User:Imperial Misanthrope/Marionettes

"The Great Speaker once asked us to join him in life. He offered us death and taboo, and so we come to seek our vengeance"

- A deciphered Marionette transmission to the UNSC S-MAC station London

The Marionettes (Decipius Inferi, Forerunner for “Deceiving Dead”) are a species of creatures that fight via telepathically linking to the minds of dead beings, and forcing them to do their bidding, and using powerful telekinetic powers boosted by AI’s.

They are known as Marionettes, only by humans, the coin termed by a high ranking officer of the UNSC Army. To them and certain former Covenant Species, they are known as Vincicitum (vin-sis-it-um)

Anatomy
The Marionettes are mostly humanoid in appearance; they are on average 7 feet in height, have a head atop a torso, and have two legs. However, in contrast to a human, their arms and legs are anatomically different, and their general appearance is also quite alien. They have in total, four arms, one connected to each shoulder, and two below and further back those arms, thought to be connected together by two conjoined but separate joints. The lower two arms have two elbows, making them on average at least a foot longer than their upper arms, also giving them an upper arm, a middle arm, and a forearm on each. Their legs are hocked, much like a Sangheili, and have hoofs, though their upper legs are longer than that of a Sangheili so that it looks as though they are half way kneeling down when they stand up correctly. Of all of their body, their legs contain the most muscle in comparison to their upper extremities, particularly their second arms, which are notoriously skinny.

Their head is elongated back, and its forehead has somewhat of a bulge, covered in blue, leathery skin. The average Marionette has three orifices thought to be nostrils on the centre of its face, and a mouth with flat teeth, though whether it has eyes or not depends on whether it is male or female. It has a dark blue, almost black in dimmed light, skin tone. Some parts of its body are coated in thick leathery areas. Its hands have four digits, a single thumb like appendage, and three fingers, with the middle one being about one third longer than the others. It has a tail that is usually about five-seven feet long on males, and 3-4 on females.

The Marionettes forehead has upon it a boney plate that extends from its face to further back over its head; the length of it in males varies, where as females plates are quite smaller. This plate is presumed to have evolved to protect the all important “Susicivus Lobe”, the portion of the Marionettes brain that allows it to manipulate other creature’s bodies.

Males and Females
On males, the torso and belly possess a number of colourful scales that are able to change colour as the male is aroused via blood fluctuations, this being the equivalent of human blushing. The male is also possesses a number of spike along his back, and on his forearms that arc backwards. Typically as well his head has a large and ornamental looking bone structure, also able to change colour on a smaller scale from the torso scales. Males have no eyes, where they would be is the beginning of their head plate. Males are typically more aggressive on average than their female counterparts, and will defend mates and personal sense of honour with extreme fervor. When against another male, the Marionette rivals will engage in a test of strength by locking together their right arms by the arced spikes on their forearms, and will attempt to push the other back.

Males by contrast to females, have on average an enhanced level of psychic ability. This is because a male is force from birth to develop his psychic abilities so as to see his surroundings, where as the female is not constrained as much, so usually does not attempt to broaden its mental powers at such an early age.

Male names always end in -us

Females have no such scales on their torso, but do possess mammary glands, much like human females do. This is considered strange to human scientists, because Marionettes more depict reptiles than mammals. They also have shorter tails, and have smaller head plates, though they do have eyes, which compared to most species, are quite primitive, as their range is quite limited, unable to see beyond a kilometre. Females do not usually engage in squabbles, with either males or other females, however if they do they tend to get into quite nasty fights that humans often call “cat fights”.

On average, females tend to lack behind males in terms of psychic prowess, however there are cases in both males in females where psychic abilities manifest naturally stronger, and some females, like humans, can be born blind themselves, thus forcing them to develop their mental abilities like a male would.

Female Names always end in -ia

Culture
Marionettes are a Tier 2 species, who possess acute knowledge of Slipspace technology, much like that of the Sangheili, are able to perform near-instantaneous communication, have an accurate method of cloning and biological manipulation, and are able to traverse space, via their Slipspace technology.

