A glimmer in the darkness, a light within the void, one might think it to be some distant refuge, a safe haven nestled within the darkness of the galaxy. But fate can be a jovial demon, for those who dare to stumble too close to the light are blinded, and are doomed to meet a most unfortunate end...
Travelers and explorers for centuries have told their tales, and for just as long, their weavings had been cast aside as drunken myth and fable. Whispers told of dreadful beasts, capable of cleansing entire systems of life in mere days. But, the universe, even with it's wars, it's violence and pestilence, has lain dormant. Quiet, silence can be deceptive at best, for under the shroud, something was growing, mutating, evolving...And now it was ready.
Ancient species would foretell of the great feeding, but unfortunately for the rest of the galaxy, they had long since become a personal part of it. At the very edge of the galaxy, hidden among the wastes, the dead stars and the forgotten worlds, they were gathering. Known to a few wary species only as the Mara, they were a curious lot. Growing upon a few rim worlds, they existed only as organic sludge, a species that most sentient creatures would akin to a type of amoebic slime mold. On it's world, it grew, covering the entire crust in a luminescent mat of green. Oozing deeper and deeper every year, the planet's sunlight grew stale, yellowing and depriving the entity of precious food. Now, the Mara was not simply a mindless mass of sludge. Oh no. It was at the most basic stages of sentient evolution, driven by the most basic of urges. Feed. Grow. Multiply. Survive.
Predators were no issue. If the mass was attacked, it simply retreated into some dark, dank crevasse where it would bide it's time. Oh, certainly the planet's original inhabitants objected, but they were soon no longer an issue. The Mara came to fruit, and spread it's spores with the wind, and within a few simple years, the original masters were extinct, starved, for their food was the Mara's as well. A strange thing came about as this event took place. The Mara, mindless in form and function, was before a simple detrivore, but now, chlorophyll engulfed it's being, and it took to the open air to grow. Eons, countless millenia passed, and at the dawn of the current era, the Mara grew cramped. No longer could it spread it's tendrils, for there was nowhere to go. Nowhere but beyond it's world.
Now, the Mara was by no means intelligent, but it possessed the basic analytical skills needed to observe, and by trial and error, it had managed to learn simple toilings that it had observed it's former hosts committing. Lacking a proper neural network, the Mara had ages past worked to force it's own evolution, and special "neuron pools" were hosted at it's core, allowing it to come by with basic cranial functions. With this, slowly it expanded, until it adapted the ability to separate it's form without allowing it to gain it's own sentience. With this, it could extend it's will infinitely. It experimented with this for several centuries, eventually perfecting the process from spore to fully mature creature. However, this did nothing to remedy the conditions in which it lived. The sun was dying, an for it's own existence it needed to find a new dwelling.
Scanning the ancient computers was not easy, but by absorbing the various metals within the crust, it eventually managed to gain a more rigid form. All the more, deciphering the jumbled collection of photons and sound waves was not a simple task in itself, but as with all things, eventually it adapted. Within weeks of learning the extinct race's secrets, it was ready. A rush of ions lifted a small sliver, formed into a rough aerodynamic object, about three meters long, past the atmosphere and into the endless void. Months passed, and soon, the closest world capable of supporting life was within it's grasp. It's populace fought back, but their plight was hopeless. They were silenced much quicker than the last, for the Mara had discovered the joys of weapons and offensive armament. It's own drones themselves became a weapon, sealing themselves in a coat of the same bio-energy used to propel the creature, and hurling themselves at any organic target. One by one, other worlds fell, slowly but surely, the great feeding had begun.
Realizing that it was a better tactical move to separate it's own form into castes instead of a single mass, it granted certain forms their own sentience, with genetics modified to make obedience pure instinct. Their forms themselves are many, and few are easy to defeat. Recent attempts by outer rim civilizations to scan the invaders were a success, and he following images were captured of the Mara castes-
http://www.wyrdysm.com/battleshipsforev ... ads/DN.zip
The Diptera lives true to it's name. A small, nimble craft devoid of sentience, it launches clouds of deadly spores at it's target, distracting it's PD long enough for more heavily armed craft to fire their ordinance. As a secondary role, it can function as a rudimentary bomber, releasing spores right on top of it's victims. They are easily killed on their own, but a swarm of these makes this Mara lethal.
The Nematocyst on the other hand, is much like the Diptera in function. Slightly more maneuverable, it carries a more direct armament of seeker projectiles and a mini scatter cannon. It lacks sentience, therefore usually is accompanied by larger, more intelligent Mara. It excels as a fighter, easily taking a three to one kill ratio over previously encountered fighters, and can pose a very real threat to capital ships when in swarms.
http://www.wyrdysm.com/battleshipsforev ... ads/MZ.zip
The Myxospore is simply an immature Millibite. At this stage of growth, only rudimentary cognitive skills are developed, and advanced combat tactics are somewhat lacking. However, due to it's much lesser mass and youthful energy, it is much faster than it's older sibling. Armament is light, a pair of seeker warheads and a single energy emitter. Much like the non-sentient drones, it works best in groups, and has been classified by hostile organics as a "frigate."
The Mara Zygocyte is rarely seen in organic held space. It is an unformed juvenile, still in it's protoplasmic stages. Due to this, it can only take the rigid form of simple geometric figures. However, it is not entirely helpless. Quite simply, it is literally swarming with energy, making it extremely fast. It's only offensive weapon is a single pore which it uses o hurl energized blobs of it's own tissues at hostiles. It is never seen alone, and there is usually a protective Calanoid nearby.
http://www.wyrdysm.com/battleshipsforev ... libite.shp
The Millibite, while by no means powerful when compared to it's larger brethren, is a powerful threat to any organic being fool enough to test it's patience. It is the guardian of the weaker scouts, and of Mara feeding grounds as a whole. It's main weapons consist of a single scatter cannon and a single Mara drone launcher near the stern. As well, covering the longer range are two seeker projectile launchers and two wing mounted coherent energy emitters. This sub-species has been classified a "destroyer" by organic threats, though the Mara know not the meaning of this title, for it was the organics themselves who were destroyed in that particular encounter.
http://www.wyrdysm.com/battleshipsforev ... lanoid.shp
The Mara Calanoid is the mainstay of the excursion swarms expanding throughout organic held space. A large Mara species, twice the mass of the Millibite, it is rather slow and ungainly. However, it is bristling with armament, and at it's central apex lies a large venom gland capable of crippling the largest of vessels. It possesses an amazing intelligence, and can control hundreds of drones and issue sustenance to smaller vessels.
http://www.wyrdysm.com/battleshipsforev ... helone.shp
The Aspidochelone is a direct extension of the great Mara itself. A massive cruiser size creature capable of leading the harvest of entire worlds, few vessels exist with the power to fell such a beast. Massive projectiles stream from it's various vents, and at it's helm lies a fearsome beam weapon that has been the bane of civilizations. It contains a rare warp device, allowing it to relocate itself to wherever it so desires in the blink of an eye. Currently, few have been sighted, and ever fewer have been damaged. It is suspected that in it's "tail" lies a weak point, but so far none have survived to test this theory.
Yay, new ships!
