[IC] [Planned] ImportantNobody and Stekkmen: UNT vs The Threat

[ImportantNobody]

A light flurry of snowflakes greeted the ten individuals exiting the cramped corridors of their outdated Ruormon SH22 hover tank; making the cold, rocky landscape of the planet Oryu appear only slightly more welcoming, but certainly not somewhere were you'd like to spend your entire afternoon.

The individuals were dressed simply in white cloaks and jackets with tan pants, all of this insulated in order to help defend against the extreme cold that the planet may experience on it's more temperamental days out in the middle of nowhere. They wore patches on their torsos that signified that they were part of a UNT scouting legion; their purpose here to investigate a strange distortion that their vehicle had picked up moments earlier. Their shiny black boots crushed blue grass and stone underfoot as they set out about the area, trying to see what could be causing the reading first hand.

So far their results were inconclusive and time consuming. Many of them used the opportunity to wander off somewhere to relieve themselves of a full bladder or otherwise just relax for a moment.

A stern and professional looking human woman with straight, shoulder length light blonde hair pursed her lips to take one last puff from a cylindrical electronic device, blowing the harmless smoke out into the icy cold wind before slipping the device back into her pocket. She was moderately tall for a human woman at 5'11" and had an athletic body type. A large black sword was on her back, folded up into sections so that it only took up about three feet of space in it's compacted form. The way she wore it she was clearly more comfortable with it than she would be wearing a dress.

One the scouts under her command, a green skinned humanoid alien with white fur coating much of his body, large black eyes, and large floppy ears, made his way over to her with a slightly confused look on his face. He was a native of Oryu; the Ord Donna race. They were relatively peaceful so didn't make up a large percentage of the military even here in their home world, at around 10% of the scouts. Once they joined the UNT recently, the other races in the alliance formed a much larger fighting force than had ever occupied Oryu in the past. There honestly wasn't much to fight over here, but it was a good rest stop for other planets in the general vicinity.

The Ord Donna gave her a salute with a heavily padded hand, his other grasping a sensor of some kind.

"Commander Phorda, we're still detecting a strange disturbance in this area but cannot pinpoint the exact location. It's like it's coming from everywhere around here...or nowhere. A storm appears to be brewing and we've made little progress. Perhaps we should head back to base and try again some other time with better equipment. Our equipment built on the planet is honestly not kept entirely up to date, I'm afraid, so this may be a result of a glitch. It's happened before."

"Hmm..." she pondered his statement. "Just a little while longer. I feel like something truly is here, just on the edge of my sensations."

"Yes ma'am. I'll relay the message to the...wait...the sensors...they're going wild!" He barked out, a large flash of red lighting the screen of his sensor.

[Stekkmen]

The icy blue sky grew dark with thick clouds, the air hummed with electricity, making hairs stand on end. The wind became an eerily gentle breeze, calming the trees. The grass went still.

A fog rolled in, almost instantly. An unnatural dark fog, thick, almost like sludge. A crescendo of horrible, phlegm filled screams echoes from a far off place, one can feel the presence of a thousand creatures in this fog. And, just like that, the fog passes over, the presences goes away, instead replaced by a single imposing one.

A huge weight clashes against the rocky surface. A shadow is cast of something the size of a 10 story building.

---

He pushes himself off of his knees, and the tiny pebbles wedge themselves into his wrinkled, moist skin. He stands up. There are plants that come up to the top of his bulbous ankles that keep his three-pronged fungus covered feet attached to his long legs. Something is wrong with his body. His arms that fall down to his knees are not buzzing with activity. The worms that make up his face are not slithering around. His eyes are not so clear. His body is asleep.

This new world is not what he expected. His body is not used to this strange blue land. He is out place. He is red, purple, black. This place is white, blue, gray. But he knows what he must do. It was what he has always done. His connection to his real place is still tangible. And so is he. His body will wake up soon enough.

He sensed movement. 10 little dots, moving and shuffling. Doing something far away. As always, the natives are never too happy with his massive being. They will probably attack if he did nothing. It mattered not, for he always attacked first. It was just how he lived. What he did. He took a large step towards his new, tiny enemy. The ground shook beneath his feet. He roared.

