Prologue

Creaking and screeching sounds could be heard upon the transporter entering a planet's atmosphere.

The ship, though built to withstand such situations, was not prepared for this kind of speed. In standard procedure, they would be at half of current velocity, but circumstances the crew was in now were far from usual landing approach.

Pods' design was planned for deploying directly from a mothership stationed on a planet's orbit. However, it was not the case here.

Main ship's energy core got destabilized, forcing several thousands strong crew to evacuate using all means they had. Of course, they had safety measures in place, including enough transport pods for everyone, but key equipment and machines needed to be secured.

With all of that in mind, many pilots and specialists were assigned to deploy on different vehicles, therefore, some of the transporters lacked a professional pilot.

Though this one had a military man as a pilot, it was never his main profession nor something he had agreed for - major John Marlow was a researcher, a science officer who took a piloting course as a part of compulsory training everyone in Earth Army had to undergo. While completing the course was not that hard, actually piloting in a non-standard scenario was a big challenge, especially when boarding a different pod and not being assigned a pilot role in the evacuation plan.

John was simply pushed in his current position by the series of really unlucky events, one of them being the original transporter's pilot getting injured. That guy, Karl Winston, was sitting on his right, but he would not be if it was not for major Marlow who saved him. Though the pilot could feel lucky, the major himself, being put in charge of piloting, could not say the same.

- We are going in way too fast - John was complaining, listening to unpleasant sounds the ship's plating was letting out - And I've been telling them when the procedure was created that pods were not built for that.

- But Major, sir, there is always an error margin for every such ship. That's why it was considered as an option.

- Yes, as an option, and not the very first thing to decide on. We could have Ursi carry the pods and detach them in orbit. It would take time to prepare though, I know...

They had no room to argue about the obvious. The ship was still in one piece, but various systems started malfunctioning. They could go with separate systems affected, but the situation got complicated once they lost both visuals and steering support at the same time.

- Shit, switching to manual - Marlow did not care about the way he spoke, he just had to react fast, and cursing was something letting him lose some tension - We will have to land blind. Monitor altitude and velocity, I will focus on keeping us on a proper course.

The pod was still going a bit too fast, but steady enough to not fall apart, though major was barely able to keep it at the correct angle and finally reach safe cloud level.

- Major, sir, it looks like we made it. Even visuals are back.

The same moment the lieutenant spoke, a powerful thunder struck the ship. In one second, all electronic systems went off.

- You had a great timing to say that! - shouted John.

Storms on this planet were extremely dangerous. On their way, everyone participating in the expedition was obliged to attend lectures concerning the planet's environment. Both men in the cockpit instantly realised they ended up in a really bad spot.

- Lieutenant, we need to get the systems back up or else we are crash landing.

When having his companion work on getting electronics operational, Marlow has already started preparing for the worst case scenario. It was a matter of minutes given how high in the sky they were.

Unfortunately, no matter what they tried, systems would not react.

- It looks like cables got burnt, sir. Diagnostics cannot connect to several modules.

- Then inform everyone to brace for impact.

Scared, but also angry at his bad luck, major focused on backup analog sensors to get the ship safely to the ground. Or with as small damage as possible.

Thunderbolts were tearing through the sky, accompanied by strong wind and heavy rain during the approach. The wind was making it especially problematic, forcing the pod off course.

Original landing spot they decided on just before entering the atmosphere was a huge steppe located about two thousand kilometers southwest from the place selected for establishing a main base. It would have been better to land somewhere closer, but transporters were not suited for long distance travelling inside the atmosphere to begin with. Even if they wanted to try that, the ship would require recharging as the primary engine got damaged in space. Ideally, it could be done within a single day given converters are still intact.

However, with no visuals and only analog systems to rely on, even landing was a challenge. John could tell the altitude, air pressure or approach speed, but had no way to easily avoid obstacles.

As the ship was steadily lowering, everyone onboard felt it shaking whenever floating debris made of other pods or parts of floating islands hit the plating.

Before losing visuals, both men in the cockpit saw other pods below them falling down uncontrollably and crashing on floating islands, which - though considered one of this planet's beautiful wonders - were extremely dangerous to any ship's approach. Now, they have also reached the altitude with the highest density of hovering ground.

Winston, while providing Major with readings from analog sensors, was tightly holding a cross he was wearing on a silver chain. Marlow, on the other hand, was so focused on piloting that he could not think about anything else.

