Vaurca Hives

Overview

There are four major Vaurca factions present in human space, and it is presumed that these hives were the most capable of producing or acquiring Ark-Ships. It is currently unknown how many hives there were on Sedantis I at the time of the Great Evacuation. Every hive ship contains a number of Lesser Queens, who act as overseers for the entire population.

Here listed is general information, that Vaurca from other hives or broods would commonly know. Click on a Queen for more detailed and specfic information.

Zo'ra

Zo'ra - "Unstoppable."

Zo'ra, the largest and most powerful hive, and also the first one discovered by Humanity following their Hive-ship 'Titan Prime'. Information gained through contact with Vaurca present in Tau Ceti has lead to unconfirmed projections putting their population in Vaurca space at 77 billion (17.1 million in known space). Zo'ra believe themselves to be the Alpha of the Vaurca and the face of their species. They make up the majority of the Vaurca present in Tau Ceti and human space.

They are ruled by 5 Lesser Queens who organized a ruling caste shortly after contact with humanity, due to the necessity of someone representing the Vaurca in the Hiveship. They each had claimed to be direct representatives of the Zo'ra High Queen. After much deliberation between them, Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra was made the new High Queen, holding something of an interim position. Despite this, each Lesser Queen has spoken less and less of each other, often overseeing very different parts of Zo'ra's population. More information upon each Queen can be found on their respective pages.

The Zo'ra are the most politically developed hive, recently helping in the funding of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, and making active progress to spread their influence.

Zoleth, The Herald of Scars

The proclaimed 'Warrior' Lesser Queen of the Zo'ra, she embodies the Zo'ra ideals of warfare and has stylized herself as one of the hive's greatest commanders. She is known by many names, The Queen of Warfare, The Herald of Scars, Mother of Victories. Stories are told of how other Lesser Queens are often aloof and untouchable, but Zoleth'akeh is on the front, calling for war. She has been labeled a warmonger by some because of this. Indeed to the galaxy at large, it may seem that way, but Zoleth'akeh does not hate peace. She is just not stymied by its disruption. To her, it is the height of wisdom to make war when it is needed and to make peace when it is not, to not cling to idealistic notions that cannot exist. Even before the exodus from Sedantis, Zoleth'akeh was legendary among the Court of Queens, one of the only cross-hive diplomatic bodies to exist upon old Sedantis.

Scay, The Hidden Queen

The Zo'ra Lesser Queen placed upon frozen New Gibson. Of the five Lesser Queens that have arrived at Tau Ceti, Scay’extiih’aur is the most rarely seen, even amongst other Zo'ra. Upon the hive ship, she oversaw the ship's entire population. She was responsible for keeping the larger whole of the hive inside complex growth projections. Yet, none of her calculations could have foreseen the events of the last five years. Her brood largely encompasses Ka, and most of them oversee birthing procedures, as well as a complex catalog of body forms and DNA sequences. These body types range wildly from hexapod body types to the traditional biped. The DNA sequences kept include traits that the hive have determined is useful to instill into its populations. Eggs from all remaining Lesser Queens are stored and cataloged here. No larvae or DNA is left without the practiced care of Scay’extiih’aur's gene weavers. She and her brood remain undaunted and have taken a keen interest in the various species of Tau Ceti, as a new opportunity to document and collect new DNA. Experimentation is the norm for Scay’extiih’aur's brood, with the Lesser Queen even to be rumored to experiment on herself.

Vaur, The Liminal Queen

Vaur'skiyet'sca is the eldest Vaurca within Tau Ceti space, and more recently, the Zo'ra hive's new High Queen. In diplomatic human settings, she is often referenced by titles which translate poorly into basic. Titles like High Praetor, First of Mother Zo'ra, Grand Executor, Liminal Queen, are all common references to her authority. She oversees the largest Vaurcan settlement, District Nine. Being the Lesser Queen originally chosen to represent the hive, to the galaxy at large, she is the face of Zo'ra. This was not always the case however, as she was originally responsible for ship-navigation upon Titan Prime. Procedure for succession is virtually nonexistent and the revelation of mother Zo'ra's death has catapulted Vaur'skiyet'sca to this status to the displeasure of some Lesser Queens. Vaur'skiyet'sca's time overseeing District Nine has been fraught with peril. Facing famine, human exploitation as well as militant extremists, life in District Nine is uneasy but Vaur'skiyet'sca approaches these problems with long-term goals in mind. She sees the levers of galactic power that revolve around Tau Ceti and the potential if all levers were under her control. In this, she has proven to possess a keen political intelligence, evidenced in handling Sol's occupation with minimal effort. She has brokered deals with countless human corporations, as well as governments and maintains the largest amount of monetary capital of any Vaurca alive.

