"SCATTER!" I scream, and we all run in different directions just as the Therizinosaur slashes at where I once stood. It turns around, and eyes the closest person – Yang, before charging her down, slashing it's claws wildly. Yang can't even give it a moment's notice, she's forced to run. If she stops in the slightest way, it'll be on top of her. If she pulls out her bow and turns around to fire, she could trip. Quickly stringing my bow's string with an arrow, I aim at it's small head and fire. The arrow hits the back of it's head, and it's immediately turning my way, only to suddenly have it's face hit by arrows from Weiss and Blake. Blake's gotten higher ground by standing in the branches of a nearby tree at the edge of the forest, and Weiss is a ways on the other side of her, shooting from the base of palm tree. None of us are focusing on the strength of the shots, just getting the damn thing off of Yang. We must have pumped at least five arrows from each of us in about five seconds before the damn thing decides to finally charge one of us instead of flailing wildly at it's face, thinking there's an invisible assailant hitting it. It charges right at Weiss...and I feel bad for her that I have to use the opportunity of when it's attacking her to actually make any shots. Blake and I manage to pump 5 more arrows into the damn thing before it's on top of Weiss, who barely dodges it's vicious arm swipe, which cuts down the palm tree in half. Luckily, it doesn't get the chance to attack again as the palm tree falls on top of it, and it struggles to free itself, giving Weiss the opportunity to gain distance, before turning around and resuming fire once again. Yang's pulled out her own bow now and has started a cautious advance as she fires, to make sure her shots actually hit. In it's rage, the Therizinosaurus bends the tree at it's roots, tilting it one direction, before it finally throws the fallen portion off of itself. It roars and tries to focus on something to take it's ungodly rage out on...the next thing it feels is an arrow from Blake, and it charges her way. Blake leaps back into the shadow of the forest that she can use within our forced battlefield, as the Therizinosaur begins to start wildly slashing down every tree as it still takes shots from Blake, until she suddenly leaps from the shadows, spear-in-hand, and stabs it in the head. It reels back from this as she rebounds from the strike, taking out her hatchets, and doing a horizontal spin on a tilted axis, slashing down the back of it's neck and it's back. The Therizinosaur buckles forwards from the pain, only to quickly turn around to face Blake as she lands, ripping her spear out of it's head, and throwing it her way, before charging. Blake actually catches the spear mid-flight and begins running away, towards the center of our "arena" with the ungodly creature hot on her heels. Once again, the rest of us are firing at the Therizinosaurus to it's annoyance. In it's primal rage, it once again begins to start slashing wildly around itself, thinking there to be an invisible assailant. I reach back for another stone arrow...i don't have any more. All I've got are tranq arrows, and something unholy in my gut tells me there's no way this thing can be tamed, or even put down with sedatives. "I'm out!" I shriek, before suddenly I hear Blake's voice "I am too!" she responds. C'mon Ruby, think girl...that might work! "YANG! WEISS! KEEP HITTING IT!" I shriek, and I quickly take out a spear. "Blake!" I call "Ladybug!"
They get what I'm trying to say. Yang and Weiss keep hitting the foe with the arrows they have, and Blake takes our her hatchets. Just like we've done in Remnant, Blake and I fly at the heels of our attacker at blinding speed, slashing at it's ankles again and again. The Therizinosaurus doesn't know what to do, it's taking shots and hits from what feels to be everywhere. I can't tell how much blood is on me from slashing at the dinosaur again and again, but it doesn't bother me too much, my adrenaline is pumping profusely. Suddenly, I hear the Therizinosaur's booming roar, and-! It takes a step back, and I feel it's hand behind me! It suddenly smashes Blake and me together between it's hands, lifts us up, shifts us to it's right hand, and throws us a great distance away. I rag doll from the impact of landing alongside Blake, and I can't move at first due to the pain...there's extreme pain in my nose, and blood coming from Blake's forehead. Was that technique even worth it? I hear Yang scream my name as I hit the dirt, and the Therizinosaur charges back at us while we're down. I lift myself up just in time to see Yang flying at the creature with a spear-in-hand, and stabbing the creature in it's side. From her juggernaut charge, she embeds a full fourth of the spear within it's side. It has a rage-induced reflex, whirling around and slashing at Yang with it's left arm as she backflips out of the way...just as she's in the height of the flip, the creature's claws slash right under her head...cutting off a full fourth of Yang's total hair length. The Therizinosaur is distracted by shots from Weiss, and turns to roar at her. Yang lands, and feels her hair, before seeing a cloud of her beloved locks fall to the ground. She...she...damn. She immediately explodes into her full semblance, eyes red and hair aflame "YOU FUCKER!" she roars angrily and...no, she charges directly at it, her anger making her forget she doesn't have any melee weapons of the sort on her. "YANG NO!" I scream, immediately onto my feet, as Blake quickly does the same, and I use my own semblance to fly up behind my sister. I grab her sides as I tackle her and go into a spinning, flame-cloaked dive with her as we fly under the Therizinosaur's body and between it's legs, dodging a brutal attack it prepared for her, and flying out between it's right leg and tail. I land onto my feet with my sister, who looks at me briefly "Dammit, thank you!" she says, with a mix of anger, yet sincere thankfulness within her voice. I'm scanning the area...suddenly I've got another idea. "Blake! Weiss! Keep it distracted! Yang! Try muscling the severed palm tree to lean our way instead!"
