"Amazing!" said Edea, as GT Robo took off and began to fly over the dense jungle canopy. "It's beautiful." She gasped as the Robo took a dive and dropped through the canopy, diving into the dense undergrowth of Area 7, King Bambina's realm.
Area 7 was a massive continent, and filled to the brim with primates of all kinds, as well as others sorts of giant animals.
Edea, using the direct control over the Robo, looked about at the massive landscape, the camera providing visual feedback.
King Bambina had established a kingdom among the largest trees in the known universe. Establishing a ruthless martial arts based caste system. He was a proud and rambunctious ruler who nonetheless still took his duties seriously. He'd even gone so far as to welcome Yautja hunters to his realm in order to keep his people on their toes and never complacent.
Down below, various strange creatures fought, hunted and died in the jungle's dense, dark undergrowth. The gourmet ingredients found within could nearly match the rarer strains of spice for their value and use.
As well as the mystical ingredient known as PAIR...
...which happened to be Bambina's balls, and could only be obtained via a complex dance session that required superhuman speed to do.
Not here for that.
That ingredient wasn't one you harvested with the kids watching.
At any rate, the party aboard Home Station were more interested in the strategic choke points in the landscape. The dense wood of the trees and metallic composition of the leaves would make it hard for a foreign fleet to have any kind of accurate scans of the surface.
The party, all piloting GT Robos from the space station, began to examine their surroundings once more, keeping watch for any aggressive life forms.
The Stray islands, floating islands that wandered all over the planet at random were geological marvels. They were also home to anti-aircraft defenses, training grounds for Asgore's monster militia forces and also the hideous and powerful Goron Beasts.
Speaking of Gorons, Gorons themselves were a tough, hardy race, found of volcanic environments. But, as a rule, they were big-hearted people. Daruk was among the people, and one of the best fighters.
Daruk was an exemplar of his people. Aggressive but not unethical, brusque but not unkind and deadly loyal to friends and family. he'd been thought dead by Gannon's hands nearly a century ago. But in truth his personality had been copied and uploaded into the CPU of the Divine Guardian Vah Rudania.
Now he was a voice of his people as well as a veteran of the war against Hive Fleet Gorgon
The same thing happened to Mipha, Revali, and Urbosa as well. Thought dead but also restored by the CPU units, with Zelda and Alphys all making backup bodies for them. Tricky, but WAY worth it.
The end result of which was that Dreemur, Lee and their allies could count on experienced warriors who during their lives had decades or even centuries of combat experience.
More than that, each of these warriors had for over a century resisting demons of Chaos. Year ago, Ganon had perfected the ability to transfer demons of the Chaos gods into advanced enough computers; this was how he corrupted the guardians.
But the champions of Hyrule had not only survived war, but the moral temptation of greater demons of Khorne, Tezeentch, Nurgle and Slannesh.
In short, things have been going well for the Dreemurr family. Good food (if dangerous to get), loyal and skilled warriors, and loving friends and family.
That what was going through Asgore's mind as he piloted his Robo across Area 7. He looked about, then quietly made sure the others took over as they hid from a Sapphire Ant, a native species of insect. It was, as the name said, a crystalline ant with a body of sapphire. And it was big.
VERY big. Even that was an understatement, and with a Capture Level of 702, it was not to be taken lightly.
A Capture Level was a value given to the animals of the Gourmet World. To put in comparison, a beast with a Capture Level of 5 could overturn a large tank easily with its bare claws/wings/paws. To say nothing of the Gourmet Zone animals, with CL levels reaching to the hundreds, and even thousands.
There were definitely some lethal creatures on the world, with the Eight Kings approaching God like levels of power and ferocity. Though one of the things keeping creatures like the Sapphire Ant in check was the Sandoriko plant, which Asgore picked up on the drone's scanners.
An animated, venus fly trap like plant; the deadly pollen of the flower could completely desiccate a living being, even something as deadly as the mighty Ant now fleeing the flower. Many powers in past history had attempted to weaponize the flowers with varying levels of success.
But the 'domesticated ones' were still more manageable than wild ones. Thankfully, the GT Robos would keep the group safe while they did the recon from the station.
Toriel brought up a video monitor from a remote drone, "This is Area 3, arguably the harshest area of the Gourmet World. The Clouds are thick enough to block any known scanners, especially around the Cloud Tree. Due to its geographical isolation and harsh climate and volcanism; this is our last resort fallback position in the event of a catastrophic invasion."
Undyne, in her own Robo next to her, spoke up. "Possibly, if only the dumb Raven King would let us stick around more."
