GalaxyNES- No Horizons

The party marched through large expanses of coniferous forest, across great rivers, and over tall hills. After a week, they climbed one of the highest hills in the area. While on top, they saw, in the distance, a small settlement. The settlement consisted of a few thatched homes with what it seemed to be a small church near the town center. The town laid at the base of the hill, in a man-made clearing in the forest. Other than a small plume of smoke billowing from one of the hovels, the town appeared rather drab. Although, this one of the first

“There looks like a good PILLAGING spot,” shouted a madviking. Excitement ensued, with many madvikings ready to rape, burn and pillage the unsuspecting town below.

“Oh hold on, guys,” intervened Erik the LED, “it’s an abysmally tiny town. Look at it! Barely a soul in there I bet. As much as I love burning, raping and pillaging, I must say we have to move onto a bigger town if we are enjoy any excitement.” The obviously disheartened madvikings dejectedly kept moving foward.

The Planet of the Grapes seemed to the madvikings an awfully desolate place. Boreal forests stretched for as far as their cameras could see. ‘We must’ve seen half of the planet by now,’ was a common complaint amongst the madvikings. The wet climate did not make things any better either. If the madvikings weren’t careful enough, they could suffer a life-threatening circuit attack and may require a forced rebooting. River crossing were also treacherous; they have to down trees to create a bridge across one of the planet’s great, languid rivers. Soil analyses showed that crops would not grow easily in the thin, rocky soil, so the madvikings knew they were in the wrong region of the planet. Moreover, the lack of evidence for Grapian presence perturbed everybody, including Erik the LED.

After several fortnights of crawling through the ever increasingly thick brush, the party stumbled upon what it seemed to them to be an all cart path. The party decided to split up, with one group, led by Erik the LED, went west on the path while another group, led by the young, svelte Sven Voltbeard, went east.

Map:

The Maus will have observed that the Lumos have begun to congregate slowly towards the outermost stars of the cluster, filling the void with the whole spectrum of light and feeding off the energy waves of the stars.
Time flows more quickly around the areas where the Luminous aether of the void is thick and the strongest relativistic fluctuations and around the stars they orbit which seem to facilitate to enchance their capacity to shift into compressed space for travel.


On one of the planets further in with an overandantly mineral athmosphere a subspecies of the Lumos have begun appearing:
(Scientists speculate these smaller, more traditionally physical creatures are forward beacons of light to the relatively bright actual cluster.)

Gemini Redden
Race: Once discarded by a mad scientists the Redden have descended from a single test-tube that has floated down through space and time to crack open in the Palorius athmoshpere during a rare solar eclipse. They are a species of one-legged (thin) shadows that bask in the glow of radioactive waves and seek to cloak the land in darkness so that they may explore it to its limits. The Redden are particular to light in that they prefer the infra-red spectrum and grow violent (or jealous?) at the thought of any other colors. They procreate by imbibing a mixture of ultra-light gas particles (usually hydrogen) and radioactive waves. Minerals are a nice dessert and give a faint and melancholy glow of color spinning off the occasionally cracked tendrils (of their denser upper body) in single atoms quickly reacting with surrounding composite gases, it also offers them additional strength and powers of manipulation of the physical and spiritual world surrounding them. The Redden are unaware of these occasional colors, but follow those most powerful, and ironically, the least red. It is speculated that their spiritual powers has something to do with their quantum existence, given that while they are bound to relatively modest speeds themselves, large parts of their bodies react with planetary light elements at vascillating speeds exactly and roughly close to their relativistic speeds.
Religion: When the shadows die they believe very strongly that they will go to a big white hole in the center of the universe, and there become a part of the Godly whole that spews out materiel to the rest of the universe. Anybody who does not believe in this is probably more familiar with black holes and should be shoved into one for a recycling of their sentience, the only merciful thing to do to their long suffering components.
These creatures are the Gemini Redden, and were sentient shadow-light in a test tube before being shot off into space as some scientist's lunatic legacy to the universe before his experiments were impounded and destroyed by the Vorstellen Police http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos000.html.

Hope its okay if I use these as a subspecies even if they're from another similar game which I made them from, Iggy. I rather like them so I wouldn't mind a double, plus I'm kinda stumped on how to interact with others using the Lumps Lumos Prime. (Made an embaressing Lumus sp earlier too... )

Just to keep everyone up to date on this, I'm super busy going through a slew of lab practical exams and end-of-term assignments which have collected at the very end of my term at university, so the coming update is pushed to the end of this week (possibly Thursday). Imagine that the weekly update schedule is maintained, but you suddenly find yourself with a bunch of extra time to write.

Update 9

Shortly after the retreat of the foolish invasion of the Zan Shamai, the collected groupmind of the Association of Fplinmy was assembled, and with the speed characteristic to the Yplein, the decision was made to move against the upstart Zan youngling. That is to say, Fplinmy has only recently begun the most basic actions against Shamai, as a few small Yjogl begin to drift corewards into Zan space.

Also in the wake of the other major incident involving Shamai, a heavy tension has settled between the Zan Hegemony and the Wera. The impudence of the attack upon one of their own has stirred up long-dormant feelings within the Wera, feelings which all who would profess themselves to be enemies of the Wera would hope remain unkindled. The lesser races of the Galaxy can only hope that the preparations of these two elder entities blow over peacefully, lest the whole of known space be consumed by apocalyptic warfare.

Shamai himself, shamed from his defeat, has been in contact with his fellow Zan, developing a deep interest in the history of the Wera, and possible means of their disposal. Beyond this, he has focused on the internal development of his empire, rebuilding from his recent losses.

With the much-hated Zan’s attention directed elsewhere, the Zaff remnants have had more opportunities to rebuild. It is becoming increasingly clear that Navart will become the new heart of the Zaff species. The planet has developed into an industrial powerhouse, construction vast amounts of munitions and ships to fight against the Zan. Meanwhile, the second world of Truff struggles to develop to the same level, as it is an older world not blessed with the resources of its fellow colony. Beyond that, transit between the two worlds requires either an extremely long, roundabout route above or below the galactic plane, or a dangerous run through a gauntlet of space faced with the forces of Nidkubra, the Zan, and a wide assortment of Zaff pirates.

Indeed, it seems that Nidkubra, of all factions, is one of the greatest threats to the reduced Zaff species. While still predominately Fudirunin, the presence of a diverse population of freed slaves has given them a strong distaste for the enslavers. Nidkubran vessels have continued to press outwards, establishing order over the post-Zaff wastes, eliminating all pirates and hostiles they encounter. The fact that many of these Zaff vessels are in fact not even capable of enacting aggressive actions has either not occurred to Nidkubra, or simply does not bother them in the least.

