The Lii'dra

NOTE: This is an antagonist faction! Do not attempt to make characters from the Lii’dra hive on station unless you are an antagonist!

The Lii’dra are the fourth Vaurca hive making their home in the Orion Spur and are, by far, the most resented of the four. They are considered extremely hostile, inconsiderate of other groups, and a threat to sentient life as a whole. This is due in part to a few reasons, all of which will be discussed on this page.

Unlike the main three hives, the Lii’dra are a true hivemind. This means they think and act as one being instead of a group of many individuals, and are for all intents and purposes more or less the same creature, their consciousnesses linked in VR until death. In addition, it is well known that they have zero regard for the lives of other groups of living beings, and are typically killed on sight, assuming they are ever found to begin with. The only brood currently actively seeking groups of Lii’dra out is Ta’Akaix’Vedhra’rept’ylanze, Princess of Configurations’ brood, who are tasked with the destruction of the hive and pursue this goal fervorously.

Outside of this information, little is known about the hive outside of Zo’rane archives and data gathered during the Invasion. Most Vaurca are reluctant to ever discuss the hive, and will always regard them with resentment, seeming to only describe them with the foulest terms. What is known, however, is the general history of how the hive came to be what it is today, through collections of recordings and other such archived data as well as how they tend to operate to achieve their goals.

As for said goal, the general consensus is that the Lii’dra seek to assimilate all Vaurca hives in the spur. It is unknown what they intend for the rest of the factions, but it can be assumed to be violent in nature.

Operation

In the past, the Lii’dra were fighters in the same manner as most every other hive present on Sedantis, through sheer numbers and firepower. In recent times however, due to vastly decreased size and being much more spread out the Lii’dra have found their favorite way to combat their rivals is through acts of secrecy and espionage. They much prefer acting in the shadows, striking fast and hard at vital locations to achieve their goals, or even destroying their enemies from the inside out covertly. To this end, a lot of their equipment - much of which having been brought from Sedantis - is aimed towards these tactics.

Small Numbers

The Lii’dra have adapted to working in small cells, with anywhere from 5 - 50 numbers depending on need. These groups can perform a wide variety of goals, from reconnaissance to fighting and anywhere in between. Most of the time these groups are disguised or hidden to avoid detection, a lot of the time working from a base away from the actual area of operation.

The gear these groups utilise is often much more aimed at utility and speed rather than brute firepower, though equipment accommodating such still exists, they are mostly used for the defense of said bases or nests in the event they are not abandoned in time. Whenever this is the case, all Lii’dra will fight to the death, with no instances of surrender thus far. In most cases, bases are stripped of equipment and left behind long before anyone actually arrives to fight them, much to Vedhra’s annoyance.

Offense vs. Defense

The tactics the Lii’dra utilize vary greatly depending on which side is doing the attacking. When the Lii’dra are on the offensive, they are often kitted out with gear that accommodates speed and stealth when the operation is overt, such as jetpacks, stealth hardsuits, and silenced weaponry. When secrecy is needed however, they most often make use of disguises and similar equipment to fool their enemies, with small arms for defense. Although for both examples the equipment realistically changes wildly depending on what the Lii’dra are actually doing, as a large amount of planning is done before any actions.

When it comes to Defense, the vast majority of the time the Lii’dra attempt to avoid the need to defend at all, opting to evacuate and take - or destroy - equipment as they leave, meaning attackers actually end up assaulting an empty location with nothing of actual value. In the event this is not performed in time, however, the Lii’dra switch to heavy firepower and sustainability, with heavy armor and warforms to match whatever is thrown at them until death, following a scorched earth-esque policy in the event they are losing the battle by destroying anything they have before the enemy can obtain them, denying information leaks to the Spur.

In years following the invasion however, neither offensive or defensive actions (barring the abandoned bases Vedhra has found) have been recorded as the hive, presumably, attempts to recuperate their losses, meaning all above information is more of an educated assumption of Lii’dra tactics using evidence from the past.

