Castaway Planet

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

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Uninhabited Island / Ruins / Galley above Kingdom test camp

Galactic Standard Time / 0930

It was all Karltics could do to keep from gasping in horror. Above them were an uncountable number of organic beach ball-sized spheres. Each one was connected to the other by the white rope-like things, but that wasn’t the worst thing about them. What was the worst was that all of the spheres were semitransparent. Through the flesh, they could see things, and they were all moving slowly. Each one looked like some kind of monster and as he watched they grew a bit.

“Eggs, those are all eggs!” Karltics breathed out in horror.

“Yeah. Any idea of how many are there up there? I stopped counting at twenty above the windows alone!” Ulistix muttered angrily.

“How long until they hatch!?” Cadritic question, a small termer in his voice.

“I don’t know, maybe minutes at best! We’ll never kill all of them before they wash over us!” Ulistix exclaimed, anger in his voice.

“Not if we find the main power unit! Something from this place has to be powering their growth!” Ulistix growled as he looked around.

At this, Karltics went still before looking towards Zane and the monster he was dodging. If that thing made all of these, then it was worse than he thought it was. All he could do was hope that Sir Zane could handle his problem on his own. They had to find the source these things were ‘drinking’ from! Hopefully, before any of them hatched and killed them!

“I just got a bad thought. When these things die, that thing will know, won’t it?” Karltics asked and the others nodded.

“For Kingdom and King after all. Not a bad way to go out,” Ulistix said with a small shrug.

Karltics just nodded, looking at the ceiling and then he started to trace the lines of the rope-things. He loved these puzzles as a kid, and the skills would serve him here. All he had to do was follow one line…… but then he went still. “Oh, forest! It splits!”

“What splits!?” Cadritic demanded.

“That line, there. It feeds the others! At least, I think so,” Karltics said as he moved his hand along one of the white rope things. It was the source for most of the lines and it was fed by three lines. One went to the closest wall, a large mass on the same location that had the staircase in the other chamber. Another line went to the far wall, another mass right across from the corridor door. And the final line went to a space on the ceiling.

“Each one must be something like the Power! We have to destroy all of them!”

“Wait! One of the teachers at the Academy! They had a Regeneration Power! If these things have the same ability, we’re screwed!” Ulistix exclaimed.

Karltics looked at him and paled. He remembered that teacher now, and his lector on how some wild creatures had a similar Power. His stories about the fights he was in at the Front Line and how his Power saved his life.

A roar caused the three to look towards the corridor. They saw Zane laugh as he dodged another of the monster’s blows, and fired his pistol at the thing's face. As one of the monster's eyes was destroyed, it screeched. It kept following Zane, always moving farther towards the closet wall.

“But if that thing doesn’t have a Regenatition power, would they? Or is it small because it's not tapped into something here?” Karltics muttered as he locked eyes on each of the monster’s wounds. He wanted to be sure, but there was no way that was possible. “We can’t stop them from being born, can we? Should we call Sir Zane and try and escape?”

“No! we have to stop them here but how!? It’s impossible!” Ulistix snarled as he aimed at the big monster. “Maybe if we can kill that one, these things will fight each other? I don’t see any other way to do it! Is there another way?”

Cadritic meanwhile looked at the mass on the closest wall. “Maybe, just maybe there is! Kid, run to that one over there, I handle the closest one! We all removed them from or destroyed whatever is there! It’s the only hope we have for killing them all!

Karltics and Ulistix looked at each other and shrugged

Karltics just sighed, shaking his head. “I’ve got nothing better. Let’s do it!”

Ulistix nodded, looking up at the egg spheres. “I’ve got here!”

But Karltics had already started to run, risking a glance towards Zane. The way the man was dodging the monster he was fighting, was amazing. He had already thought he was as good as some of his teachers, but the man seemed better! And that thing would attack the chamber once its spawns were dead, and that would give them the right time to kill it!

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As Cadritic ran towards the wall, he tried and failed to keep his face blank. He knew that this might not work, but a small chance was better than none. They might be just killing time until they die, but there was a chance they weren’t. He had been a guard when a Scholar had proposed a way to store the energy behind Powers. It had been an inventive talk but he hadn’t gotten funding for it. But then the Scholar admitted that he just wanted to be able to talk about his research. From what Cadritic remembered, the man had disappeared a few years later. All but his least assistant had been found dead, and the survivor had disappeared. He always thought that the man had been captured by a noble and became a captured scientist. But if the man was here he would demand samples of the ‘white rope’, but how he talked about the circuit as he called it. If they broke the flow, then the flow would die down. But that was the hard part, it would only work if these things carried what fueled the Power.

