The VARIAtech Consulate's Story

There was nothing that could be done.

For the past week, the former residents of the planet of life had watched in horror as their paradise world slowly turned into a black, crystalline husk of its former self. It was assumed that anyone who hadn't escaped by this point was already dead, since the atmosphere of Vixi had been eaten away by the foul black substance that corrupted the planet.

Scientists on Armarx had noted that, despite retaining the same overall mass, Vixi was shrinking, becoming more and more dense. What they could not understand were the whirling clouds of color that seemed to rage beneath the glassy surface of the planet.

Then it happened.

On the twentieth day of Vixi's siege, the now dead planet of life suddenly vanished in a brilliant flash of light. The surface of Armarx was bombarded by exotic particles that didn't even have names, and in the aftermath of the incandescence, there was simply empty space.




Vixi was no more.

As the Deathweaver fleet began to descend on Eden-12, a sudden anomaly would be detected. In a bright flash of light, a medium sized moon would seem to randomly appear in orbit around Eden-12. It's composition was incredibly dense, and it's glossy black surface seemed to be back lit by mysterious clouds of color and light.

There was a pause.

Within the massive black sphere, minds were now racing.

There was supposed to be no resistance here. What happened?


We can't account for all variables; clearly someone has the same idea we do.

I can't detecy any mental signals on those ships.

Should we proceed with seeding?

Not sure. Let me ask Nealaphh.

...

Nealaphh says to hold off, and to observe.

And if they try to make contact?

We'll just play dumb, as usual. There's no reason for them to believe we're a anything other than a giant shiny rock.

Alright, if you say so.



...and so the black moon remained, placid, high above the planet and the dark warships that loomed in low orbit.

The Deathweaver ships slowly surrounded the planet. As they moved into position, several torpedo-like objects were expelled and sent shooting off towards the planet's surface. They congregated towards the more developed and populated parts of the colony.

When the VARIAtech vessel entered the system, several sensors aboard the Deathweaver command ship, Hades Tribute, flared. Though there were no life signatures on any of the ships, they were not silent. Powerful psychics and sensors would detect the faintest echoes of psionic signatures that formed a web with the Hades Tribute's command deck as the center. The epicenter suddenly flared like a bonfire.

The skeletal captain's ghostly blue eyes glowered at the wall of the command deck, as if his cold gaze was attempting to pierce through the hull and drill straight into the black moon through sheer will. His eyes took on a new focus as another, far more powerful, mind peered through them like a pair of binoculars.

"What do we have here..." the new presence pondered as it attempted to telepathically probe the black moon.

-----

Meanwhile, on the surface of Eden-12.

It happened so fast.

John laid prone underneath a car. Blood curdling screams and animalistic roars bled through the hands that covered his ears. An explosion from a grenade sent a concussive wave across the town square, causing him to screw his eyes tighter. Blood already ran through the streets. How long had he been lying there? Seconds? Minutes? Hours?

All he needed was to buy a part to fix his combine. He had to order it off-world and it arrived yesterday. John decided to take the afternoon off and head to the city to pick it up.

Stupid. Stupid! Stupid!

They fell from the sky like meteors. These... capsules. The objects crashed into buildings and streets and sent everyone panicking. Then they opened. Armored men came charging out of them screaming like animals. Except, they weren't men... There were long gashes in their blast armor where rotten flesh spilled out. Unnatural blue flames burned where their eyes should have been.

Then they started killing.

Men, women, children. Police. Civilians. Young and old... No one was safe. Some of the monsters resorted to tearing their victims apart with their teeth! John could've sworn he saw living shadows, these pools of hate and rage manifested as predatory darkness, pounce from the alleyways and drag whoever they could back into whatever pit they crawled out from. Their gurgled screams were swiftly silenced.

A shadow fell over him.

John opened his eyes.

The monster's scream drowned out his own.

More blood joined the river that flooded the street.

We're missing out on a lot of blanks down there.

I'm aware.

You don't think we could just pick at the scraps?

Nealaphh said to wait, so we wait.

Fine, fine...wait...we're getting pinged.

How? We haven't manifested any electronic comms.

No, no psionically. Someone on that ship is a mentalist.

...that changes things.

Yeah. I'm going to consult with Nealaphh, he- oh wait. He's coming himself.

Near where the black, glowing moon had popped into existence, there came another bright flash, much smaller than the one that had heralded the moon's arrival.

This new object also appeared to be made of whatever comprised the nearby planetoid, but it's configuration was much different, somewhat reminiscent of a giant, stylized crystalline bird of prey. Only a single light shone throughout this construct; a pure silver radiance that flashed in rhythmic patterns.

Captain Deathweaver would feel his psychic outreach met, but not rebuked, by the new mind inside the bird vessel.

"Greetings. We are the Consulate. We admire your initiatives taking place here." the mind replied in a soft, pleasant tone.

