Hypercoil: Origins of the Sheelikoi

[Silfae]

Thanks, yes, since my last AAR was very subject-focused, I'm trying to do something different for this one, at the very least for the first portion.

SECOND TRANSMISSION​

The Dark Years (2240 - 2260)

While there are plenty of questionable sources regarding the birth of the Hypercoil and the great war of subjugation of the uv-xantt, and a lot of varied and trustworthy sources for the late half of the XXIII century, the last decade of the first half is almost entirely devoid of any information, reputable or otherwise.

Only the sheelikoi know what happened in their sector at this time, scholars of the Righteous Compact can only guess by tracking back their actions in the following decades to their probable causes.

It is generally assumed that the first colonies of sheelikoi were founded at this time, but the difficulty in determining their area of influence and borders has made this guesses tenuous at best: according to some scholars, the current estimate on the sheelikean population is too low and their perceived attitude too isolationist to warrant the existence of more than one planet inhabited by sheelikoi. In fact, according to dr. Lyybrat, the sheelikoi might have just adapted into a nomadic society, and the reason why the precise location of their home planet has not yet been determined is because they have none anymore, but rather live as a wandering army, constantly moving through their conquered systems to keep their enslaved populations under control.

If we accept the possibility that Neoxanàn is a colony of the Hypercoil, then we must consider that they might have more, but it just as likely that these colonies are nothing more than scientific outposts with a very small population.

Without a doubt, the majority of the subjects of the Hypercoil are now composed by other alien species, enslaved by the sheelikoi. It is hard to say if the sheelikoi had xeno slaves before the uv-xantt, but it is certain that they spent many years searching and abducting entire populations from primitive planets, to channel the expansion of their vast fleet, the Slither’s Fang, as it is clear from the testimony of the escaped slaves welcomed in the Uri Consciousness in the past century.

The annexation of the uv-xantt constitutes a peculiar case, instead, and is often matter of debate. The Sovereign States had been conquered at a time when the Hypercoil was not yet powerful enough to simply enslave the entire population: in the years following its defeat, the Consulate still maintained some form of autonomy. To which extent this was, is hard to say, since the Hypercoil forced the uv-xantt into a total quarantine, which was broken only years later during the Uri counteroffensive, and only for a short time.

Some scholars suppose that the government, having lost any support from the people, was in full collusion with the sheelikoi, from which it depended for its survival. According to others, the very reason why the uv-xantt survived for so many years with a semblance of autonomy was that the sheelikoi still feared their power and did not want to risk another war too soon.

Some romanticized interpretations claim that a grassroots movement was developing amongst the oppressed population and it would have managed to spark a revolution if the sheelikoi hadn’t ruthlessly purged entire regions of the uv-xantt’s worlds. This hypothesis is highly questionable, especially if we consider the testimony of High Admiral Dyubb during his occupation of the Fraknyr and Nordak systems.

Whatever the case, the Hypercoil had completely absorbed the remnants of the Sovereign States by the turning of the decade, and turned all of the uv-xantt into slaves, the first of many other unfortunate species. With their worlds more than doubled, the sheelikoi had reached the status of interstellar superpower and now bordered the allied nations of the Royal Uri Suns.

First Contact (2261)

Extract from Transmission 1S/En
2261.3.7
The trespassers are dead. In their last breaths, they called for pitiful vengeance against their masters. They talked of you, so unto you we deliver the message of divine Sheelikor: I am Lithmraan, Keeper of Stings, Overlord of Thràalifnikan Dzaallcl, Leegl t’saach, Holder of Trrnuushgan’s Leashes, […] Emissary of the First Slither Xirleekan, Eternal Keeper and Prince of the Abysses of Light, Divine Emperor of a Thousand Coils […] whose whisper resonates across the emptiness of space to warn you. Your kin is dead, it trespassed the holy borders of the Hypercoil unknowingly, and, for that, its punishment has been lenient. Do so again and it shan’t be again.

The destruction of a scientific vessel from the Consortium of Enim was the first contact the free empires had with the Hypercoil. The first transmission sent by a sheelikean envoy was an intelligible stream of clicks and hisses: the inarian linguists managed to finally decode it just in time to avoid repeating their mistake and losing another crew.

At the time, the Consortium was one of the protectorates of the Royal Uri Suns, thus our government was soon made aware of the news. Although questioned by some today, the reaction taken by the Despot at the time was considered to be ideal: after not receiving response through normal channels, the allied governments mobilized their fleets and put them at the borders of their sectors, slowly moving out on the main hyperlanes, trying to reach the borders of the mysterious new faction and trigger a reaction. Not too long the sheelikoi finally sent a response in the form of an embassy.

The Consortium of Enim still demanded reparations for the unwarranted destruction of its scientific group, but the sheelikean ambassador was not interested in listening to their demands, addressing only the emissary of the Uri Despot. Once again, the sheelikoi made little effort in hiding their contempt towards the aliens in the commission, but the Uri ambassador had the foresight to bear their offensive words and answer politely, thus managing to conclude that first official meeting in peace. In truth, all of the people present left the encounter knowing a war was brewing already. The answer of Lub Dwaab, the esteemed Uri ambassador, gives us a very clear insight on the matter:

The allied embassies met the emissar of the First Slither on Ezak, a neutral system.​

[…]each of them acted as a King, always moving around with an escort of bird-slaves. Words cannot describe the palpable aura pretentiousness exhaling from the slimy coils of these creatures. Each one had his announcer and a list of titles and honorifics so long it took the greater part of any conversation just to go through it. Such blatant and pitiful displays of ego were repeated each and every time we met. At the very first meeting in person, their servants pleaded us to prostrate before they entered the room; when we denied their request, the servants pleaded again, telling us that, if we hadn’t done it, the sheelikoi would have first killed them and, in the future, killed us as well, because, in their own words “the mortal should not stand before the divine”.

To the establishment of a stable contact between our societies followed feverish months of preparation for the war to come. The sheelikoi had made it clear that they were not in the least interested in any sort of alliance and the Despot himself had had plans for the lower sectors, whose colonization he had based his political campaign on. It is in this time that the neoaxànian works spread in the Royal Uri Suns and the other free empires: through the embassy at Ur Itha, the sheelikoi poured their literature into the nearby systems. Most of it was propagandistic epic, singing the praises of important Holy Princes of the Hypercoil and of their place as divine masters of the universe.

Though some question his decision today, the Despot allowed this propaganda to flow freely, as it was at the time the only window into that alien culture. There was no doubt that the gross attempts at patronizing by the sheelikoi could have been effective against primitive species, but would only result in derision from the Uri civilization and its allies. Yet, arguably, it was the access to these works by the general public which allowed myths and superstitions regarding the sheelikoi to take hold in later years, causing the first Consciousness panic.

Analyst Tr’traat argues that, in their contempt for the backwards attitude of the sheelikoi, the allied empires failed to see their strategy on the long run, worrying only about their militaristic prowess and ignoring their ability to influence the public opinion. While the neoaxànian works did not make anyone believe that the sheelikoi were divine beings, at the start of the war a not insignificant number of the population had been somewhat intimidated by their aura of mysticism and primordial power.

The Old War (2261 – 2278)

The pretense of peace was set aside within less than a year from the first contact: the sheelikoi withdrew their embassy and demanded that the quvarians and inari were their rightful servants and should submit themselves immediately. Some Uri sources of the time claim that the Hypercoil attacked Uri colonies without a formal declaration and that that was the reason why the Royal Suns joined the war, but these sources are seen with suspect today: before any major conflict that we know of, the sheelikoi have always given an ultimatum to their enemy; it is believed by some scholars that this is in fact one of their many superstitious rituals. Furthermore, it is possible that the sheelikean ambassador, in his visit to Ur Itha, understood the threat posed by the Uri Suns and thus the First Slither decided to target only the other allied empires in that campaign, hoping to avoid an immediate confrontation with the Uri, while isolating them in the meantime.

It is therefore possible that the Despot fabricated further reasons to aid quvarians and inari, even though the construction of his new fleet was yet to be completed.

The allied and sheelikoi sectors in 2261 at the start of the war.​

At the start of the war, the allied empires committed the same mistake of the uv-xantt: dividing their fleets to keep their borders guarded, but, unlike the uv-xantt, they were able to recognize their mistake very quickly and adapt accordingly.

The first planet to fall was Bakangi, home planet of the quvarians. The Slither’s Fang bombarded the planet for weeks, but the quvarian bunkers, hidden deep beneath the oceans of the world, endured the attack. Then the sheelikean army descended, and the quvarians fell within days. The quickness of the conquest deeply shook the allied forces, and from that point on it was clear to the Uri that the sheelikoi could not be allowed to engage in land combat under any circumstance. This notion would become more and more accredited as the war went on.

Some scholars argue that, after the conquest of Bakangi, the Despot could have achieved a major victory by meeting the enemy fleet in open space immediately: all reports claimed the sheelikoi were using outdated weaponry and that, if united, the allied empires would have outnumbered the Slither’s Fang. Yet, the reasoning of the Despot at the time was not as unsound as it is claimed to be by these sources: the sudden defeat of the quvarians had made the public wary of the sheelikoi, and it was generally agreed that more intel on their forces was needed before risking the main bulk of the fleets.

The High Admiral Dyubb decided to reorganize and mobilize the Uri fleets, leading them in a coordinated effort inside the borders of the Hypercoil, hoping to engage a smaller force of enemies or force the Slither’s Fang to split, to test their forces in battle and better understand their strategy. At the same time, another fleet, coupled with the inari’s, would harass the main enemy forces, to slow down their advance and lead them on the wrong paths. Luckily, the wormhole technology used by the sheelikoi to travel through long distances was limited in its reach and needed new bases inside the enemy territory to move further in. Discovering this gave the allied empires a much needed advantage point, as their fleets could freely jump in and out of the hyperlanes and attack the sheelikean construction ships without engaging the main fleet, thus preventing them from breaching into the inner worlds.

After months of search, Dyubb reached Fraknyr Isatr and laid siege to the planet. No fleet was protecting it and, once the orbiting station had been destroyed, the planet was nearly defenseless. Still wary of the fall of Bakangi, Dyubb sent small parties to explore the surface, only to find out that what his ships had been bombarding were cities of slaves: there was no trace of any sheelikor. Some of the uv-xantt were brought on board, but, before it could be mounted an effort to liberate and move the rest of the population, the Slither’s Fang entered the system, and Dyubb was forced to break the siege and cautiously fall back.

While the planet had not been conquered, the precious sources recovered, the freed slaves, gave the Royal Uri Suns greater insight on the Hypercoil than any of the neoaxànian works had ever done.

Extract from Dyubb’s Journal
2265.4.25
It will still take hard work and a lot of patience to deal with these poor creatures. Their very life should serve as a warning to the Uri and all the free people of the Galaxy: this is our destiny if we allow the worms to win.
They still would not openly speak, what sort of atrocities have they been submitted to to cause such fear, even when their masters are not near? Yet, one cannot fail but notice the shame in their eyes. They do not wish to be seen in this state by other civilized people like ourselves, because it reminds them of what they were. I believe the flames of vengeance could still be stoked from within their hearts. They revealed the way for another inhabited system. If we could engulf this sector into open rebellion, this war might be over without the need to shed a single Uri life: there are millions of slaves, if not more. How could they serve for so long such despicable masters?

Interrogating the escaped slaves allowed Dyubb to formulate a new plan: if the allied fleets had managed to occupy another enslaved world, they might have been able to recruit an entire species to their cause and break the Hypercoil from the inside out. It was with these intentions that the High Admiral reached Yeerok, in the Nordak system. The Slither’s Fang was reported as once again traveling towards allied space, far enough to allow the Uri fleet to blockade the planet and force its surrender. Dyubb established a provisional government and declared all the uv-xantt on the planet freed, but progress against the fear and obedience instilled by the sheelikoi was hard. For almost a year the High Admiral tried to emancipate the uv-xantt, but he was only able to use Nordak as an advantage point to attack the sheelikean extraction bases.

The lack of results eventually caused a split within the allied brass, with the inari flying off to go help the rest of their forces, which the sheelikoi now threatened directly. Unfortunately the decision was ill-fated: the Consortium of Elim was too weak to defend itself, even with the help from the United Hiffnar Worlds coming at the last minute: the Slither’s Fang broke through their lines by sheer strength of numbers and invaded the planet. This time the reports coming from the sieged world were more complete, but their content only agitated further the allied populations: they spoke of monsters fast as lightning and capable of melting the minds of their enemies from afar, unnatural feats and invincible armies.

Only at this point the Despot started to curtail the flow of information from the general public, issuing propagandistic works to insult and deride the claims of divinity of the sheelikoi, but his reaction was perceived as duplicitous, which increased the fear spreading through the Uri colonies.

In 2272, the Despot was finally deposed and the Uri Consciousness was born out of his failed government, to better react with haste to the new developments of the war. Admiral Dyubb was forcefully called back to Lytirin, abandoning his work in the uv-xantt provinces to engage the Slither’s Fang.

I believe this was the greatest mistake in the Old War: while both sides had experienced significant losses during the campaign, the sheelikoi had been able to replace their destroyed ships with new ones, quickly built by their overworked masses of slaves, whereas the allied fleets had been deprived of most of their centres of production, having lost two of their main governments, Lythorius and Enim. Furthermore, the victory streak of the Hypercoil and its campaign of terror and misinformation had lowered the morale of the Uri troops and blinded the people to reason, forcing them to seek a confrontation against their main fleet before time.

High Admiral Dyubb was defeated at Lytirin, on the orbit of Foll’Ujba, and the system was occupied by the sheelikoi.

The Slither’s Fang was decimated by the confrontation, but the Uri Consciousness was still too scared to take advantage of its weakness: in the following years it focused solely on the protection of the capital planet. The sheelikean emissary contacted the Consciousness and demanded it to accept defeat and relinquish claim to all of the occupied planets, but the Uri, although scared, were not willing to concede victory to their barbaric invaders and refused.

