Natural Selection : Destruction Of The Behemoth

Fire_Eel · April 2004

<div class="IPBDescription">New Chapters! New Content! New Info!</div> Introduction – The History of TSA

For a long time, the race of Man has always pondered over the question – Are we alone in the Universe?The question was answered, but not exactly the way anyone had wanted or even expected. The Kharaa was the answer. They were creatures of nightmare, aliens of terror, Man’s ultimate enemy. Man have met his match at last, and the Kharaa are every bit as strong and as intelligent as humans are, if not better.

The Kharaa first appeared at the Ariadne Arm, and proved themselves to be very powerful and unnaturally smart. Immediately, the corporate and government forces tried to fight the Kharaa, and contain their spread.

They were unsuccessful.

The Ariadne Arm was a string of solar system and a major economical boost to Man. That was until the Kharaa threat showed up. They started from bacteria lifeforms known as the Bacterium, and if uncontained, quickly spread and flourish. Until they evolved into the Kharaa which quickly slaughtered everyone onboard.

Eventually, countless space stations, space facilities and other important bases were taken by the Kharaa. Entire ships were lost and many were killed. The Kharaa were merciless. Trillions of dollars were lost, and no one could deal with the Kharaa. It was a major blow to Man’s economy. Humanity’s future expansion seemed doomed.

The Trans System Authority, better known as TSA volunteered to mount a response to the Kharaa. Soon, a new army became the only viable option capable of dealing with the Kharaa. The TSA trained new recruits into experienced marines known as the Frontiersmen.

The Frontiersmen were the new force specifically to deal with the Kharaa threat. At last, the forces of humanity and Kharaa seemed even, and the war broke out.

The war between both sides had went on for months, years……an eternity. But the Frontiersmen couldn’t lose. The Kharaa were not the only enemy faced by the TSA. Rival trans-government would seize every single chance they got to take over the TSA. They would take the TSA apart, replacing the current leader with their own.

The TSA couldn’t let that happen.

In an attempt to defeat the Kharaa threat however, the TSA designed and created the biggest spaceship ever to exist - The Behemoth.

The Behemoth was built back on Earth. It took a painful period of 3 years that met with angry protests and lawsuits and unfair accusation against the TSA. But The Behemoth was finally completed.

She was made and fitted with cutting-edge technology of the TSA. Neo Titanium Alloy, one of the most effective and yet expensive metals to Man, was plated on her entire hull. She was fixed with dozens and dozens of boosters, jets and propellers. Equipped with the most advanced weapons such as Sonic Cannons, vulcan guns, Nano-tipped missiles, and even nuclear missiles, she was sure to prove more than a match for the Kharaa.

The Behemoth also consisted of an important technology : Nanotech. Nanotech is the use the use of molecular machines to manipulate the very atoms of matter, allowing construction of objects stronger, lighter, faster and safer than before. The Behemoth was practically made out of Nanites and carried thousands of tons of precious Nano-sludge

There were also life support capsules, tons of food, provision and water. The Behemoth could support more than 15 000 people for more than 50 years. All these could be possible, thanks to the fact that The Behemoth was the size of a city, spawning miles long and a mile high. She was not designed for colonizing though, she was designed to assault the Kharaa.

She was to explore space and to find and destroy every last Kharaa there was.

8 months after the final completion of The Behemoth. She set out to space from Earth, towards the Ariadne Arm, towards Kharaa territory. With her carried exactly 15 896 TSA marines, scientists, doctors, engineers, everyone needed as they were travelling in space for at least 5 years.

Everyone was hopeful, excited, nervous and glad about The Behemoth leaving to combat the Kharaa. It was a historical moment for humanity. It was one of the proudest achievements of the TSA. Everyone felt that there was hope at last, that The Behemoth would indeed be able to defeat the Kharaa, that there was hope for the Ariadne Arm.

TSA 4 Star Officer Marcus was offered a chance to board The Behemoth but he turned it down, much to the confusion of others. Why would someone want to reject such a golden opportunity? It was any Frontiersmen greatest honor to be called to board The Behemoth.

Marcus had told the TSA that there is no chance of The Behemoth surviving against the Kharaa, only a fool’s hope. No one heeded his advice, no one cared about what he said, no one listened to him.

He was right, they were wrong.

7 Months after The Behemoth entered the Ariadne Arm, all contact with her was suddenly lost. Everything was gone, either The Behemoth had suddenly disappeared completely, or it had been destroyed. However, it was more logical to say that The Behemoth’s satellite communication system had been damaged or destroyed.

Some said that The Behemoth had been sucked into a black hole, some claimed that The Behemoth had crashed into a planet, some guessed that The Behemoth must had been exposed to harmful cosmic rays which would cause all of the crew to die. Unfortunately, no one could guess exactly what had happened to The Behemoth.

Eventually, as time passed, The Behemoth passed out of knowledge. She became nothing more than a painful memory for the TSA, that they had wasted so much time and resource on it, that they had needlessly sacrificed so many people.

Little did man know that the very weapons they would build to defeat the Kharaa would be the very weapons that they would have to face. Little did they know it would be a weapon, which would almost wipe humanity out.

Fire_Eel · April 2004

Sorry for the weird note-form format used today.

Apparently, something screwed up when I coped everything from microsoft word here so the format turned out all weird.

But it should be fixed.

Hopefully, the next chapter will be released tomorrow.

Nuub · April 2004

God bless you Fire Eel. I just wonder how the hell you can make up such a story?

Fire_Eel · April 2004

Prologue – Fangs And Teeth

1 Month Before It Happened

Watson put on his walkman as he laid on his bed, reading a book titled ‘Anatomy of Skulks’ in big shiny letters. Blaring rock music bombarded his eardrums and he could barely notice the low annoying hum from the window, a problem that had been around since he first stepped onto The Behemoth.

Not that he could do much about it, his superiors didn’t give a damn.

