Sigma 16 - Chapter 31 – Heavy Expedition (Patreon)

The CRD-X9 hummed to life as Talia activated the main engine. The dozen screens lit up, showing their boot-up sequences while her HUD confirmed suit integration with the vehicle as successful. She shifted and checked the small compartment behind her seat.

A collection of fifteen extra fusion cells stared back at her, along with her NCS cannister pack that she’d stuffed a small amount of materials into just in case there was a need for repairs.

Her Cortex Legion was strapped securely to the ceiling, with two dozen spare magazines packed and ready to go in a box compartment beside the weapon. Her battpack also hung from the wall there, every battery inside fully charged and ready to go.

“Neo, test the quadcopters,” Talia instructed. She’d installed two custom charging pads on the roof of the vehicle, just for carrying the two new scouts. On one of the secondary monitors, the small drone began to spin up its rotors before launching upwards. An automatic path spiraling around the vehicle appeared, showing the route for the scouting run.

[Informative: All tests complete, CRD-X9 reports all systems nominal. Scout units report no issues.]

Talia nodded. “Alright, Neo. Let’s move out.”

The CRD-X9 lurched forward, just as she expected. The large tracks began to kick up dust as they began their journey toward her initial landing site. A large nav map had her previous route she used on the ATV, but the trajectory they were now on was much more…straight.

That was because she was going to test out the road building capabilities of the bigger unit, instead of trying to use her multi-tool on the back of her RSU-7S.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the first rock garden, and the resource drone automatically detected the obstacles there. The main mining laser activated with an electric hum that resonated through the entire vehicle. Large rock chunks melted away like they weren’t there seconds before the vehicle rolled over the now flattened terrain.

“This is going to be a piece of cake,” Talia commented with a small smile appearing inside her helmet.

[Notice: No viable food items have been detected. A food production and processing module would likely be of benefit to user survival.]

Talia grunted, half annoyed at Neo’s miss at her play-of-words and half at being reminded of her slowly dwindling box of survival rations. She’d begun to chomp on them half a bar at a time since her calorie demands had dropped with the introduction of her drone friends, but it was still a limited supply.

Neo had already confirmed that the nutri-paste system on her suit could convert bio-matter from the jungle to nutri-paste safely, but…

That was almost a fate worse than death.

But if it became a question of unlocking some type of farming module and system, or a large flying unit she could use to rapidly scan large swaths of areas and do recon on her crashed ship…

She was going to pick up the flyer.

[Notice: Entering zone where technological alien species was detected in conflict with ‘spider-thing’ alien species. Caution is advised.]

Talia checked the map. They were already in the large red oval she’d marked where the fight had taken place. So far, she’d given the area little thought other than giving it a wide berth. The ramifications of meeting another technological species were scary…

From everything she knew, most alien species did not have a great view of humanity or relationship with them. At best, they were neutral, considering humans an upstart race who was causing issues due to their expansion. Uncaring attitudes or dismissal were probably the best she could hope for, but it was entirely likely they might react with hostility.

During their initial scan and hails on arrival to Sigma 16, there had been no sign of civilization or habitation on the planet, so she figured that the blue aliens might be another explorer or vagabond, like her. There weren’t exactly any territorial or maps of known/unknown and claimed/unclaimed space, because there was just so much of it.

Overcrowding was not a problem when you could scoot around the entire galaxy at will, with millions of stars available to visit. And thankfully, species and civilization wide genocide was considered abhorrent by most species and policed by a wide coalition of alien polities. A group humanity had joined almost immediately upon being welcomed to the wider galactic community.

There had been no data available from the visual she had on the blue alien, though. “Neo, launch both scouts. Standard search pattern and look for any sign of ambushes.”

[Affirmative: Launching scout units with standard recon pattern.]

She turned her attention to watch the quadcopters’ cameras. One headed straight to where the confrontation had taken place. The scorch marks from the plasma weapon discharges were still evident on the sand, which was impressive considering the earlier dust storm. The wreckage had toppled over, the charred black side facing the sky.

There was no sign of either alien, so she turned her attention back to their path and the CRD-X9’s work at smoothing out a road.

Her heart suddenly jumped in her chest. A road! She was building a line that led directly to her base, already had made one to the jungle even. Those roads would show anyone smart enough to wonder where they came from right where she was living!

Talia took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She already had made the road, so there was no use in stopping now. Her base wasn’t exactly hidden from anything, anyway. She had installed defenses, and the Cortex Vanguard ADS was pretty scary, and nothing short of artillery was going to hurt her base.

Maybe instead of a flyer she should consider a base shield unit, but somehow the scan credit cost of that was probably way too high…

The rest of the trip continued in silence as she contemplated what the next upgrade she should consider. Nothing important other than a few wreckage concentrations appeared on the map courtesy of her scouts, and Neo didn’t offer any insights or advice on the matter.

