“Beast to starboard!”
I bellowed from the crow’s nest of the ship. Nearly all the sailors on deck dropped whatever they were doing to gawk in said direction, the vessel tilting slightly due to the weight of the shifting crew. Indeed, in the distance, frothing white foam topped the otherwise featureless sea. With my sharp eyes, I caught the sight of a dark fin surfacing from the ocean, scales glinting in the afternoon sun.
Beasts, abominations, monsters, leviathans. Prey. These were all terms that defined the creatures we hunted aboard the Bloody Scale, the hunting ship I was part of the crew from. But I would not be joining the rest of the sailors below. Unlike the rest of my companions, I was not strong, nor brave, nor agile with a weapon. My only talent relied on my incredible sight which, despite common belief, is an incredibly valuable asset to have in the monster slaying business; a monster-slaying ship without a good eye in the sky would not survive for long. The captain placed me as the Spotter of the ship, tasked with sighting our prey form my privileged perch, and directing the crew towards it.
That was what I was focusing on at the moment, yelling the location of the beast in reference to the ship as we moved. The helmsman turned the wheel as the sailors pulled on the sails. We were lucky, the wind was blowing towards our target. The Scale began to accelerate as the wind buffeted and pulled on our sails. Below, the captain gave in his deep, yet loud voice the order to get to the oars, we would need them in the case the monster swam against the wind. Another order, and more crew scurried over the deck, manning the net-guns and the harpoons. A platoon of very strong men secured lead weights to a set of tracks placed horizontally, and held their position.
From the crow’s nest, I could see a pair of slits attached to pale flesh breach the ocean, mist emanating from them, before submerging again; a long flattened tail slapping the water. The tell-tale sea foam of the once-stationary monster began to move, albeit slowly. It took me some seconds to discern its intentions. It began to slowly turn to its left, picking up speed but seemingly unable to outright turn around. My stomach let out a hungry growl as I licked my lips in anticipation, this is going to be a large one I told to myself.
I relayed the beast’s movement to my companions down below. At a shout from the captain, they scurried around, securing the rigging and pulling onto the sails even harder as the helmsman turned the ship’s wheel, the ship swaying as it was pushed to its limits. The leviathan’s trail was now visible to everyone, with some distracted men looking at the rare surfacing fin with covetous eyes. The increasingly-fierce wind pulling my long hair back, I held my breath in anticipation as the Bloody Scale closed the distance between itself and the beast.
After what seemed like hours even though it probably was a few seconds, I saw it. Even as the leviathan tried to turn, its path and ours would cross for an instant, giving the sailors one chance to secure the prey. The monster, probably foreseeing the same outcome, dove into the sea with its foam trail disappearing with it. It was too late for it however. I relayed my sightings one final time before the beast swam right below starboard of the vessel, the crew readying their weaponry.
Deafening roars came from the harpoon guns as they shot at a dark shadow swimming below the Scale. The men manning the weights rushed to secure them to the port side of the vessel, tying them with ropes to their sockets just as the ship rocked to starboard. The wounded beast’s swim had been cut short by the harpoons lodged on its flesh, with our own ship turning as it was halted by the monster. Sailors on deck were swift, pulling on the harpoon’s line through a series of mechanisms. Foam and water sprayed everywhere as the leviathan desperately tried to dislodge its harpoons, until it suddenly stopped. The ship began to right itself, leaning to port due to the lead weighs.
What were probably sighs of relief sprouted from the deck, yet I was still not at ease. Bubbles arose where the harpoons had disappeared beneath the water. I had barely any time to warn those below me before the beast jumped onto the ship, a column of water rising from the ocean.
When the sea mist cleared, I finally saw what our adversary looked like. A pale, human-like face with skin where its eyes should be was growling at nearby sailors, with a mouth full of glinting teeth resembling broken glass. Six bony legs with skin tightly wrapping around its oversized joints sunk into the Scale’s wood, the feet of the beast covered in dark carapace. The rest of the dark as night, fish-like body covered in scaly fins hung from the side of the ship, partially submerged in the water. To its side, multiple harpoons protruded like the quills of a porcupine; with green, delicious-smelling blood seeping from the open wounds.
