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| Oberon and Athena; Habitable worlds, and story elements! | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 12 2009, 08:36 AM (1,416 Views) | |
| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 12 2009, 08:36 AM Post #1 |
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Oberon and Athena will be a thread focusing on two worlds orbiting the star Vaio, with both harboring life. Athena "Look at it out there! So much like Earth... have we found Eden?" Mass: 1.17 Earth masses Equatorial Radius: 6,290 km. Polar Radius: 6,221 km. Surface Area: 499,471,00 km. Atmosphere: 79% Nitrogen, 19.5% Oxygen, 1.5% Other Gases Surface Gravity: 1.18 G (It is slightly denser than Earth) Oberon "Look at that monster! Like a big... black, marble." Mass: 1.98 Earth Masses Equatorial Radius: 6,996 km. Polar Radius: 6,932 km. Surface Area: 547,709,000 km. Atmosphere: 74% Nitrogen, 19% Oxygen, 6.1% Greenhouse gases, .9% Other gases Surface Gravity: 1.67 G These worlds orbit the G3IVm class star Vaio. It is bigger and warmer then Sol, and contains unusual amounts of metals (As denoted by "m"). Athena orbits confortably in the habitable zone of Vaio. Oberon is the equivalent of Mars distance, with it being farther away and out of the habitable zone. But because of its many greenhouse gases due to extreme volcanic activity, it is a relatively warm, supporting a complex ecoysystem of many different organisms. These organisms are surviving below a "veil" of dark, black gases which blanket the upper atmosphere of the world, refracting light into the atmosphere but not reflecting it out to space. This thread will be narrated in the form of late Jessica Navajo, an astrobiologist in her late twenties who volunteered for the Pioneer Colonies program. A large team of 500-600 volunteers would take a single science/industrial vessel (In Jessicas' case, her ship was the ISAP Enterprize.) to a suspected solar system which housed life, and possibly a habitable world. After Jessicas death, her hournal will be continued by one of her friends, a Draconis (Explained later) named Eeytola(Ai-ee-TO-la). A bit of background. The year is 2067. Earth initiated a controlled test of a traversable wormhole in 2016, to use it to reach Alpha Centauri. The ship returned, but with an armada of unknown vessels right behind it. They were the Vobex, a race of bipedal sapient reptiles who detected entrance into the habitable Alpha Centauri system. They were of the Imitiga hive, the largest hive in Vobex society. Vobex reproduce physically similarly to Humans, but the only fertile females are Queens and Rogues. Being extemely territorial, the Imitiga Queen ordered humanity genocided. The resulting conflict killed 4 billion humans, and humanity was just recovering from WWIII, a war that killed 900 million people. When the other hives discovered that humans possessed music, and indeed, had culture, the Imitiga Queen was killed for her actions, and all military forces retreated to Vobex territory. The Vobex had offered humanity hundreds of superior technologies in exchange for music CDs, of which they found so utterly beautiful they couldn't resist. It was later discovered that a race of humanoid machines was also establishing space colonisation within the area. These androids say that they were created by humans long ago, and that they seeked a world of their own. These three species formed the initial Interstellar Alliance Of Planets, which quicly expanded with the discovery and technological uplifting of many, less-advanced species. In 2061, an ISAP heavy cruiser observed an interstellar war between the two species of Gliese 581. When both sides were on the brink of releasing plagues and famine on the others world, the Draconis appeared. In a massive, super-ship, a Draconis vessel arrived out of previously thought to be impossible FTL travel, announcing that they "had been watching" the two species, and that "this will be for the greater good of both your worlds." The single vessel fired an ungodly assortment of only theoretical/prototype weapons in ISAP terms. The fleets of both species, well over 400 vessels, were utterly destroyed by the Draconis vessel. When ISAP Command learned of this seconds later, a fleet of thirty warships, including the only ISAP ship just as large and experimentally armed, the ISAP Folev, were sent immediately. It was revealed to ISAP that the Draconis evolved from Earth's troodontian species in the Cretaceous. After one million years of prosperity, a decision was made to "wipe clean our harm of our world and leave another species to its beauty." In otherwise, the Draconis directed the asteroid that caused the KT extinction onto Earth, killing the dinosaurs and indirectly leading to human evolution. They were also the UFOs species that was reported for so long, so many times. They were simply observing the