The captain Kyle Barnes was waiting in front of the Admiral briefing room, since one hour. He didn’t know why he was here, he was used to waiting, but he didn’t like it. And what he was waiting for seemed to be of the most important matter.

While he was waiting, two other persons had arrived in the small waiting room, they were waiting here with him.

One of them was a young and small woman, she looked barely adult. She was looking eager to leave the room and go wash herself of the oil and dust staining her working clothes and her face. She was also trying and failing to hide her apprehensions.

The other person was a middle age man that fell asleep on a chair as soon as he sat there. He was looking like he hadn’t slept in days and his white doctor coat was stained by blood. Looking at him, Kyle knew the men in the hospital were still working hard to save lives.

Suddenly the door opens, startling the sleeping doctor. Going out of the room are some of the most important people of the ship. They looked worried and concerned by was they were talking about.

A young communication officer walks out in last and motions the three waiting people to enter the room.

Inside it are the Admiral Jackson, the General Hanfo, the Doctor Hermand and the Chief Technician Gomez.

The captain Barnes, the mec’ Evans and the doctor Romia stand uncomfortably in front of the heads of their respective department and the most important man on the ship. They sit in the chairs the Admiral point to them.

The heads look at each other, like if they are confirming something. Then the Admiral starts to talk.

“Captain, doctor, young girl. You are here for a mission of the utmost importance. The ship is going to crash on the planet, or make a hard landing like said Gérôme. We don’t know exactly what we will encounter on it, and we will probably never be able to leave the planet. It’s like there is an unknown force that wants us to land on the planet. So we are going to continue our primary mission, the establishment of a colony on a new planet, but on this planet and not on Keird, like initially planned.

Your part in it will be to leave the perimeter of the ship and gather information about the surrounding area and populations. Yes, you heard me right, there is what seems to be sentient life on the planet.

Captain, you will lead the team, the young woman and the doctor here with you have been personally chosen by their respective chief to be assigned to your team. The young Ensign Jirn, over here, has been choosing by me.” a small gaping noise can be heard coming from the young man at the mention of his name. “You are authorized to choose whoever you want to form the rest of it. Do you have questions?”

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“Does the planet have a name?” Asked the doctor, actually unable to grasp the entirety of the situation.

“Not yet, part of your mission is to learn how the local population calls it, for now, it will only be referred as the planet.” It’s the General Hanfo who answers the question.

“What about the Bugs?” Inquired Kyle.

“It seems they are in a similar situation, and will probably land on another part of the planet, we hope you won’t cross their path before we are ready to deal with them.” The answer of the Admiral doesn’t reassure the captain.

“There are people down there? Like humans? Or bugs? Or something else? They have technology? What kind? What is the sophistication of their indus-”

“Stop Millie! We only know there is ‘cause some dude monitoring the sensors saw a big town down there. Big like a whole country. But we haven’t yet detected any sign of technology. It’s your personal job on this mission to evaluate this thing.” The young woman looked annoyed by the answer her superior gave.

__________

Klop was looking at the stars when he saw the signs.

Two stars were falling from the night sky, one of them quickly passed behind the horizon and the other seemed to grow bigger with each second. It grows, again and again until it was bigger than Ju, the smallest of the three moon.

The falling star passed high above Klop’s head, but it was so big he managed to see it wasn’t a star, but a big ball of metal covered by fire. Just after it passed, a thunderous sound resonated in the air, like if it was tearing at the structure of the night.

Klop saw the burning object crash on the mountainside, exposing part of it and making the earth shake under his feet.

After a time needed by his mind to registered the information, Klop started running in direction of his village, he had to tell the elders of this.

__________

They have landed.

What are the damages?

Neglectable.

How are they feeling about the other ship?

One ship immediately attacked, the other only defend.

Be careful, they must not lead to mass extinction.

Measures had been taken, it will not happen.

Good, Vlaryne needed new blood.