HOME | DD

Description
From the Desk of Frank Womack

Kaiju File # 020

Syyd (Stalker Form)

Last and Last Seen: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Primary Range: N/A

Dietary Preference: N/A

Description: The final line of defense the Syyd possessed, and arguably their greatest, the Stalkers were immense, towering spires of root and bone, each at least twice the size of the largest documented kaiju. They were originally the terraforming agents themselves, given animation and great physical strength by the hivemind to drive off attackers none of the prior castes could manage against. Overall, they were simply built, using their immense bulk and sprouting root-like limbs nearly the length of their bodies to physically punish foes. As you climb this animate beanstalk of death, you'll begin to find several bone white, rock hard nodes that serve as both crude armor, replacement heads and projectile weapons that can launch at bullet speeds. The head at the very top is bone like, covered in holes and shaped much like a bent beak. It lacks sensory orifices familiar to our own, though the holes must process chemicals and scents in the air, because it seemed remarkably adept at spotting airborne targets. It also made an eerie whistling noise when wind blew through it. It also bears mentioning that what you see aboveground is only part of the package with Stalkers, several long roots anchor them into the earth, making them near impossible to knock over, and in spite of this, they can still move. All in all, I'm glad these things are all dead.

Defense Protocols: The powers that be have been very, very thorough in making sure to address any reported sightings of Syyds. And by address I mean wipe from the face of the earth. Stalkers were the first to be exterminated, and thankfully the kaiju seemed especially keen on bringing them down themselves. If one should emerge, they're impossible to miss, so orders have been put in place to hit them with the heaviest ordinance nearby. Mecha included. They were tough nuts to bring down and they could fight at incredible range, so it would likely take a lot to annihilate them.

Noteworthy Abilities:

-Syyd Hive-Mind: All Syyd, with a few exceptions, were basically eusocial, obeying the chemical commands of their respective Stalk. These chemical commands were often programmed into their alien nervous system equivalents to where they could even follow them hundreds of miles away. Their programming varied based on caste and the situation. The last line in the sand for the aliens, Stalkers were in many ways direct extensions of the Hive Mind itself. As such, they fought with expert precision and could easily overpower most opponents. If one of them could sense an enemy, all of them could. If one was destroyed, they all felt it.

-Genetic Acid: Each Syyd is capable of producing a strange, quite difficult to classify substance, a bright green liquid that functions similarly to an acid, capable of dissolving organic matter into a liquid state. However, it stopped short of total destruction and only broke down the victim into a pool of DNA, and promptly stopped breaking it down and began preserving it. We lack the technology to properly observe what exactly happens here at the genetic level, the liquid seemed to do nothing once separated from its Syyd propagator. It's almost as if it was just as much a Syyd itself and operated with the same level of eusocial intelligence and discrimination. But again, we can't know for sure, and likely never will. Syyd aren't exactly being made anymore, their creators went extinct some time ago, turns out.

-Kaiju Cells: Another unusual aspect of the Stalker and much of the other larger castes was the inclusion of Kaiju cells into their genetic makeup. This only started appearing in the second generation of the attacking castes, after the kaiju began fighting back in earnest. This gives them the regenerative powers of their competition, but it also caused them to become a little more on the independent side, often ignoring their chemical commands in favor of more reactive responses to stimuli. A great strength for them, but one even their superior alien tech couldn't completely overpower.

-Terraforming: An ability only the Stalks possessed, each of these colossal plants was capable of processing and altering the atmospheric composition around them. This technique doesn't sound like much until you remember just how much we depend on the amount of oxygen we have. Engines and explosives would fail, people would slowly die of asphyxiation for kilometers around. And the worst part was knowing that something was going to enjoy this new air that came at the cost of our entire planet's ecosystem.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Grorn was spent. The Syyd were still standing. But there was a final card in the elemental's hand. One by one, kaiju, which had been spirited away by Grorn earlier to... somewhere, started to reappear, and they picked up right where they left off. The collateral was immense, but almost all of the remaining Stalks fell within a day. All the best they could muster, dozens of their loyal, hive-minded soldiers were thrown into a veritable, titanic meat grinder as they were met with great blasts of energy, colossal claws and jaws, and a genetic ferocity that outmatched their best. Or so we thought. There were two players on the table, and that means two hands to be played. And the Syyd had one hell of a trump card.

