Life and Death on Planet Nauru, Omicron Delta - [PM for Invitation]

[Jack_Henderson]

Planet Nauru, shortly before the Hutoka's arrival:

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Team Blue Dune, a small quad of 5 led by Chief Barnes had taken an observation position in the area that was deemed a good landing zone for the Hutoka by the scouting parties. The full team had been ferried in by the ALG insertion mission and the remaining operators were were still in the process of deploying their equipment and organising for backup and supplies. The Hutoka was part of it, and this was the first real mission in Operation Nauru Dawn.

The small group was dug into the sand, performing overwatch over the stretch of dunes that seemed endless. The vessel would have to touch down far from the Core's main city and even a good stretch from the heavily fortified mining settlements. This was a place void of anything interesting, filled with dust and sand, empty of life, yet a place where lives would be saved in the future.

Operator: "All clear, Chief. No aerial contacts for 2 hours. No visuals. No thermal contacts."
Chief: "Roger. Long range comm. We call our package in."

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Operation Name: Nauru Dawn
Mission Name: Dunes of Steel
Time on Nauru: 5d 21h 58m 32s
Position: 22°76'174 / 163°29'165

Priority: High
Encryption: High

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Time to atmospheric entry of the Hutoka: 00:21:16

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This is Blue Dune, calling Hutoka. Blue Dune to Hutoka: We have marked you a potential landing zone, grid coordinates A 5.8823 / 7.2293, transmitting coordinates now.

Sending aerial of potential Landing Zones now. Four grids, so there are four potential LZ. All east of the main dune "Boss Alpha". Object height: approximately 125 meters.

Make sure to stay east of the main dune for maximised protection from visual and sensor detection. Sand depth approximately 40 to 80 meters in the depressions east.

Depending on sand coverage after touchdown, Blue Dune team has explosives ready to collapse the side of the adjacent dunes onto the Hutoka to accomplish full coverage fast. Recommended entry vector is parallel to the meridian.

Good luck Commander.
See you on the ground.
Blue Dune, out.

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Time to atmospheric entry of the Hutoka: -00:04:57

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"Visual! 98 degrees! Up!" one of the spotters reported into the headset, and all heads were turning upwards.

The silhouet of the landing ship was showing black against the bright sun and the clear blue sky. "Hope they don't hit us." someone joked over the comms. "Good point! Mark our position with strobes!" ordered the Chief, to make sure that the position of friendly forces would be recognized by the crew.

Moments later, the ship was huge and descending fast, it was turning the whole area into a mayhem of dust and whirling sand. "Take cover!" someone shouted, "Maaaaasks!!!" yelled the Chief, but everybody had them on already when the cloud of flying dust plunged everybody into darkness, biting any part of bare skin that it could hit.

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Time to atmospheric entry of the Hutoka: -14:33:13

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After the engines had stopped, and the dust had settled to a degree that Blue Dune could see enough to operate, they immediately hurried towards the landing zone. The vessels was partially covered by sand and dust, sitting in a valley next to a towering dune. "Satchel charges. There... there... there... there... 40 meters apart. 20 meters below top! Go!" yelled the Chief into her microphone, pointing at the ridge. The men and women started to climb the dune, running upwards in the burning heat.

Chief: "Blue Dune to Hutoka, keep your hatches sealed. We are causing a sand avalanche to cover the remaining part of your ship. Hang in tight. Might be loud plus pressure wave. Stay inside." she instructed what she expected to be civilian crew inside the ship that they had to bury as fast as possible.

Seven minutes later, four small detonations caused a part of the dune to collapse and slide down the flank. Tons of sand hit the massive hull of the ship, burying it below many meters of sand and hiding it from eyes in the sky. But sand storms out here in the desert - far away from any Core settlements or known resources - were frequent, and so there was a good probability that no one would even check, or if a routine check was done, nothing would be found.

"Let's get down there. Dig them out again. Shovels!" the Chief ordered with a sarcastic undertone, while she herself pulled the shovel from her backpack, folded it open and started digging with her team where they had spotted the entrance of the ship. "... hope we got the position right..." someone replied panting, and there was laughter: "Hell... hope we do" someone answered, and the Chief barked back without humour: "Save your breath. If you can still talk... you can also dig faster.".