Bob
I watched the scene unfold with no emotions at all. I was aware of
how Gouln was reacting but it was like watching a movie. I knew
what it all meant but I wasn’t afraid. The thought suddenly struck
me that I should pull the weapon from its holster now and
dispatch the creatures. Gouln had been in control but as I told my
hand to grab the pistol, it responded without hesitation. I had
never fired anything like this in my life but Gouln had and I
remembered now how he had done it. I pulled it out and pressed
the activation button as I pointed at the head of the nearest bug.
A beam of plasm flashed and was gone. I looked at where it had
left a hole in the bug’s head and realized I could see right through.
The body fell then, with a loud splat. I was about to turn on the
next bug when I felt an unbelievable pain in my gut and suddenly
found myself flying backward through the air.
Chamber of the Omni
In the chamber of the Omni, there was chaos. One of the minds
that had been bound together for almost a century was silent. The
two other minds groped in the dark mental void that was left,
confused, afraid, and enraged. One of the two left had struck
down the creature that had somehow managed to attack them,
but it was too late. They had functioned as one for so long that
now that one was gone they were at a loss as to what to do.
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In this dark, vulnerable state they were not aware of the other
mind that had connected to their own. They had meant to control
this mind; they had believed they were in control of it. Now
though, as their minds were temporarily blinded by their loss, she
went into action. She could see now how their minds worked,
how they sent their thoughts out to all the countless other minds.
She was no master of this as they had become, but she could send
out one thought, perhaps it would be enough. It was a mental
picture of the two remaining Omni with a single thought attached,
they are prey.
Guard Dawlgs of the Omni
The guards of the Omni were soldiers. They had limited mental
capacities and acted only by command of those Dawlgs with
telepathic abilities. When not under any command they reverted
to instinct. At that moment their commanders were preoccupied.
When the thought came through that there was prey in the other
room every one of them reacted on that instinct. The small
passage that led into the great chamber filled with their mass.
They scramble and squeezed through it in a rush, pouring out and
running quickly towards the large bodies of their prey, eager to rip
into the flesh with their claws and stuff it into their jaws.
Omni
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The Omni nearest the passage was the first to feel the stabbing
pains as their underlings poked their claws into the soft shell that
covered its body. It voiced a scream from its throat even as it
formed a mental scream for the minds of its attackers. Away!
Away! Away! The minds of its attackers literally shut down.
The other Omni also lent its mental voice to the screams of the
other. This one commanded that the attackers be killed. The
attack was short lived, most of the attackers died on the spot
from the force of the mental assault from their gods. The rest of
them scurried out of the passage as fast as they had come in.
Meanwhile, all over the moon, Dawlgs were rushing about with
two conflicting commands echoing in their brains. Millions were
leaving the surface and fleeing for space as fast as they could.
Meanwhile millions of others were targeting those that sought to
flee and killing them. Even in the reaches of space the conflicting
orders brought chaos and death to millions more Dawlgs.
Bob
I don’t know how long I laid there in pain. I vaguely took note of
dozens of bugs rushing around me and then they were gone. I
wondered how long it was going to take me to die. I knew my guts
had been ripped opened by the giant bug. I knew it because I had
my hand inside myself and the hole was huge. No one lives
through that kind of thing I told myself.
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A voice in my head was telling me to get back up. I thought that
seemed a very unreasonable thing to ask considering the
situation. I knew who it was and I let him know it wasn’t going to
happen. He then insisted I let him take over again. At this point I
was ok with that. I would rather go back to not feeling anything so
I let go.
Gouln
Gouln sat up. He examined the damage done to the body he was
in. It was a gaping hole but everything seemed to be staying
where it was so he stood, putting it out of his mind.
There were two bugs left. He looked around for the weapon but
could not find it. The dead bug lay in front of him. He stepped on
its large arm and took hold of the big claw, bending it back with all
his might. It snapped off in his hands. Without hesitation he ran
toward the closest living one and jumped up with the claw raised
above his head. As he flew over the head of the beast he thrust
the claw down with all his might, striking it directly between its
eyestalks. This bug had a very thin shell. The claw pierced it with a
crunch and drove deep into the brain. Gouln landed straddling the
back of the Dawlg as it fell and lay dead.
There was a scream of rage that echoed through the chamber
now. For a brief second Gouln thought it was coming from the
bug he had just killed but as the final living one hurled itself
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towards him he realized it wasn’t. He rolled off the dead bug’s
back just in time to avoid the sweeping claw of the other one.
