Kirizzo felt immensely lonely. There were no others of his race to help him now. He was undoubtedly the only Gorgala within many light years. Nevertheless he did not waste time lamenting the situation. Kirizzo’s electronically augmented mind gave a command that caused his walker to open, allowing egress. Uncoiling his flexuous body from the control nest, he flowed out of the walker on a quick stream of thin legs.

Kirizzo took stock of the alien forest. His world was utterly silent, as he lacked any sense of hearing. He felt resistance where his spiked legs met the surface. Dead plant spines covered the ground, causing it to give slightly as his sharp legs sank in.

Bundles of fibers under a flat, wide protuberance rising from his body fed Kirizzo signals from light that impinged upon them. These organs allowed him to see the native canopy of frills and spines above that shaded out most of the sunlight. The smooth hulls of trees rising upwards surrounded him.

Kirizzo moved his upper protuberance side to side rhythmically, collecting information about the mass densities in all directions out to his sensory range. From this, Kirizzo constructed a mental mass-map of his surroundings in three dimensions. The tree roots, trunks, and limbs formed a dark web in Kirizzo’s mind. There weren’t any threats within his sensory limits, but that was little comfort. Most Bel Klaven weapons could strike from great distances.