19th of May, Year 2109

Andromeda Galaxy

1300 hour

Sector 118

"LEVIATHAN, this is Surveyor No.36 reporting a fly-by on Sector 118. Advise 118 not to intercept my vessel, over."

.

.

.

"No.36, this is LEVIATHAN. We have alerted them and 119 of your fly-by so expect no interceptors coming your way, over."

.

.

.

"Copy that, LEVIATHAN. Survey of the new Warp Point is almost done. EST.. 5 minutes. At this point, I have started sending the necessary data for any obstructions of the new Point, celestial substances or the like. Will contact again soon for any changes, over and out."

.

.

.

My name is Kleister Vosk L. Ponciano, a Senior Surveyor of the 22nd Combat Surveyor Corps of the SOLEAR SAF-10 "LEVIATHAN". And what you have just seen above was me updating my fleet's Flagship with my activity.

Now that my hourly call with the Flagship has ended, it's time to check on my ship for any problems.

I asked my A.I. buddy Biz for a status report, "Biz, give me a complete report on the ship's current status for this hour."

—Opening File.word.maintenace.report..

—..File opened. Displaying document on Hologram..

.

.

..now.

Hm, as usual. Nothing went wrong this hour as well. Must be my lucky day haha..

..or at least, that's what I thought.

One of the ship's thrusters immediately exploded and rocked the ship violently, making me feel dizzy. Alarms are going off one after another and the speed of the ship is increasing at an alarming rate.

Of course, I must do something. So I smashed the glass of the emergency shut down lever just a few meters away from me, grabbed it and pushed it down as hard as I could but it's barely budging.

"Come on, come on! I'm not ready to die, yet!"

I used my other hand to push it down even more..

..and it went down all the way! The ship immediately shut its system down, along with my A.I. buddy Biz.

But the ship's speed isn't decreasing at any moment. Plus, huge debris of asteroids can be seen just two kilometers away from the ship.

Losing hope to survive this ordeal, I buckled up, closed my eyes, and laughed it off.

"Hahaha.. guess that means no more Christmas Parties for me then. Oh well.."

...Yet another problem shows up.

A blinding beam of light suddenly appeared. I tried to open my eyes a wee bit but because of the brightness, both of my eyes hurt. I have been bedazzled by it.

And here's where things get.. weird for me.

For some unknown reason, I can hear electric sounds similar to an EMP launcher when loaded. After attempting to open my eyes, the blinding lights quickly vanish and are immediately followed by a.. purple cloud with purple lightning?

Dumbfounded at what I'm seeing, I did nothing. Absolutely nothing. I stare like it's the first time I'm seeing it. Childish, I know.

Without warning, the purple thingy started to do a circular movement at the middle and the ship immediately went directly to the said purple thing.

Scared, I placed my hands and arms on the arm rest of the chair I'm sitting, "Not taking any chances. That thing is bad news!" I said to myself as I stare at that thing sucking my ship towards it.

After the ship got sucked on a certain distance, the suction immediately went mad, causing me to collapse due to the sudden movement (which I'm weak of, btw) caused by the suction force of that.. thing.

————

"Ah, pure darkness. I am quite sure I'm dead. But first, let me just-" I pinched my arm so hard in dream and it hurts.

Wait, it hurts..?

My eyelids are kinda itchy. And as soon as I opened my eyes wide, I felt a bit disappointed..

..that I survived. Luckily, with minor injuries.

As I stare above the ship that no longer has it's top hull, I was astonished at what I'm seeing: Clouds! I'm seeing clouds just like in Earth!

But the humidity.. it's different than that of Earth's. It's also cold and these spiral-looking leaves (?) are riding along the wind, which is so beautiful to watch.

Perhaps.. I'm on a planet with the same characteristics as Earth?

Surveying the lands of this strange planet is a must! Well..

..after a quick shut-eye. I'm tired, "I deserve some rest. So let me.." I immediately blacked out, really.

—————

"Stay and be the lookout of thy object, Dextun. Backup is what we need."

"..Fine, I'll stay. But come back with strong reinforcements, Commander."

End of Prologue

PART 1: INTO THE UNKNOWN PLANET

"Yawn.. mrrghh. That was uncomfortable but oh well, it was worth the rest anyway."

I looked around the ship again, and the damage is really bad. But there could be any salvageable things that can aid me with exploring this strange world.

Oh and, bringing Biz along with me will be handy. But first, I must conduct a power override for Biz's reactivation.

While looking for it, I thought the override button didn't survive the crash. But fortunately, it's still there and unscathed.

I pushed it..

..and the ship is still operational, much to my surprise.

I called out Biz, "You're back online, Biz?"

There was a long pause, but eventually it answered back to me (finally).

"I am back online. I am now conducting a damage report and a list of possible things that can be salvaged here. Please give me five minutes for a complete report."

Hm, perhaps I should wait again. Only Biz knows the whole interior and functions.

"Okay. Make sure that it's a complete report."

"..." No response. It might've started. In the meantime, a good look outside might be the best thing to do for now.

So I did just that. But getting out of here is no easy feat. Lots of metallic stuff are on the floor and one wrong step and it's game over for me.

While I reached the emergency hatch (I went there because the main won't budge), I accidentally cut my arm because I didn't see the sharp point of a bent metal beam.

