Theogiorickan

The Theogiorickan is an unknown species of ammonia-based life first encountered in the ruined city of Theogiorick (hence its name). A carcass of a seemingly dead one has been taken to Harthago for examination. As it is ammonia-based, all investigations on it have to be conducted in temperatures lower than -33 degrees Celsius. They are believed to originate on Zeta Yll Exuun.

The following is a field note description by Professor Robyna Markbell-Howells, from rudimentary examination (she is no xenobiologist, and is more specialised in unique biochemistry than descriptions):

Description

Does not look too different from primates in silhouette. Bipedal with two arms, 0.95 rics long, weight 1.35 rics. Arms extend about to the knees. Head has two eyes (each about twice as big as a human eye), two noses (or nostrils on the face?), two antennae (which might act as ears?, about 15 cm long). Colour of skin is brown-to-black, with some golden rashes along the face.

Ammonia-based and silicon-based lifeform. Most likely not indigenous to Micras. Smelly. Smells like old urine. Otherwise carbon-based. Skeletal structure is surprisingly similar to humans (like with safir, suggesting convergent evolution), with a rib cage protecting what are believed to be the vital organs (though this is where similarities end). Based on this one example, unable to determine sex (indeed whether this species has more than one sex, and if so, how many) or age. The brain–body ratio suggests sentience (but unknown if the brain actually is the brain) and intelligence. How did it get here? By spaceship? But how?

The specimen was found with what was initially thought of as an exoskeleton, but now has been determined to be an organic suit (including helmet) that would help the specimen adapt/function in the Micran Antarctic region. The suit is not pressured, but rather seems to be control temperature with cooling (no heating, curiously) and aid in breathing. The examination suggests that the lifeform breathes hydrogen.

