>>6151652

and perhaps, the most dangerous of them all, partially due to how little is known and how scarcely it has been observed. A entity that's existence is proven solely through traces its attacks or predations leave behind and the handful of encounters with it that did not end in the sudden disappearance of its victims. People going missing, was unusual, others, including your ever loyal sons from Terra, questioned why you and other officials advising the colonization effort, silenced and stopped the spread of the reports of missing colonists before it could reach the general populace upon Shangrala and immediately began investigating the circumstances behind every vanished colonist.

Of course, the moment you explained the reason, why these cases were far from usual, they understood and agreed completely with the strangeness of them.

Shangralans, even in this era of bright lights, where the roads are lit and it is safe to walk from one province to the next without fear of bandits or a hungry panther, and there are trains and other means of public transport connecting every village, town and city together, know not to wander into the fog, to not stray too far from the safety of their homes. It was the only way to survive before you made connected Long-Jia, built the giant's road, and lit every corner of it and thinned the fog enough to render travel across it safe.

Yushan has no fog or mists, just dense jungles and tall, surprisingly resilient grasses. But, none of the colonists would think clarity of sight would make such environment safe due to lack of fog. With the wildlife of Shangrala, especially its formerly apex, feline predators, the psyche of the natives adapted to the constant threat of being dragged away into the fog or simply vanishing inside of it in curious, yet subtle ways. One being, they are not prone to meandering or going on strolls to collect their thoughts, and when they do, with the advent of public parks and tamed sections of forest, they do so within their cities or towns. They only enter the wilderness when they are armed and certain of their path, or else are in a vehicle. The fear of fog panthers still lingers in their collective unconsciousness, even in spite of hunters like yourself and firearms making an encounter with one no longer being certain death and that being the case for some years now.

Yet, too many have vanished without a trace, simply seeming to disappear beyond the perimeter walls of their colonies without explanation or trace. And several, terrified colonist, who you know to be trained outdoorsmen, the kind who would once brave the bone devouring forest or swamps of Xue or even more inhospitable locales for the simple joy of experiencing nature in its most unadulterated form, have spoken of what they call "False Friends".
Cont

>>6151653

Of seeing members of their trailblazing squads injured and begging for help, or fair faced strangers far from the safety of the walls, lost and confused. Of hearing voices of the living and dead. Reports differ on the tone of these voices and what they say, but one thing is clear. Something is trying to and often succeeding in, luring away the colonists of Yushan to an uncertain fate. The only thing that kept the survivors who speak of these vocal mimics and mirages in the jungle have in common, is that they are cool headed, experienced and rational. Qualities that are prized for outdoorsmen of any kind, and traits that make them pause and realize that there injured crewmate was ahead of them, or that their daughter wouldn't be so far beyond the walls, where others, reacting immediately out of of concern for their college or loved ones, fall for the trick.

A most insidious creature, and one you, Kanzeon, Al-uzza and the other greatest minds of Shangrala, believe may indicate the existence of a natural psionic predator that preys upon intelligent or at least, empathetic creatures. A natural enemy of those following the teachings of the journey. Capable of close to flawless mimicry and some form of natural illusion, they are the most dangerous

And you explain this to the unofficial governor of Yushan, a newly ennobled general, a veteran of both the Yan Rebellion and the Butcher's war, from his manner of dress and styling, he is most likely from the Xue province of Long-Jia. One of his eyes and most of his arm and some of his spine, have been replaced with cybernetics you could recognize across a star system. And Kanzeon smiles proudly at the site of them, as you, her, Dae-Hyun and Feng sit and discuss the methodology of your response to the natural forces threatening the colony of Yushan to this man, this Wu Han.

"You speak as if these ghosts in the fog are a devil more loathsome than the Imperial Yan Branch" He says smiling as he taps his mechanical fingers on the table displaying a holographic display of the regions of Yushan that have been mapped and explored, which you have been marking with the theoretical sites of encounters with the False Friends

"Are you dense?" Kanzeon asked bluntly, flicking a lock of river stone black hair out of her eyes "All evidence points to them being the greatest threat. The others can be quelled with overwhelming firepower and careful planning, things which all the forces assigned to do this culling excel greatly at"

"Thanks Mama" Dae-Hyun chortles "And I must agree with my father as well. The others are nothing worse than every day threats, even if we are unable to find a source for their sudden rabidness, but these mimics alone show signs of intelligence greater than low cunning"

"More man than beast" Feng agrees with a nod "What's the term for it...Sapient"

We Han swallows hard and nervously rubs his throat
Cont

>>6151654

"But it can be explained through cocky explorers or people who just grew used to the safety of Modern Long-Jia" He weakly tries to argue. Your eyes flash and flicker over to him as you, with a shake of your head, frown solemnly

"Once or twice would be a coincidence, over a dozen disappearance in similar circumstances is a pattern. Especially as they began after the waves of beastial aggression began to be repelled by the regiments and company brought over from Shangrala" You explain, connecting the dots on the display with a flick of your sleeve and some assistance from Kanzeon "The level of aggression shown by the native fauna and the dangers associated with venturing outside of the colonies, has increased in an easily measured manner. Whenever you on Yushan become capable of defending yourselves and repelling the threat, Another animal becomes aggressive to life or displays previously unseen behaviors or qualities, like the serpents or one horned brutes"

"You're making it seem like the planet is..." Wu Han begins

"Wouldn't be to fanciful a thought, would it? We have walked a trail of stars between worlds to wage war" Feng muses as he rolls a bullet over his knuckles "In my childhood, none of the amenities and comforts we know were anything by fantasy, the life I lived then would be seen as primitive and subject to unthinkable poverty and hardship. Is it such a stretch of belief, to ponder if maybe, some planets have something akin to a immune system, and Yushan is one of them"

"That is a theory me and my sisters were throwing around" Kanzeon explains with a nod "It could be, that by sheer bad luck, we found the only death world in recorded history that didn't only becomes incredibly dangerous and hard to live on when its settled, through the presence of a chemical or non native microbial life or...well to make it understandable, something the colonists brought with them"

"It could also simply be that our behavior triggers these response through body language or scent, or that we did not observe the wildlife's life cycles and biology in enough depth before settling. All of it is theory" You explain before Wu Han can fall too deeply into panic "Whether this world is as Brother Feng suggested, a living entity of a sort, or as my wife and her sisters theorize, this is what would be classified as a death world, or if, it is simply the nature of these creatures, one thing is certain"

"And what would that be?" Wu Han asked simply as Dae-Hyun, loaded his bolter's magazine meaningfully
Cont

>>6151655

"Boss man thinks we need to cull and reduce the numbers before we can seek out the source, if there is one, of this sudden change in behavior" He answers as you nod appreciatively in his direction "Me and a heavy weapons squad, the kind that would make Lady Tao weak in the knees, are going to cull the giant rock eating worms. Feng over here, is going to take his hunters into the plains and make a shooting gallery out of the ugly unicorns you've got grazing out there and reclaim your pastures. And Brother Nikephoros, well, he's already loading up boats for a little lizard hunting trip. But My father..."

"Will find these false friends and make certain they cause no more inexplicable disappearances" You answer as you, with a tap in the holographic images center, and Kanzeon's whirlwind quick adjustments, show, that from the data you've gathered, all of the encounters and preposed areas where those who have tragically gone missing vanished, are localized to one patch of jungle. One that, according to the reports and subterranean scans, has a network of caverns and tunnels

At the sight of it, Wu Han goes as pale as Bask Snow.

How do you begin your hunt for the False Friends, Lieren?

>By laying a trap of your own, and shadowing trained soldiers who have volunteered to act as bait, who share traits with one or multiple of the vanished individuals.

>By immediately braving and charting the tunnels, bringing the Creti Grave Wardens and Astartes equipped with armor designed for boarding actions.

>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.

>Just use Kanzeon's drones to search for the false friends, while you train your attached troops for jungle survival/ warfare and give the colonists a few self defense pointers

>Write in

>>6151656
>Write in
Meditate and scout with our Astral self, maybe we will find something mere eyes cannot. And question our Aeldari comrades; "why is there a webway portal in this system~"

.
So world spirit like Fenris? Some exodites not liking squatters? Dark eldar baiting us out? LICTORS?!

>>6151656
Start with
>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.
Then once we have enough information, we can
>By immediately braving and charting the tunnels, bringing the Creti Grave Wardens and Astartes equipped with armor designed for boarding actions.

Also, that first option is a big no no, Lieran would never use his fellow man as bait, even if they volunteer. Too many variables where something can go wrong.

>>6151656
Supporting >>6151720
Going in blind is just asking to get picked apart, while understanding how they do things will make charting out the tunnels much less risky. Besides, applying pressure creates the possibility of them making a mistake.

>>6151673
My bet is Exodites hoping to shoo us off without revealing their presence. If so, then they're probably going to go hard once we start actively culling the wildlife.

>>6151656
>>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.
Information is really our only means of tackling this threat properly. Best we stock up on it.

>>6151656
>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.
learn what we are dealing with
>Just use Kanzeon's drones to search for the false friends, while you train your attached troops for jungle survival/ warfare and give the colonists a few self defense pointers
drones can be recovered and rebuilt, they give nothing to eat too.

>>6151656
>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.

>>6151755
Wouldn't the craftworlders know this was an exodite world and tell us?

Hang on...wild life goes nuts. People vanish and unseen predators, ominous caves.

Lmao it's dryads/Pandora

>>6151656
>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.
>Just use Kanzeon's drones to search for the false friends, while you train your attached troops for jungle survival/ warfare and give the colonists a few self defense pointers

>>6151656
>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.

>>6151928
I doubt that our eldar journeymen know offhand all the exodite worlds out there, and they probably don't have access to craftworld archives from where they are.
It's entirely possible that they'll get an 'oh shit' face once they hear key details and urgently try to contact us.

>>6151656
>>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.
>Just use Kanzeon's drones to search for the false friends, while you train your attached troops for jungle survival/ warfare and give the colonists a few self defense pointers

>>6151656
>Write in
>>Meditate and scout with our Astral self, maybe we will find something mere eyes cannot. And question our Aeldari comrades; "why is there a webway portal in this system~"

>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.

>Just use Kanzeon's drones to search for the false friends, while you train your attached troops for jungle survival/ warfare and give the colonists a few self defense pointers

>>6151656
>V: 10

>By laying a trap of your own: 0

>By immediately braving and charting the tunnels: 2

>Interview the survivors: 9

>Just use Kanzeon's drones: 4

>Write in: 1
>>Meditate :2

It was a rainy day upon Shangrala, as a tall shadow treaded upon the forbidden woods. Though it's size easily dwarfing the tallest men would seem to hint to a brutish and careless approach, the shadow steps were as soft as a grain of sand plunging into tranquil, still water. It seemed to flee the light as if its contact upon his shape would be akin to searing red iron fresh from a fiery forge, preferring to stick to the shadows offered by the many trees and branches that inhabited the land. It's step was graceful and precise, alike the grace of an agile feline easily finding step into the uneven seas of leaves and root, but to an advised observer, one could easily recognize the mechanical, rhythmic walk of one who had learned and treaded upon a path hundreds and hundreds of time.Soon, however, the shadows offered by the woods grew fewer as did the vegetation, replaced by burned ground, the earth suddenly descending in a curve, as the shadow reached it's destination.

Upon the center of a colossal kilometers-long crater, a fortress of steel stood, as the shadow lifted his hood. Captain Do Yoon of the 3rd company of the Mist Walkers remained standing upon the colossal edifice, letting time for the observers that had followed him since his arrival upon the remains of the woods. He turned around, facing the alien creatures baring the armors of ghosts to watchfully examine his face, pondering on the possibility of an imposter or a doppelganger. Do Yoon remained perfectly still, remembering with a hint of amusement how his younger self had been awarded a scratch upon his cheek by a warning shot, just for having the mistake of flinching when his stalkers revealed themselves for the first time. THe newly promoted captain had been bewildered at the time, asking his guide, Chapter Master Man-Seok what would have befallen him had he jumped back.

The faint smile on the lips of the perpetual stoned-faced elder had been enough answer.

As the sentinel seemed satisfied with their observations, they steeped back into the cover of the woods' shadows, their eyes remaining on him until their form disappeared into the trees.

>>6151656
>Interview the survivors and have them lead expeditions into the jungles, leading small bands of comprised of various human subspecies and alien auxiliaries, while you examine the damage done to the walls and infrastructure and study the recordings of the latest attacks.

>Mediate and scout ourselves as well.

>>6152388
>V: 11

>By laying a trap of your own: 0

>By immediately braving and charting the tunnels: 2

>Interview the survivors: 10

>Just use Kanzeon's drones: 4

>Write in: 1
>>Meditate: 3

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Just hoping here to tell you the vote is going to remain open a bit longer. I meant to call it a few hours ago, but I got introduced to Marvel and have been having way too much fun with Iron fist

>>6153205
The more I hear about Marvel Rivals, the more I worry about it being too good to be true. Even the way the game is doing monetization seems to be lightyears ahead of the rest of the industry.

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Alright, managed to pull myself away from Marvel Rivals for a second, sorry for the long wait. I'll call the vote now. Still having a blast playing Iron Fist, especially since his speed boosted punches and ult remind me of the Lieren vs Nitya Sinha fight. Though his ability to fly through the air to pummel Iron man or storm feels unintended and a bit busted, but I will abuse it while I still can

>>6153212
I'm having fun so far, outside of being teamed up with some people with less brain functions than servitors every couple of rounds.

>>6152439
Very intriguing stuff you wrote here, got a nice mysterious vibe going on. Excellent writing, anon.


>>6153059
Thanks for counting up the votes for me, you're the man XD. And I like all the theories you've made about what's going on on Yushan

So Lieren will interview the survivors, and have them lead the expeditions into the jungle, acting as guides for the various flavors of auxiliary troop under his command in this investigation, while he inspects the structural damage and studies the recordings of the attacks

Writing now

>>6152439

Continuing on toward the fortress, Do Yoon steps did not falter, still following an unperceptive rhythm, a pattern of stride lost in dozens of the most precise and delicate variation. There was no fortuity on where his feet landed upon the blasted, ebony-burned ground beneath him. Like a warrior presenting a kata to his teacher, like a priest reciting scriptures to his master, every gesture, every breath, and every contractions of muscles carried meaning. And as he reached the heavy door of the fortress, he would know if his display was accepted.

Or if he would be deemed unworthy to continue on the Path.

As he stared at the door, fashioned with a dark metal upon which no light entered, Do Yoon waited calmly, no fear nesting in his heart as he waited for the fortress sentinel to give their verdict.

After long minutes of silence with only the wind as a company, the fortress's door ever so slowly opened themselves in silence, as if the edifice itself had begrudgingly allowed him access with great reluctance. Welcoming him silently were stell-colored sentinels, their armor bearing so decoration or insignia, pristine in condition. In their arms weapons of unknown origins, born of the remains of their Golden Age. Their days of glory...

As Do Yoon entered those hallowed halls, he chastised himself on such heretical thoughts. Yet as he passed corridors covered in relics wielded by great teachers and philosophers, followers of renown of the teaching of their great father, the Golden Stars of Salvation of Shandala, he could not help but feel guilt.

*Perfection could not be reached. Not by them. They would never be perfect.*

Those words, spoken by another voice inside his head, made his froze. Hooded figures, wearing the attires of monks were at his side, their presences unregistered until their words echoed within his mind.

*Never Forget*/*Do not Forget*
*He came to save us*/*He showed us the Truth*
*But in His Final Hours*/*In His Greatest Hours*
*We failed Him*/*We betrayed Him*

Do Yoon closed his eyes in agony, each word searing into his head like burning iron into flesh. Yet when he opened his eyes, he saw he was alone. He had passed another test, pride not finding root in his heart.

For he would never be worthy.

2/3

>>6153620

Treading deeper into the fortress, he began to descend in to the lower levels, the walls slowly morphing into pure metal, the fotress giving way to the remains of the space ship. And as he got closer to his destination, he began to hear it. The Wails.

The cries grew louder with each steps, as he began to see adepts and disciples, chanting and whispering words of comfort and apologies, their voices merging into an ordered cacophonous litany. Each words spoken exactly following a rhythm and pattern, the inflection and tone changing, like a complex music sheet sung by thousand of voices.

As he almost reached the final room, a voice in the shadows called out to him. "Mother doesn't want to speak today." The voice was metallic, rough, and threatening, yet those words were spoken softly and apologetically.

