Chapter 17: Planet Nythera
The massive hangar trembled beneath thousands of tons of steel and machinery.
Floodlights bathed the launch bay in white light while crews rushed between support vehicles and towering spacecraft. Fuel lines detached one by one. Cargo loaders rolled away from secured hatches. The final preparations for departure were underway.
Three expedition vessels sat side by side on separate launch platforms.
The first was the Aegis.
A heavily armored exploration cruiser tasked with carrying most of the military personnel assigned to the mission.
Beside it sat the Wayfarer.
Smaller. Faster. Packed with scientists, survey equipment and enough scanners to map an entire continent.
And furthest from the others stood the Horizon.
Their ship.
High above the launch platforms, a countdown timer illuminated the entire hangar.
00:01:00
Sixty seconds.
K stood with the rest of the crew near the loading ramp. Around him, engineers exchanged final reports while soldiers checked weapons and equipment.
The atmosphere buzzed with nervous excitement.
Some of these people had never left Meredith before. Intern students and soldiers in training to be exact.
"Thirty seconds until launch sequence."
The announcement echoed throughout the hangar.
The massive engines beneath the Aegis began to glow.
Blue light flooded the bay.
Heat washed over everyone.
K glanced toward the Horizon.
Everything looked normal.
Which meant Kagu executed her job perfectly.
"Twenty seconds."
Nearby, a mechanic frowned at his datapad.
Then frowned harder.
"That’s strange."
"What is?" Another quipped back.
"The Horizon’s navigation core isn’t responding."
K looked away immediately.
"Fifteen seconds."
The mechanic tapped his datapad again.
Nothing.
His expression darkened.
"Control, I’m not getting a response from Ship Three."
Static.
"Ship Horizon, report status."
Nothing.
K almost felt bad.
Almost.
"Ten seconds."
The Aegis roared to life.
The floor shook violently.
Several crew members stumbled.
"Five."
The Wayfarer’s engines ignited next.
Blue-white plasma erupted beneath it.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
The hangar doors opened.
Space stretched beyond them.
Endless.
Beautiful.
The Aegis launched first. Its engines thundered as the vessel accelerated through the opening and disappeared into the darkness beyond.
A second later the Wayfarer followed.
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Then...
Nothing happened.
The Horizon remained exactly where it was.
Silence.
The countdown has reached zero.
Still nothing.
Every technician in the hangar slowly turned toward Ship Horizon.
A warning siren suddenly chirped.
WARNING
NAVIGATION CORE UNRESPONSIVE
A second warning appeared.
PRIMARY SYSTEMS UNRESPONSIVE.
The mechanic stared at his datapad in disbelief.
"What the hell?"
Across the hangar, K lowered his head.
Inside his helmet, Kagu’s voice sounded far too pleased with herself.
"See? Perfect."
"You crippled an entire spacecraft."
"Temporarily crippled."
"Well done, I guess."
"It’s significantly better."
Alarms began echoing through the bay as technicians swarmed the vessel.
Meanwhile, somewhere deep inside the Horizon’s systems, Kagu quietly erased every trace of her existence and hummed to herself.
"How long will it take for the ship to come back online?" K adjusted his gun strap.
"Long enough to keep a reasonably distance between us and the remaining ships."
Engineers crowded the unresponsive ship, pulling thoughts and running system checks,
"Would the ship still fly?"
K moved closer to them, eyeing their data pads.
"Yes, if it responds it’s going up...don’t care how long it’s going to take." One of the engineers huffed, his neck red with irritation, "get this motherfucker flying, pronto!" He yelled and tossed his pad at his colleague.
"Oops, he might just explode with how red he’s getting"
K snorted and adjusted his helmet. Aegis and Wayfarer were slowing becoming tiny dots in the dark expanse of space.
"20 seconds to system release"
"..."
"Ten"
"Nine"
"Eight"
"Seven"
"Six"
"Five"
"Four"
"Three"
"Two"
"One"
Immediately, the engines of Horizon roared to life startling the engineers on board.
"System is back online sir!"
"How the fuck?!"
K stepped forward, "that doesn’t matter, the ship’s way behind schedule. Clear the terminal for take off."
"Who does this fucker think he is?" Someone muttered as they dragged their tools off the ship.
"Clear terminal for take off!"