Warforms

The warforms of the Lii’dra change greatly in comparison to the other three hives present in the Spur. As with the rest of their tactics and equipment, Lii’dra warforms are much better suited to agility and firepower rather than brute force tanks. This means that while they are typically less resistant to damage than the typical warform, they are far faster and in most cases, and armed with deadlier weapons. The actual forms they take varies, with the most radical including a centipede-like creature capable of scaling most any surface with armaments attached at the side, and a much smaller, wasp like warform capable of flight.

Warforms are never involved with the espionage aspects of the hive and are instead used in overt attacks against the Lii’dra’s enemies, usually against specific targets.

Equipment

The Lii’dra have quite a few gadgets and weapons in their arsenal that are heavily rooted in Vaurcesian technology, the majority coinciding with quieter operations with the more destructive pieces of equipment being used in terror attacks or as a last resort. The Lii’dra are known to use the below examples the most commonly, and they have, to no surprise, riled up a plethora of conspiracies and odd beliefs regarding the Lii’dra, both within Vaurca hives and otherwise.

P.P.S.

The Programmable Polymer Suit is the main armor the Lii’dra use. On its own, it is fairly unimpressive in the protection it provides, but the benefit it allows is adaptability. The more damage of a specific type the suit takes, the better it defends against it. This doesn’t hold up very long however as out of combat the suit ‘forgets’ how to defend against whatever was attacking it over time.

Amnion Gun

The Amnion Gun is a weapon that is assumed to be designed to ensnare and capture victims rather than outright kill. Any evidence of its existence is mostly from anecdotal experiences and a small handful of recordings of it in action, with only cocoons presumably filled with captured prisoners being left after a firefight. Not much else is known, as it is a relatively rare tool.

Black K’ois

This is a strain of the already deadly fungus, K’ois. It is jet black, and sucks in any and all light in a radius around it, making it impossible to truly see. It is extremely contagious and, more importantly, deadly to all non-Lii’dra lifeforms, including Vaurca from other hives. In most cases victims of Black K’ois exhibit mycosis that is much faster and violent than the normal K’ois, with spores bursting from the mouth and pores as their victim is enveloped completely. When Vaurca and - in rare cases - some members of other species’ are affected, they become zombie-like creatures loyal to the Lii’dra, extremely violent and shadows of their former selves. Black K’ois is the Lii’dra’s most successful bio-weapon to date, and has seen extensive use on New Gibson and Bursa, with the only real weaknesses being to fire and the NT-produced chemical, Cardox.

Resistance

There are several groups who have particular interest in destroying the hive, whether due to past aggressions or because of other reasons.

The Other Hives

The most obvious, the K’lax, C’thur, and Zo’ra are united in at least one thing - the destruction of the Lii’dra. They are despised in every sense of the word, and any Lii’dra encountered are killed on sight by members of any of the big three. Although as of recent years only the Zo’ra and Vedhra’s brood have had any actual experience with the Lii’dra leading to the hives’ queens mostly focusing on other, currently more important duties.

Vedhra

Ta’Akaix’Vedhra’rept’ylanze, the Princess of Configurations, is a lesser queen of the K’lax mostly concerned with one goal, the death of the Lii’dra. Her efforts are focused into the research and manufacture of new weapons and equipment to fight the hive, and her Warriors rove nearby territories feverishly searching for pockets of Lii’dra, to no real effect so far. This even goes as far as to the revival of an old religion, Preeminence.

Elyra

The Serene Republic of Elyra was hit the hardest by the Lii’dra’s invasion, with Bursa and New Cairo experiencing far more casualties to aggressors and Black K’ois alike than New Gibson even got close to. This has led to resentment of Vaurca as a whole throughout the nation, and military divisions with equipment dedicated to fighting Vaurca opponents such as plasma weaponry and Cardox.

Purpose

The reclusive synthetic society ‘Purpose’ is rarely seen in civilized space and equally seldom contacted. However there have been numerous examples of Purpose getting into combat with the Lii’dra, and Purpose even offering aid in destroying the hiveship above Biesel in the Invasion of 2460. The start of hostility between the two groups is unknown, as well as the length - and cost - of the fighting.

