Space Odyssey: Spectre

The next few hours passed relatively quickly. Mostly because there were no more attacks from either unintelligent or intelligent creatures. It was almost like the calm before the storm as the sun began shining again. With the sun came up the Lance of Thanatos arrived in the system.

"Commander Jace. This is Captain Shilla. Are you still alive on Kager-1?" Shilla asked over an open channel. By this point, Jace was just poking around the corpse to get more footage and confirm his suspicions.

"Alive, but we do have injuries with two in critical condition and one missing a limb." Jace explained. "But all returning assets need to be screened for kitinol mites.

Kitinol mites were a rarity but they lived on other kitinol creatures. They would not be on the horde creatures they killed. But these Apex types that snuck into the camp were infested with them. The mites only lived on creatures that were semi-intelligent. Which typically meant they were only found on larger kitinol that were the size of a mech.

Yet these ones were on these smaller humanoid sized kitinol. Making these creatures intelligent enough to warrant the annoyance of mites.

Mites were rare because as far as they could tell, they were hard to produce. But they were annoying to find and get rid of. A single mite could turn into a queen kitinol which could produce a whole new horde. So they had to be killed as well. Making them a headache to deal with. Fortunately they could not live inside skin or a living person. But it did mean they could climb into wounds or holes in clothes. So the screening for them would have to be through.

"Kitinol Mites?" Shilla asked and Jace was guessing she was being informed when she was quiet. "Understood, we will set up the hangar for that. Is there anything else we should know?"

"Yeah, this planet is weird." Jace told her as he tossed the brain of the kitinol between his hands while walking towards the mining machine. It should be done soon and he would help hook it up to the transport to take it back up to space and the Lance. "We have encountered some type of Apex humanoid sized kitinol with intelligence, that is a first. I also think the local flora and fauna hunt kitinol for food. Then there are the bats that absorb electricity... I could keep going but I think you get my point."

"We will have to make a note of it. Get your people up here. Is the mining done?" Shilla asked.

"Almost, we can cut it off here. But we are leaving behind the electric laser fence. It would be too risky to take anything else besides what we need." Jace explained as he tossed the brain beyond the fence.

"Understood, we will fill up on more ores and minerals while we wait." Shilla declared before ending the communication.

"Arclight, get our injured soldiers to the Lance. The rest will help me hook up the mining machine and the mech." Jace ordered as he moved to the cabin of the mining machine. Inside were a trio of soldiers who were watching over the controls. He did not enter the machine, instead opting to look through the window.

He knocked on the window. His bloodied glove left behind a spot of blood on the reinforced window. One of the soldiers inside gave a thumbs up to him before turning back to the machine. Jace could hear the sound of lasers stopping and the machine stopped rumbling as the vacuum stopped sucking up the ores into the containment unit.

He nodded as he moved toward a large metal pillar that ran through and under the machine. Connected to it by a hook was a weaved metal rope that was as thick as his arm. He grabbed the other end that was another hook and then climbed to the top of the machine.

He waited on the roof of the mining machine while a few other soldiers began climbing the sides of the machine. They were each carrying a hook as well that was attached to various secure points around the machine. This was how they would bring this out of here.

When they first set it up, it was light enough to just need a magnetic clamp from the vehicle transport spacecraft. But now it needed extra harnesses to connect it and secure it so it would not fall during transport.

"Troop Transport number one is returning with the injured to the Lance." The first troop transport took off while the vehicle transport slowly rose over them and moved into position. They were being meticulous.

Once it was just overhead, Jace reached up and slid the hook through the slot and brought it back down. He then watched to make sure the others did the same. Once they did they all descended back down the sides of the machine. "Go ahead and lower." Jace told the pilot as he hung down the side of the machine.

As the transport lowered he and he imagined the others all slowly descended until they were by where the other end of the hook was located. Jace could hear the sound of a metallic and magnetic clamping as the transport secured to the roof of the machine.

"Hook one is secure." One of the soldiers announced as Jace moved his own hook to a secure spot in the pillar and hooked it in. He then looked over at the machine cabin. Finding that the three soldiers were leaving it.

"Leave open a window so the air can escape the cabin." He reminded them. They turned to him and then one stepped back in and slid open a window by the door. "Head over to help secure the mechs." Jace ordered as the other soldiers confirmed their hooks were secure.

After a few more minutes the soldiers had all cleared the machine when the pilot of the transport decided to take off. "I am heading up. Will I need an escort? I am not going to be moving quickly with this kind of load?" The pilot asked over the open channel.

"We will send a fighter escort just in case. But we are not seeing anything on the scans of the system at the moment. But I am sure that will change quickly." Shilla confirmed. "Will the mech transport and troop transport need an escort?"

"Might as well." Jace answered as the wind began whipping against him while sand began scraping off the kitinol and human blood that was coloring his armor. The vehicle transport rose up into the air, as it did Jace went with it. He was still hanging off the side looking into the distance. "The wind and sand is picking up again. Something might come with it."

"Commander Jace, we are having an issue with mechs magnetic locks. Can you get on the roof of the mech transport and check it out?" Captain Arclight asked as the vehicle transport rotated and Jace got a view of the mech transport as it passed under them.

Jace jumped from the side of the mining machine that was secured to the vehicle transport. He landed with a heavy thud onto the top of the mech transport. The transport designed for mechs was actually more similar to the troop transport rather than the vehicle transport. But it did have external components that would help keep the mechs locked in the holders built inside of the large transport which was similar to the old large drop pods.

He moved to the edge of the transport as the shadow of the vehicle transport passed overhead. When he arrived at the edge where the magnetic components were located he found nestled in the opening hidden in the dark was a bat curled up. It was still alive and sleeping.

"Do we have any boxes or containers in the troop transport?" Jace asked. He could remove it, but he might as well take it with them. It was a unique version of a bat. It could be studied to figure out what exactly was done to this planet. "Also pilots run full hull scans for your ships." Jace ordered as he checked the other alcoves near the magnetic clamps. There were a few other bats but not all of them had one.

"I am all good. Nothing is lurking on my ship’s hull." The troop transport pilot confirmed.

"I am seeing a few creatures hidden near the docking clamps." The mech transport pilot admitted. "They are small and I am guessing they are what you found."

"Correct." Jace looked over the side of the transport and saw one of the soldiers showing him an empty box and lid. "Throw both up to me. We will take them as biological samples."

The soldier heaved and then threw it upward. It barely reached Jace before it began falling again. But Jace snatched it out of the air. He then moved the white bats into the box. Keeping them asleep and contained.