Week 6 - The Fungal Menace and the Strange Dreams of Ar'yay HiveQueen

The Huge Fire Sea Sailer Warship landed on the top of an obsidian plateau overlooking Ar’yay Hive Queen’s largest population center on her new obsidian continent in Kyrpos.
It was not just any guest who Ar’yay greeted today. It was a representative of the HiveQueen’s council.
Ar’yay wondered if they were finally ready to have her replaced.
She had plans ready if that was their message.
Stepping from the Warship’s boarding ramp was a twelve foot tall Hive Queen clad in Red Fist Power Armor. Since the coming of Garmin Fe, all the Queens had begun wearing the costly power armor and life support device.
This queen was flanked by twelve Quall Warriors also in Red Fist armor.
Normally if this had not been announced, such a militaristic greeting would be construed as an act of war. But these were announced guests…at least for now.

Andara HiveQueen greeted Ar’yay HiveQueen respectfully and said, “Sister, I bring the greetings of myself and Kol Hagos HiveLord and a minority on the Hive Queen’s council. Who can call off your burning shadows, sister, I am not here to announce your execution or the arrival of your Hive daughter Lana Soregi. The Hive Queen Council is more concerned with pressing matters,” said Andara.

Ar’yay noticed the other HiveQueen’s Red Fist Armor actually had regimental markings. It wasn’t just power armor sold and bought on the blackmarket. It had been earned in service to the I.R.

“And what is so pressing that the Hive Queens send you to me?” asked Ar’yay, “What do they need from a rogue Hive Queen?”

“Nothing actually,” said Andara, “They are busy squabbling about how to counter the powers of Warmonger’s Hive King. Their arguments are circular and wastes of time. I come here with their permission, not at their behest. From one Hive Queen to another you should be warned about our tactical reports. From the east creeps the fungus of Michael Herbert Gilmour. Its spores are upwind of your position and they will be carried down upon your new continent. He has already consume one of the Makh islands and your old continent and turned it into a living mass of fungal matter. Our IR scientists have told us it is sentient matter in some way, and it has finally linked telepathically with Scientists Gilmour’s other habitats. It pulses with the same aura of an infant group consciousness.
I am here to offer my aid to you. 500,000 of my best Quall Sailors aboard my fleet of 200 Fire Sea Sailers. I have retired from I.R. Service, and this is all that remains of my fleet.
Days ago the fungus reached the small obsidian outcroppings only a mile offshore. Soon the clouds will begin to convert your new continent. Either I can aid you evacuate, or I can aid you in defending your home.”

Ar’yay laughed a roaring laugh, “Evacuate, I will not evactuate. I do not care if he is growing a fungal Hivemind out there. I will not retreat again from that puny scientist.”

Andara nodded, saluted Ar’yay respectfully and turned on her heel and walking up to her airships. It would soon be time for battle. And an old ally was waiting for Andara HiveQueen.
Sector General Deer stood before his former commanding officer and snapped into a tight salute. The Quall Queen's bovine face did turn into its version of a genuine smile. Her top left hand returned it.
"Andara HiveQueen, it has been many years Sir," said Sector General Deer. His voice was full of genuine love."

"I am well, but I have heard the Polar Expanse has fallen into disrepair since I left," She said.

Sector General Deer bowed his head in shame, "I failed you and all that you taught me, Andara Hive Queen."

"But you seemed so proud of your work against the Unity Core last year?" asked Andara.

"I Did," said Deer, "But while my balls were being crushed by the Board of Directors, the Estrain took over a third of the Polar Expanse. That was my failure. I should have."

One of her four hands came up and pressed to his lips silencing him.

"Oh Sanford, why don't you join the Horned Dogs?" asked Andara, "I could make you my General."

"No, you would make the host to the Quall N'drone who would be your general," said Deer in anger. Their ideas of love always clashed in these moments.

"Andara because you are here I will stand by your side. 500 Starfighters, Chaos-Class, have been heat shielded to allow them to fight here for you, to protect your fleet of Leyas Airships. They will lay down their lives for your team's survival and success," said Deer.

"The HiveQueen's Council say you don't like Ar'yay HiveQueen," said Andara HiveQueen.

"I don't like she spits on me with her words and deeds. She disregards and disrespects the red uniform and all who wear it. She views us as slaves," said Deer angrily. He was so angry flames actually appeared behind him.
"She is old news anyway. Her hive will have a new queen soon enough, and hopefully that one will at least appreciate all the I.R. Officers that have laid their lives on the line for their Quall comrades."

"And vice versa," said Andara in agreement.

"Out of respect for you," said Deer, "I will send in 500,000 Brethren Furies with Liquid Nitrogen sprayers to help clean up the surface of the continent. Once Ar'yay confirms all clear on the surface, the Furies will place charges and prepare to blow the living continent into bits. At that moment 200,000 Quall N'fel will be prepared to open energy bridges linked to energy bridges into 10% of the TRIDENT Missile Ships I have in orbit over TRILAT worlds. They will redirect this fungal threat back on the people who birthed it."

