Dark Transmissions (20 page)

Sol:
The former political center of the Covenant, Sol remains nonetheless one of the most powerful galactic nations of the cosmos. This is due mainly in part to the fact that Sol is the capital of the Pax Humanis. Holy Terra, the blue Cradle, is located in Sol, but it is not controlled by the Pax Humanis.

Sunderlund:
Due mostly in part to a larger than average Wolver population living side by side with Kelthans, Sunderlund has made a habit of speaking out against the Pax Humanis. The Sunderlund navy is exclusively composed of Humanis developed and engineered vessels. Sunderlund shipyards continue to produce some of the most reliable and durable starflight-­worthy spacecrafts in existence.

Sol Fleet:
The first Pax Humanis–built interstellar military fleet. During the ages of the First Expansion, it was Sol Fleet and the brave men and women in its ser­vice who came to the protection of the new nations. Because of this, Sol Fleet remains one of the oldest and proudest fleets in existence.

The Syndicate:
An ever-­elusive network of criminals and smugglers, the syndicate is the shadow response to the Covenant. It exists solely to broker and smuggle illegal black-­market goods from world to world.

The Survey:
The Covenant's volunteer fleet of scouts and planet surveyors. The survey spends the majority of its time and resources scouting new worlds for future expansions. The survey is also tasked with mapping and updating slipspace astrocharts. Like the Patrol, the survey also operates as a rescue operation. This is the main reason for the friendly spirit of competition that still exists between these two branches of the Covenant.

The Thorns:
The Thorns are the deniable assets of the Hegemon and the Pax Humanis. They are sent behind enemy lines on illegal operations. That the Covenant has yet to have been able to prove the Thorn involvement in various dubious black-­book missions remains a testament to their effectiveness at covering up their tracks.

Uldur:
To this day, the world of Uldur remains the center for Wolver politics, culture, innovation and spirituality. Uldur is a luscious and verdant planet with two moons, each one equally capable of supporting life. According to Wolver legend, it was Uldur that called out to them in the days of the First Expansion. Unlike many worlds in Covenant Space, Uldur was never artificially Terraformed. The Wolvers have learned to live side by side with the living creatures and wild plants that make Uldur their home.

Universal Bit:
The universal bit, or u-­bit, is the most commonly accepted form of currency in Covenant Space. Like the standard calendar, most nations have their own independent currency as well, but if they wish to do commerce on a galactic scale the universal bit still, more often than not, remains the easy go-­to standard for most nations and banks.

The Vale Campaign:
When a terrorist faction known as the Children of Vale destroyed the commercial Pax Humanis passenger ship
The Eternity
, resulting in thousands of Pax civilian casualties, the Hegemon responded by mobilizing three of the Pax warfleets into Vale space. The goal was to install order and Pax Humanis rule in what was being painted as an unruly part of the universe. The Confederation of Nations, led by Argent, responded by sending in fleets of their own. While there are reports of many savage and bloody battles, the Vale campaign never truly escalated into all-­out war. The Campaign of Vale came to an abrupt end after the infamous Battle of Galomdryd, for Vale's capital city.

Wolven:
The rich and emotional dialogue spoken by the Wolvers. To this day it remains the second most used tongue in the universe. Wolven found its origins in the days prior to the Advent War and was intentionally designed by the Wolver Sefts to be overly emotional, almost musical. This was to make it incredibly difficult for machines to decode and understand.

 

THE INTELLIGENCES OF THE COVENANT

WOLVERS

The law of the pack, or the great hunt, is the rule of New Humanity's “savage” brothers and sisters, the Wolvers. They are short, hairy and borderline bestial in appearance, leading to the widespread and misinformed opinion that they are savage, uncultured animals with little to no intellect. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Wolvers are the second most prolific race in the cosmos and proud of it, having made the forests and the wilds of the Infinite their home. Wolvers simply love the open sky, soil, oceans or anyplace untouched by technology. To this day even the most liberal minded of Wolvers share a savage mistrust of anything linked to the Machina.

