The Xeno
27-02-2006, 18:41
Prologue
The Drones. The Elite. The Indomitable.
in·dom·i·ta·ble ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-dm-t-bl)
adj.
Incapable of being overcome, subdued, or vanquished; unconquerable.
Drones have been around since the Xeno Civil War that took place half an eon ago on Serpentis, the original Xeno homeworld. From the ashes of that civilization, a new class of Xeno warrior was born. One to unite, to protect, to enforce. From generation to generation, the legacy is passed forward among the Drones, an almost exclusive society within the "hive" of the Xeno.
"Drones cannot be made. They can only be born." - Jakob
Polaris
Drone Commander Tekko stood by himself near the peak of Mt. Selo, the tallest mountain in a chain that surround the primary Polaris housing barracks and research facilities. Looking out over the blank white fields of snow, the large Xeno allowed his thoughts to drift back over the years in a rare moment of indulgence.
Tekko had been born a Drone, but it seemed both he and those around him had never realized his potential until that fateful battle to conquer Solaris a decade earlier. When all hope seemed lost, when the wandering civilization of the Xeno had thrown its might against the original occupants of the world and nearly were defeated. When the existance of the Xeno had been in absolute doubt.
He could still remember the announcement that the Xeno were fleeing the world aboard dropships to return to their colony ships to seek out a new home. He could remember the mood of the 'network', the telepathic link of Xenos. They had been dark days. The Xeno Drones had fallen into a stupor, refusing to fight until a sign could be dredged up among the collective, a reason to fight, a willpower to do battle. The Drones could not comprehend the end of Xeno civilization.
Tekko's aunt, Denae and her scientist friend Slath had cooked up a plan for escape, but it required a proper distraction. When volunteers were asked for, none had stepped forward; none but for Tekko. He was the lone Xeno still willing to fight for that blood-soaked world, for the slender chance for enough Xeno to escape and continue on the race.
His family had wept. His mother Kamaria, his sister Miadoka, his cousin Raven. The females had all pleaded to be allowed to stay behind with Tekko for the last stand, but Slath had been insistant. The women needed to escape, if only to keep the race alive.
The young Xeno had found himself alone on Solaris, marching through the pine forest towards where the humans had their army advancing across an open plain to attack the Xeno as they boarded their dropships.
Death walks with me this day..
Tekko had sensed the presence of his ancestors behind him, and the normally stoic Xeno had felt tears well up within his eyes, blurring his view through the visor of his tactical helmet. He knew that this act was purely defiance, he could never slow up an army for even a fraction of a minute. He would die today, and his ashes would mean nothing for the survival of the species.
He could almost see himself as though through someone else's eyes, stepping from the boundry of the woods between his family, his people and the human army.
In one gauntlet-clad fist he clenched a tattered battle standard, the flag of the Xeno. In the other, he held his M1 carbine by its pistol grip. The humans hadn't noticed him immedietly, not until he walked further into the open and lifted the flag as high as he could, sending his message clear in an open-broadcast that even the human mind could detect,
~ I am Tekko, son of Kamaria, son of Kay. I trace my lineage back ten thousand years. I am here to kill you all. One at a time, or in groups if I must. ~
That had given the humans pause. Their warmachines had rolled to a halt, their infantry had looked on in half bewilderment and half amusement. So one bug was still willing to fight?
A squad of power-armored infantry trotted out with their weapons leveled, as Tekko stood his ground unflinchingly. He felt his spirits buoyed up momentarily. The humans had stopped! He had actually bought precious seconds with his life.
The armored infantry fired, rounds blasting against his armor, chipping away and pushing at him. Tekko leaned forward and charged head-forward into the infantry squad, flag high, M1 chattering away as he disappeared into the mass of enemy soldiers.
Watching it all, Tekko had been told, was his family and the rest of the Xeno escaping aboard their dropships by remote probe. They saw him stagger forward as weapon impacts ripped away at his armor, but he forced himself on them in a hand-to-hand grapple that turned into a tangled mess of human infantry rushing in to club at him with their weaponry, only to be hurled back and smashed by his powerful form.
In the dogpile, Tekko felt his wounds only faintly. Not so much sensing pain, but as sensing damage to himself as his armored battle suit pumped him full of stimulants and pain-killers. Something was burning within him. It had been there his entire life, some deep pool of fuel. It had waited for a spark.
And by all things unearthly.. it had ignited.
