The Valkyrie's engines screamed as it pushed against Pandora's atmosphere.
Grace Augustine stood strapped into her seat, eyes fixed on the forward display. She had seen the moon countless times through screens and data feeds, watched it rotate from orbit, studied its readings until she could recite them by heart. None of that prepared her for this.
Pandora filled the view.
Clouds rolled beneath the ship like a living thing, broken by flashes of green so deep it almost looked unreal. The Valkyrie shuddered as turbulence hit, the reinforced hull groaning under forces that would have torn a standard craft apart. This one had been modified for exactly this moment. Extra thrust. Extra stabilizers. Twice the power just to survive the descent.
Grace barely noticed.
"Approach vector stable," the pilot called out. "Thirty seconds to touchdown."
Around her, the rest of the science team sat tense but alert.
Dr Elias Kwon, xenobiologist, gripped the edge of his seat, eyes wide behind his visor. Across from him, Dr Mira Sen, the second xenobiologist, was already recording data on her tablet, fingers moving fast. Jacob Hale, the linguist, muttered quietly to himself as he reviewed phonetic notes, while Sam Calder, the systems tech, monitored suit readouts and environmental stats.
Grace finally exhaled. "We're really doing this."
The Valkyrie broke through the cloud layer.
The forest rushed up to meet them.
Massive trees rose from the ground like pillars, their canopies stretching out in layered sheets. Bioluminescent veins pulsed faintly even in daylight, threading through bark and leaves. Waterfalls cut through floating rock formations in the distance, mist rising and catching the light.
"Jesus," Kwon breathed. "It's all alive."
The ship touched down hard but clean in a natural clearing, thrusters blasting vegetation flat as it settled. The engines powered down slowly, the sudden quiet almost unsettling.
Before the ramp even lowered, Grace was already unstrapping herself.
"Helmets on," she said, slipping hers into place. "Masks sealed. No shortcuts."
"Atmosphere still toxic," Calder confirmed. "High CO₂, hydrogen sulphide traces. Masks stay on at all times."
The ramp hissed open.
Heat rushed in first. Then sound.
The forest wasn't silent. It hummed. Insects clicked and buzzed. Distant calls echoed through the trees, layered and unfamiliar. The air felt heavy, thick with moisture and scent.
Grace stepped down the ramp and froze.
For a moment, she forgot the checklist. She forgot the mission.
Pandora stood in front of her, real and overwhelming.
"Grace?" Mira said gently. "You alright?"
Grace nodded slowly. "I just… give me a second."
She took it in. The scale. The colours. The way the light filtered through leaves that looked like they belonged in a dream rather than reality.
Then training kicked back in.
"Alright," she said firmly. "Let's move."
Marines poured out next, weapons raised, forming a loose perimeter around the landing zone. Their movements were sharp and efficient, eyes constantly scanning the tree line.
Quaritch's voice crackled over the comm. "Science team, you've got a three-hour window. Perimeter's secure. Don't wander."
Grace didn't reply. She was already kneeling, running a scanner over the ground.
"Soil sample," she said. "Right here."
Mira crouched beside her. "The grass is… conductive?"
Grace checked the reading. "Bioelectrical activity. Low-level, but constant."
"That's insane," Kwon said, already moving toward a nearby plant with thick, spiral leaves. "This thing's reacting to us."
"Careful," Grace warned.
Too late.
As Kwon brushed the plant, its leaves folded inward sharply, releasing a puff of fine particles into the air.
"Noted," Kwon said quickly. "Defensive response."
Jacob Hale stood a little apart, slowly turning in place. "There's structure here," he said. "Spacing. Patterns. This isn't random growth."
Sam Calder knelt near a tree root, attaching a sensor node. "Systems reading stable. EM interference is higher than predicted, though."
Grace moved deeper into the clearing, eyes everywhere. She reached down, gently cutting a blade of grass and sealing it into a sample container.
"Everything here reacts," she said quietly. "Like it's aware."
A flicker of light caught Mira's eye.
"Grace," she said softly. "Over here."
They gathered around as a tiny, glowing organism drifted past them, floating gently on unseen currents. It shimmered blue-white, delicate and almost weightless.
"A atokirina," Grace breathed. "Unbelievable." (WoodSpirit)
Kwon moved carefully, extending a sample vial. With precise movements, he coaxed the tiny creature inside without harming it.
"First one," he said, awe clear in his voice.
Grace looked up as the forest seemed to shift around them, shadows moving between trees.
"Alright," she said. "We catalogue what we can here, then push a bit deeper. Stay close. No heroics."
They nodded.
They moved slowly.
Grace kept the group tight, spacing no more than a few steps apart as they left the clearing behind. The light shifted almost immediately as the canopy thickened overhead, turning sharp sunlight into a softer, filtered glow. The forest floor was uneven, roots breaking through the soil in wide, twisting arcs.
"Watch your footing," Grace said over comms. "This place doesn't look forgiving."
"Understatement," Sam muttered as his boot sank slightly into what looked like solid ground but wasn't. He adjusted quickly, checking the readings on his wrist display. "Ground density varies every few metres. Organic layering is insane."
Mira crouched beside a thick vine-like plant that pulsed faintly when she approached. "This is reacting to movement," she said. "Not just touch. Proximity."
Grace knelt beside her, scanner humming softly. "Signal's electrical. Low-level, but networked."
