Kyelin

The Depths of Deception

Does anyone else find it funny that every single one of us in our arriving posts has commented on how bizzare and stupid the Inter Species Affairs (or whatever it is called) building is?
It's a miracle that it got approved for construction XD

The Depths of Deception

WIll post tomorrow, if we get moving to the briefing room.

The Scattered [Sci-Fi]

Busy tonight, will get a psot up tomorrow. Also, going to send a small landing party of technicians and field researchers, if that is ok?

Interstellar ~ Ascension ~ Compendium

The Teu’Sopta Vanguard NS

Home System

Previous Capital System: Dyril Debris Field, formerly The Keep:
The Dyril Debris field is a collection of various asteroid fields, shattered planets and artificial debris, orbiting the neutron shell of a long dead star. To most researchers today, it is believed that a primitive civilization once called the system home, but was destroyed when their binary stars went supernova, and obliterated everything in the vicinity. In all actuality, this is where the Teu’Sopta made their last stand against the Crayven Armada.

The only object of any interest to scholars is the massive pillar shard orbiting the tiny core of a former gas giant. Many xenoarcheologists would give anything to have access to the site, but the sheer amount of radiation and quantum disturbances, coupled with the many trillions of high velocity debris particles and a near lethal security system, makes access impossible for the moment.

Dominant Species: Teu’Sopta

Direction From Galactic Core:65 0000 AU from galactic core, 16 degrees southeast

Politics, Power & Economy

Head Of State/Government:
No record currently exists of any actual leaders, political and military wise, at the time of The Schism. Only a brief description of the Champion who led the final stand of the Teu’Sopta has been found: O’kra, Matron of Desolation.

Government Type/Operation/Description:
The government of the Empire bore the most semblances to a feudal hierarchy, with each planet governing itself and trading with others of the empire, but always loyal to The Keep and ready to defend the system at a moment’s notice. All planetary states answered and obeyed any instruction forthcoming from Keep Space, and many planetary systems were independently run and governed, with great variety between states.

Economic System/Prosperity
The original Teu were a vast empire that controlled much of the galaxy, for the most part uncontested by any other civilizations bar the sudden and disastrous declaration of war against the Crayvens. If they had been more inclined to actually maximize their profit on their resources, with focuses on such industries as mining, and not devote their lives to understanding the ways of Harmony and galactic peace, the galaxy may have been much more depleted of valuable materials than it is now.

Empire Size:
The Teu’Sopta Empire may have been in the trillions of individuals, but none remain active thus now, having been utterly wiped out in The Schism. At most, 50 000 may have survived.

Empire Power
No power currently: If any Vanguards remained, somehow preserved, they would not even qualify as a planetary power, though many remains of their civilization have been found inactive for eons and possibly still operational.

Type Of Power:
Religious/Military:

Biology, History and Technology

Race Name:
The Teu’Sopta Vanguard, formerly the Millenium Empire.

Average Lifespan: Some Teu Harmony Masters can slow the aging process using extensively trained skills in Harmony, living for over a thousand years, though no such individuals remain. On average, Teu can live for up to 250 years, though most Vanguard soldiers are long dead by then from war and conflict.

Physical Characteristics: All evidence of Teu form is derived from both collected data disks and ancient hieroglyphs found in the preservation of several cultures, both existing and extinct. All collected artworks bear a striking resemblance to each other, depicting Teu’Sopta as humanoid asexuals in form, standing at approximately 7’5’’ tall. Their bodies are fluid like in both movement and appearance, with elongated heads and sharp spindly limbs, except for the hands, which extend to quite large lengths for their height and build. Internally, there are certain analogues to organs found in other species, but with the addition of special fabrication chambers for the Harmony Nanite System. Most surprisingly, internal structures are not connected via synosial membranes to body chambers as in other species: Rather, they are suspended in a cytoplasmic fluid filled with nanite transport systems, similar to unicellular organisms.

