Galactic High

“What the hell?!” Sephy yelled in shock, quickly bringing her plasma rifle to bear as the ground stirred all around them, revealing several Zorn standing up, camouflage still stuck to them like a second skin.

“Back to back!” Alora ordered them all as she quickly drew a wand out of her robes. “In a circle! Stay close and cover each other!”

“Don’t let them get up!” Nika growled out in a challenge as she quickly drew her plasma rifle, letting loose a burst towards a shape in the earth that was rising up. “Put them down!”

Be careful, there’s a lot of them! Chiyo called out as she gathered her power.

“Good thing I have a lot of ammo!” Jack growled as a liberal blast from his heavy plasma rifle obliterated two of the closest Zorn charging at him and Chiyo, before something pinged off of his armour. Looking down, he saw a crude arrow clattering to the ground, with one of the Zorn having shot at him with a shortbow or crossbow of some kind.

“That’s the spirit!” Sephy called back, regaining her confidence as she crouched down, putting an accurate burst of plasma into the chest of another Zorn, who stumbled but kept coming with a determined snarl, until Sephy fired a follow-up burst that took its head clean off.

Huh.

That was unusual.

Zorn weren’t known for pain tolerance or that kind of willingness to stay in the fight, and Sephy has never fought any that defied those traits before.

“Careful with these ones!” She called out to the others, erring on the side of caution. “Something’s off!”

“Pyrallis!” Alora yelled out as a jet of fire from her wand lanced out, zigzagging and slamming into yet more Zorn that seemed to all be rising out of every patch of dirt around them! The Zorn clearly felt it, but they did nothing to stop it from burning them as the closest one closed the distance, forcing Alora to quickly chant a brief prayer and summon her spear of faith, where the muscle memory of her combat drills growing up forced her to use the tip of her spear to parry the Zorn’s own before catching the monster under the jaw using their own momentum, forcing the point up through its mouth into its brain.

“Getting really sick and tired of you ooga boogas,” Nika growled to herself as she rapidly switched to her shotgun, blasting another Zorn’s legs from under it.

We need to move! Chiyo warned, as she used her power to halt the flight of several arrows fired towards Jack that had been dunked in excrement, before flinging them right back to sender. Dante gave a loud barking challenge as his markings lit up, and he discharged a fierce bolt of lightning that slammed into another Zorn before forking out and bouncing into several more, which seemed to be very effective.

“Back the way we came!” Alora ordered. Though they had obviously been tracked that way, at least they knew there weren’t any traps lying in wait back there. “Stay to-”

Suddenly there were several loud bellows, as several large, bottle-green cat-like reptiles burst from the ground ahead, which they recognised as Zorn mounts complete with yelling riders. Several more sounds joined it, making a cacophony of malevolent-sounding snarls and barks as several more creatures popped out of the ground. These smaller beings resembled some kind of canine, with sickly pale-yellow skin, beady feral eyes and a snarling maw of thick, powerful teeth that reminded him of pit bulls from his home world.

“What the fuck!?” Jack exclaimed as he flicked the switch for his underbarrel grenade launcher, the *THWOOP* of the grenade arcing out and slamming into one of the cat-lizards before erupting in explosive fury. “How the hell were all these things hiding here!?”

Think about it later! Chiyo projected out as one of the larger beasts charged straight for them both, spurred by their rider. Jack quickly let out a burst of heavy plasma fire before both he and Chiyo dodged out of the way, with Jack blasting the larger beast point blank in the flank with another burst, smashing through the bone plates and getting into the softer flesh beneath, causing the beast to violently smash to the ground, taking its screaming rider with it.

Watch out! They’re trying to cut us off! Chiyo warned the others as another rider, spotting the Ilithii getting separated from the others charged at her. Spotting the threat in time and setting her jaw, Chiyo focused her will as the charging beast picked up speed, before she summoned a wall of telekinetic force that the beast smashed into with a sickening crunch of bones, causing their back half to flip up over it, launching its rider who got some impressive air before slamming back to the ground, head first.

