Galactic Corruption [Player: Rosina x Narrator/GM: TinyThings]

[TinyThings]

The real reason for abandoning earth in the first place, had become Legend, by now. Only historians desperately still try to remember those days, that left over half the human populace, a babbling mess. The mental stability of humanity was put on a test, that day, and it failed.
So what happened? What drove humanity to abandon it's home world, and travel out among the stars? What sparked the great Human Migration effort, and brought them into the Galactic Society? Those curious, would know that it was wise, when looking upon Earth, in it's current state. The ancient old buildings, all but crumbled entirely into ruins, covered in black, and purple webs of rock and cliffs. Vegetation, all but entirely burnt, by the green acids, that now made up the world's oceans. Earth had been corrupted, and destroyed.
Only one group of people truly remember the happenings on Earth. A Secret Society, who remembered the great, heinous deeds, of a wicked, hateful God. The Purple Lotus, remembered the great god of fear. Remember the dread, that destroyed the sanity of so many men, and women on Earth, as well as the very Migration Fleets, during their escape. On that day, the great God, took physical form, and those who saw it, were forever changed. Their minds destroyed, by such unfathomable shapes, and gruesomely grotesque gore. Truly, he was a God of Fear.

For many, many centuries, Humanity kept their eyes on new stars, and planets. Searching the universe, for new places to settle, and other species to communicate with. But, all the while, the Purple Lotus, kept their eyes home. Observing. Watching. They saw, what the great God did to their home world, turning it into a constantly changing, ever altering shape of jagged rocks, burning green tidal waves of acid and great battles between replicated humans. Always killing. Always dying. Only to be reshaped, to fight, and die again. A gruesome battlefield, seemingly for the whims of a cruel Master.
All, until last week. Last week, Planet Earth went still. Quite. No breaking of jagged rocks, creating new crevices in Earth's surface. No great Tidal waves of acid, burning it back into shape. Only the cold, barren, black and purple surface, a burning wind in the air. This, was their time.

