“The Metagora”©® 2013 GREG SIZEMORE CHAPTER THREE The Enlil descended upon the largest body of the system RTV4398, planet 1. The planet was barren and rocky, with no immediate signs of life. Numerous jagged crags and cliffs rose into the darkened skies, and fell into miles and miles of canyons and caves. Somewhere down in that forbidden land was the end of the Metagora. It had lived and bred here for unknown years, evolving into a race of super-beings that could destroy every living thing in the universe. The Hunter had to eradicate every one of them, a daunting task to accomplish. It looked at its wrist, admiring the counter/tracker mounted there. The Hunter had taken some of the remaining DNA from the Metagora it had possessed and fashioned a tracker. The device would display upon its micro-screen all of the nearby Metagora, on a scale from one meter up to a thousand meters. The Hunter could use it from inside the Enlil, scanning for Metagora from the safety of the air. For all of their strength, the Metagora could not fly; instead only able to hover a few feet above the surface of wherever they were. As long as the Hunter stayed aloft, it was safe from the creatures. Once found, the Hunter would embark on a mission of search and destroy. It left the ship only when necessary. It traveled through the chasms and channels, chasing down the Metagora with precision and fury. The Hunter sought them out, smashing them to pieces whenever it found them. Its common method for foot hunting was to find a Metagora and blast it with a plasma ray. This would anger the monster enough to make it follow the Hunter to an open area, where the Hunter could call the ship and exterminate the beasts with the mag-beam. Otherwise, the Hunter stayed in the craft, destroying them without worry. The Enlil kept the Hunter invincible. They could latch on, but not breech the hull. In the instance that they overwhelmed the craft, the Hunter would simply fly into space, freezing the Metagora and then using the mag-beam to shatter them. Starting on MS138, the Hunter had systematically canvassed every planet and system, completely thorough in its unrelenting search for prey. It had tracked them to the last, and was now at their home world of RTV4398-1, anxious to complete the mission. Here, amongst the rocks and rubble of the lonely planet, the Hunter also found numerous egg pods. The Counsel had not reported these, nor had there been any on other worlds. The eggs were only on RTV4398-1. No concrete evidence on how they reproduced, but now there was no doubt to the Hunter that there had to be a queen. Something had to be laying all of these eggs. It found the pods easy to destroy, as the larvae inside had not developed their special invulnerable abilities, nor would they until hatching and eating. The Hunter would blast them with the plasma beam, spilling the contents out onto the rocky surface. The larvae would shortly squirm and then perish, unable to survive without the protective embryonic fluid. The Hunter found many chambers full of these pods, sometimes setting off a thermonuclear charge to save time and energy. The explosions would cause fantastic collapses, drawing scores of Metagora to the scene. These Metagora would attack furiously, but to no avail. The Hunter eliminated them all, steadily and surely, without prejudice. It left none standing in the quest for domination. The egg pods were becoming more concentrated and frequent. The Metagora began guarding the pod chambers, gathering to defend their young against the Hunter. The annihilation of the pods had drawn a steady line of Metagora to the scene. They were coming from everywhere, attacking in a vicious frenzy. The Hunter was crushing them by the fives, tens, and even more, picking up as many as it could and wasting no time reducing them to dust. The Metagora were forming a major offensive, attempting to stop this predator from eradicating their society. Hundreds of them were attaching to the Enlil, dragging it down with their weight. Inside the advanced ship, an alarm activated, brought on by the sheer mass of Metagora. The hull started to lose integrity. The Hunter quickly took them out into space, forming a shield of frozen creatures that enveloped the craft. It activated the ship’s ray shields and shattered them all. Relieved, the Hunter turned back toward the desolate planet and was soon skimming along the surface, once again on its mission of destruction. It knew where it would head next. The counter mounted on the arm of the Hunter was showing a major source of energy on its screen. It piloted the Enlil toward the source. It was time for the Queen. The Hunter set the ship down a full five clicks