[OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Far out on the outskirts of an uninhabitted system, a ship drifts. To a casual observer- if there can ever be such a thing so deep in space- it would appear lifeless: No movement, no lights, nothing. However, if that observer were to listen in on certain frequencies, they would soon realise that life has not yet given up on the unfortunates within.

Not yet, anyway.

"If I dump it straight onto the speakers, you can tell it's clearly an audio transmission." She did so, and a scratchy, undulating garble filled the bridge.
"That's just noise, could be anything," the Captain grimaced.
"No wait," the subordinate said hurriedly, "keep listening."
The garble continued, but suddenly the unmistakable clang of metal on metal could be heard. Then a hissing, spitting sound that could easily have been a welding torch. The garble continued over the top of it all.
"Hmm." Said the Captain, much to the relief of his subordinate. "Do you think it's some kind of alien language? They must be trying to communicate with us."
"Yes Sir." The subordinate replied. "Well, maybe sir." The Captain shot her a sharp look at the contradiction, and she rushed to explain herself. "What I mean is, they might be trying to communicate with anyone. we picked up the signal the second we warped into the system and it hasn't stopped since, so it doesn't seem to be directed specifically at us. They might not even know we're here."
"Any idea at all what they might be saying?"
"No sir. The design and markings on the ship are similar to a ship that appeared near one of our colonies Last year, but they just warped away again, and there's been no contact since. We don't know their language."
"Hmm." Said the Captain again.
"However," said the subordinate, looking rather pleased with herself, "The warp point they are sitting on looks a lot like the ones that have damaged some of our ships in the past and they haven't moved at all since we arrived."
"So you think they're damaged?" A new expression came into the captain's eyes. "That would explain the sounds in the background of the transmission- if they were making repairs."
"Yes sir, I think you're right sir." The Captain looked at the screen a little longer, then to address the rest of the bridge.
"Very well, take us over there. I want to see if they really are damaged."

A week later, two ships drifted at rest relative to one another. The huge, insubsantial potential of the warp point glowered menacingly above them both.
"Definitely damaged, sir," shouted a voice across the bridge. The Captain turned to the owner of the voice with urgent eyes. "Great big holes all over it, and debris everywhere."
"Bring us alongside. Get the crews suited, we're going over there. There's no time to waste. I'll be leading this personally."

The larger of the two ships disgorged a hundred tiny shapes, which maneuvered their way over to the smaller vessel and explored every possible ingress. When none was apparent a number of compact, mobile airlocks were fitted to the ship's torn and dented skin and holes cut behind them, allowing the suited figures to enter. The first airlock party to breach the hull reported an unbreathable atmosphere, and fitted nose-breathers as they slid out of their suits.

The captain was the first to enter, and the first to encounter one of the aliens. It was about two metres tall, angular, slender-limbed and a dark-brown in colour. Its entire body seemed to be riddled with technology, which spouted aggressively from every part of the creature as though some kind of electric wasp had laid an egg within it and now its young were eating their way free. Although the creature's features were unlike anything the Captain had ever seen, its alarm was obvious at the intrusion. His species had an instinct for recognising fear, distress and weakness and it was instinct that dictated his next action.

He sprang like a striped arrow, his red and yellow markings nothing more than a blur until he struck the creature in its middle, boring and digging into it and as it struggled and screamed. He ploughed on regardless, wrapping his tail around its limbs for purchase and tearing aside the computerised implants wherever they blocked access to his victim's organs. Captain Shreekep heard the screams, muffled by the creature's own meat, and realised with triumph that the garbled sound in the transmission had indeed been the voice of one of these aliens, no doubt issuing a warning or calling desperately for help. More of them came running at the sound but they were too few. They were larger and heavier than the attackers and when they managed to organise an armed defence they laid waste to them by the dozen, but for every blood-crazed raider that fell writhing to ground there were two, three, five more, each one a frenzied tube of tooth and muscle with no purpose other than to kill and to feed.

The battle Lasted less than half an hour, culminating in a grisly bloodbath on the bridge, following which Captain Shreekep proudly curled himself in the blood-soaked command seat and writhed in victory. The ship was beyond repair with the facilities available but he could make a decent amount selling details of the ship's location to a repair and salvage operator he knew. Furthermore, he had managed to keep a few of the creatures alive, and they- along with the remaining frozen carcasses of their fallen comrades- would fetch an excellent price as exotic delicacies back home. Finally, his own dead would keep his ships food stores stocked up for months- after all the laws against cannibalism weren't strictly enforced out here, and with plenty of meat on board he would have no trouble attracting crew members to replace the 40% losses he had suffered in the boarding action. He didn't think it too much, after all, life is cheap to the KanesS.

******************************

That's right, those sneaky snakes are back. Welcome to the Xenology: Resurrection thread. On the marvellous initiative of Unknown_Enemy, we've restarted the game and the story will continue more or less where it dropped off, minus a few players. Expect some continuity-wierdness, as things haven't progressed quite as they did the first time around, but rest assured Kleesh, Shrikeesh and the Eden Overmind have not been forgotten.

Click below to read the beginnings of these stories:
Xenology - Original thread

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Thank you for posting this great read. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif More please.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Nice intro, look forward to more also.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Ahh great to see this return, very well written. I can only wonder how this is going to turn out. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Very nice!

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Fire and Ice

After Hawks of Eden annihilated a strong Xi'Chung fleet at Gentika warp point, the Overmind began to feel more confident. The parasites were still outnumbering Eden on the sole ship numbers, but their swarm of fighters were slaughtered, and their warships could not outmanoeuvre Eden’s children. At the moment, the war was at a stop due to resuply duty and lack of enemy warships in the vicinity of the frontlines. Soon the Overmind would have to preserve a sample of Xi'Chung's gene pool before eliminating their threat to the natural order.

However, to the south of his homeworld, the Mind found some very strange races : the Xiati and the KaneSS. Both had developed fascinating concepts such as political systems or trade. While completely useless, these inventions proved the marvellous diversity of life in this quadrant. Looking at the KaneSS, this aggressive cannibalistic race was a wonder to observe, despite their hopeless demands to sample organics products for their consumption. On the other side, the Xiati were not only as aggressive as the Kaness, but they were developing some weird time based technology. They were watched closely, but peacefully.

Then, in the center of the quadrant, an aged Hawk of Eden was destroyed by a new foe. The enemy ship was lifeless. It moved, fired, dodged but no living beings were detected despite the full scan it endured. Immediately, a son of Eden volunteered to pursue the attacker. This particular child was already a war veteran, bearing scars of numerous battles.

I was grown with instincts of a predator.
I am the son of a Tiger, born for speed and murder.
The slow brother that is following me will soon be out of sensor range. He will just stay half way to the combat zone, waiting safely for my return to feed me when I'll be starving for supply.
I am chasing a prey.
It is said that no one can hear you in space.
That is false.
I can. I hear my prey near.
Let the dance begin.


The Overmind waited.
Months later, while the Xi'Chung war had resumed, he perceived the triumphant mewling of his hunter. And to the Overmind's surprise, the Void-Tiger came back with two very different preys. The first one was from a specie called Drukasha, and seemed to be some sort of mineral based life form. Communication intercepts showed they developed individuality, and also same alien concepts such as trade and political system. But the second one was the mystery. It was armed and fought until the bitter end, and only the Tiger's combat experience allowed it to prevail unscathed. It seemed the whole ship was a crystal, but not an artificial construct as Xi'Chung's, Drukasha's or KaneSS. It was a living being like a Hawk or a Tiger of Eden. It lived by the void in the same way as a son of the Overmind.


The Overmind called them Cryslonite.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

More writing from me soon. For those who never heard of/ want to recap the original Xenology thread while waiting for the next installment, here it is:
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...3;t=009160;p=5

[ June 10, 2004, 10:57: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Kleesh was on the up again. As Minister of Galactic Domains, she had taken direct responsibility for every failure of the colonisation projects, and there had been many failures. For a while she had been forced into virtual exile by the propaganda and machinations of Shrikeesh, her scheming sister, who had worked her way up to become the current favourite for the crown while simultaneously pushing Kleesh down a few dozen places. Kleesh had retreated for a few years to one of the more comfortable colonies and hatched a small brood of around 70 with one of Shkimsk's sons. she had decided that if she couldn't take the throne legitimately, she would have to take other steps to secure power and respect for herself and her line. As a result she had begun to raise and educate the brightest and fiercest four-dozen of her offspring to take their eventual places as planetary governors, and had begun building shipyards and military training camps.

However, the situation had begun to improve since then, partly through Kleesh's own shrewd maneuvering and partly as a result of blind chance. It all boiled down, as everything does with the KanesS, to food. Despite the catastrophic delays caused by the slow progress of the colonisers, the exploration of other planets and their ecosystems had eventually led to an explosion in the exotic foods market and Kleesh had been in a prime position to capitalise on the exports now flooding back to the homeworld. Every KanesS everywhere wanted to try the latest meats from across the galactic domains, and she and Shkimsk had found very profitable ways of managing exports. More importantly though, she had managed to tie her own image tightly to the influx of delicacies. The average KanesS saw her as the direct source of their new cuisine and gradually they were learning to love her for it. Shrikeesh had tried to compete by buying food from various alien governments, but she simply couldn't provide the sheer variety that came from the colonies. Despite this however, KanesS still wanted to stay at home to enjoy having the benefits of expansion brought to them. Colonists had to be press-ganged from the lower classes, and only a very few desperate or enterprising souls went voluntarily.

But then the Xiati arrived, and everything fell into place. It all began with the boarding of a stranded Xiati exploration craft on the Pruli/Marak warp point. Shreekep, The captain of that craft, returned to Catia with a hold full of exotic meats- some of it still alive- and made a packet from selling the captured hull to a salvage firm as well. Xiati meat wasn't particularly tasty, but it was hugely popular. The thought of eating something intelligent fuelled an ancient hunger in the KanesS that hearkened back to the good old days before the Red Plague and the ban on cannibalism. True, the occasional Cue Cappan had been eaten before now, but that had been different. The Cue Cappans were allies, and as such they were strictly off the menu under similar penalties to those for cannibalism. The Xiati though- it was open season on them, and a veritable frenzy ensued. Shreekep became an overnight folk hero. Orders for suitably-equipped scavenging ships soared, and suddenly every entrepreneur, every adventurer-aristocrat wanted to prowl the frontiers, scouting for damaged or under-defended craft.

And this new enthusiasm didn't stop at piracy: Suddenly the colonies themselves were seen not as harsh and inhospitable hell-holes but as gleaming new worlds, bursting with excitement, opportunity and adventure. The colonisation offices were inundated, and if more than half of the starry-eyed hopefuls who boldly migrated were unable to cope with the stark chasm between their expectations and the gruelling reality of colonial life, then at least there was always another transport right behind them, full of yet more hopefuls eager to try where the others had failed. In this highly competitive, high-turnover environment it was inevitable that cannibalism would reassert itself on the colonies and the transports invariably went home empty. This only served to enhance the romantic perceptions of the colonies as a wild frontier where one could still find old-world values and plenty to eat, and Kleesh eventually relaxed cannibalism regulations somewhat to reflect the actual state of the new societies she ruled.

