The Titan awoke to another humid day and escaped his prison with all haste. Brilliant rays of sunshine shone down light rays like spotlights piercing through the canopy above. He found the top of his container to be crawling with several of the slow moving and awkward moth creatures, and he was able to scoop a few of them into his mouth. Not quite a five-star breakfast, but it would have to do for now. He still did not feel as hungry as he knew he should be, despite it being at least over a week now since he’d had a good meal.
He decided to have another look around and spent much of the morning exploring his surroundings. The swampy landscape was tricky and easy to get turned around in, but he managed to keep his bearings with a few old tricks he’d learned in his youth. He explored a wide circle around his container, using that as the focus or center of his search. He set up some markers along the way to aid his direction sense, such as narrow rocks that pointed back in the direction of the container.
During the afternoon hours, he went back out again, finding that despite his lack of recent nutrition, he still had an abundance of energy. He in fact seemed to be bursting with it. He began expanding his circle more and more and found himself recognizing certain landmarks in the area as well. When the light began to fail, he took refuge within the container and set out again the next day.
At one point he found several of the bird like creatures latched onto a nearby tree, pecking away at the yellowish-green moss that seemed to grow almost everywhere. This gave him an idea. He tried to catch one of the birds with a rock and frowned when he missed, and they all flew away. But as he sat staring at the tree, another idea came to him. If the birds could make a meal out of the moss, perhaps he could as well.
The Titan found a tree with some moss growing along its length and scooped some off into his hands. The moss was damp and squishy. He took a slight nibble and was surprised that it tasted vaguely like cake and held a great deal of water within its porous substance. He ate a small handful and decided to hold off to see what it did to his body before gorging any more.
At one point, he noticed that there was an entirely different ecosystem fluttering high in the sky above him. There were strange squid-like things that seemed to float in the air like balloons and would wait for one of the much larger creatures to flap by before they darted down in packs like great swarms of spears, until the larger creatures would drop from flight somewhere in the horizon. What happened to them once they landed, the Titan could only guess. Some of the things flying above him seemed truly mammoth, and entirely too big to sustain a body that large with flight, but it was these ambush predators that seemed more worrisome at the moment.
As the Titan explored his surroundings, he eventually made an exciting discovery. There was a large piece of twisted metal laying alone amidst the fungal like trees. He hopped over to examine it, though he didn’t need to. It was a piece of the Triumph. He looked around and spotted a reflection from the light gleaning from another piece of metal in the distance. He followed that piece and then another beyond that.
Soon he came to a depression in the land where the hills sloped downward. Far in the distance among the titanic trees, he caught a glimpse of a massive piece of metal, this one dwarfing all the others he had found thus far. He smiled as he looked upon it, the wreckage of the Triumph. There could be all sorts of useful items scattered around the wreckage, especially if there had really been no other survivors.
Getting to the wreckage would be no easy task with a broken leg, for the jungle like terrain grew thick in this region and he had no chopper to cut through it. His fur proved to be some protection against the brambles that began to snag him every few steps, slowing his progress to a crawl.
In a few directions, he caught sight of more of the incredibly large spider-web like vegetation that stretched across the landscape in strange geometric patterns. One of these was severely damaged, by the looks of it, the spacecraft had plowed through it during its descent. It took a great deal of time and effort to reach this area, but once he did, he found a wide gash in the landscape where the spacecraft had landed and slid through, plowing up the land and leaving a long clearing for him to follow.
When he reached this path, that looked to be a good mile or more long, he noticed some odd shapes laying in the clearing and approached with caution. When he drew near, it was hard to make out what these things were, but they had the odd shape of some coconut shell. A sudden flash of movement off to the side within the jungle snapped his attention to it.
Crawling across the reaching, interconnected web of vines was a large creature that appeared crab-like in nature, though thicker and heavier than anything on Titan. This creature, which did resemble a crab, but he noticed it also had features like a common tick back home, seemed to sense his presence and crawled about to face him. He realized then that what he had seen in the middle of the path of the Triumph was empty cracked open shells of these large creatures.
The Titan did not like how the thing in the vines seemed to be reorienting itself in his direction. Nor did he like the fact that the deep brush around it seemed positively alive with movement, probably with many more of them. But he especially did not like the implications of seeing some empty shells casually laying around. Either these things molted like hermit crabs, or something had cracked them open to have them for a snack. And he did not wish to think about what such creature was capable of such a feat.
The Titan began limping ahead in a hurry. The crab creatures did not seem particularly fast, but they did very much seem to be heading his direction. He made his way down the clearing, keeping all his sharp senses open for danger as he traveled. He began to grow worried as the shadows were lengthening, and the thick fog began rolling in once more. He did not have much light left in the day and had to decide at that point. Did he turn back now and try to make it back to his little shelter, or did he risk everything and continue to the ship looming ahead of him?