Watson was a timid man, despite being six foot tall and such, looks and temperament were two different things. His size was of no advantage to him, be it in social life or in combating Kharaa. In school, he used to get bullied by smaller guys. In war, the Kharaa didn’t care. He towered over Skulks, but they still swarmed him like he was a plate of tasty chicken for their starving bellies. Even now, the thing that still troubled him was the fact he was practically stuck on The Behemoth.

Nothing here ever changed. Not even the sights beyond the window.

From the window came the vast darkness of space with little shiny stars from faraway. Not a single planet was close, despite what everyone else had been boasting about. Earth could not be seen either, The Behemoth was too far away at the Ariadne Arm.

Millions of miles away to be exact, Watson thought unhappily. Somehow, he felt that he had been forced onto this gigantic spaceship. His superiors had told him that they ‘hoped’ he would participate in the first mission of The Behemoth.

Watson knew better than to reject it. Even until now, he thought. Now! There was still no Kharaa to fight.

But why? Why would they have to send him on this stupid mission to search-and-destroy the Kharaa? Why would they have to build this hideously stupid spaceship? It’s not as if the Kharaa are really found on distant planets anyway. They simply appeared on a spaceship when you least expect it.

And kill everyone.

And TSA is pretty short on resources, yet they could still build The Behemoth. How stupid. His thoughts moved back to his book.

It was disgustingly amusing to be looking at the dissected picture of a Skulk. He could clearly see the gruesome insides of the Skulk. Amazingly, it seemed partially similar to a regular dog, considering the big differences between the temperament of the two animals.

Skulks are a small dog-sized species of Kharaa. They are the most common, and specialize as the scouts. Even so, a Skulk would have little trouble ripping a human apart in mere seconds. It was covered in a dry bumpy biological armor that was usually green and filled with large bulging blood vessels. Each limp ended in a huge curved claw, capable of slicing a hand off, and its large head was armed with many jagged teeth. To compliment all that, they have one of the strongest bite when compared to Earth-animals.

The Skulk was laid on a surgery table with its belly facing upwards. Well, the belly had been carefully sliced open and the inside of the Skulk was clearly visible. The table was stained green from all the blood and the four limbs of the Skulk were outstretched.

As Watson inspected the details of the picture, he could make out what seemed like a ribcage in the chest of the Skulk. Mingled with the ribcage were long and bloody organs. They coiled around the ribcage, coiled around the other organs and there were also……holes?

Bullet holes, Watson realized. The Skulk must had been shot dead first, and then an autopsy performed on its body. He could suddenly see that they were also several other holes among the organs and even limbs.

No bones were visible, beside the ribcage. Watson could also see that there was a long line running from the top to the bottom from the bloody interior of the Skulk. Was it the backbone? Unlikely. It was in a similar position to a normal backbone, and yet it seemed……

Watson suddenly felt nauseous, and he glanced away quickly.

Yuck, what were the scientists thinking when they decided to dissect the Skulk? Then again, doing so would allow the TSA to understand the Kharaa better, and fight them better.

Tiredly, Watson placed the book carefully on the table and stretched his limbs lazily. When could he return to Earth?

From the corner of his eyes, Watson suddenly caught a slight glimpse of a shooting star. Excitedly, he rushed to the window and peered forward, trying to spot his target through the thick glass.

Unfortunately, he was greeted with the same view from before. Stars and nothing else. Too late, Watson thought in dismay. It’s gone.

Disappointed, he was about to pick up his book again when there was a crackle of static from the helmet on his table.

~Static~
“Hey! Watson?” A hoarse voice sounded.
Watson held up the helmet to his ear but he didn’t put it on.
“Watson? Are you there?” The voice asked again.
“Yeah, I am. Who’s this?” Watson replied.
There was another crackle of static, “It’s Ed dammit!”
“Okay. What the hell is it Ed?” Watson questioned.
“Hey Watson, don’t sound so zombie-like!” Ed now sounded irritated.
Annoyed, Watson asked, “Fine, so what the hell is it?!”
“Watson, recently, you noticed anything……strange?” Ed said.
“Strange?” Watson spoke with a slight confusion in his voice. “Like……what?”
“Like hearing strange sounds come from your vent, or…or…” Ed now sounded panicky.
Watson quickly glanced up at his vent to make sure there was nothing wrong, and he asked, “or what?”
“Seeing weird algae-like growths in your room or toilet or anywhere else.” Ed replied.
By now, Watson had sat on his chair. “Algae-like growths?”
“Yeah. Algae-like growths. They are kinda…greenish or yellowish…you know, kind of like…” Ed stammered.
Watson sat straight up. “Like Bacterium.”
“Yes. Watson, I fear that we got a Kharaa invasion.” Ed added.
“That’s…absurd! Look…The Behemoth is the most advanced ship, ever! We got thousands and thousands of armed marines here. Why the hell would the Kharaa want to attack us?” despite trying to sound confident, Watson couldn’t hide the fear in his voice.
“You are scared as well?” Ed asked. “Why not ask someone to check?”
“Who would believe us?” Watson said.
“Watson! This concerns our safety and…” Ed’s voice fell silent.
“Ed? Hey Ed? You there?” Watson asked in concern.

He could faintly hear some scraping sounds followed by heavy breathing. It was clearly Ed breathing heavily. But the scraping sound? A loud unearthly rip and some loud banging sound of metal against metal then followed it.

What’s happening? Clearly something is wrong. But what?

There was a sudden scream. Ed was screaming in fear. There was more crackle of static from the helmet and Watson could pick up Ed screaming “Help help!” or “Watson!”. Finally, it ended off with a loud “No!” and the helmet simply went dead.

“Ed?” Watson asked with a shaky voice. “Ed?!”

For a moment, Watson sat there, dumbfounded. He clutched his helmet tightly, ever hopeful that he would get a reply from Ed again.

But there was no reply.

“Ed! Ed!” Watson screamed at his helmet. “Ed! What’s wrong?!”

Nothing but silence answered him. Immediately, Watson snatched his LMG from the wall and checked it. It was out of ammo. Damn, he thought in frustration. As Watson felt his trousers and pockets, he realized in horror that he had totally no ammo!

