Shemarrian-related fan creations

[taalismn]

[
Not sure if I saved out the Draxos BUT I know the Shredwing has been

Draxos can be found on Page 18 of this thread.
Golly! Was it that long ago?

[DhAkael]

Yes, yes it was.
P.S.; 47 pages now @ 9-point size arial-narrow font for Shemarr vehicles and warmounts (about maybe 70% of those posted on the threads).

[glitterboy2098]

all the cool stuff this thread has been producing keeps making me want to write a short piece about how the Ecotroz effect the Scandinavian Alliance... but my desire to avoid giving out actual spoilers keeps overriding it.

not sure if i should be grateful i have enough self-control, or remorseful that i do..

[Blindscout]

all the cool stuff this thread has been producing keeps making me want to write a short piece about how the Ecotroz effect the Scandinavian Alliance... but my desire to avoid giving out actual spoilers keeps overriding it.

not sure if i should be grateful i have enough self-control, or remorseful that i do..

Compromise and feel both.

[taalismn]

all the cool stuff this thread has been producing keeps making me want to write a short piece about how the Ecotroz effect the Scandinavian Alliance... but my desire to avoid giving out actual spoilers keeps overriding it.

not sure if i should be grateful i have enough self-control, or remorseful that i do..

Go for it. Call it a promotional peek. You can use any residual guilt as an excuse to drown your sorrows with ice cream.

[89er]

Now for some Hoyt Sparks fiction:

A Vatfather abroad, aka The most dangerous Brony alive.

The videos showed scenes of mechanical monsters tearing apart forces, charges brought up by other universes, and images of a certain man, all slightly different. None of the was new to the head of Outpost Hedoro, since he was the one responsible for all these acts, which ranged from for the hell of it to saving civilizations.

Since becoming in charge, Hoyt was forbidden from leaving the planet in his Vatfather body, so he developed proper mind digitization and resleeving in a matter of weeks, allowing for him to go on trips offworld and often in another universe. The videos ended as he looked to see the face of a partial cyborg, still pretty even with the crosshair eyeballs.

"Dr. Sparks, you actions are becoming exposed and people are starting to connect the dots." she said with a hint of venom, at seeing the resident mad scientist roll his eyes.

"I have told the board already, I have it under control. Yes I did hijack that Voltron, yes I killed all those demon-backed aliens that were trying to get a foothold on Equestria, and yes I am considered a war criminal in the ewok community!" Hoyt responded.

"You need to realize Dr. Sparks, that your research has proved invaluable in technology, simulated magic, and inter species relations, we are still small fish in an ocean of hungry things and getting the Patriot out will only make us look tasty." The woman responded.

Hoyt looked at her for a bit, glad that they had gotten to the heart of the argument. While development of the Patriot had been a work in progress for a long time, Hedoro had made strides, but with a few set backs. Something of that much modularity would need to be able to handle all those things, and keep new mods coming when they had the chance. His test run on Mummra's ship and Equestria with the Hundred Handed showed he was making progress. But they needed to wait until Northern Gun plays their hand, then the Minion War ends to unveil the next symbol of freedom and unity across the Megaverse. It helped to dream big.

"Thank you for the talk Major, we should do this again sometime" Hoyt said as the cyborg's hologram flickered away. He washed his hands from a nearby sink, as he exited out to his dissection lab. There strapped to a table was a feline humanoid of female sex, a prize from his venture into a Third Earth universe. She had saw what he did to her master, but all that anger became terror as his pets of all sizes and shapes watched her vulnerable form. Shemar wolf puppies, floating cyber brains, and experimental warmounts, each a design of functional horror all watched the prisoner. Hoyt walked up to the table, no emotion registering on his face but inside was a seething beast of blinding light and sharp things. Strangely, Hoyt had killed Pumyra over twenty times already, only to be reborn in a new body. She was not the first female on his list of obliteration and she would not be the last. He still needed to prepare for his date with Zecora, so as he force fed the cat slag ants, he made a mental check list of what to wear. A Vatfather's work is never done.

[taalismn]

Artemis: "Honestly, what is it that you people have against CATS?! Cats are harmless, unassuming, modest, noble, innately superior lifef-oh no, not the john again-*FLUSH*

[89er]

What do you fear moon cat, the realization your existence has contributed nothing to the welfare of creation, or that you could not save your owner into becoming what she is?

Be sure to bottle your tears, they mix well with smoothies.

--Dr. Sparks

[DhAkael]

The room stank of fear, voided bowls and blood. Across the walls were splashed dark rust coloured swathes which flaked as the raven haired tattooed warrior entered the warehouse.

Shi curled hur antennae and half spread hur wings at the sight and smell.
By the Lightbringer this was worse than anyone had thought. Shi thought to hurself.

Behind the Celestial, two more battle-sisters of the Hawkmoon took up flanking positions, leaving no part of the un-lit empty structure un-covered by their rail-lances.

“What could have done this? Daemon?” asked Oril-Swiftclaw.

“No.” replied the other warrior. “Look where Faith stands. See it? Borer-antites; drained of charge. Spoor of one of the Nightmare.”

Both warriors, though made of non-living material, could still feel their sythflesh crawl as they shuddered at the thought of what the cyber-gen insects the Nightmare used in their warfare could do.

The Celestial shook hur head slowly, hur thoughts sent over the radio-aether to hur two companions.
~=This wasn’t the work of our disturbed cousins; they may be sadists but they rarely kill for pleasure. Torment and break the minds and bodies of their targets, yes, but not… not innocents.=~

Faith Brightlance walked over to the heavily encrusted stainless steel table at the far end of the warehouse and looked down at the final victim. The female could not have been more than 20 Terran years old. Non-human from what could be surmised by the remains, but still human-like in form.
Faith’s tattoo’s glowed pale-blue as hur rage at the atrocity peaked. Killing an enemy, or even at least extracting information from one then granting a clean death; fair. This?
Not even the deluded Altaran’s deserved this.

Faith turned to the two Shemarrian warriors and used hur physical voice this time; the husky tenor echoing from bare concrete and steel.
“We cleanse this place then we speak with Nerys. This has gone on long enough, and this Hoyt is due a reckoning. “

[taalismn]

Ewwww........squeck.....

[DhAkael]

Ewwww........squeck.....

Hmmm?

[89er]

Nice work DhAkael, this could be the start of Hoyt's Swan Song. If we all pitch in to write some fiction, this has the potential to be memorable.

I have been itching for taalism to play this out.

Lines have been crossed as PS/GNE and Shemar focus their efforts on stopping Hoyt's rampage across the Megaverse.
What secrets will be revealed?
What alliances will be broken and made?
What are the Yesterday Protocols?

A neat plot point until Megaverse in Flames come out.

[taalismn]

Actually, what I'm thinking of at this moment is how taking any of the existing robot dogs(New West, Black Market) and using them as the basis of Shemarrian Wolf puppies(tentatively calling them -kintori-) could work, especially as an infiltration tool...and as the Black Market versions have hidden compartments...hey, soldiers(including CS soldiers) and travelers like to pick up pets, and here's this little fella wandering in the woods without a momma, and it gets adopted by the travelers who take 'em along. Just enough Ecotroz and bio-gel implants to give the illusion of life, and the critter's programmed to be needle-shy. A variant on the nanite repair system gives the illusion of eating and...well, doing what dogs do.
Of course, nobody suspects the big friendly wet-nosed all-paws-and-wagging-tail Odie-wannabe is really helping track these guys as they move around, nor is the team mascot suspected of scarfing down data-chips(lending a new meaning to 'the dog ate my homework'). And the 'puppy' is programmed to run away before anybody realizes that for a juvenile predator, 'puppy' isn't growing any bigger, even for a critter whose lifespan is unknown.

[DhAkael]

Next sunday; gonna be a bit of an escalation in the SCW; this time the Silvermoon getting into it.
Not intentionally either.
All the two Ecotroz "awakend" sisters wanted to do was show the Parriah they found damaged a way back to "Mother Shemarra's embrace" in the already compromized Healing Cave.
...
Enter the Skullcrushers on a mission from Maker & Shaper to deal with the PC's and finding a supposedly pure tribe consorting with outsiders and an -gasp- exiled?
Oh yeah...gonna be rumble times.

