The Atomas, from their inception onward knew; their lives were one of servitude. Despite the laws of violence; the civil war that erupted between them and their Creators The Laquins; would scatter both races to the deepest areas of space.
Much like their Human counterparts; population growth was eventual. However; the Events regarding the presence of Trifynn on Drakis Prime was strange.
It was said Atomas didn't engage in acts of coupling or reproduction. Although being possible, it was a generally private thing and rarely spoke of. The mental and even pandemic view the Atomas had of themselves; devalued any desire to continue their race. Said maybe in a better way; Birth rates were needless low.
As the thousands milled around the group; Trifynn ensured he and his child would not be discovered. He was quite proficient at this.
Trifynn himself was no stranger to war or conflict. It was rumoured he was the last atoma to leave Atmos Prime. More accurately however; it was he who released their home world to the Laquins. He obviously; if this were true, had no desire to advertise this.
In the meantime; Cred and the others met the mythical Nirashti and began to forge close friendships while, Trifynn achieved his mission and slipped away without being detected.
As the repairs to the city were now complete; Zypher and the rest were now treated as The Honoured Dead. They didn't like the tile- but the name implied Locally; they were hero's.
Regardless of how much The Nevicks tried to remind the Nirashti; Their old views were fairly engrained in them. This resulted in random soldier's volunteering to fight with them in their next battle. They were confused further when they would respond with, "Our mission's are that of peace."
The Nevicks possessed only one weapon that even made the Nirashti squirm; it was their Kortrat Swords.
Swords like these bypass their chitin based alloy armour. Literally slicing directly through from first contact.
Cred explained it this way to one solider; "The Kortrat sword wasn't issued for battle. They were issued to clear a path. Most planets were settled by The Nevicks. Even in many cases; FOR the Nevicks."
The Nirashti who he was speaking to was a warrior of sorts. Thinking about what he said he replied. "Jager-Cred why then does the Title: Sword master apply to you?" Creds reply was near instant. "As your race knows; you can't be sure unless; you're sure."
This response acknowledges he has no desire for battle; but will respond if he 'sure' there's no other way.
The group considered that perhaps their imprint on this planet had reached its Zenith. The decision to leave was reached.
Hordes of Mordors were now in mitosis. Many of the females with the news of so many deaths, had chosen to Be impregnated. There was no denying; Their race needed to recover.
The Yellow Dragon had requested their attendance; they slowly entered the cavern and bowed before the regal looking creature. Zypher had designed an armour that would protect the dragon in the future. It wore the armour proudly.
An Ornate face place and chest plates now covered her vitals. It was made of a weaved Kortrat. The skills of Zypher and Mia were now quite acutely evident.
Kortrat was not an alloy that obeyed directions. Yet the particle that had resonated and attached itself to the parties DNA; remained. By applying this power; Kortrat obeyed.
The yellow dragon spoke and the cave echoed. Small packs of mordors ran in threes freely nearby.
"Defenders of Drakis, You will be revered here as hero's. We only ask that you keep youre sworn oath to keep as much of the war from our planets. To defend this home word as your own. We would like to send you 10 of our Elite guards as a token of our alliance and appreciation. Upon their Glorious Death; we will send you 20 more. You will no longer fight alone."
Bowing Zephyr thanked the world guardian. "Thank you Guardian; The distance between our cultures are great, i hope we can further mend our relationship in the future."
"Lady Zephyr; Our World Gate is active now if you would like to pursue the Alicren assailants." She seemed to smile knowing full well; this would be something hard for her to say No to.
Stepping forward The Four requested in unison, "Send Me."
The pools water level began to drop and reveal a platform. Upon standing still on it, a high pitch sounds filled their protected ears. The burst of light dimmed. Slowly they began to get their bearings.
Their Helmets quickly adapted to the stark darkness. They were now in another dark cavern. Their onboard systems told them the outside tempature was near absolute zero. By the second their armour contracted and chilled.
"Kinda ironic, From the fire into the-" Cred trailed off as he saw it too.
"Co-poo." Zephyr cursed in Jager. She crouched down and examined the large frozen creature. It had been tore open, from the inside.
It was mostly white, covered in a nearly invisible fine thick white fur. It had large hands and fingers tipped with a chitin like claw. Its face was that of a bear-like lion.
"The Claws will actually pose a threat to us. They're made up out of something that is biologically similar to our Kortrat swords." He shook his head as he liked it when nothing around them; could hurt them.
Leviathan drew his sword and examined the body. "Ive fought one of these things. But they are only on one planet... a forbidden planet. The odds of us being on the exact planet is quite slim." A sense of worry began to sink into the team. The sense of worry became alarm as they could see fairly fresh tracks in the snow that settled in the area.
The strides taken by the creature displayed in the snow; implied it was a very large creature. Leviathan however knew their dimensions personally.
"They are big. Roughly 8-900 lbs all muscle. Around 10ft tall. Ive seen and killed ones larger than that." He said in a calm voice.
"If you get separated from me, you will die here. Our armour can become brittle at low temperatures. Do not chance taking kinetic damage. Avoid or roll. If this is the planet I think it is; Out side its blowing white sand and snow. Our sensors will not work or at least not be very accurate. This planet is Polaris#2346 Ive lost a lot of men here." His helmet frosted over as the cold set in. It gave his helmet wise eyebrows around his visor.
"I can't access the Network from where we are right now...That's odd." Mia spoke up. "It's like we are in a completely cut of area of space." She calculated the odds of that and chuckled.
"Yeah, we are cut off from everything here. The planet masks its energy signature," he looked up as they had all seemed to be impressed with his knowledge. "This place is crazy dangerous; Im who they sent to try and make this planet disappear. So I took 49 men..."
He paused as his mental filter engaged and walled off his mind from the others. He spoke a moment later; "I'd be surprised if all of us make it off from this planet." He harshly loaded a weapon and snapped the weapon onto his hip. Layering what he just said he added softly and sincerely, "T-truly."
He powered up his warming systems as ribbons of light began to snake accross his body in a decorative way. The others did the same. Looking up to Cred he smiled.
"It's your hunt sir; anything you want to add?" Levi looked to Cred.
Cred loaded a weapon and slung it over his shoulder. He took a few seconds to respond. "Rule 4432 comes to mind when exploring new planets...'Don't eat yellow snow.'" He smiled covertly behind his helmet. Levi laughed "That is NOT what it says."
*Nevick Bounty Hunter guidebook: Section 10 paragraph 2 Rule 4432; "When determining what the dangers of the planet may be; do not ingest or make unprotected contact with any Flora or fauna." Mia recited.
They all paused and realized how dangerous of a situation they were in. And in the same instance realize how similar rule 4432 was to what Cred said. Besides that now; They smiled as warmth returned to their cores. The large hall lead likely to the surface. They had no desire to test their luck.
It wasn't that there was any fear. It was they waited on the person they knew would lead them; and he would be willing to die for them leading them; Credulin.
Meanwhile as Creds mind raced he; thought quietly that it would likely take more than a direct weapons attack to kill these things in defence. He gradually realized tho; these creatures are apex hunters on their home turf. They will be trying to kill him; and everyone with him.
In their minds they knew this was now a kill or be killed situation. Creds moment arrived,
"Come on," he said loudly, "let's see what this world holds for us."
Mia squinted; "There is a communications network here." She pointed at the frozen body. "This creature has bits and pieces of silicate and precious metals inside its stomach. Along with, humanoid remains."
Their sensors has now learned the atomic structures that were associated with their prey; The Alicren. The ground had come into contact with something that an Alicren was able to control.
It lead its prey to the surface, as if to say it could survive out there.