He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter Fifty One - Planning to Hunt

It had been 12.7 years, since they had departed from the home world.  Over the last month, the A.I. Of the Star Chaser had awoken The Captain, vice captain and crew and allowed them to take over in final preparation for the descent onto planet D7-429c or Fortonine. They had not bothered to awaken the passengers, they found it better to do this once they landed upon the planet. The descent and landing was practically text book and on planet maintenance crews quickly attended the ship the moment the side doors opened and ramp placed.

"Greetings, Captain Tian Zhao," a large, burly woman came up to them and saluted. She wore her soldiers uniform in a casual sort of way, with a vest stretched over her ample breasts instead of the regulation blouse and her dark red, slightly stained formal coat unbuttoned as it would no longer fit around her wide hips.  "I am General Chang Ju."

"... ah I remember you!" The captain grinned looking the woman up and down in swift acceptance. "You were a Colonel last time I saw you, congratulations."

"Pfft, no need for that, I only got the position 'cos the old man kicked the bucket, you should know that!" Xu Lin almost gaped over the informal way this woman spoke.  She knew army generals as tight lipped and straight laced, one in particular had a back so straight that it seemed as if a pole had been strapped to it.  She shuddered slightly as she recalled that he had been the one who had proposed to her.

"This is my Vice Captain and niece, Xu Lin," Tian Zhao said, suddenly throwing his arm heavily over her shoulder.  "She wasn't with me during the last run, she was visiting her parents on the Excellceor."

The two women, comparitively night and day, greeted each other. Not one to mess with words the general asked; "Are you thinking of leaving that rust bucket in the near future, I could introduce you to a fine young man if you would like."

Xu Lin's small nose wrinkled in annoyance.  "Thanks for the offer, but no. If I decide to let a man into my life, then he needs to get on board the ship with me," she crossed her arms and tilted her head in slight challenge.

General nodded and grinned widely, her round face lighting up like the sun.  "I like you!" She said.  Xu Lin felt herself blush.

Han Huan yelled over at that moment from the ship doors. "Captain, we've began waking up the passengers!"

"Good!" The Captain bellowed back. "Give 'em the wake up juice and get them to immigration."  Han Huan and Xu Lin shuddered immediately at the mention of that potent brew that aided the body to recover after a spell of cold sleep.  It was bitter and left an indescribable aftertaste. Han Huan nodded the ducked back inside the ship.

Immigration in this case was a small thrown together tent and desk, which would be torn down the moment the ship left and would stay down for the next six years. Two soldiers were currently waiting to take the papers of the immigrants and assign them rooms, before giving them instructions like where and when to eat, who their supervisors or superior officers were and recommending they attend the welcome ceremony in the morning. One of the men was Zhang Min, the other was Song Jian. Zhang Min also happened to hear his mother try hook him up as did Song Jian, neither looked happy for different reasons.

"Seriously? She did not just try to do that?!" The smaller man huffed as they watched the first wave of passengers spill out of the ship onto their new home for at least the next 6.35 years. "As if I can't hook a girl by myself if I wanted too!"

Song Jian took the papers of the first miner to arrive, mumbled through the set speech and indicated the no-thrills accommodation set up for the miners. Not that the barracks looked much different. There were a few odd box like houses, thrown together like a preschool project, scattered around for those who ended up staying long term, but otherwise home was generally a shared room with beds, chest storage lockers inside four walls and under a roof. There would naturally be dissent on the first night. The soldiers usually took on extra duties to cope with the dissatisfaction and other problems. Song Jian would be on patrol in the mines again after this.

"Oh, you can?" He said finally, his voice low and deep with a undertone of warning.

Zhang Min did not have hearing sensitive to notice. "Sure I can! Just watch me!"

Sometime later, after the mostly men and few women had been moved on towards their destinations, Song Jian turned to look at Zhang Min with a slightly more relaxed expression upon his handsome face. "Well?"

The small soldier neatened the stack of papers unnecessarily and fussily before stating in a voice held together only by pride; "There wasn't a girl there worth my attempt." A small smug smile appeared upon his friend's face, but he failed to notice.

"Captain! Xu Lin!" Both men turned to watch a frantic crew member practically stumble from the ship in his hurried rush to speak with them. He murmured something in his panic to them that the soldiers could not hear.

"What!!" The Captain roared, before glaring suddenly at the girl, who winced noticeably.

"Is there something wrong?" Chang Ju, who had been throwing intimidating glares at the new men and woman beneath her command, asked.

Both Zhang Min and Song Jian slid nearer in order to overhear the conversation. "It seems my Vice-Captain may have let a rat on board. Little shit had dodgy papers and got loose once on planet. Maybe a runner, but Han Huan suspects he's from the industry." By this, he meant that the small weak man was likely from the metal and mining industry, but was not a miner, but more likely a surveyor or investigator.  The industry were never satisfied with the amounts of ores they plundered from worlds, always wanting more.

"Tch, those bastards were never happy that we refused to expand operations," Chang Ju growled, angrily. "Kept on about us 'pandering to the natives!' Idiots! If only they knew! We fobbed them off with some fake reports about mineral veins being weak in other locations. That's probably why your rat is here."

"I don't understand," Xu Lin piped up. "Is it not just simple enough to negotiate with the natives, offer them extra supplies, education, healthcare that sort of thing and relocate them?" It was standard procedure on other worlds, would it not work here?

Her uncle looked disappointed by her ignorance, while the general and nearby veterans looks angry. Zhang Min knew why. As small and as lacking muscle as he was, he needed to use his brain that much more and had discovered many things that their army's superiors did not share with the home world. The Captain's explaination was a more standard, simplified version of what was the common knowledge on this planet.

"Half the world's natives live underground, they can't adapt to live above, but when the scouts first arrived here, their scans couldn't penetrate the surface deep enough to realise this. They picked an area rich in minerals and lacking lifeforms to begin mining operations. Back then, we were too desperate for supplies after the war and too hasty in our actions to obtain them. The natives who live underground also mine, but it's nowhere on our scale, but they are known to create towns around rich veins sometimes. A couple of such towns were located right below our feet some hundred odd years ago. There were very few survivors."

Xu Lin paled as the general picked up where her uncle left off. "Apparently the natives should have 'forgotten' about this by now, but we know from the surface dwellers that those people have definitely not. They steer clear of us like we are a disease. They would never allow us to move them and even if those industry bastards think they can develop their fortunes by bathing in blood, we refuse to let them. We don't answer to them."

"What if your superiors order it?" Xu Lin whispered, quietly.

"They won't," the general sounded strangely confident, even repeated those words when Xu Lin questioned her. "For now, let's deal with the rat." Her eyes swiftly latched onto her son and Song Jian. "You boys! Get your lazy asses over here!" Zhang Min flinched and sighed, before approaching and saluting. Song Jian's salute was much sharper and respectful, the smaller man caught the slight woman named Xu Lin appraising his friend and frowned. "Get a squad together and see if our friends in the north forest have seen him or can give warning to the Cavers."

"Yes ma'am," both soldiers said in unison.

"Oh and take these two with you," the Captain told them, pushing his niece and crew member forward.

"Why me?" Xu Lin demanded to know, she hated being dirt side with a passion. It was a hot bed of bugs and weird creatures and green stuff.

"You messed up," her uncle said in an unrelenting tone, "you fix it. Han Huan will accompany you, since he knows the rat's face." Xu Lin did not shed her displeased expression, but backed down. She could not deny that it was her fault that the rat stowed away.