Multiversal Primal Zerg (Semi-SI)

Avatar (James Cameron), Pandora

"I need to find something to eat," she told Derflinger as another cough escaped her lips. "And fast."

She shifted into her dragon form and spread her wings, the membrane stretching wide as she prepared for takeoff. The bioluminescent plants flattened against the ground beneath her when she pushed off into the air.

The next few wingbeats shook the trees below, and multiple odd-looking circular orange plants not far away shrank rapidly in response. Ariana… no. There was no point in pretending to be a woman even in his mind if he wasn't in his human form. Adrian hovered above the treetops, taking in the breathtaking view of Polyphemus.

The gas giant's swirling storms were visible even from this distance. Its massive presence made flying feel different in that the higher gravity pulled at his wings more strongly than Earth's would have, but his flight muscles were precise enough that it didn't matter.

"This place is beautiful," Derflinger said from where he was magnetically attached to his scales. "But you should get going before that cough gets worse."

Adrian nodded his draconic head and soared over the bioluminescent forest, and it didn't take long before his nostrils twitched at the scent of prey animals. 

Between some large trees next to a rock wall was a group of large creatures in what looked like a nest. Four bird-like animals huddled together, each one about the size of a human. They had four limbs connected to wing membranes, but the wings seemed too small for proper flight. Just from looking at them, it was clear they balanced themselves on strong back legs, though he wasn't sure why they had such flaps of skin beneath their jaws.

"Found something," Adrian whispered. He circled the nest once, smirking slightly when the animals stayed close together.

His wings twitched slightly as he glided towards them. A bone-shaking vibration emitted from his throat, too deep to be heard but powerful enough to rattle leaves and disturb the very air. The pressure wave hit the creatures like a physical force.

The birds stumbled and squawked in confusion, their legs wobbling as the subsonic frequencies disrupted their inner ear balance. Before they could recover, he spun around and launched two spines from his back at each animal.

The disoriented dodo-like birds had no chance to do anything before the spines pierced straight through their bodies.

"Well done," Derflinger commented as Adrian landed next to the nest. "But what are these things?"

Adrian grabbed one of the dead animals with his claws. The body was warm, and the blood smelled different from anything he'd encountered before. He lifted it to examine the strange anatomy carefully - four limbs with wing membranes that seemed useless for actual flight, powerful back legs, and an odd flap of skin under the jaw.

"No idea what they are," Adrian replied before biting into the flightless bird's stomach. The meat tasted gamey but not unpleasant. He swallowed large chunks, letting his enhanced digestive system break down the alien flesh quickly.

It didn't take long before his body began using the new Essence to adapt to Pandora's atmosphere. New structures formed in his lungs that could process the high CO2 levels and filter out toxic compounds, and the adaptation spread throughout his respiratory system, improving his gas exchange efficiency and giving him mechanisms to handle the xenon content.

"The air's getting easier to breathe," Adrian said between bites of the Pandoran dodo.

"You're like a proper dragon," Derflinger teased. "Eating everything in sight."

Adrian snorted and reached out to swallow another dodo in one go. "With the current size of my body… I need to eat a lot more than before, so I have little choice. "

He stared at the remaining two dodo-like animals with disdain. "These things are pathetic excuses for animals. Look at these wing membranes, they're too small to generate any real lift. The legs are strong, sure, but what's the point when predators can just run them down? And what purpose does this skin flap under the jaw serve? Display? Useless either way when you're dead."

Adrian grabbed the third dodo and bit into it, continuing his rant between bites. "Evolution should have either given them proper wings or gotten rid of these vestigial membranes entirely. They're like someone took a perfectly good flying creature and broke it piece by piece until only these sad remnants remained."

"You seem very passionate about this," Derflinger said.

"Because it makes no sense! They nest out in the open where anything can find them. They bunch up together when threatened instead of scattering. The only defensive adaptation I can see is..." Adrian paused as his digestive system broke down more of the creature's biological material.

He recalled something important from the movies. "Wait. The bones."

Pandoran creatures had bones containing natural carbon fiber composites, didn't they? He paid more attention to the Essence being broken down, and yes… they did indeed have that.

"Good," Adrian smiled as the microscopic structures throughout his bones began reorganizing. The calcium matrix incorporated new compounds derived from the alien creature's physiology. Carbon-based molecules arranged themselves into incredibly strong fibers that wound through the bone tissue.

"What's happening?" Derflinger asked.

"My bones are changing. These creatures might be evolutionary dead ends, but they did get one thing right." Adrian flexed his wings, feeling the alterations spread through his body. "The hollow network that stores void energy is being reinforced with carbon fiber structures. The base material is becoming denser but lighter."

He launched himself into the air with a powerful jump. The bone enhancement had spread throughout his body, improving his overall structural integrity.

When he landed on his four feet, he barely felt the impact.

"The void energy flowing through the hollow spaces interacts with the carbon fiber structure," Adrian explained while grabbing the last dodo. "The two systems enhance each other. The stronger base material allows for better void energy conductivity, and the void energy in turn strengthens the molecular bonds of the composite."

