Metal Organism Designed only for Cuddling

MODOC: Part 12 - The Outpost

              The natives were restless.

              They were always that way whenever they came to the outpost. When it first appeared, it came in the night heralded by the loudest sound the natives have ever heard. It was so great, it became a legend amongst The People. It was the sound that shattered Heaven. The speaker said a piece of heaven must have broken away and fell to the world of The People because they had never seen anything before that could do what this piece of Heaven did. On the first day of Heaven-fall, the people surrounded it and touched it, tasted it, smelled it and thought to it. It was massive, the First Female indicated its size had to be a sign of its heavenly origins because it was longer than a handful of the giant grasses of the forests. Only the mountains were larger. So in language of the people, they called it "Heaven's Mountain." 

              For many days, they watched Heaven's Mountain from a discrete distance. It was assumed the spirits would disapprove of their watching a piece of Heaven and so the People tried to not appear to be watching it, while they studied it intently. Rocks were hurled in the direction of Heaven's Mountain to see if they could harm it. They couldn't. Even the greatest hunter, Far-slayer with his leathern rock thrower, capable of killing the largest of bouncers at nine hands worth of strides, did not leave a mark, as he hunted near Heaven's Mountain and "missed" a bouncer that strayed too close to it. Far-slayer claimed that a wind spirit took his aim but the old ones bared their fangs and woofed in a conspiratorial tone, indicating their approval of his hunting skill and their acceptance of his reasoning for his inaccuracy. He flexed his muscles in agreement, and sought out a new stones from which he would "hunt" near Heaven's Mountain the entire day, catching dinner only late in the day.

              By the third day, the People were brave enough to approach the Mountain of cool, blue, stone-not stone and after much physical experimentation decided Heaven's Mountain was a relative disappointment after its spectacular arrival and gathered up to leave when there was series of daylights appearing all over the shape. It could only the day coming far earlier than normal because suddenly day was everywhere. The People ran back into the thick cover of the tree-grass and vanished from sight and sound. The daylight moved around the outside of Heaven's mountain coming from the very cold flesh of the mountain itself.

              There were sounds, a booming, something like the speech of The People, but it was harsh to the ear, a bitter coughing noise as if the speaker was near the end of its life and could only curse the spirits in its final death-voice. The People could not understand what they were hearing but were sure it was a sign the spirits were displeased. The People moved as only the People could, swiftly, lightly, shadows in the brush. Younglings were gripped, oldsters were assisted, though they were only a little less surefooted than the primes who composed the tribe.

              The People began their retreat not a moment too soon as the ship flashed its warning lights. "Stand by for flash sterilization of a five hundred foot region outside of the ship. All hands are reminded to remain in the ship during this time." Lights on the outside of the hull and the inside of the ship, repeated the warning before the ships external coldbeams began to range and mark the distance before the hotter and more powerful lasers, destroyed the nearby foliage, rock, sand and unfortunately for The People who had not been swift enough, the animals who were too near the ship. This was a standard operating procedure to ensure the build area around the ship was rendered safe enough for the crew to disembark and begun building the outpost around the body of the landing craft. This landing pod was one of sixteen dropped to the planet across the world allowing the Oligarchs an array of choices as well as increasing their ability to subdue the planet with the proper applications of technology.

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              Oligarch Esteves Sandobar was the leader of this landing pod and was awakened first two days before the pod was ready to drop from orbit. He had been warned of the effects of cryosleep and had experienced it first hand for two months before the ships five year journey to Proxima Betalis, a yellow orange star one hundred and twenty light years from Earth. He woke after five years of having nearly no blood -- it was replaced with a nutrient fluid that resisted expanding once cold and yet could be supersaturated to allow cellular energy absorption, albeit at a very low level, essentially slowing cellular activity ninety percent, ravenous yet the very idea of food, made him slightly nauseous. He could not stand or move for a week upon reactivation because his body simply had not had the strength, nor energy to rise. 

              As his blood was restored to his body, he was also pumped with regenerative serums designed to re-energize his cells, causing them to replenish themselves and return to their previous vigor. All of the Oligarchs on this journey had been treated with experimental genetic materials designed to allow them to fast-grow bone and muscle tissue once exposed to the regenerative serums. Within a week, he was strong enough to stand and after another week of physical therapy regained his superhuman stature. Once he was active and capable, he began waking his core staff and providing them with the understanding of his value of them based on who was awakened first. It was important to impress upon one subordinates, early in this expedition, what was expected of them. Esteves did not have any doubt of his teams loyalty, but it was good to let them know what was expected.

              After the core team of seven members were awakened they scanned the star system and prepared to drop the other landing pods on to the planets nine major continental masses. Proxima Betalis was a dual star with seven rocky planets and four gas giants, very similar to the Sol system. Early probes indicated that this planet, called Betalis Three for now, was very Earth-like and subsequent scan clarified the first scans of the planet as being able to support human life. 

              The crew prepared the drop ships and they fell away from the primary body of the drive mechanism and fell to Betalis Three and landed in the best visible areas chosen by the ships computer and checked by the Oligarch Sandobar's hand picked agents. The rest of the crew would be awakened on the planet's surface, allowed to grow accustomed to the gravitational difference. The air would also be circulated on the ship further allowing the genofixing done on Earth to complete itself once on the planet. For the Oligarch and his chosen few, they would be forced to spend a week in agony as their genofixing was applied after they arrived and were awake but it could not be help. Someone would have to suffer to ensure the rest of the crew had the best chance of survival on this planet, their new home.

              "Genofixing complete. Commence crew debarkation. Preparation of ground for deployment completed." The crew of the landing pod were terribly sick and did not have any burning urge to go outside, so for the first week, they allowed robotic devices to build the defensive perimeter. There were several physical threats in their new home, dozens of animals only seen from space and categorized by the computer. So to be safe, the system designed a protocol to ensure a safe space around the landing pod, while the area was prepared with habitats until the crew could live off the land. No one but the setup robots and a few crew would be allowed to leave the ship until the Oligarch Sandobar had completed his genofixing.

              Days later, Far-slayer, who was out hunting when Heaven's Mountain belched its deadly fire, returned to find a few primes left and the forest-grass around Heaven's Mountain destroyed. His entire people decimated by the light of Heaven's Mountain. His agonized warble echoed through the remaining forest as he stared at the continuing sweep of energy flattening the terrain. He could see the skeletons of primes who were caught at the edge of the swath of destruction. 

              Such carnage had never been seen by anyone of the People, except in the most terrible of conflicts or when confronting the thundergiants of the Plains. Far-Slayer, was now the leader of this remaining band of the People and soothed them with gentle whisperings and tended wounds as they moved away from the Mountain. It would seem the Mountain was not filled with gentle spirits after all. Far-slayer vowed as he took The People away toward a nearby valley, he would destroy whatever spirits inhabited this monstrosity. Thinking of his family, destroyed he would never call this thing Heaven's Mountain again. For him, it would be called Hell's Rock, and he would vanquish and banish every spirit dwelling within it. As he watched the spirit beings boil out of Hell's Rock and begin their transformation of the land, he hoped a spirit could suffer. 

              He intended to find out.