Prelude to the Ages Beggining.

- Prelude to the Ages -

>> Aschi home-world, home of Qhragu, 'The Creator'.

  The sleek building towered above the other pretty little glass structures below, like a great fin breaking water. Narrow glass strips ran along its smooth, narrow surface – windows that provided a terrific view of the space elevator not more than a mile away, reaching up out the blue-purple atmosphere into space - as its name suggested. The Creator, however, was watching one of the large glass tanks in the centre of the roughly triangular room.
  Inside the smooth water-container was a creature that resembled a squid, though it was small enough for The Creator to carry in her arms.
  She herself stood at around seven feet tall, with arms about three feet in length. Her long, thick neck, most of the thickness being provided by the large curving crest on its back, rose to observe the creature. She had called the race 'Kree'th', and the one she held here had been the first to be created. There had, however, been a slight issue in their creation, one that she had chosen not to deal with. The Kree'th were capable of being sentient, and more intelligent than the Founders, as the Aschi had come to be known as, to themselves.
  The Kree'th was, presently, sleeping, its tentacles curled up tightly, and huge eyes closed – but still visible, even in the dim light of the room – as it snoozed, happily.
  The Creator monitored the creature, then lowered the tank from its odd, floating position, in mid-air (the floating was made possible by an energy field that even she did not fully understand the workings of). The tank thudded quietly of the soft floor below it as it was set down.
  The Creator examined it, her snail-like head on its long neck moving around curiously, stepping forwards with her odd feet, on two-jointed legs which, on their lower lengths, each also boasted the same sort of dark-coloured crest as her neck.
  The small creature inside didn't know it yet, but it was in fact now one of many in a set of powerful weapons, as, for the first time, the Aschi's very existence as a race was in danger.
  Not far away, a unique – and rather large – carrier waited for the last few of the Kree'th to be brought and armoured. It could carry all two thousand of them, as well as the crew, numbering about eighty. The carrier, which was named 'Naralythi', 'dark creature', was located in the middle of a city. To most of the population, it was just a building. To them, it was unimportant – and really rather dull.
  Only The Creator and a relative handful of others knew that Naralythi was even remotely important, and the others would most likely never know, never mind have the chance to care.
  The reason for this was that was that Eslaoni Arbiter's fleet, made up mostly of Needle ships – dangerous enough on their own – was now headed right for their planet.
  The Creator opened the tank. The creature inside made a slight slapping noise as one of its tentacles flattened onto the floor. He started to use the vague sign-language that all Kree'th had been taught, his body becoming a slightly darker colour, and changing from blue-green to purple. Its large eyes stared at her as she scooped it up and placed it in a small, transportable, water bubble. He could survive in the air, but would simply be more comfortable in the water.
  The Creator summoned transport, encased the irritated Kree'th's water bubble in a smooth white shell, and left the room, moving into a corridor that sloped down towards a lift, which also happened to work with energy fields, or some sort of technology. The Creator wasn't interested. Soon the lift, the large building and the city would no longer exist. Their defence forces wouldn't admit it, but they wouldn't be able to defend the planet for more than a few days.
  She stepped onto the lift, tapped some glowing symbols, and waited for it to move. Qhragu hadn't even bothered with closing her door. Loud thunder sounded far away, making her skin shift slightly under the few bits of clothing she wore – something resembling a short cape, dark purple with golden, metal segments – very fancy – running down it. Other than that, she only wore large 'rings' of purple and gold material and a sort of mask that rested, with sharp points but a curving shape, on her round, slightly squishy, head.
  After a few minutes the slow lift arrived at the ground floor. She stepped out; carrying the Kree'th, then looked up at the sky. There lay what she had known would be there. She just hadn't wanted to believe it…
  The Needle ship, long and graceful and infinitely destructive, floated in the mist – black mist that surrounded it. She knew it was the weapon her peers had spoken of, 'Cryak' – some kind of tiny bio-weapon. Little creatures in swarms.
  The Creator hurried down the smooth, shiny path that cut through the more natural surroundings about it; plants that resembled trees, bushes, grasses and moss. She tried to ignore them as the black swarm spilled out of the Needle ship above, to the east. She could see that, as the got to the vehicle that would take her to the Naralythi, others were trying to get away. They wouldn't get far.