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A giant screen lit up in a massive hall before more than a hundred people. Displayed on the screen in large green letters were: Exploration Vessel A655 Thor / Prospecting Mission. A man appeared below a platform beneath the screen, dressed in a large black and gray outfit and wearing a beret. He began to speak, a microphone near his cheek and a tablet in hand:

"Very well, everyone is present, so we can begin. Our probes have identified three planets whose resources we could exploit; we have named them respectively: Ota, Daycon, and Tomé."

As each planet appeared on the screen, multiple data followed, such as its surface area, radius, mass, and distance from its star. Accompanied by photos of the planet seen from space and images taken on the planet by automated probes.

"I'll spare you the usual chatter, but know that all these planets have breathable and habitable atmospheres. You all know what you have to do and the importance of these missions. Team A, you will be sent to Daycon; Team B to Ota; and Team C to Tomé. Team C, you have a newcomer with you; I am counting on you to teach him the ropes in the field. I wish you all good luck," he said as he left as abruptly as he had arrived.

Once the orders were given, all the teams knew what they had to do and headed toward their designated ships. All these men wore futuristic, hermetically sealed black and green outfits with some metallic parts. Group C began boarding together, while the leader addressed the newcomer.

"Hey, kid, how's it going? Not too nervous? It's your first mission after all." he asked while fastening his safety harness.

"I'm quite stressed." he replied, a bit uneasy.

"Ah, it's true that the first time is always impressive. What's your name?"

"My name is Math."

"Mine's Art, leader of this team." he said, extending his hand.

"Thank you for having me." he replied, shaking his hand.

"Oh, don't thank me just yet, and get ready, Math."

Immediately, the ship began to shake as they started maneuvering to undock from the main vessel, causing violent jolts until a robotic voice was heard.

"Undocking complete. Estimated time to site arrival: 15 minutes." it declared.

"This is just the beginning, kid. Don't puke your guts out like some others." another team member teased.

"Give him a break, Mike. Besides, you threw up your first time too." retorted the team leader.

"Boss, we agreed not to mention that in front of the newbie." Mike complained.

"You shouldn't have set me up." Art said, laughing.

Another member then courteously addressed Math. "Don't worry, there have never been any incidents; everything will go well, first mission or not. Don't stress; it could work against you. And we're pros—we've been doing this for years. By the way, my name is Théry."

"Nice to meet you, and you're right; I'm probably stressing a bit too much."

"Anyway, no more time to think—we're entering orbit. Get ready; it's going to shake!" warned Art.

Through the main viewport, they could see the planet, which was quite green with slight shades of gray. As the ship entered its atmosphere, it began to experience violent turbulence much more repetitive and intense than during undocking.

"Holding up, kid?" Mike asked with a smile as the ship shook like a leaf.

"Not really." Math replied, his face pale.

"Ha ha! We're about to see what you had for lunch!" Mike laughed.

"Come on, kid, focus and remind me of the usual procedures." Art interrupted.

Math concentrated despite the violent shaking and the urge to vomit.

"As scouts, we will land in a cleared area that was chosen beforehand. We will then set up a research center with all our equipment, collect samples and the necessary data to establish a report on the value of this planet. If it is viable, we will then begin to exploit it, and it may also become a colony."

"You forgot a few small things, like the fact that we always move in groups of ten. Each night, a watch rotation between groups is established."

"I thought nothing had ever happened over all these years..." he worried.

"Kid, if we're armed, it's not for nothing. Zero risk doesn't exist, and I don't intend to neglect the safety of my men."

"Forgive my carelessness."

"Never forget, kid: it's when we believe we're safe that danger is most present."

"And besides, we've already come into contact with extraterrestrial life forms in the past, and they've all proven harmless."

The ship finally landed, and as soon as the door opened, Math hurried out to vomit. Mike went over to pat him on the back, laughing as he emptied his stomach.

"Oh, isn't that today's pasta?"

"Mike, you're really horrible." said Théry, shocked by his childish behavior.

"Heh heh!" Mike chuckled.

"All right, everyone knows what to do: unload the equipment and set up the base. Get to work, guys!" ordered Art.

The teams began setting up the base. It took five days to fully establish a high-tech camp, and then they had to calibrate the equipment. When everything was finally ready, night was already falling, and the group gathered for a briefing.

"We've finished everything; the camp is 100% operational." said Théry as second-in-command.

"Great job, everyone! We'll officially start our mission tomorrow. Go get some rest; you've earned it. The newbie stays we'll have a little chat."

After everyone had left, Art and Math began their conversation.