“Shit! We’re getting separated!” Nika cursed before her discipline took over. Getting to one knee in a firing position, she quickly let loose several bursts that slammed into the closest Zorn charging her way, though they seemingly showed no regard for their own lives as they were cut down. She spotted more in the distance that were still taking shots at them with bows and arrows, but she paid them no mind - their armour would easily protect them.

She was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a guttural snarl behind her, and using her tail to aid the movement, the Kizun quickly dodged the small creature that had tried to rapidly close on her from behind, unable to halt their leaping momentum as the Nika’s shotgun blast took it out, obliterating it's back half.

She then cursed again as a rider made a pass at her and knocked her staggering to the side, the point of the Zorn spear just grazing the shoulder plate of her armour as she turned away just a nanosecond too late. She quickly primed a grenade and threw it hard, the activated adhesive sticking to the back leg of the beast, detonating a few moments later to the sound of a frustrated shriek.

“Uh, ok!” Sephy muttered to herself as a Zorn got in close, and she quickly raised her plasma rifle to deflect the blow of the greatclub aimed at her head. Quickly clinching in close and trying not to gag at the stench, Sephy drew her stiletto and stabbed the Zorn in the chest several times, the thin point of the slender knife easily piercing through the ribcage to get at the inner organs within. The monster snarled but showed no signs of feeling the pain as they snapped their head forwards and caught the Skritta on the cheek with a headbutt.

“Motherfucker!” She snarled, pulling out one of her pistols and mag dumping the tenacious thing until it finally slumped down to the ground, still moving, but uselessly. She shot it in the balls for good measure before looking around, quickly picking off a Zorn that was trying to shoot at Alora with a bow and arrow.

Hearing a thundering charge behind her and a warning bark from Dante, Sephy glanced back and immediately jumped as high as she possibly could, using her wings for propulsion as one of the Zorn cavalry passed by underneath, narrowly avoiding the snapping maw of the cat-lizard wanting a bite of her feet as she dropped down, headshotting the rider with a pistol before yanking on the reigns hard, sending the beast clamouring into another one that was charging the opposite way towards Dante.

Dropping a grenade at the two tangled beasts, Sephy quickly lept out of the blast radius and looked up to where her drone hovered dutifully above them.

“Heh!” She grinned. “That is SO going on NetTube!”

“Krealash!” Alora cried out, waving her arms forward with a burst of divine nature magic, causing roots and vines to spring up from the ground to entangle the closest group of Zorn charging towards them, making them sitting ducks as the others finished them off from afar with gunfire. The entanglement would remain for a few minutes, and would cut off most of the enemy on that side.

“Form up!” Alora called out, as she saw that most of the Zorn cavalry were slain, but had succeeded in separating the members of the team to try and pick them off. “Try and get to me!”

“Watch out for the dogs!” Jack yelled out as one of the beasts darted past him to go for Chiyo, dodging the swing of his axe. He left his axe buried in the ground as he tried to switch to his heavy plasma rifle, but was distracted by another Zorn that chucked a spear at him before grabbing another from a dead comrade. Blocking the spear with his rifle, Jack knocked the Zorn back with a kick, before quickly drawing his Photon Revolver and blasting the Zorn twice in the chest, before his third shot hit it in the face. Spinning around and firing, he caught another of the Zorn hounds before yet another one zipped up from out of nowhere and clamped its jaws around his ankle, the plates of his armour holding.

“Fucking Shitbulls!” Jack snarled as he aimed his gun carefully before shooting the beast off with a few blasts, the stubborn creature still clamping on to his armoured leg until it no longer had a jaw to do it.

Jack! Chiyo exclaimed in a panic, as she levitated in the air, the ‘Shitbull’ that got past him latching on to the Ilithii’s foot as it tried to drag her down.

Bringing his rifle up then immediately dismissing the foolish idea, Jack sprinted over as quickly as he could, summoning a knife and plunging the blade into the thing’s neck.