Xakt, Queen of Corpses

Placed upon the desert planet of Luthien, Xakt'yagz'isk's brood has quickly monopolized the planets cheap labor work-force. Xakt'yagz'isk originally oversaw all matters concerning tech and tech implants aboard the Hive-ship. Xakt'yagz'isk's brood contains mostly bound, a much higher percentage than any other Lesser Queen. She also supervised Reclamation, the process of reclaiming the implants of dead Vaurca, making many Zo'ra associate Xakt'yagz'isk with death. Upon Luthien itself, her brood has thrived, creating massive kois fields that pose little risk to their surroundings. The fungus burrows into the silt-like sand of the desert, and finds little purchase, but grows all the same. The sands make it harder for the plant to grow uncontrollably, allowing large-scale cultivation. Armies of bound Ka work tirelessly in the sweltering heat of the blooming desert, exporting tons of kois throughout the system. Unbound Ka and Za also find work with several exotic florae, or weapons testing labs scattered throughout the planet, respectively. Others may field massive scrap yards, full of debris from across the galaxy, searching for exotic tech that may catch the Queens' eyes. The single largest employer of Vaurca however, would be the Getmore Corporation, who source their refined kois products here. The massive plantations that cover the desert sands of Luthien are dwarfed only by the processing plants themselves. Since landing, Xakt'yagz'isk, with support from her Getmore suppliers has created several Uta'ka'yat or All-Factories. According to Vaurca claims, these All-Factories can fabricate any complex or simple part using revolutionary mass production techniques and are limited only by their size.

Athvur, The New Goddess

The youngest of the Zor'ane Lesser Queens, she molted into a Lesser Queen soon after Titan Prime left Sedantis. Born of Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra, she seeks to fill in the void created when her mother ascended to High Queen. Currently, she sees day to day operations planetside upon Biesel, overseeing a small population of Vaurca within Phoenixport. Of Athvur'zekt'azi amongst Lesser Queens, much is unsaid. She has yet to prove herself towards any of the other Lesser Queens. To the Zo'ra at large, they see Athvur'zekt'azi as a reminder of the past and a new hope for the future. Athvur'zekt'azi shares her mother's ideals towards humanity, and have taken steps to integrate her brood. She takes delight in many human traditions, often showcasing Vaurca adaptations of human fashion. What Athvur'zekt'azi finds fashionable is known to Vaurca even beyond the Zo'ra hive. Unlike her mother or any of the other Lesser Queens, she believes that past allegiances and vassals should remain such. To her, past obligations ended with their exodus from Sedantis. Athvur'zekt'azi and her brood seek to learn from their shared history and move forward together. Not because of a romanticized sense of idealism, but rather a practical one. To her, the Zo'ra are not what they once were. She understands that change is needed. That to continue forward pretending otherwise is to invite disaster within the political spheres that the hive is ensnared in.

K'lax

K'lax - "The Deceivers."

K'lax, the second most powerful hive and second faction discovered by humanity after an additional Hive-ship Klo’zxera appeared in the Jargon Federation system Glorashi. The K'lax hive is a client state to the Zo'ra, but since contact with the Vaurca homeworld has been lost, both factions in known space are completely cut off. This has lead to a sort of fuel for independence, with many K'lax outright rejecting the claims of leadership the Zo'ra in known space have over them. Based on secondary accounts it is believed that they have 33 billion individuals in Vaurca space. (14.3 million in known space.) After arriving within Skrell space, the Kloxa'xia or the Fortoken as it is called by the Unathi, quickly moved into Izweski Hegemon space. Following a tense first contact situation, the K'lax became the newest vassal of the Izweski Hegemony and settled Tret, the second planet of Uueoa-Esa system. They maintain subtly warm, if terse relations with the Hegemon as a whole, and have committed to its terraforming agenda, being instrumental in the implementation of such a monumental undertaking.

