[STORY] The Grey Planet [Kill me]

[Tayasaurus]

Kabr's sister Vikki, emerged from the trees laughing. She probably hadn't been far behind him and monitored the whole ordeal. Vikki was his twin, but most certainly more calculated than he was. Kabr scratched his helmet nervously and tried to make himself unknown. He had never felt so humiliated in his life. Hopefully he could at this stage just fade into the background and not be seen for quite some time. MAXX retrieved the cylinder from the currently shut-down MATT.

"SCOPE, take this. We'll brown townyze it when we get back to the city. The data on its drive will prove useful for our operation and perhaps give us more insight on other weapon caches."

SCOPE took the cylinder and gave a salute. It wasn't necessary but he was programmed to do it anyway. He stuffed it into his backpack with the other equipment and hoisted it over his shoulder. He looked to the now dormant MATT unit.

"What about the unit?" He asked inquisitively.

MAXX stared at MATT for a moment then turned away.

"Leave it to rust... he's outdated and probably more of a hindrance than he could be of any use... but..."

MAXX turns back and leans down beside MATT. He unbuttons the front of his uniform at his chest and reveals a latch. SCOPE immediately understood.

"Kabr, Vikki, head back to the shuttle. We'll meet you there." SCOPE said. The tone of his voice was backed by MAXX's authority.

Vikki immediately disengaged the scene and rushed off ahead of Kabr, not even giving him a head start. Kabr cursed under his breath and pursued his sister into the woods.

[Ad Bot]

[TableSalt]

so wait is this whole story about your complete colorblindness

[Tayasaurus]

so wait is this whole story about your complete colorblindness

I don't really have much skill much less patience in painting/color work.

[Tayasaurus]

MAXX's hand hovered over the lock on MATTS chest, hesitant but eager. He scanned MATT's unit type and tried to find it in the databases. What came up was only a few brief mentions but a lot of paper trails. The signature on one of the manufacturing projects caught his eye. Dr. Rachel O'dell... MAXX couldn't believe his eyes. His hand moved away from the access point and clenched into a fist.

"Forget it. He doesn't have it. I know who built this one."

SCOPE was disappointed for his commander. The power source he needed was rare and probably will not be found unless they went off world. There was no chance of that without detection risks. SCOPE re-shouldered the bag.

"I'm sorry it's not what you needed. If there was a way to turn back i would do anything to help you."

MAXX didn't acknowledge the sympathy and simple headed off after the siblings.

"Lets not waste anymore time here. There's more work to be done."


Mipa fled hastily through the forest back towards the village. Something big was coming but she at least had the foresight given to her to catch it. The leaves underneath crunched with every heavy footstep she made. She didn't care what knew about her being out here, she could dodge it easily enough. In her arms she clutched a shotgun she had gotten from the ship she kept secret. Spears and rocks wouldn't deter the coming storm, so she had no choice but to make her people understand. The questions she imagined they would say flowed through her mind and her anxiety could not formulate a coherent answer. Where did you get that Mipa? What else are you keeping from us?. Mipa brushed those thoughts aside and focused on getting there before the terror arrived. Maybe she could get the village to move, she only needed to tell them who instructed it, but that would be a lie. The black star remained in her pack behind her still humming with energy; increasing as she got closer to home. Suddenly Mipa saw a white figure closer down the trail. It's eyes glowed red and in hand a smaller one was in tow. Shimmer?


Shimmer had seen many strange things in the forest, but none stranger than Mipa running towards them with a shotgun in hand. A gun? the weapons of demons?. Shimmer knew for sure it was a gun. Mipa had told them of strange weapons wielded by metal demons and even drew them on the wall. Shimmer put Leaf behind her as Mipa approached, unsure of her intentions.

"Elder Mipa... What are you doing? What is that?"

Shimmer almost ran when Mipa arrived before them. The wild look in her eyes was almost of a possessed nature, the side effect of staring into the Black Star. Mipa collapsed at Shimmer's feet and shoved the weapon into her arms. Shimmer dropped it and stepped away from it.

"Mipa! What is wrong? Why do you have a demon weapon?"

Mipa stood up and grabbed Shimmer by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Take the weapon, and get it to the village before it's too late. Everyone is in danger. Take the weapon and tell everyone to leave now! You're quicker than I am. I will take care of Leaf."

