After walking for a while, a massive problem presented itself: at the various forks in the tunnel, there were almost no paths leading up. They all led further down.
If this kept up, they would only plunge deeper and deeper, straight toward the planet's mantle!
No one knew just how vast this subterranean network was. They had hiked and crawled for two hours without seeing an end in sight.
They had found a few ascending tunnels, but most pointed in the completely wrong direction—some even led back toward the overheating nuclear reactor! The remaining upward routes were simply too narrow for a human wearing bulky powered armor to squeeze through.
What could they do? Stranded 500 meters below ground, they couldn't exactly dig their way to the surface!
This grim reality weighed heavily on the entire squad. They could only strictly ration their cooling agents, lengthen their strides, and pray they found a viable exit before their time ran out.
It wasn't that Jason had led them astray. The general vector he had chosen was dead on. Furthermore, the 3D maps generated by the geology team pointed directly toward the exit of Cavern B11. No one could have predicted this vertical dead-end!
Now, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and push forward, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the crash site as possible. Turning back to take a nuclear blast to the face wasn't exactly an option...
"Hang in there, everyone! Just a few more kilometers!"
Prolonged hardship and suffering have a way of forging human willpower. Since its inception, the Federation had rarely known true peace. The harsh, unforgiving realities of space had inadvertently tempered the spirit of its citizens. It had taught them that when disaster strikes, the first instinct isn't to run away, but to find a way to overcome it.
Everyone knew their life was their own responsibility. In a life-or-death scenario, complaining was useless; it only bred toxic morale. Understanding this, the survivors swallowed their fear and silently marched on.
Several patients who had been injected with broad-spectrum immunotherapies were suffering from agonizing joint pain, yet they gritted their teeth without making a sound. The soldiers with fractured legs were drenched in cold sweat, despite the heavy painkillers, but they, too, remained silent.
Occasionally, a few Senior Scientists would quietly marvel at the bizarre subterranean ecosystem and the alien fauna scurrying about, which helped to marginally lift the oppressive atmosphere...
A wave of profound respect washed over Jason.
The eighty-odd scientists and engineers, along with the nearly twenty Federation Marines present, were the best of the best, carefully selected over three grueling years of training.
They had survived for two months on this godforsaken rock called Nyx, subsisting on field rations. The moment they stepped outside their base, they were plunged into eternal darkness, forced to wear heavy powered armor 24/7. In such an extreme environment, a person's nerves inevitably hardened into steel.
But why had they volunteered for such a brutal colonization mission in the first place?
Unfortunately, planetary reclamation couldn't be entirely automated. Humanity had to get its hands dirty—it was a duty they couldn't shirk. Beyond that, the thrill of exploring the unknown was a passion that gave their lives meaning.
The slogan "For all mankind" was too abstract. On a personal level, they were simply driven by an insatiable curiosity and a deep-seated sense of duty.
People often do irrational things—like falling in love or making sacrifices that offer no personal gain. They knew this planetary reclamation project wouldn't bring them fame or fortune, yet thousands had still volunteered to lead the charge...
Humans were beautifully contradictory creatures. Despite a natural instinct for self-preservation, they didn't operate like cold algorithms, constantly calculating the most self-serving outcome. That was, perhaps, the greatest distinction between a human soul and artificial intelligence.
"We're almost there! Keep moving, everyone!" Jason continued to rally the team. He was like a steady anchor, providing a warmth and assurance that kept the darkness at bay.
The cavern wasn't completely pitch-black, patches of bioluminescent fungi provided a faint glow but it wasn't nearly enough to navigate by. The squad had to rely entirely on their helmets' night-vision arrays.
Their visors utilized two primary modes: low-light amplification and infrared thermal imaging. Low-light mode provided a grayscale view that closely mimicked natural sight. However, when the scientists toggled their thermal imaging to observe the local fauna, they noticed something incredible.
Almost every organism registered a distinct, intensely bright red core inside its body, roughly analogous to a human heart. This thermal hotspot didn't pulse; it burned steadily like an internal furnace!
The biologists were astounded, theorizing it might be a highly specialized thermal-storage organ unique to this subterranean ecosystem. It was a tragedy they couldn't stop to take proper samples.
The air was incredibly humid. The rock walls were slick and coated in a slimy residue that felt like wet soap.
Over the course of three hours, the survivors had hiked, scrambled, and crawled nearly twenty to thirty kilometers. It was a blistering pace, especially considering the terrain wasn't a paved road, but a jagged, treacherous obstacle course!
At times, the tunnel ceilings dropped below a meter, forcing the hundred-person convoy to crawl on their stomachs in single file. Their heavy powered armor scraped harshly against the stone, the metallic screeching echoing through the caverns. The noise agitated swarms of local cave-dwellers, causing them to flutter frantically or even drop onto the soldiers.
However, the moment the creatures touched the freezing, frosted outer plating of the armor, they shrieked in panic and scattered as if they'd touched hot iron.
Powered armor... Thank God they had their suits! Without those reinforced hulls and the layer of artificial frost, the sheer volume of aggressive alien life would have torn them apart.
Emerging from the latest claustrophobic crawlspace, the vanguard finally stepped into a massive, open expanse!
This sprawling cavern covered roughly two hundred square meters. Several massive, naturally formed stone pillars supported the towering ceiling. The rock surfaces here were glazed with the hardened residue of insect acid, rendering the structural supports incredibly dense and sturdy.
"Captain, request permission to halt!" Engineer William panted over the comms. "We've pushed for twenty or thirty clicks, and the team is running on fumes. Besides, my instruments show we are geographically right beneath the primary exit coordinate. But... how do we get up? There's half a kilometer of solid rock between us and the surface! Are we supposed to dig out with our bare hands?"
Jason offered a bitter smile. "It's a tactical nightmare. The telemetry from the geology team's mainframes confirms this is the X-Y coordinate. But you're right; there's a 500-meter-thick vertical ceiling above us. Should we... hunker down and wait for a rescue team?"
He paused, a dark shadow crossing his face. "...Assuming the nuclear detonation in three hours doesn't vaporize this entire grid sector."
A young Marine stepped forward. "Captain, why don't we run a quick recon sweep of the perimeter? A few of us still have some juice left in the tank. Let us see if there's a concealed vertical shaft."
Jason considered the tactical risk before nodding decisively. "Alright. Move out as a tight fireteam. No splitting up. You have exactly thirty minutes to report back. Keep your heads on a swivel, understood?"
The Marines immediately snapped to attention, throwing crisp salutes. "Yes, sir!"
They quickly squeezed through an adjacent fissure in the rock wall.
Suddenly, a catastrophic, earth-shattering roar erupted from the deep, violently shaking the ground. The entire squad lost their footing and was thrown to the cavern floor.
Immediately after, a deafening shockwave ripped through the tunnels!
The nuclear reactor had detonated prematurely!
Jason scrambled to his feet, screaming into the comms, "Earthquake! Brace for impact! Get to the walls! Hug the pillars! Hands over your heads! Move! Move! Move!"
