The surface of Rushdoonia-5 was a fiery orange-red, and was spotted with spike-like hills. Between the thick glass of the shuttle windows and the dust being tossed around by the wind, it was hard for John Sybel to see any other details of the planet his team was about to land on.
The heat of the atmosphere was penetrating, even through the insulation of the landing shuttle. John was slightly disconcerted when he noticed a slight thickness in the air that demanding unusual effort just to breathe.
"Alright, men," said Captain Jace firmly, suddenly standing from his seat next to John. He looked to John, then to the two other soldiers sitting across from them. "Time to suit up. We have to assume the worst: this planet may well be even more hostile than it may seem now."
None of the soldiers wanted to accept this probability, but there were few explanations for the Earthen Space Agency outpost going completely silent two days ago, other than the possibility of hostile alien life being present on Rushdoonia-5. The planet was completely unexplored until the outpost was established one month ago, so this possibility had not been completely ruled out, but nonetheless the soldiers would much rather believe radio failure... even though the outpost had several return shuttles.
"Okay," said Private Burke, shaking his head. "We may not like it, but we all know that the outpost is probably dead-"
"And it's our job to find out why," interrupted Jace. "Don't think command doesn't know, there's not much other explanation for complete silence. That doesn't change the fact that our technology is just sitting down there. Maybe we can even get some good ol' revenge in." Burke slowly nodded. It was a strict policy that if an outpost was abandoned - intentionally, or as mysteriously as in this case - any remaining human technology had to be either taken back or destroyed, less any alien life discover plasma weaponry, flying shuttles, and any experimental tech. "Now, you heard me... suit up. We're approaching the outpost."
John stood up and donned his dark green armored spacesuit. It was bulky and clunky to move in, but it certainly did its job. He took one of the plasma rifles from the rack on the wall; the alleged hope was that they wouldn't have to be used, but as the Captain said, they had to assume the worst... and there was no denying how fun these rifles were to use.
The squad remained standing as the shuttle approached the ground. "You know what you're doing, gentlemen! Keep your eyes open, and don't split beyond two - that goes for you, too, Seal!" Sergeant Seal quickly nodded his head. The shuttle shook slightly as it deployed its landing feet.
"Shit!" shouted Burke suddenly. "Incoming! Brace your-" Before anyone could grab onto anything, there was a loud crashing sound, and the shuttle spun upwards. The squad was tossed around the inside before the shuttle stabilized.
"What in hell," panted John. He glanced out the window, and that's when the squad's fears were confirmed: outside, flying towards the shuttle for a second attack, was a gray tentacled, one-eyed mass about the size of three men. Its circular maw filled with spiked teeth expanded and contracted. "Captain-"
"I see, god damn it!" exclaimed Jace. "Didn't see this coming... Glad we at least got our suits on. Be ready to parachute, and arm yourselves! We're dropping in!" Jace armed his plasma rifle with a satisfying "click," and his soldiers followed his lead. John didn't doubt that there was something behind the outpost's silence, but never expected to actually use his suit's parachute...
"Three, two, one!" Jace pulled a lever on the wall next to the shuttle's deployment ramp, then slammed the "emergency release" button next to the lever. The ramp almost instantly folded out, and the soldiers silently jumped one by one from the shuttle.
The flying monster was gaining on the shuttle, which was nearing the orange clouds as it rocketed upwards. John readied his rifle as he fell, and locked it onto his target; this was pretty much an impossible shot, but this thing was obviously hostile. As he neared the monster, he tightly pulled the trigger, firing a stream of bright green plasma at the flying thing, but sure enough the monster flew right past John, breaking the rifle's target-lock. It flew past each other squad members, obviously continuing its chase of the shuttle...
"Oh shit."
The flying monster flew above the shuttle, then slammed its body down onto the shuttle, spiking it spiraling downwards. Having lost complete control, the shuttle fell until it explosively crashed into a mountain.
Well, there went the squad's ride back to their orbiting ship.
*(Hopefully) to be continued*
