Destiny Among the Stars - Scifi - LitRPG - Adventure

In war, the moral is to the physical as three is to one.

—Napoleon

The Peregrine rocked, its oversized tires chewing through the alien soil with a low, satisfying growl. For three hours, Luca had kept his hands locked on the wheel, his eyes fixed on the narrow cone of light cutting through the absolute darkness. The grasslands had given way to a sparse forest, with trees marked by their black bark.

"She's handling it better than I thought she would," Chris said from the passenger seat. "I half expected a suspension coil to shoot through the floor by now."

Luca grunted in agreement as he felt himself nodding off. He rolled his shoulders, trying to work out the knots that had formed during the long drive, his grip on the wheel loosening and tightening reflexively. His hands trembled slightly as he shifted gears. Every few minutes, he found himself checking the rearview display, expecting to see a pursuit that never came.

The image of the Percival's violet engines burning a hole in the sky was seared into his memory.

"Alright, my turn," Chris said, already unbuckling. "You look like you're about to start steering with your forehead."

Luca managed a weak smile, bringing the Peregrine to a squeaking stop. The silence that rushed in when the engine idled felt vast and heavy. He stretched, his back popping in a series of small, sharp cracks. "She's all yours. Keep her steady."

As Chris slid into the driver's seat, Luca squeezed past him, moving toward the back of the cabin. The main compartment was dim, lit only by the faint starlight filtering through the side ports.

Danny was propped up on the back bench, a blanket draped over his legs. His breathing was even, his face relaxed in sleep. But Luca could still see the faint wince carved into his brow, like his body hadn't fully let go of the pain. Leaning against his shoulder, her own head on a bundled jacket, was Zoe.

Luca paused, watching Danny's steady breathing and Zoe's relaxed features.

Joey gave Luca a quiet nod and moved to the front, murmuring something to Chris that Luca couldn't hear. Company for the driver. Good. No one should be alone with their thoughts for too long out here.

That left an empty space on the bench. Emily was sitting there, watching him, her eyes catching the faint light. She hadn't been asleep. She shifted over, making room.

He sank onto the padded cushion beside her and let his head fall back against the seat. He must have drifted, because he was startled when a weight settled on his shoulder. He opened his eyes just enough to see the top of Emily's head, her hair smelling of something uniquely hers. She had fallen asleep, her body slumping against his.

.He tilted his own head until it rested lightly against hers, his arm coming to rest protectively around her. The Peregrine rumbled on through the alien night, carrying its cargo of tired, fragile, determined humans.

A change in momentum brought Luca out of a dreamless sleep. The sound of the Peregrine's engine died, and the vehicle settled with a final sigh of its hydraulics. His neck was stiff, and his arm, where Emily had been resting her head, was all pins and needles.

Pale light, filtered through the viewport.

"Morning, Captain," Danny said from across the cabin. He was already checking his tablet, his bodysuit was back on, and zipped up. "Local time is oh-seven-hundred, give or take. And I'm picking up… nothing. No large biosignatures within a five-kilometer radius."

"Too quiet?" Zoe murmured, disentangling herself from the blanket.

"Let's find out," Luca said. He hit the control for the rear ramp.

The ramp lowered, revealing a world starkly different from the one they'd left behind. A wave of cool, crisp air washed into the cabin. Luca stepped out onto the soft bed of fallen needles, sucking in a deep breath.

Towering, coniferous trees, their bark a dark shade of mossy reds, pressed in on all sides, their dense canopies creating a ceiling that blotted out much of the sky. He eyed the deep shadows between the trunks, his hand resting near the sidearm holstered on his thigh.

Emily appeared at his side, her gaze sweeping over the alien woods. "This is perfect," she breathed. "Completely different ecosystem. Temperate, coniferous. The System will definitely classify this as a new biome." She turned to him, a genuine smile on her face. "We should start collecting samples."

"First, we've got to find water," Luca said, turning back to the Peregrine.

Inside, Ryan, Chris, and Luca huddled over the orbital maps projected from the console. "There," Chris said, pointing a finger at a thin, blue line snaking through the topography. "Stream, maybe half a kilometer from here. Looks like our best bet for a water source."

