Buckteeth
A Good Start
Official Name: The Altered Legion.
Demonym: Legionnaire.
Government Type: Caste system dictatorship.
Leaders:
True Master: The Mastermind.
Master Soldier: Camphor Planeswalker.
Master Seeker: Amygdala.
Galaxy: Andromeda.
Territory: The halfway area between the easternmost arm and the center.
Number of Systems: 210,000 total. 145,000 inhabited and fully developed. 65,000 are still being processed.
Influence Rank: 4.1
Population by Race: 379 trillion of the Altered.
Technology Rank: 8.4
FTL Travel: The Rift Drive.
The Rift Drive is the result of the study of recovered relics by Master Seeker Amygdala under order of the Mastermind. The Drive allows a body to enter and exit a dimensional rift around the known plane of existence. The spatial properties of the rift cause the only thing that exists there, the rift's ever reaching contact with the universe, to fold it's entirety around the body. This allows one to position themselves anywhere in the universe at will. However, maneuvering in the rift is incredibly complicated, requiring trillions of calculations per real-time second. Unfortunately, due to the fact that time only exists there due to the rift's "proximity" to our universe, all things experience time at about 1/1000 the normal rate. To them it is imperceptible. Rift commutes could take months or years to complete. With the arrival of the mastership, capable of quadrillions of calculations per second, commutes became nearly instantaneous. Unfortunately, commutes require great energy expenditure and cannot be done in a state of chaos under threat of great harm. Currently, only masterships have the processing power required to use a Rift drive, so mixed fleets use a mastership to traverse itself and a number of ships whose total mass does not exceed that of the mastership. The only downside to this is the fact that, due to the strain of it, a mastership will have to shut down for a period of time equal to the amount of ships taken in a jump, where 0.1 of excess mass transported equals one hour of shut-down.
Technological Development Focus: Relic technologies and eugeneering for military use.
Exceptional Technologies: Eugeneering, the study and practice of genetic and cybernetic alteration throughout an organism's development. Through it, the castes are enforced and improved. Specific advancements in eugeneering have allowed for the creation of partially organic machines or partially machined organisms, depending on the ratio of living to nonliving parts. Machines or organisms like this can have incredible characteristics, such as advanced processing capabilities, inherent interfacing options, and replaceable or self-renewing parts that wouldn't be otherwise. Additionally, genetic engineering, considered a sub-field of eugeneering alongside cybernetics, has advanced to the point that organisms can be designed with artificial genes or even genes of other species, given enough time and test subjects of said species. Such alteration can occur even while the organism is already alive and developed.
Relics throughout the territory also suggest that the Legion's predecessors had a strong grasp of dimensional technology, and further study could advance the Legion exponentially.
While martially limited on most fronts, a powerful tool created long ago by the Seekers is bioplasm. Bioplasm, produced through an artificial organic process within living organisms, is a powerful means of transporting energy. While it is also used in living batteries within some Legionnaires, the main application of bioplasm is within weapons, as practically no Legion weapons are kinetic. Unfortunately, while organic bioplasmic generators are an extremely efficient way to produce energy, the output itself is insubstantial for use in powerful machines, though they are common within smaller scale devices. Currently, nuclear reactors are used to fuel masterships and other large energy consumers. Finding a more suitable source of energy has become a priority to eliminate the Legion's dependency on nuclear materials.
Culture: Legion culture centers around two things, the caste, and the Will. Caste is the purpose for which all Legionnaires are artificially created, and is a rigid trait of every Legionnaire. The Legionnaires believe the caste is the ultimate form of civilization, and those who seek to go against their caste are hated and considered "failed organisms". Many Legionnaires even take pride in the serving of their caste, believing that it is the only true way for them to serve the Legion and their people. The fact that all are eugeneered from before release out of their incubators to be trusting in the caste and Will also helps. Interaction between castes is restricted, and Legionnaires are encouraged to find companionship, of any sort, amongst those of their own caste.
The Will is the overarching influence projected by the Mastermind over all Legionnaires. All Legionnaires are connected in the Will, though a true hivemind isn't formed. Even the Mastermind doesn't have the mental capacity to telepathically connect every Legionnaire to the point of controlling them simultaneously. What the Mastermind can and has done is allow Legionnaires to feel a telepathic connection to other Legionnaires on an emotional level, causing them to feel the raw collective feelings of the species. While the Mastermind has great sway over this Will, it's key factor is the combined mental presence of every Legionnaire except the Mastermind. As an example to better illustrate the Will and it's effects, because nearly all Legionnaires embrace the caste system, those who don't face tremendous resistance when even trying to feel negatively about it. But the Will, however powerful, is not forced, and any Legionnaire can disconnect themselves from it. Permanently. So far, only a handful have, as the Disconnected are shunned and abandoned by society for the most part, with little exception. Some of the effects of the Will on daily life are Legionnaires knowing the rough emotional state of other Legionnaires in close proximity, and feeling the Masterminds "presence" when communicating with it in any way.
