Encrypted transmission to Unity Prime, Garmin Fe, Gilmour and Layne Yr

The Oleifera appears large, tired, and satisfied. No Builders are visible in the rest of the room, the chamber is strangely silent. "This one would not want to offend its Builder allies," an oddly vibrating spiny growth intones. "but this one is not sure whether the Builder precepts permit them to inhibit the creation of life. This one would rather spare them the debate - this one has no qualms with this kind of prevention."

The vibration increases in depth and intensity. "The recent acquisition of a Hive Queen's head presents a new opportunity, and a possible solution to the Hive menace in a completely peaceful, albeit somewhat devious, manner. One which will present no conflict for the Warmonger to feast upon. This one is proposing the slow, but inevitable sterilization of the Quall N'Drone race."

The Oleifera shudders slightly. "This one intends to create a very specific choate, a parasite if you will, which is incredibly infective, completely non-noticable, and slow acting. It will render larvae which a Queen produces infertile. However, if a queen were to discover that none of her larvae implanted, she would become suspicious. So while this one would prefer to immediately cease all reproductive functioning, one sees the necessity for a slow degradation of the Queen's reproductive capability. Thus the severity of the infertilization will increase over time, at an appropriate rate."

"Once the decline is noticed, this one would already have created another choate - one that is... another sex, if you will, of Quall N'Drone. One, that can BREED with Queens, involves no host. This one cannot justify all-out extinction of a sentiment race, no matter how repulsive. This one will take care to ensure that the gestation cycle is slow, equal to or less than the rate at which humans can reproduce. Hopefully the production and gift of this new gender will be seen as the TRILAT coming to the rescue of a dying race."

The Oleifera pauses. "If the leaders of the TRILAT approve of this course of action, this one will need assistance in this venture. The biological agent which was so successfully deployed by Gilmour would be invaluable to designing another infective agent. This one would need access to many more research facilities and technicians as well. We would also need a means of spreading the inoculant throughout the plane of fire, perhaps a method which would ensure exposure to all Hive Queens... an infected diplomatic envoy, perhaps. Finally, a breed-able gender of Quall will have to be developed."

"This one humbly awaits the input of the TRILAT leadership."

Olifera,

This is a brilliant idea, and may not actually be offensive to the Builders, as your are not initiating extinction. However, this is a risk. Simply discussing this with us on secure channels is a risk. The Quall are many, and they are led by the Queens. If the Queens discovered the nature of your attack, we would lose one of our most significant advantages in this conflict; their squabbles.

I do not mean to discourage your development of this Choate. Far from it. However, the deployment of such a Choate must only come at such a time when we are confident in our ability to repel massive Quall incursions. In other words, if you do wish to develop such a choate, you must first develop others which can defend you from an attack by countless Quall. We have prototyped some vessels which may assist in this endeavor.

Further, timing will be important. The introduction of this should come during a time of confusion for the Quall. We can talk about this as the time approaches.

Prime

Michael sends out a videomessage as normal.

"I was actually thinking of trying something similar myself at some point, because I agree that simply killing off an entire species is... anathema. That being said, I do not think this approach will work. This is a species that has existed for a long period of time, and seemingly does not have difficulties with fertility. If they suddenly started becoming infertile, and I mean 'suddenly' on their time scale, they would search for the cause.

Even if they do not find it, they will blame the TRILAT. Of this I am nearly certain. None of their other foes have our technological sophistication or would approach the problem from that angle.

However, I do see a potential solution: you offer them the ability to be able to breed without the consumption of other sentient life. In providing them with that ability, their capacity to inject parasitic larvae will be compromised. This will actually work quite well for everyone, because it gives them an up-front choice to finally break from their cycle... a cycle that by many indications they do not like themselves.

I know that I personally would have a difficult time deciding how to approach this."

This is a matter for great consideration should it be proved that such a thing could be done. I do not share the sentiments of Micheal on all points. My experience with the Quall is extensive and I do not believe they are regretful of how they breed at all. I think they rather enjoy it. Their claims of disdain is a front. The Quall live and breed on domination. Furthermore, they would knowingly lose the advantage of assimilating information from the subject they implant. Offering such a solution openly would have no success given the current situation.

No, sterilization would have to be forced upon them or, as Unity Prime implies, we would need to change the Quall socially and/or politically in order to get them to openly accept this. Unity Prime is filled with all manner of confidence that such a thing could be accomplished. Yet I say confidence can often be misplaced, as it usually is with the Unity. Their ultra-tech can not solve all of their problems, as every solution opens the possibility for a more complex problem. The first Reclamation Citadel is a prime example of what I am talking about.

I disagree with Unity and say that such a thing must be discussed. If not we risk failure of catastrophic proportions. Suppose we change the Quall and they are forever able to breed without hosts. The suppose the Iron Republic takes the original Quall DNA and merges it with your modern derivative. We give them the opportunity to make Quall who can both implant and breed. I'm not discounting your idea, I'm simply saying it must be done right.