Boom. Ship has nearly passed the most dangerous spot when it hit something big, tearing a large portion of the upper plating. No one could tell what kind of obstacle it was, but there was no time to even think about that. Pod had started dropping much faster and its structure was falling apart now.

Everyone on board was instructed to stay in the passenger compartment, the sturdiest section of the transporter, before all shuttle doors were closed.

Magnetic propulsion was non-functional, but even if it was, the energy level was too low, thus John had to rely on only thing left - classical propulsion using rocket fuel.

Once they passed floating islands altitude, all power was directed to control jets, creating reverse thrust. Since these engines were just a backup, they could be used only for a limited amount of time, meaning the pilot had to be really careful about the moment when the button is pushed.

Pod was about twenty meters from the ground according to sensors when an unexpected impact came. First, there was a blunt, deafening sound, then all lights went off.

Major felt a buzzing sound in his head, but was still able to use the field suit's light system. Marlow was also sure this was thanks to the suit that he was still in one piece. Good thing they had such high tier equipment at their disposal. Field suits, or F-suits as they were commonly referred to, were something everyone participating in the mission received, but differing in terms of functions depending on the division - military grade was the sturdiest.

Karl was alive too, though less lucky than John due to having broken leg - actually not a big injury considering being launched in the air and his leg taking all the impact. However, taking his previously broken forearm and ribs into account, the guy was not going to be a big help from now on.

Major quickly applied a first aid, helped him stand and turned the implant on as a main way to communicate from now on. It was really fortunate that implants, being advanced computer systems built into humans, included a communicator allowing data transmission even without additional transmitters network. Though over a limited distance, it was enough for John to check on passengers who were on board, given they had implants operational.

While having data on passengers gathered, he found the main board computer's access point and powered it up with his F-suit to check the ship's status.

- No energy. Main reactor is damaged and requires repairs, but we knew that, it happened back in space. Secondary power source is functional, but recharging will take over a day, given the weather is good. Still, we won't have visuals, cables are beyond repair without adequate resources...

Marlow was further doing thorough analysis to better understand the situation they are in, when lieutenant spoke:

- It seems we will have to abandon the ship. We already have dusk here, so it's easily sixteen hours before dawn, and a full day for recharging, and going blind again doesn't seem to be a good idea. That's too dangerous.

The planet's weather was one thing, but there were also dangerous animals, of which many were similar in size to dinosaurs living on Earth millions of years ago.

Major knew that really well from lectures they were attending on the way here. Many carnivorous animals were supposed to be active at night, and among them there were creatures capable of tearing the pod apart. If this was not enough, specialists have only learned about some percentage of all creatures living on Gaia Prime, so there was much more to expect.

- Yes, we definitely cannot stay here - Marlow agreed - I've checked on my PEC and we are outside of the surveyed area. We need to reach the closest gathering point. Fortunately, everyone's alive, no casualties in our pod.

When preparing equipment to take from the cockpit, both men started hearing some disturbing sounds.

- I don't like that, sir. We have no idea where we landed, and what's there.

- We need to prepare brawlers asap.

Brawlers were all-terrain vehicles created specifically for this mission. Made of light metals, those eight-wheels trucks, were coated with special kevlar plates, durable against cutting and tearing in order to withstand animal attacks. John was happy they had them on this vessel, even though models on board were not military grade, meaning no weapons equipped.

- Too bad we don't have at least one wyvern, sir.

Winston mentioned another type of vehicle transported on mothership, and prepared specifically for this expedition. Wyverns were airplanes, designed for scouting and carrying a small cargo. Light and fast, using a gravitational force to fly, lieutenant thought it would be great for quickly reaching the gathering point. However, John's opinion was different.

- It would be a better option if not for flying carnivora. We will simply use what we have.

Preparations took about thirty minutes, accompanied by the sound of metal coating creaking.

Two brawlers were fully loaded with equipment and other necessities now, and ready for departure.

Once everyone boarded, John sent a signal to the main computer to open the hatch. What greeted them was strong wind and heavy rain, so the weather conditions were still pretty bad.

Even so, they could finally see where they are and what's happening around them. Quick look was enough to see the reason why they heard metal elements falling apart - the ship landed in an iron trees' forest and one of such trees' trunks fell on it. If the crew stayed there too long, many of them would get crushed to death.