How stupid, Watson thought. How wonderfully stupid. He had completely neglected to inform his superiors that he had no ammo.

And at a time like this too!

From the corner of his eye, Watson spotted the little red button, hardly noticeable on the wall beside the switches.

You press that when you are in serious trouble.

Hastily, Watson moved forward, arm outstretched to press the red button. All of a sudden, there was a low growl from the vent. A low menacing growl from a creature that you wouldn’t want to face without weapons.

Watson froze. What is that?

There was now a scraping sound echoing from the vent. Watson could spot a shadow moving behind the bars of the vent. Whatever it was, it was breaking through.

I have to warn everyone, Watson thought and he dashed forward to press the red button.

At this moment, the vent suddenly broke apart into many pieces of sharp metal and small bars. As the debris rained down, Watson raised both arms to protect himself.

But the attack didn’t come from the top, the creature was already on the floor. Without any warning, Watson suddenly felt something clamp on to his leg which was followed by a great piercing pain on his ankle.

As he was being yanked down by fangs and teeth, Watson opened his mouth to scream.

Glockmeister · April 2004

the prologue sounds good. I wanna see the new sections of this (i read the original story)

Thats_Enough · April 2004

very nice, can't wait for more <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

does watson kick some arse???

<img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif' /> <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif' />

Fire_Eel · April 2004

Chapter 1 - Lost In Space

The Disaster Awaits……… 

“BH, do you copy? I repeat, BH. Do you copy?”

Stella let out a loud sigh as she typed in raw data into her console. She knew that the chances of her getting a response were low, but she had to keep trying. After all, she was the Officer in charge of communications.

The EX-200 headed towards the moon swiftly. She was an advanced TSA spaceship, designed and meant for search-and-rescue mission. The EX-200 was 40 metres from one end to another, and could carry up to 25 marines, and 5 more crew. She was also heavily armored, and carried an impressive variety of armament. Those meant that the EX-200 was usually in the Ariadne Arm whenever a Kharaa threat arises.

This time it was different. The EX-200 had been drifting in this part of space near the moon aimlessly. Or rather, waiting for something.

Inside the EX-200, Commander Reza stood on the main bridge rallying his troops. He was a battle-hardcore man. Grim, stern, intelligent, and to compliment all that, his face was bony and hard. Like that of a skull. With a battle scar on his cheek, and two small beady eyes, Reza looked devious. However, he wasn't really as fearsome as he looked. His clear loud voice echoed over the EX-200.

“Ok squad,” Reza barked. “You know what to do. As Frontiersmen of the TSA, we need to do this fast and efficiently. As soon as we arrive on BH, we spread out, check for any survivors and direct BH back to Earth.”

Reza had been repeating the same thing over and over since last week. Surrounding him was about 20 marines, they were tired of hearing the same briefing over and over again. Heck, some of them could even rehearse Reza’s speech.

That didn’t help them to ease their excitement. Some of the marines were nervous, some excited, but all felt a weird ominous feeling that the mission wasn't going to be as easy as they thought. But none dared to question Reza anything more about the details.

Tex rubbed his chin uneasily as he considered the chances of there being a survivor to rescue. Somehow, if there really was a Kharaa threat, then the chance of anyone still alive would be……zero. The Kharaa never spared anyone if they got a chance. However, there was still a long time before they could actually find their target. With that thought, Tex yawned lazily and laid back.

“Tex!” Reza roared suddenly as he pointed a finger directly at the tall lanky man.
“Huh?!” Tex jolted up as he glanced around quickly. Meanwhile, everyone stared at him with serious expressions, though many were suppressing their desires to giggle.
“Tell me, are my briefings that…BORING?!” Reza shouted suddenly and Tex actually jerked back from the shock.
“No! No!” Tex stammered. “It’s just that I…I…”
Reza held Tex in his fearsome gaze as the two of them stared at each other. For a long time, nobody spoke a word.
Reza was about to say something when one of the marines shouted, “Look!” and pointed at the moon.

Everyone fell silent as a small dark shape detached itself from the shadow of the moon. Without any noise, a huge spaceship suddenly emerged, eclipsed under the moon’s shadow all along. It was The Behemoth.

Reza smiled as he saw the others gaped at The Behemoth in awe. The target they had been waiting for so long was finally here. Time to get to work.

He remembered that The Behemoth supposedly went missing more than 7 months ago somewhere in the middle of the Ariadne Arm. And when it was spotted again, it immediately went straight for the Earth. In his opinion, this was very strange, and terrifying.

From afar, The Behemoth looked like nothing more than a small grey rectangular box. As she grew in size however, the many fine details on her body were soon becoming visible. Huge boosters even bigger than the EX-200 were fixed on the tail of The Behemoth and propelled her forward, their flame leaving a trail of blue in her wake.

The gigantic city-sized spaceship was gleaming with hundreds of small lights. It dwarfed the EX-200 so much that eventually, as the two spaceships came closer, it’s shadow had completely eclipsed the incoming spaceship.

Little did the crew of the EX-200 know the disaster that they were about to bump into.

“Wow…wow!” Tex couldn’t help but spluttered the words out. The Behemoth was-just-so-big! He had heard of it before, and he had seen pictures, but this was beyond anything he had imagined.

Reza squinted, he could barely make out the little details of The Behemoth. Somehow, he could see that there were hundreds of flashing lights, hatches, guns and more. They would have to find a way to enter.

“Okay squad!” Reza instructed. “We are getting pretty close to BH. In about twenty minutes time, EX-200 would cease all movement. BH would then go right past us, and during then, we would hitch a ride by manually entering BH. So, as I had emphasized earlier, once we are all in, immediately establish contact with one another and look for survivors!”

