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Learning that one of my experiments failed kind of leveled out the good feelings I had about my synaptic Hormagaunts working. I supposed a hibernation chamber like this not working shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise. This was a weird idea and a long shot at that, but here I was doing it. Marching or actually riding on the back of a Hormagaunt, to the pods I now had to attempt figuring out just how and why the Termagant died. It was over two days since I put it in there and I had a feeling that ascertaining the why part was going to be hard. Sure enough, I had the Cruiser drop it out and I had to make long strides with my boots to get through the thick muck. The nasal and throat tendrils wormed their ways out of their respective holes and It completely fell to the hardened floor with a splat. I expanded my mind to try and see if I could sense anything but with it dead I no longer had the telepathic link and thusly could not sense anything.
The void had also passed, this was now just a body of biomass to be recycled once I figured out what killed it. I wondered if any of the Hybrids could help me but even if we had a doctor and even if they could perform an autopsy. I doubt they could ever tell me what was there. Having a Tyranid biologist as well as a doctor with the tools to cut it open would require vastly more luck than I seemed to have. So I would have to just rely on basic intuition to figure this mystery out.
My mind immediately thought of hunger, then just as quickly dismissed it. I didn't know how long a Termagant could go without food but I assumed it had to be a few weeks minimum. Longer because it was being placed into a hibernation state and thusly consuming less nutrition. Could it have been a lack of something in the fluid it was suspended? I thought about it in terms of lacking something because it was only made to have fewer nutrients to use and have the Termagant rely on the feeding tube. I wondered if there we something essential that I had taken out. I mean I didn't even know the specifics of what's inside that stuff just that it's supposed to be nutritious and keep them asleep with the chemical it was laced with.
I wasn't even certain that it was a chemical, just assuming that because it made sense. The ship was vague about these processes probably because it didn't have to place much of any thought behind it. Like how people get water from their tab but have almost zero clue on where it comes from or how it's purified. I really tried pressing the Bioship on what exactly the fluid is made of but all it gave me, and likely could, was that it was that fungus stuff it was growing on mass around us, and fat deposits from its own body. So nothing to be found there, I was not ready to dismiss the idea just yet but rather shelve it for the time being.
Then there were the air tubes to consider. However that I felt the most certain about, I mean I had the ship give it pure oxygen. If the air being recycled now was good enough then it should have been able to filter everything out to get pure oxygen. At least that is what it informed me it could do, but I wasn't so sure about the issue being that the air was toxic right?
"Was the death slow or sudden?" At first thought, I assumed sudden with how it just happened but perhaps it was a gradual death. One that was slowly building over the course of two days to end with what occurred. I didn't have any answers but I did have a lot more Termagant to test my theory on. I'd put one in, they would have fluid the same as the rest but the same air. I would see what would happen by constantly checking up on it.
"Hopefully the answer becomes clear, otherwise I don't know what I'm gonna do..."
Locking away another Termagant and just waiting for something to happen was long and boring. I thought of giving a new title to my modified Hormagaunts and I decided to dub them the sergeant variants. Not exactly in charge but mainly there to keep everyone else in line. I thought about identifying marks but I could tell the difference by the feel their minds. Having it easy for an outsider to figure that out would defeat the purpose of removing the obvious weakness of the Tyranid hivemind. So they would look exactly like normal Gaunts and I was going to make some Termagant variants later. Perhaps even some spore mines, never know when I'd need some moving explosives.
Perhaps an hour or two nothing but me staring at the pod in silence, considering my plans. After that, I went to see what everybody else was doing. The answer was lounging around casually, there wasn't much in the way of conversation going around which is why I didn't really want to be here. They weren't the most conversational people especially when I was avoiding them in the beginning. Didn't get any better though, we all shared a far deeper connection to one another than I did before. At least with my brood, they weren't individuals.
They knew I was coming in before I truly expanded my mind to search for theirs. It wasn't the buzzing environment one might expect either. They had nothing to do and just sat there and waited for mealtime. Some biological families would stick far closer to one another as I found but for the most part, they lounged about like cats. Just inclining their head respectively at my presence and not much else.
Absalom was the guy I made a beeline to as he was the only one I felt comfortable talking to. Being recently turned he didn't look at me as if I was Jesus. He still nodded respectfully as I sat upon my mobile chair. Which was fine if undeserved. The man himself was alone and leaned against one of the many storage containers.
"This planet we're going to. Does it have a name?"
