The drop pod rattled and shook as it drilled into the crust of Hoxxes IV. They were heading in deep.

The other four dwarves were in high spirits, excited about their last green-beard mission, but Karl felt uneasy.

Karl had managed to survive the horrors the planet had in store because of his gut, and he wasn't about to stop trusting it anytime soon.

'Let's just get in and get out.'

Thunk!

The drop pod arrived, and the team quickly exited the pod and began gathering the resources in the landing zone. The resources were primarily a mineral called nitra, which was a crimson-red color, and, everyone's favorite, gold! There was also the occasional boolo cap, a florescent purple and cyan mushroom.

Once they left the pod, it began to ascend out of the cave.

They were more than a kilometer deep. There would be no reinforcements and no escape until they completed their mission.

Even supplies were hard to come by. They could only get more if they used nitra, about 80 units of it.

The mining company was stingy like that.

Karl was brought out of his thoughts by Scout, who had found loose dirt, "The tunnel is blocked over here!"

Driller quickly ran over and began to do his thing. Drill.

In just a few seconds, the cave had a new path to go deeper. The team made their way through the winding tunnel, and before long, the tunnel expanded into a stunning scene.

As if it were the grand chamber of an empress, the cavern was adorned with dazzling protrusions of towering silicate spears, and radiant blue crystals illuminated the walls with an eerie yet alluring hue. Small alcoves, home to even more of the beautiful minerals, were also stowed away from dwarven eyes.

This cave was truly one of nature's treasure troves.

'Now this... this is one of the reasons I love this job.'

It was almost a pity that they were about to desecrate it.

'Oh well, corporate waits for no one.'

Karl gathered the dwarves, "We need 225 units of morkite and 20 boolo caps. Let's do this quick."

What is morkite? A rock.

To be honest, Karl didn't actually know what it was used for. He theorized it might be some type of fuel source due to the fact that it could be found in geysers, but he didn't have anything concrete. It was a company secret, after all.

The team quickly spread out to gather the required morkite.

They had to be wary of the cave's natural dangers, such as stray glyphids, cave leaches (ambush predators that grab you from high up), and, the most dangerous part, the cave itself.

By far the vast majority of on-site injuries were caused by falling. Just traversing the caves came with great risk, and anyone was prone to error at any time.

'Speaking of falling...'

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Scout screamed as he fell from the ceiling, undoubtedly caused by a poor grappling hook shot.

Scout landed with a slight crunch, "Ughhh."

Karl quickly walked over and haphazardly poured some 'magic' medical juice onto the scout.

A fall like that would have instantly killed any other creature, only dwarves were able to survive something like that, albeit with some injuries.

There was a reason why a dwarf was the best mining employee. Not even machines could best a dwarf. Well, not yet, at least.

As they were mining a vein of nitra, Gunner suddenly asked, "Hey, Karl,  how come you use such a big pickaxe? Doesn't it get in the way?"

Karl laughed, "Well, I have two. A big one and a small one. The small one is for dealing with more dextrous stuff, and the big one— well, that is just from a habit I picked up in my green-beard days."

...

After half an hour or so, the team finally managed to gather the required morkite.

Calling Molly, a M.U.L.E.¹Mining Utility Lift Engine unit, they requested a drop pod to get out.

Their relationship with Molly was very bittersweet. On one hand, Molly was a very cute robot that was a dwarf's best friend, but on the other hand, Molly constantly got in the way, either blocking them or shoving them off ledges.

[ Management note: M.U.L.E. units do not possess sentience ]

Karl opened up his terrain scanner to see where the pod was landing. As per the norm, it landed as far away as dwarvenly possible.

What Karl didn't understand is that they could call down resupplies with pinpoint accuracy, but a drop pod couldn't even get within 50 meters of them???

The team quickly ran back the way they came. Now that the pod had landed, every bug in a ten-kilometer radius was about to join the fray. It was pointless to try and hold them off due to their numbers, so it was most effective to just get rid of the ones in your way.

On top of that, they also only had five minutes to reach the pod and get the hell out.

Any longer than that and real nasty things would start to show up, and management would have the pod leave with or without them.

Like last time, the team fought off any bugs who were unfortunate enough to be in their path, but, unlike last time, they didn't get piledrived by a bulk detonator while their pants were down.

Without much trouble, the team managed to make it back to the drop pod.

Once they all boarded, Karl sighed in relief. It seemed his anxiety was unfounded.

'I should retire soon, I must be getting old.'

While the engine was powering up, Karl said, "Tell you all what, I'll treat you guys at the bar later. Everything on me."

The four dwarves shared a glance, before Engineer said, "You might go broke you know."

The pod began to ascend, but before it could get far-

CRACK!

Suddenly, a large fracture webbed across the ground.

From inside the drop pod, the dwarves' expression suddenly became serious.

"We've got extreme seismic activity on our radar! Something is approaching! Fast!" Warned mission control through the earpiece.

BOOM!

With a violent blast, the cavern floor erupted outwards, and a limb as thick as an elder tree shot out and speared into the drop pod as if it were a sheet of paper.

The limb was as dark as the very cave it came from, except it had intricate orange patterns resembling a primordial script running along it.

"DIEEEEEEEE"

The dwarves quickly began to unload a storm of lead onto the appendage until they were entirely out of ammo.

Much to their horror, there wasn't even a dent in the carapace. The only thing that came from it was an enraged shriek.

'This is not good.'

Karl focused on the script of the limb, but the only thing he gleamed was a mind-numbing headache.

His face became tense. The only thing that could do that was something Karl was far too familiar with.

He quickly shouted to mission control, "It's an Ancient! Get us out of here!"

Mission control cursed, "I thought we got rid of those wretches already!"

The engine on the drop pod began to roar even louder, fighting against the dreaded beast, but the pod couldn't escape.

The beast began to gradually pull back the pod. Time was running out.

Karl glanced between the four dwarves and the Ancient. He only had one option left.

His hands tightened around his pickaxe, and he closed his eyes briefly before exhaling.

Karl steeled his resolve, "Mission control, get these four back safely."

Before any of the dwarves could react, Karl leaped out of the pod and brought his pickaxe overhead.

"I'll kill you like we did your mother!" exclaimed Karl in a rage.

Karl's muscles tensed, and his body heated up as pure steam palpated off of him.

With a pickaxe radiating pure destruction, Karl crashed into the Ancient and brought his pickaxe down with all his might.

"FOR ROCK AND STONE!!!!!!!!!"

The ground shattered and caved away while a shockwave shook the entire underground chamber.

Like a twig, the limb was ripped off causing the drop pod to blast away.

The last thing the dwarves saw was the cavern collapse and the Ancient and Karl, who was giving them a thumbs up, falling into the abyss of Hoxxes.