Chapter 2: Chapter 2 : The First Mission

    The ship came to an abrupt stop, and the lights changed colors from bright orange to a calming white. "we have arrived at our destination." Blared the speakers through the Libertas.

    Shepard and the rest of the squad unbuckled their seat belts and prepared to head out when the speakers blared out again, "all the following personnel please head towards the control room, engineering team alpha, biology team alpha, geology team alpha, security squad…"

    "you heard the boss, move soldiers." Sargent Williams ordered the squad and headed towards to control room, leaving the speakers repeating the same message over and over again behind.

    On their way, they truly understood how big the ship was, so many people from all walks of life were walking around the halls, entering and exiting random rooms, making them look more like an ant colony than the first colonizers of a new world.

    "really eye-opening isn't it? sure the ones who want to leave will be able to rotate out in two weeks, but most won't. Thousands of people, from scientists to chefs and fitness instructors are here. This ship will be the center of our civilization on this planet, hundreds of years from now cities will be built around it. That has to make you feel a little proud and invested in this mission." James tried to convince Shepard to let go of his suspicions.

    "yeah, I got the debriefing too. The ship has everything we need to start a civilization, and after the scientists are done with their primary study of the planet the architects, engineers, and construction workers will start building a small colony around it. rotation and supplies will be coming every two weeks. That is exactly why I don't like it, if they can open the gate every two weeks, why would they spend so much money building this thing."

    "yeah, whatever you say, dude. Look that's probably the control room, I can see our charming leader there" James pointed at a massive oval room surrounded by screens with a large table in the middle, where Doctor Moore stood.

    They walked in, followed by the many other teams who were called. The room quickly filled up, each group taking a corner for themselves.

    "ladies and gentlemen, you will be the first teams on the ground. The engineering team will be responsible for setting up the intergalactic communications tower so we can report back to earth. biology and geology teams will go exploring nearby, studying the flora, and looking for any fauna, not that you will find any."

    Doctor Moore clicked a button on the table causing a holographic map to appear from thin air. The map showed a large open field with a red dot in the middle, some mountains, and a massive forest surrounding it.

    "This map shows the terrain in a 10-mile radius around the Libertas. The comms tower will be set up here right next to the ship so they won't need any protection. The others will head toward the forest to the north, accompanied by a small security team of four."

    "with all due respect doctor Moore, I don't believe a small team would be appropriate in this situation. We will be the first people to step foot on this planet, we don't know what could be in that forest. with your permission, I'd like to deploy the entire squad." The Sargent spoke in his usual professional tone.

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    "No, Sargent, sending more of your people could disrupt the operation. There's nothing out there, not even bacteria or viruses. Believe me, I was there when we retrieved the rover. it stayed here for two weeks without catching a glimpse of anything alive."

    The Sargent's request was promptly refused, causing him to sigh and leave the room with his soldiers. "Shepard, James, Rodriguez, and Donut, you're going with the book worms. Just on the off chance that you run into trouble, remember that your guns won't fire until a switch is flipped here, so keep your radio on at all times. Shepard, you got the lead. Make sure those scientists are safe."

    The small team of soldiers met up with their protectees, Shepard greeted the leaders of the two teams. "hello, the name's Shepard, my boys and I will be responsible for your safety on this little hiking trip. Please remember to follow my orders in case something goes-" his words were interrupted by the head of the Geology team, a middle-aged man with greying hair.

    "there won't be any need for your so-called protection, so you can keep your orders to yourself. I don't know why you people are even on this expedition, trigger-happy imbeciles are-" His words were interrupted as well.

    "Please excuse my friend George here, he's just excited. I'm Sarah, head of this biology team, and I'm thankful for your service, we all are. Aren't we George?" the young blond woman looked towards Georg who rolled his eyes and turned his back on her without a word.

    Shepard replied with a simple 'thank you miss', followed by a nod and a smile from him and the other soldiers.

    In typical fashion the loudspeakers came to life, blaring out an announcement, "Teams heading to the northern forests, please head towards platform 14" the speakers repeated the announcement over and over again.

    They got onto the platform, which started rumbling under their feet and started moving downwards exposing the uncharted planet to their naked eyes. Shepard took a deep breath, tasting the unfiltered air of this clean, uncorrupted  world.

    The platform hit the ground and they got off of it. their feet touched the grass, they could see the forest in the distance. it large thick trees no different than those of earth.

    Each step they took was a leap for mankind as a whole, each blade of grass they trampled, each bush they walked by, and every pool of mud their boots sank into was never seen or touched by another human being. merely standing there was a true achievement and testament to humanity's resilience.

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