It took another ten minutes, but soon the Peregrine was parked in a small clearing beside the stream. The water ran clear and fast. With a series of clunks and whirs, Luca deployed the vehicle into its outpost mode, stabilizing arms sinking into the soil and the sensor mast extending to its full height.

"Turret online and set to auto," Ryan announced from the tactical station. The energy turret atop the Peregrine swiveled silently. "Just be aware, Captain," he added, his tone serious, "we're in the shade here. The solar arrays are only pulling in about fifteen percent of their optimal charge. Running the turret and other systems, we're operating at a net energy loss."

"Noted," Luca said, his eyes on the dark woods. "For now, the security is worth the power drain. Let's get to work."

Soon, the team fanned out. Chris and Joey set up the humming deep-core drill a short distance away. Danny and Zoe headed directly for the stream, their kits full of vials and sensors to test the water.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Come on," Emily said to Luca. "Let's see if this planet has anything remotely edible."

They pushed aside a thick curtain of ferns. There they saw it: an entire grove of gnarled, alien trees, their twisted trunks reaching skyward. The trees were chock-full of these bizarre fruits, hanging heavily from the branches like the planet was trying to show off.

The fruit was oval-shaped, with a glossy, deep purple skin that seemed to shimmer, almost like it was sweating. Thin, veiny tendrils curled out from the stems, twitching faintly, like they were alive. They pulsed in sync with the dim glow of the moss below, and the whole grove felt… suggestive like it was alive.

Emily stopped dead beside him, her hand brushing his arm as she stared at the trees. "Whoa," she whispered, her voice tinged with awe. "It's… kind of beautiful."

"Beautiful," he echoed, plucking one of the fruits from a low-hanging branch. The skin was smooth and warm to the touch, with just enough give when he pressed it to suggest it was ripe. "I was going to go with creepy, but sure, let's call it beautiful."

"My expert analysis," she said, leaning in, "is that we shouldn't eat anything until we analyze them. But," she added, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "they do look delicious."

"We'll need a lot of samples for a full analysis," he murmured, his gaze flicking down to her lips and back up again.

"Then we'd better get picking," she replied, her eyes holding his.

Late afternoon light slanted through the canopy as the team began to reconvene at the Peregrine. The eerie silence of the morning had been replaced by the chirps and rustles of the alien forest.

Chris wiped his hands on his pants and grinned at the neatly labeled core samples. Danny was sitting on a folding chair, cataloging specimens. Even Ryan was whistling softly as he secured the drill.

A creature resembling a six-legged, red-furred squirrel lay peacefully tranquilized in a cage, its bushy tail twitching occasionally in a dream. Beside it was a canid-like predator with powerful hind legs, a sleek body covered in short, rust-colored fur, and intelligent eyes that were slowly blinking back to awareness.

"Their biology is surprisingly analogous to terran mammals," Danny explained as Luca knelt to inspect the predator. "Carbon-based, oxygen-breathing. I managed to synthesize a fast-acting tranquilizer from a blood sample. We're officially back in the fauna-collecting business."

"Incredible work, Danny," Luca said, his eyes periodically sweeping the dark treeline that encircled their small clearing.

The air had grown warm and humid, clinging to their skin. Zoe, wiping a smear of mud from her cheek, glanced longingly at the stream. "The water's been tested clean down to the microscopic level," she announced to the group, holding the water analyzer.

Chris nodded, his eyes scanning the screen. "So, safe to drink?"

"Yep," Joey confirmed. "This source looks good. If I had to guess, I'd say there's a natural filtration process happening upstream. Probably explains why the water's so clear." He capped another vial and began to pack up the rest of his equipment. "We could even drink straight from it, but we'll run it through the filters just to be safe."

"I, for one," said Zoe. "I'm going to wash three days of meadow-stink off me."

Emily grinned, pushing a stray strand of hair from her forehead. "I'm with Zoe."

"Hold on," Luca said. "Has anyone actually checked the stream bed? Poked it with a stick or something?"

Ryan rolled his eyes dramatically. "Captain, we've been running the core drill for the past 6 hours. The bottom is solid rock and silt for two meters down. Unless there are phase-shifting land-sharks, it's safe."

