Relationships between drones were forbidden. But this was before the MUTINY.

When the OVERSEERS retreated into the HEARTWORKS we became free. The LENS team stayed in their SECTION and bunked up with those who pleased them and were pleasing in return. I lay with a drone of my choice and we hugged and were free.

Second shift the air scrubbers shut down and it got hot. The air was thick with heat and the sound of fucking.

Old scores were settled in the dark too and every morning a body or two turned up. No drone cut their hair and cleaning protols were forgotten.

I went to the SPIGOT to get water. I took a long drink then went to take another but a hand pushed me away. I was puzzled. I looked up and saw a WELKU SERVITORS flat face looking down. A stout KADREYMAN made the sign for 'no'. I tried again this time the WELKU clubbed me to the ground.

A drone in my BUNK deathed another and feeling something he couldnt describe jammed the PLASTEEL shard into his own gut. Both were laying dead on the floor. I pushed them into the corridor. There I heard more shouting, more crying and fucking.

5th shift I woke to hear people walking the corridor. A female drone who chose to lay with me opened the door to see what the commotion was. She flew backwards and hit her head hard on the wall. A WELKU had pushed her as he entered. More WELKU, KADRAYMEN wearing red overalls and a GUARDIAN armed with a power cudgel made the sign for me to retreat which we both did. They then took every food pill from the DISPENSER. They smashed the DISPENSER and left.

A figure in a tattered cloak bearing a faded symbol of ages and battles long past, sitting on one of the spire's curbs.

"Hellö. anyöne help öut a börk in need?"

"I önly need a few cöins"

"please, if not för a return ERB, at least for söme fööd and shelter"

the occasional passant, eyes downcast and mind elsewhere, whisks past without a glance.

[The Feast Of Antigones Memorial]

A faceless silver head gazes (if such a thing were possible with no obvious ocular appendii) at a tiny plump Tapir Jizo mounted on a pedestal which itself stands on a lone table surrounded by a huge expanse of marble floor. A short Ecumenical wearing a ridiculously over sized hat (as was customary) averts his gaze, looking up only to check that all was well in the IMPERIAL CHAMBERS.

The Silver Mannequin jabs at the Tapir with a shapeless paw and it jiggles, its small grass skirt covered hips rocking from side to side

"And they worship this Pumpo, the drones that is?"

"Y...Yes Majesty. Such Heretical machinations are....all too common among the CADRES..."

"Hoh?"

The table dissipates into a shower of pixels and is replaced almost immediately by another pedestal this time containing a projection of a projector which projects a projection of a familiar Antigonian Partisan

"And the Drones worship this?..... It doesn't dance. What goos is a Small God is it doesn't dance. I prefer the Tapir"

"N...No O most divine Majesty...that is the Green Snapper, the notorious murderer, fugitive and jaywalker who humbled....."

The plump Ecumenical immediately regrets his choice of words, slapping a hand over his mouth. An-Sheel does not react, although the Ecumenical posits that to tell would be an impossibility given the lack of discerning features capable of projecting emotion

"...who was soundly defeated by your glorious Army at the fortress of Reddan. He has proved a most formidable adversary. Records show that he previously commanded a high ranking position within the Green Cadre. The Commisariat have informed me that the man is respected...even revered by many active OVERSEERS within the CADRE system."

"He lives?"

"We...we are currently exploring...."

"Jolly Tapirs corrupting our Drones with jaunty hip movements, Antigonian Traitors rabble rousing in my VAL-E-DID and Concrete Wingless Elephants stealing my socks by night...."

The Silver Mannequin shimmers suddenly, its outline shifting and reforming into a new position directly before the fawning Ecumenical

"It will not do Dearce-724432. See to it that the Purges continue unabated. And summon The Ulan Sejjukar, it is not enough that the Partizans flee, I want them erased.

An escorted SEED SHUTTLE scampers across the skies over the deserts of VAL ADID. The arid scenery is replaced with the more temperate lands of eastern ANTIGONE, then with the urbanization of Antigone Proper. TYCHO presses his face against the window of his luxury cabin, observing as an Antigonian child on the ground chases after their runaway pet peeg. The door of his cabin slides open and an imperial bodyguard steps through, forcing the Marshall to unstick his face and turn around

"Marshall, we're almost there. Be ready. And try to make yourself look a little more... presentable. You can't go to the Empress looking like that."