Years passed, the Slither’s Fang moved freely through the allied space, overseeing the construction of more wormholes and military stations to tighten its grip on the sector, and destroying the Uri mining stations, weakening the Consciousness’ economy, while tormenting its citizens with propaganda. In 2274 the Hypercoil conquered Fesh’Digo, in the Unur system, and in 2277 fell Naff’Digo, in the Zempek system.

Seeing Ur Itha cornered, the Uri Consciousness finally decided to give into the demands of the sheelikoi, allowing them to keep the conquered territories of their allies, the Lytirin system, and all of their stations within their own borders, in what was universally considered an ignominious defeat.

The allied and sheelikoi borders in 2274, nearing the end of the war.​

 

[Silfae]

Hm, we shall see...

THIRD TRANSMISSION​

The New Compact (2280 – 2287)

The crushing defeat at the hands of the sheelikoi was the sparking factor that forced the Uri Consciousness to evolve and adapt, completing its transformation in the enlightened empire that it is today. It is only by escaping the lower sectors that we entered in contact with the Ikaanan Mandate, thus making it possible for the Righteous Compact to be formed.

The history of the birth of our great federation is treated in many other texts, therefore I will not write of it in this one. Yet it is important to note how, in their senseless violence and thirst for conquest, the sheelikoi doomed themselves: their actions allowed the Uri and other species to see the horrible results of despotic governments, and to join in peace and equality. Where the Royal Uri Suns would have treated the Ikaanan Mandate with wariness due to its power, the Consciousness was free to deal with it on equal standing and to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

From this point onwards, our sources on the Hypercoil become more numerous and clearer: the presence of military stations, embassies and wormhole generators within Uri space forced the sheelikoi to maintain somewhat peaceful relation with our empire. In the first years the Consciousness was forced to watch impotently the atrocities committed by the sheelikoi on the conquered planets: the inari, the quvarians and the lytirinian Uri themselves were mercilessly turned into slaves, lorded over by a selected elite of sheelikean Holy Princes, under the leadership of the Tyrant Rezicax, appointed by the First Slither as governor of the newly conquered planets.

The rational minds of the Consciousness faced a constant battle, still waging today, against the fearmongering and superstition spread by the sheelikean writers through the main information channels. All the resources of the Uri were invested in the search for the truth about the Hypercoil and for the liberation of its former allies and subjects, brutalized by the invaders. With their fleets still being rebuilt and the diplomatic work for the creation of the Righteous Compact still underway, the Uri Consciousness focused many of its resources in exploration and colonization of the lower sectors, once again testing the limits of the sheelikean borders, trying to get as close as possible to the conquered planets, hoping to acquire more knowledge and indirectly help in the liberation and smuggling of as many slaves as they could.

As for the Hypercoil itself, it is very likely that the combined effect of increased borders and the forced diplomatic contact with the civilized and independent empire of the Uri Consciousness forced its society to slowly evolve and adapt as well. Opening themselves to the Galaxy, the sheelikoi realized that many other empires existed, far and near, some of which undoubtedly greater than their own; they could not risk antagonizing too many of them, thus they started to take on a thin-veiled façade of friendliness.

The larger borders likely caused the stratification of the sheelikean society as well, requiring more leaders and intermediates to properly rule the numerous enslaved planets.

Most historians agree the sheelikoi were unsuccessful in both of these fronts: their embassies failed to establish any meaningful deal with the other interstellar empires, being universally despised, whereas the First Slither’s greed and paranoia, coupled with the sheelikean pride, prevented any real revitalization of the bureaucratic implant, which resulted in the long run in the crippling of the economic and militaristic advancement of the Hypercoil. To top it all, the superstitious and xenophobic attitude of the sheelikoi prevented them to fully open themselves to the scientific advancements of their neighbors and enslaved subjects, which, by the end of the XXIII century, made them one of the least technologically advanced empires of the galactic region.

That is not to say that the Hypercoil had become harmless, of course. The deadliness of its armies were the main deterrent for any other empire strong enough to challenge them at the time, and the Slither’s Fang was expanded exponentially after the victory over the Uri Consciousness. The Hypercoil had yet to lose his momentum, but, instead of focusing on the Uri, who were still rebuilding after their crushing defeat, it decided to move towards a new target.

The Loshyx’Oa Debacle (2287 – 2296)

Though at the time the Uri Consciousness could not realize it, it is now known that the Hypercoil waged a separate war in the period of peace after the subjugation of the allied empires, attempting to gain hold of the rising sectors beyond the nebula.

The Arijia Patch, a thick astral formation, had offered a natural barrier in the past, allowing two great empires to form in safety: the Directorate of Loshyx’Oa and the Bessadon Star Hive, a neural network not unlike the Uri Consciousness. These two governments had fought over trading hyperlanes for years and were about to come to arms against each other, when Loshyx’Oa, searching for new routes, managed to pierce the nebula and emerged near the borders of the Hypercoil.

We know now from bessadonian sources that the Hypercoil sent embassies to the Star Hive in that same period, perhaps initially mistaking the two factions for a single one. After the misunderstanding was cleared, the sheelikoi took no time to go against the iztrans, with the bessadons' blessing.

The iztrans were an isolationist and mostly peaceful species, having forged their fortune on exploration and trade rather than on war, thus the sudden attack from a mostly unknown enemy caught them by surprise. The sheelikoi targeted their newly founded colonies in the Chibblar and Bastamore systems, crossing the Arija Patch without much hassle. With little resistance offered by the iztrans, there was no doubt the Hypercoil could have moved further in and taken the entire region, yet, after conquering two more colonies in the Ponnell system, the Slither’s Fang moved lower, avoiding the capital system Loshyx’Oa and targeting the Obnoll system instead, before stopping entirely. It is still uncertain why the Hypercoil halted the invasion in 2296, forcing the Directorate into a nonetheless devastating defeat. It has been hypothesized that the sheelikoi were cautious in moving too far away from their home planet, as the Arijia Patch slowed their movements and had prevented them from charting the astral formations that laid beyond.

Sheelikean invasion rout​

Another proposed option would be that the sheelikean infrastructure would have just been incapable of handling the entire Directorate, if the iztran government had been defeated entirely in one campaign, and the First Slither decided to split its conquest in two different wars, with the first one only needing to establish a foothold through the nebula, in order to have a safe way to move in the fleet later on.

The victory over the iztrans was achieved with ease and little losses, splitting the Directorate’s territory in half and permanently compromising its military and political power. Yet, on the long run, the real loser of this war turned out to be the Hypercoil itself.

Late Years (2297 – 2330)

Extract from the “Endless Journey of the Wise and Great Prince to Arijia”, by Prince Cathiox:


Prince Dwruulikan had claimed that the temple in honor of the Wise Prince was nearly completed, almost a year before time: the Wise Prince’s calculations were wrong.

Yet, the Wise Prince knew that his calculations could not be wrong.

The Wise Prince so reached K’Karaal, with great annoyance and righteous disdain, to demand an explanation from Prince Dwruulikan.

So, Young Prince Dwruulikan met the Wise Prince in the wide plains of the alien world and together they reached the quarry, where the stones were carved and moved into place.

Young Prince Dwruulikan thus spoke: “Behold: our slaves on this world were made both of flesh and of steel. The flesh tires, as it does, but the steel follows the divine will with no concern and with fast feet.”


The Wise Prince looked down and saw that so it was: slaves of steel existed on the alien world, and their feet moved faster, and their back did not break carrying the holy stones.

Youn Prince Dwruulikan thus spoke: “Your great temple shall soon be ready. The slaves of steel will worship you day and night, until the end of eternity.”

“But no” answered the Wise Prince “these are not slaves and their work could not be more wrong.”

The Wise Prince ordered his litter down and called for two of the slaves, one of flesh and one of steel.


The Wise Prince thus spoke: “Carry that stone at its place in the temple.”

So he said to the slave of flesh, and the slave of flesh took the stone. Panting and moaning did he carry it across the quarry, with the Wise Prince shouting behind him and cutting his back with his spiked lash.

When it was done, the slave fell on the ground, covered in blood, and could do no more.


The Wise Prince thus spoke: “Carry that stone at its place in the temple.”

So he said to the slave of steel, and the slave of steel took another stone. Chirping and twitching did he carry it across the quarry, with the Wise Prince shouting behind him and cutting his back with his spiked lash.

When it was done, the slave stood beside the stone and asked for more commands.


“See?” said with triumph the Young Prince Dwruulikan. “Not even half of the time it took the slave of flesh, the slave of steel obeyed you. Nor the whip would it have needed, to follow your will. Surely you see how right I am and how wrong you are.”

The Wise Prince thus spoke: “It is you who are wrong: a thing is not a slave, for it has no will to be bend. A thing is not afraid of its master, it doesn’t hope for his mercy, nor does it feel the pain of the lash. What else is my temple built on, if not pain and fear? The thing of steel gives neither: it can carry a thousand stones, but it will only build a pile, not my temple. I did not ask you to build me a pile of stones.”


Then the Young Prince Dwruulikan saw the error of his ways and ordered the slaves of flesh to tear down the things of steel. Then the slaves of flesh destroyed the temple as well and started to build it again, greater than before, so that it could properly honor the wisdom of the Great Prince.

The autobiography of Cathiox, high governor of the conquered iztranian worlds, is only the most well-known example of neoxanànian works showing the self-defeating impracticality of the sheelikean government.

The multiple conquests in the short period of time, the mass enslavements and the absolute refusal to compromise their worldview became more and more of a hurdle for the plans of galactic domination of the First Slither after the Loshyx’Oa Debacle. Their territories spread thin and most of their slave populations now made up of recently conquered, highly civilized cultures, the sheelikoi militaristic activities were forced to a complete and sudden stop, with the Slither’s Fang moving back and forth throughout the sectors of the Hypercoil, keeping the peace in the new colonies.

With the Loshyx’Oa shattered and the Hypercoil otherwise busy, the Bessadon Star Hive took the opportunity immediately to attack its former rivals and a quick and painless war: by the turn of the century the half of the remnants of the Loshyx’Oa had been integrated in the Star Hive, while the rest, unable to survive on its own and still fearing the sheelikoi, decided to willingly submit to the bessadons, preferring their overlordship over the tyranny of the Hypercoil.

With their trade rivals subjugated, the bessadons spent the following decades in a mad rush of colonization, quickly reaching the borders of both Hypercoil and Uri Consciousness. While not interested in joining the Righteous Compact, the Star Hive proved a valuable ally in recent years, and, though some still see its dealings with the Hypercoil as something damning, it is clear to any informed viewer how the pretense of diplomacy held by the bessadons is no different from the past dealings of the Royal Uri Suns with the sheelikoi: a way to have a window into the otherwise completely isolated empire of the sheelikoi.

A final analysis

What is the future of the Hypercoil?

It has been nearly fifty years since the Old War robbed us of our brothers and sisters of Foll’Ujba and of our friends of Enim and Lythorius. Some in the Uri Consciousness believe that the Hypercoil has become a teetering giant, that it has lost its momentum and that, with their combined efforts, the members of the Righteous Compact, united with the Bessadon Star Hive, could put an end to the threat it poses once and for all, freeing all the unfortunate creatures suffering under its yoke.

In a recent holiday on Bess’Qoro, one of the High Citizens of the Star Hive openly mocked the sheelikean envoy; almost two years have passed, but the offense was not answered with any invasion. Many believe this to be just confirmation that the Hypercoil fears the power of the Star Hive.

The truth is hard to determine, the inner workings of the sheelikean government are unknown to us, as much as the real size of their dominion. The most cautious experts have recalled more than once that, just as we did not know of the great war they waged against the iztrans, we could be mistaking the Hypercoil’s current attitude as inactive, while the sheelikoi might just be busy conquering some other people. Could we risk angering them again? Even if the Righteous Compact is strong enough to defeat the Slither’s Fang, the Uri Consciousness would be the first to feel its bite. The old fortresses and wormholes would give the sheelikoi instant access to our inner colonies and our precious home world as well.

According to dr. Lyybrat, the risk is not worth the potential success: he believes that the Hypercoil’s decadent rulers are slowly causing the fall of their own society by themselves. The Hypercoil has overreached in its conquest and now finds itself in the unsolvable situation of not wanting to relinquish its prizes while being unable to properly hold them.

Ruling over hundreds of empty planets, dozens of scattered, enslaved people who resent them, relying on outdated technology and on corrupt leaders, it is only a matter of time before the Hypercoil falls on itself. Only then, it will be time for us to give it its final blow and retake what is ours.

Approssimate depiction of the lower sectors in 2320.​

 

[Silfae]

A great AAR. Again!

Thanks.

Hmm, so the Hypercoil is both refusing to adapt, believing they do not need to improve, and have expanded too quickly, focusing on building wide instead of tall. I have to root for the nightmarish aliens, if only so this story can continue.

Yes, since this was my first game, at this point in the campaign, a century past the start, I had yet to research Planetary Unification and the following tech, since I didn't pick them at start and they stopped showing up in the selection later on, which on the long run crippled the production rates of the empire. Since I needed to use most of the planets to build power plants and mining stations to keep up with the expansion of the fleet, I could not build many laboratories and research centres, which progressively slowed the rate of progress.

 

[Silfae]

Well then, enough with transmissions, let's change the perspective.

FIRST SCENARIO - 2330s​

A dinner with the holy covenant

Bwyuv jumped off the electrified obstacle, rushing in the thick of the newly formed artificial vegetation to find some cover alongside Latm’aat. The player behind them was less fortunate, getting caught in the obstacle and being burned alive.

“I can see the end!” shouted Latm’aat, pointing to his left. “We’re so close! Hold a little longer!”

It was hard to hear him, the amplified cheering of the selected crowd of sheelikoi and the synthetic voice updating on the development of the game boomed in the arena, as disorienting as the scorching flashes of artificial light coming from the fake sky and as intimidating as the giant holographic projections of the sheelikoi themselves, floating above the arena and watching down on the massacre with their beady little eyes.

Bwyuv moaned, holding her womb in discomfort, but, with Latm’aat’s help, she pulled herself up and was running once more. Now she could see it as well: the gate to freedom. The ordeal was almost over: they only needed to reach it and their lives would be spared.

“Come on, come on!” Said Latm’aat, holding her by the shoulder and pushing forward.