[Tayasaurus]

Snno sat impatiently in the grass outside of the elders home for what felt like hours. She had been sifting her claw through the now cool ashes of the large bonfire that was there during the ceremony. The silky feeling of ash was unfamiliar to her as she never thought to touch it before. Ashen death felt soft and it spread whenever she rubbed her fingers together. It reminded her of woven silk that use to swaddle her as a babe; cool to the touch and a calming sense of things long past. Snno's vision had begun to return, although everything was very similar to that of an asbract, water-color painting smeared across a window. The distraction of the ash was short-lived and she began to get that itching feeling she got from doing nothing. She felt angry at the Black Star but couldn't justify it. How does one stay angry at a god, should it even be what you were taught it was? The images of the figure she saw in the flames were burned into her mind. If it was a sign of what was to come, she would be able to recognize it... if she had her full vision. Snno huffs frustratingly and throws a burnt stick across the ash pile. She heard the occasional nocturnal umbral take their scheduled stroll nearby but knew they were keeping distance from her more than usual. They were probably afraid of going blind too, since even they don't know if Snno had angered the Black Star or received a blessing in the form of a trial. A handful of her friends had payed her a visit and even brought her comforting gifts, mainly in the form of food. Trinkets and other items besides a fine blade were not traded nor gifted often amongst a tribe of hunter-gatherers. Everything they had was scavenged from old equipment to the natural resources of the woods, so food was a very high valued gift indeed. Snno accepted these gifts with a wounded pride. She didn't care what the other villagers thought, she couldn't bear having her friends see her this way. Snno actively strained her vision trying to interpret the smudged shapes of the world around her. She had the light back and could see torches quite easily, the only problem was figuring out what was solid ground and what was a hole in the ground. Snno hoisted herself up with the butt of her spear, clinging tightly onto the strong structure of her weapon. She had been using it as a walking stick to help her identify walls and other objects before she reached them. Snno cursed silently and prayed that she'd get her full vision back soon. The awkward silence in the village with those who were present was broken by the shrill cry of Valca near the southern guard post. Her voice carried like that of a bird she was mimicking to disguise the alert. Snno's ears stood straight up and tilted towards the commotion.


Not just a little ways away, Shimmer heard the cry of her villages southern guard post. The alert sent a sharp crawling chill down her spine, it was telling her that whatever she has to stop was getting close. She picked up the pace and cradled the weapon closely to her chest. If only she had known that Mipa was going to send her on a race through the woods carrying a forbidden weapon used by demons. Perhaps the only way to kill a demon is with a demons weapon? She wondered to herself. The up and down nature of the woods even took its toll on its indigenous lifeforms, leaving the Umbral as no exception. Shimmer stopped to catch her breath before finishing off the rest of the trek along the ridge of the canyon. Shimmer wasn't sure she could beat the canyon in record time without falling off into the deep but she still had to make haste while being absolutely cautious. She launched herself off a small cliff and began a downhill run while keeping a large amount of ground between her and the ledge of the canyon. She thought about the pitch blackness of the canyon and how it barely changes even with the time of day being at its brightest. The monstrous trees that extend miles below into the seemingly infinite valley blotted out the sun rather effectively, and she had even heard strange stories of abnormally giant creatures occupying the darkness below. Life may have possibly evolved to be even more dangerous than the most experienced Umbral could handle in a forest of such depth. The canyon stretched as far as the eye could see until it met the giant metal mountain that lay nearly at its center. Like a smooth river stone, the rounded structure dwarfed even the tallest trees that came from the canyon, and from it, lights could be seen glowing at its center. Several Umbral have traversed into the darkness below to reach it, but none were ever seen again. perhaps the demons come from it? Shimmer thought. Her foot suddenly caught a pit as she ran and threw her off balance, sending her tumbling towards the canyons edge. She cried loudly and threw her arms out to grab something to stop her fall. Her hands found the shotgun again but she was still tumbling uncontrollably. Shimmer responded by throwing the shotgun up over her head gripping it tightly to grapple something. Shimmer finally flew over the edge of the canyon and thought for sure she was done for. She suddenly felt very stupid, wishing she had been even more cautious and wanting to try again. Her grip on the shotgun was jerked up into the air and snapped to a dead stop. Shimmer slammed against the canyon wall and had the air knocked out of her immediately. She gasped for breath and strained her neck to look up to see what caught her. The shotgun had caught itself on a healthy vine and strained under the weight. Shimmer forced air back into her lungs and assessed the situation. The vine was healthy and strong and wouldn't break anytime soon, but the shotgun's stock was made of old wood. She could hear a faint cracking the longer she hung there.

