Chapter 4: Primitive World

Preparations were nearly complete for the Explorers' descent. All that remained was one final briefing, which would be taking place four quarters — approximately half a day in M3096's terms — prior.

According to the crew's planetary scientists, M3096 had an atmosphere in which Tara and her fellow Explorers could breathe without any immediate health implications. Given that there was much that remained mysterious about the planet, however, they were required to keep their suits on at all times.

One of the main obstacles that lay ahead was scavenging for food; the suits, which the Board had selected to prioritize agility over utility, could only carry so much. Even as compressed as the tasteless meals were, each Explorer would only have seven days worth to get started.

Tara sat at the dock, staring out of the large window that faced the central continent. Her team's landing zone was to be a point along a river in the eastern region. Though it bordered a desert, the population of indigenous peoples nearby was sparse compared to the areas along the oceans and rivers.

Her stomach lurched; the nervousness had begun to chew away at her. Something beyond her control had always prevented her from being able to descend in the past. Each time, the planet was deemed unfit or on the verge of collapse upon closer analysis. M3096, on the other hand, was what some had described as a godsend.

"T-4 quarters 'til we're off!" exclaimed Annah. The Explorer rushed over from the hallway entrance and plopped herself down on the bench next to Tara. "You ready, princess?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," Tara admitted half-heartedly when Janson — yet another Explorer whose eyes were always glued onto her best friend — appeared in the entryway.

"That's more ready than I ever am," joked the red-headed man. His attempt at impersonating a comedian fell flat, as they often had.

Annah's beautiful, pale face beamed as she chuckled. Tara instinctively rolled her eyes. Her own tan complexion had always been one of her deepest insecurities. Her mother used to constantly remind her that it was nothing to be ashamed of, for her father, the savior of their people, had an even darker skin tone.

"Think of it as a sign of strength and purity," the mother whom she was named after once said, "I remember how your father descended from the heavens. He didn't land like an angel, nor did he look like one, but his heart was kinder and more resolute than all of them put together."

The rest of the Explorers stood around the dock area, conversing among themselves as though the upcoming mission was mere clockwork.

"Have you tried out your implanted companion yet?" Annah asked. Tara tapped on the skin above the implant, behind her right ear, which prompted a brief jingle to sound before an interface appeared in the space one meter in front of her.

"Operating system booting," Tara read out loud, "Why the hell is this thing so slow?"

Annah leaned over to take a look, then shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it. It'll boot up by the time we make our landing."

"I can't even use it to scan the continent for our exact landing zone from here. Isn't this something I should resolve before we leave?"

"The technical specialists can't be bothered with something so trivial," Janson interjected, "especially since it's never caused any extensive issues in our hundreds of years of missions."

Tara frowned. To her, this was barely an excuse to overlook such negligence. But perhaps she had brought this upon herself. Despite being the daughter of the only individual in Kasai history worthy of the title of king, she took it upon herself to relinquish political power after a few centuries. Princess had become nothing more than an honorary name in writing, and from that point onward, her former citizens refused to cater to even the most basic of her needs.

Just then, the sound of metallic soles tip-taping against the spaceship floor echoed from down the adjacent hall, with each step louder than the last. The Explorers paid it no mind, but Tara knew exactly who was coming. She adjusted her posture accordingly and turned slightly to face the entryway.

"It's your lover!" Annah whispered. Tara shot her a menacing glare before turning back. As though on cue, the admiral of the Starbell appeared in the doorway. His presence alone was enough to bring everyone in the room to attention. He needn't even utter a word.

Admiral Eren placed both hands together behind his back. "At ease, everyone." He glanced at Tara and winked. "Soon, all of you will be making the descent onto M3096. As everybody aboard this ship is well aware of, on its surface is an indigenous population whose civilization is far more primitive than our own."

The Explorers around the dock nodded. Upon their arrival in the solar system, the scientists aboard the Starbell were amazed to find that not only was the candidate planet inhabited by intelligent life, but also that members of the alpha species were bipedal, carbon-based humanoid entities.

They were — for lack of a better phrase — identical to the people of Kasai. The probability of another species taking a nearly identical evolutionary path was thought to be astronomically miniscule to the point of being impossible. And yet, there existed few differences between the two peoples.

Once most notable was the fact that the natives' possessed a far greater abundance of genetic variation; tens of thousands of distinct groups existed on one continent alone. In contrast, with the exception of the princess herself, all beings of Kasai hailed from a single group.

By this point however, the Explorers in particular had grown indifferent, preferring instead to view them as ignorant beings possessing not even the slightest semblance of unity.

"Weaponry such as iron swords, as well as bows and arrows are just the latest of their inventions. Sticks and stones, if you will. However, we've just gotten our hands on an essential piece of information that may affect the nature of this mission."

The admiral paused as he scanned the room, which had become so silent that one could practically hear a pin drop. The look on the faces of his subordinates were of piqued curiosity. Tara's heart raced. Had another obstacle denied her entry yet again? Her thoughts were conflicted. On one hand, she would finally be able to experience relief after months of overwhelming stress, but on the other, her inevitable fate was merely being delayed.

Eren closed his eyes and breathed heavily out of his nose. "An all-out war has broken out between their nations."

Not a single soul moved a muscle. By now, many of his subordinates appeared far more bewildered than intrigued. Some even began to murmur sarcastically and giggle amongst themselves, much to the annoyance of the admiral. Tara stared at him with meandering eyes. She could sense the anger building within the young man despite his outwardly calm demeanor. Though subtle, his arms tensed behind his back, causing the creases on his pearly white sleeves to fade. He lightly clenched his jaw, just as he had done during the first of her training regimens under his command. Most unsettling was his stiff smile that remained plastered on his face.

Tara knew what was to come.

"A war? Waged among the natives?" a deep, burly voice — far louder than anybody else dared to try — sounded from behind her, "I thought we were planning to remove them from the start! We cannot possibly coexist!"

"Our lives are far more important than theirs. Their primitive nature makes them hardly worth bending over backwards for, even if they do look somewhat similar to us" a shrill voice from the other side of the dock added.

A foolish Janson took it upon himself to deliver the finishing blow. "Why not simply expedite that plan?" Many of the Explorers nodded in agreement.

Eren's mouth remained shut. He strolled toward the window that faced the lonely blue planet, his legs swinging in exaggerated movements. Each step he took noisily clanged against the floor as though he were in far heavier gravity than they actually were.

"My fellow spacefarers," he finally said. The crew fell silent once more. "Were we not led to salvation by a savior who descended from the heavens during our time of need?

"Despite what many of our elders may tell you, he needed us almost as much as we needed him." He briefly turned to face Tara and smiled. His death was the only thing she remembered about her father, but his story remained alive through individuals like Eren. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Without the knowledge he brought, the people of Kasai would have suffered the wrath of the black hole for hundreds of years before our demise. And, as patronizing as this may sound, without a people with which he could thrive, he, too, would've met his own end.

"As different as we were from one another, we learned to coexist and help one another." Eren paused. "Crew, I trust that you understand my intentions by telling you all this."

None of the Explorers replied, instead opting to stand there and feel guilty for their misdoings. It was rare that they collectively felt this way. Only Tara stood with a smile on her face.

The princess had always admired his way with words, among other things. Admittedly, she also needed a couple of words to remind her of the purpose for her being there, on the Starbell, thousands of lightyears from home.

After the atmosphere within the room had become stale, Eren uttered one last thing.

"We will proceed at the designated time while taking the many proper measures into account. Best of luck to you all."