"Your objective is simple, Agent Mercer. You will be shot onto the surface, near the sighting of your Target. It is near the old ruins of a great human hub, so expect many angles of possible attack." The voice of a Purple Lotus representative, Scarlett's newest employer, chimed in on the intercom of her Private meeting room. The Human Initiative, who usually handed out her missions, had put her under their rule, for the extent of a Mission, calling it a top priority. This, was the Mission. The one, she'd been prepared for, for so long. It would be the hardest she ever fought, but it meant a better future for Humanity. What greater purpose, could she aspire to?
"Review the footage you've been handed, thoroughly, Agent Mercer. Your target, is a heavy unknown, so far. The only reason you are being sent in now, prior to further investigation, is the fact that we might miss our chance. Our last chance, to take back Earth. We aren't going to take that. We want you to be first contact, and our Armada will join you, once contact has been made. You will not be alone in this. We will assist, but we fear your Target will retreat, if we send in the Armada first. Therefore, you get first shot." The voice explained, the hologram in front of her, sighing soft, a small grin on his face. The man wore a purple and white robe, with a purplish hood covering most of his face, except those grinning lips.
"You should be proud. You get the first chance, to take down the creature, that nearly whipped out humanity. Killed countless Humans, back before the great Migration. You may've heard the stories, so you know. This Target, is not to be taken lightly." The man said, gravely, then stepping aside, to allow a woman to step into view, wearing a slightly less formal robe, and a pair of glass'. Scarlett would know this woman, as her long time friend, and Head Engineer; Sasha Feiran. While Scarlett, herself, made the modifications, and had the ideas for her weaponry, and armor, Sasha was the one who mostly turned those ideas, into working items. Excelent mind, in a young woman's head. Not to mention, she was quite an attractive blonde, with an hour shape figure.
"Heey, Scarlett! These new Lotus friends of yours, are.. Quite well funded.. I finally had the chance to re-develop your heavy suit, and install a few extra features. Remember? Those new additions, you'd suggested? Real sweet ones. I managed to tune up the effect of your jump pack, without increasing weight. I installed Ion propelled Missiles in your wrist departments, rather than the silent darts you usually use. Due to your newest targets threat level, we doubt a silent solution will be available, so I decided Missiles would be a better hook for this one. However, I did also install the new Light-Feet plating in your boots, so any landing on surface, will be nearly inaudible. As well as the Distortion, Flash Sensors in your helmet, to disorient your enemy." Sasha grinned, sighing softly, as she took a breath. Sasha often spoke too fast, for her own good, now clearing her throat, blushing lightly at the rolling eyes of the Purple Lotus representative.
"Yes, as I wanted to mention, we highly advice you take advantage of your best equipment, Agent Mercer. We don't expect this creature, to be taken off guard. Nor, do we expect you to manage the Assassination of it... All you need to do, is take it's attention, until the Armada arrive. Is that clear? Of course, if you manage to take down the target, your reward will be doubled, as well as a bonus applied." Sasha had been tapping her feet excitedly for him to mention that, popping back into frame as he did, interrupting the man.
"It's a new Grade V Illusion Z-Core Fighter!! They just came out last week, and we get one! Isn't that exciting!?" The extattic woman laughed happily, before being gently nudged away from the man, with a soft groan.
"Yes.. Indeed. Your ship, doesn't reach the newest standards, anymore. The Grade IV was an excelent ship, but it's served it's purpose. You'll receive the very first V, through construction. Maybe, the only one, given the expenses on the new Z-Core." The man added, then nodded a single time.
"With that, I leave you, Agent Mercer. May Humanity Ever Be Vigilant." He said the Human Initiative's motto, before stepping aside, Sasha taking over the screen, looking excited as ever.
"Just one last thing, dear. Please.. Be careful with this one, alright? This whole thing, about this one creature, taking over the world, so many years ago? It's.. A little scary.. I don't doubt you, I don't.. You know that.. But.. Just.. Be careful, alright? Heh. I don't.. Want to loose.. You.." The woman blushed lightly, clearing her throat, as she pushed the screen away a bit. "Hard to find good employers, these days! Now, I'll sign off.. Let you get your rest, before reaching Earth's atmosphere..." She cleared her throat, coming back into view, blowing Scarlett a kiss, before rushing off.

Footage received by the Purple Lotus:
A Drone camera hovers through the old ruins, of what seemed to once be a Human Hub of Trade. Steel, concrete and brick rubble, lay strewn around on the ground. Humanoid bodies, enfused in black, jagged rock, bodies contorted into screaming shapes, crawling, gnawing and looking for solace, in those last seconds before their bodies were turned to into the purple, black stone.
Off in the distance, a hulking shadow came into view, and the Drone immediately turned it's focus towards it. It showed a massive shape. Humanoid, but with the skin of something subterranean. Dark purple, and green, made it's colors. From the massive head, hundreds of thick tentacle like spores dangled, as of a Kraken. The hulking shape slowly turned it's face towards the camera, before it disappeared. The camera panned swiftly, as a new shape had been sensed, now standing behind it. The creature was now the height of a very tall man, staring down at the camera, with it's yellow eyes, as it slowly bent down to the camera. The tentacles on it's lower head, reached out for the camera, revealing a octopus like mouth, of a million jagged teeth, all moving in unison, as tentacles grabbed the camera, and the recording was abruptly ended.

Player Choices​

Not many days later, Scarlett Mercer's ship was ready for approach, now leaving her with the decision of her approach.
Land the ship, leaving her with a quick escape, should she require it, but also leaving the ship vulnerable to attacks.
Keep the ship in orbit, and shoot down in a pod, landing heavy. This would create a lot of noise, and remove any shot at a sneaky approach, but it would be the most direct landing. It would reduce travel time, and have her completely ready for the fight ahead.
Keep the ship in orbit, and drop out, wearing her heavy suit. With the suit, she could lesson the noise of her landing, but she would be left on ground, with no ways to return to her ship, other than calling it down for a landing, or shooting herself into space, being a risky move.