The former captain shook his head. "Not that I know of, I barely know much about it other than a failed colonization attempt a few decades ago."
"That was just it? Did nobody try again? Or even checked to see what happened or anything?"
"I heard it fell apart because of bad planning, lack of resources, it was apparently a death world, and something about the Astronomican there." He shrugged nonchalantly. "There is a lot of passing news back in Aurelia, sometimes bad colonizations just happen."
"I guess people in 40K are more concerned about themselves than anything outside a Subsector. with the Imperium constantly expanding and shrinking there's gotta be a lot of failed colonies that people don't care or even know about."
"What do you know about this planet? The expedition."
"That it was suitable enough for colonization and three cargo vessels were used to haul everyone."
Before I just didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth but now it was good a time as any. I didn't like vague this was. "Suitable for colonization could mean anything, from death worlds, ocean-based planets, ice worlds, desert planets, the Imperium will colonize anything if it means there's something they want there."
I didn't have anywhere else to go so just making more troops for what's to come is the best thing I could do here. Nothing was ever going to be simple. I decided to move away from that for now, a bridge to cross later. Then just keep talking to Absalom.
"How... Does it feel? Becoming a part of the brood and leaving everything else behind now?" I asked, curiosity finally taking over me to wonder just how his mind was warped by the Genestealer kiss.
Absalom smiled and even rubbed the puncture spot on his fancy clothing where the tongue entered. "It was painful at first but enthralling, I felt everyone's mind fall over me. I could feel welcomed and a part of a true family I never had since my father. I no longer live for myself now and I can see all anyone wants is to spread this love and understanding across the Galaxy!"
I tried to just stare impassively at him, wondering just how much of that was even genuine. "Do you ever feel regret about having to leave your ship and crew?"
Absalom laughed wholeheartedly. "Having to deal with that complaining crew and the high taxes for any goods worth hauling to sell? My only regret is not being able to see that frak head Vandis getting thrown out of office. Greediest governor in the Segmentum I swear..." There was animosity to that last part sure enough but still nothing to being injected with overriding parasites that warped your mind and genes. I mean I didn't expect that exact wording or thought process but whatever mind-altering stuff Genestealers used it was fast-acting stuff and work terrifyingly well.
"What he said about love and understanding is obviously hogwash. But whether it was an intentional action by the mental brainwashing or it was just how Absalom and other Hybrids personally rationalize the whole thing I don't know."
"Thank you." Absalom said with a wide grin.
I only gave a 'huh?' back as he broke my thought and I took a moment to process what he had said.
I tried searching his mind for anything resembling doubt or an understanding of what had occurred. There was nothing, either I could not access a human's subconscious mind or the Hybrids of any kind really were lost forever. Doomed to smile and be happy about their predicament no matter how Lovecraftian it got. Like the Unitologists in the Dead Space series. Except they have the excuse of just being idiots whose fanaticism made them blind to what was going on. Hybrids I doubt could be considered human after they have been injected with the Genestealer kiss. Willing pawns of the Tyranids, or in this instance me.
"I am not going to use them like that. Whatever we find at that cluster I'm facing it with the modify swarm I command. Anything gets in the way of our safety is just going to be biomass whether it's local fauna or hopefully hostile force of Orks."
From what Absalom has said there shouldn't be any humans there and I believe his sincerity, I did think something killed them and the Cruiser was going to be working on making more Gaunts of all types. Perhaps even those explosive spore mines. Something to look into later. The Centaurs and their cannons I was certain would take care of any large or heavily armed foe I could face in this. Assuming I was just going to deal with a Death World with some exceptionally dangerous wildlife and plants. Or maybe just Orks, either would be so uncomplicated to deal with.
"This waiting for us to get there and find out what I'm up against is going to fill me with anxiety. I really wanted this hibernation pod thing to work."
It was squarely something I wanted to do, and I should probably speak to everyone about that. I transmitted my desire for Norma to come over, about time I gave them an idea of what I was doing. Just going unconscious for a long period without explaining myself a bit didn't feel right. Even if it was just going to b a huge lie.
"I am going to be, out of mind and sight for a while. Not gone, but unable to interact with everyone. To commune with the Cruiser to divine out next step."
Norma smiled eagerly and I could sense she was pleased by the idea of becoming so connected with the bioship. Not really jealous but certainly wishing that she was able to do it.
"I will be away for the rest of the trip, all that I require from the brood is to remain in this room, ration the food, and do not get overly intimate with one another."
"Of course Great Carrier, but why? Should we not grow the brood in any way we can?"
