Okay, its a bit shorter than ch.3 R&R
My lonely Road ch.4: Preparation and Unexpected
"Get it off, get it—aaauughhhh!" "Help! Someone help! Its eating me alive----aaauughhhh!" NOOOOOO!ARGGHHHHH!
SCRREEEEEECHHHHHHH………………
Exeter snapped open his eyes. He then sat up abruptly, pondering again. This was the second time this nightmare came back. This time it made him feel even more depressed, having to face the overwhelming guilt of surviving. Why? Why did he have to be the sole survivor? Why could not Angseth or Griff or Triplett or Milligan? Why could he not just have died peacefully with his comrades? Then again, he had asked these questions before had already answered them himself the day before. He had survived for a reason. All he had to focus on now was trying keep on surviving. He then remembered exactly where he was. He was in the cockpit of the Tyr (or what was left of it) sealed up and safe from the hostile outside world. He also remembered GF soldier Protocols; if alone, survive. That's just what he had to do.
Instead of putting on his armor, he decided to modify it.His armor had barely saved him from the splinter attack, and it sure won't save him from the other dangerous creatures. Exeter pulled out an electro-drill and portable welder out of his enormous survival pack, and began improving his armor. Exeter added more layers, made it lighter, more compact, and capable of modular upgrades. Several times the near naked and exposed captain strided back and forth from the storage area, each time bringing out a spare armor suit or a piece of deadly weaponry.It seemed that the captain did not notice the space pirates located outside. Exeter alsothen shut the main ramp to prevent entrance by creatures and also used tarp to cover up the holes in the ship.
After about three hours, the exhausted soldier finished his work. He had started with a standard Gf trooper armor and weaponry and ended with powerful equipment. His armor was now three times as thick as his original. It once gleamed metallic silver, but was now a darker gray, with stealth coating to avoid radar and lessen the chance of capture. Exeter's visor was thicker, and had bigger memory space with the ability to send viruses wirelessly. It maynot be the pinnacle of Galactic Federation technology, but it would do.His main weapons, two GFMCrepeater rifles were upgraded for better accuracy, better range, faster firing rate, and extreme durability. His armor also consisted from parts of the ship, including the radar and scrambler. Exeter also put the emergency boosters to use. The beam sword he retrieved was placed in a hidden compartment in his armor for hand-to-hand combat. He was now fully armored, and ready for almost anything. Exeter would need to be to survive. However, he would need to "consult" with his computer for a moment. Exeter jumped into the pilot seat and began tapping on various buttons, attempting to revive the computer. After several tries, the ship's onboard computer went online.
"Hello, my name is Sheila, onboard computer of the Tyr. How may I help you?" it spat out. Exeter couldn't help but suppress a grin. He would have someone to talk to for now.
"Good morning Sheila, this is Captain Exeter. I need you to find all data files in the GF libraries on Aether please" he replied. It took several seconds for SHEILA to process this, and responded, "Good morning to you to Captain. I am searching through files now." She began displaying many files, until she finally said, "Little is known about Aether, except that a race called the "Luminoth" lives there. However, all communication has ceased with Aether for over a cycle. Attempts have been made over this time period to investigate this; however, all who entered the planet's atmosphere were never heard from again. The planet was then roped off and labeled unsafe and insecure. No notable figure or Senators have taken interest in the planet. There have been no disturbances till now. There are no more files on Aether."
Exeter digested this information slowly. There were supposedly the "Luminoth"that lived on this planet. Yet they had not seen a trace of these creatures once. They had seen some alien buildings, but they were all deserted. Exeter decided that his first mission was to see if any of these sentinels still existed.
"Sheila, I need you to record a log for me in the main computer. Address it to anyone who comes in this ship and checks the computer. I also need you to activate security systems when I'm gone, but leave the ramp down. Eliminate any Space Pirates that try to board, okay?" he said
"Where will you go?" the computer asked. Exeter stared at Sheila momentarily, and then slowly replied, "I'm going… to look for these luminoths and if any… survivors. If I don't find any, I'll come back. Oh, and leave the ramp closed. That's all for now, SHUTDOWN" Exeter watched as the screen turned black, and stayed there for a moment. He then exited, taking his weapons and some supplies, but leaving the bulk of his gear behind. He revised his plan, instead scouting for life forms and any signs of survivors. Rushing into unknown territory alone was inadvisable, and considered extremely reckless. He loaded his weapons and exited down the ramps. Exeter did so cautiously, not wanting to be caught off guard. He found no signs of threats; just dead bodies of his men. Exeter checked around, only to find them all dead. No survivors here. He needed to check the ops base. Surely someone could have survived there. Then Exeter heard it.
SCRREEEEEECHHHHHHH………………
He whirled around to see two Space Pirates talking to each other in their native, hellish language, scraping a looming wall with their lethal power scythes. They had caused the noise earlier, yet had notnoticed the lone trooper. How could space pirates have stayed here three hours and not hearor notice a single thing?He didn't have much time to ponder for a streak of quantum energy passed by, centimeters from Exeter's head. NOW they had spotted him. The it had hit him; Space pirates had a weaker hearing ability than humans. The two pirates who had their backs turned earlier whirled around, weapons pointed toward him. There was also a third, appearing from above a ledge. Exeter slowly brought up his weapon, and sprinted into action.
Dun Dun Dun! Who will win? Improved Exeter, or Space Pirates? Found out next chapter: Ch.4: Survival