Crab Hunt

The Foggy world looms below...

“Been a while since it’s just been us, hasn’t it, Ricky?” Richard sat up straight in his seat, gripping his chaingun and flicking a mag release off and on. He was suited up in expeditionary armor that consisted of black and gray material connecting sections of higher tech plate armor. He had ammo strapped all over his body for the chaingun, an explosive launcher, and a secondary Magnum firearm. The big guy barely even fit in the backseat of the Sunbeam, and Hayden could feel his weight change the acceleration of the craft. Richard’s eye was covered by an eyepatch and his snow white hair was slicked back. His Tauran horns were thick and prominent on his head. He now had a beard as white as his head that he seemed to take care of very well.
“It sure has been, Richard. I miss it.” Hayden smiled warmly, pitching the Sunbeam left while glancing down at his navigational panel. He flicked a few switches on the craft’s control console to lock the horizontal and vertical orientations of the craft. The Sunbeam leveled out smoothly. A call from Petunia showed up on the monitor and Hayden answered it.
“Dear Brother, how are those new stabilization modules I installed?”
“They’re excellent Petunia. Thank you so much.”
“Yay!!! I knew you’d like them.” Petunia stuck up two peace signs and winked with a smile. “See you back at the ship, big brother!” The call ended. Hayden sighed.
“Does she usually call you for tiny things like that?” Richard asked, looking up at Hayden as the pilot let the craft continue on its course, swiveling his seat around 180-degrees to face the rear seats.
“I don’t know what ‘usually’ means in this context. I’m still getting used to it. I didn’t think I was going to see Petunia again. Or you. Or anyone from Harren,” Hayden put a hand on his face and rubbed it while exhaling, reclining back on his seat, “Being the captain of this crew is all so new to me, man. Just a few months ago I was just minding my own business as an airport firefighter and maintenance worker. Now all this has happened.”
“I can imagine. I never thought sappy little Ricky would be commanding a small galactic mercenary band. It’s crazy you got this far without me.” Richard smirked. “In my mind you’re still the little guy with pencils on his horns that I have to stop from falling over every other second!” He chuckled and shook his head.
“Yeah. Those were the days! And I thought the solution to me falling was to get a backpack where the stuff wouldn’t fall out everytime!” Hayden threw up his hands in an admission of silliness.
“It’s so stupid that you thought THAT was the biggest problem. Shoulda just paid attention to where you were going.”
“Maybe. But I kinda didn’t care that much about falling over because it happened so much.” Hayden shyly laughed.
“Probably how you made it so far. You always get up and try something new. Even now.”
“I guess so.” Hayden smiled. “It’s so good to have you back, Richard.”
“You too, man. Glad to be back.”

~~~
The Sunbeam descended down onto the surface. The area was a moist coastal ecosystem with a breathable atmosphere and a thick, humid climate. Their landing zone was that of a gravel beach at a riverside, with a sheer rock cliff extending straight up into the fog cover above their heads. The river was filled with aquatic life that exhibited bioluminescence. Fish had purple-magenta eyes that sparkled in the depths of the water. In the distance, calls from some animal could be heard in a luscious forest that stood further in from the gravel beach.
Richard hopped out of the Sunbeam and grabbed his pack, hoisting it over his shoulder and locking it into his armor. He clicked a few attachments onto his chaingun, among which were a flashlight, an infrared optic, and a sonic module. This was useful for emitting noise outside of their hearing range, which some intel from planet locals determined was necessary to subdue various creatures that might pose a threat to them, besides the monster they were after.
Hayden finished up a landing checklist for the Sunbeam; these consisted of things like making a note of the fuel, making sure ship locks were in place, ensuring that the vertical space above the craft would not be obstructed in the event of an emergency, among other precautionary measures. He opened the pilot’s door and exited the ship. Hayden was suited up in a mere scout’s outfit. This consisted of a yellow material that was zipped up at the front and fastened with a few equipment belts. He had high tech pauldrons that were fastened over his shoulders. Hayden traveled lighter than Richard and brought with him scouter’s goggles for traversing the terrain, some mild rations, a communication armlet for transmissions to the crew and others, and a small ion-carbonite club for self defense. He also took a small briefcase.
