The ridge opened onto a jagged cliff edge that stretched eight kilometers along the plateau. Below them, the toxic spore fields spread like a diseased ocean, churning with chemical fog that glowed sickly yellow in the afternoon light. Above them, the research station perched on the far end of the cliff like a lonely sentinel.

Eight kilometers of cliff walking with wounded team members and traumatized scientists, Luca thought. What could possibly go wrong?

The path was barely wide enough for two people to walk abreast. On one side, the cliff face rose in sheer walls of corroded rock. On the other, a drop into the toxic abyss that would kill anyone who fell, armor or not.

"Stay tight to the wall," Luca ordered. "Joey, you're in the middle with that pack. If you go over the edge, we're all sleeping in the dirt tonight."

"Comforting," Joey muttered, but he positioned himself carefully.

They'd been walking for an hour when the first creature emerged from a crack in the cliff face. It looked like a cross between a spider and a scorpion, about the size of a great dane, with mandibles that dripped some kind of corrosive venom.

[Target Identified: Cliff Borer – Level 74] Threat Profile: High Behavior Forecast: Ambush predator - attacks from concealed positions in rock faces

Tactical Forecast:

Corrosive venom spray from mandibles (effective range: 3-5 meters) Vertical mobility advantage on cliff surfaces

Tactical Notes:

Chitinous exoskeleton Acidic ichor spray hazard upon death Pack hunting behavior

"Contact right!" Zoe shouted, her rifle already tracking the creature.

More emerged from hidden crevices, their chitinous bodies clicking against the rock as they scuttled toward the group. Six of them, their venom sizzling where it hit the ground.

Chris opened fire, his plasma rifle catching the lead Borer center mass. The creature shrieked, a sound like grinding metal, before tumbling off the cliff into the fog below.

But the others kept coming. One lunged at a Varnathi researcher, its mandibles clamping down on her arm. She screamed, a high-pitched trill of agony, as the venom began eating through her protective gear.

Joey was there instantly, his energy shield snapping to life as he shoved the creature back. The Borer tumbled over the cliff edge, shrieking as it fell into the toxic fog below. He activated his defensive bubble around himself and the injured researcher, kneeling beside her.

"Neutralize the venom!" he barked to another researcher, his hands already working to stabilize the victim. "Now, before it reaches her bloodstream!"

The Varnathi scientists carried emergency antitoxin, apparently standard equipment for this hellhole of a planet. Within seconds, the injured researcher was treated, though her arm would need proper medical attention.

Emily and Ryan kept up suppressing fire on the remaining Cliff Borers.

Luca activated [Target Lock Assist] to pick off two that were trying to flank around the group's rear.

[+212,142 XP] [+62,228 credits] [Level up!: Level 68, +5 Attribute Points] [+2 Perception] [+1 Memory]

"Clear," Luca called out, checking the cliff face for more threats. "Everyone okay?"

Dr. Pol was tending to the injured researcher, her movements efficient despite the obvious strain. "Sera will survive, but she cannot continue. The venom has paralyzed her arm."

Another casualty we can't afford, Luca thought.

They continued along the cliff path, the wind picking up and threatening to push them toward the edge. The Varnathi moved with nervous energy, their ears constantly twitching, scanning for threats from above and below.

Luca found himself walking beside Dr. Pol and Emily, the three of them naturally falling into conversation as they navigated a particularly treacherous section of path.

"I have to ask," Luca said, his curiosity finally overwhelming his tactical focus. "Why did you only bring six guards for this mission? The local threat level seems pretty obvious."

A Cliff Borer scuttled from a crack above them. Luca's sniper was up before Dr. Pol could finish flattening her ears in embarrassment.

The plasma bolt punched through the creature's thorax in a superheated burst. The chitin exploded outward, spraying acidic ichor and chunks of carapace across the rock face. The Borer's body tumbled off the cliff, still twitching.

Dr. Pol barely flinched as droplets of the creature's fluids sizzled on the stone near her feet, continuing her response as if the interruption was routine.

"Our contract only covered six escorts," she trilled bitterly. "If we wanted more, the board would have charged us double. The Coastal Research Collective operates on limited budgets."

Emily looked shocked. "Your corporation wouldn't pay for proper security? Even knowing how dangerous this place is?"

