LegionPothIX

Dungeons and (Krayt) Dragons, Star Wars: The Price of Freedom

Edit: Conforming to request.

The Obivec Isles: Battle for Abbaden [Lore Rich, Lots to Explore]

I submitted an app through PM, like the OOC said. Was I also supposed to post it here in OOC?

Legion's List o' Character Sheets

The Galaxy Isn't Yours (Nation RP)
The Galaxy Isn't Yours Reboot (Nation RP)

The Perennials

Flag: Dark Perennials (Fungal) | Light Perennials (Floral)
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Entity/Organization Type: Alien

Societal Basics

Main race: Plant/Fungal Based parasites
The Perennials are far from a single species raised to dominance like that which are found on other worlds (humans for example). Instead, they are a conglomeration of species that have risen to sentience together through a long and brutal evolution. An evolution that creatures of meat were late to the party for. Perennials take many forms, and that which could be called the part that is the perennial is a spore-based parasite that infests a host. Once infected the entire being is reformed and a Perennial is 'born'. Spores that are ingested or breathed into a creature then take root and blossom; integrating into their physiology and dominating the subject's mind. While the drifting or nonintegrated spores themselves are no more sentient than a man's sperm, or a woman's ovum, a creature so made joins the collective of Perennials. Individually spore may share sensory data, such as temperature, humidity, and other environmental conditions experience through touch to the Great Web.

Throughout their evolution the surface flora and the subterranean fungi have been at war for untold generations. That all changed, however, with the arrival of the humans. Apex predators in their own right the humans made too tempting of a target for the surface flora to ignore in their ever continuing fight for dominance. However, the humans that colonized the Perennial's world quickly became aware of the Perennials abilities and brought fire to the world. In that act the fungal Perennials became the dominant species of the two.

History(what you did under the rule of the empire for roughly 300 years):
They evolved.
Being only a matter of time before the humans discovered the subterranean Perennials, they scattered into far flung space, by pollinating other worlds with their spores. In that time they they evolved resistances to humans, and their technologies, as well as adapted countermeasures to the humans' native immune system using the few lost explorers, miners, and other foolish meatlings to over extend into their territory that they could find.

From their first interaction onward the Perennials undertook purposeful evolution to overcome any and all weaknesses that the Humans could exploit (at the time of first contact) and perfected their evolutionary advantage to infest humans. Though, they were careful not to expose many healthy humans to the spore as to prevent their own exposure, and the humans from adapting a natural counter. Instead the Perennials focused on developing an exploit in the human genetics associated with deficiencies in the immune system (that not all humans possessed).

Culture:
Infesting the flesh and animating it is a difficult conversion process. A subject does not always survive, and in this way the parasites have generated an image of being both a plague, and their meatlings being a form of undead. As a result they are a very closed, secretive society, that keeps outsiders at the proverbial arms length, and have erected many societal barriers to give the allusion of normalcy. Prior to the arrival of the humans, the Perennials had little in the way of a culture of their own, and adopted that of those they infested. As a result they were tribal and primalistic as was the nature of the avian and animals they incorporated. When humans joined their collective, however, they brought with them all manner of culture, technology, and most importantly: ambitions.

To outsiders the Perennials appear to be a singular alien entity spread across many bodies and forms. For the most part this is true, however, that truth is dependent upon the level of incorporation into the collective. The Perennials tightly observe a genetic caste system, not unlike that of the insect kingdom, as insects were the first to consume the Perinnal's spores. Fully integrated meatlings are little more than drones, or warriors, whereas only partially integrated meatlings fulfill other roles.

Societal Specifics

Type of Government: Confederacy with Caste System, Partial Hivemind
Description of Government:
The government is a strict genetic caste system as one would see in any natural species. The Great Web rules over all, and instills this system into all whom become infected with a Perennial spore. Among the less integrated extremities of the web's reach there is a facade of Confederacy. Collonies operate under a web of their own which may become instantly integrated in the Great Web when their strength grows large enough to facilitate the connection. The Thralls also present a facade of normal human behavior, to the best of their ability, but only when being observed (or expected to be observed) by other humans. Each infection of a human is done so with a purpose, and that purpose rarely results an a radical shift from the human's everyday normal behavior. It has been known to have entire colonies infested just to practice presenting the facade of of being normal human beings, and increasing the Great Web's wealth of knowledge.

