The Protogen Generation

Blind descent

She leaned forward to look out of the windscreen, “I can't tell, do you see anything out on your side?”

I did the same as her and came up with the same results, “I Can't tell either..”

She continued to look out the window, “Wait! I see some lights-”

“Huh” I responded, trying to find what she was seeing.

“It's really far away from us, at our 11 o'clock.” She said,

“Can we make it there?” I asked her.

“I don't think so, and I wouldn't want to land in the middle of a populated area.” She replied.

“Is there anywhere to land in front of us?”  I said as I looked forward over the EX-5's nose.

“I still can't tell,” she says, “We are still very high up.”

This wasn't great news. We still need to find some place to land, even if it's pitch black outside.

“The only place I see to land is a dark patch up ahead..” Avera reported to me, “We need to slow down immediately if we want to land there.”

“speed brakes?” I asked her.

“More than that.” she says.

“Okay then.” I replied back.

The EX-5, when it lands, goes incredibly fast. Because of this, it also has many ways to slow down. Speed brakes can be used to slow down quickly. If that doesn't work you can use flaps, which also helps with lift. Lowering the gear also does a great deal to slow you down. And if you are in a pinch, there is a drag chute that can be deployed during landing.

I leaned forward and used my only good hand to pull a small lever towards me, “Speed brakes deployed.”

Then I switched my attention to the gear lever, and I pulled it down as well. Only 2 of the 3 landing gear bogies deploy though.

“Nose gear isn't lowering..” Avera says, concerned with it.

Matching her concern, the flight computer shows a message, “raise gear, speed unsafe”

“What's our speed?” I asked Avera.

“500 knots and slowing, but the gear is going to break off” she replied back. (350 knots=575 mph, 926 kmh)

Just a little longer and we'll be down.

“2,000 meters” she calls out.

Passing through 7,000 ft, it was becoming a little easier to tell where we were landing. It looked to be a large field that was backed by an even larger wooded area.

As we got lower and slower, the nose gear finally went down and locked. This was of course a good thing, but we were still going too fast.

Passing through 3,000 feet/1,000 meters we were still screaming past a speed of 300 knots.

“Final approach, prepare to brace.” Avera said through the intercom.

“We are still going too fast,” I said.

“Well we can't do anything about that, we don't have the altitude for it” I tell her.

We quickly went through 2,000 feet, still going fast.

At our current glide angle, we weren't going to hit the field. We were going for the trees.

“We are not making it!,” I said through the intercom.

“BRACE!” Avera yells.

Avera puts one of her hands out in front of her on the console, while I do the same with my bandaged hand. It's not comfortable but I have to keep my other hand on the side stick.

We passed straight over the field we were supposed to land in. I noticed a house that was in the middle of the field. All I could see was its outline reflected in the moonlight.

Putting my attention back in front of me, all there is is a bunch of trees. I could feel my seat shudder as we started scraping the tops of trees. The noise of snapping tree limbs grew louder and louder as we settled deeper into the tree tops.

Pak- Bwam!

Just as we experienced with the space debris, the impacts of trees reverberated through the fuselage

The EX-5 began to dig into the trees, cutting through them like a blunt knife. We continued through them for a good distance. Avera reached over and deployed the drag chute to help slow us, but I could instantly feel the chute get shredded.

We began to slow down even more, and at some point we slammed into the ground, still going forward rather quickly.

One of the wings must have dipped into the ground because the craft started veering off to the right side.

The EX-5 finally stopped, giving up its battle against the trees.

Everything once again went silent as I tried to catch my breath.

“You did it Lucas…” Avera said, out of breath as well.

“We are okay back here,” Vita said through the intercom, “are you guys ok?”

“Yeah.” I replied.

“Shutdown checklist” Avera said, already going through and flipping off switches.

I turn off the batteries, coolant and other various systems.

“Alright let's get out of here,” I said as I unbuckled my harness.

Pushing myself up from my seat using my good hand, I turned around to walk to the back of the cockpit. The sight that lied before me made me stop where I was.

Everything was stained red. The floor, the walls, everything. Only now did I notice the smell of blood.

“N- no no!” I said, rushing toward where everyone else was.

Vita's white fur was no longer white. Most of her visible fur was stained dark red as well. Michael who was still in his seat was covered in his blood as well. Half of his body it seemed like was covered in bandages.

“What.. where is Scott?” I ask, trembling.

“His body is in the airlock” Garrett says in a sorry tone.

Avera came up behind me, “We need to get out of Here. That's our current priority.”

“Agreed,” Vita says as she unbuckled Michael from his seat.

Avera turns to the emergency exit located on the side of the cockpit wall. It's a small square door that releases with explosive bolts.

Avera armed the door and hit a button next to it.

Bang!

The door blew off the fuselage and landed a few meters away.

A small slide inflates after the door detaches, allowing quick egress of the EX-5. Avera gestured for me to go down, which I agreed to do without hesitation.

I went down the slide and hit the ground stumbling.

I was followed by Garret. He hit the ground and turned back. Then Michael went down. Garrett caught him and (mostly) stopped him.

Then Vita went down and landed without issue. Avera, being the commander, was the last to leave. She began her trip down the slide and hit the ground with a thud.

“I grabbed some of the emergency sidearms.” Avera said, handing out small pistols to everyone.

Vita, kneeling next to Michael, looked up towards everyone. “We need to get Michael proper medical help.. He won't survive much longer out here”

We all nodded, but we all knew there wasn't much we could do at that moment.

Authors note: The last 2 chapters were heavily inspired by the movies “Apollo 13” “Gravity” and partly by the show “For all mankind”