K strapped himself into the pilot seat and pulled the harness across his chest. His hands clamping around the gear for controlling the vessel.
Around him, Horizon’s cockpit glowed with hundreds of holographic displays. Navigation routes, fuel readings, reactor output and communications channels floated across the air.
"Kagu."
"I’m here."
"Are you ready?"
The Ai appeared next to control panel, on an outlet. K raised an eyebrow behind his helmet
Her usual frilly dress top and jeans was gone, replaced with a black V-neck top and short frilly skirt paired with platform Mary Janes.
"Yes, I’m deploying a stand in drone routed to the designated planet, reroute as soon as I give the word."
"Roger"
Outside the cockpit viewport, technicians hurried away from the launch platform.
The massive hangar doors were already opening again.
Layers of armored steel folded apart overhead, revealing a clear stretch of sky.
A warning chime echoed throughout the vessel.
LAUNCH SEQUENCE INITIATED
The cockpit vibrated.
Low at first. Then harder.
K rested one arm on the armrest as the ship’s reactors awakened beneath him.
The entire vessel hummed as power readings began climbing.
20%.
40%.
65%.
90%.
Green indicators lit up across the dashboard.
A voice echoed outside the ship.
"Expedition Vessel Horizon, you are cleared for departure."
The clamps re-attached to the vessel released with a heavy metallic THUNK.
The ship shifted slightly.
K felt it immediately.
Thousands of tons of metal suddenly free.
"Engines online."
Blue light flooded the launch bay.
The engines roared.
Heat filled the air outside.
The floor beneath K shook violently.
For a moment Horizon remained stationary.
Then the ship rose. The launch platform fell away beneath him.
The hangar walls slid downward past the viewport. Workers began to look no bigger than insects.
K watched as the ship continued climbing.
Faster. And faster.
The city surrounding Command briefly came into view before disappearing behind the vessel.
Clouds rushed toward him. The hull trembling as Horizon punched into the atmosphere.
Several warning lights flashed.
K tightened his grip on the control gear.
"Hey, they let you have your armor back" Kagu cooed.
"This is not my armor, bastards gave me a normal battle suit."
"Sucks to be you."
"Kagu."
"I’m kidding."
The ship surged upward again.
White clouds disappearing past the viewport and opening into the dark expanse of space.
The vibrations lessened.
The pressure eased.
The climb had stabilized.
K glanced at the altitude indicator.
The numbers were normal.
"Horizon has successfully exited Meredith’s atmosphere." He reported back to ground.
"All thanks to big girl Kagu!"
Kagu sounded far too proud of herself.
"As if you launched it personally."
"I practically did."
K snorted.
Below them, Meredith shrank rapidly.
Ahead, endless space stretched across the viewport.
"Decoy drone as been deployed, notw rerouting ship to Nythera"
The navigation hologram flashed onto the main display.
DESTINATION: NYTHERA
The engines adjusted course.
Horizon tilted slightly.
Then accelerated into the darkness.
"How long will it take to get to Nythera?"
"About a day...the planet where the expedition is occurring is Planet T5-01P. It’s two days apart from Nythera."
"Which means?"
"Which means it is closer. Once we get to Nythera, we can retrieve your friend’s body go back to T5-01P without anyone noticing. And to make things better the expedition goes on for 4 days!"
"It takes about a day to get to Nythera, two days to get to T5-01P from Nythera. If all goes well. We arrive just in time for the team’s departure"
"Yes!"
"Alright, going full speed ahead. I can’t afford to waste time"
T-minus 0030 to destination.
Location: X-Nythera
"Nythera is a planet, home to evolved wild life and forestlife. It’s being considered a second home planet to Meredith. Although its experiences gravitational pressure compared to Meredith and Earth. Evolution has favored the creatures of this planet, granted stronger muscles, denser bones and sturdy bodies."
"So a house cat on Meredith is like a lion here?"
"No, In terms of strength and agility and on which planet both animals have a face-off"
"Hm"
"I’ll scan the area and find a landing spot and also scope out a clear scene free of wild animals."
"Got it"
T-minus 0005 to destination.
...
[ACHIEVEMENT]
»Traveller
-Travel a distance over 1000km
...
K frowned, he had nearly forgotten about the system.
"Horizon is entering Nythera’s atmosphere." Kagu announced.
The cockpit lights dimmed automatically as Horizon crossed the threshold into Nythera’s orbital space.
