Mekanta
14-07-2004, 19:05
-OOC-
Direct copy from the ESUS boards. The Nightmare Syndrome, AKA "TerrorCorps" is a biological weapon under development by Mekanta. These are the Nightmare Syndrome in thier main stage...
http://www.scgame.wz.cz/zergunits/hydralisk2.jpg
http://www.mig81.com/starghost/images/s_shots/shot_8.jpg
... And the second form...
http://www.mig81.com/starghost/images/s_shots/shot_15.jpg
The song (you'll see later in the post) is from Trigun. Just FYI.
-Project "TerrorCorps" testing grounds.
Fourth Circle, eigth ring, second sphere of the Mekantan Nexus
Over 500 Human soldiers milled about the jungle-like environment, decked out in full battle armor. More of the various pirate scum Mekanta caught in it's many expansions. They took no notice of the command center floating in the skies above them, the dark, misty environment
T3K smirked. These ones will make good fertilizer for the Flowers of Life when the test was done. He turned, barking an order to an AI system. <"Execute program. Release the prototypes.">
Rick whipped around, sweating profusely as he heard a rasping hiss echo through the jungle. "M... M... Marie...?"
"It's some kind of animal. Shut the hell up, Rick." Eric said, growling. "I have enough shit to deal with already. I don't need your shit either."
Linda slapped him upside the head, glaring. "Enough! Whatever those damn Machines are up to, we have to stick together if we want to survive. Got it?" She unslung her rifle, shivering slightly at the still-too-fresh memory of the Machine attack on her comrades. Seeing them rip apart thier sentries and take the base with frightening efficiency made her doubtful of thier survival.
Rick nodded, gulping. He calmed when Marie leaned against him, his fiance's touch cooling his mind. "We just have to get through this..." She whispered, smiling. He could feel her shivering under her light armor, and realized everyone was just as scared shitless right now as him. Maybe it was something in the air... or the environment...
Something seemed to be sucking the light out of the area, the hissing and rustling of some... thing... adding to the terrifying ambience.
It was then that the group of four heard a scream, rushing to investigate.
T3K smiled, preferring his Simulant body for its facial expressions.
The Terrorcorps were already at work, thier powerful psionic powers absorbing most of the light in the area as one part of the psychological attack. They secreted a chemical into the air, made to stimulate fear centers in Human brains, and appeared to have used thier next tool quite well.
Long had Mekanta studied the Human brain, and were gaining knowlage at phenominal rates. This gained usefulness as thier psionic abilities re-awoke upon thier return to the Nexus. Namely, in manipulating and reading Human thought.
He would have to thank his Silaran friends. Thier DNA was what made this all possible...
Rick paled as they came upon several of thier comrades... or what was left of them.
The largest piece left was a woman's torso and head, driven through a pike freshly ripped from a nearby tree. Upon seeing the bloody face, with the tip of the pike jabbing through the back of her neck, Linda fell to her knees. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw her sister, emotion overtaking logic as she shuffled over to her slain reletive, embracing the corpse...
Emotion. The reason organic soldiers would always be inferior to Mekanta's legions.
Given the proper stimulus, such as fear, sadness, or occasionally love, an organic soldier can be rendered useless. Machines under the control of Tactical Command lack that handicap.
The Terrorcorps exploit it. The fourth tactic, in conjunction with the fifth.
This was starting to get interesting. Very interesting indeed.
You care... You love her... She's dead... You'll never see her again...
Linda gasped, everyone else looking around.
Never... never... never... never... never... never... never...
Linda's mind flooded with memories of her sister, tainted with the chant filling her mind. She felt every mental defence, however feeble, being forcefully stripped away, allowing a torrent of painful emotions to flood her mind.
Soon, the others began to be affected as whatever was doing this turned its attention to all of them
Look... Look... See... See what is going to happen...
Rick caught on quickly, trying to clamp his hands over his ears. "No! No! Stop it you bastard!"
It was no use.
It's hopeless... You never had any chance... We never had any intention... You're going to die here... You'll never see your family... Never... Never again... You... Rick Thompson...
Rick's eyes shot open, and he began shaking violently.
Your sister... Jill... Your brothers... Frank and Steve... Your mother... Your father... We are comming for them next...
Images flashed in his mind, memories of his family. But they began to change, transforming into a nightmarish barrage of pictures. In each one, someone he cared about was killed, thier body horribly mangled...
Anger. Another Human emotion. This worked both for, and against the Humans. If they were angry enough, they would fight harder. But not smarter.
Never smarter. Anger eroded away logic... And allowed the sixth technique of the Terrorcorps to come into play...
You... You will do it... You...
Rick shook with fear, and a growing hatred, as the thing spoke. Finally, one image flashed and stayed in his mind.
Marie... She was... was... Gone...
