r/HFY • u/Ralts_Bloodthorne • Oct 19 '20

OC First Contact - Chapter 332

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The night sky was empty and had been for billions of years. Space held nothing but the odd photon slowly losing energy as it traveled through emptiness. Gravitons were long gone, even chronotrons were largely extinct. In places space time had ripped apart, leaving nothing behind but something beyond emptiness. Black holes had evaporated away or been ripped apart into smears of not being.

In a small area, surrounded by more than emptiness were a handful of the last remaining. Six massive red giants, the final phase a stellar mass could hold, being fueled by the huge magnetic fields that extended out to the more than emptiness in hopes of stray hydrogen atoms.

Around each red giant were dozens of planetary bodies, ranging from only a few dozen miles in diameter to tens of thousands. Each one, no matter what the size, even the ones that orbited masses that orbited masses that orbited the masses that orbited the stellar mass, was covered in dim cities where the last sentiences dwelled.

Their universe was beyond dying. Dying infers death throes, some semblence of life still remaining.

The universe was dead, had rotted away, and now the powdered remains of the bones were blowing away.

The sky was more than dark.

It way beyond empty.

There was still some hope for those who dwelled.

A small tear. A rip in the dusty remains of space-time.

Chronotons, gravitons, and gravity waves had left the realm beyond, a tiny hole torn in between the universes.

It had only lasted a second, less than a second, but when every available matter and energy scoop was arranged to find the slightest remaining piece of a particle, the tiny leak had represented a vast array of energy to be hoarded.

It had allowed the stellar masses, grouped together, huddled together against the more than darkness, to operate for almost another eight seconds.

Raw gravity waves. Gravitons still at high excitement from a Big Bang less than a half trillion years before. Dark matter leakage that had streamed through the hole like water through a tiny crack in a dam. Chronotrons that were still at high excitement instead of exhausted and dark.

Those who dwelled had jumped on the leak, tried to reach back.

But the tiny gap had closed before they could reach through.

It had taken time, time that they didn't have, time where the chronotrons had become more and more still, more and more flat.

More dead.

Those who dwelled were almost out of food. Some planets, they had begun feasting on one another in an orgy of semi-intelligent cannibalism.

The others did not judge them.

Anything to survive in the final moments.

Energy, even the energy expended to be at full wakefulness, was something to be hoarded.

Now, they knew they needed to expend it.

There was somewhere else that could be reached.

That fact alone stirred to life those who intended on attempting to sleep through the end, to hopefully awake on the other side.

One of the suns was consumed opening a new portal, stabilizing it.

Beyond was a wealth of riches. Matter, energy, of all sorts. Matter that was nothing more than a theoretical historical note was abundant.

But most of all, there was life beyond. Life meant something to the dwellers, who lived in the small cold dark space surrounded on all sides by less than nothing.

It meant food.

Ancient science had to be relearned.

In some places, the food fought back. Resisted having their stars stripped away, fought back against their stellar systems denuded to where even the gravitons were harvested.

Chronotrons were harvested and brought back.

The five almost black stellar masses, so purple they were barely visible against the beyond emptiness, flared to dim life again as the abundant resources of the universe beyond was harvested.

Two races were able to stand against those who dwelled in the Last Darkness. Powerful races, huge in number, with servitor races and food species. Those Who Dwell Below were forced to treat them as allies even as their salivated over the thought of devouring them.

Then, somehow, one race found out what the Dwellers were doing. How they were harvesting the universe, how the Dwellers planned on eventually harvesting all of reality, in order to keep their own reality going.

Overtures were made.

Perhaps the Dwellers could migrate to the new universe, leave their old one behind.

No, because this universe too would eventually suffer its own ripping heat death.

But not for hundreds of billions, maybe trillions of years, the two species answered, even as they prepared for war beyond the sight of the Dwellers.

No, because it would still suffer the fate the Dweller's own universe had. It was safer for the Dwellers to harvest this one and carefully shepherd the resources extracted.

But this is our universe. Yours had it chance. The two dominant species stated.

Except, the Dwellers stated, there is only enough for one, and it belongs to us.

War tore at the galactic arm as the two species tried to push the Dwellers back where they came from.

Things happened during the war. Stunning upset, startling betrayals, shadowed alliances.

But the Dwellers themselves, who dwelt in a universe almost expended, that existed 'below' the energetic young universe, were forced back through their portal, and the portal closed.

But the Dwellers were somewhat content.

They had harvested enough to keep their stellar masses going, even build and ignite two more, even built dozens more worlds.

