Warworld (Bahl'n)

Posts: 292

<b>Disclaimer</b>: Ten standard years have passed since the discovery of the unidentified ships deep under Matrix 1 and our research teams have finally discovered the full story behind the meaning of the ancient vessels and have also progressed Daemun personal knowledge in our history. The following is a recounting of events put together from mission logs, data recorders, holographic tapings, computer memory and various other newly recovered sources discovered in an archeological dig in Dameo's lowland plains regions. Materials dating places found sources in the prehistory era of the known timeline of events in the Dameun system. The find predates the current Neo-Dameun populace of Dameo and seems to indicate an arrival of Dameun people to the system, suggesting an extra-system origin to our race or a possible pre-Daemun inspired space program of a time gone past.

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The constellation of Aqulis, or the Waterfall, lay across the known galaxy falling inside the arm passing through Imperium space. The most prominent star in this group is Ashtair, center of the Dameun system. This system, when found in the earliest times by its Daemun settlers, was found to possess a planetary system of six major bodies. Three of the orbiting spheres were circling too close to Ashtair itself to be habitable, and displayed no signs of life. The fifth, Dameo, was found to be in perfect orbit for colonization with little in the way of sentient life for competition. The sixth was closely associated, and swung in its irregular path far out into the darkness. It was also uninhabitable, but for the opposite reason. Bahl'n was a very different position and although a hotter and harsher world than Dameo, was certainly capable of supporting life.

A closer look was certainly worth having, and the expedition force entered the orbital path of the planet, taking up station near the perimeter and in the shadow of Bahl'n, while two of the scout ships carried moved into orbit to ascertain whether intelligent life existed there. After one or two unfortunate incidents previous to the colonization of Dameo, it was now recognized that caution in these circumstances was by far the best policy. The sudden appearance of unexpected and unknown ships in the territory of a race with an advanced technology could easily have an undesirable effect. While one of the scouts took up a halfway position in case of trouble, the other moved closer in to scan the large continental masses, which lay surrounded by warm, shallow seas. The greater part of the surface seemed to consist of huge desert areas ringed by dry and craggy mountain ranges devoid of any major forms of vegetation. In the more temperate latitudes the terrain was primarily scrubland streaked with ribbons of richer growth which marked the paths of a number of sluggish, soil-laden rivers. The Polar Regions were covered in extremely dense forest pierced by many larger peaks, and it was here that the first indications of an important life-form were detected...

Sully Anre

Posts: 292

The various sensors being used by the scout picked up curious differences in the formation and composition of a number of the isolated peaks, while closer inspection suggested that they might be artificial constructions. In addition, the mountains displaying these phenomena appeared to be the focal point of what could only be described as roads of some kind. The vessel remained in a tight orbit for several days, maintaining a constant observation, but there was no sign of life among these odd sites. Eventually it was decided to move into the thin atmosphere of the planet, and selecting one of the peaks, the ship moved in. As it approached it became obvious that these were indeed the handiwork of a highly skilled intelligence.

Composed of a variety of materials, an interlinked complex of structures had been built covering most of the steep rock, but of its occupants there was no sign. As the ship closed it became apparent that the settlement had not been maintained for a long time, and the elements had taken their toll. Some structures had collapsed entirely and others would soon follow despite the massiveness of their construction. There were few apertures in the surfaces of the many buildings, the overall impression being of a fortification of some kind. The roads that radiated out from the base were being reclaimed by the thick forests and their surfaces were dotted with sprouting vegetation.

During one of the early treks in this terrain they stumbled across an area containing a number of large cobweb-like structures. They were composed of an immensely strong material which defied analysis, and in places, were so thickly distributed that it was impossible to pass. They seemed to be concentrated in specific areas with clear ground between. After circumventing several of these remarkable phenomena, the team saw another ahead of them. They were reluctant to make yet another detour, and were on the point of retracing their steps when one of the parties noticed an unusual rock structure in the heart of the webby mass. Whereas the terrain had always been jagged and angular, this outcrop was smoother and stood apart from the jumble of stone surrounding it. They decided to get as close as possible in order to take a holovid record before returning to base, and clambered over the crags towards it. The closer they approached, the more unnatural the object looked, until they suddenly realized that this was no rock formation.

As they stood at the edge of the web-field, they stared in bewilderment at the unmistakable outline of a spacecraft. It was even possible to identify the ship as belonging to a type that had been developed during the earlier years of planetary settlement. Although the ship had obviously made a crash landing, it had not been destroyed, but time and the elements had taken their toll and the portion that was visible was in very poor condition. Whether the webs that enmeshed it were more recent was impossible to tell, but the team decided to return and report their find.

