Chapter 1: Awakening
There was a room filled with darkness.
The walls held strange hieroglyphics with a stone mural depicting a bunch of birds, wearing cloths and carrying many weapons, whom seem to have arrived from some door made of lightning. The mural then transitioned to the bird men fighting against various kinds of plants and animals. They retreated into the underground, built a subterranean home, and then created a device that seemed to repel and weaken the flora and fauna around them. But then the sky grew into an ominous pink, with horrible faces and shapes that appeared from the clouds. The bird men then seemed to have retreated fully into their home, where additional construction projects were either slowed or completely halted. The stone caskets depicted their final rests.
In this four-sided room, one wall had a statue. Its appearance was like that of the bird men that was on the mural, and it was in a sitting position, beholding a sphere covered in cobwebs and dust. Beneath the webs and dust was a sphere made of a material that looked similar to mottled clay.
For an unknown length of time, this room hadn't been visited by its creators, nor any guests that were given permission to enter this space.
Save for one fated guest, whom had only arrived just now.
"... Guh. Why does my bed feel like talons?"
The sphere shifted slightly, the dust and cobwebs slightly shifting off of its form.
"... Did I roll in my sleep again?"
The sphere cracked open dully, making a stream of dust to flow past the hands that cupped its treasure.
"Okay, this is ridiculous. I need to get up."
The sphere tilted over the edge of the statue's fingers. Ever so slowly, the sphere leaned over the edge of the statue's hands before it began to fall to the ground. The abrupt stop on the floor broke apart the sphere, revealing to be nothing more but a dry ceramic cover, pieces falling away much like shards and fragments of a brittle eggshell. What replaced the item that used to be a sphere was now a slightly smaller ball, colored light blue and appeared to be composed of a bio-polymer material.
"... Uh."
There was stunned silence.
"... This... This... Is not my room."
The ball rolled a few inches to the center of the room.
"... UM."
The ball then began to rotate wildly in place.
"A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-WHAT-HAPPENED-TO-MY-BODY-WHERE-ARE-MY-ARMS-AND-LEGS-HOW-CAN-I-SEE-WITHOUT-EYES-WHERE-AM-I-FACING-I-HAVE-NO-MOUTH-AND-ALL-I-CAN-DO-IS-SPEE-EE-EE-EE-EE-EEN!"
After the panic, the ball's spinning frenzy returned to a lazy rotation before it completely stilled. Heavy breathing could be heard from the ball itself, labored panic at first, but then settled in calm breaths that stilled their sudden surprise.
"... Okay. So. I'm a ball. In a room. No problem. No biggie. No stress. Just me. As a ball. In a room. Yeah."
The ball began to roll a little bit.
"Hmm."
The ball rolled a bit more.
"... How am I doing this? Is... Is this me now?"
The ball rolled to the center of the room.
"How am I getting around without any feet?"
The ball continued on its path till it collided with the wall. *Tap*
"And how did I feel that? Are my nerves connected to my new ball body somehow?"
The ball rolled and rolled, traveling across the edges of the room, scraping across the bottom portion of the walls as it went.
"More importantly, how did I get here?"
The ball thudded into the bird man statue's right crossed leg.
"Did some kind of horrible alien pluck me from my domicile and put me here as some sick prank?"
It came to a stop near the shells of the item sphere that once contained the ball.
"Or maybe I'm unconscious on a medical table somewhere and I'm hallucinating this?"
If the ball could, it would deflate in exhaustion.
"Okay then. Let's try and calm down. Close your eyes and meditate. Try to remember what you were doing last."
The ball ventured deep into its own mind, finding little it could recall. Their memories were hard to dredge forth, as though they were but slivers of a past life, or completely forgotten memories. The harder the ball tried to remember its past, the more those fleeting remnants seemed to evade their capture. This silence continued for over five, ten, fifteen, and even twenty minutes before the ball gave up with a sigh.
"Why can't I remember who I am? Did I bump my head? Did I have a stroke? Did I pass out from exercising? Have I gone and done something stupid enough to get amnesia?"
A pained groan emanated from the ball, agitated yet helpless against its current predicament.
"... I guess there's no helping it. If I think I'm awake, then I am awake. Since I haven't woken up yet, then I can only assume that I am not dreaming. Right. What I need to do is find a way out of a room with no doors. I need to map my way out of here-WHUH BOXES WHAT?"
