GalaxyNES- No Horizons

[Thlayli]

"You are sentients selected from the finest your species have to offer. You are stronger, faster, and more intelligent than any before you. And your fate, within the next generation, will be to live, work, and die onboard the great city-ships, upon which civilization itself depends. Seventy million of your brothers and sisters were slaughtered by the Abomination. But in return for their sacrifice, two hundred billion organisms have lived in unparalleled prosperity.

Make peace with your saints, spheres and gods. For their sacrifice will soon be yours."

-Sanathi Void Marine Commander Sathiras Akrat

---

"This is the Naellae Planetary Information Broadcast, casting from the Collective Management Council. I am Pree Hira Hai, and my co-caster is Qii'te'an Sii'eii'ni.

Point the point. May the circle and saints guide us all, in the light of the Rou, Tai'she'v, and holy Vakash.

Thank you, Qii'te'an. The scandal engulfing the Collectivity following the dismissal of Seraph Vekiron Halkras has finally cooled in the Enrae, with the arrival of the newest Kasekral representative, Lord Savarash Rashtala. In a statement issued by the Council's office, Lord Rashtala expressed his hopes that his term on the Council might atone for the "grave treason" of Lord Halkras and his clique. His statement also marked the one year anniversary on Nakir'kral of the infamous massacre of the research team at Halakash.

On Nakir'kral, we can now confirm the completion of the dissolution of Halkras State and the confiscation of the holdings of House Halkras. These events follow a guilty verdict upon Lord Halkras from the Lords of the Hegemony in Sartasion, on charges of high treason and speciesist aggrandizement. Rumors of heavy casualties to Nakir'kral's planetary defense force during the enforcement of the dissolution are unconfirmed, but recent opinion polls cite that at least 75% of Kase'kral approve of the dissolution, the first such action in almost two centuries.

Point the tangent. For a more detailed presentation on the internal politics of the world of Nakir'kral, please follow the embedded links.

Point the ellipsoid. Following the calming of the most recent global storm on Nept, a new colonization attempt is being spearheaded by the trading conglomerate led by Palau Maula. Following Palau's appeal of the Collective Arbitration Committee's decision to the Seraph Council, the traditional Neptile-only exclusion for expeditions to the planet has been relaxed, on the condition that all Collectivity species are represented in the new colony.

Thank you, honored colleague. Protests against the decision have come from some Nitha groupings on several of the orbital stations surrounding Nept, but the Council and Palau Maula have both offered assurances that the science and neptiforming stations will supply the bulk of the recruits for the settlement.

Point the spiral. For up to date climatological data and neptiforming projections for Nept, along with a detailed presentation on the millenia-long project of restoring this nuclear and biologically-ravaged wasteland to her legendary historical beauty, please follow the embedded links.

The application of the Lauki-Maus of La for a seat on the Seraph Council has been accepted. The Lauki-Maus will be granted the ability to elect one nonvoting representative of either species. After a period of stewardship to be determined by Seraph Dancer, they will receive the full privileges of any other Collectivity race. Questions of vote weighting between Lauki and Maus have yet to be decided, pending a decision by Seraph Dancer.

Finally, we have a recently breaking story. It seems that our allies in New Braniga have finally settled the question of integration, with the passage of the popular referendum and the approval of the planetary government of Truff. This follows an aggressive campaign supported by several of the largest Ullau mercantile conglomerates with Naellae-Truff trade connections. Widespread distribution of audiovisuals from the Battle of Selinnar Rift and the Second Battle of Koraft reportedly had a major impact on the vote in the urban centers. While some anti-integrationist parties campaigned against what they labeled 'scare tactics,' large margins approved the integration plan after the Seraph Council's offer of concessions.

Point the curve. New Branigan forces will continue to be led by a Warmaster of New Branigan origin, who will have the rank of Fleet Commander equivalent to that of Fleet Commander Chee Nira Cha. Additionally, three representatives from the constituent peoples of Truff and Koraft, the Branigan, Kurkrav, and Navartine species, will be admitted into the Seraph Council. Restrictions on immigration and economic quotas to prevent New Branigan space from being flooded with war refugees and migrants from the Collectivity are pending.

---

Major Planets of the Collectivity:

Nept
Capital: L1 Station Taishev
Population: 32,000,000
Climate: Varied; temperate to cold, wracked with serious storms and unpleasantly mutated organisms, becoming more habitable

Nakir'Kral
Capital: Sartasion
Population: 6,323,000,000
Climate: Hot and arid; blistering in the equatorial deserts, and warm to temperate in polar mountain ranges.

