On 12 Togadoro 6989 EA7, a meteor harboring signals of four Zanziko cocoons was detected by interstellar satellites at the edge of Zacarn airspace. Starmap readings show that it came from the impenetrable depths of Nowhere, and had likely been drifting through space for a period of thirteen months.

The trajectory of the asteroid was caught within the range of Solar System XZ4934. When nearby Star Patrol agents were sent on their ships to investigate, it was confirmed that this meteor was what we call a "Bug Nest". Usually when this happens, the nest and the Zanziko chrysalis inside are usually shot down before they can become a potential threat.

However, CALCOR would issue a request to fly a Conveyor over in order to use a gravity beam to slow down and collect the asteroid. This was so it may be brought onto our base on planet Requdon.
The request was only approved on the strict condition that when the asteroid was taken to Requdon, that a single cocoon would be allowed to live, while the other three would be euthanized. We would agree to this. Only one was needed to continue the project.

I have determined that a live Zanziko is the perfect specimen to be the focal point of Project Sky Eater. Zanziko are not known to be terribly large like some of the other beasts that have been banished from Lost Space. Despite this, grown adults of this race are able to release catastrophic amounts of electricity that can compare to some of the doomsday weapons boasted by imperial galactic fleets. They are also known to be capable of sophisticated intelligence under ideal conditions, in face of the Zanziko's primal lifestyle of traveling in swarms through each celestial body that they drain of energy and life. Not to mention, their ability of being able to survive in the dark vacuum of outer space. This all comes without the complications and dogmatic ideals that come with the high end of Star Patrol agents, the only other lifeforms that may fall under this criteria.

These are great benefits that have made me come to the decision of taking in something as dangerous as a Zanziko. However, as the Sky Eater came to mature to the child stage of its metamorphosis...

A mutation would be discovered.

Strangely enough, it had the ability to morph parts of its body into the same material that the Zanziko cocoon was made out of. From further research, we've discovered that this phenomenon has been documented millenia ago, in the late EA4 era. This mutation was given the name "Subtraction".

This is when something happens to the Zanziko during the transition from a pupa to a child in which the evolution process is stunted due to outside interference, and it gains properties of its cocoon in further stages of its life. The child and adult stages of a Zanziko's lifespan are supposed to abandon the ability to transform parts of its body into the chrysalis. But Zanziko with the Subtraction defect keep this attribute throughout their entire life, causing an effect where they can morph their body into the tendril-like material of their cocoon.

In the cases that have been documented throughout history, Zanziko with this attribute do not grow wings when they reach the adolescent and adult stages in life. This is why this mutation is so rare, as without the ability to swarm throughout the stars with their peers, they usually die out quickly.

After looking into why this might have happened, we've determined that pulling the asteroid into the Conveyor was the most likely cause for this. Even while I told those Zacarn Fleet scouts to handle it cautiously with the gravity beam, it seems like it got rattled inside the meteor anyway.

Those careless fools...

Nevertheless, our analysis on the Sky Eater's physical and mental ability proved to be just fine. It can "Subtract" parts of its body on its own will, so there is not much need to worry. The only further concern is the lack of wings, but such a handicap can easily be worked around.

We will allow the Sky Eater to develop. When the Sky Eater has become of age to where their brain has developed further, CALCOR will start operations to teach it how to read and write in the Everytongue language. There are nearby researchers within the scientific community of this country who are interested in helping us as well. I was initially uncomfortable with this idea, but my subordinates have assured me that they will make sure that the project stays top secret.



Very well, then.

Let this be the genesis of our Kingdom's greatest weapon.