[ImportantNobody]

Everyone looked at the Ord Donna in fear and confusion as the fogged rolled in, some with more of one emotion than the other, but all as if they were expecting an answer from the native here about why the planet just decided to send a cloud of evil death their way. They had thought that the planet hated them enough already. It didn't have to invent new ways to make things miserable for the scouts roaming the least hospitable areas on Oryu. They found no reassuring news from Vort Thar, however, as he was in a similar stage of freaking out as the rest of them.

"This isn't normal, is it Corporal Thar?" Phorda questioned him, the most composed of the bunch even if her hair standing on end would make anyone look a tad silly.

Before he could make any sort of coherent reply, which she could guess the answer to anyways, the ground shook with a mighty roar as a monster appeared out of nowhere in their midst, throwing up snow and rock under it's tremendous girth. No matter where they were standing behind rock formations littering the area, all scouts in the general vicinity had a clear view of him due to it's 10 story size. Many of the scouts threw themselves to the ground or stumbled down upon impact, leaving only four standing, Phorda and Thar included, as the dust settled. The others began scrambling to their feet and reading their weapons at the bizarre new monster.

As the monster roared, the scouts instinctively began to attack it out of fear. Odds are it was here for no good and was not worth the risk of dealing with in any other fashion. Most of the bullets were made of a glowing energy called Elzion. They were cheap and efficient weapons for almost any encounter so were the primary means of attack and other uses throughout most of the Andreemea galaxy. However, being mere scouts, theirs were not the most potent versions around and the energy bullets uselessly pelted against the massive target in front of them.

"It's skin is too hard for attacks at this range!" Phorda shouted loud enough for all of them to hear. "I'll finish it with my sword. Stay safe and distract him!"

Stay safe and distract him sounded far easier said than done, but they did their best to fan out and find cover as they unleashed the occasional blast his way, gradually growing closer so that their bullets might get enough of an effect on him to deal some damage if striking weak points in it's skin. Meanwhile, Phorda grasped onto her sword handle, taking confident strides towards his position.

[Stekkmen]

What is that? He looks as the dot becomes more and more outlined and detailed. Running towards him with a long, silver-blue object growing out of the end of it's right limb. The other enemies scattered and hid behind pebbles, making bright lights in his direction. He wanted to keep looking at the lights, and hesitated with his next step. But he refocused. The longer limbed enemy was approaching. He took a smell step forward and picked up a box that felt alive with heat. Volatile. His large fingers grew smaller, more precise fingers out of the tips and lifted up the box. He tossed it at the longer-limbed enemy.

The humongous monster took a step forward, sending rocks scattering at its foot. Tendrils erupted from his hand as he picked up their scouting vehicle. Even its small tendrils seemed to bend the vehicle's hull inwards as he lifted it. It flung its arm down and out, and the tendrils went with it, releasing the vehicle like a projectile fired from a trebuchet. The scout car whistled with displaced air as it sped horizontally towards the captain as she ran.

[ImportantNobody]

Phorda's energy surged through her body, allowing her far greater physical characteristics than most others could possibly achieve in an entire lifetime of training.

"Stupid monster. I'm the most powerful swordswoman in the galaxy," she muttered under her breath as the vehicle was flung at her. It might as well have been throwing toys around as far as she was concerned. Despite her arrogance, she wasn't far off in her bragging. Very few were a match for her at close range, especially in terms of raw physical strength.

She took her upwards swing as the vehicle whizzed within range, splitting it down the middle in a flurry of sparks as it's electronics were cleanly severed. The two pieces crashed on either side of her and bounced down the snowy rock field for a couple seconds before finally coming to a stop.

Too bad about their vehicle. Now they had to walk home in the cold, but it couldn't be helped. Better that piece of junk than her and it would have been badly damaged upon impact with the ground anyways. In all honestly she couldn't move fast enough to dodge the attack on foot due to the speed in which the monster could throw. She outclassed him to be sure, but it was stronger then any other under her current command on the planet. The closest ones who could beat it were nice and cozy back at the planet's capital of Lor. Lucky she was here to stop this thing. She would have been gone by next week once the UNT fleet made their return.