Minority races:
There are no minorities in the Perennial Society as all are one in the Great Web. Meatlings, however, make up a minimalistic amount of the species composition. while many different types of people (and animals) may fill the same caste, within that caste there is a fairly egalitarian view of other caste members.

Religion:
To become one with, or to return to, nature is a romanticized fiction of the very real Perennial dogma. Many human religions that possess this as a central tenant have found their way into the Perennial society as a form of meatling bait. While the Perennials themselves do not practice a religion, per se, they have invested considerable resources into integrating themselves into the religions of men to grow their numbers. And, while the dogma is a romanticized fiction it's reality is not far off. The Perennials are in effect living both the heavenly bliss, and hellish damnation of what has been a common galactic thread among other species.

Demography:
It is a matter of legacy that only the minority of Perennials infest a human body. The slave caste often incorporated animals for labor. Though human machines have greatly outpaced and out performed those animals, they are also obscenely conspicuous, and require technical understanding that is hard to come by for the Perennial infestors. While a minority of Perennials are humans, a meager 20%, they do fill the most various of roles which results in them seeming more populace than they actually are. Humans most typically fill the roles of thralls, collectors, and harvesters. Humans also provide a face for the species to interact with other humans, and non-aliens. Of all perennials the thrall caste has the most varied levels of connection with the Great Web. They're often afforded the ability to keep much of their personality as there are many human ideas the Great Web can only comprehend vicariously through its human parts.

Animals make up another twenty to forty percent of the Perennials' species and vary wildly depending on demand. Infesting an animal is a trivial task, however, their life spans are short and their utility is limited. Animals also typically are able to remain incognito, hidden in plain sight, and provide little resistance to reporting back to the Great Web.

Heroes, Primes, and Elites:

Leadership:

The Great Web

All that is infested is a single cell in the Great Web. Its rule is absolute and it is as much a congress of minds as it is a single mind into and of itself. It possesses no singular body and is the will of the Perennials as much as the Perennials are an extension of its will. The Great Web is everything and nothing and there is little else to say about it. It is revered as a god and dismissed as myth depending on how well a creature is incorporated into it.

The title of strategist and supreme leader is insufficient to describe what the Great Web is and does. However, it does fill these roles as all Perennials are part of it, and it is part of all Perennials.

Aria Summers - Grand Matron (Priestess)

A dedicated Thrall and grand matron, Aria is at the helm of much of the species' religious outreach. She has little autonomy, but one would never guess by looking at or interacting with her. She has lots of personality, and access to a complete understanding of the religions incorporated into the Perennials hive consciousness which gives her an air of wisdom not found elsewhere in Perennial (or possibly all of human) society.

Further, she has been genetically modified by the Great Web to produce pheromones that aid in the allure of her message in the same way that even venomous briers may produces flowers with an alluring scent. The scent is not one people consciously become aware of, and is not one that radiates any more than normal human pheromones, but they have been specifically designed to be more potent to those especially susceptible to the Perennial Spore transformation.

Aria plays as important a role to maintaining the perception others have of the Perennials as Gretchen does, and may be regarded as a diplomat of another kind: incognito, and appearing unaffiliated.

Expanded Motivations

Aria's importance to the Great Web is expanded upon as she was one of the first humans consumed by The Great Web that does not possess the genetic abnormalities that they have been explicitly targeting. More importantly she became a member by giving herself unto it. As such she brought with her some very 'hippie' philosophies of live, and let live. To peacefully coexists and be be one with nature. This has given the Great Web an understanding that it can coexist with humans but her willingness to become a part of nature has been a bit misleading for the Great Web as it does not accurately represent the motivations of all humans. Evangelicals proclaim that humans are temporary. Ethereal. And that (individually) their souls are more important than their meat.

To an evangelical humans are engines of war, and of peace, depending on what wrong needs righting if any.

