Day 0001

Horse Head Nebula

RJ86 expedition

2nd primary planet

01/21/2352, Dusk local time

1833 Galactic Standard Time

The massive roar of the Lander died down, but intense vibrations continued to reverberate through the Hull. Gunnery Sergeant Rocco “Rocky” Zulu, Rocky rechecked his Heads Up Display as it scrolled across his retina, the implant was proving very useful, his Exo-terrestrial Exploitation Helmet. The straps of his heavy oxygen tanks cut into his shoulders; he shrugged adjusting his pack as best he could while strapped in, finally, the landing craft settled to the ground with a thud.

“Alright, everyone seal your helmets and check you M.E.R.C.s” He punched in the commands for a system check on his FMCC Forearm Mounted Communications Computer. All systems scrolled through a check, showing green across the board, his helmet pressurized with a hiss.

“Comms check, MARINES Report in!” he shouted

“Alveraz, 5by5, check”

“Savage, 5by5, check”

“Smithson, 5by5, check”

“Carpenter, 5by5, check”

“Gomez, 5by5, check”

“J. Adams 5by5, Check”

“L. Adams 5by5, check”

“Partain, uh 5by5, check”

“Martin? HEY, Martin! Comms check!” Rocky bellowed, Martin could sleep anytime anywhere.

“Martin, wake up man,” Gomez said slapping him on the back of his helmet, bouncing his chin off his chest.

“What! I’m up.” Martin snapped.

“Comms, check.” Rocky ground out trying to keep calm, they had a newbie on this drop; never good to set the wrong tone on the first drop with fresh troops he reminded himself silently.

“Martin, check,” Martin said hesitatingly.

“Alright, everyone’s green?” all of the squad nodded or gave thumbs up, “Good, Alveraz, Savage, Grab the C.A.T.S. we are going in heavy, we are the first ones to land on this rock. Intel says no life signs and atmosphere should be breathable, Martin you check the air as soon as we get out I want some fresh stuff in my lungs after all those months in Cryo.” The green light by the air-lock lit up signaling that they were cleared to go. Rocky hit the release on his chest and the metal harness retracted into the bulkhead behind him with a hydraulic whirring. Alveraz huffed a theatrical sigh and started stripping off his Arctic issue camo fatigues exposing his specialized M.E.R.C.S., Miyo-electric Enhanced Recognizance Systems, they were standard issue in the Corps now, to enhance the natural power and stamina of the human body by providing exterior energy stimulation to major muscle groups. A fancy way of saying electro-shock therapy Rocky thought but he couldn’t complain about the results. The whole planet was in nearly perpetual winter. The hulking C.A.T.S. Combat Acceleration Transport Suits were stored in the airlock on the way down so if they come loose they wouldn’t crush anyone; it was their tank, artillery, and close air support all in one. Bipedal they looked more like streamlined gorillas than cats. The plas-steel exo-skeleton was layered over a carbon nano-tube endo-skeleton. The exoskeleton had been freshly painted with arctic camo for the drop, but Savage had found time to etch the Units emblem into the right bicep of both of the units, a grinning skull with a rock in its mouth, a bullet hole in the forehead, with snipers scope framing it, crosshairs between the eyes. It looked like she’d expertly tattooed both machines.

Savage stripped down to her Specialty M.E.R.C. suite as Alveraz opened the interior door of the airlock. She was the only other women in the squad besides Laura Adams. Nearly as large as Alveraz she was an Amazon by anyone’s standards; 70 Kilos if she weighed a gram, and at just over 190cm she was taller than most of the men. Not an ounce of fat on her either Rocky noted, the skin tight M.E.R.C.S. concealing little as she stretched in the cold air seeping off the closed exit ramp. Savage paused bending to pick up her gear; she stretched slowly, more to torment Martin then out of necessity. Her hard nipples proudly declaring her femininity to everyone, Martin switched on his external speaker and wolf-whistled loudly appreciative at her display.

“Alright, knock it off, Everyone get your gear together.” Rocky turned on his external speaker to talk to Savage, “Savage get your ass in that thing, or I’ll boot it in there.” She folded over at the waist without bending her knees to check the hydraulics and smiled back over her shoulder at him pouting slightly. He shook his head and turned away to get the last of his kit together. Savage made him realize that it may have only been 5 days for them since waking from hypersleep. But nearly 2 years had passed in Galactic Standard Time. Thanks to the Corps new standards on time in service being relevant to the service member, only ¼ the time was credited to his record for travel in hypersleep.

Sighing Rocky went to watch Alveraz sync up with his C.A.T.S., tiny needles extended from the interior and fitted into the small metal guides all over his M.E.R.C suit. Alveraz gritted his teeth as the needles pierced the skin and interfaced directly with his nerves, tiny drops of blood welled up all over his body from the electrodes. He stood up fluidly flexing his hands. The suit closed concealing him behind the thickest armor under the chest plate. The sensor nodes on the “head” angled down like a bearded face with long mobile antenna “ears” that swiveled to check the comms reception from the units chatter as they got ready for their first sortie into this system. Alveraz moved the suit through a basic systems check bending and making sure all of the joints worked properly. Savage stood up in her suit and immediately extended her arm to cycle through her weapons. The forearm of her suit segmented and reconfigured into the B.E.A.R. Broad-spectrum Energy Arc Rifle, the barrel stuck out paste her wrist by about half a meter. Heat exchangers stood up in two triangular rows like angry bird feathers. They glowed softly at first and gradually brighter as they powered up, warming the air in the airlock quickly.