The decision of equipment, was also available to her.
Her heavy suit definitely being her best bet, in a straight up fight, equipped with heavy weaponry, as well as the best protection out there.
Her normal, skin tight suit, would also have it's uses. She could attempt a sneaky approach. But with review of the recorded tape, this might not be effective, even though a Drone was slightly more noisy, then Scarlett Mercer.

 

[Rosina]

Heavy boots thumped on the steel floors of the grade V, cracking noisily as if they were doing so purposely. A young adult female, around 5'4", paced deliberately back and forth through the main compartment of the ship. She had long brilliant red hair that was slightly curled and flowed down all the way to to her plump ass and danced leisurely behind her as she moved. This was perhaps her most distinguished feature and made clear to any human that she was Red: the youngest Elite Space Agent humanity had ever offered, and one of the few who had been tested over and over yet never failed a mission. Red had fair white skin that contrasted with her bright hair and bold blue eyes, which seemed to give her a commanding presence even among men and provided her with an unquestionable beauty. Light freckling on her nose and upper cheeks distinguished itself from her otherwise blemish free visage and resulted in her looking youthful. Her build resembled an hourglass with maturing breasts and thick hips on either side of her relatively thin waist.

She was wearing her custom-made skin tight ESA uniform. Her uniform showed off the luscious curves of her womanly figure and she was even more sexy in person than in the lewd stories traded by most fellow agents, men and women alike. Her suit fit so finely, and showed the contours of her body so well, that it wouldn't be hard to imagine that if she were bent over her cameltoe would be as clear as day under the dark blue, grey, and black hues of her suit as it clung to her skin. Scarlett was not only notorious for her beauty but also for her seemingly reckless nature: how she adamantly refused to wear a helmet, how she allowed her hair to grow out many feet past the safety regulations, and how on stealth missions she would rather work alone than with a partner but seeing as she had only ever performed with perfection none had any right to complain about her quirks. Due to the prior just above her breasts was a trigger where the click of a button would present a mask that she could use if conditions required such.

Scarlett Mercer continued to pace. She had a lot weighing on her mind aside from the mission at hand: how it seemed like all of humanities faith was in her; how this was the one mission that she felt fear she might need a partner for but she was alone; how this mission was less of the stealth and subterfuge mission she was expert at and more of a guns blazing distraction; how just the quality of her gear showed how critical this task was. Ultimately she decided to just push all those thoughts out of her mind and think on the mission.
"I have never failed before... That's why they chose me. I don't intend to fail now." She whispered to herself confidently. With that out of the way she decided as to which approach she wanted to use. Stealth was her strongest skill; however, it seemed that stealth may be useless against her foe. So with that in mind she decided it was best to go all out, she only needed to create a distraction for the armada. She would drop down in a pod and arm herself with the best she had available, her Heavy suit fresh with Sasha's newest additions.

 

[TinyThings]

Upon chosing her equipment, and putting on her heavy suit, a female Metallic voice rang through the ear-bud, used for communications.
"Greetings, Agent. Welcome, in the G2H V, developed by Sasha Feriran. Designed cooperatively by Elite Agent Scarlett Mercer and Sasha Feiran. Modelled, by Elite Agent Scarlett Mercer. I will be the AI, incorporated in the suit, able to provide assistance, in any means. User's Personal ID: Scarlett Mercer. Welcome, Scarlett." The voice was soothing, and gentle, and would be well known to Scarlett, as her personal AI assistant: Artificial Combat, and Medical Assistant, or Acama, for short.
"I am connected to your system, from our main interface in Mother Ort. I hope that I can be of assistance, on this mission. In case of emergencies, you can relinquish control of the suits main combat functions, to me. But, you know this, and probably will not have to. From your heart rate, I predict you are worried, and with the parameters of your mission, I can calculate why. Do not worry, Scarlett. You'll do your duty, as you always do. Odds, are never on your side, but you always prevail. And, you won't be standing entirely alone. You never will, when you allow me to join you." The sweet voice of the AI danced through Scarlett's ears, it's Morality Systems working admirably. Acama was designed to assist lone agents, in keeping mental fortitude strong, during longer, lonely deployments.

