Eqxtron

One week later,

The assembled crew for Eqxtron took off from the Arachnid's space station. The primary objective is to reach the space station and board Excalibur. Later on, from the space station, they took off with Excalibur.

With the engine of Excalibur, it will take 70-72 hours at close to the speed of Pollux. There were 15 people on board, under the command of Araceli. General Marsh sends some of his troops. Captain Cody Vaughan, brother of Araceli. And some combatants. Araceli was surprised to see when Cody joined the mission by order of Marsh. But, while taking off, Cody shared the secret that he's been working with Arachnid for four years. The exact date that he was made captain in the marines.

Dr. Hardin warned Araceli that General Marsh had his motive. Beware of Cody, as he might be trouble. Ever since the government assigned General Marsh on Arachnid, he was a nuisance, Monitoring our activities, interfering with my decisions and stuff. It's not like I am doing something illegal, and I'm afraid of him. But I always realize that I don't have freedom in my decision. And about Cody, I know he is your brother. But frankly, I don't trust him either. After all, General Marsh personally took him into his special ops unit. And you already know what Cody is capable of.

Dr. Hardin gives a hint, "Listen Araceli, There will be turns of event might take place which will blow your mind. I can't tell you what but I want you to observe and learn about the things which you'll see up there."

Araceli asks, "What's that about?" Dr. Hardin smirks and says, "You won't believe if I were to tell you now. You must see with your eyes."

Araceli assured Dr. Hardin that Cody wouldn't do anything against her decision. And she trusts Cody. But in her mind, she knew that Cody didn't tell her about working with Arachnid ever. Araceli told herself it might be a hunch, but something was wrong between General Marsh and Dr. Hardin. And as far I know, Involving Cody might have to do either something about Arachnid or something more. And also, according to Dr. Hardin, Cody might have a separate mission during this retrieval. In the end, Araceli convinced herself that she had nothing to do with it. She doesn't need to be involved in their conflict. The focus must be on Eqxtron and Pollux.

While on Excalibur, before speeding up, Jasper and Amy suggested everyone go and sleep on pods because this much speed can cause some trouble for them. Only they and Tracie needs to be awake for the first 12 hours. Everyone except Araceli followed the instruction. She insisted that she'll be okay. Still, Amy again asked her to go into the pod as this was her first time in space. Since Tracie, Jasper, and herself went before, they can handle it, but Araceli can't. Due to stubbornness Araceli again refused to take pod. Now the Excalibur started to pick up full speed.

After dealing with navigation, Tracie confirmed the engine status with Marco. When Marco gave the positive reports, Jasper and Amy initiated the thrust. Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction. That accelerated mass would cause the energy of equal magnitude but opposite direction applied to that system. Soon after, Tracie headed to take pod.

Araceli called her out and asked to speak with her. Tracie asked, "So, What is it?" Araceli said she was curious to know about Tracie. And why she betrays Dr. Hardin, or say Arachnid. Tracie smirked and asked Araceli, who said I deceive them. It would be either that Hardin or the old hag Chaney. Araceli again politely asked Tracie to clarify things that Dr. Hardin and Dr. Chaney didn't tell her. Tracie said, "Well if you know their part of the story, I don't mind sharing my perspective. But remember, you should not expect loyalty from me. Because I don't trust you either, I'm here only for money."

Araceli replied that she didn't expect anything from her, and she just wanted to know things or two about the firing incident. Tracie told Araceli that I'd to put my life on the line last time while I was in space. My crew had lost two people's lives. Nobody wanted to die a pointless death. To prevent that, we had to cancel the landing phase of the SEARCH's mission. And the reason behind that was the atmosphere of Eqxtron. I knew the spaceship we had at that time didn't have enough strength to survive it.

Araceli asks, "Wasn't that mission's objective was to learn about the Eqxtron by staying in the orbit? Why risk of landing there?" Tracie says, "Same thing, we were told to do. Later, we decided to land. But that proved a bad call. So, I didn't interfere when he(former commander) made his decision to abandon the mission and return home."

Araceli asked, "What a foolish guy! Wait! was he even in the position to cancel the mission?" Tracie, "What?", "Oh right! I see your godfathers didn't tell you the whole thing. Well, I can't help you with that anymore. Once you deal with this mission, ask them yourself. I'm tired as hell, going into the pod." Araceli realized that there was much of a conflict back then. Even now, things are not simple as it seems. And what with this uneasy feeling, anyways, I would ask them (Dr. Hardin and Dr. Chaney) once this is all over. Now, Araceli went into the pod.

Two days later, the Eqxtron came in sight of Excalibur. Before entering the atmosphere, everyone was out of the pod for the planning. Araceli explained the details of her planning with Cody.

To begin with, I am taking some safety measures. We would have to land 30-40 KM away from Pollux's last location, as we don't know yet, what caused its destruction. We need to approach that site carefully. Let's name it 'Location A.' In addition, Jasper and Amy will stay on Excalibur and inform us about any uncertain situations like the weather and stuff. Araceli would have left Marco too on the ship, but she intends to take him with her to examine the Pollux.