It’s not letting go! Chiyo told him, her voice laced with pain as Jack tried to dislodge the dead beast from her foot, its mouth still clamped tight like a bear trap as he used his knife to crudely sever the jaw muscles and finally free her foot.

“You alright?” Jack asked.

I think my boots took the worst of the bite itself, but my foot feels crushed! Chiyo sighed, looking around and seeing that there weren’t any more around them, though the others were still occupied. I’ll be fine, let’s get to Alora!

Dante growled at the three beasts that circled him and barked a challenge as one lept towards him, before getting zapped hard by a powerful charge of electricity, cooking the beast as it fell to the ground. The other two circled more cautiously this time, but Dante wasn’t going to allow them to have the advantage as he suddenly lept for the beast in front of him, clashing in a flurry of teeth and claws before Dante twisted, putting the other hound of balance before quickly finishing it off with a well aimed bite to the throat, twisting back to avoid the other beast before a gunshot cut it down.

“Woof!” Dante barked in gratitude to Jack, following him and Chiyo as they joined the others.

“Hold still,” Nika told Alora, who was wincing in pain as she and Sephy tried to pry the dead hounds jaws off of the Eladrie’s arm, finally doing it just enough for Alora to slip it free. “Gods damn, what was that thing?”

“Shitbull,” Jack spoke up as they joined together. “I’ve told you about dogs before, and most are great, but there’s some breeds that have a reputation for losing control, violently killing small children, maiming others, and being owned by retards. These things remind me of them, especially with the bite.”

“I guess it fits, considering the Zorn.” Nika shrugged. “But more to the point, what the fuck? How did these things ambush us, and how did you not detect them, Chiyo?”

I don’t know! The Ilithii exclaimed. It’s like there was nothing there all throughout!

“This was no ordinary warband of Zorn, they were far too competent in their tactics and discipline.” Alora nodded, having cast a quick healing spell for her arm, and casting another spell for Chiyo’s foot.

“Hard to put down too,” Jack added

“Uh, guys?” Sephy spoke up, poking something on the ground with her foot. “Look at this!”

On the ground was a dead Zorn, covered in mud that Nika recognised as one she put down early in the fight as it tried to get up, but more interestingly, the Skritta indicated the lower half of the creature, still buried in the mud. There was a visible crease between the mud on the ground and the camouflage the creature had put on, almost like it was one piece.

Like the Zorn had been waiting for so long, the mud and grass had formed on top of him over a period of weeks.

“What the fuck!?” Nika asked. “That’s not possible, especially for Zorn.”

“Maybe there’s a reason Chiyo couldn’t detect these guys?” Jack added, following Dante to one of the ‘intact’ Zorn still lying on the ground. A portion of its skull looked like it had long fallen off, and where there was exposed brain matter there was even some kind of fungus that had formed. “Are these guys undead?”

“That would explain how Chiyo didn’t detect them.” Alora nodded. “But mindless undead aren’t lucid enough to coordinate like that, and they certainly don’t yell out warcries.”

“Then they’re the smart kind of undead?” Sephy asked unsurely.

“For Zorn?” Nika asked doubtfully. “They wouldn’t have the discipline to stay like that, it’s never been known to happen.”

Unless they’re controlled by something, Chiyo reasoned. Though I don’t detect any necrolink.

“Well whatever this is,” Jack pointed out, “we shouldn’t stay here and wait for more…”

After that the group kept their guard up as they quickly moved on, wanting to put as much distance between them and the now properly dead Zorn as possible, not wanting to be tracked down by anything else that wished them harm.

The rough grassy plains soon gave way to rolling hills as they travelled further inland, noting how they matched the contours on their map, but being unable to find many of the streams indicated.

It’s likely these tributaries dried up. Chiyo shrugged. That dip we just went past probably used to be the reservoir that fed them, there were signs of it being man-made.

“And since there’s nobody around to maintain it, nature likely took over, as it is wont to do.” Alora shrugged. “Though I expect there will be natural sources of water around, not that we should need them.”