The ball's vision was replaced by an overlay. There in the center of its vision was what seemed like two white hollow cubes, followed by an arrow that seemed to be pointing where it was facing. From its estimation, it seemed to have gained access to some kind of map function. How they could use it to their advantage was unclear, for the time being.
"... So that's me? Huh. Energy at... ninety-nine. What does that mean? Is that my health? And what's this at the bottom?"
Below their vision they could see three words, one had its font colored black on a white background, while the others were colored in white font on a black background. One word read Map, which had the black font with white background, while the next word read Gear, and the final word read Upgrade.
Stunned silence prevented the ball from speaking aloud any further. It was only when they focused on the word Gear that their vision changed to a different overlay. This time they saw a ball, which a window hovering over it. There was two words inside of that window.
Morph Ball.
The ball was greatly confused by this information. Only then did they speak out about their new discovery. "MORPH BALL?!"
So does this mean the ball was a morph ball? Or was this their name? What did this mean to the morph ball? Sadly, no answers came to them. After a span of silence, the morph ball sighed, defeated upon trying to decipher the unspoken silence that answered their surprised exclamation. They focused on the word Upgrade next. What answered them was more or less the same kind of confusion as the two other displays they saw before, only this time they saw a multitudinous sea of gray rectangles with ? written inside of each one. Save for one rectangle, which had a white background with black font that says Energy Part: Cost 98 written within it. Two boxes lay below it that was partially gray, but they read Four Energy Parts Required to Unlock.
"... Okay. I think progress has been made, but does it have to be in this weird esoteric way that I don't understand? Hm... ... ... I guess with no other way forward, my options are limited. ... How do I buy this? Uh... Buy energy part?" There was a pause. "... Nothing. I guess this upgrade system doesn't use voice commands. But how was I able to access my map and gear displays? ... Maybe it picked up on my concentration and this display interpreted that as some kind of mental command? Maybe if I concentrated on the energy part upgrade, something new might happen-"
A sudden blaring, high-pitched siren ringed into the morph ball's mind. The urgent warning made the morph ball panic by spinning in place.
"AAAAAH-WHAT-IS-THAT-SOUND-WHAT-HAPPENED-WHAT-IS-GOING-ON-I-DON'T-WANNA-DIE!"
The morph ball spun around frantically. But like before the spinning slowed to a stop. After a pause, a sigh followed.
"Okay. The warning alarm isn't gone, but I'm not dead. So what did that do?"
Energy Part acquired [1/4]. 4 Energy Parts will increase energy capacity.
"... Uh. Is that good? I mean... The alarm's siren is still blaring or whatever it is. Is there a way to stop it?"
The morph ball noticed in their Head's Up Display that their current energy supply has been reduced to a single point. The alarm must have been triggered when the energy meter was reduced to near zero. The morph ball worried what might happen if their energy supply was reduced to absolute zero. A migraine developed as the alarm continued to blare.
"... Okay. I guess what I need to do now is find more energy. But where can I- when has that been glowing?"
The morph ball only now noticed the bird man statue's palms glowing with a strange, waving light. It was a strange sight. How long had that light emanated from the statue's hands? What was its function? For some reason, the morph ball could only now feel its presence when they centered their attention on it. It was a floaty feeling, but it was also... inviting in a way. Hesitantly, the morph ball slowly rolled up to the sitting statue and paused. After some time of cautious observation, the morph ball finally decided to hop into the hands of the statue. The hands gently clasped around them, and the morph ball could feel warm energy coursing through their body. It was akin to a low-frequency sonic vibration, followed by a calm flow of warm water. The sensation energized the morph ball, and completely refilled their energy meter.
"The alarm is gone. Thank goodness. ... So. This statue thing can restore my energy, eh? Hm. I literally have nothing else to do but to absorb energy from this statue and expend it by buying these Energy Part upgrades. ... Well. It's something to do."
Energy Part acquired [2/4]. 4 Energy Parts will increase energy capacity.
The morph ball jumped out of the hands of the bird man statue and landed back into them.
Energy Part acquired [3/4]. 4 Energy Parts will increase energy capacity.
"Okay, one more time."
Energy Part acquired [4/4]. Energy capacity increased by 100.
The morph ball's HUD instantly became updated. A small pink square appeared next to the energy meter. For some reason they cannot discern, their energy warning alarm didn't blare this time. The morph ball was rather glad, but they didn't understand why this was the case.
