Chapter 11

However unsightly were the living conditions of the rank and file bandits from the Kidnappers’ gang, their victims had it much worse. The raiders kept their prisoners in cages and pens, like livestock. For even the slightest offense, torture and abuse awaited the perpetrator. Worse still was the fate of those with no one to offer substantial ransom for them. The wretch could expect a slow, painful demise: hung from a high pillar in the center of the camp, to be seen from afar. The scorching sun, thirst and shocks of pain brought an excruciating death, and the only mercy the victims could count on was a bullet in the head. One could hardly think up a more effective method for intimidating prisoners and slaves. Not to mention that such a sight makes those who take their time with the ransom pay quickly and in full.

Chapter 12

The gangs of bandits on this wild planet remind me of a pack of predators: the leader is always he who can rip out his opponent’s throat without any superfluous sentiments. Having put an end to the leader of the Kidnappers, I could not help but think that he was no human being, but a wild animal, in which there remained nothing deserving of pity. He was distinguished from his subordinates only by a special cruelty, a bandit’s acumen and wit and better gear. I am interested in the bulletproof shield that protected the leader from incoming fire. Elizabeth was able to determine that an ultra-ductile alloy, identical to the armor of earth’s tanks of the new ‘Thunder” generation, was used in this device. However, the structure itself appears to be a local design, and its manufacturers were clearly no bandits. I am afraid this is not the last we have seen of the owners of such shields.

Chapter 13

We’ve repeatedly come across these monstrous creatures who by their very nature are hardwired to sacrifice themselves while trying to destroy us. After launching themselves towards us so that we’re within their range, they blow themselves up, like a bomb, which is why we call them Bombers.

After they detonate, virtually no trace of them is left, which is why we have not yet had the opportunity to study their structure. But we lucked out today: during a routine attack the detonation mechanism failed to activate on one of the bombers.
The creature remained intact and Elizabeth, of course, did not miss the opportunity to inspect it It turned out that the bombers are blind, have a primitive nervous system and rudimentary hearing organs. Their entire body is a big bag of liquid explosives that they drag along the ground by means of two powerful legs. Apparently these creatures were created solely for the sake of suicide missions. Margaret concluded that the existence of the bombers can be explained only in terms of “hive theory”: perhaps all these spiders, crawlers and bombers are just part of some kind of shared entity with a scale and complexity we have yet to appreciate.

Chapter 14

This is the first opponent I have encountered throughout all my time on Utopia who is not my inferior in battle. The guardian of the cargo ship Elysium that they said was a Viper was clearly a professional soldier. She was stationed there at the orders of Kingpin himself to stop me and prevent me from obtaining the Crystallite stored in the ship’s hold. She acted so decisively and selflessly that it was clear – this was not a simple mercenary, risking her head for the money. It seems that she has unconditional faith in Kingpin and is ready to execute his every command. What brought about this strange union of such high-caliber military qualifications and banditry? Or perhaps her boss is no mere criminal? Perhaps a discussion with some locals will shed light on this mystery…

Chapter 15

While searching for Magmatite deposits we stumbled upon the dead slider and were able to examine it We finally exposed the secret of these huge, lumbering creatures: it turns out that they’re clumsy only when they’re on the surface, but their natural environment is underground. There, they maneuver at high speed thanks to their muscular sheathing that enables intensive microscopic contractions. This vibratory action allows sliders to hoe through the soil and cut through it like a knife through butter.
But what is even more interesting: on the body of the slider Elizabeth found spores from those purple “corals” that caught our attention immediately after we landed on Utopia. It looks like the sliders themselves secrete these spores and then sow them across the planet by dissemination them underground during their travels. The link between the corals and sliders is obvious, but what is it? Symbiosis, parasitism, different stages of development of a single being? We still don’t have the answer to this…

Chapter 16

We found one of the cargo ships from the Kronos corporation. Apparently, these vessels were used to convey materials from all over Utopia for the construction of Green City. Maritime shipping was the most convenient mode of transportation available to Adam Cruise. Much of the continent is covered with dense jungles, and we still don`t know what might be lurking in their depths. It would have taken years to build roads. And the ocean offers an excellent method for the rapid delivery of goods. But how did this huge ship end up so far from shore? Elizabeth thinks that it was tossed here by the tsunami that was generated when the reactors at Green City exploded. It’s hard to even imagine what a colossal force that created. The real miracle would be if anything built by human hands on this planet survived the disaster.

