In the infinite expanse of the Boundless Astral Realm, a cosmic tapestry woven with stardust and celestial bodies stretched endlessly. Here, amidst the swirling nebue and distant gaxies, a unique dance of life unfolded. These were not the familiar creatures of mortal worlds, but beings born from the very essence of the cosmos.
Astral Beasts are creatures with forms as diverse as the infinite variations of primal chaos. Some were microscopic, energy-siphoning parasites that dwelled within the dark side of asteroids. Others were colossal behemoths, their bodies dwarfing entire sor systems. Unique in their own way, each species of Astral Beast possessed abilities as vast and mysterious as the universe itself.
Amidst the sea of stars, there was a peculiar sight. Crystalline walls, shimmering with an otherworldly light, serve as wards. These celestial spheres, naturally formed from strange ws that made up the known Dimensional Walls, are the first ‘atmospheric yer’ of a world, shielding it from the ravenous appetites of the Astral Beasts that roam freely in the universe.
Yet, in one such world, a crisis loomed.
The world was a vibrant oasis of life teeming with diverse ecosystems which had long been protected by its crystalline dimensional walls. But now, a fissure has appeared in the sphere's protective shell as a centipede-like Astral Beast gnawed on its protective shell. The titanic lifeform coiled its segmented bodies, forming a ball of insect flesh around it. The beast’s sheer size held the world in its grasp, its countless legs biting into the crystalline walls. Countless cracks, microscopic at first, but growing steadily, were inviting the ravenous parasites that lived off from Astral Beast’s body to feast upon the pnet's inhabitants.
Crunch! Though sound does not propagate through the vacuum of space, the sheer intensity of the force reverberated across spacetime as the colossal Astral Beast tightened its grip upon the world. The pnet's gods, their true forms shimmering with divine light, had already materialized with their True Body, desperately attempting to repel the cosmic menace. Yet, their attacks were as futile as a toothpick against an elephant. Even when they unite their forces, their divine army can only dey the inevitable.
In the Boundless Astral Realm, time flowed retive. While the world seemed on the brink of destruction with the defending gods falling one by one, for the pnet's inhabitants, centuries, or perhaps even millennia had already passed. The once-vibrant world was now a desote wastend, its life force being drained by the monstrous creature, its parasites devouring the biomass. The gods, weakened and exhausted, fought on, their determination unwavering despite the overwhelming odds.
As the Astral Beast continued its assault for untold milenia, the pnet's inhabitants had mostly lost hope; the dying embers of civilization on the surface were scattered, barely noticeable from orbit.
Suddenly, a cataclysmic event unfolded as a pinkish-purple energy pulse tore a literal hole in the fabric of reality. The colossal centipede-like Astral Beast’s head was caught in the maelstrom. Its immense biomass was torn asunder, the flesh body detonated, incinerated, and subjected to countless other forms of destruction as they got sucked to the hole. The loss of one of its primary thought processing organs somewhat crippled the creature, its countless legs digging deeper into the crystalline Dimensional Walls as an instinctual reaction.
Weakened but not defeated, the Astral Beast used its ability to manipute celestial energy to close the dimensional tear. Its efforts were immediate as the breach began to mend, its bck hole-like suction force no longer a threat. However, just before the hole was completely sealed, a retively small spaceship emerged from the dimensional tear.
Barely four kilometers in length, the alien vessel was dwarfed by the Astral Beast's immense form comparable to that of a star. Yet, its presence attracted the parasites like moths to a fme. The swarm of Astral Beast’s parasites swarmed towards the ship so densely like waves, but the spaceship was not defenseless. It retaliated with intense force as arc lightning, antimatter weapon, and railgun projectiles tore apart the invading creatures, taking off some of the pressure from the desperate world’s divine army.
It was a short, but brutal fight. Eventually, the Astral Beast grew weary of the spaceship's resistance. Its fine "hairs" extended to pierce the vessel's hull. Although it was ‘fine hair’, to the people in the ship, it was kilometers long flesh tendrils containing countless more tentacle-branches. However, a prismatic shield blocked each of the tendril’s advances, not allowing it to get close.
The strange spaceship was able to hold on far more than what logic allowed as hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousands of the Astral Beast’s fine “hairs” tried to drill its way into the spaceship.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing in this universe that is perpetual. The prismatic barrier flickered, its energy depleted from the sheer volume and intensity of the attack. The ship was pierced from multiple angles, with the parasites quickly boarding and killing anyone inside.
As despair gripped the ship, it erupted in a blinding cascade of silvery nanite fmes, consuming itself in a final, defiant act. In the fleeting moments before the fire engulfed the mechanical corpse, two projectiles streaked into the void— one aimed at the parasite-infested dark world, the other finding its mark within the gaps of the Astral Beast’s armored carapace.
