The One Faith
Betrayed by his brother Gull, Guola was once a powerful Kyru elder who served in the council. As part of a greater plot, Gull secretly dealt with individuals who conspired against Ascherzon after knowledge of his obtaining an alien artifact known as the Shard of Absolution, and later on as the Blade of Azkazar.
Guola was not a well-known, or well-respected council member. He was one of many that were overshadowed by the looming darkness brought on by Zunn`Loadun's prophecy and startling intentions to correct it. Ascherzon and others directly opposed this act, while members such as Guola abstained or remained neutral in their stance, either unable to conceive of an action or too overwhelmed by the circumstances.
In any case, little was known about Guola, other then that he was supposedly Gull's brother. The exact nature of his death was unknown, but it left a vast region of ley energy, energy released by his death, in a distant corner of the Abyss. For aeons the energy remained dormant, but something would stir within its depths.
Once the Kyru collapsed into civil war incited by Mal`Ash, and used the Soulshards he had conveniently littered about the capitol city, the vast powers released by these warring scholars would be amplified through the artifacts they wielded as weapons and projected across the Abyss. This energy reacted with the dormant energy of Guola's remains. Twisting it, changing it. Fueled by emotion, the confused and maddened Kyru brought themselves to their knees and it wasn't long before their entire race was obliterated in the conflict. Using Soulshards to conjure mystical armies of beasts and demons, the Kyru fought enormous battles across the Abyss. By creating life, and destroying it, time and time again, they released the energy of life across the Abyss. For a people once so calm and conserved, they were truly fearsome warriors and tyrants.
Guola as we know it today was born by this energy. Changed in ways that the surviving Kyru couldn't understand, the energy formed a massive nebulae in the backdrop of their dying war. For a tremendous amount of time, even after the birth of Creation itself, the nebulae simply grew. It was known as the Great Undying, because it, at least at the time, seemed to draw strength from nothing. At the birth of Creation's dawn, the Great Undying was already a far more vast entity than the material plane later to become the focus of the survivor's efforts.
In truth, the Great Undying had been born almost exclusively out of the Kyru's own emotions. It was created at a time of absolute strife and personal gratification. Although it lacked the sense to be called a true intelligence, Guola had returned to life. He lacked a body or even a consciousness, but his energy was very much alive. The souls and life force released by the now long-gone Kyru Soulshard armies had been sucked into it by its growing influence. All those who died by particularly painful or hateful means, and there were many, were also absorbed. Kyru, and mortals, except for those killed by Mal`Ash.
Guola had yet to gain any sense of self, but it possessed vast memories. Memories of its past life and memories of those it had absorbed. With these memories came the wisdom of technology, science, and the elements of the Abyss.
The souls within the Great Undying were subjected to horrors beyond imagination. A literal real-life Hell. Consumed by their final moments for an eternity, they reflected complete and total madness. As Creation aged and the mortal races were born and waged their own wars, they further fueled the Great Undying. Perhaps even moreso, as Mortal minds were young and extremely easily to absorb. Guola's sentience was limited to simply the need to grow. And grow it did.
Then, there was a turning point. The First Generation of Undead awoke. The name Undead comes from the remaining Kyru who felt the return of Guola's presence to the Abyss, Ascherzon included. For a long time they had known of the Great Dying's existence but never felt threatened by it. Until now.
The Crusaders
Guola had been twisted by the powers of outside more than anyone would know. The constant conflicts and emotional outbursts of Kyru and mortal races alike fueled the Great Undying to awaken. The souls within it, tormented for countless ages, awoke as well.
Amongst the madness and the pain, there were three figures who stood out. Figures who held exceptionally powerful links to Guola. Perhaps they were Kyru, or perhaps they were Anahn. The most well-known was Jhaden, the Crimson Crusader. They weren't initially known as Crusaders, but the title came fairly quickly once the Undead awoke.
While Kyru civilization was destroyed there were a few who remained, called Wanderers, that still possessed Soulshards and the ability to fabricate armies. The Crusaders began hunting these individuals down, influenced by Guola's desire to grow. With the awakening of additional consciousnesses within its fold, Guola's mind quickly grew, like a child newly acquainted to the world around him. It was a learning process, twisted and demented. Guola quickly learned to hate the "living", those who lingered beyond its sensations, those with emotions yet unfettered. It sought out those it could immediately sense, the Kyru Wanderers, and threw its Crusaders and mass of demonic followers after them.
