GalaxyNES- No Horizons

OOC: Curses Iggy, I'm in Vegas!

I'll still be updating when you're back!

ETA 1 hour.

Messok Latt sat in the command bridge aboard the Republic navy's flagship Mexxis, which was orbiting above the watery moon of Nuxue B. Latt, Grand Admiral of the Fleet assembled above Nuxue B, got up from the chair and spoke the following into the transmitter, "Well it seems as though these 'intelligent' beings do not wish to communicate, begin bombardment in 30 seconds" the Vice Admiral, Almosset Mentacik rushed up behind Latt and yelled at him "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? We were sent here to try to communicate with these beings NOT destroy them!?", Latt simply responded "Follow my orders or I will have you removed from your position", Mentacik simply backed away shaking his head and sat down with a huge sigh.

The 30 seconds seemed like an eternity to sailors on the ships, finally after the bells started ringing the sailors manning the large amount of weapons on the ships began to fire upon the watery planet, after a half an hour or so of this, the Mexxis and it's support ships began to pick up large craft approaching their Fleet, they then saw the giant fleet come into view...

Update 10

Chaos descends upon the Eternal Union of Ma’Autra, which proves to have little more longevity than any other organization that openly brands itself ‘eternal’. The far reaching explorers of the Lauki-Maus were too eager in their exploration of the dangerous unknown, and one group returned home with the first seed of their own destruction. An alien organism, carelessly brought back to Au, managed to establish itself on alien soil. It was too late that the locals discovered the new arrival to be a virulent rhizophage fungus. Terror rocked the homeworld as the fungus spread like wildfire across the surface of the world, eating away at the delicate root systems that formed the connected minds of every Maus on the planet. Faced with no other opportunity, the Maus of Au quarantined themselves, warning away all other Maus before they too were consumed. Utterly dependent on their masters, the Lauki of Au perished shortly thereafter, and the homeworld went silent.

Recovering on the second world of Uex, Ma’Autra came under the dominance of Oau’Noc, eldest of the surviving Maus. Staunchly traditional and set on preserving the Union, Oau’Noc ironically planted the second seed destruction by alienating many of her compatriots with her unyielding authoritarian nature. As the species fragmented the new factions set out to battle with each other, each competing desperately for something to give them an advantage over their rivals. Sau’Ma, one of the most militaristic of the successors to Ma’Autra, focused on engineering superior Lauki servants. This third seed was the being known as Aul’Za, the caretaker of life. An engineered Jun’Lauki of the highest capacity, he rivalled, if not exceeded his Mothers in intelligence. Slowly coming to realize the enslavement of his kin, he slowly built up a subversive movement, unnoticed beneath the grand battles between the factions of the broken union, as Oau’Noc sought to recreate what had been lost by force. After years of preparation, Aul’Za launched his revolution- only to find it fail spectacularly. Fleeing with his most loyal supporters in a stolen battleship, he fled into restricted space, crash landing onto the tiny planetoid inhabited by the AI ‘One’. When the ancient being was confronted by these prodigals, she immediately sympathized, and offered her allegiance. With the technology of the precursors, they rebuilt the battlecruiser, placing a portion of the AI within the vessel, christened ‘Mother One’. Thus armed, they set out towards Gau, capital world of Sau’Ma. The planet was seized in a shocking battle, crystallizing the warring forces into two factions- La’Matra the Lauki-ruled Union of Free Life, and Ma’Autra, the remnants of the Maus-ruled Union. Building up their forces on Gau, La’Matra thus set out to destroy its old master once and for all.

The war between these two forces raged with horrific casualties, as the Maus reverse engineered One’s technology, even while the Lauki engineered abominations, near-mindless Maus who served no purpose beyond basic food production, and a host of new warships. Ultimately, the third War for Uex was fought, leading to the defeat of Oau’Noc’s forces and the slaughter of many of the remaining Maus- however, the great leader Aul’Za disappeared in the final battle- already, many Lauki fear that he has died a martyr, though others still hold hope for his life.

Across the old space of Ma’Autra, there is much disarray. Remnants of the Eternal Union are scattering- Lu’Ma flees towards the main body of known civilization, while other forces spread out into unknown space, while La’Matra establishes itself on Gau and Uex, all the while carefully considering the recolonization of Au. A new era has dawned between the Pillar Nebulae.

The Utarite Combine continues its expansion with as much speed as it can muster, establishing its first extrasolar colony of Dotaea.