[Tayasaurus]

The "pit" Shimmer tripped on happened to be MATT, who was still caught in safe-mode after SCOPE had shut him down from behind unexpectedly. The sudden change in position after being knocked aside by a speeding Umbral triggered his systems back into boot. His main optical functions and sound subroutines were the first to take effect. A transparent green text representing the running code flashed in front of him on his terminal. Beyond the text he could see where he had been confronted by Kabr and his allies earlier. He knew the only reason he was online right now was because something moved him. He began to scan what little of the environment he could see, still unable to move as his motor functions had yet to come back online. A timed delay presented itself in his internal terminal with a countdown. His internal computer knew about the damage he had taken earlier and chose automatically to boot him into safemode. Limiting, but he'll still have his motor functions in a minute. His audio receptors picked up a distressed cry from over the cliff-side. It appeared someone had gone over, coupling the sound with the agitated ground. He checked his terminal and a substantial amount of time remained before he could move again. The cry happened again in the form MATT was able to recognize as speech. His computer picked this up too and began to cross-reference the language.

|CTCOS is booting please wait...

Console: >>Audio detected. brown townyzing.

Console: >>Unknown language detected. Cross referencing with database.

Console: >>Connection to ELLIOT error. Searching for alternative.

Console: >>Data found. Icarus module. Accessing.

Console: >>Similar match found. Warning, translation may be inaccurate.

MATT's audio receptor finally received the sound in a translated form. The tone of the cry was very obviously "Help", but MATT knew he could always rely on his internal computer to waste time trying to translate something like that. This didn't help whoever was hanging on for dear life off the side of the cliff edge and he knew it. MATT impatiently watched his own hand for motor functionality. His internal computer was taking way too long. The cry on the side of the cliff became more frantic and he could hear the person scraping against the cliff side looking for a foothold.

"Help! Somebody! I can't up! It snap! It snap!" the creature yelped

MATT searched his functions for alternatives. He had 20 seconds left on the clock before he could move, but there was no telling if he even had that much time. His thoughts rested on the jets in his feet. he could try boosting himself to the edge to try and hang over it. That was dangerously stupid though, since he didn't know how much force he'd need to apply to even reach the edge without going over it. The next 10 seconds was when he had to make his move. He couldn't sweat, but he could certainly fret over all the worst ways the next scenario could play out. MATT applied full power to the jump jets in his feet and released the contents of the small fuel tanks in his legs, throwing an unbridled blast out from underneath him. He could hear whatever it was the person was holding onto snap and send them plummeting towards the darkness below. The clock on his motor functions expired while he flew through the air and he grabbed the vine on his way over the edge, unsure of the length of what he was holding. The vine thankfully have way and uprooted further from where it was growing, extending its length as MATT reached out to grab the creature before she was lost for good. He caught Shimmer by the wrist and the vine snapped taught once again, slamming both of them into the cliffside. The shotgun fell past them and disappeared into the black, with its broken stock trailing behind it. MATT's grip was a bit too much pressure for Shimmer's wrist and her bone was partially crushed under the grip. She ground her teeth and ignored the pain, instead opting to reach up and use her other arm to relieve herself from gravity's pull. She grabbed onto MATT's wrist and hung on tightly.

MATT didn't stop to relax, he was already too aware of the fact that his arm was broken and the strain of holding onto any living body could rip it the rest of the way off of his body. The cables inside his arm threatened to snap. It was just out of one frying pan and into another it seemed. MATT began to determine options to hoist both of them back up safely.

[Tayasaurus]

Matt slammed his foot into the cliffside, gouging out rock with every bash. The thick steel covering held it's own and prevented MATT from being damaged, although it left quite a few scuff marks. MATT looked down at Shimmer who had been keeping her eyes shut and held a tight grip on his bad arm.