"So, how did these first five days go?"

"Very well. I accomplished all the tasks assigned to me. I think I'm integrating well into the group, except for Mike, who keeps bothering me."

"Ha ha, I know he can be a tease, but he's a good guy. I'll talk to him; don't worry. Also, tomorrow we start our missions it should go well for you too."

"Yes, thank you for your consideration, sir." said Math, finding Art very concerned about his men.

"It's normal for me to care about my men, and call me Art."

"As you wish. May I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Before entering the academy, I studied the Pretender project and always wanted to ask why it was abandoned. You're recognized as one of the best, and your name was listed as a consultant for the project due to your experience." he said, recalling the article he had read.

"I see. The Pretender project aimed to conduct expeditions solely with machines. You know that if you're asking me. Officially, what ended the project was that it contradicted the Gaia Constitution. No machine should replace a human in any work whatsoever. But it can assist in accomplishing certain tasks."

"I know; it even led to large protests. But what are the unofficial reasons?"

"A failure! A fleet was assembled by the company KSI at the council's request. But it turned out the fleet wasn't autonomous enough. There were numerous AI bugs; some ships even crashed. If I had to go into details, programming an entire fleet proved to be far too complicated. Even though we've experienced a technological revolution, the war also set us back," he lamented before continuing. "Additionally, our advances in artificial intelligence are still far from optimal. Our best scientists are still working on it, but it seems compromised for now. So, the project is dormant at the moment."

"Someone will surely find a solution to our problem?"

"A genius! We would need a genius, but for now, things seem compromised."

"Thank you for your time."

"Ah, don't worry; it helped pass the time. Well then, have a good night!"

After their conversation, night quickly gave way to morning, and the teams were ready to depart.

"All right, here's the usual briefing! All teams will disperse and collect all possible samples; they'll also deploy additional autonomous probes. Meanwhile, I'll stay here with the logistics team. I want all possible data about this place: atmospheric pressure, heat, humidity level, water quality I even want samples of these damn trees' bark, the whole package! I want you back before nightfall. So, get to work, everyone!" he said, dispersing his teams.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

A few hours later, all the teams were hard at work, conducting investigations and analyses on everything they could find.

"Whoa! The composition of these trees is exceptional. It's as hard as metal." exclaimed Théry while collecting more samples.

"I've noted that the humidity level is three times higher than on Earth. So, this planet experiences heavy weather." retorted Mike, as if competing to find the best treasure.

"Bark as hard as metal this is a very interesting discovery. We can use all these trees. Moreover, the humidity doesn't seem to negatively affect the bark."

"Metal that would never rust truly exceptional!"

The team was excited about these discoveries until Math interrupted them.

"Guys! I've found a weird cave."

"Weird how?"

"I don't know how to explain it; come see for yourselves." said Math, confused.

The group followed him to inspect the discovery. After a few minutes of walking, they came upon it. In their field of vision was a gigantic wall almost resembling a mountain, but what made it unique was that it was riddled with numerous holes.

"Damn, if weird is what we're after, this is weird. It's not a cave; it's Swiss cheese!" said Mike, surprised as he looked up and down the gigantic wall.

"Indeed, there are holes everywhere." agreed Théry.

"Like your mother." Mike quipped at Théry.

"Ha ha! Very witty!"

"So, what do we do?" asked Mike.

"What do you think? Why are we here?" said Math confidently.

"The newbie's right we explore." agreed Théry, looking at the others.

What the team hadn't noticed were strange markings at the cave entrance. As they ventured deep into the tunnels, someone at the camp shouted:

"Sir, we've just lost contact with Team 3." reported one of the base camp operators.

"What? Team 3, report!" exclaimed Art.

"No response, sir." said the operator, looking at Art.

"Damn, what's their last known position?"

"Here it is, sir." the operator replied, pointing to a spot on the screen.

"Prepare a team; we're going to see what happened!" Art exclaimed seriously.

Once ready, the group headed to the last known position of Group 3, retracing exactly the same path they had taken, eventually arriving at their last location.

"We lost contact with Team 3 here." indicated a team member, looking with everyone else at the gigantic wall filled with holes.

"What the hell is this!" exclaimed Art.

"It's awfully dark in there, boss." noted a team member, approaching his head into one of the holes.

Suddenly, something emerged, knocking the man over.

"Damn! You scared me." he said, having fallen to the ground in panic.

"Is that why you're on your butt, Marco?" joked Mike, coming out of the hole, followed by the others.

"Good grief, guys, this isn't a joke! What were you thinking? No communication, nothing!" Art snapped.