Legionnaires live lives dedicated to working for the Legion. They work sixteen hours a day, with two hours for recreation, six for sleep, and no holidays. However, all is not dark. The use of machined organisms allows Legionnaires to be free from the burden of menial labor. Most work is as directors to machined organisms, or expert builders in areas where machined organisms will not suffice. Also, poverty is practically nonexistent. At least for those connected to the glorious Will.
Government: All policy and action is decided by the Mastermind. Master Seeker Amygdala has authority over scientific endeavors, unless superseded by the Mastermind. Master Soldier Camphor has authority over how to carry out military campaigns on a multi-system wide scale, unless, of course, superseded by the Mastermind. He also acts as an ambassador, due to the Mastermind's unconventional nature. Usual day-to-day planet activity is administrated by masterships installed into the terrain.
Military: Military action is centered around winning battles through attrition. Masterships, befit with the means to produce more troops from captured organisms and transport lesser ships through the Rift, are designed to wage wars for years if need be. War fatigue, unlike with most nations, does not affect the Legion's citizens, who might only know vague details of a war and who, for the most part, don't interact with Legion Soldiers. Actual combat is focused on a combination of tactical troop deployment to systematically dismantle enemies through the destruction of high-value targets and damage to both civilian and military structures through sustained orbital bombardments. Military numbers are roughly four masterships per developed system, with eight in developing systems. Each mastership carries 12 Exterminators, 24 Waymakers, 4,000 Shuttles, 6,000 Engagers, and 1.5 million Soldiers. 40% of masterships are part of a fleet of four other ships. 50% of these ships are Polymaths, 25% are Combatants, and 25% are Salvomaids. There are around 1,100,000 masterships in the Legion, as well as the Last Resort. Further details to be found in Lore.
History: The Legionnaires original form has been lost to the annals of time, along with most of their pre-invasion history. All that is known is that pre-Invasion Legionnaires faced extinction at the hands of the Invaders, and in an act of desperation constructed the Mastermind Nodes to calculate a viable course of action. The newly awakened Mastermind decided that the only way for the Legionnaires to survive would be to allow the Mastermind access and control over the entirety of the Legion and permission to genetically engineer the Legionnaires. Faced with no other option, the Legion agreed, and was saved from extinction through the strategic actions of the Mastermind, such as the creation of the Last Resort, a massive, worm-like creature capable of, given days to prepare, generating enough bioplasm to nearly obliterate a planet. Heavy losses were suffered, and it has taken time for the now subjugated Legion to return to a size resembling it's former glory. Even so, more than just history was lost to time, and many of the technological capabilities of the old Legion have been lost to war, or so it's thought...
Goals and Hooks:
The Altered:
All of the Altered, besides the Mastermind, are conceived and born artificially.
Altered Denizen:
Altered Soldier:
Altered Seeker:
Leaders of the Legion:
The Mastermind:
Master Soldier Camphor "Planeswalker":
Master Seeker Amygdala:
Demonym: Legionnaire.
Government Type: Caste system dictatorship.
Leaders:
True Master: The Mastermind.
Master Soldier: Camphor Planeswalker.
Master Seeker: Amygdala.
Galaxy: Andromeda.
Territory: The halfway area between the easternmost arm and the center.
Number of Systems: 210,000 total. 145,000 inhabited and fully developed. 65,000 are still being processed.
Influence Rank: 4.1
Population by Race: 379 trillion of the Altered.
Technology Rank: 8.4
FTL Travel: The Rift Drive.
The Rift Drive is the result of the study of recovered relics by Master Seeker Amygdala under order of the Mastermind. The Drive allows a body to enter and exit a dimensional rift around the known plane of existence. The spatial properties of the rift cause the only thing that exists there, the rift's ever reaching contact with the universe, to fold it's entirety around the body. This allows one to position themselves anywhere in the universe at will. However, maneuvering in the rift is incredibly complicated, requiring trillions of calculations per real-time second. Unfortunately, due to the fact that time only exists there due to the rift's "proximity" to our universe, all things experience time at about 1/1000 the normal rate. To them it is imperceptible. Rift commutes could take months or years to complete. With the arrival of the mastership, capable of quadrillions of calculations per second, commutes became nearly instantaneous. Unfortunately, commutes require great energy expenditure and cannot be done in a state of chaos under threat of great harm. Currently, only masterships have the processing power required to use a Rift drive, so mixed fleets use a mastership to traverse itself and a number of ships whose total mass does not exceed that of the mastership. The only downside to this is the fact that, due to the strain of it, a mastership will have to shut down for a period of time equal to the amount of ships taken in a jump, where 0.1 of excess mass transported equals one hour of shut-down.