Recovered hieroglyph fragment from site 332-BBBS, depicting a Teu of unknown designation or order:


These nanites are potent mutagenics, that have given the species a powerful psionic gift: Many Teu can project mental images into another’s mind, telepathically communicate between other Teu, and even levitate objects within a radius around them. The more powerful and gifted Vangurads, after many years of training, can even cause localized shifts in the laws of quantum mechanics at various levels of observability, either as a weapon against ships or phase between great distances nearly instantaneously. Such individuals are extremely rare among the Teu, and hold seats of great power, either as legendary warriors or esteemed leaders.

Dominant Society:
The Teu’Sopta Vanguard is all that remains of the Empire, a hastily assembled task force preserved to eventually become the care takers of the next inheritors of the stars, intended to be governed again by a newly built multi-species Empire led by the Teu. The Vanguard comprises of various ships, leaders, researchers and engineers scattered throughout the galaxy on various celestial bodies and in artificial stations hidden well and awaiting discovery.

Moral Values:
The Vanguard has two objectives: Re-instate the original Empire, and defend life from that which could destroy all. As such, their main attitudes toward the galaxy is that of superiority, holding themselves in high regard as protectors and leaders. They have little tolerance of races that mindlessly eradicate or assimilate organisms, and will wage holy wars against them for thousands of years, if that is what it takes to secure the future of the galaxy.

Religion:
The Harmony – Evolving on a world rich in nano-robotic machines left behind by their predecessors, the Empire held the creators of these devices in high regard, worshiping them and praising them for what they believed to be a divine gift. In essence, the Harmony is more of a way of life, individuals training and learning to master the many teachings and masteries it presents. Harmony also teaches to respect all creatures, great and small, killing only when others are in danger of annihilation. These stringent codes of practice are what all Vanguards abide to, and it is better to die than to violate the precious laws of Harmony.

History:
Almost 300 000 years ago, the beings who would eventually become known as the Teu'Sopta Vanguards began their expansion into the stars, eager to explore and investigate the many wonders of this galaxy, making sure to not interfere with the many evolving life forms and sentient species they came across. Uncontested, they built a grand empire across the cosmos, drawn to the cause of preserving all life they came into contact with, and further understand their place in the universe. Eventually, they met the limitations of the current FTL drives they had designed, and discovered they could not advance any further into the universe without new breakthroughs regarding their knowledge of FTL travel.

Before this work could be completed, the Empire had noticed, for some time, the rapid expansion of their galactic neighbors, the Crayvens, whom they had been peaceful with for the majority of their existence. Fearing that they were quickly going to become a threat to the Teu cause, it was decided that they must be stopped. And so, they allied with another race present, the Cephalrrior, and set about to destroy the Crayvens, once and for all, in the event the Empire called The Schism.

The fighting lasted for millennia, as each side was bogged down in terrible conflict that resulted in the deaths of billions from all sides. As time wore on, it became evident that the Crayvens were unlike anything the Teu had faced before: They used the very same weapon against them, to create vast armies in impossibly short time, and soon, The Teu had been beaten back to The Keep, the last strong hold of the Empire. A vast mega structure taking up an entire solar system, war lasted there for almost a hundred years, while the Teu exhausted every tactical option available to them, as they couldn't allow the secrets of The Keep to fall into Crayven hands.

It was decided that the Teu would elect a small team of survivors, called the Vanguard, and utterly annihilate The Keep, both preserving their secrets and destroying the Crayvens. And when all preparations were set, the Teu unleashed the entirety of their remaining people's combined psionic power, sending their star into supernovae and wiping out the Crayven fleets present at the battle, but also destroying everything that their empire stood for: The last bastion of the empire was utterly annihilated, and all remaining Teu were vaporized, having been harvested forcibly for this final desperate attempt at victory. Only the relics of their past have been discovered, holding many secrets waiting to be discovered.

Technological Overview:
Teu technology is devoted towards their innate psionic abilities, and had found it's way into all areas of life, from industry to military. Nearly all Teu used these abilities in some way, to the point that hands actually became obsolete, replaced by simply suspending tools and weapons around them. The most important factors that influenced their tech, however, was simply Mithril Plates and Psionic Interlock.

