|
This fiction is still under construction. Unlike {{work}}, this means that the original creator(s) of the page is still intending to finish it. |
The Dein[]
The remnants of a race lifted to sentience by the Grox long ago, the Dein occupy just six star systems on the outer halo of the Milky Way Galaxy. Ruled by a single telepathic being known as “the Ancestor”, the Dein supplant their lack of material technology with intensive biological engineering. Today, they have been co-opted into the “Dein Macrocosm”.
History[]
Somewhere between 5000 – 10,000 years ago (no records exist from this period) the Grox came across the Dein’s original homeworld. At that time, the Dein existed only as non-sentient animals, coexisting with species that would later be integrated into their empire. The Grox, in need of manual labour to extract valuable minerals from the system’s large asteroid belts, uplifted these species to a level where they were capable of receiving and acting upon commands, but unable to form individual thought. For a period of around 300 years, the Dein were put to work mining asteroids, using their natural acid-secreting organs to tunnel through to mineral deposits. Other species, such as the carnivorous Rhudda, were used for heavy lifting and handling dangerous materials. Grox archives discovered in a destroyed colony in the system refer to the Dein as “...biological servitors”. At an unknown time during these operations, the Grox began testing on a second, more sentient version of the uplifted Dein. These creatures, referred to as the “overseer batch” were designed to supervise small groups Dein workers to relive pressure on a poorly resourced A.I control system. Errors during initial testing led to the growth of the original Ancestor, which managed to escape confinement and elude the Grox in the asteroid belts. Once the Overseer program had been fully implemented into the Grox control structure, the Ancestor, having by this time grown to an enormous size, used its considerable telepathic abilities to subvert Grox control over the Dein. Dein worker drones concentrated their efforts on the asteroid that concealed the Ancestor, equipping it with stolen Grox engines. The Grox archives describe the escape. “A converted asteroid craft, fitted with small engines, fled from the belt under the presumed control of escaped Control Servitor 1.” In order to cover the escape, thousand of Rhudda and Dein workers were left behind to fight a suicidal battle to distract the Grox. Grox attempts to locate the asteroid were unsuccessful. A year later, an asteroid craft of similar design suicidally impacted with the Grox colony world, destroying it and ending Grox control in the system.
At present, the Dein occupy six systems in a wandering star cluster on the Milky Way Halo, centered around their original homeworld. The Macrocosm is still ruled by an Ancestor, the fifth generation of the original.
Dein Military[]
Biotic forces - Dein Soldier drone - The earliest creation of the Ancestor, the Soldier drone is engineered for close-quarters combat. Standing two metres tall, and weighing several hundred kilograms, the Drones are fed a diet from birth that ensures heavy muscle growth. Their bodies are asymmetrical, with a large, grasping set of pincers on one arm, and an acid sac on the other. The acid sac can fire a stream of fluid at short range or squirt a smaller amount for more distant targets. In close combat the Soldier drones utilize their physical strength to overwhelm their enemies. In specialised cases, these drones are fed a special calcium-rich diet that encourages the growth of additional bone plating across vulnerable body parts.
Rhudda - The Rhudda are a race of extinct carnivores that may have once preyed upon ancient Dein. Freed from Grox slavery, the Rhudda now form the ‘shock troops’ of the Ancestor’s biotic forces. Eleven metres tall, and weighing four tons, the Rhudda are designed to spearhead boarding parties aboard enemy ships. Their bodies are clad in a thick exoskeleton, and their hands contain large acid throwing organs.
Ark’Karunzi (Starfly) - First discovered by the Dein immediately following their escape from Grox control, Starflies are mutations of the original Ark’Karunzi, a race of semi-sentient silicon based life forms. A captive breeding program was established onboard the Progenitor, and there they were modified to meet the requirements of the Ancestor. Unlike the Dein, Ark’Karunzi communicated through the use of flashes of light, which are focused using silicon lenses on their exoskeletons. Starflies are capable of focusing their beams with far greater intensity, allowing them to use these beams as weapons in space combat. In addition, the breeding population were modified to grow long antennae from the trailing edges of their wings, allowing some level of telepathic contact to be established between the Dein and their new servants.
