Hive Cluster Mitsuki

[Ironshot]

Central Command Hub, Trading Post, Leviathan Breeding Ground, Recruiting Post, Diplomatic Center.  Hive Cluster Mitsuki is all of these things... or will be once fully developed.




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"Alice, how would you like to be in charge of the central command hub for this sector?  If you accept, you'll need to gather a few Primals to run a trading post and perhaps an arena.  Include a few infestation pools for volunteers and once everything is up and running start spawning more Leviathans," Chris Ham says to one of his Brood Mothers as the first Hatchery and Spore Crawlers deploy to an asteroid with roughly three times the surface area of Japan.

"I would be delighted my Lord," the Brood Mother replies even as Chris deploys to the fledgling Hive Cluster himself.  Within the next half hour, the Lord of Blades has grown the initial Hatchery into a Lair with a full compliment of support structures and another four Hatcheries along with snaring a couple of smaller asteroids with the resulting Creep while Brood Mother Alice has gathered a pair of Primal Zerglings and three Primal Ultralisks to handle shop keeping.  For Cluster security, Chris has spawned a battalion of Swarmlings and two squads of Hydralisks.

[Ironshot]

Just as the shop keepers finish setting up, a portal made of 1s and 0s opens up beside the original Spawning Pool and spits out a woman who seems to be wearing boots made of pure water and a literal fire bra as well as having sand for hair.


"Whoops, this doesn't look like Luna.  I'm Wiccamon.  Could you tell me where I am?  I seem to have gotten lost," states the odd woman.


"I'm Chris Ham: Lord of Blades.  This is the newly established Hive Cluster Mitsuki in the asteroid belt of the Sol system.  Based on your appearance, I'm guessing any purchases will be paid in biomass rather than credits.  To your left are five shops run by Primal Zerg where you can buy weapons and armor while on your right on the opposite side of the Spawning Pools you'll find an arena where you can participate in friendly fights against various staff members.  There is also the option to join my Zerg Swarm but you would then have to deal with the enemies of the Zerg targeting you for having Zerg DNA," Chris replies to Wiccamon.

[Ironshot]

"How much for a sparring session?" Wiccamon asks as a black haired girl with an emerald mark on her forehead prowls up to her.


"It's 5 metric tons per hour of sparring.  It appears Emerald would be interested." Chris says as the black haired girl rises into a crouch that reveals hints Emerald isn't wearing anything.


"Me fight customer?"  Emerald queries in rough English.  The tone of her voice suggests she is used to barking and growling rather than any form of sentient speech.  In answer, Wiccamon creates a fire whip encased in a layer of hurricane force winds.

[Zelth]

((A bit stuck at the moment so I'll join you here until I know what to do about the Earth thread, I will also be giving Zelth a reboot too so for the moment she won't be using any of the tech mentioned in the profile (except the pak and ship)... ))

A small ship crawls to a halt its engine stuttering horribly as it attempts to stay above the outpost.
"Are you sure this is a trading post?" Zelth asks her small robot copilot while looking down on the outpost with a look of disgust on her face.
"It appears to be, though I can't gain any other information the ship is too badly damaged." Nova smacks the side of the monitor a couple of times which clears the screen for a second before cutting out completely. "I know, it's far from our standard of outposts but we don't have any other choice."
"Fine. Find somewhere to land." Zelth leaves Nova to attempt a safe landing while she rummages around in the back of the ship gathering up anything she thinks might be of use for trading. I just hope they don't attack us for landing unannounced, that would be the last thing I need to deal with after all this... Zelth sighs as she picks up the last canister of a radioactive substance.

[Ironshot]

Just as Emerald rushes at Wiccamon to attack with an emerald energy claw, Chris is alerted to the approach of a badly damaged vessel by one of the Overseers.  Tracking the predicted flight path of the ship, the Lord of Blades warp spawns  five Vipers to tow the damaged ship to the edge of the Spawning Pool where damage to the Hive Cluster will be kept to a minimum if something goes wrong.


"Welcome to Hive Cluster Mitsuki.  I am your host, Chris Ham: Lord of Blades.  We've only just started setting up so we don't have much to offer, but is there anything I can help you with other than the obvious repairs to your ship?"  Chris greets the new arrivals through a mental projection while Wiccamon uses her whip to counter Emerald's attack and throw her into a Creep Tumor.  "We have a sparring session in progress at the arena, the Spawning Pool I've parked your ship next to is great for harmless swimming or voluntary infestation to become a member of my Zerg Swarm, or we have a collection of shops selling Zerg themed weapons and armor on the other side of the Spawning Pool from the arena.  All payments can be made in your choice of biomass or credits.  Initial estimate for repair costs is 10000 credits or ten metric tonnes of biomass."