Mithril Plates: Nothing more than standard alloy metals shaped into functional parts, imbued with the nanite surpluses in the Teu body of the engineer, these devices could be given the intelligence of the designer, and thus replace the need for large crews and complex maintenance duties. Each ship could be designed and controlled by a single Teu, with lesser parts (such as weapon or shield systems) orbiting the ship and maintained by other Teu operators. This advantage allowed for much larger fleets with less crew, and adaptable ships that could modify parts mid battle for certain scenarios. These Plates could also act as AI intelligences, gathering critical warfare data and advising tacticians of the current state of the battlefield.

Psionic Interlock. Related to Mithril Plate operation, this rare gift could allow some Teu to completely control vast numbers of both Nanites and plates at a time, as well as harvest the ananites present in other Teu, to effectively transform the Teu soldier into a near unstoppable force of nature, destroying various large ships with ease and obliterating dozens of fighter craft in a single salvo of quantum weaponry fire. Only four individuals have ever been known to possess such power, and stories abound of these champions laying waste to entire fleets, provided they had significant naval support. O'kra, Matron of Desolation, is believed to be one such individual, though others surely would have been preserved at the end of the Schism.

Weaponry:
The Empire were firm believers in the power of quantum weapons, both on the soldier level and battleship level.These systems took advantage of both their natural psionic ability nd the sheer miniscule nature of nanites, to effectively break already accepted laws of physics to give the Teu the upper hand. These weapons range from infantry Chaotic Field Randomizers (CFRs) to Mass Entropy Ship Cannons, All the energy requirements for such WMD's were powered by dedicated fire teams, and would quickly be ineffective after a short time, due to exhaustion from the main gunner crews. As well as this, most ships were not actually outfitted for extended naval warfare, and made easy targets for enemy commanders who could spot these lapses in fleet integrity.

Interstellar ~ Ascension

@Darkmatter
I actually didn't realize you had posted replies on your review XD How that missed me, I had no idea. Several things:
First, thank you. I am going to make them much more alien looking and interesting than alpha humans, but the concept is still the same.
Second, the Govrans were going to be scrapped, but I might keep that (Less work for me, and I honestly can't find a reason why the Teu would go to war with the Crayvens. They don't really do anything, just keep to themselves, they're not a threat or anything).
Third, Yes, the Keep spanned an entire solar system. At one point, the Teu were that advanced that they could have surmounted many of the problems that would come with such a super structure. But then they were wiped out, and lost nearly everything.
Finally... Psionics. Mostly, it is largely the nanites that do all the work (they can act as miniature radio transmitters in the brain to send messages, they basically lift up stuff a Teu wants to use, etc.). But I may have to alter Teu powers. But basically, the nanites and the Teu brain are so interwoven into each other, that using them is akin to lifting an arm or speaking a word for the human brain. They are an ectension of their body.

I'll update the sheet tomorrow, and send you the final copy.

Interstellar ~ Ascension

SO, I won't be able to update tonight the NS for my Nation, but I will get it done tomorrow, if you are ok with waiting on me Dark :S. I just need a day not to worry about stuff, you know?

Also waiting on the player who wrote up the NS for the Crayvens to work out some back story with. That's a problem too.

The Scattered [Sci-Fi]

Life. Life was here. In so many ways, this was the greatest discovery mankind had ever made. We were not alone in the universe, and the greatest minds aboard the Ljus would be the first to document this next chapter in human history. So many things to be learnt: What is their biology? Their culture? Are they peaceful? So many questions, it would take years to gather and process all of that. Unfortunate, that there were now going to land advance teams and start tearing the planet to pieces, devastating these people.

She crossed her arms, and watched the feed again for the seventh time, as she thought furiously and tried to decide the best course of action: The reasoning behind this was sound. No doubt the other ships would just abuse and corrupt them entirely. The captain did not entirely trust her fellow commanders, and she knew for a fact that they didn't like her. Some were down right brutish, and couldn't wait to start subverting this poor creature's lands. On the other hand... There was simply too much to give up. Mankind's first contact, and they have to abandon it, simply because of the jar head natures of some of these ships? For all they know, this could be an isolated colony, separated form the rest of their empire. This could be the chance of a millennium to expand further, if they could ascertain what exactly the situation was.