[taalismn]

Next sunday; gonna be a bit of an escalation in the SCW; this time the Silvermoon getting into it.
Not intentionally either.
All the two Ecotroz "awakend" sisters wanted to do was show the Parriah they found damaged a way back to "Mother Shemarra's embrace" in the already compromized Healing Cave.
...
Enter the Skullcrushers on a mission from Maker & Shaper to deal with the PC's and finding a supposedly pure tribe consorting with outsiders and an -gasp- exiled?
Oh yeah...gonna be rumble times.

Wooowwwww...SCW rumble indeed!

[taalismn]

EcoS-K-40 ‘Cyclopede’ Warmount
(aka ‘Hooverbeast’, ‘Suctron’, ‘Syphonar’)
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img289.jpg

“We make our stand here! They’ll have to take down these thick walls first to get at us in h-”
SSSSSHHHHRRROOOMMMM(“UUGGHHHHH!!!”)*THOORRRKKK!*
“MILNER!”
“...oh $#!+...they have a gopher vac...”
ZZZZHHHRRROOOOOOOMMMM*SCHLOOP!*
“EEEK!”
SSSSSHHHHRRROOOMMMM(“AAAIIIEEE!!!!”)*ZOORP!*
“You know, it’s almost worth it to see Susa stripped to her boots like that.”
“Yeah, but that leaves just the two of us...”
“See you on the other side, Doug, hope they don’t treat us too badly.”
“Same to you, Gart.”
VVVVUUUUURRRRRRROOOOM(“ACK!”)*PHOOORT!*
SSSSSHHHHRRROOOMMMM*PHUONT!*


The Cyclopede is a bizarre Warmount that many Shemarrian-watchers believe originated in the Nightmare Tribe. In fact, the design originated in the Horrorwoods, and has spread, in limited numbers, to the other Tribes, especially those involved in tunneling, construction, or salvage.
The Cyclopede enjoys an ambiguous status among the ranks of other Warmounts. The EcoS-K-40 was not originally developed as a Warmount, but as a utility drone like the Mooncalf. However, its ability to mount light weapons, and its deployment in an antipersonnel role by several of the Tribes has elevated it to the nominal status of Warmount. Rather than a warmount that was modified for utilitarian duty, as with the Monst-Rex Pack Mule, the Cyclopede is a utility robot that has been promoted to Warmount. However, most EShemarrians regard the EcoS-K-40 more as equipment than as a companion, and the Cyclopede is not commonly Awakened with an Ecotroz-fragment essence.
Essentially the EcoS-K-40 is a walking high powered pump, used primarily in construction and salvage work. It’s built tough to handle the extremes of the Rifts environment, and those off Earth, as well as any predators and other hostiles who might wish to interfere with Shemarrian efforts. The Shemarrians have just chosen to make it fully robotic and semiautonomous so it can do its job better. Then they added basic combat programming so it can defend itself.
The Cyclopede resembles the bastard offspring of a giant mosquito and a high-tech industrial vacuum cleaner, with a dose of octopus thrown in. A multi-segmented body is borne on six insectile legs, with a bug-eyed head, central thorax, and a large abdomen trailing behind. The foot pads on the legs are hooked and shaped so as to allow the Cyclopede to clamber over rough terrain, climb up and down mine shafts, and negotiate excavation sites to get into position.
The head sports a small thicket of tentacles and tendrils, but the most prominent appendage is a large long extendable tube-tentacle, made of tough and very flexible artificial myomer, sprouting from the nose of the Cyclopede. The tentacle is as flexible and agile as an elephant’s trunk, and serves much the same purpose. The end sports a fringe of flexible tendrils used to feel around, and grasp small objects. A ring of small simple robotic optics allows the Cyclopede to use its trunk to spy over walls, out of water, or into narrow spaces. The trunk is also hollow, and serves as a suction conduit, assisted by peristaltic action in the myomer sheath’s walls.
The main suction driver is a pair of jet engine-like turbines flanking the main abdomen. The ingenious design of the turbines allows them to draw both air and liquids with equal ease, and to reverse direction, if need be, allowing the system to pump in either direction. In standard suction mode, however, the turbines pull down the trunk conduit, and direct any material pulled in down a central channel in the abdomen, to be filtered, trapped, or pushed on through the body of the ‘mount. The system is extremely powerful, able to generate enough force to pull weapons and other gear out of a person’s hands at a distance, pull the clothing off a victim, and then pull them in bodily.
The rear end of the Cyclopede sports a ring of mechanisms and appendages that act as combination web-weaver, baler, and extruder. The Cyclopede incorporates a manufactory system based on the webbing system of the EcoS-K-23 Aracha, sprayers in the tail spitting a quick-setting polymer. Appendages weave and shape the emerging polymer into cargo nets for holding recovered materials, restraint cocoons for holding animals and prisoners, or extruding watertight hose for pumping liquid considerable distances. The Cyclopede produces its own polymer matrix, using modified nanites from its cyber-regeneration system and material feedstock taken in by its ‘true mouth’ in the underside of its head.
Once thought exclusive to the Lost Eclipse Tribe, it is now known to be used by the Wayfinders, Horrorwoods, DarkWaters, and Ghost Riders. As mentioned before, the Cyclopede is primarily used as an industrial unit, assisting in excavation, salvage, and scavenging work. It is also used in firefighting, its suction function reversed to spray water and firefighting chemicals. However, the Cyclopede was first deployed in a combat role by the Nightmares, who discovered the ‘mount’s powerful suction systems could be used quite effectively in urban combat and shipboarding actions to draw out entrenched combatants.
Because of its primarily industrial deployments, the majority of users do not Awaken the Cyclopede’s Artificial Intelligence. The Lost Eclipse and the Wayfinders are the notable exceptions. endowing their Warmounts with psionic sensitivity to help them sniff out hiding fugitives, concealed monsters and buried magic.

Type: EcoS-K-40 Cyclopede
Class: Robotic Warmount
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/pilot, and room for 1 passenger
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 260
Head 90
Trunk-Tentacle(1) 100
Head Tentacles(8) 15 each
Jet Pumps(2, sides) 45 each
Legs(6) 60 each
Height: 14 ft
Width: 8 ft
Length: 20 ft+15 ft long trunk.
Weight: 2 tons
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat for a few personal possessions and sidearms. A holding bin in the main body can hold up to 500 lbs of gear/salvage.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 30. The smaller facial tentacles each have a Robotic P.S. of 18.
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 50 MPH
(Leaping) 10 ft up/across. Increase to 15 ft up/across with a jet assist.
(Flying) When not providing suction, the suction pump exhausts can also serve in limited fashion as turbofans, providing enough power for brief hovering(up to 100 ft for 1d4x10 seconds) or even limited flight( 80 MPH, maximum altitude of 80 ft, for an hour before needing two hours to cool down).
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Limited to ‘swimming’ using the jet-syphon as a water jet at 8 MPH, or running along the bottom at 6 MPH, maximum depth 1,000 ft.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 30 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Cyclopedes have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 100 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Molecular Analyzer/Sniffer----The Cyclopede’s suction-draw system has a molecular analyzer to constantly sample intake material to look for useful data on trace metals, synthetic materials, and toxins. The system is sensitive enough to allow the Cyclopede to act as a bloodhound, tracking down specific scents(including those of living creatures).
The system can be specifically keyed to alert on explosives, allowing the Cyclopede to cut back its in-draw or even cut it off entirely before the ‘mount accidentally ingests live ordnance. This software patch was added after several would-be captives fed pursuing Cyclopedes live grenades, doing grievous damage to the roboids when the explosives detonated inside the airway. Subsequently, Cyclopedes are now ‘trained’ to be on the alert for this trick, and in at least one case after the upgrade was initiated, the Cyclopede was able to reverse-blow, tossing the live explosives back in the direction of the thrower.

*Trunk Sensor Head---The end of the trunk sports a sensor ring and fringe of tendrils that act as touch-sensors and motion-detectors, roughly equivalent to a cybernetic multimedia Sensor Hand implant, while the optics band carries basic and low-light optics. The trunk head is ideal for rooting round in murky water, dark rooms, and tight spaces for anything hiding within.