"Hey!" MATT barked trying to get her attention.

Shimmer cried and tightened her grip refusing to open her eyes.

"Hey! Look at me! If we're gonna get out of this, i need your attention!"

Shimmer cracked one of her eyes but looked down below her. She closed it again and shook her head.

"Don't look down! Look at me! Trust me!" MATT pleaded.

Shimmer tilted her head up and looked at MATT. It was still terrifying to behold, because now she's looking at a demon.

MATT felt strange acting on his own, especially selflessly throwing himself over a cliff to save who know's what this creature is. When he was first created, it was a much simpler time. His objectives were given to him, and he carried them out to the best of his abilities, never feeling the creeping hand of doubt resting on his shoulder. Doubt, that was something entirely foreign to him. A human named concept where the user is unsure of his or her abilities or even place in the grand scheme of things. Being a pawn was easier, but now that his network is severed, it was almost nerve-racking. Doubt would destroy him for sure, but for now he needed to worry about it when he has ground beneath his feet. He looked to the strange white creature clinging onto him and thought hard about what he wanted her to do. There was no strength in his arm, that was clear, so she needed to grab onto something that wasn't structurally compromised. She couldn't grab hold around his neck and shoulders, that would require him to exert more pressure on his arm. She needed to go lower and grab his leg.

"You need to grab onto my leg. My arm there is broken, and won't stay on me long like this." He said calmly. In his head, his statements were strange. Something that MATT never felt before was anxiety which for the first time, lurked in the background. He was still able to work under the extreme pressure of the situation, but the fear of failure lurked in the back of his mind. If he failed, he'd have to rush to find another objective, and making his own objectives was difficult.

[Badger]

what a literal cliffhanger

[Tayasaurus]

The words coming out of the mechanical demon's invisible mouth was strange and not very refined. But Shimmer understood them nonetheless. She reluctantly relinquished her left arms grip on MATT's failing arm and grabbed one of his legs, she proceeded with her right arm to do the same. She dangled even closer to the dark below.

"Please Hurry. Up Up!" Shimmer asked, still shaking like a leaf.

MATT looked up and studied the vine creasing against the cliff edge. With too much wear it would snap in two, and they would both be gone for good. He will have to risk using his bad arm in conjunction with his good one to pull them up, since the creature was holding onto one of his legs. MATT proceeded to waste no further time on thinking and reached up and grabbed the fine with both hands. The added weight of Shimmer gave his hydraulics a miserable time and he could hear fluid in his bad arm looking for an escape point. A loud snapping noise sounded off above them and Shimmer screamed, kicking her legs a little looking for something to stand on. The vine hadn't broken however, and MATT tried getting her attention.

"Hold still! The vine isn't broken! But it WILL break if you keep moving like that!"

Shimmer didn't have the strength to feel embarassed. All she could feel was a growing sickness in her stomach.

"I think i'm going to throw up." She said, trying to focus on anything other than falling.

MATT hoisted them up an little further, just a quarter away from getting up over the edge.

"Control your breathing. It will help the nausea. It helps most humans anyway... We're almost there!"

Shimmer took the strange advice and began to force herself to take slower breaths. A strange calming effect washed over her as her heart beat came to a slower pace and the amount of shakes she experienced dwindled. She looked back up at MATT hopefully and thought about getting back to the top.

MATT reached up and grabbed the very top of the vine to hoist them up again, however, another noise that did appear actually concerned him. Suddenly with a very audible sound of metal tearing, his left arm gave in and separated itself from his shoulder. The change in grip on the vine sent MATT and Shimmer sliding down the vine again and they came to another halt very close to where they started. Shimmer was going to scream but was hit in the face by MATT's missing arm. Instinctively she threw up one of her arms from MATT's leg to cover her face and ended up catching it instead. Her nose began to bleed from the impact. Shimmer let out a slurry of Umbral specific curses while MATT looked for more options.

"Shimmer?!" said a voice from up over the cliff fantically.

Shimmer's heart jumped for joy as Leaf peaked over the edge.

"I'm here! I'm down here! help!" She cried.

