Day 6
The morning, or what we now assumed to be morning, seemed to arrive earlier than anticipated. Perhaps it was just the anticipation of the coming mission, making time move faster than normal. My nerves only grew as we gathered what belongings, armor, and weapons we thought would help us in our endeavor. Helmets were left behind, the internal HUDs were useless thanks to whatever issue had been affecting the other sensors. I could only hope if there was anything left to salvage, the grav lifts would be working.
“Are we ready?” I asked my weary squad. My question was met with silence, answered only by the hardened stares returned in my direction. “We get in, we get out. Stay in visual range of each other, diamond formation. Let’s move.”
The descent from the cave only increased our uneasiness. We were leaving the comfort of our fortress into an unknown world that continuously made us feel like we were trespassing. It wasn’t long before the mouth of our sanctuary became lost to our sight. The only sign of our fellow crew members was the ember glow emitted from the maw, like a beacon used to guide starships through treacherous terrain. “Sir, I think we found our path.” Bral stated with a slight resentment in his voice.
For a moment we paused, through the mist would could see the edge of the forest towering before us. Dark brown trunks yielded branches with deep green leaves claiming it’s territory to our left and right. A massive gap in the treeline beckoned us forward. The landing shuttle had cut a clean swathe through densely packed woods, leaving broken foliage in it’s wake. “Sven, you’re on point, Bral, bring up the rear,” I managed to mutter fighting the compulsions of my body and pressing forward.
Sven moved slowly, his E-11D fixated at the ready position. I could hear Bral’s footsteps behind me, his E-22 rifle ready to shred anything unfortunate enough to be in it’s path. Gar continued scanning to my left and Dax curiously peered through the fog on my right with their E-11s. With this formation even if visuals were lost, we could determine where the enemy was coming from depending on who fired first. Suddenly, Sven’s fist shot into the air next to his head.
He adjusted the shoulder on his rifle and began tracking to his left. Instantly the rest of us froze, blasters held in anticipation. I have to admit, I noticed the E-11 shaking a touch in my hand. I moved closer to Sven, “What did you see?” I let out at no more than a whisper. It felt as if the noise had been entirely removed from this planet.
“Something moved ahead.”
“Sure it wasn’t the fog?” I hated asking this question.
“I’m sure, couldn’t tell what it was, looked like a shadow, but there was something there.”
“I saw it too,” Gar let out cautiously, “It was moving slowly from right to left about….I can’t tell how far with this fog, but it was slow and then I lost it.”
“Stay cautious let’s keep going.” My legs were frozen in place, and it took several quiet deep breaths to get them going again. It felt like we had walked for hours, and maybe we had when finally, the carcass of the landing shuttle peered through the dense fog like a black omen of death. The hull was littered in dents and scratches suffered in it’s final moments. “Finally, let’s see what we can find.” I hope the others didn’t hear the relief in my voice.
****
We stormed up the open ramp a little to ambitiously. I think we were all happy to be in a familiar place. It wasn’t long until our ambition was ripped from us and replaced with horror. The interior of the crew compartment lay covered in broken bodies of our fellow soldiers. Death troopers lay shorn in half after being crushed against the wall by containers that were knocked loose in the impact. Dismembered Storm Troopers were still strapped in their restraints, we dared not remove their helmets. The smell was the next thing that hit us, an estimated six days of death and decay had made it’s permanent home in the cabin.
Holding back the contents of my stomach, I heard Gar let his loose somewhere behind me. “Bral, cover the ramp, Dax and Sven, let’s see what we can find. Gar, Clean yourself up and help the rest of us.” There had to be items we could savage here, I just knew there was. The silence was interrupted by Bral’s voice echoing through the compartment, “Sir, come see this.”
“Keep it down!” I spat back as I made my way to ramp. “Now what is it?” I questioned, anger giving my words an edge.
“”Have you ever seen something like this sir?” Bral pushed his hands upward in my direction, until I could make out the item in his hand. It was a flower, a black orchid to be exact.