Beyond Survival: Chapter 5

“Initiate the final check on the systems.”

Dr. Anderson’s voice rang out throughout the base as his teams worked on double-checking their new power generation system that would be needed to recharge their batteries.

Originally, the three Generals back home had wanted Dr. Anderson’s team to carry a modular Thorium Fission reactor with them for powering their equipment on the field. However, the scientific team vehemently opposed the idea since they did not know what kind of effect Radiation would have on the new environment, not to mention the potential for triggering PTSD within the military units that would be serving as their security detail.

The weaponization of the Modular Reactors during WW3 by various terrorist cells and rebellions across the world had scarred and traumatized many people. Dr. Anderson and his team did not wish to reawaken those buried nightmares in their colleagues if they could help it.

Instead, it was decided that the team would take with them Carbon Thermal Batteries to temporarily provide power for their equipment until their fabricators manufactured their power generation systems on-site along with the other systems that were needed for their studies to progress in any reasonable amount of time.

Dr. Anderson watched through the monitors as groups of engineers and crew worked on installing massive photovoltaic plates over their temporary building while other groups worked on installing Hydrogen Combustion Generators.

Meanwhile, a stream of crew continuously moved in and out of the gate, carrying with them containers filled with liquid hydrogen, the fuel for their generator.

Ideally, Dr. Anderson wanted to produce Hydrogen on-site through their Electrolytic synthesizers. However, the Atmospheric Condensation Units weren’t ready yet, so they did not have access to the massive quantity of water required for the process. So, he had no choice but to settle for bringing in Hydrogen from the other side of the Gate, making the already scarce resource even scarcer on the other side.

The only upside for all of this was that his team had finally given the go-ahead for evacuating the civilians into this world two days ago. This meant that, if everything went according to plan, they might soon be self-reliant enough to forget about resource scarcity in the short term.

Just like always, Dr. Anderson felt a twinge in his heart whenever he thought about the other side of the gate, just like most of the people working with him.

No matter how violent their history might have been, no matter what mistakes were made in the past, no matter how hostile, Earth was their home. And now, they were forced to abandon their home, their mother, because of an unknown force of nature that threatened their very existence.

Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, he turned back to the monitors and watched as the last of the Plates were installed, and he was given the all-clear.

“Photovoltaics and HCG installation complete. Ready for a test run.”

“Confirmed. Initiating startup.”

Dr. Anderson turned the digital ‘switch’ that controlled the connection between the plates, the generator, and the battery with a through with his implant.

The plates silently started to generate electricity through the sunlight that made its way through the sparse foliage of the trees around the clearing while the generator roared to life.

Dr. Anderson continuously kept looking between the physical screen in front of him and the data being displayed directly on his retina, keeping track of the electricity flow and looking for any unintended spikes or dips in power.

The generated electricity from the two sources was driven directly into their Carbon Thermal Battery, where the solid carbon blocks within were heated through a resistive heating technique, allowing for the storage of energy in the form of heat.

Then, when needed, the unit would expose the superheated carbon block to thermal plates, a modified form of solar panels, to generate electricity directly or use the heat directly to create steam and use that to spin turbines for electricity.

After watching the system for a few minutes and finding no anomalies in the data, Dr. Anderson finally smiled thinly and announced to the entire base.

“Test is a success. We are generating electricity. Move on to the next phase.”

The engineers and construction crew gave a brief cheer at those words before quickly getting busy with the next task, the installation of Atmospheric Condensation units to produce drinking water.

Dr. Anderson turned away from the screen and looked towards a different screen while contacting the crew displayed on it.

“Mitchel? How are things on your end?”

Mitchel Connor, the leader of the team composed of engineers and prospectors, turned towards the camera and waved his hand before speaking.

“All good, Doc. The Prospector drones have found something and are working on analyzing it.”

“Alright. Keep me posted. We need a ground water source as soon as possible if we want to expand our operation and build those shelters for the civilians in a reasonable timeframe.”

“Roger that! You heard the boss man, get to it!”

“What the hell, Mitch!?”

“Don’t talk back to me Arny-“

Dr. Anderson cut off his line to the crew with an amused shake of his head.

All in all, the situation looked promising overall, a rare positivity in the sea of negativity that their species was facing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nevada Air Base, Beta Bunker.

General Carter and his fellow generals watched with grim expressions as the fleet of ten Air Force cargo planes retrofitted to carry people and equipment instead of weapons and ammo flew into their airspace.

Originally, the fleet was supposed to consist of fifty aircraft. Most of them consist of Passenger airliners, with only ten Air Force cargo planes due to the lack of said planes after The Corruption hit Earth.

Given the clear signs of The Corruption on the frames of these planes, evident even from the distance, it was clear as to what had happened to the rest of the planes.

As the jets got closer and closer, their communications crackled to life.

“Nevada Control. This is the Last Hope-1. Acknowledge contact, over.”

“Last Hope-1, this is Nevada Control. Solid contact confirmed, over.”

“Contact acknowledged Nevada Control. You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. Over”

The ATC officer gave a melancholic smile to the display on his retina, which showed the pilot’s expression.

“It is good to hear from you as well, Last Hope-1. We thought we had lost you when your fleet did not show up two days ago when you were scheduled to. Over”

“We have a very valid reason for the delay, Nevada Control. My commanding officer will brief the generals once we land. Over.”

“Acknowledged. Over. Prepare for Corruption Contingency pattern landing. The runway is clear and ready, Last Hope-1. Over.”

“Confirmed. Initiating Corruption Contingency Pattern. Over.”

Aboard the aircraft, people scrambled to buckle up in their seats while the military units gathered around their stations, keeping an eye on things in real-time with their implants and physical computers, all the while, Klaxon alarms rang out across the fleet, indicating that they were about to land.

Once the systems showed all green across the board to the pilots, indicating that everyone was secure, they unbuckled from their seats and began their own procedures.

“Conform voice command: Authorizing Alpha Class Emergency. Codename: Corruption Contingency Pattern. Acknowledge.”

[Voice command acknowledged. Corruption Contingency Pattern initiated. AI pilot systems online. Destination set to Codename: Wasteland. Awaiting Pilot evacuation for shuttle separation]

The pilots across the fleet engaged the same systems and quickly ran deeper into the aircraft, buckling up alongside their military counterparts and syncing their implants with the local systems.

Instantly, the AI aboard the crafts acknowledged the ping and confirmed that there were no other humans present on the plane through the various sensory suits built into it. Only then, does it begin the next part of the process.

[Pilot and crew evacuation confirmed. Life signs across the chassis: Negative. Initiating separation process]

Instantly, the lower half of the fuselage across all the aircraft split open, showing that most of their frame was nothing more than an over-glorified bombing bays. From within these bays, pristine pods filled with humans and essential cargo were revealed and promptly dropped, allowing the AI within the remaining, infected, crafts to set them on an automated flight path straight into a zone in the Pacific Ocean.

At the same time, the pods that were separated from the aircraft unfurled wigs and tails that looked similar to that of a bird of prey, allowing the built-in AI to easily maneuver the crafts and glide down to the landing zone safely as the pods lacked a thrust system.

It was only when all the pods touched down and safely deployed their chutes to slow down the crafts that the ATC room erupted into cheers as the Generals allowed themselves to smile a little bit before they once again regained their stoic looks before quickly retreating from the room, heading straight for the receiving area where these people would be welcomed into the bunker through the quarantine elevators.

They needed to know what exactly happened to the rest of the forty crafts, and they wanted that information as soon as possible.