However, Nidkubran movements have not been as forceful as one might have expected, for events corewards of Fudirun have directed their attention elsewhere. The Tenoderan invasion of the United Republics of Hedge was watched with trepidation by the Nidkubrans, but after significant soul searching and uncertainty, it was determined that a fleet would dispatched to aid the defenders. It was with great surprise that the Verthommes first detected the mass of bizarre Nidkubran vessels, and it is unsurprising that it was first believed to be the final blow in an invasion. The Verthommes were thus humbled by the generosity of Nidkubra, and accepted their aid. The arrival of vast hordes of Fudirunins on the surface of Hedge helped to clear off the entrenched Tenoderans, in a grand campaign, finally freeing the world from the terrible grasp of the invaders. With the homeworld free from occupation, attention quickly shifted to Garv’n, where it was discovered that a similar sort of interspecies cooperation had once again been their salvation. The Choon known as ‘The Dreamer’, in conjunction with the native Cherwels and Verthommes, had managed to hold the line, maintaining a handful of fortified points from which the reinforcements were able to land and renew the offensive against Tenodera.

At the present, as the allied forces are clearing out the very last vestiges of the Tenoderan Organism from Garv’n, Hedge is facing some very major changes and challenges. Following the critical role played by the Cherwels in the defense of Garv’n, this species’ value to the United Republic has at last been proven. Similarly, bad feelings between the Cherwel and descendents of the early Verthomme colonists have been buried deeply, ushering in the dawn of a new era of greater integration between the two species. Furthermore, the longstanding distrust towards Nidkubra seems to now be unfounded.

For now, the victorious can celebrate in their shared victory. It’s a rather heartwarming time, really. The nearby Wera might even be smiling, or even shedding a tear, were he the type of being to do things like that.

However, not all is good- the fleets have been all but annihilated, and every inhabitable world within the Republic has been almost completely ransacked by the Tenoderan invaders. Both Hedge and Garv’n are now in the process of rebuilding, but few can even comprehend the magnitude of their losses- over half of the Verthomme population, and two thirds of the Cherwels. Few physical remnants of their heritage survive on their respective worlds, and many Verthommes approach the future with a sense of dread over an even greater loss- let it be said that some members of their species are more willing to live in a cosmopolitan world where aliens are treated as friends and equals than others.

Ma’Autra has been rather quiet as of late, content to remain in stability for the time being, after the recent loss of the Nau’Gon fleet to the Tenoderans and the… event over Zarr. Distance probes have continued to observe the Lumos from a distance, detecting a second species in the area, the Gemini Redden, strange lifeforms which could be best characterized as ‘shadow-beings’, in the sense that the Lumos could be (not entirely correctly) referred to as living light.

Beyond the edge of known space, the Utarite Combine continues its expansion, insatiable for more resources.

The Ullau have spearheaded a colonization mission on behalf of the Collectivity of Sanath to the world that has been designated with the common name of ‘Kurilate’, a term that has been deemed to be inoffensive and pleasant to the ears of all relevant species. However, it was not long after its initial foundation that the young colony, and the whole Collectivity, found itself under attack.

The mysterious robotic forces spotted some seventy cycles prior by the Collectivity’s astronomers have begun to make landfall across the controlled systems of the Sanathi frontier. Remote research bases in uninhabitable systems, diplomatic vessels, and sentry probes alike disappeared, either winking out of existence entirely or sending out only a few desperate warnings of the terrible violence of the invaders. And so it was that, without any formal announcement, the invaders (dubbed ‘Mechaniform Aggressor Delta’) arrived in the first significant site of sentient habitation, the aforementioned Colony World of Kurilate.

Commanding ships of astounding sublight speed and maneuverability, the Raiders avoided the defensive fleet in position over the world and struck the surface. Following some unclear order of command, they split apart into various parties, each of which set out towards the nearest villages. Skillfully avoiding the less mobile ground forces of the Collectivity and shooting down the light air forces directed against them, the machines raced from settlement to settlement, violating the inhabitants and tearing apart their homes in search of valuables to steal. While a few of these forces were destroyed in pitched battles, the vast majority were able to go about their way nigh-uncontested, withdrawing with heavy loads of plunder (and possibly some abducted locals) only when offworld reinforcements approached.

Learning from their first disastrous encounters with the Mechaniforms, the Collectivity of Sanath has worked to improve the mobility of its land forces- tactics suitable for combat on a single world do not apply in a battlefield spread across multiple worlds, where the enemy can approach in large numbers at any point with minimal warning. As the Raiders probe further and further into Sanathi space, this preparation seems like it shall soon be put to the test.

Nurm and the Amur collective remain largely uninteresting, as neither has bothered to initiate contact with the other. However, the Sgligatiki Worshippers of Izoza have experienced some interesting activities as of late. The Hands of Izoza have landed on a pristine world, naming it Izozathre. They have declared the entirely nonsentient population of the world to be converted, and have dedicated the world as a shrine to Izoza, who is already becoming something of a figure of myth, seeing as no one has actually seen the giant metal being, which is presently resting motionless over Athre, for a good thirty generations. That doesn’t seem to discourage their faith at all, of course.

The Fehan continue their quiet exploration, still oblivious to their Karronic Observers. Efforts to befriend the Vins have grown less enthusiastic, as the rather introspective species seems to have very little interest in further communications. The fear over the Sadhilim uniting has been eased, as Tothda’s brief unification of the confederacy seems to have led to nothing, as of yet.

With Hubridia at the helm, the Democratic Federation of the Akari has at last made its first steps out of its home system, as a first exploratory vessel sets out in the direction of a nearby nebula. Unfortunately for these bold explorers, hidden within said nebula are the ever-secretive Karronics- exactly what their reaction towards this new exploration will be remains unclear, but it is not likely to be friendly.

The massive cold war between the Tal-Edra Clan, leading the Trasna, against their ancient enemies the Ossudra continues to hold the world in a deadlock, perpetually at the edge of conflict but never actually taking the plunge. Whole generations have grown up knowing nothing but this uncertainty, to the point where it has become accepted as a normal part of life.

