Marring Mustafar (Ultimatum)

[Koshka Scalvez]

[member="Ultimatum"]

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Mustafar: the infamous lava planet. For such a simple planet, galactic history has found it to be a worthy point of contention for many space-faring civilizations. Although the planet has been claimed by many people throughout time, there is one owner of unique properties. A leader among machines, capable of stretching its influence even over other organics through cunning and cold calculation. Despite the fact that the robot wasn't even alive, Ultimatum was a threat to the Dark Swarm's plans for the galaxy. As such, he was to be destroyed.

To ensure the pre-emptive destruction of this threat, two Heralds were sent to carry out a simple order: Destroy the synthetic known as Ultimatum.

A dark space vessel dropped out of hyper space and sat in orbit. After two minutes, a couple of long, slinky black forms slithered out of the vessel and snaked their way into the atmosphere. The Heralds were coming for their prey.

 

[Ultimatum]

The scanners of the planet were not sufficient to see the vessel enter the system, however the much closer and far stronger sensors on the shipyard, Foresight, told of a vessel. Ultimatum's suspicion was aroused when the ship stayed in orbit for a couple minutes. It was not common, yet at the same time it was not exceedingly rare. It was just that those who tended to act in such a way would turn or move. This one simply stayed in orbit, that made it different from most other traffic. The sensors detected the departure of two... things... leaving the ship. He had first assumed they were probes of sorts, however the trails they made through the atmosphere pointed to a different thing. He did not know what.

Ultimatum was not at Progenitor facility, he might have been safe there with its clandestine nature, but he was actually en route to the main city. He had Legion stop long enough for the larger droid to step out. He had a funny feeling about this, call it the organic nature programmed into the artificial, at least partly. He felt as if this was not good. Ultimatum stayed outside as Legion moved to continue onto the city. Whatever it was that was coming down, if they used conventional sensors they might be defeated by the sheer amount of metal in the ground around him, hiding him from them. The ash from the volcanoes began to get caught in the imperfections of his metal body, turning the clean silvery look of the tough Phrik body to a more grey or brown appearance. It would not hide him from the eyes of an astute enemy, if that was what they were. He sent an order to Progenitor Facility to begin preparing the droids for combat, just in case.

[member="Dark Swarm Narrator"]

 

[Koshka Scalvez]

The Heralds intercepted Legion and his vehicle. When the vehicle was close enough to see them against the sky, they accelerated and darted through the windows at full force. They bit Legion and thrashed around the vehicle, looking for their prey. It didn't take long for them to find that Ultimatum was not there. They immediately left the vehicle, but not before tail slapping Legion first.

They retraced the direction in which the vehicle had originally been coming from. They slithered through the air at a regular pace: fast enough to cover ground, but slow enough so that they could get a good look at their surroundings. When they neared [member="Ultimatum"]'s location, they noted that the area was less regular than usual. This led them to take their time and search the area. It was only a matter of time before they eventually spotted him, but this gave Ultimatum the upper hand; the element of surprise.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was connected to Legion through the programming that both shared, like that the creator shared with his work. The advanced droid could feel when his friend was destroyed, or at least badly damaged. That was the second time something like this had happened! The other time thought, Ultimatum had not foreseen the attack and had been kidnapped as a result. Not this time. Though that time had given him something that would hopefully help this time, a great many things actually. Most of them were related to knowledge in fighting these sort of enemies. The enemy were those that tried to overthrow leadership or destabilize a government. Either way, they struck hard and fast, relying on speed and surprise to overwhelm unprepared defenses.

But, they had made a mistake, unintentionally. They had had enough intel to know that he had been vehicle, but apparently had missed information on the shipyard. An oversight? Or proof of the apparent nature of the station? He would have to check later. Information from Legion right before deactivation had given him some small look into his enemy, they were some sort of flying worm like creature. They had not seemed overly large, a few blaster shots maybe. Ultimatum wished he had his sniper with him, but his pistol would have to do. He sent the final command back to Progenitor facility, Fate was given the go ahead for combat lift off. The droids were put into high alert combat mode. Ultimatum wanted the Fate to be near when he attacked these creatures, in case they were more resilient than he anticipated.

He knelt down as the strange creatures closed in. His pistol dropped into his hand from its hiding place in his arm compartment. He raised the heavy pistol, he did not really have time to change the ammunition from tranquilizer darts to the lethal gas containers. Well, maybe he could take them alive for study. Time to find out, he fired two shots, the muffled sound of the silenced weapon discharging might be heard, if barely over the heavy sound of volcanic activity around them. The first dart was aimed at the head of the closer creature while the second was a somewhat less accurate shot towards the body of the further creature.

[member="Dark Swarm Narrator"]

 

[Koshka Scalvez]

Both shots hit the large, slow moving creatures. They both glided down and slumped onto rock perches. Their breathing became heavy and their bodies shuddered as they tried to deal with the foreign liquid in their systems. The one shot in the body simply started excreting the liquid from inside itself to outside its body via pores. The second one shot in the head was having a MUCH more difficult time.

