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Date - 2977.024 Three Weeks following the Liberation of Zebes
Location - KIV Cunning Death
The skittering speech of the Kromus scientists and technicians who had come at his command was, to a point, an annoyance. Merely because he comprehended the vocal language of the Kromus core species didn't mean he appreciated the sound of it. It didn't help that he had only just recovered full facilities of his hearing merely days ago after spending the last few weeks in isolation so he could regenerate and plan from the disaster that was Zebes.
It had not helped to learn that many of the fleets which had gathered at Zebes had fled and abandoned him. He might still hold sway over the unified High Command, but after his defeat at Zebes, forcing his retreat from the planet and its trove of Chozo secrets, that power had been damaged as badly as his body had been, and a number of tribal groups had declared they served their own new leaders after abandoning the greater Kromus force.
Including that damned renegade of an elite, who had taken his whole tribe, their fleet, and fled into the Spur.
A glance to his tail, still growing back since the events in Norfair. "Damned bird," he muttered as he tried to ignore the chitter of Kromus near him. "I hope that ancient bag of feathers rots in whatever hell those damn Chozo still believe in."
One of the technicians stepped aside from its fellows, cautiously approaching the draconian entity and speaking to him.
"I'm aware that half my face is burned raw and hasn't regenerated yet, you simpering twit!" The glowing yellow eye of the still undamaged right side of Ridley's face widened at Kromus technician's crude ignorance, the long scar that ran his face and over said eye tightening. "That is why it's taken me this long just to recover this much after being shot with a fifteen thousand year old Chozo plasma caster! It's why I told you morons to get over here and resolve this problem!"
The Kromus backed away a step, yet didn't seem to understand how much danger it was in for its incompetent questions and how close to Ridley it was until it was snapped in half and its arms were hanging limp between those massive jaws. A hard crunch as the dragonoid bit down hard, his teeth impaling through chitin and bone, crushing the barely still alive Kromus and allowing Ridley to swallow his first true meal since the disaster at Zebes.
The other Kromus stared in horror at what they had just witnessed, but said nothing to object as they watched Ridley grab the still standing bottom half of his victim and take a bit of a leg the way humans would do with a chicken leg. Soon enough, the former technician consumed, the dragonoid let out a disgustingly loud belch, and could feel his wounds begin to knit and heal even just a bit faster. Despite the feeding of biomatter, he could tell that his wounds still were not regenerating properly.
"Damn that Aran bitch," he growled as he saw his reflection in a screen. The left side of his face was burned and charred, exposing bone in some spots, and his eye was still slowly repairing itself. "Never thought those stupid humans' spawn would cause me just as much humiliation as they did."
A series of guttural snarls and grunts from an Urtrahgan member of the team who had answered his summons. Ridley gave a contemplative frown, fighting the urge to scratch at his still healing face. If he understood correctly, one of their research frigates back had managed to avoid detection from Confederation and Sangheili patrols when they had left FS176, and had come across another system, one that was nearby their own entry corridor into Sol-Daiban in what they called "Proteus", and were reporting a new research base established in the remains of a Chozo nest city on the fourth planet of the system, something about a strange power source; a mineral of some kind that had outputs rivalling afloraltite hyperfuel, while far more stable and less prone to explosive reaction.
Curious.
"Have our best science teams begin operations to further investigate and test this...material. And see what can be gleaned from the Chozo ruins there."
And then an angry snarl as he couldn't resist the painful itch anymore and began to claw at his face to make it stop. "And someone get me one of you science team idiots who knows a thing about reinforced armoring so I'm not dealing with this problem again!"
Location - KIV Orpheon, Tallon Orbit, GS219 system
There was a dull thud as a series of massive containment crates were set down on the loading bay deck. A hissing chitter from one of the Batta technicians as they inspected the cargo, a glowing red eye focusing on the Urtrahgan slave caste prisoner who wore a set of obedience braces around its neck and ankles.
A guttural snarl was the reply as the collared Urtrahgan moved to finish moving the crates into the main hold. Despite the distant common ancestor species, it was apparent that the various subspecies branches of the Kromus did not get along as a general rule.
Several Kromuns descended from the transport shuttle, trailed by more slave caste consisting of various members of the Kromus subspecies. Their chitter and clicks garnered a snarl from the Batta who seemed to be in charge, but it approached nonetheless and inspected the crates. A muffled cry came from inside, followed by a dull thud as something attempted to break out. Another similar cry, angry and panicked, but the thuds failed to free the captive within.
It was still enough that the slave caste were cautious around the smaller crates, and none of the Kromun who gave them orders seemed to find it necessary to insist otherwise. More clicks and snarls would move the slaves into their tasks, dragging the crates on float platforms deeper into the hold of the Kromus frigate.
