bioinnovel Chapter 249: Report on the Indigenous Civilization
Chapter 249: Report on the Indigenous Civilization
Sergeant Will and his squad were exhausted and starving, practically on the verge of collapse. In less than two days, they had crawled and scrambled their way through the cavern network for over a hundred kilometers!
The worst part was running out of rations, forcing them to march on empty stomachs. They couldn’t exactly strip off their powered armor to eat roasted bug meat with the reptilian natives, could they?
It was a grueling trek. They only survived that final stretch through sheer willpower and the encouragement of their brothers-in-arms.
When they finally broke through to the surface and spotted the unmanned extraction dropship waiting for them, they were so relieved they could have cried.
Civilization! Finally, civilization!
They had never longed for the warm embrace of the Federation quite so badly!
"That’s our ride, we’re out of here! Goodbye, you crazy lizards!"
The eight Marines climbed aboard the dropship one by one, instantly collapsing onto the deck as they waved goodbye to the dumbfounded reptilian natives.
"Kha-ma-tai?"
A few of the lizardmen whispered among themselves, nearly wetting themselves in fright. They couldn’t comprehend how such a massive metal beast could fly.
Despite their confusion, they had witnessed far too many impossible things over the past few days. They already viewed these eight armored Marines as omnipotent "Messengers of the Gods." So, while the flying dropship was shocking, their minds were already too numb to fully panic.
Suddenly, one of the older lizardmen pulled a small smartphone out of his crude pouch, a parting gift from Sergeant Will, of course.
The device ran on a high-efficiency aluminum-air battery, meaning it could last for a month or two without needing a charge.
The elder clicked the screen a few times, and the rest of the pack quickly huddled together, barking excitedly and striking their most fearsome poses to take a group selfie!
After the flash went off, they all scurried back into the safety of their burrows...
An hour later, Sergeant Will and his team arrived safely at Central Command. After eating their fill, rehydrating, and washing off the grime, the adrenaline finally wore off. The eight Marines crashed onto their infirmary beds and fell into a deep sleep.
Captain Jason rushed to the medical wing the second he received the news. Stepping into the quiet infirmary, he noticed the men were dead to the world, so he quickly lowered his voice.
"What’s their status? Have they been fully examined? Any internal injuries?"
Right now, the most critical issue was the post-disaster recovery—compensating the families of the fallen and treating the wounded. As the leader of the Federation expedition, Jason couldn’t rest for a single second.
A young female nurse standing guard nearby blushed slightly when she saw Jason. Gathering her courage, she softly replied, "They’re fine, sir. No physical injuries, just extreme exhaustion and dehydration. They just need to sleep it off..."
Hearing this, Jason let out a long sigh of relief.
She continued, "...They also mentioned they had an urgent, top-priority report! They tried to stay awake until command arrived, but they just couldn’t keep their eyes open."
The nurse handed him a tiny data chip. "They left this memory card for you. They said you needed to see it immediately!"
Jason nodded, accepting the thin chip. It was a standard universal memory card used in the Marines’ helmet cameras.
Without hesitation, he slotted the chip into the data port on his own powered armor’s gauntlet.
Instantly, a video feed popped up on his visor’s internal HUD:
A pack of strange, reptilian creatures were cheering wildly. They were gleefully hacking apart the carcass of a massive, heavily armored sandworm! They cut the monster’s meat into chunks and strapped it to their backs.
These bipedal lizards were about a meter tall and weighed only 30 to 40 kilograms, but their muscle density looked incredibly high. They were constantly clicking and barking at one another, clearly communicating in a structured language.
The camera then panned to a slightly taller lizardman chieftain conversing with Sergeant Will, using complex hand gestures as if inviting the giant metal men back to his village...
That must be what happened.
After watching just a few seconds of the footage, Jason stood frozen, his pupils contracting in sheer shock.
Intelligent life! There was intelligent, sentient life dwelling deep within the planetary crust! He was absolutely floored.
Humanity had actually discovered an indigenous civilization on Nyx!
Was this real?
For a brief moment, Jason questioned the video’s authenticity, but he quickly dismissed the thought. The angle and telemetry overlays proved it was unedited helmet-cam footage. Besides, no Federation Marine would fake a first-contact scenario as a prank...
A chaotic storm of implications flooded his mind.
But now was not the time to get distracted.
Jason suppressed his surging excitement and turned to the nurse. "Thank you. I understand the situation; this is highly classified and incredibly important. Once they wake up, please escort them directly to the main conference room. You did great."
The young nurse beamed, immediately replying with nervous enthusiasm, "It’s no trouble at all, Captain! Please, go take care of your work! I’ll make sure they get the message the moment they wake up!"
At the same time, her curiosity was burning like wildfire. What could possibly be on that chip?
But she knew better than to pry into military secrets.
Her thoughts quickly drifted elsewhere. Captain Jason was the most eligible bachelor on The Ark, and he still didn’t have a serious girlfriend. Despite a few wild rumors, he had remained completely single...
Now that they had shared a conversation, the young nurse felt a swell of pride. She had actually spoken to the Captain! At the very least, it gave her something to brag about to the other medical staff.
Jason turned on his heel and strode out, completely oblivious to the nurse’s starry-eyed expression. His mind was entirely consumed by the revelation of the indigenous civilization.
The magnitude of this discovery was so massive... he felt like his brain couldn’t process it fast enough!
A wild rush of adrenaline spiked in his veins. Reptilian natives, huh? This is unbelievable...
Upon returning to the primary conference room, he immediately activated the satellite uplink and convened an emergency executive meeting.
Since the majority of the colony’s senior staff were currently stationed at Central Command, a dozen Department Heads and senior engineers filed into the room within fifteen minutes, taking their seats on Jason’s left.
A few minutes later, the massive monitors flickered to life, and dozens of figures materialized on the right side of the room, high-resolution holographic projections. These were the executive representatives tuning in from The Ark in orbit.
This was the first time they had utilized the new holographic conference system, and everyone was slightly captivated by the technology. The real-time rendering of lighting and shadows made the projections look incredibly lifelike, perfectly bridging the gap between the surface base and the orbital ship.
Due to the immense distance and orbital data processing, there was a slight half-second delay in the transmission, but it was easily manageable. Security Director Austin materialized in his chair. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed, sporting heavy dark circles under his eyes, arriving slightly late while the others were already settled.
Once the room was secure, Jason got straight to the point. "Ladies and gentlemen, as of this hour, all missing personnel have been recovered. The search and rescue operation in Cavern B11 is officially concluded, and the disaster relief efforts are proceeding smoothly."
"Does anyone have anything to add regarding the recovery phase?"
He wasn’t hiding the discovery of the aliens. Rather, it was a matter of respect.
The cave-in had cost seven Federation lives. These men had made the ultimate sacrifice for the future of humanity, and they deserved absolute respect and immediate logistical care for their families. That took precedence over everything else. If he dropped the bombshell about the lizardmen right now, the resulting frenzy would derail the entire memorial protocol.
The council quickly went through the agenda. After finalizing the state funeral arrangements and the survivor compensation packages, they moved on to operational security, specifically, the relocation of the mining outposts.
The lead geologist took the floor. "Captain, I strongly advise we relocate all primary extraction sites."
"Our current position near this dormant volcano is sitting on top of an incredibly unstable, honeycomb-like cavern network. It is a massive liability. I propose we relocate the primary surface base to the Arctic region, leaving only a localized biological research outpost and the existing smelting plant here at this site..."