I awake suddenly from cryosleep. I'm still groggy, but the blaring alarms and flashing amber lights help expedite my awakening. Green lights on the ship floor indicate the emergency path I need to take to the nearest escape pod. I hear distant explosions, and what sounds like parts of the ship breaking apart. I pick up the pace and get to the escape pod. The fire suppression system in this sector is trying to stop a huge fire three decks above me. I can feel the heat in the ship climb higher and higher. I get in the pod and seal the hatch. I check to see all the emergency equipment is still there; water and food rations, environmental suit, communications equipment, standard tool set, a pulse rifle and kinetic handgun, and ammunition for both. I strap in and initiate launch.

I am hurdled down to the planet below. The window across from me allows me to see the ship, the S.A.N Alighieri, tearing apart. "What the hell happened?" I say out loud. As the pod continues to fling through space, I remember our objective: to establish a base of operations on the planet of Ifreann.

"Hell on Earth is just a Tuesday on Ifreann", as the saying goes. Ifreann got quite the notoriety when the team of Irish explorers initially discovered it. A team of 24 trained pathfinders landed on the planet. Only 6 left it. Only 2 made it back to Earth. Those two survivors told of the horrors on the planet; poisonous flora, drastic weather patterns, and extremely dangerous fauna, all make Ifreann their home. And I'm hurdling straight towards it: alone.

I was contracted as an engineer for this mission. The Systems Alliance felt that Ifreann is worth the risk since initial scans from the atmosphere show large deposits of rare metals and fuel. The Alighieri was built for this mission explicitly, and now it is debris floating in space. It seems not even the ship is safe from this planet's reputation.

After a couple hours, I look out the window and finally see my unfortunate destination: Ifreann. From space, it looks absolutely beautiful. It has one large supercontinent, similar to old Pangea of Earth, which comprises about 45% of the surface. The other 55% is beautiful azure ocean. Ifreann has a higher temperature due to a thicker atmosphere, and significantly higher rainfall than Earth or other exoplanets we have recorded and colonized. This has lead to huge tropical rainforests that would put the Amazon to shame being the primary biome of Ifreann. Everywhere except near the poles are covered in lush hues of green that make the planet look like a jade marble from certain angles.

As the pod gets closer and enters the atmosphere, I buckle back in as turbulence starts. After a few minutes I hear the outside thrusters engage and then the parachute. The pod lands with a hefty thud that nearly causes me to black out. I gather my senses and look outside. The pod's internal navigation computer found an open clearing to land in. About 150 meters out I can see the dense foliage of the jungle. The computer calculates where to land based on my chances of survival. I don't want to know what it thinks my chances are.

I put on the environmental suit. It will help me retain and reprocess water I lose from sweat, which I will likely be doing a lot of in the sweltering heat of Ifreann's jungles. The suit also protects me physically from creature attacks, but from the reports I've read, they don't protect you for very long. I gather the rest of the equipment and sling the pulse rifle on my back. I open the hatch of the escape pod and immediately feel the humidity and heat of this place. Even in this clearing it is nearly unbearable, once you get into the jungle proper, I can't even imagine.

I find a good spot in this clearing, pretty central and higher up so I can see any creature that may be stalking me and trying to attack. I set up the communication equipment and power it with a battery. I input my credentials and start an emergency S.O.S signal and give my location. Hopefully some others made it out of the ship too and can maybe make their way to me, or a passing ship detects it and attempts to rescue me. As a little bit of hope fills me, the dread of my situation enters me again. I am on the most hostile planet recorded in human history, alone, with limited supplies, and just basic survival training. I sit down on the soft ground and contemplate it all, "I'm going to die here".