Major let out a breath of relief as they were driving away. Everyone he was responsible for, lived through emergency landing. After several years on the way, they have finally arrived.

But Marlow could not be at ease yet. According to the data he had on the implant, they drifted a long distance towards the south, that is why the ship ended up in the woods. The group needed to break through the forest before getting on an open steppe, but topography in the current area was sure to slow them down. John did a rough calculation and the estimated time to arrive at the closest gathering point was fifteen hours - in other words, the travel was about to take the whole night, increasing a chance of encountering danger.

As he was working on planning a route based on the data they had, crewmates started shouting about seeing something similar to a fire glow. During descent, they have seen other transporters crashing and this could be one of them. Logically thinking, chances of anyone surviving such impact were extremely slim, but majority voted to go there.

Marlow, though hesitant, accepted the vote and had both brawlers strayed away from the path he originally planned, despite knowing it would cause much bigger delay. Thankfully, they had more people who could operate brawlers than those who could pilot a transport pod, therefore John could focus more on gathering information.

Sadly, he could not connect to Future, a mothership they were supposed to arrive on to the planet's orbit. There could have been multiple reasons causing the signal to get blocked, like the ship being too far away from their location, asteroid belt creating interference or, worst case, or the vessel being destroyed. For now, he was hoping it was nothing serious.

While they had no contact from Future, this was something Marlow accounted for, he simply expected such event may take place. Really fortunate thing was that brawlers' sensors were intact and kept new data incoming as they were passing through amazing forest of humongous, iron trees.

The name iron trees was not for show, these plants were labeled this way by the researchers as trees' trunks had a high density of ferrum, making them really durable. Generally speaking, iron and other ores could be easily found in both plants and animals on this planet. During studies of the data gathered by drones back on the mothership, John learned that - apparently - a high density carbon, sturdier than diamonds present on Earth, was found in a scale that fell from one of monitored animals. Knowing that there are predators with bodies made of diamonds was not something Marlow or anyone else participating in the mission could look forward to.

Researcher's soul, deeply rooted in John's persona meant he was extremely curious. Despite things going south for the whole mission, major found himself losing focus on attempting contact with other pods' crews, watching elephant-sized flowers instead. The flowers had some strange appeal to them - with pretty red-blue petals, they looked a bit scary at the same time, having similar shape to Earth's venus flytrap.

If they had a base of operations secured, he would gladly spend a bit of time watching this plant, however, duty called when first signal from other vessel was caught.

- Can anyone hear us? Please respond. Sending our position data. Please respond.

Strange as it sounded with all top tier technology they had at their disposal, the message was caught by the radio. It was a great example of simple solution being the best solution.

- Major John Marlow speaking, we can heard you loud and clear.

- Woohoo, it's John – another voice echoed suddenly and unexpectedly – John, I'm so glad you are safe!

It was a woman's voice, and a characteristic one. He recalled the person immediately as she was one of the people spending time with his group on Future. If she ended up in her assigned pod, it was the one Marlow was supposed to be on. The man sighed with relief, knowing that acquaintance made it to the surface.

- Good to hear you, Martha. I get other guys are with you?

- Not everyone, sadly. There was a lot of chaos when we were boarding, and we also have some wounded people.

- Can you give more details on your status? I can see you are about twenty kilometers from us at the moment. We need to decide on gathering point, and if you could give me a bit more info about equipment you have.

- I can help with that, sir – another voice, the one broadcasting originally, spoke – Sergeant Stanisław Szarak. We have three heavy duty, military brawlers with full army equipment and moving northwest right now as we noticed a heat source which can possibly be a pod that crash landed.

- Send me the coordinates of the heat source. We may be already proceeding to the same location.

Following data sergeant sent, John confirmed they were moving to the same target. That was one lucky coincidence. With bigger group, and having military vehicles would give them better chances in case of trouble.

- We will meet there, sergeant. Over and out.

John smiled slightly, for the first time since leaving Future. Despite so many things going south, he could finally see a small ray of hope.

- Finally, something we can be happy about, sir – said lieutenant Winston – That's a good sign.

- It definitely is – agreed major – but it does not mean we can ease up. We need to remember we are amid unknown wilderness, and a really dangerous one to boot.

