Twenty-four hours. Luca stared at the Peregrine, trapped in its blue energy cocoon like some kind of technological chrysalis, and tried not to think about everything they couldn't access.

Their camp gear, their beds, half their food supplies... all locked away while alien technology worked its magic on their ride.

"Well," Ryan said, scratching his head as he surveyed their situation. "This is what we get for upgrading without reading the fine print."

"There wasn't any fine print," Danny pointed out. "Just 'spread out the mod and wait.'"

"Details," Ryan muttered.

Chris was already moving, ever practical. "We need to stockpile fuel so we can refresh it when the time runs out." He gestured toward the forest. "Better to gather way more than we think we need."

The next few hours passed in a blur of wood gathering. They scattered through the forest in pairs, dragging back deadfall and anything else that would burn. Soon they had a small mountain of fuel stacked within easy reach of the bonfire. The safe zone extended about fifty yards from the flames in all directions, but beyond that, the alien wilderness waited with all its unknown threats.

Joey set up a makeshift medical station using supplies from his pack. Emily organized their remaining food, mostly energy bars and the few MREs they'd hadn't put away. Zoe found a patch of soft moss near the fire and declared it the best they were going to get for sleeping arrangements.

As Proxima Centauri set, painting the sky in shades of crimson and gold, they gathered around the enlarged bonfire. The flames crackled and danced, throwing their shadows across the moss-covered ground. Pixel had claimed a spot in Zoe's lap again, purring contentedly as she stroked the tiny creature's fur.

"Could be worse," Emily said, settling beside Luca on the soft moss. "At least the weather's decent."

"Famous last words," Ryan replied. "Watch it start raining in an hour."

"Shut the fuck up Ryan," Luca said.

But the night stayed clear, the stars emerging one by one in unfamiliar constellations. The red dwarf sun had set, but the light from planet's rings still painted the sky in faint bands of silver and blue.

One by one, the crew settled in for the night. Danny and Zoe found a spot on the far side of the fire, close enough for safety but far enough for privacy. Chris and Joey had claimed an area near the edge of the safe zone, their quiet conversation mixing with the crackle of burning wood. Ryan had spread his jacket over a particularly soft patch of moss and was already snoring softly.

Luca couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, his mind raced through everything that had happened in the last few days. The battleship, the Champion fight, the loot, the upgrades. The responsibilities that seemed to get heavier every time he made a decision for the crew.

He sat up carefully, trying not to disturb Emily, and moved closer to the fire. The flames had died down to glowing embers, and he added a few pieces of wood to keep them alive. The forest around them was quiet except for the distant sounds of alien nightlife, mostly chirps and rustles that could have been harmless or deadly.

"Can't sleep either?"

Luca turned to find Emily sitting up, her blonde hair catching the firelight as she moved to join him. She'd wrapped one of the emergency blankets around her shoulders like a cloak.

"Too much shit bouncing around in my head," he admitted, making room for her beside him on the moss. "You?"

"Same." She settled against his side, sharing the warmth of the blanket. "Plus, sleeping on the ground isn't exactly luxury accommodation."

"Better than that battleship," Luca smiled.

Around them, the rest of the crew slept peacefully. Danny and Zoe were curled together on their makeshift bed, her dark skin contrasting with his pale, freckled arms. Even in sleep, they looked content, like they'd finally found something worth holding onto.

"Look at them," Emily murmured, following his gaze. "We're all so young for this shit, aren't we?"

Luca nodded. Twenty years old and leading a crew through alien portals, making life-and-death decisions that affected not just them but potentially the entire human race. When she put it like that, it was fucking terrifying.

"Sometimes I wonder what we'd all be doing if the System had never arrived," he said quietly. "Normal college shit, probably. Parties, classes we'd skip, worrying about exams instead of whether the next monster was going to rip our heads off."

Emily was quiet for a moment, her hand finding his under the blanket. "Would you change it? If you could go back?"

Luca considered the question, watching the embers pulse with dying light. The easy answer was yes. Of course he'd want his mom back, want a world where humanity wasn't fighting for survival against alien threats and portal overflows. But then he looked around at his crew, at Emily warm against his side, at the bonds they'd forged in fire and blood and shared terror.