As he reached the wall, he sighed and shook his head. He looked at the mass and almost recoiled as he realized it was pulsing in a steady rhythm. He took that as proof that he was right “Nothing to it than to try and save the day!”

With one slash, he tore the pulsing mass from the wall. As the mass just sat there, he looked at the space it had been. This strange organic mass seemed to have eaten away at the wall, and with a shocked look, he stared down at his blade. It was still fine, and for a moment he wondered just how that was possible. Then he remembered another old lecture he had overhead once and shook his head. He didn’t understand how this stuff could eat away at the metal, how it was specialized to do that. But it didn’t matter, what mattered was it ate away at the lock. Using his sword, he pulled the door free, tearing away the organic mass. As he watched, the strange material started to wither and die.

“How? Just how?” Cadritic muttered as he looked at the material. But then he thought he saw something inside the door. He looked into the doorway and paled in horror. The material had somehow wormed its way into the structure. He stared at the mass that moved down the wall along the staircase. From what he could see, there was another pulsing mass down there with three more of the eggs near it. He watched as the creature with one of the eggs started to break free.

“NO!” He bellowed as he ran down the stairs. With one swift bellow, he impaled the egg and the creature within it gave one final cry before it died.

Breathing heavily he turned around and was shocked at what he saw. There was only one level below him, and looking up he saw a ceiling about twenty feet up. He looked back up at the floor the others were on but something told him that this was important. The feeling he had, he just couldn’t describe it but everything was telling him to go on. That he needed to discover the truth about this place. With one final look up, he dashed down the stairs. To his surprise, the door here actually had a handle, a solid ‘L’ shaped bar that pointed down.

He looked at it, and then turned around, looking up, trying to figure out how far down he was.

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As he dodged another blow, Zane smirked. The giant insect monster was still after him, and that meant the others had to have handled the other one. But seeing Karltics running for the other side of the chamber, stunned him. But then he realized that they had to have seen something, something that made that necessary. But whatever it was, he had to trust them and do his part, keep the giant on him.

As he dodged another blow he saw the monster stop and slowly turn its head. He didn’t know what the others did, but it was good for them if this thing felt it.

With a roar, he aimed and fired his pistol, this time at the lower limb on its other side. As the bolt hit, the monster roared as the lower part of that arm was removed.

All Zane did was look at it as he grinned, and hoped that it would keep its senses on him. As it charged at him in a rush, he laughed and dodged at the last minute. All he had to do was keep up the work and keep this monster’s eyes on him. Make it mad, and make that its last mistake!

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Karltics ran, looking at Zane and his battle for a moment before he turned his neck towards his goal. All he had to do was keep moving, keep to the plan and they would win! If they could kill all those eggs, then that would make this so much easier. Then all they had to do was handle the big monster and then they could get back to the others. This time with the General of the Wind herself right behind them!

As he reached the far wall, he paled as he looked towards the hole. There had to be at least a hundred eggs on the wall alone, not even counting the ceiling! This was beyond anything that they could have thought of! He had to move fast, and kill the power source! He looked towards the window and found the pulsing mass he was looking for. He charged at it, drawing his sword, and cleaved it in two. As most of the mass fell away, there was a sparking among the remains. He didn’t know why but something was telling him, he had to move. He had barely turned and ran a few feet before an explosion bloomed behind him!

The force threw him forward and he hit the ground, skidding along it for a few more moments. He looked up and saw the giant insect monster turn around, and for a moment he was sure one of its eyes was looking right at him. Before he could even get back to his feet, something hit the ground before him. Looking at it, he saw that it was one of the eggs from above. Slowly he looked up and saw all the eggs dying as the organic mass withered. Feeling a grin forming, he felt that everything was going to be okay. But then a roar caused him to remember the giant insect monster was still here.

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Alert, explosion detected in abandoned complex.

Sending scout constructs into abounded sector

Orders are to observe and return with data.

Possibility of attack from [rival] Not below percentage of ignorance

Activating protocol, defense.

Gather all soldier contrasts able to move through facility, reinforce entrances

Update directive to scout constructs, use protocol [chain]

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As Ulistix shook his head to get rid of the ringing, he felt his heart stop. Two of the eyes of the giant insect monster were looking right at him, and its mouth was dripping. It suddenly charged at him and with a curse on his lips, Ulistix dove to the side and rolled towards the nearest wall. He had just been about to fire up when the explosion wave hit him!

The giant insect monster roared again as it looked around. For a second Ulistix thought he saw an emotion in its eyes, rage. But then that wasn’t possible, not in something like this, not this monster.