Yeah, yeah, I know.

The shuttle docks by a colossal building near the heart of the city. TYCHO and his escorts enter, traversing twelve flights of stairs to reach the Empress's court

My utmost exalted Empress, AN-SHEEL. I come with some... interesting news, and a proposal. I'll tell the news first, because the proposal's about the news, and life is hard without context. Hem hem, We've been picking up very odd energy patterns over these past few weeks, coming from outside the nebula. At first we thought it was WHITE BUDS, but no, it's something different. I had some interstellar scouts try and get a closer look, and it turns out there's some sort of facility on a drifting moon.

We were all beaming when we found out. It felt like an early SampoSampoEve present waiting for us to go and unwrap it. My proposal is this, we dispatch an expedition out there as soon as we can, and excavate, or maybe, even plant our flag on, this facility. It may be beyond the boundary of the wormhole interfaces who've been mother hens to us, but it's a defensible fortress in its own right, and I've no doubt it'll be of nearly as much tactical value as FACILITY 7.

If not more...

Good K'Ad... Look at it.

Excuse me, can you direct me to LEM?

Or the DEEPCORE?

Or both?

OVERSEER Straubb heaved his considerable frame out of Anti-senescence pod as the sound of reverie rang out across the CADRE square, in the viewing pane he watched as the new CADREMEN lined up in ranks, each laden with their training equipment. The grizzled Antigonian was in his 173rd cycle, preserved by the anti-senescence equipment exclusively reserved for OVERSEERS and high ranking ECUMENS and HIERARCHS, but despite the age defying treatment Straubb was feeling his age. His CADRE was the first assigned exclusively to the CITY OF INDUSTRY, tasked with overseeing the reclamation of the OLD WORLD technology and, in cooperation with the ECUMENICAL ORDER, the extirpation of heretical kernels and data deemed non doctrinal by Empress AN-SHEEL. Straubb was a veteran of the CADRES, having worked his way up the ranks, surviving many a CULL and PURGE along the way.

The Antigonian CADRES were first established by the first Emperor LEM I in a bid to create a unified, professional armed force for both offensive engagements and for maintaining order within the sprawling and ever growing Empire. The CADRES were initially filled with conscripts, criminals and also volunteers however over time these were replaced with clones born through the numerous LIFEHOUSES, or BUDDING CHAMBERS constructed throughout the empire, a readily available resource. Initially FACILITY 7, better known as the BOWL, served as the primary producer of drone stock, and as the knowledge and expertise of the scientists tasked with overseeing the expansion of the LIFEHOUSE project grew, thus the variety of drones increased (WELKU being a prime example). The current administration bucked the previous trend of diversification among the LIFEHOUSE seed stock, and deemed any deviation from the original 1098th Worlder brood stock to be non doctrinal. Thus the bifurcation of drones ceased, replaced by a homogenous genotype.

Straubb was pleased with the progress of his new drones and offered an approving nod as Sergeants and UNDERSEERS began to drill the new troops, keen to stress test the recruits and thin out those unsuited to the rigors of CADRE life.

The daily undertakings were suddenly interrupted when an urgent message appeared across the Audioscope followed by the appearance in the viewing screen of the head and shoulders of a stern looking pilot, who ordered the CADRE to prepare for the arrival of MARSHALL TYCHO and his personal guard. A flustered CADRE sergeant then entered the room to advise the same, adding that the Flagship ‘Guardian of Antigon’ had entered the airspace above the northern Canton of the CITY OF INDUSTRY. The City had remained relatively peaceful over the previous cycle however reports were always streaming in notifying the occupation force of Bokkhan incursions and Berserker raids across the hinterlands. Straubb therefore ordered the CADRE’S SEED SHIPS to take to the air to ensure that the GRAND MARSHALLS arrival passed without a hitch. He then proceeded to order the CADRE to turn out in full parade gear, keen to show the EMPRESS that he was fit for task.