History

30696 BCE

The year of 36674 BCE is the origin of the oldest information that has been uncovered regarding the Lii’dra. Found within the records on Titan Prime, Zo’ra’s Hiveship, this information consists of a recording of a meeting between the Court of Queens, a form of inter-hive regulatory body believed to be headed by hive Zo’ra, on Sedantis I. On top of this being the first insight as to how life on Sedantis worked, it also provided much more interesting information. The meeting itself covered a brand new invention produced by the Lii’dra, with the same hive petitioning the Court for more resources to further their research and production for this technology that has, today, become one of the most pervasive parts of Vaurcesian society, Virtual Reality.

A small hive back then, The Lii’dra lacked the resources to further the technology on their own, and the meeting went on for many hours whilst they explained how their early prototypes functioned in an attempt to impress the Queens. This was done to great effect, as the then small hive was granted their wish of more resources to further research in exchange for VR tech becoming available to all hives represented by the council, with the Zo’ra being the first hive above all others to receive it. This is where the meeting ends, along with the recording.

30085 BCE

For nearly 700 years, no further mentions of the Lii’dra were found within the archives, though it is believed that the Queens know more than they let on. The next oldest recording details another Court meeting on Sedantis I regarding the Lii’dra. This meeting began very similarly to the last recorded one, though by this time it has become obvious that VR has begun to pervade Vaurca society to a great extent. With many in attendance having augments believed by Vaurca scholars to be early versions of the Neural Socket present in all Vaurca of today that allows them to interface with VR remotely.

After a relentless barrage of questions regarding the Lii’dra’s next project, VR having been a massive success that helped the Lii’dra hive grow exponentially at a rate rarely ever seen before, the representatives of the hive began their presentation. They revealed that their studies have led to further breakthroughs in the technology behind Virtual Reality. It was revealed that they had, somehow, managed to find a way to transmit not just sensory information, but thought itself, through VR in a way no other hive has possessed since. The ambassadors go into great detail explaining to an increasingly silent Court into how this remarkable breakthrough would be the last step towards unifying the species, as when linked through VR, individual thought ceases to be. All who connect will become a part of the whole and the Vaurca will become a singularity intelligence. In addition, it was revealed that they had already taken the liberty of putting their theory to the test, and the Lii’dra by this time had already assimilated several small, seemingly nameless hives into the collective, at the horror of the other Queens present.

Having finished their presentation, the ambassadors had expected applause and agreement, but what they had received instead was hostility and anger. The Court very quickly became a mess of voices discussing what the Lii’dra had done, almost none of said voices being in agreement with the newly formed hivemind. The recording ends with the ambassadors being ejected from the Court’s chamber and the Queens speaking in hushed tones. It is believed that the First Hive War began shortly after this event with Xtykt'lotec, a large city hosting a technology summit, being seized by the Lii’dra.

29930 BCE

This year marks the end of the First Hive War with the historic capital and seat of the Lii’dra hive, Illuau'tia, being destroyed after a very prolonged and costly battle. At this point, around 80 percent of the Vaurcesian population had been slain or assimilated into the Lii’dra hivemind, and the Lii’dra were forced to forgo their offensive and go into hiding to survive, now a shadow of their former splendor. This ultimately ended up working in their favor, as most of the planet was recently made vacant, and the Hive easily began to recuperate as the others struggled to bounce back, leading to a significant Lii’dra presence on Sedantis once again by the time the Great Evacuation had occurred, which also coincidentally led to the Lii’dra being vastly superior both numbers and technology wise to any one of the hives alone. The colossal loss of life in the conflict is believed to be one of the driving forces behind the current idea of the Vaurca afterlife, with advances in VR technology still being pursued despite the already unprecedented costs.

346 CE

This year marks the date the Lii’dra finally began to evacuate Sedantis, not too long after the rest of the hives had already departed towards wherever they would go. The Lii’dra left in droves, with multiple Hiveships darting off in any given direction whilst a smaller group was left behind on Sedantis to clean up the stragglers abandoned during the Great Evacuation. Most hive ships are currently in unknown locations, though they are not believed to be within the Orion Spur. A select few, however, decided to try and follow the hiveships belonging to their rivals, mainly the Zo’ra and C’thur. This eventually led to several events, such as the attacks on the hiveship containing the C’thur leading to the permanent injury of the High Queen, the disappearance of High Queen Zo’ra, and of course, the arrival of the Lii’dra to the Spur.