"We apologize. We only realized communication was down once we were deep inside the cave." replied Théry.

"Down?" questioned Art.

"It must be because of the cave. We collected samples from the walls. We can analyze them at base camp." replied Math, who came out last from the hole, helped by Art.

"Hmm... Very well, let's return to camp." Art declared to everyone.

The group returned to camp as the day was ending and the planet's sun was setting.

"Night has already fallen; set up the watch shifts." Math ordered his men.

"Yes, sir!" they replied.

Small drops of rain began to fall.

"The rain's starting, too. Math, I'd like to see the analysis results of the cave walls and a description of the interior." Art invited Math to join him.

"I'll have the results in five minutes, sir." he indicated.

Five minutes later, Math was fixated on his computer while Art waited beside him. Math had been recruited as a scientific expert.

"So, the results?"

"It's intriguing." said Math, still staring at his computer.

"What's so intriguing?"

"The composition of the walls doesn't allow any waves to pass through. That's why communication was cut off. As for the composition—totally unknown." reported Math, giving a detailed account.

"Unknown, even with all our data and explored planets?" Art asked for confirmation.

"Yes."

"Organic or inorganic?"

"Organic, sir."

"And the inside of the cave?"

"We got lost; we had a lot of trouble finding our way back. It was very dark despite our lamps, but we discovered some kinds of stones inside." recounted Math, trying to provide as many details as possible.

"And you didn't bring any back?"

"They were human-sized, far too heavy."

"Human-sized? Tomorrow, we'll assemble a team to go there and take new samples." he declared determinedly.

"Yes, sir." agreed Math.

While Art and Math were talking, outside, the small drops of rain had turned into a downpour.

"Ah, these watch shifts are really annoying." complained Marco to his fellow guard.

"Tell me about it."

Suddenly, a strange noise alerted them in the foliage.

"What's that?"

"I don't know, but it's weird."

They headed toward the noise until they saw...

"Ah! It's you. What were you doing?" asked Marco as he found himself facing Mike.

"I went to take a leak." replied Mike, covered in leaves and soaked from the rain.

"Phew." sighed Marco before finally letting out a scream.

"Damn, what is that thing!"

"Stop messing arou..."

Mike didn't have time to finish his sentence; he could only watch as his vision faded, blood splattering on his comrades' faces as his head fell to the ground.

"Oh damn, shit, shit!" Marco cried out, gripped by uncontrollable fear.

"Shark!"

Screams and the sounds of bones breaking pierced the night, masked by the sound of the rain, as the next guards were about to take their shifts.

"Hey Hans, have you seen Marco and Mike? I'm supposed to relieve one of the." asked Théry.

"No, and I've been looking for Mike for a little while too. I'm supposed to relieve him. They must be slacking off and avoiding work." he complained.

They then headed to where their two colleagues should have been, the rain pouring down on them.

"Damn, where are they?" Hans snapped.

They looked around the area filled with trees and bushes, lightning joining the rain. Each flash illuminated the place in a threatening and sinister way.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Théry pointed out.

The sound was completely different from the rain, like wooden planks being broken.

"It's coming from over there!" Théry pointed in the direction of the sound.

They moved toward the noise with their suit lights illuminating the way. The closer they got, the more the sound resembled chewing noises. The noise led them to a bush; when their lights finally illuminated the spot, they could see a large amount of blood beneath.

"Damn!" exclaimed Théry.

Suddenly, what sounded like chewing ceased. The light from their torches flickered as a creature rose from the foliage, turning slowly to reveal fangs dripping with blood. Pieces of human bodies could be seen, and a sudden thunderclap illuminated the creature entirely for a brief moment. The only word that could describe the situation was terrifying.

"Oh my God!" Hans cried out.

His abdomen opened without warning, letting all his entrails spill out before he could understand why his belly had opened. Théry, gripped by fear, fell to the ground. He tried to grab his weapon that had fallen, but his hand was cut off. Enduring the pain, he began to run toward the camp with all his might. Unfortunately, it was only to see everyone being attacked and devoured by many of these creatures.

"Oh crap!" he cursed before his head was eaten whole.

"SCHRAK!"

Two hours after losing contact with Team C, a series of procedures was quickly initiated.

"This is the commander of the Thor vessel. We lost contact with Team C two hours ago. We request the intervention of a recovery group."

"Did you receive a distress signal?" the operator asked, following protocol.

"No, communications just abruptly ceased."

"Very well, we'll send a recovery team arrival in 30 minutes."

A ship was then quickly dispatched, crossing space, with the recovery team conducting their briefing inside. All were equipped with metallic armor and white weapons.

