To the West

7 days later. Two months and three weeks after planetfall.

4.5 kilometers west of the Base Complex Facility.

Julian walked over the snow-covered ridge, feeling the dark and cold environment of the west.

For some reason, the snowstorm hitting this area was harsher than usual. It was as if the calm picture of the western expanse when viewed from the digital map was all but a lie.

'How did the Federation's scouting probes classified this as an L2 class planet anyway?'

As far as his freezing ass was concerned, this should be categorized into the extreme planetary classifications.

The EC-102 started transmitting signals from below the ridge on a long stream of frozen river with nothing but deer and rabbits loitering around in curiosity.

"You found something, Avina?"

"Successor, Avina has found an accurate location of the first villium ore. Avina is conducting a thorough analysis now."

A wide grin slowly formed on Julian's face. 

"Finally found a damn villium ore deposit. I should be able to fabricate that stealth module into my mecha suits soon."

He had been waiting for the moment to venture outside the zoning barrier and the heavens have blessed him. Avina suddenly sent him a warning beep.

"Successor! Avina is detecting very strange signatures from the villium ore deposits! The energy output is higher than normal!"

Julian threw away all his haughtiness and hastily ordered. "Abort the operation, Avina!"

Several ants with thick crystallized carapace crawled out from underground and surrounded the EC-102.

One of them exposed two crystalline antennae, glowing in white light energy and shooting a laser blast into the EC-102.

Avina rolled away, slightly grazed by the laser shot. The EC-102 ducked and jumped out into the air, using the thrusters to propel away from the kill zone.

The rough snowstorm crippled visibility and movement but the EC-102 remained unfazed with its newly upgraded sensory modules and strengthened steel armor.

"Are you okay?!"

"The EC-102 did not sustain damage, successor!"

"Good! I'll be damned if that wasn't the case! Let's get out of here first."

The thermal imaging of the MD-102 showed a large army of humanoid-sized ants patrolling the area in search of them. Julian cringed and swiftly ordered the retreat. 

Under the cover of the weakening snowstorm, the two made their way back into the nearest resource-gathering outpost. It was placed on the hillside, extracting ferronium ores hidden within the hill.

"Was that encounter recorded?" He asked.

A black antenna shot out from the back of the EC-102. "Avina recorded everything, successor. Shall Avina send this data to Intellus?"

"No, send it to Hesab. Intellus is rather busy right now."

Julian rested on the sides and contemplated on what just happened. He had a feeling that the drastic difference in climates on short distances could be a blessing in disguise. 

"A villium ore should be not that easily found. Intellus said that they are near areas with volcanic activity. If this is the case, then maybe..."

With an unsettled mind, he contacted Intellus, going back on his word that this guy was busy. He started explaining the unusualness of the western expanse in a roundabout manner.

Intellus' line remained static for a while, slowly creeping out the uneasiness in Julian's already unstable mind.

"Successor, I have finished my own set of analyses."

Hearing Intellus' robotic voice brought Julian inner peace.

"Based on your description, there is a huge possibility that that area may have experienced a violent volcanic eruption ages ago. The exact occurrence is something I cannot calculate for now. The ejected volcanic ashes may have blanketed the atmosphere over a wide area, resulting in this peculiarity that you have experienced."

Julian pondered about Intellus' discovery and eyed its portrait in the VNI. "You have a suggestion?"

"We can continue expanding to the west but the locations of our resource-gathering outposts must be strategically done." Intellus sternly reminds him. "The exact location of the volcano may be tens of kilometers southwest. It is outside of the zoning barrier and I suggest that the successor be equipped with better navigation modules and thrusters before venturing into that area."

Julian nodded in agreement, his hands and feet trembling in anxiety and excitement. "Okay, we'll explore the locality first. See how we can deal with it."

He terminated the call from Intellus and established a connection to Hesab. "What's the progress?"

"Successor, as much as I want to help you in this matter, I cannot provide a very realistic and accurate deduction unless you can bring me several carcasses of these creatures."

"But you should have your preliminary thoughts, yeah?"

"I do have some but I will need further investigation with a proper sample."

Julian grunted in exasperation. "Just spit out. It won't hurt me."

"Very well then." Hesab sighs on the other end. "The villium ore is a prismatic mineral ore that can be used to store and release high concentrations of light energy into its surroundings. It does this phenomena very naturally and that is why we need it to construct the energy cells of automatons and energy weapons and the energy storage building. Also, successor, this is very different from the energy cells created from bioplastic, ferronium, and oxydium. This has a higher output and magnitude than your ordinary battery. The successor can substitute the PCS-MD-101's core with a villium ore grade once that is available."

"Oh, I almost lost track there." Hesab cleared his throat and readied himself. "The characteristics of the villium ore may have been acquired by those ant-like creatures after long-term digestion. As for the enlargement and thicker crystalline carapace, I am not sure of its origins. I can presume that this is a byproduct of that creature's evolution."

