Life on the exo trash planet due to various factors had an ecosystem far from the norm.
Due to a damaged celestial node resting in the core of the planet, the total Aether flowing into the atmosphere although abundant was nothing more than toxic to all that existed on it.
Infecting everything, the planet which already swelled to its previous size due to numerous dumping months was made even more unlivable due to the sole fact that poison existed everywhere.
The trash and steel dumped by the more common dumper of the lot mutated, either becoming so brittle that it turned into dirt soon after, or it became so tough that without specialized drilling kit, it just wasn't possible to break down.
If it was from the liquid dumper that disposed of sewer water and irradiated water, then a few things could happen.
First off, anything alive that entered a certain pocket of clear water was instantly chewed up by a colony of flesh eating bacteria.
It was what had happened that very same day Ester was hauling the clump of irradiated waste out of the lake.
They usually lingered in groups no bigger than a puddle however, the lake was just an abnormally large specimen.
Secondly, it could become so incredibly murky and sticky that if you even so much as brushed against the liquid, it would take a miracle to pry the entire body of water from you.
It didn't help that the murky ball of mud suddenly came alive.
Thirdly and finally, the most normal thing that could happen to dumped water on this trash planet.
It just stayed as is and joined the storms of acid, toxic rain and irradiated seas sooner or later.
And we couldn't forget about the very air that we may breathe.
Yes.
Even the very air that you and I may breath wasn't safe.
Suffused with Fouled Aether you could say
It was to the point that nothing could be used without arduous purification devices created by some long dead genius exiled to the planet in its fetal stages.
But it just goes to show how impactful the damage to the celestial node had done to the planet.
'I just wish I could get my hands on the idiot that damaged the Celestial Node.'
Feeling an irreversible hatred for the unknown figure that was the sole cause of the suffering on this planet, Ester held his breath and looked at one of the few living byproducts of this environment.
'Well few is an understatement.'
Staring at the bird surrounded by a couple dozen others, to be exact, he was staring at their talons.
One of the few things that could actually leave a scratch on the surface of the mutated hard metal.
Klatuls.
Small things that were no bigger than the width of his hand.
But if you thought you could just hunt them because they were small, you should really look at the thing that they were sucking the blood out of.
'And here I thought the Erguls would've learned to run by now.'
Staring at the large boulder like monster, it was covered in a series of spikes that would allow it to traverse all kinds of surfaces when they rolled up into a ball.
It was a rather bothersome monster because despite its size and appearance, it was an ambush predator that would instantly roll away when the going went tough.
Said ambush predator was on it's back completely dead as several lacerations covered their thick leather like a map of scars.
Sticking their thin needle like beaks through the wounds, Ester silently recalled the history of the Klatuls that he knew
Klatuls as a whole were descendants of a land bird called the Kiwi, but much like everything else that now inhabits the trash planet, they have evolved to a more dangerous form.
Small in size, they compensated for their size with an immense reproductive ability and strong pack tendency and compensated for their lack of firepower with extremely dense bladed claws.
Of course they also evolved to have a taste for a blood, their beaks turning into proboscis like needles, but it made it all the easier to trap them.
Weak alone if you made sure to dodge their blade like claws, extremely fertile, yet similarly stupid that was the widely agreed sentiment on the Klatuls.
A particularly large pack of Klatuls could even take down a young behemoth.
'Ah, they finished feeding.'
So why was Ester just silently watching the pack of dangerous birds popping out of the scars covered in blue blood?
Because of their particular habit/ ritual that made it extremely easy to hunt the little demons.
Having sated their little bellies with the blood and flesh of their enemies, the Klatuls slowly widened the holes on the Erguls skin with their talons, nestling into the dried out area.
Slipping into the scars, a few birds were left outside of the giant body and showed no signs of making another hole to enter.
These birds left outside of the Erguls body soon began to hop about, performing their ritual.
Poking their heads into the holes that the Klatuls themselves had dug, they began licking clean the blood on their feathers.
Repeating this several times, Ester silently stared at them as they finally finished their little ritual and covered dugout brand new holes that they themselves entered.
And after that?
*Scorororor
Letting out a warbling little cry that didn't seem possible for the little birds, in near perfect unison, the flock of Klatuls began to spew out a grey fluid
Sticking said fluid to the edges of the hole, soon enough, the holes that they had just dug out were now completely sealed making it seem as if the Ergul was just as alive before they met the Klatuls.
'Now it's the hatching phase.'
And it was the time that Ester had been waiting for.
Slowly crawling forwards, he thought about the peculiar reproductive habits of the Klatuls.
Suffice to say, the fact that they were still small and fragile didn't change, causing many of them to die when attacking a much larger beast like the Ergul.
Lightly navigating the steel talons that would no doubt tear through his suit if he was careless, he slowly but surely reached the body of the Ergul that was now serving as the Klatul's temporary nest.
As their brand new nesting grounds, the Klatuls would leave eggs in the body of the Ergul which would swiftly grow and devour the innards of the Ergul for nutrition.
The Males of the population with an astounding 1 to 100 ratio were the ones left outside of the body and fertilized all of the females of their flock and cleaned them of their blood
'I have to get rid of these ones first otherwise they'll alert all the others, and I don't want to be dealing with that right now.'
Reminding himself how crucial it was to stay hidden, Ester turned off the respirator once more and held his breath.
Now, every second counted.
Having reached the side of the Ergul, he pushed himself up off of the ground with fast smooth movements that barely made a sound.
Feeling the surface of the Ergul's skin, although his left hand was made of metal and his right was covered in a glove making feeling tactile sensations incredibly difficult, Ester nevertheless noticed the difference.
'Not this one, not this one... aha, jackpot.'
Finding the little hole he was looking for as evidenced by his beating heart that in hindsight might actually be due to lack of oxygen he quietly let out a breath in time with the surrounding wind.
Taking in another breath in that very same moment, Ester continued with his actions.
Blade leaving his left wrist, the delicate mechanisms soundlessly parted as he aimed the blade into the hole where the male Klatul was hiding.
'Now to make sure that he can't guard the rest of the sleeping females.'
No matter the species, if a female started to give birth, they were incredibly vulnerable during that period of time.
Thus inevitably came the burden of the male of the species to guard them during this incredibly vulnerable moment.
'I'm sorry little birdie...'
Feeling a small bit of remorse for the bird that was only trying to survive, Ester ruthlessly stabbed the bird without another second of remorse
'I'm also trying to survive here.'
It was a quick and easy kill, made without a sound as it severed the neck of the Klatul in the instant the protective cover was pierced.
'One down, five to go.'
Calmly calculating that, his ash grey eyes gleamed slightly as a spark slowly converged to consume the nesting birds.
---
*Bang!
"Oho... To think you returned after all this time."
"You were a pain to track down, now the payment."
"How... Blunt, wait a moment."
Having placed a bag filled to the brim with Klatuls talons down in front of him, Ester observed his surroundings with eyes seemingly made of ash.
A building made with Hard Metal, particularly one made of an unknown alloy making it even harder than usual.
As strong as it was, hard metal was rarely used to make buildings as the means to process them into usable building materials were expensive and few.
But despite all of the grand materials that were put into its creations, the insides of the building were in a mess.
Rusted Swords, half broken spears, dented shields, incomplete armor sets, Dusty guns, Scorched bio metal limbs.
Every possible weapon thought into existence was gathered here in varying states of disarray, there was even the remain of a tank cannon poking out from the back.
And the one figure centered in the middle of the mess
The one called the Broker.
The one who controlled the underworld of the trash planet from where he sat with an iron fist
The one brother of his mentor
And...
The one who he once called father.
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