*Facial Tentacles---The head sports eight smaller tentacles, four on either side of the trunk, that each have 15 MDC and a Robotic P.S. of 18. They are about six feet long and are typically used for assisting the Cyclopede in feeding itself, but they also be used to probing about like facial whiskers in mud and polluted water, and for prying open doors and containers.

Weapons Systems:
1) Suction Trunk---- The trunk is extremely flexible, and is roughly 2 ft wide(but also has some stretch, so it can accommodate objects as large as 3 ft wide), but can narrow down to as small as 8 inches wide. The suction pumps can move 9,000 gallons of fluid a minute, has a suction lift (the vertical distance above the liquid that the pump can be) of 25 ft, and a discharge head(the vertical distance a column of liquid can be pumped) of 200 ft.
The suction trunk is powerful and large enough to suck in human-sized beings(a very terrifying experience, especially to those who don’t know what’s going on) and either hold them in an abdominal bin or, more likely, spit them out the other end into a net or cocoon spun by the polymer-spinners.
Range: (Melee) Trunk is 15 ft long
(Suction) 30 ft
(Repulsion) 300 ft
Damage:(Melee)Can swat for 1d4 MD
(Suction) Pulls with an arbitrary P.S. of 40. Acts similar to a Wind Burst, only in reverse. Within 30 ft range, characters must make a roll of 18-20 or lose balance and begin being pulled in. Similarly, loose items held in hands will be pulled off and even loose clothing can be sucked off a person.
(Repulsion) Acts similar to a Wind Burst, at ranges of 200 ft or less,
humanoid-sized beings(7 ft or smaller) will have an 88% chance of being knocked over and pushed 1d6x10 ft by the air blast, as well as a 65% chance of being stunned or knocked out.
Creatures and bots weighing over a ton, or standing 8-20 ft, will only have a 40% chance of being knocked over, and only a 15% chance of being stunned.
Creatures and 'bots taller than 21 ft, will be unaffected.
If liquid is being pumped, add +10% to the chance of being knocked over, due to the greater imparted force of the fluid.

If pumping sand or other small debris, the repulsion attack can sandblast for 1d6 SDC to 1 MD depending on the material being thrown.
If pumping water, the trunk can deliver a 3d6x10 HP blast to vampires.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) (Optional) Modular Weapons(2)---The Cyclopede has provision for torso-mounting two weapons similar to those standard to the Monstrex.

3) Webbing Dispenser----The rear of the Cyclopede has a hay/tree bailer-like ring apparatus with a spray system that sprays a quick-setting megadamage polymer that can form incredibly tough fibers. The fibers can also be spun into cocoon-wrappings, allowing the Cyclopede to construct cargo nets, restraint bags, and water hoses.
The webbing matrix itself is generated by a nanite-impregnated microfac in the war steed’s bulbous abdomen that renders megadamage materials, particularly plastics and composites, into a fine slurry that cures rapidly when sprayed and formed into strands or sheets.
Range: 5 ft
Damage: None. A single 1-inch strand of the synthetic spider-web can hold up to 3 tons and has 1 MDC per 10 ft length; more if braided.
Used to cocoon-spray a target, the cannon can spray up to 50 MDC in one attack, so if the Cyclopede uses all six of its attacks on wrapping a single target, it can create a web shell with 300 MDC, generate a 3,000 ft line in a single melee, or create 200 ft of six-inch hose in one melee.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Conditionally Unlimited; the Cyclopede’s ready-reserve has 1,000 MDC worth of polymer matrix ready to go, but can generate more through consuming MDC materials(at a ratio of 2 consumed MDC to 1 MDC of produced webbing) that are reprocessed into new webbing compound.


Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Typically has the following:
Land Navigation 40%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Prowl 55%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Climbing 85%
Swimming 60%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Wilderness Survival 94
Detect Ambush 60%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Detect Concealment 60 (+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Mining and Excavation 70%
Trap/Mine Detection 40%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Cyclopede intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +1 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +2)
Dodge +4
Strike +1 (+2 w/ ranged weaponry)
Parry +6
Disarm +3
Entangle +2
Roll +2
Pull Punch +4
Bite 1d6 MD
Trunk Slap 1d4 MD
Tentacle Punch/Pry 1d4 MD
Body Block/Ram 1d6 MD
Kick 2d4 MD


Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Cyclopede an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. The Cyclopede normally has an uncomplaining, docile, phlegmatic attitude likened to that of a camel, and can work long hours doing nothing but chugging away, pumping water(or whatever) while standing in the same place. When urged into combat, they are equally uncomplaining and fearless, methodically going about their work with resolution, if not very much imagination.

Has the following Natural Psionic Abilities(no ISP Cost), all equivalent to 5th level with regards to range and proficiency.
*Presence Sense
*Sixth Sense/Danger Sense
*Sense Magic

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience, and NEW BUILT EShemar constructs are immune to this)

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).

Variants:
The main variants of the Cyclopede are those that have been Awakened with an Ecotroz essence-fragment and those that have not.

[DhAkael]

That is... I...
Okay, I'm gonna need a moment here
...
...
Okay that has got to be the darndest warmount concept I've ever seen. Clever and inventive, but bat-squit crazy concept.

[taalismn]

That is... I...
Okay, I'm gonna need a moment here
...
...
Okay that has got to be the darndest warmount concept I've ever seen. Clever and inventive, but bat-squit crazy concept.

Happiness.....

[89er]

More Hoyt Fiction: The Mad and the Method.

The situation was finally under control. Full of holes, bite marks and frozen in a few places but contained. Matt looked at his former friend and fellow Nightmare with disgust. Hald a Dozen Vatfathers, manned there positions, while their drones covered all the exits. Each had a strange firearm of their own making, some hummed, other gave a faint glow, but all were deadly.

"Hoyt, we have all your files, what you have done. You can explain it all, just put your hand son the ground slowly."

A bitter laugh escaped the first Vatfayher's lips. "After all I have done for Paladin, the Shemar, you, Hedoro, Her..., you see fit to turn me into nothing." Hoyt barked back just as he coughed up some fluid. His body was tattred, most of his body vats had been burnt out beyond repair.

"Damnnation, you were uplifting as many civilizations as you were destroying, butchering people on that twisted list of yours, and for what? So you would be the savior after the Minion War?" Matt said coolly, remembering how Hoyt had helped with his mother a lifetime ago. His blank helmet showed nothing as he made sure the other teams were ready in case Hoyt pulled something, which he would.

The building that was built at the bottom of a lake of ionized, carbonated hell-cola housed a few Hekatonheires that had failed to pass inital testing, all sedated. Hoyt was planning on using them to distract everyone while he was going to find out where they had moved the Hekatonheires Assembly-Wombs.
"I am well beyond the company and the tribes. I have seen what everyone else looks away from. Universes that seemed fictional hundreds of years ago exist, vulnerable to a distant Megaverse. I cultivated the innocent to join the GNE, and culled the toxic ones who were rejected by every face of death after I laid my hands upon them. But they need a symbol to rally around, and the Hekatonheires, my legacy will be that symbol." Hoyt said as he lowered himself to his knees.

Matt took no chances as his team fired everything at Hoyt, blasting him to slag. After the damage was done, Matt removed the backups Hoyt had made of himself as the other teams filed inside.

Neyrs was among them, her fight and torture was only being in a VR, cuddling with baby warmounts. Even in his madness, Hoyt could never harm his family of both company and tribes. Now was for his trial, and what to do with all the good and evil he had left in his wake.

[taalismn]

Owwwwwwww..........So much going on so many levels...Posthumans and Megaversal manipulation and cyberpunk next-level....

[taalismn]

Because I was feeling inane...

A peek back at a Shemarrian xover running gag...


