Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 155 of 365. Sol standard year]
Days after of Crash landing/ 3
Uninhabited Island / Clearing of Escape Capsule # 405
Galactic Standard Time / After 0800
Bryke
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As he looked at the strange forest through the shield, Bryke tried and failed to keep his mind from wandering. The fact that only trees that had been uprooted were gone was concerning. Just what would eat trees that had been pulled from the ground? Was it a treat for them? Did they pull up smaller plants and eat them? Nothing about this made sense!
When his friend had grabbed him and told him what happened, he was scared. The idea that a large tree could be eaten fast and without them knowing was scary. The size alone was something that.
He looked up and saw Zevortro walking towards him from the other direction. From the frown on his face, he hadn’t had any luck.
“So nothing anywhere but here?” Bryke asked, already knowing the answer.
Zevortro only nodded, a scowl on his face.
Bryke looked through the shield and scowled, trying to understand this. Then he looked around until he found the two trees that had been thrown into the shield. With a slight smirk growing on his face, he looked at Zevortro. “Hey, those two trees? They're still there. Nothing happened to them right?”
“Yeah. I think so…… that’s. That means that something destroyed the others. And the shield kept them out. But there has to be a reason,” Zevortro said as he looked around.
Bryke nodded, his eyes locked on the trees. There was something here that he couldn’t see, something that had changed about them. There were reasons for everything, nothing happened in a vacuum. Nature didn’t work like that. “So we can both agree that there is a reason for why those dead trees are gone, right? And why whatever did it didn’t eat the other trees?”
“Yeah, there has to be,” Zevortro admitted. “There’s always a reason. That never changes no matter what happens.”
“We might not know or agree, but that’s the truth. So then the best thing to do would be to look at the dead trees in here?” Bryke asked as they both looked toward the two trees in question.
A few minutes later, Bryke poked at one of the trees. Nothing, it felt like normal wood. There had to be something here, something that made whatever destroyed them do it. But no matter what he did, there was just nothing there. He didn’t know much about trees, but there was nothing that looked out of place.
Zevortro sighed behind him. Looking over his shoulder at his friend, he saw the same shimmer of anger and confusion he felt.
“Nothing. No, less than nothing! I don’t know, maybe this thing is just a good meal for a lot of creatures. That’s probably the only answer,” Zevortro said bitterly.
But how could it have been eaten so fast?” Bryke asked. That was the one thing that he didn’t understand. The one problem that he knew they had to solve.
“There’s one answer that I can think of. And it’s a long shot. The answer is a swarm of little things. I hope they're nocturnal. And that the shield will keep them out,” Zevortro said as he shrugged.
Bryke only looked at him and shook his head, a chuckle leaving his lips. “So after everything, the answer has no biases in facts?”
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Bradford.
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Bradford sighed as he leaned against the door. He had gone to find a bit of time to himself, try to explain that ‘Mastermind’ thing. The idea that he could contract his followers was amazing and very convenient. If he could talk to his people with no way for others to hear, he could coordinate plans better than ever before. But the range, that was the only problem. He had no idea just how far it could reach, and he had no way to know.
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He had tried to call up his power again, and he had. But Operative Brute’s icon had been greyed out. There was something else here, something that let him contact his followers. And that was gone for some reason.
He sighed and shook his head, trying to make sense of this. And then he learned that they had landed on something. He didn’t know how to feel about that, he didn’t.
“Let’s try this again. Communication Hub!” Bradford called out softly. As soon as he said the words, he felt the drain of the flame within him. He blinked as he saw the grid, and then he saw that Brute’s icon was grey. There was a new icon, a strange star with dots around it. “That’s interesting. Very interesting.”
“Now if Brute was a sword, that means it was because. So then who are you?” Bradford muttered as he looked at the icon. There was something there, something that he knew, someone that had been on the ship. And if this power of his was limited to planetary range, then that explained much. It meant the people he had brought with him were the only ones that were on the grid. And the only one that was open now was the one represented by this star symbol.
“So who are you?” Bradford muttered as he looked at the symbol, and tried to decide on what to do. But then the door opened against his back, and he stumbled a bit. He scowled and moved around, looking at the door.
Leonator walked in, and then Bradford hid a scowl. This fool? He was an over-prideful idiot who only cared about what he saw as important, ignoring reality. But the man was the head of an inter-system shipping company that he had wanted to get a good deal. So that meant that he had to play nice.
“Ahh Leonator! What can I do for you, my boy?” Bradford asked, forcing his voice to sound cheerful.
Leonator looked at him and then he started to pace. “I’m sorry Bradford, but we need to talk. Those fools who took over, they’re going to kill us all!”