Richard trudged over to Hayden, his boots squelching and sinking into the slightly damp gravel beneath his feet. Richard’s explosive launcher clanked against his side, slung over his shoulder on a sling.  Hayden shook his armlet to turn it on, projecting a holographic screen that showed 0 missed calls, a grayed-out map, and other miscellaneous apps like a calculator, logs, and notes.
“You ready to get going, friend?” Hayden asked Richard while waving his arm and dismissing the screen.
“Yeah. Let’s kill this crab.”
“No Richard! We’re not trying to kill it! We need the shell. We have to somehow make it leave the thing behind.”
“Theeeeeeeen we’re going to kill it. It’s a giant crab. I don’t think it’s going to give up its shell.”
“That’s not what Meliqua said in the briefing! Richard, did you EVEN watch it?”
“No. I was told that there was a big crab. I was told we were going to fight it.”
“Fighting is only a potential response if we aren’t able to induce the crab to leave through the methods Meliqua hypothesized.”
“If. So you’re saying there’s a chance.”
“I’ll throw up the briefing video on my back. WATCH. IT.”
“Aye aye captain. Lead the way.”
Hayden shook the armlet and began playing a video, proceeding to tap a device on the back of his neck, slightly below his shoulder blades. A screen projected the video behind him. The pair of Tauran men proceeded into the forest as a short woman with green scaly skin, shiny black hair in a bob cut and a white lab coat paced back and forth inside a laboratory.
“Okaaaaay, first time recording a briefing!! Haha…sorry captain, I know you told me to do this but I’m like- super duper nervous- sorry. Um…okay. Keep it together Meliqua…! Ok okay.” Meliqua took a deep breath and composed herself. “I processed the data that we collected from our sensors about the anomalus energies that were coming from this planet. Upon combining that with the testimony and other data that we’ve received from the planet’s people, I believe that we are dealing with a large creature called a Gunglascrab- we can just call it a crab, for short- that somehow has an anomaly implanted on its shell. The crab is a semi-aquatic creature that exists in coastal areas and has a large shell. It’s nearly five meters tall, and 2.46 tons. They are normally slow creatures but can swim quite well in the water. If threatened, crabs enter their shell and hide inside. They don’t leave until the danger is gone. Oh goodness…here’s a picture of the locals next to one!”
Meliqua held up a picture of crab towards the camera. It depicted a couple of the planet’s fishman-like natives standing in front of a large hermit crab creature, which was the size of a large truck. It was nearly as a transport ship that Hayden used to fly for his job. A couple of the native children were even climbing on the shell and sitting on top. The shell had a glassy black color.
“Damn.” Richard exclaimed, grinning at the prospect of the giant crab.
“Your target is one of these crabs. We need to get this crab’s shell. Locating it shouldn’t be too hard- it looks like the crab is located in a forested area near a coastal inlet. If you can catch it while it’s away from water, it should be rather easy to encounter and trap. Due to the Crab’s rather careful nature, and susceptibility to loud noises, you’ll need to proceed with this mission on foot. The precise location will appear on your armlet screen once you’re close enough. The shell is producing exuberant amounts of anomalous energy, a-after all! Now uh…Captain, I have a hypothesis on how we may be able to remove the crab from its shell quite easily.” Meliqua produced another image which was a diagram of the crab’s biology. “If you take a small drone and maneuver it within the innards of the crab’s shell and begin agitating its softer body tissue, the crab may interpret this as a sign that the shell is compromised, and proceed to leave it. Crabs usually discard their shells when they grow too big, so the motion would be in-nature for the crab. It would leave the shell behind and search for another, and it would be ours for the taking! Petunia is already creating a small all-terrain drone that can accomplish this task.”
“Hi brother!!!” Petunia called out from off-camera. Hayden rolled his eyes.
