The Planet Destroyers - IC

Osmo Genther thanked the fates for his suit. Both he and the ship captain who had brought him here, a Vatarri named Denvar Salis, were wearing special protection suits. And they needed them. Noxious fumes were everywhere. And they we coming from the oddest of places.

Scattered just about everywhere on the surface were strange masses of something that looked remarkably like animal droppings. However, Osmo's analysis had shown that they were unbelievably toxic, as was the fumes that issued forth from them.

Osmo looked around. This looked like it had once been a forest. Once. Now all that remained were blackened skeletal looking things, brittle and crumbly, looking burnt. Osmo looked carefully at one. The surface was covered with marks. If Osmo hadn't known better (at least he thought he did at the time), he would have called them tooth marks.

"So how long are we gonna be stayin' on this here wasteland," said Denvar.

Osmo continued to stare out over the barren landscape. He thought of the signal that had been received just a few days ago by his science outpost. What could do this to world?

"You did hear me, didn't ya?" asked Denvar impatiently.

Osmo clenched his fist determinedly. "We stay until we find out what happened here!"

Werinar, wearing an advanced environmental protection and combat suit, stepped out of his small ship as it landed on the ruined planet's surface. The ship was slightly larger than a dropship, primarily used by the Ryun who had just exited and a Wreae AI embedded in the ship's system for research. The two were studying data recieved from a pre-Dominion Krathunian cruiser when they recieved a distress beacon coming from the planet, and went to investigate while alerting higher officers in the military.

Werinar turned around, and to the AI who controlled the systems, Unit 822353421, said, "Patrol the surface for any survivors of this." The AI, using a hologram projection of a normal Wreae, nodded, and the ship closed up and shot into the sky. The Ryun turned his attention to the environment around him.

He scanned the landscape using his suit's system and his own senses, showing that the atmosphere and surface were highly toxic, and that the change had only recently occurred. What could have caused something like this to happen? He wondered, fiddling with the energy shields and air filters on his armor, though it had automatically adjusted to the planet once they had touched down. The Ryun took out a small object and placed it on the ground - A signal transmitting beacon. The device planted itself into the deathly soil and sent out a distress response signal to show whoever sent the signal that help had arrived.

"Now, all I need to do is wait," He spoke aloud, observing the wasteland that lay before him.

Somewhere not far away a deteriorating radio system far more primitive than anything the Ryun possessed picked up the signal. Several people gathered around it.

"Blast it, Gatt, look what you did!" snarled one. "Now they know we're here! I told you not to send out that distress call! Now we're in bigger trouble than before!"

"I don't see why we should be," retorted another. "They could be friendly."

"Balderdash! Haven't you learned yet? If our experience has taught us anything, it's that there is no friendly life out there. This is most likely the ones who brought this calamity to us. No doubt they wished to destroy us, and have come to finish the job."

"Let's not jump to conclusions," said another. "This could have no relation to the signal Gatt sent. Maybe these are some more survivors. If this is the case, we should help them get here."

"Fat chance!" growled the first. "Who could survive out there? I'm convinced it's the aliens that sent this plague to our world. And if they come here," he added grimly, hefting a gun, "they shall be sorry they ever set foot on our world!"

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Meanwhile, Osmo and Denvar continued their analysis. Further search turned up a continuous supply of relics showing that this had once been a densely populated world. They were currently searching through what seemed to be the remains of what was once a thriving city. Osmo poked at a skeleton lying amongst the filth. Denvar gave a snort. "Any revelations or enlightenment come your way yet?"

Osmo sighed. "No. Please be patient. This is going to take time." He gazed around the city. Everything metal was heavily corroded by the toxins and fumes of the strange dung-like piles that seemed to be littered everywhere. Everything wooden and plastic, strangely, was covered in more of looked suspiciously like teeth-marks.

Denvar kicked one of the strange piles of toxic material. "Any ideas what these are? They look to me like the remains of some critter's lunch."

Osmo had to agree with Denvar there. His analysis had suggested that these strange piles were organic in nature, very much like the waste material of some animal. But what animal had such toxic waste?

Denvar pointed ahead. "What you suppose that is?"

Osmo gaped in astonishment. Lying in the street not far away was the immense carcass of some giant beast. From what was left, it appeared have an exoskeletal integument, and a head bearing at least two pairs of jaws, positioned perpendicularly to each other. However, the inside of the creature was completely hollowed out. More teeth-like marks were found inside the skin.

Suddenly, Osmo's radio picked up something. It appeared to be some sort of signal. He turned on his comm system. "Hello? Is someone there?" Could there be survivors on this world?

Werinar had connected the beacon's systems to his armor to allow for any signals that he received to go directly to his HUD. Several minutes later, he received Osmo's message, reading, "Hello? Is someone there?"

The Ryun activated his own system, pacing around the glowing beacon. "This is Ensign and Systems Engineer Werinar of the 23rd fleet of the Ryun-Wreae Federation of the United Ieegan Systems. I received a distress signal from this planet and have come to investigate." Werinar stopped pacing in relief, thankful that another intelligent being was present in the wasteland.

"My name is Osmo Genther. I'm a Humdar biologist from Vathoris. I have here with me a Vatarri named Denvar Salis. We also have come to investigate a distress signal. Where exactly are you?"

The Ryun, after receiving the transmission, used the beacon to pinpoint its origin, a fairly easy task for the engineer. He then used scanned planetary environment data that the Wreae had gotten upon arriving to pinpoint his location.

"I'm close to your position. Head northwest, you will find me in a matter of a couple minutes." The Ryun stated. To aid in their search Werinar used the beacon to send the data of his position to the Humdar and Vatarri.

