After a human battlefield collapses on a hostile colony world, a damaged flatbed carries wounded soldiers away from the front through an alkaline hardpan basin. The route is marked clear, but it crosses shatter-beak territory — uncharted alien beasts big enough to charge vehicles, break armor, and feed on humans.

The transport is almost defenseless: one injured engineer at point, a failing exosuit, a damaged track assembly, and men in the cargo bed who cannot fight back.

This is "The Hardpan Corridor" by Sascha Schmidt