For those who remained at home frontier-chic was all the rage. Suddenly it was fashionable for comfortable middle-class parents to order their homes tunnelled in the vertical zig-zags favoured by the colonists of Catia IV, where tidal activity and frequent ice-breaks made such water traps an essential feature. Others used the 'accented' sonar that colonists from Daran II had employed to counter the crawler-mimics that infested their tunnels and interfered with their signals.

The public mood was swinging confidently in Kleesh's favour, and she was shrewd enough to capitalise on it as soon as possible. She organised an expedition to the tiny moon of Pruli VIa, upon which a small Xiati outpost had been discovered by Captain Shreekep. She advertised for willing combatants on the homeworld and within just a few tenths had almost fifty thousand hungry KanesS, all of them gripped with frontier-fever. She organised them into fighting units under her own household guard and loaded them all onto a specially-built invasion craft, along with a handful of adapted tunneling machines.

Apart from the core of professional soldiers, her makeshift army was largely untrained and armed only with whatever weapons the troops could provide for themselves- in most cases this meant nothing at all. She had expected to take heavy losses, but the Xiati were completely unprepared for the assault. The colony had several million inhabitants, but none of them were armed and it was clear they didn't know what the KanesS wanted their Xiati for, because they surrendered with only just enough resistance to satisfy Kleesh's bloodthirsty rank and file. She knew that if left on the planet her troops would rampage among the local population and slaughter every inhabitant in a matter of days, so she had the vast majority of them herded back onto the transport, paid handsomely for their efforts and shipped off to Catia to be trained into a properly armed and disciplined fighting force. She left most of her experienced soldiers on Pruli, where they kept control of the population until the arrival of the transports.

Pruli VIa was now a KanesS colony, and the colonisation offices back on the homeworld had been advertising land there for tenths. All the colonies so far had been on ice worlds, where the KanesS could dig their tunnels and feel at home, even on those worlds where alien atmospheres made it necessary to construct air-tight domes over the tunnel entrances. This moon, however, had no ice-sheet to speak of, it was solid rock. The Xiati had overcome this by building strange little structures on top of the rock and putting their homes and facilities within them. Every KanesS who bought space on the colony was to be given one of these structures. It seemed an unnatural, unpleasantly exposed way for to live from any KanesS' viewpoint, and ordinarily Kleesh would have had to give such endesirable properties away. However there were near-riots outside the colonisation offices as KanesS clamoured for the limited places, because the Xiati-built homes for sale included not only the structure but everything- and everyone- already in it.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Nonsense, now hand me that Chianti. Thfthfthfthfthfthfthf...

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Bon appétit mes amis.

Your best KaneSS story so far.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Xiati – the other red meat http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Great stuff.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Great as always, i loved the whole frontier chic thing, very original. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

I swear your playing as this race with Hannibal lecter as your race pic to scare your opponents http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

bump?

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">it not my fault, that lazy dogscof is not playing turns quickly en...what ? I am a lazy b.....d ?

well..yes I am..

I'll give a text to dogscof tomorrow for correction purpose. Still have a part of it which I am not happy with.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

I'd play my turns more reularly, really I woull, but I deleted Matyx's modpicker and installed the companion instead. It has far more features and is much much more complete but it's still in Beta and... well... it can be kind of hard to load turns sometimes.

I'll have a look now and see if I can persuade it to open another turn.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Xi-Chung’s Nest.
The thought band was still full of excited howling from the finding of the Parasite’s homeworld. Tigers of Eden had managed to break the strong defences of the Tirenda/Wisani warp point. Behind these lines lay the Xi-Chung nest, the source of their power. With more than 10 fortresses in orbit of their planet and a formidable planetary shield network, it would be a daunting task to storm the place. Nevertheless, it was a major step toward extinguishing their threat to the natural order. Major research efforts in shield depleting weapons and planetary bombs would be needed to cleanse the Nest, but victory was now within reach. Without their homeworld, the Xi-Chung power would be broken. However, the downfall of the parasites would be long in its coming, as two different supply bases would have to be build to allow a direct assault on their nest. Meanwhile, it was highly doubtful the aliens would stand idly while Eden’s children build up in force within strike range of their sacred homeworld. Indeed, the OverMind was considering unavoidable heavy losses with great sadness.
On the other side, this part of the campaign was proving the definite superiority of Void-Tigers in the field of warfare. Void-Hawks lacked the killer instinct for these duties. One by one, surviving veteran Hawks were coming back in orbit of Eden, to put themselves on hibernation, waiting for more peaceful times to awaken, but also allowing their battered hide to slowly regenerate.

Hungry KaneSS.
Somewhere in deep space near Urani warp point, a Hawk of Eden closed on a KaneSS population transport.
“Your attention please, I am One from Eden requesting immediate and direct communication with the captain of this civil transport. Waiting.”
A few minutes later, a hissing voice replied : “this is captain Trissi speaking, what do you want ?”
“I want 200 individuals of your species delivered in a container with enough supply to survive for 1 day. I also want speed in that transfer.”
“You are a warship, I see that. But you’re nothing compared to our military. I refute your threat, you won’t dare attack us. So begone or face KaneSS wrath.”
“You misunderstood captain. For 200 live adults, I’ll pay you 50 tons of top quality meat. You’ll also get a 10 tons bonus if the exchange is done in less than 24H. Any questions ?”
Ten hours later, the Hawk of Eden was flying at full thrust toward his Homeworld. In a sealed part of his stomach lay 200 KaneSS in cryogenic sleep. A few months later, all KaneSS specimens had been studied, their brains assimilated and their bodies dissected. After all, KaneSS life was cheap.

The OverMind found that once again, prudence had been the wisest choice. In fact, it all came down to the Project. To create a planetary mind, a bare minimum of 1 million individual was needed. Even so, such a newborn mind was barely able to merge with Eden’s OverMind, and Intelligence was not its strongest point. Time was needed for his parts to grow, as the OverMind was not a distinct specie, but a whole ecosystem gone sentient. Thus all constituent species had to reproduce at the same relative speed. Or, to put it mildly, if you wanted to accelerate the growth rate of colonies, all species had to be cloned simultaneously. Thus the Hive Mother Project. A new life form able to store thousands of genetic codes, a being whose gigantic body would be laying both on earth and underwater, a mother for thousands of different species, from animals to vegetal, from fishes to insects. Unfortunately, the Hive Mother needed a long list of rare nutriments to create its offspring. These had to be found on several planets. So far, the OverMind had not found a solar system able to support more than one Hive Mother at a time. The research work done on that project had been tremendous, and it also generated a myriad of smaller projects, like the KaneSS abduction. That Last one was used to understand more thoroughly their psychology, and prove a point : what the OverMind was seeing as “Accelerated Growth Project”, KaneSS would translate as “Unlimited Free Meat”. They would kill anyone or enslave anything to own such a food generator.

Unsurprisingly, the OverMind was very uneasy seeing itself from the Free Meat’s point of view.


REMINDER : we are using proportion mod, so homeworlds are the main source of power.

[ June 23, 2004, 13:14: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

On the edge of a broken crater, two suited figures waited outside a tiny, grey building. Eventually a doorway slid silently open, and the pair collapsed into it and were swallowed by the closing aperture. Mexa'renath'xe removed his helmet and took a deep breath. The air in his suit had been getting stale for the Last hour or so, and it seemed impossible that he should still be alive. His next instinct was to help his daughter, who lay unconscious on the floor beside him. He removed her helmet with trembling fingers and felt a crippling wave of emotion as he heard a stuttering breath from her. Then he slid down the wall of the airlock and passed out.

When he awoke, it took him several seconds to remember where he was. Eventually his cybernetics kicked in, rushing hormones and drugs through his system to bring him as close to alertness as possible. His daughter was still motionless. Xiati cybernetic improvements could only do so much, and he feared she was beyond any kind of help now. Her breathing was barely detectable, and he knew that under the suit she was missing an arm, casually torn off and eaten by one of those monsters. He tried to block out the flood of memories triggered by that thought, but he could not. He knew he would be terrorised by those memories for the rest of his life, but he took comfort in the knowledge that the rest of his life would not be long. The horror, the trauma of those Last few months had taken their toll, and even if help came, even if he somehow survived this and got back to Xiati space, he had nothing left to live for.

His family had been caged and kept like cattle in their own home, with nothing to do but wait as the KanesS brood who now inhabitted his house had picked them off, not one by one but piece by piece, limb by limb. Those who looked weakest and most vulnerable had been selected first, and every valiant attempt to defend his offspring had simply moved him closer to the end of the list. Every time he tried- and failed- to prevent the monsters from taking another one of his precious children, he knew that the inscrutable aliens granted him an extra few days of agonising life with which to witness their cruelty. His mate had simply given in, choosing death over torture, and had laid impassively and barely protesting even as they tore meat from her. Mexa'renath'xe had been envious, he had longed for death, and yet he had somehow never been able to submit to it. He had fought them whenever they came, and had even caught and killed a few of the younger ones with his bare hands. The adult KanesS hadn't seemed particularly upset about this, they had simply retreated, knowing that in the end, he would be too weak to resist.

Eventually, after an uncountable number of days or weeks or months, only he and his eldest daughter remained, she with a rough tourniquet about the bloody stump of her left shoulder. It was then that the fighting had started. Another group of KanesS had burst into the house and all hell had broken loose. Maybe they had come to rescue them; maybe some of these creatures were outraged at the behaviour of their fellows, but he doubted it. There could be no compassion, no mercy in those creatures.

Somehow, in the confusion the cage had been upturned and broken open, and he had managed to guide his daughter out of the house, avoiding the rioting that had suddenly sprung up around them. They had made their way to one of the dome's airlocks, where a few Xiati suits still hung. From there they had trekked for days over terrain that would have been impossible in anything but this moon's low gravity to an abandoned mining survey outpost. He had hoped against hope that there would be some method of escape here, driven himself on with the prospect of survival, but even as he conducted his fruitless search for food, water or transport, he realised now that he didn't want any of those things. All he really wanted was to die in peace, and to deny the filthy KanesS his flesh. However, he had a job to do first. This outpost had some communications equipment, and Mexa'renath'xe knew enough about it to send a message home. The atrocities committed on Pruli VIa would not go untold.

**************************************************

A tight phalanx of sinewy shapes appeared on the crest of the hill, their weapons reflecting not only the thin starlight that glittered beyond the transparent dome overhead, but the blazing fires of the buildings below. The troops poured down the hillside, the dusty rock unfamiliar beneath their ice-bred bellies. With their tails holding their lance-like firearms parallel to the ground, the serpentine soldiers looked for all the world like the striped shadows of their own guns, until one of them gave the order to halt and raised herself to her full height, coldly surveying the scene below. It was anarchy. Heaps of writhing, serpentine bodies slashed randomly at one another with razor teeth, tearing lumps of flesh from friend and foe alike, each one possessed by a consuming blood-lust. Others stood alone or in tight family clusters, defending their torched homes from all comers with guns, blades and bared teeth.