A sudden strike threw them off balance, only a few meters from the gate.

“No!”

A third player, a monstrous creature covered in fur, was holding down Latm’aat, clenching at one of his ocular antennae with one hand while bashing him with the other fist.

“Go!..” Screamed the dying uri. “Go.. quick!”

Holding back a whimper, Bwyuv crawled to the ramp and then inside the gate. An electric barrier rose from the ground, protecting her from the player who murdered Latm’aat.

A distorted symphony of alien instruments filled her earholes as she was proclaimed the winner. Using what remained of her spear as a cane, she put herself up again, while the floor started to rise, quickly reaching the highest floor of the arena.

“Down!” Resonated a hissing voice, amplified by the weird architecture of the chamber. “Down on the knees, head on the ground, prostrate before the illustrious Holy Princes and their great and wise covenant of Slithers, Headed by the Wise and Eternal First Slither Xirleekan!”

Bwyuv quickly complied. Years before, when she was still free, when her civic implant had not yet been removed and her neck shackled, she had read of the sheerlikoi’s rituals, and of what happened to those who did not comply. She didn’t want some stupid formality to squander the sacrifice of Latm’aat, and so she prostrated, putting her head on the ground. Yet, as the announcer continued in his unending list of titles, presenting each and everyone of the Slithers reunited in the room, her curiosity won her over, and she cautiously twisted one of her remaining antennae to give a peak at the room.

The creatures were as monstrous as the texts and movies depicted them: long slimy worms with nine pairs of arms, four eyes and long jaws. They wore no clothes, leaving their exposed coils wrapped around opulent thrones. Some of them were smaller, no longer than three meters, but the oldest surpassed ten meters of length.

When the announcer was finally done with the titles, the First Slither, a huge, black sheelikor, stretched his neck from the throne, to look down upon the uri on the ground, and started to talk, quickly translated by the announcer.

“The First Slither Xirleekan congratulates you, player. Even though your victory was undeserved, he will reward you nonetheless. You can stand now, and rejoice in the great honor you have won: to gift your body and soul to the divine covenant of the Holy Princes.”

A shiver passed through Bwyuv’s spine as she was getting up. “W-what?” The sliver of hope she was holding onto had suddenly been drowned in a new wave of desperation.

“You can’t do this!” She shouted, looking directly at the First Slither. “It’s not fair!”

“The divine can do all, and all that the divine can do is fair, because the divine does it.”

The Holy Princes were all looking at her now. After all the pain and the fighting, after Latm’aat's sacrifice, she could not accept it, she would have not accepted it.

“You told us we would be free! I want to go home!.. Just.. keep your word!”

The First Slither started to unravel his coils and talked again, with a gurgling sound of amusement, while the translator continued his job.

“Do you believe your will and flesh do hold power in this universe? If so you think, you have the power to be free and kill the divine. Do so, then, and walk away in glory.”

“No.. no..!”

The uri stepped backward, holding her grasp on the spear. She was wounded, too tired and starved to fight another battle right at that moment; yet, she couldn’t yield, she had to try.


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

The Ascendant Xidlor looked at the First Slither playing with the meal as it was customary, whipping the pathetic uri with his forked tail, and moving away at the prey’s clumsy attack. Xidlor chuckled alongside the other Holy Princes reunited in the hall. He was the smallest of the covenant, but his rank allowed him to seat in absolute safety at the left of the First Slither’s seat itself.

“Why do they even fight? How can it hope to kill a divine?” he had to ask twice before High Tecnarch Zeraxim decided to answer.

“This one prey was bred outside the natural order. Only now it understands the wrongness of its false beliefs. For worlds far beyond Xanaslisk exist, and the sheelikoi have not claimed them yet. There the prey lives in complacent ignorance of its rightful place.”

Xidlor nodded and turned his attention back at the uri, which the First Slither had just bashed again, pushing the prey on the ground. The sluggish alien crawled towards its crude weapon, but it had no strength left and Xirleekan, bored with the game, forced it to stand up with his claws and twisted his neck to face its ocular antennae directly.

“Now say that your flesh is as weak as your will.”

The ever-defiant gaze of the prey was finally broken as a surge of psionic energy lashed at its brain, leaving it in a vacant stupor.

“My.. my flesh is.. as weak as my will.”

The other Slithers started to unravel their coils as well and moved towards the center of the room, soon imitated by Xidlor.

“Now say unto me: O Xirleekan, Immortal Prince and First Slither, partake of my flesh, it is my gift to you.”

“X-.. O Xirleekan, Immortal Prince and First Slither…”

As the uri kept talking, the First Slither lowered his mouth and sank his teeth in the meal’s arm, taking away a chunk of it. The alien had just finished to say the words, when another one of the venerable came up to her and spoke.

“Now say unto me: O Cathiox, Wise Prince and Tyrant of V’vidir, partake of my flesh, it is my gift to you.”

“O.. Cathiox.. Wise Prince...”

The uri shook, its body shocked by excruciating pain, but the hold on its mind compelled it to stand and keep talking, allowing Prince Cathiox to take his share as well. The ritual continued, with more and more Slithers joining the banquet.

This time, as he was the youngest, Xidlor was the last to join, finding a free spot on the meal’s side to sink his snout into.

“What is this?” asked the Ascendant, spitting a little white ball from his mouth. “There’s more.. inside it.”

“Oh…” answered Prince Dzeelikan, gulping another sliver of flesh. “It is but an egg.”

“An egg?”

“Yes” said High Tecnarch Rekaxir “many of the preys are not born of spawning piles, they carry their descendants inside them.”

The First Slither grunted, shortly moving his gaze to the Ascendant. “Did they not teach you of xenobiology on Neoxanàn, Ascendant Xidlor?”

Xidlor lowered his eyes in shame, and started to eat again.

“In truth” said Wise Prince Cathiox “Neoxanàn has turned into a cove of blasphemy. Their narrow-minded Tecnarchs are more concerned with the humors of the xenoids rather than the great mysteries of the universe.”

“Wise Prince, you certainly speak the truth” quickly added Xidlor, eager to shift the blame away from himself. “It would only be better if such deviant studies were forbidden, lest they sway other inferior creatures like this one.”

Several Slithers chuckled, forcing Xidlor to lower his head again.

“Truly” said Xirleekan “the Ascendant shows the brashness of his youth. But I see you are most eager to educate him, Wise Cathiox, so do speak in my stead.”

“The order of life is such, that the Slithers rule over the preys. Divine over mortal. It is in the right of the divine to do as the divine wishes, even if it wishes to deny its nature. A foolish and fruitless endeavor, this, to be sure. If the First Slither took part in it, he would be no different from those that partake in it: to deny their divine nature to claim what they choose? Surely you see how such a path unravels logic and breeds nothing but stupidity.”

"But..." retorted Ascendant Xidlor, confused, cleaning his snout from the blood. "... should we just allow it in complacency? Divine can do anything, so a solution must exist."

"The divide between mortal and divine is unending, it is foolish to fear some may cross it."

"But can't the divine do anything? If-"

"Given time" interrupted him Cathiox "perhaps, if divine choose to. So, you can see, to attempt and forbid it would be folly: it is only through eloquence and dialectic that such subverisons can be avoided."

The Ascendant Xidlor wasn’t entirely sure of what the Wise Prince had said, but didn’t want to be mocked for the third time in a row, so he just nodded and sank his snout once more in the open wound of the uri, eating more of the eggs hidden in its womb.

 

[Silfae]

Damn, that is some good writing. Nasty, evil things those Sheelikoi. They must be purged!

Thanks, glad you like the characterization. We'll see what happens, I have to say, this game has not started with the greatest of advantages...

 

[Silfae]

Silfae, you have a talent for writing some disturbing mentalities. The Sheelikoi's mentality towards themselves and other species is fascinating. The game they put the slaves through, only to reward the victor with mind control is... powerful.

Thank you, glad you like it; in this specific case the covenant of the Holy Princes was inspired by the dinner of the Skeksis (

), of course that one is mostly just messy, whereas the one by the sheelikoi has the added disturbing bonus of them casually discussing philosophies while eating alive the prisoner.

 

[Silfae]

INTERLUDE – 2340s, 2350s​

The Second Age

“As I gaze upon this Galaxy, I see all the fruits of my wisdom and my ravenous power.” The First Slither moved placidly through the holographic map, turning his head from time to time to look at a specific planet.

“And yet, my sleep has become restless.”

“Truly,” said the Great Conqueror Zeraxim, highest general of the Hypercoil’s armies, following him in his trail. “You only rightfully hunger for more war. It is not natural for the divine to pass so long a time in contemplation.”

Xirleekan emitted a slow hiss, neither denying nor confirming the general’s statement.

“I see our enemies multiplying, their numbers quell their rightful fear of our Fang. My expectations of the Great Xaan have not been met. Wise Prince Cathiox?”

The Wise Prince crawled closer to the First Slither. “I understand your concern, First Slither Xerliikan. My mind shivers at the possibility that the divergence in the new hatchlings’ philosophies could be caused by their birth on foreign worlds, foreign humors seeping into their spawning pools, foreign blue suns turning pride in melancholy and self-deprecation…”

“Yet the Tecnarchs found no such connection to support this claim.” objected the First Slither.

“Indeed they shouldn’t, for it is a sickness of the soul: how can they be born sheelikoi if not on Xanaslisk? All natural instincts tell us that is the truth. So can you see it in the new Ascendant: how does he think? Is it such the way for a sheelikor to think?”

“Hnnss…” Xirleekan observed for a long moment the representation of the Great Xaan, before moving further down, to a similar planet.

“The new palaces in the Rising Leethran will show the truth in this, Cathiox.” The First Slither moved his claws around the shape of the planet, covered in lush jungles, as the previous. “The reconstruction of this world was foreseen, it shall be instrumental for our greater future designs. …I shall watch carefully the growth of the new hatchlings there and see what becomes of them. And behold: I shall grant you full dominion over the Great Xaan, Wise Prince, may it prosper more under your watchful guide.”

Cathiox snapped his tail on the ground with delight. “It shall be so, Xirleekan.”

“Esteemed Princes,” interjected again Zeraxim “though I do not deny the claim of the Wise Prince, whose great knowledge of the high mysteries no one here doubts, I foresee a second reason to the corruption of our divine seeds. For we are all of venerable age, we still recall the days before our great ascension to rule upon the worlds and the emptiness between the stars: in such ancestral times, was it not clear the consequence of too many divines with too little preys? The divine in Neoxanàn and the Great Xaan grow numerous, but the mortals do not, for no wars have been fought to capture more. If not new conquests, o First Slither, let us not cheapen the ancestry of the divine, but rather use the slaves to build new worlds.”

Some of the other Slithers nodded in agreement and looked at Xirleekan, awaiting for his answer.

“The point you make is valid.” Answered the First Slither, with caution. “Thus will it be treated. For long years our avarrian outposts have been nothing more than a strain on our glorious rule, empty fortresses against the empty threats of the Ancients.” Xirleekan moved his coils faster, to reach the new sector of space. “Many cold worlds exist in the space between these stars, and many of our slaves are made to fit in such unnatural places. The Great Xaan and the Rising Leethran will be built as new palaces of knowledge and learning, to outshine Neoxanàn itself, while the slaves shall mine and work, as it is their fate, in these other, lesser worlds. We must cleanse such menial burdens from the souls and bodies of the sheelikoi forevermore.” Xirleekan turned to the covenant again, lifting himself further upon his coils to stand over all the other Princes. “Assemble the High Tecnarchs and all the Wise Slithers. A new age for our great rule will soon start.”

*****************​

“Behold, o Immortal Slither:” exclaimed High Farseer Zacadliss, pointing at the hologram of the sky, filling with transports. “Heavy with the chiseled stones of V’Vidir, carved by the favorite slaves of the Wise Prince themselves. Only a month of travel to cross the abyss of emptiness from that world to ours.”

“Good.” The First Slither moved his eyes from the ships and back to the projection of Xanaslisk, widening the size to look at the exterior of his own palace. The works to expand the seat of his power were almost completed. “Surely now, the greatness of our charge shall be evident for all to see and tremble.”

“The minds of mortals are easily scared, First Slither Xirleekan.” Confirmed the admiral of the Fang.

“What of our foreign outposts?”

“The stations have been refitted in secret to the newest settings. As the time to feast again on the weaklings of the Compact grows near, let us rightfully revel in the severity of our grasp: our fleets shall come down upon our enemies, breaching deep within their territories, unexpected.”

“So be it, that is what I foresee. Not anymore our enemy will be but the meek and soft uri, but all the cowardly crawlers of the seed of Ikaanan. When the time comes, they shan’t feel safe, so that fear may not lead their armies far from their homes and to the side of the uri.”

“And so it shall be, First Slither Xirleekan.”

With a careless gesture, the First Slither made the entire holographic city crumble, and replaced it with a wider map of his interstellar dominion, every planet flanked by comprehensive data regarding its population and resources.

“Morezac’s work has pleased me, High Farseer. See that he knows of my delectation. And a gift proper to his rank be given to the Wise Prince Cathiox, for the steady supervision of the tecnarchs’ work in the philosophies and upon the dark mysteries. Yet.. let it be remembered, that I wait with even more sublime anticipation the results of High Tecnarch Zoz’s studies.”

“Truly, Xirleekan, all sheelikoi gifted with intellect resonate with your very same desire.”

Xirleekan dismissed admiral Zacadliss, remaining alone in the holographic room, moving through the representation of his empire.

“The coils’ reach is longer, enough to reach the prey, but do they lack the strength to crush it as they should?” His hissed voice boomed in the large empty room.

The years of mad research in the mysteries of the universe were slowly bearing their fruits, yet Xirleekan was not satisfied with the results. In his youth, he had learned patience, as many sheelikoi do, but the prey of the Uri Consciousness and the Ikaanan Mandate eluded his full comprehension. He understood their cowardly nature, why their meekness brought them to join together and with countless other creatures, but he could not fathom how creatures so ephemeral could reach such accomplishments as those claimed by the reports of his emissaries in their worlds.