As they were approaching the source of light, flames became more apparent. Marlow was trying to call out for any survivors, but was not getting a reply. Chances to find anyone alive seemed nonexistent. There were also no contact from other groups.

About a kilometer from the target, sensors unexpectedly picked up life sources. Major and others in his crew were wondering why there was no reply since it looked like there is many survivors based on what sensors were catching.

When brawlers got close enough for the people onboard to easily distinguish human figures staying away from the fire, the vehicle received a strong blow out of nowhere. The blow was strong enough to lift armored vehicle weighting over five tons in the air.

In a matter of seconds, they have lost visuals from the side of the brawler that got hit. No matter what they tried, it was not possible to regain the vision.

While they were working on quick repairs and having driver move further to the fire, they have suddenly received a radio signal.

- Guys, floor it! You cannot stay there.

Something big suddenly ran through their route. Nearly everyone who could see the visual, let out a terrified scream, but John simply gasped. For any researcher, that was one hell of a sight, however, for anyone alive, it would still have been equally scary.

- Fuck, among all the things we could meet in this situation, we get this one...!?

The creature they ran into was none other than Gaian Tiger, an animal named after Earth tigers that have recently gone extinct. Each person sent to Gaia on Future saw this one during compulsory lectures and was told to avoid direct contact at all means, and be properly armed in case of a fight.

What Gaian Tigers had in common with Earth tigers were head shape and stripes, as well as strong predatory instincts. Concerning the size and power, they were in the league of their own. Zoologist, who led the lecture major participated in, said that one such beast could easily take on a heavy tank or a Savage class mecha, mainly due to its scales - ones made of material similar to diamonds.

Following a short look Marlow took, this beast seemed more like a chimera or a legendary manticore, except for not having human features, of course. If he was to put a real tiger next to this, it would have looked like a small, terrified kitty.

Now it became clear why there was a radio silence, and no one was responding. They had to act fast to not receive a bigger damage, and possibly evacuate everyone they could. If it came to worst, major was also considering abandoning those outside.

People were openly panicking. The longer situation dragged, the bigger was the chance for someone doing something stupid. John was thinking frantically among the havoc the beast was wreaking. In this group, only he and Karl were from military personel, with John being such only in name and having no combat experience.

- Lieutenant, please tell me we have something for defense here. Something that does not require going outside if possible.

Winston was going through interface to find anything of use, but did not have any good information in the end.

- Nothing of the sort, sir – said lieutenant – Unless we use drill rig somehow. It should be strong enough to go through diamond scales, but there is no way we can do that with something that quick.

- It's hopeless then. We can only run away.

The very moment major stated that, the tiger leaped into their vehicle's direction. Just when its claws were about to reach, a powerful report echoed and the gigantic body was thrown aside by a strong blow.

- Major, is everyone okay? - it was sergeant Szarak who called them.

- Only non-lethal injuries. You saved us here, sergeant.

- It's too soon to celebrate, sir. This was not enough to take that one out.

- Don't we have anything that could kill that bastard?

- Negative. Not sure what would be enough here. We have just basically electrocut it with a rod launcher and it's still alive. The second one was shot with like ten of these and is still running wild so bad that our two squads have full hands right now.

John became speechless for a moment here.

- Wait, there is another one?

- Yes, sir. It looks like the pod hit their lair. We saw smaller ones dead earlier.

That sounded really bad. It looked like the group here stirred up a hornet's nest.

- So we are literary bad guys? Just round up everyone alive and we are getting out of here. No point trying to win such fight.

- Agreed, sir - replied sergeant - We are already using a lot of power for defense. I would rather not try seeing the limit of the engine. At this point, we may end up exhausting the power core and rendering any vehicle non-operational would mean a huge hit.

- With all due respect, sir - someone cut in the channel - We cannot leave like this. This pod has a lot of important resources and we still have some people trapped inside.

- And who we are speaking with?

- Apologies, sir. My name's Kareem, from colonists unit.

- Ok, how many are inside?

- About fifty. They got locked in storages when trying to secure seeds and saplings we had onboard.

The number Kareem provided was not something they could turn a blind eye on. However, John was really concerned about what sergeant said before.

- Lieutenant, run a quick scan on the pod. Check for life signatures and structural damage.

Winston ordered driver to move around the vessel to gather requested information. It took about five minutes to run a full scan - a five minutes other units had to continue defending.

