“Well damn it all! I don’t think we have enough fuel to make this god forsaken trip.” Chase voices with irritation.

  Chase the Cowardly is the nickname that was bestowed upon him. He, and his crew once more came back empty handed to their home planet. Although Chase believes none of the other planet dwellers have the stones to do what he does, the nickname still follows him like a shadow. Regardless of that, he is still one of the only divers on Mirvania.

  What is a diver you might be wondering? Well it’s absolutely lunacy in a nutshell. It is when a crew with their screws loose decide to land on a planet to hunt giant fucking aliens. Then bring back those acidic disgusting alien remains to one of the galactic chop-shops. Where you are reimbursed based on the cosmic energy the monster possesses; this energy is more commonly referred to as ‘gala-chi’ and is more than often a good indicator of a creature’s strength.

  This same energy is given to those that take down these monsters. Divers will often use their funds to buy refined galachi pills to greatly increase their own energetic signature in the cosmos. It is part of the reason why there are so few divers, the endless possibilities also come with endless strife.

  The dive. It calls to those who live on the absolute edge of life. Those that yearn for more and more and are willing to sacrifice everything; foremost their sanity.

  ***

  Chase and his crew float through the stars in a rag-tag ship that makes a concerning amount of noise. The ship isn’t anything impressive, its radar isn’t able to read much beyond heat signatures. Meaning, that when the crew lands on unknown planets they aren’t able to properly assess the threat level. This has resulted in several trips where the crew has nearly courted death.

  Chase isn’t a navigator, but he was able to get some intel on a good planet with easy to hunt monsters. The crew is headed to a planet called Syno. It is an F-Rank planet in terms of danger. The others are more at ease than usual, it seems knowing what you’re walking into - in a universe full of terrors - makes it a whole lot more bearable.

  “Permission to land?” Liv addresses Chase, her Captain.

  “Granted.”

  With Chase’ approval the ship lowers onto the strange aquamarine surface. Slowly hovering downwards and landing smoothly on its mechanical legs that lower down into the blue dusty surface, needling into the ground and securing the ship in place.

  Chase’ crew consists of three people. Liv - the pilot. Lloyd the close-range specialist and Eric the technician and engineer. Currently though, it is only Chase, Liv and Lloyd present. Eric said he had some ‘pressing’ matters to attend to but the crew knows he’s gotten the space frights.

  Chase isn’t really surprised by that outcome, seeing as he is mostly responsible for all the terrible situations that the team has seen.

  This time will be different.

  The crew pops their suits out of the cases holding them and quickly gets situated. It’s never a good idea to keep a ship on a foreign planet for too long. Especially ones that are mostly uncharted, with unknown hazards in store. That’s why it’s imperative that the team moves fast. Even Lloyd, the 6 '5 dark-skinned man slips into his suit with a speed that defies what should be possible at his size. Liv, much smaller in contrast, looks at Chase with her emerald eyes, awaiting his initiative.

  Chase does a quick perimeter check on the radar, and then lowers the walkway with a few button presses. The ship makes a nasty creaking noise as the interior comes downward to form a path down to the alien rock. He arms himself with his rusty plasma rifle and steps down, his steps ringing out on the steel. Liv trails with her rifle in hand, and Lloyd takes up the rear, hoisting his giant Gunblade.

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  Lloyd hits a button on the ship’s side, the side panel begins to move and an opening emerges where a sizable metal container with wheels is gently dropped onto the surface. He then takes the game cart and the three of you begin the trek onto the unknown world.

  The team walks along the alien surface, there is seemingly no life anywhere in sight. Just rocks, and an eerie silence. As they trek along, blue dust kicks up from their boots.

  “You all think Eric will be back for the next dive?” Liv asks, her expression revealing she already knows the answer.

  Lloyd lets out a little laugh. “Oh please, you saw how he looked after the last dive. He lost his heart for doing this sort of thing”

  “No doubt about that,” Chase responds with a sigh.

  “It’s a shame, we need someone with his talents. He holds the crew together like a smelting laser.

  Chase feels a heaviness in his core, just as he feels the weight of the previous dives. He can’t afford to screw up anymore, costs for maintenance are high enough already… and without their engineer another screw-up might paint the end of their deluded fantasy.

  A scurrying noise wakes the Captain from the spell of thoughts. The entire team sees the strange monster, a sort of Tiger but with dark red skin and illuminating gold streaks. Chase smiles to himself, as intimidating as this sort of monster is; it doesn’t nearly compare to the eldritch horrors the team has faced in the previous trips.

  “Go on Liv.”

  Liv takes a knee hoisting her rifle. Her fiery hair hovers over the scope and she flings it out of the way, eyeing her target. Chase watches her work with deft hands as the rifle explodes. His eyes track back to the target, watching its body drop as the plasma bursts directly through the Red Tiger’s skull. Exploding in visceral purple matter that leaves a veritable imprint on the blue surface.

  “Damn Liv, that shot was cold!” Lloyd booms out with a mighty guffaw.

  “Holy shit!”

  Chase takes in the Tiger’s body with beaming eyes, what a shot that was. He is amazed by Liv’s ability once more. This undamaged hide should fetch a nice price. The three of you hitch the beast onto the cart, and then continue on.

  “One more Tiger like that pays for the week,” Chase realizes with a sparkle in his eyes.

  “This planet really is simple huh?” Liv says with a cocky grin.

  “Well, let’s not get too excited,” Chase says, making sure she will listen, “Any other monsters could have heard the shot, meaning they are either scared off or coming towards us..”

  Chase is cut off by an insane rumbling that shakes his skull. He feels he’s about to fall but Lloyd steadies him. The ground begins to crack.

  “RUN! Run for your fucking lives!”

  The crew runs as a huge blue mole-like creature explodes out of the ground. It’s beady eyes take in the group and lock eyes with Chase.

  A shiver runs down his spine, they might not even have time to make it back.

  His feet hammer against the ground, trailing after Liv and Lloyd. Both refuse to look backward, and Chase can’t blame them. Not in a situation like this one.

  This horror is literally the size of their ship.

  When he gets back he’s going to beat the hell out of whoever told him this would be easy.

  The monstrous mole-like being slams into the ground behind them, steps growing louder - making it hard to keep balance.

  “We’re gonna die, we’re gonna fucking die!!” Liv says, completely losing her cool.

  Her foot catches on some debris, and she faceplants. At the speed Chase is going he can only see her fall and her screams go silent as the mole crunches her in half. Lloyd and the Captain watch in horror as their comrade’s body is picked apart by the alien being.

  Lloyd runs in, deciding that he’s seen enough.

  His gunblade is out and he stabs it directly into the alien’s side, driving all his strength into the attached bayonet. The mole makes a clicking noise and drops Liv’s top half directly in-front of you. Her face melted, Chase watches, frozen as a statue. Useless. Useless again.

  He only just realized that Lloyd is holding his face too. The yellow blood leaking from the mole’s side paints his face, but he is completely silent. He turns to his captain - his neck bone completely exposed from where the acidic visceral matter. He mouths “Run” inaudibly as his eyes pop out of his sockets; faceplanting directly into the ground.

  Liv.

  Lloyd.

  Both Chase’ friends lie there, having lived and died in the Diver’s dream. Chase can’t breathe. His vision goes blurry and his head stings. His feet are still drilled into the ground as he watches the monstrous being consume the husk that is his long time drinking buddy.

  Lloyd disappears with a sickening crunch, Liv’s upper torso goes next and at that point Chase acts instinctually, taking off as fast as he can as the sense comes back into his brain.

  Survive.