The Infiltrators

The race we would know as “The Infiltrators” are an insect-like species bent on total domination of the universe. To this end, the Infiltrators disguise their soldiers in the forms of other races and send them to those worlds to take them over in secret. In their distant past, the species would mature by entering into a cocoon state and coming out in a different form, but the intelligent bugs eventually found a way to control what the resulting form. Over time, they become more and more effective, and they are now able to craft almost any kind of biological form. These metamorphoses are permanent.

While metamorphosis modification may be the most impressive technology they have, it is not their only technology. The species has also developed forcefields and spaceships. Those are also handy for invading. The Infiltrators do not have access to faster-than-light travel. Their soldiers are born and raised on colony ships heading toward the planets they are to invade. During the ages spent approaching the worlds, the Infiltrators study anything and everything they can about their targets in the hope of making their infiltration effective. These soldiers will never be able to return to the homeworld they are so trained to love.

Klik27424 is an example of the species before they enter their cocoon. Six legs, pincers, mandibles, all about the size of an earth rat. 27424 is an eager soldier, reciting the Oath of Invasion on a daily basis and dreaming of getting into a new body and killing in the name of the species. That said, 27424 is also pretty nervous about being turned into some ugly species. So many aliens are hideous and it would be awful to be in one of those forms for eternity. But still, sacrifices must be made for domination of the universe.

Killhunter was one of the Infiltrators disguised as human and sent to infiltrate the planet Earth. Things went poorly there, though. The invasion force found themselves in over their heads and many died. While one went on to become an edgy superhero called Kalpa, Killhunter coped in another way, becoming an assassin working for the highest bidder. Killhunter and Kalpa have a rivalry and face off in bloody battles on a regular basis.

On the Pllvm homeworld, the Infiltrator invasion has gone better than on Earth. Though there were still many casualties in the initial years, those who survived have infiltrated Pllvm society and now are moving into positions of influence. Gilubbl, for example, is now in charge of one of the planet’s most powerful criminal organizations. While the organization isn’t exactly open about their crimes, such as weapon smuggling, but they have a deeper secret: they are establishing a nest and awaiting the arrival of the second phase of the invasion. If successful, the Infiltrators could have complete control of the world in a single generation.

A Fact About the Infiltrators: While all the examples given here are of Infiltrators posing as what we would consider the “dominant” species on their target planets, they do not only do that. For example, there are Infiltrators on Earth posing as elephants, dogs, rabbits, dolphins, and lions. Similarly, they are present in the form of various animals on the Pllvm homeworld. No species is safe from infiltration.

Universe: Red

Hey, it’s PDR! The PDR from now, in 2017, not the PDR from 2016 who scheduled all those posts this month. 2016 PDR left November 30th blank with a note that told me-now-PDR to put a PDR Update here.

Well, the main thing on my plate right now is some seemingly expensive car repairs. It seems my shift motor has corroded. That’s punching my wallet right in the nuts, that’s for sure. Apart from that, things are as they have been all year for me. 2017 has not been a great year for me, but neither has it been for the world at large, so at least I’m not alone in that.

Haiku!

Twenty-Seventeen.
My finances remain poor.
Not been a great year.

It’s not all been a bad year, though. I’ve been listening to the Superman radio show from the 40s as I drive, and during the serial “Is There Another Superman” there was a scene in which Batman and Robin were investigating and Robin got kinda bored, noticed it was snowing out, and sung a few bars of “White Christmas” only for Batman to reply: “I’ll Christmas you unless you pipe down” so now I know the best Batman line that has ever been written.

So anyway, we now go back to not having a new Super Sunday post every day. The site will probably feel pretty empty. I do still miss my Twitter posts manifesting here. That was nice.

Himterons

Himterons are a species that have strong shells, out of which come four goopy limbs that they can shape and stretch at will. Their head is similarly stretchy, though less so because it has to contain their complex ocular system and mouth-filter. The brains and vital organs of a Himteron are behind their shells. The variations in color on their “torso” shells are achieved through artificial dyeing, done to represent an individuals place in the caste-based society.

