Audio Record 3
I’m going to set down on Hecate. It was our mission to gain first hand experience with this rock. I guess I’m going to get that. The SRE is not designed to land on a planet, butHeaven is lined with thermal soakers as was made mandatory ever since the governmentincreased NASA’s budget for space exploration. Never thought I’d be thanking the Government for anything useful. But right now these soakers are a Godsend. I’ve got a few issues to work around though still, and not much time. I can maneuver the SRE carefully into Heaven and secure it by extending my aft and port grapplers which should give it some sway on impact. It’ll be loose but it’ll have to do. Once I’m in I have a choice to make. I can either attempt to make my way toward the command center and see if I have any thruster control, or I can simply stay in the SRE and use it’s thrusters inside to coax Heaven into the atmosphere. Heaven’s command center, if operational, would give me a large advantage over where I set down. Ideally I’d want to set down in Goldilocks wedding ring. I’ve got a major problem though. There is no guarantee that I’ll have room to open the hatch once inside. And even if I do, then again there is no guarantee that I’ll be able to make it to the command center, not to mention I’ll be in open space at this point, a prospect I’ve never been too fond of even in controlled environments. Any wreckage floating around could easily pierce my suit. I’m not sure the best course of action yet. But I know that regardless, even with the soakers, I’ll need a burst-bomb to help with the heat and for the impact. Ideally I’d want to use that inside the closed compartment of the SRE—not the command center, as it is exposed to open space now.
[long pause]
Hell, there is no real science to what I’m about to try. Essentially I’m just ramming the SRE into a bigger piece of metal and pointing it toward that rock.
Well, here goes nothing.
This could be my last entry. But in the off chance this record makes it down in one piece, there will be known of the first attempted planet landing by means of using a derelict craft as a shield. May the blessings of Heaven rain down from the sky.
It isn’t known what method Commander Dalton used in order to land the shuttle, but the wreckage strewn across the surface of Hecate indicates that he did in-fact stay inside the SRE while in descent. There was also found within the cockpit residue of a Thermal Impact Resistant Burst Grenade(burst bomb) suggesting that he did, at least momentarily, leave the SRE to obtain it.
What follows are the writings of Commander Dalton as taken from a notebook recovered from the downed Heaven 1’s SRE shuttle pod.
Personal Journal Entry 1
There aren’t words to describe what I’ve experienced in what I might call the last few days—if you can call them days. Maybe I’ll call them sleeps. But let me try to explain. As is apparent, I am alive, but just barely. My current condition is bleak. Beyond a few broken ribs, my vision is blurry. But I’m breathing, which is more significant than anyone might realize. This rock is apparently very habitable. I’ve been obliged to find this out the hard way. The air is muggy though. It’s almost like trying to breath underwater. That on top of the agonizing pain piercing through my body with every breath makes this place quite reminiscent of hell. And get this, I’m lying spread out upon some dense flora. As is only proper, I’ll explain them in detail. They sprout out of the ground showing four leaves dark purple in color. The leaves themselves are thick as cucumbers but in the shape of diamonds. Their surface is covered in bristly fuzz. And—they taste like oranges that have been growing mold. I haven't experienced any adverse side effects just yet.
The sky is black and and dark blue, like my body. There are jagged mountains in the distance. Unfortunately there are no functional parts remaining on my shuttle. It is nearly obliterated. It looks like a Tranquil got t-boned by a Semi. My helmet is smashed to pieces. I’ve been picking shards out of my face since I came to. I don’t know how I survived this. One might call it another miracle, but it’s nearly sadistic. In some regard this is unimaginably exciting, but in another grave way, the gravity of this situation feels more than I can bare.
Speaking of gravity, we knew the density of hecate, but to personally experience going from weightlessness to twice the gravity of earth is, perhaps, the worst part of this whole thing. My bones feel like they are splintering every time I try to stand up. Maybe they are.
I am wholly and utterly alone on an alien world where I am already exhibiting the psychological effects of what might be called timelessness. The skies are forsworn to stand still. There are no stars. There is no moon. There is a tiny circle of white which trickles light through the denseness of the atmosphere. There is no day, and there is no night. It is perpetual twilight. The sunlight trickling through the denseness, while even itself stands frozen in place, as Hecate’s orbit remains tidal locked, for no damn reason at all.
I only wish I knew what happened to Heaven, and my crew. Sarah, I love you.