Wolvers mostly follow the path of the Living Green; this is a system of beliefs in which the settling of worlds comes not only with rights but with responsibilities as well. Even the most selfish of Wolvers is more ecologically conscious than some of the most selfless Kelthans. Wolvers are typically strictly forbidden from using anything that is Machina-­made. This has on some fronts severely limited their technological development and expansion. They are a proud, hinting on stubborn breed, and will never take a challenge lying down. They are fierce, passionate and, once their respect has been earned, loyal friends.

KELTHANS

Kelthans are the most prolific race in Covenant Space. Mostly hairless and thin with varying skin colors, they are naturally proficient with machines and are the species that most resemble Ancient Humanity. This is a fact that puritan Kelthans will often quite proudly point out. Kelthan privilege seems to permeate almost every aspect of galactic affairs, from technological or medical developments to politics and the media. This is demonstrated by the fact that most ships, clothes and weapons are built to accommodate Kelthan size. Even the largest superpower in the cosmos, the Pax Humanis, boasts a predominantly Kelthan population.

Since most Kelthans have no qualms about using technology, they have been able to enjoy all of the latest cutting-­edge advances provided to them by the Machina. They are almost the opposite of Wolvers mistrust in this regard. Because of this, Kelthan-­run worlds usually enjoy higher levels of comfort. This has led to most Kelthans having a bit of a superior smugness. After all, not only are they the bloodline that resembles Ancient Humanity the most, they are the one that has spread furthest across the Infinite.

THEGRANS

There is only one species in the cosmos that will keep a promise better than a Machina, and that is a Thegran. These giants are imposing creatures, six feet tall being a relative short size for them. Thegrans are typically muscular, and strong both in body and mind. While it is true that they may not be the most prolific of the Humanis bloodlines, they are by far the most durable. Thegrans are in no way immortal, but they still remain an incredibly long-­lived race.

Thegrans love nothing more than to prove their superior strength in all things. They take great pride and go to great lengths in driving themselves to be the best at whatever task they devote themselves to. A Thegran warrior will often turn out to be legendary; a Thegran scholar will be brilliant.

Thegrans also take great pride in the tradition of tracking their family history. Often they will mark their skins with elaborate tattoos, naming the past deeds and misdeeds of their bloodline. The tattoos are also used by Thegrans to trace back their ancestral lineages all the way back to Old Earth. The more strength and honor one has to one's family and names the better.

DARLKHIN

The mysterious, never-­changing immortals commonly known as the Darlkhin are “plastic” humans. Should one give any credence to their histories, they would be last descendants of Ancient Humanity. Darlkhin mainly tend to exclusively pursue their own personal agendas and rarely if ever choose to participate in the affairs of New Humanity or the Covenant.

Most of them have taken up their crusade tracking rogue machine Intelligences and permanently deleting them. This hunt takes them all over the cosmos. The Darlkhin possess technology and powers beyond the wildest dreams of any Kelthan scientist. They all too often use forbidden technology, either denying everything altogether or refusing to answer to Covenant Law when called on it. The Darlkhin maintain that all their secrecy is necessary for the greater good of New Humanity.

Darlkhin have a plastic-­like quality and all of them are sterile. No one really knows what their true numbers are or the true extent of their powers. Given their secretive nature they are mistrusted by almost everyone. Yet when a Darlkhin crusader arrives on the hunt of rogue machines, no one stands in his or her way. The Darlkhin hold many secrets and are loath to reveal any of them. Yet if anyone knows the true cause behind the Lost Wars, it would be them.

KOHBRAN

Often shunned for their almost reptile-­like appearances, the Kohbran are and always have been the most community oriented of all the bloodlines. They live in moon-­sized City Trees that travel through the cosmos pulled by Leviathans, the largest living creatures in the observed universe. The Kohbran have jealously and exclusively kept any Leviathan genetic materials secret since the signing of the Covenant after the Advent War.

The Kohbran are incredible diplomats, traders and negotiators. For the most part, the City Trees travel from world to world, trading with those who are willing to do so. They are gifted poets and wordsmiths. An average Kohbran child will know most of the languages spoken in the universe before most Humanis have even mastered one.