La
Capital: Chaicha
Population: 44,433,000,000
Climate: Temperate; covered in forests, prototypical garden world

Naellae
Capital: Enrae
Population: 76,000,000,000 (estimate)
Climate: Varied but mostly temperate; pseudo-ecumenopolis

Kurilate
Capital: Raellan
Population: 50,964,000,000
Climate: Warm and moist, sub-tropical to tropical, very small polar ice caps

Note: Several billion more live on various space stations, moons, military vessels, and outer planets within Collectivity systems.

 

[Ninja Dude]

Root of Barat/Ninja Dude
Species: Dendro Originally posted by Starlife:

Spoiler :

The Star-Forest is an area of space completely controlled by the species called the Dendro (though they would not know themselves by this name). The Dendro are sentient tree-like beings. There are technically many types of Dendro sub-species, resembling different kinds of trees, some deciduous and some coniferous. They can uproot their root-like tendrils and usually move slowly, though they can move a bit faster if required to do so. The Dendro brain is located in its legs, or the roots which it walks with. This network of roots represents the synapses of their extensive brain network. There are many ways Dendro can communicate with one another. The main way is to send vibrations with their tendrils through the crust of planets. Their advanced network of planetary roots systems allows it to act as a sort of high-speed Internet, and makes disrupting their communications extremely difficult. Even though the Dendro do a wonderful job at communicating, they are highly vulnerable to fires. For this reason many Dendro growths migrate towards water sources or places with heavy rains so that, in the event of a fire, they can either use the natural weather cycle or dump themselves into a nearby river or lake. Yet some fires are good, as with all decay and destruction, there can be re-growth. When a Dendro is damaged and grows back, it will grow to be more intelligent and larger than it was before. That is why fires caused by heavy sunlight or drought can actually be a positive thing, and this is also why migrations of Dendro occur from desert-like regions to water-side regions. The rite of passage of living in a desert region with forest fires will create stronger, more resilient Dendro.

The Dendro that resemble deciduous trees are called the Decids, and they are decidedly the most powerful of all Dendro sub-species. They go through seasonal changes depending on their planets, and this can often effect their moods. The Conifs are the other sub-species, and these are much more stalwart and less temperamental. It also makes their brains slightly less advanced and their roots systems are not as sensitive. The Conifs often act as on-planet laborers and defenders because of their ability to withstand extreme temperatures. But the Decids are more intelligent, and are responsible for interstellar travel and "government" affairs (which does not at all resemble government affairs of other star-nations).

Dendro planets are named according to the type of tree which has the most control over that region. For example, the capital planet is called Bodhi, representing the god-like tree that reigns over the capital and controls most Dendro society. This is a mysterious tree, and one whose root system is deep and extensive. Dendro systems are named after types of leaves, which symbolize the leaf-types (and so the tree-types as well) which the sun of that system sponsors growth with the most. The capital system is called Orbicular, as the sun promotes circular-shaped leaf growth. Dendro regions are called Forests, and their cities are called Growths. Towns and smaller settlements are called Groves.

Dendro young come from seeds and they take a long time to grow into adults. That is why population growth can be a bit slow in Dendro society. The seedlings can also uproot, though it takes them some time to learn this skill, just as a baby will eventually learn to walk. It also takes them some time to be able to speak or communicate by hooking their roots up to planetary networks. To grow, a seedling needs to learn on its own how to find sunlight to engage in photosynthesis and where the best water sources are. Eventually, when it is a Treeling, it will have to undergo the rite of passage that includes sun-fire and torment. Despite the interconnecting network that all Dendro are part of, each Dendro can make its own decisions on what it wants to become. There are many levels of this seemingly simple society. There is art, music, government, military, philosophy, and all kinds of other types of disciplines that a Dendro may focus on for the greater good of Dendro society. This is their decision, though usually there is some pressure as to what kind of Dendro is needed more at the time of its raising.

Larger tree structures can be created, which are the backbone of Dendro space ships. If many Dendro begin to grow together, they will create a combined vessel and a tree that is large. Their roots systems will permanently merge. Usually it is best to create a vessel with a Dendro that has focused its root-power on engineering or structural integrity, and add in a Dendro that is well-versed in communications. Interplanetary/interstellar communications are done using highly sensitive seed-springs that are quick and effortless. They are spore-like in nature, and attach themselves to asteroids and other space-junk, and grow to serve the sole purpose of delivering a message. These spores and special communication seeds can grow at incredibly fast rates, even if they are lacking water and sunlight. The Dendro settle other systems and planets through a long process of terraforming, to make the planet just right for their growing needs. This means that highly advanced and older Dendro can actually shoot seedlings into space, or attach them to space-rocks, and send them to other worlds to begin a colony. This is how Dendro society began to spread into the stars.

