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Humans are weird: An army of heroes
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Abarax strode through the corridors with a stride so long it was borderline running. His aides tried their best to keep pace but their need to present themselves with composure meant they could not run and were slowly losing distance with their boss. Watchers on either made way for the Lord Commander or were shoved aside by Abarax himself as he would not be hindered from his destination by politeness. He had only been made aware of a developing situation and he was intent on discovering its cause as soon as possible before it spiraled out of control.
Finally, after navigating several more corridors and descending several hundred feet underground, the lord commander reached his objective. A thick metal door stood before him with a full complement of Arthorian Guards standing on either side of it. Their polished armor reflected dully in the bunkers lighting but Abarax was more interested in the thirty Revar Blasters now being pointed at him.
“You are not authorized to be here, lord commander.” The leader spoke to Abarax. He could be distinguished by the painted blue markings on their right shoulder guard signifying the original crest of the guard’s founders.
“I am Lord Commander,” Abarax began, “and I have full authority over all forces within the empire; so you will stand aside now.”
The guard captain shook his helmeted head. “Only the senate may command the Arthorian’s-“
“And who does the senate report to?!” Abarax shouted, raising his voice in frustration.
Several of the guards quivered in their armor, the clacking of plates giving them away; but their captain would not be so easily intimidated. They broke ranks and strode in front of Abarax and looked down at the lord commander. Abarax’s face reflecting in the chest plate of the captain as a pair of burning red eyes fixated on him from the helmet.
“Do you think me so easily cowed?” the captain spoke. “Your title means nothing to me and should you take one more step towards that door I will strike you down without hesitation.”
The two warriors glared at each other while the rest of the guard and aides watched with baited breath. Abarax’s eyes twitched with rage, fists clenched tightly, and muscles tensed preparing to make the first strike when one of his aides cut through the silence.
“Guard Captain, I believe the senate is trying to reach you over the communications link.”
Keeping his eyes fixated on the lord commander, the guard captain brought up a hand and placed it against the side of his helmet to activate the internal communicator. What was said could not be known, the captain’s voice now low and muffled as he communicated with the senate, but when they took their hand away the conversation’s intent had been made clear.
“Open the vault.” The guard captain spoke to his men. When none of them moved the captain turned to look at them and nodded. “He has been given permission by the senate for a conversation with the guest-”
“-provided I join you for the duration.” The captain finished as he turned back to face the lord commander.
“I will not be chaperoned by a fanatic.” Abarax retorted. The guard captain was not moved. “This is nonnegotiable. If you wish to speak with the prisoner, I will be in the room; if you refuse this condition, then leave now.”
Abarax let out a low snarl but threw up his hands and nodded. With that confirmation the vault door was unsealed and pulled open by three guards. Without saying another word the guard captain entered the vault followed swiftly by Abarax.
The interior of the vault was not what Abarax had expected.
Lavish furnishings dotted the space while the floor was covered in a richly oriented rug. Various tables lined the walls and were filled with decanters of fine liquors and foods. At the opposite wall stood an expansive bedframe Abarax had not seen before and looked full enough that were he to lay in it the bed would swallow him whole.
With a loud thud the vault door sealed behind the pair just as Abarax had found the objective of his visit.
Sitting in a chair off to the back corner of the room was a lone human female. She wore a gown of ocean blue dotted with specs of gold that clung to her figure as she sat reading. She had not bothered to raise her head as the pair of aliens entered the vault and instead lazily flipped the page of her novel with one hand while taking a sip of a beverage with her other.
Abarax’s mind was reeling in disbelief of the current situation when the guard captain spoke.
“Lord Commander, may I introduce Empress Imelia Asghar; ruler of the Terran Empire and protector of the Alliance of Independent Worlds.”
The captain then motioned with his hand towards Abarax. “Empress, this is Lord Commander Abarax Caston; head of the Sygonic military and advisor to the Sygonic senate.”
With the introductions finished the human Empress looked up from her book and took in the measure of the two aliens before her. Her face was expressionless as she stared at the two before setting down her drink and book and rose to her feet.
“It is a pleasure to speak with you again guard captain,” she nodded towards the Arthorian captain, “and an honor to finally meet the famous butcher of Talsazar in person.”