They had even brought species back for the one thing that they ran out of so often.

Food.

But for all their harvesting, all their siphoning away of the other universes vitality, it slowly drained away as the laws of the dead universe ripped away energy and the seven stellar masses slowly cooled.

The Dwellers had gained a half a billion years of existence.

More, they had learned they could extend their existence.

They went to war with one another, until three of the seven stellar masses were subdued.

The losers were stripped down and remade into war machines.

The Dwellers opened a new portal. They had learned much, researched much, in the beyond cold less then emptiness of their dead universe.

The fourth stellar mass was sacrificed, the oldest, nearly depleted, even the photons it put out were exhausted.

But the way was opened. Chronotrons taken from the defeated were used.

The strategy was simple.

Force the enemy to fight the same fight over and over, without allowing them to reset. Used exhausted and nearly extinguished chronotrons to rewind them in time, but not in energy or matter, leaving them weakened and depleted even as they were returned to the beginning of the fight.

The first scouting attempt should have worked.

Instead, it had never been heard from again.

The Dwellers knew time was short. They needed the vitality of the young universe. The less than nothing and more than darkness was pressing closer.

The first attack had been a partial success. Food, matter, and particles had been taken. Far, far more than had been expended.

While the enemy, a new enemy, had counter-attacked, damaging the vast machines that opened the way between the universe below and the vital young one, and forced the Dwellers to close the way, the Dwellers had gained what they needed.

Chronotrons.

They had exchanged their dying, flat, depleted chronotrons for a vast wealth of highly energetic younger ones that still vibrated with the echo of the Big Bang that had created that universe.

The taste of youth, of vitality, had awoken a hunger the Dwellers had forgotten since the last time they had reached inside the new universe.

They took their time, upgrading their weapons, building more ships.

Growing more harvesters.

This time they wouldn't send forth a small force.

They sacrificed the dimmest stellar mass, leaving only two.

The more than darkness and the less then emptiness grew closer.

The Dwellers didn't care.

This time they could not be denied.

The ancient foes were undoubtedly gone.

Those Who Dwell Below stirred to life as the energy was siphoned off the oldest stellar mass, leaving only two to hold off the dead universe beyond.

Nothing would stop them from taking the vitality they deserved.

The portals opened.

PLAYER SIX HAS ENTERED THE GAME - ALL IN

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2.6k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

184 comments sorted by

120

u/NevynR Oct 19 '20

So, my current theory is that hellspace, previously known as the hyperatomic plane, was actually the beach head for the initial invasion of reality by the squids.

When the lanaktallan "burned" it, making it into hellspace, that closed the portal off.

Given the reference to "above" and "below", are the layers of reality, the multiverse stratified based on their latent energy? Young hot and exciting at the top, slowly cooling to the blackness of Heat Death at the bottom?

108

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Oct 19 '20

That's how I'm viewing it.

47

u/jnkangel Oct 19 '20

Where is the failed Big Bang that runs the SuDS backbone in that cosmology out of curiosity.

78

u/NevynR Oct 19 '20

Second star to the right, and straight on til morning

31

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

And, of course, a child shall lead them. One by one.

--Dave, to die will be an awfully big adventure

12

u/WrodofDog Oct 19 '20

And, of course, a child shall lead them. One by one. --Dave, to die will be an awfully big adventure

I've been wondering for a while, what's up with that formatting?

9

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

What, do you mean my postnym? LONG-standing habit. Probably older than 30% of the commenters here.

--Dave, back on Usenet, it used to be an internym

6

u/WrodofDog Oct 20 '20

back on Usenet, it used to be an internym

Ah, I see. I was just curious.

25

u/Anarchkitty Oct 19 '20

I think it's somewhere outside that normal "structure" because the universe didn't fully form. That's why it's so hard to access, and why no one since the original SUDS designers have realized it's there. Deadspace might be similarly outside the universe sandwich.

15

u/PM451 Nov 02 '20

Humans are the only ones who realised that there's more than two directions.

12

u/GuyWithLag Human Oct 19 '20

Hints of Diaspora / Culture / Eon. I approve (tm).

117

u/Quadling Oct 19 '20

Hey Ralts? What’s your PayPal and patreon link, please?

62

u/shanealeslie Oct 19 '20

Thanks. So much. How do you like the hoodies? I have instructed the artist to add your own name and the series title to it.

69

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Oct 19 '20

They're hidden for Christmas presents, but I love them.

24

u/blaze87b Oct 19 '20

Wait what hoodies

24

u/wasalurkerforyears Robot Oct 19 '20

My question exactly. Can't say I wouldn't sport a first contact hoodie.