Preparing for drop, Acama's voice chimed in again.
"Ruined Earth's surface, is strangely still breathable to humans. It's atmosphere remains nearly intact, and gravity remains the same. It would seem, whatever entity controls it's surface, wanted to keep the planet intact, and not rip it apart completely. Helmet controls, will remain on alert, however, and will be deployed, upon unpredictable circumstances. You're safe to chose, weather to wear it permanently, or not. Good luck, Scarlett, and have a pleasant drop."
So was the last words Scarlett heard, before her drop pod shot towards the surface.


With a thundering crack, and a bellowing boom, Scarlett's drop pot hit the surface, cracking the black rock beneath it. The pod landed as expected, opening it's doors perfectly for the Agent within it's belly. Upon exiting, the pod transformed into a small vehicular device, for Scarlett to use at her leisure, but a warning beep from her suit, may've distracted her from that thought.
"Several contacts, detected. Form: Humanoid. Hostility: Unknown." Acama's voice danced again, sending a holographic image to Scarlett's wrist screen, showing the hundreds of dots around her. It would seem, that Ruined Earth's surface, was not as empty as formerly predicted. The creatures she'd now see, cracking through the surface, was the petrified corpses of humans, able to move, and act, in slow groaning motions. All creatures started converging on Scarlett's position, their jaws slack, or missing, the croaking groans of grinding rocks bellowing from their shapes.
"Parameter changes, for surrounding targets: Hostility: Very Possible. Caution, advised. Target location, in sight, displayed on HUD." A HUD appeared in front of Scarlett's eyes, from the earbud on her ear, showing a red dot on a large, nearby ruined city.

Player Choices
​

With the encroaching creatures, Scarlett is left with a few options.
She can take the vehicular pod, and attempt to fly past the Possibly hostile creatures, and head straight for the target location. This would save her arsenal, for her real target, as well as keeping her body strong, and fit for the real fight.
She can chose to start opening fire, on the many enemies around her. The targets seem vulnerable, and slow, should make easy target practice. This would use some of her arsenal, but not take much of her endurance.
She could also use her close combat weaponry, to dispatch the closing enemies. They are slow, and shouldn't give up much resistance. This option, would spare her a lot of ammunition, for the real fight ahead. It would also fatigue her more, than any other option.

If asking for Acama's Advice: "Agent, I advice against any action, towards slow, vulnerable and unnecessary targets. Save your Arsenal, and strength, for the real fight ahead. Take the Speeder, and hover over these slow, hulking Golems."

 

[Rosina]

"Hello Acama!" Scarlett chimed in cheerfully as she heard the familiar voice of her AI assistant. For most people the soothing voice of an AI reading your systems and providing advice directly into your ear might be unnerving, even for other ESA sometimes the efficiency of the AI is scary; however, to Scarlett, the youngest ESA thus-far, Acama was almost like a mother to her. All throughout her childhood the ESA trained, and studied to be here right now, to be the best humanity had to offer, so Acama easily spent more time with the girl than her biological mother had. Scarlett was a specialist when it came to the long solo-op so she spent many long, and terrifying hours alone with no support other than Acama. At the least there was a great bond between Scarlett and Acama, even if the bond was mostly one-sided. The ESA took a deep breath through her cute nose before allowing the warm air to escape through her sweet, parted lips. She then said confidently,
"Of course you are right. I know you will always be at my side... I can handle this!"

Scarlett grinned slightly when she heard that Earth still had a breathable atmosphere. The ESA abhorred having to wear a helmet because her long brilliant red hair always got caught and in general was just a pain to deal with, of course it was against regulation to have long hair in the first place but she never let anyone tell her that. She would only wear a helmet if it was absolutely required, and now was no exception, she intended to keep it off.