A soft chime echoed through the ship.
Entering planetary orbit.
K barely heard the automated announcement.
His attention was fixed on the viewport.
The planet filled nearly half the darkness before him.
For a moment he simply stared.
Meredith had always looked familiar from orbit. Cities. Defense platforms. Orbital elevators. The scars of civilization visible even from space.
Nythera was different.
It looked untouched.
Massive cloud systems churned across the atmosphere in slow spirals of silver and blue. Vast continents stretched beneath them, covered by endless forests so dense they appeared almost black from this distance.
No orbital stations. Atleast from where K was.
No satellites.
No signs of human habitation.
Yet K couldn’t shake the feeling that something other than Shira’s body was here.
A faint vibration travelled through Horizon’s hull.
The navigation display flickered.
Then flickered again.
K frowned.
"Did we hit something?"
"No."
Kagu appeared above the control panel, legs swinging idly.
"Then why is my ship shaking?"
"The ship isn’t shaking."
K looked at her.
The AI slowly turned toward the viewport.
"...it really isn’t shaking."
The vibration came again.
Stronger this time.
The stars in Nythera’s sky warped slightly.
Almost like heat distortion.
K straightened in his seat.
"Tell me you see that."
"I don’t, K, what is it?"
"I have no idea."
The distortion vanished.
Just like that.
As though it had never existed.
The cockpit fell silent once again.
Then dozens of notifications suddenly exploded before his eyes.
...
[[QUEST]]
»Retrieve the Sacrilege Of The Oracle«
...
That caught his attention the most.
"This is where it is!"
He shot up, the seat belt forcing back into his seat.
"What?"
"Her body...it’s here!"
"And how do you know that?"
SCANNING...
SCANNING...
SCANNING...
K nearly jumped again.
"Kagu."
"Stay still"
The ship rocked as it dived. It’s head flaming red as it breached Nythera’s sky.
"Hit fhe damn brakes! The gravitational pressure here is more, we’re going to crash if you don’t ease the ship!"
"Fuck!"
The AI’s holographic face paled as K switched gears, pulling it back as hard as it could.
"Hang on!"
K felt his heartbeat quicken with each sway the ship made.
"I’m going to jumpstart the ship!"
"What? No!"
But Kagu didn’t wait to hear his retort. The ship’s panel went dead, it fell even faster now
"Kagu!"
"Pull the dead lever as soon as the system comes online!"
The ship tilted, "Fuck!"
"Now!"
The panels brightened, K quickly pulled the lever. The ship jerked and came to a stop before slowly descending.
"Wow, I nearly burnt a fuse there"
The ai sighed as she wiped digital sweat off her face,
"I’ll scan the area for any lifeform so we can land the ship properly."
"..."
Kagu gave him a thumbs up before holographic images flooded her vision, leaving K to observe from fhe viewport.
Limitless expanse of water and forestry greeted him. Birds twice as large as the ones on Meredith screeched as they flew past, animals he couldn’t properly spot trudged into the greenery.
The planet’s sea side glowed faintly with veins of blue bioluminescence stretching across the floor beds.
The lights pulsed.
K’s stomach dropped.
The glowing patterns weren’t random.
They were moving.
Like blood pulsing through veins.
Like something alive beneath the surface.
"Kagu."
"Yeah?"
"Do floor beds emit pulsing lights?"
"...considering how this is not a really explored planet. I would say it’s possible here."
Neither spoke after that.
Far below them, somewhere beneath the trees of Nythera, something shifted.
A shadow larger yet smaller moved beneath the atmosphere.
Gone almost as quickly as it appeared.
"I found a clear spot! Land at this coordinates!"
K gripped the controls navigating them towards the given location.
"I’ll rerun a scan sequence, please tell me your ’friend’ is guiding you too"
K shrugged.
Now that he thought of it, Shira hadn’t bugged him since their departure and even the day before.
"If you’re there. I need to know what I’m doing"
No response.
...
[[QUEST]]
»Elimante hostile entity(0/1)—0%«
...
K’s back prickled. Quickly, he unstrapped the seatbelt and dashed outside.
Right behind their ship, on the vast ocean surface. Stood something. Still. In its hands sat two staffs, one long and one short.
"K! I’m picking up heat signals behind our ship!"
"So do I."
