The Planet of Doctor Vitalic

(OOC: Pass)

The Megascops emerged from hyper on the far side of a cluster of asteroids.  Traveling at a low power with the all stealth systems engaged, the stealth destroyed slipped out from cover.

“No sign of Devil Dog space craft.”

“The drone detected the light craft coming from the planet.  They may be down there or they could be out system.  Proceed with caution anyways.  Keep monitoring those passive sensors.”  The ship continued it transit toward the planet.

* * * * *

“Getting scans and visuals of the planet surface.  Woah.”

“What is it?” asked Commander Duval.

“I've got a substantial fire on the surface.  Bringing up a closer image.  Looks like wreckage.  I think those are the scout ships.”

“All three of them?”

“I think so.  Look.”  Three pieces of wreckage were highlighted.  “I can account for three port wings.  That has to be scouts.”

“Any indication of what brought them down?”

“No ma'am.”

“All right.  Take us into orbit.”

* * * * *

“Everyone said their peace?” asked 'Black Bishop.'  After receiving nods from around the room he continued.  “Alright.  There's been a slight change of plans.  We're going to touch down a little further out than initially planned.  It looks like the Devil Dog scout ships have been shot down and we're going to investigating.  We're being inserted here, a click on the far side from the installation.  We'll move in, reconnoiter the wreckage, then proceed to the facility.  In particular, we'll be looking for the black boxes and survivors.  If they are conscious, tranq 'em.  If not, do it any way so the Burninites can drop 'em in our brig.  If there are no questions, mount up.”

* * * * *

“Hel, isn't this a mess,” said 'Black Pawn Two-Three.'  “It's like Thor himself smacked 'em out of the sky and beat them after just to be sure.

“Got a couple of bodies over hear,” radioed 'Black Pawn One-Six.'  “Extra crispy.”

“Anyone see a black box?” called 'Black Bishop.'

“I've got one over here.  No good.  There's a bit of debris sticking straight through it.  It might be recoverable, but not in the field.”

“Tag it for later retrieval.”

“I've got another.  This one looks good.”

“Do you have a port that can interface?”

“Yes sir.  Plugging in, ready to transmit.  Transmitting.”

“I'll verify they received.  Black Castle, Black Bishop, comm check.”

“Black Castle reads you loud and clear Black Bishop.”

“Black Castle, we found a black box.  We've begun transmitting it's data contents.  Request if you receive.”

“We are receiving.”

“Aye.  We have no indications of survivors from the crashes.  Intend to proceed to the installation at this time.”

“Black Castle acknowledges.  Black King concurs with your course of action.  Proceed as intended.”

“Proceed, aye.”

* * * * *

“Well, Petty Officer Douglas, what have you got?”

“Not much so far, ma'am.  The engineering report was only lightly encrypted.  Based on what it's showing, it looks like the ship was struck by a sizable piece of debris.”

“From one of the other ships?”

“Maybe.  Can't be certain.  Scans, navigations and communications recorded are all more heavily encrypted, but not beyond our abilities.  We're likely looking at twenty minutes, maximum two hours if we have to start doing a brute force approach.”

“Very well.  Keep me informed.”

“Will do, Commander.”

* * * * *

“Black Bishop, Black Knight Seven.  Are you getting the same off feeling I am?”

“Yeah.  Something's wigging my psychic antennae bad.  Red Queen, you feeling this?”

(OOC: I don't know, would she be? She could sense the presence of another Burninite, or of the fungus creatures, but ONLY if they've retained some of the original Burninite DNA. Not if it's just a living thing.

If there are absurdly strange life-forms around, Teresa would be able to pick them out. But if, for example, we're just talking about a person sneaking around, she's limited to the same senses everyone else is limited to. Because she's surrounded by people, another human lifeform wouldn't set off any psychic sensors, so to speak. The only other thing that could set it off would be if someone actually mounted a psych attack.

So you tell me -- would Teresa feel anything? Then I'll answer :p)

OOC: The fungus retains some Burninite DNA, though they wouldn't be directly tied into the Neural Network. If she is sensitive to other psychic energies not directly an attack, she should at least be getting a bad feeling.