The dead bug lay between him and the live one, but he could see
that wouldn’t last. The Dawlg began crawling over the body to get
to him. It was angry and out for blood now. Behind him was the
passage to the room where he had landed. He would have to try
to get to his ship before the bug got to him. He ran with all his
might and jumped as much of the moat as he could, knowing the
Dawlg would be faster than him especially through the water. He
slipped on the wet rock as he landed. He was close to the tunnel
but the bug was almost on him. He turned and ran into the
tunnel, thinking that the narrow passage would slow his pursuer.
The Dawlg was big, but it was fast. Even as it reached the
passageway it extended on of its pinchers and grabbed his ankle.
He had been right about it being slowed by the narrow
passageway, it seemed stuck where it was, but it had his foot.
As he tried to get his foot loose the bug lunged forward just
enough to get purchase of it further back in its claw. Now it bore
down, Gouln screamed in pain as he heard the sound of his bones
crunching in the giant pincher. He kicked in spite of the pain but
he was caught and couldn’t pull his foot loose. The bug pushed
again, scrambling with its feet. It was squeezing more of its bulk
into the tunnel. Gouln reached down and began to push his boot
as he pulled with all his might on the leg. With a snap, it gave way.
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He scrambled away from the creature as it lunged again and
squeezed closer toward him. Unable to use his ruined foot, he
crawled as quickly as he could toward the light of the next room.
Behind him he could hear the bug working itself through after
him. He thought of the room ahead. There was no way he could
out run the bug once it got through the narrow passage and out
into the open. He needed to put more space between them, but
how?
He raised himself on his hands and his one good foot. With trial
and error he worked out a rhythm of hopping and diving, catching
himself with his hands, pulling his foot up, pushing off and diving
forward again. It was working; he put more space between
himself and the bug. The bug saw it was falling further behind and
became more frenzied in its efforts. By now it had all its legs
working against the sides of the tunnel and began to go faster.
Gouln reached the open area where the ship was. He looked back
and realized the bug was going to catch him in this open space. If
only he had both legs. Even as he thought this, he heard the
engine of the ship and realized it had lifted off. Now it was gliding
toward him. With renewed effort he hopped on his good foot
toward it. He looked back to see the bug at the opening now,
entering the large space. The ship glided by him and stopped
between him and the Dawlg. The hatch opened, he jumped and
grabbed the sides of the opening and pulled himself inside. The
hatched closed behind him.
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The massive creature slammed into the side of the ship, causing
the ship’s stabilizers to whine as the vessel was jolted sideways.
The Dawlg began trying to scramble up the side. Gouln now grasp
the controls and brought the ship back to the bottom of the deep
pit. The bug held on, pulling it bulk up even with the canopy. As
Gouln began to ascend the creature drove the tip of its pincher
against the glass with tremendous force. The whole ship
shuttered at the blow and Gouln found himself holding his breath,
He knew the glass of a regular scout ship would withstand the
impact, but this wasn’t a regular scout ship.
He sent the ship higher, checking the canopy visibly as he did. He
saw no cracks, so far so good. The beast smashed its claw once
again against the glass.
The ship rose above the opening of the pit and began to climb
into the air. The Dawlg stopped its attack and grabbed ahold of
what it could; only now realizing the peril it found itself in.
The sky was full of ships ascending into space. There were some
of them that were firing weapons at others. Gouln instinctively
turned on the stealth. He hoped that in the chaos he would be
able to slip through undetected. The only problem was their
unwanted passenger. Having become aware of the situation, it
began to call for help from the vessels around it.
An entire swarm stopped what they had been doing and headed
towards them in a rush. Although other ships continued to fire on
them, they held their fire, no doubt afraid to shoot their boss.
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Gouln decided it was time to drop off the boss and banked sharply
to the side that it was on. He could hear it screaming as it slipped
off and began falling toward the ground. Unwilling to leave its
death to chance, he swung around and fired the forward weapon.
The heat of the plasma hitting along its underside popped it open
and smoking entrails unfurled and began to trail after the body as
it fell. The Dawlg ships that had been headed his way now went
after the carcass as it fell to the surface. Several seemed to be
trying to get under it, in the hopes of catching it before it hit. Two
of the ships collided in the attempt and one was successful at
getting under and being splattered with what remained of their
leader.
Meanwhile Gouln had escaped the planet’s atmosphere and set a
course back the way they had entered the system. The ship itself
prepared to phase out of space. They were not pursued.
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