“I am surprised you know of that battle.” Abarax replied, masking his actual surprise well beneath a display of calm.
Imelia smiled. “It does one well to know their enemies well before they ever meet them in battle.”
“And is this a battle?” Abarax countered.
“Of sorts.”
The Empresses words did not sit well with the lord commander. None of this sat well with him and the more he thought of his circumstances the more enraged he became.
Abarax made to take a step towards the Empress but the guard captain’s hand was on his shoulder in a flash.
“You will speak from here and not a step closer.”
Abarax fixed the captain with a death glare that had made aides leap from buildings in fear. “That was not part of our arrangement.” He snarled.
“It is now.”
The captain said no more but kept a firm grip on the lord commander’s shoulder. Finally relenting, Abarax took a step back and the captain let go of his shoulder.
“Pardon an observation,” the human empress continued as if the combative display never happened, “but you look quite troubled lord commander.”
“That is because you are troubling.” Abarax stated as he pointed at the empress.
A flash of surprise crossed the empress’s face and she brought a hand up to her chest.
“Me? I have been hardly troubling since I was placed here. I would have thought myself a model captive.”
“That is what troubles me.”
Abarax paced along back and forth as he martialed his words. The guard captain’s helmet slowly tracking him to ensure he did not step closer to the human empress.
“Your people declare war on the Sygonic Empire and the next day their leader surrenders themselves to be held as a prisoner.”
He glared at the human. “This does not make sense, and what does not make sense becomes my concern.”
“I admire your ability to condense a decade long disagreement into a single sentence.” Imelia replied as she returned to her chair. “We established colonies in the Orion Cluster, and then five years later after they are fully functioning autonomously you claim that those worlds are actually yours and order us to vacate.”
“Because they belong to us and have been ours for centuries.” Abarax retorted, rather more harshly then he had intended. The empress chuckled at his outburst which only further angered the commander.
“And it certainly wouldn’t be because they discovered large deposits of M93, and swiftly saw a vast influx in wealth being generated from its mining?”
“An argument for politicians and sycophants,” Abarax replied, “but that still does not explain why you surrendered yourself to your enemy.”
The empress clasped her fingers and leaned back into her chair.
“Do you understand the fascination of humans and heroes?”
When Abarax did not respond Imelia continued.
“Every human, man or woman, desires at one point to be a hero. To be admired and praised for completing some great deed or achieving victory against impossible odds. It is in that quest to become a hero that humans will push themselves to try the impossible and come out on top against unimaginable odds.”
“Your reply continues to avoid giving an answer.” Abarax stated with disdain.
“On the contrary,” Imelia countered, “I have just given you your answer.”
Abarax replayed her words just now again in his head but still none of it made sense. He pondered the statement unsuccessfully until the guard captain spoke up.
“By handing herself over to the enemy, the empress has given her military a purpose and cause to fight for,” they nodded towards the empress sitting in the chair still as she smiled, “freeing their ruler from the grip of their enemy.”
“Be silent!” Abarax rounded on the captain. “I was just about to say that you fool!”
The empress chuckled again and gave a small applause. “Don’t be too hard on our friend; he did just save you from appearing more of a fool than you are right now.”
Abarax’s face burned red as his anger brewed hot but the empress continued.
“Right now every soldier, every commander, every worker in the factories to wealthy industrialist is seeing themselves as being part of a cause to save me. Some right now are even fantasizing about being the one to blow open that door behind you and whisk me back to Earth to be greeted by heralds and applause.”
“And for those who even don’t support me, they must now contribute to the war lest be seen as villains seeking to topple my power. For only the evil would plot to overthrow an empress who so loved her people that she would willingly give herself to the enemy as a captive and possibly be the first casualty in war.”
To everyone’s surprise Abarax laughed as the empress finished her explanation.
“Your people are either fools or possibly the stupidest creatures I have ever fought before.” Abarax spoke between giggles. “To think you could motivate with such mundane propaganda tactics.”
“Call it what you will,” the empress said undaunted, “but my people would rather die a hero in service for a cause greater than themselves, then face death alone and forgotten.”
“And yet there is another option you did not foresee.”
“Oh?” There was a tone of interest in the Empresses voice at Abarax’s remark. “And what might that be?”