[Tayasaurus]

It took Mipa and Leaf a painstaking 15 minutes to hoist MATT and Shimmer up the cliff-side. MATT's incredible weight didn't make it easy, seeing that he was made of metal and all. Shimmer collapsed near the nearest tree and kissed the ground, muttering various praises to the Black Star. MATT stood slightly over to her left and monitored her vitals for a few short moments before turning to Mipa.

"Thank you." He said, unsure if he was pronouncing the words correctly.

Mipa kept her distance and kept her arms crossed. This machine concerned her and she kept her hand clutched around an unknown weapon.

"Not my choice, demon. But the Star's." She said, lowly under her breath. Leaf stood by her leg and stared at MATT with wide eyed curiosity.

MATT thought nothing of the hostility and approached Shimmer. Mipa revealed the weapon she had been concealing and it appeared to be some kind of tazer. She pointed the device at MATT and bared her teeth.

"Don't touch her! Her spirit will not be tainted!"

MATT threw his remaining arm up to show no hostility and took a step away from Shimmer. Shimmer stopped her ground worship and scrambled to stand between him and Mipa.

"Stop! There's no time for this! He saved me from falling into the darkness below! Would a demon do that?" she pleaded.

Mipa grumbled but kept the device pointed at him.

"You're right there is no time! But there's no more room in the events that are about to take place for another demonic warrior!"

Shimmer wore a confused look on her face, indicating to Mipa that she already said a bit too much.

"Events? You know more about whats about to happen?"

Mipa ignored the question and looked around on Shimmer's person. She noticed something missing.

"Shimmer where's the shotgun?"

Shimmer roostered her head confused.

"The what gun?"

Mipa lowered the device.

"Right, the demon weapon. Just gun. Did you lose it?"

Shimmer hung her head shamefully.

"I'm sorry Mipa..."

Mipa hissed frustrated and turned around and sprinted off into the forest but not without shouting over her shoulder.

"Don't trust the demon! There's no time, meet me back at the village!"

Leaf had also scampered off hot on Mipa's heels.

Shimmer stood there confused and looked at MATT. His body looked all weird without his other arm. right, his arm.

Shimmer grabbed up the arm she caught from the base of the tree and offered it to him.

"This yours. Take."

[Tayasaurus]

Snno stumbled a bit trying to stand up on her feet and took a step toward to where she heard Valca. Her vision was much clearer now if not a bit hazy. She heard nothing further from Valca's post. The short silence was broken by a loud yell and Valca flying out from the darkness, crashing hard into the ground at the center of the town with her spear stabbing into the ground next to her. Valca groaned and clutched her side.

"Valca!" Snno yelled, running to her side. She cradled her in her arms and checked for breathing. She put her ear to her chest and heard a very faint heartbeat.  Snno quickly laid her down and looked off towards the post of which she was flung. Two figures in the shadows walked toward her carrying what she presumed to be strange weapons. Snno lept up and yanked Valca's spear out of the ground and steadied it towards the two threats.

"Who are you?!" She shouted, her spear darting back and forth between them.

The two figures heads turned to eachother before looking back at her, they kept their weapons trained on Snno but didn't say a word. Larger steps appeared behind them as a new figured appeared and dwarfed them. A dreaded realization washed over Snno as she observed it's burning read visor.

[Tayasaurus]

SOUNDTRACK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z28lwyQjuTY

A disturbing silence washed over the entire town as Snno faced her nightmare and her nightmare stared right back at her. The long gaze was broken as the visage angrily looked around at the blemish that was the town upon his planet. The eyes pierced Snno's very mind and dug up unpleasant memories of her communion with the Black Star. The voice that emanated from the burning visor spoke softly but dripping with a demonic anger only the sharpest ears could pick up on.

"SCOPE... what is this?" said MAXX; his words only lost in translation to Snno.

SCOPE who had been hiding in the shadows as was his current reputation, stepped out from them and placed himself beside MAXX.

"Commander, I'm afraid I do not know. But you speak with a familiarity... might you yourself already know?" said SCOPE, speaking cautiously.

MAXX stepped towards Snno and her fallen friend, vibrating the ground beneath them with each heavy step. Snno grabbed Valca's arm and kept the spear pointed at MAXX, dragging her friend and herself away from him as quickly as possible. Snno bared her teeth and yelled. The commotion going on grabbed the attention of some of the other villagers who had grabbed torches and lit them casting light on the standoff taking place. A sharp stab of panic went through a handful of them when the large body of MAXX appeared in the light, sending many of the weaker Umbral back into their homes. MAXX stopped walking towards them and washed Snno and Valca in a red scanning light, his hands noticeably shaking.

