IX. EMERGENCE
The ground shook violently beneath him.
Lying on his side on the snow-covered ground, Alex typed a command on his wrist computer. It displayed the intensity of the quake using Earth’s Richter scale.
QKE_INT: 6.8 [R.S] / Advising user to vacate area immediately
He struggled to get back on his feet, but staggered back down when a deafening rumble emanated from the big hole. He crawled towards the spire nearest to him, and tightly held onto it. He watched in utter horror as the multi-segmented shell emerged from the hole.
Hugging the spire, he feverishly tapped commands on his wrist computer, trying to reach the A.S. Hydra’s computer and connect to it. He then unstrapped the gun from his back and positioned it for combat. A gigantic shadow in front of him blocked the blue light of Nerrad.
The Great ReTarcan has risen.
When the shell cleared the hole, the true aspect of the Great ReTarcan was unveiled. Its head is not as big as described by the explorer’s, but Alex was aware that it is the largest head Alex has ever seen in his whole life. As it slowly surfaced, large chunks of rocks flew in all directions.
The creature growled, opening its great mouth which is large enough to consume five spaceships in a single bite. Its toothless maw expelled colloidal liquid and thick fumes with temperatures so high that Alex felt the heat through his thick spacesuit. Its skin is brown, and is covered with millions of minute tendrils. It does not have eyes.
He checked his wrist: a red triangle blipped over the C5 coordinate of the grid.
[ETA: 15 mins.]
“Just a little bit more,” Alex mumbled through clenched teeth.
Out of nowhere, a pair of tentacle-like structures appeared. Each one of them was equipped with barbs that sizzled with electricity. One of the enormous tentacles made a dive for him. Alex rolled on the ground to avoid it. When the other one reared like a snake, obviously to attack him, he blasted it with his gun. The Great ReTarcan roared as the stumped tentacle retracted to its flesh. The great head then released a strong wave of air from its mouth, which sent Alex tumbling away from the plateau’s surface. Fortunately, he managed to brace himself against a spire until the rush of air stopped. When the Great ReTarcan opened its mouth to repeat the attack, Alex wasted no time: he fired three missiles right into its mouth. The explosions barely hurt the huge organism, but it did react to them. After a roar, the Great ReTarcan released a dozen tentacles simultaneously. They slithered and darted all around Alex like enormous electric eels. He fried a couple with his plasma, and blasted several with his remaining missiles. A single swipe from one of the tentacles sent Alex airborne. When he hit the ground, he landed right in front of the Great ReTarcan’s mouth.
He caught sight of his wrist. It indicated that the red triangle is approaching K7.
The gargantuan mouth came down and closed in around him.
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