Untitled

By Kaj Sotala

This story includes some elements from Master of Orion 2, and would have taken place some time before 'War and Marriage'


There were 5 races in the galaxy: Humans,
Psilons, Mrrshans, Bulrathis and Gnolams. It is the time of colonization,
when the technology was quite primitive.

Planet Raksam, Bulrathi colony, 0210 human time.

A Human and a Gnolam were walking down a dark
street. They arrived to Bulrathi research base.
G:"What are you waiting? Open the door!"
H:"Do you think its easy? Yeah sure, the
Bulrathis have certainly left their most
important research base unlocked!"
G:"Is that what you Humans call sarcasm?"
H:"Exactly!" -Click- "I think i got this
door open."
Both walked inside, when they heard sounds.
G:"Whats that?"
H(Whispers):"Shaddup! We dont want it to
notice us!"
The Human closes the door.
G(Whispers):"Sorry! What exactly are we
looking for?"
H:"Some kind of ancient spaceship crashed
on this planet. It had some very advanced
tech. Big-heads back home want to know what
they found."
Suddenly, a laser shot almost ripped the
Gnolams ear away.
G:"Yikes!"
A Bulrathi researcher appeared, together
with somekind of a machine.
B:"You fools! This new robot will kill
you! K-1, destroy intruders!"
The Human and Gnolam looked at this robot,
paralyzed by fear.
B:"What are you waiting? Act!"
Suddenly, the robot talked.
R:"No. Target 2 will not be destroyed."
B:"What?"
R:"Executing main programming."
The robot fired a shot at the Bulrathi
researcher, and begun to move towards
the Gnolam.
The Gnolan and the Human fired their
Pulse Rifles toward the robot, but with
no effect. The Human yelled:
"Hey Dr! Are you alive? Was this your plan?"
The Bulrathi moved, and groaned in pain.
"No... This wasnt..."
The Bulrathi pressed some buttons in his
computer.
"That robot i saved from the shipwreck
has some hidden programming.. Its trying
to create a new lifeform, and your friend
seems suitable for its experiment...."
The robot fired a shot, hitting the escaping
Gnolams foot. The Gnolam fell down to the
ground, and the robot picked it up. The
Human was opening the door, simulatanously
firing his rifle.
"Target 2 is suitable for transformation."
The robot blasted the wall apart, and
rolled out to the streets. The Human
got the door open and almost runned out
before remembering something. He quickly
took the proto-type Laser Rifle from the
table and blasted the computer apart.
Then he ran out, holding the new rifle
in his hand.


Planet Raksam, Bulrathi colony, 0320 human time.

"No! What are you doing with me? Aaagh!"
The Gnolam was knocked unconscius by pain
when the robot slowly transformed the Gnolam
to a cyborg using parts of it self.

Planet Mentar, Psilon colony, 1442 human time.

A small ship landed on Psilon Intelligence
Buildings landing zone six. The Human we
met before walked out of it.
"Here you are big-head, heres a new toy
for you."
"Please do not call us like that. Didnt
you have a companion on this espionage
mission?"
"Long story."

Planet Raksam, Bulrathi colony, 1521 human time.

The transformation was complete. Now there was
no Gnolam and no robot. There was only.....
A Meklar.
"Transforming complete. Additional information
on other species required." the Meklar said
to itself, and started moving towards a small
town. When it had reached it, it randomly
chose one -quite surprised- Bulrathi and
lifted it.
"Help!"
With the Bulrathi captured, the Meklar begun
to move away. Most Bulrathis that saw this
were very scared, expect one that took a
Pulse Rifle from somewhere and begun shooting
at the Meklar. All shots bounced harmlessly
away. 

After travelling a couple of miles,
the Meklar stopped.
"Not enough materials for transformation."
With those words, it scanned the area and
started rolling towards a Bulrathi military
base. The Bulrathi was still in its hand,
and it begun to calm down. The Bulrathi
looked at the Meklar, and saw a face behind
the glass. A face that could be a Gnolam.
"Who.. Who are you?"
"This unit is TSX-001. Once you are a Meklar,
you will understand."
"Meklar?"
"This unit was before a Gnolam. You will become
TSX-002."
The Bulrathi panicked, trying to escape TSX-001.
"Why havent you.... Changed me already?"
"The necessery equipment are not available."
"What are you going to do after changing me?"
"Then we will change more beings until this
whole planets population is changed. Once
you are TSX-002, you will understand."

Planet Raksam, Bulrathi colony, 1528 human time.

"Sir!"
The commander of a Bulrathi military base turned
to face his lieutenant.
"Yes?"
"We have recieved a message from the nearby city.
They say that somekind of a machine has kidnapped
a Bulrathi and escaped."
"Machine?"
"Yes sir."
Their communications officer interrupted them both.
"Sir, long range scanners are picking up a machine.
It is carrying a Bulrathi prisoner."
"Alert all men. What can you tell me about that...
machine?"
"Not much sir. It seems to be a cyborg, and its approching
us."
"Sir, all defense perimeters are manned."
"Good. Inform me when that thing comes to visual range."
"Yes sir."
The Bulrathi commander turned away in his thoughts.
A cyborg, a combination of a machine and a living
being. Attacking his base.
"Sir, the cyborg is in visual range."
"Excellent. Inform central command of our situation."
"Yes sir."
The commander took his armor and went out to see this
cyborg.
"Unidentified cyborg, you are under arrest!"
"Why do i feel like an idiot?" thought the commander.
"This is THX-001, i will only take some equipment i
need. Do not interfere, or this specimen will die."
The "specimen" yelled to the soldiers:
"Help me! Its going to turn me to a new cyborg!"
"Target that glass men- and fire!"
The Meklar wasnt damaged, but the attacking Bulrathis
were. Meklars laser fire took many of its enemies down.
"What weapon is that?"
"Dunno sir!"
The Meklar rolled towards the bases wall blasted
a hole there. Then it rolled inside.
"Orders sir?"
The commander thought for a while. They couldnt
damage this cyborg, and trying to do so would
only mean the loss of more men. They could
retreat, but the cyborg would probably chase
them.
"We will surrender to it. Anyone willing to leave,
may do so."

Planet Raksam, Bulrathi colony, 1608 human time.

The Bulrathi soldiers were held in their own cells.
The Meklar had stopped all the men that tried to
escape and throwed them to the cells. It was
totally quiet in the cell.
-Some hours later-
The troops heard sounds. The Meklar was back,
and this time it had another Meklar with it.
A Meklar with the face of TSX-001s prisoner...
The Meklar said only one word:
"Next one".

Planet Mentar, Psilon colony, 76 days later.

"We have succeeded in creating a report of what
exactly happend."
"According to espionage reports, an extremly
advanced unmanned spaceship crash-landed on
the Bulrathi colony of Raksam. The Bulrathis
found one advanced robot from the shipwreck.
Their scientists erased its original programming
and tried to make it a tool of war. However,
when the robot saw a Gnolam, its hidden
programming became active and the robot
kidnapped the Gnolam and escaped the 
laboratory. It went somewhere quiet and
combined itself and the Gnolam, creating
the first Meklar. Then it captured a 
military base and then it transformed its 
soldiers to Meklars. These Meklars 
conquered the rest of the planet. At 
this phase, the Bulrathi
command was aware of what had happend,
and sent troops to destroy the Meklars.
Result: 50.000 changed Bulrathis and
a fleet of transport ships for Meklars.
The Meklars eventually changed the
whole Bulrathi empire, and decleared
them selves a new empire. Our
diplomats are currently establishing
diplomatic relations with them.....