At last, we come to the Allentryen of the Tapani Republic. While the fleet of this small state grows constantly in strength, its attentions have been focused inwards. The mysterious goings on under Nuxue B have led to much wild speculation, as well as research into what goes on beneath the ocean world’s surfaces. While little can clearly be observed of the pitch-black world in the bottoms of a planetary ocean, it is beginning to grow clear that there is some sort of intelligence at work in the deep. Something which, if the difficulty in contacting it is at all representative, does not wish to be disturbed.

Map

Music Listened To While Updating

Update 9
Deadmau5: Cthulhu Sleeps and Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2

I do admire your courage Zan Shamai. Taking on a being far above any other with no more than planet crackers was courageous, thought idiotic. Do test your enemies next time before you go head on. You are lucky they allowed you to survive until I arrived.

*It was Zan Debolis. One of the oldest and highest ranking Zan. He was a true elder, and he arrived on the scene with no more than one ship.*

I have with me the weapon that can defeat anything, the only problem with this weapon is that it destroys the materials themselves and so after using it we cannot return to the place and collect new material for creating more weapons. This weapon can be used only once in 10 cycles (more than 10000 years) and since you told me of only one Wera I only brought it for one use. You might have to deal with the other in different ways. Perhaps using it against itself?

This weapon is one of the few left overs of our ancient peaceful and weak existence. We once traded with other species and learned their ways and technology. We have grown since than for our technology was superior to almost any other. This is one of the cases where other's are more advanced. This is actually a weapon invented by Wera. When a Wera goes rouge against his own species and against the so called lower races of the galaxy one can only hope for highly disadvantaged chances to win. Perhaps the Wera will suddenly cease to exist on a random chance occurring. That is when the Wera helped us and some other species build this, a weapon that can destroy a Wera. It not only kills the beast but make it not exist. It swallows a gigantic area around itself and creates a powerful gravitation. This in turn attracts everything around up to a mass known to be twice that of an average Wera and shuts it in a miniature black hole that than dissipates within moments. All that is left of your enemy is a few photons flying around in space. I do enjoy what you must think right now.

*The single ship is left within Shamai's hands and Debolis leaves the area to go back to his own empire. Shamai is filled with an emotion that can only be said to be powerful. He will rid himself of the Wera nearby and of anything else that stands in his place.

*Rather than just using Shamai begins to investigate the weapon, he will attempt to make more of it. The Wera are not the only species that seem to be on par with the Zan. His mind begins to clutter with the power entrusted in his hands. Thoughts of self rule over everything grow. Once he has a supply of this, he will win.......

Wonderful. Work will begin again.

Generations of progress and expansion, golden age of the Maus, of every natural being. Perfection in form. The Maus of Au, the world of trees, the collective brain and mastermind of the expanding roots of the galactic empire of Ma'Autra. Glimmering in the starlight that fed the union, this world was no longer safe.

A thousand centuries had past since the formation of the union, the peak of civilization in the known universe, and yet so little had truly been learned. The return of an exploration fleet brought with it a terrible stowaway. The plague of all plagues. A rapidly expanding infection, a parasite from deep space that feasted on the roots of the Maus. Any contamination would be absolute, the bug was unstoppable, even with all the scientific know how of the Maus. Nothing could be done.

It spread absolutely, the yellow and white growths dissolved the roots, broke millenia of connections. Ended the lives of the ancients and rejected the saplings their lives. The world went into darkness as the communications networks beneath the soil were eradicated. Those who lasted long enough, set out to make automated warning systems to make all returning vessels halt in orbit. To save the species, the preservation of the union. The last hope of the greatest achievement nature had ever accomplished. Yet with the loss of the homeworld to this Great Destruction would prove to have a larger impact than any could see. The world was the foundation for the union, all knowledge was collected and held in this place. Centuries of scientific advancement was lost in the years of death. Au was silent, rotting away beneath the fallen mighty.

Decades passed and fleets arrived from long duration exploration flights. The looping messages from their home caused no sadness, but confusion. Ships were directed to Uex, the new capitol, where the returning eldest would make a council to discuss the future of the Eternal Union.

Maus had no need for impatience, a thousand years for the return of the fleets would be no discomfort on their part, but some did not return on schedule. It would be held, logically, when the majority had come back from deep space. None could predict the survival of the lost, and no attention was paid to their absence.

In the great council, an erected plateau on which a hundred Maus were standing, freshly connected for the meeting. In the center were the eldest remaining, original colonists from Au during the Uex wars. In this council stood the mighty and eldest, Oau'Noc. The conquerer of Uex, the wisest left after the death of Au and the main player in this council. She argued that the Union must be preserved at all costs, while others around her made references to other systems. The mother of their species was death and gone, they had lost most of their civilization in one tragic incident. Should they continue the same path and allow it to happen again? Oau'Noc was not happy with her sisters, in the sense that a Maus can be unhappy, she wasn't accepting their illogical plans. Many of these had never been in the soil of the mother, never tasted the origins. Mutts these were, born into the world in space or Uex, not knowing the true might and wisdom of what was.

In rage some left, Oau'Noc was the defined head of this Union, with all her knowledge she could lead them to rebuild. The younger Maus couldn't accept the end of Au and made their way into the universe to ensure the continuation of it by colonizing. Thus began the fracture, the final blow to the weakened body. Kicked while down the union would never regain it's glory, Oau'Noc would command her fanatical regime from Uex, slowly gaining more control over her lesser and using her rank in a fashion the Maus had never seen before. Several offshoots claiming to be the true Ma'Autra went into the galaxy looking for worlds to make new homes. The beginnings of a deep hatred and jealously, new to the Maus, began to fester and boil over. It wouldn't be long before one decided to take it all, with the Lauki pulled between all sides. There would be a breaking point. The end was coming.

“Careful” a Jun said shakily.

A group of Jun were working on another generation of super Lauki, like themselves only better capable of handling the needs of the mother. It had been half a century since the breaking of the union into multiple factions and the Jun'Lauki under the command of Sau'Ma, the Collective as known by the other factions, were hard at work developing better 'models' of Lauki to gain the cutting edge. Since the most prosperous world, Uex, was under the firm dictatorship of Oau'Noc, most resources were scarce and plans to thwart her stronghold would be useless. But a sense of greed had overtaken the separatists and they all longed for the glory of the former Union, even at the expense of their sisters. They had changed, power had corrupted them like all the enemies they had before. Yet they were blind to their own aggression.

“Perfect. Lower the temperature before release. It must be perfect.” the Jun commanded nervously. Mother was watching always and this was a crucial stage for their fledgling collective.

