---SYSTEM F-F-FAILURE--/
---SYSTEM REBoOT---
The haze begins to clear hours after the crash. You lay there, immobilized and impaled by countless pillars and beams of metal for what felt like an eternity before you felt the enormous weight of the metal pulled off of you by tiny workers. One by one, piece by piece, the drones scurry on your huge body and remove the shards of metal embedded in you. The pain is excruciating, but not as severe and as intense as the pain you felt when millions of your children were obliterated with the main fleet.
Yes, you remember now. The last battle you led was a complete failure. The One Enemy had produced a weapon of mass destruction capable of wiping out your entire armada. Only was it through the combined efforts of your generals and princes were you able to escape and crash-land on a distant planet. You don't know how much time has passed since your escape, but the Enemy's forces must be searching for you, no matter how far you've escaped.
Hours later, the wreckage is completely removed from your body. Unfortunately, the damage was so severe that it is now completely useless. Telepathically you send the drones to retrieve a special machine designed specifically in case the queen's body was damaged beyond repair. The drones will upload your mind into their collective mainframe while the machine constructs a new body for you. Relics like these are extremely rare and your race has lost the ability to reproduce them.
You close your biological eyes for the final time, opening them again through the million tiny eyes of the drones. You see your mangled corpse lie lifeless in your throne. Your egg-sac has been ruptured. Your head had been cleaved in half. Something must have shot down your escape pod when you reached their orbit. Hopefully, whoever lives here doesn't come searching for you just yet. You set your drones to begin constructing a new body. The menu screen of the relic appears.
Name: Queen ________ (TITLE OPTIONAL)
Body Composition:
-WARRIOR (Combat bio-form. Incredible strength in compact frame. In-built combat knowledge and reflexes. Cannot breed until Prince fertilizes the Queen. Completely mobile.)
-CREATOR (Construction bio-form. Largest bio-form size, with many appendages to assist construction. In-built blueprints for every structure. Can learn how to operate alien technology within prodigious times. Cannot breed. Remedied by constructing Birthing Chamber. Partly mobile.)
-CHANGELING (Infiltrator bio-form. Malleable bio-form size. Can take over hosts. Can consume host DNA and take on the form of the host, as well as its knowledge and behavior patterns. Cannot breed until Prince fertilizes the Queen. Can interbreed with alien species, producing hybrid children. Completely mobile.)
-MOTHER (Pure bio-form. Medium bio-form size. Complete telepathic control over all Children and Biomechanical systems. Can designate each Child's caste and bio-form telepathically. Can breed immediately. Partly mobile (if not giving birth) or completely immobile (if giving birth).)
Strain: (Determines the kind of children you breed (unless you pick the CREATOR bio-form). Children born by Birthing Chambers or hybrids are all pure-strain.)
-CONQUEROR (Warlike. Efficient. Extremely adaptable and capable of taking down mundane enemies. Combat skills and instincts are instilled at birth.)
-CONSTRUCTOR (Sole purpose is to construct Hives, Nests and Ships for the propagation of the species. The most intelligent and creative strain. Children of this strain are also the largest. All have in-born knowledge of physics and engineering.)
-DIPLOMAT (Specially engineered strain created as ambassadors to alien species. Strain appearance is highly configurable, but the Children are all recognizable to others of our kind. Can quickly learn the languages, etiquette and political maneuvering days after birth and mere hours after observing alien society.)
In the midst of configuring your new body, a warning message appears. The royal stasis chambers' bio-systems are ruptured. If you act now and divert all remaining life-support to two of the eight stasis pods, they will be saved, but six others will die. It is a difficult decision. All of them were given life by you. Picking one over the other is not what a mother should ever need to do.
(Redirect life support to:)
Stasis 1: Prince Hydrax. Conqueror strain. The best fighter and pilot of the armada, he "volunteered" to safeguard you on your journey, though you suspect he merely wanted to escape the destruction caused by the Enemy, after his foolish duel with the Enemy Itself. He challenged the Enemy on a one on one fight. Amazingly, he survived a few blows and even managed to land a tiny scratch, but quickly learned that he could not win and ran away.
