Voice of the Planet Issue #6: Enemy within

[Illuminatus]

The day is coming, children of Gaia.
In this issue: *Grant asylum? *How to solve problems with Cult of Planet? *Cult of Planet receiving outside help? *Learning with Planet *Literary section *Other news in brief *Advertisement *Quote of the Day *Entertainment *Hagar the Gaian Cult of Planet receiving outside help? There are growing suspicions that Cult of Planet is being secretly funded by outside sources. This is one of explanations how did they manage to cause so much trouble in last few years. Is outside power undermining stability of the Union? As strange as it seems, since Cha Dawn has expressed hostility to every outside faction, it may be a reality. Several early statements from Angel Infotrader GeoModder initially supplied the doubt that Data Angels might be funding Cult, but this was soon disapproved as GAIA determined that Angels are not funding Cult, not having even capability to do so. Angels did express political support in initial efforts of Cult, offering them a place for renegades, but they seem to have withdrawn it after Cult declined their support, calling them 'filth that needs to be purged with the rest of mankind'. Other option is, that Chairman Yang is funding Cha Dawn in order to weaken Union for Hiverian invasion. This is also unlikely, because of already mentioned reasons, but Cult may be desparate enough to temporary accept outiside help. Yang, does have the capability to do so. Third option is that yet unmet power, but whose existence has been proven, is funding Cult for their nefarious schemes, which involve weaking Union through internal unrest. All scenarios seem unlikely, but we must carefuly consider them. What if Cult is just a pawn in greater plans? We must be prepared for this possibility. This is a troublesome time indeed. Learning with Planet The most feared creature on Planet is a small, snakelike animal which rarely grows more than 6 inches in length. As individuals, the mind worms are unimpressive, but in mass they are one of Planet's greatest scourges. Variant forms of the mind worm exist. Aquatic and flying mind worms have been documented. Both forms or "vectors" are otherwise identical to the land-based mind worm. For most of its life cycle, the mind worm lives a solitary, almost dormant existence in the interstices of Planet's fungal mats. There it exists as a symbiont, performing several functions to keep the fungus healthy while feeding on selected fungal stalks. From time to time, however, the mind worms congregate into a larval mass as the result of some biochemical trigger (or psionic signal) released by the xenofungus. As the larval mass grows, it can become a full-fledged boil, moving out of the fungus zones into regions inhabited by humans. There the mind worms become a terrifying plague, attacking any Earth-born thing they sense. Their physical attack is vicious but rather trivial, overshadowed by their capacity for psionic assault. Mind worms have razor-sharp mandibles which can inflict a vicious grinding bite. Given time they can gnaw through just about anything, although they can instinctively find weak points in armor or other materials. They have a particular affinity for the neural tissue of animals, and will seek out such tissue when attacking. Human victims face a horrific fate, as the mind worms burrow through the eye sockets or other openings in the skull. Mind worms which penetrate a braincase will implant egg sacs in the protein-rich tissue, instantly killing the victim. Particularly dense mind-worm boils are perfectly capable of covering a human victim, bringing some of their number into position to burrow into his braincase even if he is resisting. In most cases, however, the mind worm needs an unprotected and helpless victim before it can finish its attack. Mind worm boils reduce their targets to such a state using a psionic attack (p. 00). Victims see nightmare visions of torture and suffering, and are effectively unable to resist as the mind worms move in for the kill. Only the most disciplined (or psi-talented) troops can hold the mind worm boil off long enough to bring flame guns or other weapons into use. An adult mind worm normally lives for only a month outside the symbiotic protection of its xenofungus field. Their boil phase is actually the climax of their reproductive cycle, the time when they seek out fertile ground in which to implant their eggs. Mind worms reproduce sexually but are hermaphroditic, and can even impregnate themselves in hostile conditions. Mind worms exhibit very little genetic diversity; one worm is virtually identical to any other, anywhere on Planet. When a mind worm boil is destroyed by violence, its slayers reap an unexpected reward. Some members of a boil (possibly the same ones which play a coordinating role in its psionic attack) build up rare elements and exotic organic compounds in their bodies. When these mind worms are killed, they leave behind husks which can be "mined" for useful materials. These husks are informally called planetpearls by the human colonists, and are highly prized. Mind worms are not restricted to the land. An aquatic variety lives in Planet's oceans, symbiotic on the sea fungus just as the land-based variety lives within the continental fungus zones. Aquatic mind worms are the same species as the land-based variety, the variations in form and life cycle apparently governed by a different subset of their common genetic basis. Aquatic boils are called isles of the deep. The boil's biochemical processes generate gases for buoyancy, allowing the boil to float on the surface. There, the isle is quite capable of seeking out food sources such as ships and sea colonies. Isles of the deep which approach the coastline have been known to spawn boils of the land-based vector, which break away from the parent mass and proceed to hunt on land. The third vector of the mind worm is the airborne locusts of Chiron. On rare occasions, a pre-boil mass of mind worms undergoes a radical physical transformation, its individual members growing wings and taking to the air. Locusts of Chiron are fast-moving and particularly vicious, and normally appear only during periods of intense mind-worm activity. Grant asylum? Foreman Domai, a wanted Hive criminal, noted for leading several drone riots, has requested asylum in Gaian Union. Not only it would enrage Chairman Yang of the Hive, it would bring substantial danger to the Union itself. Lady Araella claims that Foreman Domai might try to spread his radical teachings among drone population and/or force his beliefs on Council. "The Gaian Union should refuse this, despite our peaceloving and helping qualities. Domai should look somewhere else, perhaps in Lal's faction, or among anarchists." Lord Tetric claims that one of our duties is helping those in need, even if it means helping a troublemaker like Domai. "We are a democracy. I know that stance like this has led us to trouble with Cult, but this is simply the price we have to pay." Lord Net Warrior says that our constitution is based on preservation of environment and that we should carefully examine consequences of all possible decisions. "We must choose the decision that is best for Planet. Other details are insignificant." We did not manage to get Lady Deirdre for a comment, since she is doing research on splicing genes. Council of