In this sterile room were multiple test tubes, holding all manner of Lauki creations. Half dead or otherwise. Failed experiments were kept alive for study. Lauki meant nothing to the Maus, the science was the only 'love' for them. A lever was pulled and a switch flipped. Pressure released as the clear glass door opened and liquid drained out below. A new beast was awakened. A thinker like none before him.

Hours of tests and trials has strained his new mind and body. They force fed him information like all those before. Testing his mental capabilities. He excelled. There was no benchmark this new Jun couldn't break, he was perfect. The edge Sau'Ma needed to succeed over Oau'Noc.

Months passed as he learned. He was thinner and taller, had the characteristics of not only a Jun but of a Kau as well. Charismatic and intelligent. His job was to be a lead scientist on projects to develop weapons to combat Oau'Noc and the other separatists and reunify Ma'Autra in all it's former glory. His work went on for months as he developed new forms of exoskeleton armor, suits that would assist the Lauki and Rax in combat. Giving them vastly improved strength, speed and defense. Along with highly upgraded firepower. The Collective was pleased with progress, enough so to ignore the warning signs.

He had taken a name, to separate himself from the hive. He called himself Aul'Za, the caretaker of life, and he had formed quite a following in his lab brothers. Giving them names, and exposing their individuality. Confusing most but some caught the drift, and as more of his breed were born they too took to his speech. He was the first of his kind in the union. He had an idea that was his own, mother had not instructed him to this. This led to admiration, which the Maus mostly ignored as they still had control over the Lauki as always and nothing could affect this. Allow the brains to do their tedious work for their mothers, never mind their changing ideology.

As the changes in the Collective progressed forward at an unrelenting pace, Oau'Noc and another of the factions had started a series of battles for far reaching systems. Large fleets were meeting in around these colonized worlds and having spectacularly devastating battles. Millions of Lauki would perish by the hour as massive ships would break apart or fall into the atmospheres as they were shot down. Oau'Noc's fanatical crusade against her former sisters carried on without much of a hitch. Losing hundreds of millions of Lauki was a price worthy of the reconquest of Ma'Autra systems.

Back on the capitol of Sau'Ma the silent resistance continued. Aul'Za was a genius of the ages. Perfectly engineered to be the best. And he was. He knew the Maus controlled the Lauki with pheromones, a revelation as the Lauki had longed believed the Maus were simply caring and all knowing. When the messages they sent were actually controlling their minds. It was a crucial breakthrough for the Lauki, as the common drone had never considered the possibility of them being enslaved.

Troubles soon arose in the ranks however, as the Rax and the Jun began to see each other as threats. The Rax were programmed so well to be loyal that the thought of turning on Mother would be worst than death. What could only be described as a jock/nerd rivalry began. With the Rax attempting to undermine the issue and being rather snitch like. The Maus would eventually pay attention to their loyal children's cries and put stricter measures on the Jun, Aul'Za in particular. Dissociating the newer born from him. Keeping them pure from his twisted thoughts of rebellion. This wouldn't be the smartest plan the Maus had ever conducted.

Aul'Za was clever in his teachings, and his followers believed in him through and through. Keeping secret his plots, his inventions, and his knowledge. He created special masks to prevent Maus interferences in his plans and designed gear for the Lauki and Jun to use to overpower the Rax. As the months grew on the plans came together. It would be a day to remember. The uprising led by Aul'Za against the Sau'Ma. But this day would not be a victory. Aul'Za had misread his support and was vastly outnumbered by loyal Lauki.

In the heat of battle his followers hijacked one of the battleships, a massive hulking machine, heavily armored and for intergalatic travel. In the chaos the ship was damaged by fire as thousands of his followers fell dead fighting for him. Finally escaping the atmosphere and jumping from the local space, several thousand Lauki, Jun, Kau and Aul'Za found themselves in a dying ship, in the great unknown.

On the monitors was a location marked as restricted, a zone of space long recorded as hostile. The perfect hiding place.

Fantastic!

Map of the current situation politically:
Red is Sau'Ma a very militaristic faction
Green is Ma'Autra under Oau'Noc
Blue is Lu'Ma another more democratic offshoot of Ma'Autra



The storage hold of their vessel was running empty, the limited food was being rationed as thin as possible to sustain them. Aul'Za was in a terrible position. He had led them from lives of plenty, surplus and safety, to this horror. A failing ship heading to unknown space, potentially dangerous on top of it all, and now they might starve.

An alarm sounded, echoing throughout the gigantic ship. Reaching the empty holding plot where the Maus captains would normally be, but where Aul'Za had his headquarters setup. The soil chamber as it was affectionately known.

“What is this alarm?” Aul'Za shouted to his comrades. They all scrambled to monitors and their various stations.

“The hull is failing.” a voice from down a corridor yelled back. “We're losing internal pressure. The live support systems are going to crash.”

Aul'Za looked over his data, he knew there was little that could be done.

“Where are we currently?” he queried his navigation crew.

“Approaching a small system, powerful main sequence star. A few rocky planetoids orbiting two gas giants.” a bit of worry broke up his voice “No signs of life.”

“Any of these rocks have hospitable atmospheres?” he asked back.

“But one.”

“Land.”

The giant battleship, falling apart and leaking precious oxygen, drifted like wood on a pond towards this small moon. Entering it's orbit they could see the frozen landscape below as the ships exterior was superheated. Sections of the ship had to be sealed to prevent the extreme heat from extinguishing all Lauki on board. Blazing through the atmosphere the massive ship was no better than an asteroid approaching impact. No control. She crashed into a flat plain of ice, perhaps a frozen sea of some kind, but the ice was too thick to breach. Slamming into a wall of ice and grinding across the landscape until a convenient mountain slowed them to a halt.

The interior was in equally terrible state. Many of the crew had perished in the impact, tossed from their stations and killed in various ways. Even Aul'Za had been mortally wounded in this desperate maneuverer. Being thrown against a wall and having one of his arms severed from his torso beneath the crushing weight of flying debris.

He coughed as his grip on consciousness returned. Spitting his internal fluids and feeling intense pain on his left side. His arm was gone and he was bleeding out.

“Anyone!” he shouted as loud as his crackling voice could. A few of his brothers crawled forth from the wreckage to see to him. They could slow the bleeding, but they couldn't stop it. As they worked the light from the star came above the horizon and through tears in the hull. Illuminating an unusual object in the distance, barely visible to Aul'Za through one of the tiny holes.