As the ESA stepped out of the escape pod, in the wake of the thunderous explosion from her landing, she took a deep breath to calm herself again but it was cut short by the familiar beep of a warning. Her bold blue eyes widened slightly as she glanced down at the map, before scanning the area around her curiously. When her gaze fell upon the human corpses raising out of the ground and all around her she's let out an almost playful,
"Are those fucking zombies? The researchers are going to have a field day down here once I'm done..." Although she handled the sight quite well she couldn't all together say it wasn't concerning, the ESA had seen plenty of undead-like things in her line of work--usually caused by parasites--but nothing quite like this. Regardless they didn't actually seem to be a threat despite whether or not they were hostile, and she had no imperative to waste her energy or resources hunting them down so she took her speeder and attempted to head off to the town, flying right above their heads.

 

[TinyThings]

The young Agent's reaction to the corpse-like creatures, caused a complaining beep from her AI assistant. Acama had started without any real, Artificial voice, when first linked with the child-in-training, and still had a few habits, form that time. It had simple voice commands it could use, back then, most being male, before the soothing female voice was incorporated. Back then, Acama had not been fond of her voice commands, and mostly used her beeps, and blops, to communicate. The evolved AI it had now, still had the habit of doing this, it's intelligence making those little beeps almost a nostalgic thing. Something, it kept hidden from anyone else than Scarlett.
"After a perliminary scan of their anatomic structure, then.. No. Not like the Infected creatures you've met before, and referred to, as Zombies. Their bodies are made up of 83.5768% unknown, rocky material, with the last percentages being unknown liquids, as well as small percentages of blood, water and acid. These creatures... Should not be moving, Scarlett. Do not underestimate them, they do not adhere to the laws of physics, you humans cling so desperately to." Acama's soothing voice explained, nearly avoid of emotions. But there was a caring worry, in the voice, a tone it only took when quite serious about a thread. Of course, Acama wasn't meant to be capable of emotions, but had protocols, knowing the tones it had to take, to have the wanted effect. That, or Acama -had- evolved emotions, this was hard to really know.

Jumping upon the speeder, it's engines roared wickedly, sending her into the air with a blast. Setting the engines to it's highest, she was able to create the height she wanted, blasting over the first few Golem's heads. Bellow her, she'd hear the creaking of rock, grinding against rock, when the Golem's bodies were squeezed against the ground, by the burning of the speeders engines, as she flew fast above their heads. However, after the first few of the creatures were past, a yank at the speeder's side, indicated one had leaped up, now grabbing on to the plating of the speeder. The hand quickly slipped, sending the rocky creature to the ground with a thud, only to be replaced by a second one.
"It appears, these creatures; still designation, waiting for first contact Agent to name them, have the ability to leap off of the ground. Their brain functions, exceed the amount of fluids, even present in their heads." Acama said, being quite the obvious AI in it's information, since Scarlett would soon see the Golems leap at her speeder, any chance that they got. The Golems remained slow, proving no real thread to a woman with reflexes like Scarlett's, but they were many, and the count only grew higher, the closer she got to the city, with the jagged rocks surrounding it, proving the only real respite from the horde.
"I would advice integrating the G2HV Suit, with the speeder's, to allow an Overdrive of the engines. It'll allow you more height, and you should be able to fly right above them, without reach." Acama suggested, already taking the initiative, to send the signal to her gauntlet, a blue light shining from an open screen in the middle, meant to be pushed onto the speeders main display.

Deep within Scarlett's bones, she'd feel a deep, creeping chill, as a grotesque, vibrating, unimaginable voice cracked against her mind. As if an invisible entity, had reached right through her skin, grabbed at her spine, and rattled her bones with the very power of it's voice. Weaker minds, would've broken then, when her eyes caught a glimpse of the massive, purple sand storm, that roared above the city, and within this storm, two terrifyingly massive, yellow slits, stared down upon the speeder, as it traveled. Even she, would hear the tearing of her very sanity, trying to rip her apart, and remove any ounce of loyalty, any shred of purpose form her, to make her turn heel, and flee. A involuntary fear, was knocking at the door of her mental fortitude, threatening to break it down.
"And so, it returns. The very pest, I take such delight in corrupting.. Breaking. And, as foreseen, the mind fights. Wins? Such delightful perseverance, and from such an insect..." The voice taunted, followed by a growled laughter, as the yellow slits in the storm disappeared. "Come.. Test your body, and mind, against mine. Long, have I awaited this day..." The voice ended in another crackling, slow laughter, that slowly vanished into no sound.