"There is definitely something sinister here, but currently, that is all I can detect with psionics. Something not-quite Burninite and nothing I've ever sensed the presence of before, either. So I'd advise extreme caution."

“Extreme caution is right.  Keep it moving people.  And step lightly.”

* * * * *

“Commander Duval,” called Petty Officer Douglas.  “I just cracked the communication recording.  It only covers the last half hour before the crash.”

“Play it,” the Commander ordered as she walked over to the desk.

*Do we have any idea what's going on down there?*

*No data.  We haven't been able to raise anyone.*

*For fuck's sake.  This was supposed to be an easy security gig.  What the hell happened to that?*

*Who the fuck knows.  Until we get an order otherwise, we stay put.*

*Fuck.  Whatever the hell that thing down there is it should have been killed already.  What is taking them so long?  The longer we're up here the better chance someone will see us.*

*No one will see us.  No one comes here.  That's why it was chosen.*

*Yeah, well-*

*Fox Hound 1, Devil Dog Actual.  Do you read?*

*We read you Actual.  What is happening down there?*

*Situation is unsalvageable.  Multiple enemies and we cannot stop them.  Combat extract.  Now.*

*Understood.  En route.*  The recording was silent for a while after that and the computer began skipping past it.

*God damn it, where are my fucking birds?*

*We're three minutes out sir.*

*Make it one.*

*Sir, we can't break the laws of physics.*

*Colonel, we will be there when we are there, until then-*

*Incoming!  Brace-*

*We've been hit by something!  Extensive damage!  We're going down!*  The next fifteen seconds heralded announcements that the other two ships had been hit and screams of terror as the pilots attempted to recover.

“Holy shit.”

* * * * *

The SSS unit had been continuing along the forest floor, moving as quietly as possible.  One of the lead soldiers raised an arm.  It wouldn't have been visible except his body was highlighted by the HUD.

“Black Pawn Four-Seven, Black Bishop.  Report.”

“I've got something on the motion tracker.  Getting a visual.  What the fuck is that thing?”  A small window appeared in the corner of 'Black Bishop's' HUD.  A large green skinned humanoid was visible.

“Red Queen, Black Bishop.  Have you ever seen anything like-”

“All Black Units, Black King.  There's another force on the planet.  Disposition unknown.”

“Black King, Black Bishop.  We've got eyes on something from that other force.  It looks like some kind of monster.”

“Black Bishop, be extremely cautious.  We don't know what this other force is, but it looks like they did a number on the 'Whites.'”

“You want me to give this thing a nap?”

“That'd be for the best.”

“Understood.  Black Knight Four, Black Knight Seven.  Get your squads into position.  Give it a nap.

“Four aye.”

“Seven aye.”  The squads moved into position slowly.  Carefully placing their feet, the soldiers found their positions.

“Ready to fire.”

“Put it down.”  As one the StateSec soldiers fired their electrotranqs into the creature.  It bellowed loudly, then began looking for its attackers.

“It didn't go down.”

“Hit it again.”  Another volley struck the creature and again it howled in pain but did not go down.  Sighting the barrel of one of the electrotranq rifles, it let out a battle cry and charged.  It's speed was surprising as it closed the distance was suddenly on top of the soldier.  Using his rifle to hold the monster back, he began calling for help.  One of the other soldiers let his tranqer fall to his side, then lifted his plasma rifle and fired several rounds into the monster.  It screamed once more in pain, then fell on top of the hapless soldier.

“Sorry for going dirty without order, sir,” said the soldier.

“Never mind.  Correct action.  Now someone roll that thing off of him,” ordered 'Black Bishop.'  “What the fuck is this?”  Several of the soldiers gathered around the creature and began examining it.  The plasma burns from the fire were extensive, but there were a few thing immediately apparent.  Its humanoid form, its impressive physique and its sexlessness.  One of the soldiers poked the thing with his rifle.  The creature groaned.

“It's still alive?  How the fuck is that possible?”