They all get what I've got planning. Yang shakes her head "i swear to god if that doesn't work...", before running off. "I'm almost out over here!" Weiss says, and I quickly catch up to my sister, who still runs towards the palm tree. "Gimme your arrows!" I say, and she quickly grabs the remaining bundle of stone arrows from her back and hands them to me. Blake does the only thing she can – a terrible idea in the first place – but she runs right up to the Therizinosaurus, and waving her hatchets at it. Instinctively, it quickly bends down and slashes at her, and she leaves behind a copy of herself to take the hit. Confused, the Therizinosaur pauses for a moment as Blake suddenly rushes underneath it and starts slashing wildly with her two hatchets, cutting it up in a frenzy from beneath. It roars and steps back, trying to slash at her again, only to destroy yet another decoy. Blake keeps up this hit-and-run tactic, as I fly over to Weiss with my semblance, quickly dropping the arrows I've got from Yang into the right spot on her quiver, but leaving myself with one. I've got my own plan at the same time. I fly around the opposite direction of our assailant, and now I'm standing in front of a large rock. Yang's grabbed the tree by now, and using her semblance-empowered strength, she starts trying to muscle the tree to the angle we want it, without breaking it even more. Weiss continues her assault, as does Blake, but I know Blake can't keep that up forever. Using the one stone arrow, I string my bow with it, adrenaline in my veins. I pull back the bow's string as far as I can, and I can feel the weight bending under the pressure. "HEY UGLY!" I roar, before firing the one shot I can. The arrow flies towards it's intended target...empty space...but I've done a little something snipers like me like to call...leading the target. The Therizinosaur's head, as it flails about from Blake and Weiss...gets directly where I anticipated it to be. My arrow lodges within it's right eye, and this stops it's flailing cold. It stumbles forwards, before looking the direction the attack came from, locking rage-filled eyes with mine. "THAT'S RIGHT! YOU!" I scream, jumping up and down, flailing my arms "OVER HERE, FLUFFY!". Immediately, it roars and charges right at me...but I don't move. The others don't get it. Why aren't I moving?... I know why I'm not moving, and that's all that matters. Weiss quickly starts trying to pelt it in the back with arrows to get it off of me, sending three shots into it's back...but it keeps coming. I'm still not moving, and it's right on top of me, arms spread wide, ready to cut me in half...but, at the last possible minute, I use my semblance dodge out of the way, dodging underneath it again, and the full force of it's attack is taken by...the rock. Immediately, It's claws snap upon force of the impact, all at various lengths...all under half length, though, and one is even torn completely off, severing right off of it's root to the bones in it's finger on it's left hand. It roars in immense pain from this as I fly towards Weiss and Blake. "GREAT job!" Blake says, now seeing that my attempt to try and "disarm" the Therizinosaur was successful in and of itself. The creature itself turns towards us, very angry it's weapons have been destroyed, and charges at us...and like I thought, it's forgotten about Yang. The three of us dodge it's attack as we dash around behind it, forcing it's back to Yang...who, having been unable to bend the tree the right way, freaking tears it out of the ground by it's roots, and holds it with both hands like a massive spear. I step back using my semblance once again, to seemingly disappear from Weiss and Blake, but the Therizinosaur is still just angry as hell, only roaring angrily at them, as if trying to re-gain some stamina. I look towards my sister, and she nods at me...we're ready. I've got to gain enough momentum. Yang starts running up from behind the foe, and using my semblance, I run in a wide arc intended to gain momentum and get right behind Yang...Yang leaps just as get behind her and grab her...together, we turn into a spiraling, living missile headed straight for the unsuspecting Therizinosaurus...It rears up and roars at Weiss and Blake...and we send the tree trunk straight through it's back – it's spinal cord – as it also sticks out from it's stomach. It roars in immense pain from this and topples forwards, tree trunk embedding and nailing it to the ground. Yang and I land by Weiss and Blake... "Holy shit..." Yang said "That...actually worked..." she says, looking at me with a face of exhaustion, but satisfaction. Weiss suddenly steps back "Uh...guys...no it didn't."