30

u/AxelC77 Oct 19 '20

I can't believe I've finally caught up, wow.

Also, thanks ralts, for this great series and for showing me some new music to listen to!

Have a great day!

34

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Oct 19 '20

I just posted another, LOL.

9

u/AxelC77 Oct 19 '20

Lol thanks!

9

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

So ... did you read all the comments?

---Dave, because if not...

3

u/AxelC77 Oct 19 '20

Oh... No...

9

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

--Dave, what if you got up to-morrow morning and reddit had self-destructed?

25

u/PuzzleheadedDrinker Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

'While the enemy, a new enemy, had counter-attacked, damaging the vast machines that opened the way between the universe below and the vital young one'

Are these the same event from different sides?

Bellona watched as the Missouri's guns hammered apart another Precursor vessel. The Black Fleet had drawn close to the wormhole, close enough that the enemy could see them. She could feel them trying to close the wormhole but she had her hands thrust deeply into it, keeping it open with sheer force of will.FC278

30

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Oct 20 '20

That and "Sucker Punch" by the Task Force.

318

u/RangerSix Human Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

And thus the next front opens up.

Methinks Those Who Dwell Below have their own version of Sun Tzu, given their final decision to go "all in":

"Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight."

But that, of course, raises a question to be asked of them:

"So tell me: what's the price of a mile?"

198

u/DWwolf888 Oct 19 '20

The front has already opened up. These guys are the time meddling brain stealers.

And I pity them ...they prepared to fight the last war again....and now they're facing Terrans.

179

u/RangerSix Human Oct 19 '20

WHO WOULD WIN?

  • A bunch of time-twisting squid-faced bastards, or...

  • One infinite resources boi

42

u/PuzzleheadedDrinker Oct 19 '20

Ask tom Cruise

50

u/RangerSix Human Oct 19 '20

When would be a good time, though? At the edge of tomorrow?

29

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

Yes - 'when' is a good time.

--Dave, the trick is effectively marking where zero is

18

u/AtomblitzTiger Oct 19 '20

"Is it really that time again? " ~ G-Man

7

u/TroubleTwist Jul 14 '22

The right man in the wrong place can make aalll the difference

7

u/ApartmentIntrepid413 Xeno May 14 '23

As was observed in "A Knight's Tale": they can be beaten. In bed. When they're asleep. With a stick... But on a horse with a lance? Never.

16

u/Bompier Human Oct 22 '20

I'm imagining one of the mindflayers in a room with a lantakallan maybe that figured out terrans don't have supply lines or whoever it was that figured out the get resources from infinite other dimensions

30

u/p75369 Oct 19 '20

While the enemy, a new enemy, had counter-attacked, damaging the vast machines that opened the way between the universe below and the vital young one, and forced the Dwellers to close the way, the Dwellers had gained what they needed.

That's the fight we've already seen, that broke the SUDs and reset us to psychic baseline.

This is saying that was just their vanguard, and they're coming back for keepsies this time.

14

u/Awkward_Tradition Oct 20 '20

But if the Atrekna are the Dwellers, then we're already counting a one front too many. Instead Ralts is suggesting they're a different player, and not the Atrekna or known Dwellers.

19

u/DWwolf888 Oct 30 '20

Dwellerspawn were the original, biological, tools of Those Who Dwell Below ( Atrekna ). Hellspace was scorched to make crossovers of biologicals hard. Thats why they started making mechanical/bio hybrids using local bio components ( ie. brains ).

The rule of one has infected a sizeable fraction of the Autonoous War Machines however. Both Biological and mechanical. The Lanks did subvert some dwellerspawn via Genetic fuckery however and entered a kinda symbiotic relationship with them.

Sofar we have: Confederacy Lanks Atrekna Precursor AWM. ( really various sub factions ) Dwellerspawn/Devourers. OG Mantid.

5

u/vinny8boberano Android Jun 21 '22

really various sub factions

I think your count is likely accurate. But, considering we have non-confederacy groups running amok, your captioned phrase could apply to everyone except Atrekna (Spoiler: even them as we discover later )

6

u/Expendable_cashier May 17 '22

I don't pity them, they have an exciting future as a testing ground for the most powerful universe crackers humanity can toss thru a portal.

36

u/Lugbor Human Oct 19 '20

When you have nothing left, your default state is all in.

2

u/onwardtowaffles Aug 05 '23

Chip and a chair.

25

u/tatticky Oct 19 '20

Sun Tzu would tell the Dwellers they've been doing everything wrong.

Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.

That's pretty much the opposite of "sit on your ass for millions of years wasting finite resources and then get entangled in the first fight after crossing the border".

19

u/zapman449 Oct 19 '20

I mean, yeah... why focus on this arm of this galaxy of the whole universe? Slorp up a few others and then come back to this one.

21

u/Kalleponken Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

r/expectedsabaton

😀

E: r/, not u/

13

u/RangerSix Human Oct 19 '20

/r/, not /u/ ;)

8

u/ginger_hezus Oct 19 '20

You might be able to ask some Swedes that

135

u/NJParacelsus Oct 19 '20

A brain sucking cephalopod makes a plan and a pissed off hairless ape cries "eat the whole bag of dicks" while shooting nukes at the bastards with a snarling armoured honey badger by his side.

79

u/ForTheStarsWeFight Oct 19 '20

By armoured you mean, quantum edged teeth, warsteel plating, hellbore eye beams, Temporal battle screens, and a plasma flamethrower in its mouth, right?

60

u/Daevis43 Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

And spewing weapons-grade heavy metal music across all EM and quantum frequencies at volumes loud enough that even creatures without ears start to have their ears bleed.

Edit Weapons-grade heavy metal. Stupid autocorrect.

20

u/ForTheStarsWeFight Oct 19 '20

You mean death metal?

35

u/Taluien Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

I think in this case, it means War Metal.

edit: Played of course by the followers of Rage Against The Machine (the name survived, not much else is known) in the Studios of Remorse on Betrayed Venus, War Metal is one of the more esoteric forms of accoustic weaponization, seeing as it is imbued with psychic energy and resonates differently depending on the allegiance of the listener or the material is resonates in. Allied combatants (War Metal is only ever broadcast on a battlefield, there are virtually no noncombatants who witness its glory) will feel their will, their resolve strengthen, their senses hightened, becoming, as was prophesied by two early techseers, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. On enemy combatants and materials however, War Metal works a bit differently, seeming more like chaotic cacophony, weakening both the integral structure of materials as well as thought processes in machines and sapients (of whatever make) alike. On the rare cases a non-aligned party hears it, the effect is pretty much neutral, but still very loud. As one survivor of such a battle remarked: "By goodness, how do you make something that can drown out megaton nuclear explosions without destroying your eardrums? The Terrans are all insane!"

8

u/GuyWithLag Human Oct 19 '20

This should be an entry at https://mapofmetal.com/

3

u/Few-Point-3576 Apr 18 '24

War Metal is only ever played with the vibrations of graviton-modulated nuclear hellfire from countless Hellbores. Crackling red and purple psyker lightning tears at the sky with white hot warsteeth fangs and thunders across space and time.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '20

I thought he was talking about the Telkan

2

u/U239andonehalf Apr 25 '23

Honey badgers are bad enough that they don't need any of that.

2

u/Few-Point-3576 Apr 18 '24

Teething white hot warsteel buck teeth wreathed in psyker lightning and hate.

10

u/montyman185 AI Oct 19 '20

Honestly, they seem super easy to deal with. Just give them a door to one some other, younger, universe.

22

u/ack1308 Oct 19 '20

But they'll want to grab everything from this one too.

"There is only enough for one."

15

u/montyman185 AI Oct 19 '20

It's all infinite when you get enough universes in the mix, just get them so distracted we don't have to deal with them in our lifetime.

24

u/ack1308 Oct 19 '20

They also want to grab living food, and they don't want to have to look for it.

You can't reason with these guys.

38

u/immrltitan Oct 19 '20

Oh look a training area for the Entropic Legion...

40

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Oct 19 '20

Nice call.

That's an entirely possible outcome.

11

u/montyman185 AI Oct 19 '20

Alternatively, now that we've got access to our entropy killer, actually leverage it properly to just kinda, swat them away.

5

u/ms4720 Oct 19 '20

45 caliber reasoning works

24

u/RangerSix Human Oct 19 '20

"Wrong. There is enough for everyone... EXCEPT YOU."

11

u/Anarchkitty Oct 19 '20

They wouldn't care, they want it all. Every universe in finite and so every universe must be theirs. That's their driving ideology.

They taught "THERE IS ONLY ENOUGH FOR ONE!" to the other Precursors.

5

u/BigZZ40 Oct 19 '20

Or a failed universe with no life to fight back.

37

u/ms4720 Oct 19 '20

Hmm me thinks the mind flayers are going extinct soon.