A hurricane. A tornado. An earthquake. A supernova. Something snapped within. His mind reached out, a courage shattering roar-scream of absolute rage, of defiance, of love. These.. these monsters, they were going to destroy him. They were going to destroy his people, his family, everything he had ever known. Like a titanic wave of overpressure, his emotions imploded, and then exploded outwards.
Roaring, he rose up above the pile to his feet, tail and arms flailing in all directions to send his foes scattered. Even as their weapons began to strike him again, he dove forward into the next group of human infantry to crush them with fists and the broken M1 carbine, even battering at them with the butt of his flag.
Tekko had later been told that the Drones had refused evacuation. They remained clustered together in the woods, lost in their own thoughts, their own little network almost silent. They too had a fuel within that needed igniting.
Now they had a source of ignition. The emotional wave that surged across the planet seemed to stun and confuse the humans. The fighting sputtered to a halt momentarily, human eyes looking to the woods and sensing that something terrible was happening. Something that would rock the solar system, something massive.
As though completely linked, the Drones as one rose up and ran towards the enemy. In their heavy armor, they battered over saplings and crushed undergrowth beneath their feet. In a wave, they poured out of the woods. Heavy weaponry reached out and tore into the ranks of the human army, whose willpower to fight was quickly cracking as a pane of glass strains beneath an unbearable weight.
Tekko was on his knees, wounded terribly yet still trying to batter anyone within reach, when the Drones reached his position and swept past. Several stopped to lift him to his feet, walking-carrying him forward. In his haze of near-death, Tekko still clutched the flag in his hand, unwilling to let go. He could remember no more.
It had taken almost a year to recover from the terrible wounds inflicted upon him in the final battle for Solaris. Tekko's father Kay aboard the Pennsylvania had returned with the rest of the Xeno fleet as the Drones made their assault. With fresh soldiers from the colony ships, they had preformed a dangerous direct-drop operation of shuttles and dropships landing in the middle of the battlefield to lend support and snap the backbone of human resistance on Solaris.
The Drones are unique in that while being a part of the military, promotions are made from within. As is the recruitment and training. Tekko had been offered, and accepted, a place in the Drones. His competence, his willingness to fight and mostly, his heart was something to revitalize what the Drones had lost over the years.
A piece that had been missing for hundreds of years fron the Drones was now in place, completing them. A leader.
The Drones. The Elite. The Indomitable.
in·dom·i·ta·ble ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-dm-t-bl)
adj.
Incapable of being overcome, subdued, or vanquished; unconquerable.
Drones have been around since the Xeno Civil War that took place half an eon ago on Serpentis, the original Xeno homeworld. From the ashes of that civilization, a new class of Xeno warrior was born. One to unite, to protect, to enforce. From generation to generation, the legacy is passed forward among the Drones, an almost exclusive society within the "hive" of the Xeno.
"Drones cannot be made. They can only be born." - Jakob
Polaris
Drone Commander Tekko stood by himself near the peak of Mt. Selo, the tallest mountain in a chain that surround the primary Polaris housing barracks and research facilities. Looking out over the blank white fields of snow, the large Xeno allowed his thoughts to drift back over the years in a rare moment of indulgence.
Tekko had been born a Drone, but it seemed both he and those around him had never realized his potential until that fateful battle to conquer Solaris a decade earlier. When all hope seemed lost, when the wandering civilization of the Xeno had thrown its might against the original occupants of the world and nearly were defeated. When the existance of the Xeno had been in absolute doubt.
He could still remember the announcement that the Xeno were fleeing the world aboard dropships to return to their colony ships to seek out a new home. He could remember the mood of the 'network', the telepathic link of Xenos. They had been dark days. The Xeno Drones had fallen into a stupor, refusing to fight until a sign could be dredged up among the collective, a reason to fight, a willpower to do battle. The Drones could not comprehend the end of Xeno civilization.
Tekko's aunt, Denae and her scientist friend Slath had cooked up a plan for escape, but it required a proper distraction. When volunteers were asked for, none had stepped forward; none but for Tekko. He was the lone Xeno still willing to fight for that blood-soaked world, for the slender chance for enough Xeno to escape and continue on the race.
His family had wept. His mother Kamaria, his sister Miadoka, his cousin Raven. The females had all pleaded to be allowed to stay behind with Tekko for the last stand, but Slath had been insistant. The women needed to escape, if only to keep the race alive.
The young Xeno had found himself alone on Solaris, marching through the pine forest towards where the humans had their army advancing across an open plain to attack the Xeno as they boarded their dropships.