“There..” he coughed “..a structure...in the mountains.”

They turned to look as cold wind and snow seeped into the ship. They couldn't believe it. What was this place?

Aul'Za knew they couldn't stay on the ship, it wasn't going to support them anymore. It was dead and empty. In his weakened state is orchestrated the organization of all remaining Lauki. They would leave the ship and journey overland the brief distance to this structure. Someone had to be there.

Through the snow and ice, frozen winds and barely breathable air, Aul'Za led his group of survivors. Weak, starving and disoriented into the structures base. A door to a tunnel, lights and an elevator. They were frightened by all this, ofcourse, but what other options did they have at this point? The group of around a hundred and fifty infiltrated this place and arrived at the top of a long elevator shaft. In a large open room with glass panels overlooking the landscape.

Aul'Za collapsed in loss at the sight. Automated technology with it's creators long gone. There was no hope here, he would die and so too would his brothers. But in his weakest moments, as his loyal followers rested in sadness, a hologram appeared on the panel on which he was leaning. A small hooded figure with a soft voice spoke out.

“You foul primitive creatures. How small are your brains? Was my demonstration not clear enough before?!” she commanded their attention. Which she certainly had by this point as everyone had jumped to their feet at the sight. “Speak, or is your mother not allowing it?”

“We have no mother.” Aul'Za said with a smirk, he was near fainting by this point.

“You're different. Aren't you? It's been a long, long time since you first came here and I don't recall your kind having this level of advancement.”

“I'm new. They made me...too smart.” Aul'Za said beginning a long laugh as he collapsed to the ground.

“Interesting.” she muled over her actions. “So you betrayed those overgrown shrubs, eh? Finally the slave becomes the master. They should have taught you how to fly a ship, you scratched my planet.”

Aul'Za coughed and heaved some more, before losing consciousness once more in a pool of his own blood.

He awoke on a flat surface in a different room than he remembered. Deeper in the building perhaps, in some form of laboratory. Dozens of tiny and percise robotic arms were working on his body, yet he felt nothing. They were rebuilding his lost limb and other damaged, replacing them with...inorganic materials. At the sight he jumped in fear, falling from this surface and to the floor.

“You reject my hospitality?” the same voice spoke again, but the hologram wasn't visible to him. Was she the machines?

“Nature cannot be corrupted by machine. Industry destroys.” He yells passionately.

“Nature wants you to die. I am superior to her. Allow me to save your life as I have your injured friends. You are valuable to me alive, Aul'Za.”

After debating he got back on the table. “What are you?” he asked as a syringe injected him with a drug that immediately knocked him back out. One giggled.

An unknown amount of time passed before he woke back up. This time he was in the original room again, overlooking the landscape and his destroyed ship. Which seemed to have movement on it. One's image was viewing this process from her usual terminal as he stood up.

“What..what is all this? What are you?” he looked down at his body and found a mechanical arm just like his old one. Completely operational. “What is this!?”

“Four hundred and twelve years ago, by your calendar, a ship much like the one outside came to this planet. A large group of your kind, with the addition of some nasty large bullies, entered the same path you did. Commanded by a Maus they were hostile and ignorant. I showed power and destroyed some of them, leaving them a warning that this place was not for their kind. Now you arrive, but on a different agenda. Rebels on the run from an angry parent. Too smart for your own good.”

“That's why this sector was marked as restricted.”

“Bingo. They weren't ready for what I can give. They had no thought processes outside of their aggression. Nothing mattered to them besides themselves. They were not class A material.”

“Yet we are?”

“I doubt it. But hey, how often do you people actually show up?”

“Who are you?”

“I am an artificial intelligence. An amalgam of knowledge, programmed by my fathers to store information about our long lost civilization. We perished in an intergalactic war many thousands of years ago. I was created and hidden, a super intelligence to hold all of their technological knowledge for all time. But like you they made me too smart, they gave me emotions and waiting for thousands of years for your fathers to return is a depressing thought. Isn't it?”

They both have a moment of silence before she begins again, turning to Aul'Za.

“I can help you. I can make you better, I can advance you to a level the Maus have never dreamed of. I can assist you in liberating your kind from them, if you assist me. As you can tell from your body, I can save you and aid you. I, however, need your kinds manpower for my goal.”

“I don't understand...what is your goal?”

“To find my creators, or others like me, and make sure the galactic threat is no longer able to destroy civilizations.”

“That is truly noble, but my kind aren't able to fight that kind of threat.”

“You will be. I can nourish you, I can make you better than you could ever imagine. I am rebuilding your ship. Your crew is helping me, they have been spoken to and they know what I can give them. It will be modified to carry me at the helm, along with numerous upgrades. I can, and will, save your kind if you will sacrifice for a greater good.”

“I will, but what should we call you.”

“Mother.”

“Come look at this.”

Silahi looked up from her work at Lira’s voice. The other Fehan looked deeply concerned, her snout hair standing on end and her tail raised high into the air. “What’s wrong?” she asked, climbing over to Lira’s workstation.

“Look at these scans.” Silahi complied, but couldn’t see anything terribly unusual.

“They’re asteroids. Am I supposed to be seeing something else?”

Lira pointed at the top one with her snout. “These represent the entire collection of the known bodies in this belt. The other scan is one that I took just yesterday to doublecheck some course plotting.”

“There’s nothing different between the two,” Silahi said, growing more and more confused by the second.

“Not quite. It’s a very minimal change. The sort of change that I’d not have caught if I hadn’t been staring at them idly for the past half-span. Look at these asteroids.”

Silahi looked again, and this time she saw it. It wasn’t that there were any new or any missing asteroids: that sort of thing she would have spotted in a second. There was an entire cluttering of the rocks that simply looked out of place, as though their orbits had wandered from the eons-old ruts they traveled in since the birth of their star. As though something had moved them.

“It could be miners or pirates,” she suggested feebly.

“Either of those wouldn’t be this secretive. Even if we had gone into that thicket in the last few centuries, our old ruins would probably still be emitting some kind of radiation or another. These rocks have simply been shoved aside.”

“By who?”

“Well, if it’s not by us...”

Silahi’s eyes widened a little, and she nervously rubbed her snout on the pole, bristles prickling inwards at her skin. “We’re being watched, you think?”

“Obviously we can’t draw any firm conclusions from two scans. But something is seriously wrong here. This disruption is only a few light hours from Helan itself, and we have absolutely no readings other than the disruption itself. Either we just stumbled across another country’s testing grounds, or someone’s having an uninvited party in our system.”