Stella yawned and laid back on her chair lazily, suddenly static formed on her console.
“Oh!” she exclaimed and leaned forward and stared carefully at the screen. Was there a response from The Behemoth at last? As she typed in several commands, her excitement soon turned into disappointment. “Commander?”
Reza abruptly stopped his briefing as he quickly marched to Stella.
“Yes? Any response from BH yet?” Reza asked, half expecting a ‘no’ answer.
“No, apparently not. It’s weird, its not been very long since BH left Earth. But since then, all contact have been lost. I have tried, re-tried, and kept trying and trying but I got was…” She kept quiet.
“Was what?” Reza demanded.
“Static.” Stella answered simply.
“Static? So what’s wrong with static?” Reza asked.
Stella leaned back again as she answered, “The thing is, if there is nobody on BH, then we wouldn’t get a response, not even static. However, getting static means that BH is still able to contact us, only that it’s not of the correct type of response everyone else expects.”
“Okay, go on. Though I really don’t get what you mean.” Reza admitted.
“It means, whoever is on BH that is receiving our message is attempting to reply. But whoever that is does not understand English.” Stella said, worried. “So it can also mean that BH is not inhabited by humans. So you got any idea what to do?”
“Negative.” Reza walked away, but as he stared from a screen showing BH, a drop of sweat formed on his forehead. Not human? Trying to reply?

He could tell there was something wrong with The Behemoth, something evil. It was like a sixth sense, that his instincts were telling him not to go near The Behemoth, that The Behemoth was a spaceship of doom………

“Commander Reza!!!” Stella yelled and jerked his arm suddenly.
“Yes! Yes! What?!” Reza asked, irritated.
“I called you thrice, and, hey! Why are you sweating so much?” Stella asked in concern.

Minutes soon passed and The Behemoth and EX-200 were closing in on each other. The gigantic spaceship dominated the much smaller spaceship like a human compared to an ant. An aura of mystery surrounded the metropolis-like spaceship.

Fire_Eel · April 2004

Battle In Space

Sitting on a small seat, the handsome blond known as Jack could not help but felt delighted at going to The Behemoth. He was dressed from top to bottom in the easily recognized green armor of the TSA except his head. Jack’s body was of ordinary athletic quality, nothing impressive, though he might have been more suited to be a male model considering his fine and handsome features.

It was Jack’s dream to go on The Behemoth many months ago, but due to his low rank, he was neither selected nor allowed to go on the Behemoth. As he continued gazing at The Behemoth from a window to the side, a well-built man approached him.

He towered over Jack by a foot and was clad in green armor as well. However, under the armor was a body full of muscle and strength. Even his boylish face was covered with a space helmet, unlike the normal helmets of standard TSA Frontiersmen. In his huge palm was another spare space helmet.

“Yo.” The man greeted Jack, who still remained motionless and continued to stare at the window.
Jack remained silent for a while before he turned. “Mike?”
“Yes.” Mike asked.
“What's with that dorky looking helmet?” Jack questioned, pointing to Mike’s head.
Mike smiled gently. “To allow me to survive in space.”
“Yeah, Commander Reza was telling us to equip ourselves with the helmet in five minutes time.” Jack said.
“You better put one on your bonehead now.” Mike added and passed a helmet to Jack.
Confused, Jack asked, “Why?”
“Just do it, here. Here, I already selected one for you.” Mike forcefully pushed the helmet into Jack’s hand.
“Thanks. But…this don’t look like the usual marine’s helmet, are they new?” Jack frowned and asked.
Mike looked confused. “What? You never seen one of these before?”
“……no.” Jack answered simply. “and why is everyone addressing The Behemoth as BH?”
Mike seemed puzzled now. “Erm, you are kidding me right? BH is the codename.”
Jack laughed awkwardly for a while and said, “Yeah yeah, just kidding.”
“So…that's BH?” Mike said, pointing at the huge incoming spaceship.
“Yup, gorgeous isn't it?” Jack replied with a grin. Even Mike felt the same, he thought happily.
“Apparently, several months ago, Earth lost all contact with the BH.” Mike explained.
“Any chance of a Kharaa Invasion?” Jack asked. There better not be, he thought in fear.
Mike regarded Jack’s question for a while before he said, “It's highly unlikely, BH is far too powerful. It comes with onboard weapons, dozens of purified hydrogen bombs, hundreds of Vulcan Cannons and…”

Their conversation was cut short by a blinking white light flared on the hull of The Behemoth. The light was so bright that it forced everyone staring at it to look away.

A large hatch on the outerwall of The Behemoth flipped open, and an enormous pointy metal piece raised out of the open hole. It unfolded itself and then pointed dead ahead at the EX-200 coming towards The Behemoth. A dazzling light on it flickered repeatedly, the batteries were charging up.

The turret was aiming directly at the incoming EX-200.

“What the?!” Reza exclaimed in bewilderment as he stared at the turret. It looked strangely familiar. He searched his memories for a while and finally remembered that it was a Class-WS Sonic Cannon, highly similar to the normal Siege Cannons built by marines.

Only that this one was about 50 metres across and would had little trouble wiping out the EX-200 in one hit. And it was ready to shoot anytime.

“Evasive maneuvers!” Reza cried.

The Sonic Cannon fired a gravitational shockwave at the EX-200, just as the sidewinder boosters on the EX-200 lit into action.

There was a sudden flash of light and everyone shielded his or her eyes. It was a near hit. The deadly shockwave had blazed past the underside of the EX-200, but the tremendous heat burnt and charred the bottom armor of the spaceship. As the light faded, the0 armor underneath was still glowing red hot.

Reza’s heart skipped a beat. He had never engaged in space combat like this before, why was The Behemoth attacking them? He glanced at the enormous spaceship again.

This time, he saw many more smaller hatches flipping open, and vulcan guns unfolding themselves. There were about twenty vulcan guns aiming at the EX-200 now.

A chill ran down Reza’s spine, they were not going to survive this!

All at once, the vulcans fired tens of thousands of powerful bullets per second, tearing through the hull of the EX-200. Many bullets missed, but many more hit. The armor shielded them for a while, but Reza knew that anytime now, the armor would be breached and they would all be space junk.