A chuffed chuckle reverberated within the room as the morph ball bounced giddily from its seat. "Okay, looks like we're getting somewhere. Let's see what I unlocked."
In the morph ball's Upgrade screen, two new options became available for purchase. One read Bombs: cost 99. The other said Boost Ball: cost 99. The morph ball also noticed that the cost for the Energy part was changed slightly. It now read Energy Part: cost 99. Locked until further upgrades are purchased.
The morph ball contemplated this new information for several seconds. "Hmm. Uh. So I got the new upgrades. But at the same time, I'm locked out of getting more energy parts. What bird-brained asshole designed this upgrade system?"
Absentmindedly, they chose the Bomb upgrade. Since they felt that bombs were more useful compared to the 'Boost Ball' upgrade, whatever it might be. However, a new problem was encountered. Immediately after purchasing the upgrade, a single device was laid. The device then exploded, which forced the morph ball out from their current perch. The energy field that once emanated from the palms of the bird man statue had now ceased.
The morph ball paused for a long time before it inched closer to the statue. "Uh... Hey. Why did you stop with the glow-hands?"
The morph ball jumped into the statue's cupped palms. Nothing happened. The morph ball jumped out of and into the statue's hands several times. Nothing continued to happen. The morph ball, out of a fit of stubbornness and impatience, decided to put their new bombs to work as they began placing them onto the statue. Each bomb exploded with a pulse of light and expelled a small, meager shockwave of concussive force and energy. They seemed to be designed to blast apart selective structural weaknesses in a building, or at the very least provide some kind of distraction. Unfortunately, the countdown till their detonation lasted only one second. They had no way to adjust any of the bombs they lay.
"COME ON, DON'T FAIL ME NOW! HOW AM I GONNA GET MORE UPGRADES IF YOU DON'T WORK?! DOES THIS MEAN THAT I BROKE YOU?! PLEASE DON'T TELL ME I BROKE YOU! I WANNA KNOW WHAT BOOST BALL DOES!"
Despite the morph ball's protestations, the bird man statue remained as still as stone, and was quiet with its cryptic and unknowable answer.
"DON'T GIVE ME THE SILENT TREATMENT YOU STONY BIRD-FACED BASTARD, OR I WILL BOMB THIS ENTIRE ROOM AND MAKE IT CAVE IN ON US! YOU THINK I WON'T? YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME?! I'LL SHOW YOU!"
In a new fit of obstinate anger, the morph ball began laying bombs on every square foot of space on the floor inside of the room, as well as up any walls that they could reach with their pitiful hop.
"NOTHING CAN CONTAIN MY CIRCLE-SHAPED RAGE! I DON'T WANT TO BE IN HERE ANYMORE! LET ME OUT!"
After unleashing a cavalcade of morph ball bombs into the room, the morph ball then began to calm down. Upon calming down, it was only then that they noticed one of the walls have been damaged by their flippant tirade. A portion of the mural that had the depiction of the lightning door partially crumbled away. The morph ball was silent for around a minute.
"... Oh hey. A way out."
The morph ball quickly seized the opportunity to jump into the hole, but then proceeded cautiously into the tunnel the newly opened hole led to. Wherever it might lead to, it had a habit of ramping upwards constantly. There were even several occasions where the morph ball had to use their new bomb power-up to boost the top of their jump out of a steep drop, or break down a tunnel collapse of its disheveled soil and rocks that blocked their way.
The morph ball sighed. "Good thing I have a map, or I wouldn't know if I'm making any progress. How does it even work? Does it use thermal positioning or something? ... I'm not gonna get any answers from talking aloud to nobody." The morph ball sighed as they made their way through the underground terrain. "I hope I don't need a therapist after this."
However, their travel eventually bore fruit. Or in other words, a glint of light at the end of the tunnel. Upon seeing the ray of possible freedom, the morph ball increased their rolling speed, eager to discover something new besides the long ascent of their cave-exploring experience. As the morph ball neared the warming glow, they saw a blue sky past the ground above them. A hop and a skip up, the morph ball found themself in a humid environment. In front of them was a vast plain of grass, broken apart by the occasional green-covered hills. Behind them was a vast wall of jungle forest, which was angrily shouting bird calls, buzzing insects, and other kinds of animal life. Far above their head was a cerulean blue sky, obstructed by a streak of occasional cloud, and the blinding shine of the nearby yellow sun.