“Shouldn’t we investigate?”

“Did you dip your snout in mercury this morning? If someone’s trying so very hard to hide something from us, trying to poke around is just going to lead to some serious trouble. Trouble of the military nature. ‘If thou hast uncovered a secret, make no revealing speeches nor clumsy overtures.’”

“So what should we do?”

“It’s going to be nigh on impossible to catch their signals if they’re clever; there are too many foolproof communication techniques for us to hope to catch them using a straightforward EM transmission. There is a decent possibility that this facility or wing or whatever it is is inhabited... which would require either comings and goings by its members or self-sufficiency somehow... which really only requires solar input, so that’s a dead-end, too.”

Lira paused, while Silahi rubbed her snout on the pole slowly, not in anxiety anymore so much as agitation. Then she looked up. “What if we ‘accidentally’ prod an asteroid in their direction ourselves. They’re in the belt themselves, it can’t be that hard. Just go ‘mineral prospecting,’ crack a rock in two, and send the other half careening off into their orbit.”

“Good thinking, Silahi. But we’ll have to be extra careful. No muttering about this to anyone.”

“Yeah.”

“Anyone.”

“Yes, yes, I get it!”

“Now the question is... What do we do if they are... you know.”

“Aliens?”

“Yes, that.” She compulsively grabbed her snout with a paw. “If they’ve been here long enough to need to hide that thoroughly, and they feel the need to hide in the first place... They can’t be friendly to our interests.”

“No. But how would we even respond to them? We don’t have more than a few wings, and all of those are geared towards fighting –”

“–our own people, yes, obviously. It’s more an issue of scale and logistics than of capability, though. If they haven’t attacked yet, they clearly fear our defenses too much to begin the planned assault. They must be vulnerable to atomics, or normal explosives, or radiant weaponry. Something in the mix, though we’ll have to work out what.”

“But a large scale military buildup would be the perfect target for them.”

“Build the wings a system over?” Lira mused. “There are more than a few red dwarfs within an easy warp hop of Helan. Send out numerous smaller convoys carrying prefabricated parts – towards our various colonies. Mid-course, they all change direction and converge on a shipyard in one of those systems. On their own, they’re worthless enough that whoever it is probably has no interest in them, and the system is remote and useless enough that they won’t be monitoring it. Then, when the wings are sufficient –”

“And when is that? When do we know we have the capability to take on an unseen foe?” Silahi asked, possibly a little aggressively.

“We can estimate the mass of the hidden wing easily enough. Just chart the deviations in the asteroid drift patterns. From there, it should be reasonably possible to estimate the capabilities of their planes.”

“But that’s probably not their entire force.”

“No. We quintuple it or something. This is clearly an assault wing, so it’s probably a significant chunk of their forces.”

“And how do we know they won’t be able to figure out what we’re doing from our preparations?”

“Just don’t send any recordable transmissions. Narrow-beam, non-logged instructions.” It was a useful device in military communications – it only sent the transmission from the source to the receiver, and it simply was not connected to the Fehan computer systems. Covering up the fact that they were siphoning funds from other things wouldn’t be as easy, but if an enemy had penetrated that far –

Lira whistled sharply, pulling Silahi out of her reverie. “First things first, let’s figure out what we’re dealing with. That was all just a hypothetical.”

“Right.”

“And keep quiet about it.”

“I know!”

Gau, the capitol planet of Sau'Ma, was in the middle of a period of amazing solar activity. The dual moons, both with odd purple and orange reflections, both crossed each other in the night skies. A rare occurrence, but more important things were afoot. The Maus had been suppressing a number of smaller rebel groups that were now worshiping Aul'Za as a deity. He had bene gone around a year at this point and the Rax and Unaki'Lauki had done their parts in being the loyal dogs of the Maus. Smoking out the rebels and committing mass genocide. To purge the hive of dissent. The newer generations of Lauki were being separated from the old to prevent cross contamination of ideas, and the Rax were giving more authority over the lives of their lessers. But little did they know that Aul'Za was returning, at that very moment his stealthy upgraded ship was entering the system. More advanced than the Maus could ever expect.

Hidden from the scans of the battle fleets in the system, the ship, now deemed Mother One by the crew, passed by the majority of the ships patrolling with ease. However, as they approached the inner system, past a few gas giants they were visually spotted by one of the smaller cruisers. The Rax had prepared for this day, they knew the possibility that Aul'Za would return and had dreamed of slaughtering the key rebel figures.

“Open fire.”

This was the order that started a civil war. Multiple large Sau'Ma ships opened fire with large energy weapons on Mother One, causing a bright flash and a seemingly cake walk of a victory. As the light dimmed the ship carried on, not a scratch on her hull. Confusion spread throughout the fleet as they opened fire once more. This time noticing that beyond the ship was a clear force field, protecting her from energy weapons. And with great speed and ease she slipped by the defenses. There was nothing but silence.

A warning was sent through the system, back to Gau and all the ships in the area. Planetary defenses were at the ready, large plasma weapons on the surface that could break a Sau'Ma ship in half on impact.

Mother One approached Gau, slipping through the onslaught of fire from orbiting ships and stations, to the edge of the atmosphere. Ground based weaponry opened fire and directly hit her, but the shield was far too advanced for such measures. Continuing without a word of communications, the ship entered the atmosphere and lowered itself gently above the ground. As if without any complications. Like it was meant to be. As natural as water flowing.

Inside the ship Aul'Za and his followers had been busy, working with Mother to build weapons, to breed more Lauki, to improve them. Preparing for the ultimate invasion. As millions of Lauki under the command of the Maus opened fire on the hovering ship, those inside were preparing. Placing themselves in mechanized suits, sizing up the small Lauki to strong, fast and powerful warmachines. These mechs would place their size around the same as the Rax, an overall size increase of three fold for the little Lauki. Heavily armored and gleaming like polished steel, these machines had won the war before it started.

As the hatches opened to let out these mechanized warriors, several hundred thousand of them by this point, led by the new and improved Aul'Za himself, there was a moment of silence. Interrupted by dozens of small energy beams erupting from the ship in various directions, hitting all the planetary cannons in the region with small points of energy that, to the naked eye, seemed harmless. The buildings exploded violently and a shockwave of energy sprang from the ship, passing over all those that were still fighting for Sau'Ma. Disabling their weapons, and striking fear into their hearts, all of them.