“Thus sayeth the Pale Philosopher: only the creature that lives through the ages acquires true wisdom and intellect, only such a being is gifted with reason and understanding of the mysteries, only such a being can elevate himself beyond crude matter and reach for the stars. …Yet a pitiful uri does not reach half of a century, but their palaces stand as tall as ours, and their ships cross the emptiness like dzeeyth, light and quick. Their twisted craft makes them put metal and sparks inside their minds, and unnaturally links their souls together. Why are mortals capable of such achievements?”

Those thoughts clouded the First Slither’s mind with doubts and unbecoming fears. With a sign of his hand, the sheelikor drastically reduced the size of the hologram, to the point of holding the entirety of the Hypercoil between his claws.

“Here is our rule: if all the creatures that roam our territories were put together, you shall see that less than the fourth part of them are sheelikoi. Too much for an apex predator, the divine rulers of this universe; yet, if all the creatures that roam this galaxy were put together, you shall see that less than the thousandth part of them are sheelikoi. Too little to impose their rule over all others, as it should be.”

With a final gesture, Xirleekan let the whole hologram dissolved and started to crawl towards the exit.

“For I am the First Slither, upon me rests the first and the final judgement. For I am divine, it falls upon me to find the balance within this chaos and establish the natural order in the universe, as it has always been on Xanaslisk."

*****************​

“Be still, Ascendant Xidlor, so does the First Slither command you.”

“Yes, Xirleekan.”

The Ascendant took his place within the transmutation pod, alongside all the other old Princes.

“Esteemed Princes,” started the First Slither, addressing the rest of the covenant. “Equals in holiness and voracity, the time has come once again for our bodies to transcend and resonate closer to the pure perfection of our souls. As the light of the stars courses through our veins, let us offer our thanks to the enlightened studies of High Tecnarch Zoz and Wise prince Cathiox, whose unyielding research unravels each day new dark mysteries and sublime matters.”

The other Holy Princes made their own speeches after the First Slither; then, the High Tecnarch and his assistants activated the pods and initiated the operation.

Pain and flashes were soon over, as fast as they had come.

“Ah.. yes...” The First Slither emerged from the pod, looking around.

-Everything.. everything is clearer now.- His thoughts resonated across the room and in the minds of the Holy Princes.

-The divine will exerts itself over the crude matter.- added Prince Cathiox. –As it should. So many are the matters I wish now to meditate upon, to reach for.. with no need for eyes to see or ears to listen...-

-DIVINE SUBJECTS- thought Xirleekan, and all the sheelikoi in the great palace listened to his booming will. -Feel our absolute destiny drawing closer. Unravel your coils, shed your trappings, so I say unto you.- -High Tecnarch.- He continued, now addressing only the high scientist Zoz. –Have more pods prepared. Great Conqueror Zeraxim, call upon your warriors as well, for they shall transcend first, then the rest of Sheelikor.-

-So it shall be.- Was ready to answer the general. –Upon our next battle, the fear our armies will inflict upon the weak-minded mortals shall be more than natural instinct: unyielding terror shall clutch their hearts and shatter their pitiful minds.-

-What is the crude mechanic of the uri?- said triumphantly High Tecnarch Zoz. –Gross and unfit. The will of Sheelikor resonates from every Holy Prince and needs no contraption to make itself be heard.-

​

*****************​

In the years after the second psionic transcendence, most of the high rulers of the Hypercoil remained secluded, communicating to their servants through their minds and pondering upon the mysteries of the universe.

The army was slowly transformed and retrained as well, as the psionic soldiers mastered their new power, yet the state of the fleet still lingered, its growth slowed down by the limited production of the new colonies of slaves near the avarrian sector.

The First Slither meditated in his palace, barely seeing anyone besides his meals, but his thoughts were finally interrupted one night, as he received news from Holy Prince Rezicax, Tyrant of the Lancord Sector. The Slither contacted him through a subspace channel, to inform him of the insulting departure of the bessadonian embassy from Fraknyr, which had happened that very day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the insult that had forced the Prince to bring the issue immediately to the First Slither.

-The reptiles of the Star Hive are kindred in spirit, but not in action, with the cowardly uri.- Stated Wise Prince Cathiox. -Might this be just one more of their tricks?-

According to what Prince Rezicax had managed to read from the ambassador’s mind before his departure from the Hypercoil, the bessadons had left the planet to avoid being caught in an imminent invasion from the Righteous Compact.

-In truth- said general Zeraxim –could complacency be risked? Our armies will destroy with ease the meek forces of the uri and their allies. Better to be us to attack first, as it befits a predator.-

-Indeed- conceded Cathiox. –That would be the most ethical course of action. And what appears most natural is often what is most beneficial. Yet, baits are only ever set to capture the reckless. First Slither Xirleekan, is it not true that our enemies have multiplied in their peaceful existence? Is it not true that many of their contraptions are still unknown to our Tecnarchs? So I foresee: that if a war sparks now, our great works will be stopped. Once more, the just expenses of war shall hinder the flow of our divine thoughts as they search for enlightment.-

-I agree with the Wise Prince.- thought admiral Zacadliss. –The slaves can be made to work harder, to expand our colonies, to sustain a larger fleet. Only then war shall be fruitful. Suffering the impudence of the mortals and the derision of the fools amongst them is irrelevant: a divine should not care about such insignificant things. But if the rashness of our will causes Sheelikor to be defeated by the prey, if only temporarily, wouldn’t that be a greater blasphemy?-

-Should we suffer the indignity of the mortals, the prey, attacking us?- insisted Zeraxim. –Surely you see the wrongness in this, Wise Prince. What does reason states? What would be the consequences?-

“Hnnss…” Hissed Cathiox, narrowing his eyes, with a thoughtful look. –The reasons of the Great Conqueror resonate with truth, though no less than those of the High Farseer. To allow the prey to think itself predator and turn such blasphemous idea into action would unravel the course of nature.-

-Very well.- thought the First Slither, silencing the others and raising himself with his coils on the twisted throne. –I’ve listened to your reasons, so as to make the decision clear. The predator can miss a prey, that is a natural occurrence, but the prey cannot be tolerated to act as a predator. Whether or not the thoughts of the bessadon were truthful, for too long we’ve tolerated the uri to prosper. Their narrow-minded mechanicals create new contraptions every day, tools that subvert their nature and place within the order of the universe. …So I foresee: that we shall rain upon their worlds and lay waste of their lands. Go forth, High Farseer: burn their fields, burn their cities, melt the ground with your lightning and leave their descendants to live in caves and huts. Go forth, Great Conqueror: maim their warriors, suck their souls and leave their shells behind; cut the hands from their spawns, so that they may not hold weapons when they grow, cut the wombs from their women so that they may be mothers no longer. Go forth, Holy Princes, with the blessings of our divine covenant: do not be satiated until the very last soul of the Compact has been broken, do not falter until this unnatural alliance of preys has been left tattered and bleeding, its broken pieces scattered across the emptiness of space, so that they may be testament and warning to their kin forevermore.-

 

[Silfae]

A reformed government and updating the army to take full use of Psionic soldiers... I dare say they're trying to catch up with their enemies without acknowledging they were ever inferior.

They're trying, we'll see what they manage...

Subbed. This is excellent.

Very nice writing. I'll make sure to drop in for updates.

Thank you both, I appreciate it.

THE GREAT COALITION WAR I (2353 – 2355)​

The blockade of Ur Idra

“The hyperlane is interfering with our signal. Repeat.” Chirped Druuthn in a hurry, gesturing his attendants to try and clear the message coming from the neural network of the Uri Consciousness.

The uri on the other side of the intercom appeared shocked.

“It’s not the hyperlane! The sheelikoi are attacking Ur Idra! The Compact must diverge the fleets immediately to protect our world!”

Druuthun rocked on his chair, cursing silently. “The fleets of the coalition are still joining, if the last estimate of the Slither’s Fang is to be believed, we cannot force a direct confrontation until all of our forces have been reunited.”

“By that time our world will be ashes!”

Admiral Clatt, the uri in charge of the second fleet, whose ships had already joined the Compact’s army, decided to intervene as well at that point, joining in the call. “Admiral Druuthn, if we could catch the Slither’s Fang while it’s still in the planet’s orbit-“

“We still need all our forces reunited.” Interrupted him the ikaanan. “The uri have underestimated this enemy in the past, we cannot afford to do so again.”

“Easy for an ikaanan to say so.”

“Do not be foolish. We know as well as you that the survival of the Uri Consciousness is imperative. We are all intertwined.” Druuthn remained silent for a few seconds, before opening another channel to the confederate Admirals. “Re-route to Ur Idra.”

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

Zacadliss looked down on Ur Idra from the bridge of his admiral ship, watching the red laser and arc energy rays repeatedly strike the surface of the uri’s capital world. They were far away, but he could still faintly hear some of the fear and horror coming from the population.

-No longer shall the arrogance of the uri allow them to build above the heavens for their own petty desires. When their descendants will grow, only temples to the Slithers will pierce the clouds of their skies.- -...Zeraxim. The time has come: lead down the armies.-

-It shall be so, High Farseer.- answered the general through his mind, already in the transport fleet orbiting the planet.

*****************​

Admiral Empt moved back and forth near his commanding chair, on the bridge of his starship, frequently gazing at the screen, which was showing the Slither’s Fang destroying his homeworld.

“Every hour that passes is a thousand uri lives lost! We cannot wait anymore!..”

“You must be patient.” Answered Admiral Clatt from the intercom. “The Compact’s fleet has almost arrived.”

“The Consciousness has demanded an immediate counterattack. You heard it too! How can we ignore the will of the people?”

“The neural network is in pain. I.. am uncertain of what is happening on the surface. I suspect the sheelikoi’s psionic might-”

Both uri suddenly interrupted the conversation, struck by an excruciating pain, holding their heads in pain, alongside all the operators on the bridge.

“I can hear it!” Shouted frantically Empt. “They’re torturing them!.. I can hear the voices of the tyrants!”

“Hold yourself together! We mus- aaAARGH!”

They were no longer just dying, the two admirals and their crews could hear the sheelikoi slashing and twisting the people of Ur Idra, their pain resonated across the neural network, unbearable for all the citizens linked to it.

“I cannot stand it any longer!” Screamed Admiral Empt. “Lieutenant! Move forward! We’ll break the blockade now!”

“No!” said Clatt, still trying to overcome the pain resonating from his implant. “You must wait! Your fleet is too weak to take on the entire Fang!”

Empt closed the connection and took place beside the chair as the ships started to move towards the long and nimble vessels of the Hypercoil.

“All men to battle stations!”

*****************​

-Behold, magnificent Prince.- Thought one of the navigators. –The uri approach.-

-As they should.- answered the High Farseer. –Great Conqueror, continue with your work on the surface, while I rid us of this nuisance.-

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

“Fools!” screeched Druuthn, turning restless on his chair. “What are they doing!?!”

The confederated fleet had finally reached Ur Idra’s system, only to see the planetary defense fleet already engaging the Slither’s Fang on the far orbit of the planet.

“Why wasn’t I warned of this insubordination?! Open a channel to Admiral Clatt. Admiral!”

“Sir…” called one of the operators. “There is no response.”

“What is the meaning of this?” The ikaanan was almost starting to suspect a plot of some sort against the Ikaanan Mandate, when a second operator, an uri himself, fell from his post, gasping for air and holding his head in pain.

“Sir..! It is..! It is the Consciousness! It’s.. suffering!”

Druuthn rose from his seat and moved quickly towards the uri. “How?” He asked, coldly. “It is a neural network, just shut it off!”

“I.. I can’t!..” Whispered the uri, rocking back and forth in a fetal position. “They are.. inside, with us. I can hear.. their hisses...”

The ikaanan moved his eyes back on the screen to watch the battle: the defense fleet was being destroyed by the Slither’s Fang, offering little to no resistance.

“Blast it all! We’ve been compromised!” Druuthn quickly moved back on his seat. “Call all the Admirals, order a full stop, do not engage the Fang. I WANT a stable contact with Admiral Clatt, I don’t care how, we must isolate this problem now.”

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

High Farseer Zacadliss stood in the middle of the bridge, eyes closed and hands raised, leading the chant of his high officers as he focused their psionic attack on the uri aboard the defense fleet, reaching their minds through the amplification of their neural implants.

-Despair, o insolent mortals. Your world lays in ruins, there is no escape from the jaws of the divine. No other place befits you other than beneath our coils…-

In the meantime, Great Conqueror Zeraxim was leading his psionic troops on the surface, weaving a tight net of fear and suffering around the broken people of Ur Idra, keeping them alive in a prolonged state of torment that echoed throughout the neural network of the Uri Consciousness, leading its citizens into a frenzy.

-It is but folly to deny your place in the natural order of things. Twist and grovel, insignificant preys, for such is your eternal destiny.-

*****************​

“Uri main fleet secured.” Said the jhoolian fungoid from the intercom, finally relaying a good news to the ikaanan admiral. They had to send a task force to Clatt’s admiral ship, but finally they had re-established contact.

“I want another team of scientists to be shipped immediately to remove the crew’s neural implants. That should help break the enemy's hold on them.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Druuthn.” Said Boor, Admiral of the hiffnar worlds. “We can’t just stand here. The Fang has almost finished destroying the defense fleet. Are we going to engage or not?”

“No.” was quick to answer the ikaanan. “We must assume that the entire Uri forces in the system have been compromised. This was clearly a trap. Coming to Ur Idra was a mistake, we cannot risk another. If the Fang breaks our fleets here, it has an open road further in, we cannot allow that.”

The hologram bovine alien grumbled something, but finally nodded.

“What of the Uri Consciousness?” asked Plyytrh, Admiral of the jhoolian forces.

“We cannot risk the safety of the entire Compact. Order all fleets to withdraw. The sheelikoi want to bait us into a direct confrontation, we won’t give them that satisfaction. There are other ways this war can and will be won.”

*****************​

-Lo, High Farseer: the prey flees from us.-

Zacadliss had just stopped the chant after the last of the uri’s ships had been destroyed to find out of the new fleets approaching the planet. He was still thinking how to react to that new, larger threat, when the lower Farseer informed him that they were changing route.