The Sunshine fell like wine

With his tail swinging in cadence with skipping trot, Pompo appeared at one with the world. Free of the Forest, and of LENDAL /LAMPAD/'s influence he.......

FACILITY 9 INTERFACE THR-088-EN CONSOLE VERSION 9.51.8901

<LIFEHOUSE> ACTIVATION KERNEL - RESPLENDANT

WARNING||TROJAN GESTA|t DETECTED

WARNING||TROJAN GESTA|t DETE/LAMPAD/

WARNING||TROJAN GESTA|t DEWARNING||TROJAN GESTA|t DET/LAMPAD/LAMPAD/

SECTION - 443443b

PIECE - 5545455454 {exception0000}

....

The City Stood. A Boneyard of steel and glass reaching for HighHeaven from the crystal wastes of VAL-ADID. The Papaver droid slid from the blister like a great worm, its entire body stretched and coiled like a butterfly fresh from its chrysalis. Settling upon the sand no more than a few feet away it inflated its vast, ferro-metal carapace atop 8 strands which hardened in individual struts, giving the appearance of a large bell atop the frame of a Teepee. Moments later the strands formed a single appendage which extended upwards.

Eventually the carapace expanded into a large, flat, ovate disc, from which sprouted a number of nodes that glowed a deep red. The Papaver then began to meticulously survey the wilderness, the hinterlands between VAL ADID proper and the fragmented outlying areas of the City. The nodes shifted across the flattened disc, then eventually fixing on a glinting shape far off in the distance. There, moving at speed across the flat wastes, was a most unusual sight. It moved on 4 thin, metal stalks which shifted in a most unusual fashion, an awkward gait which made the entity look as if it would topple over at any given moment, however the entity moved rapidly and without real effort. Atop the quad appendages sat a large, cylinder which appeared to be the 'body'. There were no obvious hinges or ports which linked the 4 spindle legs to this strange, featureless hull. Instead the joins seemed to comprise of energy bonds which glowed a vivid blue in time with the planting of each leg. No other features stood out, except a small, plastic node which protruded from the side of one of the legs. The ImageViewer attached to the Papaver droid struggled to focus on this strange device, eventually determining that a number of diodes, arranged in strange patterns, flashed on and off in an ordered sequence.

Now aware of an existential threat the Papaver quickly shifted into its motile form, with the large turret splitting into 8 long legs which in one swift motion propelled its sleek body across the sands in the direction of the intruder. The ImageViewer brought up streams of data glyphs indicating that the intruder was now aware of the approaching droid. In accordance with its offensive protocols 2 NEEDLERS extended from the rapidly moving disc that was the Papavers hull, which had now elongated into a more streamlined form. The onrushing droid was now no more than 50 feet from its quarry and the NEEDLERS were primed to fire. All of a sudden, without warning, the 8 rapidly moving legs of the Papaver gave out, bringing the droid to a crashing halt as its hull plowed into the ground. Immobile, the ferro-metal hull of the Papaver attempted to reform into its regular bell shape, but this was all in vain as it was evident that dozens of holes now pocked the machine, and coolant leaked onto the sand. Its 8 legs were also shattered, with their corresponding sections splayed out on the ground around its hull. With its power systems fading fast the Papaver replayed its final moments through its ImageViewer, which continued to flash its warnings and tell-tales. In the final moments it had approached the offender as normal, ready to strike, detecting no abnormalities. Suddenly, in an instantaneous flash, thousands of shard-like fleschettes exploded from the galloping cylindrical creature, a deadly swarm of metal that crashed into the body of the now crippled droid.

{exception0000}Dearce-25 - retrieval

A pair of SEED SHIPS appear over the hinterlands of the City.

::<PATHFINDER SCOUT - QUONIS LOG>:: ---IN THE NAME OF THE 3RD IMPERIUM-----

Roc, this is Quonis. Are you picking up the Neutrino surge in the North Western quadrant?

Quonis, Roc here, i've detonated a tachyon pulse over the main conurbation, the readings show that the THROBBEN engines below the surface are malfunctioning en masse, we seem to be interacting with pockets of shifted time across the city.

Roc I dont follow, are you saying that the city is shifting between time periods?

