Chapter Text
"brief me on our task again."
The phantom beside him sighed, "Stars beyond, you can't remember? Are you really that old?" The apispuer behind him snorted. "We have been sent to a newly found planet. Its been long abandoned by any sentient species. The higher ups want us to make sure the planet is stable enough to colonize." the phantom, Wilbur, read off his holopad, his boney tail swiping idly behind him. Tubbo buzzed his wings, leaping into his seat beside Ranboo. Techno worked on strapping Michael into his own seat, the piglet dragging along his stuffed strider.
"Thank you, Wilbur." the elytrian entered the given cords of the planet, waiting for his crew to also get settled into their own seats. "sector 124-89, planet Terra. surface status; covered in lush green plants and mostly unusable water..." Phil recited, "stone buildings stand as the only found remains of whatever species once lived here." Phil lifted the SBI Spacecraft out of the atmosphere of the planet Kudu. "Most structures are stable, but many have collapsed."
Ranboo gave a drawn out vwoop. "So, they want us to tell them if we can move into the last stands of a civilization? Why don't we preserve it? Or, or!" Tubbo buzzed beside them. "What is their plan?"
Wilbur chuckled, "I think they want to preserve some of the ruins, but not all. There are different contents on Terra, some have structures that are far older than most. They want to preserve anything that can teach us, as well as protect us." The phantom sighed, "the planet is unpredictable, weather is dangerous. From sandstorms, to water and wind cyders. The clouds can produce electricity, too."
The young enderian paused. "So they could be sending us into a deathtrap?" The apispuer next to them grasped his claws, gently vibrating with a quiet buzz.
Techno took his turn to sigh, "Unfortunately, yes." The piglin worked on the steadiness of their spacecraft. "Like any newly discovered planet, one team is sent out to chart the planet. If they do not report or return, they are announced dead and the planet is marked as a death world."
The tiny piglin runt trotted into the hallway, heading for his quarters. Techno, Ranboo, and Tubbo taking a turn and ending in the living room.
The apispuer and enderian sat down on the sofa, wrapping themselves in their respective blankets. Techno trotted to the radio built in the wall of the common room, and inserted a disc Wilbur had purchased on Kudu. Soft background ambiance filled the room and connected corridors. The piglin brute chose a book from his collection and open to his last page.
"I hope the two of you are up for an adventure. Some of Terra's terrain is a little tricky to travel." He added idly, flipping to the next page. "Oh, and we've also been ask to collect any artifacts we find."
The world around the two young faded to nothing but background noise as they fell into a light sleep.
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"Come on, they sky is clear. Let see what we can get done." Philza rushed the piglin and phantom. "TUBBO! RANBOO! You remember the rules?"
"Yeah, yeah! Stay inside while you meet up with Niki and Sam." Ranboo responded from the dropped cargo door of the SBI. Phil nodded, turning back to his task. He loaded a travel's worth of food, water, and rain protection into Wilbur's terrain bike he named Aze.
"If anything happens, call any of us on the comms!" The elyrian didn't wait for a response as he pushed himself into the skies of the foreign planet. His eyes traced the skyline of the stone pillar buildings, slowly gliding towards them. The ever noticable rev of Aze's engine rumbled below Phil. Wilbur quickly passed Phil, speeding across the bumpy terrain. Phil looked over his shoulder, as Techno took his time. The piglin observed the dark wooded forests, ears flipping back and forth.
He let himself pick up speed, swooping in between the structures. Shattered glass and overgrown plants littered his sight. Occasionally he saw other lifeforms. A feathered creature watched him from the wires draped carelessly over rotten wood polls. Dots of color scattered across the infinite greens and greys. Chirps and squeaks of disturbed wildlife met his heavy wing falls.
He let himself imagine what the city once looked like, taking his own perch on the edge of a strong appearing building. He imagined streets of life and sound, not that he had much to imagine Terra's own sentient life or their culture.
A ping from his comm ripped him from his thoughts. He checked to see it was from Wilbur. He opened it to see he was sent a photo from between two buildings. Overgrowth stretched up and through a shattered window.
Phil sat and admired the photo. The fuzzy from the dust and pollen filled air. The rings of light bouncing off the lenses of Wilbur's camera. Phil sighed and whistled a long high note. A note from Wilbur's woodwind bounced back, but nothing from Techno. Phil didn't let that worry him. The brute was taking his time, logging what he saw. Plus, he's the head of security for a reason.
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Techno was not having a good time. Sure, it started nice, but what do ya know. Phil had disappeared in the maze of stone buildings, so it's no wonder the piglin got turned around. He found himself sitting in the overgrowth. A fountain of water overflowing through the dirt, creating branching streams.
He closed his eyes, letting his fur absorb the heat from Terra's star. Terra greeted him in her own way, sending a plethora of different creatures to investigate him. Some held similarities to species he'd met on other planets, sentient and not. Canines, he thinks, is Terra's greetings beast. A pack of silver furred canines had approached him, they pushed their noses into his own fur.
When Phil had whistled, and Wilbur played a similar note in his woodwind, the canines (he'd taken to calling them Silverpaws) seemed to respond for him. Their ears perked in the general direction of Phil's whistle, and sang with a howl.
Techno joined the silverpaws with his own whistle