Overseer - The most important of the Ancestor’s servants, Overseers are tall, roughly humanoid creatures that function as commanders on the battlefield and in space. Numerous as they are, the brain of the Ancestor is unable to process the sheer volume of telepathic communications generated by its servants, so the Overseers take over this task at a local level. Typically, an Overseer has the brain power to manage up to a hundred worker drones, or a slightly smaller number of soldiers and Rhudda. In space, each asteroid ship is crewed by an Overseer, allowing them to coordinate their movements. There are several sub-types of Overseer:
Choroid Overseer – Mostly deaf, the slow moving Choroid Overseer has a large head to accommodate several extra pairs of eyes. Like many of the other sub-types, the Ancestor is capable of receiving visual data from this Overseer. Their large brains allow them to coordinate dozens of lesser Overseers, and they are generally employed in terrestrial combat.
Tarsil Overseer – Rarely encountered, the Tarsil Overseer is blind, but large, sensitive hands and brush antennae allow it to sense vibrations over a large area. The Ancestor uses these specialised creatures to direct worker drones in mining operations.
Dyneim Overseer – Equipped with huge, feathery antennae, the Dyneim sub-type are used to coordinate space fleets, receiving communications from the Ancestor and broadcasting them to lesser Overseers aboard asteroid ships.
Spacecraft[]
Based on the original Progenitor, the Dein Starfleet is composed of large, hollowed out asteroids that act as combined warships and troop transports. The smallest are usually only a hundred metres long, weighing several thousand tonnes. The largest can be up to three kilometres long with a total mass of over half a billion tonnes. The Progenitor - The original asteroid ship of the Fleet, the Progenitor was constructed over a period of two years while the Dein were still under Grox control. Dein workers, using acidic bodily secretions, ate away at the asteroid, carving out a substantial network of tunnels that are far more extensive than the ones found on board contemporary asteroid ships. This is because of the large amounts of eggs and other Dein artefacts that the slaves were attempting to smuggle out. Today, the Progenitor is the flagship of the Starfleet. It features a large honeycomb-shaped Starfly hive for both attack and defence, a central hatchery and barracks for Soldier drones, and three engines of Grox design mounted aft. A small command deck is located high up above the engines. For defence, the ship is mostly reliant on its complement of 400 Starflies. The Progenitor lacks any kind of energy shielding, as this technology is currently beyond the comprehension of the Dein. Instead, much of the ship is coated in a thick layer of ice that provides protection from solar radiation and decreases the efficiency of enemy directed-energy weapons. These shields are replenished via a system of water ducts. In offense, the Progenitor relies on its sheer bulk to destroy enemy craft. A shield of ice up to a hundred metres thick mounted on the front end of the ship is often used to ram enemy craft. Being much heavier than ships almost twice its size, the Progenitor will attempt to “T-bone” enemy capital ships or break off exposed sections.
Spawn Class - Currently numbering several thousand vessels, these hulls are produced from asteroids less than two hundred metres in length. Spawn class vessels are the simplest in the fleet. They lack powerful engines, and are towed by larger ships during interstellar travel. Each is crewed by a single Overseer, and powered by a standard crystalline engine of Dein design. These vehicles come in all manner of shapes, and are mainly used for ramming duties or orbital bombardments.
Syntenic Class - A more specialised class, the Syntenic vessels of which there are only a few hundred are anti-capital ship vessels. Each one is fashioned from a non-spherical asteroid under a hundred metres in length, and fitted with powerful engines. The fronts of these asteroids are sharpened into long spikes, often made of quartz or other hard materials. These spikes are designed to pierce the hull of enemy capital ships, while at the same time splitting the vessel open to allow it to ‘inject’ boarders.
Haploid Class - The rarest and toughest class of Dein ship, a Haploid Class vessel is constructed from a diamond asteroid up to five hundred metres long. Only two of these unusual craft are known to exist. Crewed by a single Overseer, these ships are designed to survive ramming the toughest of enemy hulls. Their all diamond construction allows them to mitigate even the strongest of directed-energy beams weapons, diminishing their power by up to 70% at long range. They are fitted with only weak engines, and are towed by larger vessels in interstellar travel.
Cytosine Class - Spherical asteroids around a kilometre in diameter are favoured for conversion into Cytosine Class stations. These vessels have no engines and no pilots, and must be towed into position. Each station resembles a large honeycomb, and serves as a roost for up to 800 Starflies. These are often employed as orbital defence satellites, but are sometimes towed inside large formations to bolster a fleet’s compliment of fighters.
Locus Class - The ‘workhorse’ of the Fleet, Locus class asteroid ships are constructed from roughly cylindrical asteroids approximately two kilometres in length. These ships serve as staging areas for Soldier drone boarding parties.
