Vaurca Hives

File:VaurcaQUEEN.jpg

One of the only pictures allowed to be taken of the current high Queen of the Zo'ra,Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra.

Major Hives

There are three major Vaurca factions present in human space, and it is presumed that these hives were the most capable of producing 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.

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 (6.2 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. Zo'ra have cold relations with other hives. In Tau Ceti, this has lead to confrontations between them and other hives arriving in the system.

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,but ever since the revelation of her death,Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra was made the new High Queen. Despite this, each Lesser Queen has spoken less and less of each other, often overseeing very different parts of each of Zo'ra's population.

Ta'Akaix'Zoleth'akeh Zo'ra

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, and 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.

Within Tau Ceti her brood has been the most negatively affected by the events of the of the last five years. Once the largest brood aboard Titan Prime, nearly all the bound warrior forms have been culled either for diplomatic purposes, or lack of resources. Currently, most of her brood is interred upon scorching Caprice, with all the remaining bound warriorforms under close supervision by Beisel officials.The Unbound here are focused on cavern excavation and kois production to ease the hive's current famine.Yet attempts at kois cultivation have been largely unsuccessful as of yet, due to Beisel logistical hurdles and the oppressive heat that scours Caprice. Recently Zoleth'akeh have been uncharacteristically increasing its Ka population, both bound and unbound for this very reason. It is the continued hope that newer, deeper tunnels in its heat blasted soil will be enough to remedy this issue.

The Virtual Reality she hosts glorifies the victories of the past. Its described as a enormous monolithic cavern with countless stories tall moving Bas-reliefs depicting the mighty struggles from Zo'ra past. Throughout it, Vaurca of old, and those few yet to be fully born constantly train for their roles within the hive. Training can take countless forms, from modern battle tactics, to espionage, to molecular biology. Training solely depends on what the hive determines is needed for the Unbound. The few Ka within this VR often maintain vast historical records of the battles of yore, raising important figures in those conflicts up as heroes to be idolized. They've also been pouring over the countless new weapons introduced to them by their arrival in Tau Ceti, documenting their form and function.

The dead warriors of the Zo'ra often choose to remain here, in their virtual afterlife, continuing their service in perpetuity. One of the most striking features of this Virtual landscape is its center, a massive scale representation of the known galaxy. At the will of those given access to it, It can zoom into any sector of the galaxy, and model that location if the hive has access to the information needed. In a great circle around it, the repeated phrase in ancient Vaurcese Li'etak Vak'klaztoz T'akilozk'iek which translates roughly into basic as "The Ever-Changing Battlefield."

Ta'Akaix' Mouv'ek'tanta Zo'ra

The Zo'ra Lesser Queen placed upon frozen New Gibson. Of the five Lesser Queens that have arrived to Tau Ceti, Mouv'ek'tanta 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 Mouv'ek'tanta's gene weavers. Her and her brood remain undaunted, and have taken keen interest into the various species of Tau Ceti, as a new opportunity to document and collect new DNA. Experimentation is the norm for Mouv'ek'tanta's brood, with the Lesser Queen even to be rumored to experiment on herself.

Upon New Gibson, Mouv'ek'tanta quickly moved out of the protective domes that the rest of the New Gibsonites live in. Her hive maintain a presence within each major biodome, primarily to maintain state sanctioned kois farms, but they have largely moved into underground caverns, dug by the tireless bound. The largest caverns rest just outside of the Hengsha biodome and continues to grow deeper to this day. Life for her brood here remains rough, but they have taken advantage of their environment to the fullest. Complex constructions of stone, metal and ice make up a network of tunnels, with large heated egg chambers filled with piecemealed medical equipment patched together from equipment salvaged from Hengsha and the hive ship.

Mouv'ek'tanta's VR is perhaps the most detattached from reality, with the entire VR construct composed of objects seen from microscopic scale. This microcosm accurately models cellular action, with giant cellular features making up most of the landscape. Vaurca in this microscopic landscape fly freely within a soupy membrane that encompasses nearly the entire VR. At its center, a massive cellular wall separates the VR's unbound Vaurca inhabitants from its simulated ones. A Takk'ta'yat, which translates roughly into basic as, 'Zoo', the inside of this structure paradoxically models real sizes, with each separate cages of this structure clearly defined, and different from each other. From caves to lush jungles, within each simulation is a creature from Sedantis past, or a newly encountered one from the hives recent interactions. The largest cell by far however, would be the one dedicated to humanity. Mouv'tanta's best scientists pour over and experiment with the simulated humans, documenting their responses. Her brood is known to the Gibsonites for asking unusual questions, but for what purpose is known only to Mouv'ek'tanta, who has obsessively taken to making the simulations as real as possible.

Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra

The eldest Vaurca within Tau Ceti space, and more recently, was made the Zo'ra High Queen. In human diplomatic settings, she is often referenced by titles which translate poorly into basic, Titles such as 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 only Queen to offer any kind of public appearance, to the galaxy at large, she is the face of Zo'ra. This was not always the case however, as she was originally the leading Lesser Queen 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 time overseeing District Nine has been fraught with peril. Facing famine, human exploitation as well as militant extremists, life in District Nine is not easy but Vaur'skiyet'sca approaches these problems with long term goals in mind. To her, she sees Tau Ceti as the foundation on which a new Vaurca will rise. She sees that the wheels of the galaxy revolve around Tau Ceti, and Vaur'skiyet'sca has made it her goal to master the systems that exist. 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.

District Nine itself was a largely unpopulated industrial slum before it was sectioned off as emergency refugee dwellings. Few people lived there, but it is a far cry from what it once was. District Nine's outskirts are largely unchanged, with phoron gas warning signs and abandoned warehouses and buildings par and parcel. Moving further in, it becomes slowly apparent that diffuse material, as well as the abandoned buildings themselves, are being repurposed into efficient and spartan housing. Traditionally building down, Zo'ra engineers here have built up, creating heaping metal lattices that maximize internal space as living areas. Each of these clustered lattices appear to be more and more completed the closer to the center of the District one goes. There's a noted lack of street lights throughout the District, with the buildings placed purposefully to block much of what is cast by the surrounding city scape. Throughout the District, more enmeshed lattice work forms the mouth of illegal Kois pits, often obscured from aerial view. Two buildings stand out amongst all of this alien construction however, with one towering carbon capture factory repurposed by Tau Ceti officials as a phoron gas capturing facility, and the other and more apparent Relay tower at the Districts center. This relay was built with Nanotrasen corporation, and allows the company and its affiliates to listen into Vaurcan telepathic communication. District Nine houses a little over 4 million Vaurca, with the High Queen herself and her Ta population still living aboard Titan Prime.

Vaur'skiyet'sca's VR is the most accessable to outside observation. She has gone to great lengths to make her VR showcase Vaurcan culture to the galaxy. Conceptually, it exists in a large underground sea of still glass-like water. The sky showcases magnificent celestial phenomena, but most striking of all is the gas giant Sedantis, dominating the skyward view no matter where one would go in the VR. Dispersed throughout the sea are hundreds of interconnecting islands. Each island usually highlights a facet of Zo'ra and Vaurca culture, and from the windows of specialized interface equipment, non-Vaurca onlookers can view the VR as they would any video. Unbound within this VR make themselves scarce when such viewfinders move about, but will usually answer questions if pressed. By the will of Unbound living here, new islands can spring forth from the sea, containing anything that they can imagine. Above all however, floats the lofty home of Vaur'skiyet'sca, its soft yellow glow bathes the entire VR, and is a fitting digital home for the high queen. A grandiose and large structure, it floats always central to the VR. No matter which direction one may look, they will see the it, like a dim underground sun between space and ground. Curiously, throughout the simulation, a supernal grace and awe tinges all perceptions of the VR. A euphoric splendor that highlights every positive detail when referencing Vaur'skiyet'sca's or Vaurca in general. Outside viewers are often human and skrell historians or a growing human Vaurcan sympathizing movement who have begun to see Vaur'skiyet'sca as a new holy figure, a great unifier that can usher in a utopia for all species within Tau Ceti.

K'lax

K'lax - "The Deceivers."

K'lax, the second most powerful hive and second faction discovered by humanity after an additional Hive-ship Kloxa'xia 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. (4.3 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 a subtly warm, if terse relations with the Hegemon as a whole, and have committed to its terraforming agenda, being instrumental in the labor force required for such a monumental undertaking.

Similar to the Zo'ra, the K'lax Hiveship is represented by three Lesser Queens who claim divine and direct connection to the High Queen of K'lax. This claim is disputed by the Z'ora, who claim to be the only rightful rulers of the K'lax.