The leader of the infantry unit bit at her immediate subordinate's face, drawing blood for no reason other than to register her distaste for the disorder laid out before her. "Open fire." She yelled, and death spat indiscriminately into the warring crowd below. Many fights spontaneously ended in confused panic as the crowd dispersed, scattering for cover. Others were too overcome with their frenzy to think of survival and were shredded as aggressors and victims alike were seared and torn by the disciplined gunfire from the hillside. Within a minute it was over, and a bloody, steaming peace closed the latest chapter in the grisly history of Pruli VIa.

**************************************************

Kleesh threw the reports aside and twitched her tail in irritation. With hindsight, it had been inevitable. There had only been a limited number of Xiati survivors and homes up for grabs in the newly-conquered colony, but that hadn't stopped thousands of hopefuls from making their own way out there to try to take some of it for themselves. Access to the official colonisation starliners had been strictly controlled, of course, but an alarming number of private craft had taken the initiative and were ferrying KanesS from system to system by the million, leading to scenes like this one on the ex-Xiati outpost.

And it wasn't just the starliner industry that had gotten out of control. Ever since Captain Shreekep's bucaneering adventures in that same system, a wealth of privately owned boarding vessels had taken to the stars with hopes of chancing upon a similar opportunity for profit and fresh meat. Most of them were clueless aristocrats or unrealistic entrepreneurs with only only the faintest understanding of running a spacecraft. Only one ship other than Shreekep's had yet managed to capture a Xiati craft, and most of the others had wandered so far from home in the search for prey they had run out of supplies and had to limp home on emergency power. A whole industry was springing up for supply vessels to come and bale them out before they became victims themselves, since the kind of enterprising pirates that flew these ships had no qualms about killing and their own kind.
Other raiders had started targetting Cue Cappan ships, resulting in all kinds of deliciously difficult situations for Shrikeesh's diplomatic office. Any satisfaction that his brought Kleesh, however, was outweighed by the problems this anarchy was causing for her. Quite apart from the costly and embarrassing piracy on her own ships, back on the homeworld, certain hysterical, liberal sections of the population- namely those that were now fanatically opposed to cannibalism and had long ago ad condemned Kleesh for the revival of the old ways on the colonies- had latched onto the chaos emerging in the colonies and their anti-colonial movements were gathering momentum. There had been several messy demonstrations and acts of violent protest there already, and it was just a matter of time before things got out of control. It had caused her no small amount of embarrassment with her royal parents, so she knew she had to act. A plan was formulating behind her cool eyes, and she allowed herself a small writhe of pleasure at the possibilities it opened up.

[ June 29, 2004, 15:02: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Great pieces of Writing from the both of you.

I was wondering if i should update the Xenology Story at spaceempires.net with the latest chapters. Would this be ok with the both of you? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Why should we object ? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
There is no copyright on my stuff. Anybody can use it as much as he wants.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

A very small update to whet your appetites for the major piece coming soon (tomorrow maybe?)

Note to U_E: These events happened a few dozen turns ago, but I don't think that will cause a problem with general continuity. I hope to catch up with current affairs in the next installment.

*****************************

KanesS historians debated long and hard over whether to call it the Second Battle of Pruli, the Third Battle of Pruli or the Fourth. It all depended on whether you chose to include the bloodthirsty boarding of the stricken ship or the massacre of the rioting colonists on Pruli VIa. A small but vocal minority even refused to acknowledge the conquest of the tiny moon, claiming that the Xiati colonists didn't really put up enough resistance to constitute a battle, but that particular crowd of spoilsports were quickly silenced. The one thing everyone agreed on though, was that this latest battle was by far the most spectaular. It was a desperate chase that ran around the system for weeks and unlike any of the previous conflicts, it was never clear from the outset just who would win. The Xiati had sent a small relief force to reclaim the stricken colony. They were immediately spotted by three KanesS buccaneer ships, who had been in the system following news that another Xiati explorer had been taken following the capture of the moon. No doubt it had been sent to investigate the distress call transmitted by an escaped colonist, found rotting and inedible in an abandoned mining survey outpost.

The three captains had been fierce competitors, and in the long, boring months waiting for more prey had almost taken to fighting among themselves. However, when they saw the size of the fleet they decided to form a temporary pact and split the considerable profits between the survivors. The troop transport alone- full of battle-suited and vengeaful Xiati infantry- would provide a small fortune in toys and meat for anyone who dared to unload it, if only it could be taken intact. All engagements between Xiati and KanesS so far had been single-ship skirmishes that had resulted in outright victory for KanesS, who would swoop in quickly, pounding the enemy with their cannons and doing their best to dodge incoming fire until they were close enough to deploy their boarding parties. Once the pirates had found their way aboard, the outcome was both predictable and grisly. With this in mind, the temporary alliance was confident enough to take on this fleet, despite being somewhat outnumbered.

Their confidence was shattered, however, when they discovered that one of the Xiati ships was actually a carrier.

Such technology was unknown to them, and they were amazed to see dozens of miniature ships emerge from the larger one and fly at them, inflicting terrible damage in a multitude of small hits. Although their ships easily outclassed the capital ships, the KanesS were woefully unprepared for these tiny, nimble targets. Only their thick armour offered any kind of defence. It was a bitter struggle from that point on, and when it became clear that the Xiati would destroy any captured ship, delicate boarding maneuvres were considered too risky in such a life-and-death situation. After a great deal of carnage and destruction, the Xiati capital ships were all utterly destroyed, and a few homeless fighters harrassed the damaged pirates as they fled the system. Eventually these few vagrants retreated to the system's other warp point to await either rescue, or destruction.

The wounded ships KanesS limped back to the nearest repair facility with no booty to show for their efforts, while repair and supply ships hurried in to offer them their overpriced services. Meanwhile, as the news of the battle's ambiguous outcome spread, weapons developpers were already working on improved anti-fighter targetting systems that pirates throughout KanesS space were queuing up to pay for.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

OK, here it is. I hope there's at least someone reading this...

*****************************

An insistent wheezing sound issued from the vast bulk of the bladdergart as it gradually deflated, echoing around the frozen cavern like the whisperings of the unfortunate creature's ghost. Shreekep chuckled from atop the dripping mass.
"I have to admit I'd thought I'd sampled everything the new domains had to offer," he said, still squirming himself clean of oily gore, "but you've really surprised me with this one. Quite delicious."
"It's natural that an adventurer like you would be more familiar with the northern systems than the southern ones."
Shkimsk replied, carefully keeping any sense of satisfaction out of his voice. "These red bladdergarts are from the polar regions of Daran II. They're as stupid as they are tasty, you only have to imitate their calls and they swim right to you."
"You're right, I've never been to that end of the galaxy. Much too quiet for my taste, but it obviously has its charms. Perhaps I should think about some investments there." He adjusted his balance slightly as one of the
beast's internal membranes gave way and a fresh flotation chamber began to vent rudely. "Say, it must have cost you a fortune to get this thing shipped all that way."
Shkimsk waved his tail casually and tried hard to make his denial sound nonchalant. If anything, the word "fortune" was an understatement, but he had the measure of Shreekep and knew that this lurid display of wealth would impress him. Shkimsk had understood this as soon as he had heard the pirate wanted an audience fee from him- coming from anyone but royalty it was an outright insult, although Shreekep had mitigated the affront somewhat by offering to share the kill with its donor. Even with Kleesh's influence, it had taken considerable funds, organisation, coertion and bribery to seal off and flood an entire starliner compartment- room that could have accomodated over forty thousand paying passengers- so that this creature could be transported alive to Marfak IX, one of the colonies nearest the alien borders. Still, it would be worth the expense and the wounded pride if he could just
bring Shreekep onto their side. He was an icon, a figurehead for the adventuring spirit that was the appeal of the colonies, and his co-operation was crucial to their continued success. "So now that we're fed, let's talk business," Shreekep said. Shkimsk made a sound of agreement as he plugged one of the bladdergart's noisier punctures with his tail, then settled himself down. This, according to the old KanesS proverb, would be the real meat of the meeting.

"It concerns the Xiati." He began. "As you know, they aren't at all happy with us."
"Well, I'm quite happy with them." Replied Shreekep. "As should you be. I've made my name hunting them, and it seems to me that your own little adventure on Pruli VIa was the turning point in yours and Kleesh's little empire."
Shkimsk bared his teeth in displeasure. It was all true enough, but the use of the word "empire" was a dangerous one. He and Kleesh had already assembled and deployed their own private army in the conquest of Pruli VIa, and what they were about to propose to Shreekep would amount to little less than a private war-fleet, and that's enough to make any monarch nervous. Kleesh might be the effective ruler of the empire's colonies, but her parents wouldn't be king and the queen if they hadn't retained the power to crush any potential rebellion, even if they had never left the homeworld themselves. Besidess, The prosperity of the colonies depended on a steady flow of colonists from the homeworld, and that in turn depended not only on the goodwill of the monarchy but on public opinion, and nothing makes the gerneral public more nervous about travel than a fully-fledged civil war.

No doubt Shreekep understood all his, and perhaps also understood that he effectively held the balance in any such conflict. Kleesh had no warships of her own, except for the landing craft used to invade the Xiati outpost and a number of support ships, and any attempts to procure warships directly would look too much like a potential coup. On the other hand, their majesties' government- backwards as ever- had no real fleet to speak of, although they were finally beginning to remedy the situation. No, the only real armed KanesS presence in space was the legion of privately owned buccaneers, lone entrepreneurs who preyed on lost and helpless ships. They had no allegiance except to themselves, but they all looked up to and respected Sheekep, who had popularised the pirate lifestyle. He had risked his first fortune when he invested all of it into his ship, and then had founded a second one on the capture of a Xiati explorer craft. Although his ship still prowled the borders, he paid someone else to take the helm these days, while he himself had taken to teaching. His "ship training" facilities on Marfak IX and Catia IV had been popular and profitable, and had done a great deal to remedy the staggering ineptitude shown by many of the first buccaneer crews. Dozens of small trade ships- Xiati, Cue Cappan, Norak, Drukshockan and KanesS- had fallen victim to pirates since the establishment of the academies, as well as a second explorer and even a small Xiati warship.

All this ran through Shkimsk's mind as he considered his reply to Shreekep's observation.
"You're right, of course. The Xiati have benefitted both of us, but now they threaten us. I'm sure you'e heard about the First Battle of Pruli*? If not for blind luck we could have easily lost the colony. Quite apart from the exports we get from Pruli VIa, it's become a symbol of the whole colonial lifestyle. To lose it would be more than just embarrassing."
"So you've come here to ask me to defend your precious colony? You want me to rally a few ships to hang around the Pruli warp point and fight off any righteous Xiati invaders? I have to say it all sounds rather dull."
Shkimsk coiled languidly while flashing a warning glance to one of his servants, who was obviously finding the smell of the bladdergart's flesh almost too tempting to resist.
"Really, Shreekep." Replied Shminsk, with just enough condescension in his voice to make the buccaneer bare his teeth. "You're supposed to be an entrepreneur, an opportunist. Why should we settle for simply defending our assets when we can procure new ones. The auctioning of Pruli VIa was a massive success, and the subsequent rioting only proved that there is demand for more. And there is more- beyond the Pruli warp point there are systems full of worlds, all occupied by the Xiati. We've taken one, we can take more. We won't be able to surprise them again like we did in Pruli, but we've already seen what a few buccaneer crews can do to Xiati warships. Imagine what an entire fleet could do. No, Shreekep, I want you to build a fleet of buccaneers and go through the Pruli warp point."

