Who the fuck thought landing on a planet that wanted to dissolve them was a good idea?

Oh right.

"Everyone, secure your harnesses," Luca called out, his voice steady despite the churning in his gut. This was his job, making sure everyone was ready, even if he felt like he was about to throw up himself.

Zoe was already at the pilot's seat, going over the console, adjusting the controls to her height. "Environmental systems are green," she confirmed, her eyes never leaving the controls. "Thrusters calibrated. We're ready when you are, Luca."

Moving down the line of seats, Luca checked in on the rest of the crew. Emily, visibly anxious, adjusted the straps across her chest, her green eyes darting around the cabin as she tried to steady herself amid the growing anticipation.

"Hey," he said softly, catching her hand. He leaned closer. "You okay?"

Emily managed a small nod, though her voice trembled slightly. "I just… I don't like this feeling."

"Neither do I," he admitted, meeting her gaze. "But we'll make it through. Just stay vigilant, alright? We stick together." He gave her hand a quick squeeze, trying to project more confidence than he felt.

Her shoulders relaxed slightly. Good.

Returning to the cockpit, Luca took the copilot's seat beside Zoe. "Alright, people, let's focus. You've got the helm. I'm on copilot. Everyone else, strap in tight. This is going to be a bumpy ride."

"Luca, you finally agree that Zoe's a better pilot?" Ryan added helpfully from the back. What an ass.

"She needs the hours," Luca replied, squinting at Ryan, who was chewing bubble gum like this was some casual Sunday drive instead of a descent into toxic hell.

Banking toward Midnight Veil's atmosphere, the Percival shuddered as they hit the first wisps of toxic air. Through the cockpit viewport, the planet's surface emerged from the green murk like something out of a fever dream. Towering fungal structures stretched toward the poisonous sky, their caps glowing with bioluminescent patterns that pulsed like alien heartbeats. Waterfalls of luminescent liquid cascaded between twisted spires, the entire landscape bathed in an eerie green-orange glow that made his eyes water just looking at it.

"Well," Zoe said, her hands steady on the controls despite the growing turbulence, "at least it's pretty."

"Pretty fucking terrifying," Luca muttered, watching the atmospheric readings spike into the red zone. Outside, the first tendrils of corrosive wind began lashing against their hull.

The descent started smooth enough. For about ten seconds.

Then Midnight Veil decided to remind them why it had earned its charming nickname.

As they breached the atmosphere, the Percival lurched violently, the turbulence of Midnight Veil's atmosphere greeting them with a teeth-rattling shake. They were dropping like a stone, gravity pulling them down toward the surface at an alarming rate. The dropship bucked and groaned, the hull rattling like a drum as they hit pocket after pocket of acidic air. Outside, the view was a blur of sickly green and yellow, the hazy atmosphere obscuring everything beyond a few feet.

It was like flying through a toxic, psychedelic soup that wanted them dead.

A wall of acidic wind slammed into the Percival like a fist, throwing the dropship sideways with enough force to rattle Luca's teeth. Each gust was trying to tear them apart molecule by molecule.

Zoe's knuckles whitened on the controls as she wrestled the dropship, her body tense with the effort of keeping them from spiraling out of control. Beads of sweat were forming on her forehead, mirroring Luca's own. His hands hovered near the auxiliary controls, ready to assist if needed.

"Status report," Zoe said through gritted teeth, her voice tight but steady.

"Not great," Luca replied, his eyes scanning the monitors. "We're dropping from 40,000 feet and picking up speed."

Behind them, someone made a strangled noise that might have been Danny trying not to throw up. The heavy armor wasn't helping his motion sickness.

"Luca, hell of a vacation spot you picked!" Ryan shouted over the roar.

"Isn't it lovely!?" Luca shot back, gripping the console as another burst of wind slammed them sideways. "Wasn't planning on being soup."

"Danny!" Chris barked, knuckles white on his harness. "Didn't your sensors see this coming?"

Danny's voice cracked. "I told you the atmosphere was toxic, I just didn't realize it came with acid death wind! My scope doesn't predict meteorological homicide!"

Even Emily barked a laugh, though it was edged with nerves. "Hold on!"

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Holy shit. Through the rapidly corroding windscreen, Luca could see streams of dissolved metal running down their hull like metallic tears. The corrosive atmosphere was literally consuming their ship in real-time, eating away at their protection with each passing second.

"Helmets on!" Luca barked over the comm. "Right fucking now! Hull integrity's compromised!"

The urgency in his voice cut through the chaos. Behind them, he could hear the snap and hiss of helmet seals engaging as the crew scrambled to protect themselves from the toxic atmosphere that was trying to kill them.

A fresh burst of acidic wind slammed into them, throwing the dropship to the side with violence that nearly ripped the controls from Zoe's hands. Luca instinctively reached out, his hand joining hers on the yoke, helping her stabilize the ship.

"Thanks," she grunted, her eyes still fixed on the chaos outside.

"Fifteen thousand feet!" Luca called out. "Too fast!"

"Working on it," Zoe snapped back, her hands a blur on the controls. She adjusted the thrust, fighting to slow their descent while keeping them from stalling. Luca could feel the dropship shuddering violently as she deployed the flaps, the groaning of metal protesting against the strain.