genetic makeup of Humans, and tried to avoid "spoiling the surprise that life is everywhere in the galaxy." The Draconis agreed to join ISAP. However, they refused to share their advanced technologies, stating, "We have spent millions of years developing our culture, our technology, our very existence. Some things cannot be given. They must be earned." The ISAP history has much more (I wrote nearly an entire damn book on it when I was 17.), but for reasons obvious I'll go on with the damn thread. P.S. Humans still use guns. Vobex and Droidekka(the androids) weapons are actually not superior in strength. ISAP ships use combos of technologies to have a bit of everything. Jessica Navajo, initial entry into Vaio System. I'm on board the Enterprize, where the food sucks and everyone knows it. But, we'll get along better if we can farm on Athena. Jessica Navajo, we've just went through the wormhole. I can see Athena, way off in the distance. Woah... what is that? Look at that monster! Like a big... black marble. Database reads it as... Oberon. And that's it. No other information availlible. Well then, how fun. Look at it out there! So much like Earth... have we found an Eden world at last? Its' beautiful... green on some parts, with a single, large continent. It has green, yellow... red? This world is a damn rainbow! Initial readings say... earth-like atmosphere, flora similar to Earths... in some places. No readings on mega-large fauna yet. Too bad, I was hoping for a sapient, alien Godzilla to talk to. (Yawns) We've been in orbit for fourteen hours. After several probe launches, we have confirmed what Captain Grelyn should've... oh I don't know... deduced, that there are macroscopic fauna species living in the oceans. It's about time to hit the hay for me, I'll see what's happening tomorrow... ISAP Species Database Planet Athena Vaio System Kingdom: Animalia "Two Tailed Kylosinth" "Forest Runner" Kylosinth folivorestei Length: 6 ft. Height: 2 ft. Weight 120-150 lbs. Notable Characteristics: Three sets of visual organs; thermoreceptive thermal vision eyes, standard eyes, and the largest, motion eyes. Motion eyes illuminate sudden movement in bright blurs, and also allow for Two-Tailed Kylosinths to track "thermally dead" predators at night. Recently Updated Info: It is the only known species of Kylosinth to possess two tails. All Kylosinth tails produce highly charged and chemically reactive spores. These spores are dripped off of black proto-feathers on the ends of Kylosinth tails. Two-Tailed Kylosinths, like all other Kylosinths, operate in large herds of well over 50 individuals. They travel together, and offer protection to the rest of the herd. When they reach a destination, they disperse and often fend individually for food until nightfall, where they all regroup in large areas and rest. Kylosinth standard eyes are confirmed to see only black, blue, red, yellow, white, and brown. Edited by Spinosaurus Rex, Jun 14 2009, 03:37 AM.
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The Dreaded AOL Dial-Up has left me afraid to spend more than 5 minutes posting at risk of losing it all. Arghhh.
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| ATEK Azul | Jun 12 2009, 01:04 PM Post #2 |
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Transhuman
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This sounds cool i like how some aliens have conections too earth though the draconis have to be amazingly advanced they had 66 million years of developement! |
| I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's! | |
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| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 13 2009, 07:54 AM Post #3 |
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Some of those "weapons" the Draconis used are black hole guns, Directed enrgy weapons which have outputs in the gigatons... yeah, really damn advanced. Anyway, this focuses on the two worlds. Jessica Navajo, the Recon Team has been sent down. A group of five guys in armor thick enough to withstand bullets from good ole' tanks have landed in Orbital Drop Pods. I'm getting a video reading from their helmets. Wow, some of the plants are bioluminescent. They're GLOWING! Woah, movement... A large... thing. About four feet long, two feet tall. It has fur... long claws... three sets of eyes, each a different color or structure then the last. Four limbs, two tails, some pretty feathers dripping something on the ends of those tails. It kind've looks mammalian... damn, mammalian with large, herbivorous teeth. I think I'll send a request for the team to capture it... Nah, 'those aren't our orders, ma'am', nah, geh... escorts. That species will be added to an "ISAP Species Database" Entry under the first post. Later, at least. |
The Dreaded AOL Dial-Up has left me afraid to spend more than 5 minutes posting at risk of losing it all. Arghhh.
