Castaway Planet

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Unknown Island / Run/ Corridor out of Cavern Entrance/ Field of Centipedes / Complex right side

Galactic Standard Time / 0745

It was all Olv’xic could do to keep from firing. He knew that the way a creature looked didn’t matter. But the longer he looked at the thing in the doorway, the more he wanted to. It was only when his eyes went down to the circles that he understood why he was feeling this. This poor soul had to have been a victim of whoever had made the ritual circles. This had to have been what was created!

The poor wrench before him was a monster to behold. It was tall, around eight feet tall. But how much that was the thing's height or if it was rearing up he didn’t know. It had brown chitin covering most of its body and its arms ended in savage-looking white claws. But while it had a human-like torso, it wasn’t human. From the waist down was a pale skin that formed a large tail-like limb. From it came ten sharp spike-like chitin-covered legs on both sides of its body.

Its head had chitin armor covering most of it. There were only spaces for eye holes and a round mouth. From the checks came two sharp-looking mandibles pointing, ready to impale anything.

“[Kon’gric keep back! That thing might just be an animal].” Olv’xic said softly. But then he went still as he saw the creature had a collar around its neck. With that one discovery, he knew that this was going to be hard. “[NO! GET your shield up]!”

Kon’gric could only bring his shield over him and Ar’thor in a bubble moments before the creature reacted. It shot a black blob of a liquid at them at sizzled as it flew through the air. Olv’xic jumped out of the blast zone but the blob hit the shield and the liquid flowed down to the ground, eating away at it.

“[It must have been merged with one of those things out there!? But this place is too small! How’d it get in here]!?” Ar’thor asked in shocked horror.

Olv’xic had to admit, the Prince had a point. Nothing about this place was normal, not even the monsters. Whoever had built or conquered this place had discovered two of the Terrors of Aether. And they had access to beings that they were perfectly fine to use them on. He aimed at the monster as it tried to move towards them and fired. The shot hit one of the thing's legs and broke it off below the body. It didn’t react, even as the blood gushed from its wound. All Olv’xic did was wince as he saw the way the other legs quivered.

“[MOVE]!” Olv’xic yelled as he fired at another leg. “[It's under the effect of another of the Terrors! We need to get out of here now]!”

“[Two of them here?! How is this possible]!?” Ar’thor asked in horror from within the shield.

“[I can’t move in this shield mode! Olv’xi, do something to that thing! Buy me time]!” Kon’gric called out.

Olv’xic gritted his teeth and fired again at the monster. It didn’t react again, and he knew that someone was controlling it. The two manacles on it might be the things that were controlling this wrench, but then it might not. It was when he heard another roar as the first creature moved farther in that his heart stopped. As soon as he saw the second centipede centaur moving coming into the chamber he reacted.

With practiced ease, he fired at the second creature. He silently Augmented the shot with a skill. When the bolt this the second creature’s right arm at the should. A second later the shoulder exploded in a shower of gore that tore the creature’s arm free. The second creature roared in pain and then it attacked the first.

At this, the first creature turned to deal with the second ignoring the three before it. Olv’xic felt his heart freeze before he fired again and hit the first creature’s left shoulder.

As the limb was blown off, Kon’gric dropped the dome. Turing as he changed his shields to long tower shields and looked at Olv’xic. “[Where are we going!? We can’t go forward right]?!”

“[Back to the other chamber! We’ll try and make it to the others over the roofs]!” Olv’xic said as he fired again, this time at the right side of the doorway. The explosion caused the stone to buckle and collapse backwards. From the hole came more screams, as if the door was a barrier to sound.

For a second Olv’xic had a clear view of the hole, and he was sure that he locked eyes with something that had more than he did. But then the two fighting monsters blocked his sight and he shook his head. “[Move now! Don’t stop just run]!”

Kon’gric let his training take over, and without a word, he started to run. Olv’xic let him pass by him and kept firing at the walls, hoping that something would cause more chaos. Turning around to join the others in their escape, he had a terrible thought.

The ritual of the Chimera could be done either to others or to the user. If that was the case, then what had he just seen in that moment? Was this the worst case, a mad Ritualist who used the ritual to become ‘the strongest’? Or was this being used to make an army? But none of those ideas told him the most important thing. Where was the madman who did this getting the supplies to create those horrors behind him?

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

As Kon’gric carried him, all Ar’rhor could do was think of what was behind him. The Forbidden Aether practices were horrors! They were things that had been found when the People were young. The stories went that each one of the Forbidden was used to cause sorrow and destruction. But what was more worrying was that Olv’xic had encountered them before.

Olv’xic, he didn’t know what to think about him. He had secrets, and now they covered an encounter with a Forbidden. He was a mystery behind a mask, and that was slowly getting more dangerous as they moved through this place. How could he have encountered one of the Forbidden at all? And why wasn’t it news?

“[….. let me see if I understand this. Your plan is to lead us over the roofs? Do you think that’s actually doable]?” Kon’gric asked in shock.

