Ancient Infested (Race)

Background:
Also known as "Canceroma prior", the Ancient Infested are a race from the Centesian era, barely known in the modern era aside from the sightings or historical texts. Able to infest nonorganics and organics alike to their form and possessing knowledge of chemical reactions from an entirely different tree of life, their bio-knowledge is above all others by far.

Their numbers are small due to the Ancient Infested originating from a nearby galaxy: a nearly 375-year trip for new members to the relevant space, this galaxy. Ancient Infested warp in over time, bolstering their numbers constantly, but wholesomely slowly. Roughly 875,000 non-temporary Ancient Infested are in the galaxy, having made this trip. Ships are counted into this number, but organic "tools" and security are not.

"Government":
Ancient Infested lack a government in the traditional sense: the exchange of resources under rule such as capitalism or communism. Rather, the Ancient Infested is led by Alphas, which oversee various amounts of lesser Infested. Alphas control these lesser infested directly, but the lesser infested do still have limited free-will.

Alphas are connected by an Alpha interlinking hive-mind, but their lesser infested are separate to each alpha. If a "hole" in this web is created, either through a lot of new Ancient Infested or the death of an alpha, the strongest and wisest of the group will mutate into an Alpha to lead the rest, filling the hole.

It is of note that Alphas are not templated. Each one is radically different from each other and any other Ancient Infested. Alphas usually mutate to what will best survive their common situations or lead their lesser infested to survival.

Known Alphas:
Please visit the Alphas page for information on specific Alphas and higher.

The Rules of Survival:
The Rules of Survival are a common set of rules what all Alphas eventually realize and adopt as their own: this is why the Ancient Infested can be so coordinated and like-minded. Alphas prioritize survival above all else for as many non-disposable infested as possible, meaning combat is done after weighing the risk to reward or by using disposables which matter not to the group. Alphas that follow the Rules of Survival always consider risks to benefit in every situation: wanton war is not fitting of that, but that does not also rule out war. The Rules of Survival can easily be summarized as "Cost to Benefit."

Bio-Knowledge:
Ancient Infested bio-knowledge is vast: no other known race comes close or even competes to it. All Alphas have access to this information, and use it frequently. Applications are listed below in subcategories.

Of note is the Ancient Infested fuel used to feed all Ancient Infested organisms. The fuel is produced by Superdreadnoughts solely. 1 mL can power a conventional starship for a full 24 hours, and if ingested by a non-Infested can satiate for months.

Each Superdreadnought produces 250 mL of fuel a week. 5*250=1,250mL/week. Current consumption is 950mL/week.

Ships:
Ancient Infested ships are all organic: none follow the normal Alliance class definitions and all are unique.

Ancient Infested Superdreadnought:

The main ships of the Ancient Infested fleet and a whole, these behemoths carry a unique assortment of weaponry and major gimmicks. Their speed is slow even at hyperdrive: 1 5th-Avery every 24 hours. Superdreadnoughts are the sole producer and storage units for Ancient Infested fuel. Each one can store 100,000 mL.

Superdreadnoughts can split apart into smaller types of Ancient Infested ships, essentially creating a fleet in a matter of minutes. It takes the Superdreadnought one week to refuse together, and two weeks if it lost any noticeable biomass while split.

Ancient Infested Superdreadnoughts carry an ultraweapon that takes a large amount of fuel(60 mL) and a considerable charging process(20 minutes) to fire. The weapon is a IMP, or "Infested Magnetic Pulse." It fires a hybrid "EMP-Infested hyper-beam" over an extremely long distance, and is effective against all known ships and targets. The real harm isn't to the ship itself, but the crew: the beam spreads multiple viruses and contagious agents inside its targets and causes massive hull breaches with its acid to anything it hits, not including the EMP's adverse effects on systems and airlocks. The beam can only be reflected by a Ancient Infested Harbinger, or Alpha Infested Mir'are.

This beam has a lot of friction, making control quite difficult. This combined with its devastating and absolute damage, harm potential, and fuel cost makes it used for survival to minimize risk if needed. Infested Superdreadnoughts average a length of 18 kilometers across.

Ancient Infested Harbinger:

Ancient Infested Harbingers are decagonal-ring utility ships with no weaponry of their own. They function as reflectors for Superdreadnought IMP beams, giving them more control and covering blind spots of the original beam. They have dense back armor: aim for the front while avoiding the reflected beam to do efficient damage.

Harbingers are so aptly named for their main use. They can open up a organic wormhole using an immense amount of fuel(150 mL) to transport a Superdreadnought near-instantly in which they are connected to. This can only be done with Harbinger pairs. Due to the asinine fuel use, this function is only used in emergencies.

Ancient Infested Siegebellum:

Ancient Infested Siegebellums are ships designed solely for siege and nothing else. They are literal artillery ships, capable of charging a beam over 20 seconds to fire over a distance from Neptune to Pluto, max orbit. This beam is launched in an upwards arc and has a five second travel time. These are heavily reinforced from the front and top: attack from other directions to do efficient damage.

Siegebellum beams have an acid-organic composition, meaning that the real risk is to the crew through massive, uncontrollable hull breaches on targeted ships. These beams are visible and glow with a slime-green even from planets away.

Siegebellum ships have a minor version of the Harbinger's organic warp. They can warp every two minutes with a distance equivalent to their beam's range. Due to this, they are extremely hard to pursue by what they are targeting: split up and flank to bypass this.

Ancient Infested Alpha Transport:

Alpha Transports are an unusually, by default, small class of ship, roughly two-people large. Due to its Ancient Infested nature and on top of that, carrying Alphas, it is no doubt without its gimmicks. While unarmored and unarmed at base, Alpha Transports can rapidly grow and consume everything they touch, growing in size and strength considerably over literal seconds and minutes of observation. It consumes weapons it touches, adding them to its hull, which is solidified from materials it consumes.

Used for massive evacuations due to the potentially strong hull and weaponry and immense space once it has consumed enough mass to grow. Transports Alphas in its unexpanded state.

Alpha Transports expel biomass if needed: this is ejected as a large ball of flesh and other organics and able to be fully reused by other Ancient Infested, or for those who can use it.

Ancient Infested Grappler Transport:

Grappler Transports are large cargo transporters used by the Ancient Infested to haul cargo and lesser Infested forms. They get their name from their exoskeleton, which features long, grabbing tendrils that can expand and grab objects in space, like a tractor beam. They are capable of growing a "landing shell": essentially a large heat-resistant cocoon in order to land on a planet's surface with cargo and a grappled target.

MUTATED: A mutated Grappler is meant for combat only - trading the heat-resistant shell for one which can prevent typical attacks. Its tendrils are armed with corrosive and EMP-emitting tips. Unable to carry or grapple targets. Unable to land in higher gravity environments due to the lack of a heat shield. Beware the tendrils - they can shred a standard ship.