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| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 14 2009, 03:25 AM Post #4 |
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Jessica Navajo, ISAP Enterprize, Vaio System, Vaio 2; Athena. Okay. It's been four days since initial entry into the Vaio system. The arcosphere has been dropped in a large clear area. I'm in it now, studying the large creature the Recon Team spotted. I, as the Head exobiologist, have decided to name this creature... Kylosinth. There are several other species that we've observed that look fundamentally similar. But none have two tails. They all have small, dusty spores which are constantly produced in glands in their tails. I have yet to ascertain the purpose of these spores, only that they are very heavily charged with various types of electricity. They are also extremely chemoreactive. They practically melt skin pores, physically tear apart other types of hairs at the cellular level. Strangely, the spores don't harm the Kylosinth in anyway. Jessica Navajo, ISAP Enterprize, Vaio System, Vaio 2; Athena. I am studying a luminescent plant organism. It glows in the dark, obviously, but I've noticed that this is due to a unique "light trapping" process. When light enters, the light refracts and reflects through multiple screens inside the plant. It finally reaches a small sac which constantly amplifies existing light or somehow produces its own. Fundamentally, this is a fern. Its leaves are very thick and difficult to cut. It is also toxic. As I bore down deeper, there seems to be a water storage root, which has grown in this particular specimen to be the size of pineapple. It is connected to various roots and nodes, which are in turn all connected to a pseduovasculocirculatory pump system, which has all water and nutrients pumped through moving veins, which are contracting and expanding to pump the fluids throughout the plant. Any excess water seems to be rerouted to the water storage node. All solids and non-liquids seem to be passed through filtering webs in various places along the pseudoveins. They are then absorbed into a much smaller, much more complex vein system in which they are broken down into their most useful compnents and reenter the main system. I've decided to name this species Exonoclea irritator, as it was EXTREMELY difficult to get through to the interior of this plant. I see now why Kylosinths have such large teeth... |
The Dreaded AOL Dial-Up has left me afraid to spend more than 5 minutes posting at risk of losing it all. Arghhh.
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| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 14 2009, 07:51 AM Post #5 |
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Jessica Navajo, ISAP Enterprize, Vaio System, Vaio 2; Athena. I just came back from exploring through the glowing jungles, hell of a place! I'll bet there are hundreds of species that were watching me chop through those tough vines, determing whether or not I was prey! Rather scary, but I made it through! Alone! Oh boy, this is something to tell my girlfriends back home! (Distant gunfire and yelling) Woah, what was that... Jesus Christ, aliens have broken into the arcosphere! Large predators... LOTS of them... Jessica Navajo... oh man. First contact: Eviscalacra. "Eviscerators of Life." I named them that, and they fucking live up to it. Seven feet tall, at least twenty feet long. Short, extremely powerful snub jaw. Pack hunters, though bullets and Draconis DEWs kill them quickly enough. Six limbs, two bipedal legs, with five serrated razor sharp claws, and a small proto-limb on the back of the foot. Four long arms, with five claws and something similar to an opposable thumb. Many, many eyes. Thermoreceptive, standard, motion, electromagnetic... and a sonar organ within a large resonating crest on their heads. Two horns on their noses, inbetween the cavities and eyes. After examining their muscular structure, I can determine that they can run at least 50 mph, maybe more. They have armored shells on their backs, an extremely strong silicate of unknown origin. They have a large, muscular tail, which has a big, spiked, club on the end, reminiscent of Earth's Ankylosaurs. Seven people are dead... hacked to bits. 32 Eviscalacra are dead, but at least 12 escaped. I got up close to one of the bastards... I had a Desert Eagle. It looked at me, roared the most terrifying sound... and I shot it in the head. It died instantly, of course, but... but...(Tears) I've never killed anything before! When I was a kid, I'd worry about swatting mosquitos too hard! I'd try not to mow any snakes when I took up lawnmowing! My god... these damn things are super predators... but they're still animals. Beings... and I have ended an existence. |
The Dreaded AOL Dial-Up has left me afraid to spend more than 5 minutes posting at risk of losing it all. Arghhh.