Unlocked, I slowly opened the hatch. It's really cold, just like what I felt near the cockpit.

After it went all the way, I pushed myself up and wow, the scenery is so... mesmerizing.

The majestic mountains at the horizon, strange flying animals that *kinda* looks like birds all around, a flower patch filled with uh... weird-looking red flowers.

And the trees! it's also very strange. Each tree trunk has different colors. Brown, Light Brown, Dark Brown, Purple (???) and Grey. Seriously, what the heck with the colors.

Despite the strangeness, I still find this world beautiful and jaw-dropping due to fantastic, yet weird nature. Guess I should consider this planet the "New Earth" since it feels and looks like Earth.

My sightseeing got interrupted to a continuous beeping of my watch. Unfortunately, the glass and its light feature isn't functioning.

Since it's beeping so much, that means Biz's done with the reports.

"I can take a look at the place later. For now, let's see which stuff can still be used and aid me in certain situations in the near future," I said to myself, filled with confidence and positive vibes.

But now I feel kind of weird since I'm feeling fine despite this happening to me, which shouldn't have happened in the first place. Agh... I'll just check on the report first then worry the rest later.

End of Chapter 1

--Inspection Complete--, is what I'm seeing on a broken TV screen right after I entered back inside the ship.

"Can you announce your complete report to me, Biz? I'll listen instead of reading it."

After three consecutive beeps, Biz replied, "Understood. Announcing File #01 titled, "Salvageable items" in progress.."

All of the undamaged speakers turned on and Biz's voice is booming all around, with the echo being strong.

"Testing, testing. Mic, Mic test," whispered Biz. Though whispering is *kinda* useless since I can still hear its A.I. voice due to strong echo.

Got bored, so I took a quick power nap at my pilot seat to pass time. But it's hard to nap at all because of sudden echoey booms and mic drops (?) from the speakers at any time. But I eventually fell asleep so all's good.

Biz woke me up by making the seat vibrate in a violent matter. Of course, I waked up and stands up, with some jitters all over my body thanks to the vibration.

Honestly, it's annoying how this A.I. tries to wake me up.

"Speaker adjusted. Executing task.. now," Biz started announcing the following items that are still useful:

–Salvageable Items–

20 Packs of Military Rations (unscratched)

10 Liters of Distilled Water (no leaks, unscratched)

57 Large-sized Titanium Sheets (minor damages, still useful)

1 Water Purifier (no damage)

2 Energy Cores (no damage, no leaks)

3 Railgun (minor damages, needs re-wiring)

1 Heavy Missile Launcher (Heavily Damaged. Scrapping of this weaponry is recommended in accordance to the Second Doctrine)

2 AK-74s

30,000 Bullets (AK-74)

30 Extra AK Magazine

1 Silencer

1 4x Infrared Scope

2 Maintenance Tool Kit (AK-74)

1 Universal Tool Kit

1 Revolver

2,000 Bullets (Revolver)

SOLEAR Galaxy Map

1 Night Vision Binoculars

—BEEEP—

"End of Report. Did I meet your expectations, sir?" Biz asked the usual question.

"Yup, as always. Now then, will you help me sorting things out by re-wiring the Railguns and scrapping of the Missile Launcher?" I asked Biz some help in the nicest way possible.

Hopefully, he won't be mad for making him do the hard work.

"As you wish, sir."

Huh, that was a.. fascinating response from Biz. Oh well, time to do my part.

From the report earlier, there are 20 Packs of Rations, 10 Liters of Distilled Water, 2 AKs, and 30K bullets for the AKs. Seriously, how come the ship managed to hold such heavy cargo?

Secret technology, perhaps? Or a hidden cargo bay that even I did not know? Oh goodness, let's not rub it in because it's giving me the creeps.

I asked Biz on the whereabouts of the food, water, and weapons. Out of nowhere, a big vault immediately appeared at the middle of the ship.

"I turned it total invisibility cloak off. This vault has been placed here without you knowing a thing. The High Command observes your movements and noticed that you barely go at the back of the ship so they planned to place it here with the cloak activated and keeping you at bay by conducting the maintenance of the ship's electrical and thrusters system.

I apologize in advance if it is a big deal for you but I must follow orders to never reveal anything about this until necessary," explained Biz while apologizing in the process. Seems like he's very obedient to the higher-ups that it's scaring me, knowing that it's an A.I. because they can be so loyal than humans.

Regardless, it certainly helped me out in terms of basic necessities and self-defense so I bid my thanks to the High Command.

Still, it baffles me how the ship manages to hold such very heavy cargo all this time.

Eh, what the heck. I need to see the inside of the vault for confirmation.

"Can you open the vault, please?" I asked Biz. Please say yes..

"Understood. Opening the Vault Door. Please wait for a few seconds," Biz responded. Now, I wait.

And with the Vault now unlocked, all of what Biz said in the report is indeed true.

The food, water, weapons, tool kits, and ammunition are all in there safe and sound.

"Your report is very accurate for a change. Good Job," I applauded Biz.

All I heard next were continuous beeping all over the ship. Guess it's very happy, I guess (?).

Now then, time to take a closer look at 'em. Hopefully, every single one of them is unscratched after the scratch.

End of Chapter 2