The beast made loud clicking sounds, its eyeless face swinging around, perhaps in an attempt to intimidate us as none dared to move. Unfortunately for it, the sailors did not look upon the monster with fear, but rather with a completely different feeling. The creature was not aware, but it was only a matter of time before we descended upon it.
The carnage began after one fool-hardy crewmate mindlessly charged at the monster wielding a kitchen knife. It did not manage to even reach it before the beast attempted to crush him beneath a carapaced leg. All men on deck carrying a weapon ran to it as it was distracted, attempting to stab its dark body while avoiding its angry bites and stomps. From afar, men armed with harpoons lobbed them at the beast, the monster clicking in pain every time its flesh was pierced. Rope was swiftly tied around the leviathan’s legs and body, more crew rushing from below deck to help pin the creature down as they had done with countless more monsters before
It was over in less than two minutes. The beast fell onto the deck with a thud as the last of its limbs was tied down. Several sailors held ropes around its tied-up appendages and bound body, the monster too tired to even try to squirm. Green mixed with red tainted the deck as both the leviathan and the arm of a very unlucky sailor dripped blood. The monster was tired, its once monstrous head now laid down, wheezing as it struggled to breathe. Bleeding from multiple harpoon wounds, the beast was defeated, yet none cheered. Not yet.
The captain came soon after. He was an imposing fellow, wearing a green military uniform adorned with a cloak made out of monster hide. His bushy beard as dark as night and calculating eyes faced the fallen monster in front of him. He held in his hand a large and ornate pale blade with a silver hilt, supposedly made out of sea monster bone and fashioned into the shape of a carving knife. All sailors below quieted down, the sound of the sea and the laborious breathing of the beast being the only sounds I could perceive as the captain slowly walked to the fallen foe.
His boots stepped on top of the beast’s dark body. With the sword, he carved a strip of midnight black meat from the still-living flesh of the beast, and proceeded to eat it.
The feast began shortly after.
Monster slaying is a fascinating affair. Oil that burns far brighter than any other, bones as strong as cement but as light as wood, and other substances such as blue ambergris can be found within the innards of these creatures we call beasts. But what most monster slayers are after are the black flesh of leviathans. Consuming the incredibly delectable meat not only can sate you for longer than any other food, but it also expands your abilities and lifespan. Most sailors become stronger than any human. Some, such as myself, gain improved senses, allowing me to discern what I could not have ever seen before. Some lucky fellows such as the helmsman even become more intelligent, giving him the wit to design mechanisms to improve our hunt. The captain himself is said to be over a hundred years old thanks to the black flesh of the sea.
But one can only savour it without consequences once.
As soon as I reached the deck, the smell of fish and blood filled my nostrils. A large strip of skin had been peeled off the creature’s side, exposing the dark meat beneath. Many sailors were feasting upon the dark muscle tissue, some using knives but most outright pulling it out with their darkened nails or with their teeth. Crewmates emerged from the barracks and lower floors, eyeing the beast with hungry eyes. My own stomach began to growl, and I gave in to instincts.
Monster meat not only improves you, but corrupts. It taints your hair, nails and eventually innards with a color darker than black. Any attempt to eat anything else is met with failure and vomit unless you feed the addiction. For this very reason, most monster slayers hunt not for profit, but for necessity, lest they eventually go mad with starvation.
“So, this is the place?”
“Yes, according to the coordinates. And if it isn’t, I’m not going back to frozen sleep until it’s harvested.”
Drum stood with his colleague Bell in the bridge of his Starsmine ship, gazing through a screen at a yellow star; a beacon of light much brighter than its brethren in the sky. The faint bubble of the heliosphere was highlighted in the screen, and they would shortly enter it.
“Well, time to get to work. Tell the boys in the harvester to warm up the Machine. We’ll jet past this system back to the Hives by slingshotting. We’ll get fuel from the star as it’s harvested.”
“Uhhh, Drum?”
“What now Bell?”
“There are planets. A gas giant, but there are two terrestrials in the habitable zone.”