“What? You don’t fancy a swim, Alora?” Sephy joked, trying to break the tension from the recent fight.

“Maybe later!” The Eladrie chuckled.

“Definitely looking forward to that damn hot tub!” Nika sighed dreamily. “It was a dumbass purchase at an unlucky time, but by the gods we are using it after this even if we have to fill it with wine!”

Now we’re talking! Chiyo giggled.

Their spirits kindled once again, the group carried on up and down the shallow slopes of the plains, covered in tall, golden grasses that swayed in the light breeze, making good time as they periodically checked their surroundings with each ascent. Occasionally they’d pass through small groves of trees that provided them with shade from the warm daylight above, allowing them to take breaks as they plotted their journey. They were pleased to now be steadily making the miles since they had few obstacles to worry about, save for the occasional patches of wildflowers and tall grass, but fortunately with no ambush in wait. Everyone remained on full alert for any surprises as the heat of the mid-afternoon grew more intense, until…

“Got a building up ahead!” Sephy called out to them, as she was the first to crest the top of the next gentle hill. “Definitely looks like a farm to me!”

The others quickly joined her at the top and soon confirmed the Skritta’s suspicions.

In a small cleared area surrounded by fields and a dilapidated wooden fence was an old farmhouse, weathered and worn by time, but still just about standing, with faded and cracked wooden walls and a roof that was on the brink of collapse. Nearby they could see the remnants of a barn and a few smaller outbuildings in various states of disrepair, but most looked usable.

“Guys, look at the fields.” Nika noted, pointing at the surrounding land. “Those crops are overgrown as hell, but they’re still crops!”

“You think there could be people living there?” Jack asked doubtfully.

“I think there recently could have been,” The Kizun clarified. “Unharvested crops aren’t a good sign.”

“We need to investigate.” Alora nodded. “Maybe there’ll be clues as to what’s been going on.”

“Sure. Doesn’t look like there’ll be anything worth looting though.” Sephy sighed as she directed the drone to head towards the buildings to scout out.

I detect no lifesigns, Chiyo announced as they approached, not having caught anything on the drone. But we know how reliant I’ve been on that front recently… She sighed.

“It’s alright Chiyo, chill out!” Sephy told the Ilithii, patting her on the back as they walked through a gap in the fence. “Not your fault!”

“Agreed, we shouldn’t solely rely on Chiyo’s lifesight, so be on alert and watch each other’s backs,” Alora told them as everyone checked their weapons, before she chuckled despite herself. “Not that we weren’t doing so before of course.”

Quickly checking the two barns on the way, all they found was empty space and a few tool racks with shoddy equipment, with nothing else to speak of, likely a remnant of more bountiful times, with the outhouse not being any better. Confirming there was nothing else around, the group headed to the house, noting that although the back door was locked tight, likely more by rust than anything else, the front door was wide open.

“This looks like a forced entry, right?” Jack asked, pointing at the splintered door handle and the small slithers of wood inside the porch.

Definitely, Chiyo agreed, as she drew in psionic power, ready to lash out at anything.

Everyone covered Jack as he slowly pushed the front door fully open, listening out for any response, hearing none.

The entryway was dimly lit, with only a few beams of sunlight piercing through the grimy windows. As Jack carefully moved in there was thick dust in the air, disturbed by his movements as the floorboards creaked under his footsteps.

“Going in,” He whispered to the others as he quickly checked the angles before striding into what was clearly the living room, the others quickly following and spreading out, covering each other as they did so. It was a large open space with a stone fireplace at the opposite end, with a few tacky trinkets. The furniture, which consisted of a few old sofas, a rocking chair and a small coffee table, were all knocked over and covered in sheets of dust and cobwebs, with a strong, musty smell that caused them all to wrinkle their noses.

And soon they found out why.

“Oh, shit!” Sephy exclaimed as she looked around the front of one of the knocked-over sofas. “Guys, we’ve got a body!”