“Urrrrrgh.  Oh look.  More humies.  Tougha' than da' las' bunch.  You be more fun for da' boyz.”

“Well, you won't be there to see it monster,” replied 'Black Bishop.'  The StateSec officer raised his own plasma rifle and fired repeatedly into the creature.

Teresa's eyes had been closed the entire time.

"I wish you had waited before destroying it," she says. "I have never seen anything like it, but it definitely somehow contains some Burninite DNA. Its mind was not quite accessible to me, but in the future, I will attempt communication with these creatures. It obviously has an understanding of human language, so I will refuse to fight them. However, I do wish to separate from the group for a time. I wish to see if a peaceful approach can function. May I have permission to do this?"

“I have no authority over you to prevent such actions.  You may do as you please.  I do warn you to exercise caution.  We have no way of predicting how they will react to you.”  'Black Bishop' watched as several of his men began taking tissue samples.  “Perhaps I did act hastily.  But the... unease that thing gave me... the malevolence I could feel from it...”

“Sir, you should see this.”  'Black Bishop' looked at the window that appeared on his HUD.

“Is this accurate?”

“Yes sir.”  'Black Bishop' turned back to the 'Red Queen'.

“You may want to hold off on talking with these things until we learn a little more about these things.  They're made of Gorgon Fungus.”

"That can't be entirely true," Teresa says after a moment. "I am a hundred percent sure they are somehow related to Burninites. Can you see if they somehow have any Burninite DNA? They can be sensed by our psionic grid, and only Burninites can be sensed by our psionic grid.

"In any case, I do have your radio frequency -- if you need me, call me and I will be back immediately. I will also immediately return if I run into danger."

Teresa disappears from view, having donned a ranger's cloak.

She attempts to locate another one of these creatures.

“Well, there goes Red Queen,” said 'Black Bishop'.

“Was that wise sir? Even if she doesn't mean to, she could alert any other of these things to our presence.”

“Not my call. Like I said, I have no authority to refuse her head.”

“What now sir?”

“We move it out. Step softly. If you see any more of those things, do not engage unless attacked. Everyone understand?”

“Yes sir.”

* * * * *

“Gorgon Fungus? They're certain?” asked Commander Duval.

“Yes ma'am,” replied Petty Officer Douglas. “If I had to guess, I'd say we just found out why the Devil Dogs were in contact with the Black Order.”

“You believe the Black Order sold them weaponized Gorgon.”

“Yes ma'am. That's the only explanation I have for how the fungus is on this planet.”

“Everyone is wearing respirators down there, right?”

“Standard outfit. If the fungus is airborne, which strangely enough doesn't seem to be the case, they should be clear of infection.”

“You said it isn't airborne?”

“No. For whatever reason, it seems to be contained to this creature.”

“Well at least there's that. How did this happen though? Did Commander Vitalic make them? I thought he was a physicist, not a biologist.”

“Commander Vitalic is extremely intelligent. Just because he doesn't have a background in a particular field doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to work in another, and who knows what he might have been involved in these past years.”

“What about Ms. Trimbalts comment on Burninite DNA?”

“The DNA strand the fungus exchanges to match those it infects contains what appear to be Burninite genetic code. Where they got that though is something of a mystery. After all, the Burninites would have know if one of their own had been kidnapped and infected.”

“Hm. We need more information. Let the ground team know what we suspect. And inform me immediately when Ms. Trimbalt re-establishes contact with us.”

“Aye aye.”

* * * * *

Another of the creatures walked through the forest a few kilometers away from the StateSec unit. It stopped to sniff the air. Something new was in the air.

Without showing herself, Teresa tries to reach out with her mind. Assuming the "friend" overtone, she sends What are you? as hard as she can. Presuming that fails, she simply tries soothing, which means she attempts to suppress violent or angry impulses in the creature, and attempts to heighten sympathy and calm. She quickly warns Jenova to have a shield barrier prepared in case the creature needs to be contained in the case that she fails here, and then she reveals herself.

"Do not be alarmed. I am not an enemy. I wish to know what you are," she says. "I sense something of myself in you, although we appear quite different."