Similar to the Zo'ra, the K'lax Hiveship is represented by three Lesser Queens who once claimed a divine connection to the High Queen of K'lax. This claim is disputed by most of the Zo'ra, who claim to be the only rightful rulers of the K'lax. Unlike the Zo'ra however, they have not been purposefully decentralized, leaving the machinations of each Lesser Queen more aligned with one another.

The K'lax are the most technologically developed hive, and are leading the way in reconstructing the species' superior technology.

Zkaii, The Sleepwalker

The current High overlord of Tret, and the de facto representative of all K'lax to the Izweski Hegemony. Zkaii'xay'yil and her brood have been largely busy with expansion and colonization efforts over the last few years. Ever the tinkerers, her brood are known for their natural curiosity for all things mechanical, much to the chagrin of local mining companies who prefer their equipment in one piece. In the year since news of the Zo'ra high queens ultimate fate, Zkaii'xay'yil has been under pressure to assume the role of High Queen by her fellow Lesser Queens, a subject that she is quick to change, should it arise. For perhaps more than any other brood of K'lax, Zkaii'xay'yil's spawn share a deeply spiritual connection to their High Queen, that even surpasses what is experienced in VR by other Vaurca.

Vetju, Iron Queen

If Ta'Akaix'Zkaii'xay'yil K'lax could have a polar opposite, it would be Ta'Akaix' Vetju'tenx'sil K'lax. The oldest K'laxan Vaurca within known space, pragmatic Vetju'tenx'sil and her brood do not busy themselves with the expansion of the hives colonies. Instead, her brood recycles and melts down parts of the hive ship as well maintain the technology that all K'lax enjoy. It was Vetju'tenx'sil who plotted the great hive ship Kloxa'xia to its final resting place. Much as they did when they entered the system, Vetju'tenx'sil used Trets environment to land the gargantuan craft on the ground. The Kloxa'xia impacted the northern pole of Tret, obliterating its ice cap and cushioning the impact of the monolithic vessel. It is from here that Vetju'tenx'sil makes her home. Within the bowels of the earth and the ship, billions of tons of plasteel and technology are melted down into lakes of molten metal heated by the miles long dismembered engines of the great Kloxa'xia. Though the ship may have landed, its engines burn still at the center of a sea of ice. Ignited with residual heat and flame from two thousand years of travel.

Leto, The Seeker

The second youngest of the Klaxian queens, Leto'yahkt'zor's brood is home to the hives general Ka population. Food production and logistics are common duties for the bound. Still more bound and unbound get shipped out of system for work throughout known space. To other broods amongst the Klax, Leto'yahkt'zor spawn share a furtive mania of digging up the past that is often seen as annoying. Even 2000 years removed from their native area of space, Leto'yahkt'zor and her brood still try to trace any artifacts found back to the Era of Augments or even further. Citing a long discredited and disbelieved theory that ancient aliens interfered with their species so long ago. While dueful to their hive, the Ka and Za of Leto'yahkt'zor's brood tend to share her obsession with the past, seeing it as the only way to return to the glory of old. Letyk'aht'zor herself believes much the same, and has come to the conclusion that older races of the galaxy need to be examined.

Vedhra, Princess of Configurations

Seeing the stark technological disadvantage of the hives over Lii'dra,Ta’Akaix’Vedhra’rept’ylanze was birth with a singular goal in mind, preparation for war with the Lii'dra.There are various ways the brood goes about this, one of which being a large scale attempt to be biologically superior to Lii'dra specimens. This has caused the brood to be a particular advocate within the K'lax for biological manipulation and augmentation. Genetics tampering is also not unheard of, but generally less commonly looked into. Vedhra takes time to inspect the tools and weapons of other cultures in an attempt to create a force capable of dealing with whatever the Lii'dra can throw at them. Her Za are generally more comfortable with the weapons of other cultures, especially those of Unathi origin.

C'thur

C'thur- "The Weavers"

The third hive that the species of the Orion Spur have been able to communicate with, the C'thur and their arrival has been a closely guarded secret of the Jargon Federation for the last few years. The revelation of their survival has re-ignited diplomatic disputes between the K'lax and Zo'ra, with outright hostility met by some K'lax towards the C'thur. Historically a minor hive, the C'thur were instrumental in developing inter-hive diplomacy upon Sedantis, often acting as neutral third parties to delegate issues. Indeed for much of their history, the C'thur wove complex political alliances to protect themselves as well as acting as a sort of information broker for many of the larger hives. Prior to their exodus from Sedantis, they maintained relations with both the K'lax and Zo'ra.

