Castaway Planet

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 1

Unknown Location

Galactic Standard Time / 0900

Jinn ran as he used his Nano-tech to augment the shots he took over his shoulder. His nano-enhanced hearing heard the screech of hunger screeches from the insectoids. And then he heard the sounds of chitin shattered to get at the meat within.

The stray thought hit him then, that all he was doing was helping his killers. For all he knew, the insectoids were starving but wouldn't kill their own to eat them, but he was. And that was only if these things were aware. But all he was doing might have been helping his killers get stronger.

But this was the best plan he had, and fewer foes were just as good as weak ones. But then he heard the sound of a tree falling behind him, the crack of the wood was something he would never forget. Something either strong, big, or both was after him. He could only hope that whatever it was, it was hunting the insectoids instead of hunting with them. Then he heard a roar so like the insectoid's screeches. But this one was louder, more powerful sounding. For seconds he hoped it was a predator of the insectoids, but then they answered it. Their screeches were still mindless, but now there was a note of glee in them.

He needed to move on to the next plan, find a place to fight them off. One enemy was better than many, so he had to whittle their numbers down fast. He ran out of the forest and felt a grin form. This might be the answer to his problems, not perfect but he could work with it. Before him was a large clearing forty feet wide with twenty-foot tall rock cliffs on both sides. A river that cut through them thirty feet away from him and across it was a cliff face thirty feet high. And as luck would have it there were boulders teen feet around and tall, three of them in a jagged line that connected the river and forest.

Running to the second boulder he fired in the forest, hoping his shots would slow down the insectoids. But as the first of the insectoids charged at him, Jinn just drew his second pistol and shot at it. The bolts hit the creature’s right arm and left leg, tearing them from its body. As the insectoid fell it screeched in anger as it slowly bleed to death.

Another of the insectoids ran into the clearing with its arms raised and Jinn’s instincts screamed at him to move! He ducked behind the boulder moments before the insectoid fired its organic guns at him. Two small organic spikes shot from the insectoid’s arms; one of them hit the boulder and the other sped by him to hit the cliff face. Two more screeches heralded the arrival of two more of the insectoid, but before they could attack energy bolts rained down at them.

“JINN!” Al’s voice caused Jinn to smile and keep shooting as he looked over his shoulder and up, smiling as he saw Al and Sara firing on the insectoids, only for them to duck as the insectoids started to fire back.

Jinn felt a grin forming as he aimed at the insectoids and fired two headshots, killing them with one shot. For a few moments, Jinn thought that they would win. That together they would take out the insectoids before the thing that roared came. But then they all heard another roar, and it was louder and closer. As all the insectoids screeched in glee the sounds of wood cracking caused the humans to look towards the forest.

Yet mean moments later, a roar from the trees caused the surviving insectoids to roar back. Jinn stared at the trees, wondering what had let the insectoids regain their courage. As they stared at the tree line in horror, from it came a fifteen-foot-tall monster! It was another insectoid, and it looked like it came from the same species as the others but it was different. It had four arms instead of two, each a foot around but they were different. The top pair had claws like the other insectoids but the lower ones ended in black chitin lances.

Jinn glared as two more of the smaller insectoids came from around the sides of the bigger one and charged at him. He aimed at their heads, his nano tech augmenting his shots and fired once from each pistol. His bolts shot through their necks in the sides, forming holes in a third of the mass of their necks. From the holes came black blood, and the insectoids stood there making choking sounds as their hands went to their wounds. Before even a few seconds had passed the larger insectoid grabbed them with its claws and threw them at Jinn.

Jinn jumped to the side and rolled away, coming up to fire at the larger insectoid with a glare. However, it was gone, disappearing from Jinn’s sight while he had dodged the corpse missiles.

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“BEHIND YOU!!” Al cried out, but before Jinn could react he jolted in place. Jinn looked down to see that the larger insectoid’s right lance had impaled him through his stomach.

“JINN!” Al cried out as he fired his rifle at the bigger one in rage.

Sara's free hand went to her mouth as she tried to process what she was seeing. She was a good enough medic to know that Jinn was dead, he just didn’t know it yet.

Jinn slowly looked over his shoulder at the larger insectoid and dropped his pistols. The larger insectoid roared as it lifted Jinn on its lance before it launched him into the air. Jinn’s body flew through the air until he hit the right cliff face and slid down it.

“NO! DAMN YOU!!!” Al roared as he fired at the larger insectoid. But each bolt from his weapon was just deflected on its chitin, at least the times' shots connected. He kept firing, his mind blank with rage. He saw that no matter what his shots were deflated off the insectoid’s carapace, but he didn’t care. He just kept firing, the way the monster killed his friend causing a rage that consumed all his thoughts.