It was almost a surprise when they finally rolled up to the base of the hill she had started her journey on. There was nothing of value left, so she steered their course marker around the cliffs and toward the jungle entrance the spider had led her to. As they pulled up, it was fully overgrown, just like she suspected it would be.

“Neo, let’s deploy the drones to scout the jungle above the canopy.”

[Affirmative: Programming recon course now.]

The clock in the corner of her HUD blinked as it switched to past noon. Their other resource drone was likely finishing up its last run on the Durasteel deposit and would be returning to base with its haul. She hadn’t managed to set up any automated recharging station for it, so it would be idle until they returned.

The canopy flashed by rapidly on her secondary monitors as the scouts zoomed toward where they had mapped the chopped jungle tree. A small frown appeared on her lips when they reached the location, but there was no sign of a break in the canopy.

None of the bioluminescent light filtered its way out of the confines of thick jungle branches. But why should that surprise her? The edges rapidly regenerated, and it was apparent that the trees worked together to close any gap above as well.

“Looks like the flora works together to keep light and the air inside controlled,” Talia mused.

[Speculative: The jungle biome is a controlled eco-system that seems to be bio-regulated by the region’s flora and fauna. The Giant Jungle Worm could have been part of this regulation system.]

“You think because we built a hole that the plants couldn’t close, the worm removed it? Didn’t you say you didn’t think the jungle was engineered?” Talia asked.

[Informative: While no proof currently exists that the jungle biome has been engineered by intelligent processes, the eco-system could have evolved from the symbiotic elements detected so far.]

She shook her head slightly. “Call me skeptical that evolution could have worked this mess out.”

[Affirmative: Further investigation and study is recommended.]

“Agreed. We’ll see what we can scan while we are here,” Talia said. As soon as the quadcopters returned to their charging cradles, she powered up the CRD-X9’s laser and began to blaze a tunnel for them.

The vehicle was brutally efficient at making itself a path, and they rolled through the edge foliage without even having to slow down. Small trails of fire and smoke wafted around the two exit wounds of the tunnel, but small growths of green did their best to smother them and connect to close off the injury.

No Giant Jungle Worm seemed to be waiting for them, so there was that.

Talia set their nav points to lead them toward the cave and the tree she had chopped according to their previous mapping data from her suit. It wasn’t as detailed as what their scouts could make, but then she had been in a much different survival situation back then than now.

She just needed to avoid letting the giant titan of Durasteel that was crushing its way through roots and bumps like they didn’t exist. The few things it couldn’t manage to easily traverse the laser made short work of, but that provided her with the first sign that their presence was being noticed.

“Neo, cut the laser.”

[Notice: Laser drill power disabled. A rocky obstacle is currently blocking our path. Should CRD-X9 navigate a course around it?]

“The glow bugs,” Talia whispered. All around them, thousands of the tiny insects had begun to gather, attracted to the vehicle’s laser whenever it fired. They were already slowly dispersing, but each time the tool had activated, more and more had appeared from above and all around them.

[Notice: Native insect population appears attracted to the laser wavelengths or its energy discharge. Large amounts of acidic discharge could cause damage to CRD-X9’s chassis. An insect repelling frequency is available. Would User like to activate it?]

She was gob smacked. “What? This thing has something like that? That I don’t have to pay extra for?”

[Informative: CRD-X9 is a resource drone designed for operations on a wide variety of biomes and worlds, including those with large amounts of hostile insect life.]

“Good to know. Go ahead and…shout at the bugs to go away?” Talia said.

There was no evidence other than a bar turning from red to green on a tertiary monitor, but the reaction of the glow bugs was almost instant. All of them made a beeline directly away from her vehicle. That was great.

What wasn’t great was the massive surge in EM radiation that surrounded them a few seconds later.

“Neo! What’s going on?”

[Notice: A large amount of electro-magnetic radiation has been detected. The source is unknown and appears to be magnified by the nearby jungle trees.]

She checked the monitor. Whatever was causing the waves, it wasn’t powerful enough to punch through her drone’s hull, and probably not her suit with her shield active, but it was still worrying. Multiple different systems began to flash green and red on her console.

“What are you doing?” Talia asked.

[Informative: A system’s check is in progress.]

The blinking stopped when the bug zapper deactivated.

[Correlative: Unknown EM radiation waves ceased once insect repellant frequency emitter was disabled.]

“Great. The jungle fights back if you try to zap its bugs.”

[Affirmative.]

“Let’s just go around and only use the laser if we get really stuck,” Talia decided.

The vehicle rotated in place and moved around the blockage. It didn’t turn out to be that big of a deal, because for most of it, they could just go over. It took a huge boulder or rock to block them.

Travel was still slower than if she had just walked herself. The metal chassis and protection were worth it, in her opinion. None of the lizard dog things would be chomping her while inside the CRD-X9 that was for sure!

The glow bugs didn’t return in force, and they rolled the rest of the way to their destination without issue. Except…

“Neo, where is the tree?” Talia asked. They had just passed the cave entrance, but where she had left the giant fallen tree trunk, there was nothing.