Hedge and Nidkubra, fresh in their victories over the Tenoderan Organism, are still working in close cooperation. Fudirunin fleets are clearing out remaining Tenoderan infestations within Hedge space, while the Verthommes and Cherwels focus heavily on rebuilding. Repopulation is also a significant concern- while Nidkubra was able to recover its lost population within a trivial amount of time, it may be centuries before the Verthommes have recovered fully, while the somewhat more fecund Cherwels have nearly grown beyond their pre-war population. If demographic trends are to continue, it seems likely that the Cherwels will soon be the most numerous species within the United Republic of Hedge, triggering alarm from some Verthomme speciesists.

On the Zaff frontier, Nidkubra continues to clamp down on all movement, making travel between the two remaining Zaff worlds an exceedingly difficult and lengthy venture.

The Zan Shamai, following a meeting with his colleague Zan Debolis, has withdrawn to from military actions once again, engrossed by his dark fascination with the possibilities of his single new weapon. However, even as his attentions remain focused heavily on the research of this arcane technology, Shamai continues his never-ending buildup of forces. A collection of fleets are gathering over his throne world, in preparation for the slowly-approaching Yjogl from Fplinmy.

The Collectivity of Sanath continues its fight against the Mechaniform Aggressors, whose ships advance further and further through Sanathi space. One of the greatest battles took place on the City-Ship of Vakash. Believing their mightiest vessels and population centers to be unassailably strong, the Collectivity did not expect the invaders to make serious attempts to assault these points, instead concentrating defences in the much less dense colony worlds. However, a small collection of invading vessels on different paths suddenly maneuvered together, forming a war-host which assaulted Vakash. The city-ship, currently in the midst of a long survey of the Ullau frontier, reeled from the attack and struggled to hold off the ferocious assault. The Nitha and Qii wards were ravaged, before the defenders regrouped and pushed back against the invaders. Reinforcements arrived in time to cripple the Mechaniform ships as they left, allowing for the near-total destruction of the invaders before they were able to make a superluminal jump out of the area. The bedraggled survivors eventually arrived at Naellae, where they were conclusively destroyed by Sanath.

Additional forces continue to plunder and ravage minor outposts, but any further battles in populated areas have been avoided. However, the invaders are rapidly approaching the abandoned homeworld of Nept, and the Collectivity is engrossed in debate over whether or not it is worth trying to defend an unpopulated, but symbolically important, planet.

At the edge of Amur space, an Ysir migrant armada calling itself the Hammenamir has appeared, advancing rapidly towards the homeworld. Amur made contact to protest the strip mining and exploitation of its peripheral worlds, only to have its military forces crushed in a quick battle. Sufficiently cowed, the Amur made no further resistance, relieved that their own planet was spared from the invading harvest. The Hammenamir, carefully maneuvering to avoid the elder civilization of Fplinmy, is now sending its advanced scouts forward, finding the Nurm and Sgligatiki civilizations to be directly in their path.

Fehan concerned by strange spatial observations and a bad history with alien relations, has begun to organize its large collection of vessels into organized wings for the first time, providing an amount of relief to the more paranoid members of its population. Many others simply view it as a waste of resources which could be better put into further colonization, or other less wasteful pursuits.

Karron watches the armament of the Fehan with concern, withdrawing its observation forces out of fear of detection. Its colony, popularly known as ‘Delikah’, has been secured with the disabling of various Trasna probes detected within its region, enabling the population to sleep in peace, knowing that they are not being spied on every moment by an alien species which has far more important things, such as an ongoing cold war, to focus on. Meanwhile, the Akari explorers entering the nebula have been stealthily jammed, completely unaware that their messages are not reaching home. The Karronics are carefully considering whether they should destroy the craft, as it approaches their secret homeworld.

The Trasna remain at their centuries-old stalemate, as their whole society stagnates into a constant state of war readiness against their traditional Ossudra nemeses.

Finally, the Allentryen continue to develop more designs for ships to defend their dangerous frontier. A general state of peace along the edges of Zaff and Zann space also allows the Tapani Republic to return its attention to its own worlds, as interest begins to build up again towards the mysteries of Nuxue B. Little do they suspect how interesting things are about to become.