Heavy steps revealed the large looming forms of one of their venerated teachers. The dreadnought, bearing a mask of steel where his head should be. The face bore a kind, gentle smile. The last one He ever gave. Such was the honored privilege of their most venerated elders the Deathmasked, to show the sign of their parentage to their great Father, as they attended the great mother.

Do Yoon bowed in reverence, those elders being the highest of His disciples, having been there to hear his words when he still walked..

"Lord Guiliman sends words he has need of-"

"Not today." The elder spoke softly, yet firmly."

"Not on this day..."

3/3

>>6153598
Thank you,. Sorry for taking so much time to make this, wanted to do it in one raw, but the missus kind of interrupted me.

Again, thank you very much.

One by one, those who had escaped from and seen through the False friends' twin deceptions of mimicry and illusion are brought before you, and interviewed. Kanzeon, acting as the hereditary pilot of her true body and your wife, is present, as are the astartes and brother of the panther whom you have elected to act as sub leaders and advisors for this hunt of the unseen. The first is a middle aged man, a father and outdoorsman who decided to learn the feel of the soil of another world beneath his feet once his children all grew to adulthood. His name is Shanyuan.

"Whatever these face stealers are, great hunter of the wilds, they aren't without flaws. I am only sitting here before you, because the identity it stole belonged to my dearly departed wife, who died of malnutrition not too long before you began to improve things back on the homeworld, long ago, when we didn't realize it wasn't the only world in the universe" He states plainly, after he had repeated his tale to you, Kanzeon, Sergeant Aadolf and the Psykerist Hyun-shik, who sits opposite of Half Jaw Hu and Shaved Head Wei "I've always kept her in my thoughts, and often ask myself, what would she approve of, before I make any decision. Seeing her in the dense undergrowth, young yet old, tempted me, but I am not one so prone to fancy to believe it was her ghost, so I asked her pardon, and marched back to the outer border wall"

You quickly make not, that the exact face and voice the false friends choose to take the Mien of, may thus depend on the surface level thoughts of their soon to be victims, plucking a face, shape and voice from their idle wonderings and worries. And then, you give Shanyuan leave to depart and acquaint himself with the troops he will be acting as a guide for.

"We have a slow young man in our scout patrol, I mean it in the physical sense even if he is prone to distraction and flights of fancy" The tired eyed Shuni woman called Aidra explains as she sharpens a field knife on her lap to a quaint folk tune from her home land "I heard him yell for help, just as I began to worry that he had been left behind or lost his direction. But as I took a step towards the source of the plea, I remembered, I was so tired looking for that poor lost girl earlier, that I'd forgotten he'd gotten sick chewing on leaf that resembled the smoking herb from back home! and then I, forgive me, I was so frightened, I asked for a transfer to crop management the very next day! And I fear my cowardice may have been the end of that poor boy as well"

You jot down the evidence further proving the method of the false friend's deception, knowing that the young man she refers to was counted among the missing. and despite her supposed cowardice, Aidra practically sprints from the room when you tell her when you request she lead and guide an expedition into the wilderness in search of the false friends.

Cont

>>6153636

"How'd I avoid being caught, shoot, ain't nuffin special. Knew the beaut that popped out in front of me couldn't be who they said she was, cause who she said she was, wasn't a real person, ya ken?" The New Varro boy called Marshal with buck teeth snickers "Ya can't walk out into the dust without expecting to see things that aren't there, heat and loneliness playing tricks on your eyes. The damn showed up prettied up as a...well, a character from a pretty saucy book I've been reading lately"

"The Rough rider's gentle heart, according to my initial inspections of the colony security cameras archives" Kanzeon teases with an amused smirk, as the boy whose almost a man grown whose still called by his friends as hare or rabbit blushes up to his ears, as you try to maintain an air and appearance of professionality as you write down that the false friends are incapable of discerning the reality of the thoughts or memories they base their disguises on.

"I shot them" The dull eyed Zoroast man by the name of Bahram the reputable said "With one of your wonderful Long-Jianese fire arms. He had cheated me back home, countless times. So, seeing him appear in front of me, smiling like he did, I did not hesitate. He only smiled when he had coin in hand, never when approaching his friends, like I suppose I once was. He didn't fall over and die. I...can't explain what happened next. The bullet made a weird sound, and the stranger seemed more confused than panicked. I ran when it started to blur like wet paint on canvas hide, and my head began to ache fiercely. I was sick and unable to find my balance for the next few days, but I like to think I killed the creature"

"I left my children behind on Shangrala, couldn't find better work or pay than as a colony guard here and while their tuition was free, I want to give them a home worthy of the scholars they are training to be. It tore my heart in two, made my blood flow in reverse, but I knew, my little girl could not be hear. She cried, wailed. But I tore my arm out of her grip. The bruises she left" The man called Yaoting shudders, wincing as he pulls up the sleeve of his casual, half mesh shirt "Were not human"

"Claws, xenos?" Aadolf mutters as he inspects the damage

"Certainly nothing I've ever seen or killed" Hu answers, peeling the skin off of a local nut "What do you think, Lie?"

"Oddly shaped, not meant for tearing, but gripping" Wei hums as he lifts up Yaoting's arm

"They weren't made by a physical touch" Hyun-Shik suddenly gasps, eye wide "it is like the spirit's touch, father! See, how the pressure was evenly applied across the arm, it was more like a tendril, a kinetic force exerted in a wrap around his limb rather than an appendage gripping it"

"Good eye, dabbler" Aadolf hoots as Kanzeon frowns and rubs her chin with a pout on her refined lips
Cont

>>6153637

"And the one that gambler shot" She muses outload, leaning back in her chair, eyes looking up to the ceiling and glazing over "Didn't react to being shot like anything living would. The doppelgangers, are probably a lure of something else. They don't leave footprints and clearly effect the minds and perceptions of whoever they meet. The migraine and grip were too different responses by the actual creature projecting the illusions, the first being a reflex to subdue or chase off a mark it knew could fight back and the second being its best attempt to keep hold of a quarry who had seen through its mental illusions but only after letting it get close enough to touch them"

"The true body must be nearby to react to both, but this just proves they possess cunning and sharp enough wit to realize the danger of approaching and trying to lure away armed prey" You hum as Yaoting blinks, unable to keep up with the conversation after your wife used the evidence they provided to theorize about the nature of the false friends "However, it still means we do not know the true appearance of them, if the projected image is a lure or a cloak they don"

"Doesn't matter" She says from behind her hand, eyes half lidded "They have left evidence behind of their attacks before, of a struggle. We have pictures of the scenes of the attack, and the areas they'd been encountered have been fenced off. They've only taken those who are alone or who can be separated from their group with ease, you've noticed it, haven't you, my always brilliant scholar"

"I have. Every interviewee has mentioned sudden silence, or a strange flicker of color, or a odd pull towards the location of their encounter. Bait, that is set within the own psyche of the target. A remarkable adaptation, and one that speaks further of the true depth of their intellect, if they are able to recognize and take advantage of their ability to manipulate the five senses and perceptions of their quarry" You answer with a nod as you lean over the table and close your eyes in thought "They are like to avoid those who have seen through their tricks once before, but Yushan's wilderness is untamed, and they may target one of the troops sent to investigate the sites of previous encounters. However..."

"Tch" She clicks her tongue and smiles smugly as she clicks the legs of her chair back to the ground "They have shown no immediate or otherwise innate comprehension of technology, in any of the recorded encounters. Equip every soldier with an electronic pulse emitter to act as ID, and equip their helmets with sensor arrays that broadcast their recordings to the group. That will work for the Human members of the search parties, however, we don't know how their psionic powers would affect the aliens who volunteered"
Cont

>>6153639

"Give them similar devices. If the false friends are only targeting humans, they will be vital to ensuring the safety of the investigation groups" You decide with a nod as you rise and motion for Aadolf, Hyun-shik, Hu and Wei to head out to take charge of the groups being lead into the wilderness, as Kanzeon and you, walking shoulder to shoulder, leave to investigate other leads

"Well, you don't need my advance sensor or detector suites or your unique ocular adaptation to see the difference between the early assaults damage and that of the recent attacks" Kanzeon says, chewing on and delighting in the sweet sap of a small flowering plant sprouting everywhere in the colony "You should try one, but, I shouldn't need to voice what I mean"

She did not. And you felt her pride through the constant mental connection and presence she kept you enshrouded in.

"It shifted, first moving to lighter fortifications and thinner walls, to then targeting vital infrastructure and hammering the towers of the border walls. This speaks of a tactician learning of and then exploiting the defenses of a foe's stronghold" You say aloud, more for the benefit of the scribes following closely behind you than anything else, to ensure this information is recorded, even if you and Kanzeon both figured it out immediately upon sighting the damages of the latest attack "Weakpoints, gaps and machinery necessary to the colony's running. They've only recently been targeting the batteries and generators, and their is light damage on the conduits and wiring"

"And" Kanzeon says happily as she brings up one of the last recordings of the attack "We can see, that several of the fortifications and machinery that they're starting target, in no way impeded or harmed the beasts that escaped from the assault or were repelled. No fallen transformer electrocuting one of the venomous unicorns, or anyway for them to find out about false entrances and trap walls that had been, rather shoddily, constructed. This provides further evidence to the theory that this is not a natural reaction or behavior being displayed"

You lift up your eyes as she spits out the flower

"And that, had a strange chemical inside of it" She says, making the scribes startle before seeing neither you, her loving and protective husband, or herself are concerned by the revelation "Something that is shared between all the samples taken from the corpses and common diets of the aggressive creatures. A chemical that wasn't detected in the earlier biological samples sent back to the eggheads on Shangrala, I'd know, I have a few specimens myself to compare it to. And"

You sensed her rising panic alongside her scientific intrigue.
Cont

>>6153640

"You don't have to say it. While this proves a portion of the theory that this is some system in the world reacting to non native wildlife or off world contamination, it also disproves that it is a simple change of ecology. The changes in where they attack from and how they do it, have been changing in a way that isn't like a body's immune system fighting off a foreign invade but" you start before she grinds her teeth and nearly growls out

"It's a probing assault. Not intended to harm or kill, not anymore. Once they colonists figured out how to fight back and were given big enough guns to thin the herds rampaging towards them, while from the outside looking in, the wild life seems to have grown more aggressive in their actions, that's just a cover. They actual injuries and fatalities have decreased. They've moved to testing the defense, then focusing their strength on overwhelming the weakpoints or destroying necessary functions of the colony. And the brains I've dissected aren't evolved enough to have that kind of communication and coordination between their own species, let alone such advance strategy between predators and prey animals! Fuck...this isn't the ecosystem of a death world reacting to outside influence, its planned aggression and cultivated responses." She spits out, as she bites on the back of her knuckle, eyes fluttering as she brings together all of the intel that has been gathered inside her memory banks and connects it "Something with human level intelligence is commanding them"

You frown and the next thought you have snaps her out of her ranting, as her eyes widen as she slaps her forehead in exasperation.

"Why didn't I think of that" She snorts as she, replays several of the recordings both of you have studied, and plays them simultaneously, in a way that could prove the theory you just formed as she spoke. That there is a guiding force and consciousness commanding this aggression, that exerts control through the chemicals recently found to be present inside nutritious and delectable plant life, carried further into the ecosystem through natural predation. Chemicals that have found their way into the colonists, which may explain their susceptibility to the false friend's lure and illusions

And Find it, Kanzeon and you pausing the video whenever you find evidence of just that. A sudden sharpening and clearing of the beasts eye, their plodding stumbling movements becoming mechanical and purposeful, changes in behavior that do not align with the threat response of any animal under attack or fighting back aggressors. And, worryingly, some of the latest clips show fleeing colonists, in their panic, making mistakes that the rampaging animals take advantage of. Not fully electrifying a perimeter wall, no fully shutting a gate, stumbling in the sight line of the heavy plasma repeaters or turreted dark lances.
Cont

>>6153643

Mistakes, that while seemingly benign, could in fact be a weaker version of the control the beasts are placed under and that the false friends take advantage of. And, almost simultaneously, you and your wife have the same thought. That sudden tampering, even if it was minute in nature, could only be done if what was turning the beasts rabid and then controlling their attacks, was nearby

And once you notice this, you replay a few clips as you and Kanzeon crouch of them, and zoom and enhance several frames, comparing them side by side, leaves and grass move unnatural, against the wind. Cross referencing between recordings from other angles, from higher vantage points away from the action, on portions of the colony where the fighting wasn't occurring in that instance, see that these odd, alien movements of plantlife line up and connect to a point in view of these overlooked perspectives

"Got you, you fucker!" Kanzeon snarls victoriously as you do indeed spot an anomaly in the recordings, an inexplicable shadow, that appears somewhat like a hooded figure, emerging from the tall grass or jungle's edge, and then moving to a vantage point, natural or on the walls, to watch the ongoing battle, moving in a jittering, glitch like motion, whenever one of the earlier panicked colonists created an exploit in the defenses or when the beasts switched the target of their attack or began to move unnaturally

"What in the eight hells is that?" The lead scribes squeals as you frown and rub your chin in thought

"The general of our foes" You answer vaguely, having nothing else to go off of, as mentally, you begin to connect the sights of this shadowy figures appearances with the map of the tunnels and

"They connect" Kanzeon answers coldly, eyes cold with a mother's fury "That shifty bastard is popping out of the ground and taking notes while innocent people are torn apart and trampled. And I bet its kidnapping people to strip information from them to examine and find out what to hit to cripple the colonies and wipe them out"

"Multiple shifty bastards" You add, having noticed, from the nature of the attacks on different colonies and the behavior of the watchers and what, if any, influence they had "Different modus operandi. How troubling"

But she is too outraged to listen, and from just a glance skyward, can see her onboard weaponry training itself on the colony you landed on's nearest connections to the underground world, without a word, until you put a calming hand on her shoulder.

She remains ill tempered as you await the reports back from the scouting parties.

There were no attacks or encounters with the false friends. However, several report and provide proof of them being effected by the luring portion of their behavior or hearing phantom sounds or reacting to things that weren't there, tangles in the brush, roots that they tripped on, that weren't there.
Cont

>>6153644

Something was trying to separate them, and forcing their perception to betray them to break apart the group. But, due to the constant live feeds of their helmets and the experience of their guides, no casualties were sustained by way of a sudden disappearance.

And the Nosa Rubigin who were parts of these scouting parties, bring reports the substantiate the findings Kanzeon has had of the chemicals in the sweet tasting flowers that she has been methodically uprooting and tearing apart to vent some of her frustrations.

When they rooted themselves to hydrated, they rejected and pushed away a sudden surge of unknown nutrients from a fungal network beneath the soil, that had been thought to have been overlooked by earlier explorers, but new evidence suggests was created or fortified only recently. Nutrients, that, as one of the more curious and braver Nosa Rubigin shows after willingly taking them into a sectioned off portion of their roots, metabolize to create the controlling chemical.

And the Sagit mentioned hearing vibrations near but beneath the surface of the jungle floor, while the merchant's of mirth speak of "An extra companion" who they felt "tapping" against their minds as they walked

What is your next course of action, Lieren?

>Immediately cut out all native vegetation and wild life from the diets of the colonists, personally take charge of any expeditions into the wilderness, and let the cull of the various aggressive animals carry on, waiting for a chance to meet one of the watchers' face to face

>Attack the fungal network directly and use a chemical treatment to safely purge the surrounding environment around the colonies of the chemical that allow the watchers to change the behavior and perceptions of those effected.

>Allow Kanzeon to give her thoughts on the matter, as aggressively and directly as she wants to, as a warning to the mysterious shifty bastards

>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony

>Write in

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>>6153645
>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony
I'd rather not slather the place with agent orange or let Kanzeon turn it into a recreation of the Utah Salt Flats. That said, I think Kanzeon and the others can handle capturing one of the fuckers, or at least causing them to flee while we lie in wait underground. Pic extremely fucking related.

>>6153645
>Cut out the plants and animals from the diet for now.
It's just a good practice, even if it puts us at some slight risk of food being rationed.

>Lead an expedition underground
Come on you fucks. Now is the time to cut first and establish strong leverage.

>>6153645
>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony
This is the only one that doesn't sound like it'll bite us in the ass at some point.

>>6153645
>Immediately cut out all native vegetation and wild life from the diets of the colonists.
>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony
>If the colony is attacked then allow Kanzeon to give her thoughts on the matter, as aggressively and directly as she wants to, as a warning to the mysterious shifty bastards.