It didn't take long for the pair to reach Werinar's position. Osmo gave him the typical respectful greeting in Daro, right fist to left palm, and a slight bow. Denvar gave him a succinct "Yo!"

"Am I correct in assuming, Sir," speaking quickly to cover his companion's rather bad manners, "that you picked up a distress call from this world? We also picked one up. However," he added looking around, "we have yet to locate anything that could be called 'living.'"

"Nope," said Denvar. "Just lot's o' this stuff." He kicked one of the dung-like piles.

Not far away, something was observing this meeting. And it was starving.

Werinar greeted the pair by clasping his hands on his chest and bowing, a greeting that showed respect in the Federation's culture. "It is a pleasure to meet you two." He turned to Osmo and began to speak. "You are correct. I was bringing data on lost Krathunian technology to a Federation world when my ship received the distress call. The rest of my crew boarded another ship with the data, while I set off with my vessel to investigate. The ship is patrolling the planet, looking for any signs for life."

Werinar looked around him, noting the dung-like substances lying everywhere. "I'm not sure what could do this to a planet. I've never seen anything like it. One may assume that it could be a natural event on this planet, but it seems too... Uniform." Werinar remarked. "We should stick together, this doesn't seem to be the friendliest of places."

"That sounds perfectly reasonable," replied Osmo. "You may be interested in noting a few things we discovered over this way." Motioning with his hand, he lead Werinar to the site of the old city. Something followed them cautiously.

Osmo pointed out the great carcass lying in one of the streets. "This doesn't seem to match any record of anything we know of. And the inside is completely hollowed out, almost as if something ate it from the inside."

Werinar knelt, examining the corpse. "This is odd..." He muttered, trailing off into thought over the discovery. The Ryun had no interest in touching the inside of outside of the corpse, and chose to scan the object to create a full three dimensional model to be studied later.

He pointed inside the dead beast, motioning to Osmo and Denvar. "Notice these marks, almost like teeth. These indentations are not just inside this carcass, but they're also on the ground. This can't have been a parasite or carcass, or else we wouldn't find these marks on non-living entities." Werinar did a quick analysis of the environment around the corpse using his HUD. "I'm also not detecting an abundance of microbes able to perform this task, nor are there any strange anomalies in the area, though the toxicity levels on the entire planet are off the charts. This was a very sudden change, further implying that whatever caused this did not evolve or originate on the planet. If that was the case, the inhabitants would have likely evolved a resistance against it. Clearly, they haven't."

"Huh," said Denvar. "Wonder what this was?" He picked up a small creature from the ground. It was somehat lizard-like in form, but it's front limbs seemed to be in the process of turning into wings. It also had two pairs of jaws, just like the immense dead behemoth nearby. "Odd," said Osmo studying and scanning it. "No sign of any injuries. It seems pretty emaciated, though. That in combination of how little protein seems to be in its organs and muscles, I'd say this thing starved to death." He frowned as he consulted his readings. "Now here's something," he muttered. "Its rectum is showing traces of the very same materials that are within these strange piles." He gazed thoughtfully at one that was nearby. "They do bear a startling resemblance to dung, don't they?"

Werinar thought for a second, examining both the small creature and the dung-like pile. "It does." He said, observing both. "The substance in question seems to be highly toxic. However, due to the abundance of it and the rarity of corpses, it seems unlikely that they're actual droppings." Werinar looked back at the lizard-like animal. "However, if the same substance is within its rectum, that may be the case. That brings up another question - What created all of these?"

"I don't know," replied Osmo. He scanned the creature again. He stared hard at the data, and then frowned as it was compared to something else. "Could it be possible?" he murmured.

"Oih! Up here!" called Denvar. He was standing on the top of a small hill. Beckoning to them, he pointed down the other side. "I think I've found yer carcasses, Mr. Werinar."

On the other side was a veritable graveyard. The carcasses consisted mostly of fairly large creatures whose build suggested they were predators, with long limbs and lean bodies. However, there were a few smaller ones scattered around; some had wings, some were lizard-like, and there were several immense ones like the one giant carcass they had seen earlier. The vast majority of these larger ones were also hollowed out from the inside. However, most of the carcasses suggested they had been fed upon ravenously. All of these creatures had an exoskeleton, all had two pairs of jaws, and all seemed to have some sort of stinger on the tail. The larger ones also had strange structures on their legs that looked like they might have been degenerated wings.

"This is interesting." Werinar muttered, walking into the field of dead creatures. "Why would they have all perished in this location?" Taking a look around, he noted the fact that they had all seemed to be at least partially eaten. "The most fascinating part of this, to me, is the fact that many of these animals are hollowed out." Turning to Osmo, he asked, "Is there anything you know of that would cause this?"

"Huh!" said Denvar before Osmo could reply. "Seems obvious enough to me. Something ate them."

"Obviously," said Osmo in a slightly exasperated tone. He examined a few. "There do seem to be teeth marks on all of them."

He began scanning them, and examining various carcasses. There it was again, that thing he had picked up earlier. He then noticed something else. He frowned. Could it be true?

"I've just noticed something. Look at all of these carcasses, namely, the appearance of the various creatures. As I'm sure you've noticed, they are of various sizes and forms. But if you look at them, they all have a few consistent traits shared by all of them. They all have two pairs of jaws, a horizontally positioned pair and a vertical one. They also all seem to have some sort of stinger on the tail."

"However, that's not what startles me most. My scanner is telling me that the DNA pattern in these creatures is identical." He looked at Werinar. "I can't say anything for sure yet, but I think these might all be the same species of animal."