episode_0497
by admin
Star Capital, a game set in Nova Empire, features an alien race that stands in the way of the expansion of the human empire.
bug.
It was an alien race called bugs.
For convenience, they live solely for battle and reproduction, using individuals that have evolved in various directions under the leader of the colony, who is called the queen.
Their official name was Xenobriaks, meaning destroyers from outside, but no one outside of scholars called them by that fancy name.
However, although anyone who has experienced them even once would call them bugs, there were no people who truly looked down on them.
As expected, the alien race that even the enormously advanced technology of the human empire failed to eradicate was the bug. Even though it was a human empire that conquered numerous planetary systems and galaxies, and at the same time secured and exterminated countless alien life forms.
Maria explained with the knowledge she had received that in some planetary systems located on the outskirts of the empire, there is still a territorial war against bugs taking place.
At the same time, he said that they are the closest species to Darwin’s devil presented by the real-life Charles Darwin. Darwin’s devil refers to a hypothetical creature that reproduces as soon as it is born, gives birth endlessly, has an indefinite lifespan, and has no natural enemies.
The bug race has an individual called a queen who constantly gives birth to offspring, and uses all the planet’s resources, including the corpses of her compatriots, solely for reproduction. And so far, the only natural enemy revealed in the entire universe has been humans.
Although nothing is known about their lifespan, they breed tenaciously based on their enormous quantity and mutant genes. Eventually, they were like a virus that depleted all of the planet’s resources and spread throughout space.
No matter how much human technological development destroys the environment, humans can be seen as a very eco-friendly species compared to the bugs that literally turn the planet into a death star.
And the meaning that bugs are a species that appears in Star Capital means that they also exist in Nova Empire, the travel destination we entered.
These were the creatures we encountered shortly after we began exploring the planet.
“Master.”
“Uh, I detected it.”
“We will conduct a wide-area scan with the probe.”
I nodded at Maria’s low voice.
Maria detected the bug’s movement through the radar of the probe waiting in the atmosphere, and I detected the bug’s movement through the windscreen deployed for reconnaissance.
The bug didn’t start popping up the moment it landed on the planet.
For the first few days, I spent the exploration feeling like I was on a tourist trip, observing the unique vegetation and scenery of an alien planet.
The planet we explored was temporarily LZ-UDAX according to Nova Empire’s classification of unexplored planets… Anyway, it was a place that was given a very long code name.
The sky I saw when I first landed was shining in a completely different color than Earth.
During the day, the sky was colored purple, and the cause was the two suns rising in the sky. This is because one of the two suns was emitting red light and the other was emitting blue-green light, illuminating the entire planet.
The planet’s surface was covered in shiny black rock, like smooth obsidian.
Plants like luminescent moss were growing here and there. This moss looked like ordinary moss during the day, but at night it glowed like stars, brightening the surroundings. The moss, tentatively named luminous moss, is one of the planet’s unique vegetation, and Maria’s scans showed it roots deep underground to absorb nutrients.
It was a place where I felt like I had truly stepped foot on an alien planet simply by observing the planet’s atmosphere and surface.
The problem arose while exploring the forest.
The planet’s forests were full of huge, green, translucent trees. As can be seen from the description of being translucent, these trees were unusual trees that transmitted light like glass, allowing the movement of sap flowing through them to be clearly observed.
According to Maria, it appears that the tree has evolved to maximize photosynthesis in all parts of the tree.
Thanks to the combination of those trees with the light of the luminescent moss growing nearby, the forest turned light green during the day and deep purple at night, giving the entire forest an atmosphere like a fairy forest from a fairy tale.
Kaaagh!
Of course, since we are on an alien planet, there were not fairies in the forest, but native creatures that inhabit this planet.
No, should we say that it was a native creature?
What we discovered were strange-looking bugs that seemed to have acquired their genes by preying on native organisms.
Their detection range is shorter than ours, so we were able to observe them from afar.
Maria said as she watched the bugs eating away at the forest while making strange noises.
“… There are hundreds of bugs that look like they have transparent insect wings, and hundreds more that look like a mix between a leopard and an insect. I think I acquired the genes of creatures that lived in this forest.”
Flying bugs with wings reminded me of the giant insects with transparent wings I had observed from afar while passing through the forest. It was a sight to see them flying in groups, leaving rainbow-colored traces every time they flapped their wings. At first glance, it looked like a real rainbow was flying around.
On the other hand, it was my first time seeing guys that seemed to combine the characteristics of a leopard and an insect. At first glance, it was a combat-type entity with stiff-looking spines sprouting from each node of its exoskeleton and sharp claws.
“ Judging by the faint glow coming from the exoskeleton, it seems that it has also absorbed the genes of the luminous moss.”
‘It’s a terrible hybrid.’
They were all in bizarre shapes that could not be imagined on Earth.
“My senses sense that there is something in the lake nearby.”
“There will be many resources to prey on even in the water. I guess there are bugs specialized for that.”
Although we only explored one forest, bug entities spanning land, sea, and air were detected.
True to their nickname, bugs, they mainly took on a shape that resembled a bug among their various appearances. Perhaps that form is best suited to hunting the planet’s creatures and preying on its resources.
Objects produced to perform a specific role generally have a similar appearance, but if you add in small objects that do not, the number of creatures detected in the probe’s wide-area scan reached thousands.
It is unlikely that any other animals will remain in the area occupied by bugs, so the thousands of creatures are probably all bugs.
Maria asked, looking back at me.
“Shall we go back to Manta Ray? Looking at the number, it looks like there is a small nest.”
‘Manta Ray’ was the nickname we gave the probe. Since I don’t feel comfortable continuing to call it just a probe from now on, it was a nickname I decided on after discussing it with Maria as we approached this place. At first, I thought it was a fitting nickname because its appearance was similar to a stingray.
“Even though thousands of birds have been detected, is it only a small nest?”
“Bugs are a species that eats up the planet itself. It can be seen as a size appropriate for that.”
Clearly, seeing as the entire forest had not yet been devastated, the bugs seemed to be increasing the size of their nest. Since only a small part of the planet has been explored, I don’t know what other areas are like.
“It’s a small nest… ”
Maria seemed reluctant to make contact with the bugs, but I didn’t see any need for us to retreat.
They were the ones I had already killed countless times at Star Capital.
As long as the entire planet isn’t engulfed, it can be easily dealt with.
Maria also noticed my intention.
“At Star Capital, there was fire support from ships in orbit. Manta Ray doesn’t have the weapons to carry out such a bombing raid. Even the plasma cannons that are available have a lot of power in the atmosphere… ”
“But unlike game characters who are ordinary clones, we have special abilities. And if you report the bug’s planetary erosion early on, there is a reward provided by the empire. If it’s dangerous, just retreat right away.”
I have martial arts and special abilities, and Maria has newly acquired superpowers.
This was different from games where resources were collected with only personal firearms, and bombing accounted for most of the firepower.
“Superpower test. Should I try it?”
That was one of the reasons he landed on the planet with Maria in the first place.
Those bugs seemed like the perfect targets to test the power of Maria’s awakened supernatural powers.
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