Haruka Tend’ou was bored.
True, the casts had finally come off; even with magical regeneration, broken bones and bruised skin had taken time to mend, and the itching! Haruka was simply glad she could now SCRATCH!
Haruka groaned at the memories; why did she have to get the SADISTIC one for a life-double? ‘Haruka Spinebreaker’ had been appropriately named for her bone-cracking ideas of what consituted a ‘proper physical regimen’. Maybe she hadn’t beat Haruka direct, but the giant woman who’d claimed to be the Haruka of her universe had taken particular glee in using Sailor Scout Haruka as a battering ram against her apparent arch-nemesis. Said red-haired arch-nemesis had treated the feud as an exercise in sports ballistics, going so far in one case as to bat a thrown Haruka with the flat of a giant rune sword into a long high return trajectory out of the training compound. Haruka was pretty sure she’d broken the sound barrier that time.
Being dragged back in by Shemarrian Wolves had NOT been fun...especially with broken shins.
Haruka would never be able to hear somebody yelling ‘fetch!’ to their dogs again without cringing.
Casts off, supersonic skin rash finally healed, and she had nothing to do. She was awaiting new sponsorship and a new race team to pick her up after her absence, and youma seemed to be conspiciously avoiding Japan after the ‘Narita Firestorm’ had wiped out an entire demon army. After that one night blast of fiery violence, Japan and Juuban in particular had settled back into routine. Sort of.
Hotaru was supposedly at school, but truth be told she could be anywhere these days. On more than one occasion she’d shown a proclivity for forging excuse notes, had apparently used a disposable holoprojector to fake attendance on other occasions, and had otherwise shown incredible imagination in playing hooky, so she could go off to sneak into local JSDF and American military bases, or prank the house ninja of the bigger families and corporations. At least she wasn’t ‘borrowing’ national art treasures from the Royal Palace or animals from the National Zoo for the day(ah, the joys of applying CPR to Michiru shortly after they returned home to see what was waiting in their living room!).
Michiru was off pursuing rumors of some magic shop somewhere, or some sort of high tech goods store that specialized in ‘elegant’ security systems and black market weaponry...it all sounded very James Bond. Probably illegal as hell, possibly with an extradimensional angle. Michiru was getting very good of late at sniffing such places out. And then going shopping.
That left her alone in the house with Setsuna, Sailor Pluto. Or Sailor Comatose, Sailor Long Afterglow, Sailor Slug-a-bed, Sailor Snoozer, or Sailor Soporific. In any case, said Sailor was currently laid out snoozing, dressed quite fetchingly in a silk robe, in the sun beaming in their bay window.
Truth be told, Haruka wasn’t sure Pluto had EVER come completely awake from their ‘ordeal’, but she HAD to be at some point...unless she was teleporting in her sleep, there was no other explanation for how she moved, unseen, from couch to window lounger to hammock. And there had to be some mechanism for how food set out for her disappeared. Or how she changed from robe to pajamas to nightgown to towel. It just SEEMED like she spent all her time asleep.
All in all, yes, Setsuna was reminding Haruka of a cat.
A very sexy, bronze-tanned, sleek cat.
At that moment, looking at the older Sailor Scout sprawled across the couch, one long well-tanned leg and one equally bare and tan arm hanging down the side, chest rising and falling mesmerizingly slowly under thin fabric in the sunlight, Haruka decided she LIKED cats.
And seeing that thin fabric was giving Haruka ideas on how to relieve her boredom.
Truth be, she’d always wondered what Setsuna looked like..ah, UNobstructed.
Hmmmm....it really wasn’t cheating if all she was doing was looking...Besides, she’d caught Michiru ogling others enough times...and a little harmless sin did add spice to a relationship, right?
And it was a great prank too....and a lesson, if it came down to explanations. About hogging all the comfortable places. About lowering one’s guard. Yeah, that sounded reasonable.
So it was with a near-giggling grin on her lips that she leaned over her blissfully snozing comrade, hands reaching to deftly flip fabric aside...
Only to leap back with a barely choked-off scream as the reptilian head slid out from Setsuna’s cleavage and regarded her with cold ruby eyes.
Haruka was backed against the wall of the room, hands making frantic warding gestures as the long metallic dark blue snake-shape rose up and turned inquiringly in her direction, forked tongue flickering out between scaly lips. The head bobbed in her direction, folds of skin along its sides expanding-
And that was the signal for Haruka to turn and run, vowing to herself NEVER to assume any such liberties again.

[DhAkael]

Lesson learned?
Never ever ever think a Sapphire-Cobra is "easy".
...Or at least not easy in regards to you.

[taalismn]

Lesson learned?
Never ever ever think a Sapphire-Cobra is "easy".
...Or at least not easy in regards to you.

Also: Know Where Your Kids Are.
They may be borrowing Siberian Tigers from the local zoo without your permission.

[89er]

What could happen to Hoyt now that he is captured? He is more valuable when occupied with solving problems than dead, and he did make headway for dozens of civilizations to be uplifted to join the Alliance. Would Interdee take custody of him, have him work on their problems or just toss him into a collapsing timeline? His mind digitization was inspired by pre-Rifts transhuman fiction, only referring to Interdee's digital immortality program for safety concerns and to ensure they were compatible. Currently, I have him pictured in some remote dimensional prison, stuck in a biomechanical body of a baby creature, easily helpless and dependent on the mercy of various parties for survival.

[taalismn]

What could happen to Hoyt now that he is captured? He is more valuable when occupied with solving problems than dead, and he did make headway for dozens of civilizations to be uplifted to join the Alliance. Would Interdee take custody of him, have him work on their problems or just toss him into a collapsing timeline? His mind digitization was inspired by pre-Rifts transhuman fiction, only referring to Interdee's digital immortality program for safety concerns and to ensure they were compatible. Currently, I have him pictured in some remote dimensional prison, stuck in a biomechanical body of a baby creature, easily helpless and dependent on the mercy of various parties for survival.

Watching 'My Little Pony' reruns? No, wait, we already HAVE Brightmares.

I'll have to send you some of the WIP pictures of the Hekkies as I'm able...I'm quite proud of them...

[89er]

What is this? Nay sir, Brightmares are just inspired by the fiction. Hoyt has been to their lands, seen their simple lives, and has uplifted them as well.

+Who was Shining Armor's best man at his wedding? Hoyt
+Who beat Discord with a TW shillelagh so badly, he had to be retrained? Hoyt
+Who gained the heart of the Changling Queen? Hoyt
+Who showed everypony that they were not alone in creation? Hoyt

If you can militarize magical girls, you most certainly can do the same with ponies. I will have to see if I can write some fiction with diplomats helping Celestia and Luna understand the basics of the alliance or the mane six strolling around a GNE city.

On a side note, take your time to send the pics.

[taalismn]

On a side note, take your time to send the pics.

That, and I'll try my hand at 'cute' again...I really want to add something to my developing entry at Shemarrian Wolf puppies.

[glitterboy2098]

What is this? Nay sir, Brightmares are just inspired by the fiction. Hoyt has been to their lands, seen their simple lives, and has uplifted them as well.

+Who was Shining Armor's best man at his wedding? Hoyt
+Who beat Discord with a TW shillelagh so badly, he had to be retrained? Hoyt
+Who gained the heart of the Changling Queen? Hoyt
+Who showed everypony that they were not alone in creation? Hoyt

If you can militarize magical girls, you most certainly can do the same with ponies. I will have to see if I can write some fiction with diplomats helping Celestia and Luna understand the basics of the alliance or the mane six strolling around a GNE city.

On a side note, take your time to send the pics.

this DeviantArt-ist is already halfway there.. her ponytech mecha are inspired by battletech more than anything, but are very PaladinSteel-ish.

[taalismn]

[this DeviantArt-ist is already halfway there.. her ponytech mecha are inspired by battletech more than anything, but are very PaladinSteel-ish.

Bricks officially $#@+ upon viewing images. Bronies ahev gone tactical nuclear.

[DhAkael]

[this DeviantArt-ist is already halfway there.. her ponytech mecha are inspired by battletech more than anything, but are very PaladinSteel-ish.

Bricks officially $#@+ upon viewing images. Bronies ahev gone tactical nuclear.

Ah yes...her.
Not bad material if i do say so myself but... "love and tolerate"?
I guess that mantra went out the window by season 3

[taalismn]

I prefer Kennedy's 'Trust, but verify'.
And Roosevelt's 'Speak softly, but carry a big stick."

Hence...recon units and artillery.

[DhAkael]

I prefer Kennedy's 'Trust, but verify'.
And Roosevelt's 'Speak softly, but carry a big stick."

Hence...recon units and artillery.

God Empress Celestia aint' no pony's foal

[taalismn]

I prefer Kennedy's 'Trust, but verify'.
And Roosevelt's 'Speak softly, but carry a big stick."

Hence...recon units and artillery.

