“Hnnn…uh…what is…huh? Hey Io what’s going on?!” Winters jerked awake to a sound as if the entire forest they’d walked through last night had invaded his pod. A quick glance around assured him that no local fauna had actually made it inside as he’d slept. Activating his HUD, Winters unlocked his armor and shrugged his shoulders. Sleeping standing up wasn’t his first choice, but the ability to lock the joints of his armor had allowed him to rest his muscles during the night. His jaw was sore as he yawned, likely the result of a troubling dream he couldn’t remember. Removing his helmet to wipe the sleep from his eyes, he asked Io about the natural alarm clock. “I didn’t know you could synthesize sound like that.”

‘I cannot sir. That was simply a mixtape.’ Io’s voice replied from the walls of the pod.

“What?”

‘I took the liberty of recording and parsing some of the various animals we heard last night as we escorted Veera to her settlement. I thought that perhaps a randomized mix of these would be a preferable alarm to wake you. I am programed for exploration and documentation as well as combat.’

“Fair enough. Have to admit it was a little shocking at first. Out of curiosity, what was the other option?” Winters immediately brought his fingers to his ears as a submarine klaxon blared throughout the pod. “Ok ok forget I asked! Nature sounds great.”

‘Glad you agree sir. If I may make a suggestion, it might be wise to deploy the pod’s solar array as soon as possible. I estimate approximately five local days of power remain for the pod’s power source. Your armor’s auxiliary systems should last for eight days at current draw levels. The backup batteries for both did survive our drop, but the less we have to use them the better.’

“Agreed Io, especially with winter on its way. Let me just take care of some human needs and we’ll get to work.” Winters said as he dropped the pod door to the earth and stepped out into the early morning sun. The sky was a crisp light blue with not a cloud to be seen. After taking a larger stretch break he walked away from his pod, opposite the direction of Veera’s farm. The thermometer in his suit read 52 degrees. It would be a perfect day for work. Arriving a suitable distance away, Winters began removing the necessary parts of his armor in order to relieve himself. The processing of liquid waste was a trivial concern, with water being reclaimed for use and any remaining solids later disposed of. Solid waste was another matter. It was possible of course; HEL jumpers were expected to be able to land on any planet, not just earth look-alikes. That didn’t stop the process from being less streamlined and more demanding on his suit’s batteries; to say nothing of the discomfort. Given the situation Winters figured the old fashioned way would work just fine. His power supply was a priority.

Arriving back at his pod a few minutes later, Winters opened up a side panel adjacent to the floor and pulled out a large backpack made of ballistic fiber. Essentially a disaster readiness bag, it was one of the few unique features of Omega branch pods. Along with the nano-fabricator, the bag was meant to enable longer term missions on the surface of a planet without the benefit of supply chains and fleet support that would be more typical of a Delta operation. Winters rummaged around, withdrawing a bottle of water and a ration bar before taking the bag outside to do a thorough inventory.

“Ok, so what have we got?” Winters spoke to himself, laying the equipment out on the ground around him and inspecting each item for damage. There were two combat knives sheathed in synthetic leather, sporting a four and eight inch blade apiece, seven days of rations and water, a basic med-kit, pen and paper, two rolls of duct tape, a nylon rope, a large waterproof tarp, two metal canteens, and two spare tubes of component paste for the pod’s nano-fabricator. One was labeled ‘metals’, the other ‘non-metals’; though Winters knew that mainly meant it was for plastics. Satisfied that nothing was damaged, Winters replaced most of the items, keeping the longer knife, a canteen, and a day’s worth of food and water. Fixing the knife to his left hip and the canteen further back along his waist, Winters made directly for the river, keeping Veera’s farm to his right.

Kneeling at the bank, Winters took the chance to survey the water more closely. It wasn’t pristine, but it was more than clear enough to see the river bed, even at its deepest point. “Io, why don’t you spin up the B-MASS and we’ll take a closer look?” Winters commanded. If his shield was his favorite weapon, the B-MASS, or Bracer Mounted Analysis Sensor Suite was his favorite tool not related to the art of killing. The egg-heads in Beta division had really outdone themselves in his opinion, essentially mounting a Mars rover on a piece of armor. Best part was it barely added anything to the weight of the glove. Utilizing technology adapted from Ghaelen warp drives, humanity had ‘cracked’ quantum computing shortly after first contact. The B-MASS was one of many inventions enabled by the breakthrough. Popping open the small compartment for foreign material analysis, Winters dipped his other hand into the river, allowing a few drops to fall into the chamber. Closing the lid, he sat back and waited for the analysis program to run. A few seconds later Io gave her report.

