If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it enough.

• Albert Einstein

Johnson walked down a long corridor with a straight face of deep thought. He was rethinking about what happened on the new planet codenamed “Eximius”. The new hostile creatures they found, the planet’s green landscape, the villages inhabited by something else other than humans. He was in such deep thought, that he didn’t even notice the person walking toward him.

“Johnson! A word?” Asked Roberts. Johnson suddenly jerked back into the world and looked up at Captain Roberts.

“Uh… Yes, Captain. What is it?” Replied Johnson.

“I’m going to lead another expedition down to the planet. This time, we’re going to have an actual FOB to work with. I wanted to see if you would volunteer, there was only one other excluding me that actually saw what was down there.” Explained Roberts. The moment was frozen in time, both completely silent. One was hoping for the correct answer while the other remembering the events that occurred on the planet.

“Sure Captain, I’ll go. How long till I need to be ready? I wanted to get some things done here before we go.” Asked Johnson.

“We will be leaving around 2:00 a.m., we will meet in the hangar bay. Go ahead and do anything you need, done. We might be down there awhile.” Reassured Roberts.

“Thank you, sir. Anything else?” Asked Johnson.

“From you? No. From Dr. Vahlen? Much. I’ll see you in a few hours. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon.” Replied Roberts.

Johnson slightly smiled, and walked away; accidentally bumping into someone, issuing a quiet apology, then continuing down the hallway once more, deep in thought.

On the command deck, Captain Roberts was slumped in his chair, unsure on how to move ahead on the next operation. His head hurt from all the possibilities, both bad and good. With all that had been discovered and had also occurred, Roberts had asked for more people. The request had gotten through, but there wouldn’t be any help for at least a couple months. Up on a screen to the Captain’s right was a rough sketch of what Roberts wanted for an FOB in the forest near the spotted village. To the left, there was a list.

“Everything is in order, Lieutenant Taylor. The first shuttle will have the military personnel with all the necessary supplies. Included on the shuttle will be the energy weapons, adaptive rifles, and the large sniper rifles. The second shuttle will have all the engineers needed, and the third shuttle and final shuttle for today will have the rest of the construction supplies. Shuttles will continue to land till everything needed is unloaded. The majority of scientists will be down when the FOB is complete. Electrical systems will be set up by noon tomorrow. Oh! And Dr. Vahlen will be going down with the first wave of shuttles, as requested.” Stated the soldier while looking down at his tablet.

)

“Thank you, I need to go speak to the Captain right now. Make sure the shuttles are ready.” Ordered Taylor. The two turned around and walked away from each other in opposite directions, one towards the large shuttles, which were similar in class to the chinooks in the late 20th century and early 21st century, while the other went toward the bridge.

While Taylor was leaving, another conversation could be heard between the solider and a engineer, "What do you mean the shuttle isn't flight ready? We haven't done anything since we left earth! Okay... Can it be operational by the next mission? Good, as long as the shuttle can get down and back up, I don't care about the small things. We probably won't need any of those anyways..."

After about a minute of walking, Taylor heard voices. He rounded the corner and found what he was looking for, Captain Roberts. Roberts was talking to Sergeant Johnson, but Taylor couldn’t understand what they were saying. The two said a final word and Johnson turned around, obviously not paying attention, and walking straight into Taylor.

“Sorry about that. I guess I wasn’t paying attention…” Quickly stumbled Johnson.

“It’s fine. Are you okay Johnson? You seem unfocused today, which is very unlike you.” Questioned Taylor.

“I’m okay, just, thinking. Sorry again.” Replied Johnson. Johnson kept walking down the hallway, and Taylor watched for a couple seconds before turning around and walking towards Captain Roberts.

“Captain! I wanted to let you know that the shuttles are ready. The only thing left is that actual list of people coming down. You, Dr. Vahlen and the others will be on the first shuttle. Right after that, the second shuttle will land and construction will commence, have you sent any ideas to the engineers?” Roberts looked at Taylor with a straight face as it slowly morphed as Roberts realized what he forgot.

