The Origins of Forcegrowth, Darkgrowth and SurgeSpawn.

[Akestos]

Open To All Individual PCs

Neutral Space
Planet: Frenoris
Outskirts of Catasha Valley
DarkGrowth and ForceGrowth Origins
Stage 2 Signs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK6MI0p1bPc
The First Pillar of the SurgeSpawn​

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An unassuming world with nothing of note here. Neutral void space, no call of the Swarm to hear, only distant instruction by the hive. Why they were drawn here they did not yet know. Only that they stalked these landscapes with several other hunters, some under the earth, some above it. Early breeds of hunter-killers the hive was developing, harvesters hunting for signs of wildgrowth or rogue DNA. Akestos's eyes searched outward for signs of movement, of growth, of things to threaten future hives in these regions. Dead metal settlements were not of interest to the greater mind unless they disrupted the seeders. Before him Kylraya hunted and he watched, waiting.

Wildgrowth was here, but no hives were here. The Hive did not understand. The disconnect from this place was greater than it should be. Wildgrowth came from Hives, it didn’t just appear. No Hives meant silence, nothing, unrelenting void of consciousness. Here that void was somehow present, greater than it should be. Void that should be contained within the silence was moving. The whipping vines ahead of the Swarm Mother were lunged upon, the black beast they belonged to a threat to be consumed for answers. He watched her tail secure one vine, her talon cleaved another, a third vine constricted around her waist pulling her into its maw. Her eyes closed going limp, playing dead, and its mouth opened ready to feast. SNAP. Both her talons struck the face and maw at once. Watching as the black vinebeast died before her. Wildgrowth. She clutched her waist, the exoskeleton surrounding them both capable of withstanding greater pressure. Constriction was still unpleasant.

Akestos came by her side, looking over the valley and understanding the call to move. So used to Surge Impulse it was disconcerting to be directed by the Hive alone, but his towering form lumbered forward into the wake, hunting and seeking the prey before them. Wildgrowth was not easy to understand, or easy to comprehend for the greater mind. His ability to separate himself from the effects of whatever was here was difficult. His towering orange body lumbered into the valley below, leaving her on the hilltop looking down. Her eyes his direction going forward, having less and less link to the focused mind the further he went. The valley before them both was lush with life, hunters moving through it, hearing the call and not understanding why.

 

[Helicent Reyne]

[SIZE=18pt]Aboard the Echecender[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=11pt]Helicent was a great many things, just as there were a great many things she was not. One thing nobody could ever accuse her of lacking, however, was aesthetics.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]As she sat atop her burnt and blackened throne in her twisted, thorny black armor with rosebuds strewn about her neck, she cast a shadowed glance down below where her newest guest had arrived, hands tied behind his back. Behind her was a stained glass mural abstractly depicting a crown of thorns atop the bleeding scalp of a demonic figure. The entirety of the throne room was always shrouded in a sort of dire gloom, only ever to be lit by flames and the light of the stars beyond the stained glass.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“This is the man,”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] one of her subordinates said to her from the bottom of the steps leading up to the dais. She had a couple of cloths strung around a head of gray hair to cover her right eye, a scar on her lower lip. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“He’s no pirate king. Barely had a crew of twenty or so.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“And you fell for it,”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] the pirate said from his knees. Even in his captured state, he seemed calm and collected. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“You all fell for the oldest pirate trick in the book. One of ‘em, anyhow. Meanwhile, there’s a crew you’ll never find that’s got-”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The man paused before he could finish his thought, a sudden pressure engulfing him. In just a moment’s time, he would find himself screaming for mercy just before his neck snapped to one side, the sound echoing throughout the chambers. Helicent’s unflinching gaze turned to the subordinate who brought the corpse to her, feeling the fear that emanated from her as she was suddenly caught in the sights of her queen.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“They assume we’re hunting them,”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] she said softly, [/SIZE]“yet they know of the swarm. Haughty of them to take their kind so seriously. The swarm is a spreading infection upon the galaxy, while pirates remain nothing more than an unsightly bruise.”

[SIZE=11pt]The subordinate nodded in agreement, surely out of anxiety. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“Not many have seen the real dangers of the swarm. They see you[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] as their biggest threat. Attempts at your life won’t stop until they know where they should be aiming their guns instead.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Speaking of…”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Helicent muttered, picking herself up off of the throne and making her way down the many steps with her bare feet, though her flesh never truly touched the surface of the dark stone as she descended. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“How goes the progress on [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Frenoris[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The subordinate held a clenched fist to her chest as she bowed to the approaching queen, saying, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“We’ve located a hive, Your Majesty. It’s being destroyed as we speak, but the area isn’t like any we’ve come across before. Those that spawn are different in ways we’ve since been unable to determine.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Mere inches away from her, Helicent walked by without so much as a glance of recognition. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“Prepare a shuttle. I’ll see to it that this gets handled properly.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“At once, Queen Helicent.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=18pt]Surface of [/SIZE][SIZE=18pt]Frenoris[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=11pt]As soon as she stepped out of the shuttle, Helicent could hear the blaster fire and the sickly cries of horrid beasts. She was accompanied by an analyst of Chiss origin known as Noahale, who stood an entire head’s length above her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“You’ll find the hive located in this direction,”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] the Chiss said, facing and pointing to the east of where they landed.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] “Be aware that these creatures might not react similarly to the spawn we’ve dealt with elsewhere. We don’t know how they’re affected by the force just yet. We believe there may also be more familiar spawn in the area as well, though their relation to this new breed is yet to be discovered.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Helicent gave a nod at her words, despite having no doubt in her mind that she would be able to handle herself no matter the danger presented to her. That was the beauty of power; it was useful on a universal scale.[/SIZE]