“An Excellent plan,” said Andara, “And what have I always said about plans?”

“They rarely survive contact with the enemy,” Deer said from wrote memory, “I believe it will be true of this one too.”

They began to order their soldiers into position as the Armies of Ar’yay Hive Queen manned their defenses below. Taking a deep breath of the hot humid air, Captain Hafendurum enjoyed the taste. The air before a battle always tasted a little sweeter than normal air. He wasn't quite sure why but even within his Red Fist Power armor the air was just better. He stood on the command deck of their new Bastion Siege Strider and had to marvel a bit at the human technology. It certainly added a bit of flavor to the standard attack methods.

The strider was flanked by 20 IR siege tanks as well all preparing their artillery cannons to fire at the target. Of course these weapons were useful but on their own they wouldn't be enough.

The Captain smiled, his men did the final touches by artificing the ammunition with chill, the attacks would strike at the enemy from afar and shut down their technomatic parts. They were deployed on a small island off the coast of the primary Quall Hive. The island was named Gorback'en and would be the staging ground for the attack.

Along with the Artillery tanks there were twenty Anti-air Striders with Helios Cannons provided by Sector General Palomedes to protect the Bastion also provided by him and the tanks provided by Sector General Deer before the man became a total insufferable ass.

In addition to this artillery the mothership "Flaming Justice" shall fire its EMP missiles at the Fungus from far above the blast zone. It shall keep its Raptors and Striders in reserve in case anyone tries to interfere with the operation.

While the bombardment was taking place the signal would be given to the forces positioned underneath the fungus to activate their shadow and chill artifacts to strike at the Fungus from below. They had been patiently waiting for weeks for the order, preparing to lay a foundation of chill in order to prevent the Fungus from simply burrowing below thus avoiding the bombardment.

The enemy was smart, they prepared for an attack by flame, fire made the filth worse, now with Chill the disgusting fungus would meet its match.

Cracks ran through half of the continent closest to Ar’yay HiveQueen. Obsidian Piercer Subs had been hiding below the continent for weeks waiting to strike. The subs had purposely cut the continent half a mile down, causing it to shift and slide on its obsidian base. As the explosives set by the furies went off half fell into pieces and were tossed into the sky spraying strange new spores everywhere.

The Quall on both armies not inside Power Armor realized they had just released a new bio weapon upon themselves. A defense that Scientist Gilmour had created just in case the Quall decided to attack his little fungal continent.

Though, to be honest he initially hadn’t thought it an attack.

Michael was watching, of course. He was always watching; indeed, he couldn't stop watching. And, of course, he saw the slow buildup of forces arrayed on Ar'yay's continent, not far from his own holdings. Such an impressive sight of military might didn't do much to concern him- this was a time of war, after all. As far as The Scientist knew, no Unity or TRILAT forces were currently engaged in a ground war with either the Iron Republic or Ar'yay, and as such this was likely some sort of assault on the EEF, or the E-strain, or some other threat he cared little about.

After all, Unity tended to take care of such things for him. He had more important business.

And with that, he didn't give those forces an additional thought.

The fact he could detect some measure of motion below him didn't phase The Scientist in the slightest. why would it? He had been given the HiveQueen's blessing to use these lands... hell, that was nearly the only communication that he and Ar'yay ever joined in. It had started off somewhat rocky, but the fact she was expelled from the other hives seemed to sweeten her mood. Or something like that. Michael wasn't too interested in delving into Quall politics.

He had more important business.

It came as a bit of a surprise when he saw and heard the reports of weapons fire coming from Ar'yay's location. A mothership currently passing overhead also seemed to be opening fire, clearly not destined for Ar'yay's hive as he had suspected. This information instantly ripples through the whole of Michael's network, trying to make sense of what was going on. A billion scenarios play out in his mind, trying to figure out what was happening, even as those projectiles slowly made their way through the air above his holdings.

He had been lied to. She had lied to him.

He was told she was different. Prime had dealt with her in several instances, and seemed to have some measure of respect for her. In all dealings, he had no difficulties taking her word at face value, trusting her statements to be true. Surely this had to be some sort of mistake; she wouldn't attempt something this rash. In moments, a message was composed and sent to the Hive Queen in the normal fashion. It consisted of a familiar, expressionless, drab scientist in that same, featureless room as always. It would reach her receivers as those projectiles were hitting the apex of their arcs, their motion upward finally drained away by the inexorable tug of gravity's embrace.

"I apologize Hive Queen, but I must be brief. I believe you are shelling my emplacements, and I request you immediately halt. These lands were given to me by you, and as such this sudden turnaround is quite unexpected."

He then waits. This had to be a mistake.