"Foolhardy." Said Shreekep at Last. "We have no idea what forces they may have ammassed on the other side of that warp point. We could be destroyed in an instant." There was no thought of cowardice in either of their minds. The KanesS are a race of opportunistic scavengers, who prey on the weak, the dying and the unsuspecting. They have no pretensions of bravado. Shkimsk was ready with a reply. "We have procured some information. One of the Overmind ships came through the warp point and made a little deal with one of our starliner Captains. It gave us some very precise information about their forces, and if you can get five or six captains to follow, we will crush them utterly. I can provide repair ships, supply tenders and a minesweeper. We'll bring along extra prize crews and expand the fleet as we capture enemy ships. Eventually we'll have the pick of their colonies, and you will have a significant share in the venture. It will be a feast."

A long silence followed in the darkness, broken only by the now-gentle exhalation of the gigantic corpse on which the two KanesS sat, measuring one-another with their precise sonar sense.

"I will consider it. I have some other business to look over before I can make a decision, and I will expect a sixty percent share, but I will consider it. The rewards would certainly be ample, but the risks may be too great. Now, leave me to think, and I will let you know in due course."

Shkimsk slithered off of the bladdergart and left, annoyed that he should be dismissed like some servant, but at the same time confident that the pirate's appetite had been sufficiently tickled by the offer. He would come, and the Xiati would fall into their open mouths, and Kleesh's position as first heir would be utterly unassailable.


FOOTNOTES:

* The battle-naming debate was finally settled when the First Battle Nomenclaturists made a surprise return from obscurity and gained the support of their peers with the suggestion that the previous three engagements be named the First, Second and Third Slaughters of Pruli**. Historians are now ferociously debating whether or not to revise the rest of KanesS military history and reclassify all previous conflicts as either "battles", "slaughters" or "feasts".

** It is likely that the timing of the suggestion- just before lunch after a particularly appetising morning's debate- contributed as much to its success as its content.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

*cough*bump*cough*

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

I'm reading it And I'm enjoying it Dogscoff. Very much so, the KanesS are one of the most itneresting empires i've read about in a fanfiction. And i'm sure I'm not the only one Reading. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

By the Way, I updated the Copy of this on SpaceEmpires.Net

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Thanks http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Very nice read. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I wish I could write this well.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Shrikeesh's audience fee to her parents was far less extravagant than the one Shkimsk had shared with Shreekep. The modestly-sized but exquisitely tasty Roogafish imported from the Cue Cappan homeworld implied a certain intimacy, which hinted at the favour she hoped to regain.
"It certainly is very exciting," she said, "I hope they do well." It took everything she had not to writhe with hatred as she lavished praise upon her sister's adventures, but it was rarely wise to criticise a favoured heir of the royal couple to their faces, so she just had to swallow her bile and put up with it. She could vent her frustrations on her servants later- they had been getting fat and lazy anyway, some physical punishment would do them good.
"I mean, she can hardly fail to succeed, with all those warships she's assembled. Most impressive, I must say." Shrikeesh continued. It might not do to criticise Kleesh right now, but barbs could always be disguised as praise.
"It's just a shame that your majesties don't have a fleet of their own. If the homeworld were to come under attack from some... hostile force... we would have little to defend it."
"We have the ground defences, they are more than a match for any alien fleet," drawled the king. The defences he referred to were a number of hastily-constucted weapons platforms, thrown together when a rather large alien ship had appeared in the homesystem. It had been a representative of the enigmatic Overmind, and- as it happens- had turned out to be benign. It was the first alien craft to enter the homesystem, and the masses had panicked: After seeing what could be inflicted upon alien planets by Kleesh's invasion force, their imaginations went wild at the thought of what aliens might do to them- particularly strange, mysterious aliens like the Overmind. Little was known about them, and what information there was had fuelled all kinds of wild theories and fantasies. Stories about the ability to shape life to any purpose the way other races shaped metal were popular, although not as popular as the one about the edible spacecraft a hundred miles long. When the Overmind ship started advancing upon the homeworld, such utopian tales soon turned to stories of specially-engineered fire-breathing monsters, armour-plated and ready to swallow a thousand KanesS in a single gulp. In the end, the ship had lain in orbit for a short while, dropped off a small diplomatic party and then powered off toward the nebula that lay between the homesystem and the northern domains.

His majesty reclined opulently, while a juvenile servant carefully picked lumps of meat from the royal teeth. Shrikeesh knew from experience that the wily old sod was far more alert than his composure might show, and she began filtering her words even more carefully than before.
"Of course, your majesties, with the ground defences, life and death are yours to grant to any alien that dares to enter orbit." She emphasised the word 'alien' ever so subtly, and almost immediately thought it had been too much, the implication of a potential coup too plain. The king tilted his head at her, as though to pursue the matter, but the the queen interrupted with a change of subject- her thoughts perhaps guided toward the Overmind by talk of the weapons platforms.
"I understand the Overmind have sent a delegation. What manner of creature are they?"
Shrikeesh twisted awkwardly. This was a question she had hoped to avoid, because she knew her royal parents would never be able to see beneath the surface of her answer, even if they allowed her to attempt to explain it to them.

Something Shrikeesh understood that most KanesS did not, was that aliens are utterly different, and that- according to the laws of evolution- they are supposed to be. The chances of life on different worlds evolving into anything but vastly different creatures were as close to zero as made no difference, and Shrikeesh's job as minister for alien interaction put her in amlost daily contact with the reality of this simple fact. She was beginning to realise that aliens were not only built differently, but that they had different drives, priorities and ways of thinking as well. For example, while the concept of 'compassion' is not entirely lost on the KanesS, the idea that it might be considered a good thing would be somewhat laughable to them. Nonetheless, Shrikeesh had reaslied quite some time ago that the Drukshockans weren't joking when they talked about a "benevolent and compassionate interstellar relationship." She had already found ways to manipulate this strange notion to her own advantage, securing numerous charitable donations from various Drukshockan organisations.

Then there were the Norak, with the thing they called 'religion'. This one was trickier, but she was fairly confident she'd be able to exploit that one soon enough as well. Apparently it wasn't just make-believe or metaphor, it was all real- or at least, it was real to them, and very important to them, too. If she could use it to gain some kind of advantage, it would be important to her as well.

The Cue Cappans were even trickier still, since their mind-reading tricks made it very easy for them to conceal their true intentions, and more often than not it was they who were the manipulators, and the KanesS who were the unsuspecting dupes. For this reason trade and contact with them had gradually diminished over time, but Shrikeesh had undoubtedly learned a lot from them.

However the Overmind was undoubtedly the most unfathomable of the lot. For one thing, it didn't actually seem to be a race, as such- the impression she got was that everything from that planet was somehow part of the same personality. There appeared to be individuals, but the diplomatic emissaries that had been on the homeworld since the unannounced visit seemed to have little in the way of individuality. She might be talking to one, and then go and talk to another and find that it would pick up the conversation where the first had left off. They had explained it to her several times, that they were disconnected nodes from some great intelligence, but it hadn't made much sense to her, and the baffling nature of their explanations did nothing to improve her trust of them.

Her second concern was that she couldn't divine the creatures' motives. What were they here for? The other races harrassed her on a daily basis about trade, treaties, social functions, cultural exchanges, piracy and a hundred other things. The Overmind representatives did not. They seemed quite content with the current state of affairs, although they made occasional requests for information about KanesS biology, or their studies of alien life-forms, or medical sciences. In most cases the best Shrikeesh could do was to direct them to various culinary publications.

Also, a certain amount of espionage was expected and tolerated among all the diplomatic visitors, but the Overmind's emissaries were either completely uninterested in it or so subtle that no-one even suspected them of trying. When they first arrived, they had sought assurances that their ships would not be attacked, and offered a reciprocal promise. After that, they were housed in the diplomatic complex, where they politely conversed with anyone who approached them and attended any social events to which they were invited, but beyond the continued safety of their ships and their requests for reading material they seemed to have no interest in interaction at all. Shrikeesh had agreed to forbid any attacks on Overmind ships- after all, such promises were cheap enough, since threats from the homeworld had very little impact on the buccaneers. Somehow though, no overmind ships had been attacked. Perhaps the pirates were as wary of this unknown quantity as she was, or perhaps the Overmind ships were simply too large and well armed. Certainly all she had seen so far outmassed the simple escorts the Xiati had lost.

More worrying than anything else, though- the warning sign that she knew her parents would not be able to appreciate- was their appearance. At first glance, one might easily mistake them for KanesS. The size, shape and colourings of the emissaries were almost identical to those of a typical, adult KanesS, although the colour bands were slightly too regular, and the eyes seemed somehow too large on them, and the way they moved wasn't at all right. This subtle not-quite-right was almost more unappetizing to her than the completely inorganic nature of the Drukshocka, although other KanesS didn't seemed to mind it. Soon she felt as though the emissaries had been sent to deceive her, or at the very least to patronise her. Why hadn't this super-intelligence come to them in its own, true form instead of mocking them with these imperfect copies of KanesS? The emissaries insisted that it would be quite impossible because the true overmind covered an entire planet, but that notion was even more absurd than even the most fantastic stories circulating among the lower classes.

Shrikeesh snapped her attention back to the present, and the curious gaze her royal mother was focussing at her.
"The Overmind emissaries... look much like us, but they tell me they are not typical of their species."
"So they copy us, eh?" Exclaimed the king. "Perhaps they realise that the KanesS form is the most elegant and useful, and they seek to emulate us. It must be a joy for you to finally have some sensible aliens to work with, daughter."
"It is, Royal Father, a great relief. However, their ways are not like ours, and I have heard some... interesting news from the frontier regarding the Overmind."