Boar - Ground Assault (Prime)

An actual pig, and one of the oldest surviving members of the animal-warrior caste, Boar is a hearty and resilient leader that inspires the submission of other animals. Boar has since evolved the ability to speak and understand human tongue as required, but rarely does so, as his instinctual and tenacious nature has been only lightly tampered with. More importantly, Boar is the pinnacle of battle evolution possessing a hard skin, redundant vital organs, sinuous fiber sheathes around nerves, and mycelium enhanced muscles. His saliva possesses a powerful paralytic, and his quills a noxious poison. His tusks are hard and fragile, they regenerate quickly, and shatter in a foe leaving sharp shrapnel in anyone he gores.

Boar has seen a numerous amount of victories over the humans in the early days of colonization which has lead to the Great Web's investment into his development.

Research and Development:

Dr. Xaith Calhound - Technological Interface Specialist

A mathematician with a specialty in Complexity Theory, Xaith is the inventor of simulated intelligence, a special kind of AI with unique characteristics. Unlike true artificial intelligence a SI is a being of modular intelligence: that is in being modular it is highly reconfigurable. It has no qualms about being unpluged, reconfigured, or turned off. Additionally it is able to simulate the true identify of a manifested AI based on the informational networks it is provided.

Dr. Calhound is among the lightest integrated into the Great Web, with his connection being largely one way, and is unaware of its influence on him. Instead, the Great Web utilizes his models, theories, and mechanical creations to advance it's own self design and improvement. In relation to computer and interface design, as well as his mathematical field of study, Dr. Calhound is well known. However, his connection to the Great Web is undiscovered (even by himself).

Dr. Calhound is a double-agent of sorts and does not live in Perennial society. Rather, he serves more as an insecure access point to human society, technology, and research. The closest thing he has to contact with the Great Web is only through pawns manipulated by Alalia Wallice.

Expanded Motivations

Simulating human intelligence is not something the Great Web itself can do and that is the specialty of this Complexity Theorist. Dr. Calhound's experiments and creations require a hard, unemotional, and unbiased look at humanity for what it is and the Great Web could not ask for a better source of information. For as much as the other Human Primes do to interact with the societies of the humans, and their population, this human helps the Great Web postulate on what it means to be human.

While the good doctor is not a point of contact for the humans to interact with the Great Web, he is none the less an important link to the humans for the Great Web.

Wing - Biological Interface Specialist

Like Boar, wing is among the eldest of infestations and predates the time of humans. Unlike Boar, however, everything that was human from the early days was poured into Wing and it was ever frequently modified to become and appeal to humans as a representative (that is until Gretchen was incorporated) resulting an peculiar avian-humanish hybrid form. After an extremely long development and evolution path wing has picked up a sense of Perennial integration. Wing's mind is incredibly sophisticated but wing possess no formal training the way humans truly do. Instead it has had a patchwork miss-mashed assortment of memories poured in and scrubbed out. Wing is an intuitive and instinctual being that communicates with biological components on a subconscious level. Noting that, for many of the components of technology not yet integrated into the Great Web, the subconscious level is all that exists. Wing possess the ability to fly and sing, as it always has, as well as an appearance that most humans find unsettling.

Wing's primary purpose is to provide oversight regarding deep incorporation of new Perennials and Perennial Tech into the Great Web.

Myriam 'Mac' Makenzie - Salvage Specialist

Also known as "Mac&Cheese" Myriam and wheel-rat Brianna (Brie) are 'acquisition specialists'. Mac operates a salvage yard and serves as a fence for unscrupulous people whom have little concern with whom they deal. Her connection to the Great Web is tentative, and her genetic advancements are sleight, possessing a more parasitic bond than actual incorporation. This happy-go-lucky girl from the school of hard knocks has developed the ability to sustain herself on eating just about anything. She's also more resistant to infection than any of the other primes save for Boar himself, and her body quickly adapts to the conditions she finds herself in, as well as the toxins found in her work.

