MissingAxis

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Roosan Yeah, go ahead and PM the WIP to the GMs.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

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@ClocktowerEchos

The Church of Ouroboros was founded at least ten thousand years ago, according to the records they diligently maintain. Ten thousand years of war, and the Lords of the Ouroboros have made little to show for it. Cyclically, they have destroyed themselves and their worlds, barely surviving each self-produced cataclysm. As the earth is blasted, more and more of it burns and turns to glass. As they run out of vaguely safe living space, they move on, finding new worlds to wage their wars from. Over ten thousand years, the Lords have burned and blasted the planets of perhaps a dozen star systems, leaving their burning surfaces to smolder in their wake. Each generation of Lords, with few individual exceptions, has taken the Church for granted. They use it to build casus bellis, justifying their destruction and borrowing blueprints that they can use to ensure the wars can continue after near total annihilation.

The Church, however, exists for a totally different reason. It exists to observe, to remember, and to save. It is God's will that the people of the Ouroboros survive each cataclysm, though they could easily have been left to die after the first. Without fail, the Lords of the Ouroboros have been genetically flawed, wired for jealousy and violence, spiteful to the core. God's creatures are flawed, for there is no part of them that is even vaguely part of It.

The Lords serve their purpose, however, as the archives show. Over the last ten thousand years, there have been threats to the Ouroboros that only the Lords could remove. Xenos, wretched and filled with more Godless hate than the Lords themselves, have been recorded in the Church's archives. Each time, the Lords band together just long enough to push the xenos back, only to return to their quarrels and destroy themselves. But it is only through the violence committed by the Lords that the Ouroboros has survived the genocide of the xenos.

The Mon'hali were one such xeno threat, driven by a malice and hatred that had never been seen before or since. The Church incited the first strike, urging the Lords to go on the offensive before the Mon'hali could. Though the initial assault was effective, it was hard won and was only to be the beginning of a long war. No Ophisian alive today can remember the Mon'hali. However, though the records of the war hold little detail, the archives of the Church have not forgotten the Mon'hali or their tongue. So when a chapter of the Church is sent to explore a region of space that the Ouroboros has left behind, and they encounter xenos bearing the traces of that wicked tongue, the cathedral itself is struck by fear.

---

Met-Um was kneeling, heads raised in prayer and reverence. Somewhere ahead of her in the darkness, ЯЅДЩ lurked. It knew what she came to know, but Met-Um hadn't yet asked the right question. So it waited patiently, satisfied to feed off the phylactery until Met-Um left in frustration or discovered what she was looking for.

"I beg your cooperation, ЯЅДЩ. Have you knowledge of these xenos?"

It remained silent. Nutrients and amphetamines steadily pumped into its form, its first feast in nearly a decade.

Met-Um tried again. "The archivists are working to translate the message of the xenos. They have found similarities to another tongue, but the matches are tenuous."

It could not be coaxed. She still had not asked the right question.

"Are they Mon'hali?"

Silence.

"Should we make haste back to Ouroboros space?"

"No." The answer came among a cacophony of gurgling and shrieking. Perhaps a hundred worms had replied, though at least a thousand more were unintelligible. Met-Um was struck silent.

"Learn the fate of God's enemy. God will guide you from that point."

Met-Um uttered a prayer and left ЯЅДЩ's chamber. Some minutes after she left, the phylactery's power was lowered. Soon, it would leave its low-power state. Or never again.

---

Met-Um drifted into the command deck of the /𝑹𝑨𝑫𝑰𝑨𝑵𝑻 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑴 𝑨𝑪𝑪𝑼𝑺𝑬𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑾𝑰𝑪𝑲𝑬𝑫/. Her crew was waiting for a command.

"Hail them. The archivists will tell you how."

The message was sent not long after, a computerized vocalization of the Mon'hali tongue.

:: WHO COMES FORTH AND SPEAKS IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE DEAD? BE YOU REVENANTS, COME TO AVENGE YOUR DEATH? OR BE YOU REFUGEES, LEFT BEHIND BY THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED ON? ::

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[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Willy Vereb The more the merrier.

@ClocktowerEchos Sorry for the wait on my post. A lot of unexpected things came up at once, so I've only just now gotten a chance to sit down and work on it. It should be coming up here in a couple hours.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@ClocktowerEchos All right, I'll get a post up for you in a few hours, when I get home from work.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@ClocktowerEchos It'd probably be better if you start. I gotta take off for a few hours here in a little bit.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@ClocktowerEchos I was thinking either the Ivrah are looking for some remnants of the civilizations the Mon'hali fought, or the Ouroboros are exploring in the direction the Mon'hali came from/fled to, following some recently unearthed archive. I'm open to ideas, though.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@ClocktowerEchos Do you want to start the scene?