Timeline

• 1717: There is evidence of Theogiorickan presence in Theogiorick dating from around this time.
• 9.XII.1721. Robyna Markbell-Howells with team first see the Theogiorickans in movement.
• 10.XII.1721. First near-encounter with a diseased Theogiorickan, biological examination done at place and thereafter transported to Harthago for further examination and study.
• 16.XIII.1721. Theogiorickans seen with the symbol of Star of Sathrati against black background, on flags and on their suits and on buildings in Theogiorick.
• 18.XIII.1721. Natopian Spacefleet's Orbital Defence Force confirms that there are at least fifty unidentified objects about one half astronomical unit from Micras, having there-before been hidden by or in a comet, if the comet indeed was a comet. At least fifty of these unidentified objects appear each to be at least 800 metres long. The Spacefleet hypothesised that the objects ought to be related to the appearance of the so-called Theogiorickans.
  • Spacefleet ordered its main capital ships of the Spacefleet to rendezvous at the Natopian International Space Station, in an effort to form up a battlegroup.
  • Spacefleet sends a Zion-class survey ship, escorted by three Virgo-class scout ships, to close with the oncoming vessels in an effort to conduct a more comprehensive scan.
• 20.XIII.1721. The four Natopian ships arrive within kilometres from the alien fleet. On the ships, they see the same flag as in Theogiorick. Curiously, they also observe in the alien fleet, what appears, judging by all measurements and information available, to be a Behemoth-class gravship adapted for spacetravel with an old-style Elwynnese orchid flag on it along with the Star of Sathrati. The Natopian ships attempt to signal, by way of visual projection, messages written in Istvanistani and Âirumâli, ordering the alien fleet to halt. The Behemoth sways off course, towards the Natopian ships, ready to engage in parlay, sending back a message by visual projection, "ALLOW US PASSAGE, WE COME IN PEACE, WE ARE COMING HOME, WE MEAN NO HARM."
  • After the essence of the message is relayed, via the NISS, to Space Command in Lindstrom, an answer was delivered along the same route back to the scout ships for broadcast, "Cease approach or be destroyed. Any attempt to land upon our world will be resisted. Divert from your course and state your purpose."
  • Concurrently, the Natopian Spacefleet set their course to intercept the oncoming vessels, deploying all available scout and shuttle craft as a screening force. The capital ships formed into a diamond formation with the fleet carrier and two Bismarck-class battleships in the centre, whilst such fighter craft as had been taken onboard before departure from Micras orbit were prepared to sortie.
  • The alien fleet changed diverted their course by 0.3 degrees, thereby ensuring the trajectory would not go by Micras. Replied: "COURSE CHANGED. HAPPY TO TALK. SEND HUMANS TO THE KAISER AYREON."
• 21.XIII.1721: Allowing for the time delay between Micras and the outer rim of the Atos system, a direct call between the Secretary for Defense in Natopia and his counterpart the Commissioner for War in the Benacian Union was arranged for 5 am Chrysean time, via an encrypted communications link. The purpose of the call was to alert Zacharias Avon-El of the developing first contact situation and the tentative identification of the Kaiser Ayreon, a gravship long believed to have been lost on an Elwynnese deep space exploratory mission, at the heart of the enemy armada. The Commissioner's response consisted of a tirade of profanities seldom heard through official channels.
• 22.XIII.1721: The Natopian and alien fleets converged and matched course. With a certain amount of chutzpah, the commander of the Natopian battlegroup sought to impress upon her alien interlocutors, communicating via direct beam laser signals following the activation of physic dampening fields (developed as a precaution against renewed safir intrusions into the Atos system) aboard the capital ships, that the Raspur Pact was the sole body capable of speaking on behalf of all of Micras when it came to interplanetary security matters. As such it would be necessary for the alien armada to continue its holding pattern until a competent official arrived from the homeworld.
  • The alien fleet replied: WE UNDERSTAND. WE WAIT.
• 23.XIII.1721: Robyna Markbell-Howells was brought out of quarantine to deliver a briefing in Lindstrom to Frederik Anders the Younger and the Chiefs of Staff of the Natopian Defense Force regarding the known attributes of the alien threat. In her address, she reiterated what she knows and what she doesn't know, but given the aliens' understanding of Istvanistani, the aliens' symbol of the Star of Sathrati, and the aliens' acquisition of the Kaiser Ayreon, that the aliens on the ships would most likely be Theogiorickans, or allies of the Theogiorickans, and that the aliens and/or Theogiorickans would have encountered the Kaiser Ayreon after its launch from Micras in 1591, and used the database from the Kaiser Ayreon to learn the language and location of Micras. It was also possible, she said, that these aliens actually came from the intended destination of the Kaiser Ayreon, Zeta Yll Exûun. Given the make-up and travel of the ship armada, it would be likely that the aliens' technology would easily outmatch the Natopian Spacefleet. Regarding the aliens' invitation for "humans" to visit the Kaiser Ayreon, it was likely a practical matter. If the aliens indeed were Theogiorickans, the temperature inside most of the ships would be unbearably cold. The temperature inside the Kaiser Ayreon could be human-friendly, perhaps even suggesting the presence of humans on board (possibly then descendants of the original crew of the Kaiser Ayreon, or, if time dilution occurred, the original crew itself). Professor Markbell-Howells called for more information to be gathered to assess the threat and weaknesses of the aliens, to confirm or disprove any of the hypotheses, and so on. Secretary Anders mooted the possibility of utilising robotic or cybernetic entities to interface with the aliens so as to establish whether circumstances aboard the vessel reported to be Kaiser Ayreon were truly conducive for a human delegation to go aboard safely. After a moment or two of puzzlement around the table, it became eventually apparently that the Secretary was referring to the Greivar. Enquiries would be made.
• 24.XIII.1721: The Natopian survey ship tasked with scanning the alien vessels concluded its mission, moving off to a safe distance before sending a narrowband broadcast to the Natopian International Space Station with a data-packet containing its findings, including 3D LiDAR scans of the alien craft.
  • The scans showed that the armada consisted of 53 ships, each of them in a pipe shape. They were uniform in size, 824 metres long, thirty-four metres in diameter, equipped with artificial gravity, mean temperature inside was -60 degrees Celsius, highly sophisticated engines reminiscent of the Hurmu gate technology, including what appeared to be Hurmu gate-like objects within the ships. There were also thirty or so smaller crafts, with their own engines, stored within the ships. The atmosphere inside the ships was a mix of ammonia, methane, and hydrogen. It seemed like that each of the armada ships had at least 3,500 "persons" on board, giving a total of at least 185,500 people (presumably Theogiorickans). The mean temperature inside the Kaiser Ayreon was 19 degrees Celsius, and the atmosphere inside the Kaiser Ayreon was mainly nitrogen and oxygen. There appeared to be about 360 people on board the Kaiser Ayreon, possibly human.
• 5.I.1722: Despite the hold-up in space, satellite scans of Theogiorick show it has a likely population of 14,000 or so Theogiorickans.
• 17.III.1722: The Theogiorickan armada informed by visual signalling that it would withdraw, and left, seemingly in the opposite direction that it came from.
• 10.XII.1722: The Theogiorickan armada appears from a blind spot (from the view of Micran space observation, using gravitational lensing and hiding behind other objects), and descend through the Micran atmosphere unto the city of Theogiorick, the population of which have worked to prepare landing for the 53 ships, including the Kaiser Ayreon.
  • The alien invasion would thus be engaged by planetary defences until such time as they have been either exterminated or forced to withdraw off-world. The Benacian Union, Normark, and the Suren Confederacy immediately pledged support for a Natopian-led campaign to eradicate the alien enclave.
  • The Natopian fleet, blindsided, meanwhile duly turned about and made for Micras on maximum burn.
  • Surprised by Micras's orbital defence systems, the Theogiorickan ships took a beating, with 21 of the ships shot down, with debris scattered across the Antarctic region. The Kaiser Ayreon was spared, possibly on the direct orders from orbital command, and landed in Theogiorick as the only ship to make it to the surface. The other 31 ships retreated from Micras into space, seeking refuge from the orbital strikes.

Reaction

News of the discovery prompted the dispatch of Investigation & Enforcement officers from Cohort XX to the scene under orders to investigate the specimen, make preparations for its dissection under controlled laboratory conditions, and to evaluate the need for an extermination action in the area around the site of the discovery.

Following review, the species was catalogued as Entity 010 (X). All examples must be terminated immediately, by whatever means necessary, by all Pact aligned forces upon encounter.