“Everyone!” Reza shouted. “Get your helmets on! This ship would explode any time!”
“What?!” Jack cried. He stared at Mike nervously, what was going on?!
“Get a jet pack!” Mike yelled as he wrenched open a storage locker door and handed a jet pack to Jack. He fastened one onto himself and was about to pass more equipment around when the EX-200 suddenly jolted and jerked violently………

No longer able to stay on balance, the EX-200 shifted to one side awkwardly as her boosters exploded one after another. The Sonic Cannon readied itself and charged.

It fired, and scored a direct hit on the side of the EX-200.

Half of the EX-200 exploded, incinerating many unfortunate marines at once. The shockwave punched a huge hole at the side, sending many of the people flying out screaming.

Jack cried out as he was being sucked out. This is it, he thought. All of a sudden, another force gripped his hand and he turned to see what was it.

Mike. One of his hands was on a hand rail and the other was holding on to Jack. “Don’t let go no matter what!” Mike cried.

Jack stared at the wide-open hole in fear. He could see many people and equipment being sucked out. Soon, the same would happen to him. It was inevitable.

They had the jet packs after all, and there was still a slight chance of them surviving if they were to fly out into space. Anytime now, the EX-200 would explode and kill them all. Jack glanced at Mike, who nodded his head understandably.

Stella grabbed a metal bar as she was being pulled out into space. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the metal bar loosened, and almost immediately, it broke. With nothing to hold on to, she gave a final scream as she was sucked right into space.

Mike counted three seconds before he let go of the hand rail, but his grip on Jack’s hand never loosened. Together, the two of them were sucked out through the hole. A weird buzzing sound was in their ear and they saw themselves going past consoles…lockers…the hole…and finally, into the vast darkness of space. They spun round and round helplessly, unable to even control the direction they were flying at.

With no time to equip themselves properly, many who flew out died from decompression in space. Only those that had helmets and jetpacks could survive in the vacuum of space.

Half a minute later, the entire EX-200 exploded into a huge fireball, engulfing and incinerating the rest of the crew alive. The only proof that she had ever existed were the debris and fragments, now scattering apart in space.

Having destroyed the apparent threat, the light on the Sonic Cannon faded and it unfolded back into the hatch, along with the vulcan guns, ignoring the many dying marines and burning debris in space drifting about aimlessly.

The EX-200 has been obliterated.

hidden_snper · April 2004

wasn't this posted in another place...?

Fire_Eel · April 2004

Scent of Death

Jack opened his eyes. Was he dead?

No, he was still floating in space, only not as fast as before. Where is he? He spun round to see that Mike was beside him, and that surrounding the two of them were thousands of pieces of debris. But no one else could be seen.

Jack’s helmet crackled with static, and suddenly he heard Mike’s voice.

“Hey, Jack. You okay?” Mike asked in concern.
“Yeah, I am fine. What the hell just happened?” Jack questioned.
Mike merely shrugged his shoulders and answered, “I don’t know. BH just…suddenly attacked, for no reason at all.”
“Oh god…oh my god!” Jack muttered.
“I still find it hard to believe BH was hostile.” Mike said.
Without any warning, Jack suddenly went hysterical and grabbed Mike’s shoulders. “Everyone died! Mike! Everyone died!”
“Hey calm down!” Mike rebuked him. “Your behavior is unfitting for a Sergeant.”
Jack refused to calm down. He had never experienced such a situation before. A situation where he is stranded in space, and everyone else just died in front of him. “Don’t you get it?! We are left alone out here!” He screamed.
“Calm down dammit! The TSA trained us for situations like this! Now what we gonna do is to look for survivors and try to get back to Earth.” Mike assured him.
Even from his helmet, Mike could see tears swelling on Jack’s eyes and could hear him swearing and cursing.
Mike placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Hey, not everyone is dead yet.”
“They…” Jack stammered. “We are not alone?”
“Of course not! We are not the only ones with jet packs and helmets you know? I saw some others with the same equipment and they went into BH.” Mike explained.
“Why didn’t you contact them?!” Jack asked in shock.
“Well…I tried. But, they were too far away. Fortunately for you, you were still in my frequency. Now stop crying! I bet Commander Reza also made it to BH!” Mike said.
“So, what do we do?” Jack asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?! We got to get to BH! See? It’s still moving, continue to linger here and we would be left behind!” Mike answered and faced The Behemoth.

The two of them used their jetpacks and propelled themselves towards BH. It was still moving at a rapid speed, but thankfully, they were at a pretty close distance to it.

The moment they reached BH, they moved against its side, looking for anything to hold on to. It was Mike who saw the emergency hand rails and grabbed hold of one. He then grabbed Jack and pulled him close.

“These emergency hand rails were normally used by crewmen who are repairing or need to travel along BH’s outerwall. They would use this to move about safely as long as they did not let go of the emergency hand rails.” Mike explained to Jack.
“Yeah, thanks for that info. You know? I really needed to know that!” Jack replied in a sarcastic voice.

Mike and Jack continued to move about by grabbing on the hand rails till they arrived on an emergency hatch. It was a large squarish door with a red outline and a huge wheel in the middle.

Together, the two of them turned the wheel and the emergency hatch slide open. They propelled themselves into The Behemoth and arrived at an airlock.

Mike punched a button at the control circuit and the emergency hatch slowly closed with the sound of compressed gas being released.

“Okay. What did you touch?” Jack asked.
Mike shrugged his shoulders. “Beats me.”
“Dump your space helmet,” Mike instructed. “Such helmets were only suitable for space usage and would only obstruct our view here.”
“But we…” Jack argued.
“NO Buts!" Mike interrupted.
"Fine." Jack said as he unclipped the helmet and pulled it off.

Mike was about to say something when he heard Jack gasped. Following suit, he started to choke as a seemingly invisible force reached out and smothered him.

“The air is getting heavier!” Jack cried suddenly as he lifted a hand to his throat. “I can’t breath!”
“And you know what? My feet are heavy and numb. So just shut up!” Mike growled.