She continued forward with a quickening pace, her energy creating a glowing magical formation about her head that would boost her "floaty" qualities, as if gravity now had less of an effect on her. As she reached the monster she sprung upwards, nimbly scaling it's body with quick jumps up one of it's legs, not needing her hands to grip onto the monster to aid her climb. Soon she would make it onto his back and prepare to deliver the final blow against the back of it's neck where it couldn't reach her. She could have whittled it down with attacks to the legs and enhanced her physical abilities with formations for that purpose rather than the one she had went with, but she wanted to get this battle over with quickly and efficiently rather than draw it out any longer than necessary.

She didn't need to. It wasn't just in her mind. She was more powerful than the monster and the odds were in her favor. It would take a major upset for it to get out of an up close and personal battle with Phorda Kuressi.

[Stekkmen]

The creature, after throwing the box, took a step forward in attempting to crush the swordswoman. The rocks beneath his feet went flying again, sending debris and every direction. But she jumped too early to be smashed and nimbly made her way up the monster.

It just raised it's arms up to be even with it's shoulders as she climbed, looking down on her with seemingly non existent eyes. The body seemed to be humming beneath her feet as she ran.

The long limbed foe drew nearer, crawling onto him and making it's way up his body. He considered trying to smash it again, but for some reason the tiny creature was going right towards his mouth. He appreciated the courtesy. Unfortunately, the small native twisted around underneath his raised arms. He realized that it wasn't a courtesy, but another attempt to kill him. Of course it was. He felt stupid and disappointed.
But it didn't matter, the native was still going to be killed.

He was also in need of a good meal, as well. Enough a tiny morsel such as his current foe would be able to give his system a little kickstart. Then things would start to feel more like home, once his being began to wake up again. But as for now, the plan must be commenced to thwart his tiny enemy.

He disjointed his head, the goop that made up his "face" evaporated and his head became a loose mass of tentacle. However, the difference between his head being one, and being several different limbs was visually minimal. But the practical application was vast. He felt the tiny native make it's way up his back. He prepared himself.

The captain, still maintaining her high velocity, leaped upwards. Her sword shined. It would easily go straight through the monster's head, disabling it's brain and causing death. It would be over and done, just like that. She was in the air, about to bring her sword down, when suddenly...

It happened in slow motion. The monster's head, suddenly came apart, it became a violent explosion of worms, that opened up it's gaping maw where her momentum took her. From the ground, it would have looked like a frog plucking a fly from the air. It's face extended, surrounded her, spit out the sword, and reformed again before anyone could comprehend what was happening. It became apparent, now too late, that the head of the monsters did not have a face that was set in stone, but one that could break apart and rejoin at will.

The longer limb came apart, and began cutting up his insides. It hurt. He spat it out. But, he could feel the rest of the morsel being broken down, it's matter being converted to energy as soon as it entered the it's system. Like electricity, it ran down his body and he began to buzz. Bringing it alive again. Reminding each and every part of his body what it's only purpose was. To devour.

[ImportantNobody]

Phorda's grin vanished in an instant as the head split into many disgusting worms, contorting their wriggling mass of bodies so that they now faced and enveloped her position almost entirely and closing in fast. She paused in mid air, her face distorted in horror, surprise, and disgust. Although she tried to act in control at all times, she secretly had an intense phobia of all things nasty and would often make up an excuse why she had to leave if she suspected that she would have an unfortunate run-in with a less than pleasant looking alien race or monster. She could handle it if she had proper time to mentally prepare, but this sudden and drastic change happened all at once, right on top of her. She was petrified. A costly mistake.

Her sword was jerked from her hand, which had temporarily loosened it's grip, from a swat by one of the worms. Had she remained cool like normal she still had a chance to come out victorious, but the woman was now in a complete state of panic, jerking around and screaming for the worms to let her go, squeezing her eyes shut in terror. The magic that would have saved her life was lost to her frantic mind. For a moment it looked like she would escape regardless, her limbs thrashing just as powerfully as the worms, but more kept piling on her and wearing down every time she had almost broken free.

Through all of this her body went numb and she began to loose consciousness surprisingly fast. Must have been a toxin or something seeping into her body, or perhaps her sense of time had been distorted in the struggle. Whatever the case her once powerful body went still, her mind darkened completely as death overtook her. Her comrades looked at each other in fear and surprise. They had learned some valuable information on their target, but the woman who would have used that info to win the battle had now become food.