The Raven King, one the Eight Kings, was an extremely powerful
l Emperor Crow with powers over poison. Anything caught in its shadow would perish.
"Indeed," commented Toriel, "Even by the Standards of the Eight Kings, the Raven King is deeply independent, paranoid and territorial. However, the creature is also highly practical; it is nearly omniscient and it is this trait which has enabled his kind to survive multiple mass extinctions."
"So in order for him to let us onto his land," said Undyne, "It would have to be something big, like a galactic level extinction event or benefit him in some way."
Ravens...odd birds, no matter what type they were. Seen as harbingers of doom or change, they were both feared and revered by the people of the galaxy.
Zelda pointed to a global map, "While the Raven is treacherous in his own way, one of our main concerns is holding the Three Way Road." The screen zoomed in as the drone flew overhead, "This road is one of the only major ways in and out of the habitable, so called "human world."
Gaster grinned, "for years it's been guarded by an all out maniac named Guemon. But lately we're trying to persuade him to let us place landmines, gun emplacements and checkpoints on the road."
Geumon was a easy-going yet very powerful man who spent a lot of his time guarding the Road...so much he often was seen spacing out, seemingly not paying any attention to things around him...but he was good at his task.
He was a fearless fighter, a skilled swordsman and a highly adept cook. His Fly Shark fin soup was regarded by many as a national treasure. More than that, he was famous for his near inhuman intuition; something that saved him against many dangerous beasts and more human foes.
He always turned down the help he was offered, politely though. He liked to keep his skills sharp and intact. Gaster found he could not blame the man for that. Besides, Gourmet Zone beasts were tough enough that conventional weapons would do no good against them.
Most creatures were resistant to typical forms of gunfire and hand held weapons. Even the weaker wildlife could only be hurt by either monomolecular edge weapons or otherwise magically or psychically empowered weapons. Such as Space Marine Adamantium chainswords, Link's Master sword or Geumon's own unique Katana weapon.
It was a tough world, but it was worth it to come here. So...delicious to come here.
And the Gourmet Zone had all the best food.
Hell, this was one of the only Death Worlds with a large tourism industry in the planet's safe zone. The only other was Stygia, and that was before the planetary shields shut down and stellar radiation, lethal gangs and everything turned into shit.
Gourmet World lived up to its name a dozen times over.
Indeed, the food here could reach extremely high prices, not surprising due to both the taste and how risky it could be to get some of this food.
Indeed, the point of this recon was to use the Robos to gather up some prime ingredients.
One such drone had spotted the highly tasty but poison ridden soft drink ATOM, used to make either delicious beverages once it came down from space or serve as an affordable starship fuel.
There was AIR, in Hercules's lands; a fruit that was both a nutritious salad ingredient and a source of oxygen which could make a void moon habitable with just a few gourds.
These, like PAIR, were actually very tricky ingredients to use, and were rumored to be part of the course used by a famous hunter.
The stuff was famous for being used to enable contact with the dead. As such it was prized by people looking to cheat death, people looking to talk to dead loved ones and Chaos Sorcerers with much darker intentions.
The soup like substance needed to be eaten after AIR, in order to take full effect.
Yes...the legendary Full Course of the hunter...not to be taken lightly.
As such, today was more standard (relatively speaking) ingredients being sought out. It would involve using the Robos for hunting, so some fisticuffs would ensured.
And Speak of the devil, amidst the shadows of Area Seven, a Sapphire Ant staggered into camera view; spikes of glowing green stone sticking out from its joints. The creature was moving erratically and snapping its mandibles on something only it could see.
"Warp stone," said Toriel with a heavy voice, "Sometimes it is released into the atmosphere from volcanic eruptions in Area 3."
Warp stone...dangerous substance, mainly used by Skavens in their dark magic and odd technology. The element was rare, but when it appeared in an ecosystem it could cause massive mutation, highly aggressive behavior and even mass extinction. When it did appear, it was one of the few things that could unite the Eight Kings in exterminating warp spawn
Thankfully, the Eight Kings were too tough to be affected by the fell energies. They made short work of any infection they saw. Dangerous as they could be, they were needed for the safety of the Gourmet World.
The Eight were probably the best defense this world had. As it stood, the Sapphire ant would have to be destroyed. Just as it was staring to grow a new head and several new scorpion style stingers, one of Bambina's trusted monkey warriors struck the best with a blow to its multiple hearts.
It was using Enbu, a sort of martial arts practiced by the primates of Area 7. They could often perform it with no issues, though it took time to actually become masters at it. Humans and other sentient species could do it, but it took focus...lots of focus.