“Petunia please! I d-don’t want to mess up this video with the captain!” Meliqua looked incredibly flustered and nervous.
“I don’t think my brother will care. He’s a nerd like us. He gets it.”
“The captain is a valiant man! I’m sur-” Meliqua exclaimed, but Hayden shut off the video and shook the armlet screen closed.
“So yeah, that’s the gist. We’re going to take the drone and tickle the crab out of the shell, and you should be able to at least roll it back to the Sunbeam.” Hayden looked over his shoulder back at Richard, following closely along.
“Gotcha. Shame I won’t get to shoot anything, but I love collecting big ass stuff. Let’s find this crab.”
“Awesome.”
Hayden and Richard reached a hilly section in the forest. The trees grew straight up to the sky and moss covered the ground. Hayden hoisted his way up by hanging onto the gnarly roots of the trees, pulling himself against the steep hilly obstacle. Richard looked up at the incline with a frown.
“I can’t go that way, bud. Too much cargo.”
“I know. I’m just seeing if I can get a better vantage point. The crab hasn’t appeared on my radar yet.” Hayden spoke, kneeling at the crest of the hill and looking out into the forest beyond. It didn’t seem to be anywhere higher up. “Taur! Where is this thing?”
“Ain’t it supposed to be giving off waves? Just pick ‘em up.”
“It does but…maybe I’m getting some sort of interference?” Hayden whipped out the armlet screen and checked the map. The area of anomalous emission was vague. He frowned.
“Hey and uh- I’m no scientist, but I don’t think some big crab is going to like climbing hills like this any more than I do.” Richard leaned on a tree at the base of the slope.
“You’ve got a point.” Hayden slid back down the hill. “ugh…I wish I knew more about the landscape, but Petunia repurposed the mapping drone for this mission. We’re kinda screwed.”
“I say we start back at the river, follow it all the way to the coast. If it’s a water critter, then it’s gonna be near water!”
“Yeah- but the scanner-”
“Ricky, I know you wanna keep looking around the forest and stuff, but you gotta actually think here. If we’re looking for a crab, then we need to think where the crab is likely gonna be. You can’t get caught up on the details. Sometimes the solution is staring you right in the face.”
“You’re right, Richard. Let’s start back at the river.”
“All these years, and you’re still trying to fix the backpack, rather than stop yourself from falling over in the first place.”
“I guess I am.” Hayden spoke dejectedly, sombering back towards the riverside. Richard jogged after him.
“Hey, don’t worry about it! I got your back. I can help you get right back up. Just like old times.” Richard patted his buddy on the shoulder.
“Thanks, Richard.”
The pair got back to the beach and began their way down the bank, to where they could see the river entering the ocean. It was rather chilly and moist, and the fog dropped low on the sea in the distance. Large boulders piled high on either side of the embankment. A patch of rocks, evidently there from a prior rockslide, blocked the way on the gravel beach. Hayden helped Richard navigate through the rocks, and the bull-men finally made it to the beach. Hayden flipped out his armlet and checked the readings. The screen indicated that they were much closer to the crab than before. If they got just a bit closer they would be able to see the exact location. It was a bit strange to Hayden that the scanner would have this much interference, and it usually operated with more scope.
“I just don’t get it…the scanner is behaving so strangely. We should’ve been able to detect the crab’s precise location from much further away. Why is it so…diffused? No…it’s-”
“It’s right there, isn’t it?” Richard grabbed the scruff of Hayden’s shirt and pulled him to stop him from going further. Indeed, a massive hermit crab creature was crawling along the gravel sands. Hayden looked at his armlet and held it towards the crab. Sure enough, the creature was the epicenter of the readings.
“How the zell…?! We just stumbled into this thing! “ Hayden said quietly, crouching low and moving towards the tree line, away from the crab. It was absolutely integral not to spook the thing now.
“The fog’s been gettin’ thicker, did you not notice?” Richard followed. They found a downed tree to hide behind. They observed the crab. It seemed to be randomly moving about.