My position is that the Quall subsumes all life and all knowledge as a part of their nature. I personally would rather crush the last living Quall under me heel and call it a day, but if the very nature of the Quall could be changed with greater ease and with greater preservation of life, then I must be for it. Just don't be surprised if I still have need to wipe out a generation or two of their kind.

The Scientist replies.

"General Fe, I believe that what you are saying is true, and that the quall will not accept those terms. However, the light of its offer will annihilate their claims of disdain if they are indeed false.

I do not know about you, but I feel very uncomfortable forcing anything on an entire species without even allowing them to cooperate."

Well then, I say, in concurrence with Micheal, that we urge Oleifera to proceed and offer it up to the Quall publicly. Then they can lose face, publicly.

"What will the name of this New Quall subspecies be?"

"I only ask because we will then know the name of the new slave race to the Quall which we would be giving them, " Layne Yr said with a huff, "Why would the Quall say no. They will say yes force a few lesser Queens to take the treatment and then use their slower gestating changed...choates as hosts to real Quall Larva. "

A point we cannot ignore now that it has been brought up. We can not allow our research to become the Quall's advantage over us. Any modification of the Quall species has to be done in such a way that they are diminished. Meaning, whatever is done, it must be infectious and complete. Also, it must never be usable to make them into any hybrid of the two types.

“This one plans to introduce a choate which will rewrite each Quall’s genetic code, and prevent this code from being altered. It will be irreversible. It can be sudden, or slow. Even if it takes centuries for the entire race to be sterilized, so be it. This one would prefer to see the entire race instantly sterilized before offering them an alternative, but Prime is right – the retribution for such an act would be furious indeed.”

"Scientist Gilmour, this one’s race was not consulted before it was destroyed by the Neliff and Quall. The Quall did not ‘allow this one to cooperate’. This one sees no reason to hold our actions against them to a higher standard than the one they set for themselves!”

“This one does not believe that the Quall will willingly set aside their current system of civilization RAPE. This change can ONLY be forced upon them. This one would not recommend this option for any species besides Quall, and perhaps Neliff. Any creature which propagates itself at the expense of other SOULS must not be allowed free range of the universe!"
The Oleifera seems to bristle with rage. "This state must not continue! This one will not offer a solution to the Quall openly. No, it is they who must come to this one - begging for another chance at existence! Now, this one will not even begin research into a breeding Quall gender until it is asked... by the Queens themselves, humbly and contritely. And if that day never comes, then the Quall may feel free to bicker themselves into extinction!"

“If the TRILAT feels that the actions of this one would endanger it unduly, then this one will leave. You can all deny involvement in this matter, you may know of it, but at this point none have contributed towards it.”

The Oleifera pauses, then adds, “They would be called Quall N’Harem. Appropriate, no?”

The Scientist sends out another message quickly.

"But aren't we better than them? You seem to wish to succumb to your lesser instincts and emotions while condemning them for doing the same. Furthermore, you paint the entirety of the race with the same brush, and I quite uncomfortable with that methodology.

As an aside, I can't imagine their gestation time would be so fast as to make this form of reproduction more convenient than the one they have. Even if they had a few queens use this procedure, I see it as only advantageous."

Scientist Gilmour, if your C. Tyrannoctonus happens to mutate in such a way for it to have a prolonged incubation and infection cycle, we could well witness a plague of epic proportions. The ethical ramifications of that have not been addressed to date.

Throughout this one's study of history, it seems that the higher a species fecundity, the more aggressive and warlike they are. Invasive or weedy species often use this strategy to out-compete others. Species which have long gestation times and small batches of offspring spend more time rearing their young, forming family groups, and rarely initiate aggressive acts beyond defending family and territory. It would be quite interesting to see whether having fewer offspring could instill a sense of caution and pacifism in a species known for its unbridled expansion.



In any case, this one should not have brought the matter up prematurely. One does not know if the creation of such a choate is even possible. One merely wanted to know whether it would be aided in its research by any members of the TRILAT.

Scientist Gilmour, if you do not wish to be part of this project for moral reasons this one can understand. It would ask, however, if it could receive a sample of your C. Tyrannoctonus for further study. Would this be a problem?

The Scientist does not seem... pleased with the way the conversation is going.

"That is unlikely to the point of vanishing, and I already have several possible treatment options lined up should things progress to that point. However, considering that C. Tyrannoctonus is only able to survive inside very specific environments, the possibility for prolonged Quall to Quall transmission is low, assuming even modest quarantine procedures are used. There is no reservoir for this species, and there is no reason to believe it won't burn out.

I gave them fair warning, and told them what to do to minimize the damage as much as possible. Not much else to be done.

I agree completely on your second point.

I do not plan on releasing C. Tyrannoctonus to any third parties at this point in time."