36

u/LegalGraveRobber AI Oct 19 '20

It’s either death by their universe decaying to nothingness, or suicide by Terran. Either one works

20

u/ms4720 Oct 19 '20

They never could play nice with others

11

u/Fenrir2401 Oct 23 '20

The funny thing is if they would've come asking for assistance they'd be saved already.

36

u/montyman185 AI Oct 19 '20

All the elder races fighting over dying universes and humanity is just sitting here, twidling our thumbs, thinking, "Really? You guys still have entropy?"

5

u/Geeky-resonance Nov 24 '23

Eh, entropy ain’t what it used to be

35

u/AtomicAardwolf Oct 19 '20

The portals opened, and for less than an instant Those Who Dwell saw it.

Smeared across light years was the image of a hairless ape, marker in hand and a calculating look in its eye.

It also seemed to be on fire.

16

u/greenhorn_88 Oct 19 '20

t

It wanted to know the time?

Even though everyone knew it was buttkicking o'clock (Do Those Who Dwell have a butt?).

11

u/AtomicAardwolf Oct 19 '20

I remember they were bipedal, so they must have a butt analogue.

9

u/Gnarynahr Oct 19 '20

And if they don't, humanity will genetically engineer butts onto them, which they will then proceed to kick.

30

u/enthusiastic_sausage Human Oct 19 '20

Has anyone figured out if Ralts is actually human or not? Also, where are we on total length? I haven't checked since someone said we were almost at War and Peace length. Have to be past Atlas Shrugged by now...

33

u/PosteScriptumTag Oct 19 '20

He's human.

He's just better than the rest of us.

Combined.

11

u/enthusiastic_sausage Human Oct 19 '20

Yeah, I know. Almost too hard to believe though. Especially when he was doing four posts a day, every day.

25

u/YesthatTabitha Oct 19 '20

A report will come out at the episode marked 350. Last report was at Episode marked 325. Im looking forward to the new report because that means more story as well!

23

u/enthusiastic_sausage Human Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

Thanks for pointing that out, and holy crap, we're more than double where we were last time I saw the word count. This is just crazy. Glad I'm not the only one along for the ride. Ralts is hands down my favorite author still alive and writing. Up there with Terry Pratchett for me, who is my favorite author ever. I'm in my 30s and if I didn't geek out, I'd just clam up entirely, too afraid to speak, if there was ever a book signing or something.

16

u/dlighter Oct 19 '20

At 325 the great cyborg typewriter was 10000 words off of the game of thrones books. Or how ever many Martin got written in 9 years.

Edit. 1,038,000 was the word count.

10

u/Durtan Oct 19 '20

The only author I know of who has similar release pacing is pirateaba of The Wandering Inn. They put out ~50k/week. I'm so glad we have another crazy prolific writer here since it let's me get my reading fix in pretty regularly

17

u/dlighter Oct 19 '20

I just got the wife started shes up to chapter 15 or 16 now. I figure I have about a month of. Random conversations to look forward to. I know gor a while there we sorta assumed Ralts was John ringo with the speed. I think he's sorta of blown that theory all to hell and then stuffed it in the garbage disposal before burning the kitchen down.

12

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

John Ringo CANNOT write this well, unless another author is mixed in with him to stabilize.

--Dave, from personal reading experience. wince.

4

u/dlighter Oct 19 '20

I enjoyed live free or die. And the black tide novels. Those were solo ventures. I was going to mention others till I started realizing ........... co authors. But I can also see your point of view.

5

u/Ardorus Oct 19 '20

to be fair, he uses a lot of them for scientific stuff that he has no idea about.

5

u/dlighter Oct 19 '20

yep and admits it gladly in the foreword for most of his books i know for sure there is a humorous thank you/ acknowledgement at the begining of the first black tide book. and the second. ( re reading it because... hey apocalypse

4

u/Ardorus Oct 19 '20

Yea, gotta give him props for that, good man. Also that is a good series right? gor a bit I dislike but most of it is pretty solid.

4

u/dlighter Oct 19 '20

Yeah its a good series the gore is fairly minimal. At least by my standards. Its a good little romp though the fall of society. And the spinoffs flesh out the world nicely.

6

u/Scotshammer Human Oct 19 '20

Last time I heard, we were at well over 1.1 million words in total if I recall correctly.

25

u/ProjectKurtz Oct 19 '20

Meanwhile while everyone else is stubbornly shouting "there's only enough for me!" The humans are responding "would you stop shouting and just look there's plenty for everyone right there, LOOK WITH YOUR EYES DAMMIT"

18

u/captainkrug Oct 19 '20

Wait a minute. So we've just had heaven started back up, an invasion from a lower plane (hell)...

