Mounting the Spire
10 Nov 2023Streya Jormagdnir
Upon returning to the Bubble from a scientific and sightseeing expedition, news began to break of the Barnacle Matrix sites. At first by word of mouth, but then much later quietly mentioned on GalNet. The Thargoid surface sites were growing, and they had grown to unprecedented scale! Commanders on social networks were saying the sites had grown into towering spires that dwarfed humanity's largest stations.Being something of a surface operations specialist with past experience dealing with Revenant drones, I went out in my trusty Glaive-dodging Courier to take a look. The suborbital approach to Pegasi Sector NN-S b4-2 was the first hint of the change: even at night the Spire was visible from hundreds of kilometers away! Arriving in the local airspace also signaled drastic changes as glowing orbs approached my ship with a whining fizzle. I didn't like the way they approached and tracked my ship so at first I dodged, witnessing their explosive fields. Area denial weapons launched by a new surface hazard?
I landed approximately 17 kilometers away, the Thargoid surface units successfully denying me the space to land closer. Slipping into the only suit capable of handling long-duration hikes, the Artemis, I went in quietly on foot to get a closer look. Night vision modifications to my suit proved helpful in navigating rougher terrain, and as I gradually got closer I noticed cycles of Orthrus-class Interceptors jumping in and docking with maw-like structures in the Spires. Sometimes an Orthrus would be spat out of the maws, and sometimes they would scan the various structures at the site.
When I arrived at the base of the largest spire, I attempted to climb it. Even with the improved jump jets on the Artemis suit, however, the spire proved impossible to climb from the ground. This climb attempt wasted one of three precious batteries needed to operate in the environment, as I found relying solely on the expanded oxygen tank would result in massive heat loss and rapid hypothermia. Fortunately at the ground level the larger Barnacles seen before had opened up as the place had grown. Cautiously seeking shelter inside one, I found horrible and macabre delights.
Hanging from the ceiling were sacs that seemed to.....growl or snarl? There were exobiological specimens of the structure to take, which revealed it had grown into something dubbed a Mega Barnacle. The Coral Trees I had encountered previously in the Matrix state had grown and also now were recognized by the Artemis suit's exobiological kit. I also found nerve-like structures that could be stimulated by electric impulse with an overloaded energy link tool, but to what end I had discerned.
I completed my exobiological samples and snuck out of the place, narrowly avoiding the search pattern of a Banshee. I later learned from other Commanders that the larger spires had large leaf-pads that could be landed on, with canister-like specimens to be collected near the landing areas. Taking this wisdom in tow I began to bring specimens back to Professor Palin for his requested research, and learned how to climb down the spires to hunt the Banshees with high-power Manticore arms.
Little did I know that anti-xeno forces were already hard at work completely obliterating the spire sites around other Maelstroms. And what quick work they made of them! It was a little depressing as I had just mastered my on-foot hunting approach, but had not yet found anyone to benefit from it. Further depressing developments came when Professor Palin announced plans to yet again try poison against the Thargoids. Poison? A coward's weapon, and one we should be loathe to attempt again. All of this feels like both an invitation and a trap set by the Thargoids.