Welcome back, Scions of the lost. I have not updated for a while, so I am posting this and the expansion chapter at the same time. Chapter 5 will either come tomorrow or the day after that, depending on how much I can complete.

I have decided to expand upon the story, and I just have two things to say here, the first about the species…

And a warning about the power hidden within Iota.

This species is a diamond-sized bipedal red-skinned monster from the metaphorical depths of hell, with a goat head with 3 eyes on each side of their heads, and hoof-like feet, with red skin to top it off. Oh, and did I mention they look RIPPED? Yeah, not fun to fight against. More info next chapter.

The Fifth will force Homeworld to witness the power of the Eternal ones. This shall be the first of many skirmishes, and the Ninth will bring upon the door of a people.

Oh, by the way… I am only going to do daily releases of chapters when I have at least one chapter ahead completed, and if I fall behind, I will simply release whenever I get to it. That shalt be all.

Let us begin.

"I see potential within you, Unix. I know that we are doomed to stagnate, for all change inevitably leads to it. You will be the guiding light Long Later, my Scion."

The behemoth walked amongst the forest, searching for food, harvesting great amounts of plant matter as he walks through the forest, dwarfed by his height. His leg muscles bulging slightly with every step taken, eyes watching carefully for any predator looking for a piece of his legs.

What he saw next, he could never unsee. Some other life forms with beautiful crystals sticking out of them, setting up machinery in the forest's walls. He needed to get a closer look.

He parted the trees carefully, revealing himself to the strange beings. Everything stopped at that moment, all freezing, the strange aliens looking shocked, but the behemoth freezing out of curiosity. He then spoke, hoping that could understand him.

"Greetings, I am Ruk'Noct. Who are you?"

This was not what he was supposed to say, apparently, as some of the frailer tiny things begin to run away, while others pulled strange strings and sticks out of the gemstones, and some charged. The pain was minimal, but more than expected. Ruk bellowed in shock, forcing some to run, but a lot of the others to run in.

Ruk stomped the little things to oblivion, some he picked up and crushed with his hands, others he threw. Soon, he was bleeding a bit, and gemstones, some in pieces were on the floor. The behemoth walked away without another thought, wanting nothing more than to get back home with his bounty, and to tell the others of his discovery.

Once back at the camp, Ruk begins telling the tale of the strange beings to the others. "Over at the Harvesting Grounds, near the Walls of Yoct'Zakk, a bunch of tiny things are building things on the walls. They attacked me when I tried to greet them, and I was able to fight them off. We need to send in a Hunter group if they seek to harm us." the giant being said, but then a very tall female individual emerged from the edge of the camp, the Elder of the tribe walked over then spoke up. "They must have been scared, Ruk'Noct. We must show we mean no harm." the tallest of the group declared. None of the others would challenge the wisest of the group, not unless they were certain of their own thoughts.

Ruk'Noct had no reason to disagree, but Ruk was still uncertain, so Ruk decided to compromise. "We should bring some Hunters in the event they try to harm us again, out of sight but still close enough to defend us if they refuse to listen." The Elder seemed to find this a good compromise, so all she did was nod.

Three Hunters, especially well built males with gigantic spears are called to follow the Elder and Ruk to where Ruk had found the curious belligerents, the forager feeling paranoid about the strange beings, for he has never heard any stories of them, and knowledge is important across his society.

Ruk knew something bad was going to happen, even if not immediately.

Soon, the five giants arrived at where Ruk was foraging a hour ago. The Elder beckons the Hunters away, the spear-armed guards sitting down a distance away, yet still far in earshot in the event things turn sour.

Ruk leads the way to the area, not only out of respect to the Elder but also partially out of fear, for he could never forgive himself if the Elder is permanently harmed in any way. Once meeting the threshold between Ruk and the aliens, Ruk pauses for a moment, before beckoning the Elder forward. The Elder then speaks up. "Ruk'Noct, why do you not lead?" the Elder did not understand why Ruk showed the standard respect until then.

