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Chapter 12 - A Planet

A couple days had passed and Ridge spent most of his time just helping around the ship, making repairs here and there to the best of his ability while also ensuring that the soldiers within the ship managed to grab hold of the remaining weapons and ammunition for said weapons, so that when they eventually touched down on the planet they wouldn't be afraid to step out of the ship without protection.

While surveying the ship during this time Ridge had also found out through Caroline that the engine room wasn't exactly secure and that any fix would be temporary so while it was a major roadblock to the ships journey Ridge was betting on the fact that they could find materials to smelt down and use for permanent repairs when settling on the planet, and if there were any inadequate amount of materials on the planet then hopefully they could find something on an asteroid or two that they could pass by at any moment.

Worrying wouldn't have done any good, so Ridge simply hoped for the best in this case. While surveying the ship he had also micro-managed the crew to fully repair any of the ships cannons that were still useable and as such by the time they got to the planet the ship had four operationable main cannons and one smaller gun that could only really be used for targeting small transport ships if an enemy was trying to board.

Once again on the bridge, Ridge and the crew had gathered and were now staring out towards the greenish blue planet in front of them.

Sitting in his chair, Ridge rubbed his chin and spoke to Berkay, "Run some scans on the planet's surface and try to locate any signs of life. If there is another species on this planet that we aren't aware of, it would make life much more difficult."

"No worries, sir. I already ran some scans on the surface and the surrounding space, the only thing notable was the endless forests and some type of wildlife here and there that popped up on the scanners. Anything else wasn't able to penetrate through the forest coverage and or oceans that the planet has. Nonetheless, there aren't any signs of activity in regards to intelligent life, unless deep underground," Berkay quickly responded.

The crew seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief, and after hearing the report, Ridge was also relieved, though he was still unsatisfied with the uncertainty that lay between Berkay's answer. 

"Okay, we will remain cautious when we touch down, but for the most part at least we know that there shouldn't be a significant threat when we enter the atmosphere," After saying this Ridge then ordered the ships remaining pilots as well as Berkay to have the ship enter the planets atmosphere and touch down.

Although it wouldn't hurt to ask if they had scanned for a landing space, Ridge knew that they were all good workers, so instead of standing in their way, he simply let them do the job they were hired to do.

The ship slowly entered the planet's atmosphere, and the bridge was then obscured by clouds. The window was misting up, but luckily, through scans, they could already ensure that the clouds weren't toxic and only held elements of water. Eventually, they broke through the clouds and saw land.

There was an open field that held only what seemed like grass, though it was more blue than the usual green they had seen in the past. The surrounding field was also just an opening within a large forest. So large in fact that as they were lowering the ship, the only view they got, even from the bridge, was trees, trees, and even more trees; those trees had also become progressively taller as they lowered the ship, and only one or two mountain ranges in the distance could be vaguely spotted over them before also being covered up.

The trees themselves resembled the Pinop trees on Coro, though instead of being green, they were similar to the color of the grass, which was a shade of blue mixed with green.

"Doctor Hopi, Ryan, and Lind, I would like you to run some tests on the local fauna within our vicinity and also test the air to see if we are going to need to wear spacesuits twenty-four seven."

Ridge, after saying this, received affirmative nods from the small team of scientists and doctors on the ship. Originally the the ship had around six in total; however, some had lost their lives during the attack, and now there were only three.

Per the navys organizational structure, each ship, especially battleships, should have several scientists stationed on their ship and luckily the colleges had also integrated learning of medical knowledge within their curriculum, so these scientist would also typically become the medical team of a ship when needed, otherwise when not needed they simply spent their time researching and preserving knowledge of the federation in case of emergencys like the current one where they were separated from the federation and could take charge in developing medicines and designing certain schematics that only scientists have access to.

It's also better in general to have more knowledgeable people on the ship, so when they encounter planets like the one in front of them, everything could be safely tested and examined.

Getting up from his seat, Ridge then began directing the crew, "Alright, while we're touching down, I want all remaining crew members to go to their work stations and await further orders. Soldiers, I want you to grab any weapons we currently have stockpiled and begin readying up with spacesuits on. You're gonna lead the medical team to carefully grab any samples they need to test the planet. Finally, for everyone here, compile your lists of needs with Caroline and the engineering team so we can get a good idea of what we are sorely lacking."

The crew began scrambling and moving from the bridge. Caroline also began walking through the crowd to speak with the others and was constantly tapping her panel watch to compile the list of things needed, and finally, the soldiers saluted Ridge and moved out towards the makeshift armory not far from the bridge.

Ridge himself wasn't gonna sit back and watch as the others got to work, and as such, he went to his room to suit up, making sure to also grab the flamethrower in the process.

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