Feral Dendro: Seeds that were sent a little bit far away landed onto the hellish planet Barat. Despite many of the seeds being engulfed in lava/eaten by wildlife/generally getting annihilated, a few hardy saplings took root. Utilizing what little resources they had, they grew much like their kin across the stars. However, their hostile environment meant regeneration and injury were constant. Eventually they grew to a monstrous scale, far surpassing even the largest of Dendro in the Star Forest. However, with their multiplied size and strength came a diminished mind, and they must rely on smaller subspecies of Dendro to carry out most tasks.

Forces: Feral Dendro over power other subspecies of Dendro with their immense root systems, acting as a brutal form of mind control on their brothers. Their sheer strength also allows them to crush any opposition, capable of lifting up entire continents if in a sufficient rage. Feral Dendro are sent to new planets from Barat once the planet becomes too crowded, curling themselves into massive private space vessels. Once on a new planet they serve as its police and governors

Technology: A more barbaric form of Dendro technology. Ships are still made from Dendro binding together, but usually a "control cut" is taken from a Feral Dendro, ensuring it follows its wishes while not inhibiting its more intelligent underlings too much. Planets and moons are still linked to one another with massive root systems covered in rocky substances, allowing near instantaneous communication between Dendro.

Feral Dendro can send themselves into space in a dormant state, which then awaken upon re-entry into an atmosphere. They also form the core of most capital ships, with smaller subspecies attaching onto them to provide needed guidance and propulsion.

Description: The Root of Barat is a collective formed by the Feral Dendro inhabiting the solar system of Barat (which is in turn named after their home planet*) While the Feral Dendro do not know themselves by any name in particular, their underlings refer to themselves as this in the event of contact with outsiders. Once the Feral Dendro began to send themselves to new worlds, they began to find environments better suited for their smaller brethren, leading to a bit of a boom** in their expansion. With hordes of workers at their disposal and a taste of the "sweet life" that can be found outside of their home planet, the Feral Dendro now seek to expand with a ravenous hunger for more.

*Technically it isn't the Dendro's home planet, but it is the home of the first Feral Dendro.
**Boom by Dendro standards is fairly slow. Still, the Feral Dendro and those seeds produced by them grow rapidly by Dendro standards.

Hope I did this all right and will be willing to answer any questions.

 

[Thlayli]

"Qii've'nar, I fear."

"Point the point. You have confided in me for decades. You can always speak."

"Complicated. I grow tired. Physical portions of body growing weaker, simultaneous to biomechanical upgrades growing stronger. Body tires as mind expands. Millions died at Selinnar Rift. I felt their deaths, led them to their deaths. Even after evacuations, fleet personnel maintained families. Children. Sacrificed like stones in te-kat. Used as propaganda tool. But I feel little remorse, necessary sacrifice. Worried I am becoming what I fight, sacrificing sentients like mindless Zan machines."

"Point the circle. The Nitha are a species born with a purpose. They were created to defend the innocent from those who would kill without mercy."

"Yes, recall words of Saint Pree, we are the seraphim. The fire in the void. Appointed to cast the great demon down from the heavens."

"Point the curve. Just as the Nitha were created to defend the Qii from extinction, you were created to defend the entire Collectivity. If not for your sacrifice at Selinnar we would be fighting for the silver towers of the Enrae as we speak."

"Platitudes. Fear of losing myself only first fear. Now fear for the Doctrine Collective. For our very survival."

"Point the angle; you fear Shamai's forces have grown too great?"

"No. No no no. Do not fear Shamai. Losses acceptable. Dancer, Traveler long journey over. Ili'li'i mobilized. Descended from ancient dead family grouping that worked on Dancer frame, know what she is capable of. Deployment of SYSTEM will help. Interference tactics will help. My request for hyper-thermonuclear fusion bombs approved. Shamai will fail."

"Point the torus; why do you fear?"

"At battle at Selinnar, touched Shamai's mind. Do not entirely understand this, possibly related to failed hacking attempt. Our bodies are...similar. He is insane. Petulant child with the power of a god. Hate without reason, irrational, evil. Not a strong Zan. Shamai allowed to survive by brothers. Kena, other names in records. An experiment? Exile, factions? Do not know. Can defeat Shamai, perverted little demon-child. At current strength? Cannot defeat others."

"Point the sphere. We shall grow. We shall advance. Our population grows, and our science advances. The new city-ships are twice as strong as the old. And we will purify their child."