[Zelth]

"Now that could be a problem... I don't currently have that much in credits, nor cargo." Zelth looks down at a handheld screen displaying a sum of only a few hundred irken monies and a lot of irken text. "I can set up a beacon for someone else to assist, there is usually someone patrolling this sector and I can begin some of the minor repairs myself until further assistance arrives."
Nova continues to steer the ship grateful for the creatures towing it and lessening the load on the engine.
The engine however, as typical of its proud irken designers seems to dislike five alien creatures assisting it and with a loud pop begins to billow thick black smoke while giving some resistance.
Nova struggles to maintain control.
Zelth mutters something under her breath and throwing the screen to the floor in frustration runs to the source of the smoke manually forcing open a vent and starts pulling apart pieces of the flaming engine before the flames can spread and reach the more combustible fuel tank.
Only the steering thrusters remain functional and are just about enough to keep the ship from crashing completely as it is set down next to the pool.
"Nova set up a ship distress beacon!"
Nova's eyes flash red as she salutes acknowledging her orders and runs out of the ship with the beacon and commences the setup.
Zelth continues to pull apart the engine until she is satisfied that it is no longer a threat to her or the surroundings. She slumps against a wall vaguely acknowledging how singed her uniform now is. This has been a terrible day... She picks herself up and starts to work on fixing the communications system and the main computer.

[Ironshot]

"Voluntary infestation comes with a 100% discount on all transactions and a race of Psionics hungry for your death..." Chris suggests after the newest potential customer's engines fail completely.  Meanwhile, the Overseer sensor net informs the Lord of Blades of a small cloaked fleet approaching from the rough direction of the eighth planet as Emerald and Wiccamon continue their fight.


"Commander Night, the asteroid cluster ahead appears to have Zerg on it.  What are your orders," the Spectre manning the sensors aboard the flagship says.


"Any sign of hostilities?"  Silent Night queries as he wonders why orders were requested.


"One ship of unrecognized design seems to have lost propulsion, but the external damage is too minor to cause the loss of propulsion unless their designs are no more advanced than thrusters on a washing machine."


"Hold position here while I take a Hercules loaded with minerals to investigate," Silent Night says as he heads to the hangar to load the minerals onto a Hercules dropship.

[Zelth]

Zelth looks up from the damaged computer with any feelings of gratitude immediately replaced with disgust upon hearing the word infestation. "Why would I ever volunteer to contaminate myself? If there were no charge for the arena I would happily show you just how superior my race is. Now if you don't mind I have a lot of work to do on this computer." She immediately returns to repairing the computer, throwing burnt out pieces of circuitry onto the pile of broken engine parts while a robotic limb protrudes from her pak and starts welding wires and assorted metal components. The main screen flickers as full power is restored and a long list in red Irken text and a mostly red image of the ship appear.
If I hadn't already thrown that traitor out into deep space I'd kill him again... She thinks to herself while scowling at the long list of damage.
Nova having finished setting up the beacon outside casually leans on it looking bored.

[Ironshot]

"Voluntary 'contamination' as you put it could be for many reasons.  Depending on species, non financial benefits might include greater durability, unassisted space travel, more attack options, more powerful attack options, reduced need for food/water/sleep.... but unlike my predecessor, it is at least voluntary," Chris comments before turning to greet the cloaked individual who landed while he was talking.


"I don't suppose you're willing to tell me what gave me away or what your long term plans are," Silent Death comments when he sees the Lord of Blades turning to look directly at him despite his cloak.

"My Overseers track thoughts and gravitational displacement among other things.  As for long term plans, the Queen of Blades tasked me with stopping her from mindless infestation of sentient species so I'll be expanding this hive before establishing smaller hives on the inner planets," Chris says as Emerald swaps out with a pair of Ultralisks in the fight against Wiccamon.  "By the way, my name is Chris Ham but the Hive mind refers to me as the Lord of Blades.  While here, if you aren't interested in voluntary infestation, you can shop for armor and weapons, train at the arena, or relax in the spawning pool for a fee of credits or biomass whichever is more convenient for you.  Broodmother Alice is overseeing the growth of a conference center if you need neutral ground for a meeting as well, but I get the feeling you and your people wouldn't be comfortable meeting with potential hostiles on Zerg ground."

[Zelth]

((I'm guessing that the mental projection is no longer present on Zelth's ship?))

Zelth rolls her eyes at Chris's attempt at making the contamination sound more appealing. She reattaches a few more wires and the screen flashes ready to accept new communications. She taps a couple of buttons and something further down the control console sparks but the computer remains functional and now displays Nova outside. "You can give the beacon a boost Nova."
Nova's eyes flash red and she flips a switch on the side of the beacon.
Zelth joins her robot companion outside. "Nova, you will guard what remains of the ship and inform me immediately when someone makes contact. I think I'll take a look at the arena to kill some time and perhaps I can find out what the current exchange rate is for credits, though I'm pretty sure I don't have enough for anything here."
"Yes Zelth." Nova marches back onto the ship.
Zelth checks if she has any snacks in her pak for when she watches the fighting in the arena as she walks towards the sounds of a battle.

