I think the 'Gorman' character stayed in the rover. If they're strapped in, they might survive the fall. (2-3x the rovers length (?) at 1/7th gravity.)

Ok. I didn't had this on my Board.

Given the "digital" nature of the Azinarsi, woudn't that mean that there is some "mind" flying that thing, menaing that there are actual Azinarsi "People" on board?

Losing signal does not mean you've lost the team. It's an indication that they may be dead, but it's also an indication that they may have had an equipment failure, may have been captured, or that their signal is being blocked.

So I guess here is where we find out something about Raharran military doctrine vs. Human military doctrine.

Most Human military services have "never leave your people behind" as one of their primary operating doctrines. Even if the commander suspects a squad is dead, a failure to attempt rescue if there's any chance they're not, would get him drummed out of the service.

The people serving in his command do not re-up for their next hitch, do not remain loyal, and do not continue to believe in the rightness of their cause, if he fails to do so. Soldiers muster out and then raise their children never to become soldiers. Even at the risk to the lives of the rest of the unit, he has to attempt these unlikely rescues or the consequences are that the whole service slowly grows weaker.

And it's been that way for at least twenty centuries, every place where the people fighting are citizens serving voluntarily instead of slaves. Ever since the Roman Legions and maybe before.

But it's still a peculiar thing. It often leads to decisions that don't make immediate tactical sense, and the longer term effects on culture and morale and service traditions may or may not apply to other species.

Very valid question, captain. Considering that the ghosts had to shed their waste heat over a substantial area to fool the Raharr sensors, them failing to notice this massive chunk of metal (? or at least advanced materials) is quite astonishing.

Probably leaves the remaining tunnel system wide open for further exploration, though ...

The "cave" entrance was into the very ship. The rover is falling off the ship on the right side in the large middle frame...

There is a lot more to be said but the Ghost has now completely "blown" their cover....(haha) and Raharr Recon team is now prisoners inside the ship I think.

I love the arcs of hot material (lunar regolith?) coming out of the "Azinarsi" ship.

look almost like they're following magnetic field lines.

Oh boy, shit hit the fan fast today. A thought for the recon team.

Else, aside from the evidence that explanations might be appreciated by various people, depending on the geographic location, this will certainly be visible from Earth.

Nice twist, I didn’t see spaceship coming

Loss of rover is not a given, loss signal. That means signal is lost. Ground crew is not necessarily 'lost' except in loss of all signals. But, it do not look good chaka.