Mac is a mechanic of unquestionable reputation and her lose connection to the Perennials has granted her an unparalleled instinct when it comes to diagnosing and fixing mechanical things. Of all of the primes she is the least connected to the Great Web, but has been subconsciously seeded with an amenable disposition to their agents. While other primes are designed to be double agents, she is most closely represents the actual reality of the term, and the interests of the Great Web are represented through her to criminal organizations. Despite her not being the central nexus of a large criminal (mostly human) organization, she is the Great Web's access point to it.

Myriam's most defining characteristic by far is not one that the Great Web could impart, and that is the Luck of the Irish.

Diplomatic Corps:

Gretchen Gravage - Diplomat (Prime)

A kindly old lady from the first generation of infestation there has been little effort in hiding her evolution. It was also well documented that, in her initial turning, she died. Her reanimated form speaks a cautionary tale to those whom would engage with the Perennials. The focus of her evolutionary path has made her quite hard to dispose of in nearly all non-combat capacities. Much of her meat has been replaced with more hearty plant and fungal components, and her immune system itself has undertaken a complete overhaul. While she cannot sustain the vacuum and cold of space for long she enters into hibernation instead of dying out-right.

Personality wise, Gretchen is the least dominated by the Great Web, with only the command to represent it to the humans. As a result she has been granted unparalleled latitude in terms of anonymity and autonomy. An ex-colonist and designated baby factory, elevated to high station in the Perennial society she understandably possesses a very "well this is my life now, I guess," mentality and serves with dedication and distinction. She knows full well that any treachery will result in her loss of self and absolute reversal of fortune. Even with that threat over her she is a very loyal, and candid servant.

Gretchen possesses access to any human experience within the Great Web that she deems necessary for the conducting of her duties and her access to them, as well as her own, are heavily monitored but rarely interfered with. She is the face of the Perennials in every regard. While extremely difficult to kill outright, she is also extremely difficult to use outside of her role as ambassador, possessing none of the battle enhancements (such as strength and endurance) that any militant fighter would.

Expanded Motivations

A woman of humble beginning, Gretchen has become the fruit of the the other three human's experiences and philosophy. By herself she's an unassuming old woman, and nearly an empty shell. As a Prime she's been filled up with--and built up as--the Perennials' ideal human. While on a galactic scale she's little more than a sock puppet, she serves as a gauge for what the Great Web considers humans to be. When humans interact with her and find her disconcerting that is because there is a discrepancy between what they think they are, and what the Great Web thinks they are. Because the Uncanny Valley is a thing, there will always be discrepancies.

Alalia Wallice - Spymaster and Master Spy

As integrated as one can be, and still retain some semblance of personality, Alalia has an absolute understanding of what she is and whose agenda she is furthering. Alalia is an extremely successful marketing agent, and has free access to the many doctorates of psychology, and physical education, that the Great Web has incorporated. She has also been modified on the cellular level to possess both extreme beauty, as dictated by her understanding of physical beauty, as well as being extremely capable physically. In a word she is a modern day ninja, acrobat, and athlete all rolled into one buxom supermodel. Alalia boasts the pinnacle of human perfection in every aspect that the Great Web could endow her with without raising suspicions of her true Perennial nature.

It is very difficult for Alalia's genetic augmentations to be spotted, by comparison to Gretchen's, as Alalia's uses only base human genetic material for the evolved physical improvements. While the perfect human, by Perennial standards, she is far from the perfect Perennial and is antithetical to their design. Because of her design most Perennials do not recognize her as one of them, and only does so if the Great Web identifies her to them individually. Alalia spends most of her time among humans doing her super spy thing.

Whisker Wishes - Scout

Once an ordinary house-cat Whisker Wishes has been evolved only slightly to fully utilize its role as an infiltration arm of the Great Web. It possess all the training and ability to perform expected of that of a service animal, and a performance animal. Whisker Wishes can easily slip into any place that humans cannot go, that her physical form can accommodate, and easily blends into any place that animals are allowed or expected to be. Whisker Wishes has had her scent glands redesigned to produce Perennial Infestation Spores and can introduce them environments or people otherwise unreachable.

