Space terminator

Carter held still as the four-armed aliens went to work, drilling into his surface. He watched through his Zone Vision as drones zipped back and forth, carrying chunks of his mass back to their ship. He didn't feel much—just the faintest tickle, like something brushing against him. For a moment, Carter marveled at how little this actually hurt.

"So, being mined isn't that bad," he muttered to himself. "Still, this is weird."

The aliens moved with cold efficiency, their voices muffled, but Carter could sense their intentions. One of them hammered a flag with their skull-emblem into his side—claiming him as their resource. "Great, they're planning a return trip," Carter thought.

He waited, watching as they finished loading their ship. Hours passed, but finally, the aliens boarded and blasted off, leaving Carter floating in silence once more.

"Well, guess I'll be paying them a visit soon enough," Carter mused, a grin creeping across his mind.

[SYSTEM]

Host should continue absorbing debris to grow bigger before the counterattack.

"SAY NO MORE—already on it!" Carter shot forward, eager to continue his cosmic scavenging.

He waited until the alien ship was well out of range before speeding off to absorb more meteors. He tried catching the distant light of stars, but they drifted away every time he got close—his current gravitational pull wasn't strong enough to reach them. Frustrated but undeterred, he focused on smaller targets, crashing into meteor after meteor, growing larger with each impact. With every collision, his size swelled, the sensation of his expanding form sending a rush of exhilaration through him.

After what Carter estimated to be six days, the ship finally stopped moving. The faint buzz of detection through his connection to the removed fragment told him it had landed—likely on their base planet.

"Alright… time to pay those thieves a visit."