[Multiverse] Apocrypha

Similar to terran insects belonging to the order Hymenoptera, the Apocrypha are arthropodic creatures with hardened chitin-like exoskeletons, compound eyes, a hive-based social structure and caste system ruled by a queen who is also the mother of all individuals in the hive. However, these creatures are able to adapt to a wide range of worlds and able to survive travel through space to reach these planets by taking shelter within natural or artificial objects in orbit. Early researchers who discovered this extraterrestrial form of the wasps, bees and ants of Earth dubbed them Apocrypha (or “hidden”, from the Greek ἀπόκρυφος), based on the suborder Apocrita, to which wasp, bees and ants belong.


Biology
Like insects on Earth, Apocrypha are invertebrate creatures with hard, segmented exoskeletons and jointed, appendages adapted for a variety of tasks. Due to the much harsher and unpredictable conditions they often end up in, the Apocrypha function more like organic machines than even terran insects and crustaceans; their internal systems working similar to that of a battery through enzyme action than like those of mammals, allowing them to withstand isolation on a planet or in space for extended periods and still survive to function and thrive. Their carapaces are made from not chitin, but a form of organic silica.

However, despite their adaptability to unfavorable conditions, they are subject to being vulnerable to kinetic weaponry, particularly that of humans. As a result, they have begun to incorporate inorganic material onto themselves and to fortify their hives to provide an extra measure of defense against such aggression.

Relations with other species
Apocrypha Queens are highly intelligent and can recognize potentially symbiotic relationships with other colonies as well as other species. If a hive is approached with no indication of malice, a Diplomat will be escorted out to conduct negotiations with the visitor, acting as a living link to the Queen, who rarely leaves her nest once established. So long as the terms of the agreement (if any) are upheld, the Apocrypha will maintain beneficial relations.

However, should any creature pose a percieved threat to a hive, a Queen will, for all intents and purposes, declare war on that creature and those of its kind, viciously attacking them on sight until the threat is either removed or somehow shown to no longer be dangerous to the hive.

Colonies
Colonies, or hives, vary in size, some being a small and isolated nest in one region of a planet, some consisting of an enormous network of sub-colonies spanning an entire world, controlled by queens who answer to a regent mother, the original progenitor of the Apocrypha presence on that planet.

The social structure within any given hive, regardless of size, is a caste system, with each individual predisposed at the moment of conception to fill a certain physiological and social role as needed by the rest of the colony.

From the lowest to highest, the hierarchy and functions of each role:

Peasant caste:

Scout – As their name suggest, these individuals use their enlarged sensory structures to investigate outside of the nest for sources of food, construction material, potential enemies and to give the queen a better understanding of the environment surrounding her colony. They are mostly without methods with which to defend themselves from danger, but have wings and can escape harm through flight.

Forager – Often working in concert with scouts, Foragers are tasked with gathering the resources the scouts locate and returning them to the hive for use. They have extremely large, strong scissor-like mandibles used to cut and tear down large pieces of material to make it easier to transport. They have no real defenses outside of their jaws and are easily killed.

Mason – Builders; these individuals break down organic and inorganic material to construct and reinforce the hive's structure with, employing a form of resin that hardens quickly and binds extremely well. Unless working outside of the structure of the nest, they rarely venture out, and are vulnerable to attack if not protected.

Attendant Caste:

Farmer – Similar in structure and function to Foragers, Farmers take the material brought back to the colony and process it into usable material for the entire hive, breaking down edible matter into a pulp that can be distributed to all members of the colony as food, and rendering inorganic material for use to fortify soldiers and nest alike with powerful jaws that work as pulverizers and cutters, food material combined with an enzyme rich saliva to further aid its breakdown.

Nurse – Different from the human definition of nurse, these individuals tend directly to the queen and her brood, processing raw food pulp into a highly nutritious concoction called royal jelly to feed both queen and larvae. These individuals are small, completely blind and entirely helpless, lacking even a stinger to use against threats.

Brewer – Similar to both Farmer and Nurse, Brewers are living kegs. Any sugar-rich food matter that enters the hive is sorted and fed to Brewers in their chamber (called the wine cellar by researchers), who then convert it into a rich honey-like fluid within their own bodies thanks to enzyme action. This is stored within their specially evolved enormous, bloated abdomens and distributed to other members of the nest through oral contact.