Two more Borers emerged from crevices ahead. Emily was already moving, her plasma blade igniting with a loud buzz, as she sprinted toward the sheer wall. Her medium armor's grav-stabilizers fired, micro-thrusters giving her the momentum to run up the cliff face. She twisted mid-stride, blade arcing through both creatures' necks in a single fluid motion. Their heads tumbled past Luca as their bodies collapsed, acidic blood spraying against the rock.

Emily landed back on the path, her stabilizers compensating for the momentum as she holstered the blade without breaking stride. Through her visor, Luca could see her grinning, that wild, exhilarated expression she got after pulling off something dangerous and perfect.

God, I love her, he thought, watching her move. Behind the helmet, he couldn't see her blonde hair, but he could picture it perfectly. The way she'd kick her head back after a fight, hair flying, that gorgeous smile lighting up her face. She's so fucking beautiful.

"Corporations," Dr. Pol said with what might have been a bitter laugh. "They control everything. Military assets, research funding, territory rights. We are not a unified people, you understand. We are... fragmented. Competing interests."

Like Earth, Luca realized. They're as fucked up as we are. Maybe more.

"What's so important about these Grimveil plants anyway?" Emily asked. "Why risk so many lives?"

Dr. Pol's demeanor shifted, her scientific passion overriding her grief. "The compounds we extract neutralize corrosive toxins. Very specific toxins that are becoming... a problem."

Movement caught Luca's eye. "Pol, get down!"

He shoved the researcher behind a rock outcropping as three Cliff Borers rushed their position. His sniper rifle cracked twice, dropping two. Danny's warhammer took the third with a crushing blow that sent acidic blood spraying across the path.

"Contact clear," Danny reported, his shoulder obviously bothering him as he hefted the weapon.

They resumed walking, everyone's weapons still at the ready now.

"What kind of problem?" Luca asked, as he caught his breath.

"A manageable threat," Dr. Pol said, the phrase sounding rehearsed. "The Vexillari secrete toxins that eat through armor, hull plating, even biomes. Standard protective gear dissolves within hours of exposure. Our soldiers..." She paused, her tail twitching. "They dissolve when stung."

Vexillari. The name sent a chill down Luca's spine. The insectoids. The same species that kept appearing in their missions, the stasis pods, the corrupted data, everything.

"You're studying these plants to develop countermeasures," Emily said, connecting the dots. "Against the Vexillari."

Another cluster of Borers attacked from above. The team responded with efficiency now. Chris's rifle, Zoe's precise shots from overwatch, Ryan's one-handed scattergun blasts. The creatures fell before reaching them.

[+162,416 XP]

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. [+46,671 credits]

"If we can stabilize Grimveil extract, our soldiers won't dissolve," Dr. Pol confirmed. Dissolve? "That is the theory, at least. The compounds show promise in laboratory conditions."

Two other Varnathi researchers had drifted closer, listening to the conversation. One of them, a younger male, chittered nervously. "The military reports are exaggerated. The threat is contained to outer colonies."

"Entire colonies have been toxified," another researcher countered, her voice sharp. "My cousin's research station went silent three months ago. No distress call, no warning. Just... silence."

"Rumors," Dr. Pol said dismissively, though her ears betrayed her uncertainty. "The board says the situation is manageable."

[Item acquired: Linguistic AI Module (Schematic)] [Item acquired: Nano-Weave Spools] (x18)

A larger Borer, easily twice the size of the others, erupted from the cliff face. Its mandibles dripped with corrosive venom that ate smoking holes in the rock where it landed.

"Big one!" Luca called out, activating [Target Lock Assist].

The team concentrated fire on the creature. It took multiple hits before finally going down, its death throes nearly taking a Varnathi researcher over the cliff edge. Joey grabbed her just in time, pulling her back to safety.

Luca exchanged a look with Emily. They both knew what "manageable threat" usually meant. It meant things were way worse than anyone wanted to admit, and by the time people stopped lying to themselves, it would be too late.

"How long has this been going on?" Luca asked carefully. "The Vexillari threat?"

"They appeared as if out of nowhere," Dr. Pol explained, her voice tight. "Eighteen standard months ago. We had no record of them in our sector before that. They simply... arrived."

"From where?" Emily pressed.

"No one knows. They spread across the outer colonies like a swarm. But the inner planets remain untouched. Our core worlds, our industrial centers, our population hubs, they are all safe." Dr. Pol's tail twitched anxiously. "The board says this proves the threat is contained."

More Borers attacked. The conversation continued in bursts between firefights, the team moving and shooting with mechanical efficiency.

"And your military?" Luca asked.

