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Her eyes scanned the area, and she quickly found evidence of the crate’s removal. A gouge in the sand showed the exact direction of where it had been dragged. It led straight in the direction of the jungle.

“Neo, how many survival fabricators did we have onboard?” she asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach telling her what she already knew.

[Informative: Cortex-31 inventory suggests that the ship carried one emergency fabricator in storage outside of the primary bootstrap module.]

She had no idea if the bootstrap module had survived, or where it was. The fabricator that disappeared had represented her best chance of ever getting back into space.

Her heart rate picked back up as she hurried after the drag marks. “What fricking hell could be strong enough to drag it this fast?”

She hadn’t been gone long, only an hour or two, tops. Yet whatever had taken her crate had already managed to drag it out of sight.

[Speculation: Native fauna may possess physical attributes or abilities allowing them to move heavy objects.]

The divots in the sand seemed fresh, and when the edge of the jungle came into sight, her heart did a flip as she saw the tunnel of ripped vegetation her thief’s passage had created.

Suddenly, the chance for an altercation loomed over her. She checked her pockets and took stock of what potential weapons she had on hand—a set of flares, flare gun, and multi-tool. Not really an arsenal, but it would have to do. In the worst-case scenario, the multi-tool’s laser would probably fry whatever it was.

And she was going to fry whatever it was if it didn’t give her fabricator back.

The taste of the air changed abruptly, a soft breeze erasing the still dry air with a humid, nutty smell. It pulled her chase to an abrupt stop.

“Neo, is the suit filter capable of managing this?”

[Informative: Alien biological matter readings have increased substantially; however, suit filtration should still be capable of preventing User exposure to potentially fatal alien viral loads.]

Despite her concerns, she plunged back into the chase. An orchestra of alien bugs chirping formed a high-pitched song as the last rays of the sun dipped below a rocky horizon. Her suit’s light amplification struggled in the pitch black, but her helmet’s headlight came to the rescue.

She paused at the strange sharp line that separated the jungle’s edge and the sandy rock that held back the dunes of sand. It was a strange land formation to be sure, but it was the cavern of jungle vegetation that had been made that gave her pause.

The plants were thick; thicker than she’d been able to discern from a distance. She’d seen plenty of holovids where stalwart explorers had mindlessly ventured into lush greenery only to be eaten by carnivorous plants and the like. She didn’t want to end up like that.

“Neo, keep an eye out for anything that could be dangerous.”

[Notice: This unit is always preforming security sentry function; no user direction is required.]

“Perform it at higher priority or something then. This place looks dangerous.” Talia said.

[Affirmative: This unit will prioritize User safety.]

She fished her flare gun out and loaded a flare. She kept it in her left hand while arming her right with the multi-tool. The bright beam from her headlamp cut through the darkness ahead while pushing back the sudden darkness that was nearly absolute underneath the jungle canopy.

Following the path through the already cut jungle was easy. She hoped that it would help her gain on her thief. As she continued the jungle slowly thinned out until she wasn’t constrained by a vegetative tunnel. An open bio-luminescent forest of thick trunks greeted her headlamp. The cool blues melted away under the glare of her light.

An angry swarm of bugs began to coalesce around her. One of them landed on her forearm and a suit integrity warning appeared. She swatted it away and began to swat at the rest as they darted for her. “Ah frick! Neo! What are these?”

[Informative: These appear to be native insectoids exhibiting bioluminescent properties. The chemical reaction causing this light emission appears to be acidic in nature and is damaging your suit.]

Talia cursed, brushing off another one as she stepped back from the swarm that was now circling around her. "Well, fantastic," she muttered sarcastically. "What's next? Acid-spitting plants?"

[Observation: The insects appear to be attracted to the light source from your headlamp.]

Talia reached up and killed her headlamp. Almost like flipping a light switch, the swarm dispersed and spread out as the bugs dispersed in search of a new light source.

She glanced around the darkened alien environment. The bioluminescent glow of the nearby flora was faint but enough for Talia's suit to amplify. It was eerie, casting long shadows and giving everything an otherworldly blue hue.

But it allowed her to see well enough without attracting more acid bugs.

"Now which way did that blasted crate go?" she mumbled under her breath, squinting into the darkness. The obvious trail she’d been following seemed to disappear.

Fortunately, Neo was actually able to help.

[Highlight: Trail detected approximately 20 meters ahead and continuing deeper into jungle terrain.]

“Oh, finally being useful, now. Good job Neo!” Talia replied. She immediately began to follow the faint line that appeared on her HUD. It formed a virtual path that wove between trees and depressions in the terrain. A helpful marker beside it was clearly labeled.

| Signs of a dragged heavy object. |

The chorus of bugs turned into a hum as she continued deeper through the unknown terrain. A nervous energy began to fill her as she continued.

Just how far was whatever it was going to carry away her fracking crate?

Shock stabbed her as she made it to the other side of a tree-lined bend. A large bear-sized creature was pulling her prize down a hill about 100 meters away. Size was the only comparison to a bear she could make, though, because the alien was decidedly un-bear shaped.