“[Yeah, the team had to move over the roofs to track down a smuggler once. If we’re fast and we keep our eyes out for the flyers. But we need to find a way into another building. I don’t know what other horrors that monster behind us has],” Olv’xic said with a hard tone.

Ar’thor felt his heart stop. He had learned about the Forbidden a few years back from conversations he had overheard. The talk had been about ‘Forbidden Indicants’ that the army dealt with. Those who practiced ‘Chimera’ were said to be limited by only two things. Their creativity plus what materials they had to use. And with what he used to make those centaur centipedes, he didn’t have any morals. And that was enough to tell Ar’thor that they had to move now. “[I agree! We need to get away from here as soon as possible]!”

All that Ar’thor could think of were the worst examples that he had heard of over his lifetime. The fact that something worse might be behind them caused him to slowly swallow. “[Please, can we go now]?”

Without another word they were off, the sounds of combat dying down behind made them run faster. He didn’t know what was happening, but Ar’thor wished he had a stronger weapon than a small blade and a pistol.

As soon as they came into the chamber with the staircase, Olv’xic fell behind them and looked at the door. After Ar’thor called up his suit's sensors, he tried to watch Olv’xic as Kon’gric carried him up the stairs. After a few minutes, Olv’xic came thundering up behind them.

“[I left a small explosion next to the wall the door will hit. We might have a minute’s warning, but that’s all! We just need to keep moving and hope that this will work]!” Olv’xic said as he joined them.

Ar’thor didn’t have a chance to say anything as Kon’gric carried him out onto the roof.

Looking around, he was shocked to finally see the shape of the structure. Its shape was that of a long and winding trident. They had come out on the rightmost point, and the space between the nearest point was over half a mile. With a slight scowl, he looked towards the large door. At the other side of the chamber near the underground, it had looked so easy. But closer they could see just what they had to deal with. The door were on a platform over forty feet up, and there were buildings built on what might have been stairs or a ramp. And the buildings going up were over two hundred feet away from them. And every thirty feet on the roof were chambers into the lower structure like what they had come up here from. Something about how those things were spaced bothered Ar’thor, but why he couldn’t say.

“[The trap of Illusion, wonderful],” Olv’xic muttered and shook his head.

“[You’ve seen this before]!?” Kon’gric demanded in shock.

Ar’thor looked at Olv’xic as he just shrugged.

Olv’xic shook his head before he gripped his rifle and looked around.“[Let’s just say that in the Ruins, the team relied on our eyes and sensors together, but trusted the sensor more. This isn’t too bad. At least the flyers aren’t here].”

“[Enough talking! We need to move now]!” Kon’gric exclaimed.

Olv’xic just nodded and looked at the doorway into the ruins and nodded.

Ar’thor didn’t know why, but something was coming. He could feel it.

“[The trap of Illusion, wonderful],” Olv’xic muttered and shook his head.

“[You’ve seen this before]!?” Kon’gric demanded in shock.

Ar’thor looked at Olv’xic as he just shrugged.

Olv’xic shook his head before he gripped his rifle and looked around. "[Let’s just say that in the Ruins, the team relied on our eyes and sensors together, but trusted the sensor more. This isn’t too bad. At least the flyers aren’t here].”

“[Enough talking! We need to move now]!” Kon’gric exclaimed.

Olv’xic just nodded and looked at the doorway into the ruins and nodded.

Ar’thor didn’t know why, but something was coming. He could feel it.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Aplirix grinned as he and his five followers followed after their prey. Together they had chased down the beast. No matter what the hunters had done, the creature had dodged them. But it had to be getting tired with all those moves it was making. But the hunters were still only slightly winded and they had done it at last! One of the hunters had flown ahead of it and dropped down, tearing off its right wing. Their target crashed to the ground and the hunter threw the wind at it. As the hunter screeched and caught the wind to soar higher, the others all joined in.

“Well done!” Aplirix cried with glee as he watched the beast fall to the ground.

“Well done brother! A wonderful strike!” Another of the flyers called out as they landed.

“It just hit me! I could get ahead of it and then stopped flying. Then I just let gravity get me get it!” The hunter said with a laugh

Aplirix smiled but on the inside, he was looking at this one in anger. This hunter had displayed a bit too much creativity. Sooner or later someone like that would start to think that they should lead the Sect. And then a few more missions where he showed his skills, and then there would be a war for leadership. And with what the others were doing, their little fort might fall if the other two butted in. And they would, all to gain more power and secrets.

“Well done!” Aplirix called out and looked at the hunter and forced a grin on his face. “I knew I’d find someone to become my second here! And with this speed, we will rise!”

“I don’t think we’ll be getting any blood from this thing!” Another voice called out from where their target had crashed. Aplirix looked up and saw three of the five flyers gathered around the dead body.

Aplirix looked as one of the flyers held up the wing, revealing that it wasn’t leaking blood. As he stared in shock, he looked down at the body. It wasn’t losing blood, it didn’t have any! What they had destroyed looked more like some strange and deadly weapon. It was glittering in the light as if…. “It’s not organic! It’s not even a bug!”

