Alan’s hammer flashed blue it swept forward, crunching in the carapace of a bug just under half his size. His mind tried not to imagine Denise, his ex-girlfriend, as the insides of a spined covered maggot flung across to the other wall. A wretched smell filled his nostrils. Fishing through the limp corpse, he reached out and pulled a metal bead, smaller than his finger nail, a flat colored grey with flecks of color embedded.

He stepped forward down the abandoned passage. The bodies of the spiny maggots littering the floor behind him, their foul odor filling the air. Alan came across another maggot in the light of a headlamp he’d picked up at the hardware store the day before. Opting for that instead of a flashlight. The maggot, sensing his presence immediately bristled and turned toward him, bright fangs dripping. It hissed, causing a few shadowy lumps beyond his light to shift. It charged, scurrying quickly across the uneven ground, it’s fellow not far behind.

Alan braced himself, once again as the maggot suddenly bunched and spines launched themselves toward where Alan had been standing. Instead of piercing him however, the spines only managed to stick themselves in the wall. He’d ducked, and slid forward catching the worm in the face. The allow head the hammer, strong enough to damage ship hulls, easily cracked the maggots defenses and left a crater in the now pulverized body. His two bug friends, only grew more excited, and attempted the same strategy. Run forward, suddenly stop, launch needles, get smashed by a hammer. Rinse and Repeat.

He’d been doing it all morning after his return to Cosmos. To the point that he’d begun to find it just a bit tedious. But just only, he’d had to work off some of the frustration and worry from the night before. Of course, it hadn’t started tedious, half a dozen spines, buried a half inch, in his arms and legs had taught him quickly on what to look for.

Once again he reached down and grabbed three more of the small pieces of metal embedded in the bugs and moved on.

I wonder how much farther this will go on for, I can’t remember if the team that found this place even mentioned how long it took.

Alan spent a lot of time reading about Kragga, what had been discovered, it’s potential, secrets and treasures. The article about this place came 7 years after Cosmos opened to Mankind. It’s discovery had only been another minor part of what Kragga offered, but Alan had a need for it now.

Fighting seemed to only intensify as he drew nearer to the center of the remains of the once proud building. Clearly well made since it’s internal structure continued to hold. However, the bugs grew more excited and frequent, smelling the corpses of their now dead companions.

Looking behind him he could see smaller versions of the maggots beginning to swarm over the older corpses.

I guess you don’t need to be as picky about your food when you're a bug.

This facility had once been an advanced tech hub for one of Kragga’s many past civilizations. Now however, it was nothing more than the equivalent of a rotten log.

Delving deeper, its past became more evident. Metal buttresses, chipped floor panels, remnants of wires not yet chewed through by its new residents. It had been speculated that this tunnel had been a service entrance, while the upper floors of the building had collapsed around it.

He stepped forward until his light reflected back, bouncing off a rust colored door at the end of the hall. Driving his hammer forward he struck the old metal, dislodging it from the frame causing it to crash forward. It’s anxiety hinges no longer upto the task of keeping people out. Instead of hearing the expect thump of the door only silence and darkness reached from the other side. Stepping forward he went to look for the door only to see black darkness instead. The scent of stale air, mixing with the odor of the dead maggots. There was only empty space below him. It was only a few moments later that the echoes of a crash could be heard from the depths. The door finally catching up with the floor.

Well, this was unexpected. There was nothing in the article about a deep pit. Scanning the edges he was able to make out the edges of what looked like stairlike scaffolding making its way to the bottom. Examining the shaft more carefully, it seemed like it had once been part of an ancient elevator, it seemed about 40 feet across. Looking up. He saw a criss cross of metal beams, forming a loose roof above him. Stepping on the scaffolds, it strained ominously, he sighed with relief as it held up under his weight.

The last thing I need right now is for me to die.

Alan gingerly made his way down. Carefully testing his path as he neared the bottom. As he spotted the ground, he could make out the rusted square door at the bottom. Jumping the last few feet. He clattered to the bottom.