Furthermore, all of us will approach Pollux in a bi-directional way. Cody, Tracie, and two more people would take the right flank. I will go with Marco on the left side with two more people. And the remaining five could have to wait for my signal to proceed directly in the straight line. In conclusion, I would like to say that I don't want anyone to die here, so be careful. Of course, we all know the necessity of this mission. But keep the communicators always on. And don't forget to respond asap on the text transmitter if the voice fails.

Amy said, "Alright, everyone buckle up as we are entering in the atmosphere." Jasper said it might take 5-10 mins to land, keep the seatbelts on to deal with the inconvenience.

After that duration, they landed on the Eqxtron. It is in a different solar system. There are eleven more planets with it. They all revolve around the Redstar sun. It's the 6th from the sun and the 3rd enormous planet in that solar system. Climate is strangely cold. And the whole land is a complete desert.

A single day lasts up to 30 hours, and a year lasts 443 days. This planet has no sign of water bodies. It is 3.5 times larger than Earth, and its gravity is about 1.88 times. Only one moon orbits the plant.

Life is impossible here. But that's not the reason Arachnid send Pollux here. To be safe, they landed Excalibur a little far away from the position of Pollux.

By Araceli's order, the team divides into three smaller groups. While leaving for the respective flanks, Araceli overheard Cody say someone take an additional frequency for communication. She also heard Cody giving orders to one person that if he fails to carry out the task, another one should do the job. Araceli remembered Dr. Hardin saying that Cody might have some motive, to keep an eye on him. Due to this suspicion, Araceli copied the frequency of the second channel and headed outside.

Two groups, 4KM apart from each other, take the route towards Pollux's site. They are using space vehicles to approach their destination. Due to the data collected by the SEARCH team, they were able to make an operational vehicle. Some hours later, both teams closed down nearby to the targeted location. The 3rd team would be arriving soon. Till then, both Cody and Araceli put their respective team on standby.

Araceli kept an eye on Cody's subordinate, who was on a different frequency from Cody. She checked the logs and saw two messages between Cody and that person. The first one, 'Target is highly on guard, no chance now.' And the second one, 'Pay close attention and grab the opportunity, and this needs to finish here only.' Araceli's suspicion now becomes a sure thing. And based on those communications, she is convinced that Cody is doing something wrong. But Cody's motive is still unclear.

Now on a first frequency, all teams confirmed that nothing unusual was going on around them, and everything is normal. Araceli received the status that there are no signs of weather abnormality. A little more time and the middle lane squad arriving at the Pollux's crash site.

The scene is not good. But it was in good condition by the information provided by EMCR. Soon after, on that wreck, they found the machinery and computer. As expected, the power supply of Pollux is down to 0%. The whole solar setup is gone, too, with the emergency supply. Who knows what would've happened there. They found the dead body with a tag of P4. The body was beheaded. Expect that corpse everybody else is missing. Rapidly they gave a power supply to the computer for retrieving the data.

Moments later, they successfully got everything they needed. They got backups and two heavy boxes. Meanwhile, Araceli's squad arrived on the site. They started exploring around a little. Cody's squad was supposed to arrive at the same time. People near Pollux tried contacting them but, no response. Even Excalibur was unable to reach them. Without wasting time, Araceli pointed the gun at Cody's subordinate. He smiled, and he takes aim at Araceli. For others, it is a confusing situation. Araceli shouts what is going on to that man. That man replies, pull that trigger. But I won't say a thing.

Jasper and Amy rushed on the communicator as they were confused too. Since Araceli is the commander, she immediately ordered to detain that guy. Without showing any resistance, he dropped his weapon. This little act threw Araceli into a distress. Of course, a situation like this might have happened during her days in Marines, but it is a different scenario.

Somehow the communication fails with Cody's squad. Without wasting more time, Araceli decides to go there. She left behind that detained person and one more guy to keep an eye on him. Soon, they caught up with them. The region itself was a problem. By analysis, Amy told them they are in a strong electromagnetic field. Still, it doesn't add up. Jasper told Araceli that there was no sign of an electromagnetic field in that region an hour ago. Also, Araceli knew that an abnormally fluctuating field is not a case in reports of the Pollux crew. Odd.

In an instant, Araceli figured out that Cody or Tracie might have pulled it off for their reasons. Araceli's squad was looking around for them. The region was not a plain terrain, as it had a 20-degree irregular slope and boulders everywhere. Before entering the area, Amy broadcasted a message that it was getting dark. And Eqxtron had no moonlight. From the dark spot, Tracie suddenly pulled Araceli behind the boulder. Araceli was about to shoot Tracie, but she noticed that Tracie is gesturing to keep quiet.

Before She could ask Tracie anything, she heard a fearful scream. Tracie points towards a shadow not far apart from them. Within emerging darkness, Araceli noticed that there are some creature emerging from the shadows. These creatures are a type of Reptile. They have two arms and six legs, with a short, muscular tail. They have four eyes that sit gracefully in their sockets and can often make them appear to be evil. Their eyesight is adequately good.

Their big mouth and tiny noses often make these creatures appears angry, but looks can be deceiving. Ears are well hidden, and their hearing is impressive. Also, they have small horns across their backs.