I smile as genuinely as I could manage before replying. "Certainly my dear, but resources being as they are it is a far better option to expand only when we can. Warriors are being made and that is all we shall need for now. Until then keep your clothing on please."
Norma nodded graciously accepting the answer as easily as she did everything else. Sure I could just tell her not to then leave it at that but thought a simple answer was better than constant confusion.
"Now to go off and see what's going on with that Termagant..."
Finding it struggling to survive and learning that it was the pure oxygen I had pumping into it was a real kick in the rear. Apparently getting nothing but pure air like that wasn't a good thing for a reason I couldn't possibly fathom. It had to be the oxygen, it was the only thing that didn't change and yet I could feel the 'nid inside 'taking damage' and the pain was likely at the lungs. That's the read I was getting from the thrashing Tyranid as it struggle to...
"Breath maybe? I'm not even sure why there is an issue but it should be solved by having the ship just pump air as normal?" I could just let this Termagant out then have it clear its lungs or just toss a fresh one in. "Or I could just step in myself, cross my fingers and see if it works as intended..."
Dying because of pure air, either too much of a biological chemical, or just malnutrition as our journey goes along wasn't the worse way for me to go. This was just one bioship I doubted it could grow into such a massive threat without me or the Hybrids could get it moving to where they wanted it to. Just leaving everybody behind would suck... but hey if this works then it works and I won't have to leave them it's a win just needing a gamble to complete.
So the Termagant within was released and fell to the ground with a splat because of all of the fluid now pooling around. I ignored the 'nid exhaling the poison and greedily taking in the mixture in of the ship. I decided to take off all but my underwear and have a Hormagaunt keep it dry for me, the slime on the floor felt cool but not sticky, it slid off quite easily as I went under The pod and grabbed the tubes.
The pulsating flesh was still warm to the touch and I really wasn't looking forwards to what had to come next. Sighing long, I inhaled as much air I could then tucked the two smaller ones into my nostrils. Like with the Termagants they wriggle in assistance irritated me into almost sneezing but they managed to get in fast enough. I could feel the tubes slide partially into my throat and into my lungs. Even with the tubes my breathing wasn't very difficult but actually assisted by them in the intake of air and exhale of carbon.
As gross and weird as it was, I knew it was nothing compared to the other one...
It wasn't, barely able to wrap your hand around it, like in some erotic fanfictions. But certainly enough that my gag reflex was going to kick up. Stuffing the thing into my mouth, aiming to take it quickly but all that succeeded in was having me sputter and cough as the thing also tried ramming itself into my throat. I pulled it out and tried to relax, being aggressive probably wasn't the best approach to this and I expanded my mind to the ship that controlled this.
"Move slowly, let me take this at my own pace and don't try and ram it down like last time." The ship would understand, it had followed through with all my orders thus far. It was going to be up to me to get this done. "I am two-thirds of the way done with this, just one more tube to go..."
This time I carefully slid the feeding tube into my maw and tried my best to strengthen my throat out to get it to slide down better. It wormed once more but thankfully my synaptic connection allows the vessel to 'get' when I need it to slow to a workable pace. And slowly but surely I got it past that sensitive part of the throat and its smooth skin was able to slide down. I could feel it slide into my gut, expanding the esophagus the whole way down. I felt tears at the edges of my eyes but breathing wasn't so difficult, I didn't think this was something I'd get used to just standing there and having the bottom of the pod seal up. Enclosing me in pitch darkness. My feet touched the warm skin and I knew this was actually happening. A little doubt permeated within the deepest parts of my brain but I disregarded it. It was already trouble just getting this done and I was already too committed to just back out now.
At least that is how I was rationalizing it.
I had the ship flood the empty chamber with nutritionless fluid and it probably took a few minutes to fill up and past my head. The goop suspended me easily enough and wasn't uncomfortable to be in, I was safe in here, surrounded by loyal Termagants and newly promoted Hormagaunts scattered about to keep them in line.
"Okay, keep me well fed and hydrated and wake me when we read the system or there is a serious issue with the brood." Vague enough that the bioship could interpret it as needs be. "Now put me under, the same dose as before, and every second meal I get."
Soon enough something settled into my gut and I did a final check of the Hybrids, my brood, and the new Gaunts, and spore mines I was having cooked up. Everything seemed like it would run smoothly without me. As a blackness overtook me I still didn't know if death or just a long sleep is what waited for me. Although I did feel as if the outcome would not disappoint anyway it went...
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