The next day the survey team flew directly to the spot and landed as near to the wreck as the web permitted. Using lasers, they cut their way with difficulty through the tough strands until they were beside the corroded and collapsing ruin. Items of old-fashioned equipment could be seen scattered among the rocks, but only the most durable objects had survived the centuries. The unfortunate passengers had probably died during the forced landing, and those that survived would probably have perished soon after, if not from radiation exposure from the reactor, then from lack of food or water.

No other fauna had been seen in the region and it was supposed that it was devoid of animal life, but bones found near the wreck demonstrated otherwise, as they did not belong to any species that the colonists would have carried. It was later learned that there were a few nocturnal creatures living among the crags in deep caves and fissures. The idea that one of them was responsible for the curious cobwebs was later disproved as analysis found them to be a plant form which drew nourishment from airborne moisture and particles of organic matter.

This information was relayed back to the rest of the group and the scout was instructed to move further south. Two familiar formations were seen before the jungle began to thin out, but both were in the same condition as the first, and the original inhabitants once again seemed to have disappeared. The carpet of green gradually gave way to the tough, yellowish vegetation of the scrubland. The landscape here was formed of a series of plateaus and ridges among which infrequent rivers wound their way. At this altitude several other constructions could be seen which would have been barely discernible from the surrounding land, all being of low and massive build, suggestive of a defensive purpose.

The captain decided to risk a landing and set the ship down near one of these formidable artifacts. While the rest of the crew trained the vessel's light armament on the target, the captain and two men set out in a land scooter. Settling on the ground beside the building, the men noted that there were no seams or joints in the smooth surface of its walls. Spotting a small aperture in the side wall, they dismounted and walked over to what was clearly a weapons slit, from which projected the snout of a barreled weapon in an advanced state of corrosion. Large flakes of material fell away when the barrel was touched, but was impossible to determine the nature of the weapon.

One side of the building was found to be almost entirely filled by a large metal plate recessed into the stone-like material. The captain spoke into his communicator, the scout ship lifted off and swung round to the side where they stood, and after the three men moved clear, a vivid streak of laser lashed out, vaporizing an area of the plate. The men peered into the darkness beyond as they waited for the metal to cool, but nothing could be seen except for the fading glow of the opposite wall where the laser had hit. Once inside, however, they found a large chamber filled with decayed and corroded equipment and a huge machine resembling a projectile launcher of some kind. Several circular doors led off into smaller rooms all as empty and derelict as the first. Whoever had been responsible for creating this grim structure had made it for creatures of considerable size, to judge by the doorways and passages.

They returned to the ship to make their report and were told to await the arrival of the other scout ship, which arrived overhead eight hours later. Together the ships moved off further south towards the great desert plains, searching for any sign of movement on the ground beneath. Suddenly a scanner operator shouted. In the lee of a ridge ahead stood a group of extraordinary structures unlike any they had seen so far. Each one was different but shared a common style, the general impression being of a clump of huge plants. One of the scouts landed nearby as the other hovered above, and while some of the crew remained to handle the weapons systems, the rest set out in the scooters towards the gaunt, dark towers ahead. As they approached they saw the entire complex was made of a metal, with the slender stems of the structures supporting a much larger mass of domes and spheres. Despite the general air of desolation lights gleamed from many of the hundreds of tiny apertures, and a thin plume of smoke issued from a gash torn in the side of one of the larger domes. The men spread out as the ship above them ran through a series of signals in an attempt to make contact with any occupants there might be. If anything was in there, it did not respond, and nothing could be seen moving behind the many windows.

Cautiously, the men on the ground moved in among the high pillars, trying to discover a way into the strange buildings, which were in a far greater state of derelictions than they had seemed to be from a distance. One of the team eventually found a place where a section of wall had fallen away completely, and clutching their beamers, a party clambered into the interior. A spiral ramp ran in stages up the circular shaft, vanishing through a floor far above. They made their way upwards, covering each other as they moved until they arrived on the first level. Here the structure divided into a number of passages and compartments. Although there were quite a few lights operating it began to seem likely that these were energized by a self-replenishing power source, for the general air was one of emptiness and neglect. Nearly all the compartments were devoid of any signs of habitation and contained no fittings or equipment of any description. Some, however, were filled with banks of equipment, but their functions were obscure, particularly in view of their advanced state of decay...