The second Herald's eyes started to swell and finally burst with white foam like a confetti popper. The Herald screamed in agony and utter frustration at being blinded. It thrashed around and tried to take its frustration out on the surrounding volcanic rock. After a few seconds of useless thrashing, it finally bent down, bit down hard on its own tail and dissolved into a puddle of black goo.

The first Herald spotted [member="Ultimatum"] soon after recovery. The Herald darted at its target, doing a barrel roll along the way to remain illusive to incoming shots. If it made contact, it would try to slither around his body and pin the gun arm down to his side.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was surprised as one of the strange beasts seemed to disintegrate. Definitely not the usual reaction to the tranquilizers, at least no the one that was expected when he used them on organics. He wondered how their biology allowed them to accomplish a feat of excreting the foreign substance. Would that transfer to other liquids as well? There were a number of questions that he wished he could ask, but then again these were hostile and there appeared to be no way of taking one alive. Not yet anyways.

As the creature moved towards him Ultimatum did not have time to react properly. It had pinned his right arm to his side before the droid had had time to act. His left arm moved with speed to catch the monster's jaw. A heavy punch was aimed to disorient while Ultimatum then would move to grab the creature by the head section.

[member="Dark Swarm Narrator"]

 

[Koshka Scalvez]

The ferocity of the synthetic's piston-like punch shattered the Herald's jaw. The lower jaw piece just fell apart and collapsed to the hot rock below in a mess of sizzling, black gore and a cartilage-like substance. The pain was intense for the Herald, but it's cry of outrage and pain was distorted heavily due to it missing a lower jaw. The lower jaw on the ground quickly collapsed into a black goo substance and a small, but steady, flow of that same black goo flowed from the Herald's mouth.

The Herald relinquished its hold, but, as he did so, he slithered around [member="Ultimatum"]'s body and tail whipped his torso with extreme prejudice. He snaked through the air until he was right behind him, wary of that blaster pistol. Like a relentless pursuant, he was ready to continue the assault.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was surprised at the biological response to the adverse conditions. He wondered if that was normal for it or if this was a reaction to negative environments when removed from their body. They were strong, but apparently not very durable. He wondered what sort of organic this was and where it was from. It must be somewhat unstable for it to turn into a liquid like that, perhaps a genetically created creature that had yet to be perfected.

The beating that the droid took from the tail of the creature did leave a number of damaged circuits. It did not debilitate him, but his walking speed was considerably slower. His upper body was still quick enough though. His blaster was not quick enough to come around, but he used its movements to try and move the creature a little further away so that he could turn and properly attack.

[member="Dark Swarm Narrator"]

 

[Koshka Scalvez]

(Had Homework. Am Sorry.)

[member="Ultimatum"]

The Herald's body was out over open lava. As the Herald's body bunched up to spring forward and viciously attack the machine, a bubble of air came up from the lava and spattered the eel's body. The eel shrieked in a distorted manner as it came forward and started writhing around on the hot rock in front of Ultimatum. It was trying to lose the molten lava dripping from its form. It did so with varying degrees of success. The heat of the rock didn't seem to affect it, but the temperature of lava was too much for the skin. Flecks of black goo came off as well as glowing lava as it squirmed in pain upon the ground.

It provided Ultimatum a chance to aim, but it also gave him a chance to flee. If he got too close, he would surely be smacked by the squirming body of the Herald.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum watched as the creature was blasted by a small amount of lava. Ultimatum had always feared the chance of such an event happening to himself or his droids, thus he had been certain to firstly avoid building right alongside the rivers and secondly to use very heat resistant materials in the production of droids. This was most unfortunate. Ultimatum stepped closer to the squirming organic, but not too closer as to be hit by its flailing.

It was obviously in quite a bit of pain. Compassion was something that Ultimatum had been given and he knew that there was no reason to prolong the suffering of this creature. The droid aimed carefully before firing two darts in quick succession. If they both struck then hopefully the tranquilizer would give the creature a little less painful death.

[member="Dark Swarm Narrator"]

(Its alright.)

 

[Koshka Scalvez]

The creature writhed, foamed up and devolved into a black pool of goo just as the first one had. Due to the heat of their surroundings, both puddles of what once were Heralds now were becoming evaporated stains caking into the rock instead of remaining a semi-liquid form. They were becoming crusty and tough like tar on a freshly paved road.

After about 4 minutes, a blue and white space shuttle cruised through the sky and was heading in his direction. In a few minutes more, the shuttle would come into range and settle down close to [member="Ultimatum"]'s location. When it landed and hissed from settling, the loading ramp would lower down and a large, built humanoid form would walk with calculated steps down to the bottom of the ramp and wait there. Then, a human emulating, yet droning voice would speak up and a finger would be raised to point at the robot.

"Ultimatum. We need you."

[member="Max Nero"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum watched once more as the other creature liquefied, it was almost like some of the more horrific diseases in the galaxy. It was also a very unfortunate end, there was no information to be garnered from the caked remains of these creatures. Even a partial body would have been preferred, the DNA and structure of the creature could have been analyzed maybe find out where it had come from and potential weaknesses.