>>6153645
>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony

>>6153645
>Attack the fungal network directly and use a chemical treatment to safely purge the surrounding environment around the colonies of the chemical that allow the watchers to change the behavior and perceptions of those effected.
>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony
Can't see why we can't do both. Have Kanzeon and maybe Al-Uzza work together to safely remove the fungus and protect the colonies while we and our forces sweep the tunnels methodically, hunting these bastards down.

>>6153645
>Attack the fungal network directly and use a chemical treatment to safely purge the surrounding environment around the colonies of the chemical that allow the watchers to change the behavior and perceptions of those effected.

>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony

Wait a damn moment... are these things the Slaugth?.... is....omg are we...is Shangrala right in the middle of where the Rangdan xenocides occurred?!

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>>6154059
This is distressingly plausible.

Wait, wasn't it the Rangdan who had time manipulation technology that caused things to age unnaturally fast?

>>6154059
I looked at the wiki and it's not said anywhere that the Slaugh are psychic, though I won't put it beyond them to have some tricks of this caliber until we see some biomechanical abomination or mutilated bodies I'll say it's more likely these false friends are just another xeno race.

>>6153645
>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony
>Attack the fungal network directly and use a chemical treatment to safely purge the surrounding environment around the colonies of the chemical that allow the watchers to change the behavior and perceptions of those effected

>>6154352
The Slaugths were supposedly blanks, so it’s more accurate say they are anti-psykers. The reason they are so hostile to humanity maybe be they are creations of the C’tan. They certainly fit the bill.

>>6154352
I don't think the False Friends are the Slaugth, I think the Slaugth are the shadowy figures seen coordinating things and the Friends are a separate race under their thrall like the other wildlife.

>>6153645
>>Immediately cut out all native vegetation and wild life from the diets of the colonists, personally take charge of any expeditions into the wilderness, and let the cull of the various aggressive animals carry on, waiting for a chance to meet one of the watchers' face to face
>>Attack the fungal network directly and use a chemical treatment to safely purge the surrounding environment around the colonies of the chemical that allow the watchers to change the behavior and perceptions of those effected.

>>6153645

>Immediately cut out all native vegetation and wild life from the diets of the colonists, personally take charge of any expeditions into the wilderness, and let the cull of the various aggressive animals carry on, waiting for a chance to meet one of the watchers' face to face

A minor problem but resupplies from Shangrila can arrive, and if not Lieren and Kanzeon can easily come up with multiple solutions. Be some temporary orbital greenhouses, biological engineering of Yushan animals and plants, new variants of crops and animals imported from Shangrila and used here etc... Kanzeon could just produce food in her colony ship too. With the help of the Sagit we can likely determine where these enemies could be underground. I suppose they might have a base, and a lab down there. They really made a very detailed plan for deal with just a colony, who knows their reason.

>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels, leaving Kanzeon and the battalion of drones she's produced to keep herself occupied and away from violent thoughts of retribution to guard the colony

Using in acts of terror the biosphere of a nice world against peaceful colonists is not what i was thinking could happen on Yushan, but i guess there is a first time for anything. Engage these hostiles, they have not given themselves room for diplomacy and neither innocence.

Kanzeon can remain ready with her colony ship for provide fire support (if needed) and defending the colonies. If the intruders have arrived on spaceships of their own, no matter the stealth they have they can leave signs behind. Signs we can pick up. Which allows us to track, target and fired upon them.

>>6153645
>V: 10

>Immediately cut out all native vegetation and wild life: 4

>Attack the fungal network directly: 4

>Allow Kanzeon to give her thoughts on the matter: 0

>Gather a force, and venture into the tunnels: 9

>Write in: 1 ?
If the colony: 1

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Calling the vote now.

>>6155110
And as always, appreciate the assistance!

So Lieren will command an immediate purge of all native foodstuffs from the colonists diet, allow the culls of already aggressive wild life to continue, and employ a fungicide to safely purge the areas surrounding the colonies of the control chemical

And personally gather a force while his orders are carried out and Kanzeon occupies herself defending the colonies.

Writing now

>>6153620
>>6153627
No worries, the wait didn't both me none and I always enjoy reading what you guys write. Seriously, some of you are probably better than I am!


Really like Do Yoon's way of thinking and how you presented it, very fittingly poetic. and every line drew me deeper into the story, and the details of history fading into myth was especially well done. And the last part and its implications really made me tear up, but I enjoy a good bit of tragedy, especially when its as well done as what you wrote.

For every question answered and mystery solved, a dozen more sprouted from what was learned. Though you were uncertain the nature of the threat you were thrown against, it was clear that you had arrived upon Yushan and began your investigations just prior to an unprecedented increase in the dangers faced by the colonists and their efforts to settle the curious world, the moment before the spark struck grows into an uncontrollable blaze. But the conflagration had yet to arrive, however that didn't mean the inferno the gathered data predicted was not near. Decisive, immediate actions must be taken to avert catastrophe. Closing your eyes, convening with your wife and having a purely mental and telepathic discussion on what actions must be taken and procedures put in place to get ahead of the looming threat and perhaps prevent it out right. The path forward was clear, even though much of the present circumstances were still as shrouded to your eyes and comprehension as though cast in the deepest fogs of the valley.

"By the authority of my office of the head of the ministry of development, the foodstuffs of every colony upon Yushan shall remove any native forage or successful harvests of terrestrial plant life from the list of their rations, as well as any meat or animal products taken from native wild life. This edict is effective immediately, backed by the imperial seal of Long-Jia" You command, eyes set and hard, expression unyielding as you lash out your arm, dictating the protocols both you and sagacious Kanzeon had determined to be most effective and efficient a means to prevent further spread of the control chemical and its insidious and not yet completely understood influence

"Broadcast these orders to every colony" Kanzeon adds with a flick of her wrist, eyes smoldering with a parental rage that could scour even the flesh from your bones if it was directed in your direction, a mental remark that leads to her purposefully softening her gaze

"And order an immediate dispersal of these fungicidal agents, around the perimeter of every colony site, within their boundaries and population centers and the surrounding wilderness" You continue "This to is an edict backed by both my own and the emperor Jinhai's authority, effective immediately. My emerald lotus will provide the fungicides as well as the means and machinery to ensure they are dispersed evenly through the air and penetrate deep into the soil to purge it of the anomalous fungal network, that is likely the root of the sudden aggressive behavior displayed by Yushan's fauna"

The scribes blink and nod, carrying out and acting as messengers for your command without further delay once they understand how crucial the efforts, as extreme as they seem, are to the wellbeing of the colony and their fellow denizens. But the most veteran of them, pauses and turns to you, thinking thoughtfully as he presents you a query.

Cont

>>6155994

"Shall we recall the hunting parties from their culling efforts?" He asks sharply and you shake your head

"Their work is too vital to stop, the culled wildlife may not be able to be preserved and saved from the tampering that has lead them to grow so rabid" You sadly answer "Leave them to their duties, only inform them of the protocol now in place. I shall personally lead an excursion towards what I believe to be the source of Yushan's woes"

Kanzeon clicks her tongue

'Your anger will only be a drawback, my love, in this expedition. Rage quickens but it also blinds. But your nurturing heart's wrath would be made into a fine whetstone, sharpening your contempt born of protectiveness to a honed blade. Stay behind, and muster your fury to defend these innocents, while I confront our mystery foe head on' you quickly and loving console and comfort her, explaining why you are not and cannot allow her to accompany you 'It will be safer for them, and both of us this way, I will return from the dark tunnels, and I trust noone as much as I do you to defend these people, Kazzy"

'Fine' She answers back with a slight pout on her lips 'While I hate not being beside you as you enter enemy territory, I can only defend the colony to the best of my abilities if I have my full attention up here, which I know I won't if I'm traveling underground into the hornet's nest with you'

'Just as I would become distracted with you at my side' You answer back, and smile as you see her cheeks fluster and then turn to speak the assistant still lingering beside you

"Summon" You begin, before Kanzeon stops you with by asking a question with a voice as gentle as cool mist and comforting as a summer breeze

'Who? You can't take too large of a force down, and any combat will be in tight, confined spaces. Not to mention the environmental concerns of traveling underground and the dangers of subterranean combat' She presses 'Lets pause for a second, a figure this out, together'

You smile, as she wraps her hand around yours, and you do just that, consider who to bring and what manner of force you'll be leading into the unknown depths beneath the colonies.

What is the composition of the squad you'll lead into the tunnels, Lieren?

>Your psykerist sons and merchants of the mirth, the best equipped to pierce the illusions of the false friends, and who need the least equipment on hand to be dangerous.

>A heavily armored squad of your space marines, supplemented by Creti gravewardens, equipped with shields, Laz Chendaos and power spears

>A specially equipped squad comprised of space marines and Nosa rubigin, wielding flame and chemical spray to clear the way for others to establish a beachhead under the ground

>The stealthiest and swiftest of your brothers of the panther, astartes gene sons, and sagit, to move swiftly into the territory of the unknown and hopefully evade detection

>Write in

>>6155995
>A heavily armored squad of your space marines, supplemented by Creti gravewardens, equipped with shields, Laz Chendaos and power spears
I hate to say it but this is going to be a breech and clear OP.

>write in
Using our Beloved's exquisite auspex suite get as big a layout as possible and using her armourments breech these multiple sites at once.

The objective is simple, head towards a predesignated site chosen on the layout, if communication breaks down secure location and focus on evac or resetablishing contact.

Bring metabombs for while in these tunnels we must move swiftly still as well as cannisters of this fungicide.

>>6155995
>A heavily armored squad of your space marines, supplemented by Creti gravewardens, equipped with shields, Laz Chendaos and power spears

>>6155995
>A heavily armored squad of your space marines, supplemented by Creti gravewardens, equipped with shields, Laz Chendaos and power spears

>Equip two of the squad members with heavy Flamers as act as heavy support.

>>6155995
>>The stealthiest and swiftest of your brothers of the panther, astartes gene sons, and sagit, to move swiftly into the territory of the unknown and hopefully evade detection

>>6155995
>>A specially equipped squad comprised of space marines and Nosa rubigin, wielding flame and chemical spray to clear the way for others to establish a beachhead under the ground
fire in the hole

>>6155995
>A specially equipped squad comprised of space marines and Nosa rubigin, wielding flame and chemical spray to clear the way for others to establish a beachhead under the ground

>>6155995
>A specially equipped squad comprised of space marines and Nosa rubigin, wielding flame and chemical spray to clear the way for others to establish a beachhead under the ground


The fucking native wildlife chose this fate.

>>6155995
>A heavily armored squad of your space marines, supplemented by Creti gravewardens, equipped with shields, Laz Chendaos and power spears
Be sure to bring some fungicide and flamers with us as backup.

>>6156073
Support

>>6155995
I'm good with psykerless plans, given these chosen forces are all extraneous to the colony and have not fed of fungus tainted foodstuff they won't be vulnerable either to the illusions.

I would still like to bring our null brother of the panther guy however.

>>6155995
>A specially equipped squad comprised of space marines and Nosa rubigin, wielding flame and chemical spray to clear the way for others to establish a beachhead under the ground

Get the big guns.

>>6155995
>Your psykerist sons and merchants of the mirth, the best equipped to pierce the illusions of the false friends, and who need the least equipment on hand to be dangerous.

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Sorry for the long wait but it is going to be a bit longer, I was grinding in Marvel rivals the last few days, but now I'm not feeling well. Papa nurgle got me good with his gift delivered from, best as I can tell, a dodgy chicken burrito. I'll try to call the vote and update in the morning, but I'm not confident that I'll be able to keep that promise, in my present state.

>>6158901
>V: 11

>Your psykerist sons: 1

>A heavily armored squad: 5

>A specially equipped squad: 4

>The stealthiest and swiftes: 1

>Write in 2
>> Beloved: 2
>> Equip: 1

Feeling just well enough to write, so I'll call the vote now. Sorry again for the long wait.


Writing now
>>6158920
and thank you as always XD for collecting the votes for me

>>6159131
When fighting in an enclosed spaced, like the tight confines of tunnel or theoretical ship boarding actions, it is sensible to prepare armor that is best suited for facing opponents directly and head on. And without having room to evade and dodge the attacks of the opponents you face ahead, weightier armor is the best to don. The additional protection, without the downsides of the loss of mobility, would be invaluable against the threats faced and create a living, advancing fortification of greatly armored bodies. Fortuitously, your sons from Terra have cut their teeth on actions and campaigns just like this, holding lines in the face of inexorable threats and valorously pushing them back, and many a time you have heard of their campaigns in the mutant warrens.

And you know well who amongst the present space marines are veterans of that grinding campaign in the dark.The Ever glib Lieutenant Chul moo Shall be your second in command in this campaign under Yushan, and you would allow him to select the other Astartes to fill out the squad. And alongside them, the most militant and martial minded Nosa Rubigin accompany this security force shall be taken along, and both they and your Astartes shall wield weapons of fire and chemical spray. This was a crushing advance or march into the heart of the enemy's demesne, but instead a vanguard to clear the way for other forces to establish a foothold in the subterranean world. Who you would trust to fortify that location while you continue to take and claim ground ahead, acting as something of a mobilized controlled burn.

"I can agree with that plan" Kanzeon said, having been prying into your thoughts as she is want to do, touching your cheek gingerly as you bow your heads and press your foreheads together "Just don't...do what you usually do in fights. I might only have an actual heart in this body, but I'll be sick with worry if you act recklessly"

"I shall endeavor to not hasten the beat of your devoted heart, but you know I do not act recklessly I simply seek the most efficent ends to victory" You comforted her, placing a hand upon her cheek in turn as she clicked her tongue

"Which often means doing stupidly dangerous things, like throwing yourself through a wall or allowing yourself to be struck to create an opening in your enemies' defenses" She complains, but smiles fondly still "Just don't do anything that'll make me cross when I hear about it"

"I will not give you reason to worry, my love, but now, I must depart and go into the dark" You promise, and leave her with that string of poetry as you swiftly act to gather, equip and prepare your forces. But what was waiting for you in the tunnels, even a true seer could not have foreseen.
cont

>>6159144

The roots piercing rock and stone themselves attack you and block your way, their wet, living wood crackling and splitting as you and your sons stand shoulder to shoulder, protecting the frailer aliens who grip specially made chemical sprayers in their vine appendages as you slowly burn holes through the ever thickening wall of roots and strange, luminescent subterranean fronds and vines.

"They're evolving before our eyes, Primarch!" Chul-Moo snarls, his voice distorted into a thundering rumble, like the roar of a incensed dragon in a storm, as he speaks behind the soot blackened helmet, smoke and steam rising from its slitted, armored visor that shields the lenses behind it from the extreme heat and caustic chemicals filling the air

"I have observed the same, my son" You reply serenely as you reach out and grasp a slithering, blood red root, and crush it to pulp in the massive armored gauntlet you've donned, having replaced your usual shape changing star metal robes for an alloy armor based on that which your sons wore upon their first arrival to Shangrala. It is clumsy, but it is not psionically reactive, and by all estimations and tests could with stand a direct dark light blast or an overcharged shot of superheated plasma

The head of the Nosa Rubigin in the squad, a young growth by the name of "He who seeks soothing shade most happily", communicates that "He can hear the sub sapient plants shrieking in pain, the process of sudden adaptation is ripping them apart at a cellular level, great mobile-tender of the orchard!"

"Seems our targets have taken notice of us already, if what that rosebush is saying is true" Another of your sons, junior to Chul-moo grunts as he hefts up the short hafted chain axe he'd requested and presses it against a sudden outward bulge of tuberous material that looks cancerous, wincing back as it splatters strange, pale green liquid everywhere. That is swiftly evaporated and turned to stinking steam by a continuous stream of burning promethean sprayed onto it.

"They're never going to believe this back on Terra, that we, the valorous second, were given more trouble by rebellious root systems than the techno barbaric tribes we were sent here to fight" Chul-moo barks with laughter "Should've brought one of the lads whose gotten into gardening, they might've been able to weed and prune through this blockade, swifter than the wildfire we bring down upon it"

Methodically, you make your advance deeper into the tunnels, until they have been cleared and defoliated for the second advance to proceed and establish their foothold in their depths. But there have been no signs of false friends or the mysterious, shadow woven puppet masters.