Just then, far in the distance he heard a familiar shrieking roar that echoed across the treetops, so loud that even with his hearing loss he heard it clear enough. The sound was so loud that he could feel the bass through the ground. It was impossible for his mind to comprehend the noise that he heard, for it sounded like several noises at once. His mind pictured a tigral roaring, alongside a huge piece of metal scraping against metal, along with a mournful wail and all of this was somehow in stereo.
Though the echo and the size of the sound made it impossible to locate directly, it sounded like it had come from the way he just traveled. His decision was made without hesitation, and he tried to shuffle faster towards the wreck. Whatever was out there he could not imagine being friendly, and he would not want to face whatever made that sinister noise without a weapon of some kind. And if there were still bodies among the wreck, it was possible there would also be weapons.
Reaching the hull of the ship as twilight set in all around him, he began limping around the wreck, trying to find a way inside. The space vessel looked much larger from the outside, and within an atmosphere like this to give it some reference. The back end of the ship was severely damaged, and had he not been currently hobbled, might have been able to crawl into an opening. He continued around the fender, holding onto the side of the hull for support.
The Titan gaped in awe when he walked around to the side and made it a few yards down the length. There was a large blast hole in the side of the craft, large enough for him to walk through. As he made his way towards the hole, the implications behind this began to sink in. This was no random asteroid, judging by the blackened scorch marks on the side, this was a concentrated attack. But if that were true, then what in all of the universe could have done such a thing?
As a prisoner of the Zenith Corporation, he had not been privy to all the details behind their voyage. There was no way for him to know for sure, but he was confident that they had set off from the Zenith Corp station orbiting Io. He had overheard one of the soldiers aboard the ship during their trip that they were heading towards the Alcyoneus Arm of the galaxy. He was no astronomer but much like any other kit growing up on Titan, he had grown up with holo-vids and stories of adventure within the far-flung reaches of the galaxy. If that were true, and they were within the Alcyoneus Arm, that was way beyond the farthest reaches of civilized space and trillions of miles from the farthest trans warp-gate.
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As the Titan reached the large opening, he scurried inside, careful not to further injure himself. He had to find a ship log to see if this was true. If that were the case, then what could have possibly shot down their spacecraft? Their society had been out among the stars for several generations now and there had never been any other sign of life beyond Titans. In fact, he remembered a whole theory about this called the Fermi Paradox. And what would pirates be doing so far from any trade route, and by the looks of things, they did not come down to loot anything if indeed this had been done by pirates.
As he stepped inside, he found an eerily empty ship, completely devoid of life. Besides some obvious damage from the crash, he was pleased to find that much of the ship seemed to be more or less intact. It would not be flying anywhere soon, but it gave him hope of scavenging some supplies at the very least. It was disheartening all the same to see the mighty space vessel in such a state though, for he knew he didn’t possess the know-how to fix it, and he doubted there were any other vessels he would find on this planet that could get him home. He might be able to fabricate some repair robots though, if he could find a fabricator in working order. It may be his only hope to ever get home.
And just like that his hopes were snuffed again. Home. He had been focused on the simple task of surviving moment to moment and had temporarily forgot the bigger picture. Unless he found some way of repairing this ship which seemed an impossible task, he would most likely never see home again. He pushed these thoughts aside as he traveled through the ship, finally coming to the main hallway.
There was a problem now as he limped further away from the tear in the hull from which he entered. The ship was pitch dark inside with no power and all the auxiliary lights off. And he had no torch or powered lights. He thought briefly about going back outside to find a stick and some kindling, maybe some moss or something to craft a primitive torch to explore the ship, but the sound still haunting his recent memory and the fact that it would be dark soon voted against that idea quickly.
There was a bit of light further on, perhaps another breach in the hull, and he limped towards it. He had been loaded aboard inside of his confinement and had not been privy to the blueprints of the ship, and therefore he was lost within its dark shrouded interior. The positive side of things was that the ship seemed to largely be long and straight, with very few passages branching from the main one, so he continued, feeling his way as he went.
And then he heard something shifting ahead of him in the deep blackness and froze. It only now occurred to him that if he were able to walk up and stumble aboard the vessel, then so could other things. Maybe terrible things. As his fingers groped the wall, his heart began to pound faster, and a growing sense of dread began to fill his mind. But then his fingers found a latch, and he breathed a sigh of relief, for this was recognizable to him. This must be a locker.
The Titan pulled the latch and thanked the stars that it was not locked. He began fumbling around in the dark with the contents. It felt like some clothing and then probably some tools and then his fingers felt something rectangular in shape that he instantly recognized and scooped up. A data-pad. His fingers explored the device until they found a button along the top and he pressed it. A moment later the device powered on, and a bright logo displaying “AngelWare” appeared.
He smiled at his luck. AngelWare datapads were known for having some of the best processing power on the market. Of course, like anything else, Zenith Corp had bought them out years ago, but they were still better than the ZenithCorp brand pads, and the poor titan’s RedStar ones. Most of all however, when the microLED screen came on, it provided a source of light. He turned the screen around and used it to search the locker. He rifled through the contents swiftly and found that there was nothing inside that he needed for now, but there was a row of lockers before him now, and he began to go through the next, and then the next after that.
