Time for... A Horrible Bird-Thing!

Well, here's another Monster Maker unit, their Skirmisher, the Terrorbird!

On the ships that travelled to Gliese 667C were vast DNA banks, intended to eventually help create and sustain a thriving biosphere with both extant and manufactured lifeforms. The degraded DNA of per-historic creatures like Phorusrhacids were not included, for obvious reasons. Therefor, these biological weapons of the Chimeric Fraternity are named for their function, rather than direct ancestry. Terrorbirds serve a few important roles for the Monster Makers, they’re relatively resource cheep to create compared to the other biological monstrosities. Their low profile and high speed make them effective ambush and skirmishing units. In fact they’re so cheep for the Monster Makers to create, that their undercover agents often scatter the eggs across stations they wish to destabilize, hiding them in service tunnels next to warm pipes. Terrorbirds hatch capable but voraciously hungry, often targeting small animals or pets living on the station, before quickly growing and seeking larger “prey”. The ones that hatch wild lack the minor cerebral implants that let the Monster Makers keep theirs nominally under control, and so have to be manually exterminated.

Terrorbirds stand roughly 4 to 4.5 feet tall at the shoulder, in a hunched posture, with a bald head and heavy, long beak, of the type meant for crushing. Well developed neck muscles support the head and make it very hard to shake off, while powerful legs give it a long stride and a vicious kick with the   massive talons on it’s feet. A single strike can easily disembowel a unarmoured man. The generally rust coloured feathers covering it’s body are patchy, with significant area’s of exposed leathery, almost lizard-like, skin. They are flightless birds but can launch themselves with startling ability  Terrorbirds are constructed through a mix of Cassowary and Emu DNA, with mix ins from Kangaroo’s, Komodo Dragons, and several other species who’s genetic contributions equal less than a percent. All the material shows signs of significant alterations, beyond just the melding, though even cursory physical examination shows these creatures could never reproduce on their own.

Visual Inspirations: Cassowary’s, Emu’s, and other large flightless birds that, while they may occasionally seem goofy, can quickly remind us fragile humans that they are basically modern dinosaurs.