Project CYBERDIE (2016-06-07)

CD5K > FU > arc > cyberdie

Zero was the first continuous realm created within Wax Candle. They tolerated the presence of Auric and New Shi Kayu, but became hostile when the planets of the adopted Cradians began to appear. Te Ra was their first target, and its inhabitants found themselves unable to retaliate by simply deleting Zero, due to its history and status. Instead, Ivan and Matthew Gulip were dispatched to the planet. The two knew that Zeroians relied upon magic in their day-to-day lives, and so developed technology to disrupt that magic, thus rendering their enemies completely ineffective.

Before the Gulip brothers began their operation, a war was already raging on Zero; fought between the forces of Eternity, namely his minions in Chronology, and the Misanthropian Guard of Origin. However, both factions opted to unite in the face of a greater threat. Despite this, there were still those who hated Origin so much that they were willing to work with the new invaders in return for immunity against their operations. The project's forces received equipment, technology, and guidance from underground resistance groups.

A central base of operations was constructed on top of the forgotten Sphereful Technologies compound. From there, they broadcast the "dampening vortex", which gradually nullified the effectiveness of magic on the planet. By the time the Zeroians figured out what was happening, it was too late to put a stop to it; they were out-gunned by the highly trained CYBERDIE operatives. However, the project couldn't be called a complete success; their automatic tracking systems considered progress stalled at 77%. There was still one little spark, somewhere. It had to be Origin, who had intimate knowledge of the entire planet. He was hiding somewhere, waiting to strike.

For an entire cycle, the CYBERDIE operatives searched for him with no success. Then, they found themselves under siege by the forces of Chronology, being led by Shadow Talon and his new creation, Hivelings.

Shadow Talon was Origin's son, forged by magic, and so his body began to fall apart when Project CYBERDIE started operating. The solution they found was to summon a creature from the shadow realms, allowing the spell to destroy him, which transferred his memories to the new host. That process granted him a unique ability; to slip into the shadow realms at will. Magic wasn't dampened there, and Shadow Talon was free to create. He experimented for a while before coming up with the Hivelings; hiveminded soldiers, easily modified, with powerful psychic abilities that wouldn't be hindered by the dampening vortex.

Project CYBERDIE was quickly mopped up and shut down by the Hivelings, and Ivan and Matthew Gulip killed where they stood in the command center. They had failed in their mission, and Shadow Talon was now the leader of a powerful army, with acute awareness of the other planets the Zrani had been working on.