Kwon straightened from a nearby tree, eyes wide. "You're saying the plants are talking to each other?"
"I'm saying they're responding as a system," Grace replied. "Whether that's communication or reflex… we don't know yet."
Jacob Hale was quieter than the others, eyes darting from tree to tree. "I keep getting the feeling we're being watched."
Grace didn't dismiss it. "We probably are. Everything here notices change."
They advanced deeper, samples taken quickly and carefully. Bark shavings. Leaf fragments. Soil cores. Every container filled faster than expected.
"Biochemistry's off the charts," Kwon said, breath audible through his mask. "Carbon chains I've never seen before. And it's all compatible with each other."
"Which shouldn't be possible," Mira added. "Not at this scale."
Grace nodded. "This world doesn't care what should be possible."
A sudden rustle made them all freeze.
Grace raised a fist, and the group stopped instantly.
Something moved through the undergrowth to their right. Low. Fast. Then gone.
"An animal?" Sam whispered.
"Maybe," Grace replied. "Don't move a muscle"
They waited. Nothing followed.
After a moment, Grace motioned them forward again.
The air felt heavier the further they went. The masks hissed louder now, recycling air at a faster rate.
"CO₂ levels spiking slightly," Sam said. "Still safe, but not pleasant."
Jacob exhaled slowly. "This is what they meant by hostile atmosphere."
Grace glanced at him. "Hostile doesn't mean aggressive. Just incompatible."
They reached a small rise where the forest thinned briefly. Strange flowers dotted the ground, their petals closing and opening in slow rhythm.
Mira reached for one, stopping herself just short. "Permission?"
Grace nodded. "Carefully."
As Mira clipped a sample, the surrounding flowers reacted, pulling inward as if startled.
"Everything reacts," Mira said quietly. "Nothing's passive."
A faint glow drifted through the trees ahead.
Kwon leaned forward. "Another woodsprite?"
Grace moved closer, cautious. Several of the glowing organisms floated together, drifting lazily between branches.
"Don't take more," Grace said. "One's enough."
Kwon nodded, reluctantly stepping back.
Jacob suddenly stopped walking. "Do you hear that?"
Grace listened.
At first, it sounded like wind. Then something else layered beneath it. A low hum, almost rhythmic.
"It's not mechanical," Sam said. "No pattern I recognise."
Grace frowned. "It's the forest."
That earned a quiet look from the others.
"You say that like it explains something," Kwon said.
"It doesn't," Grace replied. "But it matters."
They stayed there a moment longer, recording audio and environmental data. The hum faded gradually, replaced by distant calls echoing high above them.
Grace checked the time. "We're halfway through our window. Let's start looping back toward the clearing."
No one argued.
As they turned back, Grace glanced once more into the depths of the forest. Shadows shifted subtly between the trees, just out of focus.
Whatever lived here, she was certain of one thing.
Pandora had noticed them.
The forest seemed to recede as they moved back toward the clearing, though Grace couldn't tell if that was real or just her imagination. The sounds shifted subtly behind them, calls changing pitch and direction, but nothing followed close enough to trigger alarms.
"Perimeter should be visible soon," Sam said, checking his display. "Beacon's steady."
Grace nodded. "Keep your spacing. No rushing."
They emerged into the clearing a few minutes later. The Valkyrie sat exactly where they'd left it, engines cooling, hull marked with streaks of sap and crushed vegetation from landing. Marines stood alert around the ship, rifles raised but steady, eyes constantly scanning the treeline.
One of them gave a brief nod as the team approached.
"All clear," he said. "No movement since you left."
Grace didn't comment. She didn't fully believe him.
They reached the ramp and paused instinctively, all five of them glancing back into the forest one last time. The trees stood tall and unmoving, leaves rustling softly as if nothing had happened at all.
Jacob broke the silence. "Hard to believe this place exists"
Grace simply nodded.
They boarded the Valkyrie quickly. The ramp sealed shut behind them, cutting off the sounds of the forest. Inside, the air felt sterile by comparison, filtered and familiar.
Helmets came off first. Then masks.
Grace inhaled deeply, the recycled air tasting dull after Pandora's rich atmosphere passed through the mask filters.
"Sample count?" she asked.
Mira checked her containers. "Thirty-seven viable specimens. No contamination breaches."
Kwon held up the sealed woodsprite vial. "Still stable."
Sam nodded at his console. "All data synced. Environmental readings, EM interference, biological responses."
Grace allowed herself a brief smile. "Good work."
The engines powered up again, the ship vibrating as it prepared for lift-off. Through the rear display, Grace watched the forest shrink away, the clearing disappearing beneath the canopy as the Valkyrie rose.
As they climbed, the forest swallowed the landing site completely.
No trace left behind.
Kwon leaned back in his seat. "You think they knew we were there?"
Grace didn't answer straight away.
"Yes," she said eventually. "I think they did."
"And they let us leave?" Jacob asked.
"For now," Grace replied.
The Valkyrie punched through the upper atmosphere, the sky darkening as stars began to appear. Pandora curved away beneath them, beautiful and distant once more.
Grace stared at it in silence, her earlier awe tempered now by something heavier.
They hadn't just stepped onto a new world.
They had stepped into a story already in progress.
And Pandora, she was certain, would decide how the next part unfolded.