"Our fleets chase them from system to system, but the Vexillari won't stand to fight. They strike, they destroy, they vanish. Hit-and-run tactics against soft targets. Research stations, mining operations, agricultural colonies. Places with minimal defenses." Her ears flattened. "Every few weeks, we lose another outpost. The survivors describe the same thing: overwhelming numbers, coordinated attacks, then nothing. Just empty stations and dissolved bodies."

"Our fleets have never been defeated in open battle. That is why the board insists the situation is manageable," Dr. Pol added, almost as if reciting from a company briefing.

Luca activated [Heightened Awareness], his enhanced senses immediately detecting movement patterns in the rock face. Three Borers were probing for weaknesses in their formation. He tracked their approach, waiting for the optimal moment.

"Contact, three o'clock," he called out calmly.

The creatures lunged. The team's response was immediate and coordinated, their concentrated fire driving the Borers back before they could close distance.

"But the board calls it manageable," the younger researcher said bitterly. "Because our core worlds are safe. Because our fleets remain intact. Because the colonies we lose are... expendable."

Eighteen months ago in their timeline, Luca thought, his mind racing. But this is all a System construct. A scenario playing out events from... when? How long ago did this actually happen?

He looked at Dr. Pol, at the desperate scientists trying to develop countermeasures against an enemy they didn't understand. At the "manageable threat" that would probably consume their entire civilization.

This already happened. We're watching history. Their history. And they lost.

"Where are they coming from?" he asked. "The Vexillari. Do you know their origin point?"

Dr. Pol shook her head. "No one knows. They spread through the local cluster like... like a plague. Some scientists believe they are responding to environmental pressures."

They walked in silence for a moment, the wind howling around them, carrying toxic spores and the promise of worse things to come.

"These compounds you're gathering," Emily said finally. "Will they work? Will they protect your people?"

"In theory," Dr. Pol replied. "But theory and practice are very different things. We need more research, more testing, more time." She gestured with her tail at the toxic landscape around them. "The Coastal Research Collective has teams on two hundred and forty-seven worlds like this one. All are searching for compounds that might work against Vexillari toxins. Two hundred and forty-seven expeditions, each with their own researchers, guards, equipment."

"Two hundred and forty-seven? Worlds?" Luca repeated, trying to comprehend the scale. "Your corporation can afford that?"

"We are a small corporation," Dr. Pol said matter-of-factly. "The larger pharmaceutical combines operate on ten, twenty times our scale. Thousands of research teams dedicated to exploratory research."

Holy shit, Luca thought. If a mid-tier company can field hundreds of expeditions simultaneously, what kind of resources do the major players have? How vast is this civilization?

"And all of them searching for a solution," Emily said quietly.

"All of them competing for the patent," the younger researcher corrected bitterly. "Whoever develops the working antitoxin first will control the market. Trillions of credits. Every colony, every soldier, every civilian... they'll all need our product to survive."

Dr. Pol looked at her diminished group of scientists, at the injured and traumatized survivors. "Time we may not have."

Another Cliff Borer attacked from above, forcing them to halt and deal with the threat. But as Luca put the creature down with a precise shot to its thorax, his mind was elsewhere.

The Vexillari. The insectoids they'd encountered in other scenarios. The same species from Proxima Centuari, the ones in the battleship videos. The same threat that had apparently driven an entire alien civilization to desperate measures.

And now we're walking to their research station, he realized. Escorting scientists who are trying to develop weapons against something that they couldn't stop.

"Dr. Pol," he said as they resumed walking. "These Vexillari. What do they look like?"

She described them. Large insectoid bodies, multiple limbs, compound eyes that reflected light in unsettling patterns. Mandibles that could shear through metal. And the toxin glands, always the toxin glands, secreting corrosive substances that dissolved organic and inorganic matter alike.

"Have you ever seen them working with... technology?" Emily asked carefully. "Advanced systems, portal manipulation, anything like that?"

Dr. Pol looked confused. "They are insects. Dangerous, yes, but still just insects. Why would they need technology?"

Another wave of Borers attacked, larger numbers this time. The conversation died as the team focused on survival, plasma fire lighting up the cliff path.

[+487,249 XP] [+140,014 credits]

The research station loomed ahead, now only three kilometers away. But the answers they might find there suddenly felt far more dangerous than the toxic creatures they'd been fighting.

"How many colonies have you lost?" Luca asked quietly.

Dr. Pol was silent for a long moment. "Officially? Twelve. Unofficially?" She looked at him with those large, dark eyes. "We don't know."