"I don't know," he said finally. "I mean, yeah, I'd want Mom back. I'd want Earth to be safe. But this..." He gestured at the sleeping forms of their friends, at Emily beside him. "I wouldn't trade this for anything."

She squeezed his hand, her green eyes reflecting the firelight. "Even when Ryan's being a pain in the ass about upgrades?"

Luca snorted. "Especially then. Someone's got to keep that asshole in line."

They talked quietly for another hour, about everything and nothing. About the crew, about Earth, about what they'd do when they finally made it home. Emily told him about her childhood, about the stepfather who'd never quite accepted her, about the fear of abandonment that drove her to care for everyone else first. Luca found himself talking about his father, about the pressure of living up to expectations he'd never asked for.

Sometime during the conversation, Emily shifted closer, her head finding its way to his shoulder. The movement was natural, comfortable, like they'd been doing this for years instead of weeks.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Luca," she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad we're all here."

He turned to look at her, struck by how beautiful she was in the firelight. Not just physically, though she was definitely that, but the way she cared about everyone, the way she'd stepped up as their emotional anchor without ever being asked.

When she leaned up to kiss him, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Her lips were soft and warm, tasting faintly of the alien fruit Joey had declared safe to eat. The kiss deepened, and Luca felt the familiar heat spreading through his chest, the desire that had been building between them for weeks finally given free rein.

"The others..." he started, but Emily silenced him with another kiss.

"Are asleep," she finished. "And we're alive, and together, and I don't want to waste another second worrying about what might happen tomorrow."

Her hands found the zipper of his bodysuit, and Luca's last coherent thought before getting completely lost in her was that maybe sleeping rough wasn't such a bad thing after all.

When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Emily curled against his chest under the shared blanket. The fire had died down to barely glowing embers, but the warmth between them was enough to keep the night chill at bay.

"We should get some sleep," Emily murmured, though she made no move to pull away.

"Probably," Luca agreed, his arms tightening around her. "Long day ahead of us."

But neither of them moved. Instead, they lay together by the dying fire, listening to the quiet sounds of their crew sleeping peacefully around them. For the first time in days, Luca felt truly relaxed, the constant tension in his shoulders finally easing.

Emily's breathing deepened against his chest, and within minutes, she was asleep. Luca stayed awake a little longer, watching the stars wheel overhead through gaps in the alien canopy.

Luca woke to alien sunlight filtering through the forest canopy and the smell of something that might charitably be called coffee brewing over the rekindled fire. His back ached from sleeping on the ground, and his neck had developed a crick that would probably take hours to work out. Emily was still curled against his side, her blonde hair spread across his chest like a golden curtain.

Around them, the rest of the crew was stirring. Ryan was the source of the coffee smell, hunched over a small camp stove with the intense focus he usually reserved for technical problems. Danny and Zoe were sitting up on their moss bed, quietly talking while Pixel explored the area around their feet. Chris and Joey were already moving around, checking the perimeter and feeding the fire.

"Morning, sunshine," Ryan called softly when he noticed Luca was awake. "Sleep well on your five-star moss mattress?"

"Like a baby," Luca replied dryly, carefully extricating himself from Emily's embrace. She mumbled something unintelligible and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. "Please tell me you found something better than recycled water to make that coffee with."

"Stream about a hundred meters that way," Joey said, pointing deeper into the forest. "Water tested clean, and I used the purification tablets just to be safe."

Luca accepted a cup of the almost-coffee gratefully. It was bitter and thick, but it was hot and caffeinated, which was all he really needed. Emily stirred as the scent reached her, opening one green eye to glare at the general concept of morning.

"Why is it so bright?" she complained, sitting up slowly and immediately wincing as her own aches made themselves known.

"That would be the sun," Danny said helpfully, earning himself a middle finger in response.

As the crew fully woke up and gathered around the fire, Joey distributed the last of their portable MREs. It was a grim reminder that they were running low on supplies, dependent on the Peregrine's stores.

"So," Chris said, settling cross-legged on the moss with his breakfast. "What's the plan? We've got two portals between us and the signal, maybe twenty miles out. Both are spawning creatures that could be a problem."