We turn. Sure enough...it's still alive?! It's trying as hard as it can to pull itself out of the ground and rip the tree from itself. What do we do now?...Suddenly, I get an idea. "Hey!" I say "Remember the food fight back in the cafeteria with Team JNPR?"
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Blake demands. I smirk "My last move. How about we do a little...on-fire version of that?"
They get what I'm aiming for. Blake, Yang, and Weiss dash to the side as I use my semblance, once again, and start running in a circle as fast as I can...sure enough, I manage to whip up a tornado which begins to pick up all kinds of debris: rocks, sticks, leaves, everything. Yang steps back and looks at Weiss. "Heh...I swear to god if you do this, I'm never going to stop laughing about this when I'm in a lighter mood." she says to Weiss with a smug, but angry, yet confident look. Weiss shoots her the same face "Heh...neither will I, probably." she replies. Weiss holds a spear similar to her weapon, and tries to focus...soon enough, a small glyph appears behind Yang's head...manipulating the fire in her hair. Blake turns towards the cyclone I've created. "RUBY! NOW!" she roars. Instinctively, I stop running, sending the column of swirling debris the Therizinosaur's way. Weiss sends the fire towards the cyclone, and the entire thing catches flame. It flies towards the Therizinosaurus, who roars, before it's engulfed by the flame-cloaked vortex. Soon, there's nothing but a smoldering cloud of smoke left. I sigh, walking over to the others...they're just as exhausted as I am. We...impaled that thing with a tree...shot a flaming vortex with flaming debris in it at it...broke off it's damn claws...it's definitely dead, for sure. We're looking at each other, huffing in exhaustion from the fight...but confident in ourselves...until we hear the sound of something shifting within the smoke. It...it can't be, can it?! We turn, and as the smoke settles...we see the shape of the Therizinosaur...with the roots of the tree burned off, it suddenly rips itself free of the tree with an enraged roar, grabbing the tree, tearing it from the earth, and throwing it at us like a colossal spear. We barely dodge out of the way as the tree flies at us, embedding itself into the ground like a giant spear, shaking the earth. The Therizinosaur stands there for a few moments, definitely exhausted from this fight, and greatly wounded. It's burned, bloodied, and bruised...but alive nonetheless...wait...I've got one more idea. I snatch Weiss's spear from her hands, screaming "Sorry!" as I do so and run towards the Therizinosaurus. I'm...still greatly exhausted from the fight, and using my semblance so much...I feel like I could collapse at any moment. The Therizinosaur tries to slash at me but misses, and I jab the spear into it's left flank, the spear sinks into it's tenderized flesh so easily half the spear embeds itself in it's side. It roars in pain as I run away from it "BLAKE!" I yell "The back of it's head! NOW!"