Thousands, maybe millions dead. And they still call it manageable.

[Item acquired: Power Cell] (x3) [Item acquired: Biopolymer Slurry Schematic]

"We need to get you to that research station," Luca said firmly. "If there's even a chance your work can help, we need to make sure it gets out."

Dr. Pol's ears perked up slightly, the first sign of hope he'd seen from her. "You believe us? That the threat is real?"

"I believe you're fighting something way bigger than you realize," Luca replied, the words feeling hollow even as he said them. "And we're going to help you survive long enough to figure out how to fight back."

Survive, he thought bitterly. What a fucking lie. They didn't survive. None of them did. This is all just... what? A recording? A reconstruction?

He looked at Dr. Pol's hopeful expression, at the way her ears perked up at his promise. Behind her, the younger researcher was muttering to a colleague: "The board says Grimveil extract will be the next trillion-credit product. Soldiers, civilians, and colonies, if they all depend on us to survive, our monopoly will be absolute."

Even facing extinction, they're thinking about profits, Luca realized with disgust.

Is she even real? Or just another System construct playing out scripted lines from a civilization that died a hundred thousand years ago?

The weight of it crushed down on him. Every Varnathi they'd lost...Yess, Kora, Niven, Jorik. Were they ever real people, or just copies in this scenario?

We're watching ghosts die for the hundredth time, and the System wants us to care. To fight for a cause that's already lost. Why? What's the fucking point?

"Captain?" Dr. Pol's voice pulled him back. "Are you well?"

No. I'm watching you die in slow motion and there's nothing I can do about it because it already happened.

"Yeah," he lied. "Just thinking about the best way to keep everyone safe."

The System's fucking with us, he realized. Making us invest in people who are already dead. Making us fight for a cause that's already lost. What's the point? What's the fucking point of any of this?

The cliff path finally opened onto a rocky plateau. Luca moved to the edge, looking down at what should have been their destination.

The research station sat four kilometers below them, nestled in a valley carved from the stone. He could make out the landing pad, the bunker structures, the dim glow of emergency lighting. A rugged, treacherous slope of loose shale and jutting rock formations stretched between them and safety.

"We can make it down before full dark," Emily said, coming up beside him. "If we're careful."

But night was already falling, the toxic sky transitioning from sickly yellow to deep purple. The twin moons cast just enough light to see by, painting everything in shades of violet and shadow.

Then Luca noticed something else. The wind had changed. It was picking up speed, howling through the rock formations with increasing violence. In the distance, a wall of churning fog was advancing across the spore fields toward them.

"Joey," Luca called out. "What am I looking at?"

Joey moved to the edge, studying the approaching phenomenon. His suit's sensors beeped urgently. "Toxic storm. Spore concentration is off the charts."

"Our suits can handle it," Danny said, checking his own readouts. "Sealed systems, proper filtration. We'll be fine." He looked at the Varnathi scientists with their thin breathing masks and exposed fur. "But they won't survive thirty seconds in that."

"How long do we have?"

"Thirty minutes. Maybe less."

Dr. Pol's ears flattened in obvious fear. "A spore storm. We must find shelter immediately. Exposure means death."

Luca activated his rifle's scope, scanning the valley below. The research station was too far. They'd never make it down in time. But there, a bit of a way down the slope, a dark opening in the rock face. A cave system, maybe natural, maybe carved by acidic runoff.

Beyond the research station, something massive was moving through the toxic fog ahead of the storm. Something much, much larger than a sporfang or a borer. The way it moved reminded him of the bioelectric apex predator they'd killed back on Midnight Veil, but the size was all wrong. This thing seemed bigger.

And it was heading toward the research station.

He handed Emily the rifle, letting her look through the scope. He watched her body language change as she found what he'd been looking at, her posture going rigid.

"How far out is that thing?" she asked quietly.

"Hard to tell in this fog. Maybe ten, fifteen kilometers? Moving slowly through the storm front."

The wind was screaming now, carrying the first tendrils of toxic spore-fog toward them. Luca could see it rolling up the slope like a living thing, yellow-green and malevolent.

"Cave system, halfway down!" he shouted through his speaker over the rising wind. "Everyone move, now!"

Dr. Pol looked at the approaching storm, then at the distant research station, her scientific equipment still strapped to her back. Her ears drooped with resignation. "We will never reach the station."

"Move!" he barked, and the team started their desperate scramble down the treacherous slope as the toxic storm bore down on them from behind.

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