The Morbius is a creature native to the planet Siberia 56.
Biology[]
Morbii are gigantic octopus-like creatures at least over 15 meters in height with tentacles that can rip and eviscerate prey in seconds. Morbii have gigantic jaws with extremely sharp teeth. One of their most unique traits is the ability to appear invisible. So much so against the snowy background of Siberia, when they lift their prey, it creates the illusion of the wind carrying them in the air.
Based on a similar invisible creature, a bat, from the the planet Aeschylus 4, human scientists hypothesized and later proved that due to a Morbius's invisible condition, it is unable to see. In order for invisible creatures to navigate, it needs to move blindly by emitting ultrasounds that capture the reflection using echolocation to find prey and obstacles.
Due to this the Aurora Borealis on Siberia 56, which can temporarily disrupt electronic equipment, also causes it to disrupt a Morbius's detection system, causing it to halt temporarily until the phenomena passes.
Morbii are voracious predators and possibly the apex predator on Siberia, capable of ripping other predators like the Silhur and Arthoplorodon.
Background[]
Around 60 million years ago, an alien race attempted to colonize Siberia 56. But the aliens soon came under attack by a Morbii. Based on archaeological evidence the Morbii came to attack the alien settlement, causing many deaths.
The alien seeking to destroy the threat tried to lure it in a chasm they created that had a depth of 2,617 meters surrounded by monoliths which were devices that made a perimeter that could make the Morbius visible so it could be destroyed. In the end the trap failed as the Morbius was not alone and at least a dozen more of its kind slaughtered the aliens. Before abandoning Siberia 56, the aliens created a fresco depicting their story against the Morbii.
By 3 or 4 million years ago the aliens managed to establish a settlement on the planet with a pyramid structure, but the site was abandoned.
At the time of humanity's exploration of space, Siberia became the 56th planet of the Terrestrial Pre-Colonization. The first team of scientists were sent to evaluate the planet's viability for colonization. After six years of setting up a base, the scientists of the first team encountered encountered a Morbius.
Two years later the second mission was sent to Siberia. The team only found destruction and the base seemingly abandoned. Once they refurbished the base, some members of the team went out to the location of the first team's last mission. They encountered the Morbius and it slaughtered a member of their team, though they managed to drive it away using their laser weapons. After taking the corpse back to base, they determined how their friend had died, though what had killed him remained unknown.
Data on the Morbius would be omitted form Siberia's database as the scientists still had no concrete information. After 96 years since the base on the planet was established, the thirteenth team , a group of five were sent to reinforce the human scientists studying Siberia.
After awakening from cyrosleep, the five headed down to the planet via shuttle, but their vessel encountered atmospheric turbulence as the planet caused their engines to fail. They crashed some distance from the base on Siberia, leaving one of their men killed. They had to make the journey on foot in their environment suits.
By day two the group lost another of their team in a storm. She became separated and faced a Morbius, who took her and carried her dead body to its lair. By day five, the group made their way to the lair following the distress signal from their lost friend's suit. They found the mangled body but assumed that the storm carried her to the cave, but were corrected when the Morbius killed the third member of their team. The two remaining scientists then fled into the caves hoping to wait it out. There they located a fresco depicting the Morbii and the previous alien colonists.
Eventually only one of the scientists, Ned, managed to survive the ordeal after he took a chance to run from the cave and out in the open during the celestial lights. He was rescued by the researchers at the base, but his lover did not survive her stay in the cave as she was killed by a bite from a Solifugae.
Two week since the near demise of the thirteen team, the human researchers took to studying the image of the fresco that was discovered. And managed to piece a history of the planet and the Morbii. A research study was planned at the chasm where the original trap was set. There they found the bodies of the aliens though the study was cut short when a snow tornado approached.
It caused their shuttle to crash, though they all survived, However two Arthoplorodons came and killed two of the team, forcing the survivors to flee to an abandoned guard station. While trapped in the guard station, the Arthoplorodons fled having detected a Morbius.
Knowing that their chances of survival were slim, Ned willingly sacrificed himself to draw the creature away, by rigging a game of straws to be bait. He ran during an Aurora Borealis and when it passed the Morbius detected him. It pursued him, chasing Ned all the way to the abandoned first team outpost. There Ned who believed he was a dead man found hope when he used the old outpost's computers to connect to connect to the old Orbital 56 satellite to deploy its battle beam to destroy the Morbius.
Despite the death of the Morbius, later upon the human scientists discovered that it was not the only specimens as they soon discovered there were more of its kind and running amok on Siberia 56. Given the harsh conditions of Siberia 56 containing dangerous predators compounded by the existence of the Morbii, they sent a recommendation to their superiors at the Secunda Terra Consortium that the planet was inhospitable for colonization. However the threat was downplayed by the General Manager of Operations of the STC.
Despite Siberia 56 having the highest ratio in terms of human casualties, In his opinion the deaths of the civilians were inconsequential as Siberia 56 was far too valuable to be given up as while the fauna of the plane were deadly, it was the only world which needed not be terraform. Ultimately the main motivator to claim Siberia 56 was human greed which won out in deliberation. The danger of the Morbii was thought to be nullified once armed forces came to the planet and hunted the creatures down.
Though it did not matter as the planet previous colonist, the aliens, had left a contingency. The pyramid that was constructed entirely of quartz, was actually a massive accumulator that once tampered by intelligent life would create a deadly cosmic cloud that would be released into the system killing anything. It was a trap designed by the aliens to ensure no one would claim Siberia 56.
The researchers realizing the severity of the danger, sent a distress call for evacuation. However their warnings were once again ignored as the military mercenaries of the STC arrived and declared martial law. Not willing to abandon the planet, the STC concocted a dismal plan to destroy the pyramid to stop the cosmic cloud. Despite the pleas of the scientists of the futility of stopping a force of nature, they were all confined on base. Out of desperation, a small group of scientists managed to escape the base, intent on heading to the Morbii trap where they hoped that the deep caverns would shield them from the devastation.
There plan worked, however, the Morbii arrived, having taken refuge in the cavern. The scientists trapped in their shuttle not wanting to be food for the monsters, chose suicide. As for Siberia, all life on the surface was presumably laid to waste. After contact was lost with the base on Siberia, the General Manager attempted to launch another team to investigate, however the upper echelons of the STC finally relented that Siberia 56 was a lost cause and denied his petition.
Source[]
- Siberia 56 #1: La 13e mission
- Siberia 56 #2: Morbius
- Siberia 56 #3: Pyramide