And that, from what you've seen of their modus operandi and apparent mastery of manipulating life at a genetic level, is an ill omen indeed.
Cont

>>6159145

So you do not stop pushing forward, seeking to confront the yet unseen obstacle head on. And as the stifling plantlife relents, and its presence lessens greatly and suddenly, a rumble shakes the caverns, as new tunnels are torn through the earth violent.

It is an ancient town crushing serpent, that barrels through the darkness. A great rock devouring wyrm, that has been infested by fungal shelves and parasitic vines, maddened by pain and, you can tell from the faint presence of intelligence within it, being directly controlled by the shadowy watchers who are the architects of Yushan's woes

"Karkin Hell!" Chul Moo whistles "That's a big one!, should've brought the Melta as well"

The serpent's three, gargantuan, stalactite rimmed grinding limbs chew through the slate and granite ahead of you, as strange clouds of spores burst along the chunks of stone and waves of gravel that it vomits forth, as it twists and shifts its body, causing even the dense rock to shake and crack. It is on the other side of the empty chamber you'd reached, and was quickly shortening the distance as the floor trembled and rent apart into fissures and yawning chasms

"What's the plan of attack?" One of your astartes act as the Nosa Rubigin bundle together tightly behind the defensive wall of heavily armored Astartes and one primarch

How would you clear this latest obstruction in your way, Lieren?

>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.

>Misuse a water generating stone, turning the life giving device into a lethal weapon

>Directly confront and hold the beast down, while its rocky outer shell is melted down with acidic spray, so it can be swiftly and humanely executed

>Lead it back into a killing zone you had already prepared, that is manned with the heaviest weaponry you could cart down into the tunnels

>Write in

>>6159147
>Directly confront and hold the beast down, while its rocky outer shell is melted down with acidic spray, so it can be swiftly and humanely executed

You can't just shoot a hole into the surface of ma...

>>6159147
>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.

Big Boom!

>>6159147
>deploy mama's anger beacon. Danger close.

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>>6159147
>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.
Efficient and poses little danger to us? Kanzeon approves.

>>6159147
>Write in
The most expedient method of killing is beast is bypassing its armour.

Hurl yourself into its maw and slaughter its huge guts from the inside.

>>6159147
>Directly confront and hold the beast down, while its rocky outer shell is melted down with acidic spray, so it can be swiftly and humanely executed


Time to get cool Rock arms like our brother and his metal ones.

Also this is most defly the Dark Eldar fault.

>>6159147
>>6159260
Do it. Demolish its innards.

>>6159147
>Directly confront and hold the beast down, while its rocky outer shell is melted down with acidic spray, so it can be swiftly and humanely executed

>>6159147
>Directly confront and hold the beast down, while its rocky outer shell is melted down with acidic spray, so it can be swiftly and humanely executed

>>6159260
Supporting. Clearly, it's the only way. There's no other possible way for us to slay the beast. None.

>>6159147
>>Directly confront and hold the beast down, while its rocky outer shell is melted down with acidic spray, so it can be swiftly and humanely executed

>>6159147
>V: 11

>By tossing an orbital beacon at it: 3

>Misuse a water generating stone: 0

>Directly confront and hold the beast down: 5

>Lead it back into a killing zone: 0

>Write in: 1
>> The most expedient method: 3

>>6159147
>The most expedient method of dispatching this beast is by bypassing its natural armor. Hurl yourself into its maw and slaughter it from the inside, paying special attention to vital organs and other such things in your bodily rampage.

>>6159147
>>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.
bye bye

>>6159147
>>The most expedient method of dispatching this beast is by bypassing its natural armor. Hurl yourself into its maw and slaughter it from the inside, paying special attention to vital organs and other such things in your bodily rampage.

>>6159503
>V: 14

>By tossing an orbital beacon at it: 4
R0xwa
>Misuse a water generating stone: 0

>Directly confront and hold the beast down: 5

>Lead it back into a killing zone: 0

>Write in: 1
>> The most expedient method: 5

>>6159147

>The most expedient method of dispatching this beast is by bypassing its natural armor. Hurl yourself into its maw and slaughter it from the inside, paying special attention to vital organs and other such things in your bodily rampage.

I usually lurk since I am fine with the winning options, but for this I must make my voice heard. This is both funny, both in character, and I would love to see Kanzeon's reaction.

>>6159147
i'll change my vote here >>6159160 to

>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.
just because I think being eaten is stupid.

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>>6159147
>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.
FFS, stop with the "get eaten to kill it" crap. That isn't remotely safe nor practical and it reeks of lolrandomness.

>>6159147
>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.
Coming out of lurking just to vote against that stupid plan.

>>6159583
>V: 18

>By tossing an orbital beacon at it: 7

>Misuse a water generating stone: 0

>Directly confront and hold the beast down: 5

>Lead it back into a killing zone: 0

>Write in: 1
>> The most expedient method: 6

While I sympathise with the theory, bypassing armour, I would point out that entering a mouth that chews stone to dust in a low mobility heavy armour boarding suit is retarded.

You would toss a water generating stone downits gullet, or utilise the desaturated effects of the stone to flense it like a neuron blaster.

>>6159147
>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.
It's excessive and different. I like it

>>6159941
>V: 19

>By tossing an orbital beacon at it: 8

>Misuse a water generating stone: 0

>Directly confront and hold the beast down: 5

>Lead it back into a killing zone: 0

>Write in: 1
>> The most expedient method: 6

>>6159147
>By tossing an orbital beacon at it, and having Kanzeon shoot a hole through the planets crust, obliterating the great and once majestic beast.

>>6160275
Stone and ceramite might as well be mac&cheese and, i dunno, a slate of iron respectively.
I don't think it can, it's still kinda silly but so is calling an orbital strike in a tunnel network, I really hope Kanzeon has something extremely precise... but being a DAOT ship she can probably teleport a mini-vortex bomb next to the beacon.

>>6161304
My thought was an extremely precise bunker buster but, like you said, DAOT ship. Not to be underestimated.

>>6161119
>V: 20

>By tossing an orbital beacon at it: 9

>Misuse a water generating stone: 0

>Directly confront and hold the beast down: 5

>Lead it back into a killing zone: 0

>Write in: 1
>> The most expedient method: 6

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1.01 MB PNG

Calling the vote now. Sorry for the long wait, machine spirits have been assholes and my internet connection has been real spotty the last few days.

>>6161364
Appreciate the help as always XD

So Lieren will show the poor puppeteered town crushed serpent the overwhelming might of the dark age of technology wielded in the hands of his beloved wife

Writing now

"Remove both threat and obstacle with a single move" You answer wryly, as you reach to the magnetized section wrapped and belted around the midsection of the heavy duty armor you've donned, making the clumsy fingers of the metal fist enclosing your own seem as dexterous and elegant as the trained fingers of a musician dancer across a Guqin's tuned strings. Grabbing a hold of a small, flower bulb shaped object, swirling gold and silver and revealing its composition of star metal and its origins from the heart of your darlings internal manufactorums, you unfurled the rosebud shaped device with a brief flicker of thought.

The ground shook, as the ceiling of the chamber cracked and the floor beneath your feet cracked apart and yawned into deep crevices and ravines just from the pained, confused thrashing of the fungally controlled stone eating beast. The whole tunnel network may collapse if it was allowed to continue its agonized spasms or travel out of the pocket of dense stone and tightly packed earth it had emerge from

"This is a mercy killing" You tell yourself, sighing regretfully at both the state of the once majestic, ancient lifeform that has been defiled and turned into a living engine of war, and the only outcome there was to end the threat it posed not only to the colonies but all of Yushan in its present, pain addled state, reduced to a host of most peculiar mushrooms

"Retreat order!" Chul-Moo roared "Orbital support is about to flatten Charlie and everything around it, retreat into the more structurally sound tunnels..Father?"

"I will witness this once beautiful creatures end" You answered serenely as you gingerly tossed the homing beacon, and felt Kanzeon's furious attention swivel and settle on its precise coordinates from low atmosphere "it deserves that much respect, after the humilation it has been put through, and all it has suffered"

Chul-Moo bowed his head for a moment, then stepped forward and stood by your side.

There was, briefly, a sound of shearing rock, of air rupturing as a projectile tore through the atmosphere and then Yushan's crust somewhere north of the speed of light. A globe of flashing light from the sheer amount of friction produced by the single shot Kanzeon calculated and took to protect you at the exact moment you alerted her with the beacon.

As a sphere of altered space, a gravital anomaly much like the ones her blood crazed sister had gifted to her bloody minded groom, tore apart all within its reach as it exploded outwards, the localized gravity in the subterranean chamber increasing faster than any normal measurements could detect as great chunks of stone and dirt were torn up and downwards and compressed into polished spheres within a haze of wavering air.

Chul-Moo fell to one knee, as the weakest current of the adjusted state of matter and compression of gravity washed over both of you as the field collapsed in on itself

And the tormented creature was reduced to a fine, aerosolized mist.

Cont

>>6161897

"Glad that nasty bit of kit was on our side this time" Chul-Moo wheeze, pressing a hand to his chest, the metal plating over it slightly warped and dented, despite being capable of withstanding a pointblank volley of bottler shells "Still inspires awe, even after we beat the army that brought it against us. Got to admit, it certainly ends fights quickly"

"Immediately" You correct, hearing a resonate hum ripple through the atmosphere and transmit through the soil, the sound of Kanzeon's engines reaching a particularly harmonious frequency, and her version of a relieved sigh and merry hum "Let us proceed"

"Seems whatever was living down here got the message" He remarked, after several minutes of completely peaceful walking deeper into the tunnels "There's barely any roots or mycelium on the walls anymore"

"The archeotech vessel has a way of informing primitives that retreat and surrender is preferable to facing its might. No wonder the pilot has a bit of a god complex" Another one of the space marines accompanying you chuckles "Anyone would if they had the power to reduce a titanic bioform capable of shrugging sustained fire from anti armor weaponry like it was a light rain to...well a mist"

"Not a mist, a spray, if it wasn't for the filters of these helmets we'd have all gotten a lungful of vaporized meat and powdered stone" Another of the battle brothers' Chul-Moo selected points out, and you know immediately which sect he belongs to from just that remark

"What terrifying might!" He who seeks soothing shade most happily communicates, snapping their petals and whipping their vines as they dance and release a variety of scents and pheromones "All gardens walled by your hands, shall never again no blight or predation, great tender!"

"Elder growth, but what of the shriek we heard, just after the attack? The sudden absence of the exchange of nutrients through the soil surely must be an ill omen" Another, smaller, fresher leafed Nosa Rubigin asks as you consider the evidence around you and the remarks of both your sons and the "Rose bushes" they guarded and escorted against any threat yet unseen in the dark.

"No recorded Xenos has technology like this" The book wyrm in the company hisses as you meet a portal, a door of what can only be called an alloy of plantlife and a plasticine metallic substance

"Not natural growth!" He who seeks soothing shade most happily whistles sharply, in long-jian, or their best aproximation "Wary. Must be wary"

You put a hand on the door, and it falters and loosens, the vines going limp and dead.

"On point, we don't know what is..."Chul moo commands as you walk into the room and frown "In there?"
Cont

>>6161898

"An advance computer system constructed entirely from a combination of native plant and fungal life, interwoven with a mysterious, partially metallic, partially floral fillament" You remark as you behold the utterly alien looking command center of a bundled roots, pods of fungal spores contained in a glass like membrane and numerous other, most peculiar devices grown and cultivated from the native life of Yushan

"The fuck" Chul-moo snarls, as he leads the troops under his command in clearing the empty bunker "Nothing's here! Don't tell me this was some sort of...automated defense system"

"We cannot say for certain" You sooth as you approach one of the consoles, rubbing your chin as you consider the behavior of the false friends and the shadowy watchers. There were some traits you'd consider mechanical, but not so many to mark them as abominable intelligences "But what is clear, is our target has escaped and fled upon our approach, through means yet unknown"

"The welcoming knock must've scared them off, the cowards" The book wyrm present scoffs "But there are no escape tunnels, or other means of evading capture, or if Chul-moo had his way, immediate spray of sustained gunfire"

"We'll establish a quarantine over this area and observe this room closely. Otherwise, all that can be done is wait and see if the peculiar behavior of the wild life and inexplicable phenomenon persist" You say, annoyedly as the mystery and threat both slipped from your fingers.

With in one standard terran week, all known missing persons were found nearby one of the colony walls, confused, dehydrated, but entirely unharmed save for exhaustion and slight malnutrition. After a Shangralan month on Yushan, the last of the aggressive wildlife was culled and the rest of the afflicted species returned to their ordinary behavior. And sample studies and soil analysis showed a deficit in the control chemical in plant life within several leagues of any human settlement, as well as a retreating of the dense mycelium networks from their borders

It would would appear, that a demonstration of the gulf in martial capabilities and firepower, had inflicted the mysterious underground dwellers and controllers of the ecosystem with an intense, sudden on set mortal terror, and they had ceased their activities near the colonies effectively immediately after the single aggressive action Kanzeon took against them.

Something which she has certainly taken in stride and with much aplomb. It is good the immediate danger has been thwarted, but you are somewhat off put by just how easily it was done. And that it all could've been solved by just letting Kanzeon flatten a few square miles of jungles as a warning, instead of the numerous complex and multi faceted solutions you'd come up with and put into motion.

"Oh stop being gloomy, sometimes having the bigger gun is all you need for diplomacy" She says, wrapping her arms around your neck as she tries to cheer you up.

Cont

>>6161899

The inexplicable occurrence had ceased, and that should be satisfaction enough. You'd done what you'd come to do and protected the colonists. But the immediate halting of all the known threats risen against the colonies here, was just as inexplicable, and while clearly, whatever was orchestrating the aggression against the colonies had ceased their activities. They were not documented or ended forever as a threat. As mysteriously as they appeared, they vanished. Like shadows in the fog before a lantern's beam

"At least they're gone, for now. And we know they understand not to pick a fight with superior force" Kanzeon tried to console you and calm your worried thoughts "And if they ever get it in their minds to tamper with human civilization again, we can show them that was just a light tap on the nose, compared to what me and my sisters are capable of"

What do you do, know that the mysterious threat on Yushan has hidden away as quickly as it had appeared, Lieren?

>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown

>Station astartes and trained Nosa Rubigin Soldiers upon Yushan, with stores of specialized equipment, in case the threat reemerges in the days, months or years to come

>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"

>Increase funding to the colonies and advise and increased military present on Yushan, and a detailed record of what happened, to make it obvious to any future denizens if the vanished dangers return as mysteriously as they disappeared

>Write in

>>6161900
>>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown
>Increase funding to the colonies and advise and increased military present on Yushan, and a detailed record of what happened, to make it obvious to any future denizens if the vanished dangers return as mysteriously as they disappeared

>>6161900
>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown

>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"

>>6161900
>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown
>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"

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>>6161900
>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown...we're working on it.
>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"
We showed them the Big stick, we find them and nib this here and now rather than let a slow rot fester or more desperate minds push them to the Discordant powers.

>Write in
During this time we must take time to meditate, turn inwards...we have seen their world from the stars and walked the soil, now let us see it within the world of Spirits...maybe find what lingers of that Ancient we vanquished?

>>6161900
>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown
>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"
Best case scenario, they decide to hide in the shadows forever and never make contact again.
Realistic scenario, they're going to fall back and hide until they devise something that can't be subverted with sheer force.
We either settle things now or we're allowing them to forge a sword of damocles above the colony's head.

>>6161900
>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"

I refuse, They fucked with our stuff. No Prey escape its hunter in the long run.

>>6161900
>>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"

>>6161900
>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown

>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"

>Increase funding to the colonies and advise and increased military present on Yushan, and a detailed record of what happened, to make it obvious to any future denizens if the vanished dangers return as mysteriously as they disappeared

>>6161949
>Support

I am not opposed to diplomacy, given they gave our shit back, but. Like. Come on.

>>6162084
Yeah, I think them returning all the abducted colonists is a decent basis for diplomacy (provided they didn't timebomb them or some shit), but either way the ones behind it have to be found and addressed before we can consider the matter closed.

>>6161900
>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"
If this threat was at the very leas non-sapient I could understand leaving it but the aggression, multi-pronged assault as well as unknown tech is not something to leave on planet in our homeworlds system. No stone unturned.

>Write in
>Check the returned colonists for changes
Genetic alterations, hidden threats in the material or warp, brainwashing to act as vectors for further infiltration, etc. Good practice for our Ministry of Cosmic Colonization.