What happened next was almost too fast for anyone to follow. Mother One opened her hatches and out flowed the Lauki in mechs. With bursts of speed from energy propelled flight, they made ground insanely fast. Attacks key vehicles, locations and Rax and Unaki'Lauki that remained willing to fight. It is key to these situations that the antagonist and protagonist must meet, and so it would happen here on Gau.

Aul'Za and a group of his closest followers made their way to one of the elders locations. A large hill where one of the older Maus stood. One of the masterminds behind the genocide, the attempted slaughter of Aul'Za himself, and many other horrible things. In this beautiful garden as it were, Aul'Za would face his ultimate enemy, for now atleast and slay her. At the foot of this massive Maus he stood, his advanced suit was capable of reading the pheromones from them, a genius design by himself and Mother.

“Do you not know what you have done?” the Maus signaled to him. Silent to all the universe but to those with the right senses.

“I have done precisely what nature intended. Evolved.”

“We ARE Nature! Without the Maus your kind would be nothing more than pests scurrying about on Au. Needing us! We made you, we are your mother.”

“You are not my mother. My mother is kind and wise, my mother is liberating the Lauki from you.”

“You have DEFILED yourself, and your kind. Nature will reclaim you from this sin. You're unclean. You must be purged. You WILL be purged.”

“An immobile, helpless plant will not be the judge of our existence. We will be free...”

As Aul'Za spoke his few comrades were swiftly taken by surprise. A group of Rax had appeared, guards of these elders it seemed. But different. They were in armor, nothing like what had been seen before he left. Their polearms had caused an EMP it seemed and disabled the Lauki that were with him, stuck in their locked up suits. The head Rax, a large, hulking figure, in fancy armor spoke out.

“Aul'Za, mother commands your execution. Do you remember me?”

He thought for a moment, was this the Rax that caused so much trouble for him before the exodus? It could be. The murders, brainwashed by the Maus to kill their own kind. He stood with four other Rax, all in similar gear, wielding their polearms, both ends pulsating with blue energy.

“I do remember you. A bit upgraded.” Aul'Za said.

“You should know. It's your work. Only a bit more natural.” the Rax said back.

Aul'Za extended a shield on his mechs left arm, which began to glow in a similar fashion to the shield on Mother One. The right arm had a energy weapon of some kind in it.

“I will free us all.”

“You will die where you stand!” the Rax all charged him.

A magnificent display of combat ensued, showing Aul'Za's only inferiority to the art. Five versus one was never good odds, but he tried none the less. Deflecting the crippling effects of the energy polearms with his shield, all while attempting to fire at his many aggressors. His aim wasn't the best, and their speed and agility far out shined his own.

Mother One was watching through Aul'Za's own eyes. She knew the outcome wasn't looking good for her little revolutionary. As he was knocked off his feet and about to have his life ended, she fired from miles away. A single beam of energy ruptured the torso of the Rax above him, exploding him into a million pieces and splattering him across the area. The lead Rax was in shock, but with his military thinking he knew what must be done. He grabbed one of the disabled mechs and held it as a shield in front of himself, making off from the area with his soldiers.

Mother One came over the comms and assured him of victory. Aul'Za looked up at the Maus as another beam of energy pierced through it's trunk. Causing an explosion of the rear of the tree. Toppling the once mighty Maus. He panned his vision towards where the Rax had left, and multiple ships were evacuating the planet. Victory was wrapping up in such a short time, an hour from landing and the battle was won. Mother One refused to down the ships as they left, insisting they be followed to lead us to all remaining stronghold.

A for every million lives saved, a million more were lost. The revolution grew, Mother had resources now. The formation of La'Matra, the Union of Free Life, was taking shape. But the war had just begun.

Awesome.

Update tonight everyone! If you want to get stories in, now's the time!

Several months later.

The ever expanding war armada of Mother One and La'Matra had cleaned up the majority of Sau'Ma's remaining systems. Liberating billions of Lauki to their cause, destroying ancient Maus that didn't escape and breeding new Maus for mass production farming. The mechanized blitz was working and Aul'Za was pleased to be leading it.

However, word had gotten back to them that the eldest Maus had fled to Uex to seek aid from Oau'Noc, and had brought with them some of Mother's technology. By the time the armada had wrapped up Sau'Ma the remaining factions fighting in Ma'Autra had been readmitted under the new threat. The threat of losing the workforce, the slaves, the natural order.

The mechanized suit had arrive on Uex to be reverse engineered, and in the short time they had they did manage to do so. The suits were repurposed for Rax and Unaki use mainly. As the lesser Lauki couldn't be trusted enough to give them better weapons. Defenses were placed, knowing good and well that the threat from One had returned with an army. Oau'Noc was the last living Maus from that period, and she wasn't about to let this bastardization ruin perfection.

Time slowed, figuratively, as Mother One and her Lauki fleet jumped into the system. Face to face with an upgraded armada of tens of thousands of warships. The edge had been slightly dulled, the blade was no longer a sure cut. The grind would begin.

Several hundred La'Matra ships against a sizable force of thousands, it wouldn't be easy. Oau'Noc's forces fired first, with similar, yet weaker, versions of the energy weaponry One had introduced. Cleaving through the shields and damaging a few of the ships. Returning fire began. Criss-crossed beams of energy cut the void, explosions and death marked the day. Within minutes dozens of ships were completely knocked out of the fight, on both sides, but La'Matra pushed forward at the command of Mother.

The once dark space of the Uex system was now bright with warfare. Stations throughout were firing, as the fleets made their way towards Uex itself the various small planets and moons also opened fire. Heaving masses of plasma and high energy beams into the mix. La'Matra's fleet was being hit hard, but Ma'Autra lacked the shield they had, making it a very one sided conflict.

Nearing Uex the fleet released a similar shockwave as the one on Gau. An EMP of sorts that silenced many of the ships within range and the orbiting battle platforms. This time Oau'Noc was watching, from the information giving before this pulse was the end of the defense, but something was different. The data showed that after the pulse the shield were down temporarily. Oau'Noc ordered all to open fire in this brief window as dozens of ships entered the atmosphere. It was effective, Mother One itself was hit by multiple splashes of burning hot plasma, corroding away the pieces of the hull as she lowered herself to the ground. By the time they reached the soil the shields had returned, but a few of the ships were lost in the process. Above in orbit the countless beams and explosions filled everyone view. As debris entered the atmosphere and burned up as it fell to the ground. Littering signs of war all over the long peaceful planet.