The forager then answers her question with "I caused harm to them, perhaps they may react violently to my return if I lead the way." and with that, The Elder parted the fragile trees, crossing the threshold, with Ruk watching carefully from a difficult to notice position.

The Elder gazed upon the little things below, towering over all of them by multiples, her gaze softening upon the fragile looking things, them being frozen for a few moments. With a tone that she reserves for the Brood, she speaks out, hoping for understanding.

"Why hello there, little ones. I hope Ruk didn't scare you."

What the Elder did not expect was the same little weapons Ruk saw earlier returning to view, with Ruk racing out of the abruptly ending forest, a wordless bellow emerging from his mouth challenging the belligerent things into assaulting his Elder.

They freeze, and Ruk does not advance, attempting to show restraint. The Elder taught him well, for violence isn't meant to solve all answers.

When Ruk finally begins hoping that they could reach a peaceful resolution, a group of purple belligerents come together, forming a being as tall as the Elder, summoning a imposing whip. This pulls the Elder out of her optimism, calling out to the nearby Hunters in a wordless yell.

The moment the whip of the amalgamate tightens around Ruk, it is grabbed by a toned arm, the first of the three Hunters on the scene. Then, the second and shortest (yet noticeably taller than Ruk) slices the whip with his sharpened metal spear, the third and talles of the three, stature higher than even the Elder emerges from the thick forest, eyes hardened by centuries of hunting.

The three Hunters step in front of the forager and Elder, spears ready to pierce the belligerent at a moment's notice, yet restraining themselves until the Elder lets them kill the strange being(s?)

This apparently wasn't going to stop the large purple being, summoning another whip out of seemingly nothing, the Elder does not have to tell them to charge, for they have already begun. With a swift strike, the largest of the Hunters pierces the giant belligerent, accidentally turning one of the many gemstones on its body to shards.

The five behemoths witness the same purple belligerents fall to the ground, except one of the original missing. It does not take long for Ruk to connect to and two, then bellowing out "Aim for the Crystals on their bodies! They are the fabled Prismatic!", to which the smallest of the Hunters simply nodded, stepping down upon one of the ones whose stone lied on its chest, ensuring that it dies.

The Hunters charge in, now certain of how to take down the little creatures with ease, attacking in such a fashion that they cannot near each other to combine again. Ruk leads his Elder back to the campsite, leaving the Hunters to return once they believe they will not be followed or chased.

Upon returning to the camp, Ruk recommends the Elder retreat to her resting spot for a short while, ensuring that he will wait for the Hunters to return. This seems to sate the Elder's worries, and she goes to rest for another day.

A hour and a half later, all three Hunters return somewhat injured, yet spirits unbroken. Ruk decides to ask the Hunters what occurred when they left, and the tallest spoke loud and proud, "The little prismatics kept chasing us when we tried to head home, so we brought them to a former campsite and took them all down, but one of them took Minoris' spear after a group of them combined, leaving Yun'Dur with a bad wound." pointing to the shortest and the average-sized hunters, the former with a badly bent spear, and the latter with a nasty chest wound, but not wounded enough to be at risk of dying anytime in the near future.

Ruk finds this explanation satisfactory, and lets the hunters loose into the camp, "Majoris, I think you and the others should rest. I will be the aegis for tonight." and with that, Yun'Dur heads off to seek medical attention, Majoris looks for something to wrap his own wounds with, and Minoris looks for the beacon to request a new spear, or perhaps just have it repaired. Minoris hates wasting.

AND WITH THAT, WE PROGRESS TOWARDS ANOTHER DAY, A NEW VILLAGE 3 MONTHS LATER.

Things didn't turn out how the tribal societies of the Aegis expected, the mysterious belligerents were much further spread than what was assumed, and said society realizing that the outsiders have begun killing life on the jungle planet, only to make more of their own. The leaders of the tribes made a decision to pool their resources towards ceasing this before it goes too far, and begins preparing for a full-on assault upon the invaders within the next 21 months.