God Empress Celestia aint' no pony's foal

Good god...now you have me thinking of hordes of ponies in Adeptus Astartes power armor....

Latest storm news...they're evacuating(mandatory) coastal regions, with predictions of 5 ft+ storm surge..>Further south(New York City and Washington D.C.) it's predicted to be more...Big snow predicted for parts of western Virginia....
Kinda makes my concerns about missing a few details about public notary hours moot...

[glitterboy2098]

I prefer Kennedy's 'Trust, but verify'.
And Roosevelt's 'Speak softly, but carry a big stick."

Hence...recon units and artillery.

God Empress Celestia aint' no pony's foal

Good god...now you have me thinking of hordes of ponies in Adeptus Astartes power armor....

PONYHAMMER 40K!

[taalismn]

[
PONYHAMMER 40K!

I am numbed beyond surprise and horror....

[taalismn]

Since 89er's mentioned Shemarrian Wolf Puppies....

EShemar ‘Kintori’ Shemarrian Wolf-Pup
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img301.jpg

“Hey, has anybody seen Wag?”
“No, and I don’t care to! That damn mutt’s been chewing on everything around here!”
“Gee, I hope he didn’t run off...”
“I frankly hope he did! You SEE the damage he did to the paint job on my SAMAS?! And he urinates all over the place!”
“Come on, he doesn’t know any better! He’s just a puppy!”
“He’s a growing menace to society! A bottomless hole on legs into which is shoveled food! A drain on our supplies and a barking messing pest! The day you brought that ball of mange into the camp...”
“Hey! I couldn’t just leave him out there! All alone, at the mercy of whatever predator came along...Poor little guy...I bet he’s all alone and afraid...”
“Serves the little bastard right! After the job he did rampaging in my van trunk, I was meaning to fix him myself, and I don’t just mean sniping his little whizzer!”

#Unit Three-Zero-Nine-Alpha reporting. Have completed close-in survey of intruder party. Fifteen individuals, all baseline human. Four vehicles, 3 power armors. Armor and armament as follows. Generous supplies(available surplus to feed Unit Three-Zero-Nine-Alpha). Have obtained samples of armor material from primary SAMAS unit, spare components of others. Have marked party for continued tracking/surveillance. Return to pack? Yes/No?#

Undersized-versions of the Shemarrian Wolf, Shemarrian Wolf Pup drones, or -Kintori-, were devised for several reasons:
1) To further the illusion of the (E)Shemarrians and their animal companions being flesh and blood.
2) Baby/Juvenile animals are less likely to be regarded with suspicion by outsiders, making them more effective potential infiltrator units
3) NeShemar like pets, and aren’t always safe with a pony-sized carnivore-bot, even a friendly one, wanting to sleep on their beds at night.
4) The (E)Shemarrians themselves are not immune to the appeal of fuzzy, cute, critters.
The Kintori are based on existing robot dogs, but particularly examples of the Smugglers’ Robot Dog(see Rifts Black Market, pg. 170), but specially modified and outfitted, and proportioned to look like an appropriately-sized puppy. An advanced nanite repair and materials processing system gives the appearance of a living creature that eats, excretes, and heals. PPE gel-packs and, in some cases the infusion of an Ecotroz energy-essence fragment give the impression of a living creature to fey senses. An integral psionic-scrambler system (hopefully) gives the illusion that the critter is somehow naturally resistant to psionic probes(as little is actually known about Shemarrian Wolves outside the Shemarrians themselves, this is considered a good gamble). However, a thorough medical exam and even blood sampling will quickly reveal that the ‘puppy’ is anything but, so the Kintori are programmed to squirm, protest, and run away from such attempts.
Outside Shemarrian camps, Kintori are deployed as decoys to advance the illusion of the Shemarrian ‘ecology’, with mixed packs of Kantaran and Kintori allowed to be seen by outsiders.
As spies, Kintori are used to infiltrate bands of adventurers and travelers in Shemarrian territory, as they tend not to regard the ‘juvenile’ animal as a threat, and may even take in the ‘orphan’ as a pet/mascot. Meanwhile, the cyberanimal is spying on them and sniffing around, and may suck down unattended small items like data chips, documents, electronic components, and the like for later delivery to the Shemarrians. Such missions are not without risk; the chances of a well-intentioned naturalist or veterinarian insisting on doing a thorough check of the ‘alien’ critter risks exposure. Also, a long term attachment increases the chance that the spied-upon party may notice that ‘junior’ isn’t increasing in size and maturity. Thus, infiltration missions are typically short-term, with some opportunity being contrived for the ‘puppy’ to eventually run away or otherwise escape.
Type: EcoS-AA-11 Kintori
Class: Robotic Animal
Crew: None; robot intelligence
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 50
Head 30
Legs(4) 20 each
Height: About the size of a largish dog; 3 ft
Width: 1-1.6 ft
Length: 3-4 ft
Weight: 25 lbs
Cargo: Small space inside large enough to hold about 3-6 lbs of small items.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 12
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 25 MPH
(Leaping) 6 ft up/12 ft across
(Climbing) Can climb with a proficiency of 75%(but often acts clumsy so as to appear helpless)
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Can dogpaddle at about 1 MPH, and can stay afloat for about 3d6 minutes. Otherwise, it can crawl along the bottom at 1 MPH, maximum depth 500 ft.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Molecular Analyzer System---A ‘dumbed down’ version of the full-scale ‘bloodhound’ systems on the ‘adult’ Shemarrian Wolves. It’s smaller and slightly less effective, but still gives the Puppy excellent smell sense abilties, especially for distinguishing between individuals and for searching out hidden materials.

*PPE Sensor---This is identical to the SNARLSystem deployed as a gunsight by the Rifts Earth Japanese military. Slightly more sensitive with a PPE trigger threshold of 40 PPE. Effective range of 200 ft, with 50% margin of error beyond that out to 500 ft.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Kintori have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 40 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*PPE Gel Packs(from Rifter #53, Damon Sutton)---These provide a miniscule PPE signature(about 1d4 PPE).

*Bio-Imitation System---The Shemarrian Wolf Pup eats and excretes just like a living animal, though only chemical analysis(or a really good sense of smell) will be able to tell that the end product hasn’t really been digested.

*(Optional)Chemical Marker System---The Kintori can use its ‘excreta’ as a chemical marker, just like real flesh-and-blood animals mark territory with their scat, allowing other Shemarrian animals to follow them. The critter can also lay ‘minefields’, allowing the Shemarrians to scent-track creatures that have passed through the area.


Weapons Systems:
None, but can claw and bite

Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic dog AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Typically has the following:
Basic Math 98%
Radio: Basic 98%
Prowl 72%
Tracking 65%
Land Navigation 86%
Language: Can understand 22 different languages
Climbing 75%
Begging 78%
Find Contraband 50%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Detect Concealment 60%
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Kintori intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)

The Kintori has the following Natural Psionic Abilities(no ISP Cost), all equivalent to 6th level with regards to range and proficiency.
*Sixth Sense
*Sense Magic
*Sense Evil
*Empathy(great for seeking out people most likely to take a shine to them)

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +3
Strike +3
Parry +1
Roll +3
Bite 1d6 MD
Claw/Scratch 1d4 SDC



Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Kintori an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Kintori are programmed to act puppy-like; curious, playful, and dumb, getting into trouble, chewing on things they’re not supposed to, and generally blundering around like happy, dumb, dogs.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience, and NEW BUILT EShemar constructs are immune to this)

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).

[DhAkael]

Campaign update in passing; The player characters in The saga continues, have been given definitive proof that ARCHIE OZ the III has the Skullcrusher tribe (at the very least) completely enthralled. As for the rest of the Shemarrians, it is now known they are either in mortal dread of the giant cyber-brain, indebted & indentured to or in outright rebellion (re; heresy) against "HE".
Further puzzle peice; one of the telemechanic using PC's discovered a large amount of blacksteel inside the brain-puppet, while the singular Skullcrusher present there only had trace ammounts within her power-cell casing (and of course, no "living" soul-spark).
This led to the theory that the S.C. tribeswomen was only freshly enslaved by 'The maker'.

The plot thickens...

