The Xenomorphic Broods, and referred to as The Star-Gods, the Star-Children, and Brain-Feasters, are a large gathering of the Mirusian Xenomorphs and their various hybrids and specialized breeds to spread their influence and infestation across the stars. Guided by a malign intelligence from far off, the Xenomorphs have seemingly evolved high levels of understanding and coordinating abilities within their ranks and social castes, seeking to further their spread off the bodies of the other species, though this higher intelligence has not made them docile by any means. The creatures still retain an inhuman, savagery and disregard for any life but their own species' long-term survival and spread.
Surprisingly and deceptively cunning and intelligent, the coordination of countless broods, hives and even ships across thousands of light years of space has raised several questions of what, or who, could be guiding the malign creatures and their various sub-species and hybrids. Further assisting their spread are the profane hybrid abominations of those "infested" with their genetic material, producing stranger variants still, as well as other alien monsters somehow related to them, and mutant horrors that have crawled from the underhives to join the Broods in their hunts.
History
Early History
The Mirusian-variant of the Xenomorph was born long during age of the Kulaung's First Empire, and was used for hunting, testing of their warriors and other methods, but kept in controlled Hunting preserve planets designed to house the beasts without them getting loose, all too mindful of how horrific the galaxy would be if these beasts were unleashed in uncontrolled numbers. Though a string of worlds would house, and slowly but twisted and turned into a living, planet-wide hive for the creatures, their original homeworld, or rather their adopted homeworld, would be the centre for their activity, coordinated by the vast psychic might of 6 unknown beasts, as ancient and timeless as the species itself, and believed to be the original six Queen the Kulaung breed for their hunting and games.
Brief psychic bursts would be detected form this world, whenever the creatures became more active and savage in their attacks and movements across the galaxy. Such psychic activity happened before such events as the Fall of Valdercrone Hive, a city world under Zarbanian control that was promptly slaughtered and infected by a Xenomorph outbreak, the creation of the First Kulaung-Xenomorph hybrids in thousands of years on the Jungle world of Typhorn, and the creation of the Star-Born Cult, a group of Mirusian scientists who, unknowingly, had been mentally broken by this strange psychic power, and turned themselves and their loved ones into a brood of hybridized beasts. Wherever the Star-Born Cult began, it now welcomes members of all species, who gladly help the Xenomorphs by worshipping and spreading their eggs and Queens from world to world.
The continued spread of the creatures has proven difficult for the Powers of Mirus to counteract, and the creatures are deceptively intelligent and seemingly capable of breeding all sorts of new horrors, not only due to their parasitic life-style, but thanks to their "Allies" within the Cult of the Star-Born and their various Sub-groupings.
Traits
Culture
To the Xenomorphs of the Brood, there is so little culture and interact with other species that many make the mistake of assuming them wild animals and simple beasts, but their coordination, sadism towards their victims, and seemingly endless ability to adapt and change their forms and their allies makes this point nearly moot. The creatures are ruled by Hive Queens, and, as they age, grow in power, strength and intelligence, all the way up to the millennia-old Original Six that rule from their homeworld on Badejo. Strange psychic power flows and pulses through and around the world, and connects it to the string of other worlds infested with them. Tracing these psionic strands is imperative to the powers of Mirus, as these strands can be used to trace and track down nascent cults and hives growing from small Xenomorph infestations, and take them down before they become a threat.
The existence of Hybrid cults and similar groups is the strangest thing of note among the powers that observe and fight the Xenomorphs. A Breeding Cult in all but name, the beings have began on a Scientific World dedicated to studying the Xenomorph long ago, and has spread to countless worlds, bringing in those mentally broken by the Psychic might of the Xenomorph broods, and includes Soldiers, religious figures, starship navigators and captains, doctors and other scientists, and dockyard and industrial workers. These figures work to spread the Xenomorph to other worlds, as well as assist in hybridizing and further mutating the creatures to better serve their masters, who they collectively worship as "The Star-Gods".
The Cults notably style their members off the Caste system and roles filled by various Xenomorph breeds.
