Predator

Classified Exoplanets are planetary body with highly similar characteristics of Earth, or at least, that can support complex life. The first discovery of an exoplanet was after the establishment of the Alpha Centauri Colony that acted as the initiator of the Interstellar Expansion Innitiative.

Using the Fusion Drive that are used for FTL traveling, and with the full force of the Science Community in colonization, they were able to make planetfall on one within mere months of the initiative.

Though the first exoplanet took a shorter time to discover than expected, it was merely due to luck and accurate analysis that landed them on the exoplanet they initially discovered.

In the end, however, most investment went through Terraforming due to the lack of discovery since then.

Which technically means, I am currently within a diamond planet. To discover such is a great achievement that can particularly send me to riches.

Well, if not for my current situation of course. I mean, the fusion reactor is offline and unstable. Activating it have huge risk of meltdown, no one wants that. That's my only way out of this system.

However, that's not all. Thrusters are severely damaged, repair will probably take quite a while, and the crash landing damaged the propulsion beyond repair, which means leaving the planet in the first place is not a viable option.

Fuck... the hell am I supposed to do now?

"LANA, can you lower the landing gear?"

The ship shook as LANA attempts to raise the ship from the ground using the gears. Meanwhile, I manually took over the control of the drone to see accurate imagery of the surrounding.

Everywhere I look, I only see unfamiliar fauna and flora. But most flora are green, which suggest they function similarly to a plants I know. Fauna acts similarly to wild animals as well, roaming around and hunting or gathering for foods.

However, 20 kilometers off and I have not seen any sort of settlement that may suggest intelligent life.

For now, I can probably conclude that intelligent life is yet to exist in this planet. Sentience are rare, but just like exoplanets, they are there.

As the ship's gear settle. I went ahead and open the door leading down to the ground.

But most importantly, my suit. This planet may have oxygen and atmosphere that supports life, but not enough data have been gathered to verify that I can breathe with it without future complications, so for now, I'd rather place safe.

The light suit I put on have integrated armor functionality, exoskeleton, as well as weapon attached to its waistband for defense. It's visor is black in hue that covers my entire face from the outside.

From within, the visor have HUD that shows simple GUI so that the user couldn't get overly distracted. It functions directly from my neuro path connected from my nape so I can easily navigate through the HUD without unnecessary movements.

After wearing the suit, I went ahead and jump from the door leading down. There, I felt a sense of bizarre nostalgia rushing through my mind.

Never for once did I ever see an untapped exoplanet so... green. As an explorer, I rarely land on exoplanets, and when I do, I land on regulated docking ports or pads within the concrete jungles.

Yet unknowingly, I feel a sense of calmness rushing over my head... and there's a certain urge for me to remove my suit and perhaps feel the nature raw.

I touched the ground, grass moving in collision with my hands and despite the suit between my hands and the suit's glove, I think I could... sense its texture?...

I smile unconsciously but then such smile fades when LANA notify me of motion signature detected directly from my east. The HUD changed the vision to track the motion signature. However, with plants and tree leaves moving, it's hard to navigate through it.

But then, I saw but faint glimpse of a disoriented movement, few hundred meters away, getting closer. It's movement slow, steady, as if trying to blend in with nature.

A predator.

Only them are more than capable to learn such tactics in this wild environment. They are after all, hunters, and they can adapt depending on their prey's ability to find them.

I reach for my left waist and reveal the plasma handgun from my hand, aiming it towards the suspected wild animal.

Haha...

This is mildly terrifying. Humans rarely encounter predators that challenge them, to witness a probable one is truly different from the ones I've seen from videos and movies alike.

Should I just return to the ship?

I mean I could lock myself there for at least a year with the foods stacked up and energy from the back up generator.

LANA suddenly warned me of the figure's sudden aggressive movement. I followed the tracked motion and truly, it's moving faster. Fear soon overwhelm my mind and decided to fire the gun from the direction where I tracked the figure.

Instantly, the unusual movement stopped.

Did it die? Fuck, that scares the shit outta me.

Not going further away from the ship, I returned inside and close the door. I went for the cockpit and launched the drone once more to get a closer view of the figure I just killed.

A few minutes of navigating, I saw a lying body just below the trees.

Fear perhaps is the only thing I can think of as I analyze this corpse. It's quadrupedal fauna that have green skin that blends with the surrounding. It's missing a face of a natural animal, however, there's four horns that surround the center of the supposed face with cracks on all eight side.

What's eerie about this is that, not only can it blend in with the motion of the plants and leaves nearby, its skin also acts as camouflage. Talk about having an innate ability of a stalker.

I've killed that thing, but the issue now is, it's probably too hard for me to track every one of them.

"LANA, can you see if it has heat signature?"

Since it just died, it should probably still have heat on it.

[CONFIRMED]

If that's the case, then I guess I should remain here until dusk and use night vision and infrared concurrently until I form a defensive line outside.