Chapter 36: Chapter Thirty-three An Ancient Crash Site

Megumi settled into an empty chair, and surveyed the three of them. When her eyes passed over May, and her body paint she shook her head and commented. “Don’t you think that is a little much May?”

May sighed, and glanced down at herself, “You too? I guess it really is too much then.”

Kiru interjected, “Never minding May’s weird paint job, mind telling us what you came here for?”

Megumi leaned forward, “I have a job for you, Kiru.”

“A job?”

Megumi nodded, “Yes. All three of you will participate along with one biomech of the Hacker class.” she paused, and gestured to the center of the table, as an image projected above it. It appeared to be the crash site of some old ship. The lines were a bit aggressive, it featured some thick armor, and several bulbous modules. However, Kiru did not recognize the general design of the ship.

“I found this on the edge of the system. The design isn’t in my databanks, but initial scans indicate that it crashed around the same time my people disappeared. It might provide insights on where they disappeared to.”

Kiru frowned, “Are you saying that ship is of Solean design?”

The ship shook her head, “Afraid not, but the design parameters do correspond with those of a race I am familiar with. Specifically the Halon. I know that doesn’t mean much, but they were one of the member races of the Empire. There is a very good chance that the memory banks of that ship contain useful information on what was going on then.”

Qei who had so far been silent interjected, “So you want us to enter this wrecked freighter, and escort a hacker to the computer core, so that she can download the ship’s logs, yes?”

Kiru took a glance at the ship, “Freighter? That ship looks a bit aggressive to be a freighter.”

May smiled and puffed up, “It’s a blockade runner. A type of armored freighter designed to break through blockades to supply forces on contested worlds.”

“To be specific, this freighter is a civilian blockade runner.”

“Civilian!? What possible legal use would a civilian have for one of those?”

Megumi gave Kiru a look, “I take it the Imperium tries to keep its citizens unarmed?”

Kiru frowned, “The empire doesn’t?”

Megumi shook her head, “We do not. Military vessels are typically stripped of restricted hardware and then sold on the civilian market at the end of their service. Many ship classes were retired in that fashion in fact. Anyway we do seem to be getting off topic.”

“I guess we are.”

Megumi gestured to the projection. “The moon the ship crashed on is quite warm despite the lack of sunlight. The source of this heat is geothermal, and several regions of the moon are dominated by volcanic activity. The ship crashed in a region that is geologically stable which has helped preserve the wreck.”

Kiru sighed, “A volcanic moon really? What kind of atmospheric toxins will there be?”

“Just the usual mix of volcanic gases. There is enough sulfur in the air to cause problems without protection. Nothing special will be needed, however.”

May nodded, “Yeah, we can just adjust our shields to filter out toxins. We might need to bring an air supply though. Unless there is a source of oxygen in the atmosphere.”

Megumi just smiled, as the projection shifted. Revealing the wider landscape. Something about it seemed weird, and then she saw something move. “The moon is actually populated. Mostly simple lifeforms. The moon does, however, support one complex lifeform. An invasive species. Most of the simple species are also invasive.”

Kiru frowned, “Invasive. As in not native? How can you already know that?”

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“I sent a few science drones already to survey the natives. Preliminary data indicates that life on this moon arose around the same time as the crash. Not all that surprising since the freighter appears to be configured for bio-transport.”

“So in other words, these Halon were transporting something, and when the ship crashed it escaped.”

Qei interjected, “It’s not clear from the images, but the one species. Its a kind of slime isn’t it?”

“Yes, a biomorphic slime, genetically engineered.”

“Slime? Genetically engineered?”

Megumi leaned forward again, nestling on her palms, and began, “Slimes are rather simple creatures, well the natural ones anyway.” the image shifted to show a gelatinous mass flowing up a hill. If not for the fact that it was going up a slope, she might not have thought much of it. “This is a slime. There isn’t much to say about it. It has a simple nervous system, an outer membrane, and an acidic composition. Slimes feed by absorbing organic detritus and dissolving it. Some breeds of slime also feed by dissolving inorganic matter.

“As animals go, slimes are typically non-aggressive. Their senses are also rather poor, but that doesn’t matter much since they are not predators, nor are they much of a threat. While they can be dangerous that is only if you are stupid enough to step in one.”

Kiru could see that. Qei then interjected, “That is only true of the natural slime species.”