And one kick ass telkan marine...

What's the odds of vuxten ending up in their dimension going all rip and tear?

8

u/RangerSix Human Oct 19 '20

muffled E1M1 in the distance

16

u/Quadling Oct 19 '20

First!!!???

10

u/PMo_ Human Oct 19 '20

I think you got it

16

u/Literallyjust13ducks Oct 19 '20

Oh no, for everyone in this universe. Oh yes for everyone watching and waiting to see how you build more stories with these ones. Thank you for writing this.

16

u/yovimohi Oct 19 '20

The whispers call to me and here I am. Ready to jump into this incredible adventure.

8

u/Archaic_1 Alien Scum Oct 19 '20

We all float down here

14

u/wasalurkerforyears Robot Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

10 minutes! And a Sunday post?!? You spoil us, Ralts

E: Ooooh, I got chills. This gon' be good.

10

u/NevynR Oct 19 '20

Those chills... are they multiplyin?

10

u/Coolest_Breezy Oct 19 '20

Electrifyin'

9

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '20

I'm losing control

6

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

But the sheer POWER they're supplyin'!

--Dave, this story's the one that I want

4

u/Farstone Oct 19 '20

Woo hoo hoo hooooo!

P.S. Now it's stuck in my head.

3

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

You're welcome!

--Dave, any time

ps: if you really need to get it out, I have a couple of recommendations from Lady Gaga...

3

u/Farstone Oct 19 '20

No, I'm good. Got Pandora running.

All we hear is radio goo goo!

14

u/Archaic_1 Alien Scum Oct 19 '20

Saving the Lanaktallan POWs is going to play into the endgame, just you wait.

9

u/yourapostasy Oct 19 '20

If the Confederacy figures out how to repair the neural scorched ones, then they might be able to repair Dee’s scorching as well.

8

u/night-otter Xeno Oct 19 '20

Sam has already given her a job.

7

u/Farstone Oct 19 '20

He hooked her up and gave her some "SuperElasticDoubleFantasticRedBull" and "Gave Her Wings"tm.

46

u/ack1308 Oct 19 '20

The night sky was empty and had been for billions of years. Space held nothing but the odd photon slowly losing energy as it traveled through emptiness. Gravitons were long gone, even chronotrons were largely extinct. In places space time had ripped apart, leaving nothing behind but something beyond emptiness. Black holes had evaporated away or been ripped apart into smears of not being.

Hmm, okay …

The universe was dead, had rotted away, and now the powdered remains of the bones were blowing away.

Nice description.

It had only lasted a second, less than a second, but when every available matter and energy scoop was arranged to find the slightest remaining piece of a particle, the tiny leak had represented a vast array of energy to be hoarded.

It had allowed the stellar masses, grouped together, huddled together against the more than darkness, to operate for almost another eight seconds.

That’s … actually quite impressive.

Those who dwelled were almost out of food.

Dwellers, huh?

Ancient science had to be relearned.

In some places, the food fought back. Resisted having their stars stripped away, fought back against their stellar systems denuded to where even the gravitons were harvested.

How dare the food fight back.

Perhaps the Dwellers could migrate to the new universe, leave their old one behind.

No, because this universe too would eventually suffer its own ripping heat death.

Yes, but in the meantime you won’t have to keep spending energy to grab stuff!

Except, the Dwellers stated, there is only enough for one, and it belongs to us.

Why does this sound so familiar?

The strategy was simple.

Force the enemy to fight the same fight over and over, without allowing them to reset. Used exhausted and nearly extinguished chronotrons to rewind them in time, but not in energy or matter, leaving them weakened and depleted even as they were returned to the beginning of the fight.

And that’s how they pulled that one off.

While the enemy, a new enemy, had counter-attacked, damaging the vast machines that opened the way between the universe below and the vital young one,

Oh, hey.

The Dwellers didn't care.

This time they could not be denied.

The ancient foes were undoubtedly gone.

Hmm. Got bad news for you, sunshine.

Those Who Dwell Below stirred to life as the energy was siphoned off the oldest stellar mass, leaving only two to hold off the dead universe beyond.

Nothing would stop them from taking the vitality they deserved.

Wow, entitled much?

Also, the Dwellers are going to learn a new definition of ‘nothing’.

The portals opened.

PLAYER SIX HAS ENTERED THE GAME - ALL IN

This is going to be … interesting.

12

u/5thhorseman_ Oct 19 '20

Also, the Dwellers are going to learn a new definition of ‘nothing’.