-Truly, our actions have restored the balance in this sector of the universe.-

-Should we pursue, High Farseer Zacadliss?-

-Their ships are too fast and afar. No. They will be coming to us, in time. The wailing of their mates and the squeaking of their cubs will call them, as it did for the weakly uri. ...Great Conqueror, embark your troops and prepare for takeoff, we’re done with this world.-

*****************​

The debacle of Ur Idra had been a harsh blow for the morale of the confederate fleets. The uri soldiers in particular, forced to cut themselves off from the Consciousness, had been left broken and confused. In the months immediately successful to the destruction of the uri defense fleet, Druuthn had to use all of his skill to prevent the allied fleets from shattering: the rumors of a sheelikean mind virus had made more than one member of the Righteous Compact all too eager to split off and return to his worlds for some ill-advised last defense.

Druuthn could not allow that to happen, it was exactly what the sheelikoi desired: to spread panic and isolate their enemies one by one.
After a few weeks of fighting, the ikaanan High Admiral convinced the fleets to abandon the Uri Consciousness space entirely, alongside their old strategies. It had been a major oversight to think the Old War’s strategy could serve them a second time. The Uri were sure a series of multiple attacks from the top sectors would have allowed the federation to quickly reconquer the uv-xantt systems and force the Slither’s Fang into a mad chase, but the uri's excessive reliance on technology had been their undoing.

Unlike the Ikaanan Mandate, the Uri Consciousness had gotten rid of its bureaucratic body almost entirely, relying on the neural network to grant equal political status to all of its citizens, but now the sheelikoi’s psionic attack had left them crippled. Until the political grid was re-established, the Consciousness would have been defenseless, but using the federation fleet to protect those planets would have been a dooming act in the long run, putting too much strain on the fleets and risking another psionic attack that could have compromised the main bulk of the uri fleet.

It was for that reason that Druuthn led the fleets to the right arm of the Hypercoil sectors. The planets there had been claimed by the sheelikoi only recently: some of their system had been surveyed by the ikaanan in the past, their hyperlane routes and the state of their worlds was known.

The Fevallion system was the first to be sieged. As expected, nothing but automated defenses met the confederate fleets. When Druuthn’s troops descended upon planet Grocht, they found only primitives working in factories and building statues and temples for the Slithers.

“Why are we wasting our time with this?” Asked Admiral Clatt. The uri had become increasingly neurotic since the removal of his implant and the bombardment of Ur Idra. It was likely unsettling for one of his species to not know what was happening to the rest of his kin at every moment. “It’s like I told you", he added. "The sheelikoi do not care about these planets. While we waste our forces here, they bomb more of my people’s worlds!”

“You’re only half-right, Clatt.” Answered Druuthn. “The sheelikoi do not care about their slaves, that is true, but the minerals that are extracted here are what has built the Slither’s Fang, what sustain it and enpowers it.”

“The ikaanan is right.” Said Grmph with a low grunt. “We should give them a taste of their own medicine: bomb the factories, kill these slaves. At the very least we end their suffering.”

“That’s barbarous.” Chastised him Druuthn. “We’re not sheelikoi. We do not kill innocent.”

“They are weak.” Insisted the bovine. “If you want to stop the extraction permanently, this is the way you do it. If you don't, the moment we leave, they’re going to bow down to their false idols again.”

“Perhaps. But that changes nothing. I will hear no more of this. We shall move forward, destroying their orbital stations and extraction outposts. The Slither’s Fang is an unwieldy creature: to dry up its veins is to bring it down.”

“By the time we do that,” protested frantically the uri admiral. “all of our worlds will be ashes!”

“You forget, Clatt, the more we move closer to the center, the more likely we are to find the sheelikoi’s homeworld. If we reach its sector, the Slither’s Fang will withdraw to defend it. I am sure of this. ...The sheelikoi need all these enslaved worlds, they wouldn’t bother to colonize them, to build factories and power nexuses if they didn’t need them. What else do they need them for if not to sustain the fleet?”

​

 

[Silfae]

Using their Psionics to directly attack the Consciousness... that's really clever writing.

Thanks, yes, it seemed the most natural way to explain why half of the uri fleet decided to attack the Slither's Fang in clear numeric inferiority, while the rest of the coalition was already reunited. The ikaanans and the other allies just reached the Ur Ithra system, but, after the defeat of the smaller uri fleet, they all turned around and fled.

Your writing conveys how insidious and unsettling the Sheelikoi are, I know I said it before but this is very well done.

Thank you, I'm glad it gives the proper idea; I'll try to have the next chapter ready for later today.

 

[Silfae]

THE GREAT COALITION WAR II (2355 – 2357)​

The Long Chase

-Your symphonies are quite delectable, Xreedren- Thought admiral Zacadliss, placidly listening to the small orchestra reunited on the warship’s bridge.

Most of the operators on deck were otherwise focused coordinating the Great Conqueror’s landing on Soll’Gavance and the collective efforts of the rest of the fleet to bomb the uri planet, though some of them took a few moments from time to time to listen to the dissonant melodies coming from the admiral’s corner.

-I shall make so a hundred times a hundred slaves be bestowed upon you for this precious musical offering, and lush lands in our Rising Leethran.-

-Most obliged, High Farseer, Master of Stars and Excellent Slither.- Answered the composer, whipping his tail with anticipation.

-High Farseer, the Great Prince Rezicax calls for us.- Interjected an operator.

With an annoyed snap of his claws, the admiral allowed the communication to be established, and turned his head to face the Prince’s hologram.

“It is for dire reasons that I call upon you, High Farseer.” Started to say Rezicax.

“I would not expect otherwise in times of terrible war such as these, Excellent and Powerful Prince.”

“Have you been made aware that the prey has reached and blockaded Rovgeddi?”

“It has been brought to my divine attention, yes…”

“You’d know then,” added the Great Prince, “that nearly all of the Avarrian Arm has been lost to these lesser creatures. Such unnatural news are starting to spread amongst the uv-xantt slaves... The thoughts such apparent weakness creates are blasphemous and unacceptable. Beak of Ivory they call the ikaanan crow leading the Compact, they think of him as great leader, some, even, harbor hidden hopes of freedom at his hands.”

The High Farseer leaned forward, intertwining his claws. “To deal with slaves,” he answered, “is a Tyrant’s whim, not a Farseer’s.”

“Yet to deal with the enemies of the Slithers is yours.”

“We’ve been over this. Redundancy does not befit the divine. If your smaller warships are unable to engage them in time, how can you imagine the Fang could? The prey has made itself faster thanks to its crafts, it is no use to chase it.”

“You had foreseen,” insisted Rezicax, “that attacking their homeworlds would have led them to you again, but it is not so.”

“It will be so, in time.”

“The fleets of our enemies are already shattered, striking dozens of our worlds separately, we know where they are, yet your stubbornness prevents us to cleanse them. I can foresee their sloppiness: you need only to take advantage of it, split the Fang and fall upon each and every one of them at the same time. There shall be nowhere for them to escape.”

Zacadliss clicked his tongue and widened his eyes. “What is this? Do you mock our divine mandate? The Fang cannot be split, it would be obscene to do so. If you think it sublime, do speak to the First Slither, hear his holy judgement on your questionable proposition. The impurity of sound is further increased by such thoughts, let us not speak of this again and let oblivion take these unholy ideas, for they beckon suspects of fear, unbecoming of a predatory mind. This divine meeting need not be fruitless nevertheless: the fleets of our enemies may not be caught by the Fang yet, but the minds of their leaders are well within your reach, o Great Prince. Have your emissaries breach their souls and unveil their secret plans, they shall be of great use to us in our quest for triumph.”

*****************​

Druuthn looked behind himself, twisting on his seat, but, once again there was nothing there.

Since they had moved deeper into Hypercoil space, it had become harder to sleep; several crewmembers had been removed from their post and confined to their quarters, consumed by delusions of paranoia. It was still uncertain whether the cause was simple superstition and stress, or the actual work of sheelikean psions. The uncertainty itself was extremely frustrating for Druuthn. The only solace was that, whatever the reasons, at least the jhoolians appeared to be immune to that kind of stress, probably because the fungoid aliens had no nervous system to begin with. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the rest of the confederate forces.

The campaign itself had been mostly successful immediately after the uri debacle, with many destroyed enemy outposts and a few liberated planets; they had also received news that the Consciousness was establishing a new provisional government in Fesh’Ujba, which meant they would soon become somewhat functional again, but the low morale of the armies was hindering their efforts at every turn.

No matter how much Druuthn tried to explain to his allies how valuable their victories were, they all perceived them as hollow. The ikaanan admiral himself was starting to doubt his own words: at first, it was just primitive worlds, then, when they had finally reached the lower end of the former uri colonies, Rovgeddi and Enim, they found only horror and shame to welcome them. Knowing of their inevitable occupation, the sheelikoi had tormented and mutilated a large part of the populations of those systems, to rob the uri of their awaited reunion with their long-lost brothers and sisters of Lancord and their former khessam allies. Druuthn had landed on Lancord only to find a broken people, uri squatting in ruins, lobotomized, sometimes with their ocular antennae removed, sometimes one or both arms amputated, many times with their genitals unceremoniously cut off.

Those amongst them that the Slithers did not manage to maim before withdrawing from the systems had been tortured with footage of the destruction of Ur Idra and the other core worlds of the Consciousness, perpetrated by the Fang. They met their liberation at the hands of the Righteous Compact with sour feelings and a deep resentment, for the sheelikean psions had told them that the Compact had been responsible for their misfortunes. When the admirals of the coalitions were forced to admit to the populations of the two worlds that the information about Ur Idra was true and that neither their fleet nor the Uri Consciousness was in a state to carry them away to safety in one of the inner systems, the lancordians almost revolted against their liberators.

To top it all off, since the start of the war, they had yet to capture a single sheelikor. Most of the times, they were already gone before the confederate fleets even reached a planet, if any had been there at all to begin with; the rare times when one or two strugglers were caught in the orbital blockade, the viciousness of their resistance and the insidiousness of their mind powers ended the confrontation either with their escape or with their death.

“Sir? We have a message from the hiffnarian fleet.”

“Yes..?” asked Druuthn, still distracted by his thoughts. “Yes, patch it through.”

“Sir, they do not desire to talk. They request permission for departure.”

“What? Denied. Open a channel.”

The wide frame of the hiffnar took form on the ikaanan’s side, clearly agitated.

“Come now, Grmph, we’ve all had a rough day, what is the meaning of-?”

“We’ve received news from home. The Fang destroyed our defense fleet in the Rubiz system. The Archdukes demand that we return to Hiffnar to guarantee its safety.”

“We’ve been over this, you know that is exactly what-“

“I don’t care what you think as much as the Archdukes don’t care of what I think.”

Druuthn, leaned forward, shivering with anger. “That’s preposterous, they are a member of this federation, it is their duty to abide by federal regulations! What are they expecting to do, squandering your lives? You don’t stand a chance alone against the Fang. Only together-“

“Together we’ve done a whole lot of nothing!” shouted the bovine. “You have us running around in circles, but the worms don’t care! They keep moving forward! We have to stop them!”

“This is.. this is borderline treason.”

The ikaanan turned to one of the operators and whistled at him. “Call the other admirals, they all need to hear this.”

“Yes, sir.”

“It won’t matter.” Said Grmph, while the holograms of the rest of the military junta started to take form. “We’re leaving. If you care about us, we’re glad to have you on our side.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Typical.” Started Clatt, nervously twisting his antennae. “It is like I told you from the start: Druuthn doesn’t care, as long as ikaanan worlds are not directly threatened.”

“Oh, please...” Retorted the ikaanan, with a sigh of exasperation. “Is this your idea then, Clatt?”

“You are no better than them,” continued the uri, who showed clear signs of sleep deprivation. “You don’t care how many of our people die or are.. are.. mutilated by those monsters, for you our worlds are just a distraction to keep them busy! You just hope to win the race and get to the sheelikean homeworld before the Fang gets to yours!.. Even provided that they do have a homeworld in the first place. For all we know the Fang is their home!”

Druuthn clenched his fingers on the arms of the chair and narrowed his eyes. “First: every projection from before the war gave the Uri Consciousness space as the most likely to receive extended bombing, when discussing the plans for a possible invasion of the Hypercoil, your network said it was an acceptable risk. You are the ones with more experience fighting against the sheelikoi, and now you’re telling me that you did not expected this kind of mayhem? Did you expect the Slithers to take prisoners and respect civilians? Second: all we’re doing here is far from useless. For more than a century the Hypercoil sectors have been a mystery, if all goes wrong, the intel we’ve gained in these years will be priceless for any future effort to undo this empire. To find how it works, who their other victims have been, where are their fortresses, their spaceports, if they do indeed have a home planet or other sheelikoi colonies, we must know where they are! You’d have us charge head on their fleets. Let’s say we win. What next? We move aimlessly around with a broken fleet, hoping to stumble on their homeworld before they build back the Fang? We know that they are faster at making ships, are you blind?! Have you not seen all the production lines we’ve destroyed during these past years? We couldn’t have managed to take them down with a fleet still recovering from a battle against the Fang!”

Druuthn finally stopped to take a deep breath, and leaned back on his chair, but the uri admiral was ready to talk back at him.

“There will always be more production lines! It seems you are the one who is blind! Have you forgotten Goz? The moment our fleets left, the slaves started to build a new spaceport. We can’t kill them, but Grmph was right: we can’t trust them either. And we don’t have enough ground troops to garrison every planet we conquer to prevent that kind of thing from happening! Meanwhile, the Fang destroys valuable planets, our planets! It’ll take us years to build back what they’ve destroyed, if not more! If they reach Odlamon, the Hiffnar Worlds are done for. Theirs and our governments have been allied from way before the Righteous Compact was formed, we cannot abandon them. You’d have us doom an entire civilization, while you are making us move aimlessly around, searching for a world that might not even exist!”

Druuthn was too tired and frustrated to answer immediately, but luckily admiral Plyytrh decided to come to his aid.

“It must exist, Clatt.” Said the fungoid. “The shared intel from the Bessadon Star Hive strongly indicates that-”

“Ah!” Scoffed the uri. “The bessadon? The blasted bessadon? Who knows what they’re planning! Do you think they would not have us on a false lead to squander our resources, then pick up the pieces of the Consciousness, like they did with the iztran?”

