Author Topic: Introduction 1: The Organism  (Read 3479 times)

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Offline symon (OP)

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Introduction 1: The Organism
« on: June 08, 2010, 08:48:08 AM »
The Sylyth Organism (Organism).

Home system: Sylythos
Home world: Sylystha

Brief History:
The Organism took a distinctively different path at some point in their history. Apparently originally humanoid in form, over time they seem to have used their mastery of genetics to customise themselves into a caste-based life-form similar to termites or wasps. Most organic life on Sylystha seems to have been similarly engineered for maximum utility or been wiped out.
While not exactly a hive-mind race, all it's members are specifically bred to perform a particular function or set of functions and place service of the race before all other considerations. The Organism can produce and mature additional citizens with frightening rapidity.
Almost all of their technology is organic or semi-organic in nature, including their vehicles, spaceships and weaponry. More conventional non-organic components are used only when they would be more efficient. Their vehicles are not converted natural creatures but discrete organic components that are assembled into the desired construction

Physical Description:
The original Organism genotype seems to have been an omnivorous, bipedal mammal with a silver-grey skin coloration. Hair colour if any is unknown. Organism units still posses two locomotive limbs and two manipulative limbs. The arms each end in a hand with five fingers and an opposable thumb. Perhaps surprisingly, sexual dimorphism is easily noted; though sterile, units retain sexual characteristics. They typically range in height from 1.75 to 2.1 meters
Various castes have been engineered including workers, soldiers, technicians, warriors and leaders. These are produced in artificial wombs and gene engineered at need to produce the desired caste distribution. Entirely new castes are produced if warranted.
Organism units are produced without defect. They can in theory live for many hundreds of years but in practise are euthanised if they become unable to carry out their function at peak performance. Some of the more senior castes do have units that reach a considerable age.

Social Structure:
Spartan at best. It was determined long ago that although basic drives and needs such as hunger, fear, social contact and pleasure could be eliminated, the resulting creatures and society were not at their most efficient. Instead it was determined that re-balancing these drives so they became neither overwhelming nor a source of friction was the better course. It is a duty to sate these desires yet unthinkable to aspire beyond them. Organism units take pleasure in fulfilling their function and in satisfying basic needs. Organism units work, exercise, eat or rest. They perform no other activities and their lives are entirely regimented. Organism units have little or no need for privacy, unless demanded by their function. Pheromones seem to enforce obedience to superiors and responsibility to inferiors. While all units are intelligent and sociable, the lower and more numerous castes, such as soldiers, workers and technicians seem to lack the desire or ability to perform abstract thought beyond the most basic. Only those castes that require that ability to fulfill their function seem to be capable of it.
The most common castes are the worker, technician and soldier castes. The worker caste perform mostly partially skilled labour and are noted for superior strength. Technicians perform more skilled labour and soldiers function as infantry and security troops. Less common are the warrior, biotech, researcher, and engineer castes. Warriors occupy more senior positions in the military than soldiers. The other castes at this level are skilled specialists. The least common are leaders, seniors and a variety of other specialised castes. Seniors are more independent minded representatives of the middle-ranking castes.

All Organism units are assigned ranks, similar to those in use by the Security and Conflict divisions. These are used as descriptions, never as titles or marks of respect. The very concept of respect seems to have no meaning in Organism society.

Supreme Director
Director
Supreme Commander
Commander
Subcommander
Organiser
Section Leader
Leader
Unit


Religions:
None as such. Service to the race is perhaps the closest thing to a religion experienced by Organism units. "Expand and survive" is the universal creed.

Political Structure:
Government appears to be by consensus amongst the leader caste, who compose the upper echelons of the military, scientific elite, and administration. There are nine 'divisions' of the Organism government.
Command, Infrastructure, Construction, Biomedical, Science, Security, Bioresearch, Transport and Conflict. An available Supreme Director of each of these divisions meet at chambers to form the Directing Council of the Organism. This council assumes responsibility for the direction of the Organism as a whole. Amongst other things it sets long term strategic policy. Each Organism world and system has a council that is responsible for implementing these edicts locally. All nine divisions are represented at the Council of Sylystha, Council of Sylythos and all systems that are populated enough to warrant it. Worlds with populations of at least Settlement level but less than medium have only three divisions represented at the highest level, Command, Biomedical and Military. This grouping is known as a triumvirate and again is formed from three available Supreme Directors. Smaller populations are governed by a single Director from the Command Division, often the only unit of such rank on the planet, with two subordinate Supreme Commanders from the Biomedical and Military divisions.