Sully Anre

Posts: 292

One of the team suddenly noticed that the sand which had entered via the many cracks in the structure and now lay in a thick carpet over the floors of the rooms had in some places been disturbed. The men gripped their weapons, looking apprehensively around them at the dozens of empty corridors and chambers. As they stood there, they became aware of a host of small sounds previously unnoticed against the subdued hum of the unseen power source. Carefully and silently, they moved more quickly among the maze of passages, climbing up from level to level. The intermittent noises were more audible now, and in some places a haze of dust hung in the shafts of light which penetrated from breaks in the outer skin. One of the men glimpsed a sudden movement in the entrance to a room and shouted as a large metallic object hurled towards them, glancing off a wall with a resounding clang before thumping on to the dusty floor. Reacting instinctively, the entire party threw themselves down and fired a fusillade of shots into the chamber. There was the sound of a body falling inside, and two men dashed to the doorway. Peering round the edge they saw a large, sandy-furred creature lying slumped on the floor. A blast beam had torn a hole in its side from which a thin, pinkish fluid leaked into the dust.

Some eight feet in height and powerfully built, the bulky body appeared to be covered in a leathery, scaled skin with wiry fur growing from the joints between the large scales. The forelegs were curiously slender, terminating in a number of delicate finger-like projections, while the head was large and set close to the heavy shoulders. The front of the head was dominated by a broad slit fringed with a fine down and a flap of skin covered a mouth equipped with an armory of triangular, razor sharp teeth. The eyes were set wide in the skull and seemed to be covered in a translucent membrane.

The men had gathered round to stare at the huddled form when there was a shrill whistling and the huge bulk of another of the creatures hurtled in through the door, swinging a heavy metal bar which crushed the skull of the nearest men and sent him sprawling against a wall. Three blasters erupted and the enormous shape dissolved, its remnants crashing into the group and bowling them over like skittles. As they clambered to their feet, the leader spoke rapidly into his communicator, and they spread out to search the rest of the tower. Nothing else was found in the upper sections except evidence that this was where two beings had been living. Their excretions were scattered among the passages and piles of large bones suggested a carnivorous diet. It was with considerable relief that the party returned to the hot, bright light outside, and it was decided that the rest of the towers should be investigated by other means.

Infra-red and sound analysis equipment was carried from one of the ships and the technicians began the slow and laborious task of setting up to scan the tall structures for evidence of other life-forms. The long twenty-two hour day was beginning to close by the time that the various readings had confirmed the absence of other inhabitants.

By now the light was fading and the ships withdrew to the north for the night, amid much speculation as to the whereabouts of the species responsible for all the artifacts so far discovered. A force field was set up around the two ships nestled amongst the stones of a rocky outcrop, and contact was made with the force still far out in space, which set off immediately to join the advance group. As the others were occupied with setting up of the defenses and preparing food, a few strolled off to look at the shattered remains of another of the squat bunkers seen earlier in the day. It was broken and gutted, with little but the external walls remaining, but of significant interest were several intact missile launchers sited in an arc around the ruin. These were intact, though badly corroded and overgrown with tough, fibrous plants, and were clearly the product of an advanced military technology. If the species that constructed them still existed, they were going to pose a much greater problem than the creatures they had already encountered.

The next day the scouts were informed that the main group was in local orbit and that one of the large research ships was on its way down to join them. On its arrival, the entire force set off in a slow sweep towards the south, scanning the landscape below as it cruised overhead. Once beyond the distinctive forms of the settlement seen the day before, it slowed even further and dropped to a height of a few hundred meters above the surface. As the ships rounded a promontory of spiny hills they saw a vast flat waste spreading to the horizon. As far as the eye could see hundreds of huge, skeletal forms lay scattered, black against the sand and shale which was shimmering in the early heat. There was no doubt that they had come across the scene of some ancient and devastating battle that had left the desert strewn with the wrecks of war craft of every size and description. The ships settled into the sand, and once the whine of power units had died away, there was no sound but the song of the wind among the ghostly shapes and low dunes. Streamers of dust eddied among the twisted and broken forms that lay half buried in the gritty soil.