Discipline was a common trait among human and monster warriors of Gourmet World. Whether it was Sans Skeleton bending time and space to his will or Geumon going beyond human limits, the Eight Kings had much to teach mortal beings if they were willing to put in the effort.
Sans...a odd case, even for monsters. At first glance, he was a causal, lazy (to the extreme), but friendly and well-meaning guy, always looking out for his younger oddball brother, Papyrus.
...and yet, some would say there was more to him than met eye, his ability to teleport when no one was looking a good example.
Nobody was exactly sure how old Sans was, or why he basically had free run of the most dangerous zones with his teleport abilities.
His brother was an aggressive go-getter, a fine warrior and a terrible cook despite his best efforts.
But it was Sans himself who'd guided Chara and Frisk away from a path of darkness and some believed, from falling into Chaos.
A good man in the end.
Asgore and his team continued their trek, gathering up their ingredients, their Robos making good progress. "You're all doing well today." He noted.
Edea laughed lightly. "Ah, you're too kind."
Asgore smiled, even if the Robo did not show it. "Well, we'll be wrapping up soon, so-" He stopped suddenly when the sensors picked up something...as did the others, and they began to look around. Something...foreign was here.
"What was that?" Edea asked.
Then, they heard distant, but approaching chittering sound.
"Salmonids..." Alternis growled, the fingers of his Robo curling up.
There they came again. Just in time for their 70 year Salmon run. They always turned up at the same time but never in the same place. They were first spotted nearly a thousand years ago in the radioactive waters around Inkopolis. They were first discovered during the middle of a massive Ork invasion and a Yautja Civil war.
At the time nobody suspected they were intelligent, being nothing more than gangly, goofy looking fish who just so happened to walk on land.
But over the course of a thousand years they learned. They learned how to forge technology through brute trial and error. And aided by an astonishing reproductive rate and ferocious warrior culture, they'd thrived in a hostile, deadly universe. And they'd finally come to Gourmet World.
All too many times had small bands of fighter underestimated the fish, due to their weak looking bodies, ramshackle tech, and the fact their main melee weapons were frying pans.
Those overconfident bands almost always wound up dead, poisoned and beaten to melted pulps.
Salmonids had three main ranking. The 'Grunts' were first, individually weak, but came in large numbers and operated as main warriors and engineers.
Next was the 'Boss' rank. Fewer in number, but very powerful, able to use toxic attacks with supreme effect.
The top rank were the 'Golden' Salmonids, which functioned as leaders and had odd powers.
There was a reason many Yautja carried Frying pans with them as trophies. Unlike Skaven, the weakest, smallest of the Salmonids would charge gladly into the jaws of death in order to buy their brethren a killing shot.
The so called Goldie Salmonids were a rare bunch, fearless; they grew faster and more ferocious the more damage they took in a fight. At their most adrenaline buzzed, jacked up they could go toe to toe with a Xenomorph Praetorian.
And now a whole swarms of them was hearing their way. Great.
"Thankfully, these metal bodies are tough," Asgore began explaining. "Though even they can succumb to the poison. Use the head mounted blasters to pick them off at a distance when they come.
The Robos took off, powerful wings churning the air. The onboard weapons powered up and all systems were green. The obvious target for a newbie would have been the wave of Chum, the lowest on the Salmonids Hierarchy. The smelly creatures were roaring with fanatical glee and waving their frying pans.
Instead the Robos targeted the Steelhead protecting the Goldie and opened fire.
Soon, the rest of the Robos opened fire as well, grateful that Zelda and Elco had installed wings on these models. The heads had opened sideways, showing laser guns that would mow down the Grunts.
But then came the Bosses, a Stinger among them. This Boss rode atop of pile of kettles, and was armed with a nozzle that could fire a accurate stream of acid at its foes.
The Robos banked hard to avoid the high stream, showering the jungle in deadly acid that burned through wood as dense as metal and stone formations.
A laser blast detonated the Steelhead's bomb just as it was launching, blasting dozens of chum but only stunning the boss Salmonids
Flyfish hovered about, launching missiles about wildly...
...and one stuck Alternis' Robo, sending it crashing to the ground. The wing unit was damaged, but the main body was finding. Alternis picked himself up, facing down the swarm, and flexed the claws of the Robo. Time to take them head on.
"Right, let's see what you got."
The blade Master of House Lee took his unit in low, vacuuming up golden eggs from the downed Salmonids. If they weren't taken care of, they'd hatch and birth a new generation of Salmonids on the planet in a never ending cycle.