The king snapped away his tooth-cleaner and tipped his head to regard Shrikeesh with just one eye. There was an unspoken question in the air, and she answered it, suddenly even more acutely aware of the dangers of upsetting her parents.
"A strange incident came to light regarding one of our transports and an Overmind ship." She began, hiding her caution behind false confidence. "Some routine bookkeeping showed that two hundred colonists had boarded a colony transport, but had not landed. It looked as though he had sold them for meat," The king bared his teeth slightly, and interrupted Shrikeesh's monologue.
"As I understand it, cannibalism laws have been relaxed on the colonies." He said. "You have no right to be harrassing your sister's starliner captains anyway, and even less right to punish them for homeworld laws."
Shrikeesh stammered, but her mother intervened.
"The Captain would still be guilty of breach of contract if he sold the colonists for meat." She pointed out, "and I was never comfortable with this relaxation of cannibalism anyway. Carry on, daughter."
"When the Captain - Trissi, his name was- was brought up on charges, he said that he had sold the colonists to an Overmind ship, which had been in a great hurry for them. He confirmed his story with sensor logs."
"I fail to see why that's so worrying, daughter." Said the king. " All it proves to me is that unlike all the other aliens, these Overminds aren't prudish about what they eat. If they have a taste for KanesS flesh, then good for them, I say. Our people have always known how short a distance there is between the top and the bottom of the food chain."
"Yes, father, I understand..." Began Shrikeesh, but the king was in no mood to be placated.
"No, you do not understand. You seem to fear that these creatures will attack us and try to take us as Kleesh has taken the Xiati. You are wrong. No creature will risk conflict when it can achieve its goals by less drastic means. If the Xiati had offered us there flesh in trade, we would not be attacking them now. If the Overminds want KanesS meat, we will trade them for it. I thought you above this kind of peasantish panic, daughter."
"But she may have a point about the fleets," teh queen intervened, sparing Shrikeesh from a fresh barrage of abuse."We shouldn't allow ourselves to be upstaged by our own daughter, so we must have a royal fleet to surpass Kleesh's collection of pirates. Design and construction will begin at once. Will that set your mind at ease, daughter?"
Kleesh made a tiny sound of agreement beneath the withering stare of her father, who snorted with disgust.
"I think a Royal fleet unnecessary, but your mother has now decreed it. But know, daughter, that your hints haven't been wasted upon us, and you can rest assured that Kleesh poses no threat to us. We can easily outbid her for her mercenary fleet if it comes to it, and we have troops and agents loyal to the crown on every colony. Her own troops are mostly untrained peasants anyway. We have nothing to fear from her, even if she doesn't realise it. She might try to take the throne from us yet, the little rascal. I do like her spirit."
He paused for a moment, apparently tired by his outburst, and for an instant he seemed to soften a little.
"We're very frond of you, Shrikeesh, but you could learn much from your sister, despite her odd ways. Now, your mother and I have other business to attend to."

The interview over, Shrikeesh retired, burning with humiliation. She hadn't had a chance to reveal the reason she had wanted to discuss the Overmind with her parents. There was one important detail missing, but now she felt inclined to keep it to herself. When the starliner captain had sold some of his colonists, he had accepted sixty tons of meat in payment. The meat had been delivered, but rather than an array of live creatures or frozen carcasses, it had arrived as three massive cubes, thirty metres to a side. The flesh-cubes had no internal organs, just a series of regular capillaries criss-crossing their masses in a perfect three-dimensional grid. There was no fat, bone, cartilage, tendon or other tissues, and the surfaces showed no sign of it having been cut from a larger creature. Such a mass could serve no purpose in any living creature- indeed, it couldn't even support its own shape in anything other than zero-gravity. There was only one explanation, and that was that it had never been part of an animal. It had been created specially for the purpose of trade in some kind of vat.

The Overmind had a meat factory, and Shrikeesh wanted it.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Great story, I just love these guys. I wonder if the overmind can produce meat cubes with "mad meat cube disease" that will affect the upper crust of Kaness society in a few short years? They're such cute little bitey ice snakes! Keep up the good work!

A Meat Factory? Probably made of meat also?

"Overmind, it's not just for breakfast anymore"

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

I agree this is going great, I hope to hear more from Unknown Enemy soon on the Overmind. That Last piece was great, so packed full of details and unique ideas.

Bravo http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image.../beerglass.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I'll get it uploaded soon to SpaceEmpires.Net

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Finally cuaght up. Very nice work.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

I'm on a roll now...

********************

Shreekep's light cruiser crackled with fireworks as a second salvo of depleted uranium shells fired off toward the Xiati. Two of the alien ships had been destroyed already, and the remainder were frantically trying to regroup. Some of them returned fire, but it was clear they simply weren't hitting the KanesS ships hard enough. Shreekep fired again, rolling steadily toward the disorganised Xiati cluster. A jagged black explorer rocked with each hit, and a cloud of vented gasses hissed noisily from the hull.
"Captain Mxzz'kt'pl'k. We've been hit!" Screamed the tactical officer. "I can't get power to the engines, and they're coming in to ram us!"
The ageing escort was unarmed, and had only been included in the fleet because its long-range supply storage meant it could carry extra fuel for the warships. Without its engines it was helpless. Just then the ship shuddered again as one of its compatriots, glowing with damage, collided with the explorer as a result of a desperate evasive maneuver. Plates fell from both hulls, and the two craft trundled uncertainly apart at an oblique angle, the warship finally slowing to a near-halt and overturning loudly.
The Xiati captain picked himself off the floor, and his eyes flashed with fear. "That's not a ramming course. They're going to board us."
Suited KanesS boarders were already working to violate the explorer's stricken hull, and their equipment made hideous noises as it cut its way through. Hearing this, the tac officer looked up to his captain with terror written plainly across his face. "What will we do, Captain Mzz'imx'plxi't'x? Whatever will we do?"
The Captain looked down at his subordinate and gripped his rifle tightly. "By my implants, there's only one thing we can do, M'thr'plthr'xplxplxplxplxrthmx." He replied, sternly. "There is only one course of action now." he turned his dusky face away from the cringing tac officer, and gazed heroicly into nothingness. "We must baste ourselves in sauce and panic!" At that he threw himself on the floor, screeching and thrashing his tail until some of his less securely-fastened cybernetic implants flew off and skittered across the bridge, while the tac officer and the rest of the bridge crew burst simultaneously into song.

The audience loved it. No-one had ever attempted to depict a space battle on stage before, and the story of the Xiati invasion was a massive success. Most viewers agreed that the unconvincing Xiati costumes only added to the charm, as did the rickety, wheeled 'starships' that rolled about the stage and were certain to either fall apart before the end of each performance, or catch fire from their own pyrotechnics. Misk-weed was distributed to each audience before the performance, which was always indicative of a good, gory show. The KanesS digestive system can handle most things, vegetables included, and although they are generally scornful of any kind of salad they tend to make an exception for misk-weed. They find it tasty, filling and mildly sedative, and theatres discovered long ago that this is an ideal combination of properties for an in-show snack whenever the content of the performance is likely to spontaneously provoke a murderous feeding-frenzy. Too many good actors, staff and paying customers had been lost to theatre-wide orgies of mutual digestion*.

Despite the obvious liberties taken in the portrayal of the Xiati protagonists, the show was more or less accurate in the depiction of Kleesh's incursion into Xiati space. The eight fighters left from the first battle of Pruli were quickly destroyed by the new, sensor-equipped pirate vessels, and the fleet crossed the warp point into the desolate Marak system. There it discovered a small fleet of escorts and tore into them with passionate ferocity. The attackers suffered some damage, but no losses, and captured five enemy ships. The fleet's repair ships quickly restored their own vessels to full functionality, and most of the damage to the captured ships was retored, although their alien weapons and shield remained beyond the skills of the KanesS technicians. One of the prize ships was sent back to KanesS space to spread the news of the victory. It was then refit as an explorer and sent to investigate some of the northern systems as yet unknown to the KanesS. Three of the other ships- a single explorer and two damaged warships- were left behind to keep an eye on Marak while fifth ship joined the main fleet and crossed one of Marak's other two warp points into the Nihal system. Three occupied worlds awaited them, and none had any defences beyond a smattering of puny fighters. The twin troop transports simultaneously unloaded KanesS warriors by the thousand onto the first two worlds, and the terrified Xiati put up little resistance. They seemed to be resigned to their fate- almost as if they known it was coming. Those that did fight, invaribly fought to the death, always saving an explosive charge for themselves in orderto deny the KanesS their flesh. However most of them committed suicide immediately, having learned the fate of Pruli's colonists. All across the system, families locked themselves in their homes and burned, as- in a bizarre twist of circumstance- the KanesS occupiers risked their lives to put out the fires and save the Xiati occupants, who were the chief assets of the captured colonies.

For the invasion of the third colony- a sparsely populated moon- Kleesh ordered a different approach. A small, covert landing force managed to locate a few prominent Xiati- a local politician, a reporter, a few others- who were willing and able to pacify the locals with stories of an impending counter-attack. They advised all Xiati to stay in their homes and await rescue, while the collaborators were given a small ship and allowed to escape the system as promised. After all, if co-operation isn't seen to be rewarded, it will not be forthcoming in the future. By now the KanesS invasion fleets had learned enough about Xiati biology and cybernetics to flood the small dome with a powerful anesthetic gas. When the unfortunate prisoners awoke, they were tied, caged or otherwise prevented from harming themselves. News was sent back home, and the colonisation offices began to fill with hungry adventurers once more.

Meanwhile, the three-ship picket left in Marak reported a large fleet heading toward the Nihal warp point. The fleet had appeared at Marak's third warp-point, which was thought to exit upon the heavily-mined Xiati home-system. This fleet consisted of several carriers, numerous escorts and some ships that outmassed even the buccaneer light cruisers favoured by the likes of Shreekep. News of this new threat was received apprehensively by the fleet, but it was eventually decided that with the advantage of getting the first shot in at the warp point, they had the power to defeat even this fleet. Besides, they had assets to defend, and those assets provided them with a new and unexpected advantage. As well as extensive fleet support facilities- including resupply, repair and even training faculties- they had captured something new and very interesting with the Nihal system. Just how it worked was unclear, and whether it could be trusted or not was another question altogether, but it appeared to be able to provide information about events that hadn't actually happened yet. The expedition included numerous engineers, but no researchers, and Kleesh was determined to learn to use this thing before the Xiati relief force arrived. In the end, they managed to find a number of knowledgeable Xiati amongst the surviving colonists, who were immediately offered a choice between slavery and the fate they knew awaited them otherwise. Of those that chose slavery, a few didn't use it as an opportunity to commit suicide, attack the KanesS or attempt escape, and those few eventually got the thing working. Kleesh began studying the predictions from various fleet-engagement scenarios. It was more or less conclusive: They would crush the Xiati fleet the moment it arrived.

FOOTNOTES:

* Any readers who happen to be members of heavy metal bands are welcome to use the phrase "orgies of mutual digestion" as an album title.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

The Story was again great Dogscoff, But that footnote was just hilarious http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif The interesting piece about the theatre was defintiely unique http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Great addition!

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Just to voice a thumbs up. Good story. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Thanks everyone. Just out of interest, and slightly OT - Does anyone ever use the KanesS shipset, either as a player race or an AI race? Is everyone here aware that it even exists?
If so, would it be worth me dredging through the story and updating the shipset's (already fully charaterised) speech file with quotes?

http://www.dogscoff.co.uk/KanesS.htm (Shipset)
http://www.dogscoff.co.uk/files/KanesS_AI_Speech.txt (speech file)

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Well, just a side note, but I have absorbed through forums osmosis that Xenology is a proportions game, and the Proportions 3.0 release funks up the AI. I mean, the AI builds colony ships filled with cargo modules.

I'd use it as an AI opponent but the AI files would probably need a major rewrite...

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

It does - standard AI wouldn't stand a chance, and even the specally-written proportions AIs designed for v2.x (like the KanesS AI) aren't happy in 3.0 - those are the ones you'll have had your recent experiences with.

Major tweaking, I should think. They were fine for 2.x, and despite a few huge changes, the 3.0 tech tree is mostly the same as the 2.x tree.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

More more more...
*****************

There is a sound that only a million tons of collapsing ice in an enclosed space can make, and few creatures get to hear it more than once. That sound now rushed through the tunnels of Corondis I, herald to a procession of destruction. First behind the wave of sound came the steam: The released energies of the bLast and the pressures of the subsequent cave-in had boiled inert ice into searing vapour in an instant, and steam raced mercilessly through the narrow network of tunnels and chambers that were the streets and buildings of the city's besieged Northwest-under district. Thousands of unwitting KanesS, their sensitive ears and sonar organs already bleeding from the sound, were boiled alive in this terrible second front. Those few that survived were subjected to the shrapnel, which pummelled and sliced and impaled. By now there were none left alive in those few tunnels closest to the bLast, and there were only corpses to be buried by the crushing, grinding wall that brought up the rear.