The C'thur arrived within Glorashi, a system within skrell space only two weeks after the Klaxian hiveship, the Klo’zxera left the area. It is now known that C'thur hiveship, the Kloxa'xia was originally A Klaxian hive ship meant to rendezvous with the Klo’zxera within Glorashi, but left soon after detecting incoming Jargon Federation vessels. The C'thur continue to report that they secured the hiveship in diplomatic negotiations with the K'lax upon Sedantis, but the validity of this claim is yet to be proven. The C'thur have quickly integrated into Skrellian colonies within Glorashi and are predominately accepted in skrellian socioeconomic systems.Unlike all other hives, the C'thur are led by their original hive queen, who, with a council of three other Lesser Queens leads the hive in this new age. In this effort, the hive has begun dealing with the multitude of governments and corporations of the galaxy, all under the auspices of their skrellian saviors.

The C'thur are the most economically developed hive, having stakes in Einstein Engines.

C'thur, Queen of Masques

High Queen of the C'thur, she is one of the oldest beings known to exist amongst the Vaurca and indeed the rest of the Orion Spur. C'thur has borne the C'thur hive since its inception, taking careful first steps with her brood in the then war-torn Sedantis during the closing of the Agricultural Revolution. The C'thur hive began as a birth vassal of the Zo'ra hive, being produced from the absorption of T'yat, another hive of conquest within the Zo'ra hive. With firm biological roots in both hives, history would think that the C'thur would be another nameless lesser hive, forgotten by all with the slow passage of time. This would have likely been the case if not for clever maneuvering by the high queen that saw the founding of the Court of Queens. However, the biggest contributor to their prominence would be the original Lii'dra and Zo'ra conflict, nearly 6000 years ago. Through their efforts in that conflict, the C'thur brought to arms hundreds of lesser hives that would otherwise be consumed by the Lii'dra assault. Their contribution as a unifying force to the Zo'ra was apparent, who rewarded the hive with independence contingent upon their continued diplomatic forays. C'thur succeeded in this and more, creating the modern power structure of hives that is known today through various mergers and vassaldoms.

Mouv, The Recondite Queen

Mouv'lek'tanta is the oldest daughter of C'thur and has quickly developed political alliances within and outside of Federation space. Indeed, As the oldest lesser queen, Mouv'lek's brood has thrived under the care of Jargon, with thousands of her unbound Ka and Za working in tandem with scientists from the Jargon federation to develop new technologies, as well to provide information about the enemies the federation may face. Upon planet Diulszi most of her bound spawn has taken to the sea, assisting the skrell with dozens of underwater construction projects.A practitioner of mutable biology, her brood, especially the bound, possess a wide variety of body forms, with new ones being developed continuously. Typically lightly colored, Mouv'lek's brood used this to their advantage historically as the hives primary diplomats. By virtue of being clearly visible in the darkened chasms of old Sedantis, it was harder to mistake them as hostile or armed. She has kept this mutation alive in her spawn, holding onto the hope that perceptions of her hive remain disarming to those that view them. Diplomacy aside, she has made inroads within Eriandi, buying a significant portion of Einstein Engines through various skrellian intermediaries by selling off some of the more complex Vaurcan virtual reality technology. Perhaps more than any other of her hive, Mouv'lek realizes the power of money in the new society the C'thur finds itself in and has done all she can to acquire more of it.

Vytel, The Just Queen

A gregarious queen, Vytel, and her brood maintain the C'thur's hives warriors. Vytel was lauded as a champion amongst smaller hive vassals upon Sedantis. She crafted an image of neutrality and fairness that remains to this day. The youngest of the lesser queens brought with the C'thur hive, little was ever expected of Vytel beyond her peacekeeping missions, who maintained her brood in such numbers more as an afterthought in the consensus of the hive queens. Still, they were historically small brood, as the C'thur made a point of using as little force whenever possible. In what her brood lacked in numbers Vytel made up for it with profound charisma. Her broods duties typically concerned peacekeeping and as such many of her brood interacted regularly with other hives. Ever since the exodus from Sedantis however, Vytel's brood has been pressed the hardest. For the length of their 2000 year journey to the Orion spur, Vytel and her brood would be tasked with investigating the function of unknown devices and areas of the massive Klaxian hive ship. Through almost 2000 years of trial and error, as well as many bound and unbound deaths she was able to approximate the functions of every device and room upon the hive ship. This unexpected use that the hive has called her for has colored her perceptions of the other lesser queens, sanitizing their relationship.