[DhAkael]

EShemar ‘Kintori’ Shemarrian Wolf-Pup
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img301.jpg

Dwaaahhhhhh... lookit the wittle kiddie & her puppy...whoza kootest things, hey?

[taalismn]

EShemar ‘Kintori’ Shemarrian Wolf-Pup
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img301.jpg

Dwaaahhhhhh... lookit the wittle kiddie & her puppy...whoza kootest things, hey?

It doesn't show, but the kid's packing a vibroknife...
Shemarrian 'kids'(and some of them actually 'grow up') start training in the family business 'young'.

But yeah, I figure when not wearing armor, buckskins and other 'rustic' clothing are the order of the day for offduty Shemarrians.

[89er]

14th Solar rotation,

My actions would have killed any one else on the spot, yet I have been banished to a space station in the deep end of a dead galaxy. The true horror is the boredom, nothing to keep me interested and busy, nothing to create or destroy, only observation. The rest of the crew see me as some nutjob xenobiologist to study the dead microbes of the sector, and it might not help that I steal all the spare parts to make my new drones. I no longer have a body befitting of my creativity, instead I have been downloaded into a basic dull human, and dumped here. Perhaps this is a time out while they sort out my mess and out of the minion war. But they will have need of me, they always needed me, right? They just cannot forget me, I'm Hoyt Sparks, the Shemar and Paladin Steel's lovable mad scientist.
Just don't forget me girls, all the people I have helped, I'll be good just let me out, please?

[taalismn]

14th Solar rotation,

My actions would have killed any one else on the spot, yet I have been banished to a space station in the deep end of a dead galaxy. The true horror is the boredom, nothing to keep me interested and busy, nothing to create or destroy, only observation. The rest of the crew see me as some nutjob xenobiologist to study the dead microbes of the sector, and it might not help that I steal all the spare parts to make my new drones. I no longer have a body befitting of my creativity, instead I have been downloaded into a basic dull human, and dumped here. Perhaps this is a time out while they sort out my mess and out of the minion war. But they will have need of me, they always needed me, right? They just cannot forget me, I'm Hoyt Sparks, the Shemar and Paladin Steel's lovable mad scientist.
Just don't forget me girls, all the people I have helped, I'll be good just let me out, please?

Could be worse...could have been assigned to mosquito census at the South Pole....of Pluto....

[taalismn]

More Ways to Insure You're Going to Get Killed By a Shemarrian:

-Tabletop football using a Shemarrian's antennae as goalposts.

-Refering to them as 'Archie's Angels'.

-Asking a Silvermoon if you can see her full moons.

-Asking a Hawkmoon if she's got feathers down there...

-Those ain't adjustment knobs...

-Calling Male Shemarrians 'Mister Moms'.

-Patting a Shemarrian on the backside while yelling "Tag! You're it!"

-Asking a Shemarrian to act as the TV antennae while you catch the playoffs.

-Calling a Shemarrian's rail gun 'an awful lot of big gun for a little lady'.

-That ain't a USB port...

[DhAkael]

More Ways to Insure You're Going to Get Killed By a Shemarrian:

Tee hee

[taalismn]

Add to the List:

-Moon ANY Shemarrian Tribe from (what you think is) a mile away.

-Give back gifts from Male Shemarrians, explaining you're holding out for a fur coat.

-Address loyalist Shemarrians with a loud and enthusiastic "Hagan, you old fatso! How's it hanging?" or "Hail the Toaster God! A-A-A, how's it going in digital dreamland?"

-Complain loudly and at length to a Shemarrian about how shoddy Titanworks products are, and how they must have been put together by a retarded ten year old who failed clay ashtray class.

-That IS a USB port.

[taalismn]

“FOUL XENOS!!! ABOMINATIONS IN THE EYES OF THE HIGHEST!!! CARRIERS OF HERESY!!! YOU AND ALL YOUR CORRUPT CREATIONS WILL BE SMASHED BY THE FIST OF THE EMPEROR!!!”
The Wolf’s Path War Chieftain coldly regarded the white-haired and wild-eyed female captive spread-eagled in the center of the interrogation lab. Despite being heavily shackled and robotically collared, the woman seemed determined to try to pull loose, or, failing that, to melt armor glass and battle cobham through the sheer heat of her verbal vitriol that she had been spitting for the better part of an hour now, with no apparent sign of stopping. If not for the bioscan readouts that showed her to be perfectly human, the observers would have thought she should have yelled herself hoarse long since.
“I FEAR YOU NOT, SPAWN OF ABADDON! THOUGH YOU TAKE MY RELICS FROM ME I AM STILL ARMORED!!! FOR MY SOUL IS PROTECTED BY THE AEGIS OF THE KING OF HOLY TERRA. YOUR WORKS ARE BUT VAPOROUS LIES BEFORE HIS BURNING GAZE!!!”
“She’s as bad as a Skullcrusher.”
”Worse. Skullcrushers aren’t religious fanatics. This one is.”
The War Chieftain turned to look at the smaller NeShemar in the observation room and noted the bulk of bandages under the organic Tribesman’s clothing.
“You speak from experience.”
A hand absently rubbed at what had to be still tingling wounds under the medicated coverings. ”Before she and her companions were captured, this one ,” a nod to the angrily flexing prisoner, “declared my community to be a ‘den of contaminated mutants’ and tried to set me on FIRE.”
”YOUR PESTILENCE SHALL BE BURNED AWAY BY HIS PROMETHEUM RAGE!!!”
“The others are nearly as bad. At least those that aren’t still unconscious. I like them better, the unconscius ones. They aren’t as loud.”
“HERETICS AND WITCHES! HERETICS AND WITCHES! AFFRONTS TO THE SACRED EMPIRE OF MAN!”
“No sign of any sort of possession?”
“No. We even did invasive examination, looking for stealthed implants or cloaked parasites.”
“YOUR HUMILIATIONS OF ME WILL BE REPAID A THOUSAND TIMES OVER AT THE HANDS OF HIS CLEANSING LEGIONS!!!”
The sterile-gowned Acolites working around the laboratory monitoring instruments and preparing various equipment had long since learned to tune out the ranting prisoner.
“We think she just got off on it. Nothing found. The conclusion: she’s just insane. And somebody knowingly gave her and others like her a uniform and weapons.”
”BY HOLY TERRA AND THE BLESSED ARMS OF MARS, YOU SHALL BE BROUGHT DOWN!!!”
“I’ve already stepped up Rider patrols in your area. We’ll find her ship...or whatever Rift she came through. I’ve already ordered additional Pack elements to protect your village in the event there are any more of this woman’s associates out there.”
“My thanks, Alpha Prime Ferox.”
“FOUL WARP DAEMONS WHO ASSUME THE SHAPE OF MAN! KNOW YE THAT YOUR DAYS ARE NU-”
The War Chieftain made a slicing motion across her throat. A watching Acolite nodded, and the prisoner’s raging was cut short as a heavy metal gag clamped around her mouth. Then even her pin-pupiled glare was thwarted as a sensory deprivation helmet closed around her head. The interrogation room grew blessed quiet after that, save for the squeak of the shackles as the prisoner continued to muscle-pump and pull at her restraints.
“I wonder how she’d sing if we brought in a Domimatrix or a Sapphire Cobra priestess to question her...”
“Like I said, Alpha Prime, when the mechmeds endoprobed her, she seemed to get off on the discomfort. If you set her on fire, she’d probably take it as martyrdom. Whoever these people are, they’re certifiably insane.”
“All the more reason to break this one and cure her insanity, and see if there are any more like her we should be worried about.”

[Slight001]

40k... oh how I miss those days... but they are no more for me...

[taalismn]

40k... oh how I miss those days... but they are no more for me...

There used to, very optimistically, be a WH40K store in my area, tucked away in a corner of a large shopping mall...I don't think they lasted a season despite the flock of gamers that seemed to hover around the front. That was back in the heady days when there were no less than THREE gaming stores in a 10 mile range of my house.

[DhAkael]

Y'know; I remember a time when the Sisters of battle used to actually be...I dunno, they were still zealots, but at least they were calm and methodically zealous.
Then 3rd. ed. came in and they no longer were independant, they became part of the Exclisiarchy.
-sigh- *raises pint glass* "To the Sororitas; victims of the retcon."