Tunnel warfare was an old game though, and defences had been prepared. The deadly expansion was soon absorbed by carefully excavated channels, chambers and reservoirs, the energy harmlessly redirected and hidden, locked up and made dormant once again in the planet's icy crust. The core of the rebel faction had been safe behind these defences and once the suddering stopped they regrouped, abandoned the blocked tunnels and redistributed their forces accordingly. By the time they reached their new Posts, the aristocratic guard had begun to advance and fresh gunfire lit the dark caves once again, explosive echoes of war reaching for miles through the vast buried web of the planet's capital. The battle had raged like this for months, and even the revivalists had to admit: For a bunch of meathugging pacifists they put up a bloody good fight.

It had all begun with a play. Initially, "The Bones of Aunt Slikeel" hadn't caused any trouble. It was about a pair of young lovers seperated when one of them was press-ganged into colonisation. She continued to struggle as an unskilled industrial labourer on the homeworld, while he suffered against alien conditions to help build some of the first off-world farms. The content was a largely uncontraversial, but it was universally considered to be exceptionally well-written, with an engaging story, appealling characters and an outstandingly subtle use of language. The author was heralded as the next great literary genius of the time, but no-one seemed to know who he or she was. For two years the mystery remained, while the play went to ever greater and greater fame, spreading quickly from Corondis- where it had first appeared- to the other colonies and the homeworld. By the time the author's identity was revealed, it was estimated that at least two-thirds of all adult KanesS had seen the play, most of them more than once.

The trouble began when the author finally revealed herself. Her name was Sklimeel, and she was- to use the most polite terminology available to her people- deformed. She had hatched with a mis-shapen skull, which had left her with no sense of smell, impaired hearing and only one eye. Traditionally, kanesS parents devoured the least viable quarter or so of each brood shortly after hatching, and the rigours of childhood and schooling could be counted upon to eliminate a good third of the remainder before adulthood. When it was discovered that the red plague was perpetuated by cannibalism, laws were introduced to outlaw this practise. The authorities usually turned a blind eye if you ate one or two, but any more than that was subject to strict penalties. This was enough to deter most of the middle class, but the working classes took little notice. Other tactics had to be tried with them, and the one that stuck was social engineering. The idea was introduced to the lower classes that eating other KanesS- particularly your own offspring- was not a good thing to do. All kinds of stories and superstitions were devised to nurture the idea, and after a few generations it began to show results- cannibalism fell dramatically, and the plague died out. Obvious runts were still killed and disposed of by other means, but it was normal for eighty or ninety percent of a working class litter to reach maturity. For a while everything was good: The ruling classes congratulated themselves for dealing with the problem so effectively while discretely breaking the rules themselves. The middle classes did more or less as they were told and congratulated themselves for being so much cleverer than the superstitious plebs, and the working classes congratulated themselves on being so much more virtuous than their betters and continued to breed, and to believe, and to adapt their lifestyles to accomodate the massive changes forced upon them.

It was this adaption that caused the problem. Somewhere along the line, the notion that it was 'wrong' to eat another KanesS mutated into a popular belief that it was wrong to kill, or even to harm another KanesS. Such radical beliefs were bound to spark trouble sooner or later, and it was bound to happen somewhere like Corondis. Corondis I was something of a backwater, several systems from either the homeworld or the frontiers, but it was large, rich in food and had a breathable atmosphere, so despite its somewhat remote location it had been one of the first worlds settled. As such its population was composed primarily of press-ganged, working class colonists with the kind of moderate beliefs that had spawned this new "lifeist" sentiment. The adventurous voluntary settlers of the second wave were more prevalent on the younger, frontier worlds and tended to favour the less restricted diet that colonial law- applicable as much in Corondis as in Catia or Marfak- now allowed.

What's more, this new belief was creeping up the social ladder, so that it now affected not only a large portion of the working classes, but some of the middle classes as well. Most right-thinking KanesS considered that it was only a matter of time before some idiot aristocrat decided life was fashionable and the whole fabric of KanesS society would fall apart completely. In the meantime, deformed and weak infants were being raised to maturity, and when one of them turned out to be an undisputed literary genius- acclaimed in ignorance of her deformity by even the most vocal "eat 'em all" revivalists, all hell broke loose. Sklimeel was denounced as a fraud, who was either taking flse credit for the play or who faked her disabilities, or both. She was called a freak and an abomination, and a hungry mob assembled at once to "do what her mother should have done years ago" and devour her. Lifeists rallied to her defence, claiming that her achievements were proof and vindication of their beliefs, and that untold potential had been lost over the centuries by hatch-culling. Many "kill but don't eat" moderate fence-sitters were persuaded by this argument, and peaceful protests soon became riots as full-cannibal revivalists, plague-sensitive "eat a few" conservatives and even some of the remaining moderates lined up in opposition. So provoked, those who held life so sacred soon agreed that some lives were more sacred than others and open hostilites commenced. With the various factions all mixed together in the streets and homes of the city, combat was sporadic and chaotic at first, until the two Groups finally gathered themselves together geographically and drew out their lines. In the interests of public order- and in a desperate effort to quell the rising assertion that alien intelligences (in particular, the recently-invaded Xiati) had as much right to life as any KanesS- the colonial troops moved in on the side of the moderates and conservatives, and bit by bit the rebellion was being pushed down toward the ocean below the ice. However, other colonies were beginning to stir, and Sklimeel's name was being whispered in tunnels across the conservative domains.


****


Appendix. (I've had footnotes, so why not an appendix?) Just a handy note to help remember the various factions involved:

-Revivalists: Want a return to full cannibalism, not only of less-favoured infants but of anyone who you don't particularly like. This Groups is composed largely of aristocrats who are either too ignorant or foolhardy to fear a return of the red plague. The relaxed laws on the colonies represent an attitude somewhere between revivalism and conservatism, leaning more toward the latter.
-Conservatives: Agree that full cannibalism isn't safe, but believe that eating the odd hatchling or debtor isn't the end of the world. Most upper and middle class and many working class KanesS fall into this Category, and so far their belief reflects the reality of KanesS society on the homeworld and the older colonies.
-Moderates: Place no particular intrisic value on KanesS life, but recognise the danger of cannibalism. Therefore they are quite happy to kill other KanesS, but not to eat them. This is the ideal according to homeworld law, but it isn't strictly enforced. Most of the working class are practising moderates, although temptation might get the better of them occasionally if someone happens to look particularly tasty.
-Lifeists: This group spawned from the moderates, and is growing in popularity. They believe that all KanesS life is intrinsically valuable, and that killing KanesS is wrong. Putting such extreme beliefs into pactise is difficult for a KanesS, so it's not hard to understand that they seem to be prepared to kill to promote their beliefs. Many of them extend the value of KanesS life to include intelligent aliens.
-Vegetarians: There are no vegetarian KanesS. Are you kidding?
-The conflict described here is essentially between the lifeists on one side, and the conservatives and revivalists on the other (with support from the military). Both sides have persuaded some moderates to their causes, but by and large the moderates don't want to get involved.

****

Included here for the interest of the reader is an extract from Tshkits' gastronomic guidebook (colonial third edition)- a snobbish but popular periodical among the KanesS aristocracy and aspiring entrepreneurs, which lists and catalogues a huge number of popular delicacies, how best to devour them, where to acquire them, which bits taste best, whether it's better to wait until the thing is actually dead before you start eating it, whether it's considered acceptable in polite company to fertilise and lay eggs in the still-beating heart of your meal before your guests have finished dining and so on.

Tshkit is perhaps one of the most prominent revivalists, as the forty six-page entry titled "enjoying the company of your fellow KanesS", with an eight-page appendix on cutlery / torture devices, graphically attests. For reasons of good taste (no pun intended), that entry is not presented here. Instead, here is the entry on the Cue Cappan Roogafish.

The Cue Cappan Roogafish: This alien delicacy is a soft, delicately flavoured meat with exquisite kelpy undertones. It is becoming increasingly fashionable in some circles to enter the creature through the mouth. This presents no danger, since the Roogafish is not only toothless but utterly incapable of closing its massive jaws. The diner then has the choice of burrowing either straight up into the eyes, or straight down into the secondary brain. From either of these vantage points, a skilled diner might still make a start on the tasty, blood-rich oxygenation sacs before his more conventional guest, (who has entered through the top gill-slits) has a chance to tear through the tough filters and begin on the sacs. The chief disadvantage of the mouth entry, however, is that it can be immediately fatal to the fish, thus depriving the diner of the delightful death-throes that make a gill-entry the choice currently favoured by their majesties.

Whatever the entry, the filters make suitable meat for servants, but are best ignored by those with the funds to import this rare creature. Rumour has it that some of the frontier colonies are actually farming these fish in an effort to compete with imported meat and bring this treat into the price range of the shopkeeper classes. While the true connoiseur will always avoid farmed meat, which is both morally and gastronomically inferior to meat caught or found in its natural habitat, one should be particularly careful of farmed Roogafish, which are often infested with Cuppabugs, a type of parasitic larvae. Although Cuppabugs are tasty in themselves (see page 81), they have powerful pincers and have been known to maim incautious diners. The Roogafish itself is quite docile and harmless, and even healthy specimens can be safely entered and consumed. Other choice morsels include the grool-spleens (located behind the anterior gloobls) and the perkbags, which are behind the eyes in the male, behind the nose in the female, and just above the enflamed Moogrl-column in the neuter.

Other notable entries in the guidebook include the Surk, the crawler-mimics and bladdergarts of Daran II, a short and unenthusiastic piece about Overmind cube-meat, several pages about Cue cappans and, of course, extensive information about the Xiati (with sage warnings about accidentally eating cybernetic implants).

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

We want more! We want more!

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Destination : ALIEN RELATIONS MINISTER
Princess Shrikeesh

Object : Trade agreement proposal
Added subject : insulting allegations
Added subject : buccaneer behavior

As representative of the Overmind, we are positively delighted by the interest you show us, and we would like to address you our warmest consideration. However, we have the sad feeling we will not be able to pay back such honor, as we have to bring you official answers not as satisfactory as you could have expected.

We have transmitted your trade proposal, which has been reviewed by Eden Prime's Overmind.

To understand our answer, please consider the following facts : your treaty involves allowing specialized specie members ( merchants ) to trade various materials. However, it assumes members of species or sub-species compete (internally or externally) for possession of these goods, within a civilization creation called "free market" in KanesS society. This organizational feat creates the need of currency, which facilitate the trade of goods. The complexity of such an organization is puzzling to us. What seems even weirder is that its creators do not seem to understand it completely as well, which is showed by the mere existence of KanesS Economists working out conflicting economic theory.

We have none of this.
We have no free market, no currency, no traders or Economic systems.
We have no basis on which to start exchanging goods. We have no need for your manufactured goods : we cannot use them. We have no tools your specie could use. We understand your will to import Organic material from Eden's Colony. But as it would not be in our best interest to comply, we have to decline any trade proposal at the present time.