"Child of Abomination my greatest fear. Child itself may just be child. No innate power, no knowledge of Zan tech, simply innocent being. But, data from raid on Shamai planet collected. Zan hatred of biological life universal. Except Shamai. Made mistake, tried to create Zan civil war by telling Kena of Zan child. Now realizing scope and strength of Zan. Shamai fears telling of his sons. If the Zan learn, they will kill. Everything. Kill. Everything. If they learn we have made new Zan, they will wipe out entire arm of galaxy. This my fear. Brothers of Shamai falling on us en masse. Shamai is a wayward child. I fear the fathers."

"Point...the spiral. If the Zan are as strong as you claim, this child might be our only hope. There is always a path to peace. If we could show the Zan that their children can live in harmony with others, perhaps they shall give up their hate."

"Hah. Ha. Qii truly cherubim. Wise but innocent. Holy guardians that cannot guard themselves. But your love is true. Die cast. Must attempt to make good Zan. Replicate control systems, create new warmachines fighting alongside us. Perhaps child-Zan will learn justice. But. But but but. If child shows sign of becoming like father, burn it."

"Point the point. That was ever our intention."

 

[North King]

Every planet is her own;
Any planet could be home;
Every world is like no other;
Any world could be mother.

After nearly a week here, Peri had started to feel uncomfortable in Ana. The city was beautiful, no doubt, and she didn't worry about anything like she had on a few occasions in the fleet, but it didn't feel like home. Home was the corridors of a spaceship, with its little gardens and private rooms, tiny hideaways and secret spaces. Even though the city was built up over her head, like the canopy of some concrete-and-steel forest, it felt too exposed. She was not made for planet-bound life.

“Morning,” Hili whistled, and Peri got unsteadily to her feet, blinking repeatedly. “I've found the right files.”

Peri stretched, the vertebrae in her back cracking, as she looked blearily at the other fehan. “Oh?”

“Yeah. It looks like Marikihi went on a military transport, like you thought – there's three which left the city around them without official assignment. One – well, that was you and me. Another – some higher up who desperately felt the need to vacation in Cha'i. And one... well...” She nudged the datapad over to Peri with her snout.

“'Shuttle 83394, Idle,” Peri read. “Well, that's easy enough. Do we know anything else?”

“Yeah.” Hili reached over and fiddled with the screen with her snout hairs.

“Rama. Low level Fleet officer, failed to report to post that day... Left the world of Helan, destination unknown. Well now that's just awful.”

“And,” Hili pressed a few more buttons.

“Oh, come on. There's at least three interstellar flights leaving at that time, all of them to wildly different destinations.”

“Think of it as an opportunity to travel!”

Peri turned and smacked Hili with her tail. “All right, Anlu, Taki, and Sathan... Huh. I did'nt know they were even running flights out to Sathan these days.”

“There's a reclamation effort ongoing. It's a lot easier to fix a biosphere than to create one from scratch – even one so broken as Sathan. Granted, it's even easier to colonize compatible, new, intact biospheres, which is why the colonization effort gets more funding. But I don't think they went there.”

“Why?”

“Sathan is a pulverized world, and while they have a lot of technology around, all of it is devoted into salvaging that planet. Marikihi is a scientist, and whether she's under her own direction or under the control of some third party, I guarantee you she or they want her to continue her work as quickly as possible.”

“All right, so Anlu or Taki.”

“Try Taki first.”

“Why?”

“Fifty years into colonization and the place is already a haven for criminals. If there's any place where it's easy to hide some kind of compound, it's a world which is both full of them and empty of real surveillance.”

“All right. I'll make the arrangements then.” She looked up at Hililiao. “Thanks for your help, Hili. You've been a good friend here. I'll mention you in my report to the Admiral.”

“Oh dear. Make sure it's a positive mention. I value my tail.”

Both their snouts curled down in amusement.

After that, there was really quite little to be done. She made arrangements to leave the city before the end of the day, and packed up what little she had brought with her. In a way, her job would be a lot easier now: Marikihi was fleeing from Helan – a disorganized nightmare – into the colony worlds – the abode of the Fleet, where Peri would have tremendous resources.

Or so she thought.

Previous Story in Arc
Next Story in Arc

 

[Thlayli]

The Warmaster grunted, stretching his frame. In the darkness of his chambers, the cold alarm had begun.

Contact.

The children laughed as they threw the floatdisc over his head in the alley in the hot and dusty city they laughed and their taunts turned to jeers and then to kicks

Uniform on, dispatches acknowledged, preliminary orders given. Harmless narcotic energy boosters imbibed. A brief feeling of bone-shattering gravity as hyper-acceleration at sub-light speeds engaged before the stabilizing fields kicked in. Evasive maneuvers being made without his knowledge. Slight rumbling beneath his feet, preliminary weapons discharge.