Sara looked on, shocked for a few moments before she got her senses back and grabbed Al’s arm.

“AL WE GOTTA GO NOW! WE CAN’T SAVE HIM!” Sara yelled as Al looked at her, his eyes widened when a small black spear flew between their faces. He turned and saw one of the smaller insectoids firing at them. He paled, cursing as he saw the bigger one was directing the smaller beasts as they crossed the river.

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Jinn blinked, as he moaned, as he tried to open his eyes as his nanotech revealed his condition. The lance had gone through his armor and body like knives through butter. His organs were damaged and a potent poison was invading his body. He opened his eyes and gazed upon what was happening. up and saw the three insectoids all looking at his friends on the cliff face. Sara tried to pull Al away, but Al tried to fight her and keep firing at the insectoids.

He willed his arms and legs to move, but he couldn’t. As he tried to get up his Nanobots sent him a report on the poison, it was attacking his nerves. As he watched the readings he heard the insectoids screech and leave him, they knew his condition. As his vision started to black out and his body chilled, he knew that he was dying and he cursed that he couldn’t do more. His friend was going to die soon after him, and there was nothing he could do. If there was anything at all he could do to stand up, he would do it in a heartbeat.

He.Needed.Something.More!

Suddenly within his body, a strange warmth started to spread out from multiple spots. As he watched the report from his Nanobots started to reverse. There was a hot burn and the gaping wound from the lance healed over, and then he felt strength return to his limbs. He felt his stomach and felt only undamaged skin. He blinked and looked at his hands, only now seeing a white energy aura around them. He looked down at his body and saw he was covered by it. But then he heard weapons fire from his friend and remembered where he was and what was happening.

He turned his eyes towards the river and stared in horror. The giant insectoid was leading the last two smaller ones toward the river. As he watched the smaller ones fired their organic guns at Al and Sara who were falling back. Jinn stared in shock before a spark of rage came over him that grew into an inferno.

He drew his knife from his arm seethe and within moments it had turned into a sword. “GET AWAY FROM THERE!”

As soon as he yelled the insectoids all turned to look at him, but in that moment he screamed he was moving. He dashed at them, running faster than he ever had before, and within moments he was leaping at the larger insectoid. With a cry of rage, he slashed through its lower right lance at the shoulder and cut through the chitin like a knife through butter. He flipped over and landed feet first against the cliff, he pushed off it, angling at the larger insectoid again, this time at its left side.

The larger insectoid moved and Jinn missed his target but still scored a slash through the insectoid's body between the arms. From the gas black blood came out as the maimed limb scabbed over.

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On the cliff above, Al looked, shocked into silence.

Sara’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. She had no idea how Jinn was still alive, much less fighting! Slowly, Sara turned towards Al and she swallowed.

“Could he always know do that?” Sara asked incredulously and Al just shook his head in wonder.

Al looked at Jinn as he fought before he shook himself and looked at Sara.

They watched as Jinn moved backward as way from the larger insectoid screeched if furry and the smaller ones ran at him.

“Hell. Sara, fire at the big one! We can’t let them swarm Jinn!” Al said as he started to fire at the larger insectoid. Sara joined in and the large insectoid fell to its knees as its blood flowed out of its maimed arm, but the bolts just bounced off its shell.

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Jinn gazed at the smaller insectoids as they rushed at him, with only his sword to fight with. he saw one of his blasters nearby and ran towards it, leaning down to grab it as he ran past. He turned and saw the two insectoids had changed direction, keeping him in their sights. He ran at them, and as the first one slashed down at him he caught it on his sword and shot with his pistol, straight through its head.

As the second one came at him it raised its arms but he fired twice letting his nanobots augment his aim, shooting straight through the organic guns.. as it stumbled backward, Jinn ran at it and slashed its head off.

As the larger insectoid got its bearings back and grabbed a boulder it threw at Al and Sara. The boulder hit the cliff below the two deckhands. The cliff shook from the impact, and the two of them fell to the ground of the cliff, their weapons falling from their hands.

As the larger insectoid recovered it roared and raised its claws at him. Jinn dodged to the side before it fired organic spikes at him, the insectoid following, firing as it turned.

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Up on the cliff, Al and Sara had kept firing at the large insectoid, only for their shots to reflect off its shell. However, a lucky shot from Sara hit the maimed limb and black blood gushed from the wound as the shot broke the scab, causing the insectoid to stumbled and fall to its right knee.

