@Druby --- The terrain didn't hold as much resemblance to Diraphus' Packworld as he thought. Some of the trees were faintly similar, but those were sparse in the dense greenery. Diraphus was born and raised in the mid-north, some hours south of the frostier tine expanse. He grew up with bigleafs and some tine trees, rarely seeing a snow or unbearably hot summer. The plant life on this alien world, so far, was as alien to him as the equatorial jungles of the Packworld as a result. Still, he was comforted by the occasional sight of the alien bigleafs, and found his path wandering naturally to each of those trees, so long as he could see one. A breeze passed through the trees, and the scout thought he heard something up ahead. He took a few more steps forward, sniffing, only to realize the wind was at his back. Di nosed ahead a short distance as Raphus drew his weapons, both bodies now wielding a short bullpup submachine gun. It wouldn't do any good to get attacked without a weapon drawn, especially as a threesome. Di drew a knife from a calf-sheath and inched forward some more as Raphus caught up. A rather large tree sat in the direction they crept, and as they approached it, Di shifted to pass it on one side while Raph went along the other. Us followed a little ways behind Di, weapon raised. As Diraphus poked a head around the tree, surprise ran through his body and he almost cried out. --- The ramship's crew was quick to act when the light of nuclear fire reached them from low-orbit. Countermeasures were brought online, and the limited sensor suite was set to active scanning. With most of the Effort's packs still in coldsleep on board the ship, those awake feared the Colonization Effort might crumble before the supports could be laid. As the fight raged on, the ramship remained silent in high orbit, save for their scanners. Mind-noise and the hum of machinery were the only sounds in the quilted hallways.