The surface of Mars wasn't pretty, nor was it ugly though. It was just a lot of orange and red. The Mars base, as mentioned in the first chapter, is located in Utopia plainitia, a rocky plain on in the north-west quadrent (or what would be the north-west quadrent if Mars had a magnetic field) of Mars. There are two other Mars bases. There's Schiaparelli Crater Research Center, and Acidalia Plainitia Ship Yards. Outpost 08 is located on a mountain to the south-west of Utopia plainitia.

The platoon's mode of transportation is a Grippin (Grippin, not Griffin) V-12 Rough Terrain Rover, or RTR. The RTR was originally a moon rover, but since the terrain on Mars and the Moon is so similar, and the RTR platform is so easy to modify, they were sent to Mars too.

"Who would ever want to live here?", asked Buckshot as the platoon walked out of the airlock.

"I honestly don't know.", answered Dexter. "The only reason were here is for our jobs." The trio climbed into the RTR and began their trip. This would be a thirty-six hour rover drive, including the stop for the night. So technically, the rover drive is twenty-four hours.

Hours went by and nothing much happened. They weren't expecting much anyways, it is Mars after all. They were just plain bored. Then when Buckshot was laying and staring out the back window in boredom, he saw something that caught his attention. He saw what appeared to be three floating balls in the distance. they quickly disappeared and he waved it off as an illusion created by the abundance of dust and his paranoid state. Another four hours later, he saw them again. This time, he told the rest of the platoon. They agreed with him that it was an illusion and moved on.

All of the sudden, the rover made a loud noise and broke down.

"I'll go look at it.", said Hayseed. Then he started putting on his EVA suit.

"Let me go with you", responded Buckshot.

"I'll try to contact the main base.", said Dexter. A few minutes later, Buckshot was in his EVA suit leaving the airlock.

"Comm check, one-two-three-four-five.", said Buckshot over the radio.

"I read you.", responded Dexter.

"I copy.", said Hayseed. He quickly got started inspecting the rover. Buckshot started helping him.

"I can't reach main base.", said Dexter over comm twenty minutes later. "We're on our own."

"We're finding nothing wrong the rover.", Said Buckshot. "It should be still driving."

"uh... Buckshot.", said Hayseed with some disturbance in his voice. "Remember those floating balls you told us about?"

"Yes?", responded Buckshot worriedly.

"They're back, and they're getting closer.", said Hayseed. "vary fast." The three objects were approaching from the north-east. Hayseed and Buckshot went back into the rover to get their guns. They both loaded their guns and left the rover to combat whatever was approaching. As they get closer, they saw what they were. A pack of cacodemons had been following them. The lead cacodemon spat a acid flame ball at Hayseed. He dodged it quickly, but it grazed his right hind leg.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!", he screamed.

"GET BACK IN THE ROVER!", shouted buckshot. "I can take it from here." Hayseed quickly limped to the airlock and went inside with a cacodemon hot on his tale. Buckshot was counting on the intense rage to return to kill the cacodemons. He kept dancing with them, but the rage never came.

Fine then. He thought I'll do this myself. He leaped with all his might and shot his double barrel into one cacodemon's eye, it exploded into red mist. The lead cacodemon was closing in to eat Buckshot. He quickly turned and fired. It staggered the floating demon and he went in for the kill. The third cacodemon nipped at Buckshot. He dodged and stuck his gun down it's throat and pulled the trigger. The demon was decimated by the blast.

"HA!" shouted exited Buckshot in celebration. "HOW DO YOU LIKE EIGHTEEN PELLETS OF GO FUCK YOURSELF!!!!"

All of the sudden, the rover started. Buckshot went back inside the rover to continue their trip. Hayseed was in poor condition, but was predicted to recover. He wouldn't be able to get proper medical treatment until they got back to Utopia plainitia though. After about six more hours of driving, the stopped for the night and set up the HAB.

Author's Note

Here's more info on the locations mentioned in the story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_Planitia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiaparelli_%28Martian_crater%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acidalia_Planitia
If you're more interested in Acidalia plainitia, and Schiaparelli, I recommend reading Andy Weir's The Martian.
Cocodemons
https://doom.fandom.com/wiki/Cacodemon/Doom_(2016)