>>6161900
>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown
>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"

The Last Laugh

The battlefield was a shattered wasteland, a grim mosaic of broken earth and bloodied corpses. Above it all, the sky churned with ash and smoke, blotting out the stars. The Dusk Raiders of the XIV Legion were cornered, pinned against the jagged cliffs by a relentless tide of insectoid xenos unworthy of name. Their bolters barked defiantly, but their ammunition dwindled, and their casualties mounted. Their Rhino transports unable to load their men for fear the lack of firepower would lead to them all being overwhelmed.

From a ridge overlooking the carnage members of the Legio Chimerai watched in silence. Clad in unpainted grey and their gauntlets marking them as Gravewardens, they were fewer than a full squad but carried themselves with an air of unshakable confidence. Their leader, Brother-Captain Zhenrao, rested his glaive on his shoulder, his eyes gleaming beneath his helmet.

“Poor bastards,” murmured Brother Eeli, hefting his plasma cannon. “They’ll be overrun before the sun rises on this shithole.”

Zhenrao tilted his head, weighing this truth of the statement against some unseen metric. Then without preamble he laughed, a sound that cut through the grim cacophony of violence below.

“Lets get them out of here hm?,” he said. “We'll will give them a story to tell back on Terra eh? One worth remembering. Besides a few of us for hat many of our Cousins? seems a fair trade.”

The others exchanged grins, their teeth flashing like knives.

“Race you to the biggest one,” said Brother Kuan, unsheathing his twin chainblades gifted to him by their cousins of the Warhounds.

“Biggest two,” retorted Brother Jiang, cracking his knuckles.

Zhenrao raised his glaive, its edge glinting as it's powerfield engadged. “Then let us earn our names, brothers. VALOUROUS!”

“INDOMITABLE!” his brothers roared

1/2

>>6162974
They charged, descending the ridge like a thunderstorm given form. The xenos turned too late, their skittering ranks thrown into chaos as the warriors of the Second Legion crashed into them like the tide over unprotected sands.

Zhenrao was a blur, his glaive carving arcs of fire and gore through the alien tide. He moved with the grace of a predator, every strike a calculated killing blow. Beside him, Kuan danced among the xenos, his twin weapons roaring in deadly synchronization. He laughed wildly, his voice carrying above the din.

“Faster, Jiang! You’ll never catch me at this rate!”

Jiang cackled in reply, tearing a xenos apart with his bare hands. “I’ll kill more than you and Zhenrao combined, you scrawny fool!”

Eeli’s plasma cannon spat superheated death, vaporizing scores of xenos in bursts of blinding light. He didn’t laugh like the others, but his grin was no less fierce. “Keep dreaming Jiang! I’ve already taken more than all of you!”

They fought like men possessed, their reckless abandon matched only by their skill. For every Astartes that fell, a hundred xenos died, their broken forms heaped in piles around their killers.

Kuan was the first to go, a massive alien monstrosity impaling him through the chest with a chitinous spear. Yet even as his lifeblood spilled onto the ground, he drove his axes into the creature’s skull, his laughter ringing out as it toppled. “Beat that, Jiang!”

Jiang fell not long after, overwhelmed by sheer numbers. His final moments were a whirlwind of fury, his fists smashing through carapace and bone until he was buried beneath the writhing horde. “I told you I’d kill more!”

Eeli fought to the last, his plasma cannon finally overheating and exploding in his hands. With a savage grin, he waded into the fray, ripping xenos apart with his bare hands until he, too, was brought low.

Zhenrao alone remained, his glaive slick with ichor, his armor cracked and bleeding. The xenos swarmed him but he stood unbowed while his laughter was defiant hymn to the inevitable. With a final, mighty sweep of his glaive he carved a swath through the horde before they overwhelmed him, dragging him down kicking and thrashing.

When the Dusk Raiders finally emerged from their stronghold, they found the battlefield eerily silent. The xenos were all but dead, their corpses carpeting the ground in staggering numbers. At the heart of the carnage lay the remains of the Chimera whose suicidal fury had bought them their escape.

The Dusk Raiders knelt, their helms bowed in solemn gratitude. But among their ranks, a whispered unease spread. These warriors of the Second Legion had fought without fear, without hesitation, and without a thought for their own survival.

Their laughter still echoed in the ears of the survivors, a haunting reminder of men who faced death not with dread but with innocent joy.

2/2

>>6161900
>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown
>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"

>>6161900
>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai and the ministry of cosmic colonization, and warn them that the root of the problem is still at large and unknown
A report is much needed, best remember an enemy of this kind in the archives of Shangrila.
>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this, not willing to simply leave it at "They got scared and ran away"
Further searching should be done. Searching everywhere across Yushan, in different ways and methods should give some results.


>>6161942
Support this write in. The worlds of spirits may reveal something or perhaps no. Perhaps now everything is peaceful on Yushan

>>6161900
>V: 13

>Report exactly what happened to Long-Jia Jinhai: 10

>Station astartes and trained Nosa Rubigin Soldiers upon Yushan:

>Investigate further and search for whatever was behind all of this: 13

>Increase funding to the colonies: 1

>Write in: 2
>> During this time we must take time to meditate: 2
>> Check the returned colonists for changes: 1

Merry Christmas everyone and happy new year.

Three years ago was the commencement of the butchers war.

What a killing field.

>>6163627
Might be hitting the crusade proper soon enough! I can't wait to meet the pair of Wolves, we should suggest a hunting trip together somewhere

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Merry early christmas and happy holidays. Sorry for the long wait, machine spirits in my router were still acting rebellious, calling the vote now

>>6163627
Been a hell of a ride


>>6161942
Always love to see your art, this looks baddass

>>6162974
>>6162977
Really loved the opening of this, the dusk raiders and gravewardens were equally badass, also like how you wrote from Zhenrao's perspective and the battle cry of valourous and indomitable had my pumping my fist in the air and the squads self sacrifice was beautifully done and had me tearing up. Excellent work all around.

And the very last line was just perfect. Fantastic writing, anon! Loved every sentence.

>>6163584
And thank you for counting up the vote

So Lieren will write a report but investigate further the strangest of Yushan, not willing to leave it at "And then the threat vanished like fog before the sun"

Writing now

Duty insisted that your next action was to write a report detailing the exactly what had occurred upon jade hued Yushan, to the imperial seat as well as the recently established Ministry of Cosmic Colonization, an off shoot of your Ministry of development. You sat, in ill temper and dour mood, leaving Kanzeon and Al-uzza to run intensive medical diagnosis and internal scans and chemical analysis and non invasive telepathic studied of the confused and weary colonists returned from the deepest of mists. For nearly an hour, you sat, only with Kanzeon and Al-uzza's distant telepathic presence and the flickering light of the lantern you've lit, not wanting to divert any unnecessary power from the colony's defense system array, in preparation for a renewed assault that never came. Then, once you saw how to begin the message, you wetted your pen and began to write the report of all of the strangest upon the younger sister of Shangrala, who had briefly proven more treacherous to settle than the black abyss and just as swiftly became as idyllic and serene as it was upon the arrival of the first stellar explorers.

Any other minister would consider the report, perhaps, overly detailed and extensive, but you are acting beyond your station of grand architect, and instead are writing from the perspective of Lieren, friend and guardian of mankind and their companions amongst the stars. You include every minute detail, explaining everything mentioned in the report as finely as is possible, you do not exaggerate or downplay, and include what failed to halt the dangers posed to the colonies and their denizens and what little you've learned of the mysterious beings who seemingly orchestrated everything. From the plague of rabid wildlife, to sudden, dangerous migrations, to occurrence of sudden evolution and exaggeration of poisonous foliage and their ability to command not only through the chemicals inside of a living creature's twitching brain, but also through the cells and spores of plants and funguses. You include the chemical compositions and function of the partially bio mechanical technologies employed by the mysterious alien race, and lengthy accounts given by all who encountered the false friends, whether they escaped or were taken. It takes the better part of the night, and most of the parchment and silk scrolls you'd brought with you on this expedition. You copy the report, include the recordings that have only been edited to make the pertinent information they present far more easily seen and observed. And then, you finish the report, with a warning to Jinhai.

That the masterminds and true root of all the problems faced by the people of Yushan for a season of terror and confusion, are still at large and remain a near complete unknown. And, you include, with a missive that you will be unable to fulfill and see to your numerous other responsibilities.

Cont

>>6164176

For, you were not content to simply shrug your shoulders and believe the ghosts returned to the fogs and mists, and would not leave believing they were forever cowed after they ceased their unexplained aggression and fled to parts unknown.

The message is sent. Al-Uzza remains, and Mari soon arrives to assist in colonization efforts. Of course, Kanzeon and all the soldiers you brought to Yushan remain, as you lead expeditions and fireteams through the wild places of the now once again peaceful world. Across the plains of tall grasses, through the jungles, deep beneath its surface. In its mountains and its swamp lands, even beneath the surface of its emerald sea and black sand beaches. Every environment. Near and far from the walls and semblance of society within the colonies.

You hunt, and pursue tirelessly, with the most veteran of the brotherhood of the panthers and your space marines, employing all the inhuman senses of the aliens under your care and watch, Using the beastly senses of the Angra and Tiger Kin and employ Lomb and Oracle breed to assist in the aquatic and mountainous exploration. Sagit, Merchants of mirth, Nosa Rubigin, Se'ah'nin, Aeldari, and every strain of abhuman and sharp sighted psyker and hunter you can command and send forth, find nothing. But foot prints and ghosts.

Even when you use planet wide deep scans, and move with all the swiftness of wild fire, riding atop customized Skipping Clouds, Steel birds and even teleportation technologies, you are only able to catch glimpses and watch as the orchestrators of the colonists woes slip out from between your fingers.

Abandoned facilities, built from the partial plant and fungal technology, sanctuaries abandoned moments before your arrival. Sites of habitation demolished partially to try and obscure the traces.

But, while the natives of Yushan are worthy quarry and have given you a challenge like no other fleeing foe hiding in the wilderness nor any beast upon Shangrala nor any evil spirit of the emperyean, they are outmatched. Not just by your hunting instinct and experience, but Kanzeon and her sisters technology.

And the guiding revealing light of Hysh.

These things, combined with the alien refugees allowing you to investigate nearly all of Yushan's corners and crevices in someway or another, allow you to find your quarry, after a season of efforts.

Or, at least, the face they would turn toward your own with. The true consciousness is else where, as you, with a chainsword whirring in one hand and the body the yushanian dares to meet you within in the other, fingers curled around a throat made in imitation of the human form, out of the same species of plants woven into their technology, placed over a frame and anatomy that is neither entirely animal or plant. But a curious mingling of both, and technology.
Cont

>>6164177

And it isn't the true farm of the natives. But a mask, a puppet, being controlled through the same means as they took control of the perceptions and behavior of the wildlife and a handful of the colonists.

With a white mask of bark, horned and tusked, the unusual alien winces, your ambient frustration and anger touching its hidden psyche like an open flame as it paws at your wrist with black curled talons, hooved feet kicking

"Forgiveness. Forgiveness" They croak in passable Long-Jianese, air bladders expanding and squeezing as they beseech you for mercy "The unity was not acting in concert when interacting with your species! Consensus of action and opinion was not reached. Aggressive personalities, have been confined. All independent intelligences concur, we must hide away. We wish to know no more of you, we were wrong to initiate such harsh studies!"

"It was an experiment" You snarl "You could not even have the decency to hate us, to abhor us, or to believe us a threat to your world. You were simply poking, other intelligent, sapient beings, to see how they reacted. Treating living creatures like toys"

"Not this personage! This one argued more subtle observation, distant watching' They plead through their mockery of a human form "We, I have no desire to enter into true conflict with the intelligences from the sky. Our activities have ceased, and the minds who initiated the study of dominant primates have been reprimanded. We will retreat, turn inward, seek isolation from..."

"Ah. Like an Ork" You gasp as you realize exactly what the native Yushaniese are "Your a sapient, strain of fungus. No wonder I cannot locate the presence of your true body. It is spread out. Beneath my feet. You are nothing more than the fungal network of Yushan. What a curiosity of evolution. Now I know how to kill your kind, if the need arises"

"Please. We..I am sorry" They squeal, through mouths formed in the trees and their flowers "Studying, interfering, it is our culture. We are tenders of the world garden. Arrival of foreign entities, presented countless unknown variables. Observed at first. Some grew too curious, others grew suspicious, some feared all of the garden would be come as your pastures! We were curious! We are sorry!"

The black fury wells inside of you, as the Yushanian continues to approach and see their attacks against the colonists as if it were a science experiment or alchemical study that merely discolored someone's robes or turned their flower garden sallow

"We will hide away, vanish. No dominate primate will again notice our presence" They beg, knowing you have the capability to truly injure and kill them. Something they realized the moment Kanzeon shot a anomalous zone of gravity into Yushan to put the ancient town crushing serpent out of its misery.

Cont

>>6164178

What do you do tell the mushroom, Lieren?

>"Flee into the shadows. Cease your tampering. You will have one chance to prove your sincerity. The moment one of my people is so much as made sick by your curiosity, you and your kind shall truly vanish"

>"Some crimes cannot be forgiven, some wrongdoings can only be punished through immediate execution. Bring to me the ones who chose to bedevil our colonies, and the rest of your kind shall be allowed to slink away"

>"Until a new generation arises, and wonders anew how humanity will react to the world they live on turning against them with a singular malice. With heavy heart. I must act as my father's son. And commit xenocide."

>"No. You will not be allowed to. Instead being isolated and left to build your strength, you shall earn pardon through service, and be allowed to continue your tampering with the biosphere of Yushan. But not the bodies and minds of the colonists. A single step out of line, and hostilities will immediate resume. And I will not be as merciful the second time we meet"

>Write in

>>6164179
>>"Some crimes cannot be forgiven, some wrongdoings can only be punished through immediate execution. Bring to me the ones who chose to bedevil our colonies, and the rest of your kind shall be allowed to slink away"
SOMEBODY has to pay the price here, just to set the tone.

>>6164179
>"No. You will not be allowed to. Instead being isolated and left to build your strength, you shall earn pardon through service, and be allowed to continue your tampering with the biosphere of Yushan. But not the bodies and minds of the colonists. A single step out of line, and hostilities will immediate resume. And I will not be as merciful the second time we meet"
I legit think forcing them to interact with us might be the solution here. Sectioning them off is just going to let their grievances fester and allow the aggressive personalities to potentially sway others over time. And if they demonstrate a true willingness to cooperate over the years then we can gradually veer away from collective punishment should another incident happen and treat the matter diplomatically.

>>6164179
>"Some crimes cannot be forgiven, some wrongdoings can only be punished through immediate execution. Bring to me the ones who chose to bedevil our colonies."
I would also like to keep studying them to make sure this isn't an almost ork or tyranid situation. That their species has a baked in psychopathic might makes right morality or that they are a hivemind and so there is only one being.

Therefore, until the truth can be ascertained, we should not allow them to leave.

>>6164179
>>6164186
Studying them in turn? I'll support that.
That could be the wise path here, excise the more uncooperative personalities from the mass and then conduct some diplomacy with the rest.
If they prove genial then they could be allowed to enter the fold of xenos, because letting them isolate is just going to turn them into a threat.
I'm also not that convinced on the xenocide since by that logic ANY Eldar should be purged on sight.

(If they can also prove to be able to eventually eradicate or combat the Ork's own fungal infestations then we hit the jackpot!)

>>6164179
>"No. You will not be allowed to. Instead being isolated and left to build your strength, you shall earn pardon through service, and be allowed to continue your tampering with the biosphere of Yushan. But not the bodies and minds of the colonists. A single step out of line, and hostilities will immediate resume. And I will not be as merciful the second time we meet"
We might be able to eventually use them to cleanse worlds infected with Orks after we purge them. Maybe the aggressive personalities can earn their pardons during the purges.

>>6164179
>Write in: Those who have wrong us must stand trial under our laws and be judged. But we can't let you slip away, not just for the possibility that future generations may take the same path again, or the possibility that you just retreat to regroup and do this again. But that does not mean that your saga ends here, here and now I offer you an opportunity to take back your position as guardians and shepherds of this beautiful planet. not as slaves or second class citizens but as colleagues, friends and citizens. No more experimentation on our people if they don't give their consent and are informed of possible risks.