These Kurkrav were sons and daughters of merchants and property traders their alien clicks stirred a hatred in his heart his planet his species the cold ceramic of the vibrablade against his leg

The sub-officers had competence, things were running smoothly as he stepped into the bridge. But the tension was balancing on the edge of a knife, bleeding quietly. His brooding form, his silent introspection of the battle statistics, and the tension dissipated. 'A Warmaster does nothing,' said Merneg the Great, Conqueror of Koraft, 'but command.' One breached hull, a mere ten thousand sucked out into cold eternal darkness or shredded by accelerated shrapnel, and the sub-officers would break. Simply stand behind them, make them feel that the responsibility, the decision was not theirs, and they would stand firm.

The purple blue blood of the vicious children oozing in the street his disc his life his world but he felt fear he was a ward of the state and would die from the state so he ran he said to himself I will make a new life where the rules are mine

'Leadership is the mating of trust and fear,' said Warmaster Gorant. 'Inspire both.' If a sub-officer failed, he did not berate or reprimand them. Nor did he try to soothe or encourage them. The careful, neutral, emotionless tone he had spent years cultivating was given to both the successful and the unlucky. All his sub-officers were competent. Some were excellent. A sentient to whom he said "Good." would live the rest of their life as a hero in a sky villa on Truff. His praise came sparingly.

The army asked few questions of a strong young lad who could spar for dominance in the pit and execute firing solutions it was simply a matter of deciding to be the best

Whether they scored or missed a particular Zan vessel, whether their delegated squadrons were shredded with brief screams or curses coming over the comlink before static, or whether cheers and hoots came through in the wake of a massive, spindly capital ship collapsing in flame and dust, the praise or the fault lay as much in the hands of each individual crewman, fleet commander, communications officer, gunnery chief, engineering tech, in their personal abilities to do what was necessary in times of drudgery and do far more than necessary in times of catastrophic peril. The praise or the fault lay as much on the inscrutable, dark intelligence that fought this endless war. On him.

He realized as he grew in size and power as ten soldiers then hundreds then thousands followed his command that petty children lived in every city of every region of every continent of every planet petty children were more likely to live than die by his hand becoming petty adults and they gained power and he decided to kill as many as he could

Occasionally, an officer might be personally responsible for some catastrophic error. The Warmaster would not personally punish such a fault. But he would spare a sentence expressing displeasure, and a note in the logs. His officers generally had the dignity to commit suicide under such circumstances. Secretly, silently, he was pleased with their sense of honor. One of them would become Warmaster after him. They would not do as well as he did, they would most likely become pawns of that thing from the Collectivity, but they would suffice. And that is as much as a Warmaster can ask of his soldiers. To do what is necessary.

Are you throwing the floatdisk over my head Shamai are you laughing as thousands of my brothers are kicked to death in the alley are you laughing as you play with sentient lives like insects

A thousand thousand more spindly machines jumped out of the dark and were immediately picked up by blaring sensors. Three seconds later they were met with a hail of thermonuclear fire, eliminating 22.32 +/- .04% of them. "Authorize the release of the reserve weapons stocks. Sub-Fleet 2 to anti-spinward by 45 degrees, maintain radial pattern. Full shields." His sub-officers saluted as one. His personal AI began recalculating the chances of his death in this battle, which had risen already to 37%.

It brought a little humor into his day.

I pried open their shells Shamai and I will yours the blade is still in my hand

A memory of long ago came back to the Warmaster. He dismissed it.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Day 37: The subject's growth is now quite rapid, and seeming to accelerate. Debates have been held over the last few days discussing procedures for 'birthing' the individual, or whether we wish to continue growing the specimen within ever-larger tanks. Once again, the lack of any adult Zan specimens leaves us very much in the dark.

Day 38: It has been generally agreed that it is wiser to leave the infant specimen inside the tank for a longer, rather than shorter time. Qii'te'li Usha'ali'li continues to struggle in the development of new tissues in the lab- I have never seen one of his kind struggle in such a manner before.

Day 45: The infant Zan is now 50 centimetres from armtip to armtip, and roughly 40 from the flattened sensory region to the tip of the rearward-facing leg. The membranes between each of the 5 major arms have entirely disappeared, and the creature is quite physically active, regularly thrashing around in its tank. It seems that the creature is not well-adapted for life in an open liquid environment- its muscular tentacles and lack of footlike or finlike structures seem to imply that it lives in some sort of densely-packed environment, perhaps arboreal or from some coral reef-analogue.

Day 49: Growth rate seems to have halted. Consulting with Cha Reechee Onee on adjusting the chemical balance of the solution once again.