- Fifty three signatures show life signs, eighteen are weak and won't last long. As for structural damage, seventy three percent of compartments destroyed, but storages are intact.

- How long would it take to get everyone out?

- I have found three Savages in one of storages. If we can get them to open airlocks closed by the system, it should be possible within fifteen minutes.

Major started analyzing received data. He was really amazed so many people survived and the pod could withstand such impact that well.

- Kareem, what about comms? Can you get in touch with guys inside?

- I had no luck so far. Tried with implants too, but still the same result.

That was not an information Marlow wanted to hear.

- Sergeant, how long can you continue covering us?

- Brawlers are at about fifty percent power each. Keeping this up for more than thirty minutes would be risky, sir.

They had to secure three Savages, open remaining airlocks and save over fifty people - all that in no more than thirty minutes. There was not much time to plan, so major went up with fastest way that came up in his head.

- Lieutenant, I will be leaving you in charge. Sergeant, could you let me borrow two guys from your crew who can operate Savages?

Theoretically, the plan was simple: tear through outer layer of the pod with a plasma cutter, initiate Savages and proceed to secured compartments one by one. The problem was that the group stayed engaged in a continued fight with tigers. Boarding of survivors was done with constant movement, but they had to stay in one spot to open the way inside - in a way, they could end up as sitting ducks.

Nevertheless, John took off with two military guys Szarak dispatched, each of them equipped with plasma cutter to create a hole faster. It did not need to be big, just big enough for a person to go through.

As they started cutting, a bigger one of two Gaian Tigers immediately fixed its eyes on the three men and attacked. Sergeant's brawler took a fast action and drove a bolt into the beast's neck, forcing it to back off.

Once inside, it turned out storage had no power and Marlow with his companions had to use F-suit's systems to move around. With that, they quickly managed to find the three mecha, though encountering the first hurdle just after approaching – arm and leg holder locks were on, and with no power they had to use mechanical release which required operating a safety lever located on upper level.

- Corporal, you go up. Private, cover the corporal – major ordered – Corporal, just release a single Savage. I will board it and open remainig locks.

- Roger that, sir.

Military grade FS were equipped with various systems enhancing human movements, thus corporal reached the lever in a matter of seconds. A moment later, locks were released and John could get into the cockpit.

It has been a long time since the last chance he had to pilot mecha. Despite this kind of skill not being required for everyone in military, Marlow learned how to operate mecha following his student job as an operator of labor suits which he really liked. To him, using a Savage was like having a ride in a nice, classic car.

But it was not the moment to enjoy himself, therefore major qucikly adjusted settings to a mode that suited him the most and quickly opened holder locks for the other two. Soldiers who accompanied Marlow were amazed by the swift movements he displayed while using the mecha. As a scientific officer, John was not expected to be much of the fighter and he indeed did not feel comfortable in combat, however, this was not something to block him for exceling at operating this kind of machine.

Following corporal and private being fully set up, each of three military men went in different directions to open airlocks and evacuate people staying inside the pod.

On the way to his assigned area, Marlow picked up a drill rig designed for mecha usage, remembering a previous talk he had about sturdy armor of Gaian Tiger. It was just a safety measure, something he did just in case.

Operation was going smoothly. In fact, it was so smooth that major started worrying. His life experiences so far taught him that whenever something is going too well, something must happen to even the scale.

- Lieutenant, what's the status outside?

- Situation is stable, major - replied Winston - It seems as if tigers started slowly retreating, but they are still in vicinity.

- Sergeant, what about your side?

- Power is still above fourty percent, but I'm concerned about beast's behavior. They have just stopped attacking, not sure why.

John instinctively caught on that. Such small details could usually be a clue. While thinking about possible reason why tigers suddenly changed their behavior, he could hear a sound of thunderclap. Yet another storm.

- Corporal, private, how's evacuation on your ends?

- Two people left, sir - said corporal.

- I have five more here, sir - reported private.

Adding up those Marlow had at his location, they had ten to go.

- Ok, everyone, it looks like we will be ready in five minutes. We leave immediately after the last person gets in. I have a bad feeling those tigers behave that way because of the storm.

But nothing dangerous happened during evacuation and whole crew was ready to depart.

- Ok, then. Let's... - a deafening roar accompanied by a blinding light interrupted John - Is everyone okay? Hello? Can anyone respond?