It seems it will be between giving us those who are responsible and we can't trust you to slip away. But I think we are a little too hard on them (considering that they seem to be quite an isolated race, unique biology and their mentality with taking care of the ecosystem) they made a mistake but not all of them let's try to create a form of connection between us so that this does not happen again.

>>6164230
>Support.

Try the aggressive minds by our laws. Then we can force a cooperation.

>support >>6164230

>>6164179
>"No. You will not be allowed to. Instead being isolated and left to build your strength, you shall earn pardon through service, and be allowed to continue your tampering with the biosphere of Yushan. But not the bodies and minds of the colonists. A single step out of line, and hostilities will immediate resume. And I will not be as merciful the second time we meet"
We give them a chance at redemption, to seek forgiveness. And by interacting with our people, by coming into the light and being seen and known by all, they lose the unseen threat variable, and in a few generations become worthy citizens.

>>6164230
Supporting this.

>>6164179
>>"Until a new generation arises, and wonders anew how humanity will react to the world they live on turning against them with a singular malice. With heavy heart. I must act as my father's son. And commit xenocide."


You folks really are softhearted. The things start their plan to slaughter the entire population, without even trying to communicate with us, attacking FIRST without any PROVOCATIONS, and you just let it go like that? They can say all they want, they sure as hell didn't seem that pressed to help us when they thought we wouldn't be able to strike back.

If we let them live, even under a watchful control, we open ourselves to the risk of any other of those creatures rising up at the first sign of weakness. Maybe even beginning to plague more than this planet through our spaceships.

They threw the first punch. Now they gotta face the music.

>>6164230
>Support

>>6164179
>"Until a new generation arises, and wonders anew how humanity will react to the world they live on turning against them with a singular malice. With heavy heart. I must act as my father's son. And commit xenocide."

Suffer not the Xenos to live, for when it strikes once. It will always strike again.

>>6164230
Switching from >>6164185 to support this.

>>6164319
You are absolutely right they struck first but that doesn't mean we need to be as hard on them. Given that they are mushrooms with a semi hive mind (I got it from when they talked and used I, we to describe themselves) who have cultivated a mindset where they are responsible for their eco system. So is it entirely possible that they don't really understand that our colonists were sapient or an interligate being, as I understood it, they basically function as an emune system for the planet. But after we showed our ability to hurt them they thought we are something else and that they shouldn't mess with us.

>>6164319
I mean, Castle Doctrine, you know?
We came onto their planet and started setting up, some of them(?) decided to throw the first punch, and they can't really be faulted too hard for that, especially when they returned the abducted colonists in an ostensibly safe condition.
Ultimately, since just letting them do their own thing is too risky at this point, our options amount to trying to cooperate with them or trying to wipe them out entirely, and I don't think they're dangerous enough or have acted maliciously enough to justify eradicating them. And if things go sufficiently wrong, Lieren's correct that we know how to truly kill them now.

>>6164179
>>"No. You will not be allowed to. Instead being isolated and left to build your strength, you shall earn pardon through service, and be allowed to continue your tampering with the biosphere of Yushan. But not the bodies and minds of the colonists. A single step out of line, and hostilities will immediate resume. And I will not be as merciful the second time we meet"

>>6164179
>"Until a new generation arises, and wonders anew how humanity will react to the world they live on turning against them with a singular malice. With heavy heart. I must act as my father's son. And commit xenocide."
I don't trust them to stop experimenting on people and I don't believe that they're sorry for what they've done, just that they were caught.

>>6164517
I don't see this as significant enough to commit xenocide.
They hit us, they killed some of our people, then we cowed them and returned our people they stole.

If it was a human nation, this would be suitable to have the offenders hung and then engage in the pursuit of prosperity. And they are an asset.

>>6164179
Time to show the power and horror that is Lieren's adaptability and Capacity to see shit get done.

>"Until a new generation arises, and wonders anew how humanity will react to the world they live on turning against them with a singular malice. With heavy heart. I must act as my father's son. And commit xenocide."
With a heavy heart...
>Write in
Objective: Eliminate possible threats too the Colony in Future, Secure possible intelligence this species may hold on genetic tampering and any bonuses.

My theory is thus, we take the Technology of the Lotus Sceptre which draws in electrical signals from the brain and a lil esoteric to instead be stabbed into the nerve network and pull them from this great web of consciousness turning them and all they know into Data. We then purge that specific fugal species with pesticide eliminating emerging minds but also leaving us able to do this work without a fight since we'll have ripped their minds out. Keep biome damage minimal and removes the threat.

Provided that data is in fact harvested we can decide what to do with it later, personally I say take a bite and becoming the Emperor's back up genewright so we can improve our legions survival rate of implantation or anything really, hell we might be able to apply what we learn to handle ork in future. At the very least we'll know the planets geography like a 3d read out so settlement can speed up.

That or we keep it as a snowglobe of data, suitably Grimdark.

Plus we show the Emperor and others we can and will fuck up anyone whom steps up. Letting these guys live or experience more senses just sounds like the Necrons giving the C'tann bodies and we know how that goes.

I really don't get where the desire for total eradication came from and none of you are convincing me of it's necessity.

>>6164556
Cuz the submission of an enemy that has attacked you first when he suddenly realizes you're stronger than him is a shaky base for an alliance at best. And at worst, we're letting spread the literal seeds of a future problem.

Remember, they only surrendered when they realized we were a threat to them. If we let them live, then what? Do we just confine them to this world? Do we let them spread across the stars until they start multiple uprisings on our planets?

Too many variables and chances for them to go haywire.

>>6164573
>Cuz the submission of an enemy that has attacked you first when he suddenly realizes you're stronger than him is a shaky base for an alliance at best.
Remove "attacked you first", and that is literally how the Emperor handled many resistant worlds during the Great Crusade. He made examples of the opposed leadership and dictated terms to what remained.
We are being nicer about it, but the fact remains that there is ample precedence that such alliances can work, both in-universe and out.

>>6164230
>Support

>>6164573
It'd a shaky start, so that'd why you build on it.

Cooperative works, building niches for one another. Unity.
They are genescientists of extreme skill, an asset.

Merry Christmas guys!

>>6164179
>V: 18

>"Flee into the shadows: 0

>"Some crimes cannot be forgiven: 3

>"Until a new generation arises: 4

>"No. You will not be allowed to: 5

>Write in: 1
>> Those who have wrong us must stand trial: 5
>> Objective: 1

We will undoubtedly have similar first encounters situations in the future where the first encounter ends in violence, that does not mean that our first reaction is to commit xinoside against an entire race come on we're not that kind of primarch. as long as we don't have a damn good reason to go all out on someone (Orks Dark Eldar not included), we should try to understand them and build a bridge between them and us.

>>6164712
Punish those who are responsible responsible, not the innocent ones

>>6164179
>>6164230
Supporting the Write-in.
The only option treating individuals properly depending on their individual deeds.

>>6164702
>V: 19

>"Flee into the shadows: 0

>"Some crimes cannot be forgiven: 3

>"Until a new generation arises: 4

>"No. You will not be allowed to: 5

>Write in: 1
>> Those who have wrong us must stand trial: 6
>> Objective: 1

>>6164230
Supporting
This was not a good start to our relationship but we have always striven to be fair, and punishing the many for what could be the crimes of the few has never been our style, even when logic dictated it would be the safest choice. They deserve another chance.
Though it will be their *only* chance. We will be watching them, and without the veil of secrecy hiding them, we will quickly see if they deserve it or not.

>>6164812
The very option of xenocide itself is strange.
I think it's our programming showing up, even as much as we suppress it. That and wroth at. . I'm honestly unsure. Annoyance at them being cowed by blunt force?

>>6164179
>>6164230
+1
No Xenocide... (yet)

>>6164828
Xenocide appearing as an option isn't a big deal because from a game perspective the players expect to have all options available. Lieren really flew off the handle at these guys, but I think that's because he hates how they innately regard life coldly and statistically, which brushes rather close to some of the defining traits of tyranny.

>>6164795
>V: 21

>"Flee into the shadows: 0

>"Some crimes cannot be forgiven: 3

>"Until a new generation arises: 4

>"No. You will not be allowed to: 5

>Write in: 2
>> Those who have wrong us must stand trial: 8
>> Objective: 1

>>6164828
Their attacks on the colonies were just experiments to them, they were terrorizing and murdering people just to satisfy their sick curiosity. They obviously don't even view other sapients as people. I think sparing them is just asking for trouble.

Okay, can we at least agree that FURTHER bullshit on their part will result in their total destruction?
>Very sorry dominant primate, we have no idea how those mind control genes ended up there. It must have been another of those rogue personalities.

>>6165032
ooo yes they get a chance to correct ther mistake, but if they do it again I will be one of the first to vote to exterminate them.
If it wasn't for this being a first contact seerio, their unique biology and their mental uniqueness then I would have helped to eradicate them 100%.

>>6165032
Correct.

The extenuating circumstances are "very low death count" and "first contact with another world".
The fungi very possibly didn't comprehend that the colonists were people rather than some peculiar form of sentient but not sapient animal due to their mental imbalances, or their own view of what constituted a body/individual.
I doubt it. But the point is that first contact is a difficult time and should be given a little grace given how there was very little real damage done.

The next time, we eradicate them completely, to the very roots of the planet itself.

>>6165049
>If it wasn't for this being a first contact seerio, their unique biology and their mental uniqueness then I would have helped to eradicate them 100%.
I think we could be a bit more generous than that, but yes right now any dangerous and suspicious stuff out of them should probably end with us finishing them off. We're giving them the benefit of doubt, and they're going to have to demonstrate that it isn't misplaced.

>>6165032
>>6165049
>>6165060

Sure, but remember that if there's any more death because of them, the blood will be on our end for getting too lost in the "I am the divine messiah" and we decided that risking more human lives for the chance of getting more pawns in our camp was acceptable.

>>6165074
That is an acceptable sacrifice to make.

You always risk being betrayed by taking people into your confidence. But there was an entire debate against the eldar about this matter.

"A pack of wolves defends one another and is stronger than a mixed herd of sheep and bulls.
But when a cub is lost, the pack will give it up for dead while the farmer will look night and day to bring it home."

>>6165074
You are looking at this wrong in my opinion.
This isnt about some risk versus reward calculation, its about treating the aliens like people.
Lieren has long maintained that all life has value, from the pauper to the noble, and from the human to the xeno. And what determines how someone should be treated are their actions. Commiting xenocide right here flies in the face of that, because plainly we just dont know enough about them. Were their actions just a few individuald going rogue? Or are they lying to cover their ass now that they are staring down the barel of our gun? We literally dont know, and if we kill them all we never will. But possibly slaughtering innocents is not something Lieren would risk when he could just as easily doublecheck first. Any possible innocent deserves to be given that chance.
Frankly im not even convinced a xenocide risks less lives, as the mushroom fuckers have demonstrated advanced capabilities, they could harm far more humans if they get desperate. If we force them into the open to stand trial and live among us, they wont be able to rely on secrecy to hide anymore, making any duplicitous plans they might have easier to discover and foil.

Bottom line is, all the guilty fungus dies, and the other are going under the microscope. If they so much as twitch wrong, they are collectively getting the noose, but not giving them a chance goes against what Lieren believes in, in my opinion.

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Calling the vote, sorry for the long wait. Hope the holidays treated you well and you had a good time/ got good gifts. I'm sipping on the scotch I got.

Seems there was quite a bit of discussion and debate. Always nice to see it.
>>6164960
And thanks as always for collecting the votes for me, makes this a lot easier, XD

So Lieren will tell the fungal intelligence "Those who have wronged us must stand trial...etc"

Writing now

>>6166201
Yaaaa finally a write in that I did won I'm so happy!!!!!!

You temper your rage, rightfully vengeful though it may be for the lives lost and damages done, and rein in your emotions. But even if it was through the machinations of some of their number, the lives of these curious creatures also has value and it'd be the action of tyrant to arbitrarily decide that all of their race should be punished for the crimes, wrongdoing and outright villainy of so few. Others might move reactively, and be unable to undo what they committed in a moment of enmity, in fury's flight. You loosen your grip around the faux neck of the Yushanian and sigh heavily through your nose, exhaling and emptying yourself of the emotions that may turn your decision biased and make you act against your own ideals and three views in frustration and a fit of retributive anger.

"Those who have wronged us" You begin, voice booming through the wilderness and echoing into the sky, thunderous and powerful "Must stand trial under our laws and be judged"

"Yes. Yes! Those who have done harm to your pastures and collective selves" They frantically agree, nodding their head in exaggerated motions, clearly attempting to mime human mannerisms "These terms, will be accepted by the Consensus of our intertwined systems

"However, you will not be allowed to slip away, not only because of the possibility that future generations may walk again this reckless path of remorseless violence, or that you may walk away only to regroup and return down the same road once walked yourself" You continue on, as the jungle around you withers slightly as the true body of the Yushanian drains nutrients from the surrounding plant life, to steel their nerves or their closest approximation to them

"We shall not. We have witnessed the outcome of interfering with the goings ons and habitats of you dominant primates" They hiss, like a breeze whispering through the leaves "We shall not trespass nor encroach, our spread will not near your false cliffs"

"Even so, I'd prefer a different history to be written between our societies" You sternly continue, locking eyes with them and staring, and feel the forest floor shudder as the effect of being held within your gaze and scrutinized reaches the true entity beneath your feet "For those of you innocent, I shall offer you an accord, an opportunity to return to your prior station of guardians and shepherds of this beautiful planet"

"As Gardeners anew?" They question, much calmer and less panicked now that they are no longer being scoured by your warp touched eyes "...Agreeable, unified agreement, terms acceptable to all unimprisoned intelligences. Services will be..."

"Not as slaves, thralls or second class citizens, but as colleagues, friends and citizens of the same world" You continue on, as you notice the subtle shifting in the vitality of the nearby plants, which alerts you to when the other intelligences are speaking to the one whose puppet you captured.
Cont

>>6166217

"Truly? This singularity does not speak falsely? Does not act treacherously?" They ask, their body of vines and roots going limp and loosening

"So long as you do no return to being foes or enemies to my people, and follow the laws of the Long-Jianese stellar empire" You answer "It would even be permissible for you to continue your studies, provided you receive consent and inform your subjects of the dangers of it, however, you would be more closely monitored then if you chose to cease your experimentation entirely"

"Monitored to ensure, we remain docile and uphold our end of the accord, to not act violently against you sky dwellers, to permit your settling and introduction to the ecosystem" They state "All of us shall be watched, then?"

"To build trust. Any who are seen to break this treaty and betray it to act as the aggressive minds had done, to turn Yushan against us peaceful settlers, shall be given the same punishment as is decided by the the lawful court they shall be taken to" You answer "And, of course, the emperor will need to grant his permission of this new status quo, and greet his new subjects. I'd advise you to prepare a demonstration of your expertise as the tenders of this world, for his arrival, when he comes to inspect the colonies and brings the magistrates to oversee the trials of the criminals amongst you"

"And how shall they punish them" Another voice asked from the puppet in your hands mouth

"Considering the extent of the damages and death toll, no matter who decides the matter, be it me or another official, the decision will most likely be a death sentence, an execution would be carried out immediately" You answer "Some crimes can only be forgiven through death, even if every life is precious, some must be cut short, for the betterment of others and to secure their wellbeing"

There was a long pause

"We...find these terms acceptable to, and shall inform the responsible intelligences of their pending fate. The sky screamer is as benevolent as they are strong" Several voices answer in unison, as the puppet in your hand slips away.

And by the next morning, a party of the false bodies of Yushanians escorted strange, capsules like the ones you had seen in the control center beneath the primary colony, containing roiling masses of mycelium and nutrient pods for the Yushanian within the cordoned off and separated network to subsist upon.

The initial meetings between the colonists and their former oppressors were tense, however, thankfully, the Nosa Rubigin and Merchants of mirth were able to bridge the gulf between the minds of humans and the minds of Yushanians, and the pleading and apologetic actions of the innocent fungoids convince the colony guards to give them a chance for redemption and forgiveness.
Cont

>>6166220

"Colony efficiency has already risen nearly ninety five percent since the native inhabitants have began to cohabitate and assist the settlers" Al-Uzza exclaims happily as you meditate and wait for the imperial family's transport to arrive

"So long as they behave, I think I can forgive them, in time" Kanzeon scowls, leering into one of the tanks containing a mass murderer "At least they seem collectively intelligent enough to know what we'll do if they try this shit a second time"

"It would be a shame to lose a species of natural terraformers" Mari sighs "So lets try to be nice, Kazzy, if only because they remind me of something Albina or Philotes would make"

"Yeah, they always did get creative with gene tampering" Anahita laughs, patting one of the barrels holding the convicts "And Shangralas colorful wildlife is proof of that, say, how are those dragons and Phoenix birds you made to memorialize them handling their new environments, Kaz?"