The morph ball was taken aback by the natural beauty of the environment they found themselves in. With the symphony of animal calls over gentle wind, the smell of humid air flush with pollen and life, and the cascade of the stimulating freedom that became tantalizing and available, the morph ball felt like crying over it. Oh how they wished they had eyes to cry with. The morph ball, lacking tear ducts from which to cry with, sat upon a patch of gentle grass and drank the scenery in, content to bear witness to the nature that brimmed with life.
After a few minutes of nature-watching, the morph ball went back to studying their Map, Gear, and Upgrade displays screens. There was a few new kinds of upgrades they had unlocked from unlocking and acquiring the Bomb power-up.
Energy Part: cost 99. Locked until further upgrades are purchased.
Cross Bomb: cost 399
Power Bomb: cost 999
Spring Ball: cost 149
Spider Ball: cost 249
Boost Ball: cost 149
Force Ball: cost 299
Death Ball: cost 449
Fusion Suit: cost 199
Energy Drain: cost 0
Energy Magnet 1: cost 49
A pregnant pause stilled the morph ball. There was so many options available to him now, yet he was severely limited by the choices presented to them. They tried to buy one of the pricier power-ups, the Power Bomb in this case, but a message replied to him with Unable to purchase Power Bomb: not enough energy. Considering their lack of energy they might have used for the purchasing and unlocking of these expensive power-ups, the only ones they can get were Spring Ball, Boost Ball, Fusion Suit, Energy Drain, and Energy Magnet.
The morph ball was fairly sure that fusion had something to do with nuclear fusion technology, and they do not feel as though they were qualified with handling radioactive materials. The Fusion Suit upgrade remains where it is. For now.
After some consolidation, the morph ball decided upon purchasing the Energy Drain upgrade, followed by the Boost Ball upgrade. They staved themselves off from purchasing Energy Magnet 1 due to having to suffer from hearing the warning alarm blaring in their head again. They were unsure why a free upgrade would need to be purchased, but they suppose there were some caveats to it. A hidden bridge they would undoubtedly have to cross in the future, they assume.
They focused on their Energy Drain power-up first. There was a sudden change to the appearance of the grass that the morph ball sat in. The grass grayed in their presence, becoming frail and weak before the blowing wind reduced the blades that once shown an emerald green become reduced to nothing but flakes of dust and ash. The morph ball was glad that they didn't have to shake anyone's hands. At the same time, they missed having hands.
Pushing away the nostalgia of having hands, the morph ball began focusing on their next unlocked upgrade, eager to see what it could do. After concentrating, the morph ball noticed that it grew in brightness temporarily. It was when they stopped focusing on this glow that a sudden burst of speed prompted them to rush forward and into a patch of tall grass. Their Energy Drain power-up was still active, which resulted in a war path through the grass itself. What was once viridescent quickly became a flurry of powdery compost. The morph ball was undecided on how to use this power-up responsibly. On the other hand, they noticed that their energy meter had went up by a single point. They knew this because the last time they checked their energy meter was when they were unlocking their power-ups, and the number that told them how much energy they had left read 50. It was now 51.
The morph ball quickly understood why this is. The Energy Drain power-up seemed to have the ability to drain the life from living things, and this ability somehow converts that life into energy that fills their Energy Meter.
If the morph ball could grin, they could. Looking at the fields of jade that surrounded them, this means they had no worries concerning energy acquisition. They could simply acquire more of it from the biosphere itself. And as a bonus, they realized that the Energy Part upgrade was accessible again.
Nothing to do but to casually stroll... well... roll... across this new land and have an adventure. Maybe they can find some new friends along the way?
A wide-eyed guard stood watch on a squat tower made of rockcrete, which sat eight hundred meters away from the inhospitable jungle.
His name was Lieutenant Ralpha Glosn. Their eyes gazed warily and vigilantly against the walls of jungle that lay past the plains in front of him. For three days has he stayed at this scouting position. The horrors that lay beyond the jungle horizons would be kept at bay, for he had the means to stave those living nightmares away from his kin and regiment. It was hard work, but he kept at it like the good soldier he is. It's not like the snide remark he quietly made was overheard by the major that one time. No no, he gladly accepted the position of being the outpost master of site POR-O-22. His Devil Claw knife is always kept as sharp as possible, and he is sure to give a glare of death to those that comment about its size and how it is smaller than the average Devil Claw knife. Though if his heirloom is insufficient to close the distance to an enemy combatant, at least he can rely on his laspistol and lascarbine. His flak helmet was patched with a covering of metal, a grim reminder of one of the devils he had faced and narrowly survived, but was infinitely glad the reinforcements burned it alive. His complexion was tan, standing at 6'9". Though his demeanor has been considered abrasive and unruly when respect wasn't given, his green-brown eyes, flaxen-red hair kept in a tribal bun, and rounded jaw made him quite popular with the opposite sex.