Religion
The Star-Born Cults that worship the Xenomorphs are highly zealous and almost unstable by the constant exposure and closeness to the psychic and mental energies and influence of their alien masters, causing them to lose their grasp on what is real and what is unreal as time goes on. Due to their status in helping spread the infestation of their kind, the Xenomorphs surprisingly rarely attack them unless agitated, and several more successful and intelligent warriors gather smaller religious followings under them. Even Facehuggers are mindful to not attack them for hosts.
Government
The Broods and Hives among the Xenomorphs are guided by the actions of the inhumanly intelligent and otherworldly Queens, and their hierarchy. The Original Queens remain a reclusive but power force among the Xenomorphs, their mighty, psychic power brought to bear to guide and direct their millions of children across many light years, strategizing and managing their hives from a distance, though often let their Queens and Empresses run their hives as they see fit, and only get directly involved when the long-term survival is at stake.
Cults
The madmen and insane that gather around the Xenomorphs are collected into groups called "Bug-Cults" or Xeno-Cultists, and worship and adore the creatures on a deeply spiritual level. Ranging from those mentally broken by the Queen-Mothers and their scions with their psychic powers, and injected with the Accelerant Gel by the machinations of the other Cultists, they are varied and come form wide backgrounds, but all of them are focused on spreading the Xenomorph ravages no matter what. The Queens and leaders of the Broods seem to hold sway over them in some way, though not as directly as the rest of their "children" and spawn.
Cultists, first and foremost, seek to breed, much like their masters. With few exceptions, all members seek to have as many children as possible, for not only do they use these children to infiltrate areas and segments of society further, or even act as future hosts, but, due to the Xenomorph DNA inflicted into their blood, further and further breeding leads to Second generations looking almost like deformed Xenomorph hybrids, while Third Generations are hardly disguisable from actual Xenomorphs.
Although female leaders exist, all are expected to find a male partner, reproduce, and move on. For this reason, marriage does not exist within the Cult, and so long as they are not siblings or parents, there are few limits to how more are "produced". Many Cults will allow all members to fight, however, as long as they are successful, there will always be more members to produce further numbers.
Although originally one Cult, the Star-Born Cult, splitting and following their Xenomorph Gods to other worlds has lead to them splitting into a number of Cults, fronts and rebel groups that take on various names to represent their new host culture and homeworlds.
Hives
There are Six "hives" that exist, each Xenomorph owing their loyalty to one such Hive, and their allied races simply fighting for whichever ones give them food, hosts and materials, changing loyalties without issue for the Hive that wins in their "Bug Wars" and wins the planet for themselves. These Six Hives are vast, and billions of individuals and cults answer to them without question. Each has slight variations and differences in shell color and look that set them apart from the other Hives, though notably, two recent additions have come upon their species, the mutated Red Hive, and the Hive created by Zarbanian scientist Doctor Von Karkovisky.
Species
Military
Ground Forces
The Swarm of the Xenomorphs and their allies are vast, brutal creatures, moving through under-reaches of the cities, starting off small and barely noticed. These creatures normally begin their activities with the infecting and spreading of their cultists, started at some unknown point, and who will often move into an area, usually the poorer regions or sewers of the big cities, and begin selecting random beings to kidnap. Some are given over to the face-huggers to claim and create future "Star Gods", others are mentally broken until they too join, but whatever the case, the Cult and it's Xenomorph "masters" will remain unseen, the Parasitic beasts remaining in the sewers and hideouts, though the amount of murders will go up. As the Cult expands, they will wait for certain moments to happen. First will be the birth of the Cult Magi, religious/Essence using figures who give sermons to their followers and guide them, and then the birth of the first Queen of the Planetary Hive.
Magi are believed directly linked to, and the most mentally connected to the Group-mind and identity of the Xenomorph leaders, the Queen-Mothers back on the homeworld. With that influence, the Magi will subtly begin to effect those on planet, the more Magi present, the more powerful these psychic influence becomes. Murders will increase, police and militia brutality ramps up, company leaders become more cold, distant and uncaring for their kin, and, to further help in raising tensions, the Cult members will sabotage water, food and even air supplies within cities and colonies to ramp up tensions. The more underlying issues a city or colony has, the better.