“That’s it!” Al exclaimed as he tried to aim his rifle at the round. “The carapace didn’t heal over the wound, we can kill this thing!”

“Got it!” Sara said as she aimed with her pistol, trying to remember her time on the firing range.

“jinn, the wound! Fire at the scabbed over wound!” Al yelled and hoped his friend could still hear.

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Below, Jinn dodged the swings of the larger insectoid’s claws, parrying some of the swings as he retreated. He felt the strange feeling start to…….pulse within him and he knew somehow he was almost out of whatever it was. He wondered just how he would survive, but then he heard Al’s scream and understood it, a grin forming on his face.

The insectoid screeched while it lashed out with its remaining lance arm. Jinn meanwhile had dodged to the right and fired at the wound, releasing black blood as the scab broke.

As it reared back in pain, Jinn grinned at it and growled. “I’m not soft meat beastie! I might die, but by creation, I’ll make you work for your meal!”

Before the larger insectoid could come at him again, bolts from Al and Sara started to hit it. Most of the shots were missed as they aimed at its scab. It looked up as a lucky shot caused it to lose more blood, causing it to roar before it turned and dashed into the trees, retreating from them.

Jinn waited a few moments before he sighed and tried to calm down. As he sheathed his dagger-sword as the blade shrank. As soon as he had his hands off his weapons he felt the strange energy within him change……the pulse went lower as the aura died away. The warmth was still there, and with every moment more of it seemed to grow stronger. It was like nothing he had ever felt before, yet somehow he knew how to call for it again.

“JINN! YOU OKAY!” Al called out and Jinn looked from his sword to Al before raising it and shaking it.

“YEAH! STAY THERE I NEED TO GATHER A FEW SAMPLES!” Jinn called out. As he turned towards the remains and severed limbs of the insectoids, he went to work. In moments he had a head and arm of one of the smaller insectoids in his backpack and tied the lance limb to it.

Looking around and finding his last lost pistol he retrieved it and then he walked to the river. After checking the speed of the current, he walked through it to the cliff before he started to climb up. A few moments later he smiled at the shocked faces of Al and Sara. “Hey.”

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Al stared at Jin in shock. He had seen some strange things before he became a deckhand but what Jinn did, was beyond all of it.

“How the hell did you do that?!” Sara demanded as she looked at Jinn’s stomach. He just shrugged, a wary smile on his face.

“Don’t know. I just……. I reached for anything to help. Then I just let my instincts guide me,” Jinn said before he was engulfed in the aura again, causing Al and Sara to jerk back. They stared at Jinn as he grinned and laughed. “And I can call it back whenever I want!”

Al just looked at Jinn as his aura died away and shook his head, trying to make sense of what Jinn said.

“You are…..how did you….. where did you……Jinn we gotta talk,” Al said as he looked at Jinn who only laughed a little. Al looked at him before shaking his head. “Later. For now, you gotta see what we found! We gotta get back to the capsule, Chief Duncan needs to know about this.”

“Yeah, those things have to be reported. If there are more of them, and the big one wasn’t the queen. We could be in very deep trouble,” Jinn said and Al looked at him before shaking his head.

“No, not them! Something else, something big!” Al said and before Jinn could say anything Al held up a hand. “Just follow us!”

Jinn stayed silent and looked between Al and Sara before nodding.

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Jinn was starting to regret that decision. As they moved, Al and Sara looked all around for any sign that they were being followed by anything.

He stopped talking as he came out of the forest and saw what they had found. Ahead of them was a cliff that revealed a view that took his breath away. The cliff had to be at least a good mile up, and the view! They were overlooking a forest that stretched for miles, all the way to a large body of water that went beyond the horizon. Along the beach was a rocky landbridge that lead to another island with something sticking out of a mountain, something that glinted in the light.

Jinn stayed silent as he pulled out the distance-viewer from his bag. Bringing it to his eyes he looked through it. He swept it over the forest until he reached the water, then he found the land bridge and followed it to find the source of the glittering light. There in the mountain, was a large silver rectangle with a pyramid at the front, farther back was a forward sweeping wing that curved downward. Jinn went still, he knew a lot of the classes of spaceships that were armed and only a few had wings that shape, but only one that size.

“That’s……. it might be an Anchorage class yard-ship,” Jinn said as he put away the distance-viewer while Al gasped before he started to laugh.

“An Anchorage here?! We might have some luck left after all!” Al said as he kept laughing.

“What’s the deal with the class?” Sara asked as Al laughed.