It pointed its mouth at him and then it fired a blast of a white liquid at him! He dodged but a splat from the splash hit his boot. It suddenly felt heavier and he looked down, seeing some of the organic mass on it. With a sinking feeling, he understood just where the creature had gotten the mass from. But he couldn’t understand where the “eggs” came from. A horrible thought passed through his mind, and then he almost tore it off. But then he stopped and aimed the weapon Zane had given him at the monster.

He fired as he moved backwards, his boot feeling heavy. It was a constant reminder of the possible danger it represented.

The monster roared but then Karltics ran by him.

“What?! Karltics, no!” Ulistix cried out, shocked and wondering what his comrade was thinking.

“I’ll aim at its legs!” Karltics roared as he charged.

Ulistix stared at him, thinking about all about the bravery of idiots. But he raised his weapon and prepared to cover the charging fool. The monster looked up and for a moment Ulistix thought it would roar again. But then he saw the way it was looking at Karltics and he knew, he knew what it was planning.

“Dodge! don’t let it touch you, kid!” Ulistix howled as he aimed at the monster's mouth and fired. The monster reacted and brought its lone upper hand to cover its face. As a grin formed on his face, Ulistix expected his shot to destroy the limb like Zane’s had. But to his horror, the limb reflected the bolt and Ulistix barely dodged.

Ulistix could only stare at the monster as Karltics charged under it and tried to slash out one of its limbs. But his sword was reflected back and Karltics stumbled for a moment.

The monster tried to crush Karltics with its body, but suddenly Zane tacked Karltics. They landed just out of range of the monster’s limbs and Ulistix fired again, but again the shot was deflected.

Zane got back to his feet hauling Karltics away from the monster as he moved. Ulistix just waited for it to fire its spit as he kept firing at it. But when all it did was reflect the shots, Ulistix understood. And when the monster roared and got back to its feet and stayed there, he understood everything.

“This thing, it can’t move! It needs the power above it to use that Reflect ability! If we can move or destroy the power!” Ulistix exclaimed and raised his weapon upwards. A gurgling scream caused him to react and dodge to the right, just barely missing another blast of the mass. And his foot was starting to fall asleep, and he knew what that meant. “No! Don’t get hit!”

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“That’s the plan!” Zane bellowed as he looked at the monster. He didn’t expect anything like this when he woke up this morning, but this was one battle he’d remember! The monsters, the survivors, and now the time difference, he would remember it all!

“NO! Not what I meant!” Ulistix cried out as he kept firing at the monster.

Zane didn’t pay him any attention, running around the left side of the monster. “Just keep firing, if it’s down we can find a way to kill it!”

“Simple really! Get on its back, then we take away the power!” Karltics howled as he ran along the right. “The pulsing mass caused the explosion, so we just need to get rid of the one above before the eggs hatch!”

Zane felt his heart stop as he heard the word ‘eggs’. But he kept moving and took in all the others had just told him. These ‘mass’ they were talking about, he found it. There it was, right above the giant insect monster. And there was the way it was being ‘fed’. A line of the ‘white rope’ was connected the two. “Found the power……?”

As he kept moving, the line disappeared. He looked up and saw the mass was still there, and that was enough for him to understand. “Keep firing! I’ll get the mass!”

Without waiting for a reply, he pulled out his pistol, aimed, and fired. The monster tried to intercept, and that made Zane pause for a second. This thing hadn’t reacted to anything they did. So either it wasn’t sentient, it was and didn’t care they were, or the worst thing.

Without a word, he kept firing, and then a bolt from Ulistix hit the mass and he saw the part with the cable fall away. But then he remembered what Karltics said and paled. “GET AWAY!”

Zane turned and ran, hearing a roar behind him before he felt the heat from an explosion. The force from that threw him into the hallway. Rolling into a ball, he moved a few more feet until he got back up. He looked behind him and saw the remains of the giant insect monster in a pile, blackened from the heat. Then all around it organic spheres, the eggs, started to drop to the floor. For a second he just stood there before he started to laugh, happy to be alive!

The other two looked at him and then they joined in. As they all stood there, Zane suddenly stopped and looked around, his heart dropping. “Wait, where’s Cadritic?!”

At his cry, the others all paled and started to look around.

“He went to that wall! Cadritic, are you okay….. there’s an open door there,” Karltics said bluntly.

Zane blinked and looked, wincing as he saw the door. When they were here before, they hadn’t had the time to even think of stopping to look, and they had missed it.

“I’M DOWN HERE! I WAS CLEANING OUT AN INFESTATION OVER HERE! And I Found a door!” Cadritic’s voice echoed from the open doorway.

As soon as Zane heard the word ‘infestation’, he paled in fear. Without stopping to talk, he turned and ran for the door he had come through his shipmates. Behind him, he heard the sounds of someone following him, but he didn’t stop. If he was right, then this was going to be bad.