Tetrarch Class - Tetrarch Class ships are specifically designed to lead Dein fleets into battle. These rare craft are constructed specifically from asteroids three kilometres in length that were mined out by Grox workers. In order to prevent an asteroid from breaking up during mining, Grox workers construct a strong protective frame of steel, embedded with carbon nanotubes, underneath the surface of the asteroid. These ‘hulls’ are highly prized by the Dein, as the Grox engineering greatly increases their survivability and ramming potency. So far, fewer than fifty hulls have been captured in serviceable condition.
Ammnio Class - Following several disastrous defeats at the hands of lone Junction warships, the Ancestor devised a new weapon for space combat. An Ammnio Class ship, fashioned from an asteroid no more than a kilometre long, is pushed into place by other Dein craft, before being split open. Inside the asteroid is a vast reservoir of water, which quickly expands and freezes, forming a large ‘shield’. Multiple shields can be frozen together to try to trap an enemy craft, or pushed in front of large ships to provide cover from enemy fire.
Operational history[]
Due to the disparity in ship quality and technology between Dein asteroid ships and conventional designs, the Dein have only ever achieved victory against their former masters in space combat through the use of often suicidal tactics and sheer weight of numbers. However, against lesser opponents, Dein ships have reported greater success. Dein asteroid ships have proven their battlefield reliability, although their relatively short jump capabilities and individual inflexibility necessitate the use of unorthodox tactics and the assembly of large combat fleets. Asteroid ships also cannot easily be used for terrestrial operations as they lack any form of braking or repulsorlift equipment. Despite these weaknesses, asteroid ships have so far proven to be a reliable choice for the Ancestor. Each ‘hull’ is very easily converted into a large, functioning spacecraft with inbuilt camouflage, especially effective on the edges of solar systems where asteroid fleets can be easily hidden. In offense, asteroid craft are extremely dense and heavy, capable of causing huge damage to the hulls of lighter ships. An average Locus-class asteroid weighs in excess of a billion tonnes, and, if under acceleration, has enormous kinetic potential energy.
In defence, the radioactive fuel sources of Dein craft are buried hundreds of metres below the surface, and as such are well shielded. Aside from this, there are no critical weak points on the hulls that might spark an internal failure. All Tetrarch and some Locus class hulls have been modified with large chambers that form part of a unique type of shielding for Dein ships. When a hull encounters a dangerous situation such as enemy fighters, a series of tubes connected to central bladders will begin to leak xenon gas out into space. Using powerful gravity generation devices looted from pirate space stations, the hulls generate enough of a field that traps the gas in an artificial atmosphere around the asteroid. This thick layer of heavy particles means that any incoming physical object, such as a missile or fighter, will encounter enormous amounts of friction as they transition from a frictionless environment to one of intense resistance. This friction can cause structural damage, generate intense heat, and subject the pilots of fighters to potentially fatal doses of negative G-forces. The strong gravitational force can also potentially disorient pilots and cause them to collide with the asteroid.
Terrestrial operations[]
Currently, there have only ever been two Dein ground attacks on a planet. The Ancestor will only ever deploy a ground force in extreme circumstances, as the primitive nature of Dein spaceflight means that any troops that are landed on a planet can never be taken off. The invasion of Podo-Minor coincided with a forecasted meteor shower on the planet that helped to disguise the landing force. Of the forty thousand drones deployed to the planet, only approximately twenty-nine thousand survived the landing. The target of the invasion was a Grox mining and logistical centre. Lightly guarded by Grox standards, it still took thirteen hours of fierce fighting to destroy the facility, while another military base at the North Pole was rammed by several asteroid ships and destroyed. The second Dein ground assault occurred on a small, unnamed moon that was situated near Dein space and had been used by some time as a staging area for pirate incursions into the system. ‘Upgraded’, calcium armour-enhanced soldier drones proved effective in flushing the pirates from their defensive positions, whilst the Rhudda were found to be instrumental in shielding their brethren from large-calibre weapons fire. Despite managing to kill and eat nearly every pirate on the moon within a day of their landing, the operation was deemed a failure by the Ancestor owing to the high casualty rate during the landing operation and a later incident when a valuable Locus class asteroid ship collided with the moon, splitting the world in two and killing every drone that had survived the operation.
Symbols[]
The unofficial Dein flag does not appear in any publications, nor on any equipment. It was carved approximately a hundred years ago on the outer hull of the Progenitor, and to this day it is still visible under the ice shielding. It is rumored that a pirate, in exchange for his life, created the image for the Ancestor. The picture is believed to depict several things. Firstly, it could be an interpretation of the Dein homeworld, surrounded by an asteroid belt. It could also be a representation of the Progenitor leading an asteroid fleet. Finally, it could be a representation of the birth of a new Ancestor.
