure that the more modern technology would be more than able to overcome this older model. He was right. A green glow overtook the blue momentarily before fading back into blue.

~Welcome back~

The Discovery's old and slightly staticky audio modules startled the small group. They all took a step back as the boarding ramp lowered itself with a small hiss of old hydraulics. Will took the leading step inside while gesturing for the others to hang back and Marty kept a firm grip on Swinger's collar to prevent the white dog from running away.

The interior was covered by a long undisturbed, thick layer of dust. The cleaning drones must have stopped functioning a long time ago.

~I cannot find a facial recognition match. Who are you~

"I am William James Lennox. I Captain the Magister 5 aka Exploratory Vessel 58-B6," Will gave as much information as he could recall on site.

~I do not recognize those designations~

"What happened to your crew?" Will asked as he observed the abandoned ship.

~The arrival to NW2043 was unplanned and the crew was unprepared. A foreign viroid infected their systems. Seventeen dead from infection. Four collapsed fatally while in medical stasis. Two unaccounted for~

Bit of editing done, not that anyone seems to care