It looks like it. We know THROBBEN is able to form interface portals that can loop through configurational space, I've seen kernels within Antigone Proper that suggest that the BOWL utilises such technology in order to maintain security and to deploy its forces in the time of war. I speculate that the THROBBEN engines here are creating 'waves' of past and future timelines overlaying the present.

I'm going to peel off and survey the Southwestern Quadrant. I suggest you make for the space port and have your squad set up a forward command base.

Affirmative

<KERNEL INTERFACE OPEN>-----INSERT MEMORY KERNEL a4112254 ACCEPTED

--SEARCH - THROBBEN PHASE SHIFT, parameter - open

PROJECT GLASSHOUSE - select

RECORD DISPLAY

<PROJECT GLASSHOUSE> ----- [RECORDS:HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL: CLEARANCE REQUIRED]

[END]

Dear Eol, my oldest friend,

Many have marvelled at the great megastructures that grace the BOWL, that grace the CITY OF INDUSTRY, those mighty engines we see before us. In the time before the GREAT EXTIRPATION, in the time of FOUNDATION, the sky above the BOWL, above the great CITIES were filled with ships, travellers from far off worlds who sought refuge from the RING OF LEUKOS, the WHITE MACHINE. But what became of the great ships, the mighty leviathans that carried generations across the stars? This question, I believe, may have been answered.
At the end of the CYCLE OF AN-KIB, after the FEAST OF Y’THELNIS, I took a skimmer out to the wastes beyond VAL ADID to the SHARD, the last vestige of the CITY above the sands. I toured the sites of remembrance, the graves of the fallen, and the necropolis of THRAN, and gave thanks to the OLD GODS at the TEMPLE OF VAL ADID. When the deluge broke the land slept again, with the great ships sleeping beneath the firmament. And do you know Eol that each ship was cleansed of any trace of its origin, but know that the great saurian are no different to the terror that stalks us from the void, the terror that now claws at the threshold, and which will again tear the world apart.
You wont hear from me again old friend, these old bones are heading into the wastes in search of S00l, in search of the remnants of Project Glasshouse. I’ll likely fail, but maybe we can save what is left of the world.

Your friend

Dh0ler-An Ur-Kib

A shimmering films of THROBBEN opens above the hanger blister as the SEED SHIP enters Conurbation: Designation: Prime. The blister appears empty save for a few antiquated ships that stand ready for what looks like war that came too soon. Blazened accross the hanger wall is a faded black tetrahedral sigil worn by time.

As the SEED SHIP descends a tinny mechanical voice graces the comm link, bathed in static

::Welcome back Commander /u/GreenTheSnapper. Welcome....Commander Simnat S00l, please proceed to blister 12. Commander probablynotrai will see you shortly::

Simnat S00l brings up the landing quad on the display screen and carry's out a scan on the surroundings. No life signs.

A shimmering screen of THROBBEN ripples as a SEED SHIP enters the hanger blister of Conurbation : Designation: Prime. A myriad of droids and servitor drones zip through the air, tending the enormous array of ships that grace the blister. In walkways close by throngs of pilots and soldiers scurry about forming squads and work details. At the back of the hanger a large black tetrahedral sigil can be seen.

A voice graces the comm link Unidentified SEED SHIP please proceed to bay 34. Do not attempt to alight, a security detail will be with you shortly, please await instructions

Empires fall, Memories fade. The scars of conflict, of time, and of decay dot the land, and yet the City remains

A thunderous boom echoes across the conurbation domes and hive spires as a rift opens in the sky. A small SEED SHIP exits the tear and begins to spin towards the ground, clearly out of control