With the previous person in charge clearly deceased, Corporal Thar gritted his teeth and then took command, shouting his orders at the others. "I must inform those back at base what has transpired here. Everyone, focus on holding the monster off as long as possible." He fiddled with his communicator for a couple of seconds, growing increasingly irritated when it was not able to get a signal to the outside world. Could this monster be the cause or was it just bad luck for his equipment to break down now of all times? Whatever the case, he couldn't afford to idle here any longer.

With their mode of transportation cut in two, he had no choice but to begin sprinting towards the nearest base at top speed, his legs carrying him at around 25 miles per hour even on the rocky terrain. He called this place home, so he had the best chance of navigating quickly enough to deliver the message. Hopefully the rest would still be alive by the time reinforcements arrived, but he doubted it.

[Stekkmen]

With their communications down and both their leaders gone, the remaining scouts stood there for a brief moment. They glanced at the huge monstrosity standing before them. They felt it's invisible eyes gaze down upon them. One man, frozen solid with fright, dropped his gun and sprinted away into the forest.

"C-coward!" The other Ord Donna shouted after him, stammering.

Take the one who ran away the one who left the others grab him pull him bite him-. With that brief burst of thoughts, his body slowly revitalizing, he sent the weakest sub-part of himself after the dot who ran into the native wooden forest. The species dug out from his foot and into the ground. He roared again.

"Well, if we're gonna...if we're gonna save the world, let's get started," The Ord Donna said. He advanced forward and began firing on the creature. The others followed suit, spreading out in a concave formation as if they were fighting an enemy armored vehicle. Their Elzion guns flashed as they advanced.



The indigenous species walked towards him, making bright lights at him. They were still far away, and since this was the only defense the planet was putting up, he decided to have some fun. If you could call it that. He reached his massive three-pronged hand to the ground, and his smaller digits grasped a multitude of rocks and boulders. He hefted a large cluster of projectiles at the left section of enemies.

[ImportantNobody]

Crash! Large rocks pelted the landscape, some the size of a small child. One of the scouts, a very alien looking being, took a boulder like he was hit by a semi truck, smashing him between it and the snowy ground that did nothing to cushion the blow. Even his exoskeleton didn't save him from a hit that large, breaking through it with a sickening crack. Another got his right leg knocked out from underneath him, sending him crumpling into a screaming heap, the leg clearly broken and bloodied, of no use to him now. One of the humans got hit right between the eyes by a relatively small rock, and although it appeared to be a less serious injury than the others, it hit just right to kill him instantly. He toppled backwards, finger still squeezing the trigger to send energy bolts flying uselessly through the air.

Of the nine scouts who had followed Phorda into battle there were two dead, one severely injured, one fleeing, and Thar leaving the scene to get help. That left only four remaining, their numbers dwindled more quickly than even they had predicted. Two were on his right flank and two in front of him, one of them being the remaining Ord Donna on the team.

The forest could be a good place to fight him. The fleeing soldier obviously thought it was a good hiding place as well. The only problem was if they broke formation and all headed to the forest. If the monster didn't follow them and take the bait, instead going after Thar, the monster might catch him before he could relay the information. They had no choice to be stand firm and hold him off for a bit longer before they could afford to make an escape.

"Help the wounded!" The Ord Donna ordered the amphibious looking female next to him as he took position behind some rocks that would effectively block any large objects thrown at him. This would force the monster to get closer or display some other ability if he were to effectively attack him. Meanwhile he was able to shoot from cover towards his face, hoping to do as much damage and distracting as possible while the injured man was taken care of by their scout who doubled as a medic for the team. Meanwhile, the Ord Donna commanded the other two to rush him from the flank, firing their weapons at close range to all of the vulnerable looking spots on it's legs for maximum damage. If they could damage it's maneuverability than they would have a much, much easier time delaying him and maybe even winning this fight without requiring the big guns.

[Stekkmen]

Connecting lower parts of the leg to the upper halves were several muscular tendons, stretched out like pulling apart a fat-filled piece of meat. A bullet tore into it, snapping it in two, the monster flinched, stumbled forward with two steps, almost too his knees, and screamed at the ground. The screech reverberated, shook the trees, shivered spines, trembled teeth. The scouts recoiled, covering their ears.
"Keep firing!"
Another hail of projectiles collided with the beast.