"No... it's impossible." MAXX said, this time speaking their language. "You're suppose to be gone. All of you. You're all suppose to be gone!" He shouted, making many of the residents cover their ears in pain. Electricity began to visibly jump in between his fingers as they bent and his wrists shook.

Snno kept Valca's unconscious body behind her and kept a tight steady grip on her spear. Fear gnawed at her composure but she fought to maintain a fearless appearance. Snno dug her heels into the ground ready for combat. Snno could feel rain drops touch her shoulder and could smell a storm approaching, a heavy one, a sickly omen.

[Tayasaurus]

MAXX looked at Snno and Valca in their fear stricken state and wanted nothing more than to wring both their necks for his own amusement. His hatred knew no bounds for this species which he was already familiar with. SCOPE riskfully put a hand on MAXX's shoulder.

"Commander, perhaps we should exercise restraint. Your abilities c-"

MAXX brushed the hand off and clenched his fists. Grinding his metal palms harshly as he began to pace around Snno. The electricity disappeared but the feirce gaze did not leave. The strongest of the villagers had taken up whatever tools and spears they could grab nearby and poised themselves in an aggressive state, unsure of what to do. The Twins who observed this behavior fired their weapons into the air, sending a few more villagers scurrying back into their homes. MAXX seemed to appear more relaxed after his outburst upon finding the settlement as he allowed himself to pace more and blow off steam. MAXX turned to SCOPE.

"Thanks for the reminder. SCOPE, were you aware of this places development?"

SCOPE shook his head. "Commander, i was unaware of this places existence. I was sure all indigenous life here was accounted for."

MAXX walked up to SCOPE and leaned forward over him, anger seeping in his voice. "These, things are not indigenous to this planet. Your incompetance at documenting all lifeforms could have cost us everything! This is the enemy! These creatures are the reason we have worked so hard up to this point!" MAXX shoved SCOPE to the ground and turned around, facing Snno again. MAXX began to actively translate his speech into the Umbrals.

"Where is it?" he asked.

Snno didn't let go of the spear and kept it pointed at MAXX confused by the questioning. Something she had never seen nor met before could just speak her language on command. A demon indeed.

Snno bared her teeth and shouted in response. "Demon! Harming one of us will get you nowhere! If you come any closer i'll rip your eyes from your face!"

MAXX, being irritated by the threat approached Snno and swatted the spear out of her hands, punching her in the gut. Snno doubled over unable to breath, her eyes wide and her mouth gasping for air.

MAXX places his heavy foot on Snno's head.

"Harming your kind will get me anywhere I want." MAXX mumbled, raising his foot to crush her delicate skull. Snno closed her eyes and prayed, gritting her teeth together. Instead of a crushing blow from a metal foot, Snno was met with a shrill scream from beyond, Mipa's cry. Mipa lept out from the darkness and crashed violently into MAXX forcing the mighty robot to fall over onto his side. The Twins aimed their rifles at the assailant but SCOPE quickly stopped them. "Don't shoot! You'll hit the Commander!"

MAXX and Mipa twisted and turned on the ground as they grappled eachother, with Mipa clinging onto MAXX's back, prying at a panel near the back of his neck. Mipa yelled at her people to get inside, which most of them obliged to. A handful however chose to stay and charged the twins, being quickly dispatched by fire from their rifles. Snno, completely horrified scrambled to her feet and grabbed Valca, dragging her to cover behind one of the huts.

[Tayasaurus]

It had fully begun to rain now, with winds shaking the trees around them ominously. Snno peeked around the corner of the hut to see MAXX and Mipa struggling with eachother. Mipa's large size was the only contender for MAXX but in her old age she was weak, with her grip around him starting to slip. MAXX's metal elbow rammed repeatedly into her side as she clawed at the weak point in his neck. Detecting she was about to lose her grip, she used both arms to bear hug him and sunk her teeth into a protrusion on the panel. Mipa ripped the panel out with her powerful jaws and exposed the vulnerable circuitry beneath it. A pipe, fueling most of MAXX's functions was buried underneath the mess of wires, but to Mipa's surprise wasn't what she was use to. Instead of the usual blue glow of the flowing energy, she was met with a murky black energy, flowing out of the pipe which was already broken.