Smacking lips made him curl his own lips and his eye twitch. Another soldier joined him, bringing with him rations that he had prepared, along with the spices he had learned to grow from his old home. "So? Any devils thinking about coming through here, sir?"
Ralpha Glosn didn't respond. His only response was only a low snarl.
Getting the message, the other soldier sighed and placed his rations down before saluting. "Corporal Figgis Karkit, reporting in."
Ralpha sighed, gave a brief nod to Figgis, and then continued surveying the jungle. "That's more like it. Take your post here. And for the record, no. There has been no sightings of any aggressive flora or fauna today. If I did, I would have pressed the button on the distress beacon."
Figgis nodded. He was a slightly heavy-set man. He was more concerned with his nutritional intake than with his exercise drills. Though he didn't have near enough strength to flog an insubordinate, he certainly had the strategic and tactical clarity to plan ahead. In short, he knew when to duck out in case there was too much action, or if an uncounted variable might mess up the orders he was given. He was paler compared to Ralpha, but had deep brown eyes and brown hair that was kept short. His equipment comprised of a flak vest with helmet, claw knife, laspistol, lasrifle, and a couple of frag grenades. He bent down to get his rations off of the ground and continued eating. How that poor excuse of a corporal got his hands on a seasoned grox burger as part of his rations was beyond him. Probably got it from his well-off family members or some other shoehorn story he wouldn't mind telling. For Emperor's sake, grox burgers are not standard rations. "Sir. Would you like a grox burger?"
"Thank you, Corporal. I'll have it at the end of my shift." Ralpha replied.
"With due respect, sir, you need to keep your strength up. How long has it been since you moved from that spot, if you don't mind me asking?" Figgis asked.
Ralpha fought back another snarl, yet the corporal had a point. He stood at this spot unflinching for six hours straight, blinking only when he had to get the pollen and dust out of his eyes, and only resting when his shift was over. Just another day on this deathworld he calls home. Figgis had been kind to Ralpha, even when he didn't need to. On the other hand, he didn't expect for the 'disrespect of military personnel of superior rank' would result in this kind of punishment: two hundred and fifty year fractions on watchtower duty and border patrols. Apparently the major that handed down this punishment to Ralpha was being quite generous. The offered rations, consisting of a grox burger, a thermos filled with recaf, and slices of some dried fruit he didn't bother learning the name of, was reluctantly taken.
Ralpha took the bits of fruit first, despite his mouth watering at the prospect of chomping down on the meaty succulence that only a grox burger could provide. The taste of dried fruits was quickly washed away with labored sips of his thermos. Chilled cold, but not enough to put his body into shock. Perfect.
Figgis took his turn to survey the environment, using a pair of binoculars to gaze at the wall of untamed wilds that roiled in its stillness. "... Nothing to report in my sight so far, sir."
"Mm." Ralpha grunted. It was the same thing every day for two hundred and thirty seven year fractions. He only had thirteen more year fractions to go before he gets redeployed to a different regiment. On the other hand, being in one of the POR outposts had always been unsettling to him.
In a stretch of land that was ten kilometers in diameter, the jungles and their monsters didn't seem to lash out at any of the humans that lived in this stretch of land. They either seemed uninterested in attacking any of the humans that lived there, or were otherwise warded away for unknown reasons. Even with the odd devil that tore past the outpost towers and headed towards human settlements, they eerily died after a few hours during their rampage into this land. In fact, much of the hostile flora, fauna, and microbial life seemed to stay away from the grassy plains as much as possible. It was only discovered recently by the explorators a few years ago. Though they have analyzed the air, soil, water, and mineral composition of this stretch of land, they had no idea how it remained so peaceful, and acted as an exclusion zone for all forms of the planet's native and hostile lifeforms. It was because of this that the hilly grasslands had gotten its nickname. The Plains of Repose.
A strange mystery on the jungle deathworld called Catachan.
A/N: Some friends had given me a bit of inspiration, and quite the plot bunny of a story idea, to make a crossover with Metroid and WarHammer 40k. Shout-out to the Planetarily Annihilating Self Insertion community!