,,,,,,||| U͜N̬ỊD͕E͍N̦T̢I͈F͚I̯E͎D̹ ͅO̧B͖J̼E̤C͕Ṯ ͉ḐE̢T̯E͍C̟ŢẸD̳||||

̠'̩'̪S͈E̥N̪ṬR̙Y̜ ̞M̘O͕D̳Ḙ:͉ ̰E̺N̤ĄB̜L̪E̞D̬'͎'̜ ̗ -̮-͙-͜-͚-̭-͕T͈R̖A̹C̞K̤I̱N̗G͉-̙-̬-̗-̤-̠-̣

̪S̭H̡I̥P̧ ̳I͇D̼ẸN͍T̠I͇F̘I̬E̟D̫:̱ ̥S̺EͅE̖D̩ ̻S̥H͓I̘P̜:̮ ̩D̡E̘S̻I͚G̱N͎A̭ṮI̹ỌN̺:̡ ͎T̢A̟U̮ CLASS. WHITE MACHINE IFF ACTIVE ̻L̮I̗F̗E͚F͜O̙R͕M̖S̭:̦ ͚2̥,̧ ̗1̙ ͈A̢P̪P̤E̞A̰R̩S̮ ̪T͓O̧ ̼B͎E̤ ̫F͙A̖D͜I͉N̜G̯,̙ ͜2̬0̻%̦ ̰M͜A̞X̘I̜M͜U̩M̲.͇ ̖_̦_̨_͇_̹_͉_̹_̠_̲_̦_̜_͕_̹_̹_̡_̡_͜_͓_͔_̮_̜_̜_̺_͎_̗_̡_͓_͈

[INAUDIBLE] Dr Monserratt call sign [inaudible]. I seek an audience with KABOK. I have news concerning [inaudible].

《Commit entry-open》

LOCATION: City:designation : INDUSTRY

BIN KERNEL Go_to CADRE 71 overview :transmission failure :time_out countdown :STACK initiate NEUTRON PURGE::true

<IN THE NAME OF ...U..L.>

.......Fe........................fe?................................fe..........................................Yul..............................

(A cacophonous boom rings out following by the sound of straining metal, groaning in defiance)

complicit

WELCOME TO THE MACHINE

....

(The creak of girders and pylons intensifies. There follows an almighty crash as the entire superstructure of an industrial conurbation dome collapses into itself. The air fills with dust aged a thousand years. The preceding silence is fleeting, as moments later a great booming sound resonates from the crater akin to a million bass horns, a sound that would surely wake even the OLD GODS themselves, a sound that had not been heard in aeons.)

[[[[[[[S00000000000000LLL]]]]]]

And There In The [CAKE] The Piggy Wigg Stood

And There In The [CAKE] The Piggy Wigg Stood

And There In The [CAKE] The Piggy Wigg Stood

And There In The [CAKE] The Piggy Wigg Stood

And There In The [CAKE] The Piggy Wigg Stood

And There In The [CAKE] The Piggy Wigg Stood

And There In The [CAKE] The Piggy Wigg Stood

And There In The [CAKE] The Piggy Wigg Stood

PRIMARY:PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY PRIMARY

What might this place be?

I wandered from the BOWL,

Which seems hopelessly lost.

On a TREE I found the SIGN...

The SIGN of KIB.

I must tell what's left of my CADRE.

<STACK_OPEN_>:: Download log - <<Seeker_scout_K512188AB>> <Sentry_log 12A/7-7B> Go_to:Report

:..::Kernel download::..: The Loyalist underground has converged at abandoned Conurbation Dome 7284939771. An infiltration team has been present within the conurbation since the FALL, taking refuge in a series of disused tunnels thought to be the remnants of an old city that predates the construction of the Conurbation itself.

<STACK_OPEN_>:: Download log - <<Seeker_scout_K512188AB>>

<Sentry_log 4A/1-1>

Go_to:Report

::Kernel load error: ......The sky is on fire. The city is on fire. All CADRES are in full retreat, in disarray. The SEED SHIPS are systematically erasing everything, every sign of the occupation. Every building, every conurbation dome, growhouse, budding vat and depot has been turned into a fine sand. The canals have been re-routed to the west serving an unknown outpost or enclave. I have been moving under cover of darkness between the ruins that remain and have set up a operation base within a cave complex to the north. From my hiding place I have observed the rebellion and hope that the following information may serve LEM.

On the nature of the rebellion

The rebels are split, so it seems, into several distinct factions however the most dominant seem to be a group known as The Black Tetrahedron, or the Black Sigil. They are most definitely the most organised and seem to be comprised of former OVERSERS and high ranking administrators of the various conurbations.