With buzzing sound still echoing in his ears and having trouble seeing properly, he was trying to contact others, though with no luck. Moreover, his Savage was not reacting to commands - it would not budge no matter what he did. Fortunately, as a scientific officer specialized in technology research and seasoned mecha user, John knew various ways to make a Mobile Tactical Suit operational after a failure.

Majority of equipment sent into space had many safeties implemented for emergency situations. For MTS, there were three main recovery methods: full system reboot, direct engine control and implant override with F-suit acting as a medium. The first one required several minutes and was not sure to work, the second required operating with opened cockpit, while the third was sure to put a lot of strain on the operator.

Given major's circumstances, he could not spare time and losing cockpit armor was not an option with two humongous predators nearby, so the obvious was routing system control to his implant.

Though not without hesitation, Marlow reached to a backup link console and connected the cord to a socket in his FS, located at the back of the neck. The very moment connection was established, he felt a burning pain in his head following implant receiving feedback from Savage's on-board computer.

The process was not yet finalized when John's MTS received a heavy blow. Owing to full link getting operational just before the fall, he was able to recover in time to avoid the next attack. Still, the initial hit was strong enough for the left side sensors blinking in orange, meaning a significant damage was received.

Now linked to the mecha system, implant was projecting the visuals from outside directly into the user's retina. Due to previous attack, field of vision was limited to seventy percent of usual range, but it was enough to quickly grasp the overall situation.

Other Savages were not anywhere close, however, major noticed one of brawlers flipped with wheels facing the sky, and having a huge hole with claw marks on the side. Quick scan was not showing any bodies inside or in close vicinity.

- I hope they managed to run a way - Marlow said to himself - Now, how do I get out of here.

Female Gaian Tiger was circling around him like a curious cat. Was it because he was not moving? Why was it not trying to tear the mecha apart?

- Think, John, think - he kept talking to himself.

Only one creature was around. He had to act now. Once the male returns, wherever it went, running may no longer be possible. When thinking about the way out of this predicament, his eye caught an equipment feedback interface - drill rig was fully connected now. With proper reaction, he should be able to incapacitate the animal, buying enough time to run.

SVG was built for fast movement and covert operations. Its back had hidden silent boosters for quick and precise maneuvering - something perfect for what he had to do.

Major was not starting any movement, but started powering up the drill rig to be ready to deal an important blow. The beast was moving slowly with its head and eyes fixed on the mecha. John kept waiting. He did not know how much longer he has until the male gets back. It could have been that the second tiger was staying somewhere around, but far enough for sensors to not pick him up. Choosing the best moment was a key – neck was a target, its side had to be up in front to land a hit.

Patience paid off sooner than expected. There was a sound that made the animal turn the head in opposite direction than Savage's position. Marlow could not be sure what caused the tiger to take eyes off him - still, it was the chance he could not miss.

Boosters launched the mecha forward with right arm pointed into the direction of Gaian Tiger's neck. The creature managed to react to the sound of air cutting, however, the slight movement of the head was not enough to avoid a fatal blow. The hit was so on point, major felt terrified about his own action - female tiger was not incapacitated, it got beheaded.

Even though he knew what these animals did to the people from Future's crew, the sight of headless body brought a bitter aftertaste.

A loud growl echoed from afar, when John found himself further contemplating by the dead animal, feeling this weird remorse.

- What the hell am I even doing?

He slapped his cheecks and rushed north in hope of finding the rest of the group he was with. Or anyone else, anyone human.

Sensors picked up the trail. Short analysis assured him that remaining four brawlers and two Savages went away intact. This find gave him hope, even though there was no way knowing what happened next, especially since more tracks were mixed in with one set being most concerning.

- Hello, it's major Marlow - John started broadcasting on multiple channels - To everyone who made it, I'm heading north from the crash site of pod twenty seven, planning to reach the main gathering point. I will be keeping transmitter on, ready to respond.

MTS was in really bad shape now. Force of impact when using a drill rig ended up damaging fibers in mecha's right arm. Taking into account everything it went through until now, eighty percent of components was in orange, and only twenty percent in green. The only thing to be happy about was that none went into red yet, though it seemed to be only a matter of time.

Looking at status report, major was not expecting to catch up with the group unless they make a stop to establish a camp, but given the topography he saw until now, finding a spot that would grant shelter with such a small firepower did not seem to be an easy task. If they had more soldiers, that would have been a completely different matter.