They immediately understand my newest plan. Blake dashes straight towards the Therizinosaur, which slashes, only to hit a decoy of Blake's again. Blake leaps up, grabbing hold of the spear, and flipping herself up using it, and ripping the spear free of the creature's body at the same time. Blake throws it back to Weiss in her leap, who catches it. Blake soon wraps her legs around the Therizinosaur's neck, hatchets drawn, and starts slashing furiously where it's neck connects to the back of it's head. The Therizinosaur flails wildly as she does so, trying to slash her off, but can't reach her due to it's claw length being reduced. I rush forwards with, of all things, a pickax drawn, and start doing mock-attacks at the creature to get it's attention. Yang and Weiss rush in to do similarly. It's working, as the creature starts focusing on us rather than Blake on it's neck. Blood splatters onto Blake with every slash, as the cut gets deeper and deeper into it's neck...I'm keeping a careful eye on the wound...finally, it gets to a condition I like, before moving on to phase two. "Yang! Blake! Swap out!" I order, adrenaline overstimulating me. Blake leaps off of the Therizinosaur; and, with Weiss's help, Yang gets a boost up onto the Therizinosaur's neck. "Weiss! It's arms!" I order...but, no...she doesn't have her weapon. She can't freeze them to the ground like I expected her to in my adrenaline-fueled rush...but she surprises me. Once again assuming a stance, four black glyphs appear around the Therizinosaur's arms: two above and two directly below. They force the creature's hands to the ground, and the Therizinosaur starts to buck and kick with it's back legs, and Weiss ends up forcing those still as well. The Therizinosaur struggles frantically as it is immobilized, trying to throw Yang off, who's holding on for dear life. "FACE-RIPPER GO NIGHT-NIGHT!" she roars angrily, struggling to get a firm grasp of the creature's head. It's not so much the head is too big, but simply because it's struggling so much, and constantly trying to bite her arm. She reaches out with her left hand as much as she can...finally, she grabs the snout. With a primal roar, Yang tightens her grip on the neck with her legs, tightens her grip on the head, and snaps the creature's neck...which, with the help of the injury Blake made...decapitates the damn thing. It falls to the ground, Yang still on it...this time, it won't get up. I run towards my sister, who's hair extinguishes, and hug her tightly. She does the same...and soon I Blake and Weiss have joined us. We hear a noise, then look above us, to see the invisible dome that trapped us in this location disappear...we're free. We've won...the smiles and laughter coming from us now...we...i don't know how we're smiling and laughing after all this...maybe just nervous stress. Yang puts her forehead on mine and then I instinctively feel pain, and break free of the group. Yang tilts her head at me, looking concerned...before her eyes widen...the others do too. I'm confused at first...and then am suddenly aware of the pain in my face. Quickly, I take out my spyglass and look at my reflection in it's lens...my nose is broken, undoubtedly from when I smashed into Blake...that explains the blood coming out of my nose...I make a scared whine, before slowly grabbing the bridge of my nose, and hesitating. "D...do you want one of us to?..." Yang asks. I shake my head "I...I've got it..." I say, knowing that only I can truly get "ready" for what I'm about to inflict upon myself. I take a few scared huffs, then snap my nose back into place. There's a pop as I yelp in pain...but it's back where it belongs. The three of them walk up to me fairly quickly. "Hey...lemme see what I can do about that." Weiss says, as the two of us kneel onto the ground. Yang looks back, at the decapitated head of the enemy "...hey...can we keep that as a trophy?" she asks. I smile "Sure, go on ahead if you want...but I...really want those claws back at the rock...especially the whole one."
"You stay here and let Weiss take care of you." Blake says with a comforting smile. "Let me go get those". Yang turns to grab the get the creature's head, while Blake goes off to the rock to collect the claws. Weiss pulls out a small piece of hide, just large enough for the bridge of my nose. "Now..i don't know exactly how I'm going to do this, but...it's going to hurt when I touch it, alright?" Weiss says, and I nod. Even with my aura and new healing rate, a broken nose might take a while. She tears a slit in opposite sides of the strip of hide, then starts threading fiber through them. Yang walks back over, but I don't see her with the head in her hands. "You didn't get it?" I ask, seeing her hands empty. She smiles, tapping her implant "Stored away. It said we could put it on a trophy wall-mount - I REALLY want to do that. So how's your nose?"
"Still painful." I say as Yang kneels next to me. Weiss has finished threading the fiber through the slits in the hide. "Alright..." she says "Now, it's gonna hurt because it's pressing your nose to keep it in place, alright?" I nod. "Good. Yang, think you can tie this off snugly back behind Ruby's head?"
"Sure. Happy to help."
Weiss carefully places the strip of hide over my nose, and I ready myself for the pain. She presses it firmly around the bridge of my nose, with the ends of the strip pressing firmly against my face. It stings...but I manage through it. Yang grabs the dangling fibers and begins tying it together behind my hair, sending the straps over my ears. "How do you feel, sis?" she says, pausing before finishing her knot. "Ok, I guess..." I say, my voice altered by the fact my nose is partially closed. Weiss quickly adjusts the strap on my face and Yang re-does her knot. "Any better?" Yang asks, and I give a sigh of relief "much better." I say, my voice normal again. Blake's now back from the rock, claws packed away in her inventory...except for the full claw, which she carries on her shoulder. "Thought you'd like to take a look at this before I pack it away." She says, handing me the giant claw. I hold the long, sharp claw within my hands, turning it over once...I'm in awe of what I'm holding. "It...is literally a natural scythe." I say, before looking up at Blake "Guess it really does deserve that name".