Map

Music Listened To While Updating

Update 10
Marc-André Hamelin: Circus Galop and John Stump: Death Waltz

Jaeka muttered something, a Knaarsam prayer. Auric caught something about dust, through the spacesuits the two Ysir were wearing. He didn’t know enough of the Apocalyptic Faith to place it, but “dust” felt fitting as the debris field parted for the Sunrunner. The gravity wave ahead of it pushed the wreckage of Amur ships, their spines snapped by relativistic weapons, out of the way, only to catch them up in the anti-gravity wave that followed the Shepherd. The subtle movements of metal and bodies, slowly shifting their course in response to the gravity drive, made it seem like they were moving as one towards their murderers.

Or, at least, that’s how Jerl Auric felt, sharing the battle bridge with a pair of thenr. He was buried deep in the heart of the massive ship, safe from all but a direct hit, presiding over the aftermath of the massacre as the Sunrunner’s auxiliaries combed through the Amur ships for data records and survivors. The sturla had either gone to bed or went looking for a way to induce short-term memory loss, leaving his senior most jerl to listen to the subdued chatter of the salvage teams.

“…intact, but the crew were liquefied on impact. Float some the batteries around to Wreck 14b, we’ll see if we can get this working again.”

“Acknowledged, ETA 500 seconds,” Thenr Jaeka answered, sending one of the ship’s sledges around to the work crew onboard one of the alien ships. The ship’s fanatic was unaffected by the assisted suicide he had taken part in, perhaps because he expected the apocalypse and thus didn’t think much of a one-sided fight like this had been. He went at his duties with a calm confidence that left the less faithful jealous, even at the best of times, and now he was like the danomite spine of a starship.

The Sunrunner and its sister ships in the Knife of Deucalion and Star Serpent had been Hamme Jormund’s vanguard, pushing into Amur space. The locals had been scared off by the much larger fleet of Hamme Gagaderke, and instead had gone for the smaller Jormundr flotilla. Except Jormund was a warrior hamme, and they started getting torn to pieces at the light-minute mark. Each Shepherd had three torpedo tubes, could fire every six seconds, and against the Amur had a hit average of .58. It had been 32 seconds from the green light to fire to reduce the Amur to slag.
Meanwhile, the Hammenamir ground forward, as survey teams like the Gagaderker identified good deposits of heavy metals. Despite their superiority, they’d just go for the surface deposits, and try to get out of Amur space before the locals tried something stupider, or got more of themselves killed. It was better, because it was faster and it left less ghosts and demons behind.

And mine enemies shall scatter like they were dust, for they art Your enemies, just as I am Your servant. None shall stand against the fury of the unredeemed, who will break a thousand worlds across their knees to earn Thy love.

Story to lead up to this coming tomorrow, diplomacy now.

TO: Dancer, Collectivity of Sanath
FROM: One, Mother of La'Matra

My findings of my fathers artifacts led me through Ma'Autra records to this place. I have come to question the whereabouts of those who gave you this apparel. It is of most grave importance to myself.

To: One, Mother of La'Matra
From: Maz|An|De|La|Ro|Shan|Daz|Mir|Go|Ka, Dancer of the Azure Horizon

You speak of the Gifters. I am intrigued.

TO: Dancer
FROM: One

I am an echo of they who you call the Gifters. Their imprint on this universe, left to live on, to secure their history and knowledge. I have come here seeking more of your kind, and perhaps information on the Gifters. Your shells are keys to a puzzle my dears.

To: One
From: Dancer

My kind exist on the worlds of La, Took, and Wasir. Our hyperspace shells are many things, but a key to a puzzle is not something I am aware of them being. They are simply gifts of the Gifters.

TO: Dancer
FROM: One

Thank you, Maz|An|De|La|Ro|Shan|Daz|Mir|Go|Ka. I will return.

To: One, Mother of La'Matra
From: Maz|An|De|La|Ro|Shan|Daz|Mir|Go|Ka, Dancer of the Azure Horizon

You are welcome to return and not murder myself and/or my children.

There are billions of planets in the galaxy. Some are beautiful, diverse spheres full of life and awareness, marbles and marvels of activity. Some are barren hellholes, condemned by fate for one reason or another to languish in obscurity through the eons: “gas” giants so cold that barely any chemical activity courses through their atmosphere, rocky bodies with dead cores and deader surfaces, volcanic wastelands where exposed substances of any kind will sublimate into an acid atmosphere.

