Threat Assessment

Tags: Pre-Canon, FriendUnits, Alpha & Omega, AAA Murderbot

Published: 18 November 2021

Word Count: 1,242

Summary

A new contract on a new planet requires threat assessment.

α

We were on a new contract - a survey group assessing a new planet for potential development. It was a middling sized survey group of forty-two people, with four SecUnits assigned for security. The humans were busy setting up the habitats and doing their initial checks of all the equipment to make sure everything was functioning as intended. Meanwhile, us SecUnits - myself, Epsilon, Gamma, and Omega - had been sent out to establish a perimeter and survey the surrounding terrain for any potential threats or hazards. We each had several drones with us to extend our survey range and allow us to view areas we might not otherwise be able to reasonably reach.

I knew very well that Omega hated planets. Things like dirt and weather and toxic atmospheres and hostile fauna attempting to eat our clients were major factors in this (I agreed that hostile fauna were a major downside, at least, though they didn’t occur all that often). Epsilon and Gamma were indifferent (although they also agreed about the hostile fauna thing). Personally though, I found planets fascinating. No two planets were ever the same, and the sheer variety in fauna and flora and landscapes were an endless delight. I could tolerate the dirt and weather for the chance to look at things that weren’t yet another set of endless identical installation walls.

When we were on duty, we weren’t meant to talk over the feed or comms unless it was necessary for whatever job we were doing. So the feed we shared was quiet, though we were all occasionally sending each other images or short video clips tagged with notes about potential threats or hazards that we might want to update HubSystem’s database on.

There wasn’t really much of real note to report on though; this seemed to be a fairly average, sedate planet, with a safe, breathable atmosphere and low overall threat rating. The area chosen for the survey team’s main base was a broad, fairly level plateau high up in the foothills of a mountainous range. Knee-high grasses of pink-tipped purple dotted with little white flowers carpeted the plateau, rippling gently in the afternoon breeze. The mountains continued upwards to the north, their distant peaks capped with snow, while to the south the foothills dropped off into a valley densely forested with trees in various shades of reds, oranges and purples.

It was gorgeous, honestly. I was patrolling the west side of the plateau, facing the slowly setting sun and looking out over the surrounding foothills. To my right, the snow on the mountains was tinted pale gold by the sun, while to my left, a river curved away into the distance like a glittering ribbon threaded through the trees. Cloud banks in the distance caught and reflected the sunlight in streaks of orange and gold, casting long shadows across the terrain below. I captured several images of the view, using my drones to get different angles, and saved them to my permanent storage.

Gamma sent through a short video clip of a small herd of some kind of fauna cautiously emerging from the edge of the trees into a small field of the purple-pink grass. Location data tagged it as south of us, at a lower elevation to our plateau. The fauna were slender, with six long, spindly legs ending in small hooves. They had gracefully curved necks holding up wedge-shaped heads crowned with swept-back, multi-branching antlers that looked like delicate tree branches. Their pelts were various shades of purple, dappled with spots along the spine and flanks that were a shade or two lighter than the base coat. From their behaviour, they looked to be timid herbivores, and Gamma had tagged the clip with [Threat Assessment: Low.]

Omega soon added another set of tags to the video; [Behaviour implies the existence of predator fauna. Potential threat of predator fauna moderate to severe.] Of course it would be Omega pointing that out. It probably thought that said predator fauna would find our clients irresistibly delicious. I really hoped Omega wouldn’t be proved right.

Soon after that, Epsilon sent a clip of a flock of small avians erupting from the trees to the north. The avians were coloured in a striking pattern of black and white, with flashes of electric blue on the wingtips. The flock flowed through the air in an impressive display of coordination, swirling and banking and twisting into increasingly complicated patterns before finally dispersing and dropping back into the trees. [Threat Assessment: Low,] Epsilon had tagged it.

[Moderate threat to hoppers via intakes,] Omega added. I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes, even though nobody would see it. (Omega did have a point, but still.)

A short time later, I got a ping from Omega, followed by a video file. According to the file data, Omega had only sent it to me, and not to Epsilon or Gamma, which was a little odd. The attached tags read Hazardous Terrain and Further Threat Assessment Required.

Curious, I started playing the video. It had obviously been taken by one of Omega’s drones; it was an aerial shot of a series of waterfalls cascading down steep, rocky cliffs before disappearing into a deep, narrow, and heavily shadowed canyon between the mountains. Pink and blue vegetation clung to the cliff sides between the waterfalls, droplets of water from the spray collecting on the broad leaves. Omega had sent a still image of these waterfalls about half an hour earlier, tagged with Hazardous Terrain and Falling Hazard and Drowning Hazard and other tags implying that our clients would absolutely find some way to get themselves hurt and/or killed if they got anywhere near the waterfalls. Typical.

In the video, the falling water sent up fine clouds of silvery mist, shifting and billowing in the breeze as the drone slowly panned around. It was pretty, but I was wondering why Omega had sent it to me - it rarely appreciated the aesthetic of planets the way I did, and the waterfalls didn’t really need another threat assessment after its thorough (overkill) tagging earlier.

The view continued panning around the waterfalls - and suddenly the fine mist lit up with a scintillating rainbow as the sunlight caught on the water droplets at just the right angle to refract in a dazzling display of colours. SecUnits don’t need much air, but I still found my breath catching in my throat at the sight - and the implication that Omega had taken the time and effort to make this video just for me. The drone’s movement slowed down, the view lingering on the ever-shifting, sparkling rainbow of light for a good minute or so before the clip finally ended.

I immediately saved it to my permanent storage. Twice.

I couldn’t say anything over the feed though, for various reasons. Instead, I recorded a video of my own, a slow panorama of the sky lit up in oranges and pinks and purples from the sinking sun. The gathering cloud banks in the distance loomed large, their tops shining gold while their undersides were shadowed various blues. Omega hated planets, but it rarely complained about skies. (Precipitation however was something else entirely.) I tagged the video with [Weather Assessment Required] and sent it to Omega.

Not long after, Omega sent me a ping and a response. [Weather assessment: 69% chance of rain.]

Behind the safety of my opaqued faceplate, I indulged in a small, fond smile. Typical Omega.