First Reply Doom | Sundering Dawn

[XIV]

|| DOOM ||
The Sundering Dawn - Chapter 1​

A GALAXY FAR-FAR AWAY

The mission was supposed to be an easy and fruitful one for XIV. Leading a team of five HTTKL TRKT and 54 HTTKL GRST, they were given a task to pacify a livestock rebellion in HFSTIRZ. Yet just halfway in hyperdrive, their obsidian ship, YTARK, was hit by an unknown object that caused heavy turbulence.

Minutes goes, then hours. The ship is out of their control, and all communications devices are offline. Then, heavy thump stops the ship erratic movement, only to launch it against a hard surface. XIV checked on his fellow TRKT, all alive, just minor injuries from the crash. Then the GRST, none survive the curious accident. All of a sudden, a heavy migraine struck all the TRKT. Screams of agony filled the otherwise silent vicinity.

It’s not hard for the metal-padded survivors to see that they were drifted away from their destination. They are in a completely unknown planet. Communicating in language unknown to the strange galaxy, the five TRKT decided to destroy the ship, at least to cleanse any trace of organics. Despite their look, the TRKT are intelligent creatures.

After quickly cleansing the crash site, leaving only obsidian hardware of the ship, the five TRKT split, a cave nearby decided as a meeting point if they ever needed to gather again. If it were the GRSTs that survived, they would try to conquer a settlement. It would be a successful endeavour, of course, they were engineered for battles after all, but it would attract too much attention; a privilege they don’t have in this strange land. But the TRKT were made for a more strategic reason; to win wars. And to even have a chance to discover what war to win, they need to survive.

XIV walked for days, not finding anything useful other than food and water, no sign of civilization, no sign of any means to escape the planet. His mind already drifted to the worst possible scenario: stranded in an empty planet, facing the burden to start a civilization to eventually be able to build a spaceship, with no sign of the headaches ever going away.

On the way back to the cave however, he feels eyes on him; not from a scared non-sentient, but an analytically capable being. He contemplates the possibility of using force; his towering figure, 270 centimetres standing straight, would intimidate. Yet he decides to play it by the ear. If he can convince his stalker that he doesn’t pose danger, that could be his ticket out of the planet. ​

Open for anyone and anything ​

 

[Mr. Usher]

DOOM
TAGS: XIV​

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A curiousity. A mystery. Something unknown to the myriad of assimilated consciousness that formed the Greater Ego of Mr. Usher crashed onto a barren-appearing planet - one that had plenty of geothermal bacteria to feed from within deep fissures, a quiet way to grow even if larger flora or fauna could be found on the surface.

The crash site revealed wreckage of a vessel unlike any it had ever laid eyes upon, or anything in the minds of those he had consumed.

The knowledge to be gained from such an outsider would be more than worthwhile than the biomass lost to collect it. He needed everything, every detail, every ounce of flesh he could collect in the Greater Ego's investigation, it's hunt for Calladene.

But a hasty predator is a hungry one - Mr. Had Usher waited while the being searched and had slowly crawled up through the myriad fissures and cave systems to the one this outsider used as shelter. He kept the presence minimal, at first, lining the surface of the cave like a red, pulsating coral, a mycelium of flesh that terminated in sensory organs — eyes, antennae, telepathic nodes — to observe this outsider.

The outsider proved to be just as observant, as the web of meat did not go unnoticed upon the return of XIV .

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[XIV]

|| DOOM ||
The Sundering Dawn - Chapter 1​

A GALAXY FAR-FAR AWAY

XIV returned to the cave to find a web of meat, breathing, watching. Curios. It reminds him of HGGTSL, a species HTTKL conquered centuries ago, and has been part of their diet ever since. But the stranger doesn’t need to know the specifics of his diet.

“TSDIDLXX AHSSYZY,” XIV screeched in his mother tongue, almost similar to how insectoid sentient communicates. He know that the stranger most probably wouldn’t understand, so he tried his best to communicate with his four arms. He pointed at the cave ceiling, using one of his hands to depict his ship, driving it down to his other hand, metal clanking as it made impact.

He is as much mechanic as he is organic after all, their species are engineered that way, with the TRKT having up to 60% of their bodies mechanic. The obsidian black plating instead of skin shows it, although some would guess that it’s just armor, while his also black cloak covered the rear and backside of his body.

He then pointed at himself, then another hand gesture for ship, then back towards the cave ceiling. He needs help to get of system, ship, portal, or teleportation, the means doesn’t really matter.​

Mr. Usher ​

 

[Mr. Usher]

DOOM(?)
TAGS: XIV​

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The Outsider seemed to sneeze or something, then began using sign language of some sort. It was easy enough to parse with the context he was already aware of. It didn't immediately reach for any sort of weapon - observations should be safe, perhaps he could decipher more by observation than consumption. Nether forbid he accidentally consume another hive mind creature and accidentally link his ego with theirs again.

The web of meat acted like straws, sucking up his biomass fromml deeper within the fissures to form a crimson sac that dipped and lowered from the webbing before it "hatched". What emerged was another Husk, another form Mr. Usher could navigate this planet with simultaneously.

In an attempt to communicate, this husk took the shape of XIV , albeit entirely made of muscle, sinew, and using Bone and chitin approximations for the metallic pieces of the strange creature. A fully organic mimic of the stranger.

He repeated the movements back, indicating the downed ship, then pointed towards where he had spotted the crash before - to communicate both understanding of the request and signs of intelligence other than simple mimicry.

It would take a while, but Mr. Usher had a scout vessels near the system he could redirect - that is, if helping this outsider was a responsible thing to do.

Perhaps at least assisting in attempting to repair the vessel might provide technical insight he could utilize.

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