"Okay, guys! Contact was lost two hours ago with one of our prospecting teams. By the time we arrive, another 30 minutes will have passed. The chances of the research team's survival are slim. They may have been victims of bad weather or an attack by an alien life form, so let's be extremely cautious." briefed the Major of the recovery team.

After those 30 minutes, the ship finally landed on the site, the rain still pouring heavily.

"Okay, guys, the camp is 500 meters away!" indicated the Major.

They advanced cautiously to the research team's last known position until they finally arrived at the camp, where they saw creatures tearing apart the bodies of the research team.

"Oh my God, what are those things!" one of the soldiers asked, confronted with an unprecedented situation.

In front of them, they could observe more than thirty of these creatures wandering and eating the remains of the bodies.

"What do we do, Major?" a soldier asked.

"I suggest we exterminate these monsters immediately." retorted another.

"Shut up." replied the Major, the soldiers instantly falling silent.

He then meticulously analyzed the area where the corpses were scattered in multiple places. It was a real massacre, but he didn't see any bodies of creatures that had been killed.

"There are no creature bodies, which means our weapons are probably ineffective." he pointed out to his men.

"Major, in that case, we need to retreat." one of the soldiers suggested before being interrupted by another.

"We also need to inform the control center."

The soldiers all started multiple conversations about what they should do, which ended when one of them noted that there were fewer creatures.

"Uh, only ten creatures remain; the others have left."

"They're hunting!" exclaimed the Major.

"Hunting what?"

"Us, you idiot! Soldiers, retreat now!" shouted the Major.

At that moment, one of the soldiers the Major was looking at lost his head, his body collapsing lifeless to the ground. A creature appeared; the soldiers then opened fire, the monster continuing to advance as if nothing had happened, with other creatures joining it. The soldiers who had opened fire were immediately attacked and torn apart like mere sacks of meat.

"You fools, it's ineffective! Run to the ship!"

All the soldiers began a frantic race to reach the ship under a torrential rain. The stragglers were killed without any mercy, being devoured alive. After a good run, the ship became visible again when suddenly, Art and Math from the research team emerged from the bushes on their right.

"Wait for us!" Math shouted.

"What are you waiting for? Run!" the Major urged them.

It was a race for survival against death itself, symbolized by these monsters. Everyone was running as fast as possible, but Art and Math were lagging behind.

"Ambush!" a soldier shouted as some creatures awaited them ahead.

The Major took several grenades and threw them in their direction, the explosions scattering the creatures. Suddenly, a creature emerged from a bush and clawed Art's face. He fell to the ground, holding his left eye, which was bleeding profusely. The creature didn't pay attention to him and rushed at Math, biting his leg and making him scream in pain. All the soldiers began firing together at the creature while the other creatures were still stunned by the grenades. Suddenly, the one that had attacked Math let go of his leg, due to a bullet that had hit one of its many eyes. Art got up as quickly as possible, his eye bleeding, examining Math's injury. Some muscles had been completely severed, and the wound was very deep. He definitely couldn't run anymore, and there was still a good fifty meters to go.

"I'm sorry, kid." said Art in a weak and resigned voice.

"What? No please, no!" Math cried out.

Art stood up and started running toward the ship, leaving Math lying on the ground.

"Please, my God, no!" he screamed.

He began crawling with all his might one meter, then two.

"You can't do this; please save me, save me!" he pleaded.

A shadow then appeared above him, making him turn around in terror, seeing the multiple rows of teeth with their numerous threatening eyes. He didn't even have time to see his life flash before his eyes when an intense pain seized him. The creature had thrown itself on him to mercilessly tear apart his leg.

"Ahh! It hurts! Ahhh! Kill me! Kill me!"

The other creatures soon joined the meal, devouring him slowly. Bits of entrails were pulled from his belly while one of his arms was torn off. Blood gradually filled his lungs and rose to his mouth, slightly muffling his screams. His gaze slowly emptied of all life but continued to scream because of the pain all under the eyes of the others, who had reached the ship, taking off with the airlock open.

Witnessing a terrifying spectacle, Math's agonized screams gave them chills. Then nothing more the silence the ship leaving the planet. It was just in time that the team managed to escape, with 80% of its personnel decimated. Out of 20 men, only 5 remained, including a survivor from the prospecting team.

Humanity had just come into contact for the first time with a hostile extraterrestrial race. Later, the recordings and testimonies were transmitted to the council. They were convened a week later to discuss the incident, analyze, and debate the recordings taken on Tomé.