The Katanfreia

[Corsair]

// Read backstory first

The Vespucci system is far from empty. The Hellfire Legion's iron grip is manifested in the form of rigid patrols criss-crossing the area in unerring, unwavering lines. Every speck of space dust is observed and recorded. The lone Kusari Destroyer that wanders hapazardly on impulse power stands out in stark contrast from the disciplined Legionnaires around it. The ship isn't old, but its hull looks to be aged decades ahead of its time. Its color has faded and the several insignia that decorated its hull have been rubbed off. Almost every inch of the surface has a dent or scorch mark on it. Patches of its hull have been repaired using different materials than it had been built from. These patches are dark gray and red, and one of them bears the Legion's insignia. It flies around the sun in a lazy loop, fulfilling its own agenda. Nearby patrols swerve around it as if it wasn't even there.

Inside the hull was dark and cold and silent. There was no light, no air, no heat within its body. Until you turned on a flashlight, you'd think the ship was dead. But as soon as you did, the scene would burn itself into your mind. Mottled red moss covered the walls, almost flesh-like in appearance. On closer inspection, you could see black veins running throughout it, which pulsed an contracted as they carried fluids throughout its expanse. If you were to touch it, the area would convulse as it reacted. Which would inevitably bring attention from the crew, the ExMortis.

Like ghosts, they would float down the hallways, unhindered by gravity. If you were in a strategically important, they would crawl through the myriad of traps that protruded from the walls and floor: spikes, turrets, incinerators, et cetra. As they approached, they would appear to be ordinary human crewmen- minus the air and heat that is normally required for human survival. Depending on what role the ExMortis fulfilled, your experience would be wildly different.

If it were a common engineer, it would have all of its human faculties and would attempt to kill you with its bare hands, clawing at your suit, attempting to cut off your oxygen or throw you into one of the wall traps. The only way to effectively disable it would be to neutralize its nervous system by attacking the spine or head. They would continue to attack even with missing limbs and holes in their body.

If you encountered an ExMortis that doesn't use their hands regularly, chances are the hands would be replaced with weapons of some variety. They would slash at your suit, try to impale and throw you. Same as the engineer, the only way to disable the ExMortis would be to disable its nervous system.

If you had the misfortune to be attacked by a soldier, you might as well pull the trigger on yourself. The soldiers of the ExMortis are developed for fighting in a spacecraft. In most cases, you wouldn't even see them coming, only feel their claws and teeth tearing at you from above, below, behind. Managing to catch a glimpse would reveal cold gray skin covering a small and muscular body. All four of its limbs are the same length and thickness, and a tail extends a short way down from its back. Its head is angular and lean, making it look like an enormous lizard. All of its limbs end in wicked sharp claws and its jaw, once closed, is impossible to release without blowing the creature's head off. A soldier has two nervous centers, both of which must be destroyed. The first is in the head, and once it is disabled the soldier will be stunned for approximately five minutes while control shifts to the secondary node in the base of the tail. Both nodes must be destroyed for the soldier to die off completely.

But you wouldn't board the ExMortis core ship. Too cold. Too dark. The only way of contacting the ExMortis is over their communication relay, which is operated by the leader of the ExMortis, the Speaker. The behemoth of a lifeform had undergone extensive development since it was first developed, partly by Hellfire scientists and technicians. More on that later.

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