2456 CE

This year marks the arrival of the Lii’dra to the civilized portion of the Orion Spur, hot on the trail of their enemies’ respective ships. Having been following them for quite some time, probes were sent out to determine just what had been encountered. Upon learning of the various nations of the Spur, it is presumed that the Lii’dra decided to lie low, finding barren planets to lie in wait on, slowly building themselves back up after their extremely long and unforgiving journey. It is unknown how many Lii’dra hiveships are currently in the Spur.

2458 CE

On 08/21/2458, the Lii’dra made their first act of aggression in the Orion Spur against a non-vaurca entity. A Lii’dra hiveship had been found approaching the Cairo United star system inside the Serene Republic of Elyra, with hostilities occurring soon after. This invasion, in contrast to the Tau Ceti incident, was much longer, persisting for over two weeks before the Lii’dra lesser queen present perished, forcing a major disruption in the hivenet system of the Lii’dra and causing a full pullback, though fighting pursued for a week thereafter before the conflict was officially considered ‘over’. A memorial was constructed on Bursa commemorating the fallen in this conflict, and this invasion resulted in the overall resentment of Vaurca in the Serene Republic and the creation of various anti-Vaurca weaponry.

2460 CE

The date 08/18/2460 marks the beginning of the Lii’dra invasion of Tau Ceti. The attack begins with a colossal signal appearing next to New Gibson - A Lii’dra ship. The Lii’dra immediately invaded New Gibson shortly after, sending the entire system into a state of emergency as the government struggled to respond to the sheer numbers of the aggressors. Curiously enough, it was fairly obvious that the Lii’dra were actually targeting infrastructure and buildings with their main attack force, and were intentionally letting living targets flee - so long as there was something else to blow up that is.

Unfortunately, there was still a massive loss of life due to their deployment of their most deadly bioweapon, Black K’ois. It spread like a virus, appearing in a very large amount of biodomes throughout the planet, killing swathes of people and even turning some into zombie-like aggressors.

Shortly after, a number of groups nearby came to the young Republic’s aid. A few were obvious, such as Hive Zo’ra and NanoTrasen who were the main defence force against the Lii’dra. However one group in particular made an unexpected appearance, the solely synthetic society ‘Purpose’. Normally reclusive, the reason for Purpose giving aid is still in question, but their help was greatly appreciated as they dealt massive damage to the main Lii’dra carrier.

A few days of intense fighting passed, with most of the actual casualties on the Republic’s side resulting from the Black K’ois rather than the actual warriors. During this time an intense space battle raged above Biesel, with the center ship being the colossal carrier of the Lii’dra. The vessel was, eventually, struck down, due largely in part to the use of Zo’rane Thermal Lances and a Purpose ship ramming directly into the behemoth for unknown reasons. The ship crash landed into Severson’s Rift, with various chunks of the alien craft washing ashore every so often, even after years of scuba divers seeking them out.

Recent Years

With all of the above information, only one question really remains. What have the Lii’dra been doing? The hive as a whole has gone completely dark (at least from the Spur’s eyes) since the failed invasion of Tau Ceti, and it is assumed that the Hive either broke apart completely due to their losses being far too great, or they have been taking the past few years to recuperate and prepare for their next move.

There is evidence that the Lii’dra had at least one hiveship present, with the attack on Elyra and the attack on Biesel believed to be orchestrated by two different ships, one being the hiveship in Elyra, and a much smaller carrier in Biesel, and it is unknown if there are any more beyond those two, one having not been destroyed at all.

Over time, other events in the galaxy have turned the majority of the Spur’s attention away from the Lii’dra, leading to a relative lack of care into what they are doing, with the general consensus being that the Lii’dra incurred far too many losses to recover.

Whether or not that is true, will only be revealed by time...