Chapter 421 (2/2)
Like your tech went in a different direction after you fled to our end of the Cygnus-Orion Galactic Stub.
Back originally, you used a lot more phasic systems, depended on your hive mind a lot more. It even looks like there were two different societies. One that preferred sentient prey one that preferred animals.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
Are you sure? That doesn't sound right.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT
Straight from their computer systems and memories.
All of them are pretty talkative now that they've realized it isn't a trick, that they get to live out their lives in comfort and only talk via the hololink.
They're fine talking to us.
Terrans scare the hell out of them though.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
>laughs
Yeah, they got some common sense at least.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
Where are they?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT
Sorry, classified.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
But... they're our cousins.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
BIOLOGICAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS
Barely.
Let's not tempt either of you.
Just let them go, sis.
Let them grow old and pass on.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
But...
...I want to love them.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT
I know.
But I don't think they're able to understand that particular thing.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
Fine.
What do we know of this Atrekna? Anything?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS
They're one of the original three.
Psychic, but we knew that. Able to affect 4th Dimensional flow and energy, but we learned that in Hesstla. Shared consciousness with independent thought. Three and a half to four meters, eighty to ninety kilos. Prefer colder worlds, dimmer suns, usually in the red giant class, high CO and CO2, low O2 and nitrogen. Carnivores and Psyvores. Lethal reaction to Terran Descent Humanity neural tissue. Vulnerable to phasic weaponry, which is the primary weaponry they use. They often use massless phasic weapons.
This is all stuff we learned on Hesstla. Except for the original three and they jumped the Lanks and you Mantid apparently unprovoked.
Thing is, none of our new friends know much about them. They fought the Lanaktallan war castes, then the Lanaktallan Autonomous War Machines.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
So, nothing that helps us?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT
Not really.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
LEEBAW CONTEMPLATION POOL
We're going to see them again. They attacked Atrekna, but the Case Omaha stopped the Black Fleet from counter-invading.
They use wormholes.
Maybe they aren't from this dimension.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
CYBERNETIC ORGANISM CONSENSUS
Thatt's... that's an ugly thought.
Dimensional wars are nasty.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
PUBVIAN DOMINION
You aren't wrong.
Speaking of something like that, any idea on how to get TerraSol loose?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE
No. Not yet.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
PUBVIAN DOMINION
I have a bad feeling we're going to need him.
And another bad feeling that we've only seen the first part of the attack on them.
And on the gripping hand, I've got the feeling this is going to get a lot worse.
For us.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
AKLTAK FREE FLIGHT
I hope not.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS
Me too.
Me too.