"I'm still not sure about this, my queen."
"You worry too much, commander."
"I feel as though I'm the only one worrying here."
"What was that, commander Brute?"
"N-Nothing, my queen."
Raising a brow, Chrysalis glanced at the changeling commander beside her for a moment before continuing forward at a somewhat leisurely pace.
Truth be told, she was worried. More so than what she was letting on, actually. In fact, ever since she had left behind Ruby and the other changelings to go off in search of her missing changelings, she had been on relative edge since then.
But she was a queen after all, and if she were to let her guards know, or Brute for that matter, that she was just the tiniest bit scared of her alien surroundings then there wasn't a doubt in her mind that they would have her return to the others in a heartbeat while they went to search themselves. And damn it all if that thought alone didn't make Chrysalis's chitin crawl. Maybe it was the fact that they were literally in another world or just her motherly side, but like hell she was going to let her soldiers be the first to brave new territory without her there to oversee it.
"My queen." Brute suddenly said, bringing Chrysalis back to reality. "Just how long do you plan on having us continue this search?"
"As long as it takes to find those changelings of course."
Brute grimaced at that, but nodded all the same as he kept his eyes forward. To him, this whole rescue mission was a bad idea from the start. Was this his punishment for going against his queen? To watch as she lead their little expedition into the unknown, seemingly and blissfully unaware of the dangers possibly all around them? Or even the potential repercussions such a journey could have on the morale of the others if something were to happen to their queen? If she were to get hurt or...worse, on his watch no less, oh changeling goddess above. A torrent of shivers went down the changeling commander's spine just at the mere thought of it.
Luckily though, he was right there beside his queen. He wouldn't let any sort of harm come to her. He'd rather die than let such worries become reality, and as he glanced over his shoulder at the six armored changelings bringing up the rear, he was sure that if something did happen to him, at least they would see to it that she was protected.
And so with those heavy thoughts put to rest, Brute sighed tiredly as he took the lapse in conversation to regard their surroundings, and despite their search dragging on for what he thought was an hour at the most, the scenery of brown blocks and the occasional oversized oddity did little to peak his interest. That is, until they rounded the corner.
What lay before them was unlike anything they had seen thus far. A tube-like object as big as a grain silo and as bright a yellow as the sun itself lay on its side before them, seemingly blocking the path ahead. Now granted, if it meant overcoming such an obstacle, it would've obviously been hatchling's play as the changelings could simply fly over said obstacle and continue forward. However, what really gave Commander Brute, his guards, and their queen pause was what was shown on the object itself.
"What is it?" one of the guards asked to noling in particular. The one beside him tilted his head.
"Not sure. Commander Brute sir, what do you make of it?"
The changeling commander regarded the grunt for a moment before he looked back at the object, silently studying it for a second before narrowing his eyes.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I believe it's some sort of weapon."
The other changelings, queen included, all looked at Brute.
"How so, commander?" Chrysalis asked, to which Brute, rather then respond, slowly approached it instead.
"It's only a hunch my queen, maybe my intuition, but something tells me that this thing is no mere artifact."
Stopping just a few inches short of the object, Brute's eyes wandered over the cylinder's exterior, taking into consideration not the insanely bright color choice, but of the strange clusters of black markings that blanketed its surface, besides the dust that is. In fact, the more Brute focused on the strange black bunches, the quicker he was to realize that they were most likely the words of an alien language, though to what they were conveying and to whom it concerned, he did not know.
Still, he needed to make sure that this object wasn't still a threat to his queen. So what came next was obviously the most logical thing to do at that given moment.
Tink
...
"Huh."
"Brute!" Chrysalis yelled, causing the commander to turn her way. "Why in the great hive above did you just kick it?!"
"...I had to make sure it wasn't a threat to you, my queen."
She was baffled.
"So you just kicked it without even considering the possibility that it could've exploded or something?!"
The commander was silent for a moment as he looked her, then at the cylinder, then back at her again.
"But it didn't my queen. And given the layer of dust this object is covered in, along with the fact that I had seen no clear signs of levers, pulleys, or triggers of any kind, nor had I detected any magical-based detonator on or near the object, I had safely ruled out the possibility of this object being a trap."
Chrysalis was at a loss for words as she stared at Brute, one of her best, dumbfounded by his utter recklessness, yet simultaneously baffled by his bravery and just slightly turned on by his stoicism. That's why he was one of her best after all.
Still though.
"...And the reason for the kick?"
"That, my queen? That was just me unsafely checking if it was a trap."
...
...
Excited bug horses noises.
"I-I see. well, uhm, please be sure to inform me first before you do something like that again."
"I will, my queen." He said, nodding his helmeted head.
Seeing and hearing his acknowledgement, Chrysalis sighed in relief before joining her commander alongside the strange object. The two were then joined shortly thereafter by the six guards who, while at first seemed reluctant to go near the alien item, were soon won over by their own curiosity as they examined the object for themselves, walking around it, flying over it, and even standing atop it while also adding in a kick here or a vain attempt at alien translation there. And while it seemed at this point that the object could be considered little more than a oversized stepping stone, one changeling would soon realize it was anything but.
"My queen! You should come see this!"
Hearing her title called, Chrysalis walked around the side of the cylinder to were one of her guards was staring worriedly at something.
"What is it, soldier?"
"My queen." He said, stepping away from the object and turning to her. "What do you suppose all this means?"
He then pointed to the cylinder itself, and as Chrysalis raised a brow at his antics, she nonetheless followed his hoof before stopping.
"My queen?" Brute asked as he stepped around the object along with the rest of the guards. Upon seeing his queen frozen in place, he blinked. "Is something the mat-"
As he was speaking, Brute had happened to glance at the object's surface before doing a double-take. This reaction was also repeated by the other guards as they too looked on at what was displayed on the cylinder's surface.
At one end of the cylinder below the edge of a large black cap, was what appeared to be the picture of a large, black shield. And within that shield were bright yellow symbols that dwarfed the ones on the backside. But below those symbols were two things that really stood out to the party.
The first being what looked to be a lightning bolt being shot from the symbols, which of course threw the queen and her changelings for a loop. Maybe the symbols meant something bold or violent if it needed the accompaniment of a bolt of lighting to get the message across? Though in regards to the second thing, Chrysalis herself was sure she at least had the basic idea of the message. And that message was, in a word, death.
"What are those things?" One of the guards asked.
"Not sure." Another replied. "They do kinda look like bugs though."
"And dead ones at that."
Glancing at her guards, Chrysalis wanted to say something, but remained silent as she stared at the creatures drawn onto the item's exterior. There were several of them in all, insectoid, different in shape but of relative size to one another. Each of them featured a number of legs twice or three times as many as the four below Chrysalis. And, as the guard had stated earlier before, each and every one of them were left laying on their backs, their legs all thrown up, broken and bent as they all appeared to have suffered a bitter demise by the bolt striking above them.
"It is possible, my queen." Brute suddenly said, catching her attention. "That these creatures were most likely destroyed by something wielding a great power." He narrowed his eyes. "A power that could apparently bring lightning down onto its foes."
A few changelings gulped at that. Chrysalis as well.
"You think so, commander?"
He nodded.
"I do my queen, which is why I believe we should hurry and find our missing before we encounter such a being."
"I-I see. Then let's go then."
And with that, Chrysalis swiftly turned and headed of at a brisk pace. Watching her go, Brute and the six other changelings exchanged looks with one another before, as one, they quickly followed after their queen.
Unbeknownst to the changelings however, that as they continued farther and further into the unknown, none of them had yet to notice the six gleaming red eyes that had been watching them since the start of their journey.
Hissss tcktcktck