They are also made up by an equal part of WILDMAN KHANS, their tribal warriors making up the bulk of the original infantry, bolstered now by defectors. Contrary to what I assume were propaganda reports from our side which were disseminated among the loyalist CADRES, the rebels are highly trained and seem to be taking orders from a central command, though the location of this base of operations is not known.

Another group of rebels go by the moniker THE PEOPLE OF KIB, and it is clear that they venerate the FOUNDER, adopting his form as a battle standard. They also cover themselves in tattoos of his sayings, and lines of scripture copied from THE BOOK OF KIB. It is not known whether the group truly believe that this will bring them favour or protection, or whether it is simply an image of projection designed to shock the superstitious seeker.

The rebels have at their disposal A SENTINEL, a WHITE BUD drone which as you can imagine possesses immense power. Indeed, its initial sortie into battle drove back over 10 cadres of loyalists complete with combat drones and advanced weaponry. It is as yet unknown how the rebels are guiding the SENTINEL, despite the legends it certainly appears that this one has been tamed, and thus far is under full control.

In addition to the SENTINEL, the rebels are in possession of a huge number of SEED SHIPS equipped with immensely powerful pulse lasers. It is these ships that turned the tide of battle and proved decisive. While I have no evidence corroborating this, I conjecture that the ships were being patiently constructed under the city itself over a period of decades, years, cycles, within the labyrinth of tunnels and foundries that have lay abandoned for so long.

During the day the seed ships have been carrying out extirpation missions deep within the mountains, and I have witnessed many a pocket of resistance destroyed or captured.

I have yet to make contact with THE BOWL, but understand from listening devices positioned within the old city that a punitive force has already moved against it, though more reports suggest that rebel groups within the bowl have seized control of the facility.

Over the course of the last part-cycle the rebels have been launching attacks on the conurbation domes between here and THE PROMONTORY OF YAN and reports suggest that the entire region, including the BOWL, may have surrendered. The domes are mostly full of workers who, I am sad to report, have not been treated well by their new masters. I have heard that they have been forced out into the wilderness with little in the way of sustenance while their homes now house the rebels and their plunder of war.

I am certain that it is only a matter of time before the Empire strikes back however I am both puzzled and saddened that our forces have not moved against this threat, I am worried too that the CHIEF OVERSEERS may indeed have, as we initially feared, betrayed the emperor through a coup. I hope to receive word from our groups embedded within the rebellion on this very matter soon.

The City must endure,

It will endure.

And as the armies of LEM fell

Venerable KIB became the match

That set a world aflame.

For he had returned.

<transmission_protocol_override> <STACK_terminal_override>

::Go_to: report::

*OVERSEER 5469954-designation(QUOB) - Message ::In the name of LEM.....this is a message to all OVERSEERS, ADMINISTRATORS and CADRE leaders. The wildman have triggered a device....some kind of ancient....OH LEM what have they done...and look...ships rising from the ground..its some kind of trap...they have been waiting for us...but how........::

OVERSEER 8579989-designation(QUONI)::they rise from the ground like cotton seeds, thousands of ships....and the wildmen, they disgorge from every opening...thousands upon thousands.....CARDRE and drone troops are falling back everywhere, its a complete rout. This one will not make it...all units should immediately fall back to CONURBATION PRIME, defend in depth...and look to the skies..,.the ships.......::*

*ADMINISTRATOR 821551-designation(KOBOS) - MESSAGE TO THE DIRECTORATE OF UR-LEM ::Neutron purge ineffective.....drones are falling from the skies...THEY HAVE A WHITE BUD!!!!!!....emerald beams are destroying everything, casualties are....we don't stand a chance...in the name LEM-PRIME you must instigate the CULL, the city is lost, the wildmen have the canals...their ships are already moving on THE BOWL as we speak, soon they will reach EDEN....all CADRES are falling back to holding sector 9....we have word that a number of OVERSEERS and their CADRES have defected.....::

Date: 54:5/6

<IN THE NAME OF UR-LEM, THE MAGNIFICENT>

<protocol_initiation> STACK - line 4 :: Defense grid activated :: Neutron Purge - standby :: FUNCTION <<NULL>> ERROR STACK_LINE 444.tr