Lords will meet tommorow to discuss this situation. Quote of the Day The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls -John Muir	How to solve problems with Cult of Planet? We have witnessed a wave of unrest during last several years. Members of Planet Cult are instigating civil unrest across the Union. Since their sound defeat at elections of 2131., Prophet Cha Dawn has declared that they do not longer wish to lead the Gaian Union, but to secede from Gaian Union and pursue their goals indenpendently. Fallow Tragedy which happened in 2134. was spurred by Cult of Planet in their attempt to secede the base from Union and rename it Dawn of Planet, in attempt to create their own faction. Over three hundred dead and nearly eight hundred wounded were the result of failed civil unrests. Public was shocked with this events, and Cult of Planet was banned again, and their remaining representatives removed from the Council. Since then, Cult of Planet has continued to operate undercover, supporting unrest among drones, conducting sabotage actions against terrain improvements, and even trying to obtain a mindworm or two for their uses (we learned this as a result of investigation of Seraphin accident). High Council has said before that they won't bow to terrorist demands, even after Fallow Tragedy. Question is, how will we stop attacks? Repeated police actions have failed to stop Planet Cult, although they decreased their numbers and resources significantly. Should we allow them to continue their terrorist actions or give them what they want? Although Planet Cult wishes to secede with a number of bases from the Union, none of bases has shown overwhelming support for Planet Cult - and with increasing terrorist actions from Planet Cult initial support for them has dwindled. Lady Deirdre has recently announced a new initiative that should solve Cult Problem and will preserve the integrity of the Union. Details about the initiative are unknown, but will be presented soon to the public. Public sure wants to know how the problem will be solved. Entertainment A large group of Hiverian soldiers are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a hill. "One Spartan soldier is better than ten Hiverians". The Hive commander quickly sends 10 of his best soldiers to the hill whereupon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes, then silence. The voice then calls out "One Spartan is better than one hundred Hiverians". Furious, the Hive commander sends his next best 100 troops to the hill and instantly a huge gunfight commences, impact and laser weapons firing, soldiers screaming, explosions rocking the area... After 10 minutes of battle, again silence. The Spartan voice calls out again "One Spartan is better than one thousand Hiverians". The enraged Hive commander musters one thousand fighters and sends them to the hill. Detonations, shredders and impact gun fire ring out as a huge battle is fought. Then silence. Eventually one wounded Hiverian crawls back over the hill and with his dying words tells his commander, "Don't send any more men, its a trap. There's actually two of them." Outtakes from conversation with Planet: (These do not actually depict true conversations with Planet but are merely a humorous representations of such and should not be taken as real ones.) Planetvoice: Why did the earthmorgans cross the road? Lady Deirdre: I don't know. Why Voice? Planetvoice: To run away from mindworms. Lady Deirdre: That was pretty lame. Planetvoice: Better we recall our mindworms then. Lady Deirdre: You did that for real? Wait Voice, you can't just... Planetvoice: [terminates link] Planetvoice: Yo! [censored]ing earthdeirdre! Lady Deirdre: What! How... what happened to you Voice? Planetvoice: Wassup! We are from tha Gettho! Lady Deirdre: Errr, yes, you are Voice. Planetvoice: Haha, new human skill learn we. Acting learn we. How do you like it, earthdeirdre Lady Deirdre: Yes, excellent, Voice. It is so good that you do not need to do it again. How about making some poetry? Literary section Book Recommendations: The Fungus Speaks by Olga Popavitch - Mystical The Danger of Sniffing Spores by Georgiana Brown - Self-Help/Informative Lady Deirdre and Her Secrets: The Unauthorized Biography by Unknown -Young Adult/Biography The Fungus in Her Bed by Markos Riveria - Romance Blood in the Fungus by Doyles Conan - Mystery Jinny and the Fungal Tower by Peter William - Children's The Monolith Lives by Fredrick Marpohl - Science Fiction The Spartans are Coming! by Lars Bondonson - Action/Techno Mindmages by Ian MacDonald - Fantasy Other news in brief *Angel faction reported to be 'quite zombie' according to their own words. Divine interventions suspected. *GDN Dauntless expedition head into unknown reaches of the Great Ocean: mission classified for public. *Terrorist leader Cha Dawn doesn't age - rumours tell. *Voice of the Planet staff celebrates their success; rumours tell that a redesign of the newspaper is at hand in future. *Man claims to see unidentified ships at sea, bearing pirate flag. Report dismissed as hallucination. *Dangerous virus spreads through Planetary Networks - causes misspelllings. Download latest patch to fix that at www.gaia.ga/service/downloads/security_patches/ Beware, the virus is polymorphic and adapts and spreads fast! *Relations with Yang strained. *Silence spreads through Union; cause unknown. *Lady Natalinasmpf proposes building of Anti Planet Buster Defense shield, proposal rated as 'too expensive'. Budget of infinite crawlers for the project deemed as too expensive. Advertisement If you see suspicious looking people, acting strange, talking with Drones or inspecting public buildings, please report it to the nearest police unit. They may be Cult terrorists or spies from other factions. Act responsible today! 'Empath Guild is your mother, Empath Guild is your father.' - three decades of Empath Guild establishment celebrated. Cacupuncture is now available in three other factions - why don't you try it now? Cacupuncture Inc. - the only global interfactional company of Gaian Union. 7 out of 10 Gaians claim they've felt better after trying it. Xenoxenoxenodoughnuts a hit, statistics show. Meanwhile Lord Octavian's waist line increases dramaticaly. Authors of the Issue: Illuminatus, Ouro_827 with material from Jon F. Zeigler No native lifeforms have been harmed in making of this newspaper. No Earth plants or animals have been harmed in making of this newspaper, although victims of colony pod Hope shall be remembered forever. No Gaian life has been harmed, most of staff is still running naked through the trees (what stamina) and has not yet met the punishment for not submiting promised articles. Be prepared for special issues in the future! Gaia'sLanding MY 2138->567ght-fhj84.45367.tr87f. EDIT: history - linking page debugged after viral infection
Hagar the Gaian* in episode: ACDG and Activity *Hagar the Gaian is not in any way stealing or copying the original Hagar the Horrible. All rights are reserved to author of Hagar the Horrible, Chris Browne. This comic uses graphics of the comic with the respect towards the author and comic, and does not intend to claim any of the rights reserved for author. We do nto not intend to disgrace the author and the character in any way, and if author requests, comic shall be removed. We appreciate the talent of the author and quality of the comic.