The final Stalk fell to a rousing blast from Dainue , but as it seemed all was finished, an enormous green bulbous growth exploded out of the ground right smack in the middle of Amsterdam, pulsing with an ominous red light and shooting hundreds of seeds into the air. We aren't entirely sure what this thing was, many think it was the Hive Mind itself, but I'm not so sure it would have made such an obviously exploitable move as to turn itself into an enormous, fleshy target, if so it would have been the dumbest move imaginable for something that had thus far been quite adept at strategizing. Personally I think the hive mind was connected to the entirety of the Syyd, their roots serving as neurons for a shared brain, akin to how an octopus' arms can move and even attempt to collect food after being severed. With each fallen Stalk, it's core intelligence may have dropped, leading the aliens to behave in a more primal manner, and in this state they faced the most primal choice of all. Fight or Flight. And they chose the former.

As one, most of the world's kaiju, especially the biggest and strongest, made their way to this beast of a final showdown. It took a few days, the whole world watching and careful, strategic action from Rigel buying us a fair deal of time, eventually the heaviest hitters, Uthegar , Kabu Khan , Nemene , the (sort of) undefeated Stormback , Taraban , Qinguan and last but not least a reawakened Giganuuk , somehow liberated from Grorn's crystal prison in the heart of the Dubai ruins, arrived. And the Syyd were quick to answer them with a host Stamions and new champions as the city itself crumbled to powder, streets and all manner of infrastructure pulverized by a massive host of roots and tendrils, and at the heart of each of these was a giant, much more mobile version of the Stalks that had done the Terraforming before. There were the Stalkers, 300 meter tall living beanstalks of death capable of killing you from near a thousand feet away and much more likely to kill you by taking your air away. The battle was intense beyond words, each kaiju outsized and giving as much as they got. Memorable moments such as Uthegar plummeting from lack of oxygen to burn, taking a Stalker out with it, Qinguan's freezing breath causing the roots to go into a torpor as Kabu Khan returned to its worm stage and ravaged them from below, Stormback getting thrown by a Stalker and using her energy breath to break her fall, and Giganuuk eventually getting angry and turning the entirety of the city's shrapnel into a razor sharp whirlwind that they had little defense against. When Rigel returned, its last remaining trained pilot at the helm, the last of the Stalkers fell to Giganuuk's Railgun backed by Stormback's Ion beam and the Shishio Blade. Those final three were all that remained standing, the rest fallen unconscious or near death.

The victorious kaiju turned to see the final target, the last of the Syyd spawn, pulsing and blinking at the loss of its last line of defense. Or so we thought. The final battle had only begun.

---------------------------------

One left! What fate awaits our titanic heroes? Tune in next entry to find out as we bring Season One of the Fathom Files to a close! -sick guitar riffs-

Description
From the Desk of Frank Womack

Kaiju File # 020

Syyd (Stalker Form)

Last and Last Seen: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Primary Range: N/A

Dietary Preference: N/A

Description: The final line of defense the Syyd possessed, and arguably their greatest, the Stalkers were immense, towering spires of root and bone, each at least twice the size of the largest documented kaiju. They were originally the terraforming agents themselves, given animation and great physical strength by the hivemind to drive off attackers none of the prior castes could manage against. Overall, they were simply built, using their immense bulk and sprouting root-like limbs nearly the length of their bodies to physically punish foes. As you climb this animate beanstalk of death, you'll begin to find several bone white, rock hard nodes that serve as both crude armor, replacement heads and projectile weapons that can launch at bullet speeds. The head at the very top is bone like, covered in holes and shaped much like a bent beak. It lacks sensory orifices familiar to our own, though the holes must process chemicals and scents in the air, because it seemed remarkably adept at spotting airborne targets. It also made an eerie whistling noise when wind blew through it. It also bears mentioning that what you see aboveground is only part of the package with Stalkers, several long roots anchor them into the earth, making them near impossible to knock over, and in spite of this, they can still move. All in all, I'm glad these things are all dead.

Defense Protocols: The powers that be have been very, very thorough in making sure to address any reported sightings of Syyds. And by address I mean wipe from the face of the earth. Stalkers were the first to be exterminated, and thankfully the kaiju seemed especially keen on bringing them down themselves. If one should emerge, they're impossible to miss, so orders have been put in place to hit them with the heaviest ordinance nearby. Mecha included. They were tough nuts to bring down and they could fight at incredible range, so it would likely take a lot to annihilate them.

Noteworthy Abilities:

-Syyd Hive-Mind: All Syyd, with a few exceptions, were basically eusocial, obeying the chemical commands of their respective Stalk. These chemical commands were often programmed into their alien nervous system equivalents to where they could even follow them hundreds of miles away. Their programming varied based on caste and the situation. The last line in the sand for the aliens, Stalkers were in many ways direct extensions of the Hive Mind itself. As such, they fought with expert precision and could easily overpower most opponents. If one of them could sense an enemy, all of them could. If one was destroyed, they all felt it.

