Chapter 105: Onwards

“Tomorrow is the day we deploy. Our target is positioned directly beneath this massive breach. The opening is 600 meters high and roughly 800 meters across at its widest point. The science team has already identified a gap that leads directly into the inner ring.”

Inside the tactical briefing room, Jason pointed to a structural diagram of the UFO ruins.

“Since the ship’s inner ring might still have active power, we’ll continue using automated drones to clear the path. A swarm of drones will take the vanguard, and we will follow close behind. If we find anything of value, we dismantle it and bag it.”

Jason’s expression turned dead serious. “We move out at exactly 0800 hours tomorrow. Double-check your personal gear. I won’t waste time going over the squad assignments again; you all know your roles, right?”

The team nodded in unison.

The strike team consisted of Captain Jason, the precognitive Calvin, heavy gunner Marcus, sniper Shane, demolitionist Johnny, a combat medic, a cyber-warfare specialist, and three engineers tasked with salvaging alien tech.

It was a small squad, but every member had a vital role. They were all indispensable.

“Once boots hit the ground tomorrow, you will follow my orders, I don’t know what’s waiting for us inside that ship, but I am responsible for every single one of you, and safety comes first. You have my word on that.”

He scanned the room. “Strict military discipline is in full effect. If things go south, nobody panics. You hold the line and act like the soldiers you are. Understood?”

“Understood, sir!”

“Alright… Dismissed!”

The rest of the night passed in silence. The special forces operatives were seasoned veterans, and the technical specialists were the best in their fields. Adrenaline was running high, but they all managed to force themselves to get some sleep.

Calvin was the only one who felt cornered. His instincts screamed that this operation was dangerous, and he had initially tried to back out. But orders were orders, and in the end, he had no choice but to comply.

At 0730 hours the next morning, the squad assembled at the staging area, fully suited and ready for deployment.

Under the watchful eyes of the crew, bus-sized rovers rolled off the cargo elevators one by one. Compared to the colossal Federation flagship Noah, they looked as small as ants.

But these tiny ants were about to represent all of humanity in challenging an unknown extraterrestrial civilization.

“Move out!” At Jason’s command, the rover convoy rumbled forward.

The Martian landscape bore a passing resemblance to the Badlands back on Earth, rugged, silent, and painted in endless stretches of orange-red. But the soil here was a deeper, rustier shade of red, and infinitely more desolate.

Sitting in the lead rover, Jason felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of ambition. The underlying knot of tension in his chest remained, but it was now mixed with a strange, intoxicating thrill, the primal human urge to explore the unknown.

He had a gut feeling that this expedition might be the catalyst for the rise of a new era of human civilization.

This was technology from the future, hundreds or thousands of years beyond anything humanity had ever built. No matter the cost, they had to secure it.

He noticed Calvin staring blankly out the window and clapped him on the shoulder. “How are you holding up? Sense anything out there?”

Calvin shook his head. He had tried to look into the future multiple times over the past few days, but every vision ended in a blinding, endless white light. It made no sense. In truth, his precognitive abilities only had about a 50% accuracy rate; he couldn’t trigger them flawlessly on command. It was entirely possible he was misinterpreting the visions, or that some external factor was interfering.

Still, much like Jason, he felt a creeping sense of dread. He kept his guard up, watching their surroundings carefully.

Time passed by. Over an hour later, the lead rover finally slowed its pace. The convoy was approaching the perimeter of the crashed UFO.

“Alright, we’ve just entered the basin carved out by the automated excavators,” Jason announced over the comms. “We still have about 20 kilometers to go.Put the Helmets on, secure your seals, and prepare your gear.”

The team acknowledged the order and locked their helmets into place.

As the colossal alien vessel loomed closer, everyone’s heart rates began to spike. Even hardened combat veterans like Marcus, Shane, and Johnny felt their pulses racing, their palms growing damp with sweat.

Suddenly, it hit Jason. A wave of pure, concentrated malice washed over him. His instincts screamed at him: Danger! Extreme danger! A cold chill shot down his spine. It felt as though an invisible blade was pressed against his throat, and some unseen, deeply hostile entity had just locked its gaze onto them.

In that split second, the veins on his forehead throbbed violently.

But the sensation only lasted for a fraction of a second before vanishing without a trace, almost as if it had been a hallucination.

“Captain!” Marcus called out, noticing Jason’s face suddenly pale.

“Calvin! Do you sense anything?!” Jason snapped back to reality and shouted.

Calvin was drenched in cold sweat, his eyes wide with panic as his heart hammered against his ribs. “I… I…”

He realized, to his horror, that his abilities weren’t working. No matter how hard he focused, he couldn’t enter his precognitive trance.

“No, I can’t sense a thing! It’s like my abilities are being jammed!” Sweat poured down his face. This had never happened to him before.