Fortunately, the gravity soon stabilized itself and the two of them could breathe easily once more. Despite that, they still felt a weird lump in their belly.

"Talk about weird......" Jack remarked unhappily.

Ignoring his teammate, Mike unbuckled his jet pack and examined it. Its chemical catalyst battery had burnt out. This effectively means that both their jet packs were now useless.

“Without a proper helmet, we look downright awkward in this light armor!” Jack protested. “And why can’t we use our jet packs? Ain’t they supposed to have unlimited fuel?”
“Oh hell! Just make do with whatever we got ok?! And another thing, there is NO such thing as unlimited.” Mike rebuked his reluctant teammate in anger.

He stopped suddenly as he realized that Jack was sweating heavily and breathing rapidly, either from shock or from the fear and excitement of everything else. But he darkly suspected it was from fear of death.

“Jack, you alright?” Mike asked in concern.
Jack didn’t reply, but remained silent.
“Jack, listen, it was unavoidable, no one, not even Commander Reza had predicted this.” Mike explained.
“Yes I know.” Jack said.
“So why are you still sulking?” Mike asked.
Jack raised his head slowly. “Why would BH attack us?”
“I don't know, unless……”
Jack and Mike stared at each other, both knowing what it could mean.

They unclipped their guns from their belt. Jack suddenly noticed Mike had an extra pistol in his arms. It was a military-grade handgun, small and deadly. With its impressive range and almost-perfect accuracy, the pistol could deal a devastating amount of damage over a quick period of time, making it well suited to most combat situations.

“Hey! Where did you get that?” Jack asked, pointing to the attractive pistol.
Mike regarded Jack for a moment before he slapped his forehead. “Oh my god…are you dumb or what?”
“Huh?” Jack stammered in surprise.
“Listen you…” Mike uttered angrily. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you, but apparently when guns were being issued, you must had been dreaming!”
To Mike’s outburst, Jack remained silent.

They checked their weapons, everything was in working order. Next, they checked their ammunition. Both of them had 3 clips of LMG ammo while Mike had an additional 2 clips of pistol ammo. They lacked proper helmets, but the armor on their bodies should provide a sufficient amount of protection. Lastly, both also had a B-Grenade each.

The B-Grenade was the latest developed weapon for the Frontiersmen. It was a small slim and silver canister grenade. Once the pin is pulled, the B-Grenade had am auto-Bacterium detecting system that would explode after 8 seconds in the presence of a Kharaa. It was for safety purposes, should the safety pin be pulled in the wrong time. B-Grenades were a combination of fused Nanite and purified hydrogen, creating a deadly combination of an explosion followed by a powerful flame reaching up to an incredible temperature 10,000 degrees. It was one of the deadliest weapon ever, but if misused, could easily kill off its user as well.

When everything had been done, they set out together. Mike lifted the cold handle of a security door and pushed forward. The door creaked loudly as it slowly opened.

“Be on guard Jack, we don’t know what’s down here…” Mike said.

Impatiently, Jack kicked open the door. Darkness laid ahead, a place of darkness that he feared. Taking a deep breath, the two of them lurched forward and gasped, for they had entered an enormous hanger far bigger than their ex-spaceship.

It was roughly about 50 metres tall or even higher. From one end to the other end was the length of a football field. They could also vaguely make out the shape of many huge boxes in the way, for they could not actually see this place well. The hanger looked like it had not been used for months and a pungent smell was everywhere. Under the errie darkness of this mysterious place, Jack and Mike slowly inched forward, trying not to bump into anything. They unknowingly walked past a half-eaten human hand in a puddle of blood.

Switching on their flashlights, Mike and Jack begun searching for a door or a switch. The air was still and the place was quiet. There was an ominous feeling, as if something bad would happen. There was also an extremely weird stench, as if…it was from something unhuman. Worse of all, the area smelled of death.

“I can't wait to get out of this cursed place!” Jack complained.

As they felt along the wall, they found a small box. It was the control circuit for the hanger and they excitedly pried it open and flicked on all the switches quickly. The lights flickered repeatedly several times, and illuminated the entire hanger in a brilliant white. Now they could see the multiple colored crates scattered throughout the entire area, and the tall cranes and ramps and lifts all used for transportation.

“Wow…” Jack exclaimed. “This…is the hanger? Amazing. Simply amazing.”
“Quiet, we may not be alone in this place for all we know– ”

All of a sudden, smoke emerged from the edge of a security door in the distance and it flew open, the piece of metal scrapping against the floor with sparks. Instinctively, Jack and Mike raised their LMGs and slowly advanced towards the door.

Amidst the smoke, Jack and Mike could make out the shape of two humans rolling out and sprawling on the floor, groaning in pain. They immediately lowered their guns and ran towards their companions. Jack instantly recognized them.

It was Sophie and Jeff.

Sophie was one of the rare female marines among them all. She was a small-frame girl who was only slightly older than 20. She was not beautiful, but definitely cute and attractive. Sophie was also one of the more serious one among all of the marines.

Jeff meanwhile was a mysterious guy. He never revealed his age to anyone, and would only be known as a poker-face joker who was always cheerful. Somehow, he was also always trying to hit on the girls.

“Sophie! Jeff!” Jack and Mike cried in unison.
“Thank goodness! You guys are alive too!” Sophie cried in relief as she looked up.
“Am I more glad to see your ugly face, Mike!” Jeff exclaimed with a grin.
Jack bent down and pulled the two of them up as he asked, “Jesus, are you guys hurt?”
“No, but what a relief! Lets hope we are not the only ones who survived.” Mike smiled and said.

The hanger was noisy with murmurs of comfort as everyone tried to analysis the situation. They were now trapped in a huge unknown spaceship. They did not know where were all the other survivors, they did not know if there were anyone else, they did not know if there was a Kharaa invasion or not.

However, one thing was certain : Something was very wrong.

“So what the hell do we do?” Jack questioned.
Jeff stared at him for a moment and turned to face the others. “Is he dumb?”
“No,” Mike spoke tiredly. “He’s stupid.”