“Ah know yah're der,” said the creature.  The initial look of confusion slowly bled into an unsettling grin.  “Ah can hear yah.  Ah can smell yah.  Yah wannah know what Ah am?  Show yahself and yah can fin' out what Ah do fa' fun.”

* * * * *

“Black Bishop, Black Pawn Four-Two.  I have visual on the facility.”  A window opened on 'Black Bishop's' HUD showing the structure.  “Two green-skins in front.”

“Understood.  Black Knight Four, establish sniper posts for your squad.  Cover the entrance.  All others Black Knights, I'm updating you with approach profiles.  Get to the final way points along theses paths.  Keep an eye out for other scouts.  Do not engage unless you absolutely have to.  Withdraw to avoid detection if necessary.”  After receiving confirmation from his subordinates, 'Black Bishop' triggered his radio.  “Red Queen, Black Bishop.  Request status of peaceful contact attempt.”

Teresa stumbles a moment, almost becoming visible in only one location. The creature may have caught a glimpse of her, but she hopes she was able to cover it in time with a few projections, so at worst it would have seen multiple. Augh, I'll never be as good as Jenova is at this, she thinks. Doing so much with her mind all at once is taxing, and nigh impossible. That stumble showed how close to the edge of her capacities she is. And to think that the only one better in all of Burnination is Jenova herself.

She shuts down wayward thoughts in an instant. It was the comm relay that almost tipped her over the edge. She knew she should have requested radio silence. She also can't physically answer the radio now. It would give away her location. But she only has a moment, and violent action would ruin it. She must respond.

So she taps the Infinity Web for Jenova --
Jenova, I cannot use my comms this instant but codename Black Bishop is asking for the status of Red Queen, which is me. Please tell them that I have located a target and am attempting communication; more time is requested.
I will not order them
I am not suggesting you try to give them an order, but I cannot respond
Teresa, this is --
Teresa severs the mental connection before Jenova can finish. It was too taxing.

~~ Black Bishop receives radio from Jenova herself -- "Black Bishop, this is a Burninite proxy for the Red Queen -- she is making progress but requests more time if possible. If you engage, radio her and she will pull out."

Meanwhile, Teresa returns her attention to the creature. "I am hiding because I do not wish to fight," she says. "I wish to determine if you are an intelligent creature and I wish to learn of your origins. If I show myself, will you speak with me?"

“Proxy, Black Bishop. We read you clear. We do not intend to engage. We are, however taking positions in preparation for things dropping in the pot.” 'Black Bishop continued to monitor the progress of the squads as they moved into position around the entrance to the installation.

* * * * *

“Ah suppose we could talk whiles ah has ma' fun,” the creature said. “Nah tha' ah gots all tha much to... SAY!” the creature shouted and leaped at Teresa Trimbalt with a large metal shard.

When the creature leaped towards her, Teresa immediately dropped her voice psionic as well as her duplicates. She diverts all her attention towards the simmershield, and allows the shard to hit the simmershield. It is rated to take the breaking force of trinium projectiles. And in terms of shattering potential, that is the strongest metal.

If the creature is strong enough, the metal should shatter. If not, it should bounce off, no harm no foul. She's most concerned about repeated attacks, though. The shield will fail if the creature is determined.

She takes out her comm in full view of the creature. "Black bishop, this is the red queen. The creatures do not seem to be capable of civilized life. They seem to know only violence. I cannot get this one to want to do anything but kill me. If it attacks me again, I will declare my mission here a failure, and you are free to engage."

She doesn't stop from transmitting to finish.

"Creature, I have no desire to fight you. If fighting is all you know, then I'm afraid I must go."

The shard shattered against the shimmer shield. The smaller pieces that flew off the chunk of metal embedded themselves in the ground and trees around them. Almost faster than an eye could see, the monster changed its momentum and brought the remainder of the metal in for a quick stabbing motion.

Upon continuation of the attack, Teresa activates a teleporter, returning to the Heraklean units. She has no desire to test the limits of her simmershield. It was never meant to take too much of a beating anyway.