The alien commander grinned, showing a row of razor sharp teeth. “We could demand that unless your people surrender we will torture and kill you before they ever reach this world.”
Behind him Abarax heard the guard captain step forward but the Empress held up a hand to forestall their intervention.
“It is charming to see you think that while your betters in the senate have already considered the matter.”
“Betters?” the word stung Abarax and he felt his eye twitch at the candid answer.
Imelia nodded and waved her hand at the surroundings. “Why else am I surrounded by such lavishness and not rotting in a common prison cell? Why does a full complement of guards stand ready to protect me and even listen to me while I am their enemy?”
It was the empresses turn to smile now as she answered her own question. “Because should any harm befall me, or even death, then you will have turned me into more of a martyr than I already am and the hearts of my people will turn black in rage as they no longer seek to rescue me but to avenge their fallen empress.”
“The senate realized that and so they are keeping me as comfy and content as possible, because when my military arrives and rescues me I will tell them that I was treated like royalty and the peace talks will end amicably for both our two powers.”
She leaned back in her chair and picked up her novel as Abarax stewed in raged. “Now as entertaining as this visit has been I am quite finished with it now, you may leave.”
You may leave…..
You may leave…
You may leave…..
It was those final words that finally snapped Abarax’s temper. Since obtaining the role of Lord Commander no one had dared address him with such a dismissive tone and he would not stand for it now.
As the vault door began to open and the guard captain began to usher Abarax out the lord commander reached for a nearby bottle sitting on a table. Before the guard captain could react Abarax had grabbed the glass bottle and threw it as hard as he could.
The empress lowered her novel to see what the commotion only for the bottle to miss the book and smash against her face. Shattered bits of glass embedded themselves in her face and ruptured one of her eyes from the impact as a mixture of alcohol and blood seeped down her face to stain her blue dress.
In a flash Abarax was tackled to the ground by the guard captain and his arms pinned behind his back as the empress let out a scream of pain and anguish.
“MEDICAL TEAM NOW!” the guard captain roared to his waiting subordinates as several flooded into the room to further restrain Abarax.
“How does it feel, Empress!?!” Abarax shouted as he was hauled to his feet. “How does it feel to be insig-“
The guard captain’s fist smashed into Abarax’s chest driving the words from his mouth and air from his lungs.
“You have doomed us all you petty fool!” he shouted as he punched the lord commander a second time before his own men stepped in to restrain him as well.
As the pair squabbled a medical team rushed through and began making their way over to the empress who had ceased her screams of pain and now was laughing.
All those present stopped and stared at the empress as she uneasily rose to her feet, a hand covering the now punctured eye while the other glared at Abarax with such madness and glee behind her stare that Abarax felt a chill run down his spine.
“It feels wonderful,” she spoke, her voice ridden with glee, “for now when I am rescued and my people see my face, they will hang you from your innards by the tallest tree and make you watch as your world burns around you!”
HOAN Report Log 1
The other day @starr-fall-knight-rise posted a story referencing a speculative biology report I did for one of the species in their stories, so I figured I’d post the reports here as well rather than just on the HASO discord.
Human Organization of Alien Sciences Report: Log 1
Greetings Admiral Vir,
Upon the recommendation of the Galactic Assembly, we have decided to send copies of our reports to you. We believe you will find our reports useful considering your frequent interactions with aliens. Furthermore, considering the significance of your interactions with alien species we will send you the reports before they are published so that you may get more information at a faster rate. However, this also means that the reports are not peer-reviewed, so some information may be inaccurate, but we will send corrected reports as soon as we find any errors. The goal of these reports is to educate human civilians and scientists about humans in the hopes of fostering a greater understanding and more positive opinions regarding sentient and non-sentient alien species. In order to do this, these reports will compare aliens to native Earth species, but this should not impact the accuracy of these reports. Simply put, these reports are made by humans, for humans.
Head Researcher,
Dr. A. H. Torrada
HOAN Report Log 2
Here’s the speculative biology report that is mentioned in one of @starr-fall-knight-rise ‘s recent stories on the beloved alien-snake-thing named Jeffery.
