Update 23
The All of Shee-Wheire, growing more confident at its growing power, at last began to make significant moves outside of its own system. Stealthy emissaries made their way through the great unknown of Zan space, ultimately making contact with the Collectivity of Sanath. Meanwhile, sensing an increase in the stability of their closest neighbours following the death of Shamai, the Shu-Ghoo at last made direct contact with the Zan Kena. Following the urgings of Allentryen elements in their society, the Shu-Ghoo organized a mission to the Nuxue and Tapani systems. Obtaining permission from Kena to evacuate the Tapani ‘squatters’ who survived on their former homeworld, a large-scale extraction of the remaining Tapani on their homeworld took place. A tearful moment was had with the first meeting of Loran Kodur of Shee-Wheire and Duxue Meregi of the Tapani Survivors, the two leaders of the surviving factions of the Allentryen species, before the Allentryens moved the last of their population from the cradle of their civilization, to join up with the Shu-Ghoo.
The Collectivity of Sanath, faced with growing population pressures, has dedicated a good deal of effort to expansion. A vast number of settlers, most of whom originated from the ecumenopolis of Naellae, were distributed to a variety of new colonies. The recovering biosphere of Nept took a small portion of these colonists, while the rest were settled on the Dakar, a chilly world recently recovered from Mechaniform clutches, and Iau. While the efforts on the first two planets were carried off without significant issue, the activities on Iau, predictably enough, caused something of an incident.
Iau’s history is, for such a minor world, quite colourful. Initially settled by survivors of the collapse of the First Eternal Union of Ma’Autra, led by Lu’Ma, the planet’s vulnerability proved to be a huge lure for the Mechaniforms who were ravaging Sanathi space at the time. The planet likely would have fallen had it not been for the intervention of the Rogue Fleet, prodigal breakaways from the Collectivity who’d rejected various portions Sanath’s governance, actions and ideologies. With Rogue assistance, Lu’Ma was able to drive off the main force of Mechaniforms, the remainder of whom abandoned their violence and settled down. In an act of significant magnaminity, the Rogues and Lu’Ma- mostly the Rogues- chose to let the Mechaniforms on their planet live, believing that they deserved an opportunity to show that they could co-exist with other civilizations. Regrettably, this experiment was cut short when the Collectivity, continuing a rich tradition of interventionism with their neighbours, arrived and annihilated the peaceful mechaniforms. This event took place towards the end of their rather zealous pogrom against the entities that had made their spacelanes nigh-near untravelable without an escort for several centuries. Despite Collectivity Interference, Iau grew into the hub of the Rogue Fleet, as well as, for some time, one of the last planetary holdouts of Ma’Autra.
With the massive arrival of settlers, however, came the effective annexation of the planet, not to mention the rather dramatic transformation of what had previously been a comparatively sparsely-populated world. The Rogue Fleet protested, but was not willing to raise arms to fight a hopeless battle. Instead, using their remaining time in control of the planet, the Rogue Fleet designed and constructed several new state of the art multi-purpose vessels, before evacuating to space to continue its wanderings. Many members of the organization remained behind, for a variety of reasons- to protest, to gain influence in Collectivity actions, to preserve the traditional culture of Iau, or simple apathy. On notable figure, the Qii I’lu’li’o, became a widely-recognized critic of Sanathi policies, criticizing the Collectivity Management Council for merely trying to pack as many worlds as possible with as many individuals as was feasible, each one hailing from the monoculture of the Collectivity. Iau became, in several circles, a symbol of a kind of diversity in thought and action that was somewhat lacking in Sanath.
Since departing from Iau, the Rogue Fleet has met up with a few Lauki survivors of the Battle of Garv’n. The military vessels revealed themselves to be reinforcements who had arrived shortly between the time when Wera transported the ecumenopolis across the arm of the galaxy, and the time when the Devouring One was destroyed with a quick fire from Kena’s Dirge of Eternity. Finding themselves to be mutually isolated and directionless, the two forces have joined together, setting course for Choon space.
Incidentally, the Collectivity of Sanath has also taken an interest in the Choon. Diplomat, child of the Dancer and second most powerful Choon within the Collectivity, has embarked on a journey to Took, homeworld of the Choon, to spread Sanathi ideals into the population of the gas giant. While the Diplomat approaches, however, a difficult decision must be made- if he is consumed now, his mind shall be transferred into one of the greater Choon of Took- however, the effect would be somewhat minor. If instead he were to establish himself as an individual on the planet, he could ultimately have a much greater impact- however, doing so carries the risk of becoming overtaken by the greater quantity of minds of the local mentality, which would cause the whole mission to have been for naught.
The Galactic Republic begins to reintegrate itself with greater galactic politics, launching diplomatic missions to the Collectivity of Sanath and the Choon Taz, Mother of the Violent Consumption. Back at home, rapid colonization and exploitation continues to ravage the Star-Forest, which finds itself torn between hopeless resistance, which will only accelerate and increase their suffering, or accepting a slow decline into mediocrity and oblivion. While the Republic’s observers have noted a good deal of apathy and hopelessness on Cordate, Orbicular and Pinnatisect, on Falcate the story is different. There are stories of monstrously large and strong Dendro capable of taking down whole garrisons, and while they have not been confirmed, such popular myths have strongly discouraged further settlers from emigrating to the world. Elsewhere, the brutal volcanic world of Barat is discovered by Republic scouts to have a sizeable population of non-communicative feral Dendros. Preliminary mining operations have been established on the planet, with many more planned to come.