[taalismn]

Special thanks to Glitterboy2098(Mark Temple) for his Ender’s Cluster playground and its inhabitants. Just wanted to pit the EShemarrians against the Chor’ii and this seemed like a fair scenario.
For more details on his Ender’s Cluster, see: https://sites.google.com/site/thetemplegrounds/Home/phase-world-annex/enders-cluster

For details on the Chor’ii, see: https://sites.google.com/site/thetemplegrounds/Home/phase-world-annex/enders-cluster/the-chor-ii-totality

Evales (aka ‘MeatGrinder’)(Horrorwoods Enclave World)

“Vermin. Those creatures are vermin! They pollute the skies, they pollute the land, they pollute the waters. They take and they eat and contribute nothing to the natural order of things. That they use tools and fly in starships makes no difference; they are vermin, plain and simple. The Green Mother rejects them. They are an infection on this world, and the Green will burn them out, blast them from the skies, throw them into the sun, where at last they will contribute something in the form of a bit of fuel to light the eternal night! If we must turn every plant and every animal to the purpose of exterminating these Chor’ii vermin, it will be done. If nothing short of a direct hit and burning can stop these regenerating bacteria, I shall aim the cannon and apply the torch myself, it shall be done! If I must decapitate and bisect every one of them myself, it shall be done! In the end, the Green must triumph, and it will be this world that feasts on the piled corpses of the vermin! This shall be done!”
----Col Taros Marga Thessaly GreenFury, Horrorwoods Tribe, Evales Enclave.

“If I must eat the war-killed corpses of my own get we shall have this world and all on it! Nothing shall deny our destiny, nothing shall deny us food, and nothing shall stop our advance! This world’s meat belongs to us the living and not to the not-living that opposes us! If they shall not fill our stomachs, they shall feed our industry! If they shall not nourish our bodies, they shall be the bones of our machines!”
----FamineMaster Chree’tol, Chor’ii War/Acquisition-of-Fresh-Food Director, Keng’rii’ol’szen(Relliac Dotzan First Armada)

Evales is a remote outpost world of the Shemarrian Star Nation on the edge of the globular cluster known as Ender’s Cluster, an ‘island galaxy’ of the Thundercloud, and is a holding of the Horrorwoods Tribe. Like most of the Horrorwoods’ preferred enclaves, Evales is a temperate, richly biologically-active world with a fecund ecosystem. Evales was already slated to become a refuge world, and a large contingent of eco-engineers had arrived onsite to establish the Horrorwoods’ signature ‘eco-mechology’ of cybernetic plants and animals integrated into the local ecology.
Unfortunately, not long after the Horrorwoods engineers had set to work, they learned that Evales was smack in the path of a massive Chor’ii fleet.
The Shemarrians had not had any prior contact with the rapacious Chor’ii(the majority of the Shemarrian Star Nation’s holdings were much farther away in the Thundercloud Galaxy), but they learned enough from scattered contacts with other peoples in the sector of what they were like. Evales’ rich ecology would be a veritable smorgasbord for the hungry Chor’ii, who would eat the planet bare in their quest for forage, before using the planet to step off to other inhabited worlds. The Horrorwoods were not about to surrender Evales to such galactic locusts, but the Tribe was never particularly strong in terms of their space forces, and Evalas had not yet received a full orbital defense net.
The onsite EShemarians used their available transport starships to evacuate their organic NeShemar back to the distant SSN and to drum up reinforcements. Their few warships were set to work setting minefields, or harrying the approaching Chor’ii armada. Meanwhile, the development teams were hard at work weaponizing as many different types of local life as they could, ‘seeding’ the planet’s ecology with disguised War Mounts and boobytraps to kill unwary invaders.
While diminutive and fairly technologically primitive compared to the Shemarrians, the Chor’ii have the advantage of numbers...sheer bloody numbers. Despite the best efforts of the small Shemarrian spacefleet, they couldn’t prevent the Chor’ii from landing on Evales. Waves of Chor’ii war machines and infantry simply overwhelmed the defenses of the few obvious settlements on Evales, charging into the fields of fire of the defenses, and climbing over the mountains of their own dead, before choking the Shemarrian guns with their corpses. The EShemarrians abandoned their surface settlements, but not before destroying them and countless Chor’ii, but that still left the Chor’ii in possession of the field. The Chor’ii have simply settled down, cleared the space for their transports to land, and eaten their own dead, before setting out to claim the rest of the planet.
Currently the Horrorwoods is running a guerilla war campaign against the invaders. The EShemar have abandoned their surface settlements for concealed subterranean redoubts where they manufacture fresh weapons of war. On the surface, they perform hit and run raids on Chor’ii camps, and try to lure the invaders into kill-zones seeded with disguised warmachines and mines. Random packs of disguised ‘feral’ War Mounts and critterbots maraud along the edges of Chor’ii encampments, or allow themselves to be hunted by Chor’ii foraging parties before turning on them. Meanwhile, the Chor’ii have settled in and work to fortify their holdings, strip-mining the land to produce new weapons(though their factories immediately attract counter-strikes), all the while sending large expeditions, supported by what few vehicles and spacecraft they can spare, to find food and hunt down the enemy.
While the EShemar and their creations are easily equal to many hundreds of their foes, there are so MANY Chor’ii to kill, and in enough volume, even the primitive Chor’ii weapons can take down armored Shemarrian constructs. Though the Shemarrian space flotilla has managed to kill most of the Chor’ii armada’s nuclear weapons carriers, the Chor’ii still have a number of tactical nuclear weapons which they have been using on the surface on suspected Shemarrian force concentrations. Furthermore, though flimsy compared to the armored gynoids and their War Mounts, nothing short of a direct, full-body trauma strike will kill a Chor’ii, the short-statured cannibals quickly regenerating from near-strikes and concussive blasts. This has led to a protracted struggle with the ultimate outcome very much in doubt.
The Horrorwoods could simply nuke the infestation off Evales, but the ‘Green Tribe’ is constrained in what measures they can take, as they don’t want to destroy the very thing they have set themselves to protect. Thus, the hidden industrial enclaves of EShemar are forced to wage a guerilla war using a boobytrapped ecosystem against the Chor’ii. Daily, disguised War Mounts and ‘feral’ cyberbeasts take a hideous toll of Chor’ii in the field, but the damn Chor'ii KEEP COMING. Word has spread back to the Chor’ii High Command of the riches of Evales, and they are determined to take the planet for their larder, regardless of the cost. The resistance put up by the unseen sentiences of Evales means to the Chor’ii that the planet MUST be vital, and thus worth conquering. This translates into several waves of Chor’ii inbound to reinforce the foothold, giving the planet’s hidden defenders little in the way of breathing room between successive waves of slaughter.
For their part, the Chor’ii have come to name Evales ‘the Planet that Eats’ in reference to how the local ecology seems to devour Chor’ii armies. Among the EShemar, Evales has become known as ‘Meatgrinder’ for the strategy used against the seemingly endless hordes of invaders.

The Horrorwoods on Evales are hard-pressed, and they fear that if their fortified subterranean enclaves are ever discovered, they will be the targets of the strategic nuclear weapons the Chor’ii command is known to be hoarding for just such an eventuality. The Horrorwoods have already made the painful decision that they will fight to the bitter last, destroying themselves and as many of the enemy as they can. They have also made the heartbreaking decision that if it comes to it, they will deny the Chor’ii the use of Evales. Several ‘doomsday scenarios’ have been formulated by the EShemar, including unleashing hordes of nuclear- and radiologically-armed Warmounts into the ranks of the Chor’ii, and also setting off ‘earthquake bombs’ along Evales’ fault lines, setting off continent-wide disruptions and intensified planet-wide volcanic activity. Provision has also been made to transmit as much knowledge as has been learned about the Chor’ii so that future encounters between the two species will go in the favor of the Shemarrians.
This is if reinforcements do not arrive in timely fashion. A fleet from one(let alone several) of the more space combat-oriented Tribes could EASILY wipe out any Chor’ii armada sent at Evales, and buy time for the damaged planet to be fortified with the sort of orbital and systemwide defenses that could turn away SPLUGORTH fleets. However, reinforcements have been slow in coming from the Thundercloud in part due to the Shemarrian Star Nation not having ready access to the faster Tannhouser Gates that would greatly expedite the arrival of a relief force, forcing the Shemarrians to come by other slower means. But the Shemarrians will NOT abandon the Evales enclave, and a force WILL arrive, and if they cannot save Evales, they will avenge it.
In any case, Evales will be written off as a refuge world. Even if the planet is saved, if will be regarded as too vulnerable to continued Chor’ii assault as long as the cannibals exist. In any event, Relliac Dotzan 312 will become a war base for any future SSN actions against the Chor’ii Totality.