There was no reaction from Acama, with the voice Scarlett had just been introduced to, nor the eyes she saw in the sky. It was as if, the suits interface, and hud, did not pick up on the same, as her eyes, and ears had.
"Unknown creature Hostility level, decreased to zero." Acama's voice chirped, surprise hidden behind the artificial voice, as Scarlett would notice, that all the Golems now stood still, only turning their gaze after the speeder. Like a crowd, observing the return of Royalty.
Before her, was now the massive ruins of an old Human Social Hub. Buildings, recognizable as great sky scrapers, crumbled over. Grand Malls, with half broken walls and rooftops. Streets, littered with jagged, spiked rocks, shooting up from old, ruined concrete streets.

Player Choices
​

Find higher ground, to watch the surroundings. This would mean leaving the speeder behind, somewhere on the empty streets, but would give a good view of the area.
Travel through the streets, searching for the target there. Leaves Scarlett open to ambushes, and attacks from around corners, unexpectedly.
Other actions, not prohibited.

Acama's Advice: "Agent, I advice against staying by the streets. The yet undesignated creatures, appeared out of the ground, with no warning. We can only expect them to do so again."​

 

[Rosina]

"84% rock? That is a new one..." Scarlett agreed as she glanced down at them from the vantage of her speeder. As she dashed through the air the ESA ass-length red hair danced behind her like a whirlwind and the rush of breathable air against her face made the girl grin. Even in it's current corrupted state it was clear that this planet was earth, the birthplace of humanity, she could only imagine how beautiful it could be once her mission was complete; however, she didn't let that thought distract her. Even despite Acama's worried tone Scarlett clearly wasn't phased, she never was during the mission: it was always before the mission when she let her emotions get the best of her.
"Oh!?" The ESA would let out in surprise as she felt the first yank against the bottom of her speeder, then a second one tugging her down once more. Yet the moment she that saw these rock-zombies were jumping at her they became less zombies and more monstrous automata. Regardless she didn't let them catch her off guard again and she easily set to evading any more jumpers eager at bringing her closer to the ground. Scarlett simply nodded at Acama's suggestion and allowed the engines to overdrive so that she had the height to get to a safe threshold so she wouldn't be jumped.

The ESA's bold blue eyes shot wide open in surprise and her body couldn't help but tremble in a sudden terror that locked her body frozen in place and sent her heart racing in her chest. Her eyes narrowed on the yellow slits and stared into them as they stared through storm and back into her. She felt her sanity battered with an incomprehensible fear as that voice... that voice ripped into her mind and made itself known. Scarlett couldn't look away from the massive yellow slits but neither did she have the strength to look at them, her eyes all but blanking out as her vision faded slightly and foreign words danced across her consciousness. As the slits disappeared her vision came back to her but she could still feel the horrifying laughing of an unknown power in the back of her mind as it slowly vanished into nothingness. Yet even as the sound dissipated she could feel it's presence, she could feel that something was different now: as if she had lost something that she never knew she had. The ESA didn't know how much time had passed from when the voice started till now, but the fact that she wasn't much closer to the town, and that she hadn't been taken down by a jumper during her distraction led her to believe it had only been a short moment.

In all her missions Scarlett had never experienced something like that and she scoured all her interfaces for any sign that it was real and that she wasn't just going insane. Luckily she did find a sign that what she thought just happened did in fact, not on her HUD or from Acama, but as she glanced down at the jumpers who all ceased aggression immediately and stared up at her like she was some form of royalty. She had flashbacks to walking into rooms of military and having them all dote over her like she was a saint, it was just like this but less monstrous. She was unnervingly silent as she approached the fallen city, trying to sort out the insanity that just attached itself to her.
"No Acama... He wants me to find him... Those creatures won't bother us again, he stopped them." As Scarlett spoke her voice was surprisingly shaky and fearful, she was still confident in her mission but to Acama who heard her boldly brushing off danger moments earlier this was quite a drastic change. Regardless she set to traveling the streets in search for her charge, certain that there would be no more surprises aside from the beast himself.