"Well, they're flourishing, alongside a number of rejuvenated species Mari and Al-uzza have helped me replicate" She answers "Still, I'm surprised they evaded the two of us for so long"

"They are extremely stealthily when they are gripped by mortal terror" You answer "And we did not know their true nature until I happened upon one"

"You can say that again, they even managed to frustrate you, which is quite the accomplishment" She titters before frowning and sighing "I just hope they remain as reasonable as a brush with death has made them all"

"They probably didn't even know they could die until they had a brush with you and your hubby" Mari points out, as an unmistakable craft's silhouette appears on the horizon, a winding, dragon tailed craft Jinhai had commissioned Anahita to design for his personal use

And what is your next focus, after the villainous/ evil natured Yushanians are judged and punished, Lieren?

>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.

>personally oversee the colonization of the black abyss and construction of habitats upon its seas and skies that can resist the ceaseless storm

>Teach some of the wanderers in the fog and the nameless how to harness Hysh, under supervision by Malcador's agents in the Void school of the nameless.

>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity.

>write in

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>>6166221
>>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.
It's dreadful that we had to put it off for a season, but now is the time to get back on track and start focusing on the next generation in earnest.

>>6166221
>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.
>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity.
Both of these should probably be handled sooner rather than later. Teaching about Hysh seems like a good choice too, but that's less time-sensitive than the others.

>>6166221
>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.

>Teach some of the wanderers in the fog and the nameless how to harness Hysh, under supervision by Malcador's agents in the Void school of the nameless.

>>6166221
>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.
>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity.
Matters of culture and the upcoming trials have been put aside long enough.

>>6166234
>support

>>6166234
+1

>>6166221
>>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.
>>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity.

Also Malal, how much time has passed since the wedding?

>>6166221
>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.

>Teach some of the wanderers in the fog and the nameless how to harness Hysh, under supervision by Malcador's agents in the Void school of the nameless.

>>6166221

>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity.

>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.

>>6166221

We have to ensure the spread of this knowledge. No one else knows how to use hysh.

That's at least as important as spreading our [s] gang sign [\s] null denouncement charm. Make sure that shit is everywhere, so it can't be stamped out.

>Teach some of the wanderers in the fog and the nameless how to harness Hysh, under supervision by Malcador's agents in the Void school of the nameless.

>>6166261
Support, +1

>>6166221
>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.
>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity

>>6166221
A new race under the mantle of Shangrila. Yushanians Fungus. Uhm they will need sometime, before true integration in the empire, unlike the other alien species with us we weren't able to form a strong bond with then from the get go. And this initial social development with them will remain for a while in the air.

We will see what to do in the future. Amazing that we werent able to find them immediately, they where already there has mushrooms. What a remarkable species, and i liked all the ones we found so far.

>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity.

Double issue here on his own. I am not even sure for the tiger folk, they are our kids basically even if we cant always be there at the Chen Dao Academy with them, and of course we cant bring with us children and teens for follow us in delicate missions, campaigns or our ministry work (Liberty was only brought in one of the safest possible missions we ever did on Black Abyss, so i consider that an exception to the rule and she needs some experience for the future. Beside she is a colony ship with enough to firepower to make an entire alien colony shit their collective pants). At the same time the tiger folk, are also ab-humans of their own like ogryns. Should they have a special region ? Or just be Long-Jia like us.

The Vishnu instead. Well majority of them is in the military or living in the Bone Devouring Forest. The Vishnu groups from the actual Vishnu regions are basically extinct or too small on their own, thanks to a certain tyrant that wanted to play god with his bride. The region is currently a Long-Jia vassal and the Bone Devouring Forest is part of Long-Jia and currently in a state of cultural fusion with Long-Jia. I am really not sure if the Vishnu culture could continue for this reasons. Hard hard maybe. Like even with all measures both of government and science, is not going to be easy. Its not just going to cut it to simply tell all the Vishnu regiments of both infantry and screamers to get back home and start a family.


>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.

An important step, both for the Long-Jia stellar empire and the other states of Shangrila. And of course the II legion and the Imperium.

I think there is already a core identity forming by the Expeditionary force sent here, and like sponges they are learning much from Shangrila, their father, their mom and their extended family. But how to go about it is the question. The original standard astartes legion training never could predict all the things Lieren can make now with the help of his allies and companions.

>>6166503
You are forgetting a habit of the tigerfolk.

They are obedient. And they conform to the culture as they are directed to it.
They could keep the vishnu culture alive for a while if we direct it.

>>6166221
>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.

>>6166221
>>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.

>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity.

>>6166221
>V: 15
>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes: 14

>personally oversee the colonization of the black abyss: 0

>Teach some of the wanderers in the fog and the nameless how to harness Hysh: 3

>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture: 10

>write in: 0

>>6166221
>Hear the answers of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes, and begin the first steps of their training.
>Confront the issue of the continuation of the tiger folk and Vishnu culture, sooner rather than later when your adoptive children have all reached maturity.

File: 1616615015989.png (21 KB, 128x128)

21 KB PNG

Calling the vote now, sorry for the vote, but here's the first update of the year. Somehow avoided a hangover from last night!

>>6167163
Thank you for your help, always appreciate it XD

>>6168570
And with your vote at the end...

Lieren will hear the answer of the family's whose sons could be trained into Astartes and confront the issue of the continuation of the vishnu and their tiger folk kin

Writing now

>>6168585
*Sorry for the long wait

What a silly typo to make

You'd expected there to be questions. Concerns of parents, many of them veterans or kin to the valiant dead lost in the butcher war and later conflicts, in condemning their young, newly born sons to a life of war beneath distant sons, to bleed and die on alien soils far from the valleys of their home. That they'd pause and consider what their sons would want in life before deciding to set them down a path that was not of their own choosing. The path of the space marine. The way of the Astarte. But, even the wealthy, ennobled families who would've concerned themselves with inheritance and legacy, the continuation of their very bloodline and history, did not refuse your humble request. Against all odds and simple laws of probability, of all the letters you sent to the numerous parents whose genetic blueprints were charted when they visited white lotus hospitals to give birth or for routine checkups accepted.

All of your friends. Even the widows of Chen, Bai, Xin and the others, without a moment's hesitation, said they would be proud for their sons to serve your father and be remade as his space marines, that any Shangralan, be they from Long-Jia or the distant lakes of lomb, would happily fight alongside the gentle, golden eyed giant and that it was a high honor to be given the chance to be made into his warrior children, even symbolically

Even empress Daiyu, permitted the young prince Boling to be given to the program, when he was of the proper age, to be trained alongside the others and prepared for the transformation into an astartes. And you knew, he'd become one, alongside Feng's firstborn son, Weimin, and Xin and Bai's boys. Little Chen, personally came up to you, and demanded to be made into a "Space Man", eyes ablaze with a child's conviction. Even the Two hundred forty seven astartes present on Shangrala are stunned by the complete acceptance of the mothers and fathers whose sons had been determined to be the most compatible with your genetic stock.

"And I hadn't even asked Luli or Qian Xia to explain the process in a way they could understand, this was not the work of propaganda or philosophizing" You, stunned and slumped into a reed woven chair, amazedly remark as you read through the latest letter

"Your love for them is returned" Kanzeon says with a smile "That is one quality I adore of the Shangralans, no matter their culture, they are never ungrateful"

"A change that happened because of lover boy's self help book, I think" Anahita chuckles "Though, I'd like to think, across the many enclaves of humanity, none of them are dumb enough to not try and help the man who brought about...well, all of this"

"I know but it is still pleasing" Kanzeon titters "I'll never grow tired of their open mindedness and respectful natures. And I'll be sure to pay it back"
Cont

>>6168607

"Of course, not one of those kids is dying on the operating table if we have anything to say about it" Anahita boasts "Hey, we should tell Mari and Al-uzza, Liberty to"

"What? That she'll have countless new brothers?" You joke, squinting to not shed tears of most profound joy at the response so many families across Shangrala had given to you.

But that is merely one potential issue dealt with. Another has arisen in recent years. That being the culture of the Vishnu and the continuation of the Tiger folk race. The vishnu tribes are practically all that's left of the Vishnu people, genetically and certainly culturally, and all that remains of the tiger folk, are the two hundred and eighty five children and teenagers who you adopted and still care for, sending a fair portion of your monthly stipend and paychecks from your various official positions and offices within the Long-Jianese Bureaucracy to ensure their childhoods are ones of plenty and comfort.

And soon, the eldest of them will be of age. Avinash and Ananya, being the eldest amongst them, will be the first you'll have the long talk with, as various cultural ministers try to work with the free spirited Tribes of Vishnu, the two only surviving "Great Chief", Aruna and Akanksha serving as the heads of the efforts. Akanksha needed no convincing, of course, and promised to make an effort to make many more children with her husband, all bearing the name Bao inherited from their father, Feng.

That is, if you can get the now oft dour and gloomy man to care deeply about the fate of his traditions.

"I seek to join my fellow chiefs in the grave, to die a warriors death before screamers like me have no place in the world" He explains as you meet with him in the Chen Dao academy, new scars from his efforts of peace keeping across the entirety of Shangrala covered by bone dust white paint "Kamakshi, Rudra, Manu, they've left me and Akanksha behind, dying the way Vishnu should, in glorious battle. But after the death of Nitya, I doubt there exists an enemy, foe or even opponent who can give me the doom I seek. The Vishnu may change, but, nothing lasts forever, you said that and teach that, my friend. If my people want to continue as they are, then all they must do is endure as we always have. Personally, I do not believe I'll see the end of my culture"

"But only because you are seeking yours and rushing towards it" You sigh, shaking your head

"Exactly. I've always accepted it was my place to die in the field of battle. If you wish, I'll wait a few years before seriously seeking my end, but if the Vishnu wish to remain proud warriors, then they must fight and struggle" he says happily, white painted skull cracking as he grinned "I'm sure the little bird said she'd be happy to increase our numbers, let her and her panther husband make up for my slacking on that front, eh?"

"They'll need no incentives to" You jest, smiling "And of course, cloning was never an option"
Cont

>>6168609

"Of course, too many of us remember too freshly and vividly the red skinned mockeries we fought in the butcher war, Vishnu must be born, screaming and bloody, just like they'll leave this world" He cackles "I'm sure, none of my tribe or any others will complain about being urged to make more babies, its getting them to care about preserving our ways that'll be difficult, now that we all live in such a peaceful and pleasant world, hm"

"I'm sure they can be convinced" You add with a smile "to be honest, it is your cousins, the tiger folk who I am most concerned"

"Ah, you are as a father, panicked now that he realizes he must explain to his sons and daughters of the shields and spears, hm?" He howls with laughter "They aren't as easily made as us Vishnu, our blood is strong, usually, even if we take wives or husbands from the other lands, the children will end up looking more Vishnu than Long-Jianese, Bask or Shuni or whatever is out there now. But tiger folk? They can only breed with themselves or us Vishnu, and there are very few of them left after"

"We killed most of them" You answer guiltlessly "And killed their corrupted forebearers and kin who had been turned into cannibalistic wretches, ruined and enthralled by sorcery, twisted by weird stone"

"I'd have not been so blunt, but yes. They used to have more numbers than our tribes, even before the losses we had across the many wars here or far away, but, then they were turned against themselves and made into slaves, and then cut down by us" He adds with a nod "now, they are not even large enough to form a tribe of their own, and with few options for wives and husbands, quite the conundrum for a man who cares deeply of preserving the good things in the world, while also deeply respecting the free will and self determination of others, eh"

"Precisely" You answer with a nod

"So, figuring out how to keep Vishnu acting and living like Vishnu, is much easier, than figuring out how to ensure the survival of the race of your three hundred or so beloved children" Aruna ponders "Have you asked your wife"

"I didn't need to, we both knew any of the possibilities she or her sisters could manifest were not ones any of us, me, her or society at large could accept" You answer simply "Outside of some basic gene-altering to make their genome more stable and compatible with the broader humanity, and dominant, but that may cause strife with...well, others outside of our open minded culture."

"Gene..." He growls, not understanding the concept "Well whatever, scholars can teach our children what it means to be vishnu if their parents will not, what matters is preserving the tiger people. They are, as you said, our cousins. So focus on that, Golden eyes. I'll help Akanksha come up with a plan the tribes will accept to continue into the future, even if its too peaceful for our warriors blood to be content. You focus on spreading the stripes of your kids, it is a father's duty"
Cont

>>6168610

And how will you decide to try and preserve the Tiger Folk strain of Abhuman.

>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

>Ask their permission to take samples of their genetic material, and use the advance cloning technologies within Kanzeon and her sisters to create, effectively, little brothers and sisters for the cubs rather than forcing them to pair up in the future through a breeding program

>Subtly push them into matching up, so when they mature, their race will survive and increase their numbers, even if it is a very uncomfortable subject to approach, even underhandedly like this.

>realize that they may be genetically compatible with the Angra, and if they aren't willing to marry those who they see as their sisters or brothers, then maybe they'd be more open to finding partners with the Angra or Vishnu when they're older and grown up

>Write in

Here's to a happy new year. And to the quest finally reaching the great crusade portion and getting past the "prologue"/backstory lol.

>>6168611
>realize that they may be genetically compatible with the Angra, and if they aren't willing to marry those who they see as their sisters or brothers, then maybe they'd be more open to finding partners with the Angra or Vishnu when they're older and grown up

>>6168611
>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.
If there's any hope of them being accepted by the Imperium at large, we need to give them a way to break down the more substantial barriers before we move on to the arbitrary ones. In my mind, being genetically compatible with baseline humans is just the way to do it.

>>6168611
>Write in: Second Blooming of the Vishnu Lotus and the Tigers of Yushan.
The Vishnu culture is a harsh on, a culture of trials and endurance not taking up many modern amenities. I propose a solution which can make things a little easier on multiple fronts! We move the Tigers to Yushan alongside a good number number of Vishnu volunteers. The reason is so that they can live a little wilder than living cages, the Vishnu get a life more suitable to preserve their culture which will grow and adapt anew upon the world and thus through shared exposure to this new world, experiences building bonds and such they will mingle and breed, they will restore their numbers and the Vishnu culture will be reborn upon another world! Just like our old teacher was. Plus due tot hem living more abound in nature and for lack of a better word 'Primitively' they will be less of an issue for the fungoids to accept. The world itself will be a great hunting and training reserve of sorts beyond its simple colony purpose, scattered Monestries to train and maintain their Shangrala roots and ties.

This preserves the culture, lets it grow and will rejuvenate their species. The Fungoids won't have to deal with mass modernisation and so on.

>>6168611
>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.
And kind of >>6168652

For such a group to maintain their characteristics, they must have their mettle continually tested and adapting their martial cultures to a frontier or self reliant way of living will accomplish that. It'll be a Boer or Amish lifestyle, depending on how settled the planet is.

I will also put forward the idea that we can do the same to willing xenos, creating new types of abhumans out of their DNA as a link between xeno and human. I believe it would lessen internal strife later once Lieren moves on as I believe most of the current harmony between humans and xenos depends on him personally.

>>6168611
>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

Plus I'll propose the following write-in:
>Seek baseline ovum donors to then fertilize with the gene edited tigerfolk's seed and grow them in artificial wombs until a point that the population has reached comfortable numbers.

It might also work with vishnu donors but this is more comprehensive for a stable population.

>>6168652
>>6168611
Supporting two birds with one stone

>>6168611
>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

Simple and effective especially with Kanzeon and her sisters help.

>>6168611
>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

We have technology SpongeBob

>>6168611
>>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

>>6168611
>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.
And a bit of >>6168652 in the sense of sending Vishnu and tiger volunteers to eke out a living in the wilder conditions of Yushan.

>>6168611
>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

>realize that they may be genetically compatible with the Angra, and if they aren't willing to marry those who they see as their sisters or brothers, then maybe they'd be more open to finding partners with the Angra or Vishnu when they're older and grown up

>>6168611
>>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

And supporting >>6168652

>>6168611
And wait, do we really get into the great crusade part? Cuz I think that since they just found Horus, we still have something like twenty years before they get to us. Do we jump straight to then? Or do we continue our solo crusade until they get to Shangrala?