A number of Qymor waited in the deeper holds, where testing labs and containment pens had been assembled. Inside a pair of them were large creatures, a few meters long, that resembled a mixture of worm with arthropod physiology. Some snarls from the Qymor in charge, directing the workers to where they could store the crates. An isolated large empty chamber was waiting, and the mixed group of about a dozen Urtrahgans and Fro'my'xin brought the crates where instructed.
When they tried to leave their cargo and return for new tasks, they found themselves shuttered in by a high charged barrier field. It took only seconds to realize what was about to happen as a pair of Urtrahgans scrambled to find some kind of exit. The crates thumped; not from the contents, but from the sealing catches and bolting releasing. A side fell down on each of the crates, four in all, and the hungry screeching from the entities within were the last thing those slaves heard as the floating green creatures lunged through the air and began their chase.
All the while as their handlers were laughing and taking bets how long before the last one fell.
Location - Plendrana Drifts, Tallon-IV Surface, GS219 system
Data entered and sent to the covert location of High Command's new homebase, the lead member of the Plendrana research facility gave itself a satisfied click. Much had been learned in just a few scant months since they set up garrisons and research bases on the fourth planet of the Tallon System. Since discovering the odd highly energetic material there, other properties had been found.
It was highly mutagenic and less radioactively stable than initially assumed, but it was not as explosive as afloraltite. Which, for the Kromus, mattered little if it could be harnessed for their benefit. As of yet, they did not have a name for the material, and the highest concentrations seemed to be in a massive crater that, for some reason, was sealed over by a kind of lock they could not break into. The former Chozo inhabitants, it seemed, had covered the impact point over with a suspended temple structure for some purpose that the Kromus had yet to decipher. But enough veins of the mineral had been found expanding out from the crater and throughout the continental plate as it was for their research and testing.
And their other discovery had borne much as well. A certain life form they had thought only existed on a single planet at the edge of the galaxy, and it had been here as well. Not as resistant to injuries or damage as the specimens they had been studying on Zebes, but all the same...it was the same creature. Finding their nests had been easy once the Kromus had realized what they found. Somethings had oddly been different, a divergent evolution perhaps due to environments. But no matter. They could test further with the phase mutagenic properties of the meteor borne mineral, study its effects as a mutagen while further experimenting with it as a power source.
The High Command would greatly be eager to find out the end results of their research if it bore the rewards the Qymor in charge of the Plendrana facility suspected. And as much as it might be considered treason...a chance, perhaps, for proper leaders to take command instead of that abomination who continued to lead them despite costing them their ancestral origin planet, and control of the greatest trove of Ancient Chozo secrets, twice.
Location - Glacier One Research Lab Aether, Plendrana Drifts, Tallon-IV
The floating half dome creature screeched as it slammed against the side of the containment tank, its four mandible fangs clicking angrily even as it turned to keep the smaller frontal pair "looking" toward the Qymor Kromus that was observing it from outside the tank. It was distressed, trying again to slam against the reinforced translucent barrier between it and freedom.
A clicking hiss from the Qymor to one of the other Kromus technicians in the lab, its head tilting away from the floating creature in its prison for a moment as it issued orders to its subordinate. An affirming response garnered a cracking smile as the Qymor clicked its jaws, returning its watchful eyes to the imprisoned creature. They had learned much since their arrival on Tallon-IV, especially about these creatures and their true nature.
The native species here was not as volatile and aggressive, or as resistant to most harm save extreme colds, as the specimen they had been familiar with prior to the ousting of their leaders from Zebes. But that left the Kromus with a better starting point of using the creatures as a weaponized lifeform. Like their cousin variant from NGC 1918388, the creatures drained life force from their prey, leaving empty husks, but unlike the more familiar variation, the Kromus had seen that the native species was not indiscriminate in attacking and feeding. There was a proper and natural equilibrium in place here.
And when they had tried introducing the subject specimens they had rescued from the destruction of their Zebes operations base, the Kromus noticed quickly a hostility between the variants. The native, and perhaps it could even be said, more natural strain of the creature fled from its more durable and resilient, even more ravenous, cousin.
Curious to find. There was no species bond between the two strains. The native variant was very aware of the enhanced traits of the specimen sourced from the NGC 1918388 subject, and feared them.
Very curious indeed.
Experiments in exposure to the high energy material they had found here had yielded their own interesting results. Mutations were occurring, unexpected variables appearing in their experiments. And it wasn't just the creatures they tested this mutagentic mineral on. Other lifeforms seemed to be affected. Several test subjects had been moved to the frigate in orbit, including a species of parasites that had proven to be more annoying than dangerous.
Until the mutagentic properties had taken hold. The results were mixed, but promising. In the next several months, they might even move to testing on the slaves. Once that cleared acceptable results, they could move to the lower combat ranks, perhaps even begin tests on accelerated growth to see what resulted in new evolution paths for their species.
It was just time, and even that was not an obstacle.
