Space Odyssey: Spectre

Jace arrived at the drop pod less than an hour later. He had been on the ground for roughly two hours and most of it was spent moving through swamp lands. As he got closer he could see the damage that was done to the drop pod.

The paint near the dents were completely demolished while the dents showed visible holes in them. He walked around the beach that it was resting on. The beach was made of gravel.

Once he was on the front of the drop pod he looked for the emergency handle on the side by the hatch. But as he looked around he realized the front of the pod had been damaged. So the emergency handle had been completely warped. But so had the hatch for the drop pod.

Jace looked out at the swamp and saw Tako was a few minutes away. So he turned his attention back to the drop pod. "Looks like the drop pod had a particularly rough landing." Jace told Tako through the radio channel.

"Can you open it up?" Tako asked.

"I can but to do so I will need to tear off the hatch doors." Jace crouched down and looked closer. There was a crack between the hatch doors that he could see through. Beyond the crack he could see a shock trooper that was limp in their seat.

"See if Parrot's suit has been breached. As long as there is no metal cutting into her you can tear off the doors." Tako explained. "I am worried that she might bleed out if she has a wound that is being kept together by a piece of shrapnel."

"I will keep a lookout for it. I will move her out of the pod. You should be close enough for your heads up display to connect to my camera. I am broadcasting short range now." Jace told Tako as he put his hand in the crack.

"Understood, I am watching it now."

Jace put strength in as he pulled on the hole. The metal began creaking as he pulled. He had to steadily increase his strength until there was a loud pop. One of the doors came flying off and he shifted suddenly as the door came flying off. He had to catch himself with a hand to prevent himself from falling over.

Then he took a closer look inside the drop pod. Parrot was out cold, definitely knocked out during the landing. He took another moment to pull off the other door and tossed it to the side.

Jace leaned forward and unlatched them from the drop pod. He pulled Parrot out of the drop pod and stepped back laying them on the gravel. He looked over their body moving them on their sides to see if they were damaged in a spot he did not initially see.

There was no visual damage on the external part of the armor. But anything external he could not do anything about. Instead he would leave them alone for Tako to take a look. The armor would keep any injuries from worsening.

He turned his attention back to the drop pod. He then turned off his video transmitter. "There were no visible injuries or external damage to the armor." Jace told them as he moved into the drop pod.

The drop pod was severely damaged. While the equipment was mostly still intact. Seems they were a sniper. They had a gear bag standard for a long term assignment with extra rations. It was still completely intact. While the assault rifle was damaged it was on the side of the drop pod that was severely damaged. The assault rifle had been split in half. The bullets were still fine along with the magazines. Then the sniper rifle that was on the other side was still intact. The magazines were a different type compared to the rest of the ammunition they had.

There was nothing else of note that was in the drop pod. "That should be fine. I will take off their helmet to see if they have any hidden injuries." Tako informed him.

Jace nodded as he pulled out the rest of the gear and even the damaged equipment. Then he began salvaging the drop pod for parts so he could make a high powered transmitter and receiver. He was pulling out just about anything he could use to make the equipment they would need.

The drop pod was badly damaged. He was not able to find a decent interface among the pieces of technology that he could use. All of the interfaces were shattered or broken.

The devices needed for receivers were available. He would be able to easily make a receiver with enough time. The tech needed for transmitters was not as available. So it would be impossible to make either device.

But for either one he would need to have a large power source and a converter. He had plenty of power sources in his bag. But not even a drop pod would have what he needed for a converter.

Jace put the pieces of technology in Parrot's bag. He had a feeling he might have to carry the bag anyways.

"How is she? Still no reaction?" Tako walked over the mud getting spread everywhere.

"Nope, she is all yours. She is still alive. I can hear her heartbeat." Jace informed him. He had realized Parrot was a woman a bit ago when he was looking through her bag. Certain items only women hold onto.

Tako crouched down by Parrot and pulled a device out of his bag. He put it near her helmet. There was a beeping from the device. "She is unconscious. It does not look like she passed out from the impact. She went unconscious from the force of gravitational pressure. How do you think that happened?"

"She probably failed to adjust for the winds. Her pod was probably spinning like a top. Which explains the damage to the drop pod now. How long before she is awake. I want to set up the bomb and leave in case some of Hoodwink's people come looking." Jace informed him as he prepared all of the gear and even the broken assault rifle.

"Understood sir." Tako responded. Jace quickly programmed the bomb for an hour.

Jace stood and looked around. He began figuring out the route they would take to get to the chain of islands he had seen. They had man made bridges so they were their best chance to find some semblance of civilization.

Several minutes passed until he decided the best route would be moving along the ridge he walked on top of to get here. He then looked up the mountain. "I am moving away from Parrot's pod. I am going to get a better look of the area." They could spare a few minutes for him to take a look and get a better understanding of their situation.

Jace then dropped his bag and rotary machine gun near Parrot's gear. He then began walking up the steep slope up to the mountain's cliff face. Parrot's drop pod had landed on the gravel beach that was just shy of the mountain itself.

He was honestly surprised that there were no falling rocks while he was standing there for so long. But as he began climbing the rock he realized why. This entire mountain was made out of a sturdy ore.

He also realized as he went from hand hold to hand hold that it was not accurate to call this thing a mountain. It would be more accurate to depict it as a spire. It was not twisting or anything like that but it did have several other sibling spires that were reaching up just to the edge of the dust and gas layer of the planet.

From his raised point he was able to see the surrounding area. To one side was the forested swamp he landed in, that reached for a few miles until it stopped at some hilly grasslands. Then on the other side was an ocean.

The ocean reached until the next spire which was roughly nine miles away. He could see the spire had its own ridges and four directions with four different environments.

Then the islands and bridges he had seen earlier were only the start. Far in the distance he could make out a structure. "I found some civilization." Jace spoke over the channel as he began to climb down. "We have to head along the top of one of the ridges to get there. Is she mobile?"

"No, she is still waking up. But even if she does get mobile, I will need to support her until the fog of unconsciousness fully wears off." Tako answered as Jace reached the bottom of the spire and jumped down.

He slid slightly on the gravel before quickly walking to Tako and Parrot's position. He arrived as he began pulling up Parrot. "I will get her gear and equipment. Start heading the way I came from. Be careful of the moss, it is slippery."

Jace picked up all of the bags and extra weapons. As he stood up he could actually feel the additional weight. But he ignored it as he moved to catch up with Tako and Parrot.

But he stopped mid step and looked towards the chain of islands they were heading to as he could hear something. At the moment to most people it would only be a small dot on the horizon. But to him he could clearly see the tactical emergency atmosphere based transport, it was usually called by its nickname. A chopper.