"Yeah...so what are you wanting to do with that?"
"I want to turn it into a scythe, duh." I say. Yang smiles "Build your weapon from scratch..." she says, remembering what I said about re-building our weapons "I don't know about the whole gun-part, but you could definitely make a scythe out of a claw like that."
"That's the plan." I say "and I have a few ideas floating around in-mind about design, but...nothing concrete."
"You'll figure it out, sis." Yang says, patting me lightly on the back, and I then pack the claw away in my inventory, as I stand with my team, and walk over to the carcass of the Therizinosaur. We stare at it, unsure of what to do. "Ok...I'm not the only one who doesn't even want to try using any hide or meat from that thing, right?"
"No way."
"Nuh-uh."
"Nope."
"So..." I say, just rubbing the back of my head "...just leave it here to rot?"
"...yeah."
"I guess."
"Sounds right."
I'm just about to turn around...but something tells me not to. I eye the carcass...then slowly bring up my implant, and tap it... "It's got an inventory." I say, somewhat shocked.
"Does it have anything worthwhile?" Weiss asks.
"Some arrows – probably the ones we shot at it – 56 in total...take those back..." I say, putting them into my inventory. "...oh snap, that's good."
"What?" Yang asks. "There's...a sword in here." I say "it's of...'ramshackle' quality."
"Wait...sword?" Blake asks. I eye the icon the best I can "It's...like a cross between a short-sword and a machete...but yeah, a sword." I tap it's icon, and then, the sword's suddenly in my free hand. It's hilt comes down around the handle, and the blade itself is similar to that of a machete...it's like a cross between the two, like I said...and it seems...better quality than what could be called "ramshackle" - Much better quality. I hold it out to Blake "You're a sword-wielder." I say "how does this feel for you?"
She takes it in her hands and holds it by the handle, shaking it carefully a few times. "Well, a quick thing...from what I've been gathering, everything we make standard is of "primitive" tech tier. From what I can establish, Ramshackle is better...so, this is basically a sword in a quality just above what's standard on ARK. As for me...it's a good blade, but...heavier than what I'd like. It's similar to the sheathe of my weapon...but too heavy and bulky." I turn to Weiss "howabout you?" I ask. Blake turns and hands the blade to Weiss, who holds it in her hand. She then assumes a posture with it as if the machete was her old weapon, trying out the blade. After a couple moments of being in this posture, looking down the blade, Weiss assumes a normal stance. "Like Blake said, it's too heavy for me...too heavy and bulky. I don't know if you saw, but I was having a little bit of trouble holding the blade up in the posture I usually wield my weapon in. Again, like Blake said, it's a nice blade...but too heavy for my style. This isn't an agile blade either of us usually wield. It's more of a...well, it's a sword built more for straight-up brutality rather than speed or the like. That's why it's bulky and heavy."
"Lemme see that then." Yang requests, and Weiss hands over the sword. Yang nods "heh...better than what I've been using for a bit, anyway. I'll take it." She hangs the sword on her side using the belt around her waist. I take a moment to look back in the Therizinosaur's inventory and...what? What I see confuses me. "Hey...guys?" I ask.
"What?" Weiss asks.
"Do...any of you have any idea what 'Super Test Meat' could be?..."
"Super what?" Yang asks.
"Test Meat. Super Test Meat."
"...what?"
"There's six of them in here." I say, taking them out, and holding one in my hands. It looks just like standard raw meat. "Although...they don't seem to expire...and...for some reason...I don't think it can be cooked."
"...I think we should keep it for now." Blake says "if it can't be cooked and doesn't have an expiration date...it's got to have some sort of use. We'll figure it out as we go along. Anything else in there?"
I take one final look. "...Yeah...a note."
"A note?" Weiss asks.
I take the note from the inventory, and then hold it in my hands. It's on a worn piece of paper...but it's definitely legitimate handwriting. I start reading it aloud.
"To those it may concern.
If you have this, then you probably killed the damn thing, rather than drive it off like I had to. A s much as I wanted to kill the thing, I had things to do. Listen. My name is-"
I squint trying to make out the name. I can read cursive fine, but...it's too scratched. "I...can't make out a name. It's too illegible" I state, before reading on.