“All right, if I can get to the end of this labyrinth, I might be able to get out of here before the end of the day.”

Brushing off the dust, he reached the bottom, looking for the door he was sure must be there. The floor itself was an octagon, a platform for the elevator. Walking toward the center, he was able to make out the outline of a doorway.

As he stepped forward, he heard the sound of scraping metal coming from beneath him. His eyes widening and his pulse began to quicken as he felt the floor tremble slightly. A low groan echoed upward and around the wall. In one of the gaps between the floor platform and wall a shape writhes upward, it’s hulking mass squeezing upward. A set of six eyes, black and empty fixed on Alan.

Cheeeee. A vile hiss sounded as it’s massive bulk carried completely onto the platform.

Alan backed up quickly, his light capturing the massive, mother sized maggot. It’s size dwarfed the other monsters above. Close to 10 feet in length, and it’s spines had the color of blood. Backing up quickly he drew his energy pistol, firing off 3 rounds, the bullets striking the beast, but unphasing it. It reared back

He dove, his instincts screaming, when the harsh sound of metal being struck came from where he’d just stood. Looking over, he saw red spines jutting from the solid metal plating.

“Well that’ll do little more damage.” Alan ran toward the far side, blue streaks flashed errantly behind him as he unloaded his pistol. Having no desire to draw close to the blood-colored spines.

Reaching the other side, he turned quickly to see it move forward. Taking careful aim, he raised his gun. Shooting. One. Two. Click...click. A red light shone on the pistol. Empty. 2 bolts melted into the oncoming face of the maggot, bursting 2 of the 6 eyes. The maggot lurched forward, before collapsing.

Beads of sweat dripped down Alan’s neck. I guess this guy is the maxed out form of the F class monster above. Moving forward Alan wielded his hammer, and drew near the hulking mass. Despite his years playing Cosmos before. He’d never really been adept at fighting. Hunting monsters was a fairly common practice in the game. Yet despite his strength, and combat knowledge he’d only rarely had to fight. Most of his knowledge came from other’s accounts.

F class monsters. Creatures with little to no special characteristics, but still possessing a core. Splitting open the head, he reached inside, and pulled out the small chunk of metal. The Nyamisium Core. This chunk was about twice as large as the other he’d collected before.

Walking toward the tunnel he couldn’t help but reflect on what drew so many aliens from the universe to Cosmos. Resources, Technology, Power. Looking once more at the core, before placing it in his ring, he smiled. Nyamisium, an unheard element in his universe, but not so uncommonly found throughout all of the Cosmos dimension. The element could be mined naturally, but was found throughout Cosmos in all but the most basic of life forms. Typically in the monster populations. Abundant on many planets here. Its presence was one of the major draws to the planet. One reason, it’s ability to be converted into VE energy.

Nearing the end of the corridor he came to another chamber, sealed. Taking out his hammer he pounded it a few times, unfortunately the hinges on this door held. Removing the cutter from his ring. He cut through the door, it came down with a crash. Stepping inside, he saw what looked to be the remnants of an ancient lab. Film covered glassware littered stainless steel desks. Old tarnished and corroded equipment line the walls.

“It’s just like they said it would be.” Alan recalled the article. Sifting through the wreckage he was looking for the piece of tech that had been reported in the article, but he wasn’t picky though. Silver trays, old pieces of examining equipment, anything that looked valuable went into his ring. Even if it didn’t work, maybe someone would want it to see how it was put together. Lost tech, was lost tech. He spent 15 min rifling around, until he found a secure panel near the back, low to the ground. Jamming it open, he heard the distinct sound of a seal breaking. Smiling to himself, he reached in.

Placing it in his ring, it read, “Unknown piece of Astral Technology.”

Looking at the three other tubes. He wondered what was inside. The previous discovery only hinted at the lost tech, and reported nothing around the tubes. Placing them in his ring, it only read.

“Containment tube: Content unknown.”

Standing up, he looked around to see what else he could find when he heard a distinct buzzing in the direction of the elevator.