‘Sir, it’s not New York City tap, but I believe it is safe to drink.’

“Elaborate.”

‘As with water on earth there is a significant ecosystem of micro-organisms present, though the likelihood of them being able to interact with human physiology is close to zero.’

“I suppose if I did get sick it would be the scientific finding of the century.” Winters joked, kneeling down to allow some of the river water into his canteen. He then filled the majority of it with water from his pod. If there was anything he needed to build resistance to, he’d rather take it in small doses. Before taking a sip though, he sat back on the grass and asked Io another question. “Wouldn’t it be better to just fabricate a water filtration system?” While waiting for Io’s answer he removed his helmet, wanting to feel the warmth of the rising sun on his face. Wearing a detachable earpiece from the helmet, Winters could hear Io begin her analysis.

‘Sir we could certainly fashion one using the fabricator, but that would consume material of which we have a very limited quantity, not to mention power. Parts would need to be replaced over time. We would need to find suitable sources of raw material on this planet.’

Winters sighed heavily, remembering just how long their stay here would be. “Even if they send out a search party the second we don’t show up on time it would take a standard year for them to get here give or take. And if what happened to us wasn’t an accident, who knows how long it will take for someone to figure out how to safely warp to this star. They might just declare it a no-go zone if ships keep getting lost here…” He trailed off, unwilling to accept the implications.

‘We might die here sir.’ Io finished for him.

“I fully intend to live here first.” Winters punched the ground defiantly. “In which case it sounds like being able to drink the water would be pretty clutch. Bottoms up then.” He took a swig from the canteen. “Let me know if my vitals start jumping around Io. But with the water hopefully figured out,” he stood, collecting his gear. “I think it’s time to fix the pod up a bit.”

‘Agreed sir, I will inform you of any deterioration in your vital signs.’

“Yeah…thanks. Oh hey, Veera!” Winters called out, cresting the hill and finding the Cauthan back in her field. Looking significantly less harried than the day before, she took the time to raise a hand and return the greeting.

“Selah, Russell.” Her pronunciation wasn’t spot on, but Winters gave it no mind. Io’s voice rang in his earpiece.

‘Will you be playing farmer again today sir?’

“No, it looks like she’s got it covered today. It’s still polite to say hello to the neighbors though.”

‘Neighbors?’ Io asked incredulously.

“Are we not?” Winters retorted, passing the farm by. Reaching the pod again, Winters leaned inside and pressed the button to deploy the solar panel array. Wincing at the sound of creaking metal, he circled around to the back of the pod, finding the wrecked main thrusters preventing the array from unfolding. Hoisting himself to the top of the pod, Winters stood and began kicking at the twisted metal. With a satisfying crunch the obstruction was dislodged, clanging loudly as it fell to the ground. Satisfied, Winters attempted to deploy the array again, taking the silence to mean success. Moving to inspect the panels, Winters found it odd that they seemed completely unharmed. “Hey Io, didn’t you say we only had about half capacity here?”

‘46% sir.’

“They look fine to me. Did radiation from the overload fry them?”

‘Yes sir, the left side of the array was inadequately shielded. Given the circumstances we are fortunate the other half did not suffer the same fate.’

“Can we replace them? Would it require material we don’t have?”

‘Sir, construction and installation of new cells should not be an issue provided we have enough silicon, which we should, given the contents of the resource hopper and the spare tubes.’

Winters took a moment to scratch the stubble on his chin. He’d have to fabricate a razor before long. Considering his options, he posed another question to Io. He’d never actually had to use the fabricator before. “Io, did the fabricator come with any spare parts?”

‘No sir, it was deemed unnecessary weight.’

“I’ve been thinking that nice as a full solar array sounds, if anything in this machine breaks, then we’re living like Cauthan for the duration of our time here. Can you access the schematics for the fabricator and let me know if we have enough material and power to manufacture a full set of replacement components?”

‘A moment please…Sir, my analysis indicates that if we were to manufacture such material, we would not have enough heavy metals remaining to construct replacements for the pod’s communication systems. It is a longer term concern sir, as we discussed, but we will have to find those metals here. We do not even know if the Cauthan possess mining or metallurgy technology.’