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| ATEK Azul | Jun 14 2009, 12:31 PM Post #6 |
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Transhuman
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Wow very interesting stuff I look forward to more. |
| I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's! | |
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| Viridian | Jun 14 2009, 06:36 PM Post #7 |
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Amateur Xenobiologist
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This is a very interesting style for a spec project, I havn't seen anything else written this way. I'm looking forward to reading more. |
| Out of nowhere, you are attacked by a snarling, biting mass of felt shaped like a raccoon! This is the single angriest puppet you’ve ever seen, and it’s not cookies that it wants to eat… | |
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| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 14 2009, 08:24 PM Post #8 |
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Thanks! I've always had a flair for the dramatic. I noticed that no one has EVER done a narrative like this, at least that I've found. It's just an element, though. She'll report new findings and discoveries as I think of them. Which reminds me... Jessica Navajo... I am giving the brain of the Eviscalacra an MRI now. Hmmm... huge olfactory lobes, with an glomerular layer which appears to recieve signals from way more then the originally estimated 15 million olfactory receptor neurons. In fact... I've ordered the computer to count them. 20 million, 30, 40, 50, Jesus, 65, 75... 80... maybe I should check this later... 105... 130... oh great, the computer is starting to lag... 165... geh, computer save progress for use at a later date. ALright, let us see your vision. Computer, simulate Eviscalacra vision field and place on screen. Woah... damn... like a translucent hippie pot nightmare... I mean... wow. Come here boy. Good boy, Hershey. (Dog lapping and tail wagging sounds) Computer project image of Hershey, my dog, onto screen, under Eviscalacra vision feed. Oh my god. Living things... are like bullseyes. Your hearbeat, all motion and minor movements, the nerve impulses that are surging through you... it sees everything. Computer, project 1 inch thick wall over image. It can still see? A heartbeat, and nerve impulses. But the brain just... glows. 2 inch thick wall, project. This is getting insane now... it still senses yur nerve impulses. 3 inch thick wall, project. The brain is still really bright, but relatively undistinguishable from background charges. Okay, now back to the brain. Its thalamus seems to have been a bit... overexaggerated, likely to cope with this things' damn super senses. It has, unsuprisingly, eight optic nerves, but also a sonar nerve. A nerve that directly delivers all sonar based information, and translates it into the form of an image. Okay... smell. Large olfactory epithelium. Big enough to be about the smell of a bear. Now hearing. Its inferior colliculi is not where it should be. It is above the superior colliculi, the visual processing center. Strangely, I've noted that the inferior colliculi is larger than its visual counterpart. How? With all of its different visions? Okay, moving on to Primary Auditory Cortex, Superior temporal gyrus, Broddman areas 41 and 42. At least, I'd call all of these things the above, but they are alien. Foreign, and unrecognizable. Hmmmm... curious. Broddman area 42 is attached to a large... circular, gland? Second brain? What the hell is this... Jessica Navajo... I've made a great discovery. The circular gland I found, did not do itself just in MRI. So I dissected the brain, and retrieved this part. And boy am I glad. Eeytola used a particle synthesizer, and replicated me a working, living specimen of this piece(Damn Draconis, I wonder what THEIR labs look like.). It has several neurochemical reactions, mixing and chemically recombining with hormones and organic eukaryotes, then detaching again. Also, it appears that all nerve impulses and 'thought' resides here... I have found the seat of this creatures consciousness. Its... incredibly complex, the computer, which processes tetrabytes in miliseconds, can't keep with this thing. And this is only one part of the brain, with absolutely no sensory or outter information being fed to it. Wait... if this is the seat of consciousness, and this particular piece is alive... oh my, we've created life... |
The Dreaded AOL Dial-Up has left me afraid to spend more than 5 minutes posting at risk of losing it all. Arghhh.
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| ATEK Azul | Jun 14 2009, 11:50 PM Post #9 |
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Transhuman
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Wow that last post is amzing I would love too learn more about the anatomy of this planets life that 1 brain is just marvelous and I doubt you have even explained it all! |
| I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's! | |
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| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 15 2009, 01:34 AM Post #10 |
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I really tried to go in-depth with the Eviscalacra. It has inspiration in the 'Protoraptors' of Space Colony and the 'Megaraptors' of reality. Except, alien. Oh yeah, Eviscalacra are (Rather ironically) not the things that kill Jessica. Jessica Navajo, I have catalogued and named all species of Kylosinth within an area of 500 km. Three species, one was actually awesome looking. The three are: Kylosinth flovorestei, the Two-Tailed one, Kylosinth insignifica, the Lesser Kylosinth, and the awesome Kylosinth magnificens, the Greater Kylosinth. I'll be sending my findings in later today. Also, I have discovered the purpose of those spores. They are highly charged. In fact, when viewed under Eviscalacra vision, they are so heavily charged that they imitate Kylosinth signatures from a distance. If the Eviscalacra investigates, it finds it head burning and in pain. If it is stupid enough to sniff... we have one... dead, Eviscalacra. (Rumble, low heavy stomping) Oh boy, I think I might get a sapient Godzilla to talk to. This has been fun. When the stomping started the guards were all on heavy mobilization. After we realized