"Black bishop, Red queen is returning; mission failure." Teresa then allows herself to become visible. "The creature seemed hell-bent on destroying me regardless of what I did. Obviously, it is the opinion of the Burninites that we should try tagging one and capturing it, perhaps wall off the whole area, and not destroy them. But you are free to engage."

“Understood,” replied 'Black Bishop'.  “We'll see what we can do.  You heard the lady, boys and girls.  Get ready to go in hot.  Report to me immediately if you see an opportunity to capture.  Otherwise, don't be afraid to lay on the plasma.  I'd rather have live subordinates and dead hostiles than vice versa.”  'Black Bishop' returned his attention to Teresa.  “Red Queen, request you return to Black Castle and debrief Black King and Black Queen.”  After passing that message, 'Black Bishop' prepared to begin the assault.  “All squads, report if in position ready to strike.”  He received positive reports.  “Strike!”  Plasma bursts struck the two creatures repeatedly and both hit the ground hard.  The StateSec unit emerged from the forest around the facility.  They moved in on the creatures and ensured they were dead.

“Black Knight Eight, have your squad secure the entrance to the facility.  The rest of us will head inside.”  The eighth squad established themselves just inside the entrance after hiding the bodies of the two dead creatures.  The other seven squads entered the facility and began systematically clearing room after room.  Their superior fire power rapidly overwhelmed the creatures during each clash, but already the force was down two men from them opening a door with one of the green-skins on the other side.  For twenty tense minutes the unit swept through, killing the monsters.

“Look at this, sir,” said one soldier, indicating the wall markings.  “Lab section.”

“Sounds like a good place to continue the hunt.  Let's take a look.”

"Yes sir, although I'm leaving an obs droid behind."

She vanishes in the classic white light of a Burninite teleporter, but a small steel ball sits where she was. It doesn't do anything, but it will silently follow the Herakleans around, providing Jenova constant updates as to their being alive and/or dead. She does go where she was requested to go.

“Black Bishop, Black Pawn Five-Two. I've detected a weak electromagnetic signal. Consistent with a transponder signal. Doing a frequency sweep. Got a lock. It's deeper in the lab section.” The point appeared on the HUD minimap.

“Understood. Keep it tight. Clear each room as we pass. We make for the transponder.” The squads leapfrogged down the passage. The doors of the labs were not designed to withstand intentional tampering, and the burn cord laid down around edges of the door quickly melted through the doors. None of the rooms contained much, mostly storage of various lab equipments. The soldiers soon found themselves outside the lab the signal was coming from. The sign outside the door read “Cryogenics.” The burn cord opened this door like all the others. Squad Three and 'Black Bishop' swept into the room. They found two dozen cryopods, one of which was filled.

“Wake him up,” ordered 'Black Bishop'. Black Pawn Three-Six moved to the controls and activated the wake up sequence. In less than a minute the young man in the pod collapsed forwarded, coughing and hacking as he was released from cryogenic sleep. “You quite done?” asked 'Black Bishop'.

“Yes,” the man replied in a strained voice.

“Good. Identify yourself.”

“My name is Patrick Bailey. I'm Doctor Vitalic's lab assistant.”

“So the good doctor is here then.”

“He was. I haven't seen him since those things attacked.”

“Hm. And how did you find your way into a cryopod?”

“I put myself there to hide from those things. Snuck back in after they broke out of the lab section. This and several other labs have independent back up power supplies. I could hide in here for up to three months without external power being restored.”

“Good thinking for a moron dumb enough to get involved with Gorgon research.”

“I was offered good money to work on this project. Money enough to finish my doctorate and buy my way into a partnership at any R&D firm I like.”

“Well, as long as you cooperate from here on you might just live long enough to make it back to civilization. What is this Cryo lab used for?”

“Store biological materials for long periods in a stable condition. Obviously, we can store humanoids, but the real prize is back there in the box. Our remaining seeds.”

“Seeds?”

“Cloned Burninite zygotes. We were given thirty-six at the beginning of the project, and we've only grown one to maturity.”

