destination.
“There it is,” Leon said pointing down into a valley at a black hole that rested in the side of a small mountain.
A lot of planet Flare consisted of hills and mountains on the outer edge of desert landscapes. Even the young mountains of Flare greatly triumphed in size over even the largest of ones found on earth.
“At least we don’t have to climb it,” Tyler said as he looked up to the peak which scaled up through the clouds.
“Never did scale Everest back on Earth. Always kicked myself for not doing it, but doing so would be a walk in the park compared to this terrain,” Leon added.
“And just think, the kids of tomorrow will consider this the norm. You tell them about Earth back home, they will just laugh,” Tyler pointed out.
The three of them continued towards the cave for a little over an hour until reaching the entrance. Eerie drips of water echoed out from the pitch black unknown with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat.
“So, why can’t we just send Aries in there alone to grab the map. I mean, she even has night vision,” Kaito raised.
“We can not afford to lose another AI drone. Let’s go,” Leon ordered with no hesitation to even consider Kaito’s suggestion.
The three entered the cave and flipped their weapons’ flashlights on. At first glance the interior look very typical of a standard cavern, but on closer observation Tyler could see hieroglyphics carved out above canals that were stained red.
Taking his right hand off his rifle, Tyler wiped a gloved finger along one of the aqueducts. The red stains were still sticky and wet. He smeared the substance against his pants and clasped his fingers again around his rifle.
“It stinks worse than I remember,” Kaito said covering his mouth as if about to vomit in disgust.
“Shut up and focus,” Leon snapped.
Tyler scanned the cave, which aside from its grotesque stink, was almost a refreshing location to be. The air was much colder than out in the open under the scorching hot sun. Stalactites hung from the roof and steadily dripped the condensation they collected from the air's moisture. There were even bats. Tyler froze. “Those bats are the size of a small child,” Tyler said.
“Told ya,” Kaito whimpered.
“If you want to be afraid of some bats, maybe you shouldn’t have signed up for traveling to an unknown fucking planet. Hell, you could have ventured to Australia for big, scary bats,” Leon threatened and blustered.
Kaito was obviously terrified of the things and rightfully so. They definitely gave Tyler the creeps. While the bats native to the country of Australia back on earth were indeed big, they were infants compared to these monstrosities that hung suspended above. But in the end he figured it best to stay quiet from here on as Leon was clearly getting annoyed.
“Alright Aries, start with the laser scan first. Then we will move on to sonar,” Leon instructed Tyler’s bot.
The drone flew up to the center of the large cavern room and began projecting small red lasers in every direction. As they moved throughout and forward, the strings of light lit up more of the bats--each one seemingly bigger than the last. No sign of the bugs that attacked the night before. Tyler couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched as the three of them and the two drones continued on deeper into the unknown.
Random pockets of a thick, tall, red, grassy-looking type of plant swayed back and forth. The air had a draft, but not so much that these plants should be flowing in the manner that they were. Tyler reached out and touched one. It quickly wrapped gently around his hand. It didn’t seem to be any type of threat, but it was strange to say the least. One of the brown, spikey lizards he had seen the day before out in the sun was on the wall behind some of the brush. Tyler touching the plant frightened the lizard and it ran fast down the wall towards Kaito.
A bat above silently swoop down and Kaito, for a moment, lost
“There it is,” Leon said pointing down into a valley at a black hole that rested in the side of a small mountain.
A lot of planet Flare consisted of hills and mountains on the outer edge of desert landscapes. Even the young mountains of Flare greatly triumphed in size over even the largest of ones found on earth.
“At least we don’t have to climb it,” Tyler said as he looked up to the peak which scaled up through the clouds.
“Never did scale Everest back on Earth. Always kicked myself for not doing it, but doing so would be a walk in the park compared to this terrain,” Leon added.
“And just think, the kids of tomorrow will consider this the norm. You tell them about Earth back home, they will just laugh,” Tyler pointed out.
The three of them continued towards the cave for a little over an hour until reaching the entrance. Eerie drips of water echoed out from the pitch black unknown with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat.
“So, why can’t we just send Aries in there alone to grab the map. I mean, she even has night vision,” Kaito raised.
“We can not afford to lose another AI drone. Let’s go,” Leon ordered with no hesitation to even consider Kaito’s suggestion.
The three entered the cave and flipped their weapons’ flashlights on. At first glance the interior look very typical of a standard cavern, but on closer observation Tyler could see hieroglyphics carved out above canals that were stained red.
Taking his right hand off his rifle, Tyler wiped a gloved finger along one of the aqueducts. The red stains were still sticky and wet. He smeared the substance against his pants and clasped his fingers again around his rifle.
“It stinks worse than I remember,” Kaito said covering his mouth as if about to vomit in disgust.
“Shut up and focus,” Leon snapped.
Tyler scanned the cave, which aside from its grotesque stink, was almost a refreshing location to be. The air was much colder than out in the open under the scorching hot sun. Stalactites hung from the roof and steadily dripped the condensation they collected from the air's moisture. There were even bats. Tyler froze. “Those bats are the size of a small child,” Tyler said.
“Told ya,” Kaito whimpered.
“If you want to be afraid of some bats, maybe you shouldn’t have signed up for traveling to an unknown fucking planet. Hell, you could have ventured to Australia for big, scary bats,” Leon threatened and blustered.
Kaito was obviously terrified of the things and rightfully so. They definitely gave Tyler the creeps. While the bats native to the country of Australia back on earth were indeed big, they were infants compared to these monstrosities that hung suspended above. But in the end he figured it best to stay quiet from here on as Leon was clearly getting annoyed.
“Alright Aries, start with the laser scan first. Then we will move on to sonar,” Leon instructed Tyler’s bot.
The drone flew up to the center of the large cavern room and began projecting small red lasers in every direction. As they moved throughout and forward, the strings of light lit up more of the bats--each one seemingly bigger than the last. No sign of the bugs that attacked the night before. Tyler couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched as the three of them and the two drones continued on deeper into the unknown.
Random pockets of a thick, tall, red, grassy-looking type of plant swayed back and forth. The air had a draft, but not so much that these plants should be flowing in the manner that they were. Tyler reached out and touched one. It quickly wrapped gently around his hand. It didn’t seem to be any type of threat, but it was strange to say the least. One of the brown, spikey lizards he had seen the day before out in the sun was on the wall behind some of the brush. Tyler touching the plant frightened the lizard and it ran fast down the wall towards Kaito.
A bat above silently swoop down and Kaito, for a moment, lost
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