A single large gash across her neck. Blood all down her chest. And some... thing... some monster, standing behind her with scythe-like talons on each arm.
Look closer...
And... her stomach... was riddled with holes...
Rick couldn't take it any more. In one motion, he unslung his rifle and started firing madly into the trees, screaming with a berzerker fury. Similar bursts of weapons fire could be heard, thier muzzle flashes barely visible, all over the forest.
Marie's hand reached his shoulder, and he stopped. Turning, he noticed tears streaming down her face as she embraced him. Eric just blinked, confused. "What... what the hell is going on here..."
La dee da dee dide... Genocide...
The voice that filled all of thier heads began singing, rustling being heard all around them.
La dee da dee dud... An ocean of blood...
All of them held thier rifles in a white-knuckle grip, looking around for where the thing was.
Now we begin... The killing time...
Suddenly, something ripped out of the foliage and stopped in front of Linda, mind numbing fear overtaking the minds of everyone. Both psychically induced, and from knowing that this was the creature each of them had seen in hallucinated images, killing those they loved. This thing had essentially raped thier minds of any useful information, and it just laughed as it stood there a moment.
A split second after letting everyone see it, it struck. With one downward sweep of a scythe, it severed Linda's left arm before following up with a cut that completely bisected her. By the time the remaining three could move, the creature leapt into the overhanging foliage, silently dropping down a fair distance away.
All three opened fire, thier bullets passing harmlessly through it. Marie was the first to realize it was an illusion, but that train of thought stopped as Eric gave a slight gasp.
"Eric! Are you okay?" She asked, noticing he was a sickly pale color.
"Yes... Just..." He turned to the other two, smiling as he held his held the barrel of his rifle to his head. "... Just fine..."
Metaform.
T3K was always pleased with himself when he thought of the Nightmare Syndrome, a possible final name for the Terrorcorps, and their possession of this power.
He thought a moment, and chuckled. Ironic choice of words. "Possession" indeed.
Rick's eyes widened. Just as Eric's finger began squeezing the trigger, the creature brust out of his chest, inflicting a deep gash on Rick's shoulder before grabbing Marie.
Fun...
Rick's finger was on the trigger, ready to riddle the demon with holes. But... Marie was in the way...
Yes... I see both of your thoughts... Memories... Nights of passion... A feeling Humans call love... how funny... This is playing out exactly as I showed it would...
Rick's hands were visibly shaking, both Humans trembling with fear.
But there's a change of plans... YOU'RE MINE...
It seemed like a dream. The creature threw Marie to the side, and Rick opened fire. But... The wet sound of bullets puncturing armor and flesh... and Marie's gasp...
The dream faded, and became a nightmare. Marie looked at him, not bothering to see the holes in her abdomen.
After I show you exactly what you've already seen...
The creature slit Marie's throat, Rick yelling something. Tears ran down his cheeks as the creature threw her to him.
He caught his fiance's body, his tears dripping onto her face. "Rick..." She rasped weakly, obviously in pain. "... I... love you..."
He embraced her tightly as her life ended, tears running down his cheeks. "Marie? MARIE!?"
The creature, the one he thought of as a demon, just grinned.
"The test is over, m'lord. What shall we do with the corpses?" The AI asked, T3K turning.
"Feed them to the Flowers of Life, of course." T3K responded, chuckling. "The survivors may live for now..."
Rick watched in a numb trance as he saw his dead comrades being pulled down some kind of living conveyer belt into a writhing mass of vines and flowers. Everything seemed like some kind of horrible nightmare, and he wished he could just wake up. Everyone... everyone was gone...
He stopped, the AIs escorting him to... something... patiently waiting. He saw Eric's body... then Linda's...
He broke into a run toward the conveyer, the AI starting to move, but a single command in Mekantan stopped them. T3K watched intently as the organic embraced one of the corpses.
Rick cried silently over Marie, then looking fearfully at the vines. They were dripping some kind of acid, probably to digest any food. "Marie... Marie!" He cried, pulling at her. His mind was completely gone, leading him to think she was just sleeping. "Please, wake up! Wake up Marie! Please!" He cried, T3K and the AI guards watching emotionlessly as they drew nearer to the vines.
"The two must have been close. Why else would he delude himself into believing she was alive?"
Rick just wrapped his arms around her, sobbing. "Marie..." He whispered, feeling heat from the vines. "I love you too..." He kissed her forehead as the two entered together.
Pain filled his mind as the acids ate away at the two, specialized vines picking his flesh apart. He retained his grip on Marie, even as his senses began to dim and his memory started to fade.
The last thing that left his mind... were her face and her name...
T3K turned away, his eyes closed. "Inform Tactical Command. The system is a success."
"You feel for the organics, do you not?" One of the AI asked, tilting its head.
