February 21, 2106 (military calendar)Iv'Lux(transted) 40, 1(Tukyarid calendar)GriffinMarching through the sand and dust reminds me of the Sahara back on Earth. Except this pce is hotter likely due to the entire pnet being a desert.

  Luckily some of the probes Cole sent out found ice asteroids so water won’t be too big of a problem. The air seems breathable but I’m not going to risk an unfiltered breath anytime soon.

  Part of my attention drifts to the sentinel that’s rolling with us now. Her hands are lightly shaking but it can’t be from nerves, right? I’ll trust our tyrant Spero to uphold the impossible requirements for sentinels so the shaking is probably something else.

  I’m thankful for my armor on this pnet because even though rough measurements put the gravity at ninety percent of Earth we are loaded heavy and again it’s hotter than shit outside the armor.

  I have my new sword that was barely finished before our drop and a sidearm along with my ICWS rifle. Jed has an SMG and an MMG fed by a backpack. Barbosa has a dmr and a ICWS.

  Wraith has his rifle and an ICWS. Rabbit has a shotgun and grenade uncher. Of course, all of us also have our specialized gear like breaching equipment and medical supplies.

  Silver has a mix of everything having a DMR, rocket uncher, and an MMG. I feel confident all our bases are covered and we can at least piss off anything that we come across.

  “We’ve arrived at the entrance” Klicks suddenly states. He opens up a very well hidden hatch revealing a vertical shaft with no visible way to climb.

  I go ahead and mark the location and toss it to Tanya.

  That doesn’t matter because of our mobility units. “Jed drop-down guns up let us know if it’s clear I’ll hold our guide”

  Jed nods and drops down with about a second of free fall so it’s about a nine-meter drop. He gives the all-clear so I follow next to get our fragile guide out of the open.

  Wraith drops down st and switching to a mix of thermal imaging and low light we start to stalk through the pitch-bck tunnels.

  Jed comments “I’m not sure what’s worse fighting underground or on a station” Silver adds her opinion “Underground is definitely worse”

  I gnce at her “Speaking from experience” I ask. She shrugs “I can’t tell you all the details” Rabbit jumps at the opportunity “Tips and tricks are always helpful plus I’d like to hear stories from a sentinel”

  We all subconsciously check to ensure our external speakers are off before she continues.

  “This was a long time ago but still don’t repeat a word. There was a huge complex underground that the sentinels had to secure. The problem was it was too big to move in teams so we had to split up”

  “While I was moving through one of the tunnels the walls burst inward and dozens of assaints opened fire at me. I ended up having to grab one of them to use as a shield”

  “Shortly after that encounter, they destroyed the ground beneath me to drop me to the lower floors in hopes of killing me”

  “In the end, I was able to meet up with Berk who was having simir problems. Together we fought back to the surface”

  I make sure to remember that story. Tanya has let slip a few details about them that we’ve all kept quiet so this is another piece of the puzzle.

  I also get the unfortunate gut feeling that by the end of this war, we’ll all know what getting buried alive is like.

  I decide to risk being heard and get some info out of our guide before we reach our destination. “Klicks what can you tell us about the situation on the pnet before we arrived and whatever you can once we nded”

  He seems to perk up “Like the rest of our pnets it has a secret force that has been pnning how to strike back since we were invaded”

  I nod “And how long ago was that” I ask. Klicks responds “If the time stamps are correct on the messages we were invaded around the same time your pnet died”

  So over eighty years they have been like this. “We are not a martial people so we stood no chance. My queen bellum however was… inspired by the footage we were able to hide of your people and has been trying to get the hive ready for a real war”

  Gears begin to turn in my head but unfortunately, before it gets far Jed yells “Contact front” Klicks panics and freezes.

  “Barbosa you have a new backpack. Keep them covered we’re sprinting this I am not getting bogged down here” I take point with Jed and we cut down the giant spiders.

  Their screams echo up and down the tunnels, as our rounds gut them. I’m gd Klicks is on barbosas back because their rounds are designed for a carapace and fragmenting inside.

  Our armor is not a carapace so there was a lot of shrapnel flying around.

  We walked through all the incoming fire, wraith rifle occasionally spshing one and I figure out what he’s targeting. Heavy weapons.

  Confident we break into a jog. Jed comments “Boss you should use your new toy it’ll save ammo” I think for a moment then decide why not this is the best environment for it after all “You just want to see it don’t you”

  I sling my ICWS onto my backpack and draw my pistol and sword. I connect a lead from my armor to power it and I test the power switch.

  It screeches alive and settles into a rather unsettling of metal against metal screaming and the rattling of chain.

  Another group emerges and I swing my sword down, it rips off and throws their limbs. It's more effective than I would have thought.

  "I don't like how many are down here we need to secure the queen" I yell as I charge some more, confidant that my team's aim will hold true.