>>6168611
>>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

>>6168849
We are getting near. Right now the plan Lieren and the Emperor agreed upon, is encoutering eachother, Lieren pushes from one direction and Father from another.

Its done without issues since they know their positions

>>6168849
We're like the only ones who both have space travel (albeit nascent) and know he exists so far, but we also sped things way the fuck up on his side with the Golden Dragon's River. We effectively made a means of instant intra-imperial travel and gave it to him right after the Unification Wars, and that's without considering what he of all people will do to improve on it himself.

>>6168611
>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters, and use the remains of Philotes and Albina to, with the consent of the tiger cubs, to adjust their genes to make it possible for them to have kids with baseline and any other breed of abhumans.

>>6168611
>>6168652
And Supporting this

>V: 14

>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters: 11

>Ask their permission to take samples of their genetic material:0

>Subtly push them into matching up: 0

>realize that they may be genetically compatible with the Angra: 2

>Write in: 2
>> Second Blooming of the Vishnu Lotus and the Tigers of Yushan: 6
>> >Seek baseline ovum donors:

Also, I just reread the wedding.
Isn't asura thinking about courting the bask knightess?

That might keep him alive a few years more.

>>6168652
An interesting solution, let's try.

>>6169676
>V: 15

>Get the assistance of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters: 11

>Ask their permission to take samples of their genetic material:0

>Subtly push them into matching up: 0

>realize that they may be genetically compatible with the Angra: 2

>Write in: 2
>> Second Blooming of the Vishnu Lotus and the Tigers of Yushan: 7
>> >Seek baseline ovum donors:

File: 1645052543902.png (725 KB, 1001x1200)

725 KB PNG

Calling the vote now. Sorry for the long wait, my PC needed to update and my monitor decided that it didn't like that, and took a few days to recognize that, yes, it was in fact connected to a computer.

>>6170800
And thank you as always for the help, XD.

So Lieren will seek the assistance of the gene tailors of the oracle breed and Kanzeon's sisters to safely alter the genetic code of the tiger kids, and put forward the Second blooming of Vishnu and the tigers of yushan plan

writing now

There is much work to be done before the training of what may become the first Shangralan born generation of your legion of Astartes can begin in earnest. The finest tacticians and warriors, from both the host of Space marines present under your command and the terran regiments, and those drawn from the Long-Jianese imperial army and officers academy, must be selected. Dae-Hyun and Liberty both suggest a tournament of sorts to decide who shall be given the high honor of becoming the trainer and teacher of these boys who shall one day become the space marines of your father's crusade. And with your most trusted veterans and friends still serving as frontline general's in Jinhai's armies seeing to preparing and finding the finest martial talents and military minds within the growing sphere of Long-Jian influence, you can devout yourself fully to ensuring the survival of a once withered and frail branch of humanity and a beautiful if harsh culture that sprung from centuries of strife and once honorable warfare. Both so easily lost to the din of the cruel laughter of the universe and the self titled gods of discordant behavior who seek to become its most abhorrent tyrants.

The Oracle breed are of course, happy to provide their services, still ever grateful you spared them of the punishment their cruel, monster spawning sisters had earned themselves for their long oppression and malignancy towards the Hellias city states, turning their talent for gene editing to live as brigands.King Arash Zaandia is present, standing amongst the local rulers and governors of the Hellias who have slowly acclimated to the standard of Long-Jianese life and culture as equal and friend, when you arrive to present your plan to the gene weavers. With the full backing of your wife and her sisters.

In no time at all, their temple built above the remains of noble Philotes ignites with activity as the long slumbering craft is powered back on and the gene labs once used by her are returned to full life rather than the salvage the oracle breeds have used to guide the genetic lineages of themselves and the local wildlife. The Lomb, also, accept that it is in the sister's right to pull the empty hull of Albina from her watery tomb to be returned to a semblance of life, like the abandoned husk of Kuan Im had been, to serve as a manufacturing hub. Al-Uzza is allowed to be elsewhere, as seeing them so up close and powered on brings her great sorrow and pain. Liberty follows her soon after, oddly somber after seeing with her own eyes the empty vessels of sisters she had never known.

And with the oracle breed, and the notes left behind by the late sisters, the first stage of your plan commences, while the shell Huli Jing forsook is used to help prepare for the second stage, creating a steady supply chain of advance building materials and steel giants intended solely for their original architectural purpose to Yushan.

Cont

>>6171620

You sit down each of your adoptive children, and one by one explain to them as well as bright children like them can, that you as their father who will live for long after they grow grey around their whiskers and their claws and fangs dull, would be greatly saddened to live in a world without the loyal and diligent tiger folk. They all understand this, though a few of the younger ones cry, declaring they will live forever so you will not miss them, and it warms your heart and brings the most joyous of tears to your eyes to hear them simply ask how they could make sure you will not weep and mourn them forevermore if their like were to vanish from the galaxy entirely.

You do not mince your words or use any deception, you explain that you'd with their permission adjust their blood and genetics so they could, until their population is stabilized, sire children with any breed of abhuman rather than be restricted to their own limited population and the Vishnu tribes own. Of course you word this in a way a child could understand, while maintain their innocence. Something Kanzeon and Mari help greatly with.

And they agree, and one by one are given the gentle and painless gene treatment to stabilize their mutated genome to allow it to spread and breed true throughout mankind's many gardens. And while the process does take some time, requiring numerous check ups and appointments to safely reorganize their still living dna and genetic building blocks, it does work.

You know it works, because Avinash, grown rowdy as he has become more a man than a boy, snuck off with an Oracle breed girl who specifically altered her appearance to appear attractive to the eyes of the tiger kin, and before the last of the gene therapy is done, you're given proof that its worked. By way of the first born of a new generation of tiger kin. A boy Avinash declares he shall name to honor his father. You.

"Little Lieren, has a bit more fur round his ears than you do" Anahita teases while you look over the small cub, still a mewling new born as Kanzeon, as Avinash' mother, scolds him and takes him to task for his reckless behavior.

A wedding is soon held, a private affair, that your father and all of Avinash' friends attend. And then another, as Ananya quickly courts a scholarly boy from Tao Stock and...is adopted into the clan by Tao Dandan herself. While these are both joyous occasions, they cause you know end of headaches, and many of your close friends take to calling you grandfather in jest.Jinhai even begins penning his formal letters and official decrees to you in your service to the state in such a manner. But it is all in good humor and done in a friendly spirit, so you allow it.
Cont

>>6171621

And then, comes the second stage of your plan. The new chiefs of the Vishnu tribes are mostly peaceful natured, which is why Aruna has so little concern or care for them, Akanksha being the only other to remain a warrior at heart. But there are still more fighters amongst the tribes than not, and it is easy to convince them they'd find great comfort and contentment on Yushan.

A world much like the bone devouring forest, but less immediately lethal and also still holding many of the comforts and amenities they've grown fond and accustomed to. A place their culture can regrow and reaffirm itself with a noble purpose. And with plans to make it a more permanent home for the tiger folk once their population swell.

The Yushanians and the colonist government they're under both agree to the plan after a few meetings to explain your vision, and the chosen governor, one of empress Daiyu's brothers, looks over your ledger of architectural diagrams and after checking with the leading intelligences of the Yushanians, who are eager to find a place to plot out the monasteries and hunting reserves you envision for Yushan's future, places for soldiers, warriors, bushmen and even space marines to train and live, agrees to what is now known all across the two worlds as "The second blooming of the Vishnu" After Shirong and Cao Yunru, drunk on native flower wine, leaked your plans decades in advance and now historians are flying to and from the worlds, eager to be the first to pen this new chapter of the worlds' newly shared history.

And Aruna finally convinces that swordswoman from Bask to be his wife, and wins her hand after besting the greatest knights in both the chivalric orders of that land and the nameless schools. Elazar of course, gives him the hardest time

Not only due to his own skill, but due to a custom suit of power armor Mari and Anahita gifted him.

The initial steps of both arranging and performing the gene therapy on your precious sons and daughters and setting into motion the migration and encouragement of the revitalization of the Vishnu culture, takes longer than a year, and that is simply to ensure both efforts will become self sustaining and be able to be achieved and completed to your satisfaction by your trusted aids and employees in the ministry of development. Just in time for the introduction of the very first class of space marine candidates and the "hazing" your sons have devised while they were left to their own designs and general guard duty on Yushan or Shangrala.

But, before that can happen, you receive dire news

"Your father is dying, I'm sorry" Kanzeon says suddenly, sadly, eyes bitter with defeat and sorrow "He doesn't have much longer, there's nothing I can do, that any of us can, Lieren, I'm so sorry, I only just noticed myself. We've been so busy and...I'm just sorry it had to happen so soon"
Cont

>>6171623

"Wen..wenyan my father, is dying?" You gasp, suddenly finding it hard to breath and feeling more powerless than you have ever felt before.

"We did all we could, gave him the best medicines and diet, but human life can only be extended so long without...more intrusive methods" She says, bringing to your imagination visions of the adepts of mars you had met during the days proceeding and following your wedding "He...asked me not to tell you, said, "My boy, my noble, heroic son, is using his gift of wisdom to help two entire peoples, what use does he have to grieve for an old man before he is even in the ground"

"Grand Architect, I can take over" Your closest, nameless aid whispers "I've seen all of your plans, and have recorded the digital schematics, I could oversee the construction and work with the ghosts of Yushan to prepare the ground, you should be with him"

"My...my father" You repeat, tears burning your eyes

"Love..." Kanzeon forlornly calls out as you reel, feeling as if your blood is flowing in reverse.

What do you do, Lieren?

>Take him on a journey, showing him worlds and vistas he could've never imagined, and tell him your own vision for the future alongside your blood father's own, and then, selflessly and at great risk, guide his frail soul to be reborn as Guozhi was. and slaughter any daemon that gets in your way.

>Stay at his bedside and oversee his estates function and ensure he is given a burial worth of a great sage and that none will forget that without Wenyan, there would've been no Lieren and with the help of Luli and Pan An, create a documentary of his life and the lessons he taught you

>Flee and seek your brothers advice for this, both your fellow primarchs and your dearest friends upon Shangrala and beyond

>Swallow your grief, declare no man will ever be as selfless as Wenyan was, and record his passing in the Journey as a new lesson about selflessness and throw yourself into your work, obeying his command and following his advice as diligently as a son should, one final time

>Write in

It had to happen eventually...

>>6171624
>Take him on a journey, showing him worlds and vistas he could've never imagined, and tell him your own vision for the future alongside your blood father's own, and then, selflessly and at great risk, guide his frail soul to be reborn as Guozhi was. and slaughter any daemon that gets in your way.

>Swallow your grief, declare no man will ever be as selfless as Wenyan was, and record his passing in the Journey as a new lesson about selflessness and throw yourself into your work, obeying his command and following his advice as diligently as a son should, one final time.


Damn, Its finally time huh?

>>6171624
>>Stay at his bedside and oversee his estates function and ensure he is given a burial worth of a great sage and that none will forget that without Wenyan, there would've been no Lieren and with the help of Luli and Pan An, create a documentary of his life and the lessons he taught you
MAN

>>6171624
>Take him on a journey, showing him worlds and vistas he could've never imagined, and tell him your own vision for the future alongside your blood father's own, and then, selflessly and at great risk, guide his frail soul to be reborn as Guozhi was. and slaughter any daemon that gets in your way.

>Swallow your grief, declare no man will ever be as selfless as Wenyan was, and record his passing in the Journey as a new lesson about selflessness and throw yourself into your work, obeying his command and following his advice as diligently as a son should, one final time.

>>6171626
>>6171642
Those two options are mutually exclusive, for reasons that should be obvious

>>6171624
>Stay at his bedside and oversee his estates function and ensure he is given a burial worth of a great sage and that none will forget that without Wenyan, there would've been no Lieren and with the help of Luli and Pan An, create a documentary of his life and the lessons he taught you
I know the first instinct is to reincarnate him, but that was both a massive undertaking and one Wenyan doesn't necessarily desire as Guozhi did. We can't just endlessly cling to everything we love because we've figured out a (rather dangerous) way around losing it; it straight up goes against what we've written in the Journey and the lesson we tried to teach Meixiu about accepting death as a part of life and not meddling pointlessly with the deaths of those we love.
Besides, the method of doing so goes into the heart of Tzeentch's domain. If we continually make use of the Well he will 100% eventually start to cotton on to our methods, rendering each subsequent use ever more dangerous.

>>6171624
>Take him on a journey, showing him worlds and vistas he could've never imagined, and tell him your own vision for the future alongside your blood father's own, and then, selflessly and at great risk, guide his frail soul to be reborn as Guozhi was. and slaughter any daemon that gets in your way.
>Swallow your grief, declare no man will ever be as selfless as Wenyan was, and record his passing in the Journey as a new lesson about selflessness and throw yourself into your work, obeying his command and following his advice as diligently as a son should, one final time
It's going to rain on Shangrala

>>6171624
>Stay at his bedside and oversee his estates function and ensure he is given a burial worth of a great sage and that none will forget that without Wenyan, there would've been no Lieren and with the help of Luli and Pan An, create a documentary of his life and the lessons he taught you
>>Write in
And continue our great work even as we spend time with him as orders can now be drafted and issued without being physically present.

>>6171624
>Stay at his bedside and oversee his estates function and ensure he is given a burial worth of a great sage and that none will forget that without Wenyan, there would've been no Lieren and with the help of Luli and Pan An, create a documentary of his life and the lessons he taught you

This seems like the most humble option he would go for himself, did we ever clear the air about the fact it was Lieren's own pod that killed his son? It's bitter to recognize it but it's the last chance to ask for his forgiveness even if Lieren had no hand in it happening.

Though we could also pen a little extra follow up work on the Journey to compare Wenyan's and Ghouzi's choice of farewells as equally valid in their own way. Both the value of finality and legacy with the personal insight that death is but a new chapter of life. Though codified as to not reveal that which we swore not to.

>>6171624
>Oversee his estates function.
He has always been selfless but now is the time for him to have our attentions. We can deligate while he passes.

I'm not opposed to showing him sights, but he shouldn't reincarnate. All things pass.

>>6171624
Ok this actually has a bit of a double effect which may well butterfly, how we react and respond to the death of our father hear might well influence how our sons deal with our own eventual death or the death of their own families so we gotta be careful here. Yet we are also Lieren so emotions be wild, i think i know what too do. Its a blend of two somewhat but bare with me.

>Write in
We shall return to Nothing to be by our Father's side in these final moments, we shall hold his hand and bury him beside his lost family ourselves. All shall be welcome to mourn but in this great ceremony worthy of Sages passed we shall speak and remind all of what his wisdom and sheer humility taught us.

"A Good Father, Shall have Good Sons. It is the Duty of all men to be Good fathers; to teach their sons, to be firm in reprimand and generous in reward, to be calm in manner but be able to wield the fury of the storm. Weylan whom from Nothing bore the heart of a Lion taught me this; he whom taught a boy from fell from the sky to me a Man worthy to walk beneath it."

We shall then make ready to return to our word, vigor renewed and nerves steeled. But first upon this most fateful moment we must look inward and meditate upon something Weylan spoke of during our wedding with concern "Why do we always find trouble wherever we tread?"

---
We set a good example for our own Sons and now here at the end we contemplate words we'd previously overlooked.

>>6171624
>Stay at his bedside and oversee his estates function and ensure he is given a burial worth of a great sage and that none will forget that without Wenyan, there would've been no Lieren and with the help of Luli and Pan An, create a documentary of his life and the lessons he taught you

>>6171651
I'm retarded, So i'll change my vote here >>6171626
too
>>6171624

>Take him on a journey, showing him worlds and vistas he could've never imagined, and tell him your own vision for the future alongside your blood father's own, and then, selflessly and at great risk, guide his frail soul to be reborn as Guozhi was. and slaughter any daemon that gets in your way.

>>6171624
>>Stay at his bedside and oversee his estates function and ensure he is given a burial worth of a great sage and that none will forget that without Wenyan, there would've been no Lieren and with the help of Luli and Pan An, create a documentary of his life and the lessons he taught you

>>6171624
>Stay at his bedside and oversee his estates function and ensure he is given a burial worth of a great sage and that none will forget that without Wenyan, there would've been no Lieren and with the help of Luli and Pan An, create a documentary of his life and the lessons he taught you

To be besides the father that raised you to the end.