HOAN Report: Log 2
Greetings Admiral Vir,
We were delighted to study Specimen 1-462, or as you know him, Jeffery (which is a lovely name I might add), and attached is a rough and unpublished report on our findings. Since this report will likely remain unpublished for some time, we have included explanations of terms and procedures for members of your crew who are not familiar with the jargon of xenobiology. Due to the fact that you obtained this specimen by technically breaking protocol, we were not able to travel to Jeffery’s planet-of-origin as doing so would require us to entail our motives, which are to help you learn about the organism you illegally obtained. However, we were able to obtain the data collected by the research team you accompanied to the planet-of-origin. I would also like to add that the aforementioned research team was hesitant to share their data with our human research team, so I feel you owe our team the story behind how exactly you obtained Jeffery. Since our information only consists of the observations on one specimen and the general data report on the planet-of-origin, the contents of our report may lack information or be inaccurate. I assure you however that we tried our best on collecting as much and as accurate information as possible. Hopefully in the future our team can get clearance to travel to the planet-of-origin or to obtain more specimens of Jeffery’s species and can provide you with a more comprehensive report.
Head Researcher,
Dr. A. H. Torrada
Analysis and Classification of New Species: Fruxiserpere jeffereyi
Naming
Like other xenobiology organizations whose emphasis is not on phylogeny, The Human Organisation of Alien Sciences (HOAN) uses a trinomial name system of planet-class-species. However, the planet segment of the name is more of a formality and used for compilation, so like most scientific reports only the class-species component will be used throughout the paper. DuaniaR3 Fruxiserpere jeffereyi originates from planet Duania Ridge 3. Since other animal-class organisms on Duania Ridge 3 have yet to be named, F. jeffereyi is the only member of its class, Fruxiserpere. The class name is derived from the Latin words frux and serpere and translates to fruit snake, and this was chosen due to the frugivore lifestyle and snake-like appearance. The species name jeffereyi was chosen to pay homage to the specimen studied, who was named Jeffery, and to a salamander species discovered by a researcher who a member of our team looks up to. F. jeffereyi has been given the common name dracoltl as a combination of ‘dragon’ and ‘axolotl’ due to its axolotl-like frills and the research staff calling specimen 1-462 ‘little dragon’.
Terrene-based classifications
HOAN’s philosophy is to research alien species and compile the information in a format that is familiar to and understandable by Earth-based scientists and humans, and the classification of non-sentient organisms follows that philosophy.
F. jefferyi is ectothermic, but is skilled enough at controlling its internal temperature to be considered a homeotherm. If F. jeffereyi was an Earth organism, it's phylogeny would proceed as follows: Animalia, Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae, Fruxiserpere, jeffereyi. It is a frugivore and most likely a prey species, however more research on Duana Ridge 3's ecology is needed to confirm. They also likely inhabit temperate forests.
Sensory systems
F. jefferyi relies on chemoreception rather than other senses. The interior of each mouth lobe contains chemoreceptive filaments that are receptive to particles in the air as well as soilds (i.e. fruit). However these filaments are only effective at sensing what is in front of F. jefferyi. The base of these filaments also secrete digestive enzymes The frills on the of the head are similar in appearance to Ambystoma mexicanum’s (axolotl) gills, although they are used for chemoreception rather than respiration. At the end of the frill’s tendrils there are chemoreceptors that appear to be more powerful than a human’s. On the interior of the frills are small openings surrounded by tendrils without chemoreceptors. These tendrils occasionally move to touch the small openings. The small openings and receptor-less tendrils appear to be analogous to Jackobson’s organs and tongues in Earth snakes.
F. jefferyi has a singular, large eye in-between two mouth lobes. The eye contains five types of cones and can see wavelengths between 10-780 nm. The eye contains a small amount of rods compared to cones and therefore has poor night vision.
Along then back of the neck, F. jefferyi possesses a single row of sensitive spines. The spines are very receptive to tactile stimuli and can even detect small air currents. The spines are also hard and likely help to protect against predation.
In front of each of the breathing is an external ear drum. Further testing is needed to determine F. jefferyi's hearing range, but it appears to be smaller than humans'.
Physiology
There are two breathing holes covered by scales on each side of the neck. The atmospheric composition of Duania Ridge 3 is similar to Earth except that there is more atmospheric oxygen than nitrogen. F. jefferyi converts glucose and oxygen into useable energy using aerobic respiration, similar to Earth species. However, F. jefferyi is incapable of performing anaerobic respiration, and is therefore much more susceptible to asphyxiation.
