The Granians weren’t the only ones on a quest to acquire more resources to aid them in the war. Their enemies, the Ethisians, had previously allied with an intelligent alien species known as the Yrrejites.
Not too long ago, these species executed a raid on the Granian Citadels to size up their enemy’s strength. During that process, an interesting discovery was made; one that could change the fate of the war for them.
This discovery, a toxin strong enough to kill a Blood Mutant, later led the Yrrejites and Ethisians to learn more about it to get a better understanding of how they could weaponize and use it to their advantage.
To their shock, the toxin was a highly potent cytotoxin that consumed the flesh of whatever it was injected into. This discovery was made when the Yrrejites administered it to a beast which later on died in minutes.
The creature’s flesh fell off like dry, rotting flesh off its bones and quickly led to its death. Upon seeing this, the Ethisians tasked the Yrrejites with mass-producing the poison. But here’s where the difficulty kicked in.
The creatures from which the venom was extracted were highly aggressive, massive in size as well as temper, and quite burdensome to kill and milk. It was by sheer luck that the Yrrejites found one that was already weakened and injured in the first place for them to milk all of its poison.
For them to get more poison, they’d need incredibly strong and durable machines to handle the beasts along with strong soldiers to act as backup in case of any unwanted challenges.
The Yrrejites would have done so themselves but they were a species that involved themselves more with science and exploration than tussling with beasts.
Even if they wanted to, their bodies were too feeble to go toe-to-toe against the creatures. Thankfully, the Ethisian high ruler, Enor, tasked his strongest High Grade soldiers with escorting the Yyrejites to make sure the task is completed.
[Location: Yyrejite sector of Akrina] ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵
[Beast Sector Planet]
Cold, dimly lit environment.
Thick, next to impenetrable forests.
Green, smelly water. Thick, towering trees.
Creeping vines, thirty-inch long thorns, horrifyingly large bugs, insects, critters, and creepy crawlies.
High humidity, thick atmosphere, cold and unforgiving air.
"This place is horrible." Seated inside one of the thirty Mechs was the Yyerijite scientist who presented the Cytotoxin to the Ethisian, Yyrejite, Haisojan, and Soxan council on Planet Edenia.
In the comfort and security of the machine, the alien complained about how tough and unforgiving the atmosphere was. Even though she wasn’t outside, the Yyrejite bellyached and complained but not on her behalf.
"Commander. Elenor. Are you sure these conditions are okay for you to walk through?"
The two High Grades, Commander and Elenor, marched along with the Mechs with a fleet of fifty Upper Legendary Ethisian soldiers accompanying them.
The Ethisians were clad in thick suits of armor, heavyweight helmets, and equipped themselves with large guns along with a traditional weapon of their choice.
Their suits of armor came equipped with breathing fluids and computer systems, scanners, and monitors on their HUDs designed to alert them of any incoming hostiles.
"We’re perfectly fine, Yyrejite," Commander answered as he and Enoris marched ahead of them. "This is nothing compared to what we’ve been through."
"I am more than aware of your past experiences, Commander," she responded. "I’m simply concerned for your safety. These waters are thick and murky. My systems show that there are hundreds of thousands of hostile specimens lurking in them."
"This is a thick forest," Elenor spoke in a somewhat mocking tone. "Of course creatures are lurking in here."
"You’re not getting my point. This is dangerous. At least let us carry you on our Mechs."
Commander raised his fist in the air which was a signal for his soldiers to halt. He then faced them, looked at the scientist, and asked, "Are any of you scared of the water?"
They shouted in response.
"Will you let it stop you from moving forward?"
"What are we here to do?"
""Assist our allies. Collect as much of the toxin as we can.""
"Does that settle your nerves?" He asked with eyes glued to the scientist. Even though the Ethisians didn’t mind moving in these waters, the scientist couldn’t mind but feel heavily concerned for them and she didn’t know why.
"It doesn’t." She complained. "If anything, it just makes me more anxious since you and your men thought it was wise to shout in a forest."
{MULTIPLE HOSTILE SPECIMENS DETECTED}
{MULTIPLE HOSTILE SPECIMENS DETECTED}
{MULTIPLE HOSTILE SPECIMENS DETECTED}
Immediately, the soldiers circled closer to the Mechs with their weapons drawn. Thise piloting the Mechs readied their weapons as well once they saw the Ethisians take action.
Enor and Commander remained silent while their suits showed tiny dots all over their HUDs inching closer towards them.
Instead of sticking to his gun, Commander drew his long weapon from its hoister-a double-edged, double blade with a thick handle in the middle.
Elenor, upon seeing this, drew her weapon as well which was also a double-edged, double blade with a slightly thinner handle in the middle.
The rest of the Upper Legendary soldiers held their guns firmly and remained vigilant. With eyes open wide, they waited patiently for whatever it was that was ambushing them.
Ripples in the water started to form until they grew into violent waves. The ground started to shake mightily with a force that made some of the Mechs lose their balance.
The first creature was sighted running through a thicket of shrubs, bushes, vines, and trees. This creature was large, incredibly large. Its body was shaped like an elongated egg with four elephant-like legs at the front and two larger ones at the back.
Its tail was as thick as its neck and its head was shaped like a mixture between a monitor lizard and a bull. Four eyes on each side of its head, long teeth piercing from the sides of its jaws, and a long forked tongue peering in and out added more ferocity to this already dangerous creature.
"The beasts!!!" The scientist cried, her hands already clenching tight on her Mech’s weapon controls. "An ambush. It’s an ambush. They knew we were coming and...there are so many of them."