And then he finally found what he had been looking for, a proper torchlight alongside a few other useful tools. He flipped the button on the side and the powerful mini spotlight flared to lift. At this, he powered the data pad back down and slid it into a pocket within his jumpsuit. The second thing that he found was a Spectroscope scanner, a powerful handheld computing device capable of detecting objects’ makeup down to a microscopic level. The device was shaped like the letter D, with the button on the inside of the handle which was depressed with the hand and the outer edge held the scanner. This would be an invaluable tool on an alien world as it allowed organism and medical analysis and even molecular analysis with a simple scan. It used fabricator technology and could be wirelessly synched with a fabricator to input new recipes.
This device would not quite fit inside his pocket, so he decided to hold onto it for now. He rifled through a few more drawers and then found another valuable item. An energy knife. The only problem now being the limited capacity of only two hands, he was about to pocket the knife when he shined the flashlight down the hall.
The Titan stopped immediately and set down the scanner instead. His light illuminated the hallway and revealed several of the loping crab-like creatures moving towards him along the walls and ceiling. The sudden vision caused his heart to race again, and his senses were on high alert. With the light in one hand and the knife in the other, he flipped the switch on the handle of the knife. The outer edge of the blade hummed to life and was lined with a bluish ion energy that cast a faint glow of its own.
The Titan took no chances, he moved ahead and carefully stabbed the nearest one. Amazingly enough, the hard carapace repelled the blade, which could easily cut through steel in emergency situations. He figured that a Zenith Corp employee could have gotten rich from selling the material as a bullet protectant.
The creature began to rear back, and the Titan saw a disgusting underbelly full of grasping feelers and rows of razor-sharp teeth lining an unmistakably horrible sideways opening mouth. He took a chance and stabbed the creature from underneath, careful to avoid that open maw. Three or four quick jabs and the thing fell from the wall to the ground and stopped moving altogether. He went around and did the same with the others. Thankfully, compared to the arachnid monster he had fought, these things were relatively clumsy and slow moving and reminded him of larger versions of the junebugs back on Titan.
With great care the Titan pushed the surprisingly heavy carapaced creatures back down the hall and towards the opening with his good foot. Once there, he managed to kick them outside. Some deep seeded phobia within his mind could not bear the thought of staying inside the vessel with the alien creatures, not even dead. Once these bodies were safely dispatched outside of the hull of the craft, he breathed a little easier, though he did not turn off the blade’s edge yet.
The Titan next went through the space craft, searching for any other dangers that may have wandered inside. His heart skipped a beat when he got closer to the flight deck bridge and saw another one of the creatures dangling precociously from the ceiling. He made short work of the beast, stabbing upwards and quickly scooting back to allow it to fall without touching him. Something about the way that the probing legs moved was unsettling. He began to wonder if giant insects were the dominant species on this planet.
After kicking the last of the giant bugs off the ship, he came back up to the flight deck. There were two rows of seats found within, and he collapsed into the one he figured must be the captain’s seat. He then began to search the buttons on the main dashboard and found one that seemed promising. It simply read “auxiliary power”. With an eager finger, he pushed this button.
Suddenly the lights on the dashboard came to life, and a sudden, bleating klaxon scared him witless for a moment before he realized what it was. The only loud noise his muffled ears had heard in probably going on a week was some loud creature that he did not want to hear again. The alarm panels were lit up, warning him of hull damage and systems damage. A bright display appeared on the left-hand side of a holo-monitor which showed a three-dimensional image of the Triumph, with several blinking red dots indicating where the hull breaches were located.
Now another frustrating situation presented itself. The ship’s system AI was largely voice activated. Next to and slightly below the diagnostic display of the ship was a holo-button command display. Thankfully, he would be able to use this. He began working his hands over the floating command buttons and sliders, attempting to navigate the AI.
“Welcome aboard. New user?” A voice sounded from hidden built-in speakers. Two buttons presented themselves at that point, one read yes and the other read go back. He pushed the one that read yes.
“Hull damage critical. Life support systems on-line.”
The Titan found some controls and turned these off for now. It would be better to conserve them just in case he did need them. He then navigated to the diagnostics display and chose a readout of the system’s auxiliary power supply.
“Auxiliary power stable. Remaining power: 88%” The voice announced while at the same time displaying the text across the screen. This was promising at least.
Next, he brought up a full display of the interior of the ship. He studied the map for a few minutes, deciding that his next stop should be the small medical bay. First, however, he found whatever he could to block the breech he had come through as best as he could. It might not keep a truly determined intruder out, but it would give him a little peace of mind knowing that not just anything could wander through casually. It was a harder task than it sounded, for mostly everything inside of the spacecraft was built in and streamlined with the design of the interior. This included bunks, benches, chairs and lockers and storage units.
Now that the power was restored, he put away his torchlight. The ship’s sensors automatically detected him and lights flared to life ahead of him as he traveled through the corridors. Now that his first task of making the ship a little more secure was complete, he set to his second task, which lay within the medical bay.