Whisker Wishes is very similar to a witches' familiar in that it can behave as one would expect of an animal, or as one would expect of a person pretending to be an animal, as needed by the Great Web. Unlike Alalia, Whisker Wishes is not designed to infiltrate societies for complex missions, and instead is designed for general reconnaissance.

Organizational Expansion

Description of Military(ships and ground troops)

Unlike most other species there is a focus on biological integration of ships, and an unabashed use of biological warfare. Perennials have encountered and infested numerous types of toxins in both flora and fauna over the course of their evolution and have a genetic memory (in the Great Web) of them. They approach the use of biological warfare in a very utilitarian way, in that: if it works use it.

Much of the Perennials' technology is also stolen, and the finer points on how it operates still escapes its understanding. Insufficiencies in this area are countered by biological adaptation. This has resulted in the development of bio-mimetic technology for the installation and infestation of the Great Web into ships of both organic, and non-organic design.

The specifics of their ships are as wide and varied as any other species if a bit dated in design. They, like any other part of the Great Web, each fill a specific role and function. While not performing that function they may be adapted to serve another as ship technology is difficult to recycle in any other way.

Additional Detail:

Technology

Biochemical Purification:
The foundation of all medicine and biological science is controlled breeding. While humans have developed other advanced methods of extracting and refining plants, animals, and other natural resources for the production of medicine their control over the art pales in comparison to that of the Perennials: a species that is the living embodiment of that scientific process. The Perennials medical technology is unrivaled, even if many of their processes may seem barbaric. Though few who understand the nature of the Perennials may feel comfortable being operated on directly by them, their supplements, supports, chemicals, acids, poisons and so on are all top tier.

Bio-Technological Substitution: Bark Armor, DNA Computers, etc.
Unique to plant and fungal species, especially species that infest others, this armoring is the pinnacle of grown form. It follows a central design of Regenerative Leaf-Plate styled forced evolution wherein living plant and fungal tissues were forced to evolve in a way that allows them to ingrain in non-organic technology and feed off of it. The hulls of many a ship have been painted green with the seed-paste and over time the armoring has fed on the minerals therein, weakening them but also growing in strength and flexibility. Given enough time non-organic components are replaced by organic ones, and have grown the ability to heal from damage and injuries.

Similarly circuitry is replaced by specially evolved strands of plant-matter that conduct like neurons, and are more resistant to tampering and damage their alloy-based counterparts. Where one may see copper and silica in a human's technological design, the same circuit in a Perennials' tech may have mycelium and algae slime.

Following the central theme of the Perennials, and their biological development and subjugation to the Great Web, the technology that has been fully integrated is extremely difficult (neigh impossible) to compromise. The Great Web's primary function is information warfare and security, and is biologically incompatible with most "standard" forms of interface-technology. For example: the average Apple user isn't going to be able to 'Independence Day' their way into a Great Web integrated computer.

Middle-ground Intolerance:
Technology outside of the biological domain, however, leaves much to be desired. Most forms of technology they possess are considered "last generation" by other species because acquiring, installing, and integrating with the technology is a process that take as much time as the natural advancement of technology. Both biological and technological development follow the same exponential curve, resulting in deviations between the Perennials' technology and that of the meatling species. Anything fully integrated in technological substitution may be considered to be on par with "this generation" level of tech but is generally completely incompatible with it.

Similarly, any piece of technology not being integrated in the Great Web that can be operated by thralls of it may find itself in the hands of Perennials; suffering the associated pros and cons of each. Such technology rarely stays unincorporated for long.

Additional Notes

Due to their emphasis on infestation and adaptation they do not conduct war in the normal manner. Rather than engage with a perceived enemy their preference is to simply consume them. Also, they do little to extend their reach to worlds they cannot control. As a result their boarders are incredibly small, but the thoroughness by which they are controlled is staggering.

In case it has not yet become abundantly clear the Perennials are a subversive and pervasive lot requiring non-linear thinking to play. Rarely do they engage in hostilities unless required, and are as amiable to trade and diplomacy, as they are to war and planetary consumption.

Perennials were inspired in part by the Zerg, the Borg, and many species from the D&D monster manuals.