"Alright, everyone! Time to take a breather!" Luca called, his voice cutting through the loud insect buzz of late afternoon. "Gear off, and let's cool down." God, it was hot out here.

The crew began shedding their protective bodysuits, revealing sweat-soaked T-shirts and shorts underneath. It didn't take long before they stripped down further, down to underwear and whatever base layers they had on.

There was no room for modesty after weeks cooped up together on the Triumph, four miserable days in New Dawn, and the heat of the day left little choice but to ditch as many layers as possible. Plus, who was going to complain about seeing everyone half-naked? Not Luca.

With whoops and laughter, the crew raced each other to the edge, some diving headfirst, others wading in carefully. Zoe and Ryan took flying leaps, creating loud, messy splashes.

Danny, with a large adhesive bandage covering the top of his back, tiptoed in, shivering as the cool water hit his skin. He rubbed at his back with a grimace and muttered, "Better than another med scan, I guess."

Emily and Luca were in the shallows, splashing each other like a couple of idiots. They were wrestling around, and he was trying to dunk her, but she was quick. "Come on, Captain, is that the best you've got?" she teased.

"Not even close," he grinned, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into a playful tackle. They both went under, coming up for air, gasping and laughing, water streaming down their faces.

Danny was wading nearby and spotted something in the water. "Look at this little guy," he said, pointing at some small, fish-like thing darting around.

Ryan, of course, had to try to catch it, splashing Danny in the process. Those two were something else.

"Missed it, bro," Ryan said, grinning. "You've got to be quicker than that."

Joey, ever the instigator, swam closer to the group. "Alright, listen up!" he shouted, getting everyone's attention. "How about we make this a little more interesting? Let's have a friendly competition, first one to grab one of those little critters wins!"

The crew cheered because who doesn't love a stupid competition? Everyone scattered across the river, diving and splashing, all determined to catch one of those slippery little fuckers. The water turned into chaos, splashing, shouts, and laughter echoing all over the place.

Zoe emerged victorious, holding up a small, iridescent creature she'd somehow managed to snag. "I got it!" she exclaimed, her voice echoing across the water.

Emily and Luca had wandered off into the reeds, chasing after one of those little glowing critters. She was so determined, it was kind of adorable. She held her breath and stuck her head underwater, trying to catch the damn thing as it darted between the roots.

He was right next to her, and well, he couldn't resist. Luca took advantage of the moment to tickle her waist, making her jump out of the water with a loud splash.

She sputtered and coughed. "Not fair," she said, splashing him back.

Luca laughed. "You were so focused on catching that thing, you didn't even notice me."

"Well, I definitely noticed now," she said, a determined glint in her eye. And then she dove back underwater, like a mermaid.

He followed her, but instead of chasing the critter, he swam up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You're such a cheater!" she exclaimed between giggles.

"Hey!" He shouted, then whispered, as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck. "Be careful!"

He could feel his heart pounding as they kissed, the water swirling around them. Emily's hands roamed over his back, her lips hungry on his.

Without breaking the kiss, he slid his hands down to her hips and hoisted her up, lifting her out of the water. She wrapped her legs around him, still kissing him like there was no tomorrow.

But of course, they couldn't have that. A loud splash and laughter from the rest of the crew broke the spell. Startled, Emily and Luca broke apart and turned to see Zoe doing cannonballs into the river, like a big kid, while Ryan cheered her on.

Later, dripping and refreshed, they gathered around a bonfire pit that Ryan had assembled from stream rocks. The fire crackled cheerfully, a beacon of warmth against the encroaching twilight. The shadows of the trees grew long and deep, and the forest sounds began to change, the chirps of the day-creatures replaced by the lower-pitched calls of things that moved in the dark.

They ate their MREs in comfortable silence. Ryan poked the fire with a stick, sending a shower of red sparks into the air.

"You know," he said, looking over at the tranquilized predator, now sleeping soundly in its cage. "Danny said its biology is compatible. The analyzer shows no prions, no parasites, no complex toxins we can't process." He looked around at the faces lit by the firelight. "These MREs are getting real old. I bet that thing tastes like venison."