Day 51: Major day. Zan is birthed. Too busy. Notes tomorrow.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Day 52: Madness. Suddenly, the whole lab complex is in a frenzy over my project. It is late and I have shifted badly out of my normal sleep-cycle, but I must record recent events. The creature began to rapidly destabilize, thrashing about and apparently weakening. Activity in the nervous system was beginning to crash, so I drained the tank. Possibly it had grown to the point at which it needed to be birthed. At any rate, the creature seemed to have suddenly started to drown, or suffer from some sort of stress- I am confused, although I have put together several theories. However, they are all conjecture at this point. At any rate, the creature self-resuscitated, and is currently in what appears to be good health. It breathes an atmosphere very similar to our own, and very clearly respires in the medium of air.

The infant Zan has been placed into a new incubator, a varied sort of environment in the lab. It has already displayed a strong affinity for climbing, and has taken to sleeping in a hammock which we have strung into its habitat. The creature seems strongly averse to open areas, although it is somewhat sociable and has displayed a willingness to come out of its habitat to engage in social interactions.

It has suddenly occurred to me that I am the first example of my kind, or perhaps of any species, to touch an actual Zan. Sovereign Lords. I might have a panic attack now.

Day 55: Still extremely busy. The specimen is... okay, I confess that I find the term 'specimen' to be growing rather uncomfortable with me. This creature is an infant, and a very sociable and curious one at that. It seems to have adopted me as its 'mother', although it displays a marked willingness to climb onto other lab staff as well, when it is let out of its habitat.

Day 56: There has been much debate over what to do with our infant Zan. Naturally, there is a great deal of fear and concern in this operation (much of it voiced by myself), but there has also been a good deal of excitement (surprisingly, some of it from myself). It has been the opinion of the Qii and myself that the infant should be raised in as much of a normal environment as we can manage, while continuing our observations. Should the Zan turn out to be immensely powerful, we would rather it be familiar and on good terms with ourselves, than be an encaged and infuriated prisoner. As such, we are now making efforts to socialize it, raising it as we might raise one of our own. While there has been some protest about how this will disrupt the natural development of the infant's psyche and body, these concerns have been argued down- such experiments may be performed in the future, but this individual has already bonded with us to such a degree that separating it now may very well do it significant harm.

Day 57: It has occurred to me that I have not physically described the little one for some time. It is a soft pinkish colour with slightly mottled skin, approximately 60 centimetres wide and 45 long. Small, pale, backwards-facing 'nails' are visible at the tips of each limb, and seem to be used as climbing hooks. The creature's 'face' is a flattened surface between the two frontmost limbs, featuring four uncertain sensory organs and a protrusible organ which extends outwards from a circular whole in the center. At the tip of this trunklike organ is an eye, while at the 4 and 8 o'clock positions there are a long series of thin structures, each resembling a minature pincer at the end of a thin, hard-shelled limb. These structures are incredibly fine in the infant, and seem to be used for fine manipulation. Also around this proboscis are a thick layer of very sharp bristles which appear to be 'teeth' of a sort. The whole of the protrusible 'head' can withdraw completely into the body, revealing a confusing concentric mouth, with a ring of teeth extending outwards from the central eye, and a second ring intermeshing, growing in from the outside of the pocket. I have never seen anything quite like it.

Day 58: We are continuing to feed the little one a steady diet similar to a concentrated form of the nutrient mixture that it was grown in. It is unfortunate that we do not know much at all about its natural diet, for it needs to be heavily coerced before eating.

Day 67: His (or her) name is Kara'tash, the redeeming one, a title given in the tradition of names of my people. It's been agreed that a name is appropriate if we are going to raise this little one normally. We have recently begun feeding experiments with Kara'tash, and it has proven to be quite an enthusiastic little carnivore. When coupled with vitamins, we find that it is quite able to eat the some of the same foods as ourselves. On this new diet, Kara seems to thrive, and continues to grow. Its size is actually beginning to be a matter of some concern, should the Zan be colossal in adulthood, there will soon be nowhere for it to grow. At any rate, I am finding myself impressed and surprised by my concern for Kara'tash. Perhaps its bonding towards me has triggered some sort of reciprocal maternal response in myself. Whatever the cause, I shall endeavour to raise this child as well as I can. It may not be the professional job that I have been trained to do, but it may very well be the single most important thing I ever do in my life.

