Wildlife Incident A5-08/1931 "The Crabbening"

[Artsy Astra]

5PM, 14th of Eserellia, 1931, Staol Bay

On a cold evening a Shazzak fisherman was checking his crab traps. Alone without his usual crew, he let out a contented sigh and laid flat on his back in the aft of his boat gazing at the clouds as the fluttered by. All was calm save for a nudge to his vessel, a stronger wave he assumed as he continued his break. Soon after another nudge this time displacing some traps that were stacked not far form him. He rose to his feet and went to check the sides, perhaps he had lost track of time and ran aground, he glanced over the sides of his vessel only to see nothing but open waves. His engine was off so it couldn't be sputtering, the water was to chilly for any young pranksters especially this far out into the bay. His brow furrowed as his EM senses faintly felt something. Peering over the port side of the deck his less then stellar sight caught a glimpse of a shape in the depths, large enough to tint the water under his ship red. Another bump, more of a strike wracked the boat. The sound of groaning splintered wood permeated the air as the man rushed to the aft to start the engine. As he began to wind the engine up, a pair of antennae slowly rose up from the waves the man sensing something looked up to see the visage of a Floor Stalker. The mother of all Floor Stalkers. Easily in the ballpark of 50 feet tall, the crab was massive. He redoubled his efforts realizing to late that it was in futility as a large claw came down into his vessel splitting it on two and flinging him into the icy waves. The crab simply slinked back into the water as the fisherman attempted to swim back ashore.


2 days later, SRS volunteers discovered his wrecked boat with no sign of the sailor. It was the 8th disappearance that month and not only Marrlan sailors had gone missing. 3 Roskanan fisherman had also gone missing with wrecks of a similar case with no leads. It was getting concerning not only for the citizenry, and pressure was building for clear actions from the governments of the two nations. Unbeknownst to the greater populace, meeting had already been called by the  to discuss a joint effort to seek out the root of the issue.

12PM, 17th of Eserellia, 1931, East Shore, Great Rapid Naval Base

Within the halls of the Great Rapid naval base in East Shore a meeting was scheduled to be held.
The Pionare leaned onto the table and let out a sigh as she waited, the press had bothered her, Dai, and Morgan to no end for 'answers' and 'direction' and all they could say was they were looking into it. She swore a few more grey hairs had been added to her head with their nagging, though she couldn't blame them. It was a legitimate concern, perhaps one of national security. Rumors had spread of the potential of Grinvelian infiltrators but nothing had come to light after a full ISO investigation. They only sought to cause more tension between the three rivals. Feeling a headache coming on from all the thoughts racing in her head Wendy leaned back and asked for a glass of whatever someone could find. Shortly after receiving some sort of wine from an officers stash she began to nurse it in an attempt to dull the stress. It was just then that her old friend was lead into the meeting room.

[VoxApocrypha]

Amelia would be walking with a hand over her stomach, and wearing a shirt that would show her bandages, as well as allow for her to quickly change them out. She was not the most formal of people to begin with, and her stitches hadn't exactly come easy so she needed to have access to the area at basically all times should she have to worry about the wound. Dejanus followed after her, and helped her into her seat, the karrashi laying back into their seat and slowly relaxing into it with a long exhale.

"Alright. What're we here to talk about?" She'd ask. Amelia was still well kempt, even if she did look like she was uncomfortable. Not a social discomfort, a more physical one. She'd only been out of a short coma after having gotten shot for maybe now a week and she was already back to work, despite a fair lot of doctors recommendations.

[Artsy Astra]

She would crack a smile for a moment seeing her friends before she would return to a neutral expression remembering what they were gathered for. "The... boat wrecks. The disappearances." She'd start, "We haven't been able to link them to anyone. The Marshalls ran a manhunt and came up with nothing, ISO is dumbfounded." She shook her head. "Have either of you had any luck?"

[VoxApocrypha]

"Nothing that I could see was turning up results that made much sense to me." She'd say. "I was a sailor but my work was mostly blue-water and military in scope. So I don't know much about coastal fishing and so on."
She'd rub her side. "We've heard a bunch of theories but I haven't really found any that seem remotely sane or that have any evidence to back them."

She'd stretch a little, wincing.
"..Remind what, what's the general area these disappearances have been happening in?" She'd ask. "Is it known for disappearances?"

[Artsy Astra]

"Mostly in the heart and mouth of the bay. Crossing that area between shallow and deep blue." She shook her head, "No it's quite safe, SRS planes and volunteer boats commonly cross the area."

[VoxApocrypha]

"What's going missing for the most part?" She'd ask her. "What kind of boats, what size?"

[Artsy Astra]

"Small and medium-sized fishing vessels mostly. Nothing larger, but I have a feeling that will change." She'd explain, "People take their houseboats out ice fishing this time of year."

[VoxApocrypha]

"Park a destroyer in the bay or a few and find areas of high traffic, in the area where things are disappearing."

[Artsy Astra]

She'd nod for a moment, "Alright I'll have a few patrol the area."

[Artsy Astra]

The meeting carried on for a short while after the group spent a little time catching up before the three of them departed. Following her friend's council, 6 destroyers were dispatched to patrol the bay. They patrolled night and day and all but 1 turned up nothing. The Destroyer MRNV Esharoy had the unlucky event of coming upon the beast at roughly 1AM local time. The night had a flurry of action as the sounds of depth charges and guns could be heard before the wrenching of steel and a large splash cut the fire short. Roughly an hour later, the Destroyer limped back into port with large dents in its hull and one of the main battery's barrels cleft in twain. The crew told a story of a gigantic floor stalker, larger than any of them had ever seen even when crabbing themselves. Their searchlights barely illuminated the whole creature, they could only guess at its true size.