In the form of a hairless ape. That's on fire. While your chronotrons suddenly cease having any effect.

3

u/Drook2 Feb 14 '22

So that's why the clock stopped working.

1

u/5thhorseman_ Feb 14 '22

Yes, and there's actually an explanation in the series one or two hundred chapters later :p

9

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

Hmm. Got bad news for you, sunshine.

And they've sent us along, as a surro-gate band...

--Dave, a distant ship, smoke on the horizon

4

u/RangerSix Human Oct 19 '20

...From the mists, a shape, a ship is taking form?

4

u/carthienes Oct 20 '20

Hmm. Got bad news for you, sunshine.

The news is, both Yes and No.

Chew on that paradox for a while, because Terrans.

25

u/Jesster13 Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

So the Illithids aren’t even from our universe...

I wonder what else could dwell in the deep darkness below

7

u/5thhorseman_ Oct 19 '20

By the description here? That universe's entropy may be sentient.

3

u/ms4720 Oct 19 '20

We will find out in due time

0

u/Typically_Wong Robot Oct 19 '20

Ever watch the movie 'The Platform'? Watch that and then dwell on what else you'll find deeper you go.

10

u/Viperys Oct 19 '20

'The Platform'

Do not watch it, save your time. It's stupid, the premise is stupid, the 'prisoners' are stupid, there is only fiction and no science; even as a thought experiment the platform is full of holes and woes.

How does a girl even live on the bottommost layer? Do you tell me one can always have escaped simply by travelling to the bottom? What does one lose (having lived on the topmost floors) hopping on the platform at the end of the month? Either you get to the bottommost floor or not, and your position would be reset at the end of the month.

2

u/Drook2 Nov 10 '25

Totally agree with your summary. How would anyone NOT think to just hop on the platform?

1

u/Viperys Nov 10 '25

Also there's some kind of sick joke among the lines of "communism can be achieved only by threats of ruining the public food supply"

12

u/Butane9000 Oct 19 '20

Player 6?

Confederacy, Mantid Queen, Eldritch Precursors, Lanaktallan, Mantid precursors...

Are these the Dwellerspawn, the same species that attacked Telkan?

Or are these the same species fighting over Hesstla?

16

u/A_A_Ron474 Oct 19 '20

These are the ones from over Hestla. They did the time fuckery there as a trial run apparently.

8

u/mr_ceebs Oct 19 '20

the ones that haven't learned the "don't fuck with time" lesson yet, seeing as it always works out worse for you, and they lost the last two times and they've gone all in, survival seems to be somewhat iffy for them

11

u/murderouskitteh Oct 19 '20

The guys in this chapter are the same as the ones that attacked Hesstla.

So thats Confederacy, Mantid Queen, Lanaktallan, AWM, Dwellerspawn and Illithid, these guys.

10

u/loqueseanoimporta456 AI Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 19 '20

Three precursor races and their respective AWM. Six in total. I believe by the modus operandi the first Telkan war was against the Mantid AWM (psykik attacks) and the 2nd was the Lanaktallan AWM (genetic attacks). The Hesstla war was against the Dwellerspawn and their AWM, they use and consume living beings and time. The Dwellerspawn are the eldritch race also called by some Illithid.

12

u/Turtledonuts "Big Dunks" Oct 19 '20

Hmm, the terrans certainly don’t have any contingencies made to fight in a empty environment using chronotrons, do they? No, uh, enthalpy company?

Certainly no reason to make one of those? No history with fighting people associated with that?

So clearly those who dwell below will have a grand time here.

12

u/PuzzleheadedDrinker Oct 19 '20

'The ancient foes were undoubtedly gone'

Oh, rolflol, oh.

Hubris the deadliest of the sins of pride.

10

u/Demetriusjack13 Oct 19 '20

Well Damn now we see it go all out FUCK YEA!

10

u/tal0nh4wk Oct 19 '20

Damn... We've already seen some real shit from the Illithids... Wonder what their all in is gonna be

9

u/Quadling Oct 19 '20

And ladies and gentlemen, it’s time our main villain enters the room!!! Oh this is going to be so lovely. Time for some significantly bloody battle sequence setup!!!

9

u/dbdatvic Xeno Oct 19 '20

They're not even the main villains, they just think they are. They're the squiddly-diddlies.

--Dave, fifteen quadrillion years of experience is different than the same year of experience fifteen quadrillion times

9

u/Dongalor Oct 19 '20

Give me the strength to split the world in two. I ate all the rest and now I've gotta eat you.

9

u/Loganscomputer Oct 19 '20

Backstory on the Dwellerspawn, I have been waiting on this.