Xetl, The Voracious Queen

Xetl'jyatk'yatu is the middle daughter of high queen C'thur. Tales of Xetl's excess are legendary, and it is with pride that many C'thur of her brood recount stories of such. Despite her hedonistic lifestyle, Xetl'jyatk maintains her hives implants, overseeing the process of Reclamation and development of new implants. She takes pride in her broods work, a trait that most of her spawn share. Her brood primarily consists of bound, and it is these bound that tales of excess stem from. Perhaps more than any other brood of Vaurca, the exploitation of the bound here has reached new heights. Bound from her brood could be born for something as trivial as being a chair that moves on its own, as well as countless other superfluous examples. When compared to the exploitation of bound from other broods, Xetl'jyatk's is the exception to the standard. Unbound from her brood are often desensitized to pleasurable experiences, causing them to look to ever greater highs to satisfy their needs. Prone to taking risks, her brood is largely left out of diplomatic dealings within the hive, leaving her brood to fill the void of many utilitarian duties that the hive may need. Unbound of her brood are primarily Ka, with tens of thousands of them currently developing the hives new colonies. As for the few Za of her brood, they primarily guard their queen, who remains aboard the Kloxa'xia. The broods VR is actively edited on a whim by Xetl'jyatk, who may change its very nature on something as simple as a feeling or the day of the week. As such, those few that live within it are often swept into her machinations for better or worse and are used to stark changes in their very reality. As for Xetl'jyatk herself, she is obsessed with sensation in all its forms, and as such, some static features within her realm remain.

Lii'dra

Most of what is known about their hive comes from Zorane records discovered upon Titan Prime. The few Vaurca alive that would possess direct information about this time tend to describe them reluctantly, often in the most foulest terms. Indeed, this is how much of the populations in the Zo'ra, K'lax and C'thur hives view the Lii'dra, a contempt and hatred born from centuries of second hand accounts. Primary sources do exist however, and several human and skrellian scientists have uncovered new information regarding the Lii'dra hive, its history, and possibly a motive for the destruction and hostility they exhibit to the galaxy at large. A recording, dating back to 36674 BCE Galactic Standard Time depicts a sort of assembly, with several Vaurca from several hives in attendance. From what can be inferred from Vaurcan accounts and translations, this was a meeting within the Court of Queens, a type of inter-hive regulatory body. In it a Lii'dra representative details the revolutionary technology of Virtual Reality, making a case for the allotment of resources to the assembled major hives, most notably the Zo'ra. A small hive then, the Lii'dra representative succeeded in securing the resources needed to begin serious research and development, provided that this technology was made available to all member hives, with the Zo'ra first amongst equals.

The video ends at the conclusion of the meeting, and it would be nearly 700 years before any further mention of the Lii'dra hive is found within the Titan Prime databanks. A video of the meeting begins much as it did 700 years prior, with representatives of each hive in attendance. It's clear that by now some measure of VR has prevaded within Vaurcan society, with many hives congratulating the Lii'dra upon their success, and questions about their next project. The Lii'dra details an even greater form of VR in its presentation, transmitting more than just sensory information, but thought itself. It proposes that with enough interconnectedness, individual thought ceases to be. The Lii'dra representative details horrifying experiments performed on smaller, nameless hives, consuming their entire populations within the Lii'dra VR intelligence, a type of overriding mind that is speaking to them, even now through its own body. This VR intelligence explains to an increasingly silent assembly the potential of uniting all thought of a hive into one, of all thought of all hives into one and truly unifying their entire species into one supreme intelligence before the video cuts to static. The video is too corrupted to make out further detail, but the best estimates place the original conflict between the Lii'dra occurring not long after this recording.

Observing Lii'dra specimens themselves is difficult, but the few observed seem to go into a type of shock when isolated from all forms of wavelengths within anechoic chambers. Thought patterns are still present, but prolonged stay within such chambers cause death from apparent circulatory shock. Similar experiments to willing Vaurca from the Zo'ra and K'lax hives reveal a much more muted response, with each describing extreme discomfort within a anechoic chamber. While still being researched, it's clear that the Lii'dra are more biologically dependant upon VR than the other Vaurca of their species, but the ultimate reason for this is unknown at this time.