that a huge alien T. Rex wasn't going to pop through the doors, we investigated the still stomping nearby area. When there was nothing there, we took to the skies. And we found... we really did find Godzilla. It was the biggest... thing... ever. Bigger than the Emperor Sea Striders of Darwin 4... Bigger than whales... bigger than Amphicoelias fragilimus, for God sakes. Except, unlike Amphicoelias, the only evidence of its existence did not mysteriously disappear. It is... indescribable. I can try... Like a huge... Monitor lizard that stands differently. Kind've like a dog stance. Over 800 ft. in length, at least 200 ft. in height... herbivorous, thankfully. Long range scans are actually getting some results through this things massive bulk. This is ridiculous... I actually find myself doubting what is in front of my eyes! Okay results... huh?It has a ton of dirt on its back. In fact, there are indeed trees growing actively on its back. That big black spot on its' belly is a pouch??? Where it houses young? This is a... oh, the species reproduces asexually. They... heheheh, it appears that they are born with all necessary genetic coding to create a new generation. Of course, gene mutation and drift changes the offspring in some matters, that's just natural selection at work. Not the fact that these things don't need mates... and they are SO HUGE!!!!!!! At least 400 tonnes... woah, what are those... Are the Eviscalacra... attacking??? Really? Like, like... really? Man, they are! Three-hundred and sixty... four. The big lizard thing just whipped out a large tentacle-ish thing...things, from its mouth. Those are just whiping the Eviscalacra everywhere! Oh man, this is movie material! Uh oh, one climbed up the back legs and is charging! It is moving through the things forest............ well, thirty seconds later and its still not out. Okay, about sixty Eviscalacra left... and they are retreating. But the lizard gives em a good final blow. Thirty-four left alive. You know what? I am posting this on Youtube Interstellar, THEN reporting to Command and the news agencies. Hahaha... That was fun. Funny, at least. Oh great. I come back home after witnessing God's pet Jackson's Chameleon ravage the local predators, and I'm faced with a moral dilema. Do I let the seat of conscience live, or do I pull the plug, like any other experiment? Oh, man, such problems should be left to philosophers, not exobiologists... |
The Dreaded AOL Dial-Up has left me afraid to spend more than 5 minutes posting at risk of losing it all. Arghhh.
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| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 15 2009, 05:00 AM Post #11 |
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Jessica Navajo, turning in findings now. Heh, after Youtube IS, of course. They've set up the landing pad, ISAP Enterprize, along with its compliment of Jet aircraft, are now based. And now, to research. I am departing, and traveling via Jump Jet to another part of the continent. An area strangely predominated by mostly red plants. Anyway, this'll be fun, see how life has adapted to red plants. Wow... that was fun! After several hours of foraging through plants tougher than kevlar, we discover that there is no animal life in that area. A massive leak in Carbon Dioxide has killed everything in the area, and it seems like this death cloud has been here for a while. Plants have obviously fourished in the absence of herbivores, and Carbon Dioxide levels WELL above levels ever recorded on Earth. I've decided to check the world map, find something interesting to study. Oh yeah, and I have begun to watch a fifty-year old show called Primeval. The tv we get is just too dominated by pop stars and action movies. I find it interesting that people of that time could produce such good shows. It's too bad the series was cut off by World War III, or it probably would've ended awesomely. That said, I've only watched the first two, so I'll be learning much about the show's characters. The computer graphics are meh, but livable. Hmmmm... a large cave system is about 392 miles from here. It is large enough that Ground-pentrating waves and WS37 can't map it all. I think i'll study while spelunking. I'll go with an armed escort, they'll make sure of that. Seriously, what could be in a cave? |
The Dreaded AOL Dial-Up has left me afraid to spend more than 5 minutes posting at risk of losing it all. Arghhh.
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| ATEK Azul | Jun 15 2009, 11:21 AM Post #12 |
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Transhuman
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Wow cool! This looks like an awsome project it is done very well and the world your describing is amazing. |
| I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's! | |
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| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 15 2009, 11:29 AM Post #13 |
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i luvs teh prais !!!
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| Spinosaurus Rex | Jun 15 2009, 12:42 PM Post #14 |
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Jessica Navajo. That cave was a terrifying experience. I really do think that Eden has a Hell on it, and those caves are it. Things scurrying everywhere... creepy laughing... unintelligible voices...(Shivers) just awful. Another man died. In there. Killed. By... if I did not know better, a ghost. I will not speak further on the subject. I will honor Pvt. Hayes memory, but I will not even think about the things which lurk in the wet, dreary pit of death that is those caves. Jessica Navajo... okay, I have decided to name the massive lizard thing we saw Omegatitanis gigantis. The Final Giant Titan. It seems there are at least one thousand moving in a large herd to the far west. I believe that's where I'll go next... |
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| Empyreon | Jun 15 2009, 05:02 PM Post #15 |
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Are you plausible?
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Reminds me of what I want to do ultimately with my project. Great minds think alike!
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Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought
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9:41 AM Jul 11