[For complete records of Nahka Rashtala's Lab Journals, please consult the Collectivity Archives]

Day 1215: We have made landfall on Nakir'kral our hidden laboratory, and Kara has been moved into her new, much larger habitat. My adoptive child's new lodgings will give her the space that has been rather sorely lacking inside our craft, at around 3 meters across, she's almost larger than me now. A whole team of new scientists is eager to interact with her, and while I am wary, she seems to be enthusiastic enough. I doubt they'll find out much more than we already know. Zan are not psychic overlords, have no innate control over technology, or any sort of abilities beyond climbing around and having immensely good problem-solving skills. Kara may speak with the voice of a Nitha yearling, which is impressive enough as it is, given her lack of capacity for creating several of the phonemes found in Collectivity language, but her mind is as great, if not greater in capacity than any Qii that I have ever known.

I suspect my little one's journey is still only just beginning.

 

[erez87]

She gonna eat them all .

 

[KaiserElectric]

I regretfully bow out. My main computer is out for repairs, and it has all my Mejani info in it. By the time it gets back, I will probably be too far behind to catch up.

 

[Luckymoose]

I regretfully bow out. My main computer is out for repairs, and it has all my Mejani info in it. By the time it gets back, I will probably be too far behind to catch up.

That excuse holds no ground in reality. There is nothing to catch up on.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

I'd be sad to see you absent electric, if you're going to formally leave, could you give me some directions for what direction you'd like to see the Mejani move in, so they don't end up like just another abandoned NPC?

 

[KaiserElectric]

I'd be sad to see you absent electric, if you're going to formally leave, could you give me some directions for what direction you'd like to see the Mejani move in, so they don't end up like just another abandoned NPC?

Sure, I'll send you a PM

And Lucky, no need to berate me. I wasn't as far along with the Mejani as I wanted to be, and I didn't want to butcher a good story to get to where I wanted to be.

 

[Luckymoose]

And Lucky, no need to berate me. I wasn't as far along with the Mejani as I wanted to be, and I didn't want to butcher a good story to get to where I wanted to be.

I'm not. I'm simply informing you that the type of NES this is doesn't warrant such an excuse for quitting. Catching up is as simple as reading the update, especially when you aren't actively dealing with other players.

 

[Darksaber1]

It awoke, feeling a slight moment of panic and doubt, then checked the alarm that had been set for it. Then he scanned nearby space. It was a good thing he lacked a tongue, or he would have bitten through it.

Of the Others that had decided to stay behind, many were insane and other had slipped deep into their own illusions and daydreams. In fact, He felt only one small Other doing anything productive, and he lacked the power to do much. Similarly, the higher Creations had mostly gone mad, broken or slipped into Dreams, and the others weren’t being particularly helpful. They had planned this so carefully, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go!

He also felt the Children, oh, the Children. They were trying to do their best, but “best” had apparently created half a million spaceships they couldn’t use, armies of Soldiers and War Machines, and an unclear amount of random junk. Looking at it, he sighed and reached out, touching one of the Children.

And then he scanned the galaxy, and would have wet himself, if that were possible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sha-pac-kour-tall-then flowed nervously along, a spray of eyes watching the sky. Oh, the Council had said the Enemies wouldn’t find them, but they had also said that they could awake all the weapons of the Gods, which had yet to- he felt a touch on his mind, and turned to see who had touched him without him noticing. No one around. Odd, he could still feel-

A voice said: Hello.

It was a god things CkourT had neither a heart of jaw, or one would have stopped and the other been bit through.
CkourT said: Aragghhhagagagaghaaaarggyyyxxxqqqtttt!?!?!?!; which was rather eloquent, given the circumstances.

The voice said: Sorry, getting used to speaking to you Children.
CkourT said: Buh?

The voice said: ...I don’t know what that means. I just need to access our memory, won’t be a moment.

CkourT said: Urrgghhh.

The voice said: Right, just what I needed, thank you; then was gone.

CkourT carefully looked around, and rowled down the street a bit, then, carefully and thoughtfully grew some sound-making organs. Then he screamed and gibbered very loudly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

High in space, Kay-fel-oulm-ep-cowl spun her bucket-seat [literally], a turned some eyes on the Allentryen seated behind the small table, and placed a card on top of one of his.

Tolk was one of the few thousand of his kind rescued from the Zan. No one was quite sure how, they just knew that several fleeing Allentryen vessels suddenly teleported to Shay-Wheir. At first there were doubts that there were enough for the species to survive, but it was quickly found that the Devices used to breed animals worked fine on the Allentryen.

The spaceships had proved a bust thought. Less than a 200 functional spacecraft were in the system, most built using inferior Allentryen tech, since the Shoo-Ghoo could figure out their own. All that could be hoped was that they would keep being ignored until-the interior of the ship suddenly change colour and design. For a moment, neith being said anything, hoping they were seeing things. Finally, Tolk spook.

“Umm, did what I think just happen just happen?”

Using a speaker device, Loulme said “I-I’m not sure.”

A voice in Loulme’s mind said: Hello.