Jason’s brow furrowed into a deep scowl as he processed this. What the hell is going on? He checked in with the rest of the squad. Aside from himself and Calvin, who had felt the hostile presence intensely, the others just felt mildly uneasy. If he hadn’t pointed it out, they might not have noticed anything wrong at all.

Are we just going to turn tail and run at the first shadow? No. After a tense moment of hesitation, Jason made the call. “Keep pushing forward! We stick to the plan and recon the area.”

Before long, the convoy parked beneath the massive breach in the UFO’s hull. The ground was littered with jagged metal plating and scorched debris. The interior was completely gutted. According to the science team, this cavernous space used to be an engine room before it was obliterated by heavy weapons fire.

Jason clicked on his heavy-duty tactical flashlight and swept the beam upward. Sure enough, roughly 300 meters up the sheer interior wall, there was a dark service tunnel leading deeper into the ship.

He weighed their options for a moment, then stepped back out into the open and signaled the team. “Hold your positions. Let’s start the salvage operations down here first.”

The engineers nodded and immediately set up their gear, while the combat specialists formed a defensive perimeter, weapons raised.

Only the lead rover was a personnel carrier; the rest of the convoy consisted of heavy engineering rigs outfitted with automated cutting arms. The engineers climbed into the rigs and began dismantling the complex metal piping protruding from the ship’s exposed belly.

According to the experts back on the flagship, these conduits were either weapon arrays or long-range communication arrays. While some were slagged beyond repair, others were in surprisingly good condition, with their internal circuitry largely intact.

Every time a piece was successfully detached, the researchers watching the rover’s live feeds back on the Noah would erupt into cheers. The science division was monitoring the strike team’s every move. Despite advancements in automation, standard drones simply didn’t possess the fine motor control and adaptability of a human engineer.

Because the ship’s hull was already ripped wide open, the salvage teams were able to use the jagged tears as natural access points. The extraction went incredibly smoothly. After roughly six hours of steady work, the thirteen primary salvage objectives were successfully completed without a single complication.

This put Jason somewhat at ease; even if they turned back now, the haul they had just secured made the trip worth it.

The squad rotated back to the rovers to hydrate, eat some field rations, and rest for a few minutes before returning to the breach.

“Captain, if you’re certain there’s a hostile presence in there, shouldn’t we pull back?” Shane, the sniper, asked, nervously licking his dry lips. It wasn’t that he was a coward, but he trusted Jason’s combat instincts with his life.

Jason shook his head. Turning tail at the first hint of trouble wasn’t in his nature. He knew the golden rule of tactical ops: risk and reward are directly proportional.

If there really was an active power source deeper inside, it meant they might find fully intact, functional alien technology!

“I’m going up first. The rest of you, hold the perimeter and cover me from down here.”

He took one last look around to ensure the coast was clear, then unspooled a coil of carbon-fiber rope. He loaded a heavy grappling hook into his pneumatic launcher, aimed at a thick metal strut protruding from the tunnel entrance high above, and pulled the trigger.

With a sharp thwack, the hook shot upward.

Aided by the planet’s weak gravity, the grapple sailed easily up the 300-meter vertical drop, wrapping tightly around the metal strut and locking into place.

Jason tested the line, putting his full weight on it a few times. Satisfied it was secure, he jumped and began his ascent.

Free-climbing a rope was basic training for any special forces operative. Since there were no footholds on the smooth metal walls, Jason had to haul himself up using sheer upper-body strength, relying heavily on his core, arms, and legs to maintain his rhythm, a grueling physical task.

In standard military obstacle courses, a rope climb was rarely taller than 20 meters. Right now, he was scaling a 300-meter vertical drop!

Down on the ground, Shane, Marcus, and the rest of the squad stared intently at the dark opening above, their weapons raised, providing overwatch as Jason climbed.

Thankfully, Mars’ gravity was only a third of Earth’s, which drastically reduced his body weight and the strain on his muscles. After roughly five minutes of steady climbing, Jason reached the top.

He hoisted himself onto a small metal landing, roughly 10 square meters in size. He crouched in the shadows, waiting patiently in the dead silence. His hands gripped his modified Gauss Rifle tight, ready to unleash hell at the slightest sign of movement.

After a tense minute, Jason confirmed the tunnel was clear. He signaled the team below with his flashlight and keyed his comms. “Attach the portable winch to the line. I’m hauling it up.”

Turning his back to the dark tunnel, he began hauling up the heavy mechanized winch. This was the most vulnerable part of the operation; he had to focus his physical strength on pulling the heavy gear while constantly checking over his shoulder for an ambush.

Miraculously, nothing jumped out at him, which left Jason deeply unsettled.

Had he just been paranoid…?

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