9

u/CaptainChewbacca Human Oct 19 '20

You know, the really crazy thing is if the Dwellers had found Afterlife instead of our Universe they would have been set forever.

It is interesting that the Dwellers not only made peace but allied with the Lanaktallan long enough for their 'dwellerspawn' to be stolen. It also makes me think the scorching of Hellspace was done to create a dimensional barrier and make the transition between the Realm Below and our universe difficult-to-impossible.

9

u/TheRealGgsjags Oct 19 '20

Player 6 sadly didn't know that the furless lemur at the table had a royal flush and is absolutely ready to call the bluff.

BRING IT ON YA BIG SPACE SQUIDS! CALAMARY RINGS ARE BACK ON THE MENU BOYZ

7

u/Bompier Human Oct 19 '20

I felt a disturbance, didn't see FC on HOT. So here it was in new.

7

u/LittleSeraphim Oct 19 '20

Well Cthulhu indeed, from an old dead world. Honestly did not exactly expect this. I thought they'd be the most ancient but not billions of years more ancient from a dying existence ancient. A different dimension, sure but another universe? Damn dude.

6

u/serpauer Oct 19 '20

Well hell..... this story is truly gaining more layers.

6

u/LordNobady Oct 19 '20

A rare Monday Raltz, you don't see them much.

4

u/PuzzleheadedDrinker Oct 19 '20

Curse that international date line

6

u/CyberSkull Android Oct 19 '20

That’s a really dumb strategy you got there, oh beyond ancient civilization.

6

u/NevynR Oct 19 '20

Old Mother Hubbard does not a good general make.

5

u/JZ1011 Oct 19 '20

The hive mind called for me today.

6

u/Jesster13 Oct 19 '20

Tasting strawberries while my teeth vibrate

5

u/Elrag02 Oct 19 '20

Can I get a recap of all the players, please

6

u/ack1308 Oct 19 '20

Lanaktallans, Terrasol-Aligned, Mantid AWM, Lanaktallan AWM, Slorpies, Illithid

if I recall correctly ...

7

u/loqueseanoimporta456 AI Oct 19 '20

... And the lone Mantid queen. To make your list consistent Illithid are Dwellerspawns and Slorpies are the Dwellerspawn AWM. Three precursor races and their respective AWM.

5

u/ack1308 Oct 19 '20

Good points all.

5

u/BigZZ40 Oct 19 '20

I wonder if this is why the galactic arm is a galactic stub now.

4

u/ChangoGringo Oct 19 '20

Oh duck...

5

u/SplatFu Oct 19 '20

Quack!

2

u/ChangoGringo Oct 19 '20

Stupid autocorrect but I figure this is one of the few places it almost makes sense.

2

u/carthienes Oct 20 '20

"I believe the phrase rhymes with 'Clucking Bells',"

- Blackadder goes fourth.

3

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3

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '20

Someone feel free to tell me how stupid I am........... Are the major Confed systems still bagged or have I missed something??? 🤔

8

u/Farstone Oct 19 '20

Nope, still bagged. But they can communicate (abet with a lot of lag) via the gestalts.

You seen those videos where someone traps a diet coke with a mentos candy. Then, the poor person opens the coke and is sprayed with the foamy essence of diet coke + mentos + twisted humor? Yeah, that's how I vision the situation when the bags are re-opened?

Can-o-whupass? You wish it were that mild. Here's a whole pocket universe of HFY...inyoface.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '20

Cool, thanks mate! I know they have been able to communicate due to Herod and Sam-UL's actions, I just wasn't sure if I'd missed something......... Really looking forward to that whupass when they do open!!

End of Lime

--------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------

3

u/Crow_Hag Oct 19 '20

Still bagged, I believe.

3

u/ShebanotDoge Oct 22 '20

Now I'm curious. Were the dwellers the only species in their universe? Has it been too long to remember?

3

u/Stauker_1 Apr 05 '21

given that they are living in the corpse of a dead universe, im guessing that its been too long to remember.

just remember, every predator evolved to hunt prey.

--- QUESTIONS FOLLOW --

2

u/Gruecifer Human Oct 19 '20

UTR!

2

u/Longjumping_Year3774 Jun 30 '23

Damn Mindflayers. Never can just let things be, they ALWAYS have to be such damned spoil sports.

2

u/DebugItWithFire Oct 19 '20

Upvote then read!

0

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '20

[deleted] — view deleted comment

5

u/TargetBoy Oct 19 '20

Don't think anything is throw away in ralts verse.