 

[TinyThings]

There was a silence to Acama, with Scarlett's suggestion. Obviously, the AI was surprised, and confused, at the sudden input, and knowledge, of her designated Agent, and had to process the new information she was given. Most AI assistants, would just take it as a command, and work with the new knowledge they were given, but Acama wasn't a part of 'most'. The Intelligence interfaces that Sarah had programmed her with, gave her -some- resemblance of a consciousness, and worry was building in her.
"Scarlett? How do you know this? The systems are telling me, that a unregular heart rate, was just present. Are you alright? You have not been worried, like that, on a mission before? Your brain activity, suggested you were listening to something, but no audio, was picked up by the suits sensors. What did you hear?" There was obvious worry in the Artificial voice, as it probed Scarlett for information, while the speeder calmly lead them into the ruined city. The buzzing of it's engines, had dimmed down, after the Overdrive had kicked off, no longer necessary, when the Golems was left in the dust. Now, the calming buzz of the engines, carried them through snaking streets of rubble, jagged rock and ruined buildings.

There were more Golems around them, but these were all the corpses, expected from shapes, made out of such a high percentage of rock. Contorted, twisted, into a variety of positions, showing the equal pain, equal fear, that ran through these peoples minds, when they were turned into the black rock they were now.
Everything about the city, seemed quite. The only real sounds, being the occasional cracking and creaking of rocks, as well as the bubbling, of the few acid lakes, littering the streets, like little rain puddles.
"This silence is eerie, Scarlett.. Unnatural. The scanners detected the beast here, but now, there are no signs of life. Nothing. Just the rock creatures, that I've now put in protocols, so we can detect. They are.. Everywhere. Thousands of dots, inside each of the broken buildings. Hundreds, around the streets. An even larger group of them, detected up ahead." Acama explained, as the speeder lead them into a large, open area. It seemed, this might've once been a park, remnants still present, of what was once quite beautiful. But now, it was corrupted. Dark. Destroyed. The trees, that once littered the park, was broken, rotten shells of their former glory, now pierced, and cut, by jagged rocks, shooting out of the ground.
The park, was also littered with the Golem creatures. Some, holding their faces, in extreme agony, others trying to run, some having clearly been fighting, before meeting their fate. Sanity, wasn't required, in this crowd.

Suddenly, the speeder's screen seemed to shiver, and flutter, as it's engines sputtered, losing energy.
"Speeder, acting unregularly. Plenty of power. No external, or internal damage. No signal jamming fields. No Electromagnetic pulses. Irregular shutdown, necessary. Putting you down safely." With the last bit of power from the speeder, Acama forced it into a land. This way, Scarlett would be able to jump back on, and fly off, should she have to later, and should the speeder work again.
They landed a little outside the massive park, the Speeder hissing, as it's engines shot down, and carefully landed on the hard, rocky ground. Though the rocky surface was smooth, and almost Crystallic, it was also hard, and fierce.

After a few steps, both Acama and Scarlett would hear a thunderous crackling, as a large building, on the other side of the park, started crumbling over, as if something massive, had walked into it, with it's shoulder, but nothing was visible. The suits systems, however, started going crazy, sending wild warning beeps.
"One massive life signature, straight ahead. Thousands of smaller signatures, moving all around you." Acama's voice warned, but the second Scarlett lay her eyes around herself.. There was nothing there. Only the cracking and thumping, of the broken building pieces, still plummeting towards the earth. "No visuals, on warnings, systems may be damaged.. Scanning for iregularities."

Again, crippling fear, came knocking at the door of sanity. This time, not with knuckles, but full blown fists, hammering desperately at the door, screaming for help, as if hunted by the Devil himself. It wanted it. Wanted to take a complete hold of Scarlett, even before she was in any actual, immediate danger. And, again, following that crippling fear, came that same voice again. This time, booming, fierce and wicked.
"See! See, what I first wrought! See, how the.. Insects first reacted, knowing their doom came upon them! How, my very presence, broke their pathetic little minds! How, I will break yours too, for you are -nothing-.. Scarlett, Mercer.. Just.. Another insect, among rodents, and filth..." The voice taunted, as Scarlett's vision flickered.