Although such numbers would seem laughable later on, the billions of Undead first-generation ships that appeared within the Great Dying were something to behold. At the time they were very small and weak, but they had established something necessary - Undead technology - and they started hunting down Wanderers.
Despite being relatively small and weak, these first-generation Undead ships had an advantage that no one else had. Immortality. The Undead were a chaotic and reckless war machine who gladly threw themselves at their enemies for a chance to incite pain and terror. If destroyed, they would return to the Great Undying and be reincarnated by their eternal link to Guola. It didn't matter how they were destroyed, they would always return. The energy used to fabricate their ships was nothing compared to the endless potential of the Great Undying, fueled by wars and emotions that still burned in Creation.
The greatest moment for Guola would be, however, the Anahn civil war. A four thousand year feast that fed the Great Undying with so many souls it burned with untold power and expanded with incredible rapidity. From the dying Anahn Guola learned the art of war in its purest, most primal form. The first-generation Undead fleet was cannibalized and gave rise to the true Undead force - the Second-generation fleet.
The Black Squadron
The second-generation fleet wasn't so much a single fleet as it was a composition of fleets. Innumerably large, this vast force quickly radiated outwards and gained control of a large portion of the Abyss. Undead holed up inside long-abandoned Kyru monuments and began attempting to plunder secrets yet unspoken of the God-race. With Guola still in a state of chaos, its mind was unable to properly access the memories it held. Sometimes they came to it in fleeting glimpses of knowledge - Undead Energy-metal, for example; other times it was almost prophetic visions, a result of its Kyru heritage. These visions came repeatedly and were felt within the entire Great Undying. The visions gave glimpse to a future of total death and decay, a world of eternal flame and everlasting madness. To the Undead, it was glorious.
So was born the One Faith. Guola chose its three Crusaders to be its eyes and ears and, to an extent, its generals as well. The Crusaders built a fleet of highly advanced warships, aptly named the Crusaders. While not every Crusader was manned by such a figure, they gave the impression that the Crusaders were anywhere and everywhere.
The creation of the Crusader superships was something that, unlike other Undead vessels, took time. Additionally, during this period, Guola was creating a Third-Generation super fleet, but it would not be ready for several thousand years.
While the Anahn war burned on, many fleets formed within the Undead ranks. Awakening Undead and newcomers alike were bound to the spiritual power of the demon machine. Every vessel housed a single occupant soul and a tiny portion of the fury of the Abyss. One fleet in particular became well-known amongst the Wanderers - The Black Squadron.
The Black Squadron was the largest and most powerful of all Undead fleets and was commanded by a select group of brilliant genius tyrant souls forced into service by Guola. Additionally, it held a large number of Priests, incredibly powerful prophetic figures that began to spread the word of the One Faith.
"Eternal circle,
Life through death,
Peace through purgatory,
Power through purity,
Meaning through faith."
Although there were many passages, each spoke the same story - The living must die if they were to reach eternal nirvana, or "heaven", and realize their true potential as entities of existence. Fighting was futile; the Undead couldn't die, and they would eventually win.
Fighting was something few races had the power to do. Before the rise of the Scitor, Undead fleets that penetrated Creation went without opposition. Upon the Scitor's rise, the Undead retracted for a time, occupied with events in the Abyss.
During this, the Undead received a huge boost of power. An emotion of pain so strong that Guola stirred in its restless sleep.
The Myrookk. An Anahn faction, countless lives killed in a single act. Their power was so great a boost that it instantly created a corrupted Anahn Undead fleet. Thirsty for revenge, the Myrookk hurled themselves back into creation and after the Anahn. The following battle served to fuel Guola even further.
At the end of the Battle of the Jordan, while the Anahn declared themselves victor and survivor, Guola was very much pleased with how events had turned out. Its fleets were stronger than ever, and the time had come to awaken the third-generation fleet.