Weakness! Fix the weakness...

The tendons began convulsing, pivoting, hardening, shifting to improve the old design.

The shots ran out, bounced against the forest tree-line, and found their way faintly into the ears of the fleeing scout. The deserter's feet slammed against blue grass. His run came into a heavily wooded area, and he tripped. Crying out as pain spiked into his ankles, he slammed into the forest floor and tumbled onto his back again.

Chest heaving, he closed his eyes. If he concentrated hard enough, the pain and the gunshots would go away and he would just hear the rustling of the grass and trees. He sat up, ears perking. What was that? The dirt, ten yards away, was rising. Puffing dirt and frost, moving towards him. Like something was tunneling towards him. He leaned forward, curiously. Then, two more tunneling things encroached, disturbing the shrubbery. He began to panic. Hyperventilating, he attempted to stand up, but the crimson foot-long maggots leaped from the earth like demonic dolphins, they bore into him and he fell onto his stomach and squirmed.


took the one who ran away grabbed him ate him killed him dead-.
Silence, little ones. He took another step forward. He was almost upon them now. His shadow engulfed them. Their fast pebbles had stung his legs, but he had fixed that now. They just delayed the inevitable. He never understood why they couldn't just lay down and die for him. He sensed a green one, far below. It hopped away, but he reached down and his smaller appendages extended downwards, scooped it up, and plucked it into his "mouth". He glanced around, looking for another one to snack on. It was starting to get fun again.

The Corporal kept running. He desperately hoped he would come upon the outpost soon. He ducked underneath a low hanging branch. Surely..? He was growing weary, desperate, scared, even. But he kept going. Away from the conflict and towards safety...he hoped.

[ImportantNobody]

The two firing into it's legs gave a brief exchange of looks as if to say, "that got him good! We might actually beat this thing!" before returning to fire at the beast, trying to finish it off before it could repair itself. Unfortunately, it appeared like this would not be the case as it swooped down, chomping down on the other Ord Donna on their team. By now the amphibious woman managed to wrap up the wounded, screaming man's leg with a tourniquet. That would save his life...for the moment. They had to escape back to base to get medical treatment if he was going to survive this thing in the long run. Going there on foot, with one of them having a wounded leg, while a monster was chasing them...that put a horrible twist on things. If only help would arrive soon, but she knew it couldn't come this earlier unless luck was on their side. Clearly it was the opposite.

"For the UNT!" One of the men at the monster's flank shouted in a panicked voice, charging forward with guns blazing. He knew they couldn't last long as sitting ducks anyways, so he might as well charge forward and hope for the best with his shots striking the weak points at point blank range, should he manage to make it that far. His friend gave him the best covering fire he could muster while the woman draped the wounded man over her shoulder and began trying to get him to safety away from the battle.

[Stekkmen]

The monster glanced down, almost condescendingly. As the soldier approached, the whole creature shuddered violently. It fell to it's knees, before shaking again. Suddenly, flying creatures the size of cows erupted from it's spine. Large created with segmented thorax's, faces like a Praying Mantis', and bulbous abdomens filled with a orange-jelly like liquid. They flew unbalanced, their large wings slapping meatily against their backs. It looked like a miracle they were even in the air. But there was a dozen of them, and they descended on the soldier, picking him up with legs that dug into his body, hoisted him far up into the air, and dropped him over fifty feet.

We serve, we serve, we serve! Silence. Do not speak, but kill the enemies. Do it now. He stood to his feet, standing idly as he watched his companions spit burning orange liquid upon his tiny foes. Some rolled around on the ground when they got hit, and they burst into flames. Some of his companions exploded into gore as they were shot out the sky, raining ever more hateful liquid onto his enemies.

The large monster felt pleased. His smaller companions were starting to awaken after that strange happening. He watched, satisfied, as his symbiotic allies did his dirty work for him.

[ImportantNobody]

The Ord Donna's legs were pumping furiously as Thar made record time across the unforgiving terrain to the nearest command post. He couldn't even afford a sigh of relief as he spotted the single storied grey building, coated in snow, on the horizon, and a small patrol of guards lazily making their way around it's general vicinity. Judging by their demeanor they were not expecting to have any trouble until they saw his approach. Even from afar, the look on his face was evident. The group tensed immediately, hands reaching for their weapons.