Technological Development Focus: Relic technologies and eugeneering for military use.
Exceptional Technologies: Eugeneering, the study and practice of genetic and cybernetic alteration throughout an organism's development. Through it, the castes are enforced and improved. Specific advancements in eugeneering have allowed for the creation of partially organic machines or partially machined organisms, depending on the ratio of living to nonliving parts. Machines or organisms like this can have incredible characteristics, such as advanced processing capabilities, inherent interfacing options, and replaceable or self-renewing parts that wouldn't be otherwise. Additionally, genetic engineering, considered a sub-field of eugeneering alongside cybernetics, has advanced to the point that organisms can be designed with artificial genes or even genes of other species, given enough time and test subjects of said species. Such alteration can occur even while the organism is already alive and developed.
Relics throughout the territory also suggest that the Legion's predecessors had a strong grasp of dimensional technology, and further study could advance the Legion exponentially.
While martially limited on most fronts, a powerful tool created long ago by the Seekers is bioplasm. Bioplasm, produced through an artificial organic process within living organisms, is a powerful means of transporting energy. While it is also used in living batteries within some Legionnaires, the main application of bioplasm is within weapons, as practically no Legion weapons are kinetic. Unfortunately, while organic bioplasmic generators are an extremely efficient way to produce energy, the output itself is insubstantial for use in powerful machines, though they are common within smaller scale devices. Currently, nuclear reactors are used to fuel masterships and other large energy consumers. Finding a more suitable source of energy has become a priority to eliminate the Legion's dependency on nuclear materials.
Culture: Legion culture centers around two things, the caste, and the Will. Caste is the purpose for which all Legionnaires are artificially created, and is a rigid trait of every Legionnaire. The Legionnaires believe the caste is the ultimate form of civilization, and those who seek to go against their caste are hated and considered "failed organisms". Many Legionnaires even take pride in the serving of their caste, believing that it is the only true way for them to serve the Legion and their people. The fact that all are eugeneered from before release out of their incubators to be trusting in the caste and Will also helps. Interaction between castes is restricted, and Legionnaires are encouraged to find companionship, of any sort, amongst those of their own caste.
The Will is the overarching influence projected by the Mastermind over all Legionnaires. All Legionnaires are connected in the Will, though a true hivemind isn't formed. Even the Mastermind doesn't have the mental capacity to telepathically connect every Legionnaire to the point of controlling them simultaneously. What the Mastermind can and has done is allow Legionnaires to feel a telepathic connection to other Legionnaires on an emotional level, causing them to feel the raw collective feelings of the species. While the Mastermind has great sway over this Will, it's key factor is the combined mental presence of every Legionnaire except the Mastermind. As an example to better illustrate the Will and it's effects, because nearly all Legionnaires embrace the caste system, those who don't face tremendous resistance when even trying to feel negatively about it. But the Will, however powerful, is not forced, and any Legionnaire can disconnect themselves from it. Permanently. So far, only a handful have, as the Disconnected are shunned and abandoned by society for the most part, with little exception. Some of the effects of the Will on daily life are Legionnaires knowing the rough emotional state of other Legionnaires in close proximity, and feeling the Masterminds "presence" when communicating with it in any way.
Legionnaires live lives dedicated to working for the Legion. They work sixteen hours a day, with two hours for recreation, six for sleep, and no holidays. However, all is not dark. The use of machined organisms allows Legionnaires to be free from the burden of menial labor. Most work is as directors to machined organisms, or expert builders in areas where machined organisms will not suffice. Also, poverty is practically nonexistent. At least for those connected to the glorious Will.
Government: All policy and action is decided by the Mastermind. Master Seeker Amygdala has authority over scientific endeavors, unless superseded by the Mastermind. Master Soldier Camphor has authority over how to carry out military campaigns on a multi-system wide scale, unless, of course, superseded by the Mastermind. He also acts as an ambassador, due to the Mastermind's unconventional nature. Usual day-to-day planet activity is administrated by masterships installed into the terrain.
Military: Military action is centered around winning battles through attrition. Masterships, befit with the means to produce more troops from captured organisms and transport lesser ships through the Rift, are designed to wage wars for years if need be. War fatigue, unlike with most nations, does not affect the Legion's citizens, who might only know vague details of a war and who, for the most part, don't interact with Legion Soldiers. Actual combat is focused on a combination of tactical troop deployment to systematically dismantle enemies through the destruction of high-value targets and damage to both civilian and military structures through sustained orbital bombardments. Military numbers are roughly four masterships per developed system, with eight in developing systems. Each mastership carries 12 Exterminators, 24 Waymakers, 4,000 Shuttles, 6,000 Engagers, and 1.5 million Soldiers. 40% of masterships are part of a fleet of four other ships. 50% of these ships are Polymaths, 25% are Combatants, and 25% are Salvomaids. There are around 1,100,000 masterships in the Legion, as well as the Last Resort. Further details to be found in Lore.