After several soundless minutes the men shook off their temporary paralysis and prepared themselves for a closer study of the eerie scene. While the two scouts lifted to provide cover, a large party from the research ship mounted their crawlers and scooters and followed one another out through the airlocks to reconnoiter. One of the first wrecks they encountered was that of a small aircraft, its nose section pointing forlornly towards the sky. Clambering up the once colorful fuselage, they found the bones of a large creature scattered in the spacious cockpit amidst a host of instruments and controls. Powdery shreds of a costume of some kind were tangled amongst the grim remains and a yellowing shape could be seen through the faceplate of the flaking helmet. Meanwhile, some of the technicians were pulling away fragments of the hull and peering in at the machinery nestling inside. Despite the degree of protection afforded by what was left of the hull, the interior was also in a sorry state, although a nuclear-powered turbine was identified. Only residual radiation was being emitted by the wreck, well within the limits of humanoid tolerance, and equipment was soon being set up to try and asses the age of the craft.

While this was going on, another party set off, the breeze rapidly dispersing the billowing clouds their vehicles raised. Most of the derelict machines they saw were of a gargantuan size, dwarfing the tiny vehicles on the desert floor, and could not have operated in the denser gravity of Dameo. The crawlers came to a halt beneath the nearest of these giants, and the ant-sized figures of its crew dismounted, while the comforting presence of a scout ship hovered overhead. The stained and pitted wall of the sinister machine rose up to fill the sky, bright sunlight glinting through the many cracks and holes in the collapsing metal. Access was gained easily through one of the fissures at ground level, and once inside the impression of size was almost overwhelming. The ceiling was almost invisible in the dimness and the whole interior had the air of a cathedral, the gloom heightened by brilliant shafts of light lancing at an angle towards the floor. Most of the many floors and levels had long since surrendered to gravity and debris and wreckage lay in mountainous heaps a third of the way up the machine’s height, the jagged fragments softened by drifts of sand. It was almost impossible to determine the machine’s means of motive power from the jumble of metal beneath their feet, and they returned to the vehicles to look elsewhere...

Sully Anre

Posts: 292

At that moment, several large, clumsy shapes lumbered out of the shadows at the opposite end of the hulk and disappeared into another nearby wreck. They were the same species as those encountered before, and with weapons at the ready the party headed for the place they had entered. Stopping just outside the cavernous ruin, the crawlers’ external speakers played a standard non-verbal communication tape designed specifically for an initial contact with an alien intelligence, but there was no response. After discussion with the main craft, holographic projectors were brought by the scout ship and used to project the image of naked and unarmed men, hands outstretched, in front of the breach through which they had entered.

The creatures abruptly burst from the darkness and, heading for the holograph, swung wildly at the images with their makeshift weapons. Confused and frustrated, they stopped and starred about them, then rushed furiously towards the crawler. Left with no alternative, the beamers were set to minimum power and trained on the attackers. When they were triggered, the creatures all tumbled headlong into the sand. A few moments later the crew emerged and walked over to the motionless forms, hand weapons raised to cover them. Of the five, three had died under the impact of the beams, which were really intended for heavier uses, but two were still alive. The medical team was rushed to the spot, and while they set about establishing the biological nature of the creatures, a temporary research shelter was hastily erected round them. As fast as the equipment could be brought in it was plugged into their bodies, and while a computer was busily working out their physical make-up, the floor was slipped into place, the sand and dust sucked out and the whole airtight unit sealed. Guards stood by in case the creatures recovered before the computer could work out the drug formulae necessary to keep them sedated, but they were not required. By the time the answers were coming it was already clear that both beings had suffered extensive internal injuries and was unlikely to survive long.

Once this was known psych records were linked to the creatures’ brains. By introducing thousands of visual images into their minds and recording the resulting neural response patterns, an electroscopic ‘language’ could be created. This being entirely a computerized function, a basic neural vocabulary could be established in two or three hours. It was then a case of inputting appropriate groups of stimuli to form specific questions and then decoding the reply in terms of established visual vocabulary. Although it is extremely difficult to frame and interpret complex or specialized information by this means, the method is entirely suitable for gaining a generalized insight into background and is widely used in breaking down linguistic barriers between alien races.

Once the ‘language’ had been established, the lengthy process of interrogation began, and piece by piece a remarkable picture emerged. Bearing in mind that these creatures would probably possess only local knowledge, they appeared to be aware of facts that they were unlikely to have known through personal experience. This suggested that they must have either had strong racial memories or been the recipients of knowledge passed on from earlier generations. In any event the picture that was built up was one which went back a considerable time.