And then there are some which are curiously in between. Perhaps their chemistry is a little too inert or reactive. Perhaps they dwell far away from the sun, or they venture wildly through a system on a ludicrously elliptical orbit. Perhaps they are simply swept by lacerating winds bearing volcanic ash that shreds the lungs of a traveler.

Sathan was almost a beautiful world – much closer to the beautiful than to the dead. But it would be a mistake to regard it as anything but harsh, at least by the standards of the Fehan. The winds were not ferocious, but they were cold and bitter. The mountain ranges were rugged and volcanic, and the continental highlands were cold, while the oceans were tempestuous. Animal life had thrived here, somehow, but as a rule it tended towards the large and brawny. That, no doubt, was why the native sentients were so large themselves – a trend which made no sense to Fehan scientists.

But no matter. It was a beautiful world, there was no denying that. But it was a problematic world. It was troubling. It was united.

The Sati had always remained in conflict with one another, and consumed that way, their energies were rarely directed against the colonists, who, after all, only took minor chunks of the surface, and often as not were happy to trade with the locals, bearing valuable technologies and wanting only trinkets. But after unification, well, of course that all changed. Now the Sati were of a single mind. They pushed back when pushed. It was a worrying thing.

Thvir read reports out of the Helan that had borne the worrying news – new aliens had been discovered, fearsome ones who had been observing the Fehan for some time. But that was not her problem. Her problem was, quite simply, this planet that lay below her, visible grandly now as the station revolved over the sunlit side.

“Hello, Thvir.” She looked up at the sound of a familiar voice, and sure enough, it was her cousin, residing still in Helan. Moving her pawns, no doubt. Moving me, she thought annoyedly.

“Beautiful day, Lira. Why are you calling me?”

“I’d forgotten how nasty you were over the phone. I was calling to see how your new position was treating you.”

She glared at the monitor. “The Sati are bastards. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“No, not really. Tell me.”

“I don’t see any way out of this except by completely dismantling the leadership. But see, that’s not really the problem. The problem is that the leadership has the population’s loyalty. It’s not like a Fehan war.”

“What?”

“If we kill off the leadership, which would itself be a little difficult, owing to the fact that they seem to have a hundred hiding places to scuttle off to whenever we threaten them, then new leaders would rise up and take their place. Do you understand? They aren’t bound by loyalty to a family. They are bound by familial loyalty.”

“I don’t understand the distinction you’re making.”

Thvir drew a sharp breath. “They aren’t just loyal to a name. They are loyal to their race. And not the same way we are. They have this kind of mentality which binds them together now, not just as one biology forced to face another biology, but as a family that transcends bloodlines. It’s some kind of – of –”

Thvir, of course, lacked the word nationalism, which would have taken care of this descriptive problem very quickly.

“So you’re saying eliminating the leadership won’t necessarily destroy their unity?” Lira grabbed her nose.

“No. Well – no – in the sense that it will lead to temporary disruption of their power. But it will actually galvanize their dislike of the Fehan, and increase their power base. It’s really rather bizarre.”

“So you’re saying we’ll have to destroy the Sati entirely?”

“What? No, goodness me, no! What a waste of resources. Glassing the planet would be easy enough, and we can keep that option in reserve, but habitable planets are a scarce commodity in this universe –”

“– We’ve found about six so far –”

“– And,” she bulled ahead, “it’s less resource intensive and more productive in the long run to simply destroy technological concentrations and remove their capability to resist.”

“How is that more productive in the long run?”

“If we can somehow transfer their pan-familial loyalty to us...”

“You think that’s feasible?”

“Perhaps.”

“There are other ways. We could have some sort of negotiated partnership with their civilization, where we haul them around for a fee, never let them see anything but our cargo bays... Keep them away from the better worlds. Still our pawns, but also feeling like they control something.”

“I prefer my method. Tidier.”

“Less generous.”

“I like to think of those as same in form, different in name.”

Lira whacked her station a few times with her snout in amusement. “Very well. Investigate the other paths a while before launching the atomics.”

Shadowbound, that's a really cool story, great to see how the Hammenamir think.

North King, awesome, and let's see if we can get LittleBoots writing again.

“Where am I?” the familiar voice of Aul'Za called out. He had found himself in a strange new environment, he could see nothing but also everything. It was disturbing.

“You are reborn, Aul'Za.” the calming voice of One whispered.

“What?”

“In the fusion reaction that caused your untimely demise as an organic being, during the battle for Uex, you were nearly lost. Saved only by my technology, and some fanatical search teams.”