Bradford hid a sigh and his personal feelings as he looked at Leonator. He had a feeling how this was going to go. And the fact that he would have to talk like he agreed with this scum was almost enough to make him throw up! “Please my friend, explain what you mean. If there is a problem, please, tell me. I will do my best to make it right!”
Leonator stopped and looked at Bradford, a scowl on his face. “The way those fool up there killed the beast. We don’t know anything about that species! I mean I can understand putting down a creature that went mad. I can! But they went kill, for all we know that was just a youngster of this species! And you know what angry mothers will do, even beasts!”
Bradford blinked and then looked at Leonator in a new light. If that was the core of his problem with what the deckhands did, then he could understand. But then he blinked again, a strange fact slowly making itself known. Leonator hadn’t reacted to the floating grid. That meant that he couldn’t see it. But how? Was it because he wasn’t one of Bradford’s followers? Or that he didn’t have the power?
“In that light, I can understand what you mean. But take heart. I believe that Duncan is keeping everyone in the shield for the next few days,” Bradford said. He walked forward to put a hand on Leonator’s right shoulder. As the man looked at him, Bradford put on an easier smile. “Now, from everything I was told it seems to have been a loner. And the beast was killed when it was attacking them, and by the shield!”
“The Shield!? Wait, what? How did that happen!” Leonator exclaimed in shock.
His response caused Bradford to turn away and grin. He had Leonator right where he wanted him, his plan worked as usual. Let the fool talk then move in, telling him something to stun him. Then keep talking, and slowly change his thinking, bringing him back in line.
“I believe that the creature was attacking the shield. When it fell it tried to attack, they were able to get the shield to work. But unfortunately, the beast’s neck was in the activation line,” Bradford said with a slight smirk. As Leonator looked at him, Bradford was able to feel a bit of hope for a second.
“It was what!? I thought that the poor brute was killed and dragged here?” Leonator asked in shock.
Bradford only looked at Leonator and laughed a little. “NO! No, no. The creature was attacking us, moving at the capsule. Only the bravery of our defenders was able to hold it off!”
Leonator looked at him with confusion and uncertainty in his eyes. Bradford tried not to smile as he realized that maybe the problem that Leonator posed was over.
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Jones
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As Jones dug and revealed the shape of the purple hull plates, he tried to understand what he was seeing. They had found that the hull curved where most other ships were straight lines. That was a design of shipbuilding that most races had grown out of. Even the Spirit was hard lines! But this, whatever it was, it was sloped. He had gone down a good six feet already, and he had to admit that the null gravity field was helping them so much!
“I can’t believe how deep this thing is!” A voice from the deckhand to his left caused Jones to pause.
He had to admit, his comrade was right. This was either the end of this thing or something else. So far, they hadn’t found anything that might show that this was the thrusters. So either this thing was shaped like a “Y” or a ‘legged’ style, he had no idea where the thrusters were.
“What, this? The tallest sentient is what? Eight feet tall?” The second deckhand called back as they removed another shovelful of dirt. They pushed it up and then cupped their hands. “Load coming up!”
A few moments later, they heard a call from Vivian. “Got it! Give us a minute and here!”
A small bag was thrown down and Jones grabbed it as it floated past him. Opening the bag he pulled out three bottles and passed out two to the others.
“Thanks for the drink!” Jones called as he sipped the cool water. As the others drank, he sighed as he leaned against the wall of the pit. So far, the null gravity has been a godsend! They were making so much progress, that he had to wonder why this wasn’t the norm for heavy work. Just three people were able to move soil at a rate that only machines could do normally. Just why hadn’t anyone thought of this before now? It didn’t make any sense! But then even his Order was guilty of the thoughts that if it worked for now, it would work forever.
As he looked at the purple plates, he tried to imagine just what this thing was. He could see a few ideas, maybe it was a lookout station? But how had it ended up here? That was the one thing that he couldn’t figure out. But still, if they could find or make a way in, they could have something.
“Break’s over!” A voice from above cried out.
Jones looked up and then sighed, taking his shovel he looked at the wall and nodded. “Making a check if we reached the bottom!”
As he dug into the wall under the plates, his shove went deeper. He stared in shock before he looked at the others. They were looking at him, just as shocked as he was. Without a word, they both speared the wall with their shovels and looked at each other.
“Jones found the bottom!” One of the others called upwards.
“What!?” Terra’s voice rang out.
“Yeah! We found the bottom down here!”
Jones looked at the wall of plates and frowned. Pulling his shovel free, he started to dig to the side. Something was telling him that this thing was longer. And if they were just between a thruster, then they were in trouble if this thing turned on.