Megumi nodded, “Yeah, many races dabbled in engineering more advanced slimes because of their potential as weapons or tools. Of course, to be of any use as a weapon, the intelligence of the slime had to be vastly increased.

“Biomorphic slimes are of Solean creation. Highly intelligent, and extremely adaptive. They can thrive in any environment. These slimes are natural shapeshifters, and were designed as both a weapon and a tool.”

“What do you mean, both a weapon and a tool?”

“They were designed to prepare worlds for colonization by a member species of the empire and to subjugate any local species for service of the Empire. Not that it matters to us. What Does is the fact that they have successfully terraformed the atmosphere.”

“If they were meant to be terraformers, why haven’t they finished? They have been down there for what, several hundred thousand years? More than enough time to...”

Megumi cut her off, “Actually not enough time. Based on the current population, I have already determined they had an initial population of only five. The others in storage must not have survived the crash or the battle that caused the crash, at least not long enough to reproduce. Anyway, slimes reproduce via two primary methods, splitting, and seeding. Given the conditions on the moon, seeding was nonviable, so this population had to reproduce via splitting. To actually have an appreciable effect on the moon’s environment their population needed to reach a certain critical size, but splitting isn’t particularly efficient for reproduction.

“A slime needs to reach a certain mass before it can split, and reaching that mass is a function of food. Organic detritus is most efficient for reaching critical mass, but the moon is sorely lacking in that. As such these slimes have had to make do with inorganic materials. Which for a slime is the equivalent of subsistence living. They get barely enough energy from that to keep themselves alive. So the fact that they now have a population of about a hundred thousand is actually impressive under those conditions.”

Kiru frowned. That was interesting actually, but she did have a question, “What exactly is seeding?”

Megumi shifted back, “The other method of reproduction for a slime is somewhat parasitic. Instead of the normal splitting process, they deposit a number of specially formed eggs inside a host, typically a female of live young bearing species. These eggs hatch and absorb nutrients from the host until they are large enough to survive on their own. Before you ask, the process is almost never fatal for the host. In fact it can be quite enjoyable, even addictive for the host.”

“I can see why that would be nonviable then. So other than having to look out for slimes, is there anything else we will have to worry about down there?”

Megumi nodded, “The ship still has power, and while I haven’t confirmed her automated defenses may still be active. They should recognize you as a friend, but there is no guarantee that they will. You may have to be prepared for having to fight your way to the core.”

Kiru nodded that she understood. Many ships had automated internal defense systems. Given the clear violence of the crash, and the extensive battle damage the freighter had sustained, those security systems might be damaged. She had even had training on what to do if the friend-foe recognition system for her ship’s internal security grid failed. “In that case, I will need the location of any internal security stations. Preferably one that is intact. If the grid is malfunctioning, we should be able to shut it down from there.”

“You should. It would be easier if I could give you the access codes, but that ship was launched after I was disabled. All the access codes I have are out of date. The hacker I plan to assign to your team should be able to bypass the security. So it should not present too much of an issue.”

The next few minutes were spent going over the wreck. Its layout, possible defenses. Megumi laid out the plan as well, landing site, locations with slimes. How to deal with them. Apparently, slimes were hard to kill. Their outer membrane was quite tough and extremely flexible. In addition, all slime species were known for having a high regeneration factor. Blunt force physical weapons did nothing. You might be able to do something with a bladed weapon, but their acidic nature meant they would degrade such weapons quickly. Projectile weapons would be of no use either as the projectile would do little damage, and would be quickly dissolved by the acid inside the slime. Energy weapons on the other hand could inflict significant damage. If the locals proved hostile, Megumi recommended keeping their distance and using their plasma cannons to repulse the slimes. Something Megumi said would likely not be a worry. They were not highly aggressive and were genetically programmed not to attack Soleans or their technology. Biomechs were included in that list, but Megumi cautioned them just in case the slime’s genetic memory had degraded.

By the time Megumi left them, lunch was long over. However, there apparently still was time for their planned dress up session before they had to go on the mission. Kiru then glanced at May. A good thing too as they needed the time to repaint May with something sensible. Kiru had no idea what she was thinking with that paint job, and thankfully it seemed everyone else agreed as well. That thought reminded her that she still hadn’t gotten dressed. She blushed. While mentally planning to correct that. During their planned dress up session she might find some good casual clothes to add to her wardrobe. She was already looking forward to it.

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