Zhalo was frozen solid considering the advice he just received combined with his heartfelt vow. He was originally just a Son of a wealthy family that owned an entire city on his home world, compared to some of the other students of the Grand Academy that was almost nothing.

Yearning for a grander purpose and adventure, Zhalo had decided from a young age to attend many different schools and programs in order to get the accolades necessary to attend the Grand Academy. And indeed, after much trial and tribulation and with determination and effort he had succeeded!

Dragging himself towards his designated pod, Zhalo began to think on what he wanted to accomplish. The thought of becoming an inventor was one that had preoccupied Zhalo for a long time, it was something he wanted to become for a long time but quickly gave up after realizing the reality of the situation.

Humanity had simply advanced too far. The Terran Overseer Empire had so much technology that the other branch states in humanity’s dominion could only hope to invent and research technology that was an echo of their prowess. Rather than be someone chasing the coattails of people dead millennia past.

“I will not be mediocre, I shall explore new horizons and become my own man. I will not be a second-hand entrepreneur.” Zhalo reaffirmed as he neared his personal drop pod before a voice interrupted his musings.

“We are all mediocre sunshine, now is our chance to prove ourselves something more.” Cadet Tracy spoke as she gave him a serious look of consideration before ducking into her own pod.

Her words rang true to Zhalo as he himself knew this was his test, to be born anew like the phoenixes of old and to make his own legend. Steeling himself he ducked into his own personal pod.

Looking around the small yet advanced type two drop pod Zhalo easily found the parts that he would start with and began thinking on what he could make when he was down on the planet. A weapon? Protective Armour? Scanner? These were all possibilities but only one or the other. Thinking quickly Zhalo decided to make a decent scanner once he was down there.

“Attention all Cadets, prepare for planetary insertion!” The voice of The Lord Teacher sounded over the speaker.

Time had gone so quickly when planning in his head. Zhalo quickly activated the gravity shield and the inertial compensators so he would not be turned to paste on the descent. The sixty second timer that had activated quickly passed and the pod was launched towards the surface.

On the observation screen the world of Ragnok Seven was shown in all its horrifying glory as the pod swiftly pierced through the atmosphere and towards the insertion point within one of the many jungles.

It did not take long for the advanced drop pod to touch down as the world passed in a blur. Once landed the pod was immediately teleport-recalled back to the ship, leaving Zhalo on the surface with just the clothes on his back and his box of parts.

Acting quickly on his survival training he immediately grabbed the box of parts and looked around for some form of shelter. With the light of three moons illuminating the jungle through the trees the trees and shrubbery had adapted to a blood-soaked appearance.

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“Steady breathing and vigilance.” Zhalo repeated a phrase from survival training and continued looking for a good spot to sit down and craft. With no mountainous terrain in sight, or even summon the planet, looking for old ruins or a spot in the treeline.

It did not take long to find a suitable spot and Zhalo sat down and began crafting an advanced scanner, based on a slightly modified design he had created previously. The esoteric materials given in the box to Zhalo would have been enough to buy an entire housing district and they were even low tier materials in the grand scheme of things.

It took around an hour of fending off smaller animals and swatting various insects while crafting his new device before he was finished. Booting up the device gave Zhalo even more dread as he realized just how many creatures and insects existed in his surroundings, even if many of them are not harmful to humans.

After just over an hour of walking he started climbing up to a space in the higher treeline that was currently bereft of creatures. The moons continue to shine overhead as he initiated a deep scan below the ground. The Advanced scanner picked up a few isolated pockets of space below the surface but nothing that would allow access from the surface.

It was only after configuring the handheld device for humanoid life signs that he found something interesting.

“Shit.” He whispered.

Already there in a perfect spot was a female human life sign, in what appeared to be an underground ruin with a little crawlspace tunnel leading to it from the surface. After thinking about it for a moment Zhalo made a decision.

“There are no rules against teaming up, and I'm sure we can combine our resources to get good marks.”

Nodding to himself at this revelation Zhalo swiftly but stealthy lowered himself from the treeline while using the scanner to avoid the abominable horrors. Reaching the crawlspace did not take long but before he went inside, he made sure to get across that he was friendly, and hopefully receive a reply that he was welcome.

“Friend approaching, authentication code Percy-Eleven-Zhalo.” He sent out a simple authentication phrase.

“Friend approach, Hectate-Two-Katie.” Was the woman, Katie’s, reply.

Katie was an aloof but well-meaning member of his class that mainly focused on her work and her small social group. Taking her welcome, he made his way through the crawlspace.

After reaching the end and finally being able to stand up, Zhalo observed the decaying ruined base around him. The armoured plating on the walls showed signs of decay, the strong material the only thing left of whatever this outpost once was. His eyes then found the young woman who was staring at him expectantly.

Smiling sheepishly, Zhalo spoke. “How has your first day been?”

She stayed silent for a second before showing off a bloodied bandage on her arm.

“Just peachy.” She spoke petulantly before smiling sheepishly and letting out a tired sigh.

“Let’s get to work, this place is relatively safe but I have not yet explored any deeper into the structure but based on the primer this probably belonged to some alien filth. We may be able to find some artifacts or treasure inside that could bring us honour and prestige.

Nodding to himself as he shared these concerns and thoughts, Zhalo voiced a question.

“What did you build with your materials? I managed to cobble together a scanner that should help out.”

She made a small face of anger before realization shone through.

“That makes sense on how you were able to find me, I lost my parts when I received this injury on my arm trying to get away from one of the monsters. The wound is probably infected but I'll receive a full check-up as long as we return alive.” She explained.

Grimacing a bit at the thought of only having the scanner for a few days and losing some steam hearing the bad news, Zhalo refocused and latched onto something specific.

“If we can find something big, we will both be fast-tracked for whatever we want. We have no time to waste, let's go find something Katie.” Zhalo said.

“Let’s do it together, but first we need to seal up the crawlspace to stop anything coming in.” She reminded him of another thing they had been taught.

It did not take them long to put some broken off armour plating and rocks in the way of the exit. Hauling the slain monster carcass Katie had in the corner and passing the scanner over to her, they adventured together deeper into the ruins.