History: The Legionnaires original form has been lost to the annals of time, along with most of their pre-invasion history. All that is known is that pre-Invasion Legionnaires faced extinction at the hands of the Invaders, and in an act of desperation constructed the Mastermind Nodes to calculate a viable course of action. The newly awakened Mastermind decided that the only way for the Legionnaires to survive would be to allow the Mastermind access and control over the entirety of the Legion and permission to genetically engineer the Legionnaires. Faced with no other option, the Legion agreed, and was saved from extinction through the strategic actions of the Mastermind, such as the creation of the Last Resort, a massive, worm-like creature capable of, given days to prepare, generating enough bioplasm to nearly obliterate a planet. Heavy losses were suffered, and it has taken time for the now subjugated Legion to return to a size resembling it's former glory. Even so, more than just history was lost to time, and many of the technological capabilities of the old Legion have been lost to war, or so it's thought...
Goals and Hooks:
- Expand the Legion.
- Recover lost technologies.
- Perfect the Legionnaires by whatever means.
- Preserve "exceptional" species.
The Altered:
All of the Altered, besides the Mastermind, are conceived and born artificially.
Altered Denizen:
The most common subdivision of the Altered, Denizens act as the working-class of the Legion. They possess powerful legs, retractable wings along their forearms for gliding, and a vertically divisible lower jaw. Their digestive tract allows them to extract all their nutritional requirements from a genetically engineered photosynthetic microorganism that they consume as a liquid. Denizens communicate verbally, and only ever split their jaw while feeding or in romantic embrace. They have the intelligence and size of humans. They have excellent low-light vision due to their luminescent eyes.
Altered Soldier:
Existing only for combat, Altered Soldiers are seven foot muscle-bound monsters and constitute less than 1% of the Legion's population. Soldiers possess cybernetic enhancements tailored to the role they are expected to play in combat. Common enhancement are integrated Thought-Speak communication systems, modular limbs, integrated weapons systems, smart eye(s), and integrated armor. Soldiers are inherently bold and agressive, though individual personalities do exist. Soldiers, unlike Denizens, eat parasitic organisms that grow inside Masterships.
Altered Seeker:
Altered Seekers serve as the scientists of the Legion, working entirely in the realm of study. 20% of their mass, and each is around four feet tall, is taken up by their somewhat U shaped brains. They have a total of fourteen tentacles, which are very sensitive, and their backs are covered by bumps that serve as combination sight/sound/scent organs. Like Denizens and Soldiers, Seekers communicate verbally. Unlike Denizens and Soldiers, Seekers consume a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, and meats grown on their ships. Their bodies, while somewhat strong, are soft and vulnerable to attack.
Leaders of the Legion:
The Mastermind:
The Mastermind is an entity formed from the collective brainpower of four city-sized ships located at the cardinal extremes of Legion territory. These ships are called Nodes. Through the onboard capabilities of the Nodes, the Mastermind controls the entirety of the Legion. Little is known about the Mastermind besides the following facts: it is indeed organic, it possesses powerful telepathic abilities, and it cannot leave the Nodes.
Master Soldier Camphor "Planeswalker":
Soldier Camphor was an effective but by no means extraordinary Soldier, and would have remained so for his entire life if not for an incident during a Rift jump. The cause of the incident is still not fully known, but the results, a mastership missing sections of it's structure apparently lost to the Rift, have become folklore amongst Legionnaires. Hours later, Camphor appeared on a nearby Legion planet, comatose, but otherwise unharmed. Upon recovering consciousness, Camphor stated that he could not fully remember exactly how he escaped the Rift. The Seekers tried to synthesize his DNA to see if an accidental genetic element saved him, but repeated attempts to study his chromosomes have proven inconclusive. Legionnaires looked to him as some sort of hero, and Camphor was christened Planeswalker and declared Master Soldier by the Mastermind. He now serves as a combination ambassador/general for the Legion.
Master Seeker Amygdala:
Master Seeker Amygdala was originally created a regular Seeker, but excelled far past his peers to the point that his achievements demanded recognition. His work on the Rift Drive and eugeneering have proven fundamental to the Legion's success. Amygdala, complaining that his physical form limited him, asked the Mastermind for permission to design a new one for himself. The request was granted, and he was reborn as Master Seeker. Now he continues to spearhead Seeker research, although his strange interest in other cultures has led the Mastermind to consider giving him a diplomatic role.
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