First Encounter

[Windstormugly]

There are countless universes, dimensions and things in between. And while most races never venture out of their home, some do that and more, appearing as unexplained beings in universes both full and empty of life. These races ad civilizations could be said to sit at the top of the world, great explorers and conquerors. But some places should be left alone, no matter the intentions.

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100 years of exploration in this unknown and strangely quiet universe.
A silence that acted like an ominous presence in the background noise. As if waiting, holding it's breath in fear of what ever it was that caused it.
And yet like a defiler of this tomb the Raptir ship cruised trough the void between the stars disturbing it. It's captain observing the stars from the deck expressing his suspicion with a frown.
There where traces of civilizations once flourishing. But now only filled with the descendants scrapping trough the carcasses like rats to survive.

 

[Silvir]

Just before the ship left another star system, a planet at first glance uninteresting came out of the shadow of its star. A distress-signal no longer dispersed by the systems sun.

"Sir there is a signal emanating from that planet" There was a low light as the ships Ai hologram appeared on the bridge. "Shall i bring us closer?"
Nodding the captain consulted a nearby screen. "Make it so and prepare team two. I want preliminary scans and probes sent down the moment we get close" With a moments silence and inputting a few system commands he nodded to the Ai "Send me notification once we get close"

"Aye sir " the Ai responded tilting her head as she observed him leave the bridge.

Drawing into orbit of the planet the quick scans indicated a lush world, forest covering more than two thirds of its surface, but the scans also saw through the greenery to the surplus of ruins spread out in ways indicating the former presence of a civilization possibly capable of space-travel.

When the ship had circled the planet it was clear that none of the ruins were anything more than just that. However, there were nonetheless clear that a new kind of civilization was going to emerge in a few thousand years. The probes and overall scan of the surface indicated tribal communities of humanoids spread out across it. The cause of the distress-signal was also pinpointed to originate miles beneath the planets surface, possibly located deep inside what had probably been the capital of the late civilization, situated at an inlet from the largest sea. A tribal community was located not far from the very same inlet.

A sleek shuttle broke trough the atmosphere and headed for the inlet, making it a wide turn to avoid disturbing the nearby settlement. "okay people the signal is from underground passage down is likely in the ruins. Lets hope this does not turn into a horror movie"
Team two moved from the ship into the ruins weapons and scanners ready.

 

[Windstormugly]

Following them through the ruins were the tribal humanoids, lured by the strange people disturbing their holy site. They looked like any other primate humanoid race, walking on two legs, holding wooden spears adorned with bone in their hands and keeping track of the newcomers path with two eyes set on a head in proportion to their body. Their brown skin could be seen as they darted behind pillars and the leaves of the temperate forest around them.

When the Raptir team got into the shadow of the ruin most reasonable to hold the passage the tribal humanoids had dared themselves to form a loose half circle around them. All present shielded from the sun by what had probably been a magnificent building when it was constructed, stretching like a thin mountain into the sky, the vines and greenery only serving to its grace.
One of the tribal's, adorned in hundreds of trinket bones, claws and teeth bravely stepped forth from the others. Addressing the Raptirs in a language made of clicking and resonating sounds. Pointing at the ground where they stood, the area surprisingly clear of plants and grasses. A faint breeze could even be felt coming from in between cracks vaguely resembling a big cross.

"Got a translation on that?" The lead unit asked over the radio and moments later the rambling of the locals became understandable but still on the level of rambling.
Apparently they stepped on holy grounds, mouth of the earth only, for those seeking the gods.
"Gods eh captain? we are not afraid of that are we?" Fanning out the men looked around the ruins trying not to agitate the locals to much in their ignorance.
"Shut it Francis and try and find a lever or something" The leader turned back to the locals and what probably was their shaman. "If there is a god we are interested in meeting it or them worry not we will move with out most respect"

The shaman looked tentatively at the Raptir, not as surprised as his kinsmen when the newcomers responded in their tongue. Pondering for a while he looked at the men searching for a way to open the ground.
"Sun show opening for worthy. Leaders go sacrifice to gods. Gods give Vision, not live in holy site. Old people live, too many, Gods angry, Fear!"
With that the shaman turned around and left, bringing the other tribesmen with him, hurriedly disappearing into the forest from where they came.

 

[Silvir]

The sun slowly crept around to the openings side of the ruin, making the walls shine with more than reflected light. A great rumbling could be heard from below them, but the opening didn't move. Suddenly scanning lights shone out from high up on the building, sweeping across the Raptirs. The opening cleared apart into a wide hole, ragged stairs leading down into the dark.

"horror movie it is" the leader muttered before clicking the com link. "Captain do you read this?" The man asked as he gestured for the others to form up.
"i see it Corporal, proceed with caution"

The descent took them in an endless spiral into the earth, the steps and walls made of a stone-like material chiming like metal when struck.
It slowly got warmer the further down they got, a fluorescent inlay in the walls giving the surroundings an eerie feeling, air could also be felt flowing past them from the depths.