“Alright. I’m deploying the drone. Keep an eye on it. If that thing goes into the ocean, we won’t be able to catch it.”
“The zell am I supposed to do? Beg it to stay?”
“You can fire off a shot in the air, or graze the shell. Use your pistol though. We can’t damage the shell.”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” Richard set down his chaingun and deployed his magnum pistol.
Hayden set the briefcase down on the ground. The drone was enclosed inside with its pieces detached. It was a small device that had its propellers replaced for spider-like legs, which it would use to crawl on the interior of the crab’s shell. Hayden assembled the drone by clicking together the drone’s legs. Each part came together with a snap. He carefully set the drone on the ground and connected to it with his armlet. The drone sprung to life with a green light. Hayden tapped a few things on the screen and the drone scurried towards the crab quickly. It’s POV popped up on the screen. Hayden and Richard watched it approach the crab from behind, hop onto it, find a gap, and scuttle inside.
“Okay. What now?” Richard held his sights on the shell. He was ready to dome it if something went awry.
“One second. I’m going to try to get in there…just in a nice spot…here we go…THERE.” Hayden winced and pressed a button, shaking his armlet screen away. He peeked over to watch the crab as well. The crab went completely still. Richard quickly looked over at Hayden, keeping his handgun locked on target. Hayden looked up at Richard, then back to the crab.
“Is that it?” Richard spoke.
“I don’t know.” Hayden replied.
“It’s supposed to leave the shell, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it doing that?”
“I don’t know! I’m not a crab expert!”
“Did you kill the thing?”
“Maybe? The drone should just be wriggling around inside and causing discomfort.”
They stood in silence and stared at the giant crab standing motionless on the beach. The fog felt still. The crashing of water on the shoreline was gentle and deafening. The cold of the environment bit their skin and their breaths were misty. Nothing moved.
“Ricky, can I shoot it?”
Hayden thought about it for a second.
“Fuck it. Dome the thing.”
Richard squeezed the trigger and got a glancing blow off the top of the shell. Hayden jumped at the gunshot. The shot hit the shell and sounded out like a loud, distorted gong, spinning at high speed. The very fog around the shell began to distort. Richard looked at Hayden excitedly, in awe of hitting such a cool target. Hayden had a look of fear.
“Taur damnit. It’s doing some anomaly bullshit.”
Suddenly, the crab took off at high speed down the shore, turning up the way that Richard and Hayden had come from. It flung bits of gravel out and was deceptively fast for its size.
“HEY! GET BACK HERE!” Richard screamed while he holstered his magnum and hurriedly picked up his chaingun, racing off in the direction it went. Hayden followed right behind him, shaking his armlet screen open and attempting to make contact with the drone. The signal was lost. It was possible that it was embedded in the flesh or smashed to bits, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that the crab was charging right in the direction of the Sunbeam.
“RICHARD! IT’S GOING TO HIT THE SUNBEAM!” Hayden shouted at the top of his lungs as he and Richard turned up the river where the Crab had gone. It was halfway between them and the Sunbeam, made clear by the straight cliffs that stood between them and the ship. Hayden frantically attempted to make contact with the ship to make it enter hover mode, but it was no use. Some property of the planet’s fog was jamming his Armlet’s communication.
“RAAAAAAAGH”’ Richard slammed on one knee and revved up his Chaingun, unloading a lane of fire on the Crab’s shell. The bullets did nothing but bounce off the shell. It was simply way too thick. Hayden scanned the environment for a solution. His eyes quickly jotted between the forest, the river, the cliffs, the rocks, the ship, Richard, and the fog. He narrowed his focus on some loose looking boulders that were barely clinging onto the cliff on the right, above the crab’s path. Considering the density of those stones, the properties of their cleavage, the planet’s gravitational coefficient, and the angle they would fall if dislodged by an object with immense kinetic energy, Hayden worked out what he needed to do. He put his hand on Richard’s shoulder and shouted into his ear:
“The rocks! There’s loose rocks on the cliff on the right! On my signal, blast those rocks with a concussive explosion!”