It appears that these creatures were the direct descendants of a sentient and advanced species which had represented the highest evolutionary form existing on this world. They were carnivorous, and the extremely limited resources of their harsh environment had led to the evolution of an aggressive and competitive race. The sparseness of other life forms and the restricted food chains, allied to a high reproductive rate, had resulted in the species becoming primarily cannibalistic. Although the level of technological ability was advanced enough to enable the race to exploit the geophysical resources of the planet, it could not create a solution to compensate for the acutely limited biological resources. Science was therefore harnessed to the end of achieving the dominance of one tribal group over another. Inevitably, individual societies had polarized, until virtually all tribal groups had allied themselves to one camp or another.

The planet had eventually become the battleground for an ever more sophisticated and apparently interminable war. The litter of wrecks and ruins which can be found over the entire planet dates from many periods of this war, the end of which only came when the protagonists had succeeded in virtually wiping each other out. Even the shallow seas of this bleak world contained relics of the cataclysmic war which had wiped out the planets inhabitants, a powerfully armed submersible was found on a sandy shelf during one of many explorations conducted by Daemun teams.

Nuclear weapons had eventually been developed, these ultimately ending the escalation. Even now they were responsible for the uninhabitable and still fiercely radioactive belts in the equatorial regions. The few survivors had been scattered and had eventually regressed. Their already limited resources were now even more depleted and the struggle to survive had become even more intense. As a result even family units failed to develop satisfactorily, and a group of creatures as large as the one encountered proved to be a rarity.

Not all this information was extracted from the survivors, who died fairly soon after the investigation began. But enough had been learned for subsequent explorations and studies to fill out the rest. Although a number of development concerns are now licensed to operate on this unhappy world, there are many sociological teams working with groups of the native inhabitants to help them develop their society again with technological aid supplied by the Daemun people. It is hoped that in the future they will be able to participate actively in Daemun affairs. In the mean time the grim debris of an earlier age stands as a warning against the closed circle that can only too easily engulf a civilization...

Sully Anre

Posts: 292

Our neighbors today seem to have progressed little since those days bygone, although a good deal of the more primitive wrecks have disintegrated into nothingness, and the structures of unremarkable build have returned to the land they were mined from. Plant life seems to have retaken the planet once lost to it as well as the radiation levels being brought back down to what seems today as a planetary standard. This shows the age and depth of these recordings in the merest fact of what has happened in the course of time to our nearest habitable neighbor. The species there today is nothing more to us than an ape is to the average human, the regression seems to have continued on in the species without the regard of our mystery ships helpers.

An intriguing perspective of these new views into the past is the fact that even when these distant ships first arrived in our home system so long ago, our neighbor’s world had already borne its trial in flames. A civilization rose to the height of technological power before any known prehistory civilization (With probable exception to the Corriliean system and possibly Coruscant). Self destroyed before even being discovered, these war like beings could have been as advanced as the Daemun people today, and perhaps thus is our legacy. To live on in our combined heritage. The heritage of explorers, of scientists, of those who reach into the unknown to pull back a little piece of discovery with them in each grasp.

A single glimpse into the past has also been allowed as the same data records of this age long past has given us a short recording of a ‘colony ship’ of which was reported landing on the fourth planet of our system. While no clue’s as to its origin or even the reason this system had been selected for it have been found, the same scouting expeditions have been found with semi-detailed recordings of having found said ship intact on the planets surface. While teams today seem unable to locate any such wreck, in ages long past our home system seems to have been a hot bed of interstellar activity.

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A scout ship searching for mineral-rich worlds set down on the sandy surface of Ashtair IV. A base was established and for several weeks skimmers and crawlers criss-crossed the surface in their investigations. During one of these expeditions, the three-man crew of the skimmer saw the huge, spectral shape of a ship’s hull emerge from the heat-distorted horizon as they sped towards it.

The towering hulk was badly deteriorated and the evidence indicated it to have been the victim of a reactor overload. Most of the stern section had disappeared and large areas of the remains and surrounding surface were still emitting fairly intense radiation. The three men wandered round the desolate ruin and eventually came across grim reminders that the silent and decaying ship looming over them had once contained life. Here and there among the drifts of sand lay the strangely alive-looking shapes of pressure suits which contained only the yellowing bones of the owners.

The wreck was duly charted and logged as routine procedure. Once the scout ship had completed its task, it rejoined its companions at Bahl'n and to whatever fate dictated its arrival at the hands of our archaeologists. One can only hope that the importance of our home system and its checkered past will someday become fully known to us so we may come to closure with our true beginnings and continue forward with our combined future...