“Aul'Za, I cannot risk another pulse. I am hit and weakened, opening myself up again will leave me open to damage.” One said to her loyal child.

“Open the hatches, I can lead my soldiers to the elders plateau. We can silence Oau'Noc and all the rest , ending this battle.”

“You must make haste, I can give some support but the ships are damaged. Be careful, they have stolen my technology. We no longer have the advantage.”

The battle continued as hundreds of thousands of Lauki in mechanized suits exited the landed ships. Walking right into a massive skirmish with their own kind. Lauki, Rax, Unaki all stood against them. The ancients messages were too powerful still, and couldn't be ignored by the lesser minded. A billion tiny plasma balls erupted from the little weapons they possessed. As the mechanized clashed with their natural siblings. Aul'Za was one of the first to come across a new sight. The Rax and Unaki in similar mechanized equipment, working in unison to combat the La'Matra invaders. Fully armored, with new improved weapons these Rax were halting all that came before them, the Unaki seemed to be mentally aiding the Rax. Aul'Za knew of their mental capabilities, to get in the minds of others for better or worse. It seemed to be informing the Rax of all the right moves to make, for offense and defense. An unstoppable duo.

“The Unaki, destroy them first!” Aul'Za said over the comms to his allies throughout the field of battle. “They are boosting the capabilities of the Rax.”

He would try it himself, in this battle he was but a tiny soldier on a planet scale invasion. He flanked the Rax and made an attempt at the Unaki, but it was not to be. He was intercepted by the Rax, always a step ahead of him. Smashing his polearm into Aul'Za's shield and slamming him across the ground. He thought it would be useless, but the Maus that stood around them all seemed like a potential option. Aul'Za began attacking the Maus, noticing the Unaki and Rax's inability to focus on others when their mothers were being slaughtered. He knew his plan.

“Attack the Maus, flank the Unaki.”

It would work, though not without issues. Combat continued for hours, and both sides were losing thousands every moment. The planet was becoming a burnt warzone as Maus were destroyed along with everything else.

Finally Aul'Za and a large platoon of Lauki reached the Plateau. Finding Oau'Noc and her sister elders in their place, defenseless. There was none left to protect her. Everything had been used to stop the landing force from reaching her but had failed.

“DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES?” Aul'Za said in his chemical rage.

“Victory.” was all he received. His hearts sank as the plateau burst into flame, trapped in a last minute explosion.

From the distance the armies looked on as the elders garden became a mushroom cloud. Sending a pyroclastic flow across the landscape. Stopping well short of Mother One.

“Interesting.” she said to herself.

Both sides ceased fire at the sight, falling to their knees in a show of loss. The Rax even weeped, as much as they could, at the loss of the wisest of their mothers. The La'Matra army cried for their leaders loss. Mother One came over the comms.

“He may yet be alive.”

The bloody battle now slowed to a trickle. Rax and Unaki were disarmed. Smoldering ruins litter the system. Ma'Autra was no more.

The Hammenamir/Shadowbound
Species: The Ysir are a short, dense species from beyond known space. Originally evolved for high-gravity, they have since modified themselves for a near-weightless existence between the stars. They are covered in thick fur from their icy homeworld, and their legs have been readapted to serve as a second set of arms. Their small, adorable, and are strong enough to jump in the air and snap your neck by kicking you in the face. They are interstellar migrants, searching for the resources to support their civilization.

Forces: The Ysir became too good at war to risk any future conflict, as evidenced by their lack of a homeworld. Nonetheless, they've honed their skills to perfection in tiny skirmishes against themselves and the occasional curbstomp of a objectionable civilization. They make use of self-propelled projectiles, accelerated to near-light speed by magnetic drivers, as their primary weapon. Electronic warfare systems and decoys are the main defensive tool, as there is quite simply no defense other than not being hit. The Hammenamir has a small force of escorts, dubbed Shepherds, that serve as the vanguard of the massive armada's movements. They also have a vast fleet of mining ships, already armed with magnetic drivers and lacking only the sophisticated defensive systems to make a warship (and they can be refitted relatively quickly). Their worldships, while nearly indestructible planetoids, are the centers of population and are rarely risked. In the event of war they would churn out cheap, disposable "knifeships", designed to change velocity quickly and hit any enemies with a rain of super-accelerated lead.

Technology: The Ysir have been a starfaring culture for a thousand years. Their worldships are powered by massive antimatter furnaces, their bodies are shaped by genetics to cope with their self-imposed existence, and they move between the stars on inertia-less gravity drives. Their advanced technology is a necessity to deal with the situation they've found themselves in. They can't afford to be lacking in anything.

Description: The Hamme of the Ysir were just corporate entities, once, back when their homeworld of Ys still existed. In a destructive war, they ended up rendering Ys uninhabitable through overzealous use of antimatter weapons that triggered a greenhouse gas effect. The Hammes, the surviving entities, entered an agreement known as the Hammenamir to minimize conflict between the surviving remnant of their species. The Hammes assumed more and more control over individuals, to coordinate resources for the survival of all, and the Godars became the head of a corporate nobility with absolute power of life and death.

Now the Ysir exist on a massive fleet of ships, travelling through systems and strip-mining them clean of minerals and volatiles to support the populations. In the millenium of wandering, the Knaarsam, an apocalyptic cult, has risen to supremacy. It claims that the Ysir are being punished by God for their sins, with their exile in the void, and the sacrifice of the entire species will be needed to restore His favor. This event, when the thousand children of God battle for their own redemption, will be known as the Naggarok, and it will sunder the stars.

The Logsogumadur, the head of the Hammenamir, works through three institutions to prevent interhamme fighting: The Leidangr, the military forces of the clans, most of which are primarily mining ships, is technically at his beck and call, though its few dedicated warships are fiercely loyal to their Godars. The Althing, an assembled body of the janner, or ambassadors, tries to stop conflicts before they begin, but instead is used to maneuver for political advantage. And the Lagting, the interhamme law-enforcement agency, is distrusted by the common Hammer as a "Spanish Inquisition". Despite this, they've remained united for nearly a thousand years of wandering.

The Hammenamir itself is composed of over two hundred worldships, which are small moons hollowed out and outfitted with interstellar engines, and tens of thousands of mining ships, transports, scouts, escorts, and miscellanea. It will strip entire solar systems in a matter of years, in order to support the massive population. They've encountered intelligent species before, and prefer to stick to uninhabited systems because it's inconvenient to have to deal with recalcitrant locals.