Downed Courier Spacecraft (Alt Hi-Res) (Patreon)

Eric leaves the Kuroi Akuma Maru hovering on standby in a shallow pass between two peaks where it is somewhat hidden from view. Then he travels to the site of the transponder's position on his hovercycle.

"Doesn't look like a crash-landing," Eric muses aloud as he flies over the the courier spacecraft's location - on top of a mountain, "Why would Dmitri land here?"

Eric circles the spacecraft and lands his hoverbike next to it. He dismounts and starts examining the craft and looking around the site. Eric pulls out a flashbeam and shines it into the cockpit and underneath the spaceship, "How the Hell did he manage to land right on top of a mountain?" he shakes his head, "I could never manage it," he says ruefully.

Eric walks up to the side of the courier and finds an entry keypad on the side next to the cargo door. He types out a code on the pad and examines the read-out, "Cargo's gone," he says softly, "and it wasn't taken either, or that code would not have worked," he nods, "Well, that's good."

Circling around the craft, Eric starts looking more carefully at the surroundings. He spots something shiny, a metallic cube sitting on a rock right at the top of the peak. "Aha!" Eric brightens, "What's this?"