Drum refrained himself from cursing, although Bell heard a grunt escape Drum’s mouth.
“Why does this always happen? Are we that unlucky?”
“Apparently. The Creator seems to dislike us. Personally I think its true, keeping in mind what our job is…”
“Please don’t start with the Keeper philosophy. You know how Starsmine thinks of that. Plus I’m not sure we need to hear crew hear how their leaders question their sole mission.”
“Of course… I’ll tell everyone to start readying up and to survey those planets. We still have a couple of months before we have to face that problem.”
“Keep me informed.”
The harvester ship of the Starsmine Corporation flew at a significant fraction of lightspeed towards the system POS-29103. Automated systems and living crew woke up from the slumber of the interstellar travel.
While the crew slowly recovering from their hibernation, the spaceship itself was ready within seconds of turning on. Automatic telescopes were quick to gather as much data of the system and it’s planets as they could. The onboard computer swiftly calculated an ideal path for the ship to follow, to minimize the amount of fuel used but allowing for an easy harvesting. And as Starsmine protocol commanded, the ship sent two probes to each of the potentially habitable planets.
Twin hydrogen fueled rockets accelerate towards both planets, each carrying a small surveyor robot.
“Drum?”
“Hello Tris”
“We’ve got the data and some images from the probes to the planets.”
“About time. We’re behind schedule on the preparations.” Drum sipped his drink in his cramped office. Tris stood by the door, leaned against a wall, knowing both would be more comfortable with only one person in the utilitarian room.
“So,” Said Drum “What do the report say? Is there life?”
“I’m afraid so. The first of the planets has complex sea life and some land grasses. None sentient”
“Well, that’s good. And the other?”
“Well…” Drum raised an eyebrow at Tris’ hesitance.
“So there’s life and possibly sentient?”
“Erm… yes. Long story short a medieval civilization of aliens destroyed the probe”
“Shit. Well, you know the drill. Tell the tech team to ready up the shuttles and-“
“Drum” She interrupted” May I ask something?”
Drum noticed that Tris had begun to shift in her place. After years of being in the same crew he had learned something may be up. He nodded.
“Y’know, we could always lie. We could report to Starsmine that there was no life in the planet. It would be better for us, avoid paperwork and not putting stains in the Company’s reputation.”
Drum absentmindedly looked away from Tris and to a picture of a beautiful verdant planet taken from space.
“True, we could do that…” He said with a cracked voice ”But I’m not sure I can stomach the weight of such genocide.”
The Starsmine Company ship flew out of the Oort Cloud and into the system, its main thruster offline as it followed the instructions of very precise calculations. The star they were after was visibly becoming a disk as they got near.
The automated systems unfurled the radiator panels to avoid overheat by the sun’s light. The crew inside considered turning off the fusion reactor at the core of the ship, but decided against it, considering the maneuver too dangerous.
To the side of the ship, two of four automated shuttles detached themselves and activated their thrusters, accelerating until their orbits were just right for a rendezvous with the planets.
Shuttle 01 landed in the closest planet to the sun, a hot planet with most of its surface covered in water. It chose a lagoon as a place to land, as it would be easy to recover fuel by electrolysis. During the time it was on the planet, it deployed multiple drones, rovers and scientific equipment to try to learn as much from it before the body was rendered uninhabitable by the harvesting. Just hours before it was time to take off, the shuttle’s robots gathered a small amount of local flora and fauna, securing them in alien containment terrariums, and lifted off back to the ship
. Shuttle 02 meanwhile spent more time traveling than its sibling to a green planet covered in a canopy of trees. It eventually touched down in a lake, near the structures of the native sapients. It did similar actions to its sibling, but had a different mission regarding the denizens of the planet.
Once it had secured a small sample of the biosphere, the shuttle released three tripod vessels, each with 2 robotic arms and armored against kinetic weapons. These tripods proceeded to go to the native’s structures, and capture about a dozen sentients. They were met with resistance, but the tripods easily shrugged it off. The tripods released their payload two the shuttle, and with the cargo secured, both shuttles took off, meeting with the main ship after days of voyage through the void.
Unfinished