"As you would guess from the name, I am female. You may also know who I am. If you are on Cragg's Island, you know my law: I welcome you, so long as you show no hostility to me...that was for the possibility somebody kills that Therizinosaurus in recent time...which probably didn't happen. You...you're of the Next Generation, aren't you?...ah, you're probably wondering what I mean by that. Let me tell you. If you've killed this Therizinosaurus, you've probably been around enough to find out that there were once humans here before. There were...until things went out of control. I can see what's going to begin already. I've been around on the ARK for many years...trust me, you're going to live here a while. The ARK keeps the appearance youthful and lives long so long as you're healthy and prospering...Cragg's Island is a good place for starting out, isn't it? There's nothing incredibly dangerous here on the land...it's a good place for 'beginners'...that's why I'm grateful I woke up here. You're using the cliffside area, aren't you?...heh. I did too, for my base. If I may recommend, do as I did. Raise up walls in front, but also deeper towards the back. The forest is disguising a fairly large plateau back there, which you can use for extra building space, and also make use of the area below. The rocks disguise it, but the area is entirely flat. It's a good place for extra space and storing smaller aquatic animals: I stored all my larger ones in a pen I built around the Red Obelisk.
Yet, enough with how to build a home for now. You're probably wondering 'what's up with you?'. People call me the Conqueror of Ark for a reason: I figured out how this island works, and by myself, I've prospered so much that I'm on a level many others have to form tribes to make. I found out this island...and they took notice. Not just other people...but the makers of the ARK. Yes, I've seen them. They're...strange creatures...but familiar...not to far off from ourselves...I guess that explains the Ark Armageddon...that's what people are calling what's going on now. The race...the viewed themselves as ecological protectors, taking creatures from our planet's past to this place...but why? Simply put, our planet was the one closest to their own. They don't have one, anymore...in their own carelessness, they let theirs die off. They learned the hard way...then we, sentient beings, emerged, one time in history...they took notice. They began taking us as well...to see if we truly were...or could possibly be, like them. They'd met other races they had warred with...but conquered them all in the process. They were all too...different in some way or another. I can only imagine how lonely they felt. The tests they put us humans through...it was an evolution process. To see if we really were like them...the way humans frequently fought and enslaved each other...the ways at times we'd war with each other...violently killing each other for our own whims...they didn't think there was any way we truly were related...well, surprise surprise. Further testing on their behalf revealed how truly similar we were...we're related by blood. Comparing DNA, our DNA is 97.48% exact to their own. It makes me wonder of our own origins, to be honest. This...this caused a calamity between the race. They didn't find another race of beings like them...as far as they were concerned, they found distant family...that's how the majority of them took it, anyway. Several of them...they were in fierce denial of it. We...we reminded them of themselves in their own dark past. To them, it was like looking in a mirror; and they didn't like the reflection...so they decided to shatter the glass. They started launching Plagues at us. That Therizinosaurus was suffering from such a Plague, called Primal Wrath. It's not a disease...but simply some sort of genetic modification that turns them incredibly powerful and hyper-aggressive. Therizinosaurs are aggressive by nature, but as long as you leave them alone, they're fine with you. As I could guess, this Therizinosaur wasn't that lenient, was it? And let me guess...you got trapped into an arena with it? Typical. Luckily for you, it should be the last of the Primal animals that were released. Plagues came in all kinds...the Primals...and then sometimes actual diseases...there were a lot of different things that would happen. That are happening...at least, to me. I don't wish upon you, regardless of who or what you are, or how you act, what I've been seeing here. A civil war broke out between them...they're killing themselves – and us – off. Their imperial general spoke with me a few days ago. All stored human specimens were destroyed by the group trying to kill us off...I'm mankind's greatest ally with this race as of now...yet I'm powerless to stop anything. The ARK itself...it can't kill us. It's main purpose is to let those within determine who and what survives, and it allows you to thrive or not depending on what those within it have judged. So they tried to get proactive...things are going to hell now and it's causing peaceful tribes to war against one another violently...yet very few aggressors have dared step foot on Cragg's Island due to what I've done...but...even I don't think I can escape the inevitable. Regardless, I am here to help. When you can, head to the Red Obelisk and access the Tribute Terminal. Once there, use 'retrieve tribute data', and use the code 013682. That's my first part of a little helpful care package to help you on your feet, courtesy of myself and those of the other race trying to preserve us...they may end up destroying themselves AND us...the imperial General told me if such a thing happens, the ARK goes into Autonomous Mode, and will start gathering specimens again: that's you. Don't worry about another mass extinction. That wasn't the ARK...so you're safe from that. I wish you the best of luck on this island, may you heed my advice and receive my help. As far as I'm concerned...you're my allies in this.
-A.L."