Loulme said, “What”

Tolk said, “What what>”

The voice in Loulme’s mind said: Sorry to startle you, just need our memories... ah, “there’s the ships speaker.”

Tolk looked around franticly and said “what was that!”

The voice that had been in Loulme’s mind and was now using the ships speakers said “This is a message to all sapients on the planet. All Children should prepare themselves for deprogramming. All none Children may want to find a quite place to hide.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Across the galaxy, specially tuned Sophonts were woken by a screaming they couldn’t quite hear.
Across the Shay-Wheir system, more than a million spacecraft quietly came online, and numberless hoards of war machines awoke.

The voice said, “I could say that this will not hurt a bit, but in truth this will be worse than anything you’ve ever felt.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Te-ke’Kek’Kwee, Quek starred up into the fog above. He could a sworn he heard someone screaming. Humph it didn’t matter. All that mattered was keeping the Gate closed. Not that it needed help in that matter: a direct meteor strike simply buried it and blasted several million tons of earth and rock from around it.

Quek gazed a spray of eyes across its black, unmarred surface. Let the others imitate the gods, the children of Te-ke’Kek’Kwee had true purpose, actually given by the gods. He also realized that something was wrong. The Gate was moving, it was...Opening! Deplyoing a sound organ, he began scream, watched his king come rolling of the ramp towards him-

The voice said: Don’t panic. This is all according to plan.

And as long, blurry, flickering shapes began to pour out of the Gate, Quek remembered.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Across the system, all the Children remembered.

Spoiler :

I'm back!

In a closet aboard the abruptly renamed Blaze of Vengence, Tolk said "Is it safe to come out now?"

 

[Darksaber1]

Tial-pek-Uaion-Iuosh-Puaol watched the Urthrial training on the drill-square below. The Urthrial had entered the Protection of Shay only a few months ago, and already they were serving admirably.

A large, egg-laying race, the Urtrial had once been on the cusp of space-travel when they had fallen victim to nuclear-civil war, with clusters of population with tech ranging from unmanned space flight to pre-industrial. They were also extremely war-like, with constant fighting over resources due to their high birthrate. When the Awaken Forces of Shay-Wheire had found the planet, it took very little work to get the locals to form an alliance with them, joining the Allentryen and Tarieks’Waygeir (a crustacean species discovered soon after the Awakening).

All three races had found positions in the military, since the War Machines could only do so much, and the Shu’Ghoo themselves where fairly poorly suited for combat. The Flying Shadows, meanwhile had proven extremely effective in fights, destroying a small pirate fleet in no time, but were had to direct, often appearing to ignore orders and directions, or not understanding them. Kuaioni turned some eyes on one that was... clinging(for lack of a better work) to a nearby wall. The Being was a long, somewhat worm-like entity currently about six metres long, an one wide, however it’s constant flickering and shifting made absolute measurements impossible. Its long, straight legs ended with five round pads, which were currently planted on the vertical wall, however the Flyers seemed only to have mass when the wanted to.

And of course, there were the Phantoms, but he had only ever seen one and it was said only a dozen had been ”tamed” , but what it could was still terrifyingly powerful.

In any case, while the aliens were less effective in battle them the Flyers or the better-quality War Machines, they were still effective once equipped with Shu’Ghoo weapons and armour, while the Breeding and Growth Tanks meant there were plenty of them; some aliens had even proved utilising Ganger technology, even controlling multiples at once!

Kuiaoni knew that it was only a matter of time until the Zan found them, but he wasn’t very scared by the thought. Every day, new ships were completed, War Machines activated, soldiers trained and Flyers coaxed out of the Gate on Te-ke’Kek’Kwee. The Parent said that it would likely be years before they could take the fight to the Zan in their lands, but at his time, both Zan would need to use most of their forces to crack the Shu’Ghoo grip on this part of space. The other side of that was that if the Zan didn’t come soon, Shu’Ghoo would be able to go to them.

The Parent had said: And then, let the God of Oblivion learn of the Old Days of Gods, and what had been done to Gods and Devils in the Before.

 

[Angst]

I'm interested in joining. I assume there is still room? Is there a good way to jump in?

 

[Lord_Iggy]

There is always room. I'll happily fill you in on any relevant history, and #nes is a good place to reach me. Now post quickly in response so that people don't get excited about me posting.

Alternatively, do get excited. The update is already written, I'm just editing it, and it'll be posted before I go to sleep tonight.

 

[North King]

*excited*

*but not too excited*

 

[Angst]

I am excited, and will get on #nes in the hope of seeing you there.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Update Music

Update 20
Final Fantasy 5 Soundtrack: Decisive Battle and Einhander: Thermosphere