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“All systems good to go, Sarge,” Alveraz said as he came online with their comms network.

“Mine are all checking out as well.” Savage chimed in, her throaty contralto a whispered in his ear. Savage blew the group a kiss, which was vaguely threatening from a four-meter robotic death machine. They both moved to stand next to the door ready to go.

“Adams, both of you stick close to the new guy, Partain I want you on them like stink on your momma’s vag.” Martin snickered.

“Carpenter, grab some extra ammo for your Mauler, you’re on point. Martin tell us as soon as we are clear to take these fucking helmets off. Smithson…Smithson! Damn it turn your blinds off.” Rocky said glancing around for their sniper.

“sorry boss forgot it was on.” He said fading back into view as his B.L.I.N.D.S., Biometric Light Interdiction and Neutralization Defense System powered down, the BLINDS allowed light to bend around him rendering him effectively invisible to any visual system that relied on reflected light.

“that’s better, just stay within Comms distance of the group and do your thing. How are your EOEs treating you?”

“the External Optic Enhancements are working like a charm, no irritation to speak of.” Carpenter had volunteered for the experimental surgery while they were in transit it had apparently taken almost 6 standard months for the Nanomachines to finish grafting themselves on while they were asleep. They had replaced the natural lenses of his eyes with the Nanomachines that allowed him to see in variously enhanced spectrums like ultraviolet, infrared, stereograph or night vision.

“Good, glad that went as planned,” Rocky said as they formed up in front of the airlock exit ramp, just the ten of them, the first humans to ever set foot on this planet. After the sixth or seventh historic “first” step it all became routine. Partain was glancing around nervous as a kid on his first day of school. Rocky smiled and put a hand on his should,

“Relax kid it’s all going to go smooth as silk.” He hit the release for the hatch and it hissed open. The temp dropped to -2c in seconds and everything frosted instantly. Savage and Alveraz move forward ice sheeting off the CATS as they moved, they led the way out as ash and snow drifted down from the sky. Volcanic chimneys a couple of Klicks away turned the entire landing field into a gray washed plain, leached free of colour. Overhead the sky was clouded over offering nothing to relieve the eye from the white, gray, and black shadowed world. They swept the perimeter around the ship, nothing showed on any of the scanners they had, nothing looked out of place or notable, no movement or heat signatures alerted them to any signs of life.

“Gunny, the atmospheres breathable. Barely. A lot of methane and other trace gasses, 70% nitrogen, 19% oxygen, 4% methane, 2% carbon dioxide, 1% helium, 1% trace elements.” Martin reported.

“What about this snow? Is it toxic?” Rocky asked.

“well I wouldn’t eat it but it shouldn’t harm you, slightly acidic that’s all. No traces of biological or viral contaminants in the air.” Martin read off his gear.

“Listen up, switch off the bottled ship crap and take off your helmets. Keep a bottle of canned air handy in case you get lightheaded.” Rocky said from the front of the ship where he was checking the relays for the satellite uplink they were setting up. Rocky unsealed his helmet with a hiss the planet's air flooded his senses. The smell was…intense the typical rotten eggs stink of methane and the chemical burn of too much chlorine. The air felt thin, like they were at high altitude, thin and dry, despite the falling snow. Rocky had to breathe through his mouth to get adjusted to the smells of planetside air.

“well, this is a different one huh boys?” Rocky called. Silence greeted his announcement and he looked over at Adams who was staring at him in shock with his helmet still sealed mouth hanging open.

“what?” Rocky asked. His voice came out at least 3 octaves high than it normally did. The helium was making him sound like a fucking prepubescent boy! The rest of the unit broke out into fits of hysterical laughter, Some higher pitched without their helmets others normal sounding through their helmet mikes. Rocky smiled ruefully and shook his head in disgust then joined in the laughter.

“Alright you goons get back to work; our base camp isn’t going to set itself up.” They still chuckled whenever anyone talked with their helmet off. Savage and Alveraz lugged out the huge crates of modular base units carrying tons of materials like tinker toys in their massive C.A.T.S. The rest of the squad activated them and they quickly ballooned out into prefab modular huts of memory metal and a lab complex, enclosed walkways stretched out like plastic wrapped slinkies.

Partian eagerly got to work on the medical module, it required a lot more prep work than simply pressing a button. He was glad for something he was familiar with. His graduation from Medic training had come only two weeks before their expedition had been slotted to leave; the former team medic had retired after 21 years of honorable service, large shoes that he intended to fill. He had graduated at the head of his class in Medical school before starting work on his Doctorate in neurosurgery; he had been halfway through his residency in New Boston on Earth. Partain sighed, shaking off his memories, both of his parents had been badly injured in an accident and required continuous medical care so he had put his career on hold until the medical bills and his college loans had forced him into military service to forgive the school debt and provide care for his parents as his disabled dependants they were entitled to full medical care and coverage in any military hospital.

The rest of the team continued to do more detailed perimeter sweeps and set up the pressurized tubes between the modules. The walkways required two men to maneuver into place connecting the huts and lab into a rough grid pattern around the landing field.

“Alright captain, you’re clear for launch. Over” Rocky said into his comm.

“Roger that Sergeant, good luck. And welcome to RJ86. Over”

“Roger, see you in two weeks. Rocky out.” Rocky turned back surveying their new home for the next few weeks.

Home is where your boots are, Rocky thought ruefully walking over to the command module, that Partain and Adams had finished installing. “It’s good to be home,” Rocky whispered stepping inside.