[ WP ] An alien race encounters the most terrifying predator imaginable . A lone , unarmed human .

`` All systems ssteady captain'' 
 Septus smiled, `` Start us up then, drop us just within orbiting range of target.'' 
 `` Roger captain, starting up the fusion net.'' 
 Septus sat up in his seat, adjusting his phsychic hood so that his consciosness could leak out and join his crew. He could feel them, all of their minds, moving around the corridors of Perdition, saying nothing, for it was not needed. They were all one, connected through the fusion net. 
 
 -Be careful now, do n't want to expose too much of your mind there- 
 It was Prudens, the oldest person on the ship, and was one of the few that could withstand the strain of having hundreds of minds filter through her head at the same time. Septus nodded, -I suppose you are right- 
 Pushing the hood back to a more concealing postion, he turned to the monitors in the front of the room. -Start up the main engines, this is the last leg of the journey, we're almost there people- The flow of minds in the ship changed direction, for the most part converging on the engine room. As the ship slowly started to move, Insciens chuckled. -Damn, they may be idiots, but these new guys really know how to start an engine- 
 
 Septus sighed, looking ahead, their target swam into view. A blasted planet, covered with craters and overflowing volcanoes, apparently this civilization had fun pefore they perished. Throwing his mind across the ship, Septus gathered that the signals were coming from here, but not anymore. -Head over to one of the other planets, try and see if theres anything they did n't destroy- 
 
 Thats when he felt it, a sudden feeling of coldness washed over him, like the fusion net, but worse. Everyone else put Prudens crashed to the ground, convulsing in mad seizures. Hastily, Septus got up, ripping the emergency hood from its case and cramming in onto Insciens. He was the only one who could fly this damn thing. Insciens grew still, then managed to get back up without a word, terrified. 
 
 Septus turned away from the shellshocked Florian, and towards Prudens. She was rocking back and forth, murmuring. `` Its old, so old, they are one, like us, but not.'' Septus tried to console her with physical words, but nothign could reach her. In desperation, he moved to take off his hood. As he did so, Insciens shouted `` NO! ``, tackling Septus, which resulted in both hoods being dislodged. 
 
 Septus froze, the cold feeling from before had turned to freezing. He felt a gigantic pressure from the planet, absolutely dwarfing anything he had seen before. Septus thought: how is this even possible? It does n't feel like one mass, more like, a bunch small ones. -What are you?! - he screamed, as Insciens softly wept where he had landed. [ I am human, join me ] echoed back, invading his mind, and every other one on the ship. [ I am human, join me ] It happened again, the same message. [ I am human, join me ]. Septus could feel the ship turning towards the planet, as the message repeated again. [ I am human, join me ]. Focusing his entire mind, Septus turned his head to look at the monitor that had a camera pointed at the surface. [ I am human, join me ]. As the ship got closer, the one thing left standing on the surface came into view. 
 
 A tall tower, sticking out of the ground, smaller at the bottom and strangely lumpy. [ I am human, join me ]. As the picture got clearer, Septus could see that the tower was covered with pink mounds, strangely moving. He was beset by confusion until he saw the ship. It was another one of their exploration ships, it looked like it had been fused into the tower. [ I am human, join me ]. His eyes widened, realization struck, he saw the uniform of the explorers. The same one he wore, that at least a hundred of the lumps in the tower wore. [ I am human, join me ]. The ship rocked, hitting the atmosphere. [ I am human, join me ]. Septus wept, terrified. He saw on the screen a figure, covered with wires and cables snaking away and down the gigantic tower of flesh and bones. [ I am human, join me ]. The figure outstretched its long, unnatural appendages, welcoming the newcomers. 
 
 [ I am human, join me ] 
 
 
 

