June 21, 2562

1221 UTC

Captain O'Brian

"Send this data to the Conviction," I ordered. I took another look at the screen, showing the area we had scanned. As we moved further along in our orbit, a long-range optic was able to capture an image of what the scans had picked up. There was no mistaking the prow of a Phoenix-class ship, poking out of the shadows in the canyon.

"She looks intact, at least the part we can see. I'm not picking up any debris field," said the science officer.

"If they landed there on purpose, they had a hell of a pilot," I muttered. The narrow canyon offered little room to maneuver for a ship that size. And in such high gravity, landing was a one-way trip. Even fully fueled and in perfect working order, that ship would never have made orbit again.

I zoomed out the image to see the surrounding land. It was a desert landscape of red stone, cut through here and there by crevices of varying size. It looked like an ancient lava field. There were small sections of green forest, and red-leafed scrub brush covered much of the remaining ground. The largest crevices, sheltered from the sun and wind, had water at the bottom and an abundance of green plant life. The scans suggested water was abundant below the surface.

"This area is in the early spring season," said the science officer. "Conditions are relatively mild. The sky is clear, winds are calm, surface air temperature is 79.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Local time is early afternoon. Approximately 8 hours until sunset."

The comm officer spoke up, "I've got Shipmaster 'Taham on the line." "Put him on," I said.

"Captain," said the Sanghelli. "We received your data. It's impressive that a human ship could land here."

I nodded, acknowledging the compliment. "Any sign of human life?" He shook his head. "We've run more focused scans, but the magnetic interference is very strong in that area. We've detected what might be local wildlife, and a few Lekgolo. The whole area appears to be honeycombed with caves and lava tubes. We cannot determine what is in them, the rock has very high metal content."

"That's about what we're seeing," I replied. "We have drones we could send down, but we might as well go take a look ourselves. Feel like stretching your legs, Shipmaster?" I asked with a grin. I knew 'Taham was the boots-on-the-ground type, like myself.

The Sanghelli smiled widely - spreading his mandibles with his teeth facing in, a twinkle in his eye. "After forty-three days in Slipspace? Of course! My feet are restless to walk on solid ground again."

"I'll get my team together," I said. "We can meet on your ship in an hour." The Shipmaster nodded. "We can take one of my Phantoms, it will handle the gravity better than your dropships - if that is agreeable to you?" I nodded. "Yes, thank you Shipmaster." Our Pelicans were perfectly capable of making the trip, but they'd burn much more fuel in the process.

I assembled a small team from the ship's science crew - a signals specialist, exobiologist, and a geologist. We'd be joined by four Marines, one of whom was a combat surgeon.

My XO complained about me joining them - as was her duty. "Don't worry about it, Ferreira. We're not in a war here, I'm not endangering the mission. It's my call. You have the ship until I get back." She reluctantly conceded.

We assembled in the hanger for the pelican ride to the Unyielding Conviction. We wore Gen2 Nightfall armor - a sophisticated protective suit for hostile environments. The Gen2 Nightfall (not to be confused with the Nightfall variant of GEN2 MJOLNIR) was a major upgrade from the original model. The original was based on ODST battle dress, with only basic life support and self-load-bearing capabilities.

The Gen2 Nighfall, however, is based on MJOLNIR. Fully vacuum and HAZMAT rated, and fully powered. It consists of a techsuit with gel layer, comprehensive life support, fusion power source, and lightweight armor plating. It includes the same force-multiplying circuits used in MJOLNIR, with safety limiters for unaugmented humans - a recent breakthrough. State of the art, and soon to become standard issue for missions like ours.

Gen2 Nightfall is rated for gravity up to 4.2G, when worn by an unaugmented human. It gives the wearer extra strength and supports their body. The gel layer can pressurize to aid circulation and keep blood from pooling in the legs, like a pilot's g-suit. Without it, we'd have a hard time even standing up straight on the harsh planet below.

As part of the same production pipeline as GEN2 and GEN3 MJOLNIR, it was cheaper than the limited production Gen1 Nightfall. Once government orders had been filled, it would become available on the civilian market - a life-changer for colonists and workers in harsh environments all over the galaxy.

A short Pelican ride later, we stood in the Unyielding Conviction's hanger in front of Usze 'Taham and his crew. He had four other Sanghelli and two Kig-Yar with him, none of whom I recognized. They all wore gravity reduction belts, but no other specialized gear - just standard armor.

'Taham introduced his team. The two Kig-Yar were seasoned explorers who made a living scouting uncharted worlds. The Sanghelli were all warriors, and had worked with Lekgolo before. None of them were experts on the alien species, but they had a basic familiarity with Lekgolo behavior and language.