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@ClocktowerEchos Hey, would you like to get a First Contact scenario going between the Ouroboros and the Third Aztrovan Lineage? I think we can probably use it as a chance to expand on the previous interactions because the Ophisians and the Mon'hali, too.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

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@Dragonruby

Amenmesh walked alongside the Terrans, leading them into the Basilica. His upright stance was nearly twice the height of theirs, and he weighed many times what they did, even combined. As they entered the pressurized environment of the Basilica, the difference was all the more noticeable. The corridors were massive compared to the Terrans, and large even for the Ophisian Lord. The trio's steps echoed up the corridor, the staccato notes of the Terrans' strides punctuated regularly by the heavy bass of Amenmesh's steps.

Around the corner, they could hear a large door open and then close. Another minute, and Amenmesh was opening the very same door. In the pathway beyond, he saw the Heretic Lord Menlir walking up to his seat, having arrived only moments before Amenmesh and the Terrans. After ushering the xenos inside and pointing out their seating, Amenmesh made his way to his own seat on Ua-Menlir's right.

The Terrans' seating was in a raised platform at the side of the chamber, just high enough to see over the Ophisian giants to the apse at the far end of the room. As the ceremony began, they could see eight Ophisian priests stepping out onto the apse from two doors on either end. Seven of them stood in front of the seven Lords, while the eighth stood behind the center one. They began to recite a hymn, and though much of the vocabulary was beyond the xenos' grasp, they could make out some of it. It was a prayer thanking God for killing itself. If they were looking closely, the Terrans would notice that only two Lords raised their heads in prayer along with the priests.

After the hymn was finished, the process of Lugal Gu'Enak immediately began. Amenmesh had explained the concept to the Terrans as they prepared to leave the embassy, but he had kept it vague. All they knew was that each Lord would nominate another to lead and represent the Congregation. Then, the two Lords with the most nominations would have to prove to the other five that they were the right choice of the two. Beyond that, Amenmesh had been silent.

The vote began on the leftmost seat from the perspective of the priests. Lord Amenmesh, then, would cast his vote first.

"In the eyes of God, I call for Brother Zisuthra to lead us."

The Heretic was next.

"In the eyes of my brothers, I call for Brother Amenmesh to lead us."

Amenmesh was shocked, turning some heads toward the Heretic, who wore an expression that could best be described as taunting. It had only taken the Heretic a moment to figure out Amenmesh's plans and shoot it full of holes. The Pious took a moment to come back to his senses, and brushed it off, turning forward again. If the other Lords behaved as expected -- in some cases, as promised -- there would be no issues.

Zisuthra, as expected, nominated himself. Nosi and Ugar cast their votes for Lord Ugar. Ikishun wasted his vote on himself. And finally, Megalu was to vote.

"In the eyes of God and my brothers," Megalu spoke slowly, "I call for Brother Amenmesh to lead us."

Megalu had fallen back on his promise to Amenmesh. His vote was to be for Zisuthra, guaranteeing at the least a tie against Ugar, who would no doubt have withdrawn his name in the face of trial-by-combat. Now, the vote stood at a three way tie between Ugar, Zisuthra, and Amenmesh.

The priests picked up on the tie without skipping a beat. Beginning with the priest in front of Amenmesh, who was to represent his interests in religious ceremonies and processes, they began to vote.

"In the eyes of God and the interests of Lord Amenmesh, I call for Lord Zisuthra to lead the Congregation." There was a chance to salvage the vote yet. Ikishun's religious representative couldn't, in good conscience, vote for him. It was one matter for a Lord to throw away his vote, and another for a fragment of God to do the same.

Ua-Menlir's priest, Al-Abil, cast her vote for Amenmesh. Zisuthra's priest cast for Zisuthra. Nosi's representative voted for Ugar. The election was back on track. If Amenmesh and Ugar tied for runner-up and Zisuthra won the vote because of the priests, it would come to trial-by-combat and Zisuthra would pick his opponent. They had already planned for this possibility, and Amenmesh had been promised Zisuthra would fight Ugar.

Al-Ninduk began to speak, representing Ugar's interests in the eyes of God. She voted for Amenmesh. Once again, Amenmesh was struck dumb, and glanced over to Ugar, who was clearly angry. Al-Ninduk had gone against Ugar's plans.