Chapter 17

Almost every day spent on Utopia brings another surprise to our expedition. It’s too bad, they are always unpleasant Today I was nearly buried by a creature that is clearly related to the spiders that are so familiar to us. I recognized it right away from the bright red markings on its body, and deliberately did not rush the attack, so it would not become enraged. But the decision to attack the monster’s brethren first and then deal with it alone, was a mistake, and nearly cost me my life. As soon as the first spider collapsed, gushing its bubbling slime into the sand, its scarlet cousin suddenly lunged at me with such fury, you would have thought it was my original target!

In a matter of seconds it crossed a considerable distance, its sharp, predatory mandibles gnashing but a meter away from me, and I had to muster all my skill in shooting to kill the beast before it could reach me. When the dust had settled, Margaret carefully examined the red spider, but did not find any radical differences between its anatomy and the anatomy of the other spiders she had studied. However, the unique behavior of this breed is obvious, and its coloring is hardly a coincidence.

According to Margaret the massive colony of these indigenous creatures acts like a single organism, each part of which plays a certain role, even if that role sacrifices the survival of the individual. The red spiders’ instincts drive them to attack in a blind fury, and come to the aid of their fellow spiders whenever there is danger. The red spiders deter enemies with their aggression and coloring; the sacrifice themselves to protect the grand biological system, of which they are a part We know very little about this system, almost nothing. It seems that it is everywhere on this planet, and these thought have disturbed my sleep a few times already.

Chapter 18

Schroeder led us to the ruins of one of the coastal settlements for our Phoenix tests. At one time, this was a luxury resort designed to lure in the richest inhabitants of Earth. Now not even a trace of its past glory remained: the city was abandoned long ago, the shells of buildings are now covered in dust and ashes. Only the target-seeking turrets continue keeping watch over the abandoned ruins.

I think that right after the disaster people, tried to entrench themselves here, using these weapons to defend themselves from some inexorable enemy. Perhaps from those spiders, whose mysterious presence on Utopia we have yet to understand. Whatever the case, this plan did not work out for them…

Chapter 19

For the hundredth time, I find myself trying to pin Earth names on the human beings I run into on Utopia. But familiar words often lose all meaning here. What can a “criminal” stand for in a world with no law; in a community that holds banditry as a moral value?
I’ve recently fought a woman who was even less human and less normal than other sociopaths I had already met Schroeder says that the locals use to call her kind “Harlequins” for their motley outfits. On Earth they would be taken into custody and isolated from society within the walls of a prison or a mental institution; here on Utopia she was free to revel in her insanity. During the fight she didn`t seem to resort to any obvious tactics, her movements bore more resemblance to a dance – with every stroke of the deadly blade accompanied by a burst of gleeful laugher. Everything about her made me think of the maniacs – people who perceive reality differently from us. In their distorted world murder appears to be just a fun and harmless game… I have no doubt that similar deviations manifest themselves in abundance on this planet.

Chapter 20

Only after returning to the MOROSE crash site for the black box did we fully comprehend how lucky we are to be alive… The shot from the alien weapon that destroyed one of finest vessels made by human hands had ripped apart the armored hull of the ship as if it were a tissue paper. The destructive power was simply awe-inspiring!

After we surveyed the damage, we found that the energy signatures from the weapon that took us down did not match any of the samples included in the fleet`s reference guides. The power of the shot was also four times greater even than one fired by planetary class S weapons, which in itself defies belief!

Elizabeth and Anderson unanimously assert that such technology simply does not exist At least not on Earth. Even the boldest projections suggest that it would be a minimum of fifty years before anything with that kind of power could be developed and commissioned by our planetary systems… In the meantime, it’s impossible to even speculate about the origin of such a weapon here. But now it is in the hands of the enemy, and, as a result the burden on our shoulders is all the heavier. We need to find out who this enemy is, and gain the upper hand. Only then can we secure Utopia for subsequent expeditions and return home.