Fire. Sirens. An unstable cacophony of noise. The glow of destruction. Energy permeating the air. A shock, a brief moment of pain. Nothingness.
-----
David suddenly woke up, nearly vaulting off his small cot. His body, as well as his bedroll was drenched in sweat. A shiver ran down David's spine as he relived the latest nightmare. Somehow he knew that his dreams and the mission were related to some extent. The dreams bothered him, especially the clarity. Even after waking, he could picture the burning landscape as vividly as if he was there. Worse, they were becoming longer, like a horror film slowly unwinding to its deadly climax. Ramon, being a light sleeper, had noticed David's abrupt awakening.
"Hey man, you alright? Looks like you seen a ghost or something". The concern was clear on his face, despite the darkness within the small confines of the ship.
David tried to smile, eventually pulling off a grimace. "No, just a dream. Go back to sleep."
David watched Ramon slowly drift off to sleep, then finally tried to take his own advice.
-----
The morning's exercises had left David exhausted. Sleep had come in bursts, accentuated by the nightmare. No matter what he tried, the dream always came, each time longer and more vivid.
The team had been dropped off in the center of a large plain. Rocks occasionally broke the uniformity of the short grass. Trees could be seen along the distant horizon. Trampled patches of grass showed recent activity, either by animals or human.
Jevon stepped out of the transport, followed by a number of hovering spheres. Each had a small antenna on what looked like its back. Both sides sported a vast array of protruding objects. On the front, a small camera seemed to function as the devices eye.
Walking out of the ship, Eric went to each person. He deposited a small padd in everyone's hand, then joined Jevon at the loading ramp.
"These are Palo-class scanning droids" Jevon said. Pressing a button on his padd, one of the droids floated down the ramp. "Each of you will learn to find hidden objects using only the scanners on the droid, as well as your own ingenuity". Punching in a series of commands, Jevon watched as the ball whipped away. "Any questions?"
Ramon raised his hand. "I thought this was a military operation. There are no visible weapons on these probes. How are they going to help?"
As if by magic, Codee appeared at the entrance. "Because you are not there to fight, but to verify the existence of a Formationist base on one of our worlds". Ramon looked disappointed at the answer but said nothing in response. "Now if you open the droid control program, each of you have a list of objects to find. The test begins now."
-----
After a brief lunch and a progress report, everyone returned to the plain with the droids in tow. The sky was cloudy, not enough to permit rain, but kept the heat to a minimum. A light breeze pressed its way through the valley, the grass swaying, a wave of vegetation threatening to smother David with each step.
They were ignored, however. David's mind continued to brood over the dream. It felt vaguely familiar, as though he had been there before. "But when", he thought. David was beginning to think that his dream was foreshadowing his death. Suddenly, the droid made an excited whine, announcing that it had found the next object on his list. Sighing, he picked up his shovel and began digging.