“Got it!” Richard dropped his chaingun and quickly prepared his explosive launcher. This projectile would be enough to dislodge the rock.
The crab thundered down the bank towards the Sunbeam, nearly reaching the point of the rock debris the men had to navigate before. Three seconds. Hayden estimated it would take three seconds between Richard shooting the rock and it falling on the crab. The milliseconds passed by in Hayden’s head.
“Get ready…” Hayden’s eyes frantically flashed between the rocks and the crab, trying to visualize the exact path they would fall. Richard narrowed his eyes on a crack between the cliff face and the rocks.
“NOW!” Hayden shouted. Richard blasted the rocks above with a single attack. The explosive capsule erupted from the launcher and tumbled through the air at high speed. It struck the rock and exploded. A large boulder cleft from the cliffside was sent tumbling down the cliff face. The crab, traveling at a constant speed, was hit by the boulder, causing it to fall over on its side. The shell let out another thunderous gong, far louder than that caused by the magnum pistol. The crab laid on its side, limbs flailing in the air, grasping for some ground or object in an attempt to right itself.
“YES!” Hayden shouted and pumped his fist in the air.
“Buddy, it’s still moving! The fight ain’t over yet!” Richard shouted, throwing his explosive launcher on a sling and picking up the chaingun. The crab flailed for a another moment, but was able to grip some of the scattered rock debris and right itself. The crab rotated quickly to face the men. It had dark, beady eyes emerging in small pillars from its peach-colored body. Its front appendages were scratched, pink, and rugged. It had big claws that it raised and pinched the air with. It began to crawl towards Hayden and Richard in a reckless manner.
“Couple tons of rocks weren’t enough for you? Try this on for size!” Richard shouted, revving up his chaingun and unleashing it on the front of the crab. The crab’s eyes receded back into itself, and it seemed to hold up its pincers in front of itself, which absorbed the gunfire. It did sidestep the gunfire, but continued towards the two.
“Something is really wrong with this crab! Meliqua said they were supposed to be docile, reclusive creatures! Why is it attacking us?!” Hayden stood behind Richard, trying to figure out what to do.
“Well whatever’s wrong with it, we need to stop this thing, or we’re deader than Hamboni’s on a Thursday night!” Richard picked up his chaingun and ran over to have his back towards the rock wall, planting himself on a boulder to get himself a little bit of high ground. Hayden dashed over and shook his armlet. He checked for connection with the drone, and was able to reestablish a link with it. It showed the position of the drone in relation to the crab’s basic anatomy, but the POV perspective was cracked and dark. It was damaged, but locational sensors were operational. He quickly flipped to the communications app and attempted an uplink with the Sunbeam. He was finally able to make contact with the Antares-1 and his crew. Messages poured in, but he quickly paged through to Meliqua, and rung her up. Meliqua picked up immediately.
“Captain!? Are you okay?! Your signal is really weak, what’s going on?” Meliqua’s voice rang out from the call on the armlet.
“Meliqua, we’re in trouble! The anomaly is causing the crab’s behavior to vary wildly from what you told us! We used the drone in an attempt to corral it out of the shell, but it instead took off towards the Sunbeam! We managed to stop it, but it’s after us now! There also seems to be some property of the area’s fog that’s causing immense interference with my armlet’s transmission capabilities!”
“Oh three sisters, this is really bad!”
“We’re fighting it right now! Richard is staving it off with heavy suppressive fire, but we aren’t going to last much longer like this!”
“Shoot, shoot, okay! Uhm…oh goodness…Captain, do you still have access to the drone?”
“Yes, but the camera is compromised, we can’t see anything!”
“I’m attempting to patch into it now. I was able to receive further biological information about this crab species from an on-world university. We may be able to cause temporary paralysis by embedding the drone on a central nerve!”
“Okay, how long is that going to take?!”
“The signal’s weak Captain! I need you to get closer to the Sunbeam!”