“You have a Burninite clone? I suppose it is also infected with Gorgon?”

“Of course. That was the point of the research. Determine if weaponized Gorgon could be used as an effective weapon against a Burninite population.”

“This is so many different flavors of wrong. Who hired you?”

“Doctor Vitalic. I don't know who hired him or the mercs. All I know is I was receiving everything I was promised.”

“Fucking hell. Red Queen, Black Bishop. Did you hear all that?”

That explains everything, Jenova thinks.

Teresa doesn't answer, not knowing to what Jenova refers.

"Black Bishop, this is Red Queen. We copy. I'm remanding myself to an iso unit as we speak; requesting that your team take air, water, soil samples, and we're about to forward a request to Heraklea for reinforcements for you. This just got VERY serious for Burnination.

"Do not be alarmed when Burninite air units begin to show up. Callsign for air leader is Nc6. Red Queen will become incommunicado in a moment when isolation is complete."

Moments later, Burninite air power does arrive, and cordons off a huge swath of area with simmershield walls as temporary barriers. At least if the creatures try to leave, they'll know about it.

"Black Bishop, this is Nc6. Glad to work with you. We are authorized to use lethal force and we have hazmat ground forces prepped if you need reinforcements on the ground. Coordinates for ground drop of sample equipment to follow: "

“Huh,” said one of the 'Black Knights'. “Burninite commandos. Who knew?”

“Live long enough,” said 'Black Bishop', “I'm sure we'll see everything.” He triggered his comm. “Nc6, Black Bishop. I've got a squad at White Castle's entrance ready to take possession of the drop. We'll let you know if we need back up. In the meantime, though...” 'Black Bishop flipped off his comm and turned to the young man. “Mr. Bailey, where is the full grown clone located?”

“It's in Lab Four. You head down this hallway, make a left and a right, then it will be on the right.”

“Good boy. Now go open that freeze box.” The young man went to the small vault and opened it, returning with the tray containing the thirty-five frozen zygotes. “Three-Three.” The indicated 'Black Pawn' took the tray from the young man. Then 'Black Bishop' raised his tranq rifle and shot the young man. The quick burst of current ran through him and shocked his brain into unconsciousness. Bailey fell limp to the ground. 'Black Pawn Three-Three' tucked the tray into Bailey's tunic. 'Black Bishop' triggered his comm again. “Nc6, Black Bishop. If you would be so kind as to transport the young man I just put to bed to our brig, it would be most helpful. And as an added bonus, he has on his person some frozen seeds for you.”

* * * * *

“Who the hell would want to attack the Burninites?” wondered IS1 Douglas aloud.

“Who knows,” replied Command Duval. “About a thousand possibilities come to mind and there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest any particular one.”

“It just doesn't make any sense, though. The Burninites don't threaten anyone. Hell, in a lot of situations they have an almost pathological aversion to violence. What reason could their possibly be for this?”

“We could sit here and speculate all day and probably get no closer to the truth. Let's focus on the mission for now.”

“Yes ma'am.”

Since the lab assistant was tranqed, and mission protocol hadn't been altered on tranqs yet, as soon as the tranq hit the boy, he was beamed onto the brig. Remember, that was the prearranged thing to do, and it'll be done until protocol is changed. So yeah, it's done before the command can even finish being given.

As for the zygotes, those are beamed off the brig of the Heraklean ship after the boy is beamed onto it. The ship captain receives an effusive apology for this -- apparently the Burninites count it as an affront to decent society to beam something off of someone else's ship. They also promise that nothing else has been or will ever be beamed off the ship without asking the captain first, with the exception of "disgusting abominations in the form of 'cloned Burninite zygotes.'"

Upon receiving the things, which happens a few minutes later, Jenova examines them for all of 25 seconds, then unceremoniously burns them to ash.

Teresa's tissue samples are taken to be tested for the fungus, then she is placed into stasis to prevent spread of disease throughout her body, if indeed it is found she is infected. The tissue samples are taken for testing.

Other Burninite scientists await samples from the area.