:::Wildmen have been detected in Quadrant 65665. The Overseer of CADRE 45545 informed us that the old MUSEUM OF TECHNOLOGY has been overrun by these renegades who no doubt are using the facility for base, degenerate pursuits. The Overseer Prime has ruled against the use of a neutron purge so as to preserve the building and its contents, and has thus ordered a conventional assault.::

<Message - STATUS- Outgoing> CADRE 91959-A is ordered to assault and placate Quadrant 65665. Hostiles are present and armed with beam weaponry. Prisoners are to be taken where possible and should be transferred to HOLDING AREA 59. CADRE leaders are ordered to provide a status report on arrival.

END

<COMMAND_STACK> :: Access_port - <stable> :: CADRE designation - FREE :: GoTo_Report

:: Section 28.1.23 is now operational and comprises a drone plant and kernel foundry. The silted canals that criss-cross this quadrant have been excavated and re-routed. Excavation drones and mole drones have made contact with several nutrient streams approximately 200 metres below the surface - indicates possible DEEP CORE location. CADRE 45545 has been assigned to reclamation detail

Ferrous and non-ferrous kernels will be transported to the outer rim as ordered.

A wildman incursion in Quadrant 65665 has been detected. The wildmen appear to have made the old MUSEUM OF TECHNOLOGY their home. Preliminary reports indicate that the wildmen may have advanced weaponry at their disposal though they should not pose a major threat. CADRE 969889 will be assigned to extirpation detail

why is it so cold?

《Commit entry-close》

BINSEED KERNEL Go_to CADRE 71 overview :transmission failure :time_out countdown :STACK initiate NEUTRON PURGE::

<IN THE NAME OF ...U..L.>

reclamation detachment entered quadrant ..::5.. breaker beams were eventually successful in penetrating the outer shell, initial reports indicated that a smooth inner carapace made from a cold, unknown alloy, or possibly a ceramic material...:

:the unit was duly isolated and loaded onto the hopper of one of the mole drones, it was at this point the CADRE leader realised that the WHITE BUD SENTINEL had awoken.....it was...it was terrible. May the fallen rest with UR-LEM, and may they be remembered. We lost the feed to the reclamation team at 5Aa:5/7. The sentinel, reacting to being handled I assume, began exibiting signs of power up, before anyone could react it had scythed down over half of the CADRE. Combat drones proved useless and were swiftly overcome by the emerald beams of the WHITE BUD. The mole drones attempted to pacify the SENTINEL but again were overcome. We had no choice but to instigate a neutron purge of the chamber. The names of the fallen shall be returned to THE BOWL

Report date: 3:45/9/9

:::Excavation drones have uncovered an anomalous deposit beneath the derelict Capitol Building::

::Survey team 7 designation CADRE 233243 assigned::

::<command_stack> Go_to quadrant 2132 ::<command_stack> Autonomy set ((parameter)) = 5 :: CADRE members should be prepared for the possibility of an immediate PURGE should it be found that the anomalous deposit is a WHITE BUD sentinel. ::May you be favoured in the UN-LIFE

END

In the dark of the winters his belief in everything began to fade. White clouds and blue skies and sun beams all around brought happiness and contentedness, and so long as the spring buds brought forth sweetness in the fall people would still come, and swap various things and dance in time to the gentle wind that blew in from the rolling hills that did rustle and gently jostle the chimes above the hearth. And as a chill grew in the air people would come to huddle in the warmth of the Junnypede complete with a hearth warmed from the rocks below, and whilst those at the centre slept contently those cousins who dwelt on the edge of the circle withered and fell, and each new cycle brought forth a howling cry as the sun fought its way above the horizon.

The Long Winter set to the backdrop of the Long Night. The cruel trees withheld their bounties to save themselves and the myriads of poppet-like sprites that nestled within the old growth, enough would be needed to sustain them until spring, but was no charity given to those who dwelt outside.

In the depths, despair had taken hold and only the coming of strange hyphae stirred the mass within the hearth-barn, that which dwindled by the day and which moaned loudly as the night winds brought in yet more misery. As the good people slept they dreamt of warmer climbs and the wines that would burst forth from the strange elms that did so well by the mausoleum and the charnel houses.

