We close in slowly, approaching the site like it’s a dangerous animal, but only ice awaits us. I shut off my rockets and set down, testing the frozen ground with one booted foot before moving forward to survey the area. A small black shape protrudes above the surface. I crouch down beside it, brush snow away. The smooth black surface is clearly Primus material. My mind flashes to a childhood memory of Scorpia crying at the foot of one of Gaia’s huge alien statues, so scared she couldn’t move until I helped her up, but I push the distracting thought away.

Down below us, something rumbles. A pulsing glow illuminates my team’s helmets. They scramble backward, and I resist the urge to do the same as I glimpse the huge, dark shape beneath us. I take a deep breath, steadying myself for the sake of my team. It’s impossible to fight the impression of a gigantic beast waiting for its chance to strike. But the thought is foolish. I scrape snow away from the ice, squinting down at the shape.

“The objective is below us.” I tap my fingers on the surface. “We’ll need to melt our way through. Daniil, you see anything up there?”

“Nothing but snow.”

“Good. Let’s get started.”

Even with the heat our suits produce through their hands, cutting through the ice is a long process. After an hour, my neck is cramping and my suit is uncomfortably warm. Removing my helmet for a minute would cool me off, but I can’t risk it, not even with Daniil’s frequent check-ins verifying that we’re alone out here. We’re too close to enemy territory, and the more of the object we reveal, the brighter its pulses of light shine through.

Soon, we’re rewarded for our patience as we melt our way through to what lies beneath the ice. It’s hard to tell exactly what we’re looking at, but we’re all familiar enough with the sight of the strange black material the Primus used in place of metal. I’m prepared to deal with questions and uncertainty, but nobody says a word. Whether the silence comes from trust or mere obedience, I’m not sure.

I’m more used to Primus technology than the rest, having grown up on Gaia, but I’m unsettled by whatever this is, too. I’ve never seen anything like it. The shape is all wrong for it to be one of the famous statues that Gaia is rife with, and it’s much too big. Is it a structure? Some kind of huge machine? Impossible to tell.

After another hour of melting and chipping at the ice, I finally realize what we’re looking at.