Zoe nodded, absently scratching Pixel's ears as the kitten investigated her MRE packet. "Honestly? We've been running portals for weeks, and we're so damn close to that signal now."

Emily looked up from her coffee, considering. "We came here for the signal, not to clear every portal we stumble across."

"The upgraded Peregrine should be able to handle whatever's spawning from those portals," Danny added. "If we're smart about it, we can just blow past them and go straight to the source."

Luca worked through his breakfast, thinking. They'd been chasing this energy signature for days, following it across four hundred miles of alien wilderness. Two more portals weren't going to stop them now, not when they were this close. And honestly? The crew looked exhausted. Another round of delving felt like pushing their luck.

"You know what?" he said finally. "Fuck the portals. We'll scout them, see what we're dealing with, but our real target is that signal. Twenty miles isn't far for the Peregrine."

Ryan perked up. "Speaking of which, how much longer on the Peregrine's upgrade?"

Luca checked his chronometer. "About eight more hours, assuming the timeline was accurate."

"Can't wait to see what TL-9 tech does to our girl," Ryan said, his eyes bright with anticipation. "If the personal upgrades were any indication, we're in for a treat."

The next few hours passed slowly. They explored their immediate area more thoroughly, mapped the nearby stream, and identified the most defensible positions around their camp. Pixel proved to be an endless source of entertainment, chasing anything that moved and pouncing on imaginary threats with all the fierce determination of a creature that would someday grow into an apex predator.

Finally, Luca remembered something he'd been meaning to try. He pulled out his upgraded multitool, the one that had been gathering dust since his upgrade had left it incompatible with his old TL8 scout suit. But now, with his new TL9 Centauri Phantom armor...

"About damn time," he muttered, locating the armor's integration port hidden beneath a panel on his forearm. The multitool's new cable clicked into place with a satisfying snap, and the small panel lit up.

The familiar weight of the pistol-shaped scanner felt good in his hands again. He'd missed this thing more than he'd realized. Luca pointed it at a nearby tree and activated it, watching the targeting reticle appear on the tablet as the device hummed to life.

The scan completed in seconds instead of the old thirty-second crawl. The attached panel displayed comprehensive data about the alien tree... cellular structure, mineral content, genetic markers.

"Now that's more like it," he said, grinning as he tested the device on various plants and rocks around their camp.

But he still had two more multitool upgrades waiting in his delve completion rewards. Time to see what else this thing could do.

Luca accessed his menu and selected the second upgrade. The little cube appeared in his hand. He unplugged the tool and laid it down on the folding table. The multitool vibrated as new components integrated seamlessly into the existing framework. When it finished, a new option appeared on the things display.

"Lifeform Tracking," he read aloud, testing the new function by sweeping the scanner across the forest. Immediately, dozens of heat signatures appeared as outlines - small creatures scurrying through the underbrush, birds in the canopy, even what looked like larger predators moving in the distance.

"Holy shit," he breathed. This was a game-changer for survey work.

Emily looked up from where she was helping Joey organize medical supplies. "What's got you so excited?"

"Watch this." Luca pointed the scanner at her, and her outline appeared in his visor with detailed biometric data, heart rate, body temperature, even stress indicators. "I can track anything alive in real-time now."

But the third upgrade was the real surprise. When Luca activated it, the multitool's display screen began to dissolve; in a moment, it was completely gone.

What the fuck?

He picked up the scanner and its loose cable. It felt a bit more solid. He plugged in the loose cable into his suit, and within moments, the entire interface had integrated directly into his visor.

He still held the pistol-grip scanner, but now all the readouts appeared directly in his field of vision, overlaid seamlessly with his HUD. No more bulky screen, no more looking back and forth between the device and his surroundings.

"Now this," Luca said, sweeping the scanner across the camp and watching data populate directly in his vision, "is how you do an upgrade."

Ryan looked over from his moss bed, curiosity evident. "Please tell me you're not going to spend the rest of the day scanning rocks."

"Maybe," Luca admitted with a grin. "You all should have chosen multitool upgrades. This thing is nuts."

Finally, as the alien sun reached its zenith, the blue energy field around the Peregrine flickered and died. The upgrade cocoon dissolved like mist, revealing their vehicle in all its newly enhanced glory.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.