Solar System(Relliac Dotzan 312)
Number of Stars: 2
Types of Stars:(Relliac A) Yellow Dwarf
(Relliac b) Red Dwarf
Number of Planets: 5
-RDotzan A Terrestrial(Evales)---Life world
-RDotzan B Gas Giant(Khalide) ( Enormous: 480,000 km diameter) Blue-Green and brooding, cold Khalides with its retinue of ten moons has become the forward staging area of the small Horrorwoods starfleet conducting hit and run operations against the Chor’ii armadas infesting the Relliac Dotzan system. A small mining and refining operation on one of the moons has been hastily retooled to produce missiles and mines, as well as fuel and spare parts for the Shemarrian spacecraft, and several other smaller sites have been converted as well. For their part, the Chor’ii have begin to twig to the fact that their current enemies may be using the gas giant as a base and the invaders have sent several flotillas of their own to investigate. None have returned, destroyed by superior Shemarrian technology and cunning.
-RDotzan C Gas Giant(Average: 88,000 km diameter)---RDotzan C and its eight moons saw little development aside from scientific and mineralogy surveys prior to the Chor’ii invasion. Now, it’s being looked at as a fallback position for the fleet, with a small automated mining/fuel-collecting facility being upgraded in the field to produce in volume for the Shemarrian flotilla’s needs.
-RDotzan D Terrestrial/Rocky(Average: 10,000 km diameter)---A cold lifeless world of little interest, except now the Horrorwoods flotilla commander has ordered a survey done of the possibility of using the planet’s resources in the war effort.
-RDotzan E Terrestrial/Rocky(Enormous: 100,000 km diameter)---This enormous rocky world has high gravity but only a thin, unbreathable, methane atmosphere. It’s also cold as hell, and uninhabitable to anybody other than machines. As with the other planets, RDotzan E is being reevaluated as a possible resource world for the Shemarrian defense of the system.

Planet
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 11,000 km
Gravity: Low; Mars equivalent.
Temperature: Temperate on the warm side.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Rings---Evales has a thin ring system from a possible small moon(or moons) that broke up several million years ago. The rings help reflect some heat from the two suns, but of more recent concern, the rings have interfered with the Chor’ii establishing an unbreakable orbital blockade. The rings have also been extensively mined with explosives by the Shemarrians, and the passive defense network still takes a toll of Chor’ii orbital assets. In retaliation, the Chor’ii have been using some of the larger fragments in the ring as kinetic bombardment weapons against suspected EShemar encampments on the planet below.

Atmosphere: Dense, but breathable. Frequent violent thunderstorms are common.

Terrain: Dominated by three terranes; large wet basins and wetlands, large highland plateaus, and rocky mountain ridges.

Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Colombite
- Chromium
- Antimony
- Mercury
- Barite
- Calcite
- Platinum
- Nickel

Hydrosphere: Balanced; roughly 40% of Evales is covered by open water. The atmosphere is extremely moist and humidity-saturated.

Biosphere: Verdant, with multiple ecological niches and advanced lifeforms, including large herbivores and carnivores.
Infiltrated into this richness is a second ‘mechology’ of disguised and networked replica plants and animals manufactured by the Shemarrians as both industrial assets(solar and wind power collectors) and military resources(sensor nets and guerilla warfare units).
Immediately around the Chor’ii beachheads, however, the ecology has been rapidly stripped down and devoured, or else has been blasted away by warfare.

Civilization:
-Evales is currently a warzone hotly contested between the resident Shemarrian eco-engineers and the rapacious Chor’ii invasion and occupation force.

Population:
-75,000 Shemarrians of the Horrorwoods Tribe, mostly (75%) Tinkers, Acolites, and Males involved in preparing the planet for NeShemar colonization.

-25 million Chor’ii invaders.

Technology:
The Shemarrians have a substantial edge in technology, but not the numbers to exploit that edge against the seething hordes of Chor’ii invaders.

Economy:
Currently Evales only imports(against the Shemarrians’ will) Chor’ii population surplus. If Chor’ii pelts had any value(and they didn’t eat their dead fur, bones, and all), the Shemarrians could be stockpiling a most bountiful fur supply.

Wealth:
Evales could be a rich agricultural world, but the full resources of the colony are now turned to fighting the invaders. As the war wears on, and more damage is done to the environment, the prospects for a rapid recovery are dimming fast.
Government: Militocracy---Both sides are operating under military command.

Law Level:
Warzone; effectively lawless outside the Shemarrian redoubts and Chor’ii command posts. Given the tendency of Chor’ii to EAT law offenders and their own wounded, the most civilization can be found with the Shemarrians.

Popularity:
The Shemarrians and the Chor’ii HATE each other. The Horrorwoods hate the Chor’ii for despoiling a beautiful planet, and the Chor’ii hate the Shemarrians for not being edible and also for being poisonous to boot. The Chor’ii also abhor the Shemarrians for teasing them; so many succulent-looking animals that turn out to be utterly inedible, either because they kill Chor’ii by the shipload, or because when killed their carcasses insta-decay into indigestible melted plastic and metal rust.

Stability:
Currently the situation is stalemated; the Shemarrians are slaughtering the Chor’ii by the thousands every day, but the Chor’ii keep coming. The Shemarrian factory-redoubts remain hidden, but the Chor’ii are doing recon the old fashioned way by flooding the landscape with millions of infantrymen. Short of deploying weapons of mass destruction that would quickly render large swathes of Evales desolate wasteland, or receiving massive reinforcement, the Shemarrians cannot quickly or permanently dislodge the Chor’ii from the planet. The Shemarrians also have to be careful to boobytrap every single piece of their hardware and all of their personnel, lest the Chor’ii capture any Shemarrian technology and reverse-engineer it.

Primary Energy Source:
The Shemarrians have been using geothermal taps and well-shielded fusion generators in their redoubts.
The Chor’ii are burning lumber, coal, and other materials supplemented by nuclear fission power piles brought with their landing craft.

Primary Source of Transportation:
The Shemarrians use their tunneling gear and War Mounts for travel on-planet.
The Chor’ii use their landing craft for point-to-point travel, and ground and hover vehicles, but mostly slog around on foot.

Security/Fighting Force:
Every one of the 75,000 Shemarrians on-planet now can be considered combatants, plus an estimated 350,000 cybernetic warbeasts in operation. The Horrorwoods also have a small force of spacecraft(two Kumo-rodosha Medium Cruisers(fleet tender conversions), five Unipelta Light Cruiser/Transports, eight Goshawk Corvettes, and three Rhinochon Medium Multipurpose Transports), but all are running low on projectile munitions and are stretched thin hunting down Chor’ii starships in the system and destroying them).

Outside Threats:
Currently, the 25 million+ Chor’ii invaders, plus an estimated additional 50 million in the next wave, about a year’s time away. Hints of yet ANOTHER wave of similar size behind THAT have also been detected.

[glitterboy2098]

i always love it when someone take one of my ideas and has fun with it.

at some point i'm going to revisit Ender's cluster, getting the ground weapons of the Chor'ii finished up, the Sherdena warships, ground gear, society, and Phenosculpting, and the half dozen other races and societies i've got notes and images for but haven't written up in any form.

of course, my notes on the Phase World techmanual get more and more coherant over time too (it helps that our understanding of quantum physics is opening up lots of stuff i'd relegated to handwavium before)

sadly, my brain generates ideas faster than my life provides time to actually write up properly.


edit:
it's also worth pointing out that the 2nd wave of 50 million soldier-colonists is only about 120 fully loaded Den Mother Transports. half that if its loaded with 'civilians' instead of 'soldiers'. and the real problem isn't the transports, it's the 8400 Striking claw landers, which carry the actual Chor'ii invasion.
i wish the Shemarrians luck, they are going to have one heck of a fight on their hands..