Another wall of corrosive wind hit them from below, lifting the Percival up before slamming it back down like a cosmic fist. Luca felt his harness dig into his chest as G-forces pressed him into his seat, the taste of copper filling his mouth.

"Fuck this," Zoe muttered, her fingers flying to the thruster controls. "I'm done being conservative with the fuel."

"Do it," Luca said immediately. They could worry about fuel efficiency when they weren't plummeting toward a toxic death.

Vertical stabilizers fired in rapid bursts, fighting against the chaotic air currents that seemed designed specifically to kill them. The Percival's frame groaned in protest, but the wild bucking settled from completely suicidal to merely terrifying.

The dropship continued its descent, shuddering and jolting as the atmosphere hammered against them, but Zoe's hands stayed steady, guiding them through each bone-rattling shake. Luca could feel the sweat beading on his forehead, and it wasn't just from the heat.

I mean, I was pretty sure we were all going to die, he thought, but at least I was going to die next to Zoe.

"Easy, girl," Zoe murmured, more to the ship than to them. "Just a little further."

"Altitude?" she asked, her voice strained but resolute.

"Level off!" Luca called out, his eyes glued to the altimeter. "Valley floor's at four thousand!"

And they needed to do it now, before the atmosphere finished eating their ship.

"Almost through the worst of it," Zoe said, though Luca could hear the tremor in her voice.

Through the viewport, he could finally make out the jagged peaks of the mineral formations surrounding the valley, their outlines distorted by the swirling green and purple haze. The bioluminescent fungal forest spread out below them like an alien garden, those synchronized pulses becoming more visible as they descended. They were still dropping too fast, but Zoe was gradually regaining control, coaxing the Percival into a more stable descent.

"There!" Zoe pointed through the windscreen, its outer layers now etched and scarred by the second, spiderwebs of corrosion spreading across the surface and blurring their vision. "Two o'clock, that clearing between the big mushroom things."

Luca followed her gaze and spotted it: a patch of relatively flat ground nestled between towering fungal spires that pulsed with hypnotic bioluminescent patterns.

The final approach felt like riding a mechanical bull during an earthquake. Every gust tried to throw them off course, and warning lights blinked faster as the hull continued to dissolve around them, painting the cockpit in angry reds and yellows.

"Come on, girl," Zoe murmured to the ship, her voice a mixture of determination and desperation. "Just a little further."

With a bone-jarring thud that knocked Luca's teeth together, they hit the valley floor. The dropship skidded across the uneven terrain before finally coming to a stop, throwing everyone against their harnesses in a final, violent reminder of where they were.

The moment the landing struts locked, harnesses were off.

"Go, go, go!" Luca yelled, shoving them toward the Centurion's ramp, already lowering in the cargo bay. There was no time to think, only to move before the ship dissolved around them.

Through the rapidly corroding viewport, Luca could see the corrosive wind continuing its work, visibly eating away at their hull plating like acid on a tin can. Streaks of liquefied metal ran down the Percival's sides, pooling on the toxic ground below.

The ramp hissed open, and a wave of acrid air hit them. Luca was first into the Centurion, boots clanging on the armored deck.

Ryan shoved past him as they sealed the transport. "Seriously, Cap? Out of all the planets in the fucking galaxy—"

"Arguing isn't going to help us land," Emily shut him down.

"Hey, blame the charter, not me," Luca muttered, strapping into the driver's seat. "I didn't exactly pick Acid Soup World."

Joey snorted as he activated his medical console. "You did sign off on this ride to hell, genius."

Even Zoe cracked a grin, though her eyes were still tight from the landing.

They hurried aboard the armored transport, sealing the ramp as the Percival's hull groaned under the constant assault of the corrosive atmosphere. The faint hiss of the Centurion's airlock sealing around them was a welcome sound, though Joey's console immediately lit up with warnings.

"Acid damage already registering on the outer plating," Joey announced, his voice tight. "Nothing critical yet, but the timer's running."

"Remote piloting engaged," Chris announced from his console. "Triumph's taking control of the Percival for emergency extraction."

Luca fired up the Centurion as it hovered out of the small hangar, the crew exchanging glances as they braced themselves for what lay beyond the thin walls of the transport. The corrosive, volatile world of Midnight Veil awaited just outside.

Behind them, the dropship's engines fired, lifting it off the valley floor and guiding it back toward the safety of space. Its hull was pitted and scarred, streams of dissolved metal still dripping from its frame as it clawed its way back through the toxic atmosphere.

Here we go, he thought, gripping the controls a little tighter. Time to see what this shithole has to offer. Somewhere under all this breathing fungus was the Varnathi site. If they survived long enough to find it, this suicide drop would've been worth it.

The bioluminescent fungal forest waited, its hypnotic glow painting the cabin in eerie shades of green and orange. The synchronized pulsing he'd seen during descent painted the entire landscape in waves of light.

But as Luca watched, a cold dread trickled down his spine.

The pulsing had stopped.

The entire forest, which had thousands of weird ass fungal spores breathing together in perfect harmony, had gone completely still. Like something had just noticed their arrival.

Behind them, the landing zone still showed signs of the dropship's brief presence, with scorched patches where the engines had fired, and small pools of melted metal that reflected the now-motionless alien glow.

Welcome to Midnight Veil. Home of corrosive winds, weird-ass fungal mushroom plants, and whatever the fuck lived in those synchronized spires that had just gone silent.

This was going to be fun.

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