Their skin is elastic and muscular, covered in small, coarse scales. The scales' colors are primarily dark brown, black and dark silver. In a moment, they found themselves among dozens of them. Although they have weapons, still their numbers are too much to take them down.

On the other side, Cody was frustrated. The weapons they took for this particular mission were way more advanced than they had used before. However, it was not proving to be effective as it was supposed to be. Until now, two people have lost their lives in action. In a mere moment, all of the remaining guys regrouped. Cody guesses that this spot was nearby Pollux's site. So its unanticipated malfunction might have something to do with these creatures. On top of it, this horde of creatures had devoured those people of Pollux. Araceli considers what Cody said.

But she couldn't believe it. The reason is simple, back in Arachnid, this Eqxtron mission was on the top 3 priority list, and there is no way that someone would ignore the fact that there are living things that exist on this deserted planet. When observed from the satellites, irregular storms have affected the scanning of living organisms. Araceli admits that. She thinks, "But those storms are not occurring only in a specific region. The Pollux's satellite completed more than ten orbits before crashing. I looked up the data on the crash site of Pollux. Tracie interrupts and made a point that even if we consider that these creatures might have destroyed the Pollux. How come they didn't see this coming, if they had satellite in the orbit.

It might have stopped functioning and must've wandered around the gravitational field, not straight up crashed on the same spot as Pollux. With Tracie's point, they consider that someone intentionally did all of it. For a moment, Araceli thought about something. Putting aside her gun, she grabbed Tracie with a rear neck choke. It happened real quick Tracie didn't respond at first. But before she could tight her grip, Tracie knocked her down back instead. Cody laughed after seeing it all. But he rushed to pick up his sister. Tracie exclaimed, "You are leagues behind me, don't try that again."

[For anyone, it would be impossible to land a rear neck choke on the person in space with ordinary spacesuits. But due to Arachnid tech, those bulk and heavy suits are replaced by light and convenient bodysuits.]

Denying Cody's help, Araceli stood up. Without a second thought, Cody fired the shot on Tracie's knee. Knowingly in a suppressed scream, Tracie shouted, "Scoundrel." The electromagnetic field disappeared, and Jasper managed to contact them. He heard Tracie scream and asked about the situation. Before anyone can respond to Jasper, Tracie gets up to fight Cody and throws a punch. As soon as it landed, the horde of creatures got aware of their positions. And Araceli saw that they started desperately running towards them. Cody shouted an order to change the bullets and fire heavy rounds on that horde.

Changing the bullets worked. For a moment, that horde backed down, but from the darkness, a person's shadow emerged. It seems a human form, more of a woman, in particular, who had light gray attire, dark skin, and hair. But the eyes were flaming bright yellow. All of them felt an aura of a death stare. When the fog cleared, they saw women levitating approaching them. The size of those creatures doubled, and they were roaring viciously. All of them were backing off and started running towards those rovers. They intend to take rover and go back to Excalibur because misdirecting them will only cost them the problem with low fuel.

With one knee injured, Tracie barely dragged herself in pain. Araceli noticed that, but Cody advised her to leave her behind, as she must die here. Cody told Araceli that it was his mission to assassinate Tracie Høyer. And the priority is to retrieve those two little boxes. Araceli wanted to help Tracie, but Cody threatened her not to. Tracie saw Cody, Araceli, and everyone else leaving her behind. Cody told his sister that if killing Tracie was that easy, Cody would have done it back on Earth. Now she is a bait to lure out big fish. And she was not supposed to get killed this easy. Just wait and watch.

Cody's words and action was confusing to Araceli. On the voice channel, the sibling heard Tracie's voice. "Cody, you idiot, I'm itching to kill you right here." Cody replied, "I'm not going anywhere, but not going to wait for you long. Better catch up with me now. Otherwise, your dream will always be a dream." Cody laughed sarcastically and ordered Jasper to prepare the package. Amy smirked and asked Cody, "Is it the right time?"

Cody replied that sure it is.

Araceli asked Cody to tell Araceli everything that was going on. Araceli told Cody that she ascertained this mission was nothing but a pain to her with half information and half-truth. So, Cody better clear things out here, and likewise, she won't cooperate with him. He assures Araceli that he will clear things out later. But for now, she must follow him.

Araceli is losing her sense of reality. Arachnid's bosses clearly instructed her not to trust Cody. Even if he is her brother, she must not forget that he is willing to work for General Marsh. This time, it's not about who to trust or not. One thing is for sure, Araceli knew her brother well than anyone else. So she decided to follow Cody. And she wonders, "This might be the thing they wanted me to see with my eyes. The things which seems unreal to be told."

From far away up in the sky, a thin ray of light appeared. Cody noticed that and told Araceli that here comes the bigger fish. Araceli looked back in the direction of Tracie as she saw that Cody wasn't lying. Trace had a sword in her hand. She has ferociously annihilated those creatures. Araceli was surprised to see that Tracie was moving around with her deep wound. Siblings noticed that the light they just saw was someone sniping from far apart. As soon as the smoke cleared, someone jumped from above besides Tracie.

Tracie was out of breath, panting, and exclaimed, "So, you came?"