When the ship arrived Ultimatum had been prepared for another attempt to attack him. But this one did not appear to have the same intent. Firstly there were none of those strange creatures, he wondered if the being in front of him was a droid of sorts. Maybe he would ask later, but first, "Are you here because of those things? What do you need of me?"

[member="Max Nero"]

 

[Max Nero]

"You were slated for destruction by these Heralds. However, you are not the only one. Similar attacks have taken place around the galaxy. Each target was involved in leadership in one way or another. My original plan was to prevent you from meeting the same fate as many others..."

Max took the time to scan the area.

"...but, it seems as though you didn't need help. Your survival could mean aid for our cause. You see, I am a high ranking representative of ARC: Automated Response Corporation. We have been made aware of this phenomenon, so we have responded. However, this is just the beginning. These so-called "Heralds" are a mere vanguard of what is to come. You have fought them and survived. You are also a person of interest with pull in your own piece of the galaxy. As such, we would like to extend the offer of alliance. Help us defeat this new threat so that we may all stand firm against what is to come."

The voice was semi-monotonous and a little droning, but sounded human otherwise. His demeanor was emotionless and straightforward.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum took the information spoken. It was most interesting, and it was worrying. This was not an isolated incident which meant there was danger. Strength was always in numbers, it would be best to ally with those who knew what was going on, or had a better idea than him. He nodded as he spoke, "Very good. I will help where I can. What should I do for now?"

He continued to wonder if this organic was some sort of droid, perhaps one of those human-replica droids Ultimatum had heard of. It was not a big piece of information, not very important either, but it was a curiosity. Few organics had such a lack of emotion. For now though his concerns were more focused on the attack that had failed.

[member="Max Nero"]

 

[Max Nero]

[member="Ultimatum"]

"This ship acts as our front line base of operations. From here, you can gain whatever data we have on what has been classified as "The Dark Swarm". With the knowledge collected thus far, you can come to a better conclusion on where to start in your preparations. More immediately, however, it appears you are stuck here without a ride. We can transport you wherever you desire."

Although his voice was meant to sound human, it wasn't a convincing voice for the most part. It didn't take long after seeing his movements and hearing his voice for a person to suspect him of not being human, but a machine.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was glad that they could transport him. There was danger apparently and it was probably not safe as of yet to travel alone. He wanted to know what else there was to learn of this Dark Swarm. "Thank you. Progenitor Facility is about three kilometers to the north-west. I will prepare my droids for battle, should that be needed. How may I contact you? Or do you intend on bringing together those that you find willing to back this cause?"

Ultimatum was becoming more and more certain that this was not an organic. It was simply too calm and emotionless. Not a bad imitation, but not good enough for the droid.

[member="Max Nero"]

 

[Max Nero]

[member="Ultimatum"]

Max Nero keyed the ramp to shut behind them and went up to the cockpit to give directions to the pilot.

"Progenitor Facility. Three kilometers north-west..." The pilot mumbled something and Max replied, "I don't know. Use a GPS."

He left the cockpit and came back to speak with [member="Ultimatum"].

"Here's what we know," he began to explain. "The Dark Swarm is an unknown force of eel-like creatures with strange unnatural properties not found in the known galaxy. There are elite, singular units spreading out throughout the galaxy through the help of drop ships to carry out the task of hunting down and killing those with a proper amount of skill in leadership. They are of weak constitution, but numerous. Calculations are impossible to verify and could be off by several thousand. Their bites fill a victim with bile that has strange corruption processes. An invasion is going to happen. We need to be prepared. For now, take this data, prepare your army and then we shall meet back together as you say."

 

[Ultimatum]

The droid took the information spoken and filed it. The enemy was quick and dangerous. And as this being said, they were rather weak to physical damage. They had accomplished something at least, Legion was once more destroyed. Ultimatum would have to build another body and get the programs from Legion into it. He had done it once before and it could be done again.

"What is the likelihood of these creatures surviving in space? Maybe we can destroy their transports before they reach a planet." It was an interesting idea, the difficulty would be telling where the creatures would attack, if it would have worked.

[member="Max Nero"]

 

[Max Nero]

[member="Ultimatum"]

"That is what baffles ARC. The known, yet mysterious transports ships have been spotted few times in surveillance. Each time, the Heralds were released in the vacuum of space itself. The best conclusion we can draw is that Dark Swarm retain the ability to survive in the vacuum. However, it is mere speculation as we hold little physical evidence and it does not explain how they can survive such pressure with such squishy bodies. It is likely that the transports are merely used to speed up delivery time. Imagine traveling without hyperspace travel at 20 miles per hour."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum wondered how that worked. Perhaps their body were more adaptable to the lack of pressure. While the transportation would be helpful, surely there were more reasons. Maybe they could track the ships and find a way to followed them back to their base. Or try to triangulate the location, however they would need to know where a ship entered the system, which would then require that there was some sort of surveillance that caught the ship.

"Is there any recordings of when and where the ships enter a system? Do you have documentation of the various attacks? Perhaps we can figure out where they are based."

[member="Max Nero"]