Stasis 2: Crown Prince Dominus. Constructor strain. A brilliant and creative engineer, if not reclusive, he designed many of the ships in use in the armada. Domineering and a perfectionist, the only thing he loves more than perfection is power. He was designed to be your consort before his birth at the Royal Birthing Chamber. As such, he is your only child not born by you, leading him to be resented by his adopted siblings.
Stasis 3: General Solus. Conqueror strain. Once a great fighter and an even greater pilot, he sustained heavy injuries in a past duel. Instead of having his body regenerated, his honor demanded he lived with his scars till his death. The Children adore him as a hero, but his body is in no condition for physical activity at all.
Stasis 4: Princess Detrax. Diplomat strain. Your youngest royal child. What the "humans" would say having a "silver tongue". She spent much of her time in the Terran Domain, and frequently uses their speech patterns and stays in human form most times. She is power hungry, but far too young and playful for you to have exposed her to the complex politics of other Queens.
Stasis 5: Gene-priest Anthrax. Pure strain. A high-ranking priest of the One God, he has abilities granted to him by unknown powers. You yourself doubt if what the priests teach is true, but his spells are real enough. He never got along well with his Royal siblings, believing himself to be superior to them, but his loyalty to you is doubtless. He was determined to fend off the Enemy's forces long enough for you to escape, but by your request you had Hydrax take him forcefully with you on your escape ship.
Stasis 6: Overlord Dox. Constructor strain. Once a brilliant engineer and inventor, a horrible accident rendered his body useless. Instead of accepting regeneration, he and his twin designed his own mechanical body and was the first ever Royal Cyborg. It was not taken well by the other queens, leading to them sending a champion to duel Dox. Solus interfered and fought in his place.
Stasis 7: Overlord Ajax. Constructor strain. He and Dox were born twins, an extremely rare event in the history of your species. He designed the first cyborgs, and he himself knows how to construct them. He is anti-social to everyone excluding you and his twin, and prefers to spend his time with the cyborgs he makes.
Stasis 8: Pariah. Unknown strain. One of the extremely rare cases where a royal is born deformed. He completely lacks free will and depends on you to give him orders. He was born with the size and strength of the constructor strain, the aggression and ferocity of the conqueror strain, and the ability to change his biological make-up like the diplomat strain. However, all his other siblings abhor him. You had him snuck into your ship by mindless cyborgs.
Main Hull: BREACHED - Bridge: DESTROYED - Cargo Hull: DAMAGED - Stasis Chambers: DAMAGED - Armory: DAMAGED
Outer Defenses: OFFLINE
Electrical Systems: PARTIAL
Cloaking Systems: OFFLINE
Radar: OFFLINE
Communications: OFFLINE
Occupants:
1 Queen ONLINE
8 Royals - (WITH PERSONAL ENTOURAGES) 0 Royals ONLINE (SENTIENT)
10 Swarms of Drones (1 swarm consists of about 500 drones.) 1 Swarm ONLINE (MINDLESS)
3 Commanders (Conqueror) 0 ONLINE (SEMI-SENTIENT)
50 Knights (Conqueror) 0 ONLINE (SELF-AWARE)
25 Pilots (Conqueror) 0 ONLINE (SELF-AWARE)
100 Fighters (Conqueror) 0 ONLINE (MINDLESS)
25 Nurses (Pure) 0 ONLINE (SELF-AWARE)
20 Cyborgs (Robotic) 20 ONLINE (MINDLESS)
A.I (Robotic) OFFLINE (SENTIENT)
Cargo:
10,000 Nutrient Canisters
500 Unfertilized Eggs
1000 Samples of Genetic Material
200 Rifles
500 Lances
500 Sets of Carapace Armor
Ship Stations:
Birthing Chamber OFFLINE - HEAVILY DAMAGED
Regeneration Room OFFLINE - DAMAGED
Armory OFFLINE - DAMAGED
Throne Room OFFLINE - DAMAGED
Stasis Chambers ONLINE - DAMAGED
Communications Room OFFLINE - DAMAGED
Navigation Room OFFLINE - DAMAGED
Author
Topic: Crash Landing (TSG) (Read 1285 times)