The stairs came to a stop as the walls fled out to both sides, a faint light the only apparent landmark in the big underground space. It was unclear if it was a natural cave or man made, but the sheer size of it along with the sometimes uneven floor suggested the former.
Approaching the light in the distance shapes could be seen in the darkness, and things were crunching underfoot.

Getting a clear vibe that the place held a dark history the men looked around low light enhancing visors and flash lights cutting trough the darkness. As the they headed for the light with curiosity traces of destroyed consoles and other unknown miniature pillars scattered the open space. Had this been the last stand of the ones who's bones now scattered this place along with the rest?

"I am getting faint readings on technology mostly reminding of military standards. Some power sources are still alive but there is a lot of interference even for our scanners." The engineer in the group focused on the small terminal on his arm. "We should request a deep scan when we head back later on"
He was interrupted as they reached the strange light and another door leading into what seemed like a dome. Once more light passed over them and another door opened.
Concerned by how the old systems seemed to let them in so easily he ordered one man back to place a beacon at the stairs for a quick beam out in case things turned for the worse.

 

[Windstormugly]

Once entering the dome, it lit up like the stairs before and behind the the doors closed leaving the man to set the beacon cut of from the rest. Ordered to stand by near the exit the rest felt movement as the dome begun it's decent.

The platform having acted as the floor of the dome descended into another cave, one which gave the feeling of being done not by nature but by the former inhabitants of the planet. Though it was lit only by the same dim light that so far acted as the norm, the space was not bigger than them being able to guess at the walls. And apart form the cave overhead, this one was filled with structures, what looked like quickly made housing-compartments.

As the platform continued downwards the Raptirs got a telling view of the surroundings, a simple grid-pattern for roads and efficient housings in large square buildings, defensive apparatus was mounted on the roofs, though fungi had started growing on them as well as most surfaces in the cave. One building did stand out simply by not looking the same as the rest, another tower-like structure located straight ahead on the road they would emerge on. More bones and remains could be seen covering the roads and the roofs all around them as they got closer to the ground.

 

[Silvir]

The bones varied and one of the pointmen noted it, commenting on the difference alerting the others to the find.
Many where found to be lying inside the larger humanoid skeletons, similar to parasites or symbiotic creatures these smaller insect likes things seemed to have overwhelmed the defenders.

"One eyed snakes, Spiders, err what is that thing" The soldier muttered the sound of crunching glass beneath his feet when he stepped forward to record the findings. The others glared at him for not being more quiet in this tomb clearly holding the dark history of genocide.

"Move it men no time to idle" The Coronal moved up next to the man at the front and patted his shoulder as a sign to move, before taping the com-radio.
"Captain it seems we are about to get us some answers and it might be more than just what the signal is" He noted a light interference with the radio, but luckily the beacon still got it trough.
Tracking their way trough the paths between the residential buildings towards the tower. The engineer signalled the leader when they got closer that stronger signal came from it. Hopefully it would be something they could work with a data bank or even physical records, anything would help at this point. Switching to a more offensive formation the soldiers picked up the pace and hurried towards the entrance.

 

[Windstormugly]

The building did what most had done so far and scanned them, the entrance trying to open but stopping halfway. Entering the building cautiously they could guess at the reason, most of the interior bore scars of chaotic struggle, humanoid bones laying scattered across the floor and what furniture had survived the passage of time. Along with the likely bones of the former inhabitants of the world were more small insectoid and stranger skeletons, not big enough to explain the destruction, but nonetheless evidently lethal. Luckily there seemed to be nothing left alive in the building, defender nor attacker, with most things being covered in dust.
Moving by what light-sources were still functional the Raptirs ventured further into the building, the first few floors gave nothing more than the first, however giving the impression that this had been more than just a place of shelter. Research-apparatus and tools for making weapons spread out on tables, desks and walls. Whatever had happened the ones living there had tried to find ways to fight it.

On the fourth floor they came to a strange sight. The whole floor was one single room, with the glass walls to the outside broken into at places, some sections of it simply gone. The inner part of the floor was a cage, stretching up through the rest of the building with the higher floors acting as some kind of observer decks.

The cage seemed to be made out of metal, and sparks flying from it in places suggested it had an electrical current running through it. The strangest part was however the fact that there were no bodies inside the cage, and the huge structure inside it was for the most part undamaged. At the entrance of the cage was a humanoid skeleton with a hand on some kind of lever, and the skeleton was strangely not bearing scars from the creatures so many others had evidently died from. But instead seemed to have been left alone, dying of his own accord by the look of the weapon in his other hand.

Getting closer to the untouched last defender the squad gently removed his hand and pulled the lever back. A crackling noise was made as the electrical current was cut off and the structure inside the cage began to power up, lighting up the room and causing another scan to flow over them. The entrance to the cage did not swing open, but its lock gave the sound of no longer keeping them from going inside.