Now to our second point, we would like to deny all allegations about our supposed warmongering and genocidal nature.We believe theses rumors were spread partly due to KanesS internal politics and the creation of a KanesS Navy, but nevertheless, we are not pleased by such assumptions, especially when you realize the Overmind is the only known space faring intelligence not born from predators or scavengers. However, we are indeed fighting an insectoid specie known as the Xi'Chung. We believe these insectoids saw our origin as a weakness, which would be an explanation to why they attempted to deal with us as they do with all species lacking the strength to resist them : extermination. But that erroneous assumption will prove to be their undoing. Indeed, Eden's VoidTigers have fought their way, system by system, battles after battles, cleansing insectoid colonies when they were discovered. Now, VoidTigers are setting up an advanced base adjacent to their home system. But rest assured we took all necessary steps to safeguard Xi'Chung's genetic pool, so when VoidTigers glass Xi Prime, their specie will be safe from oblivion.

Our Last point is about the KaneSS buccaneers that are preying on your northern frontier.
We have to signal that in two separate occasions ships from KanesS origin followed or tried to intercept a VoidHawk. On the first attempt, the Hawk simply out speed his pursuant, but on the second occasion, the Hawk felt threatened enough to fire a warning salvo. Only then the buccaneer cleared off the warp point. The Overmind is fully aware of your individual and unruly nature, which imply that someday, a KanesS buccaneer will try to capture a Hawk. Be advised that your specie will not bear responsibility for the acts of a few individuals issued from rejection gene pool. However, the Overmind suggests that should KaneSS buccaneers be warned that all Hawks will commit suicide rather than be eaten alive, the number of gung-ho captains would reduce significantly. Last but not least, the Overmind think your privateers should be warned that Eden's Tigers believe in Retaliation, and a captain who kills a Hawk or a Tiger would never be safe again. He would be hunted for the rest of his life.

In the hope that such words will be enough to avoid unnecessary deaths.

Eden Embassy

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Amazing how quickly threads can drop to the second or third page...

************************

First let me thank you for your gracious response to our trade proposal. While it is disappointing that you choose not to enter into trade with us, my Royal Parents are reassured by your evident desire for peaceful co-existence. The rumours to which you refer are nothing more than the idle but imaginative prattlings of the lower classes, who are prone to invention on those frequent occasions when their ignorance of a particular subject outweighs their knowledge. However the stories they circulate are harmless, and easily enough changed or forgotten when real facts come to light. My Royal Parents, the masters and true representatives of KanesS society, recognise your gentle nature and assure you that we too want nothing more than to enjoy a benevolent and compassionate interstellar relationship with our neighbours. As our relationship deepens, and understanding grows, the wild rumours of the workers will doubtless be dispelled.

As to your final point, the unfortunate incidents with the buccaneers are, sadly, the acts of rogue elements within our society. The KanesS have always treasured freedom, and this kind of behaviour is one of the prices we must pay for such freedom. It is not our way to seek conflict, except where to do so would be an act of mercy, as with the Xiati. You may rest assured that the aggressive actions on our northern frontiers do not represent the will or nature of the KanesS as a whole. It is unfortunate that you choose not to conduct trade with us, since I am unable to offer legal protection to your ships unless they have the diplomatic value that trade would bestow. However the privateer fleets will be warned against attacking you as you suggest, and we sincerely hope that no more incidents of the type you describe should occur.

Finally, we read with interest your troubles with the XiChung. We have no personal experience of this species, but we are always eager to learn about new life-forms, and to aid our allies. In our culture, nothing seals a friendship more securely than to feast together upon the flesh of a mutual enemy, and my Royal Parents have therefore authorised me to offer to you the services of our newly-formed Royal Fleet in your valiant struggle against the Xichung.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Something was wrapped around her neck. She pulled desperately at it in the darkness, but it didn't give. Just then the grip was released and she felt her armband being tugged away, and with her newly-returned breath she screamed. To be simply murdered- stabbed or strangled or bludgeoned- was one thing, but to lose the armband, to be abandoned to the fate that would mean... that was far worse. It was night, and in the sheer blackness her panic was rising. The KanesS had built domes and tunnels for their own use, but parts of the city remained undomed and despite the harsh winter the occupiers didn't see much point supplying power to these Xiati-occupied provinces. She struggled on blindly, fighting for her life.

Once upon a time she wouldn't have even noticed the dark- infravision and even radar were common enough enhancements among the Xiati- but her modified senses had been disabled along with most of her other cybernetics as part of her enslavement. Every night she hurried through the haunted streets after each day's work, desperately hoping to get home without incident. The armband was her life. It was a signal to all KanesS that this Xiati was worth more alive than eaten, and that her death would be punishable in kind to anyone who thought otherwise. However, it protected only her life. Her meagre possessions might still be seized by any of the KanesS bullies who roamed the Xiati district and stole from the residents, and they could never be entirely trusted to control their appetites anyway, armband or not.

So far- until tonight- she had been lucky. She had never been attacked, and her home raided only a few times. Her mate stayed mostly at home now to protect what little they had. The KanesS were cowardly creatures, and his mere presence was enough to deter them. When she got home he would then be free to go out and try to bring them some food and fuel - Where he found these necessities Xel neither guessed nor asked, but once she had come to find him skinning and gutting a pair of KanesS. "We won't get in trouble" he had said, "they weren't anyone important." He ate his fill that night, but Xel had been sickened and chose to remain hungry. It had been especially hard in those early months, and they had spent days arguing over the choices that had brought them here.

The choice to move to the colonies had been a difficult one to start with. Xel had wanted nothing more than to stay on the homeworld and raise a family, but when it became apparent that they were unable to conceive, he had finally persuaded her to start a new life of the frontier. However that choice had been relatively easy compared to the one that followed it less than a year later.

The predictor first began hinting at the possibility of an invasion months before it happened, and the Imperial command ignored the warnings. Perhaps their own predictors gave different indications- it happened sometimes- or perhaps they had some other reason to hand millions of lives over to the butcher-worms. Whatever it had been, the Empire refused to evacuate the system, and prepared only a token defence. The people of Nihal were left to their own devices, as the predictor gave stronger and stronger indications of an overwhelming invasion. Amid the riots, the bombings and the desperate charges on the blockaded spaceport, discussions arose concerning the best course of action should the system fall. It came down to the two basic options: To fight and die, or simply to give in an die voluntarily. It had become the only real subject for debate or discourse in the system during that time. In light of this gruesome decision, Xel considered her lack of offspring a blessing rather than a curse.

Fierce arguments had raged throughout the system as militant, terrorist and counter-terrorist Groups had formed, fought, splintered and fused, and for a great many Xiati the choice of how to die was taken away from them. Some argued that to fight and die was the nobler alternative, and that suicide was nothing more than cowardice. However, those in favour of suicide pointed out that a combatant had less chance of ensuring that his body would not be eaten. It was well-known that the KanesS invaded for meat, so perhaps suicide was the braver option after all: A well-executed self-destruction could deny the KanesS the flesh they wanted and - hopefully- discourage further aggression against other targets. After painful deliberation, Xel and her mate had opted for suicide, but when the moment came, they looked at one another found they just couldn't do it. When the KanesS offered a third option- slavery- they decided to take it.

She told herself that she was staying alive so that there would be someone for the relief force to rescue- that she would be able to give them valuable information about the enemy, having lived among them, but really she knew she was simply afraid to die. She wasn't ashamed of that- she considered survival to be a valuable instinct- but she was ashamed that she would have to work the predictor for them. The predictor gave an enormous advantage in combat, and since the KanesS mind seemed utterly unable to grasp the temporal technology that the cast apparatus relied upon, they had offered life to those Xiati able to maintain and operate it. She knew the other martyrs would have been disgusted at this collaboration, but then she reminded herself that they were all dead, and with that she gave herself over to slavery.

That was one thing she could give the KanesS credit for. Xiati slavemongers throughout their own turbulent history had talked about "moral servitude" or "uncompensated co-operation", but the KanesS saw no reason not to call it what it was. She worked long hours at the predictor without payment and - apart from the odd scrap thrown her way when the KanesS engineers were feeding - was expected to take care of her own food, shelter and necessities. All she received in exchange for her efforts were the two precious armbands, which the aliens did at least seem to honour. There had been one or two exceptions resulting in Xiati deaths, but those had been as much due to Xiati carelessness as anything else, and the death penalty had been enforced on the perpetrators. She had been surprised at the severity of the punishment at first- she could hardly believe that they thought a Xiati life was worth a KanesS one- but it seemed it was the only deterrent strong enough to counter their appetites. She still received hungry looks on a daily basis, but in time they began to intimidate her less and less. It remained a daily terror going to work with those monsters, but there were times that she almost forgot about their nature and began to regard them as people. Certainly, the educated ones treated her with more respect than they did their own servants- although admittedly that still wasn't much. They listened when she spoke, and- apart from the more aristocratic ones- they seemed quite ready to accept that she was at least as good an engineer as any of them. They still made worrying jokes and comments about her flavour, but as her grasp of their language improved she realised that they sometimes made similar jokes about one-another, and when she tentatively suggested one day that she might bite the tail off of one of the less productive junior engineers to stop him coiling on it all day long, they all laughed with approval. That moment of acceptance shocked her, and she tormented herself for days with memories of the atrocities committed by these people- no, these monsters, wishing she had given herself to martyrdom after all. Once again she began thinking of ways she might sabotage the predictor or give false information that would ruin their fleet, but the predictor was clear: Any fleet that entered Nihal would be destroyed. The KanesS fleet was growing steadily with re-inforcements and capured craft, and although the Xiati Imperial command sent fleet after fleet into Marak, they all withdraw again before engaging the enemy. Either their own predictors simply couldn't give them a favourable result, or the Imperial command was a bunch of dithering krsssthrll*.

At about this time- when her morale was at its lowest- she had more or less decided upon suicide. She was only halted in this by another shocking discovery: Despite the fact that she and her mate had been almost too exhausted for anything more than survival, she was pregnant. It was at once her dream come true and her worst nightmare. She had been exceedingly lucky to negotiate one additional armband for her mate, who was not directly useful to the occupiers. What would her chances be of securing another? If she asked for one and they refused, they would surely guess why she wanted it and take the baby from her. She knew she couldn't possibly bear that. What if she promised to raise and educate the child to do her job and replace her? It seemed the KanesS were inherently incapable of understanding the technology, and they would have to appreciate the long-term necessity of a live Xiati presence. Wouldn't they? It was a source of enormous worry to her, until the night she was attacked.

Another sharp tug and the armband tore free, taking a layer of skin with it. As soon as it was clear of her body it let out a high-pitched whine, and she heard the attacker hiss in surprise. It made sense that the armband should have some kind of built in tamper-protection, and she knew that the KanesS guard would be on their way. They would help her, but only if she had the armband. She lunged forward and found her assailant in the darkness, her fingers connecting with bone. It was a jaw, and from there she was able to locate a throat. Fuelled by fear, she grasped it and squeezed, and held on tight as the other party thrashed and squirmed, finally landing a powerful blow to Xel's stomach. She felt something fragile within her break, and it was with a rage she had never even imagined that she crushed the life out of the creature in her hands.

