The engines spewed fire and a trail of thick black smoke as the exploration vessel plummeted from the sky. The trees whipped past the vessel at ever decreasing distances until the canopy of the forest began to scrape against the exterior. Continuing to lose altitude, the ship tore through the treetops, breaking them off and damaging the outer hull with repeated impacts as it carved a devastating path through the forest.

The wide trunks of blue-gray bark finally halted the vessel in a tremendous crash and cascade of violet leaves. White vapor vented from numerous holes in the hull. Flames crackled in the blackened and twisted metal formerly serving as the ship's engines. Occasional bursts of sparks spewed from damaged circuits and wiring.

Liam Ducard slowly regained consciousness. His shoulders hurt from the safety straps holding him in the pilot's chair, and a headache throbbed with every pulse of his heart because of a collision between his forehead and control console beside his chair. He raised a hand weakly to his forehead, and his fingers came away slicked with blood.

Gritting his teeth, he reached for the control panel in front of him and switched on a communication channel.

"This is Liam Ducard of the Imperial Survey Corps," he groaned with a dry throat. "Is anyone receiving this transmission?"

No response came through the speakers, not even static. Liam adjusted a small knob and flipped a switch. When nothing happened, he toggled the switch back and forth several times before deciding the system was either too damaged or out of range for anyone to detect his message.

Unbuckling himself from the seat, Liam forced himself to stand. One hand pressed against his ribs, he staggered out of the cockpit. He leaned heavily on the right hand wall with his shoulder, taking time to pause and catch his breath every ten steps.

Liam was alone on his ship as his chosen profession didn't require a larger crew to accomplish the required task of mapping and analyzing space and the planets, moons, and asteroids contained therein. The lack of a crew gave him great personal freedom as he was always in charge, but there were times when the absence of anyone else onboard became a hindrance. Having to tend to his own injuries was one of the times being alone was a severe disadvantage.

The cramped storage closet where the medical supplies were kept had survived with minimal damage. Taking out what he needed, Liam injected himself with a combination of painkiller and stimulant. Once the medication began to affect him, Liam opened small compartments built into the walls and took out the bandages he required to cover his head wound and other injuries. Taking a palm sized device from a wall slot, he placed the flat piece of technology over his ribs, and a concealed hinge let it conform slightly to his side. The device beeped as it began repairing his broken bones.

With repairs completed, or at least underway, on himself, Liam turned his attention to the ship. He took a complete inventory of the vessel, but he very quickly realized the ship would never reach orbit. The damage was too extensive to be repaired without a proper spaceship facility.

His ship's sensors were still working, and he checked the outside environment. The atmosphere possessed high oxygen levels, but he still put on a breathing mask as unknown bacteria could be as lethal as not having any air to breathe. The mask covered his face in featureless, gray metal with only a horizontal strip of illuminated blue over his eyes where the sensor system was located. Exterior visuals and sensor data was relayed to the hologram projector inside the mask, granting him a greater visual perception than normal.

Checking to be sure his blaster was fully charged and holstered at his side, Liam opened the airlock and went outside for a look around, but he altered his plans temporarily when he saw the fires still burning in the remains of the engines. He delayed his search plans in order to grab an extinguisher and put out the fires. Liam didn't know if the alien trees were flammable, but he decided it best not to risk it.

A mountain offered a view over the top of the forest, but it took him nearly an hour to reach it and another to climb high enough for a proper vantage point. With his injuries under repair, it took him nearly twice as long as it would have under normal conditions. The dense trees covered the landscape in every direction for as far as he could see, vanishing off into a haze near the horizon. He was beginning to think the planet was completely uninhabited, but something caught his attention in the distance.

Increasing the magnification on his mask, Liam got a better view of a distant clearing in the forest where a number of stone structures had been built. Fires burned in stone pits in several locations, and a series of interconnected trenches surrounded the entire settlement. Arranged on either side of the central pathway were rows of spears, and mounted on top of the spears were helmets of various designs and ages. Liam recognized some as belonging to expeditionary forces during the reign of the Republic. He took notices of several more modern helmets of Imperial stormtroopers.

It was clear to Liam, whoever was in the village was not a friend of the Empire. He even suspected they might not be friends to anyone. The few people he saw wore native attire of woven materials, but a few had patchwork armor collected from several sources. His blood ran cold when he saw a force of spear wielding natives dressed in remnants of the white armor of stormtroopers and gathered near the base of a tall pyramid of stone. They were waving their spears and pointing in his general direction.

Liam realized they must've seen his ship fall from the sky. Trailing as much smoke and fire as it had, it would've been hard to miss. As the natives began to run toward the crash site, a crunch of stone behind him caused Liam to spin around, drawing his blaster in the same movement.

"You're quick," the old man said, a crafty smile behind his white mustache. "You might survive here after all. I suggest you get under cover before they get close enough to see you."

The man pushed back an obscuring curtain of vines and vanished into a cave tunnel Liam hadn't noticed before. Liam followed, deciding he'd rather face the potential threat of one old man than of an entire village armed with spears.

The light amplification system of his mask illuminated the cave on his visual display, allowing him to see the old man in a side tunnel. Similar to Liam, the old man wore the black uniform of an Imperial officer, but Liam's was in much better condition and not falling apart from age and wear.

"In here," the old man encouraged, gesturing forward. "My names is Rundel. I forgot my last name; it's been so long since I've been here."

"What do you know about the tribe hunting me?" Liam asked as he entered the side passage, sitting down and leaning back against the curving wall.

"They're called the Koraaku," Rundel answered. "I used to be a part of them. I got too old to be a threat and too weak to be useful, so I was exiled. They only care about who can add to the strength of the tribe. They take in anyone who crashes here and kill those who refuse to join as they don't want anyone starting a competing tribe."

"How long will they search for me?" Liam asked.

"A few days, possibly a week," Rundel told him. "They may even stop before they begin. You see, it's almost time for the Dark Tide."

"What's that?" Liam prompted.

"Every ten years or so, this area is swarmed by insects," Rundel explained. "They're a voracious beetle the size of your thumb. They turn the whole countryside black as far as you can see when they emerge from their burrows. Their saliva is highly acidic, allowing them to digest their food before they even swallow it. They'll eat anything, plants, animals, and even people."

"The time of their appearance is near I take it?" Liam guessed.

"Very," Rundel confirmed. He paused, listening hard. "Do you hear that? Get that stone over the passage entrance. Hurry!"

Liam scrambled to move the boulder over, blocking the entrance and cutting off even the smallest amount of light. He didn't have to ask what was going on as he soon heard something that reminded of a driving rain. Diminutive claws clicked against the stone covering the side passage where Rundel and Liam were hiding. The beetles surged out of the depths of the cave system and into the outside world, seeking food.