While the Deathweavers continued to pillage the colony below, the black ghost ships moved into positions above the open farmlands. After they stopped, beams of... energy... screamed from the ships and bombarded the planet like a hailstorm of death incarnate. The energy was black as the void and gave off no light, heat, or any other noticeable signatures. It ate away at whatever it touched and radiated with a sickening aura of wrongness. Finally, the beams of energy collided with the rolling hills of farmland. Crops, vegetation, and the earth itself withered, blackened, and died at its touch. Metal constructs were reduced to piles of rusted scrap. Animals and colonists simply dropped like sacks of rocks and moved no more.

The Deathweaver ships did not stop with burning and salting the colony's fields. Several missiles leaped from the vessels and made direct courses to the cities. They exploded in the atmosphere, sending numerous smaller warheads throughout the populated areas where they erupted with a greenish black gas.

"We are the Deathweavers." replied the mind that continued to probe the VARIAtech ship. It dispersed like a fog, automatically seeping into the minds of the crew and sifting through their contents. When Nealaphh touched the mind, he would get a glimpse of ten thousand others raving, gnashing, and screaming with animalistic rage and murderous hatred. However, a much more powerful presence encompassed them, channeling the emotions of the lesser minds into calculated focus with an uncompromising will of iron.

"And I am their Voice."

Gro'chal might be slightly taken aback when he found that the black crystalline moon contained not just a few hundred...not just a few thousand...not even a few million minds...

The black moon was inhabited by almost three billion independent psyches: disembodied mind that lived within this strange black substance. Every single one of them was psychic.

So when Gro'chal attempted to subtly infuse his mind into the hub of mental activity, he would suddenly feel the scrutiny of countless other minds looking directly at him. But rather than push him out of their commune, the minds seemed to...welcome him. They seemed eager to let them brush up against their minds and glean small things here and there.

Maybe this was an ideal existence.

Maybe his mind should stay with them.

Regardless, Nealaphh continued to speak to Gro'chal, apparently nonplussed by the necromancer captain's self important declaration.

"I see that, yes. It is good to know that The Consulate is not the only power within this verse that values the power of the mind. In fact, we value minds above all else. Each one is a treasure, full of potential..." Nealaphh said calmly. The crystal bird rotated on a central axis as if to regard the planet below, which was slowly starting to go from green and blue, to brown and black.

"Normally it is our desire to liberate unenlightened minds from their physical bindings, and such was our intention with this small world. Do not have concern that we will be interfering, however. In fact, at this juncture, we would like to invite you for further discourse..."

A large explosion from the planet's surface gleamed across the glistening black carapace of The Consulate vessel."

"...at your own convenience, of course."

Gro'chal was momentarily overwhelmed by the abrupt and unexpected vastness of the hivemind. However, when the countless minds tried to connect with his own, they would not find another willing drone to join their collective.

Pain.

A flash of burning cities.

Death.

Thousands of lifetimes of despair and anguish.

Rage.

A resolve that could sunder mountains and shatter the boundaries of Life and Death.

Suddenly, the doorway to the necromancer's own hivemind was cut off with a mental construct of an adamantium sphere. Gro'chal still maintained a telepathic link with Nealapph, but his presence was cold and emotionless. It was in sharp contrast to the cancerous well of darkness it was a moment ago.

"The Dead will find vengeance for the many crimes of the Living." Gro'chal replied. "Those who find no acceptance or joy among the unascended will find kinship and purpose in the embrace of Death. I will entertain the idea of mutually beneficial agreement in the interest of these goals."

Meanwhile, the strange gas continued to disperse over the cities and the living dead rampaged through the streets. Large portions of once bountiful farms were now massive swaths of blackened and diseased wasteland.

"I've got a fix." The Tactical officer reported, and a large icon flickered to life on the holographic display in front of Admiral Hanley.

She affixed her gaze to the soft cyan hues of the representation of space, with the occasional lighter icon depicting space debris. She watched the flickering yellow outline of the Obsidian Eagle.

"Hail them." Admiral Hanley instructed.

"Obsidian Eagle, this is the Esteem broadcasting on a priority one channel, please respond."

The message would repeat until they responded, as the hulking form of the Reverence II rounded an errant asteroid.

Hanley Grimaced, as the full projection of the Obsidian Eagle flickered in front of her, the dull hum of the Reverence's CIC's systems filled her ear, offering a distracting ambiance from the gravity of the situation.

She turned towards EVE, and began to nod. "Transmit all relevant data on the Asylian attacks on the Empire, and their known intention." The Admiral instructed, and EVE quickly complied, before she opened the comms channel.

"We need your help, an entity that calls themselves the Kingdom of Asylia have declared war, they have invaded the Imperial core systems, and have been carrying out hit and run attacks. They are adept in the use of magics, and psionics, and they are technologically advanced than us." These were strange words coming from an Aschen officer, whom usually regarded their training and equipment as the best.

"They hit Molecay, and the colony world of Cryo, and we've suffered heavy losses from their attacks." The Admiral explained.