“Shit, no, I haven’t got a chance to send any in. Thanks for reminding me. Is there anything else you wish to talk about?” Asked Roberts.

“No, that’s all sir. Just an update. Have a good night.” Replied Taylor.

“Well, I’ll see you on the shuttle in a few hours then, probably best if you go get some sleep. There might be trouble on the surface.” Commented Roberts while slowly turning around to head back to the bridge. Taylor simply nodded and headed to the barracks. Roberts, on the other hand, was headed to the bridge to grab his sketches and ideas of the FOB to give to the engineers.

A Few Hours Later

(1:49 a.m.)

“Let’s go ladies! Come on! We’re on a tight schedule!” Yelled Sgt. Johnson as he stood on the edge of the ramp of the shuttle. Men were in the progress of loading numerous supplies onboard the ship while also lugging their own gear. “That the last of it?” Asked Johnson to a nearby soldier. After he nodded yes, Johnson yelled once again, “Come on ladies! Let’s roll! Pilot! Get going!” Johnson sat down in the last seat nearest to the ramp, while also checking his helmet. Even though the surface atmosphere was breathable, the helmets still provided information and protection.

“You sound better.” Stated Taylor, who was sitting down on the opposite side of the shuttle.

“Yeah, some sleep can help a lot, and yelling at the men never gets old.” Quietly laughed Johnson. The two just sat there, nothing to say, every once and a while looking up and at the eager men next to them that desperately want to get on the surface. There was a total of 11 people in the cargo bay, not including the two pilots. There was Captain Roberts, Sgt. Johnson, Lt. Taylor, Cpl. Alex, and some other personnel. Once the shuttle left the hangar, some looked out the windows to see what could only be called, absolutely beautiful. The large exploration ship shining against the black sky with the sun barely visible off in the distance. The ship once again started shaking, every second seemed to only anger the craft; fire around the windows and walls, until it calmed down, and the green planet was all that could be seen. The ground quickly grew larger, the large forest just in view. A tall mountain could be seen in the distance, gently shining from the planet’s moon. The Gs’ from the quick speed burn was felt through everyone onboard, Carl even threw up his breakfast. If you looked hard enough, far enough, you could see another shuttle entering the atmosphere, fire on its wings and hull. After a few long, painful minutes, the shuttle touched down in the same field from the original Expedition. The field was open, mostly clear of dense brush, and near both a natural water supply and the town spotted earlier.

The ramp started to lower to the ground, while Johnson was already out of his seat with his NOLAT DMR in his hands and his helmet on his head. “Let’s go! Move! Move! Get off your ass and get out! I want four of you watching perimeter while the rest unload until the engineers get here!” Screamed Johnson while shoving soldiers out the shuttle. Taylor, Johnson, and four others spread out to secure the surrounding area. Roberts stood back to make sure everyone was good and working. Roberts ran into the ship to help a soldier, who was also about to drop a very, very, heavy box on their foot. After a lot of short choppy steps out of the shuttle, the pair set down the crate, with the solider running back inside looking for another. Roberts just stood there, watching the second shuttle prepare for landing, then slowly descend to the solid ground. Roberts calmly walked over to the shuttle ramp to talk to the head engineer to get the construction underway, to meet Dr. Vahlen at the edge of the ramp waiting for him.

“Ah! Captain Roberts! This planet is truly beautiful, is it not? I appreciate it that you allowed me to come down in the first wave of shuttles, instead of with the rest of the scientists.” Chimed Dr. Vahlen.

“Well, you did say you wanted to be down as soon as possible.” Replied Roberts while handing a folder to Dr. Vahlen, “please give this to the head engineer, and go ahead and give some input into the labs.” Roberts took one last look at the folder, then smiled slightly, then turned right around. Roberts started to walk back to Lt. Taylor. Taylor was speaking to another soldier when Roberts walked up to the two.

“Yes, sir! I’ll get started on it right away sir!” Responded the soldier to Taylor, before spinning around and jogging off toward the small group of other soldiers.

Author's Note

Sorry about the long wait! I had a bit of writers block and had finals... But now it's summer for me so off to more writing!