[Informative: No fallen tree can be detected.]

“I can see that! Let me out,” Talia ordered. The cockpit hissed as the pressure equalized, but the smell and humidity didn’t hit her. Her new oxygen system was working flawlessly.

She grabbed her PAR and slipped several magazines into their slots on her suit. Then she hopped out of the unfolded cockpit without bothering to use the ladder. She patted the hatch, and it sealed up behind her. Then she moved toward where she knew the fallen tree had been.

Evidence of its falling was still present. There was a deep gouge where the tree had dug into the soft earth of the jungle floor, but there was no sign of the log. No sawdust form someone cutting it up, or compost where it had rotted… it seemed like it had vanished without a trace.

“Well, that’s just great,” Talia muttered.

A loud, piercing cry erupted in the distance in reply, causing her to blink. The call was joined by dozens of others in every direction. Her minimap appeared on the top right of her HUD, with dozens of different icons appearing.

And they were moving toward her.

[Notice: Audio scans indicate large numbers of native alien fauna are rapidly approaching. Extreme caution is advised.]

Another shriek erupted nearby, and Talia needed no more urging as she sprinted toward the CRD-X9. A glance toward the cave sent a jolt of fear through her and clarified what the noises were: spider-aliens.

The one emerging seemed to angle to cut her off from her vehicle, and she raised her PAR and aimed at it. It let out another screech, then suddenly reversed course back into the cave.

She didn’t have time to consider her surprise. She slapped the side of the vehicle so it would open, but as the hydraulics slowly opened, dozens of spiders suddenly emerged all around the clearing.

“Neo, lock the cockpit!” she shouted, before abandoning the slow-moving hatch. Locking her PAR back onto her back, she jumped up and grabbed one of the sidebars on the vehicle, then flung herself upward toward the CRD-X9’s roof. She landed with a heavy thud, then pulled her PAR sling back over her head and spun, looking in every direction.

There were spiders everywhere, surrounding them. Dozens of them formed a loose circle, but even more hiding behind every tree that she could see in the murky bioluminescent landscape. Coming to fetch the tree was a bad idea.

“Why did I think it was a good idea to come here?” Not wanting to waste resources? She could have chopped any dozens of the same jungle trees near her base. She had literally walked right into the spider nest without thinking about it.

One of the spiders darted forward without warning. She didn’t have time for self-recrimination now.

“Get back!” she shouted, moving to that side of the vehicle, and pointing her personal assault rifle at it. Like the first, the spider shrieked and turned around to dash behind a tree. None of the others seemed to be bothered by the interaction, and more of them arrived to tighten the circle.

“Neo, get us out of here!” Talia commanded. The CRD-X9 lurched into motion immediately, its tracks kicking up some soft jungle dirt as it moved into reverse. A chorus of shrieks filled the air.

The vehicle stopped as abruptly as it had started. “Why are we stopping!”

[Warning: Spider-aliens are currently obstructing our path. Would User like to continue movement? This would likely cause injury or death due to crushing.]

Talia ran to the back of the vehicle and looked over the side. Sure enough, the circle of spiders was unbroken. The vehicle had come to a stop right up against several of them, which had placed their front claws on the vehicle. All of them were staring up at her and shrieking while snapping their mandibles aggressively.

“Get back! Let us out!” she shouted at them, but they seemed unmoved. She hesitated to point her weapon at them, though, because she was afraid they’d begin to rip into the CRD-X9. Or the entire lot of them would surge forward and attack.

A louder shriek from the cave called her attention back to the front. Suddenly all the clacking and clicking and shrieks went silent. Emerging from the cave was a spider so large it barely fit within the tunnel’s exit. Scarlet red patterns rippled down its legs and two massive hexagonal shaped orbs aimed themselves at her and the resource drone.

It began to approach the vehicle carefully.

[Notice: Alien lifeform appears to be of a different caste or species from the rest of the aliens and could pose a significant threat due to its size.]

She couldn’t think of a response. Was there no way to get away? The vehicle wasn’t going to outrun the spiders, even at its top speed, and the mining laser wasn’t going to be effective while they were surrounded.

All the other spiders had frozen still and went silent, so when one moved behind the giant red following it, she noticed right away. Her eyes widened in recognition. It was the brown dappled one that she had encountered in the alien armory! Her machete was still clutched in its mouth.

The red stopped and looked at it, and a series of shrieks seemed to be exchanged.

A second one approached, this one a dusky grey. She recognized it as well. It was the one that her quadcopter had saved from the blue alien. Its swordlike front arms seemed to gesture emphatically to the two small drones on the roof as it joined the shrieking.

The spider-conversation suddenly died, and the giant red seemed to turn its attention back to her. It let out a single loud shriek, then paused as if waiting. Silence filled the entire jungle.

“H...Hi, Friend?”