The bridges intercom crackled into life, and the familiar intellectual voice of the Head of Scientific Affairs came into life. "Captain Vilda, this is Professor Jakobsen. There is no way in hell we can let the other ships just roll over them. There is too much at stake here, and we won't get another chance at this in a hundred years. Maybe never. What do we do?"

Captain VIlda stared a moment longer in thought, before replying. "I agree with you, Professor. We can't let the others land just yet, they will ruin everything. I'll attempt to change the Admiral's mind, and see if we can't get a forward team down there from the Ljus. The probes can only do so much, we need to set up a forward research camp."
"Comm officer Peta, open a direct link with the Gaia. We need to talk."

Once the communications link was open, VIlda cleared her throat, and spoke assertively, addressing them in a timely manner. "Admiral, this is Captain Vilda, of the Ljus of the Fleet. If we are going to do this right, you can't be the first ones on the ground, especially with such a drastic change in command. It will be a disaster. We have no idea what power they hold, and while it appears they pose little threat, we must be ready for anything. Also, we cannot afford for first contact to be a failure, and preparations must be made to ascertain what we are dealing with."

Vilda paused, and let her words sink in, before continuing. "Permission to send a research team down to the surface, to set up a forward data processing outpost. Our security staff is minimal, so we will also need some added firepower, if anything goes wrong, but they are under my command for the duration of the mission. We'll work as quickly as we can, and notify you as soon as we have more information. Over"

The Depths of Deception

Humming loudly and moving at what most would consider an obscene speed, the mag rail transport whizzed by the various buildings of the dock ports, where most people's first port of call can be found when they first arrive on Pax via the elevator. Despite moving at over two hundred kilometers an hour without fail, the ride was still a ten minute grueling commute, surrounded by various civilians and their screaming children, not to mention a short discussion with the on board security as to what possible sanction allowed him to get on the monorail with charged and loaded weapons. On the plus side, it had a nice view.

When Opus finally disembarked and left the station, he took in the sight of the main Concord building, which seemed to have been copied and pasted together with other buildings from all over the galaxy. It was quite tall too, and had automated defense drones flying it's perimeter, one of which came up and scanned him to assess his identity. Even on Pax, you couldn't be too careful, and they looked quite imposing in all honesty. It was a quick walk into the main entrance, where the weapon detectors suddenly pinged an alarm, and several armed personnel trotted towards him. The agent casually crossed his arms, as the other officers aimed their weapons at him and approached slowly.

"It's ok, he's been cleared to enter. Though I must ask you surrender your weapons into our custody. Protocol, and what not." The young female team leader waved her hand, and the others complied, going into a standby stance as the alarm was switched off. Opus simply nodded in affirmation, raspy breathing apparent, and calmly handed over his sword and pistol to the Masulu beside her. "I'm Security Chief Bursley, and you must be Opus. Sorry for the scare, we don't get many SpecOps around here, and, frankly, you shouldn't have wandered in here with your guns. Gives the wrong idea, you know?"

"I apolgize. I assure you, I meant no harm..."

"Well, try to stay out of trouble, alright?" Bursley turned about, and escorted Opus to a main lift, where they rode up the floors for sometime in silence. After exiting the lift, they strode down a hallway, and entered what appeared to be a small waiting room, overlooking the city. "Now, preparations are still being made for the briefing, and the others haven't arrived here yet. Just wait in here, and we'll let you know when we're ready to see you. If you need anything, just give a buzz over the intercom on the table. Enjoy the rest of your day, Agent."

She left the room, and the door shut behind her with a slight hiss. Opus took the chair nearest to the window, and hunched forward, his hands held together as he watched the hustle and bustle taking place before him outside.

Interstellar ~ Ascension

I have a little more to get done on mine. Might make their appearance more mystical and alien, but I can't really find any good images for what I want. Also need to work on technology levels and flesh that out, and re-work their history so as to have their conflict with the Crayvens (If that was still a thing we would work on).

But other than that, it is nearly done, with some minor tweaks to certain things.

Interstellar ~ Ascension

And probs Wilson... Probs XD