Across the Galactic Arm, the Republic’s much-hated sibling Ma’Autra braces itself for invasion from the Zan Kena, which fails to materialize. Indeed, it seems as if Kena’s attention has been drawn entirely elsewhere, with long-range observatories noting the disappearance of much of Kena’s forces.
Thachugi Waglafar Thialexiu Xatchrli, fresh off his unification of the disparate Amur, rapidly began to expand into space, constructing ships the likes of which have not been seen over Amur since the ravages of the Ysir. Constantly calling out for contacts from the outside, Thachugi found a lead in a series of abandoned Amur probes, left behind by the expedition to Nurm-Tok, launched over a millennium ago before the collapse of the Amur Collective. Retracing the steps of this ancient voyage, Waglafar and his new Amur companions rediscovered the Nurm. Little had changed in their absence; the local mollusc-like sentients remained entirely engrossed in their virtual reality networks while a small group of Amur remained in an aging observation station in orbit over the world. Interested in the potential for using these beings as living computers, the Fungal Infestation set out to work on the planet. Unable to penetrate the cases in which the Nurm live, Thachugi instead made the clever move of corrupting the computer simulation in which the Nurm lived, as a bargaining point to force the aliens out of their fastnesses and straight into his clutches. The tactic proved to be highly effective, and Nurm-Tok fell even more easily than Amur. However, this time, the victory was not quite so complete. While the Nurm on the planet began to serve admirably (if unwillingly) as organic calculators, the Nurm in space, belonging to a strange organization called Hess’peh, proved to be somewhat less passive, and significantly more hostile. Watching the demise of their planet-bound bretheren, Hess’peh quietly moved into action. Making use of their gravitic towing systems, the vessels of Hess’peh drew one of their wards towards their homeworld. Possessing a minimal presence in the area, Thachugi saw too late that the Nurm had brought a sizeable singularity into the system. Desperately evacuating as many of his new subjects as he could from the planet onto his small exploratory vessel, Waglafar barely escaped before the Black Hole engulfed Nurm-Tok, cursing with anger, yet simultaneously relieved that not quite everything had been lost.
The schism between Migrant and Habitant Hammes seems to have widened to the point of irrevocability. The Migrants continue onwards, preying only lightly on the Sgligatiki world of Izozathre, which had been left largely alone due to the paucity of resources in the uninhabited planets in the system. As the Migrants drift onwards through space towards their uncertain fate, and the ultimate eventuality of Naggarok, the Habitants undergo a second schism of their own. As the authority of the nine great kuppelborgs on Destination breaks down, several free Hammes, most notably Hamme Oswig, break free of the constraints of the Habitants, and expand to establish their control over a vast, but marginal region of the ribbon-world.
At the outer edges of Fehan knowledge, a new species has been discovered. At the edge of a dense cluster of stars exists a race known as Poy-Op. Consummate planetscapers, the Poy-Op are amphibious, tube-footed tripods who display a marked proficiency in the construction of artificial planetoids. Recently, after the development of some surprisingly advanced superluminal techniques, the organization known as Ksspopok has taken a leading role within the species, leading the way in the exploitation of nearby dead worlds, such as those of the Papoy system, for valuable resources to be used on megaprojects in the home system. Fehan probes are content to quietly observe this species, determining their merits, strengths, weaknesses, and nature.
Attracting much more of the Fehan Fleet’s attention was the war with the Surikahi. Unable to approach close to the planet for fear of the overwhelming numbers of aliens, the Fleet instead fell back to the old standard tactic of hurling giant rocks at its target. The Surikahi, responded in kind, using their spaceborne forces for intercepting the redirected asteroids and redirecting or fragmenting them themselves. The nearby Wera quickly arrived to watch the show, as the back-and-forth mass bombardment continued. Ultimately, by means of being a vastly larger target, Surihihao took more hits. As more and more Fehan ships arrived, the tortured surface of the former colony had at last had enough. The Planetary Matriarch of the Surikahi was not as complete in her harvest of the planet’s resources as she would have preferred, but the grievous injuries to her body forced her to act quickly, lest she be denied any chance of reproducing at all. The Fehan fleet watched as the planet’s critically fractured crust shattered, massive fragments hurtling into space as the planet’s surface degraded into a molten slurry. The surviving Surikahi, seemingly enraged by this, charged against the massed Fehan, who used their vastly superior maneuverability and firepower to, over the course of an extended battle and period of mopping up, clear out the remaining alien forces in the region.
With the battle now finished, the Fehan can only mourn the loss of one of their precious biospheres, and prepare their defences in case such an unprovoked attack should happen again. Fehan forces are ready and in position to protect their vulnerable rimward frontier- for indeed, very little actually stands between the homeworld of Helan and the great expanse of empty space outside of the local arm.
Beyond the Fehan, the cause of the silence of the Mejani has been at last revealed. Intraspecies warfare between the different planets, apparently instigated by the Vytans, devastated much of the system. The Vycans, the sole survivors of the apocalyptic war, have now begun to rebuild their society, re-establishing contacts with their neighbours. The Fehan continue to view the Mejans with some suspicion. Meanwhile, the Kadanoff come off as decidedly disinterested in the affairs of the Vycan Mejani, being more caught up in their own domestic intrigues and experiments gone wrong.
Map
Beautiful image, by the way.