By the stars, Mipa thought before becoming completely stunned by an electrical charge. MAXX had expended his reserve energy to shock Mipa off his shoulders, sending her flying backwards into the mud. MAXX bent down and grabbed Mipa by the neck, lifting the large Umbral off her feet and looked her in the eyes.

"I hunted your species into extinction on this planet, and from ashes I'll end you beyond the stars!"

MAXX shouted, throwing Mipa into the wooden hut with a loud crash. Mipa hit the wooden walls hard, with the sound of a few bones breaking as she crashed to the floor. Snno screamed and ran to her side, and cradled her. Mipa was still concious and looked at Snno, a dazed look in her eyes. Mipa put her hand on Snno's cheek and smiled, a bit of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. The damage done was extremely fatal and Mipa coughed, bleeding internally. MAXX wasted no time snatching Snno by the neck and held her in front of Mipa for her to see. Snno clawed and kicked fruitlessly at him.

"Do you like this one? Me too. Let's strike a deal. I know where your kind comes from, and I know you have it. Give me the orb, and I don't crush her weak spine into dust." MAXX said in her language. Tightening and loosening his grip just enough to make Snno wince painfully. Snno spoke up.

"Don't do it! He'll just kill me anyway after he gets what he wants!"

A group of Umbral had begun to close in closer to MAXX and his group during the commotion and he took notice. MAXX stood up straight and held Snno in front of them.

"Do i need to remind my soldiers what to do when you scum get too close? Perhaps your friends lying in the mud over there don't get the message across too well. So if you don't listen to action then you'll listen to me! I am a machine of my word! If I strike a deal with you, I follow through! This umbrals life for the orb! I will spare the rest of you worthless spawn and her life! If you double-cross me, however, then I even things out!"

The whole group of Umbral yielded and stepped back to where they came from, swayed by MAXX's words, and looked at Mipa for a decision. SCOPE walked up to MAXX and attempted to get his attention.

"Commander."

"What?" MAXX said, irritation dripping from his tone. If he could roll his eyes he probably would have.

"A report back from the city, sir. A ship has been detected in Jump Space. It is moving quickly. It will be here within a matter of hours. We should head back to the shuttle as soon as we can." SCOPE said urgently.

MAXX grunted and looked back at Mipa.

"Last chance. Orb, and I let her live."

Mipa ground her teeth and closed her eyes. She raised a mostly broken arm and pointed towards the edge of the village where she had came from. MAXX looked at Vikki and nodded at her. Vikki nodded back and sprinted off towards the distance, quickly finding the sack tucked between a woven basket and some wood. Vikki stood up and held The Black Star in the air.

"Item retrieved! Returning to you now Commander!"

Vikki rushed over to MAXX and handed him the Black Star. The orb was dwarfed in his hand and he looked at it curiously. He released Snno from his death grip and she scrambled back to Mipa's side, cradling her once more.

"SCOPE, In these seven-hundred years alone I thought we'd never see one of these ever again. And now here it is. This could change the entire operation." MAXX said, turning to him.

SCOPE looked at the strange orb and reflected on his knowledge of what such a strange object could do, but his attention to the time overwrote his curiosities.

"Commander, if I may, we need to go. Our window will be closing."

MAXX tossed the orb back to Vikki who caught it without issue, stuffing it into her pack. MAXX turned to the Umbral one last time.

"I now wish i had just killed you all and searched the village. But like I said, I'm a machine of my word. Promises to those that I loved really do get in the way of a good thing."


MATT and Shimmer had arrived later than Mipa had, not knowing the forest layout as well as she did. When they showed up, the fight was already past it's climax and they watched MAXX bargain Snno's life for the Black Star. MATT recognized the black orb that Vikki had retrieved from fractured data, but was still unsure of MAXX's directive and overal goal. Shimmer shook with anger and turned to MATT.