"Which is really too bad. You see we have a carrort and stick situation here. We could offer the carrot in the form of altering their breeding patterns to these Quall N'Haram. We then show the stick in the form of the disease. Those that don't choose to change and adapt as we choose can be culled using Scientist Gilmours most effective plague."
Layne Yr adjusted her corset made of finest silk, it actually took an instilled Nightmare slave to pull it tight.
"We stand at a pivotal point in history. The Quall are distracted. They can be brought to heel in the first time since the Kias Wars. And if we do not cripple the Quall when we have our chance we will regret it. Maybe not today but ten, twenty years down the road we will regret not acting now."

This one will begin the appropriate research for both the sterilization choate and the breeding Quall N'Haram immediately then.

This one will, however, delay deployment of either until the heads of the TRILAT can reach a consensus as to where, when how they will be used. This one is new to the ideas of "tactics" and "strategy", so it will leave such things to those who know them best.

Layne Yr walked out into the portico overlooking the cul-du-sac. The Suburb of Yr in the Kingdom of Kasanth had a beautiful sunny day. The bright sunlight was causing smoke to rise off of the Nightmare slaves mowing the artificially green lawns.

Layne waved to passing neighbors who were smart enough to wave back and bow their heads in respect. Picking up her commcrystal she said,

"If Angel D was around, that psychotic bitch would demand we sterilize the Quall AND unleash the MHG killer plague.

I support a carrot and stick approach.

Prime, you handsome hunk of cloned flesh, what say you?"

The image of Prime smiled, taking in the discussion. It was an interesting point, and quite the situation brewed. At last, they were close to an end of the Quall's dominance.

"The Quall cover an imperceptible amount of territory. We cannot mistake the depth of the issue at hand, much as when the Quall did as they attacked Michael's holdings. The plauges we are crafting, and the other biological approaches to the Quall will become very important, but they are only part of the puzzle. We must also develop ways to tap into the weakness which binds all Quall; their collective mind. Considering how far the Quall have spread, there is no other reasonable way to deal with this threat.

As such, we must continue to develop weapons such that when we strike, the Quall will be crippled and unable to mount a counter-offensive. My oldest memories indicate this has been done before; with another race of Planar Knights. They were turned into simple savages, content to live lives without nations or conquest. We must make a psychic plague as potent as the physical ones we have designed. This will I will lay the groundwork through the data I have already collected.

In short; gather your armies. Once the final piece is in place, we will strike at the heart of Quall power. If any of you wish to help in the creation of this final plague, I would be happy for the assistance."

Layne Yr stopped breathing when she heard mention of the Sylvan Plague, the one that stripped them of their power. Most were left as savages, but a few chose undeath instead. She remembered facing the Warleoch Calphas one of the undead Sylvan and his power was incredible. But should she warn the rest of the TRILAT before they tried it that they could face a threat even worse than the Quall. An undead Quall Horde endless in number. The dangers were incalculable. But as her mentor Lurlock once said sometimes you have to break a few bodies to make a zombie.

She didn't say a word about her concerns and instead motioned for one of her Nightmares to get her a drink.

Instead she said,

"Prime
I will send you twenty Sylvan infected with the plague you referred to. Maybe you can extract it and modify it and we can end the Quall conquest once and for all. "

And the Legend of the TRILAT will spread, thought Layne Yr, for better or worse.

YES.

Layne Yr, and everyone involved in the conversation could hear a hum of anticipation, of hunger. The message was short.

"Layne Yr, we accept this gift gladly, and will extract what data we can from the planar knights. Armed with such knowledge, we will triumph over the countless legions of Quall."

Sylvan were one of the many species Admiral Yr had collected throughout the years. Her own failed attempt at creating Sylvan Undead like those used by her enemies I'Tash and Calphas had left her a small managerie filled with the living, if simple minded, creatures. Zela cuffs prevented them from escaping or using their prodigious power over Earth Leyas.

Admiral Yr sent four of her most Loyal Necro Adepts to deliver the "samples" into Prime's hands and Prime's hands only.

"The Sylvan Curse," said Admiral Yr, "I believe the ancient Kias Fleshweaver Vul developed it as a biological weapon. Or so he proudly claimed. A final punishment to the Sylvan for siding with the Falosini and against the Kias during the Kias Wars.

Do keep in mind Prime, that though simple creatures now, with no grand ambitions, the Sylvan are natural masters of channeling Earth Leyas. Try not to remove the cuffs until you have the subjects safely restrained."

Admiral,

Your description of the Sylvan is most intriguing. Perhaps I could be lent a few "samples" as well. There is something I would most dearly like to do with them as a side project of mine. Thank you, your input on these matters is thought provoking.

General Fe,

Of course I can send you five samples. Keep them i would prefer to not have them returned.
And try to avoid being enticed by them. I hear Sylvan have an aphrodisiac effect on Children of the Falosini.