away from the area it thought the creature was in, going out on foot to confirm the quarry. It would get only one chance at the Queen, and it wanted no room for error. Its plan was to draw the thing out into the open and crush it with the mag-beam. If that did not work, the Hunter could always take it out into space, letting the cold slay the beast, as with so many others. The Hunter could then dismantle the carcass at leisure. It entered a large chamber, full of fresh egg pods dripping with fluids. The heat generated by the incubating Metagora was stifling, affecting the Hunter deep to the core. The armor suit was using extra power to stabilize the inner conditions, stressing the mechanics of the costume. It set a thermo-charge on a remote and ventured further into the cave. The Queen was most certainly close. Humidity was dripping from the walls, pods filling every available inch. The Hunter rounded a large corner and came upon the Metagora queen. She was imposing, evil, full and right in front of the Hunter. The beast was enormous. The Queen was the most advanced mutation; retaining the inner core of a Metagora, but the outer shell was that of a dragon. It was ten meters tall, and the same length. The queen’s head was gigantic, covered with horns and spikes, each one rising into a razor sharp point. It had six massive legs and a pointed, scaly tail. Another tail, this one translucent, was quite obviously for depositing eggs. The Hunter could see the egg pods inside of the tail, slowly moving forward as it worked. The eggs, carefully placed onto a waiting pedestal of dried fluid, were finished with a fresh coating of the substance. Metagora Queen paused to look at the Hunter, saliva dripping from her hanging fangs. The Hunter pressed a small switch on its forearm, and a deafening explosion rang out from a nearby location. The queen shrieked in rage. The Hunter let off a volley of shots from its plasma beam, destroying a recently laid group. The queen, madly thrashing, screamed again; enraged over the loss of her offspring. The Hunter threw out a 10Mt thermonuclear charge and rushed out of the chamber; knowing that the blast would not fully destroy the Queen, but hoping the pain would anger it into a chase. The thing let out another shriek as the Hunter evacuated the chamber. It made it within sight of the Enlil and activated the detonator. The resulting explosion echoed through the canyons, shaking loose large rocks and boulders, one of which fell directly onto the cabin door. The Hunter dashed to the Enlil in a panic, finding a boulder completely covering the entrance. The Hunter began to blast the rock with the plasma beam, fragmenting it at a very slow pace. Suddenly, the Hunter felt a stab in the back, burning like a thousand fires. A tail was protruding through the Hunter’s chest. It reached behind itself and grabbed the appendage, yanking it out, turning to see the Queen. It was perched on a spire above the Hunter. Its egg tail was gone, torn away with only bloody fragments remaining. It spread a large pair of wings and swooped down at the Hunter. It dodged the attack, firing at the creature, and using spare moments to blast at the boulder. After evading the queen numerous times, the Hunter was finally able to clear the obstruction. It activated the rocket booster pak, rising high into the air, still shooting at the Metagora Queen. On a low swoop, it was able to target a missile into the mouth of the creature. The queen tumbled in agony, affording the Hunter time to enter the Enlil. It activated the neuro-link and raised the ship into the air, banking it to face the queen head on. It snared the queen with the mag-beam, catching it in mid flight. The beast pushed and struggled against the restraint, able to move even with the force of the magnetic shield. The Hunter increased the power, draining the energy from the ship. Alarms began to ring out as the vessel started to shake violently. The anti-matter engine cell was emitting a tremendous amount of heat. The Hunter piloted the Enlil toward outer space. The craft rose higher and higher as the cold of the upper atmosphere began penetrating the outer shell of the creature, but not killing it. The Queen, although severely damaged, was still alive, and fighting furiously against the magnetic restraint. It was draining the energy from the mag-beam to stay animated, utilizing its natural defense mechanism. The Hunter hurriedly set the co-ordinates and activated the hyperdrive. The ship gained speed as the impact of the energy tore the Metagora Queen to shreds.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 01:57:10 +0000
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