“Zell. Okay, we’ll try!” Hayden left the call and shook his armlet screen away. “Richard, Meliqua’s going to try to stun the thing with the drone. I need to get to the Sunbeam!”
“Gotcha- But that thing’s still coming!” Richard pounded the crab with another volley of rapid fire from the chaingun. The crab’s front claws seem to be bruised from the attacks, but all it seemed to do was drive the crab back for a little bit. It would start approaching again after a short period of recovery. The crab still stood between them and the Sunbeam. Hayden looked around again for some way to distract the crab, or at least slow it down.
“We just need to slow it down. Richard, try shooting the ground between us and the crab with an explosive!”
Richard held up the chaingun with his right hand, freeing his left to pick up the explosive launcher on his left. He rapidly discharged a shot from the launcher in the rocky area between them and the crab. The shot made Richard recoil back and slightly fall back off of the boulder he was perched on. The explosion sent tons of gravel and shards of rock flying everywhere, as well as creating a cloud of smoke. Hayden took the opportunity to hurriedly make his way through the patch of rocks and towards the Sunbeam. He was able to reach the ship and shook open the armlet screen. Dislodging the armlet from his armor, he attached it to an access panel on the side of the ship, allowing it full use of the Sunbeam’s far superior communication and systems.
“Meliqua! Do you read?! I reached the Sunbeam! I need an ETA on that paralysis!”
“I have access, Captain! I’m working as quickly as I can! It’s hard to work in the dark!”
“Meliqua. We may have to smash the shell.”
“What?! But captain, securing that shell is vital to our mission-”
“We’re in serious danger here. Our weapons can’t make a dent on the crab’s shell, and if we can’t get that thing out, then we can’t retrieve the shell. But we can’t just leave it here. I’m not just going to let the anomaly continue to bring torment and agony to this planet’s people. My crew’s safety and the people’s safety comes first.”
“How are you going to break it?”
“The Sunbeam’s ripple cannon will punch through it. I’m absolutely sure it can.”
“Understood.”
Hayden looked towards the crab and the battle. He couldn’t see Richard anywhere, but he could see the crab. It was now coming after him. This was bad. Hayden turned back to the ship, ran to the pilot’s door and frantically attempted to open the pilot’s hatch. Locked. The crab thundered closer, its weight and crawling now being felt beneath Hayden’s feet. He opened a panel near the hatch and reached into his pocket for his manual override key. Thankfully it was the only thing in there. He successfully managed to fling open the pilot’s door and throw himself into the controls, desperately flicking on the engines and gravity controls. The crab was meters away from the ship and Hayden yanked upwards on the thrusters with reckless abandon, barely managing to clear the crab as it ran beneath the ship.
The young captain maneuvered his ship to face the crab. He attempted to check on Richard’s status with the various systems. Vital signs were still reporting. He looked through the window back at the rocks where he left him. Richard was now running towards the crab with the chaingun in hand. Hayden connected to Richard’s earpiece to communicate.
“Richard, come in. Did it get you?”
“Nah. Thing buggered off and went after you.” Richard smirked and shook his head.
“Gotcha. Meliqua’s trying to paralyze the thing, but if she isn’t able to do that, I’m going to shatter the shell with the Sunbeam’s ripple cannon.” Hayden switched his gaze between various flight instruments and the weapons panel, and began to initialize the Ripple cannon.
“Oh Zell. Okay. What do you want me to do?”
“When that thing goes still, I need you to knock it over with an explosion. I’ll pull on the shell with the Sunbeam’s cargo arms.”
“Understood.” Richard stood ready with the explosive launcher. Hayden patched Meliqua into the communication.
“I nearly got it, Get ready!” Meliqua exclaimed. Hayden engaged the cargo arms of the Sunbeam. Hydraulic arms emerged from a compartment underneath the pilot’s canopy and extended out in front of the ship. Most personal ships had these arms, but the Sunbeam’s custom nature meant these were juiced up, and had some combat ability as kinetic devices. The crab charged at Richard, but then stopped and went limp. It slid along the gravel and stopped a meter away from Richard. Richard ran around to the side and launched a bomb at the side of the shell. It toppled over. Hayden swooped in with the Sunbeam and positioned itself on the opposite side. Using the ship’s cargo arms, it gripped the shell tightly. He began to rise up with the ship, holding the crab in the air. The crab’s body did not fall out from the shell. Hayden jerked the craft left and right to try and shake the crab out from the shell, but still, no dice.