Julian was mesmerized by Hesab's preliminary findings. Truly, exploration can yield very interesting results. "What do you think about their durability? Should punching them be enough?"

Ballistics and explosives were out of the conversation. He did not want to accidentally break the crystalline ants and turn them into dust. 

"That will be up to you, successor."

Julian exhaled a deep breath, knowing that this conversation would lead nowhere unless he had a carcass of the crystalline ant.

The connection with Hesab was terminated and Julian prepped himself for another exhausting journey. They waited for the snowstorm to subside before going out with a small deviation from their previous path.

Julian dragged a custom 100-meter diameter red circular marker on top of the villium ore deposit's location, narrowly evading the custom perimeter as he wanted to test his luck first.

Maybe another villium ore would be present somewhere else.

"Avina, continue with the same plan. You go, I keep a lookout. Should anything unusual happen, don't wait for my signal and immediately get the hell out of there unless I say so. Got it?"

"Yes, successor. Avina understands."

The snowstorm had left a deep impression on the ground. If not for him piloting a mecha suit, Julian would have long drowned from the evenly stacked towering snow.

Fortunately, the red proto insects did not have a problem with the terrain or the environment. The digital map remained clear of any possible obstructions along the way.

After walking for a long while, the EC-102 did not receive anything out of the ordinary. Julian was unsure if this was called being lucky or not. 

"This is nonsense. Let's go back to the outpost first."

The moment they neared the first villium ore deposit was when the red proto insects emitted a warning.

"Those ants have gathered and are heading our way? Impossible!"

"Successor, shall we retreat immediately?", Avina asked.

The small lump of red dots moved in from the northeast.

Julian remembered Hesab asking for some carcass. It seemed that a bunch of fools rushed to him for the task at hand.

"Stay on the high ground, far away from here. I don't want you to get caught up in the firefight later. I'll signal when to retreat. Otherwise, just stay put and wait for me."

The EC-102 nodded its head and went south. There was a high cliff she could use as a vantage point over the surrounding area.

"I should go and get myself some high ground too. Who knows if these ants have some elites behind them."

The animal kingdom was always a deceiving matter when it came to different environments, planets, and sometimes, satellite objects in orbit. One could say that a lion was ferocious and over the top when viewed on Earth, but only a small critter on another. 

"If it comes to worst, I'll drag these guys into the outpost and let the turrets deal with them as they wish."

He stood on a diagonally aligned rock while staring at the northeast direction. Because of the damn snow, it was very hard to catch sight of anything moving on the ground. 

The red proto insects continuously provided Julian with the information he needed. Even without a clear vision of their approach, he could approximate their location and direction simply with his intuition. 

His sharp eyes started observing the crumbling snow not far away from the north. Time passed quickly and the crumbling turned more chaotic and intensified.

"Blow the snow! Hit them with the rocket launcher!"

The long barrel at his left rear straightens, armed with a 40mm rocket radiating a cold gleam on its tip.

A long trail of smoke found its way into the center of the crystalline ants' formation, blowing the snow and creatures away. The BIAAS retrofitted into the MG, acquiring the now airborne targets.

The barrel spun and the trigger pulled, separating the deadly bullet from its falling empty cartridge.

Julian scanned the impact of the .50 cal on their bodies.

Cracks started to grow on the surface of their carapaces. Two more and the next bullet shot right through their weak underskin, bursting out its innards and a strange-looking milky-white blood that flowed and shone similarly to that of silver.

Underneath the chaos was one crystalline and unaffected from the impact who brazenly charged its antennae for a laser shot. Julian caught a glimpse of danger and jumped high, blasting the thrusters to hover in the air. 

The laser shot impacted the rock and broke off multiple fragments away from its large rigid body.

Gas fumes erupted on the smaller vents of the MD-102, slightly pushing the hovering mecha suit under Julian's control.

The BIAAS continuously acquired its targets, alternating between the rocket launcher and the MG. 

Within the periphery of his vision, Julian once again discerned several crystalline ants charging up. He slowly counted on his mind before forcibly increasing the thruster's output, pushing him away from the laser trajectory. 

The laser missed its target, providing Julian a lot of room to maneuver and finish this small group of crystalline ants.

He powered up the last shot from the rocket launcher and shot it directly at the three persistent crystalline ants. Their carapaces shattered from the highly explosive 40mm rocket, the resulting shrapnel shredding their supple underskin.

The effect satisfied Julian and couldn't help but stretch his neck after that fiery ending.

Julian disengaged his thruster and approached the corpses of the crystalline ants. His golden eyes surveyed the crystal fragments that make up their thick crystalline armor.

Though not as reddish as expected, he knew that he was one step closer to grasping that villium ore deposit.

Amidst his joy, the red proto insects reported another disturbance again. This time, the map showed an extremely huge red dot rapidly closing in on their direction.

Julian smirked after seeing their initial direction.

"Alright Avina, that's enough exercise for today. Cavalry is on the way. Come here and get these carcasses and possibly some villium ores too. It's time for Hesab to go and get busy."