“You’re blinded by fear,” continued Plyytrh. “After the psionic attack at Ur Idra, how could the bessadon not see the Hypercoil as their main concern? They use a neural network akin to your own.”

“For all we know, they could have helped them devise the virus. How else could primitives such as the sheelikoi create this kind of weapon?”

Plyytrh was about to make a counterstatement, but Druuthn stopped him with a gesture.

“Fine,” said the ikaanan. “Do as you will. Go, may the Winds be favorable to you.”

Clatt was surprised by the sudden turn on the ikaanan’s stance, and could only give some half-worded thanks, while Grmph nodded with severity and placed his fist on his chest.

“Good. With luck we’ll meet again, admiral.” Said the bovine, before both his and the uri’s hologram disappeared.

“The hiffnarian and uri fleets are disengaging formation, sir.” Confirmed one of the operators.

There was a moment of silence amongst the remaining members of the confederated junta, before Plyytrh decided to break it.

“This was not a wise move.” Stated the fungoid, with a cold tone.

“It was the only move.” Answered Druuthn with a tired voice. “They have been unstable since the defeat at Ur Idra, it was only a matter of time. To force them yet again would have served nothing.”

“Perhaps...” said Lyupl, the gelatinous havoll admiral. “Perhaps, if the Consciousness manages to restore order in its own colonies in time, they might get them to stop before it’s too late.”

Druuthn nodded, though he severely doubted that the Consciousness would have not supported Clatt’s decision.

“We must not let this distract us. We move as planned. We’ve almost reached the Kazon pulsar. We might finally be close to our main target.”

A few more formalities and the junta was dismissed, leaving the ikaanan alone on his chair, looking at the emptiness of space.

Before the war had started, Druuthn saw the sheelikoi as many ikaanans did: an unfortunate alien culture, twisted by the tyrannical regime of the Slithers. Yet, as he had fought them, seeing the atrocities they committed, the marks of cruelty and callous megalomania that each seemed to leave in his path, the High Admiral was starting to think if he hadn’t been wrong. Perhaps they were all the monsters that they were depicted to be. Perhaps there were no oppressed or ignorant sheelikoi somewhere out there, being exploited by the Slithers just like the other slave species. Perhaps there was really nothing more to it. The things that he had seen them commit, how could just a few aberrant minds rule over all those many worlds for so long without the support of their own?

*****************​

“We’re nearing Raxum, sir.” Said the uri operator. Clatt nodded, his gaze lost in the hyperlane’s flashing tunnel.

“The time has come. Open the main internal channel, I’d like to address the crew.”

“Yes, sir.”

He had thought about all that Druuthn had said to him and Grmph for the entirety of the voyage back home, no matter how much he tried to push the ikaanan’s words outside of his mind.

Druuthn did not understand his pain. He did not experienced being cut off from the Consciousness. For an ikaanan it was normal to be alone, like Clatt was now. He could see only those that were around him, only talk to those that were within earshot. The greatest mutilation that the sheelikoi had inflicted upon them was the one they had forced all the uri to undergo, to take away their implants.

“This is the Admiral speaking. Men, we will reach Raxum momentarily. You know what awaits us and our allies of Hiffnar there. You’ve seen the path of destruction and desperation that the Fang has left on its wake. Some of you have experienced it closer than others. But we all know what the enemy is capable of. His list of grievances is greater than what any person could suffer himself to bear. But it is no simple people those that we prepare ourselves to fight. The sheelikoi are monsters. A plague upon this galaxy, which exists only to bring suffering and violence to any who opposes their tyrannical rule. They do not know what it is to live together in peace... To be together. Their armies might be greater, but each of their ships, each of the soldiers inside them.. they’re alone. They are lonely and hate-filled murderers, with delusions of godhood.”

With a bright flash, the fleet emerged from hyperspace. The Slither’s Fang encompassed the entire screen, already in formation. Foll’Sewa had fallen and the fleet seemed to be on its way to the next system.

“Look..!” Said suddenly Clatt’s lieutenant. “They’re still maneuvering, their transports ar-!”

“We are not alone.” Continued triumphantly the admiral. “We will prevail! Because, unlike them, we believe in a just cause, we believe in freedom, in unity, and in justice for all those which they have tormented for all these years!”

The uri gestured to his lieutenant. “Engange the fleet, focus all fire on the transports, kill the psions!”

 

[Silfae]

I feel so bad for the uri

Yeah, the Uri Consciousness was badly placed in this war. As Druuthn stated, embracing the Hypercoil's territories and finding itself between Hypercoil and the other members of the Compact assured that it would have been the main target of any invasion, especially since the wormhole tecnology used by the sheelikoi does not allow them to simply move through enemy space, they need to encroach one step at a time.
​

THE GREAT COALITION WAR III (2357 – 2362)​

The Secret World

Zeraxim’s wrath resonated across the Fang, the High Farseer could feel the general’s spite and resentment towards the prey as if he’d been next to him. The sudden attack by the uri fleet had costed them nearly half of their armies.

-Never before so many sheelikoi died in a war!- his thoughts reverberated in the mind of the High Farseer. –How could you not foresee their coming? It is blasphemous, unthinkable!-

-Do not be too hasty in your judgement. Our superiority cannot be in question: the warriors were not truly defeated, for they did not fight. And the prey, in its suicidal strike, was quickly dealt with as well. Besides, I did indeed foresee the coming of the uri, alone... And come they have.-

The Great Conqueror was still seething with rage, but, before he could add something, the High Farseer continued: -Many of the uri were captured alive, Great Conqueror. It is only natural for your righteous anger to strike them, again and again.-

-Time for that will come. But first, we must send for reinforcements from Xanaslisk. Rebuild my armies.-

-And so it shall be.-

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

Druuthn could not take the sight off the image on the main screen.

“Then.. there can be no doubt about it?” asked cautiously the ikaanan.

“No, sir. The probe shows a high activity on the surface, the life signs are consistent with sheelikean biology.”

“Establish contact with the junta and give them the coordinates, we make the jump immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Holograms of the other admirals immediately took form on his sides.

“This is it. We’ve found it.”

Everything seemed to be in accordance to their astrographic sources: a red sun, an asteroid belt, a tropical satellite. High activity on the surface, and a massive space station drifting over the binary planetary orbit. The High Admiral could almost not believe no fleets had been reported around such a system. Whether it had truly been the capital or just a sheelikoi colony, it was the first world filled with their species that the coalition had found in years of exploration. How could the Slithers leave it unguarded?

“This could be a trap.” Said Plyytrh, giving voice to Druuthn’s inner fears. “A defense fleet might be hiding close by, in one of the nearby systems, or using some unknown cloaking device.”

“Could it?” asked admiral Lyupl. “This is a historic moment. I don’t think they ever had to fear an attack so close home, why waste their resources?”

“Either of you could be right.” Answered Druuthn. “But this is a risk we must take. All military strategies designed in the past few decades by the Righteous Compact were based upon the notion that the Slither’s Fang constitutes the vast majority of the sheelikean forces, and that the sheelikoi are unwilling to split them. Even if this is not true, and this is a trap, we must proceed, if nothing else to test their forces, to see how many fleets they are still hiding.”

He could feel not all of the admirals were in agreement over the last point, but none of them voiced other concerns, and the last hyperjump was made.

The confederate ships emerged in the Basakrim system with a bright flash, and made their way to the presumptive homeworld of the sheelikoi. A sense of fear and anticipation had taken the High Admiral since he had received the footage from the probe; now, every thousandth kilometer forward without a sheelikean fleet appearing from nowhere was a new surge of hope that the Slithers’ pride might have had truly brought them to leave their most precious world entirely unguarded.

“All cannons, target the spaceport. Prepare to fire whenever at range.”

The orbital station was massive, even from that distance, the ikaanan could see the gargantuan machinery slowly moving to piece together a new battleship, that would have likely had gone to reinforce the Fang’s forces in a few months.

Hours upon hours passed, making them ever closer to their target. No amount of tiredness could take Druuthn off his post. He knew that that maneuver and the following attacks would have taken days, but the stakes were too high: he could not allow himself to sleep even for an hour, and, doing so, possibly risk the success of that operation because of its absence in a crucial moment.

The ikaanan kept his eyes on the screen, looking at the station and the planet. The scanner had confirmed that there were mostly sheelikoi on that world. What did that mean? How did they work as a society, without slaves? He could see the faint lights of their cities on the dark side, the lush green and blue of jungles and seas on the bright one; he stared at every detail that the sensors could detect, hoping to catch a detail, something that could give him a greater insight on those creatures.

After the uri’s and hiffnar’s split, he had almost hoped that, once they had found the sheelikean home planet, it would have been filled with slaves. That would have just confirmed his worse hypothesis on the sheelikoi’s nature. Now, on one hand, Druuthn could not deny he felt less worried about bombing a planet filled only with sheelikoi, but on the other hand, what did he truly know of those people? Were they really all like the Slithers?

It was only when they finally reached the spaceport’s range that the sensors caught a call from the planet. It was the first official communication from the Hypercoil since their declaration of war, further proof that the confederates might have been on the right track.

The contact was non-visual, with a clearly artificial voice talking through the intercom, translating the sheelikor’s hisses.

“How dare you approach First Slither Xirleekan Xanaslisk Temple of Fear and Glory, Master of the Emptiness that-”

“I know the First Slither’s titles.” Interrupted the ikaanan. “This is High Admiral Druuthn, of the coalition fleets of the Righteous Compact.” While speaking, the ikaanan gestured his lieutenant to proceed with the attack as planned, and the first energy cannons fired at the spaceport.

He had initially thought about letting the sheelikoi go with their usual longwinded formalities for the sake of diplomacy, but, in that circumstances, that might have very well been just a distraction, one he would have not allowed.

“With whom do I speak?”

“Foolish mortal, you dare raise arms against the furnace of the divine? Your end shall-“

“We are representative of enlightened governments, this junta does not recognize the Slithers’ claim to divinity, nor their claims on the Uri Sectors, which the First Slither’s fleet has unrightfully occupied.”

“-the infinite torments which your soul shall-”

“End this transmission.”

Druuthn shook his head. It was too much to expect them to talk of surrender so soon.

The automated defenses of the spaceport could not do much against the united fleets. It took only a day for the confederates to turn the entire structure into a burnt wreck.

If nothing else, that was already a great victory for the Righteous Compact, thought Druuthn: it likely had taken decades for the sheelikoi to build such a structure. With all the other production lines that they had halted, the Slither’s Fang would have certainly had a much harder time to replenish lost ships now.

With the orbital defenses destroyed, the fleets were free to impose a blockade around the planet; then, it would have been the sheelikoi’s turn to suffer the atrocities of war. Yet, as the warships descended in the lower orbit, Druuthn’s conscience forced him to search for a second time contact with the local government.

“Forward this message to the same channel we were in contact before: the forces of the Righteous Compact, which I represent, have blockaded Xanaslisk, your home planet. We are ready to discuss the surrender of the First Slither and lay the foundations for a subsequent peace. Failure to contact us before our fleet has taken position will result in the bombing of Xanaslisk. We urge you to-”

-You…- The whisper reached Druuthn so suddenly that it caused him to shiver. –You are the one they call Beak of Ivory. I had foreseen your coming.-

​

“What?” The ikaanan instinctively looked around, clenching the arms of his chair.

-There is no need to use the crude sound.-

“It is in my mind!” the ikaanan quickly whispered to his lieutenant, trying to keep calm. “Be careful. Beging the bombardment.”

-It is of no use.- continued the hissing voice in his head. –Each and every blasphemous act of yours shall be punished tenfold. The mortal does not stand before the divine.-

-The divine has fallen!- Finally managed to think Druuthn. –You will never win. The more atrocities you commit, the more free people will unite against you. The road you’ve picked can only lead to your inevitable destruction. We can still end this in peace. Surrender.-

-It is you the one who will be begging for mercy soon. You should have not meddled with us, ikaanan. The uri have fallen, your kin shall be next.-

The first explosions lightened the surface of the planet, enveloping the forests and cities, visible from orbit.

-Think of your people! Do you wish to be the cause of their suffering? Their death?-

-Sheelikor will always survive as long as there will be preys to hunt such as you. To bow to our lesser, to subvert the natural order of things? That would be a much greater blasphemy.-

-Your fanaticism blinds you. You are *not* gods! You won’t survive this. You have the opportunity to give your subjects another chance to be free and live together with the rest of the free people.-

-No.-

The ikaanan could feel the hatred, the unending spite resonating from the First Slither’s mind. It took him a while to realize that his lieutenant was shouting and shaking him.

“Admiral! Admiral!..”

-Despair now.-

“What?” said Druuthn, still confused by the psionic conversation. “What is it?”

“The Fang is here!”

The admiral had barely the time to realize what was happening, that a thousand shrieks pierced through his and his crew’s mind, blinding and deafening them.

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

“There! FX-144, I see an opening! Send another squadron, focus the main cannons!” shouted Druuthn, laying on his chair.

The psionic attack had been devastating. It only stopped when they left the lower orbit of Xanaslisk. Luckily, the jhoolian fleet, not affected by the psions, managed to offer them cover against the incoming enemy ships until they had been able to retake control enough to defend themselves. The jhoolians’ actions saved the rest of the confederate fleets, but forced them in an extremely disadvantageous position. With the hyperlane exit route blocked by the Slither’s Fang and the rest of the fleets behind them, the jhoolian were smitten by the full power of the sheelikean fleet, which, in a few days from the start of the battle, costed the life of admiral Plyytrh and his flagship.

It had been seven months since the start of that battle. It was the greatest and longest confrontation in the Righteous Compact’s entire history. Never before two fleets of such sizes had met together.

The confederate fleets had numbers on their side, better weapons and variety: dozens of brilliant military minds from everywhere in the Righteous Compact, all working together against the monolithic tyranny of the sheelikoi.

The sleek sheelikean warships were slower and more resilient, their hulls regenerating themselves after any strike, but their attack patters were crude. In the past, they had always relied on overwhelming power to shock and crush their opponents; against a superior foe, they could only hold their ground and cut off their enemies’ escape.