The first impacts would be meaningless. Concussive force would spread him far and wide, compounding her new-found problems. The EMP missiles he detected above had to be some sort of a joke as well. Was this truly an assault? EMP against biological matter?

It took him moments after the first blast to realize it had been laced with Leyas, which was a much more significant problem. It sucked the life out of all biomass within the blastzone, leaving nothing to spread out and fill the air.

The continent had shattered down the middle, and he realized the scope of the attack.

The teleportation matrices that riddled the inside of the fungal biomatrix would quickly hum to life, covering all attacking forces within reach with the housekeeping fungi that stuck to nearly everything in this place. Even if it couldn't move quickly, it was still quite dangerous... especially when teleported onto something. Non-quall forces would find themselves covered with it as soon as they were detected, hindering their movements, obscuring their vision, and eating away at their armor.

Due to his accuracy enhancements, even flooding the inside of their biohazard suits would not be beyond his capacities, though he would not waste such methods on any non-quall taking part in the assault- after all, their internal temperatures were not likely high enough to maintain growth for long at all. The Mothership was also given similar treatment, with the main goal of jamming it up with Housekeeping Fungus and decomposing those infuriating weapons systems.

All quall forces, however, would be attacked with C. Tyrannoctonus. It would be teleported into their containment suits, into their tanks, past whatever defenses they tried to erect. Michael would not target population centers within range, however. C. Tyrannoctonus rather enjoyed the high temperatures the Quall provided.
It would provide euphoria, unconsciousness, and death, in that order, and at great speed. It should not survive more than a few hours in the atmosphere, however, though all the above is from Michael's testing 'labs.' Ar'yay did tell him to be prepared, after all.

But when it was unleashed by the fungal continent it spread like wildfire among the Flayers, the Quall, and even further. C. Tyrannoctonus would cut down a huge percentage of the Quall army over the next several days of land clearing that continued.

Most of the people infected didn’t even know a few spores of the contaminant had been teleported inside their armor.

Then came the thousands of little nippers. They struck as the Hive was most vulnerable, brought low by the spreading disease. They clipped heads left and right, stealing brain matter for the Unity to analyze. But perhaps the worst was the group that broke into the Obsidian temple of Ar’yay HiveQueen. Hundreds swarmed her until the brave queen disappeared under a mount of Nippers. Finally one sized hold and clipped her head clean off. They leapt from the location as fast as they could with the head of the Quall Queen. Of course Palomedes’ Quall N’fel Medics were on the scene, converting the Quall Queen back to life so she could continue to lead her Hive. She was only down for a minute and Palomedes army of 100,000 Brethren moved into position adding their mach rifles to the defense of her sickening forces.

C. Tyrannoctonus was wiping out the Quall of Ar’yay HiveQueen’s Hive.

She could feel Andara reach out to her through the telepathic link all Quall Queens share.
“Ar’yay, please tell me you can find some cure to this plague.”

Ar’yay so far, had been immune to its affects directly, but Andara was not so lucky. Her airship had gotten to close to the fungal continent and the C. Tyrannoctonus was killing her. Her hive had already withdrawn, trying to take her from the field of battle.

Deer had watched her die in his arms. It might have been the only time the mad man Deer shed a tear for anyone.

He sat on the shores of Ar’yay’s continent with Palomedes and his own remaining Brethren. A box of IR MPGs and Abalative rockets next to him. He led the soldiers in the drilling exercise, using live fire training on Giant Nightmares riding Giant Nightmare Sharks across the lava sea towards them.


One of the technicians came up to him, “We have a problem Sector General. These fungi have made its way into the lava itself. These fungi are now growing like sea weeds on the waves of a planet like Earth.”

“How far has it spread?” asked Deer with concern as he fired another ablative rocket. This one struck the open mouth of the Fire Sea Shark, gumming it closed, sealing the frost generators inside.

“Miles,” said the technician, “And regular curative methods don’t seem to work.”

“Nanites?” asked Deer

“No luck,” said the technician, “The Nanites restore the fungal infection to life as well.”

“Tell Ar’yay HiveQueen she’s proper fucked.”

Important Notes-

Garmin Fe's fleet did not fire a shot in defense of the Fungal Continent. Only Kasanthians did under Layne Yr.

Le-a HiveQueen lost all 5,000 Red Fists to the C. Tyrannoctonus.

Ar'yay lost 1 Billion Quall and Flayers to the outbreak of C. Tyrannoctonus.

Andara HiveQueen is dead another victim of C. Tyrannoctonus, along with her entire crew.


Rewards-

All players involved in this mission gain

1 Small Volcanic World
pop: 1 Million former I.R. Colonists who once called Andara their leader
Defense force : Blue
Leyas Level: 3


Post a description of the new world on your individual planet thread. Once you have named it an described what it focuses on then post a link in a housekeeping thread for week 7-8 and we will place your planet. (please also pick an open planet slot you will remember.