F. jefferyi is a frugivore and will eat all types of fruit indiscriminately. They are even able and willing to consume Earth fruit including Ananas comosus (pineapple).
Behavior
Specimen 1-462 behaves friendly and has been non-discriminate towards who the friendly behavior is directed at. 1-462 has even developed a bond with a Canis lupus familiaris (domestic dog). However, 1-462 was hostile towards a lab technician without provocation, and the reasoning behind the hostility is currently unknown. Due to this friendly behavior it is speculated that Fruxiserpere jeffereyi is a social species or may form symbiotic relationships with other species, however more research is needed.
When threatened, F. jeffereyi opens its mouth, flattens its frills against its body, and produces a hissing noise. The mouth-opening and and hissing is a common threat display observed in many other species, however the flattening of the frills seems counterintuitive. Displaying the frills would be a good method to threaten opponents by appearing larger, but we speculate that the frills are sensitive and fragile and are protected by flattening against the body. The lab technician who 1-462 behaved hostile towards was bitten. Nearby staff struggled to get 1-462 off the technician. 1-462’s teeth caused minor piercing damage and the digestive enzymes in the mouth caused skin irritation. If F. jeffereyi releases more digestive enzymes while biting, which it is capable of doing, then it could lead to chemical burns.
HOAN Report Log 3
Whoops I made this all the way back in March but I only posted it in the discord server so I’m more than a little late but here it is, a speculative biology report on the zombie Vrul disease in @starr-fall-knight-rise ‘s HASO stories.
Greetings Admiral Vir,
While this paper would have been more valuable during your eradication campaign, it is better late than never. Most of the data we were able to collect on the Vrul disease was from observations, as any individual merely suspected of infection are terminated immediately by the Vrul council and it would be reckless and unethical to deliberately infect organisms. There have been more reported cases of infected individuals, however the council eliminates these individuals and shares nothing on these cases with us. Hopefully more information on this pathogen can be collected in the future, but I am glad that any information was shared with us at all.
Head Researcher,
Dr. A. H. Torrada
The Vrul Zombie Disease
Recently a disease that infects Vrul and resembles the zombie viruses in human media has been rediscovered. The disease appears to have been prevalent in the past until approximately 4,000 years ago. While the pathogen does exert neurological control over its Vrul hosts, which have been named sporebound, like imaginary zombie viruses, this disease is a fungus.
The fungus enters the body through the respiratory system, with the airborne spores being inhaled into the lungs and infiltrating the body from there. The exact process in which the disease goes from entering the lungs to manipulating the host is unknown, but it theorized that the fungus enters the circulatory system to travel to the central nervous system where it will reside. The fungus has a remarkably short incubation period, as noticeable symptoms develop only a few hours after exposure. After 2-3 hours the eyes lose function and become clouded and white. At this time the host also exhibits altered behavior, which consist of an apparent loss of cognition and fear and acute aggression. With vision eliminated, the sporebound navigate and target susceptible Vrul through vibrations. However, sporebound lack the ability to discern between organisms, and will attack anything that produces organisms indiscriminately. The sporebound are not aggressive towards each other but have no regard for others’ well-being, as they will clamber over one another with no hesitation. It was proposed that the infected identify one another through shortwave radio, but this is unlikely since the infected are unable to identify susceptible Vrul through radio waves. It is most likely that the fungus is capable of recognizing its kin through some unknown mechanism. 12 hours after exposure, yellow pustules form on the Vrul’s skin. The pustules are filled with infectious spores that disperse into clouds once the pustules are broken. The spores are acidic and can be neutralized into a harmless substance with water. The spores are also heavy and can last for no more than 24 hours under perfect conditions, which explains why the fungus relies on manipulated hosts for transmission rather than other modes such as wind.
