Finally, the countdown ended. The ion thrusters at the rear of the spacecraft flared to life, propelling the vessels along the orbital ring before they launched into the void at a relatively "low" speed.
The atmosphere on Nyx was simply too dense for the spacecraft to operate at maximum velocity, unlike in open space. Currently, they were maintaining a minimum cruising speed of just 300 ters per second.
If they moved any faster, the imnse air resistance would generate catastrophic friction, risking the hulls burning up upon reentry like falling teors. That was a scenario they absolutely had to avoid.
Following their pre-calculated flight trajectories, the three spacecraft pierced the atmosphere at a shallow angle. Thanks to their controlled speed, they generated virtually no thermal friction.
The pale blue glow of their ion engines served as a clear beacon, perfectly indicating the descent paths of the three vessels.
Up in orbit, all 60,000 citizens aboard the mothership watched the landing sequence through the external monitoring arrays. So far, all systems were entirely nominal!
The crowd was on edge, terrified of a disastrous start. Many stood with their hands clasped in silent prayer...
But nothing unexpected happened.
After all, humanity had been preparing for this exact mont for years. This landing was just the first step. If sothing went catastrophically wrong now, the engineering teams might as well throw themselves out the closest airlock!
The automated teletry programs on the spacecraft continuously scrolled through rows of data, confirming that everything was proceeding flawlessly. Outside the viewports, it was pitch black, broken only by a few scattered, flashing white lights on the ground below—signal beacons that had been pre-deployed by autonomous drones!
The orbital satellites continuously fed precise coordinate adjustnts down to the descending ships.
About half an hour later, the spacecraft's retrograde thrusters engaged. The rapidly descending vessels began to stabilize, mimicking a traditional airplane landing as their landing gear deployed. They glided smoothly toward the alien surface.
A few minutes later, a strong, clear male voice echoed through the mothership's command center: "Reporting in, Commander! The Nyx First Landing Team has successfully touched down! Awaiting further orders!"
Upon hearing the transmission, the entire command center erupted into deafening cheers!
While landing safely was only one small part of the mission, it marked the official beginning of the colonization process! The first step is always the hardest, and everyone was overjoyed to see it executed flawlessly.
Jason felt a profound surge of emotion in his chest, but he kept his voice steady and calm. "Execute your primary objectives!"
Standing inside the troop transport and looking out the viewports, the crew's universal first impression was absolute, overwhelming darkness.
The darkness was so absolute it almost felt tangible, making it incredibly difficult for humans creatures accustod to light to process.
It was a profoundly gloomy environnt. If it hadn't been for the bright floodlights on the spacecraft and the two distant stars hanging in the sky, they would have felt completely blind.
Even then, the spacecraft's high-intensity lights were woefully insufficient to pierce the dense, oppressive gloom. Just a few ters beyond the floodlights, the world was swallowed by pitch black once again.
Incredibly, according to the astrophysicists, this was considered "dayti" for this hemisphere! The two bright little dots hanging in the sky were the primary binary stars of the 187J3X1 star system.
Because of the sheer distance, one of the stars appeared to be the size of a small marble significantly smaller than Earth's moon, while the other looked like a completely ordinary, faint star.
Yet, the star that looked like a re marble actually possessed a luminous output 1,500 tis greater than that of the sun!
Distance, however, was everything. Even such imnse stellar radiation was not enough to properly illuminate Nyx. The planet was simply too far from its host stars, wandering like a rogue world, forever shrouded in a state of perpetual twilight.
However, the team didn't complain. They had already prepared themselves ntally for this harsh reality. Stepping out of the spacecraft, they imdiately set to work.
The A-003 outpost vessel automatically deployed its modular structures, unloading a massive array of experintal instrunts, as well as prefabricated living and dining quarters. This would serve as humanity's first true foothold on the surface.
Automated drones rolled out onto the frozen terrain, imdiately beginning the collection of rock and soil samples.
Several adaptive infrared surveillance towers were rapidly erected and linked to the central mainfra, keeping a vigilant watch over the periter.
In less than fifteen minutes, a highly functional, compact base of operations was fully established.
Through the night vision visors integrated into their power armor, the crew could finally see the true surface of Nyx.