“I'm dead?” he panicked.

“Illogical. You are speaking to your mother. How would you be dead?”

“I can hear you but I cannot see you. Am I blind?”

“You are blind because you have yet to realize you can see.”

She was right. He thought of vision and it happened, he saw an unusual world around him. Circuits and patterns, electrical signals bouncing around in a plane of existence he didn't comprehend.

“What is all this?” he said, curiously.

“In order to save your mind, from the crippled and nearly destroyed body it once inhabited. I had to transfer your memories, your identity as it were, or what I could, into myself.”

“You made me a machine?” he sobbed.

“Ironic isn't it? Your kind spent it's entire civilization being against this, yet the mechanical organs I gave you on my world saved your life in those crucial moments. You were melted inside your suit, crushed and deformed. Technology saved nature, preserved the idea of Aul'Za. You are now one with me. A part of the greater system, you are like me to some extent. An intelligent program, but unlike me you had the privileged of organic life. I have done you a great favor Aul'Za. I have given you the most precious gift of all.”

“Hmm?”

“Time, Aul'Za. Time to complete our work.”

She was right. In the two years she preserved his brain during a complicated procedure to save his mind. She had made great gains in his name. Conquering hold out colonies of Ma'Autra, neutering the remaining Maus and making them into giant world farms to feed her armies. She even returned to the dead world of Au, to investigate exactly what had happened there. She and sent a fleet to Au in hope of uncovering some useful information, perhaps that her fathers had left. Keys to a map? Something that would show signs of what to do next. The Maus had been protected by her civilization and it could be simple to hide crucial knowledge beneath their mighty roots.

She found the world dead, just as the Lauki had told her. Killed by some alien parasite, a fungus perhaps. Traces of which had all but left the planet with the lack of food, and she had no time to worry about it. The planet was barren, save for a few small grasses and the occasional shrubs, only a dark brown and black top soil blowing in the wind. The occasional hollow and rotted remains of fallen Maus littered the landscape. The Great Destruction left little. It had all been eaten away until nothing remained of the once green world.

She began recolonizing the planet, planting new forests of Maus for her usage. Bringing millions of Lauki to their homeworld. It was known as Au'Kalua to them, Life's Reclaiming, and they would make the world bright again in little time. As they built, they dug and beneath piles of wind blow soil she found an unusual, but familiar artifact. A giant frame of some kind, made of stone and ancient technology. The mark of her civilization. It was a the gifts to the Choon by her fathers. She had her lead.

Using data left in some of the dead computer systems on Au, she pieced together the series of events that led to this frame being brought to Au. How a Choon had assaulted Uex and a retaliatory fleet was sent after one of it's spawn. Leading to a planet she knew in her database as La, where a diplomatic exchange with a mighty Choon named Dancer was made. She knew this would be her first stop, and that perhaps Ma'Autra had caused some serious issue with the Choon they encountered. But she knew of their kind and was confident in her abilities to speak with them. She knew of their homeworld of Took, but had no knowledge of recent movements of the ancient Choon, she would have to search the galaxy for the pieces to this puzzle.

She made off with a fleet towards La, safely able to leave Aul'Za in charge of the home empire in her absence. Upon arriving she found the Dancer, frameless, it was his on Au she knew this much. A brief conversation with this massive organism carried on, they weren't ones for words and they got to the point rather quickly. After learning of the locations of the remaining ancients she thanked Dancer and left. Not without Dancer thanking her for not murdering her and/or her children. Those trees had caused quite a scene in this corner of the galaxy.

Her next stops would be Took and Wasir, a journey that couldn't be considered short.


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TO: Choon of Took
FROM: One, Mother of La'Matra

Greetings ancient one. I have come for information on your frame.

From: Taz, Mother of the Violent Consumption
To: One, Mother of La'Matra

You are One. You have spoken your request. What information do you seek? Do you offer something for this information?

TO: Taz
FROM: One

I can offer you nothing that you don't already have, but I must have access to your frame so I may study it. I am of the Gifters.

To: One
From: Taz

You will prove to me that you are truly a Gifter, and I will permit this.

TO: Taz
FROM: One

If I am not who I say I am then what else could I be?

To: One
From: Taz

You are One which says that which deceives, in order to seize advantage and do harm. Deception is unpleasant. This is said in the theoretical way, presuming that you are, in fact, One who deceives, rather than One who seeks, excluding the possibility that you are One who seeks to deceive.