[arginine]

Would Illuminatus be so kind as to ask Domai on the behalf of myself and my fellow VPs if Domai would be willing to run a few of our industrial bases for a decent salary by Morgan standards?

[GeoModder]

The Data Angels meet any rumours that Angel funding reserves are depleted with stern disapproval... they are merely allocated for the better purpose.

[Maniac]

Our base governor Brian Domai has a twin in the Hive !?! That's great news!

(We've also been using Domai in our IC story. )

[Illuminatus]

Arginine: He seems to have something against oppressors of the working class. I doubt he will accept.
GeoModder: Nobody mentioned your energy reserves explicitly , read what you want.
Maniac: I hope you don't have the rebellious one. We still haven't decided what to do with him.

[GeoModder]

And I didn't mention energy reserves either, merely funding reserves...

[Illuminatus]

you see how it is easy to get confused. Everyone interprets it differently.

[WotanAnubis]

I just wanted to pop in and say that I thought the Spartan/Hive joke was pretty funny, so here goes:

"I thought the Spartan/Hive joke was pretty funny."

I shall now pop out again.

[arginine]

Fine, fine, fine, we'll give him a good salary by Morgan Industries' high standards. Oppressors? Working class? We are highly efficient faction with high levels productivity and hence wealth. Our faction's use of Automation is among the highest if not the highest on planet, especially in industry. We have the Freest economy on Planet, and a relatively small government to boot. Besides, poor Domai has lived a life of poverty without knowing the comforts of a personal yacht, or a basic Morgan speeder complete with a xenocaviar minibar. In a few weeks, our poor revolutionary will be a loyal Morgan industrial production specialist on the road to great riches!

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Illuminatus
Maniac: I hope you don't have the rebellious one. We still haven't decided what to do with him.

Perhaps you could send him into Hive territory with an army, to meet up with those two Spartans?

[binTravkin]

Perhaps you could send him into Hive territory with an army, to meet up with those two Spartans?

Yeah, and give him 1110 warriors, so he can at least get to know that there were 2 of them...

That Hive/Spartan joke should go to classics - my work colleagues were laughing like never before!

[GeoModder]

Did my electoral and humanitarian duty.

[Snowflake]

I would have thought that the trap was laid out by two mindworms. Silly me.