Jinn just smiled and explained. “Well, they’re heavy cruiser-size factory ships. It gets the yard-ship class because it can make anything, even other ships. But with all the power needed for the auto-factory, the weapons are light cruisers at best, at least the basic model. I think there were made to let fleets resupply if they’re cut off from supply lines.”

Sara just grinned and laughed a little.

Jinn just looked at the glittering light with his naked eyes as he [put the distance-veiwer away from them. Everything he said was true, but he left out a few darker things he knew they were used for.

"Yeah. And after the war, they were reformatted as colony ships. They were seen as a quick way to get a manufactory and central complex for startup colonies. I reported on them once for school," Al said as he saw Jinn and Sara stare at him.

“A manufactory ship?! If it still works, could we get off the world? Could we fly it off this world?!” Sara asked as she recovered but her grin faded as Jinn just sighed and shook his head.

“No, I can’t see the engines, it might have broken when it crashed. And don’t think about repairing it,” Jinn said tonelessly. Sara looked stricken and turned to Al, hoping for better news.

“Yeah, FTL engines, they need rare materials to work. And the chances of that one having any that’s still good to repair them,” Al said bitterly and Sara looked at him in horror.

“Yeah……. I see other escape capsules,” Jinn said suddenly and they turned to him. He was looking toward the forest and brought the distance-viewer to his eyes. Al and Sara watched him and after a few moments, Jin nodded and pointed towards the forest.

“There are more of us here!” Sara said with a grin on her face as Al laughed a little.

Al watched as Jinn moved the distance view, taking in the entire area before he moved his eyes away from it, a strange look on his face.

Jinn thought about what he had seen, strange thoughts going through his mind. He didn’t want to mention it, but he had thought he’d seen the marks of battle on the land bridge. If there were other insectoids like the ones they fought out there, then someone might be fighting them. Nature didn’t exist in a vacuum, there had to be a reason they had those organic guns. And then there was the other problem, one he had to think about.

Jinn looked at the ship in the distance, his mind going dark places. The few groups that still used them nowadays were slavers, outlaws, and low-budget startup colonies. There were better Yard-ships and a few ships that were made to be used as colony hubs. And the colonies that used them were always the lowest of the low, places that became pirate ports that sold slaves after too long. And the greatest of those groups was a Syndicate that made more of those ships to sell to anyone. If that ship was one of those they either had trouble or new people to save, if any were still alive.

Jinn didn’t know if he should bring he knew, they would want to know how he knew about them. But either way, he had to be on the team that was sent to it.

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Report; Group of Template 10049 has repelled HSB Type CFS Lesser and killed HSB Type Least. One Template fought off majority, with and level-ten weaponry. Aether Augmentation came online at fifty percent, others in subgroup at twenty percent.

Bio scan showed that Template was at dawn of awakening naturally. Nano-Enhancement results, Max level. Recommendation; summon Hunter Slayer Cloak Construct to shadow Template.

Query, Template killed HSB Type CFS Lesser?

Negative; HSB Type CFS Lesser lost one limb in combat with Template Aether Augmented and other Templates attacked with level ten laser ranged weaponry aimed at wound given by augmented Template; HSB Type CFS Lesser retreated.

HSB Type CFS Lessers have never been recorded to flee in all Biomes.

Orders/ Negative Hunter Slayer deployment.

HSB Type CFS Lesser actions reason?

Theory/

1; HSB Type CFS Lesser has fought Aether Augmented before.

2; Local Hive has passed the sapient border.

Actions to prove/

1; If battle happened where recording possible they would be available. Logic shows that if battle happened in unrecorded area, records impossible. unknown where or against who, would be impossible to prove proposed actions happened.

2; HSB Type CFS Lesser showed no strategy, unknown if passed border. Will need to capture and dissect brain.

Sending Construct group with orders to scan hive HSB Type CFS on sub Biome; objectives will be given when data is collected

Report on reactions of HSB Type CFS Lesser hive.

Send Constuct Monitors to all Template groupings

Complying; should Construct Observers be sent to other groupings within Biome?

Confirmed; send Construct Observers to all groupings. Query; status of other internal Political Groups and new sampling combination?

BIO 07 data collection on schedule, expect report sent to main intelligence by next scheduled update

Alert; Aether Test Combat Template/ STF01 approaching 63 percent gestation.

On schedule to be introduced to test location near sample grouping of the victor of combat with HSB Type CFS Lesser; relocate to opposite side of mountain?

…….Negative, release Template as planned with additional augments; Evolutionary Consummation and Direct Impulse Influence.

Record all actions and results, only send Template away if defeat is imminent.

Complying