Slumped on the floor was a skeletal figure of some kind of black-furred mammalian wearing the tattered remains of what was once a simple dress, though there wasn’t much else left of the mutilated remains. The bones were discoloured, and had clearly been there a while with an almost reddish-black mould covering much of the skeleton, growing in clumped patches.

“Fuck!” Jack swore, backing away slightly at the horrible sight, before barely composing himself and turning to cover the only other doorway leading to the hallway and staircase, waiting for the others with Sephy and Dante joining him.

“What the hell happened here?” Nika asked, rhetorically, taking a closer look at the body.

If I had to guess, this person was taken by surprise by whatever breached the front door, Chiyo announced, floating back to the entrance and taking a look from a different angle. They likely moved back in a panic, pitching over the sofa and knocking it over.

“There’s bloodstains along the ground to support that,” Alora added, holding her stomach slightly as if she was about to throw up. “Not enough to be fatal.”

“No,” Nika agreed with a shudder. “I think they could have been tackled over the sofa and finished off, there’s several stab wounds to the neck area, along with...whatever the fuck else happened. Unfortunately this poor soul didn’t have much of a chance.”

“Let’s continue clearing the building,” Alora ordered, and Sephy moved up into the corridor, keeping eyes on the stairs as Jack and Dante checked the next door, which was for the dining room. A large table dominated the centre, its surface scarred and weathered by long-time use. Many of the chairs, however, were toppled over or broken, with scattered crockery across the floor.

“Clear,” Jack called out as he returned to the corridor, while the others pushed ahead to the wide open door at the end, showing a kitchen in complete disarray, with another foul stench of decay.

Another body, Chiyo reported to the others as the Ilithii took in the scene. Likely the man of the house and dressed in rugged overalls she’d crudely refer to as ‘farmers clothes’, the remains were more intact, with leather skin stretched taut over the bones, which led her to think of some kind of mummification were it not for the same mould as the first victim…

And the torso which was completely burst open.

“What do you think?” Nika asked as she came in to join her.

Though Chiyo hardly knew the answer for sure, she could still keep her composure and look at this logically, almost like a puzzle. She couldn’t solve it, but perhaps she could work out a few of the pieces…

This one had some time to react, but not much, She spoke tentatively, looking around. There’s a kitchen knife on the floor there; while it’s possible he was preparing food or making a cup of tea, he might have come here to grab a weapon. There’s signs of a struggle, but eventually he lost, probably dying from blood loss considering the mess…

“Shall we check upstairs?” Jack called out.

“Yes please,” Nika called back, cursing herself slightly for not insisting on doing that first before examining the bodies. “We’ll be right behind you!”

Alora led the way this time, carefully climbing the creaky stairs with her wand out, with Jack and Sephy close behind ready to support her. Getting to the second floor, they found a small corridor with three slightly ajar doors, with the Eladrie immediately pointing to the closest one, which emanated the same, decaying stench as the two bodies downstairs. She held her position while Jack and Sephy checked the other two rooms, quickly clearing the master bedroom and finding nothing before doing the same to the other room, which was another bedroom that may have been for guests, but right now also had nothing of interest.

Stacking up behind Alora on the last door, the Eladrie nodded before she used her foot to prod the door open.

“Oh no…” Alora gasped almost immediately.

The final room was a child’s bedroom, with two beds and toys scattered around the floor. In one of the beds was a smaller skeleton, with the covers pulled up as if the tiny child had been trying to desperately hide from their attackers. Jack checked the closet, quickly closing his eyes and pulling back as he saw the other child’s body, backed away into the far corner with obvious defensive wounds, their torso mutilated in much the same way as the others with the same dark decaying mould.

“Clear!” Sephy called out half-heartily to the others. “Two more bodies…kids.”

“Shit…” Nika cursed as the others joined them. “Chiyo, what do you think?”