[Artsy Astra]

With news carrying up the chain of command quickly after their return, the patrol force was increased. 14 Destroyers in pairs of 2 were to patrol the bay, as well a contingent of Beast Hunters was now readied to deal with the threat. Deploying 4 submarines also in pairs, along with Diver Foot patrols, they searched intently for its whereabouts. Craig Seaforth, the Head of Internal Affairs, ordered for trade to be allowed to continue but with strict hours of operation and guard upon entering Marrlan waters. Civilian recreational fishing was halted and commercial fishing was also given a guideline on operations.

[Artsy Astra]

Through sheer luck or the blessing of Shurpis, all three groups picked up on hints of its whereabouts. The diving team was the first, surfacing after finding some recent boat remains and a shoe, while the Destroyers saw wakes that didn't line up with friendly submarine positions. The Beast Hunter subs trailed behind an unknown sonar contact that seemed to be moving quite erratically. All groups soon closed in on the beast as it attempted to make a stealthy escape. The Destroyers began firing, the submarines loosed torpedos, and the diving teams relayed what information they could to the surface as it shifted and moved. Civilians on the shore watch with awe at the 2nd fight about to take place, this time with the element of surprise and daylight on the Navies side.

[Artsy Astra]

While the opening salvo from the destroyers struck true and hurt it, the Deep Fright soon rose up out of the water to face the surface vessels. This startling unwittingly made the torpedo volley completely whiff passing through its legs. The creature began its attacks as the destroyer pairs attempted to circle the monster. It lashed out, damaging 4 ships and sinking 2 before the others were able to slink away in a fighting retreat. The Submarines were all destroyed their hulls were catastrophically breached or captured in a large claw and snapped in twain. The Divers watched in horror as the fleet was practically destroyed in front of their eyes. Still filled with determination and now anger, they waited in hiding as what remained of the task force retreated for their moment. The onlookers on the shore watched in complete horror some fled while others stayed to watch either frozen or genuinely hoping for some grand event to change the course of the fight.

It came as the beast attempted to pick through the wreckage for survivors and ruined ships' galleys. They snuck closer and closer to the beast as it was unaware of their presence. The Diver groups prepared their weapons of choice, grenades, and a few other explosives they found amongst the now creaking hulks of metal. A small group found the perfect purchase within the aft section of a destroyer, filled with Depth Charges. Perfect for their new objective. They moved quickly and in silence, shadows beneath the waves, and the beast continued to scavenge. The final screams of sailors echoed through the depths, reminders of the requirement of their haste. Soon they had found their positions and readied themselves to execute their plan. A team soon drew the stalker's attention, leading it on a brief cat-and-mouse chase before it was led into their carefully laid trap. A large set of Depth Charges set to be triggered by a concussion grenade hidden in one of the destroyed subs. As the creature crossed the threshold, a diver fired his harpoon gun. The harpoon, with a lit grenade taped to it, struck the charge and stuck in it. Just as the friendly divers barely cleared the minimum safety threshold, they went off. Onlookers gasped as a great plume of fire water and blueish-green erupted.

[Artsy Astra]

The plume of water came crashing down as smoke continued to bubble up. For a few minutes, it continue like this before A single Beast Hunter surfaced, then another, and another. Soon the whole platoon was beginning to swim back to shore. A few fishermen scrambled to their boats to retrieve them as the husk of the creature floated to the surface. More things than water came down though, as huge chunks of shell and crab meat rained down in a large area of the bay. A few beach houses were hit and some chunks even landed in the city almost crushing people on sidewalks or cars in the street. Ultimately, the fight was over and it was now time to pick up the pieces. More naval vessels moved in to secure the body for study and a large cordon was made in the port nearby. What parts in the city that were not instantly swarmed by onlookers were slowly acquired, those in more populated areas were soon guarded by Marshalls.

[VoxApocrypha]

In the aftermath of the destruction of the giant crab found in the bay, the corpse of the creature had been secured for study by Marrlan's navy, and as well the Coast Guard.
For their work the Beast Hunters were handsomely rewarded.

However in the aftermath, the massive plume of blood had left just about everyone and the sand as well, stained a blueish green color as the copper-based medium for carrying oxygen rapidly decomposed in the open ocean and all over their bodies. Within the city and elsewhere, chunks of shell, meat and other debris of various forms, some not talked about for decency's sake, were collected by the government and taken away in the immediate aftermath. The meat wasn't rotting, at least quick, like was more typical among Crustaceans. Perhaps because of its size, but maybe more because of other factors. No one really knew.

The corpse was pulled ashore with industrial tractors and trucks, the army securing the body with the help of the Navy.
Much of it was so loosely attached though that it would fall off as it came out of the water or was dragged by the sand, until eventually, they had only what amounted to a few legs and the back part of the utterly obliterated shell. There was a lot to learn about the nature of the ocean from such a body even in its absolutely demolished state - being blown up with enough explosives to sink the Grinvelian navy would do that, but as well it presented an opportunity.

The study of the body came as well with large slabs of meat cut off and taken away. There wasn't much shrapnel in the body at least which meant it was still edible.
Which people would take advantage of, as people on the beaches began to amass around the large chunks of which remained. A rather sudden and impromptu frenzy developed around the beach as people would take cuts of crab meat from what larger masses they could, carrying them away in insulated boxes full of ice, carrying it away bit by bit like ants, and back into the city, or further down the beach as what became a sudden cook-out began out at shore that night, a celebration for the actions of the beast hunters, and as well, in honor of the sailors lost to the Crab.