This game has been canceled by the GM.
This game has been rebooted by the GM.

This galaxy isn't yours! (On hiatus)

@6slyboy6 That's a shame. It was fun.

@Liotrent Looks like we won't get the chance. Maybe I'll see you in another game.

This galaxy isn't yours! (On hiatus)

@Liotrent Thanks. I grew up listening to books on tape before I could even read, because I have weird parents, and my mom was really into both sci-fi and romance when I was a kid. It just kind of stuck.

This galaxy isn't yours! (On hiatus)

Atmospheric Music

“I and I” - Part 1

–a @LegionPothIX and @6slyboy6 collaboration.

A voluptuous and well toned form peaked out from behind the an expensive dress whose deep v-cut barely contained the bountifully buxom beauty that bore it. The station’s artificial lights played havoc on the eye as their rays danced through the holographic fabric and caused it to fade in the corner of the observer’s eye—always teasing but never revealing.
The Governor's Assistant sat across from Alalia Wallice nearly mesmerized. His eyes slowly wandered up the ivory path from spaghetti strap high heels to her knee, slightly overreaching to a bit of thigh that came exposed as she shifted her weight to cross her legs.
She sat perched on her chair, and patiently waited for the man’s attention to reach her emerald eyes, but said nothing when she caught him lingering a little south for a little too long.
The pair had been sitting in one of the local drinking establishments, and were both across a small table from one another that two beverages sat atop. A delicate china tea cup helped the attention along as it crossed her bosom and gently kissed her crimson lips. They pressed together gently as to coax out the liquid. “So,” the word broke the relative silence at their table, “I hear you’ve been questioning my crew about our recent employment.” The words traveled around her cup as if seeing beyond it was taboo. An enticing taboo.
It was a strange sensation, for the Governor's Assistant, being seated with a woman so far elevated above the rapscallions, brigands, rogues, and thieves that the station otherwise offered. Yet she counted herself among them despite her demure and that was the strangest part of all. Simply being near her demanded the very best of the Governor's Assistant to make a good first impression. “Y-Yes,” he managed to say.
As she lowered the glass it hesitated slightly over her chest, redrawing attention back but he would not be distracted again. She glanced down and a curl of her fiery red hair fell down across her cheek; only for it to be lifted again by her growing smile. It was rare to find a man who was all business, and she wouldn’t tease him again. Her china cup clicked quietly onto a saucer and she asked: “Is this business or pleasure?” Even as she over-emphasized the word she told herself that that was the last time she would tease him.
A long, slow, and diligent deep breath preceded the response. It was at this point that the Governor's Assistant realised that he was being messed with and that it was all in good fun. “Business.” The matter-of-fact statement was quick and to the point. “I am told it was your crew who recovered the derelict science vessel and…” the man took a moment to review his notes fearing that ‘piloted’ would be too strong a word. “dropped it onto the first planet– Tortuga I.”
Alalia nodded a simple conformation as the Governor’s Assistant set his notes down in his lap. In the passing moments of silence he realized he had yet to ask a question. “Why?” he simply blurted out.
“Don't know,” Alalia said with a shrug that freed a strap from her shoulder which gently slid down her arm. She gave herself a short but firm squeeze as she reached around to replace it. “Asking ‘Why’ wasn’t pertinent to completing the task I was hired to perform.” she added while coyly to her companion. “We in the oldest profession know better than to ask questions that aren’t relevant to the task at hand. It’s called discretion, darling.”
“You’re a–” the Governor's assistant began but couldn’t bring himself to finish the question that was starting to sound accusatory in his head.
“A mercenary? Yes. I sell my services—” Alalia began before catching the blushing embarrassment that glanced across the governor’s assistant's face “All of my services when appropriate—to only those whom can be trusted to respect the boundaries of a professional relationship, and I’m very good at what I do.” Alalia allowed her shoulders to relax a bit after establishing the ground rules and clarified her role in his investigation. “In short I was contracted to relocate a piece of hazardous debris by a wealthy patron who wishes to remain anonymous. My crew and I performed that task and were paid.”
The governor’s assistant was more brusk than he meant to be when he said “Your patron, I need to speak with them.” Perhaps he was starting to feel run around, or perhaps it was because his search revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Other than, of course, this lovely lady whom was so far out of his league that his investigation was the only reason she was being seen with him.
“If they wanted a meeting then I’m sure they would have found you by now.” Alalia said with a slight chuckle. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, the value of my personal time far exceeds your…” Alalia paused to look the man up and down before finishing with “discretionary spending allowance.”
With that Alalia flowed out of her chair into a seductive stance, and she reached into her bra to retrieve some currency to pay her tab. After placing it on the table she twisted like the wind and glided away. The Governor's Assistant watched as she place one heel before the other, and listened for the slight clack of heel to steel to be sure she wasn’t really flying, and then allowed his eyes to wander back up. Though it was a shame to see his only lead go, they both knew he was going to watch her walk away. After all: looking is free and she had more than sent the invitation.
As she rounded the corner out of the establishment his eyes lingered on the space where she was last seen before realizing he had been staring at a pair of bright yellow unblinking eyes that pierced the dark of the ill-illuminated halls. In the moments that his eyes adjusted to staring into the dark, from his dimly lit table, the form of a black cat started to take shape. It was sitting on a crate and the more they stared at each other the more he felt like it was staring through him. He turned to match its gaze, to see if perhaps there was someone behind him—but there wasn’t—and when he turned around once more the cat had vanished once again.
“That cat…”