"You sound excited about this," Derflinger stated with a clack of steel.

"Of course I am! This is a decent improvement to my strength, durability and agility." Adrian's throat tightened as he swallowed the Pandoran dodo.

"Now I just need to find something more challenging to hunt. These pathetic excuse for birds were only worth eating because of adaptations that I could've gotten from any of the fauna on Pandora."

Adrian spread his wings and took off again, but something nagged at the back of his mind. The dodo creatures... they had the neural queues typical of Pandoran fauna, didn't they? He had been so focused on mocking their useless wings and the bone structure that he completely missed that part of the Essence. The queue would have been an interesting adaptation, allowing him to form temporary neural connections with other creatures. Sharing sensory information through a biological interface, even if it was only useful on this planet... but he had wasted the opportunity by not paying attention to what he was consuming.

"Something wrong?" Derflinger asked as Adrian flew higher above the bioluminescent forest while letting out constant sighs.

"Just annoyed at myself for missing an opportunity," Adrian grumbled. "Those stupid birds had neural queues that could have been useful, but I was too busy complaining about their other features to notice until after I'd already processed the Essence."

He scanned the ground below, searching for new prey. The beautiful blues and purples of the forest's natural lighting made spotting movement easier than he expected. It didn't take long before blue and white stripes caught his attention.

"Found something," Adrian whispered as he flapped his wings towards a group of six-legged creatures grazing in a small clearing. They looked similar to Earth antelopes, but with three pairs of legs instead of two. The blue ones must be female based on what he remembered from the two movies.

One of the… hexapedes raised its head, and Adrian saw the fan-like structure on top of its skull unfold. The membrane between twin horns displayed an eye-like design, presumably to ward off predators.

At the same time, small feathery organs on the sides of its head twitched in the air.

"These look more interesting than those birds," Adrian muttered. "Good sensory awareness... and yes, there's the neural queue."

He could see the thin, whip-like appendage near the base of each creature's spine. The protective layer of skin housed delicate pink tendrils that connected directly to the nervous system.

"Time for a proper hunt." Adrian grinned, showing off rows of razor-sharp teeth.

He dove toward the group, aiming for one of the larger females. The hexapedes scattered immediately, their six legs carrying them in different directions at impressive speeds for their size.

Did it help them?

No. No it did not.

Adrian tucked his wings close to his body and accelerated toward his chosen prey. The air resistance increased dramatically as he approached the speed of sound, but his void-enhanced muscles powered through without strain.

The pressure built up around him until - CRACK!

The sonic boom echoed across the forest as he broke through the sound barrier. A visible cone of condensed water vapor formed around his body, the humid Pandoran air making the effect particularly dramatic. The shock wave scattered nearby plants and small creatures.

But Adrian barely noticed any of that because he was too busy being absolutely delighted at how awesome it felt to create an actual sonic boom. Sure, he'd seen it before in movies, but this was the first time he'd experienced it himself and wow did it feel different. The way the air compressed around him, the sharp crack of displaced atmosphere, the satisfying way everything scattered from the pressure wave...

He snatched the hexapede in his claws right as he pulled up from the dive, spreading his wings wide to catch the air. The creature struggled, but Adrian ignored it completely while soaring higher into the night sky.

"Show off," Derflinger muttered from his back.

"Like you wouldn't do the same thing if you could fly," Adrian retorted while looking at the massive alien forest below his wings. The bioluminescent forest seemed endless in every direction, but a decent-sized hill rose up not far away that was prefect for his purpose.

He landed on top of the hill and examined his captured prey more closely. The hexapede still tried to escape, but Adrian's grip remained firm while he studied the neural queue at the base of its spine. The whip-like appendage contained delicate pink tendrils - direct extensions of the nervous system protected by a layer of specialized skin.

"This should be interesting," Adrian said before biting into the creature. He made sure to focus on the neural structures this time.

The Essence broke down quickly in his enhanced digestive system. New neural tissue began forming near the base of his tail as his body incorporated the hexapede's DNA. The process felt strange, like someone was gently pulling on his spine, but from the inside.

"What's happening now?" Derflinger asked.

"Getting my own neural queue," Adrian explained while watching the new organ develop. "It should let me form temporary neural connections with the fauna on this planet that have their own queue. Could be useful for gathering information."

He flexed his tail, feeling the movement of the neural whip encased in a protective sheath of scales near his spine. He could sense the delicate tendrils inside responding to his mental commands.

"This fills the last of the Medium Adaptations I can fit in my Essence," Adrian sighed. "Unless I find something compatible enough to merge with an existing adaptation, or decide to drop my suppressed Minecraft physics for now... I'll have to be more selective about what I consume from now on."

He shook his head and took off into the night sky. The neural queue might prove useful later, and that was enough. He soared over the bioluminescent forest, wondering what he could do next on Pandora.

Then he saw it.