Death walks with me this day..
Tekko had sensed the presence of his ancestors behind him, and the normally stoic Xeno had felt tears well up within his eyes, blurring his view through the visor of his tactical helmet. He knew that this act was purely defiance, he could never slow up an army for even a fraction of a minute. He would die today, and his ashes would mean nothing for the survival of the species.
He could almost see himself as though through someone else's eyes, stepping from the boundry of the woods between his family, his people and the human army.
In one gauntlet-clad fist he clenched a tattered battle standard, the flag of the Xeno. In the other, he held his M1 carbine by its pistol grip. The humans hadn't noticed him immedietly, not until he walked further into the open and lifted the flag as high as he could, sending his message clear in an open-broadcast that even the human mind could detect,
~ I am Tekko, son of Kamaria, son of Kay. I trace my lineage back ten thousand years. I am here to kill you all. One at a time, or in groups if I must. ~
That had given the humans pause. Their warmachines had rolled to a halt, their infantry had looked on in half bewilderment and half amusement. So one bug was still willing to fight?
A squad of power-armored infantry trotted out with their weapons leveled, as Tekko stood his ground unflinchingly. He felt his spirits buoyed up momentarily. The humans had stopped! He had actually bought precious seconds with his life.
The armored infantry fired, rounds blasting against his armor, chipping away and pushing at him. Tekko leaned forward and charged head-forward into the infantry squad, flag high, M1 chattering away as he disappeared into the mass of enemy soldiers.
Watching it all, Tekko had been told, was his family and the rest of the Xeno escaping aboard their dropships by remote probe. They saw him stagger forward as weapon impacts ripped away at his armor, but he forced himself on them in a hand-to-hand grapple that turned into a tangled mess of human infantry rushing in to club at him with their weaponry, only to be hurled back and smashed by his powerful form.
In the dogpile, Tekko felt his wounds only faintly. Not so much sensing pain, but as sensing damage to himself as his armored battle suit pumped him full of stimulants and pain-killers. Something was burning within him. It had been there his entire life, some deep pool of fuel. It had waited for a spark.
And by all things unearthly.. it had ignited.
A hurricane. A tornado. An earthquake. A supernova. Something snapped within. His mind reached out, a courage shattering roar-scream of absolute rage, of defiance, of love. These.. these monsters, they were going to destroy him. They were going to destroy his people, his family, everything he had ever known. Like a titanic wave of overpressure, his emotions imploded, and then exploded outwards.
Roaring, he rose up above the pile to his feet, tail and arms flailing in all directions to send his foes scattered. Even as their weapons began to strike him again, he dove forward into the next group of human infantry to crush them with fists and the broken M1 carbine, even battering at them with the butt of his flag.
Tekko had later been told that the Drones had refused evacuation. They remained clustered together in the woods, lost in their own thoughts, their own little network almost silent. They too had a fuel within that needed igniting.
Now they had a source of ignition. The emotional wave that surged across the planet seemed to stun and confuse the humans. The fighting sputtered to a halt momentarily, human eyes looking to the woods and sensing that something terrible was happening. Something that would rock the solar system, something massive.
As though completely linked, the Drones as one rose up and ran towards the enemy. In their heavy armor, they battered over saplings and crushed undergrowth beneath their feet. In a wave, they poured out of the woods. Heavy weaponry reached out and tore into the ranks of the human army, whose willpower to fight was quickly cracking as a pane of glass strains beneath an unbearable weight.
Tekko was on his knees, wounded terribly yet still trying to batter anyone within reach, when the Drones reached his position and swept past. Several stopped to lift him to his feet, walking-carrying him forward. In his haze of near-death, Tekko still clutched the flag in his hand, unwilling to let go. He could remember no more.
It had taken almost a year to recover from the terrible wounds inflicted upon him in the final battle for Solaris. Tekko's father Kay aboard the Pennsylvania had returned with the rest of the Xeno fleet as the Drones made their assault. With fresh soldiers from the colony ships, they had preformed a dangerous direct-drop operation of shuttles and dropships landing in the middle of the battlefield to lend support and snap the backbone of human resistance on Solaris.
The Drones are unique in that while being a part of the military, promotions are made from within. As is the recruitment and training. Tekko had been offered, and accepted, a place in the Drones. His competence, his willingness to fight and mostly, his heart was something to revitalize what the Drones had lost over the years.
A piece that had been missing for hundreds of years fron the Drones was now in place, completing them. A leader.