Leaving two of the members outside to keep watch the captain urged the others inside, pondering no more than a few seconds before he pushed what seemed to be the "start"-button in front of a big screen.

The screen started up with another electrical discharge somewhere in the structure and the face of a humanoid not unlike the tribals they had met on the surface appeared.

 

[Silvir]

"We got data people get it downloaded" Turning away from the computer where the recording showed, the leader of the team pointed towards the other side of the cage. "Look around for technology small enough to be put into your backpacks we'll have the techs on the ship analyse them later"
Two by two they searched the large room and connecting ones but avoided spreading further then that. And after a while the leader called them all back to gather near the terminal that had shown the recording.

"Okay we won't find much else around here. Fire team two switch your suits into combat mode and get ready." Turning to the engineers the man pointed back towards the other larger room. "Set up for a pulse scan, i think this place might be shielded, if lucky we might find more data on what transpired."
One of the taller ones from team one raised the question all of them had in their mind. "Any reason we are preparing for a fight?"

"Yes those things remind of insects they are many so possibly hive or swarm." Stepping over to some of the remains the leader waved the others to get closer and help him collect samples. "I really don't like the look of things here and the pulse could wake them up if there are hibernating ones around. Still it's a risk worth taking lets go."

Setting up in the previous room the men prepared the pulse scan. The second fire team fanned out, the change to their suits made them shadowy looming shapes in the darkness, showing more firepower and tougher black armour with no reflection.

 

[Windstormugly]

The squad-members trying to download the video and other possible important information from the structure were lucky to find that the creators had left an obvious data-storage plugged in and hopefully ready to bring with them. To be on the safe side they connected one of their own devices to the interface and started a download of their own, the data-rearrangement would not take long once they got back to the shuttle. While the extraction was running they went over the structure following their leaders command, finding small things that were more than likely useless without the structure, unless one could restructure a system they were likely to fit into.

The only things the others found them were more bodies and dust, making them return to the outside of the cage, waiting for the order to leave while keeping watch for any movements. After the pulse-scan began mapping their surroundings the atmosphere became even more tense, but there seemed to be nothing reacting to it, though some of the glass-like remains on the floor began glowing faintly. The engineers gave a nod when the scan was complete, taking the equipment down again.

"Ok everyone, let's move. And get some of the remains as well, clothes as well as weapons and bones, what you feel you can carry without trouble." Putting a piece of the glass in one of his pockets the leader took point and began descending the building again, trusting his men to gather up. When they were almost out of the building one of those responsible for the data-transfer opened a comm-link.

"It's the structure sir, the signal seems to be a continuous subroutine in it, should we shut it off?"

"I thought I was clear when I said to move out? And no, just make sure to lock the cage again. Now get down here, we are leaving!" Calling the others to a halt he looked over the long dead city, something felt wrong.

The cause of the Raptir squad-leaders gut-feeling soon made itself apparent, whirring sounds coming from all directions, moments later the first shapes came into sight. Some kind of sentry-robots swarming down on them, which didn't seem to made sense as they would logically have been destroyed by whatever had killed the humanoids. But there was something eerie about the way they moved, as if they were not run by a program but by something alive.

The way they had come seemed to have the fewest robots, but that would soon change.

 

[Silvir]

"This is recon we got contact, hostile interaction highly likely!"
The people on the bridge suddenly went from calm to active as the voice spoke out over the coms.
Powerful scanners aimed down towards their position to complete the data taken from the recons own scanners.
"Think you can handle it Coronal?"
The ship Captain looked at the screen showing first person views of the actions of each member in the recon team.

"I would like to request a class three clearance to be sure and we got this covered sir" Looking a the others in his team run up beside him to form an eclipse formation the HUD lit up as the clearance went trough. "okay people beamers are a go, lets cut a path out of here" The two heavies in the team placed their large weapons firmly against their hips and a powerful hum emanated from them as their inner generators power up. "Clear to go sir" the men stated and at the leaders mark fired.

Sweeping out, two painfully bright beams cut trough the first robots. Only stopping for a few moments before cutting trough in a cascade of sparks and molten metal.
The team began moving forward the rest of the men taking care of the surrounding robots approaching. The flow of robots increased when they reached open ground forcing them to close the eclipse into a circle

The amount of these mechanicals was surprising and strange.
"Huey grab one of those bots and bring it along just make sure you contain it properly until we know what makes em tick" The leader shouted and watched as one of the other men nodded his suit now growing large and bulky as he stepped forward to a bot the others made sure was cut of from the masses. With ease the soldier picked it up and a few moments later it was sealed inside a large capsule hanging on his back. With good timing they reached the elevator and stepped inside. They had overstayed their welcome and it was time to pull back for now. When the elevator finally began to move the group relaxed a bit glad that creepy moment was over.