Legal System:
None. Acting against their engineered natural obedience to the racial will seems not to occur.

Diplomatic Stance:
The Organism has a simple approach to diplomacy in cases it feels it has an overwhelming advantage. Any race that can be absorbed will be absorbed for the good of the Organism and the contacted race. Races that are unsuitable for absorption must ideally interact on the Organism's terms. They must trade with the Organism and eschew active space exploration. Failure to abide by these restrictions mandates extermination, as the race is useless to the organism and occupies and misuses valuable resources. In cases where a contact might have parity or better to the Organism, a more cautious approach is warranted. However, there is a tendency to shoot first, especially if they can be absorbed. The Organism cannot be regarded as diplomatic. It states the facts as it sees them, makes unconditional demands and responds with all necessary force if thwarted.

The Military:
The Organism military is composed of two divisions, Security and Conflict. Assets are freely transferred between these divisions at need. Both divisions use the same rank structure, which is slightly expanded from normal organism ranks. A noteworthy feature of the Organism armed forces is that a unit charged with command will always have two equal subordinates. For example, a ships 'captain' will have two equally ranked 'executive officers'. This seems to be a desire to have a triumvirate style, consensus reaching structure, whilst acknowledging that the realities of a military action require one source of command.

Security division:
The Security Division is responsible for the defence of Organism worlds. Assigned assets include PDF and supporting vehicles; ground bases, orbital bases and some local defence vessels.

Conflict division:
The Conflict division oversees offensive deployments. It has control over the vast majority of space-going warships and PDF on invasion deployments.

Uniforms and decorations:
The Organism does not use uniforms, or clothing of any kind in normal situations. Organic and semi-organic protective gear is worn during battle stations. It does not award medals.

Ranks:
Supreme Director
Director
Supreme Commander
Fleet Commander
Division Commander
Group Commander
Commander
Subcommander
Organiser
Suborganiser
Section Leader
Leader
Unit

Ranks above Suborganiser are very vaguely equivalent to officer ranks. The lower ranks are occupied almost exclusively by technicians and soldiers.

Warships and military doctrine:
The Organism is quite willing to consider almost anything an expendable asset. Ramming is actively being investigated as a routine tactic. Entire war fleets will be expended in violent yet ultimately hopeless actions to disrupt an enemies advance if it is felt appropriate. The Organism's production capacity is well able to replace such losses and crew casualties are almost as meaningless.

The Organism is tenacious and violent assaults are made without pause if warranted by the apparent tactical situation. As long as the objective can be taken and exploited, casualties are not relevant.

Fighters and their pilots are considered expendable munitions. Massive fighter casualties are perfectly acceptable if they achieve their objective in the process and again, ramming is regarded a legitimate tactic.

Final Note
The Organism has somewhat mixed origins. The inspiration came in part from the art of Giger, in part from some art of 'insect people' I saw long ago and in part from a book I read in the '70s, 'Helstromm's Hive'.
"You fertility deities are worse than Marxists," he said. "You think that's all that goes on between people."

Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light. 1971.
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

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Re: Introduction 1: The Organism
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2010, 09:55:00 AM »
Thats truly a different kind of player race, if RBed correctly.
Good start.
 

Offline Beersatron

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Re: Introduction 1: The Organism
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2010, 05:49:23 PM »
This is a good read, especially liking the detail you are putting into the armed forces description in post [5].

Didn't want to comment in that thread as didn't wanted to ruin its flow. Have you thought of creating a 'comments' thread?
 

Offline procyon

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Re: Introduction 1: The Organism
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2010, 01:25:04 AM »
Awesome start !
 
It's a shame we got snuffed, but it defenitely made for a good read.

I had thought about doing an intro in my story, but just decided to dive in.
Now reading yours makes me wish I had put more effort into one.  Really sets the stage.
Oh well, live and learn.

Keep going, can't wait to see where it leads.
... and I will show you fear in a handful of dust ...