The Bleeding Star

Description

For centuries, humans have always longed to solve the unsolved mysteries of the galaxy. During aeons past they have always pushed themselves to do what no-one else had done, to discover what no-one else had found, & to be where no-one else had been. A routine investigation of a strange radar signal in the year 2245 would indeed prove how deadly the curiosity of the human mind can be, & has led to the discovery of something nobody ever thought existed- the bleeding star.....

August 24, 2245-

A large mass of hulking metal drifted through the great black void of space. It's seemingly effortless movement was only matched by it's sheer size. A stream of electricity clouded the object, blending it in seamlessly with it's surroundings. Suddenly, white hot flames fired from the object's thruster, launching it at incredible speed through the vast reaches of space. Lights beamed from inside the hulking mass, as it's engines cooled & it once again began slowly to drift. Onboard the foreign ship, a mighty race of creatures dwelled, every hallway was littered with them, they walked upright, such as a human, but were almost nothing akin to them. These creatures were fierce hunters, & would stop at nothing to find & claim the skulls of honourable prey.

At the present time though, they seemed disinterested in their tradition, rather preferring to reminisce of great hunts passed & worthy kills claimed. Several of the hunters bypassed each other in the ship's main corridor. They were each from rival clans, although for the moment, that was not an issue, as there was no hunt under-way to compete over. Each of them bowed their heads as a respect to one-another, something they weren't used to doing to a rival clan member.

Nearby, a second ship drifted into view. Much different & technically far inferior to the ship of the mighty hunters. The so-called "hairless primates" known as humans were the inhabitants of this particular vessel, dubbed "Darksiege II". Onboard the ship, scientists went about their duties, guards patrolled, & special visitors to the ship, an elite squad of marines known as Alpha Draconis settled down for a drink. This had been their first mission in quite some time, & since much of their old squadmates had been butchered by an unknown force in their last one, they were feeling somewhat uneasy.

The ranking commander, nicknamed "Hyro", was somewhat on edge. Walking over & sitting down at the table next to one of his squadmates, Kidd, he muttered "it just feels like there's some kind of curse upon our heads y'know? ever since we signed up for this mission I haven't felt quite right", Kidd turned to face him "maybe you just need to lie down, you don't look well", "that won't do me any good", Hyro responded "funny how I'm the commander & I'm the one whose nervous, somewhat ironic don't you think?". "Let's change the subject" Kidd replied, staring out of the airtight window, he said "y'know, I've heard that ships disappear around here", Hyro responded with a ghostly shiver, mocking Kidd's "horror story". "I'm not joking" Kidd replied, come & take a look.

Hyro hoisted himself out of his chair, grabbing his beer from the table. "What is it?" he asked. Kidd pointed out the window to a nearby planet "it's said that ships have passed by that area, & haven't returned, as though they've simply disappeared", "pah, foolish ghost stories" Hyro murmured, gulping down a big mouthful of his beer & slumping back into his chair.

Nearby, the hunters' ship remained undetected, their superior technology keeping them concealed from the humans. They were not interested in a fight, & carried on about their business. In the main clan hall of the ship, where all clan members could come together & enjoy themselves, the hunters were telling their own tales. One of them leapt up, boasting about how he killed a dozen hard meat with only his wristblades, another jumped up to talk about how he slew a hybrid with his bare hands, the room was alive with chatter.

Suddenly, the ship went dark & silent. Not only had the lights failed, but the engine wasn't responding either. Although the Hunters' infra-red vision allowed them to see clearly, even in darkness, the engine cutting out was still a concearn. Suddenly, the ship's inertia shifted, & the crowd of hunters was thrown to the floor, something was seriously wrong. The ship lurched forth again as the passengers were hurled against the wall. The ship was in desperate trouble. The nearby planet seemingly raced closer & closer as the out of control ship hurtled towards it. All of their systems had been struck down by an unknown force, & they were going down.

Nearby, the Darksiege II's crew became startled. A blip appeared on their radar as if out of thin air, & it was heading for the nearby planet at a tremendous speed. "I could've sworn it wasn't there a second ago, what should we do?" asked one of the crew. "We've got to go & investigate, there might be people who need help" shouted the pilot. His voice boomed over the ship's loudspeaker "we will be experiencing a time delay, for those of you who have an urgent job to get to, I apologize, but this is a potentially critical situation". The ship's thrusters fired into life as it blasted towards the unknown planet. As they neared, one of the crewmen shouted "what the hell is that? it doesnt look like any ship I've ever seen", "I don't know, but I guess we're gonna find out" the pilot remarked.

The hunters ship was out of control, hurtling end over end, the passengers being thrown around like ragdolls inside. Suddenly, all seemed to go quiet, everything was at peace...... *SMASH*, the ship collided with the planet, it's sharp, jagged rock structures tearing through it's unshielded hull like a knife through butter. Passengers were thrown everywhere, & flourescent green blood splattered in large amounts as many of the hunters were simply crushed from the impact. The ship violently flipped & rolled end over end across the planet's harsh landspace, leaving large chunks of it's pulverised metal scattered everywhere.

Darksiege II followed, their thrusters at maximum force. Suddenly, as they neared the planet, the thrusters simply cut out. The same terrible fate that had befallen the hunters was happening to them too.....

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Amidst the damaged wreckage of his crashed ship, a hunter pried himself from the smouldering metal titan. The creature collapsed to the ground, the jagged rocks of the planet's surface cutting into his flesh as he lay in a pool of his own flourescent green blood. It was Stalker, the feared second in command of the mighty Balatu clan. His fights spanned centuries, & have been some of the most grisly & ferocious battles recorded in all of the yautja's history. For a proud hunter like himself, a death like this was to show weakness. He tried to lift himself from the ground, the pain was unbearable. He managed to raise his head & take a quick look around. The planet was barren & seemingly lifeless, it's structure seemed to be made up almost entirely of large, jagged boulders & rocks, with a honeycomb of deep entrenchments running through them.

Stalker slid up against the wreckage of his ship, trying to flip open his wristcomputer, something was wrong, it wouldn't open. Stalker tried his mask- nothing. None of his tech was working, although strangely, most of it seemed to still be in good condition, so why wasn't it working? could there be a link between his equipments' failure & the ceasing of his ship's systems? Through his half glazed over eyes, he noticed another object come hurtling through the planet's atmosphere & crash down a couple of kilometres from his own position. It puzzled him why the atmosphere on this planet was breathable, as there seemed to be no signs of other life.

Stalker struggled to his feet as the planet's sun began to set. As the hunter stepped from the shadow of his ship however, his flesh began to burn. He needed to find cover fast. Rushing across the sharp, jagged rock faces with all the strength he had left in his body, he leapt into one of the rocky entrenchments which was running through the planet's surface. As the sun began to fall below the horizon, Stalker let out a mighty howl of agony as his clawed hand reached out, the last rays of sunlight searing the flesh of his hand as the planet slipped into darkness.....

Little did the hunter, & what others may have survived the crash know, was that deep below the planet's surface, their arrival had awoken it's other "inhabitants"