#alien beast

[artbytaiomega]

Original Species, Dante and Vergil converted to them with bonus DevilTrigger looks.

[ccgscans]

Wizard in Training: Alien Beast

[khittyhawk]

Day 29: Alien Beast

This rock has enough of an atmosphere that I could go outside and have a smoke, if I wear a thick winter jacket. Can’t run very far. I know the company chose it because of this fact and its location on the route to the asteroid mines. I’m lucky I got to stay behind. Don’t fancy going in those mines again, even I’m just oiling the robots. Money’s running out, though. Can’t stay here much longer.

It’s mostly dead out here, and the only reason the atmosphere hasn’t floated away is due to the vibrant green moss- and lichen-like critters all over the surface. Barely even counts as life, if I were to call it such. The white coats have their own words for it, and their words make law. If I were to head inside the base and fire up one of the screens, I could listen to their chatter.

I was the one who saw the orange streak halve the black sky as it fell to the surface. The skeleton crew here plotted its trajectory and a few days later, corporate took the information and demanded recon. The locals insisted I get off my ass and help out, so that’s why I trudged along with them to the crash site.

Unlike a meteor on earth, this didn’t have four layers of atmosphere to burn it to slag. The shapes in the wreckage bespoke an alien design. The crew had either been killed in the crash or bailed before it hit ground. We weren’t under orders to form a search party and none of us felt up to doing any more than we were paid for. We pried through the ship in oven-mitted hands and reported to corporate what was inside. Probably a research crew, from the shattered equipment. Just my luck if we released an alien germ into the air on this rock.

I returned to my place on the stoop and waited for the money to run out. I was, therefore, the one to see the creature darting between the rock shelfs. Without much of an atmosphere, this rock has spent its years getting pulverized by anything that can hit it, leaving craters all over its surface. Craters that could fill a moon base, with lips that jut over heads as high as cathedral ceilings. Places for things to hide, if any living thing lived on this rock.

I stood up immediately when I saw it and hollered for the crew. I should have stayed inside, but corporate had sent me a check for my help with recon. It was a pittance, but maybe if I showed some initiative, I might earn something more in their eyes. I didn’t have much on me, but I keep a first-aid kit and a knife in my pockets - mostly because I’m too lazy to remove them.

The prowling thing had smeared the corner of my vision with the same grey and green as the landscape. Not very easy to find. Good thing humans are good at noticing motion in the periphery of their vision. I kept my eyes open as I scoured the surroundings. Might as well enjoy the new stimulus while I could.

Just as I was starting to believe the constant boring emptiness had kicked up a mirage, the thing jumped in front of me. I got the impression of wiry, supple legs and a long, whiplike tail when the creature’s crest erupted into vibrant color. Brilliant reds and yellows, blues and purples spiraled around each other and dazzled in a pattern that knifed itself behind my eyes. The world spun around me and my limbs tried to right themselves without my input. The dirt came up to hit me and I ended up with a mouthful of lichen, body twitching on the ground.

Luckily for me, the crew finally got off their ass and answered my call. Pity it was a few hours later, after the beast had scampered off. A bit of medical treatment for me finally sorted out my seizures. Strange, I had never had them before.

“Some zoo animal?” I asked.

“Something new,” came the answer. “It’s not just vision. Some of the guys came back later with their comms fucked up. All kinds of wavelengths, we think.”

“We let corporate handle it?” I asked.

My answer came in the form of a ratty military suit shoved into my lap. “Not in my job description,” came the answer with a smile. “But you might just find yourself hired.”

I knew my bumming would result in a bad end.

I had the monster for this one before I really had a plot, so I struggled to find something suitable for it. I’m pretty sick of monochromism in monsters and fantasy creatures. Surely you can take inspiration from real life animals and include some sort of bodily markings? The epilepsy-inducing abilities of this beast is borrowed from a similar ability cuttlefish have in real life.

For @tyrantisterror‘s 30 day monster challenge.

[apple-duty]

Alien Beast A new fragrance for scentient beings This dynamic fragrance opens with an exotic blend of dark matter. The heart is a logical assembly of poison spewing flowers wrapped in the fascinating background of desert sands, amber and circuit boards.

I saw my chance and I took it Inspired by this post

[itz-rascal-art]

Male Voskahn