- J... you... copy?

Marlow's mecha picked up some weak signal. The storm was gradually moving in the same direction he was heading. With previous experience during descent, major knew how bad news the weather on this planet can be. Given strong electromagnetism, it was natural for communication to be severely obstructed. Surely, he could not afford to waste time, but the mesaage might have been important.

In current circumstances, the only thing John thought of for strengthening the signal was using the iron trees trunk. Despite requiring a bit of tinkering, making an antenna out of it was not much for an engineer of his level with the parts built in Savage. By using a wire shaped as a spiral and a rod he drove in the trunk, Marlow should be able to get much wider range, though he was not sure about the actual values.

Original method he used was something from a theory introduced in early 20th century. However, trees on Earth did not have trunks made of actual metal like it was in case of this species, thus wiring did not seem to be that important - this was actually what he hoped for, not like he was sure.

After adjusting the frequency a bit, major stabilized the signal to the extenct allowing full message to be heard.

- John, do you copy? We have received your broadcast. If you continue with the current route, you should be able to meet up with our two scout units. But be careful there, one of our wyverns was to fly through the area and we didn't get any contact for about one hour now.

Marlow actually smiled hearing this voice. It was Future's chief of military and this meant there was a high chance he was with a bigger force.

- Colonel McRae - major started replying, but stopped for a moment, remembering their talks back on the ship and colonel precisely telling him to be on first name basis - Ryan, did you hear from anyone else in the area?

It took a moment, but reply really came:

- You are the only person we heard from there. Were you with someone? How many you had?

- Over two hundreds. We picked up a group from another destroyed pod on the way, but got attacked by Gaian Tigers and had to split up.

- Okay, that's quite a big number. We didn't get such big group so far and we are yet to hear from someone whose landing went without issues. I hope it's just some kind of interferenc but - just in case - proceed with caution, John. Don't do anything rash and inform me if any help is needed. I will order scouts to be on lookout for your companions too.

Major stopped the broadcast and disconnected the wire before going farther north.

It was the night already, but it was still fairly brightly for such a time of day thanks to two full moons and reflections from the plants. However, night still meant more caution was required. Gaian Tigers might have been the most powerful among predators on New Gaia humanity already knew, but there were for sure many more creatures that could have been on similar level or even more deadly to humans than those tiger-like beasts. And not only animals were something to worry about since plants could be dangerous here as well. John was currently on northern hemisphere, not that far from the planet's equator, an area where vegetation was thick and had a lot of nourishment, therefore he has not seen that many, but carnivorous plants were common around areas with poor nourishment. Marlow learned from lectures and data he had access to via his implant that majority of discovered meat-eating plants were the most active specifically during the night.

Applying the knowledge about fauna and flora, major set all still functional sensors in his MTS to provide feedback and give him the time to react should anything related to most dangerous species be spotted. Fortunately, there was nothing of the sort caught by sensors so far.

But encounters with deadly animals or plants were not the only concerns to have. After getting out into the open plain, it turned out tracks left by the group were now split.

Before joining expedition - and he did that simply because of not being given another choice - John did not care about others, looking out only for himself throughout his whole life. First of all, egoistic behavior was not something unusual in this world where your position in society and money you earn were basically eveything. Having grown up in a loving, albeit poor family meant being looked down on. Additionally, if anyone you were close with was to end up in trouble, they could drag you down. Reaching a lucrative role of scientific officer, and finally living a decent life, he had way too much to lose.

However, all the events from the mission until now made him change a great deal, to the point of worrying about all the people who just happened to end in the same pod. Sadly, Marlow was simply unable to follow every track and decided go alongside the set facing the shortest route north, hoping someone sent by colonel McRae finds the group left in hands of lieutenant Winston and sergeant Szarak.

Approximately six hours after departing from the pod's location, major arrived at a shore of a big lake. Light was sparkling on water's surface, showing amazing colors. Accompanied by a thick vegetation, it was a wonderful sight to see. Without a doubt, in different circumstances - once humanity learns more about the planet, this place would be a perfect spot tourism.

John found himself caught into the moment and realized what was happening only thanks to something peculiar he noticed by the shore northwest from his position. At first, it seemed to be a reflection appearing on the water, but the light was actually moving away. However, after zooming in, it turned out that was a damaged brawler, followed by a Gaian Tiger. Everything suggested this vehicle belonged to the group which joined Marlow earlier.