The Himteron homeworld, called “The First World” in their language, is located in the densely populated galaxy known as the Circle. Some time ages ago, the planet was attacked by an advanced race who raided the world for resources, the left. Though it did cause much damage to the species at the time, it also helped them become aware of and grow into the galactic community. The Himterons are a tight-knit group, they don’t spend a lot of time with other species when they can help it, but they are also not usually at odds with those other races either.

Hermaw is a soldier in the Royal Himteron Fighting Force. Trained in ground combat, Hermaw is a lot more likely to have to fight his own kind during planet-based skirmishes than aliens, but nonetheless, Hermaw has a distaste for other species. There haven’t actually been that many aliens that have shown up in Hermaw’s life, but still. They look different. That makes Hermaw uneasy.

Cahnuuayg is a result of a breeding program that has been running for dozens of generations to create Himterons superhumanly skilled as exorcists. Although extradimensional beings are not a common occurrence in the Circle galaxy, Cahnuuayg and a handful of others are employed by the Himteron government to make sure they remain a rarity by travelling to any planet willing to ask for help with potential demonic entities. Cahnuuayg has personally been on more planets than any other Himteron.

A member of the entertainer caste, Ekedaw has been training to make humorous comments about the appearance of audience members. This can be risky, because if the audience is offended, they can challenge the comment-maker to a duel. Ekedaw has to find the right thing to mock that even the victim will laugh about it. Himteron laughing sounds like hissing, by the way.

A Fact About Himterons: In Himteron culture it is considered very rude to watch someone who is carrying something. It’s fine to glance at them, but to actually watch their progress is just a jerk move.

Universe: Orange

Cagloms

On the planet of the Cagloms, which they call Arvamm, the surface is only 30% of the surface is covered in water. Life does exist on the vast dry surface, but the Cagloms live in the small, though deep, oceans. Caglom society is eusocial, with breeding queens and worker castes and all of that, similar to Earth insects. All the Cagloms in this post are workers, as the other castes are often so mentally different that humans would find them too alien to relate to.

Cagloms are not confined to their homeworld. For generations Arvamm has been part of the greater galactic community. Dr. Lykstam of the League of Space Doctors is a Caglom, though the disease that group primarily fights has never reached the Caglom’s area of space. Cagloms, being aquatic, have also visited the Pllvm, who are new to the space community.

FlebbNar is a tender of the food storage facilities in his region. The Cagloms are a technologically advanced species, but the habits of their food storage have been passed down from their earlier days. They keep the colony’s entire supply of food in a large room near the queens. It is FlebbNar’s job to maintain that room and make sure none of the food spoils. The latter almost never happens anymore, but FlebbNar still has a job perk of being allowed to take the oldest food for personal use. It’s a sweet deal an FlebbNar and her friends enjoy it.

Boffik is a designer of life support packs that Cagloms can wear to exist in the waters of other planets (such as the Pllvm homeworld) or even in air. Most of the most important advantages in these packs were made long ago, but Boffik is especially focused on trying to make them smaller and lighter. Currently, Boffik is currently trying to convince the colony that she should be allowed to travel to alien worlds and examine their technology for ideas.

Gilarsk is a master artist who has created sculptures enjoyed not only by the Cagloms, but even by visitors from other planets who have taken sculptures back to their own worlds. That is pretty impressive, but Gilarsk has a dark secret: she doesn’t really know what she’s doing. She just chisels out sculptures until she thinks they look okay and everyone tells her she’s a genius. She is worried that her luck will run out and she’ll be exposed as a fraud, but there has been no sign of that happening any time soon.

A Fact About Cagloms: The longer tendrils of a Caglom have sharp barbs that can be used to inject acidic fluid into a target. Most animals on the Caglom homeworld are adapted enough that the fluid will only knock them out, like a poison, but injected into species from other worlds, this fluid can do incredible amounts of damage, completely melting some of them within seconds.

Universe: White