T3K just walked away, shaking his head...
Direct copy from the ESUS boards. The Nightmare Syndrome, AKA "TerrorCorps" is a biological weapon under development by Mekanta. These are the Nightmare Syndrome in thier main stage...
http://www.scgame.wz.cz/zergunits/hydralisk2.jpg
http://www.mig81.com/starghost/images/s_shots/shot_8.jpg
... And the second form...
http://www.mig81.com/starghost/images/s_shots/shot_15.jpg
The song (you'll see later in the post) is from Trigun. Just FYI.
-Project "TerrorCorps" testing grounds.
Fourth Circle, eigth ring, second sphere of the Mekantan Nexus
Over 500 Human soldiers milled about the jungle-like environment, decked out in full battle armor. More of the various pirate scum Mekanta caught in it's many expansions. They took no notice of the command center floating in the skies above them, the dark, misty environment
T3K smirked. These ones will make good fertilizer for the Flowers of Life when the test was done. He turned, barking an order to an AI system. <"Execute program. Release the prototypes.">
Rick whipped around, sweating profusely as he heard a rasping hiss echo through the jungle. "M... M... Marie...?"
"It's some kind of animal. Shut the hell up, Rick." Eric said, growling. "I have enough shit to deal with already. I don't need your shit either."
Linda slapped him upside the head, glaring. "Enough! Whatever those damn Machines are up to, we have to stick together if we want to survive. Got it?" She unslung her rifle, shivering slightly at the still-too-fresh memory of the Machine attack on her comrades. Seeing them rip apart thier sentries and take the base with frightening efficiency made her doubtful of thier survival.
Rick nodded, gulping. He calmed when Marie leaned against him, his fiance's touch cooling his mind. "We just have to get through this..." She whispered, smiling. He could feel her shivering under her light armor, and realized everyone was just as scared shitless right now as him. Maybe it was something in the air... or the environment...
Something seemed to be sucking the light out of the area, the hissing and rustling of some... thing... adding to the terrifying ambience.
It was then that the group of four heard a scream, rushing to investigate.
T3K smiled, preferring his Simulant body for its facial expressions.
The Terrorcorps were already at work, thier powerful psionic powers absorbing most of the light in the area as one part of the psychological attack. They secreted a chemical into the air, made to stimulate fear centers in Human brains, and appeared to have used thier next tool quite well.
Long had Mekanta studied the Human brain, and were gaining knowlage at phenominal rates. This gained usefulness as thier psionic abilities re-awoke upon thier return to the Nexus. Namely, in manipulating and reading Human thought.
He would have to thank his Silaran friends. Thier DNA was what made this all possible...
Rick paled as they came upon several of thier comrades... or what was left of them.
The largest piece left was a woman's torso and head, driven through a pike freshly ripped from a nearby tree. Upon seeing the bloody face, with the tip of the pike jabbing through the back of her neck, Linda fell to her knees. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw her sister, emotion overtaking logic as she shuffled over to her slain reletive, embracing the corpse...
Emotion. The reason organic soldiers would always be inferior to Mekanta's legions.
Given the proper stimulus, such as fear, sadness, or occasionally love, an organic soldier can be rendered useless. Machines under the control of Tactical Command lack that handicap.
The Terrorcorps exploit it. The fourth tactic, in conjunction with the fifth.
This was starting to get interesting. Very interesting indeed.
You care... You love her... She's dead... You'll never see her again...
Linda gasped, everyone else looking around.
Never... never... never... never... never... never... never...
Linda's mind flooded with memories of her sister, tainted with the chant filling her mind. She felt every mental defence, however feeble, being forcefully stripped away, allowing a torrent of painful emotions to flood her mind.
Soon, the others began to be affected as whatever was doing this turned its attention to all of them
Look... Look... See... See what is going to happen...
Rick caught on quickly, trying to clamp his hands over his ears. "No! No! Stop it you bastard!"
It was no use.
It's hopeless... You never had any chance... We never had any intention... You're going to die here... You'll never see your family... Never... Never again... You... Rick Thompson...
Rick's eyes shot open, and he began shaking violently.
Your sister... Jill... Your brothers... Frank and Steve... Your mother... Your father... We are comming for them next...
Images flashed in his mind, memories of his family. But they began to change, transforming into a nightmarish barrage of pictures. In each one, someone he cared about was killed, thier body horribly mangled...
Anger. Another Human emotion. This worked both for, and against the Humans. If they were angry enough, they would fight harder. But not smarter.
Never smarter. Anger eroded away logic... And allowed the sixth technique of the Terrorcorps to come into play...
You... You will do it... You...
Rick shook with fear, and a growing hatred, as the thing spoke. Finally, one image flashed and stayed in his mind.
Marie... She was... was... Gone...
