The Deserted Paradise

Jax was exhausted. The whole past couple of hours had been nothing but mayhem, and frankly, he needed sometime to reorganize his thoughts. He managed to activate the grav-kit early in his free fall, somewhere around the middle of the stratosphere, meaning he wouldn't land for another three hours at his current rate.

He didn't mind the extra time though. The ground was probably nothing but danger anyways, so he might as well get as much rest as he could in the meantime.

Laying down on top of the container, Jax relaxed his body. He didn't dare sleep since who knews if he would wake up in time to brace for landing. It's not like Alec could just come wake him beforehand like back on the ship.

Alec...

Jax was not the most sociable person, nor was he everyone's favorite. Clearly by the way his coworkers push him down during their escape. But Alec was different. He was probably the only person on the entire ship that Jax enjoyed being around. He was crude and sarcastic most of the time, and paired with his goofy speech pattern made him a strange character. But that was just how he acted outwardly. He never hesitated to help people and always seemed to be genuinely kind to others. Though it seemed that the only person who actually showed gratitude towards Alec's help was Jax.

Ever since Jax's first week in the cargo bay, the two had hit it off as close friends, sitting together in the cafeteria for meals, goofing off in their free time. In fact they once played a prank on their fat supervisor, even though Alec took the blame for that one. They would discuss their dreams and goals, planning one day to move up in the world... or at least out of working in a ship's cargo bay.

Alec was maybe a few years older than Jax, sitting around his mid-twenties, and was a considerably handsome man. Especially compared to the generally ugly crew and average looking Jax.

"At least I think I'm pretty average..." Jax muttered to no one.

Alec had a slightly muscular physique, and some well-defined muscles around his arms and legs. He had received many confessions from single crew members, both male and female surprisingly. After turning them all down though, he became know as "Pretty Boy" behind his back.

Thinking back to earlier this month, around a week and a half ago, Jax remembered a more serious conversation compared to the pairs normal antics.

"Ya know Jax, I think ya should try transferrin' up in the company." Alec had said suddenly.

"Woah, Woah, Woah. Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Jax asked confused.

Alec had looked at him with a seriousness that Jax had never seen before, just for a moment, before returning to his usual goofy self.

"Well think about it, ya move up to a manager or supervisor position, I get to transfer below ya, an' its smooth sailing from there. All I gotta do is coast an' relax. Whose gonna mess with me with my buddy coverin' for me." Alec spouted with his regular sarcasm interlaced.

"Nah how could I do that to you. Without me here, you'll be too lonely." Jax said relieved.

Jax feared that Alec was trying to get rid of him, but this was the first and only mention of moving up.

Though thinking back now, Jax realized that had he moved up in the company and changed ships, then Alec wouldn't have stayed on the cargo ship that was just raided. Alec would have been safe and Jax would never have to go through this whole ordeal.

"No point in thinking about what could have been" Jax said, attempting to clear his mind.

He was here now, falling out of the sky towards a planet uninhabited by anything except for deadly creatures. Thinking that it would be a good idea to check where about he was going to land, or rather crash, Jax got near the edge of the container. The grav-kit had fully stabilized the decent, so he didn't have to worry about off balancing it. Making sure to estimate the four main cardinal directions Jax looked up at the sun and made guesses based on how it had moved since earlier.

Taking a look down next, Jax saw a few key features on the landscape that stood out to him. Although he was still high up, he could make out general details below. Firstly, there was a large grassy clearing in a forest almost directly below him. The forest itself seemed fairly large, with the edges only visible close to the horizon. Secondly, there seemed to be a river flowing through parts of the forest, leading into a lake. The lake was maybe a couple square miles wide, with the river flowing in from the north. It was a good distance south of the clearing Jax had seen before. Finally, there was a singular large mountain directly east of the lake. The solid hunk of rock stuck out compared to the flat forest lands surrounding it. The rocky surface was devoid of trees, making it seem less like a true mountain, and more like a giant pointed rock someone had placed there unnaturally.

All that Jax could think while looking at the mountain was that he was lucky to not land there, considering how much trouble it would be scaling down that mountain.

Taking another closer look at the clearing, Jax could see a few brown craters amongst the green grass. That is most likely where the other containers crashed, including the rotten grain container that Jax had hidden in earlier.

Finishing his short survey of the land, Jax began to create his master plan in order to survive on this planet paradise.