Events elsewhere in Creation brought Guola's attention around, however. The Zegredark, a race it had been keeping an eye on, and their blasphemous creator, Ascherzon, were about to embark on a perilous quest. The time had come to pick these plants of their carefully-laden fruit, and seal the final chapter of history.
Faith Eternal
Undead Faith is unshakable. Eternally bound to the Great Undying, no matter how insane or how calculated a demon may be, his quest is selfless and without pause.
Undead primarily employ the Deimos element in their weapons; the crimson fire of destruction. Deimos produces an immense amount of radiation unique to its element, and even small space-born Deimos weapons can typically deal significant damage to planets or stars if not completely vaporize them. But Undead Deimos is not impure, it is amongst the most perfected techniques known to modern science. There are few defenses that can withstand the assault of any demon vessel for long.
Undead ships appear as though they made of liquid metal that is highly reflective, reflecting stars and nebula and things around them with crystal clarity that is then distorted by heat-like waves of psionic motion around them. Their armor pulses with bright red veins at random intervals, and they produce an aura of strange light around their frames. They are completely solid objects except for the largest of ships which have small commanding chambers for their demon masters should they have bodies.
They are comprised of a curious energy-metal element unlike anything Templar science has ever encountered, and the nature of which remains vastly misunderstood. They are massless except in motion, and their bodies can absorb an unlimited amount of heat (Deimos weapons are completely ineffective against them, as are traditional energy weapons), and highly resilient against elements such as Proteus. As strange as it may seem, they are mostly vulnerable to kinetic weapons, but it takes large-scale weaponry such as the Anahn to deal significant enough damage to harm them. Proteus interacts with their energy-metal and destabilizes it, but the larger the Undead ship and the more focused its psionic image, the more Proteus is needed to destabilize.
When damaged, Undead ships quickly regenerate their bodies. An Undead vessel that is even almost totally destroyed may yet regenerate to full capacity again, and within minutes. They have no critical systems such as power cores, ammunition, engines, or bridges except for their pointy bits. As long as their psionic image remains stable they have the potential to fully repair.
The most notable feature of demon vessel is their pointiness. All Undead ships bear a plethora of claws, talons, spikes, and jagged edges. These are not simply for show. They are almost always weapon platforms, and symmetrical rows of spikes may indicate the vessel's extremely powerful psi-drives that allow it to 'swim' through space. Such drives enable Undead warships to achieve speeds up to the speed of light without entering subspace, although they are readily capable of making very quick psionic-based jumps across any amount of distance. They are also immensely maneuverable - even many of the largest of Undead vessels can turn extremely quickly, as they are unbound by gravity or mass, only limited by their psionic potential which can become stressed across so large an influence when in a intense situation.
The other spikes typically focus Deimos weaponry. They appear as though motes of crimson fire originate at the base of the spike and collect to the front of the tip, becoming increasingly bright, to form an orb that then either emits a beam, a pulse, or lightning. These weapons are typically medium-ranged; Small 1-2km Undead artillery ships have an effective engagement range of about 300 million KM, while larger artillery have ranges exceeding interstellar lengths, though they typically do not engage at such long distances because they prefer close combat in the face of their enemy to provoke the strongest emotional responses.
Some Undead ships possess "Dread" elemental weaponry. These weapons are incredibly destructive and have the added attribute of saturating the vicinity with potent high-wavelength psionic energy that can be accessed by other demons or even Guola itself. Dread is tied to the elemental compounds making up the Great Undying itself as well as the Undead mental link.
Although most first and second-generation Undead ships are not a match for higher-end vessels of races such as the Zegredark or the Zelconian, the Undead have the advantage in numbers. Their fleets are enormously large, and they have many fleets. It is rare for all the fleets to engage one target, though. In the event an Undead ship is destroyed, the spirit returns to the Great Undying and its body can typically be rebuilt within a few minutes. When they want to, the Undead can relentlessly swarm a target until it is destroyed, even if it takes thousands of Undead vessels to kill a single enemy one; a trade the Undead gleefully accept.
The Undead's zeal can often be capitalized and used against them, but they seem to know this, and care little in any case.
Fourth-gen Undead
Fourth-gen Undead will be present in this conversion but I am not ready to talk about those yet.
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