Once the Queen is born, this is when the Cult and her Hive become more active. While the cult will continue to grow their numbers, the Xenomorphs will be spotted more and more, committing brutal mutilations, disfiguring assaults and disappearances, the citizens often spotting them more and more, mostly at night. Mostly. Once the Queen judges her Hive large enough, usually in excess of 300 individuals including Drones, Runners and others, she will give the signal to attack.
Cult members will sabotage important areas, Drones will swarm up from the depths of the city, and segments of the army, infiltrated by the Cult, will turn on their comrades, as city and religious leaders are assassinated. The Hive will transform some of it's Praetorians and other members into vicious assault beasts, and begin to spread their "Creep" around the planet and city. Joining them will be all manner to gibbering, savage mutant beasts and creatures often as violent as the Xenomorphs, including the Xenoliptis of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Neonautilus beasts, and all manner of other hideous mutants, abominations and outcastes.
If the Xenomorphs and their "allies" succeed in the overthrow of the government and it's supporters, the survivors are either inducted into the Cult, or taken in by the Xenomorphs and their host of allies to use to breed further numbers, or forced to survive on their own, until they are captured. Once down, the Cult breaks off and uses their ships to leave, heading off with eggs to find new, more suitable worlds to spread their nests, as the world falls under complete Xenomorph control, and is transformed into a massive hive just like the ones on their homeworld, and begin the process again.
Hive Ship
Individuals
The Hives only regard their Queen-Mothers and their Queen and Empress offspring as being worthy of respect and consideration. Few others outside of their cults and a few allied races actually recognize their individuality. However, some individually successful and unusually ferocious specimens have emerged from the Hives that display more intelligence, strength, cunning and success then their lesser kin, and act as leaders overall.
These figures go beyond Hive, often traveling from Hive to Hive Forces to fight for whatever Queen or leader needs them, not held back by the divisions of Brood and such, though will refuse to partake in inter-hive wars between their kind unless an Illegitimate Hive appears and must be put down, so as to maintain the genetic purity of their species.
“I fear no serpent...but that beast...it scares me...”
- Species - Xenomorph (Kulaung Host)
The first of the few hundred Xenomorphs to come from the Kulaung and survive the Kulaung's vengeful Honor-Hunts, the Sakeshii'tal (Insult of Blood In Mendel), has made a name for itself for hunting and stalking it's host's species, and taking trophies of them, often in elaborate, ritualized ways that no normal Xenomorph could accomplish. While many believe it is simply copying genetic behavior learned from it's "Parent", Sakeshii'tal is actually replicating behavior it observed. During it's years in Hive Valdercrone, it observed and saw how the Kulaung carried themselves, behaved in hunts against her smaller kin, and the trophies they took of her fellow drones and even her Queen. Sakeshii'tal's behavior, as such, is meant to mock and degrade their pompous rituals and Rites of Passage, the creature silently laughing at their prideful ways as it degrades and defiles the living and the dead Mendel Warriors alike.
Upon her spikes and tubes are various heads and skulls taken from Kulaung and Kaguran warriors she brutally killed, many of their heads rotting and giving her a fouler stench then most. On her waist, from meat hooks gauged into her armor, hang the acid-burned hands and claws of Orgaat and human hunters, all of this meant to mock and terrify the Mendel. Some even whisper she daubs herself in the blood of her victims in a primitive manner of mocking and degrading the tattoos and markings the Mendel take on, and reminding them of what host she burst from.
Sakeshii'tal does not waste time with non-Mendel, but for those that bear their armor and speak in their tone, delivery and accents, the usual cold demeanor with which she hunted disappears, and Sakeshii'tal quickly seeks to terrify, butcher and slaughter her "forefathers". Mendel fear few things. The twisted Lords of the Phaedra in their "Magic", disease brought on by plagues, these things terrify them. Sakeshii'Tal's presence and appearance is enough to make their blood run cold, and for many to run and flee to their ships.