Jack opened his mouth in protest but stopped when Mike made a slashing motion with his fingers. Clearly, they were getting tired of his amateurish behavior.

As they begun a discussion and tried to think of a plan, no one realized they were not alone. There was another creature in the same hanger as them, cloaked it was, and monstrously big, ready to pick on anyone who scattered.

"Eh?" Jeff turned his head, he could had sworn he heard something, it could have been a drop of water, or a footstep. Whatever it was, he was sure that there was something.
“What?” Sophie asked.
“Nothing. Just mind your own business.” Jeff replied.

He slowly backed away and looked up, trying to gaze at the entire hanger. However, he could see nothing but cranes, crates, boxes, lifts..........

He suddenly heard heavy breathing directly above him.

"Huh?" Jeff begun but before he could even finished his sentence, a huge creature uncloaked itself behind his back. It chomped on him and lifted him into the air.

Everyone heard a loud muffed scream and turning around, they saw a dark horrible shape.

4-metres high and 7-metres long. A huge reddish creature on all fours had Jeff in its jaws. Green patches were all over its massive body and its feet had huge hooves almost similar to that of an elephant, only that it was much bigger. Its head featured 3 enormous horns several metres long. A huge frill protected its neck and layers after layers of carapace covered its back. Rippling and raw muscles allowed it strength to knock down anything, even a tank.

It was the biggest Onos they had ever seen. Jeff's legs were sticking out of its mouth and kicking crazily. Letting out a snarl, the gigantic Onos lifted its head and opened its jaws even wider. Meanwhile, Jeff continued to scream.

The Onos suddenly slammed its jaws shut with a sickening ‘crunch’ sound and Jeff suddenly became silent. His feets stopped kicking and soon disappeared up the Onos throat, it licked its jaws clean before letting out a satisfied grunt.

Nuub · April 2004

Hidden sniper, what do you mean? Somewhere else where? Here the NS forums or somewhere else? Fire Eel's just cleaning up his story, adding stuff etc.

Ratfire · April 2004

You certainly are a prolific writer Fire Eel, but I had a few questions about your story.

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>“The air is getting heavier!” Jack cried suddenly as he lifted a hand to his throat. “I can’t breath!”</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
If they just entered the airlock and are still wearing space suits how does any outside change affect Jack?

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Fortunately, the gravity soon stabilized itself and the two of them could breathe easily once more. Despite that, they still felt a weird lump in their belly.</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
On a ship how does gravity have anything to do with atmospheric control?

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>“So what the hell do we do?” Jack questioned.
Jeff stared at him for a moment and turned to face the others. “Is he dumb?”
“No,” Mike spoke tiredly. “He’s stupid.”</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
Is Jack the ranking officer? because otherwise his question doesn't seem all that stupid seeing as their own ship just attacked them.

It's amazing how you can create this much new content as as fast as you do, but I'd have to agree with a comment made in another thread, true or not, that it seems like english isn't your primary language. A lot of the time your story doesn't seem to flow properly and the conversations that take place don't really mimic "normal" conversation. Also, your descriptions sometimes use the wrong words or don't quite give off the imagery that's needed to get into the story.
Overall a pretty nice job though!

Fire_Eel · April 2004

What u said does made sense.

Although English is indeed my first language, I guess the reason why I use wrong words or such is due to the fact that I always flunk english.

Also, some of the points does make sense, so I will be doing further editing.

Lastly, I realized that my chapters are very........passive. Much too passive.

I guess I 'd have to do some major re-editing.

Fire_Eel · April 2004

BTW, this is infact, not the true version of Behemoth.

There's an even better version of it, with even more chapters.

But I am not releasing the 'even-better' version yet, not till it is ready.

Spacer · April 2004

in my opinion you should finish with the behemoth once and for all, and start a new story. This is sort've turning into something too complicated to follow, what with so many versions of the story now online

Fire_Eel · April 2004

Creature From Hell

Drops of bloody saliva dripped down its jaws as the Onos peered around. Its tiny but fearsome eyeballs rolled about until they fixed on Jack.

Jack froze, where were Sophie and Mike? Why haven’t they fired? He turned around slowly and to his horror, saw that they were running. Hunger blazed in the Onos eyes. Clearly, one human was not enough to satisfy its hunger.

Jack trembled with fear. What chances did he have against such a terrible opponent? He glanced at his LMG for a while but thought that it would be useless. He had to run.

The Onos took a huge step towards him but he was frozen in that position. A mix of fear and nervousness had caused an expected cramp in his legs. Jack stood glued to the floor even as Mike and Sophie were shouting to him.

“Run! What the hell are you doing?!” Mike cried. “Run! He’s coming!”

Jack wished he could. His heart skipped a beat as the Onos took another step closer. It was taking its time, seemingly taunting him, knowing that he couldn’t run.

Move! Jack shouted in his mind. Move!

He couldn’t. His knees were shaky and he no longer felt his feet.

Move! You idiot! Jack screamed internally.

The Onos growled loudly and trotted forward. Clearly, it was getting impatient to eat him.

“Jack! Will – you – please – RUN?!” Sophie yelled.

Everything became a blur. Jack could see the Onos approaching him. Its jaws dripping with a red liquid. He knew his fate would be the same as Jeff : A painful but quick death. The Onos growled again, and opened its maw wide.

Without any warning, Jack’s knees suddenly gave way and he collapsed. There was a gruesome snap above him and something wet and sticky dripped on his head. He wiped the liquid away and stared at it in disgust. It was a drop of bloody saliva.

No! The same thing couldn’t happen to him! Jack felt a new strength in him and he dived to the side as the Onos jaws slammed shut in mid air. Desperately, he crawled under the cover of an enormous crate. He didn’t know what he was doing, he didn’t know where were the others, he only knew he had to hide.

As Jack looked around fearfully, he could see the gigantic hoofed feet of the monster standing before him. It slowly backed away, and suddenly, the Onos charged forward and slammed 18 tons of pure fury against the crate.