[Ironshot]

"I'll have to talk with my crew, but for now, I'll probably leave a few observers in the area while I head to Earth," Silent says to Chris before following the other 'customer' to the arena where Wiccamon is now using a Starsword in tandem with her elemental abilities to spar against two Ultralisks, ten Hydralisks and a gross lot of Raptor-Swarmling strain Zerglings.


"It'll be a tight fit heading into orbit, but my Hercules can get your ship to a mechanical repair bay and if you are headed to Earth we can even give you a ride," Silent says to the other customer once he is standing next to her.  "My name is Silent Night by the way.  Leader of the Silent Night Assassins and one of the top Spectres in the Koprulu sector."


"Me ride with Drone and Broodmother Beth on outer hull?"  Emerald queries unexpectedly from Silent's other side.


"If you and your friends can survive hard vacuum go right ahead," Silent replies only to see the strange naked girl run over to his transport with the mentioned Zerg and clamp onto the hull between the dorsal engine nacelles.

[Zelth]

Zelth just looks at the human speaking to her, caring little for his rank or name. Though hearing that he is heading to Earth she purposefully declines to give her name, to avoid possible complications to her future plans. "I've already got assistance on the way thanks, I'm not sure what would make you think that I would be heading to Earth as it's not like humans and irkens are best friends." Zelth sits down on the floor now holding a small cardboard bucket of popcorn. "You wouldn't happen to know the exchange rate for irken monies to credits would you?" Zelth asks as a robotic limb from her pak offers her a drink which she immediately takes a sip of as she watches the fighting.

Nova on board the ship looks very bored leaning on the control console still waiting for a response from anyone nearby. She starts using the ship computer to find out what she can about the beings in the hive cluster hoping to kill some time.

[Ironshot]

(Btw, 'mental projection' isn't necessarily an image, it can just be a fancy way of saying telepathy)


While watching from a distance, Chris smirks at Emerald taking initiative and getting an expansion party delivered to Earth.  Broodmother Beth is young, but is sure to choose a good spot for the initial defenses.


"I'm actually not from around here so I don't really know how relations are between the different races.  Back in the Koprulu sector we don't ever encounter irkens.  As for exchange rates, you're better off asking Chris.  Only exchange rate I know is minerals to credits and the credits/biomass conversion Chris uses," Silent comments to the irken female while watching Wiccamon use her Starsword to counter a simultaneous attack from five Raptor-Swarmlings.  Despite the fierce nature of the arena fight, only a handful of injuries are seen and the only serious injury is a Hydralisk that is regrowing its arms.

[Zelth]

((the words mental projection made me think psychic hologram lol))

"Disappointing." Zelth comments both in response to Silent and to the lack of death in the arena before taking another mouthful of popcorn. She remains silent while watching the Zerg creature regrow it's limbs. I'd have finished it off before it could regrow it's limbs but I guess this isn't a fight to the death...
"Zelth I know you said only to contact you when help has arrived but I think this may be of interest to you." Nova sends to Zelth a file of data from the ship's remaining sensor about the dominant race in the hive cluster.
Psychic, I knew that already... They do have some weaknesses then good to know... She reviews the information silently as it comes directly from her pak, appearing to be deep in thought.
A short moment later she speaks aloud to Chris. "Lord of Blades, Nova informs me that you will be able to hear me where ever you are in this hive cluster. With the damaged sensors on my ship, I hope this is correct. If the conversion rate of irken monies to credits is in my favour and if you happen to know it, I wouldn't mind going a round or two in this arena, provided your erm... creatures don't mind a fight to the death?" Zelth keeps in mind her current total of 750 monies available and knowing how much a mechanic would likely attempt to rip her off by in spare part charges.

[Ironshot]

(Don't you mean psychotic hologram?)

"Place a single unit of your monies on the ground for analysis and I'll consider a separate conversion rate.  The mineral to credit conversion Silent mentioned is 1 ton/500 credits while the rate for biomass is 1 ton/1000 credits as implied when I gave you a repair estimate.  The Zerg don't ever hold back when fighting but if you'd prefer I not stop a deathblow when they overwhelm you with numbers....," Chris replies mentally just as Wiccamon cuts a pair of Raptor-Swarmlings in half with the Starsword and beheads an Ultralisk with a flame whip.

With nothing else to do at the Hive Cluster, Silent informs his Assassins of his plans and pilots his overloaded Hercules to his flagship before entering hyperspace on a course for Earth.  Meanwhile, Emerald uses an aura shield to protect herself from hard vacuum while she and her two Zerg companions stick to the outer hull of first the Hercules and then the Battlecruiser that the Hercules entered.