A single large gash across her neck. Blood all down her chest. And some... thing... some monster, standing behind her with scythe-like talons on each arm.
Look closer...
And... her stomach... was riddled with holes...
Rick couldn't take it any more. In one motion, he unslung his rifle and started firing madly into the trees, screaming with a berzerker fury. Similar bursts of weapons fire could be heard, thier muzzle flashes barely visible, all over the forest.
Marie's hand reached his shoulder, and he stopped. Turning, he noticed tears streaming down her face as she embraced him. Eric just blinked, confused. "What... what the hell is going on here..."
La dee da dee dide... Genocide...
The voice that filled all of thier heads began singing, rustling being heard all around them.
La dee da dee dud... An ocean of blood...
All of them held thier rifles in a white-knuckle grip, looking around for where the thing was.
Now we begin... The killing time...
Suddenly, something ripped out of the foliage and stopped in front of Linda, mind numbing fear overtaking the minds of everyone. Both psychically induced, and from knowing that this was the creature each of them had seen in hallucinated images, killing those they loved. This thing had essentially raped thier minds of any useful information, and it just laughed as it stood there a moment.
A split second after letting everyone see it, it struck. With one downward sweep of a scythe, it severed Linda's left arm before following up with a cut that completely bisected her. By the time the remaining three could move, the creature leapt into the overhanging foliage, silently dropping down a fair distance away.
All three opened fire, thier bullets passing harmlessly through it. Marie was the first to realize it was an illusion, but that train of thought stopped as Eric gave a slight gasp.
"Eric! Are you okay?" She asked, noticing he was a sickly pale color.
"Yes... Just..." He turned to the other two, smiling as he held his held the barrel of his rifle to his head. "... Just fine..."
Metaform.
T3K was always pleased with himself when he thought of the Nightmare Syndrome, a possible final name for the Terrorcorps, and their possession of this power.
He thought a moment, and chuckled. Ironic choice of words. "Possession" indeed.
Rick's eyes widened. Just as Eric's finger began squeezing the trigger, the creature brust out of his chest, inflicting a deep gash on Rick's shoulder before grabbing Marie.
Fun...
Rick's finger was on the trigger, ready to riddle the demon with holes. But... Marie was in the way...
Yes... I see both of your thoughts... Memories... Nights of passion... A feeling Humans call love... how funny... This is playing out exactly as I showed it would...
Rick's hands were visibly shaking, both Humans trembling with fear.
But there's a change of plans... YOU'RE MINE...
It seemed like a dream. The creature threw Marie to the side, and Rick opened fire. But... The wet sound of bullets puncturing armor and flesh... and Marie's gasp...
The dream faded, and became a nightmare. Marie looked at him, not bothering to see the holes in her abdomen.
After I show you exactly what you've already seen...
The creature slit Marie's throat, Rick yelling something. Tears ran down his cheeks as the creature threw her to him.
He caught his fiance's body, his tears dripping onto her face. "Rick..." She rasped weakly, obviously in pain. "... I... love you..."
He embraced her tightly as her life ended, tears running down his cheeks. "Marie? MARIE!?"
The creature, the one he thought of as a demon, just grinned.
"The test is over, m'lord. What shall we do with the corpses?" The AI asked, T3K turning.
"Feed them to the Flowers of Life, of course." T3K responded, chuckling. "The survivors may live for now..."
Rick watched in a numb trance as he saw his dead comrades being pulled down some kind of living conveyer belt into a writhing mass of vines and flowers. Everything seemed like some kind of horrible nightmare, and he wished he could just wake up. Everyone... everyone was gone...
He stopped, the AIs escorting him to... something... patiently waiting. He saw Eric's body... then Linda's...
He broke into a run toward the conveyer, the AI starting to move, but a single command in Mekantan stopped them. T3K watched intently as the organic embraced one of the corpses.
Rick cried silently over Marie, then looking fearfully at the vines. They were dripping some kind of acid, probably to digest any food. "Marie... Marie!" He cried, pulling at her. His mind was completely gone, leading him to think she was just sleeping. "Please, wake up! Wake up Marie! Please!" He cried, T3K and the AI guards watching emotionlessly as they drew nearer to the vines.
"The two must have been close. Why else would he delude himself into believing she was alive?"
Rick just wrapped his arms around her, sobbing. "Marie..." He whispered, feeling heat from the vines. "I love you too..." He kissed her forehead as the two entered together.
Pain filled his mind as the acids ate away at the two, specialized vines picking his flesh apart. He retained his grip on Marie, even as his senses began to dim and his memory started to fade.
The last thing that left his mind... were her face and her name...
T3K turned away, his eyes closed. "Inform Tactical Command. The system is a success."
"You feel for the organics, do you not?" One of the AI asked, tilting its head.
T3K just walked away, shaking his head...