“All fair points.” Winters acknowledged, leaning against the pod and gazing in the direction of Veera’s farm, watching her moving back and forth around the field. Is this what it’s like for her every day? I could probably survive that way but do I want to? Which part of Jess’ order is more important, survival or returning to the fleet? Without working comms they might not notice me down here, and there’s no real guarantee I could find gold, silver, copper or tin, to say nothing of rare earths. But…if no one ever shows up, those spare parts could mean a working fabricator years from now. “Gah! Decisions are hard Io!”

‘At least nothing is trying to kill and eat us sir.’

“Yes yes, second world problems. But your ability to find silver linings is admirable.” Winters replied. Figuring that thinking in circles would get him nowhere and that both plans had their merits and shortfalls, he made his decision. “Alright, I think having spare parts is more important. This stuff is relatively new tech and we don’t really know what the shelf life is. Assuming we gain the ability to communicate with the Cauthan, we can ask them to direct us to their sources of metal. Long shot, I know, but I left my toothbrush and razor on the Lancer and morning breath inside an Aegis helmet is not what I signed up for!” Winters concluded, striking a bit of a pose.

‘Your dedication to hygiene is an inspiration to us all.’

“You’re locked up in here with me.”

‘I have no nose.’

“You win this round Io.” Winters laughed deeply, ducking back into the pod and removing the much larger panel next to the survival bag’s home. A small console sprang to life, made up of a haptic feedback keyboard and monitor. Winters figured he could learn the details later when he had less important things to manufacture. For now, he would trust Io’s knowledge. “Alright Io, load up the schematics please.” Winters requested, nodding as he watched a 21 part list fill out the screen before him. The display showed a completion time of 56 hours. Shrugging, Winters approved the job and heard a reassuring hum as the entire side of the pod came to life. A progress indicator had appeared, tracking the time to completion of the first job. He’d have to come back to remove each part when it was done. Making a mental note to return in a few hours, Winters circled to the solar array and pointed the panels to the southwest, directly at the sun. Were he on Earth, he would have guessed 11 AM. After setting the appropriate rotation speed for the shortened day, Winters stood back to appreciate his work. The pod didn’t look much different, but he knew behind the scenes that progress was being made.

With the star approaching its zenith, Winters figured it was time for a lunch break. Leaving the pod he walked the short distance to Veera’s farm, thinking some company might be pleasant. Sitting gingerly on her wall, making sure not to dislodge any of the rough stones with his armored bulk, Winters unwrapped the ration bar and bit into it. The label claimed he should taste a mélange of Indian flavors. He wished the Expeditionary League had stuck to fruits and nuts. He missed real tikka masala. Shrugging, he gulped the rest down, careful not to taste it too much. After a deep swig of water, he replaced the canteen on his back. While he’d been eating Veera had returned from the river yet again. After dispensing the contents of the bucket, she’d noticed Winters and moved towards him, stopping along the way to grab a worn leather satchel from its resting place in the shade of the wall. Winters noticed she’d managed about 65% completion by now, so he figured she must have gotten a late start for whatever reason the day before. Hopefully there would be no harrowing nighttime treks later on.

As Veera approached, Winters tried greeting her in her own tongue. “Selah.” He figured he’d gotten it mostly right, as Veera replied in kind; smiling and baring her teeth, which he now noticed included some particularly impressive canines. So they’re omnivores…interesting but not surprising. Veera’s meal though, if one could call it that, seemed anything but. From the satchel she’d withdrawn what Winters assumed to be a root vegetable of some sort, likely the same kind that was growing beneath their feet. To the human it looked almost like a potato, though with dark red skin and once Veera bit into it he could also make out pale green flesh. So…technicolor space potato? Winters concluded, observing that Veera didn’t seem to be enjoying it much either. Well at least we can agree on one other thing, lunch sucks. He couldn’t help a chuckle, deflecting Veera’s worried expression by pointing at her lunch and cocking his head to the side. She was quick on the uptake as usual, replying with the name of the crop, ‘dato’. Winters nodded in thanks, allowing his companion to finish her meal in peace. He’d now doubled his Cauthan vocabulary. With a small gesture of her hand, Veera left him and returned to her work. Standing and stretching Winters turned back, deciding some recon would be a good next step. “It’s nice to have good neighbors.” He reasoned, feeling a budding sense of curiosity about the furry alien and her increasingly peculiar circumstances.