-Genetic Acid: Each Syyd is capable of producing a strange, quite difficult to classify substance, a bright green liquid that functions similarly to an acid, capable of dissolving organic matter into a liquid state. However, it stopped short of total destruction and only broke down the victim into a pool of DNA, and promptly stopped breaking it down and began preserving it. We lack the technology to properly observe what exactly happens here at the genetic level, the liquid seemed to do nothing once separated from its Syyd propagator. It's almost as if it was just as much a Syyd itself and operated with the same level of eusocial intelligence and discrimination. But again, we can't know for sure, and likely never will. Syyd aren't exactly being made anymore, their creators went extinct some time ago, turns out.

-Kaiju Cells: Another unusual aspect of the Stalker and much of the other larger castes was the inclusion of Kaiju cells into their genetic makeup. This only started appearing in the second generation of the attacking castes, after the kaiju began fighting back in earnest. This gives them the regenerative powers of their competition, but it also caused them to become a little more on the independent side, often ignoring their chemical commands in favor of more reactive responses to stimuli. A great strength for them, but one even their superior alien tech couldn't completely overpower.

-Terraforming: An ability only the Stalks possessed, each of these colossal plants was capable of processing and altering the atmospheric composition around them. This technique doesn't sound like much until you remember just how much we depend on the amount of oxygen we have. Engines and explosives would fail, people would slowly die of asphyxiation for kilometers around. And the worst part was knowing that something was going to enjoy this new air that came at the cost of our entire planet's ecosystem.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Grorn was spent. The Syyd were still standing. But there was a final card in the elemental's hand. One by one, kaiju, which had been spirited away by Grorn earlier to... somewhere, started to reappear, and they picked up right where they left off. The collateral was immense, but almost all of the remaining Stalks fell within a day. All the best they could muster, dozens of their loyal, hive-minded soldiers were thrown into a veritable, titanic meat grinder as they were met with great blasts of energy, colossal claws and jaws, and a genetic ferocity that outmatched their best. Or so we thought. There were two players on the table, and that means two hands to be played. And the Syyd had one hell of a trump card.

The final Stalk fell to a rousing blast from Dainue , but as it seemed all was finished, an enormous green bulbous growth exploded out of the ground right smack in the middle of Amsterdam, pulsing with an ominous red light and shooting hundreds of seeds into the air. We aren't entirely sure what this thing was, many think it was the Hive Mind itself, but I'm not so sure it would have made such an obviously exploitable move as to turn itself into an enormous, fleshy target, if so it would have been the dumbest move imaginable for something that had thus far been quite adept at strategizing. Personally I think the hive mind was connected to the entirety of the Syyd, their roots serving as neurons for a shared brain, akin to how an octopus' arms can move and even attempt to collect food after being severed. With each fallen Stalk, it's core intelligence may have dropped, leading the aliens to behave in a more primal manner, and in this state they faced the most primal choice of all. Fight or Flight. And they chose the former.

As one, most of the world's kaiju, especially the biggest and strongest, made their way to this beast of a final showdown. It took a few days, the whole world watching and careful, strategic action from Rigel buying us a fair deal of time, eventually the heaviest hitters, Uthegar , Kabu Khan , Nemene , the (sort of) undefeated Stormback , Taraban , Qinguan and last but not least a reawakened Giganuuk , somehow liberated from Grorn's crystal prison in the heart of the Dubai ruins, arrived. And the Syyd were quick to answer them with a host Stamions and new champions as the city itself crumbled to powder, streets and all manner of infrastructure pulverized by a massive host of roots and tendrils, and at the heart of each of these was a giant, much more mobile version of the Stalks that had done the Terraforming before. There were the Stalkers, 300 meter tall living beanstalks of death capable of killing you from near a thousand feet away and much more likely to kill you by taking your air away. The battle was intense beyond words, each kaiju outsized and giving as much as they got. Memorable moments such as Uthegar plummeting from lack of oxygen to burn, taking a Stalker out with it, Qinguan's freezing breath causing the roots to go into a torpor as Kabu Khan returned to its worm stage and ravaged them from below, Stormback getting thrown by a Stalker and using her energy breath to break her fall, and Giganuuk eventually getting angry and turning the entirety of the city's shrapnel into a razor sharp whirlwind that they had little defense against. When Rigel returned, its last remaining trained pilot at the helm, the last of the Stalkers fell to Giganuuk's Railgun backed by Stormback's Ion beam and the Shishio Blade. Those final three were all that remained standing, the rest fallen unconscious or near death.

The victorious kaiju turned to see the final target, the last of the Syyd spawn, pulsing and blinking at the loss of its last line of defense. Or so we thought. The final battle had only begun.

---------------------------------

One left! What fate awaits our titanic heroes? Tune in next entry to find out as we bring Season One of the Fathom Files to a close! -sick guitar riffs-