The Artemis IX began its final approach. Mars loomed in the viewport, red and immense, its horizon curved and alive with swirling storms. The ship shuddered as it pierced the upper atmosphere, plasma flaring golden-white across the shielding.
Inside, the cabin shook like a living beast. Metal groaned, panels rattled, straps dug into shoulders. The crew sat rigid in their seats, helmets sealed, voices steady despite the thunder that roared around them.
"Heat shields holding," Selene reported, her hands a blur over glowing panels. "Hull integrity at ninety-eight percent."
"Copy that," Marlowe said, voice sharp and clipped. His gaze stayed locked on the descent data scrolling across the central display. "Keep eyes on those pressure spikes."
The ship jolted violently, tossing them sideways. Dust and sparks rained from a vent. Darius gripped his harness tighter, his knuckles pale. He had trained for this, drilled a hundred times in the simulators, but reality was different—louder, heavier, unrelenting. His breath quickened inside his helmet.
"Easy there, rookie," Harlan's voice crackled through comms, forced calm wrapped around mischief. "She just wants to see if you'll break before she does."
"I'm fine," Darius muttered, though sweat slid down his temple.
Elara, strapped in the row ahead, didn't flinch. Her gaze was fixed, unwavering, as if she were staring not just at numbers but at the planet itself, daring it to resist. "Steady your breathing," she said quietly, not turning. "Panic burns oxygen faster."
Darius obeyed.
The Artemis IX dropped lower, cutting through thin, turbulent skies. Outside, the Martian surface expanded: a rust-red desert scarred with valleys and jagged canyons. From this height, dust storms resembled vast oceans in motion, curling like smoke across the plains.
"Altitude: fifteen klicks," Selene called. "Thrusters standing by."
"Deploy landing sequence," Marlowe ordered.
The ship's underbelly thrusters roared to life. Flames ignited beneath them, countering the deadly plunge. A wall of dust blasted outward, staining the viewports in orange haze.
Alarms flared. "Crosswinds—thirty-five knots!" Selene snapped.
The Artemis lurched sideways. Straps cut into chests, helmets smacked against headrests.
"Hold her steady!" Marlowe barked.
Harlan grinned even as he fought the controls. "She's dancing, but I've got the rhythm." His fingers twisted, correcting the spin. The ship leveled, engines screaming as they fought Mars' unpredictable gusts.
The view cleared for an instant. Below them stretched Sector Theta-Nine, the canyon zone they had chosen as their descent point. Shadows carved deep scars across the terrain, ridges rising like jagged teeth.
"Target zone in sight," Elara said, her voice as calm as if she were announcing the weather.
"Ten klicks. Thrusters at seventy percent," Selene reported.
The Artemis rattled again, harder this time. A storm brewed beneath them, a curtain of dust sweeping fast across the canyon floor. Red haze swallowed the horizon, violent and unending.
"Visibility dropping," Marlowe said.
"External sensors are screaming," Selene added. "I'm reading spikes—electromagnetic surges, like the last one near orbit."
"Now?" Marlowe's tone sharpened. "Pinpoint source."
"Trying—" Selene's voice cut off as another tremor ran through the ship.
"Altitude: five klicks!"
Thrusters howled. The cabin filled with vibration so deep it crawled into bones. Darius clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt. His mind whispered images of fire and broken hulls, but he forced them aside. Steady. Just steady.
"Two klicks," Elara said. Her hands hovered motionless above her restraints. "Now we commit."
"Brace," Marlowe commanded.
The Artemis IX slammed into a dust storm at full descent. Visibility dropped to nothing. The viewports filled with a red blur, sand lashing against steel. Warning lights pulsed across the cabin.
"Landing zone obscured!" Selene shouted.
"Use terrain scans," Marlowe growled.
Harlan forced the ship lower, thrusters blazing against the storm. The Artemis kicked and twisted, like a beast trying to throw them into the void.
"One klick—" Selene began.
The ground slammed into view beneath the storm—a canyon floor littered with jagged rock.
"Now!" Marlowe ordered.
Harlan fired full reverse thrusters. The ship screamed, metal protesting as fire lit the dust below. The Artemis slowed, staggered, and then—
Impact.
A thunderous quake ran through the hull as landing struts struck soil. Dust geysered upward, cloaking them in red fog. The ship groaned but held. Systems flickered, then stabilized.
For the first time in hours, silence settled.
"Touchdown confirmed," Selene whispered, as if afraid sound itself might undo it.
They sat frozen, the hum of cooling engines the only reminder that they still lived.
Then Harlan chuckled, breathless. "Well, Mars, you hit harder than Earth. But we're standing."
Elara unstrapped herself slowly, her eyes narrowing toward the viewport. The dust cleared in fragments, revealing the endless Martian wasteland stretching to the horizon.
"Sector Theta-Nine," she said, almost to herself. "We're here."
Darius followed her gaze, pressing closer to the glass. The surface looked like another world entirely—red deserts, black stone ridges, vast canyons cutting into the planet's flesh. It was beautiful. And it was hostile.
But before awe could fully claim them, the console flickered again. Selene frowned.
"Marlowe… readings."
"What now?"
She expanded the feed. The seismic sensors pulsed irregularly, slow vibrations rippling beneath the crust. Not natural tremors—something patterned, like a pulse.
The crew went silent.
Through the stillness, the machine's steady voice declared:
Subsurface anomaly detected. Rhythmic vibration pattern consistent with—heartbeat.
No one moved.
The planet itself seemed to breathe beneath them.