The first obvious thing was they were all standing in mud. She was looking out at massive trees. They quickly ran down the stairs in front of them. An ability user was removing the water from the top of the structure.
At the bottom of the stairs, there were paths wide enough for vehicles in front of them and the teachers were forming lines in front of each path. The plants were exotically beautiful. Even their voices were melodic. Lana realized the plants were growing closer to the shelter in this area but further down was clear, like a meadow.
The colors were vibrant. This was like nothing she had seen on Earth. It was like she'd been teleported into an ancient science-fiction movie and was excited to see more. The dozens of shades of green melded so incredibly with the other colors of the rainbow. She saw a strange assortment of trees, shrubs, vines, flowers of all kinds. Everything that could be found in a rain forest, but these looked nothing like the rain-forest plants she had seen in books. She felt at peace, the voices of the plants filling her mind. Her eagerness to learn lit a fire in her eyes.
The shelter off to the side looked like a blight. It was a mud, cube-shaped structure, that had been hardened against the rain, as strong as stone. It didn't blend in well with the flora. It looked like a sore thumb. Dust would settle from the feet of those who ventured out. Mud was continuously added to the structure as a result.
Her mind started wandering, imagining what the place would be look like if she was in charge. Nis explained this shelter was Level 5, which was the worst level. They were common on dangerous planets and those not fully explored. Once a planet was deemed safe and the level number finalized, the shelter would modernize based on the local dangers.
Because the shelter was below level 3, there were no taxes or fees for living there which reduced the cost of living. It also reduced the chances of high-end items being available for purchase. The teacher also explained there was no guarantee of official shelters on planets deemed level 6 planets or higher.
Lana wondered why the teleport circle was on top of the shelter. She also didn't see any average citizens unlike at the previous shelter, just soldiers looking them over to ensure they had everything they needed. Safety was obviously paramount here. It appeared the only civilians on this planet were there to support the military.
Lana's team, minus herself, were wearing their new boots and weapons. Almin chose to carry the device. While it looked like a wand a wizard of fairy tales would use, it was much heavier. The team lightened his load a bit by splitting some of his things between them. Dobin chose to carry his bag as well as his own. She felt encumbering anyone was simply bad tactics and a danger to the whole party.
Lana was a bit upset the worked so hard to obtain levels for an outing with no expectation of killing monsters. She reviewed in her head: Dobin, Almin and Alto, level 4, Kattie was level 5 and she was level 6. She was still pleased. The additional skills may prove benefiicial.
At the beginning of the path she was looking at, which was between her path and Blaine path, she saw a 9-foot tall S-shaped tree that had glowing golden spirals all over it. She heard it speaking to her above the other voices because it was whiney. It offered her life extension. She smiled brightly. The plants here were truly remarkable. Most people stared at the plants in wonder but the fact they were in a muggy rain forest dampered the moods of some.
The colonel in charge of the planetary expedition counted down and all the classes moved toward their designated paths when he hit zero. Her class started moving forward. As soon as they got on the path, the voices of all the plants slammed her unexpectantly due to the sheer volume of them. She dropped to her knees holding her head wincing at the intense pain. She struggled, telling the plants to speak quietly and one at a time, please. Her team surrounded her. The teacher was right behind them.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Nis asked.
She took deep breaths, pushing back the pain as the class looked annoyed at her. Once she finally got the plants to understand their excitement was causing her pain and discomfort, they eased off and designated a few to speak to her. They asked how they could help her, wanting to know everything there was to know about her. She answered politely then asked one if it knew about the military's scanning operation.
Her mind was quickly engulfed in a vision. Soldiers were walking through the forest, being disrespectful of the plants, complaining. Of interest was their conversation. There were illnesses that had no cure. Plants were the basis of all medicine so new species were always being sought after. The scanning process was designed for that purpose. Scanning monsters was considered a safety precaution. The vision faded and the plants happily offered to help her.
About 5 minutes had passed and the other classes had already vanished along their paths.
"I'm sorry Sergeant Rage. The plants were practically screaming in my head. They are offering to help us. Did they give you a map of where we are to go?"
Nis brought the map up on his tablet. It showed all the explored territory thus far. Lana was shocked there wasn't much until the plants explained the planet was recently discovered, though they were unable to describe what recently meant. On his tablet, Nis pointed to where he was told to start. The path of exploration had ended with the previous expedition of a different school.
This was common, having the students from the various academies help with exploration. Once a new planet was discovered, it would be scanned for energy signatures. If the threat was deemed low enough, the students would be brought in. Deep space travel has only been possible for about 15 years. While teleportation was possible, the location needed to be found first.
Lana listened to the plants. They described a spot in the map, and she smiled at the teacher, "Excellent! This way, please!"
Nis smiled, "you sure trust the plants…"
They walked for about an hour. The plants told her most of the area had been scanned but some were overlooked, mainly orchid-type plants.
"We need to stop here. Some were missed by the previous class," she said to her teacher. "Can I guide them to the new plants so we can head to a better area faster?"
Nis smiled and relaxed, "of course."
She projected her voice, her voice carrying through the area. "If you have a scanner, I need you in front of me. When I describe the plant and its location, I want the person with the scanner and their team to go, scan and return here as quickly as possible. The plants are telling me this planet has flocks of raptor-like birds, similar to Sven." She pointed to the bird on Kattie's shoulder.
"In addition to that," Lana continued, "there are wandering monsters, most have been scanned. There are snakes, 4-armed monkeys called scimias, 6-legged panthers with tentacles called panteri, rather large flying insects that sting, and I really can't describe this other thing. I guess sloth-like but fast?"
Students filed to the front. She looked to Almin and pointed, "that way, a pink heart with forest green spots that are star-shaped."
"Oh, Sergent Rage, did you …" she grinned as his machine whirled to life.