Going for the direct attack, he raised the legs of his metal bird and gouged out the eyes of the Goldie. The creature howled in rage and pain, swinging wildly with a crude sword. It actually picked up the now dead Steelhead and threw the body like a basketball after Alternis's unit.
Alternis managed to parry it, the strong alloy of the body managing to deflect the massive body. Alternis found himself wishing he could be here in person, so he could unleash his full might upon them.
One of the Salmonids, a Drizzler, used an umbrella of all things. The creature hissed and came out from under its seemingly flimsy tool, which had deflected laser fire. From the handle of the Umbrella fired a missile.
"Incoming!" shouted Alternis as the flock of mecha birds soared under a tree canopy. Toxic ink exploded from the missile, showering the area in a deadly poison which the Salmonids would shake off, but could be lethal to even to mid level creatures on Gourmet World.
The fur coating of the Robos began to melt away, protecting the main bodies from the initial assault. But still more were coming.
A hidden missile from a half damaged unit blew the Drizzler to bits and sent its umbrella scattered in pieces.
But that wasn't he main threat, directing the flying Salmonids was a Flyfish; a biomechanical unit that used an inkjet like contraption to fly around. It was releasing missile pods from its device, its fishy eyes full of hate.
"Oh, I can handle this," said Toriel with a grim smile, maneuvering her Robo so the missiles followed her unit.
The Salmonids fell the score soon enough...but they had plenty of bodies. Things even got more intense when a Goldie unleashed a warm of Glowflies onto Edea's unit, which unleashed a chemical scent that stirred the Chum into a frenzy, causing them to rush her at high speeds.
Toriel's unit dive bombed and banked hard, causing the barrage of missiles to strike the Salmonid ground forces; blasting the entire area with fish guts.
The Chum leaped at Edea's unit, jumping on tree branches and grabbing onto synthetic fur and metal hand holds. Edea ground her teeth as she struggled to throw off her unwanted passengers.
So glad pain wasn't part of the feedback, otherwise she'd been feeling this for months. She used the Robo's arms to bash aside the Chums as they came.
The systems on her unit were going critical, but Edea had to make the most of it. Taking a gamble, she flew straight at the Stinger Salmonid. the creature fired a stream of acid, but Edea took it just below that; burning off several chums hanging on.
More than that, due to the angle of flight, the Stinger ended up firing acid at the Goldie; causing the creature to go more berserk than it already was.
The signals it sent out in blind pain and rage caused confusion among the ranks. This made them easy picking for the Robos. And soon, they had the Salmonids on the run.
Salmonids were frenzied, but do enough damage to the boss classes and their discipline would waver. A few of them still tried to attack the Robos, but they lacked the cohesion to land real hits and the flying ones were being torn to pieces.
Their reliance on boss units was their greatest strength and greatest weakness.
And so, all was quiet again. Toxic liquid was across the ground, but the monkeys would tend to that. Time to return the Robos to base with the food they gathered.
And so...
Edea sighed, removing the helmet and remotes used to control the Robo after she had returned it for repairs.
"Well we got the ingredients we were looking for," said Toriel cheerfully, "And we also got some golden Salmonid eggs as a bonus. Not to mention the Eight Kings will be on high alert."
"Still," lamented Braev, "i would rather have no Eight Kings and no Salmonids, or other threats."
"Don't we all." Asgore sighed. "We live in a harsh galaxy, and threats will keep coming no matter what."
"But there's still hope," said Edea, "None of us are standing idle in the face of all this. My old teacher Reinhardt used to say that we shouldn't ask for easier times, but try to be stronger people."
"And the horrors out there have yet to meet an enemy like me," chuckled Chara, still unsettling Ciel a bit.
Creepy, creepy boy.
"Now, now." Toriel said. "Let's not dwell over this. Why don't we all sit down and enjoy some food?"
"We have dessert ready," said Frisk in her usual dry tone. "Ice cream and pie. Please don't drip on the hardwood floor or the carpet."
Butterscotch cinnamon pie, in fact, a Dreemurr specialty. Toriel was the creator of it, and it was loved by all of the House. Edea, armed with a sweet tooth, was partially excited.
Everyone's nerves were running high from the Salmonid incursion on the surface. They all had faith in the Eight Kings, but were unnerved by how little control they had over such beings. At least everyone but Toriel and Asgore were; they'd learned long ago to trust those whose sole interest was the defense of their planet and balance of the ecosystem.
Thankfully, good food and idle chatter managed to ease everyone down from the day.
It felt good that in a galaxy of terror and danger, there was still time and room to have a family dinner. It was nice that there was something worth fighting for, even dying for.
Family, friends, the people...might the fights all worthwhile in the end.