The plan worked, perhaps too well--the very homeworlds of Earth's enemies were totally annihilated, and Earth was left in shadow, all contact with the other races severed. It was a price, but it was better than war on all sides. But once the Bydo's use had been exhausted, it was discovered that the creatures were nearly impossible to completely dispose of. Alone and without anything to guide their will, the Bydo were harmless, but should the living weapons come into the hands of the wrong people, it would mean disaster for Earth.
All the Bydo were systematically slaughtered, and what could not be destroyed was placed on armored convoy ships and sent to an orbiting container nearly the size of Earth's moon, where the remains of the robotic creatures were buried and sealed. They were constantly monitored for any signs of life, and after half a century were officially proclaimed dead and harmless.
Only a decade later, an explosion was detected on the surface of the "Bydo Moon," and immediately the worst was suspected: the Bydo were alive, and had escaped. A full fleet of fighter-cruisers were sent to investigate the breach--and barely returned with half of their numbers, and two more still died in their attempts to dock. The pilots had been so terrified of what they had seen, they had almost completely lost their sanity.
Not only were the Bydo still alive, and not only were they hostile, but they had evolved into hideous shadows of their former selves. More biological than mechanical any longer, they still retained the precision and adaptability of machines. No one could describe them. To look directly at a Bydo meant to risk being frozen in fear, for the very sight of the creatures was mortifying.
However the mutations had escaped detection, what mattered was that they be dealt with immediately, before they had the chance to spread unimaginable fear, and likely, death throughout the Sol system. Frantically, because the Bydo could not be completely obliterated, a trans-dimensional weapon was built, and the Bydo were forced out of our frame of reality, into a subspace world that was sealed the moment the last Bydo had been driven away.
Sealed, that is, in the 26th century.
The Bydo festered like an infection in their world, deep-set hatred for those that had imprisoned them driving them to find some sort of escape. They multiplied beyond numbering, and their power increased to incredibly destructive levels. They found a weakness in their subspace bubble, and forced their way out, oblivious to the time they had traveled to: The 21st century.
Earth at this point was in a state of its own dilemmas: WWIII had only recently ended, and the planet was still recuperating from its self-inflicted battle-wounds. The Bydo set up residence on the farthest planet from Earth, a world just beyond Pluto and Neptune that we had not yet discovered. They thrived here for three decades before the first long-range science ship in the early 22nd century traveled in just the right direction, and encountered a cloud of luminescent spawn. Luckily for the ship, the Bydo miraculously did not notice them, and the ship returned home with news of its discovery.
Hence, more research vessels were sent out, even a science base was towed out to investigate.
None of them ever came back. More ships were sent, this time with low-power weapons just-in-case. They did not return either.
Reconnaissance missions finally confirmed that the creatures were hostile, and measures were taken to attempt to drive them out of our solar system. The missions all failed miserably and in almost every one, every pilot was lost.
One mission saw a lucky fighter spared, and the ship limped home, with a priceless piece of information in tow: A piece of debris from one of the alien creatures.
What we found was in itself terrifying. The piece of debris was itself still alive--it almost attacked the ground crew as the crippled fighter ship was maneuvered into the docking bay. It was encased in a stasis field, and had to be pried off the underside of the ship to be taken to the lab. Frighteningly, it was already evident that the thing had been in the process of fusing itself to the ship, and, had it been left to do so, would have consumed the machine and transformed it into whatever it pleased, using its own warped DNA to control it. It was good that the ship had returned as soon as it had. Another few minutes and the creature would have taken control.
But another discovery was just as if not more disturbing. On one of the slabs of taught metal that the being had attached to its body were words engraved in English letters: BYDO, and a number of other identifications that were to say the least confusing. It was more than obvious that the level of technology that was used to create the beings was so far beyond what anyone on the planet had seen, it was quite impossible that "Russian spies" or "Secret Services" were to blame. Obviously the things had come from some time in the future--how did one fight something so advanced and why would someone send such a terrible being back in time to terrorize Earth of the past? Who cared. What mattered then was finding out how to fight back.
A line of spacecraft that was renowned for its maneuvering ability and versatility as a work-machine, the Type-R shuttles, were immediately dubbed guinea pigs and brought in to be modified for battle-flight and testing. There were many unmanned prototypes, all of which met with unexpected success.
Meanwhile, the piece of Bydo that had been recovered had been through its own modifications. Alongside the first manned series of R-TYPE fighters, the prototype of the FORCE weapon was released for beta testing. Controlled by three attached rods, the "Devil-weapon" as it was called could magnify normal energy pulse bursts a hundred-fold. Testing was undergone with 4 experimental R-7s, and it seemed that the training was going well, until the FORCE, attached to the rear of one ship, unexpectedly sent energy feedback straight into the fighter ship's engines. The R-7 was incinerated, and so were its sister ships. All the pilots died instantly. The Devil-weapon was retrieved undamaged. The R-7s were later dubbed "The Misfortune."
More testing, more prototypes. The FORCE was a powerful weapon, but unpredictable and not easy to control. Finally an unmanned model was sent out using a tweaked control device, and not one incident occurred while trying to control the FORCE. The Bydo were beginning an all-out attack by this point, and there wasn't a moment to spare. Thirty production models were built, pilots were trained, and the final copy of the R-TYPE fighters named its class: the R-9.
The first out-and-out battle with the Bydo proved successful, and there was hope that perhaps a full fleet of R-9s could infiltrate and destroy the core of the Bydo's planet. The best fighters in the fleet were chosen, and the mission was engaged. The FORCE came back of its own accord. The R-9s never returned.
Left with only one R-9, and without any time to build new ships, a risk was taken with the last battleship. It was infused with a piece of the Bydo that had been used to create the FORCE weapon, and once ingrained into the R-9's circuitry, as expected, the Bydo power began to spread. The ship became a living thing. It looked no different, but its response-time was faster, it was stronger and more able than any of the other ships, and amazingly enough, obeyed the pilot's commands without incident. This ship, with the last qualified R-9 pilot and the FORCE, was sent on a suicide mission into the midst of the Bydo lair. It was the mid 22nd centry by this point. Time was running out.And of course, the R-9 forced the ugly bastards into retreat.
In R-TYPE III, the story took a turn for the worst. The dimension in which the Bydo existed was discovered, and an upgraded R-9d was sent with the ability to switch between dimensions into the heart of the place. What was found there was worse than anything that could be imagined. The Bydo that had attacked earth were, for the mostpart, mechanical creatures. Even in their planet near Pluto, they were only half-organic, and generally mechanical in nature. In their own realm, a new side of the things was brought to light. Hideously warped biological creatures of any size and nature dominated that universe. Their lairs were built of their own flesh and blood, and they were more vicious here than they had ever been near Earth.
Anything they could latch onto was mercilessly torn and twisted to be made into part of the disgusting place, but it was not killed, for that would defeat the purpose of expanding their hive. They transformed anything they touched into themselves, and who knew what unfortunate souls were trapped within the garish, pulsating living landscape.The R-9d barely escaped in one piece. The model was later discontinued due to overheating problems.
R-TYPE Delta is the latest in the series. The Bydo are back and stronger than ever, and this time they have succeeded in completely invading Earth itself! Three R-TYPE ships are on the front lines: An upgraded R-9a "Delta," the new R-X, and the blackhearted-looking R-13. New FORCE pods have been developed, each with their own strengths. Who will survive the Bydo realm...and who will live to regret their journey into Bydo's hellish universe?
More About the Bydo