***

Bright and brilliant were the golden eyes of Whisker Wishes. They pierced the dark, and even a man’s soul. They beckoned and the Governor’s Assistant followed through many dimly lit corridors cluttered with crates, and refuse, which collectively cultivated a sense of dark back-alleys and forgotten paths known only to this the station’s mouser.
They were kind of alleyways only found in a slum of some backwater xeno world riddled in desperation and poverty, and it had been a maddening twenty minutes that the Governor’s Assistant had lost himself in them. He had been completely fixated on catching that damn cat, and as a consequence he had strayed hopelessly far from his meeting place with Alalia Wallace, and the docking ring where his support lie.
Every time he would draw near it would dash off through a convenient hole, or around an obstruction that took him minutes to clear. Then once it was just out of sight it would reappear square in the middle of a door frame, where its presence would trigger an automatic door sensor. It seemed to be inviting him to pursue further all the while staring intently with its big yellow eyes.
This time, however, was different because when he closed the cat did not move. It sat statuesque in the door-frame and allowed the Governor’s Assistant to catch his breath and spend some of it reading the name on its collar.
“Whisker Wishes?” he said as he knelt hunched over with the metal tag between his fingers. “Just what are you? Why did you bring me here?”
The cat sat between him and an empty void that was a blackened room. The light from the hall was lower than elsewhere in the station and did nothing to illuminate the room. It was so dark in-fact that even in the door-frame the cat’s shadow intersected with, and was lost in, the black of that room. Little did he know, the vigilant cat was the only barrier between the human and that which lie in wait for him.
True to their lore, it was unlucky for the Governor's Assistant that the cat who crossed his path was black.

This galaxy isn't yours! (On hiatus)

Femme Fatale incoming. Also, @Liotrent, if you want your pirates and my pirates to get together and do pirate things let me know.

This galaxy isn't yours! (On hiatus)

@Liotrent I read Aven Croft as Avian Crow and thought to myself "Bird Bird is the Moon Moon of this universe" and now Aven will always be Bird Bird to me.

This galaxy isn't yours! (On hiatus)

@Liotrent Well, @6slyboy6 and I just started working on a colab but I'm going to be gone all day tomorrow (my family is driving from Washington to Missouri). It'll feel weird if the Perennial element of the story gets posted back to back. Perhaps in a few days there will be more posts before we're done.

This galaxy isn't yours! (On hiatus)

@6slyboy6 I no problem admitting when I'm wrong and taking the appropriate steps to fix it. I copied the old post into a google doc in case there was some prose I may want to reuse later. I got your guy in so if you want to colab what happens next we can easily do that.