What was to be done was obvious; instruct Elders to encourage increased Brood creation, get many weapons built, gigantic bows and metal spears alike, and train the Brood to fight. The Brood may not be fully grown by the 21 month mark, but they will still be tall and strong enough to overwhelm even a combined enemy.

The Aegis societies begin fortifying their largest villages, pulling outpost camps into the greatest villages, turning them into giant's small towns, and readying all the potential fighters for combat against the 7 identified invader reproduction centers, along with investigating what may very well be the leader of the invaders, The supposed leader is as tall as a forager, with a blue skin tone and seemingly in perpetual mourning. Her stone is on her sternum, an easy target for a Hunter, yet she is obviously not on the Hunter's world very often, but is expected to be back by the 21 month mark. It appears the stars have aligned for this date, and the survival of the Aegis society shall be guaranteed if this goes well.

Now all that can be done is let the cogs of society turn forwards, preparing for the day the Invaders realize the mistake they made.

24 EARTH MONTHS AFTER FIRST CONTACT

The day has arrived, for a behemoth of a hand flies through the skies of the Aegis' home world, without doubt containing the fabled Leader of the legendary Prismatic that stories have been made of for so long, but instead of the Primatic descending upon the Aegis' mortal plane to absol them from pain, they seek to end the Aegis flame for all eternity. Once the behemoth hand lands upon the terrain, the hundred give or take outpost camps surrounding the Prismatic reproduction sites spring into action at the shine of dozens of beacons floating high in the sky.

The gigantic hunters charge as one into the sites, taking all by extreme surprise, nearly two hundred behemoths in every one of the Primatic reproduction sites, pulling down injectors and crushing them with swift movements, shattering the Prismatic without giving them a chance to recover, and another group marching towards the landing site of the Hand.

The Blue one was taken off guard, which was expected by the giants, her being shorter than all the adult Hunters. The Hunters prioritize ending the lives of the vile Prismatic left and right, before only the Blue one and a tiny servant-like Prismatic standing hear the taller Prismatic. The dozen or so visible Hunters march towards the tallest Prismatic, the small one by her side retreating fearfully.

Then the Blue One throws a ball of something at the tallest Hunter, knocking it back a noticeable amount, yet the Hunter did not fall, and continued its march, raising a spear in the Blue One's direction.

The two Prismatic ran to the behemoth's hand, taking refuge within its metal structure. The Hunters do not call it off just yet, however. In a few moments, over a hundred behemoths come from the shadows, behemoth bows and spears flinging and denting the hull of the hand, one piercing through after a display of ridiculous strength by the strongest of the Hunters. While it is obviously not enough to even remotely hit anyone inside, it is still an impressive feat, which the Prismatic will have to mend in fear of the mighty Hunters that brought an end to their Incursion.

THE AFTERMATH

Now, the tribal society is unified. Conflict ended, enemies vanquished. The society of Aegis has been transformed forever, the people knowing that there is more to the world than just this one planet…

...And thus, the Order of Aegis rises, phoenix ascended, ready to punish the Gods of old for their sins in the form of the Prismatic incursion. The Prismatic will be punished for acting as the vessel of the Gods.

"Voidholder Abyss, are you sure I am fit for such a great duty? I am merely one Eternal, while the Zenith still lives. What do you see within me?"

WHAT IS TO COME:

Next chapter will expand upon the tribal society of Aegis, and more about the planet the Order of Aegis resides on, Bastion's Grip.

The next chapter will ALSO cover the religion of the Prismatic, but won't tell you about what they plan to do to who they mistakenly view as their Gods of old, thanks to the space station in orbit of Bastion's Grip being long abandoned.

DEEP IN THE DARKNESS BETWEEN WORLDS, NOTHING CAN BE SEEN. HIDDEN BY THE UNIVERSE'S BRIGHTNESS, THE WATCHER OF BASTION'S GRIP REMAINS, HIDDEN FROM LIGHT.