“C’mon! Just let it go!” Hayden frustratingly shook the giant crab.
“It appears that the crab’s body is locked into the shell due to the paralysis.” Meliqua reported. “I am unable to dislodge the drone from the central nerve.”
“So it’s not letting go?” Richard asked, looking up at the crab.
“We’re so close! I really don’t want to break this shell if I have to!” Hayden anguished.
“Hang on, Ricky! I’ve got an idea! This reminds me of something!” Richard’s face lit up and he threw down his chaingun and unslung the explosive launcher. He opened an ammo compartment of the launcher and pulled out an explosive projectile. These projectiles had countdown timers and detonation switches, so that in the event of an emergency, they could be used as grenades. Richard gripped one and ran beneath the crab, climbing onto it. He began to pull his way up the crab’s body.
“Richard, what the zell are you doing?! You’re gonna get your ass killed!”
“Nah! Watch!” Richard’s face had a shit eating grin. He pulled himself up to the point where the crab’s body met the shell. There was now a sizeable gap into the insides of the shell, due to gravity pulling the body down. Richard set a 5 second timer on the bomb, then chucked it deep into the gap. He slid down the side of the crab and jumped off its outstretched pincer, diving into the gravel beach below. He covered the back of his head with his hands. The explosion went off inside the shell, shooting the crab out like a bottle rocket, and it thudded into the gravel. The blast and the sudden loss of weight sent the Sunbeam flying upwards in an uncontrolled state, causing it to nearly careen into the nearby cliffsides. Hayden barely managed to bring it under control, cursing under his breath. The crab jolted to life and quickly scuttled down the beach and into the water, making itself scarce.
“Haaah…hahhaha!…One time…I was at my grandpa’s ranch in the mountains…haaah…”
Richard panted while laughing, “and…there was this Garcoon! Big, smelly bastard. It was just not coming out of this barrel! So my grandpa took a firecracker and chucked it right in there! And that Garcoon shot RIGHT outta that barrel, almost like he was launched…Taur…that was some funny stuff.”
“Taur damnit Richard…you crazy ass.” Hayden chuckled and shook his head, smile beaming across his face. He and Richard laughed their asses off for a good few minutes, before Meliqua reached out.
“Captain? Is everything okay?! I’ve lost contact with the drone!” Meliqua worriedly called out into the comms call.
“Yeah Meliqua, we’re all good here. Mission accomplished.” Hayden sighed and caught his breath. He descended down to the surface again and flipped a few switches on the instrument panel, opening the side passenger door of the ship and extending a little ladder. Richard chucked his equipment into the back and hoisted his way up the ladder, hanging onto the side as Hayden took them up and away. The gravel beach, the forest, and the coast beneath them faded away into the fog, and Richard’s hair blew in the wind. He climbed inside and shut the door.
“What a hunt, huh Ricky?” Richard said as he began taking off his heavy tech plate armor, letting the heavier parts clank to the floor. Beneath the amor he was wearing an athletic T-shirt that was absolutely drenched in sweat. He pulled out a rag from a storage cubby near the door and wiped his face down.
“That was such a gamble, oh my Taur. We could’ve lost a lot right there…I really don’t know what we would’ve done if that went south.” Hayden sighed, focusing on flying the ship smoothly. The weight of the shell was nearly the Sunbeam’s physical carrying capacity. “But hopefully with the anomaly in this shell, it’ll all be worth it. This is what we’ve been looking for.”
The Sunbeam broke the cloud layer and became bathed in the orange evening sun. It soared off into the horizon, where the Antares-1 ship and the Radiant Rangers were waiting patiently for the Captain’s return.