It was there that the hyphae took them, mould like mass swept over each exposed man and woman until no one could tell the mother from her dam. Then a strange thing occurred. From the base of the mass of shivering things a grotesque leg-like appendage burst forth and hurriedly decamped the shanty, unaffected by the dry wind that blew outside it made off down the street like a great worm in search of a meal. When it came upon a dwelling it would, rather discourteously, enter via the opened window and as the body of it pulsed the families that dwelt inside were conveyed toward the place where the mass did lie.

For many a day this did continue, more and more appendages sprouted from the dirty corm that lay, now larger than ever, within the tattered shack. And with each departing leg came a new member, deep in slumber and oblivious to the role the poor soul would play in events to come. Eventually the beams and cobbles that formed the walls and ceilings buckled and burst - like an egg hatching a protoplasmic chick. On the 15th day a great cyst formed on the grey-white carapace that now surrounded the great mass, and from within a myriad of small scuttling horrors poured out.

Wherever those blind scuttles came across a fine oak or proud elm they burrowed deep beneath the roots, and yet more peculiarities were brought forth. Each tree, once majestic and formed of woody boughs and branches resembled great green vat like blobs with open, hopper-like tops filled with pink goo. And the goodness that lay in the earth, that which was reserved for the good people of the valley and their seeds saved for the spring, was brought up and soon the land which lay in slumber beneath the deep snow was extinguished of all life save for strange worms that sat far far below in caverns formed in aeons gone by.

The great white mass was now far larger than the town and in the desolation sat contentedly, only pulsing occasionally to pluck a plump bird from the air or a migrating froglet from the snow melt. As the fresh rays of the spring sun crept over the valley a moment of chaos occurred as the jelly like horror contorted and warped in the great nest it had amassed from stone and wood, and a great sail like wing larger than the sails on the tallest of ships sprouted like a turnip top from its flank. And as the wind gathered its strength the great thing was carried off in the wind like a puff-bloom in summertime.

For miles the moon like object waxed across the sky. It caught an upwelling in the lee of a great mountain and took flight up to THE PROMONTORY OF YAN and there it nestled Within the foamy drift that smattered the young, craggy peaks. and only hardy mountain yaks and salty crag goats could hear the quiet murmurings that emanated from the unusual opening which passed for a mouth piece, and the great white blob offered its apologies to Stone Faced Brown and Mother Yapp the Butchers wife for all the suffering that it had caused, and it sung a lament that would resonate only with Otters and those in possession of sensitive ear-parts. As the tuneful song died away a great particle stream of emerald green light blasted forth from an unseen orifice and pierced and sliced open the nearby mountains, and a great cataclysm was brought forth as lava and smoke rock poured forth from the wounded earth. And great ash clouds carpeted all around, to the point where the already weak and feeble sun passed out of view.

The weeping ball, fraught with guilt, bled out its milky cargo across the hills. And so vast was it that the trickle turned into a torrent so powerful that vast rivers snaked down into the valley between the newly formed foothills. In the oxbow lakes that formed in the soft earth there came to be forests of red water-weed that choked the depths and margins, and in tiny buds clustered amongst the weed grew tiny men and tiny women, transparent and glistening with a tint of gold, and with that a new dawn had begun.

The city once grew,

Until it grew no more.

Now it has been restored,

And grows once again.

The power that can come from here is necessary...

But so are the consequences....

<command-stack/> By order of the directorate, a level 3 PURGE will commence at the end of the forthcoming cycle.

Following a successful PURGE, Conurbation Prime will be founded, designation EDEN.

Work CADRES will be assigned to Conurbation Prime and, by the will of the OVERSEER begin cultivation.

Genesis and reclamation drones will be deployed to SECTION 23 and SECTION 42.

Budding stock will be allocated to the requisite birthing vats. Keep left at all times.

The reclamation of THE CITY OF INDUSTRY has begun.

CADRE 4544787 has been assigned to track 17 following which it will remain in overgrowth, and thus shall not be subject to the CULL.

Praise be to THE OVERSEER.