- Major Marlow speaking - he immediately started a broadcast - To brawler unit with a tiger on its tail. Can you hear me?

No answer, so he tried calling them out again and again, even with his own implant.

For radio broadcast, it was possible that brawler's receiver had an issue, while in case of implant, general channel had to be open for everyone to hear the transmission. Regardless of the reason they had, it was not possible to catch with the vehicle's crew. And assisting them from afar was not an option - MTS savage class mecha were created for close and mid range fights, but not for sniping. The rifle being a part of standard equipment could shot at maximum five hundred meters - not enough to provide support.

Remembering the colonel's advice, John attempted to contact him directly, but - when really needed - McRae was not responding. All that could be done here was to set the broadcast on repeat and follow the lone brawler.

It seemed that brawler's state was bad as savage was quickly gaining on it, allowing the operator to reach firing range in a matter of minutes. Of course, major knew it was against the advice, but no contact with colonel forced him to make a quick decision.

Marlow set the rifle on stabilizer, aimed and shot. First hit - no response, second - same, but on third the beast turned its head into the direction from where the bullet came. Additional shots made the tiger confused about what to do. In the end, it leapt behind a huge rock, making John lose sight of it.

During the brief moment without the creature putting up a fight, brawler started sending light signals, which major quickly read:

- We had to split up. Power at ten percent. Comms down. Limited mobility and combat ability.

Reply was sent the same way:

- Switch to implant comms. Will try to call you up.

While continuously sending messages, Marlow proceeded further, aiming to join the brawler's crew. About one hundred meters from them, he was finally able to establish a link with the unit.

- I get that the rest of the group is safe. Am I correct, sergeant?

- They were all fine when we were splitting, except for some damage dealt to equipment, sir.

- These tigers are really stubborn. It followed you for nearly fifty kilometeres.

As they were talking, something jumped from the shadows. There was not much time to react - major barely dodged the attack, though claws scratched the outer layer of MTS' cockpit. The male tiger, two times the size of female John previously took on seemed to target him, completely disregarded the brawler. It was as if the beast completely forgot about the prey it was following until now.

- What the hell!? - Marlow was surprised by a sudden change of target - Why would it...!?

When avoiding subsequent attacks, he looked at the mecha's right arm, the one holding the drill rig and he immediately realized what was happening. It was likely that the Gaian Tiger smelled a familiar scent. Predators are intelligent animals, so the male could feel what happened.

John was not proud of what he did, but it was either kill or be killed, so the answer was obvious before and he should not hesitate now. Uderstanding the creatures behavior actually gave him the edge in this fight. Given how Gaian Tigers were built, the plan he came up with was simple and seemed to have a high chance of succeeding.

Having the ability to dodge subsequent attacks, savage's operator was avoiding them, moving into the direction of the lake step by step. This required precise movement, but was certainly doable.

Once both mecha and the tiger get to the very lake shore, Marlow waited for a right moment. When the beast made a leap, he switched gears to move away, aiming to have the opponent fall into the water. With its size and weight, it was unlikely to get out.

Everything seemed to be going well to the last second, when savage's right leg gave up. Claws tore through the cockpit, and one of them cut major's FS, wounding him from his left shoulder, over the torso and the waist. Pain was terrible despite applying a painkiller, and the fight was still not over yet.

Clenching his teeth, John drove the drill rig into the tigers neck, but the result was far from what happened in fight against the female. Drill broke down and the whole arm fell following the strong impact. However, the force was strong enough to throw the tiger into the water. The problem was that savage also fell and started drowning.

Marlow tried moving the machine out of the water, but with damaged armor, fluid started filling in the mecha, affecting key systems. It was a matter of time before the core fails to generate enough power and stops operating, but getting out with a single arm and leg was unattainable to begin with.

John felt dull helplessnes as subsequent modules were stopping and water was flowing into the cockpit. He tried to open the emergency hatch, but with no luck - the blow his mecha received before falling caused a failure of unlock mechanism, imprisoning him inside.

"So that's how it ends for me - major thought to himself - I just wanted to live a decent life. How did it turn out that way?"

As images from his life kept flowing through his eyes, John started falling into the darkness.