That was their main concern, Druuthn was certain of it. Every time he had ordered some maneuver to give the idea of a possible imminent retreat, the sheelikoi had immediately rearranged the Fang to counteract it. Yet, being aware of that fact just made the ikaanan admiral more tempted to attempt a real escape.

It was clear that the Slithers had grown tired of the confederate fleets destroying their colonies: the Fang would have risked heavy losses just to prevent their escape, because the Slithers knew that their warships were not as fast as the Compact’s. Now that they knew where Xanaslisk was, they could no longer have all their warships on the offense, and dividing their forces meant losing one of their main advantages. They needed to destroy the coalition’s fleets to be able to continue their campaign in the Consciousness and beyond.

Druuthn was torn on the matter. If they had found a good strategy to outsmart the Fang, the battle could have easily turned to their favor. More importantly, the more time they kept the Fang stuck there, the more time the Uri Consciousness had to rebuild its government and retake control of the occupied planets. All of the Compact’s governments had not been directly touched by the war yet, their naval production lines were still intact, while the Hypercoil’s had been mostly destroyed. If only they could manage to inflict enough losses on them, they could permanently cripple the Fang.

 

[Silfae]

The Slither's fang was about 26k, right?

I can see how this would be a close fight.

Yes, it was still more or less that, which was slightly less than the total of the coalitions' forces.

 

[Silfae]

THE GREAT COALITION WAR IV (2362 – 2370)​

The Fang and the Whip

-Your time has come, Beak of Ivory.-

-You again, tyrant?- thought the ikaanan, this time trying not to lose concentration on what was happening on the screen.

-I am no tyrant,- continued the voice in his mind. –I am your opponent, High Farseer of the Slither’s Fang, Zacadliss. You were sneaky, but I know where you are now, Beak of Ivory. Your meddling has come to its end.-

​

As the voice continued, Druuthn realized that one of the massive enemy battleships had just abandoned formation, moving towards his flagship.

“Concentrate fire on XZ-287, now!” shouted the ikaanan. –This will serve you nothing.-

“We’re in psionic range! Increase our distance!”

The barrage fire from the sheelikean fleet increased, a half a dozen enemy corvettes jumped forward to cover the advance of the battleship, whose cannons started to focus their fire entirely on the confederate flagship.

“Continue!..” shouted Druuthn, trying to not let his pain and frustration transpire from his voice. “Faster!”

The many sleepless nights and the prolonged stress had greatly weakened him, just as much as the seven months-long battle had damaged his ship. They needed to gain distance immediately, avoid the psychic assault at all costs.

The enemy ship continued to advance; its hull had been ripped open countless times, but each of its wounds had slowly started to close right after having been opened.

“Shields failing, sir!”

The hissing in the ikaanan’s mind increased, making him unable to react. A bright green beam of energy passed through the screen, followed by a series of screams and explosions.

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

The destruction of the confederate flagship was a disaster for the forces of the coalition: that final blow to the soldiers’ morale after the unending battle, which had been going on for half a year then, caused several attempts at insubordination, which in turn resulted in more losses for the allies. By the time the junta was able to agree on a successor to Druuthn, Admiral Sier’Uni, the fleets were still holding their ground, but the tide had definitely turned on the Slithers’ advantage.

Sier’Uni, an uri of ikaanan origin, knew that, and did not lose time to make his position clear right after his appointment.

“We might still be able to hold off the Fang for a month or two, but at what cost? We must accept the possibility that, under the prolonged stress of his charge, Admiral Druuthn had lost touch with our main goal. We were able to do a lot of damage to the Hypercoil when we were avoiding the Fang and destroying the Slither’s production lines. The left arm of the Hypercoil has still been left mostly untouched. I propose to attempt an escape from this blasted system and continue our work there.”

“Druuthn believed that holding off the Fang here was the best course of action.” Stated Admiral Lyupl, twisting his boneless arm. “Now that we know where their home planet is-”

“They will be forced to split their forces.” Interrupted him Sier’Uni. “Which we will easily defeat. It serves no purpose for us to continue this losing battle.”

“To try and break the standoff…” warned Humiigol, the successor of Admiral Plyytrh. “…it may cost us many ships. The Fang holds the exit routes.”

“It is a risk we must take. Better than a slow death at the hands of the Fang.”

*****************​

Zacadliss peaked from the ornate curtain of his litter as he was being carried by a host of slaves towards the main entrance of the First Slither’s Great Temple of Xanaslisk. The batches of slaves from V’Vidir had been called immediately to repair the damage made by Beak of Ivory’s fleet, but the scars of the ignominious attack could still be seen. Without a doubt the First Slither had called him down to make him see the destruction, to prepare him for what he would have told him once in the temple.

Almost all the Princes had been called in a hurry. There was no time to lose, as the war was still going on, yet the First Slither insisted for as many as possible to be there in person.

It had been years since so many Slithers had been reunited in the same place. After their announcers had given the proper introductions and all the titles had been listed, the First Slither rose from his seat, looking at the High Farseer.

-Time is short, High Farseer Zacadliss.- He said. -Therefore I shall ask that all the esteemed Great and Wise Princes reunited today be quick in their argumentations. …The position of our most holy temple has been revealed to the prey. Such a thing was not meant to be.-

-The prey paid dearly for its blasphemy.- Responded Zacadliss. -Its great leader has been defeated, many of them died to cowardly escape from our ultimate victory. Now I can foresee it shatter soon, for the minds of their soldiers are filled with fear and desperation. I’ve heard their thoughts, many have realized what folly it was for them to raise their arms against holy Xanaslisk.-

-This may be, yet we foresee that the efforts of sheelikoi will not keep at bay our enemies again, were they to attack a second time our holiest. The Wise Prince Cathiox has graciously provided us with his fleets in order to defend the integrity of our holy temple. I shall baptize these warships as the Slither’s Whip. Never again must we allow the weaklings to threaten our glory.-

At the proclamation of the First Slither, Zacadliss moved his gaze to Zeraxim. Surely, the general had influenced Xirleekan’s judgement, using the recent attack to better present his outlandish idea of a second separate fleet.

-Yet, o First Slither- started the High Farseer. –Would these ships not be better put to use by punishing the fleeing prey? As we established at the start of this glorious hunt: to allow the prey to force us on the defense, in an unnaturally submissive position, would that not be a greater failing?-

-You speak with the wise words of Prince Cathiox, but I shan’t undo what I have made.- answered coldly the First Slither. It was clear to Zacadliss that, at least partially, his opposition to the High Farseer was the consequence of his failure to prevent the arrival of the enemy fleet in the home system altogether.

-Yet…- continued the High Farseer, quickly thinking of another way to solve the matter in his favor. -...I do not ask to unmake the new fleet, First Slither Xirleekan. In fact, I foresee its use shall be instrumental to the final destruction of our hated enemies...-

*****************​

Five years had passed since the battle at Xanaslisk, since Sier’Uni had taken command of the confederate fleets. As hoped by everyone, the attack on the sheelikean homeworld had halted entirely their enemies’ offense. Unfortunately, the moment the confederate fleets had managed to return closer to allied sectors and to re-establish a contact with the Righteous Compact, the Uri Consciousness had demanded that the fleets took care of removing the last remnants of the Slither’s occupation in their sectors, before focusing on the Hypercoil’s left arm: V’Vidir.

Sier’Uni was not certain of the strategic advantage of that choice, but he felt sympathy for his people and decided to support the motion. Returning into allied space was also a good opportunity to refresh the crews, whose majority of members had been both physically and psychologically strained beyond limit by the prolonged campaign in sheelikean space.

In a few years, they had recovered almost half of the forces lost at Xanaslisk, and freed several occupied Uri planets, with little to no opposition from the sheelikoi. Sier’Uni was starting to believe that the mere threat to their homeworld had scared their enemies so much as to make them lose any willingness to send the Fang into another campaign. Many did not see it the same way: the shock of the destruction of Ur Idra had left a permanent scar in the Uri Consciousness, and the death toll paid up to that point was unthinkable to both Sovereign Havoll Suns and Ikaanan Mandate. Before that wretched war had started, most analysts were sure it would have not lasted more than a few years: once the first assault from the sheelikoi had been stood up to and the infallibility of their leaders put to question, the strategists had been fairly certain that the Hypercoil would have collapsed from the inside, due to liberation movements taking root amongst the slaves.

In those final years the Compact had retaken the advantage, despite the loss of ships at Xanaslisk, but the strain put on economy and society by that unending war, which required constant and extensive support by all the governments of the federation, had severely weakened the members of the Compact.

Sadly, Sier’Uni’s optimistic view was also torn apart when the new fleet of the Uri Consciousness suddenly disappeared on its way to join the confederate fleets in the Zempek system. Sier’Uni put his forces in motion to investigate, but they made it only halfway to their destination before finding the probable culprit in the Enim system: a new sheelikean fleet.

“See?” said triumphantly the uri, looking at the screen. “They are so scared they sent only a few ships!”

“Its size is comparable to that of the missing uri fleet.” Added Humiigol. “Perhaps it has lost units during the fight.”

“Regardless of the reason, we must take advantage of this situation. We have overwhelming superiority.”

“It could be a trap.” Said Lyupl, cautiously. “It won’t be the first time. Why would the sheelikoi send such a meager fleet?”

“Because they’re scared. They’re keeping most of the Fang at Xanaslisk, to protect it from other attacks, isn’t it obvious? All fleets forward, engage. Don’t allow them to escape.”

The navigators obeyed and, within a day, the two fleets clashed. The sheelikoi remained compact and held their ground, as usual, but this time they were in crippling minority.

“Get closer, flank on the 33° and press forward.” Shouted Sier’Uni.

“Sir” warned him the lieutenant, “we cannot risk getting within range of their psions.”

“Of course.” The uri shook his head. “Belay the last order.”

The uri eagerly watched as the first enemy ships exploded, overcome by their blows. That would have been the first definitive victory against a sheelikean fleet. Unlike all of the previous blockades, the drawn out confrontations and the sabotages, that one might have only had a relatively small strategic advantage, but, unlike all of those other operations, this was exactly what the soldiers and the people of the Compact needed to boost their morale: one certain and undeniable victory on the sidereal field.

Weeks passed; the victory of the confederates might have been certain, but that did not stop the sheelikoi from stubbornly resisting to their very last ship. At first, Sier’Uni had feared that they would have attempted an escape and robbed them of their victory, that’s why he had ordered the allied fleets to corner them and destroy the illegal wormhole station planted by the enemies in the system. Yet, the sheelikean fleet had not even made an attempt at fleeing, no matter its growing losses.

The corvettes had almost entirely been disabled. Without their cover, the cruisers would have been unable to withstand concentrated fire for too long still. It was almost done.

“Sir!” shouted one of the operators. “I’m picking something.. it’s from Erim VIII, it’s.. it’s...”

“No...” Sier’Uni widened his eyes in surprise and disbelief. A massive fleet had just left the cover of the gas giant and was quickly moving to their rear flank. “The Fang... The Fang! Quick! Prepare for hyperjump!”

“Sir, we can’t! The enemy wreckage..! It’s on the closest exit lane. Only half of the hiffnar fleet has a clear path...”

“No.. no no no no!..” The uri jumped off from his seat, clenching his fists. “Alert all the fleets! Prepare for repositioning, we must defend our rear flank, compact the formation!”

He looked with pure hatred at the incoming vessels, cutting off their only other escape route.

“How?! How is it possible!?! They are insane! How can they leave their homeplanet unguarded, it’s absurd!”

*****************​

At each day, the Slither’s Fang moved closer. The first blows were exchanged, but the fleet still kept closing in, until the allied forces were squashed between the might of the Hypercoil and the wreckages of the Slither’s Whip.

The battle of Enim was almost as long as the battle over Xanaslisk, but this time Zacadliss was the undisputed winner. The coalition forces were caught off guard and prevented from escaping; though the Fang suffered several losses, the enemy fleets were completely obliterated this time. The few enemy soldiers who were allowed to escape had their mind twisted and their body broken, so that the story of their defeat could have spread further panic and desperation amongst their people.

The Slither’s Whip had suffered an untimely demise, but for Zacadliss that was far from a negative outcome. Even if the First Slither decided to rebuild it, more warships, which were currently under construction, would have automatically defaulted to the Fang in the meantime. Furthermore, his strategy to only faint cowardice and pretend to send just the Whip as an invading force had worked in obtaining a quick and decisive victory against their enemies. With that show of brilliance, the High Farseer was certain to have restored his high standing amongst the other Princes after the embarrassing events of Xanaslisk.

-Nothing stands in our way now, brethren of Sheelikor.- The triumphant thoughts of the High Farseer resonated in the crewmembers’ minds with anticipation. –Forward!-

For the next two years, High Farseer Zacadliss undid all of the progress made by Sier’Uni’s united fleets, scourging the Uri Consciousness left and right and bringing its newly formed provisional government to its knees. In the meantime, an endlessly working construction team had fortified the entire new border with the Uri Consciousness, building dozens of outposts and fortresses to progressively reduce the possibility of another attack against the inner sector.

To Zacadliss’s immense delight, High Tecnarch Rekaxir developed a new and updated wormhole matrix at the fall of the second year from the High Farseer’s great victory, which would have allowed them an even greater mobility, thus further quelling the First Slither’s concerns for the safety of Xanaslisk.

Once more had their reach increased. Now it enveloped the worlds of the ikaanan and their other despicable allies: now their true invasion could truly begin.

 

[Silfae]

Sacrificing the Whip so the Fang can strike with the element of surprise and devour the enemies... Sounds like a solid tactic for an empire that's fine with sending citizens to their deaths.

Eh, in this case it wasn't about sacrificing in general, it was a question of internal squabbling...

 

[Silfae]

THE GREAT COALITION WAR V (2370 – 2373)​

A New Compact

Zacadliss remained still behind the silken curtains dividing him from the communication camera connected with the commander of the new, pathetic fleet of the Uri Consciousness, so as to show only a distorted shadow of himself.