Soldier Caste:

Doorman – These are the first line of actual defense, functioning as guards and sentries at the entrances and vulnerable parts of the colony, typically remaining outside to best locate danger. They have large, powerful heads armed with huge, crushing jaws and a pair of thick forelimbs ideal for grasping and subduing threats until the mandibles can complete the work. They also possess a stinger that injects a strong formic acid into hapless victims.

Vespa – Winged, wasp-like creatures, Vespas perform aerial sentry duty for the hive, also allowing them to ambush and dive upon threats and prey, using their powerful legs and mandibles to hold their victim while they use their smooth, unbarbed, hydraulic stringer to finish it off.

Skirmisher – Lightest of the warrior caste, not counting the Doormen sentries, Skirmishers are designed to close distance and attack quickly. Their legs are long, bodies thinner and more slender than other members of the hive, and their abdomens are shorter, primarily focused on getting in as many stings as possible in a short amount of time. Essentially shock troopers, they serve little other function than rushing an enemy and trying to inflict as much damage as they can manage before succumbing to injury or exhaustion.

Aegis - Heavily armored, armed with crushing jaws and a massive stinger, the Aegis is the siege engine of the hive. They are often found in pairs, flanked by the more nimble, but more fragile Skirmishers, who function as escorts, as the Aegis' sensory functions are stunted in favor of its weaponry; its eyes are so small it is practically blind, and it's antennae barely extend beyond its head, functioning only to pick up the pheromone and telepathic signals its queen and brethren send it.

Praetorian – Larger, stronger and more intelligent than any other member of the hive, outside of the Queen herself and her diplomats, Praetorians are essentially the elite soldiers of any Apocrypha nest. Their primary function is to guard the queen and her nest chambers, but if a hive war breaks out, they will emerge, joining their subordinate soldiers to face whatever threat they find themselves against. They are heavily armored, their heads large, sporting a crest that helps transmit and receive pheromone and telepathic communications, which their large brains process. They have small, simple eyes, using their ability to detect infrared and electromagnetic fields to identify friend and foe rather than normal vision. Their mandibles are large and powerful, ideal for crushing and rendering carapace and soft flesh and can even puncture steel of respectable thickness. Their forelimbs are like those of a mantis, large and recurved, to grasp and hold while the jaws and powerful stinger go to work. They also possess wings, but can only go short distances before having to land and cannot gain much altitude.

Royal Caste:

Drone – The only males of a colony, Drones are designed to help propagate the species on a world, or distribute their kind to other planets. When a queen feels a nest has grown large enough to expand, she will create a princess and a drone, who will grow into another Queen and leave with the drone to mate and begin creating a new nest elsewhere, often still remaining loyal to her mother. Drones often do not survive long after mating, as they are unable to fend for themselves and cannot eat without being aided by nurses.

Diplomat – Although all members of a colony are the offspring of the reigning Queen, Diplomats are stunted direct genetic clones. They are about a third of the size of their Queen, but look identical, minus sexual structures or the egg-laying super-abdomen the queen develops once she settles into a nest. Through direct telepathic link, these Diplomats can venture outside to communicate with other Apocrypha communities or other species entirely to negotiate any number of relations, acting almost as a living puppet through which the Queen speaks.

Queen – Mother of all individuals in a colony, the queen is the nervous epicenter of a nest. Through pheromone and telepathic signals, she controls how, where and when a hive sustains, expands or retreats. She is the commander-in-chief of any aggressive action taken by her subjects and negotiates by proxy with any who would attempt to make contact with her hive. She is large, made larger by the enlarged ovipositor she develops once she mates and establishes a nest, her head massive and requiring extra support from columns of muscle-packed tissue to support it. Her brain is enormous, allowing her to process the information her progeny bring her, and to communicate with them and outsiders through telepathy. Typically, a reigning queen will live for hundreds of years, if not longer through going into a period of hibernation for one reason or another. If, during her lifetime, a queen manages to expand and establish sub-colonies, she will become a Regent Mother, controlling queens of colonies that branched off of hers.