Same manner of death. The Ilithii sighed, trying her best not to let the death of the kids get to her. Stab wounds with a piercing object, probably a spear. Torso mutilated in much the same way…

“Huh, almost looks like a Chestburster,” Jack commented absentmindedly as he gave Dante a few scratches behind the ears.

“A what?” Alora asked him.

“Oh, sorry, it’s just something from a horror film back home.” Jack shrugged. “An alien facehugger implants a baby in a person which then bursts out of their chest to turn into a scary-ass alien. Don’t worry about it.”

Hmm… Chiyo interrupted, deep in thought, before looking closely at the body on the bed. Jack might have a point here. I thought this was some kind of sick, ritualistic killing, but looking closer, the way the torso has been mutilated it kinda looks like this…chestburster thing.

“Anyone know what could do such a thing?” Sephy asked, as everyone shook their heads.

There’s one more thing here, Chiyo told them grimly. The number of wounds and the manner of death for these two…it’s like the attackers were drawing it out, like they were playing a sick game.

“Zorn?” Jack asked. “I know the least about them, but I wouldn’t put it past them.”

“Maybe.” Alora nodded thoughtfully. “It feels strange though, how there weren’t any bodies back at the Corvin Enterprises outpost but there are here.”

Zorn would completely trash the place, probably make camp in the buildings and loot everything. Chiyo shook her head. It may still be Zorn, but I think it’s more than likely something else.

“Like that crap from earlier?” Nika asked. “Some kind of risen?”

Maybe. Chiyo nodded. But it’s something semi-recent, like the Corvin Outpost. They could both be connected, but if they are I have no idea how.

“Well if we don’t know then we don’t need to remain here any longer,” Nika told them. “We should make ground and get to the shrine so we can do what we came here to do.”

“What do we do with the bodies?” Jack asked. “Should we burn or bury them?”

“Should probably leave them.” Sephy shrugged. “They’re mostly rotted and covered in fungus anyway.”

“We’ll put them to rest.” Alora sighed. “Chiyo, could you levitate the bodies outside and lay them in their garden? I can cast a prayer that will draw them into the ground. The least we can do is give them some dignity…”

The group was solemn as they left the farmhouse, cautiously continuing to march their way towards the shrine. Though they were glad to be away from the musty stench of death and back in fresh air, they were still shaken by what they had found. None of them even remotely considered staying there and making camp in one of the barns, too disturbed by their grim discovery to want to stick around.

“Kinda weird how a family like that was out here,” Jack whispered to the others about twenty minutes later, wanting to say something to break the weary silence between them. “Especially with the damn monsters lurking about.”

“It’s more common than you think,” Nika whispered back. “Many would say the cities are even more dangerous, and they’d have a convincing argument. Clearly it worked out for this family for a while with their house and their farm, probably trading with the Corvin Enterprises outpost.”

“Until it didn’t,” Jack finished. “All it took was one bad day…”

“Exactly.” Nika’s face darked, as a long-repressed memory snuck its way back to the surface of her mind once again as she closed her eyes. She heard the haunting whispering once again, and saw the flowing gossamer moving towards her…

No. That was long behind her now.

Wasn’t it?

“You alright?” Jack asked, as the Kizun opened her eyes once again. “You told me how you grew up rural. How were things for you?”

“Well…” Nika began.

WOAH! They suddenly ‘heard’ Chiyo exclaim as she spotted something unusual in the distance. Is that what I think it is?

It was.

The huge, sickly bodies of two Plague Drakes were laying in the dirt unmoving, with the stench of rot and disease permeating the air around them, their glassy eyes indicating at least several hours had passed. Were they the ones they saw earlier? The ground around them was disturbed, suggesting that the drakes fell out of the sky and slammed into the earth hard, staining the grass with dark patches of black blood, though whether that killed them or they were already dead before they hit the ground was unknown.

“Okay, seriously, this is freaky,” Sephy declared. “What the hell could have done something like this?”.

“I don’t know,” Alora replied.

“But either way we should really get the hell out of here and find a good place to camp before it gets dark…”