Ikishun's priest voted Zisuthra. Megalu's advisor called for Amenmesh. A tie. Amenmesh would engage in mortal combat with Zisuthra the next day.

---

Following the closing rites, the Lords were dismissed from the Basilica main hall. Amenmesh stood hurriedly and beckoned to the Terrans as he exited the room and made his way down the corridors.

"Do you understand what has happened here today?"

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[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

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@Dragonruby

Ua-Menlir sat in his quarters, listening as his advisor played audio from the latest rendezvous at the Terran embassy. As usual, half of it was spoken in the Ophisian tongue and the other half was spoken in the single-mouthed language of the xenos. The two civilizations found themselves struggling early on with verbal communication, as neither party could replicate the sounds of the other decently enough to be understood. Once written communication was more solidified, they agreed that it would be acceptable if they could at least understand each other's language, even if they could not speak it themselves. And so, the Terrans and the Ophisians met frequently at the embassy, and the conversations were recorded by each party.

He found it boring. Though he had yet to meet a human, he had already made up his mind about what sort of creatures they were. Weak, co-dependent, and uninteresting. Nonetheless, he insisted his advisor bring him the embassy recordings each month so he might understand their language. Cries for mercy are more savory when you can understand them.

The embassy was constructed shortly after Lord Amenmesh had made First Contact, built near the L4 anomaly that the xenos had come through. Amenmesh had taken the full economic burden of the project, which made it the Amenmesh-Terran embassy in Ua-Menlir's eyes. Still, the fool gave every Lord and Lord's advisor the opportunity to use the station, as if the Warlords of the Ouroboros were all on good, cooperative terms. Of the seven brother-lords, only two had bothered to take Amenmesh's offer.

Zisuthra the Steadfast held the most meetings at the embassy, more than Amenmesh himself. Megalu -- the Aberrant -- occasionally accompanied Amenmesh or Zisuthra, but never visited the aliens without another Lord. He was still young, trying to grasp the precepts of rulership. Ua-Menlir was certain his eccentric nature was not easing the learning process.

"Would you like me to replay it, my Lord?" Al-Abil, Heretic Menlir's advisor, stood at the side of the room by the computer controls.

"No. You are dismissed."

"I am not." Al-Abil made no motion to leave. "The Church has set a date for the Congregation."

"For what matter?"

"Have you forgotten?"

"I have not been informed," Ua-Menlir rumbled angrily. "You have told me nothing of a Congregation."

"I apologize, my Lord. Lord Ikishun has petitioned to invoke an ancient rite. His brothers have rallied behind him, and the Church has heard their request. The Congregation will be in approximately a megasecond."

"What rite? What lie has he fed the Church from his 'archive' this time?" Ua-Menlir stood hastily, fuming. A megasecond would be barely enough time for him to reach the Basilica.

"Lugal Gu'Enak. You should know this term well, heretic." Al-Abil allowed her disgust and contempt for Ua-Menlir to show for the first time.

King of the Assembly. Lord of Lords.

Ua-Menlir hastened to board his vessel.

---

A battle-scarred moon orbiting a long dead world. Lord Ugar stood in the observatory, looking out at the planet that dominated the Basilica's sky. Here and there, the clouds broke away and a glimpse of the surface could be seen. Many areas were still burning, a thousand years later. The surface would still be warm a thousand years after Ugar left this realm, maybe more.

The Basilica was the oldest religious site in Ouroboros space, and it showed. It was built sturdy, in an era where war dominated far more than it did in the present. Still, most of the Basilica had been destroyed in that war. None are alive who knew the site's true name or what it looked like before it was struck to the ground by nuclear wrath. So the priests named it after the remaining structure, repaired what they could, and declared it the site of Congregation. Ugar made his way back to the Basilica proper.

Rumor had it that Amenmesh had been granted approval to invite a Terran ambassador to the ceremony, but there was still no sign of the Lord or the xeno. All but Amenmesh and Ua-Menlir were accounted for. Lord Nosi the Last, who abused the trust of his brother-lords. Lord Zisuthra the Steadfast, who contained the Heretic's crusade. Lord Megalu the Aberrant, the exception to the Laws of Astrogation. Lord Ikishun the Poet, a preserver of knowledge and savior of his bloodline. And Ugar himself, noteworthy for only his age.

The priests gathered their Lords in the Basilica's main chamber, seating them in a semi-circle around the raised apse at the head of the room. The Lords sat in silence as their attendant priests disappeared into another chamber. Soon, the Congregation would begin, with or without the Heretic and the Pious.

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