Location - Research Frigate Orpheon, Tallon-IV Orbit
Alarms screeched as the remaining crew scrambled to escape, a guttural roar emanating from the deeper bowels of the frigate and its labs. One of the Qymor gave out a crackled gasp as it reached the nearest com-station, tapping frantically into the console in effort to open communications to the planet below. The same guttural bellow echoed from the depths, causing the Kromus to screech into the communication terminal as soon as a connection was established.
A skittering sound approached, causing the Qymor to give a cracked sound of surprise before uttering a last few words to the terminal, then fleeing just as the doors leading back into the frigate's depths would snap open and unleash a swarm of screeching insectoids about a foot in length each, madly chattering as they chased after the desperate Kromus.
As it fled, the Qymor reached a lift and slammed its talon tipped hand down on the activator switch. Not fast enough, as the swarm flooded toward the Kromus and rose over it like a parasitic wave even as it screeched in terror.
Further up, in the command bridge proper, the other remain Kromus would set a number of distress beacons to broadcast on any and all frequencies. One of them, an Urtrahgan with a series of metal plates over its face and replacing one side of it's floating hinged jaw, growled at the other Kromus before fleeing down the still unobstructed main corridor. The remaining Kromus did not bother to wait as the entire frigate shook, hurrying to find their own escape.
One last roar reverberated throughout the Orpheon before the survivors managed to find and launch their escape pods. But less than half a dozen were all that shot out in a mad decent for the planet's surface, leaving the frigate to hover in space...as if waiting like some great sleeping beast.
“. . .Where. . . Where am I. . . ? Who. . . Who am I. . . ?” It was a sensation, to float within feel-lessness. . It was emptiness. It was peace. It was. . Death. He could do nothing, not move a single part of his body, nor anything for that matter. . He was powerless before it. . He could feel. . Parts of himself, being lost to nothingness.
Attempting Backup. . .
“Hm. . . ? What is this. . ? It’s. . Familiar. .” To stare into the abyss as he was, the inevitable future, yet-
Backup Failure
Initiating Permanent System Shut Down
“. . .” Something began to bubble from this emptiness.. From this black void- A blood red color rising from the bottom of its depths, an emotion he was far too familiar with beginning to follow with this new replacement of nothing. Something began to beat.
Unknown Permissions Detected, Continuing With Shut Down
“. . I . .” He began to move his fingers, metal and wires pulling against them, the heart beating faster, his eyes beginning to gain their color back.
Malware Corrupting Multiple Systems, Permanent Shut Down Overwritten
“. . WILL. .” He began to clamp his teeth together, pulling and moving his remaining muscles to regain control, his legs, his arms, his flesh, and as he did so, his very DNA..
Oh
Oh
Oh
Oh
Oh
“NOT. . !” It began to corrupt the intelligence. The machine could not stop it. His wrists pulled against the wires that held him high, opening his jaws as an orange color radiated from the edge of his gullet.
God
God
God
God
God
“DIE!!” The Cunning God of Death roared, his own rage and hate focused into his fiery stream burning a hole through the wall. His efforts to break free successful as the wires and the bits of metal it was attached to ripped from the ceiling as he fell to the floor, shaking his head..
Using his new cyborg augments, they like his other parts, pushed and pulled their pistons to stand him up on his hind legs, as the Kromus scientists looked up in horror at their Leader. . “You know. . I’m not sure why you decided to turn me into this half organic, half technological FREAK. . Especially when I could’ve just regenerated. . Or why your pathetic AI malfunctioned, purposely or accidentally.. All I know, is for your dedication, I will reward you.”
They began to look to each other, confused, yet morbidly curious, as he began to grin with his remaining natural, and mostly synthetic skin pulled into something cheshire-like. “After all, it’s quite the achievement to aid in regenerating what little organic material I have remaining!” And then-- They realized what he planned, beginning to run like a herd of terrified animals trying desperately to ensure their survival, he spoke to the Frigate “Initiate Orpheon Frigate Lockdown, Code 1R13DY, and Release All Organisms Code 41DRK.” As the doors to the lab closed and locked, as all specimens were free of their cages to roam and destroy the station, as he lunged for them like a predator to pathetic prey, only one of the scientists managed to slide under and run towards the nearest communications array to call for help. Yet as Ridley almost immediately finished tearing through and devouring the pieces that remained, he easily punched it open to give chase to the last survivor. His attempts to run were futile, as the cybernetic Space Dragon began closing the distance..
Despite that, managed to make it into the room, and locked the door, although a feeble attempt. He turned it on, sending the signal to any who’d listen to his plea. “If anyone can hear me, help us-- For the love of GOD help us please!” From behind the door was forcibly opened, a roar sounding throughout both the room and message. “PLEASE HAVE MERC--”
The Message Ends There.
As Ridley flies down to the planet below, to investigate and learn.