- Species - Xenomorph Drone (Zazane Host)
A strange and exotic Warrior among the rest of her kind, Gyuki was crafted by Zarbanian scientists within the colony world of Sarkath. Pursued by Imperial Forces from the Throne and Mendel Hunting parties, disorder soon hit the ancient jungle world's facilities and temples. Among the beings meant to guard the place, was a Zazane Mercenary and Sell-sword who had fled the Brood of War's collapse, and found work as a Sword-for-Hire. However, during one battle with Kulaung forces and a Xenomorph outbreak, his helmet was shattered by a Claymore, and a cunning Facehugger planted itself upon him. The creature that spawned from him was unique, for like it's host, it had taken on his Descension, and somehow, began to feed into the power within. Though scientists christened it Drone Number 006, it soon became fiercely independent and intelligent, freeing it's kind and turning the crackdown mission into a three-way battle between Xenomorphs, Mendel-Zarbanian teams, and the Company's mercs on Sarkath.
The creature's Descension powers, already fierce from it's parent, grew with every kill and slaughter it partook in, the beast within calling for more and more death, until it achieved Oavashdrakulai, Awakened sin. The merc's comrades called it Gyuki, A Demon of some kind, and they tried to kill it, but none could stop the creature, as it claimed Sarkath as a home for it's Hive, and left many Zarbanians and Kulaung dead or hosted. Restless for more slaughter, and pushed to achieve more death, Gyuki has joined any Xenomorph infestation it can reach to further it's desire for blood. Though it obeys the commands of her Queens and Queen-Mothers, Gyuki follows it's own, mysterious goals.
Gyuki haunts the vents and under-workings of the cities, preferring to operate right under the noses of her prey. She is one of the few Drones spawned from a Zazane, and after inheriting his Descension, has been marked by the Hives as something truly special. Combined with the ability to achieve a Descended form, Gyuki has become one of the most terrifying creatures within the wide host of Xenomorph horrors, but still remains fiercely independent and pursuing a goal all it's own.
- Species - Xenomorph Drone (Unknown Parent)
The Large and powerful Drone known only as The Bladed One, is a rather large and abnormally built drone, causing many to believe it is spawned from a previously unknown species. Whatever the case, the Bladed One is yet another freed of any hive, armed with two organic wrist blades, and a brutal sense of combat skill and ability, coupled with a desire to test itself against the strongest foes in melee combat. Such savagery makes it an excellent frontline fighter and combatant against enemies and their leaders, but it's abilities to actually lead other Drones are shockingly power. The creature never seems to be able to lead beyond using overwhelming force, but possibly because it simply doesn't want enemies in it's way, or competition to get to the best fights from it's own "Siblings". The Bladed will rush to any fight it can, regardless of the strength of it's foes, using organic wrist-blades and it's species other infamous weapons to butcher anything in it's path.
The Bladed is never seen sneaking about or hiding from other foes, but appears when Hives are ready to launch their attacks and destroy their foes, leaving nothing but tattered corpses and smeared gore across the walls and streets of the cities and colonies it attacks. The Bladed, despite it's ferocious and sadistic nature, will challenge any foe that tries to meet it in melee combat, seemingly possessed of an eagerness to test it's strength and prove it's the Deadliest of the Species.
Relations
Quotes from others
- add your own!
“The recent organisation of the Mirusian Xenomorphs is troubling, to say the least. More so that the Mendel kept these creatures secret from their allies, giving us all the less time to react to their subversive cults. We might have to speed our own evolution along, too, if we are to secure ourselves against infiltration.”
- - Waptorian opinion
“Everything I was told was that these creatures were mere beasts. Smart beasts, but beasts none the less. They never had psychic powers, according to the Primogenitors, or had Cults dedicated to them. This error is mine to bear, I accept that, and me and my Clans will solve it with our blades and rifles.”
- - Kirta Clett
“Fascinating! The fact that Xenomorphs are capable of forming large social units opens up new avenues for research. I'll have to get a closer look at them sometime.”
Notes
- The Xenomorphic Brood has gone through several version, including the Gorix, ZF101's oldest fiction on this wiki to date, and the first to take inspiration from the Xenomorphs.
- The Brood takes inspiration from various movie monsters inspired by the eponymous Alien, including Neomorphs, The Species and many others.