"We need to do something! YOU, need to do something!" She hissed in a vicious whisper. MATT looked at Shimmer and then back at the commotion going on off in the village. Shimmer wished she could tell what he was thinking. MATT ran multiple scenarios in his head while watching the exchange and listening to the situation. He knew MAXX was short on time and one of the strange human twins was just given the orb. MATT nudged Shimmer to gain her attention again.

"It appears the MAXX unit has little to no time left. They are getting ready to leave. Interrupting the flow of the situation could get more of your people killed. I have one arm, and they have assault rifles. I'm sorry."

Shimmer looked at MATT, taken aback by his refusal to help the situation. She frowned and bared her teeth.

"Everything is at stake! If I don't do something then they'll get away with killing Mipa and taking our Star away!"

MAXX and his troupe had already begun to exit the village, disappearing one by one out of view, with only the twins trailing behind. Shimmer could no longer keep still and snatched up a spear, charging from her cover but silently. MATT tried to grab her the moment he realized what she was doing but missed and scrambled out from cover after her, struggling to keep up do to damage. Shimmer neared the closest twin and let out a battle cry, closing the distance before Vikki realized what was happening. Shimmer's spear aimed true and marked Vikki in her side, cutting open a gaping wound. Vikki yelled and swung her weapons stock into Shimmers head, knocking her to the ground. MATT was not too far behind, having drawn his pistol with his good arm and took aim. Kabr had his gun trained on Shimmer and was only a hair away from pulling the trigger. Sensing this, MATT open fired, landing two heavy rounds into Kabr's chest armor, taking him out. Vikki looked at Kabr's body in shock and scrambled away from the lethally accurate fire from MATT's pistol. MAXX, short on time, motionned SCOPE to intervene. SCOPE appeared in front of her and fired back at MATT, but still retreating and leading Vikki away from the danger. The return fire forced MATT behind one of the village huts as he peeked in and out of cover still throwing lead down range to protect Shimmer.

"No! Kabr h-" Vikki protested. SCOPE simply continued to drag her away.

"No time. MAXX has none of it and we don't! Fall back!"

MATT left his cover to pursue but the loud roar of a shuttles engine filled the small clearing. Overhead a massive ship hovered low to the ground, blowing anything that wasn't bolted down away from it's center of mass. MAXX had called the shuttle over to his position.

"Elliot, Load up! We're leaving!" MAXX commanded. The Ship scanned all bodies on the ground and undocked two mechanical arms. The arms scooped up MAXX along with Vikki and SCOPE.

"All passengers are not accounted for. Continue?" The shuttles automated computer inquired.

"Continue." said MAXX.

The shuttle with a loud blast, jumped up into the sky and flew off over the treeline, it's engines growing quieter and quieter as it gained distance. Eventually, the sound of the shuttle could no longer be heard, marking the end of the conflict. Silence once again fell on the village, leaving the Umbral who occupied it in shambles.

[Tayasaurus]

With the short skirmish finally behind the village, MATT immediately went over to where his knocked out friend layed. He hovered his hand over her neck and a soft glow appeared in his hand. MATT hovered the scanner over her head and checked for any severe damage. The knockout blow to her head was non-fatal thankfully, and was only a concussion that would subside quickly enough. MATT propped Shimmer's head on a sack and made her comfortable before heading over to a trembling Snno kneeling beside Mipa. Snno noticed MATT approaching and reeled back a little, clutching Mipa close to her but not leaving her side. MATT knelt down beside them and reached out, doing the same he did with Shimmer. Snno gave a low growl but did nothing to stop him. The report MATT received was unfortunetly not good news like it was with Shimmer. Multiple bones in Mipa's body were broken and internal organs were beginning to bleed due to a rupture in her rib cage. The light on MATTs palm flashed red and he withdrew it. He looked at Snno and shook his head.

"I'm sorry to say, her wounds are fatal and beyond repair without a proper surgeon. The best we can do is ease the pain and make her comfortable."

MATT's wrist opened up and ejected a capsule containing an anesthetic. A small needle portruded from it and he offered it to Mipa. Mipa coughed and simply waved it away.

"No. No take. This pain is mine. Bring me Leaf." Mipa demanded, still waving her hand weakly.

MATT looked at her confused.

"I'm unfamiliar with the herbal attributes of your natural flora. This w-"

Mipa waved again this time mustering a weak laugh.

"No, robot. Leaf, little Umbral."