The closest comparison she could make was an arachnid since it had eight legs as it dug into the earth with each blade-like appendage. It looked like it was covered in a coat of fur, while two shorter appendages jutted from its head.

A white web wrapped around the crate as a drag line. Without thinking about it, Talia leveled her flare gun and aimed above the creature. “Give it back!”

The spider-alien halted immediately, letting out a screeching trill in reply as it spun around to face her. It hopped side to side in agitation as she stared it down. The showdown lasted a tense few seconds before the alien suddenly spun away and returned to its theft with renewed vigor.

Talia blinked in surprise, not sure what she had been thinking. Whatever it was, it seemed very intent on taking her things. She pulled the flare gun’s trigger.

The flare gun kicked in her hand, letting out a sharp hiss as the bright red projectile screamed through the air. It sailed just above the alien and her crate, illuminating everything beneath it in a harsh, fiery glow. For a second, she feared that the shot was going to hit the alien instead of passing by in warning.

The jungle came alive under its light. The bioluminescent flora dimmed, overwhelmed by the intense illumination of the flare as it slammed into a tree and began to sparkle. The arachnid creature froze before issuing another wild shriek, then scuttled away into deeper darkness.

[Observation: Flares appear to frighten or deter native fauna.]

"Good to know," Talia muttered grimly as she started running after it. Her HUD’s tracker continued to mark the creature’s path, but she cut across whatever shortcut she could make in her hurry to catch up. She almost slipped on wet moss in one of the depressions, and found that the creature had already picked out the best path.

Cresting a hill, the tracking line led straight into a glittering rock formation. Her alien thief wasted no time in rushing into the dark maws of the cave that greeted her.

She jolted to a halt. “Frack. Are you kidding me? In there?”

[Informative: The cave's interior appears to contain numerous deposits of bioluminescent minerals, providing ample light. Hazard analysis shows no immediate threats detected within scanning range.]

Talia let out a sigh, her heart pounding in her chest. "Alright… alright. I can do this." She reloaded her flare gun and kept it and her multi-tool at the ready as she approached the cave entrance.

The mouth yawned open before her like an abyss, but inside was another world—a veritable constellation of glowing rocks illuminating the cavern with an ethereal light. It was beautiful and eerie all at once.

As the faint light from the jungle flora gave way to the bioluminescence of the minerals, the cave turned into a beautiful alien wonderland that would have piqued every ounce of curiosity in any explorer's heart…if only there wasn't a large spider-like creature hiding somewhere inside it with her necessary survival equipment.

Pushing her awe at the scenery aside, she continued her chase. Rocks narrowed while the cave closed in overhead.

A harsh grating sound echoed off the walls of the cave. As she rounded another bend, she saw the source: the creature was there, straining as it tugged on its rope in an attempt to pull her crate through a narrow passage. It was stuck.

The creature saw her immediately and released a threatening hiss. It released the crate and leapt up onto one of the nearby rocks, its eight legs spread wide while waving its two blade-like appendages menacingly.

Talia raised her flare gun without hesitation and fired again. The flare exploded against the wall behind the alien with an intense flash of light. The spider-alien screeched in surprise and pain before scrambling away into deeper darkness.

She sprinted toward the stuck crate with her multi-tool at the ready. She pulled the trigger once at the ceiling, just to make sure it worked, and a yellow beam of energy hit the side of the cave in the direction the thing had fled. The rock over-heated instantly, suddenly exploding and sending a wave of pebbles in every direction.

Clambering up onto the rock where it had been standing on, she tried to get a better look at what was deeper in the cave.

Shock and fear blasted adrenaline through her body. Dozens of angry red eyes stared back at her in the darkness, the arachnid aliens hopping back and forth sideways as they let out a chorus of screeches.

[Notice: User has entered hostile fauna nesting grounds.]

"Thanks for stating the obvious!" Talia exclaimed breathlessly as she stood atop that rock staring at dozens of very angry alien spiders glaring back at her. Each one had a slightly different shade of fur.

The one she had been chasing was the closest, the presence of its friends seemed to restore its courage and it spun and began to skitter toward her in a rush. She leveled her multi-tool at it and to her shock it skidded to a sudden stop, releasing a shrill shriek before retreating again.

A braver companion rose to the challenge a second later, but this one didn’t stop. She pulled the trigger.

Click. Click. “NEO!”

[Confirmation: Is User sure they would like to utilize their survival tool in a hostile manner against a living lifeform? This action could violate several inter-galactic laws and prohibitions on safari restrictions and misuse of survival equipment.]

“YES! FIRE!” she ordered.

The creature was much too close when the beam struck it in the head. The blow was almost physical, as the creature suddenly jumped backwards before falling onto its back in a roll back towards its brothers. Or sisters. Or whatever they were.

The response was dramatic as two of the creature’s companions rushed forward and dragged the wounded one back to safety.

Several others made threatening runs toward her before stopping and skittering backwards when she aimed at them. Once the injured spider-thing had been carried to the back of the group the entire mass of them began to retreat as a unit back into the cave.

[Observation: The native fauna appears to respond to shows of force and are capable of cooperative behavior.]

"Really?" Talia shot back, terror receding as she watched the creatures retreat into the darkness. "What was your first clue?