The crate flew away from the impact and Jack heard it smash. Suddenly, he was out in the open again on all fours, and the Onos was staring down at him.

“Jack! Run!” Mike yelled as he took aim at the Onos body and pulled the trigger.

Jack could hear gunshots, he was sure that the others were shooting at it. As he glanced up again, he saw that the Onos was distracted by the sudden attack. Once more, he scrambled under some cover again. This time, he hid under several giant crates stacked together.

Ignoring Mike and Sophie, the Onos retreated a few steps and then rammed the crates as well. The top crate swayed for a while, then toppled over and smashed down onto its back.

Dazed and confused, the Onos angrily struggled among the debris and pieces of shattered metal. Roaring again and again, it trampled around in rage. Seizing the chance, Jack got up on his feet and darted in the direction of Mike and Sophie. The angry roar of the Onos would be scariest thing he had ever heard in his entire life. As soon as he had reached them, he came down on his knees again, completely exhausted.

“Jack! What the hell were you thinking back there? Now, we – WATCH OUT!!!” Mike suddenly screamed.

The colossal Onos bellowed and charged straight at everyone. Mike, Sophie and Jack dashed out of the way as it lumbered past them, smashing apart several smaller crates in the way.

Everyone could only stare in awe and shock at its sheer might and power.

To turn at such a high speed, the Onos could only run in a wide curve to prevent itself from falling on its side. However, it was now facing them again and suddenly gained in speed as it let out another roar.

“Everyone!” Mike warned. “Spread out!”

In the midst of all these, he suddenly learnt the Onos weakness : It was fast, but didn’t have enough agility. It was clumsy and bulky, so much so that it was hard for it to change direction.

The three of them scattered, bolting in different directions at once. As Mike ran, the Onos ignored the others and stormed after him.

“Mike! Behind you!” Sophie screamed.

Mike abruptly turned away from the Onos path, narrowly dodging the deadly horns as it rammed into several tall metal crates. It continued to move forward blindly, smashing the crates against the walls and flattening them completely.

The three of them sickly realized the same thing could happen to them.

The Onos now turned and face Sophie, saliva dripping down its jaws, almost smiling.

“Oh my god.....” Sophie muttered and she dashed away with the Onos charging at her.
“Sophie! Run!” Jack cried in alarm.

She too, knew about the Onos disadvantage in changing direction. She didn’t turn to look but she knew it was hot on her heels. Darting left and right unexpectedly, Sophie hoped to shake off the Onos. Next, she ran among the clustered stacks of crates, hoping to hide among them. Spinning around, Sophie sighed in relief as she saw that the Onos was nowhere in sight.

Without any warning, the crates in front of her shattered as the powerful monster charged right through them. Sophie froze in fear and surprise at the unexpected attack.

“Sophie!” Summoning his courage and strength, Mike leapt and grabbed Sophie just as Onos went past them......directly towards Jack’s direction.

Jack was dumbfounded for a second, then he jumped away, just in time to avoid getting impaled but the Onos massive body slammed into him and he flew away, hitting the wall and falling unconscious on the floor.

“No!” Mike cried as he sped towards Jack. “Sophie! Hit the lift!”

At his command, Sophie ran to an emergency lift and desperately punched the button repeatedly. Yet the odds were stacked against them as the Onos spun around and charged at Jack once more.

“Die! You freak!” Sophie screamed as she unloaded her entire LMG clip into the Onos. Bullets after bullets hit and bounced off the carapace on its side. The LMG had completely no effect against such a mighty creature other than to annoy it.

Gripping both his legs, Mike yanked Jack away from the path of the Onos. It went past the two of them and rammed into the other wall.

“Run for it!” Sophie cried as she fed a new clip into her gun.

Mike slumped Jack onto his shoulder and dashed at the lift. Letting out a roar of rage, the Onos charged full-speed at the two of them, knocking crates and machines away as if they were mere pins.

Hurling Jack onto Sophie’s waiting arms, Mike then dived right into the lift as the doors slide close behind him. Finally, the lift begun rising up and Sophie managed to let out a weak smile.

All of a sudden, there was a tremendous bang from the other side and a huge dent caved into the thick lift door. Sirens and blinking lights flashed over their head and the lift halted.

“Oh no, hell no.” Mike muttered under his breath.

Ramming into the thick lift door repeatedly with its monstrous strength, the Onos bored its great nose horn through the door. It then twisted its head sideways, forcing the lift door to slide open once more.

“Get back from the door!” Mike warned as he pressed his back against the wall.
“The door! Close it!” Sophie shouted and reached forward to press the ‘close’ button.

At this moment, the Onos suddenly stuck its snout into the jammed lift. Screaming in fear, Sophie fell on her back and kicked at its horn.

Sniffing at the interior of the lift, the Onos knew that food was inside and it opened its jaws wide. Rows of sharp yellow teeth filled with saliva lined its great jaw and it lurched forward, trying to grab anyone.

Mike grabbed onto Jack’s shoulder and yanked him away as the Onos jaws slammed shut in mid air. Enraged, it reached forward once more and snapped at the three of them. Sophie pushed herself against the lift while Mike huddled Jack’s body close to him.

Letting another bellow, the Onos got down awkwardly on its knee and tried to squeeze its entire head into the lift.

It can’t reach us! Mike realized. Its head is too big. He unholstered his Pistol and pumped several rounds down the Onos throat. Grunting in pain and anger, it pulled its head out and stepped back.

Seizing the chance, Mike lunged forward and punched the ‘up’ button. As the lift slowly closed, the Onos faded from view. Mike and Sophie sighed in relief when the lift moved up, this time without any interruptions.

As they slumped onto each other, Mike and Sophie could still hear the angry bellows of the Onos. They were so drained of their strength that they simply ignore everything else and laid there like a bunch of corpses.

How long more could they survive? Why would they agree to go on such a crazy mission? These were the questions going through Sophie's mind before she finally closed her tired eyes.

In this hellish place, they were the hunted and the Kharaa, were the hunters.

Natural Selection : Destruction Of The Behemoth

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