tkworld Chapter 237 237: All-Out Rescue
Chapter 237 237: All-Out Rescue
"Why did Sector B11 collapse? Why?!" Austin roared during the emergency meeting aboard the mothership, his face livid.
A massive sinkhole, five kilometers in diameter, had suddenly appeared on the satellite feeds, exposing a honeycomb-like network of subterranean caves! Within minutes, a secondary landslide had triggered, filling the crater back in...
Unlike the calm and collected Jason, Austin possessed a remarkably short temper. Faced with a disaster of this magnitude, his anxiety flared into outright fury.
Most importantly... their leader, Jason, was caught in the middle of it! He had only gone down for a routine inspection, yet he had walked right into this catastrophe.
Austin's aggressive personality made him an excellent Head of Security. The soldiers under his command were terrified of him and followed his orders without question. However, he was far from being the true Leader of the Federation. With Jason trapped in a sinkhole and entirely out of contact, Austin had no choice but to step up and convene this emergency meeting.
"Can anyone here tell me exactly how deep this sinkhole goes?!"
For three years, they had prepared extensively for this planetary landing. They had accounted for almost every conceivable threat: acid rain, extreme sub-zero blizzards, seismic quakes, toxic atmospheres, and even hostile alien life forms.
For the first two months, operations had proceeded flawlessly... without a single crisis.
What no one anticipated was that this bizarre planet housed an endless, interconnected network of underground caves! These caverns apparently stretched across the entire continent, a geological anomaly that defied all logic!
Such a massive subterranean structure couldn't possibly be formed by natural forces alone; it had to be a byproduct of biological activity!
However, Austin instinctively blamed the disaster on the science division's incompetence.
After a long, tense silence, he forced himself to suppress his rage. His tone remained hostile as he ordered, "...All planetary mining operations are halted immediately. Forget about the resources. Right now, our absolute top priority is search and rescue!"
"We've already retargeted the orbital satellites to monitor the collapse zone from every angle. I want heavy transport trains loaded with automated rescue drones and excavators sent to Sector B11 immediately..."
"Unfortunately, due to the massive collapse of the local rail network, transport logistics are a nightmare. Even the heavy tracked rovers are struggling over the jagged terrain... It's too slow! Way too slow! Does anyone have a faster alternative?!"
The dozens of Department Heads in the room, particularly the geologists, felt the sting of his reprimand. Their faces flushed with indignation. Secretly, they cursed Austin in their heads, realizing just how fortunate they were to have the lenient and reasonable Jason as their true leader. If an authoritarian dictator like Austin were in charge permanently, a rebellion would be inevitable.
To be fair, the geologists felt entirely wronged. Anyone observing a localized cave entrance would naturally assume it was a standard subterranean formation—perhaps stretching across a small mountain range, not spanning tens of kilometers beneath solid bedrock.
Furthermore, security protocols had strictly forbidden them from exploring the caves, leaving their true depths a mystery. Not even the most brilliant mind could have predicted that the abyss extended right beneath a surface outpost over ten kilometers away...
Still, they were the geologists. They had to shoulder some of the blame.
"Director Austin, we could utilize the cargo airships..."
The speaker was Arthur Lambert. He interacted with Austin more frequently than the others and was relatively familiar with his temper. Gathering his courage, he stood up and proposed, "We currently have over 2,600 cargo airships deployed in the lower atmosphere. We should immediately mobilize them to transport the heavy rescue drones."
"Also, everyone needs to stay calm. We managed to make brief contact with Commander Jason before the signal died. They suffered no critical casualties. They have over a hundred personnel and can look out for one another. They also have a substantial stockpile of emergency supplies..."
"I'm not worried about their damn rations! I'm worried about that failing nuclear reactor triggering a secondary cave-in!" Austin interrupted him sharply.
He made a rapid decision. "Alright, we'll do it your way. Immediately mobilize a massive fleet of automated cargo airships. We will conduct a decentralized search grid, starting from the known cave entrances in Sector B11."
"Deploy 70% of the mothership's remaining airship fleet down to the surface to assist! But make sure they do not hover directly over the collapse zone, if that reactor goes critical, the blast will wipe them out!"
"...Communication division, maintain a continuous ping. I want to know the second we re-establish a link!"
The orders were issued in a frantic, somewhat chaotic manner. By the end of it, Austin himself felt overwhelmed. He had no idea who was supposed to execute which specific task! Once he actually sat in the commander's chair, the sheer volume of logistics made his head feel like it was going to split open.
Fortunately, he was surrounded by brilliant Department Heads and Senior Scientists who quietly divided the workload among themselves.
Meanwhile, the crisis continued below ground...
"Stay calm, everyone. We have enough reserve oxygen to last over 400 hours, plus plenty of food and water... If you need rations, pull them from the tracked rovers, but remember: everything must be sterilized with 400-degree Celsius steam before consumption!"
Jason took point, leading a procession of over a hundred survivors and three massive, bus-sized tracked rovers.
The caverns varied wildly in size. Some tunnels were wide enough for a heavy transport to drive through, while others were barely the size of a fist. It was completely unclear how they had been formed.
Walking through the damp, silent abyss, the only natural illumination came from the extremely faint glow of the blue bioluminescent fungi. The light was weaker than a firefly's glow, completely insufficient to light the path ahead.
Thankfully, this wasn't a major issue. Every power armor helmet was equipped with military-grade night vision optics, requiring only the faintest trace of light to function perfectly.
They were 500 meters underground, yet this was truly a biological paradise for Nyx. The ambient temperature hovered comfortably above six degrees Celsius, subterranean water was abundant, and geothermal heat radiated from the rock.
Several of the scientists were practically buzzing with fanatical excitement. They constantly looked around, eagerly discussing their observations with one another, showing zero panic about being trapped in an alien abyss... They had quickly adapted to the dark environment.
With Jason at the helm and a squad of heavily armed Special Forces operatives guarding their flanks, what was there to fear?! With their massive stockpile of supplies, this almost felt like a bizarre subterranean field trip.
"...The atmospheric oxygen content down here is slightly higher than on the surface, which means this ecosystem is an active oxygen producer. The air also contains trace amounts of toxic volcanic gases, like carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide. Prolonged exposure would be lethal for an unprotected human. However, alongside the geothermal vents, these toxic gases clearly serve as a primary chemical energy source for the alien plants and fungi..."
"It's incredible... absolutely incredible! An ecosystem this robust could easily support the evolution of large, complex organisms!" The scientists grew increasingly animated, practically dancing with joy. The prospect of exploring this unknown frontier filled them with an electrifying thrill.
"These life forms are metabolizing geothermal energy in ways that defy our current biological models!"
"But how on earth were these massive tunnels formed? It's an absolute mystery! Surely there isn't an intelligent civilization hiding deep underground... Right? That's impossible. We haven't detected a single artificial satellite in Nyx's orbit. How could a civilization carve out a continent-spanning cavern network before they even figured out basic orbital flight?!"
Perhaps... these tantalizing secrets would finally be revealed during this forced expedition!
"Alright, keep it down. The Commander is plotting our course..."
Jason stared intently at the digital compass on his wrist display. He knew the precise geographic coordinates of the primary cave entrance back in Sector B11. Because Nyx possessed a magnetic field 11 times stronger than Earth's, their magnetic compasses functioned perfectly even without satellite GPS.
But there was a glaring problem: the tunnels weren't straight. Which branching path should they take? Which one led to the surface?
He turned around, calling over a few of the senior geologists to consult on the best route forward.