"Corporal, what in the blazes-" one of the men in charge spoke as he quickly marched his way.

"We came under attack by some...some thing! A huge monster! Our weapons were no match, Phorda is dead, and my men bravely allowed me just enough time to escape and find my way here!" Corporal Thar explained in a hurried tone between ragged panting. "This threat is on a scale larger than my planet has ever seen!"

"How did we not see this before?"

"It came out of nowhere! We were investigating that spatial disturbance, so it must be the cause!"

"Curses! I'll send our entire force to help. Not like we're doing much good out here anyways," the man replied, reaching for his communicator.

"Communications were down. That's why I ran all the way here," Thar explained.

Sure enough, he couldn't get a signal either. He let out a sigh. "You, take the all terrain vehicle and spread the word of this threat to the surrounding bases," he said, pointing to someone nearby. "You three, get everyone here up to speed and ready to move out, pronto! We can't have a large monster roaming free to attack our cities for any longer. Corporal Thar, you shall accompany me in the command vehicle. We'll hit this thing hard and fast."

The two made their way to the vehicle bay, which contained three light tanks and one command tank, which had a large viewing platform on top instead of a turret that could hold around ten soldiers and multiple guns. Thar brought him up to speed for the duration of the trip, although he unfortunately knew all to little of what they were truly up against.

By the time they made it to the scene it was clear that they were too late to save the rest of the scouts, as they were either smoking remains or torn to pieces. The monster was still alive and well, and not only that but it had backup. Great.

"Light tanks, flank him on both sides. Those with small arms, focusing on clearing out the smaller monsters. The rest of you should keep focused on bringing the big guy down."

Unlike before, there were much more people in this wave and better equipped for combat. Four groups of twenty, each accompanying a tank, began to move into position, each group having two rocket launchers, although they didn't want to waste them with random shots yet. First they would open fire all over to begin revealing weak points and putting holes into it's hide. They meant business and it would be much harder for the Threat to get out of this one.

[Stekkmen]

The Threat stood up straight and gazed down soundlessly upon his new enemies. His flying companions buzzed around him, bumping into and off of him like moths dancing around a lightbulb. He extended his long, seething arm towards the UNT forces and almost instantaneously the airborne creatures changed course and descended upon the incoming force. They looked like they had no coordination, but in reality they all shared the mind of the Threat. Some of the flying creatures simply flung themselves into the tanks, slamming their bodies onto the hard metal hull, their fluids covering the tank's surface. It seemed that even the fine material of the heavy vehicles started to wane against the onslaught, beginning to heat up, droop and burn.

A soldier caught a dinner-plate sized glob of acid in the left cheek and dropped the icy ground, screaming. Several of the flying creatures were shot out of the sky, riddled with bullets one creature hit the ground without violently exploding. It twitched on the ground and went still like a dud bomb. After harassing the UNT for a short eternity the flying creatures returned to the Threat, which then took a few gigantic steps backwards, putting space between itself and the defender of the planet.

The Threat hunched over again, and his back began to bubble.

He needs more. More allies to assist him. The natives are getting restless.!

[ImportantNobody]

Two of the tanks slowly grinded to a halt as the treads took severe damage from the vile goop, effectively immobilizing them.

"Status report!" The commander shouted.

"Turret damaged. Treads immobilized. Minor damage to other systems," one of the tank commanders shouted back to him as he desperately tried to scrape off some of the goo from the hull with a piece of scrap metal, letting out a panicked yelp as some of it nearly popped onto his hands. He let go of the scrap metal and it left a skid mark of acid as it slid to the ground by the treads. The others had similar reports, although the one on the left took far more minor damage and was still advancing.

They were glad that they were able to push the "little ones" back for a moment, although they could be regrouping and would be back for more at any time.

"You've gone far enough anyways. Fire cannons!" The commander ordered, waving his hand towards the threat in front of him.

Thunderous shots rang out from the vehicles, coating the target in fire and smoke as the anti tank shells smashed into his form. Using this distraction and the withdraw of the others, the people on foot closed the distance even further to get into range with their smaller weapons. As they do so the area began to light up like a fireworks show. Some more of the flying beings were caught in the attack and rained down on top of their master, although some still remained.

