Chapter 18: Descent
Linus had once read the interviews of astronauts returning to Earth—descriptions of the ride through re-entry:
> "Like being inside a dryer full of rocks."
"One of the most exhilarating and violent rides."
"The most alive you'll ever feel."
He never thought he'd live to experience it.
The silence of orbit was deceptive. From above, Earth Prime looked nothing like the Earth he remembered before the Blackout. It shimmered with unnatural hues—oceans of bio-luminescent green, obsidian mountain ranges, and violet plains glowing under twin moons. It looked like a dream painted by something that never slept.
But they were going back.
Linus tightened the harness of his White Jacket, the only barrier between his body and the toxic atmosphere waiting below. The suit hissed and locked, its white armor-like plating glowing softly as it synchronized with descent protocols.
> "ETA: Re-entry in 10… 9… 8…"
The AI's voice echoed inside his helmet, cold and clinical.
Outside the viewports, dozens of drop ships aligned—obsidian darts aimed at the living planet. Each carried a passenger: maybe a soldier, maybe a scientist, maybe a killer. All dressed in white. All condemned.
Below the clouds, Earth Prime stirred.
Herds of six-legged grazers trampled volcanic ash.
Translucent serpents the size of buses twisted around glowing fungal trees.
Bone-winged insects with glassy eyes hovered mid-air, staring into the breaking sky.
The planet was watching.
Re-entry struck like a god's fist.
Linus's body slammed into the chair. G-forces crushed his chest. Muscles screamed. Vision blurred.
Outside, friction turned the ship into a blazing meteor. Fire engulfed the hull. Plasma roared around the cockpit. Around him, the other pods began to detach—one by one—falling like seeds into wild soil.
> [Atmospheric Threshold Reached]
[Pressure Stabilizing]
[Separation Initiated]
A violent jolt.
His capsule broke free from the main unit. For a moment—stillness. The storm calmed. Then:
> "Deploying Parachute."
A thunderous snap.
The chute exploded open, jerking him hard. The burning light cleared.
And then he saw it.
A world reborn in madness.
Forests shimmered with spectral brightness. Their leaves pulsed with unrecognizable colors. Mountains jutted into the sky like jagged knives. Rivers twisted like veins, glowing silver-blue. The sky—too clear, too perfect—held the faint shimmer of the twin moons.
It was breathtaking.
It was terrifying.
> [Warning: Oxygen Saturation—2.5x Earth Standard. Exposure without containment: 22 seconds.]
Linus tightened the seal of his helmet. The filtration system flared to life, its vents glowing as the suit filtered poison into breathable air.
Below, more parachutes filled the sky—drifting like ghosts toward a wide clearing between two mountains. Strange birds with metallic feathers watched silently. Vines moved subtly below, like fingers eager to grasp.
Earth Prime was not welcoming them.
It was studying them.
Linus exhaled slowly, breath fogging his visor.
"Welcome home."
---
Touchdown
His landing zone was quiet. Vegetation sparse. No visible movement—but Linus didn't drop his guard.
As soon as his boots hit the ground, he discarded the parachute, collapsed it into a tight ball, and shoved it into his backpack. Every movement was calculated. Efficient.
He unhooked a small metal orb from his belt and launched it skyward with a single flick.
The AERIS Scanner activated mid-air.
> [AERIS Scanner Deployed]
[Function: Terrain Mapping, Atmospheric Analysis, Lifeform Detection, Anomaly Scans]
The sphere levitated upward, projecting a grid of soft white light. Linus activated the remote control, and a screen unfolded from the top, revealing a holographic topographic map of the area.
No hostiles detected. No organisms nearby.
Still, Linus didn't relax.
He switched to the cargo drop coordinates.
> [Dropship Coordinates Locked]
[Route Calculation Complete]
Suddenly—crack—a sharp noise broke the silence.
He froze. It wasn't a gunshot. It was too clean. A red flare streaked into the sky from the northern sector.
> "Distress signal…" he muttered. Without hesitation, Linus turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.
> [Calculating Optimal Route]
The HUD displayed a glowing trail of colored paths:
Red: Hostile fauna confirmed.
Orange: Unknown life signatures.
Green: Risk of carnivorous flora.
Blue: Low-threat, moderate terrain.
He took the blue path. The least suicidal.
---
Elsewhere...
Velvet's eyes snapped open.
She was upside down—tangled in vines high above the ground. Through her visor, she saw dense forest, birds chirping, and distant animal calls far too deep to be birds. She gritted her teeth.
"Great…"
She reached up, assessed her bindings, then drew her blade. A single arc cut through the vine. She dropped hard—slamming into the grassy floor, knocking the air out of her.
She didn't stay down.
Rolling to her feet, she pulled out her AERIS drone, activated it, and launched it with a hiss. As the scanner rose, her HUD lit up.
> [Warning: Unknown lifeform approaching at high speed]
She stared at the red dot closing in fast.
> "Nope. Not today."
The drone kept climbing. Velvet pocketed the controller, engaged her White Jacket's engine boosters, and sprinted into the trees—vanishing like a whisper.
A moment later, the creature arrived.
It stepped into the clearing—massive, hunched, dark as pitch. Six muscular legs. Bone-spiked shoulders. Eyes like burning tar. It sniffed the air with a mouth that never fully closed, growling in irritation.
It knew something had been here.
And it wanted it.
Then it looked toward the direction Velvet fled—its long tail twitching. And it charged.
> [Warning: Pursuit detected. Estimated contact in 90 seconds. Seek cover.]
Velvet clenched her jaw and pushed her speed.
The creature roared behind her—a primal sound that split the trees. She sprinted, diving through thorny bushes and between twisted roots, narrowly avoiding collapse.
Earth Prime didn't care what she used to be.
It only cared if she was fast enough to stay alive.
— To be Continued