When the guard arrived, their vehicle's floodlights illuminated an inert, vacant Xel with blood seeping from under her armband. She was kneeling before the corpse of a tattered and scrawny escaped Xiati meat-prisoner. The guards made a few jokes and took the body away. They said they were taking it back to the slave's owner, but they threatened and bribed her until she promised not to mention this episode, then laughed again as they sped off again, leaving her once more in darkness. Eventually she picked herself up and started walking back home without neither fear nor hope, untroubled by thoughts of either suicide or survival, without feelings of remorse, forgiveness, hate, love or anything else at all.


Footnote:
*"krsssthrll" is a KanesS word, with a literal meaning of "sack" or "store", but which is usually used to describe someone who is inefficient, ineffectual, indecisive and whose only real worth is as a source of protein. Not surprisingly, the Xiati language that Xel was brought up in lacks a concise translation, which is probably why she uses a KanesS term here.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

The war against the Xi’Chung was approaching its conclusion. For months, Eden’s children had been hunting insectoid spaceships, and now, twenty seven VoidTigers had established a permanent base of operation in the alien homesystem. The next phase would be the cleansing of the beast’s nest. However, in orbit of Xi’s homeworld, the enemy had built around 30 ships massive beyond belief. The Xi’Chung called them “cruisers”, and their mere existence made the Overmind uneasy, but as the insects never managed to defeat Eden’s Children in battle, he instructed his fleet to set up a resupply depot and resume operations as planned.

However the Xi’Chung fleet attacked first. That day, the Overmind learned that no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy : Xi’Chung cruisers wiped out Eden’s fleet and glassed the outpost. In a swift move the bugs had destroyed the threat to their Hive and paved their way to a murderous counterattack. Eden’s Mind thought about recalling VoidTigers on guard duty near the KanesS frontier, but they were very far away from the front line. Xi’Chung warships would have all the time they needed to rampage Eden’s newborn worlds before their arrival on the battlefield. So he settled for another course of action, he decided that two previously conquered systems could be sacrificed. These were used as bait for the beasts by setting up minefields and some satellite defense on warp point. While it did not destroy any enemy warships, it did manage to damage some, slowing considerably the enemy. Meanwhile, the Overmind began to analyze the reasons for this disaster.

Technology.
The Alien ships were more advanced than my VoidTigers.

So far, the Overmind had been convinced that it was the most advanced being in the quadrant, but he tried to maintain balance between civil and military technology. Now, he was facing a specie which concentrated all their efforts in hull size and weapon systems. As a result, the Xi’Chung achieved superiority in both of these subjects. These points needed immediate answer.

In orbit of Xalow3, two small frigates were waiting the nine Xi’Chung cruisers that had been heard emerging from the warp point. When the enemy finally arrived, the tiny ships ignited their engines, on intercept course with the huge warships. They were still out of weapon range when the first explosions occurred. The Overmind had made sure that all space around the planet had been carefully mined. Seven out of nine cruisers were destroyed immediately. The remaining two were damaged, but still tried to attack the frigates. The little ships easily avoided enemy beams, and returned fire. Both ships were mounting the latest model of shield depleting weapons. With a few shoots, both enemy ships shields were gone. Only then the wounded warships were approached at point blank distance, and hundred of small pods were fired at them. As soon as the pods reached the Xi’Chung ships, tens of thousands tiny worms started to pierce the hull using an organic acid. Once they arrived inside, they started to hunt every single living thing in the ship. The worms were specifically designed to burrow into a Xi’Chung shell, reach their nervous system and take control of it. In a matter of minutes, the 2 ships were filled with Xi Chung Zombies.

Once created, a Zombie had a maximum lifespan of 24H, but it was more than enough to bring the cruisers in orbit. Then, the crew was disposed of and both cruisers were analyzed. Despite their differences, Xi’Chung and Eden’s technology shared some common ground, so both ships were fully salvageable to create bigger skeletons and better weapons for Eden’s VoidTigers. In a single move, the advantage taken by the aliens had been cleanly wiped out. To remain fair, it has to be said the idea of taking control of an enemy ship to steal the technology developed by your enemy was not of the Overmind’s design, but came from the KanesS buccaneers. The Overmind had not been enthusiastic about the idea when he first examined it, but he developed it and created two frigate class VoidHawk, which were deployed near the frontline. These two ships just saved the day.

Four months later, 23 Xi’Chung cruisers had stormed and glassed Xalow3, leaving nothing alive behind them. In the meantime, the Overmind had finished further researches on weapon systems. He was again ahead of the insectoids. As soon as the prototypes were accepted as conscious, every single world between Eden and the frontline began to grow VoidTigers at maximum overdrive, tapping happily on the massive mineral and organic reserves the Overmind maintained. However, five shipyards grew a different kind of beast : cruiser sized VoidBears. These massive brutes were equipped with best model of both shields depleters and planetary napalm bombs. They were designed as planet busters.

When the Xi’Chung fleet finally arrived near Eden’s newborn worlds, 27 VoidTigers and 5 VoidBears were assembled in orbit of the largest planet. While not fully trained, their mere sight was enough to send the Xi’Chung running. Once they were trained, they would be send to storm the alien nest, but the Overmind feared that more than one fleet would be needed to cleanse the enemy homeworld. However, it was time to end this madness.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Klumart had always known that the gods could be cruel, and he had often suspected they had a sense of humour, but his current situation confirmed both of these. Striped faces pressed greedily against the glass, but he ignored them and went back to his construction, and soon they moved on along their tube. The block of stone looked far too heavy for him, even in this gravity, but he lifted it easily onto one of his three knees, and then up onto his shoulder. It was actually made of some kind of foam, painted up to look like rock. Others were formed and made up to look like real norak bricks, doors, beams, tiles, even windows. It was like some huge playset.

As he understood it, the idea was for him to construct some kind of "authentic" looking home for himself. He wasn't entirely sure why they wanted him to- the KanesS didn't seem interested in the prisoners' surroundings so much as the prisoners themsleves. He also wondered why he even bothered- there was no weather to guard against under this glass sky, and any privacy the lightweight walls afforded him would soon be torn away when they demolished his little house, forcing him to start all over again, for the seventh or eighth time since his arrival. After all, a zoo is no fun if the animals stay hidden away in their nests all the time, is it? A fresh set of faces peered in through the glass, using their tail-tips to wipe away the condensation from their breath. The watched him a while, then went on their way.

Klumart sighed and placed the block upon the low wall that he had built, then looked up to survey his surroundings. The low, rolling hills and yellow moss really did look quite homely and pleasant to the norak eye. There was a lot of it, too, it would probably take him most of the day to cross to the far side of the dome, if he was really inclined to try. There was no point though, he knew the other side to be much the same as this: more hills, more moss, the odd stream or pond, all patched here and there with little plots of vegetables by huts made of pretend bricks, all occupied by dejected norak. Visitors would throw the occasional morsel of food into the enclosure, hoping (almost always wihout success) to provoke a squabble between the people within, but mostly the captives were expected to provide for themselves. Mercifully, the farming implements they had been given (taken, by the looks of things, from one of the captured colonies to the west of the Continuum) were real, and not made of foam. They also made pretty good weapons when the visitors came into the compound to attack some particularly frail or sick-looking inmate, or to drag away parts of somebody's corpse. The zookeepers didn't seem to mind if the odd visitor got killed or maimed in these attacks, but they took great offence if anyone made any attempt to bury the dead or block up the interface points. Old Rummult in the next hut over was living proof of that, and despite the leg he had lost to the zookeeper's gun, with a little help he was still able to fight off every opportunistic visitor that thought he might make an easy meal. Klumart just about produced enough food to sustain his neighbour as well as himself, but infection was setting in on the stump and without any real medicine here it was only a matter of time before the gods took the cripple back into their embrace. Even now, a hungry, striped face appeared at the interface point and eyed Rummult, but Klumart barely noticed. There were those who attacked, and those who just thought about it, and by now any inmate in the compound could tell the difference in an instant. Eventually, the face moved on.

Klumart looked again at the interface point nearest his half-built hut. Unlike the majority of the other few thousand Norak in this dome, his hut was quite near one of the interface points. This waas not by choice but because all the other land that met his requirements him had already been taken. However, the interface point did fascinate him, because he felt sure they were the key to escape from this place. The zoo was a prison without bars. The landscape was criss-crossed by narrow visitor tubes and tunnels for the KanesS, into which there were small openings at regular intervals, giving visitors full access to roam about the safari compound. In theory, a particularly daring and supple Norak might squeeze himself into a tube and attempt escape. Rumour had it the planet held not only exhibits of live Norak, but of captured weapons platforms, mines, satellites, ground assault vehicles and fighters. There were even said to be captured warships in orbit, converted into museums, where KanesS could take guided tours. Yes, all that they needed for escape was at the other end of those tubes, but no Norak would get far beyond the interface point. The atmosphere in the compund was high in methane, as required by Norak physiology. The air in the tubes and visitor domes beyond was high in carbon dioxide, the KanesS' preferred medium for breathing. A norak might last a minute or two in the tube before asphyxiating, but no more.

However, once through the selective force-field that kept the atmospheres seperate, the KanesS seemed able to hold their breath for ages, and even to speak and eat- Rummult had once said the KanesS scavenged underwater on their own worlds, so it made sense that they should have this ability. Klumart resolved to dissect the next visitor he caught and look for any special respiratory mechanism that might support the theory. It would be messy, with only farming tools to work with, but it would keep his mind occupied for a while. He was an inquisituve sort, Klumart, which was the main reason he had selected this particular spot on the very edge of the dome. Most of the norak were clustered in the middle, as far from the edges as possible. However, if he were to stand on his little half wall- Klumart did so now- he could peer through the dome's glass and see into the neighbouring dome. There he could just make out the tiny black shapes of his Xiati neighbours. They looked so funny to him, wobbling around on just two spindly legs each, and the fake building materials they had been given looked so very different and silly in comparison to his own. Klumart chuckled, and didn't even notice the striped faces looking curiously in at him from the nearby tube.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

This one seemed to slip off the front page quite quickly, so I thought I'd *bump* it to make sure it didn't get missed.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Is this still about a PBW game or is it now a fully fictional story?

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

It is still about a game, and still running.
Sometime slowly, sometime quickly, but definitely running.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Oh. So the game's still on. Oh well.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

Two questions:

1. Is this about a game with Proportions or some other mod? (edit: Just saw it was. Looked down a number of posts.)

2. Dogscoff, could you post the KanesS shipset here? (perhaps the same goes for Unknown Enemy with the Eden Overmind, please?) (edit: See above... but Unknown Enemy, could you post a link to the Eden Overmind here?)

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

The KanesS shipset is available on Dogscoff's site.

Re: [OT] - Story thread: Xenology Resurrected
 

You sound disappointed. =-\

The Overmind uses the fantastic United Flora shipet, one o the most beautiul sets ever. You can find it at Sotas, which seems to be broken at the moment, or here: http://mkv25.net/USy/central.php?inf...;sort=racename or pretty much anywhere else that hosts decent sets.