[Stekkmen]

The hunched Threat took shell after shell, not expecting the sudden increase in resistance. It stood tall again, it's spinal colonies burst and new swarm of flying organisms buzzed angrily around it's head. It raised it's arms and screeched as the UNT encroached on it, blasting it's huge form and subsequent creatures backwards, back towards the cold ocean. Giving an infuriated bellow, the Threat lurched violently forward, slamming down onto it's knees, an aggressive and offensive attack. It took it's left "hand", burrowed it into the ground. More shells made it flinch backwards, but now it was committed. It swiped it's massive right appendage across the UNT line to which he had approached to very closely. It would send infantry flying and scattering from it's tentacles.

Like an upset child in a sand-pit full with toy soldiers, the Threat flailed it's right arm, slamming it, wiping it across soldiers, picking up earth and tossing it onto troops out of arms reach. It's vulturous companions descended onto the defenders as well. The little ones landed on the shoulders of the infantry and clawed at them as the soldiers batted them away and fired wildly into the air. The Threat picked up a damaged tank with it's smaller tentacles and took the time to wrench it and it's crew far away, sailing through the sky before crashing somewhere unseen, knocking into trees.

The uncoordinated attack of the Threat put it's humongous form, it's horrible features, closer to the UNT foot soldiers than they had ever seen before. They could feel it's disgusting warmth on their bodies as they dove into any cover they could find against the onslaught. The mantis-like flying creatures continued to tear into any soldiers who got just a little too far away from their squad in the chaos.

He's going to kill you all! He screeched in his head. How dare they do this to him!? Annoying. Futile! Go away! Die!

The Threat punctuated it's inner thoughts by slamming it's massive fist down on three unlucky soldiers.

[ImportantNobody]

Some of the soldiers on the monster's flank scattered upon the vicious onslaught, causing it's complete collapse moments later as the men and women tried to either flee in terror or fight their way out of their situation if they were unable to escape in time. Desperate shot after desperate shot were fired into the threat or it's minions, but to no avail as they could not save themselves. The other flanks were now far more hesitant as well as they witnessed the carnage, some giving each other looks of unadulterated fear, although other aliens were far more result than humans in the face of death and kept on fighting as normal, trying to spur on their stalling comrades. The commander in charge could tell that they were on a razors edge. If members of the other flanks turned to run then they'd have no choice but to bring everyone else down with them now matter how brave they were. Fighting with only a handful of soldiers left would be an effort in futility.

"Stand firm, men! The beast is clearly wounded and we outnumber them!" He shouted. "Look at how desperate he strikes at us! Show him what he fears in us! Strike at it's wounds and it's joints! It will fall before us! We shall save the planet here and now!"

The remaining tanks got some more shots off, appearing to have an effect on the beast as it was lurching around. Maybe they did have a chance after all! Running would only cause them to leave themselves open to be slaughtered, but they still had a chance if they tried to bring it down now. They had to try!

The other soldiers steadied themselves, letting out a battle cry before getting back into the fight, shooting their weapons towards the damaged areas from the tanks shells, hoping to increase the damage even further as they dug through what was hopefully tenderized flesh. One more swarm of the evil minions coated one of the tanks in acid, unfortunately bringing that one out of the fight as well. Only one tank remained in working order, as well as the command tank, but it still fought furiously, this time trying to aim directly into the face of the hideous thing as it moved closer. The shot would be almost point blank. If any attack they had would work here, it would be that one. They could only hope it would ring true while the monster was distracted by the pain of the other attacks.

[Stekkmen]

A tank shell exploded into the Threat's hardened exterior. Like chips of painted wood, flakes seemed to break away from the Threat's pulsating skin. A victory, short lived. The soldiers would begin to fire upon the seemingly weakened areas, believing progress was going to be made in this battle against the monster.

Take this place as my own.

A strange liquid began to seem from the open flesh, a purple one that poured over itself, seeming chunky. It made it's way down it's arm. Shells slammed into it, creating gaps in the flow. Another wound would appear, and more liquid burst forth. Bumps and sores began to sprout out across it's entire body, visible from the very top. The Threat stood up quietly, before taking an uneven step backwards. The bullets, while uneffective before, suddenly began to shred the alien to pieces. It began to fall apart before the soldiers very eyes. Flying creatures burst out of the crumbling host body faster in numbers then ever before, abandoning a sinking ship.