“Thus crawls the prey, wailing for the attention of its betters.” Said the High Farseer, letting the software translate his hisses.

“I.. my name is Duo Lamàr, representative of the Uri Consciousness. I am relieved the Hypercoil has accepted this message.”

The sheelikor looked at the uri on the screen. In all those years dealing with them, he had acquired some basic knowledge of their repugnant facial expressions. He was somewhat interested and amused by the diplomatic embassy sent to Jillis to make contact with the Fang. It might have been a distraction of some sort, but he could allow himself a few hours of distraction without jeopardizing the campaign after his recent crushing victory.

“Speak, mortal.”

“We hope...” the uri appeared uneasy in his conciliatory words. “..that.. that a peaceful solution might be found to.. all of this. The Uri Consciousness is ready to recognize your sovereignty over the former Consortium of Enim, the former Confederated Quvarian Planets and the Lythirin system, previously under the control of the Uri Consciousness. We are ready to give up to any rights upon these systems and allow the Hypercoil to keep hold of Asterion and Zempek, which have been occupied during this war. We only ask for the Hypercoil to retire his fleets and armies from the rest of our space and agree to a period of peace. Let us put an end to this senseless massacre, for the good of all our people.”

Zacadliss observed carefully the diplomat on the screen, rasping his teeth in anticipation.

“Why?” said the High Farseer. “The mortal shows his weakness and his unwillingness to fight. There is nothing to concede, the divine takes what he wants, and what he wants is not within the boundaries of the mortal. Puny creature, your kind is no longer of interest to us. We will no longer admit less than the ikaanan’s highest representatives to our presence. Be gone now. And know that, for you have not prostrated yourself at my presence, a million uri will suffer tonight on Soll’Gavance.”

“No! Wait!”

The High Farseer gestured for the call to be interrupted and the curtain removed.

-The resolve of our enemies has been crushed, as I had foreseen.- he searched for the Great Conqueror’s mind. –Soon this hunt will come to its natural end.-

-So it shall be.- Confirmed Zeraxim.

*****************​

As the High Farseer had planned to do years before, the Slither’s Fang finally left the Uri Consciousness, moving to the Odlamon system to destroy the broken remains of the United Hiffnar Worlds. The fleet of the bovines had long been destroyed and the orbital defenses of Diona’s Diamond could do little against the might of the Fang.

The planet itself was a greater obstacle to general Zeraxim’s troops: it was cold and inhospitable for the sheelikoi, covered in ice and steel. The hiffnar themselves, only rarely met before, were a particularly obscene species in the eyes of the conquerors, with their warm bodies, covered in fur and fat. Unlike the uri, they did not have neural implants and were quite eager to fight, which surprised the Great Conqueror at first.

In the end, their forces, albeit resilient, were all the same unable to oppose any meaningful resistance against the psionic and biological superiority of the invaders. For the following two years, Zeraxim was allowed to study all the kinds of pain and fear that the hiffnar people were capable of experiencing, while Zacadliss continued to raze the nearby systems, not rarely moving towards the ikaanan space to show the leaders of the coalition the reach of the Hypercoil.

It was only then, when the High Farseer was satisfied with the terror inflicted upon his enemies, when he was certain to have given them the idea that the Hypercoil could have been able to continue its campaign forever, only then he decided to declare the war over. There was no diplomatic meeting, nor immediate message. The Fang retired to those that the First Slither had determined to be the new borders of the Hypercoil, and finally Zacadliss sent a declaration of enforced peace upon the Righteous Compact.

After nearly twenty years of endless fighting, the Great Coalition War was over. It had destroyed the military apparatus of many of the allied forces, but the Uri were the ones to suffer the most: their fleets destroyed, their core worlds and homeland lost, their government crippled, the Consciousness had been taught a lesson it would have hardly forgotten.

*****************​

Carclak moved back and forth beside the uri’s hologram.

“The people are not of a single mind on the matter.” Said the bessadon, while countless messages from the citizens of the Star Hive scrolled beneath his eyes.

“I understand, my family lived in the Consciousness.” Answered the Compact’s representative. “But you must accept the reality of the situation.”

“We do.” Carclak sighed. The whole meeting was being sent live to every bessadon citizen, many of which were in turn messaging to him, to give him their opinion on what the correct course of action would have been, filling polls and writing comments.

“You do realize,” he said to the uri. “that, if we agree on these terms, it might encourage them to target us in the next war.”

At their side, a wide holographic map of the lower Galaxy was slowly rotating, showing the last claims of the Hypercoil and its supposed borders.

“What other choice do you have?” asked the uri. “We must stand united or fall alone.”

“That did not work really well for you.”

“Many of the Compact sacrificed their lives or their future in this war. Though we have lost five systems to the Hypercoil and our very homeworld, we’ve also gained valuable intel on its inner workings and astrography.”

“Which.. you’ll be willing to share.”

“Of course.”

“Hm.”

It was not an easy decision for the people, so Carclak retired for a few hours to better interpret the global debate taking place through the Star Hive. Finally, the bessadon rejoined the uri representative.

“We’ve reached a consensus.”

 

[Silfae]

Eh, we'll see, the Bessadon Star Hive is no small empire.
This was such a long war. Actually, for most of the time, I was around -20% of warscore, Druuthn's fleet destroyed a lot of spaceports and occupied several planets. The battle over Xanaslisk was the turning point and it was a very close call.
The main advantage of the sheelikoi was that their mineral production rates allowed them to replenish the fleets no matter the losses. Even with half of the spaceports destroyed by Beak of Ivory, the rest were still able to rebuild the Fang and the Whip before the coalition members could rebuild their fleets after Xanaslisk.

 

[Silfae]

Hmmph, have you had the anomaly that results in a xenophile attitude yet?

No. Neoxanàn, the first colony, has diverged from its ethical roots naturally, as it was stated in the First Scenario, but Xanaslisk is firmly under a fanatic xenophobic majority.

Loving this AAR, the insidiousness and outright alien-ness of the Slither is nice.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

 

[Silfae]

Fantastic set of updates. Does the Star Hive have enough strength to make up for the Compact's losses during the war?

Thanks. Eh, we'll see...

SECOND SCENARIO (2375 – 2377)​

Rebuilding the Great Temple

The great victory over the allied preys was meant to bring much delectation and satisfaction to the old Slithers, but, as they reunited once more in the great temple of Xanaslisk, there was a palpable sense of restlessness amongst the holy covenant.

As usual, they all started with the formal rites of titles and honorifics, but, while the speaker was listing them, some telepathic impulses were already reaching out for one Prince or the other; in the meantime, their bodies consumed the sacrificial offering, another uri, fresh from the newly conquered worlds.

-High Farseer Zacadliss has interrupted the attack prematurely. We should have not yielded until all of the Uri Consciousness was no more.- Said Prince Rezicax.

-No Sheelikor has yielded.- Answered the admiral. –The weak uri have been broken, the bessadon can only take their place. Your worries are unbecoming of your divinity.-

-So is your lack of foresight.- Hissed Rezicax. –The uri populations in our new worlds are either broken in bodies or not at all. Those that were maimed by the butcherers of the Great Conqueror are useless slaves, those that were not are hateful ones.-

-It may be...- Started Prince Zax. –That our reliance on mind-enforcement has led us to forsake the true way of educating the prey to follow and fear our whip. The natural instinct in older subdued generations is such, while newer prizes are restless.-

At that assertion the High Tecnarch Zoz was quick to interject: -How could it be that our ascension caused a regression in our divine capacities? The thought itself is contradictory. We need only to go forward, higher! -...There are new ways that my colleagues and I have researched to increase our divine hold, First Slither.-

-I must say,- started the Wise Prince Cathiox. –that, though I am not entirely in agreement with the Great Prince Rezicax’s idea. My thoughts resonate entirely against the proposal of the High Tecnarch, o First Slither. What he is about to will negates our innate superiority. It should not be conceived.-

-It is but the next step in our ascension, to facilitate the integration of new prey.- Continued the High Tecnarch. -An addition to make our orbital stations more fit to manage their respective worlds. This device will focus the psychic energies of a Slither and push them unto the entire population with ease, reshaping their minds in the way that is most productive and appropriate for them to be.-

​

-Such a thing would deny the value of their pain and fear, Xirleekan.- Said Cathiox. -Surely you see this.-

-How- asked the High Tecnarch. –How would this be different from the actions of the Great Conqueror’s warriors, if not for its increased effectiveness?-

-The psychic assault breaks the soul, like the coils crush the limbs,- answered Cathiox. –What is left is broken and in pain. The will of the divine has rightfully scourged a prey, as it should be. Yet, with this invention that you speak of, there is no real suffering, it is but projected into the mind of the slave.-

-How does it differ? It is still inflicted by a divine Slither. We can have pain without wound, dread without hate. We would not need to mangle the slaves to cause a crushing hopelessness, which in turn would leave their bodies intact, thus making them more productive.-

-It would be an illusion. The moment the divine stops thinking, the prey stops feeling his terror.-

-Isn’t that what nature demands? The thought of the divine SHAPES the reality of the prey.-

The other Great Princes started to join in the psychic conversation, thinking over each other, supporting either the Wise Prince, the High Tecnarch or neither. Finally, the First Slither decided to join in as well to put an end to the issue.

-I shall bring order and direction to this holy covenant.- He said. –In truth, our genetic destiny has not yet manifested our next form. Our enemies grow faster still, we cannot allow the natural order to be subverted, that would be a greater blasphemy. High Tecnarch Zoz, you are given leave to proceed with the implementation of this new technology.-

-O First Slither- called Great Prince Zax. –Perhaps this technology could be put to use on other of our worlds as well. Through it, the deviant schools of thought on Neoxanàn might be persuaded to return to the enlightened path, for the benefit of all of us.-

-No, such a decision would be abominable. The divine cannot be treated as the prey.-

-Of course not.- Zaxwas quickly to add. –My thought might have not been as clear as I believed to have formulated it: how would this be different from our current dialectics? We employ our will to give substance to ideas and let them resonate in our peers’ minds, so that they may be enlightened. Stronger and older predators impose their will on the weaker ones, as it is natural.-

-By nature, yes.- answered coldly the First Slither. –But this is not nature, yet. It is but a technology. When all of the Sheelikor will have increased their reach to such a magnitude, then it shall be good and excellent for them to quarrel against each other with their increased powers.-

​

-I will resonate in concord with your will, o First Slither.- answered the High Tecnarch, finally capitulating.

-I beseech the holy covenant,- intervened Prince Rezicax. –though these contraptions shall help in our divine charge, we propose further training for our hunters. The Great Conqueror has fought well against the enemies of Sheelikor, but we still believe their skills in subjugating the captured prey are in dire need of refinement. Perhaps the philosophers of the Wise Prince’s school might be of help in such matters?-

-It shall be so, o Great Prince. My scholars shall teach them the subtlety of control and subservience.- Said Cathiox; since the Great Conqueror nodded in agreement as well, the First Slither decided to not intervene at all on that matter, maintaining his attention on the High Tecnarchs.

-I am discontent.- he said, leaning towards the reunited scientists. –The metaphysical value of this contraption is meager, o High Tecnarchs. How are we to continue our ascension when even our preys can create things of wonder that escape our understanding? How can a prey create mysteries? How do you solve this query?-

The three scientists quickly and silently exchanged a few opinions amongst themselves, before Zoz linked back with the First Slither.

-Great and Endless Prince, little remains of the mysteries of our worlds. The new conquests against the weak uri grant us only trinkets of no real meaning. We foresee that the greatest mysteries are beneath the Avarrian arm. Our fleet and our warriors have grown after the recent war; we foresee that they shall be enough to cleanse the decadent guardians protecting the secrets in the abyss. Then, High Tecnarch Cabroxi will surely uncover them, and we shall use their meaning for the betterment of Sheelikor. We foresee that their unveiling shall unlock the greater destiny of our divine nature and lead us to the next ascension.-

At those words, a few of the reunited Slithers hissed in doubt and anticipation.

-The treacherous bessadon have joined our ikaanan enemies. The avarrian guardians are terrible foes. Why risk a war on two fronts?- Asked Zeraxim. –Would it not be better to attack the bessadon first, to punish their insolence?-

-I foresee another long war.- Said Zacadliss. –If we attack the bessadon, the other preys will come to help them, their conjoined forces could hold the Fang long enough to allow the uri to rebuild their spirit and their forces.-

-I am in agreement with the High Farseer.- State the Wise Prince Cathiox. –Though on the short term it might seem more natural and excellent to punish the bessadon, their nature is deceitful. Our greater destiny takes precedence over the pettiness of the prey. Once we have unveiled the mysteries of the Avarran treasures, I foresee that all our preys shall fall beneath us.-

This time the First Slither allowed the other Great Princes to discuss the matter for a while before intervening.

-I find my thoughts resonating in agreement with the High Farseer and the Wise Prince. The guardians of Avarria have stood against us alone and in the darkness. They have robbed us of the highest mysteries and scorned our divine nature. Their insult is their very existence within our territory, and it is far older than that of the bessadon. Thus we shall proceed in order, punishing the oldest slight before the newer.-

-So it shall be.-

 

[Silfae]

Picking a fight with the Fallen Empire? This is gonna be good!

Yep.

So the Sheelikoi are aware their tech is inferior. At least they're not that arrogant. As for fighting a Fallen Empire... that'll be interesting. Given how superior most Fallen Empire's view themselves, I do like the idea of their horror over being made slaves.

We shall see. The problem is, the devide in technology is still there and growing, despite the victories in war against the Compact.

The Sheelikoi's refusal to consider any other alien empire, even that of the Fallen Empire, as being a predator like themselves may come back to bite them on their scaly behinds. Beware the precursors!

Yes, they need to rationalize through their dogma, we'll see...

 

[Silfae]

I'm curious the Sheelikoi exist on so few worlds compared to their slaves. Drew a really bad card with colonization, I guess?

Part of it is also roleplaying, the sheelikoi do not believe it's appropriate for them to be numerous compared to the preys, which is why they need new slaves to sustain a growing population.
On the other hand, it is also a combination of few tropical worlds in the area and refusal to research alternative colonization research until recently (which still, is not used for sheelikoi).