“Master, what is this?!” Another of the flyers cried out in horror.

Aplirix understood just what he was looking at in an instant. It was such a shock that his mouth dropped open. “It’s like those things! The strange metallic constructs!”

“But this looks like metal, not whatever they're made out of!” another of the flyers said as he held up the wing.

With a scowl Aplirix just snoted. “Then it must not be from the same source! It’s not from the same source.”

He looked at the strange thing, his mind moving at the speed of a hurricane. If this was really like those things and different, then that meant that new things like them could be made. Give them weapons after you find out how to control them and you have soldiers. Control a bunch of them and you have a squad. Control many squads and you have an army. Even if you couldn’t make soldiers of them, they could still be used as spies. Looking at the thing, Aplirix felt himself go giddy.

“We have to find out where this wonder comes from! This is a great day for us all! with this one find, we’ve secured a new dawn for us all!” Aplirix proclaimed as he dropped all the ideas he had before. This was better than he hoped, and with this for his sect, he would rule! “Come my brothers, let us return to our home and discover how to use this find!

But suddenly the metal thing released a loud blaring sound! The pain from it was such that it forced everyone around it to their knees. As the flyers all held their ears, a strange voice started to speak gibberish.

“[Hi you! You’ve brought me down so good for you! I’m gonna explode now, bye]!!”

Before Aplirix could even look up an explosion of heat and light suddenly swept over him. He screamed in pain and rage as he felt the flames.

Moments later he struggled back to his feet and took in what had happened. The thing was gone and there was a small crater where it had been! Around it were the bodies of the other three flyers! Each one of them was burned so badly that their skin and feathers were black and smoking.

Aplirix took stock of his own body and glared as soon as he saw the state of his wings. All the feathers had been burned off! He would never take off and they were in the Builder’s trap! And forget about that, there were the creatures to think about! Just trying to get by them would be impossible with his skills while landlocked! What could he do to get airborne again!? He couldn’t eat the blackened meat, it was worthless! He needed a better source of food to regenerate, and he needed to find one soon!

“Leader Aplirix!” A voice caused him to look towards the right wall.

He smiled as he saw the flyer that brought down the flying thing and another one. Both of them had over half their bodies blackened, but the rest of them were in good shape.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Olv’xic stopped and looked around at the roof as he led the way. So far, everything was going fine. In fact, he hoped that soon they would find the others. But then a flashing icon on his mask appeared. As soon as he saw it, he realized that another of his drones was destroyed. But the icon was that the explosive trap he had set had gone off. And the damage report he saw showed that the thing that took it out wasn’t one of the centipedes. With a single

“[NO]!” He exclaimed as he saw just what had brought his drone down. Suddenly, a lot of what this place was made sense. And he cursed himself internally for not understanding this earlier!

“[What is it]!?” Kon’gric demanded as he looked around, his energy shield ready to block any attack.

“[My drone is gone. I saw what took it out, more of the Human Chimeras! This is terrible]!” Olv’xic snarled as he looked around.

“[Flying Chimera Humans!? Is there….. no. You can’t mean that]!?” Ar’thor asked in horror.

“[My prince? What is it]?” Kon’gric asked, his voice full of curiosity.

“[If they made those flyers, then what else did whoever did the Forbidden make? And what did he control them to do? Like, make this whole structure]?” Olv’xic asked with a completely bleak tone.

Looking around at the shape, he started to understand what was bothering him. The way it was shaped, it was so they could hunt those centipedes. They must have been lured into the spaces between the ‘points’. Then they would be killed, ambushed, or poisoned. Once that happened, the user must have harvested what they needed and at the rest.

And that was why those things stayed in their holes! But this place had been here long enough that animals had created instincts about this place? that was a very bad thing to figure out, it just made this place worse for them. But then everything

“[They… they used slave labor. They didn’t need to even think about how many they lost building this place! The deaths while this place was made didn’t even matter to them]!” Ar’thor exploded over their comms.

Olv’xic felt nothing but disgusted that he hadn’t seen it sooner. The Chimera Ritual circles had to clue him in that something was wrong here! Anyone who dared to use those things felt the Horror’s cost sooner or later! Plus the way everything was turning out, the worst scenario was probably true! The Ritualist might have just found this place! If they were lucky they only learned from what the first Ritualist left behind!

“[Most likely. But we have to move faster! I think those things ahead were for killing any centipedes that came between the points. And that means that warriors might be below them. Warriors hunting us]!” Olv’xic said as he looked at the small room ahead of them, trying to see anything. But as they moved closer, he saw the shadows from the inside of the room move. “[Contact\]!”

Without waiting a second, he fired his weapon. The blasts pierced the sides of the building nearest to them. For a second nothing happened, then something fell out onto the roof as screams came from the room.

Olv’xic only glared at them and called upon his aether. He knew that this was going to be bad, but he knew that there was a greater chance that he would live through this.