Silent noises started spreading in Scarlett's mind, as if she was suddenly surrounded by talking, murmuring and chatter. It was a peaceful sound. The sound of people, just going about their day, to day. Shopping, Discussing. Occasional shouting at a purse thief, or someone accidentally bumping into each other. The honk of cars. The buzzing of neon lights.
Soon, a vision came with the sounds. All around her, the black and purple, turned bright again. Buildings, intact. White, blue and green, littering her surroundings. The green, lush park, were children, and adults played, chatted and walked their pets. The busy streets around the park, littered with people talking in their phones, having coffee and street-side cafes. Cars, in massive traffic lines, honking, and complaining, at the wasted time in line. Even the sky, was littered with both birds, and the early assembly of flying automobiles. This was ancient times, that much was certain. Cars, and streets, were still primitive, and the clothing was a forgotten fashion. A time of expression, rather then the new times, when everything was practical, and bland.

Should Scarlett attempt to communicate with anyone, she couldn't. No one even seemed to see her. And, in the moment she realized this, the same crackling of old buildings, was heard again, as the same building she'd seen tumble earlier, did so again. This time, however, the building was as new, and a thundering screaming followed it's destruction, having been an appartment complex. Hundreds possibly dead, with that very first contact. And, then, next to the build, she saw what caused this destruction.
A massive, hulking figure, taller than any building around, it's arms thicker then the very girth of the buildings it trampled. The grotesque tentacles, dangling from it's body, coiling, whipping and wrapping around anything it touched, tossing cars, building blocks and people to all sides, as it made it's way through the city.
The screams, and shouts of people, intensified, to an unfathomable degree. The people who looked up, and saw, what was coming for them, had many different reactions. Some keeled over, covering their face, their ears, screaming incoherent blabber towards nothing in particular. Some started running, any direction, not necessarily away from the monster. They lost all sense of sanity, clear thoughts left their minds. Others, started attacking each other. Ripping, clawing at each others faces, until bloodied, or dead, screaming and shouting aggressively, as all human thoughts left their mind, leaving them wild animals.
One thing, they all had in common, was the act of self harm. Cutting, ripping and clawing at themselves, they tried to get the images they'd seen, out of their heads. The horror, that was the creature crawling through the city, was too much, for the human mind, as it was. Scarlett had seen many things, and wouldn't feel the same heartbroken fear, but none of the people around her, could ever imagine such unforgettable horror.

Scarlett, would feel that insanity, kicking at the doors of her mind, as well. Her very heart, would feel heavy, with the dread, choking at her blood vessels, attempting to slow, and still her blood. Make her go cold, and vulnerable. It was an involuntary fear, trying to force her into submission.
"Yes.. Succumb, to the same fear, as the rest of the insects! Feel it boil your mind, and fry your senses! Humanity is weak.. It never deserved, the world we left for them! They tainted it, and forced it to submit to them! I made them feel, what their world had felt! The very ground bellow them, quaking in fear, that they would destroy it one day!! I gave that back, to them... Made the world -strong- again, after ridding it of the insects, that fed off of it's glory! But.. I am not sated.. I want more! I want the rest! I can not rest, until the pest, is completely, exterminated!" The creature taunted again, ripping at the fabric of her reality, trying to tear her down. Testing her.

The roaring voice sounded again, still inside Scarlett's head, but the hulking figure, seemed to move as if it was it talking, smashing things, whenever it put emphasis on something, and hammering it's hands down at the end, sending waves of cars, people and build blocks, flying through the air. The creature grabbed at a build, it's yellow eyes now staring directly towards Scarlet, as it ripped the building apart, tossing bits and parts of it, in her direction. Right as it did, a few humans ran directly through Scarlett, as if they were holograms.