Although the Sanghelli had begun to shift away from a purely warrior culture, their technical experts tended to focus on fields like engineering, chemistry, manufacturing, spaceflight, agriculture - things that helped make a self-sufficient civilization. Few of them bothered to study the plant life, geology, or weather patterns of distant worlds.

We discussed mission parameters. First, we would attempt to identify the colony ship, and locate any survivors.

Second priority: determine the circumstances of the ship's arrival, if possible.

Third: do a general survey of the area.

Hostilities were not expected, but very possible. Indigenous Lekgolo populations could be very unpredictable, especially if they had been isolated for prolonged periods. They tended to develop their own unique cultures and behaviors. As alien as they were to begin with, these insular subcultures were almost impossible for an outsider to understand. Realistically, the best we could hope for is that they'd ignore us. A more unlikely possibility - but still a real concern - is that they would attack on sight.

We boarded a Phantom, and the pilot took us out. The descent was smooth and uneventful. I looked out at the planet below us. It was beautiful, in an alien way. It should have a proper name, I thought, as our descent continued and the sky above turned from black to yellowish-blue. "Caladas" was just the Covenant name for this system's star - probably named after some Prophet who first put it on a map 4,000 years ago. This was the seventh planet from the star. But as a (presumably) uninhabited backwater, no one had ever bothered to give this world a name of its own.

As we dropped to a few thousand meters in altitude, the troop bay doors opened halfway to give us a better view. Forcefields kept the wind out. We were still a few kilometers from the colony ship when the pilot called out, "Shipmaster, I'm picking up an intermittent human life sign below. I can't pinpoint its location."

I looked out the door. We were over an ancient lava field - extremely uneven terrain shot through with cracks and crevices, with only sparse scrub brush and a few gnarled trees as vegetation. The land was less harsh to the west, where we were headed. There was a small lake in that direction, with some low hills on the far side. Just beyond that was the canyon where the old colony ship lay.

'Taham was looking out the door on the opposite side. "Pilot, set us down in that open space," he ordered. I crossed over to see where he was looking. We were approaching a patch of relatively flat ground just large enough for an LZ.

We prepared to disembark. The Sanghelli opened the bay doors fully, so we could see our surroundings, and powered up the grav lift. "Be aware, there are Lekgolo in the area as well," reported the pilot. "I cannot pinpoint their locations either. And I have not been able to reacquire the human life sign." "Understood," rumbled 'Taham.

The grav lift set us down gently, but I could still feel the impact through my armor. Every step I took shook the ground a little, despite the high-traction cushioned soles on my boots. In standard gravity, I weighed 190 pounds and the armor weighed 42. Here, my total weight was 580 pounds.

The marines and Taham's warriors fanned out to create a perimeter. The marines and I had wrist-mounted motion sensors (not an integrated feature in the Nightfall armor, unfortunately) that we kept a close eye on. Presumably, 'Taham's warriors were doing the same. Our scientists practiced their own kind of situational awareness, examining the land and the vegetation, checking their equipment frequently.

"Anyone able to reacquire that human life sign?" I asked. "Negative, Captain," replied Sam, the exobiologist. In ideal conditions, her equipment could reliably identify known life signs within a 500m radius, or further with line of sight. But these weren't ideal conditions. "I caught a flicker right after we landed, but it was below the margin of error. I am picking up Lekgolo around the area, with a small concentration about 100 meters that way." She pointed to a boulder field west of us.

I looked in that direction, zooming in with my VISR. After a moment, I saw something move behind a rock, maybe 100 meters away. Right where Sam had said. Just outside the range of our motion sensors. I pulled out a handheld scope to get a better look - and saw a humanoid cluster of large worms. Mgalekgolo. Like a Hunter without its armor.

I tapped Sergeant Jacobs on the shoulder and pointed. He looked through his scope, and immediately tensed up. "Hold your fire," I whispered. The Lekgolo didn't seem aggressive, but that could always change. "Shipmaster, are you seeing this?"

"Yes," said the Sanghelli. "Just the one. It's small, and the Lekgolo worms themselves look smaller than average."

We started to move closer, but as soon as we shifted, the alien turned to face us. I raised my scope again - and almost dropped it as I caught a glimpse of the creature's face.

Before I could be sure of what I had seen, it turned and ran, shifting into a quadrupedal form and bounding over the rocks with startling speed.

AN: The terrain of Caladas VII - especially where the Phantom lands - was heavily inspired by Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. It's a spectacular and weird place that really feels like an alien planet. I highly recommend visiting if you ever get a chance!