Under unknown conditions, infected Vrul will bury themselves in clusters of about 7 individuals. Trees surround the buried clusters of sporebound, however the area directly above the Vrul remains clear of organic matter. This lack of organic material is peculiar since the soil is fertile and the light gap creates perfect conditions for secondary succession to occur. Upon further inspection, it has been revealed that when buried the fungus acts similar to the mycelium networks in Earth forests. The fungus produces light orange hyphae that extends outwards from their host. The connection between the hyphae and the host’s body is weak in order to easily break off when the infectious host emerges from the soil. The mycelium above the host is acidic and prevents plants from establishing. While the mycelium that extends horizontally from the hosts forms a mutualistic relationship with the trees that surround the cluster, with the fungi and trees exchanging needed nutrients. Additional nutrients are obtained through the degradation of the host’s organs that are unnecessary for transmission, including the eyes and reproductive organs. Once the mycelium network and the pustules are grown, the fungus becomes dormant and only expends resources for maintenance. The sporebound emerge after sensing vibrations, and once leaving the ground they immediately seek out susceptible Vrul.
Local wildlife avoid areas that contain buried individuals, and many large species have migrated to the poles of the planet. Animals with lighter gaits that produce minimal vibrations remain near the equator where the Vrul are found, but are still wary near burial sites. This behavior likely developed to avoid attacks from the indiscriminate and aggressive infected Vrul. While plant species are immune to the disease, it is unknown if animal species are susceptible.
Humans report the sporebound as having a stench of rot, however this odor is not produced through decomposition. The stench is comprised of dimethyl trisulfide, methanethiol, and putrescine. Dimethyl trisulfide and methanethiol are found in plant and Vrul tissues and are released due to the fungus-induced redistribution of resources and the bursting of pustules. Putrescine is produced by the breakdown of amino acids as unnecessary organs of disintegrated for their resources. Only a small amount of putrescine is released, but the chemical has a low odor threshold and is easily detected by humans. The released odors may be advantageous to the fungus as it may ward away wildlife and thus prevent costs associated with pursuing non-Vrul organisms. In addition, Vrul lack olfactory organs so the odor would not alert the target species.
There is little data on the impacts of the fungus on different classes of Vrul since deltas are the common of the Vrul hosts, currently any infected Vrul that emerge are eliminated, and it would not be ethical or wise to study the fungus through infecting Vrul. However, all of the Vrul classes known by the Galactic Alliance (GA) were observed during a mass extermination effort led by Admiral Adam Vir and Doctor Krill. Deltas are most commonly infected, although it may not necessarily be because they are the most susceptible. Delta’s are the strongest of the Vrul classes, and as such they make ideal vectors for the fungus. However, with their strength they are also capable of burrowing, so their high frequency may result from their ability to burrow and preserve themselves for thousands of years. While not as common nor powerful, infected omegas have the potential to be extremely contagious. Omegas possess non-functional, partially developed helium sacs that, when infected, develop into what functions as a large pustule. The pustule sac is more durable than the normal pustules, and as such does not burst randomly. Instead, the sac ruptures into a large cloud of spores when the host is exposed to a large amount of vibrations. Betas and alphas are physically identical and only differ in their intelligence, and this identicality is represented by their infected states. Even when infected their helium sacs remain functional, and infected individuals use their helium sacs more than their legs for transportation. However, infected Vrul float higher than uninfected Vrul do, and can sustain suspension up to 20 feet in the air.
It is predicted that the infected alphas and betas float like this to better spread spores. However, there is a trade-off between speed and floating as infected alphas and betas are significantly slower than their delta and omega counterparts. Cities on the Vrul homeworld are surrounded by walls that are 40 feet tall and 20 feet thick with no doors. It has been speculated that the walls were constructed to prevent epidemics of the fungus since sporebound can only float 20 feet and the spores can disperse upwards 10 feet in the air under the best conditions. However the Vrul council has requested that the Human Organisation of Alien Sciences (HOAN) refrains from studying or hypothesizing about the Vrul’s past, and we at HOAN will comply.
If i ever meet an alien i want them to draw me - imagine, someone not knowing (or having complitely different then) human biology and beauty standarts drawing a person. Maybe the limbs being too long, maybe the eyes having a predatory gaze (even if u were posing for a second hour, barely not falling asleep) maybe the hair looking different or colors matching ur body temperature
There's also that their forms of art could be different! Maybe instead of sculpting they would put on shiny gems and rocks, maybe instead of drawing with solid graphite they could draw with non drying liquid or making stuff best viewed in 5D?
idk i want to see art perceived in nonhuman way.