An enormous hole carved into the earth that was two miles wide and just as deep. Heavy machinery dug into the earth to extract massive amounts of dirt, stone and who knows what else, and he could also spot mechs patrolling the edges.

"The RDA's mine," Adrian muttered. "Which means they're digging for... Unobtanium. Seriously, who names something Unobtanium? That has to be the laziest name in science fiction history. Oh, we found this super valuable mineral that's hard to get, let's call it Unobtanium! Because it's hard to obtain! Get it? At least Adamantium and Vibranium tried to sound cool, but no, some corporate hack probably got paid millions to come up with Unobtanium. I bet they spent all of five minutes on that name while sipping overpriced coffee in their office and-"

"Focus," Derflinger interrupted. "Those things are running."

Adrian stopped his internal rant and noticed the Amplified Mobility Platform suits were indeed retreating from the quarry. Before he could wonder why, a warning screech filled the air. He spun around to see three aircraft racing toward him. The sleek gunships looked more like fighter jets than helicopters, but four rotating fans gave them VTOL capabilities.

"Seawasps from the second movie," Adrian growled. He teleported sideways as one opened fire with rockets, but the other two had already circled around. Streams of bullets from rotary cannons tore into his wings while more missiles streaked toward him.

Another max-range teleport of fifty feet got him clear, but something stuck to his scales, a small device that kept emitting regular beeps. More missiles launched, and he barely managed to avoid them with another teleport that kept draining aways his void energy reserves.

The tracking missiles curved around, following the signal from the device buried in his scales.

Adrian transformed into his human form, and Ariana plummeted through the air as the missiles collided above her in a massive explosion. She ripped the tracking beacon that was embedded into her shoulder, then shifted back to dragon form.

But the damage was done, his wings were shredded by bullet holes, and he couldn't maintain his usual speed.

Adria's wings twitched as he spun around to face the gunships, memories from the movies coming to the forefront of his mind. The Seawasp… RDA's latest aerial combat vehicle with quad coaxial ducted fans and twin pusher turbines. Maximum speed of 526 kilometers per hour, armed with a 30mm rotary cannon and enough missiles to take down small armies. The honeycomb-patterned hull absorbed radar signatures while adding structural strength to the light composite material.

…the original Adrian was a bit of a nerd, wasn't he?

But none of that mattered right now.

He charged straight at them, ignoring the streams of bullets that pinged off his scales. The rotary cannons spat out hundreds of rounds per minute, but his Void Dragon Physique held strong for now.

He twisted around and launched every remaining spine from his back when one Seawasp got within range.

The pilot managed to dodge most spines, but one pierced through the reinforced canopy and straight into flesh. The gunship spiraled down into the forest and exploded in a ball of fire.

Void energy built up in his throat, a deep purple glow emanating from between his scales. When he opened his jaws, reality itself seemed to warp and twist as a roiling cloud of dark energy erupted outward. The cloud engulfed one of the Seawasps, and wherever it touched, the metal and glass became stained with spreading patches of dark purple.

The pilot screamed loudly as the void-touched areas began to dissolve. Metal corroded and warped as space itself broke down around the purple stains. The corruption spread across the gunship's hull like a cancer, eating through systems and armor while the pilot desperately tried to eject. But the void energy had already seeped into the cockpit, and Adrian watched as patches of purple spread across the man's exposed skin, causing flesh to bubble and dissolve wherever they touched.

The Seawasp crashed into the forest below, still covered in spreading patches of purple corruption that continued to eat away at the wreckage.

The last gunship kept firing, but Adrian had enough. He charged straight through the hail of bullets and missiles, smashing into the aircraft with his full mass. The explosion's concussive force smashed against his scales as metal and fuel detonated, causing him grave wounds.

The remaining missiles tracked toward him from behind, but he just transformed back to human form, letting them collide above him before returning to dragon form and fleeing toward the horizon before more showed up.

What he saw made him pause.

Large mountains covered in long vines were floating in the distance, held aloft by the same magnetic fields that made Unobtanium so valuable.

The Hallelujah Mountains.

The Tree of Souls was supposed to be at the center somewhere, wasn't it?

Adrian flew toward them and explored the grounds until he spotted a basin.

He landed and shifted to human form. Ariana stumbled forward, consuming two more Golden Apples to recover from her bleeding wounds. That fight had been way too close. Modern weapons might not pierce her scales easily, but sustained fire from those rotary cannons could wear her down. And those missiles... if she hadn't transformed to avoid them... She needed better defenses against tracking weapons, and her void energy reserves were pathetically low. Maybe she could-

"That was intense," Derflinger spoke up from her back. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," Ariana muttered. "But I need to be more careful. Those weren't even the gunships I expected… this must mean the events of the first movie are already over with…"

She walked toward the massive willow-like tree that glowed softly with bioluminescence. The Tree of Souls, the most sacred site to the Na'vi people of the Omatikaya Clan. Massive stone arches surrounded the basin like natural guardians.

"This place is beautiful," Derflinger whispered as Ariana looked up at the floating mountains above. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Neither have I," Ariana agreed. "At least not in person."