The overall landscape strongly resembled a frozen arctic wasteland!
The surface temperature sat at a brutal minus 120 degrees Celsius. Aside from jagged rock formations and dense sheets of hard ice, there was absolutely nothing. There were no signs of large fauna or flora—not even a speck of moss. It was utterly desolate and barren.
Over at a newly assembled field laboratory, several scientists were already using robotic manipulator arms to collect and seal atmospheric samples for analysis. Each of them wore an expression of intense excitent mixed with nervous dread.
"...Initial analysis confirms the presence of airborne, bacteria-like microorganisms! However, at ambient temperatures of minus 100 degrees Celsius and below, they are essentially in a state of suspended animation, unable to reproduce."
"Once we introduce them to a suitable thermal environnt, their reproduction rates skyrocket. Their optimal breeding temperature is relatively high, sitting above 20 degrees Celsius..."
"...Based on the chemical breakdown, these appear to be carbonyl-based organisms that utilize DNA as their primary genetic material!"
"Fascinating! Their protein structures are highly unorthodox. They seem capable of directly absorbing ambient heat and converting that thermal energy straight into chemical energy... It's incredible!" one of the field biologists exclaid.
Up in the mothership's command center, Jason stood surrounded by the Departnt Heads and top military brass. The live audio feed from the surface laboratory was broadcast directly into the room, leaving everyone stunned.
They all knew extraterrestrial life existed on this planet, but the prevailing theory was that it would be entirely localized to high-temperature geothermal zones, like volcanic vents. Yet, they had found microbial life floating freely in the freezing atmosphere within minutes of landing!
This ant that the distribution of biological life on Nyx was infinitely wider than their models had predicted!
Many of the biologists felt their hearts hamr against their ribs, a chaotic mix of primal fear and pure scientific ecstasy taking hold.
Discovering an entirely new tree of life held massive implications for biological sciences. The primitive Martian virus they had encountered years ago had provided incredible technological breakthroughs. What secrets could these unknown alien microbes hold?
In particular, the organisms' ability to directly tabolize thermal energy represented an unprecedented evolutionary leap, instantly capturing the intense interest of the research teams.
However, these unknown alien microbes also posed a massive biological threat. The burden of responsibility and pressure placed on the immunology teams skyrocketed instantly!
"Developing specific microbial prevention and control protocols is our absolute top priority! Our primary directive is to synthesize an effective counter-agent imdiately!" a lead scientist declared gravely.
Because the microbes were so ubiquitous present in the air and the soil, even the most rigorous quarantine protocols could fail. The risk of cross-contamination was severe.
Aboard the mothership, thousands of citizens huddled together, whispering excitedly and pointing at the preliminary photos being uploaded from the surface. They were itching to get their hands dirty; hearing the excited shouts of the pioneer team below was sheer torture for the scientists stuck in orbit!
Things were different now. Humanity possessed robust, fully sealed power armor, quantum supercomputers with unfathomable processing power, engineered immune systems comparable to their super-enhanced canine, and hyper-advanced laboratory equipnt. It was entirely possible for the scientific divisions to conquer these alien microorganisms in record ti!
And, of course, they had their ultimate trump card... the broad-spectrum immune booster! This miraculous chemical agent could instantly overdrive the human body's immune cells, forcefully fortifying the user's immune system against unknown pathogens!
During clinical trials, it had cured severe respiratory infections in under ten minutes!
Naturally, forcing the immune system into overdrive wasn't without extre risks. The physiological side effects of the booster were severe. It could trigger brutal autoimmune responses, including symptoms mirroring rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, lupus erythematosus, and dermatomyositis, causing agonizing pain for the user.
Fortunately, once the drug was flushed from the system, these side effects would subside, though the patient would remain physically drained for about a month.
Regardless of the brutal side effects, suffering for a month was always better than dying to an alien plague.
Because of these extensive dical contingency plans, the actual existential threat of the alien virus was heavily mitigated. In contrast, the allure of studying its biological mysteries was overpowering. Countless researchers felt their hearts race, desperate to deploy to the surface and begin their investigations!
This frozen world was a paradise for researchers!
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