The Threat fell to it's knees again, covered in the purple liquid like a heavy sweat. It fell forward onto it's face. The liquid spread onto the ground, absorbing into it. An Ord Donna, standing closer than the others to to Threat, assumed the purple substance to be blood. As his comrades began to battle the remaining flying creatures, the lone Ord Donna hesitated, and glanced at the blood. His large eyes seemingly widened even further as he realized the truth.

The purple liquid sped towards him, breaking apart. No, not liquid at all. A crawling swarm of six legged roaches. Glowing brightly with bio-luminescence, they dashed at their first prey. They were upon him in an instant, sprinting up his boots, digging the ground beneath his feet. At this point, he would lose balanced, falling on his back. The roaches consume him like a high-tide over a sand-castle.

The main Threat rapidly decomposed into the Earth, the roaches bursting forth, the Threat acting like a nest and birthing ground. The flying minions continued their usual charade of burning dive-bombs and strafing runs, occasionally popped by a stray bullet.

But the roaches, still to be seen as a liquid, circled around the Threat's body and began entrenching themselves in the ground. However, a large chunk of them, perhaps the majority, made their way over to the right flank of the UNT defenders.

[ImportantNobody]

At first they thought they had victory over their foe as it fell to pieces, leading to premature cheering among some of the soldiers. However, it quickly became apparent that it was out of the frying pan and into the fire. The right flank was swarmed by what had once appeared to merely be the creature's blood, guns ineffective against the large numbers that bit and crawled all over them as they all soon crumpled to the ground. None escaped the tide despite their best efforts as the already weakened flank completely fell apart.

Only around ten soldiers and the command tank remained to fire into the Threat. Unfortunately, a dive bombing beast survived getting shot just long enough to finish it's arcing flight onto the top of the tank, destroying it in a single well placed blow. Corporal Thar was knocked off of it upon impact, landing unconscious onto the snow amid the chaos that surrounded him.

The last of the flying things exploded soon after, but the roaches were as strong as ever. The ones that wiped out the right flank had finished their meal and would soon turn to face their final targets of the battles. Four of them ran before this could happen. The others braced themselves for certain defeat, screaming out a war cry as they let loose their stream of bullets into the swarm in a final act of resistance.

[Stekkmen]

The roaches smacked into the stead-fast soldiers like a wave, knocking them off their feet and devouring them in seconds. The commander, knocked off his post, was completely defenseless to the never ending wave. The Threat's body continued to decompose, but it became continually obvious that it was but a vessel for these nightmare creatures. The corpses of the dead became more sustenance for the starving swarm. The flying bugs overhead circled like vultures while the roaches burrowed into the ground. Soon, a strange pink ooze began to form where the roaches lay. Grass wilted and died.

Meanwhile, in the forest, worms scurried up trees and dug into the bark. The leaves fell off, and tendrils crept up from the ground where the roots rested. Like an infection, the Threat corrupted and transformed the peaceful environment. Native animals of the planet were caught by the Threat's influence, and days later shockingly similar animals began to appear out of nesting ground. Shadows and cruel mockeries of their former selves, they spread the plague.

By the time the Threat's influence reached the first major residential district, the last evacuation ship blasted upwards, leaving the Threat to fester uncontested. From space, the refugees looked at the large purple circle, spoiling the perfect ice-blue color of the planet. The cosmic disturbance ended, the UNT fleet arrived. Their battle cruisers launched strikes against the Threat, but by then it was striking the planet itself. Oryu had changed.

Months passed.
On the surface, unnamed and indescribable organisms roamed, a new ecosystem forming. Large tendrils clawed at the sky, erupting from the ground itself. The ocean was tinted red, and the forms of monsters could be seen far below the shimmering water's surface. A true hellscape. No longer could any beings from our realm traverse Oryu.

Deemed a lost cause, the planet was quarantined. The Threat kept to itself now, total detonation of the planet was a waste of resources and would only be done if the Threat somehow showed space-faring potential. But presently, a lone overwatch ship floats high above the atmosphere, observing. The sailors prefer not to look upon the pulsating planet's surface with their own eyes. Scanners distanced them from the horrors below.