The Kohbran follow the way of the Prophet Maya, she who served all Kohbran by leading them to the Leviathans. This code requires that all serve the greater good of the City Trees that they call home. One who takes without returning is the lowest form of life possible.

There is no evidence of them ever existing on Old Earth. This means nothing considering that most records from that period are, at best, incomplete. The Kohbran maintain they are a Humanis bloodline, and offer free, safe starflight on their City Trees to any who request it, provided they don't mind having no control over their destination.

MACHINA

No Intelligence in the cosmos is subject to more mistrust and prejudice than the third generation of self-­made machines: the Machina. These curious and often naive machine Intelligences spend most of their time awash in the information-­rich virtual universe that is the datastream. They only choose to inhabit mechanical bodies or shells in order to better interact with Humanity.

While the Machina are machines, they are no longer slaves. They are masters of technology and are capable of producing almost anything they wish. The Machina strictly regulate their own production and distribution of goods and ser­vices to Humanis superpowers. This has made both legal and black-­market Machina-­built technology some of the most highly sought after.

Currently the Machina devote most of their existence wishing to better understand the universe. The ultimate problem they wish to solve is the equation of Soul. For despite all their complex minds and technological mastery, the Machina are still unable to answer one fundamental question: are they alive?

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T
here are two things I have read throughout the course of my life that struck me when it came to writing a book. The first thing was that a book is like a wonderfully complex machine with words and sentences acting as the cogs and gears. The second was that nothing was created by oneself or in a vacuum. In both these instances,
Dark Transmissions
was no exception.

This book would not have at all been possible were it not for several conversations about science fiction with my good friends Justin Pike and Shawn Baichoo. Were it not for a brilliant comment made to me by Jocelyn Baxter (a future great author), there would never have been a term “Late Modern.” It was the work on an abandoned comic book project with Rachel Pouliot that birthed some of the cast and crew of the
Jinxed Thirteenth
such as “Lucky,” “Captain Morwyn” and “Phaël,” to name but a few.

It was roleplaying with my friend Damiano that brought about the term “universal bit.” My partners in creative crime, Phil Ivanusic and Jaymie Dylan were crucial in offering me sharp minds to bounce ideas off of. Simon Lacoste and my brothers Alaric and Arndell LeBlanc were the ones who read the initial draft of my book and offered important initial feedback.

Asaph Fpike, David Watson, Rob Hoegee and Ken Faier were all instrumental in teaching me the ins and outs of producing a screenplay and offered me the perfect training ground as a budding television writer on
League of Super Evil
. My agent, Mark Gottlieb, was among the first ­people to read and believe in my work; without his efforts
Dark Transmissions
would still no doubt be gathering proverbial dust in the digital ether. Rebecca Lucash, my editor, and her incredible knack for simply getting the world I presented helped make what was already a great story infinitely better and I hope that she will bring that magic to countless more of my works.

Finally there is my love and partner, Jessie Mathieson, without whom Jessie Madison and this book would not exist. She offered me her love, energy and support when I found myself unemployed and facing the daunting challenge of completing my first novel.

To all these names, and to others I will no doubt have forgotten, I express the deepest and most heartfelt gratitude. I would not be where I am today were it not for the role that you all played and will no doubt continue to play as I carry on plying and improving on my trade. From now until my ending, I promise to keep on doing what I love most: crafting good stories.

In love, light and laughter.

Be well.

Davila LeBlanc

December 10th 2015

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

D
AVILA
L
E
B
LANC
spent his college years studying print journalism but quickly found himself working as a writer and performer in the comedy circuits of Montreal. During this time his goal became to break into the world of professional writing. He would get his first opportunity when he cocreated and sold the hit animated television series
League of Super Evil.
This was his first foray into the world of production and an important first step on his road to becoming a writer. After working on various television shows, in 2013 Davila decided to take a year off from children's animation to focus on writing his first novel,
Dark Transmissions
. He is an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy and wants to add his own voice to the genre that inspired him. Davila currently resides in Ottawa where he is working on several other writing projects.

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