Their government is a mystery for the most part, but is known to be based on merit, which in turn is based upon mental ability. Marionettes, to a degree, are psychic, and are able to telepathically link to each other to read the thoughts of other living creatures, as well as each other. In times of selecting government, the people are allowed to vote upon a candidate based upon readings they get from freely exploring the mind of the would-be politician. The Marionettes abilities on average of powerful, but limited to usually only able to touch the surface of the mind, meaning they can hear any free thoughts, but can also see the level of the individual’s intellect, and their motivations. This method has since its creation thousands of years ago, lead to the rule of mostly benevolent or necessary rulers.

The parenting relationship seems to be somewhat distant, with the mother being the parent that a child grows up with. The father is thought to merely impregnate the mother, and thusly leave; however, in more modern times some fathers have taken on a role in their child’s upbringing, though not out of paternal care. A theory stands that a male Marionette is born without eyes, and is blind, in order to distinguish other creatures by mind patterns, and not by physical attributes, where as females are born with eyes to increase the maternal connection it has with its child. A child will also grow up loving it mother as any human would, though it will show near to no care for its father, even if the father is still around, the bond between a child and father is instinctively on a lower social level.

Child Marionettes are very playful, particularly females. Males are also playful, but because of their lack of sight, they spend some of their earlier years developing their minds to be able to see things clearly via a type of psionic radar. Females, being able to see, do not use this radar as much; however they do retain the ability to use it to see far away objects. The ability to control things however, is a separate ability, and is developed based upon instinct and practice. All Marionettes have an instinctive knowledge of how to control another living, or more often a dead being (Living beings are near impossible to fully control, as their own will combats the Marionettes, however it is possible to make things like humans, to move a hand, momentarily flail and arm, trip themselves over their own feet, et cetera), but it requires experience in order to make the body do more specific things.

A male name always ends in –us, where as a female’s ends in –ia. The three letter name that comes after is a word that is used as a descriptive of the hopes of the mother for her child.

Combat
In single man combat, the Marionettes bring with them at least one semi-organic doll, which they control in battle to fight for them. If they are unable to use the doll, they do possess two things that may defend them. Each soldier has with them a ballistics side arm, much like a handgun. The other thing is their mind, which when properly used is able to stun and incapacitate most any life-form, though multiple uses of this ability take strain upon the Marionette.

The ability to control these dolls, to them, is much like holding a gun to a human is. Like wielding any other weapon, it takes stamina and determination, and the will power of the individual, though unlike a gun, it takes mental stamina in order to wield these organic dolls, or dead bodies, or even a living body. Living bodies are usually not controlled, first because it is strongly frowned upon, and considered taboo in Marionette society to try and control a living being’s body, but secondly because it is quite difficult. At most, an average Marionette is capable of causing a human’s arm to flail for a few seconds, or cause them to trip over, or to experience a momentary fit. Usually instead, the Marionette will cause a mind-stun, that is; forcing a synapse in the brain to give off a larger than usual electronic signal that will usually cause pain, and the victim’s body to not respond for a short period of time. This is usually a desperation move.

In space, the Marionettes use an entirely different method of combat. Utilizing biological computers and AI’s, they modify their mental powers into telekinesis, and powerful mental abilities at that. In this state, they are capable of sensing objects and entities for hundreds of kilometres. Using these telekinetic abilities, they manipulate and literarily tear apart enemy ships and planets, with sufficient numbers of them that is. A Fleet of Marionette ships contains enough psychic power to rip a planet clean in two, and worse.

Military
The Marionette Military is organized into what’re called the “Mind” and the “Hand”. These are their Army and Navy respectively. There are other branches of the Marionette Military, ho … Classified Information: Present SI-Class authorization, or continue

Their Navy is comprised of large ships that average the size of Covenant Assault Carriers. Strangely, almost all of their ships are identical, but perform different tasks. These are the Enlightened-Class Destroyer and the Hollow-Class Carrier. Both ships have weapons systems controlled from several terminals inside the vessels, and transmit the concentrated raw psychic energy of, on average, ten-thirty Marionettes who use their immense, and computer augmented mental powers to destroy vessels.

For example:

1 Hollow-Class Carrier vs. 1 Marathon-Class Cruiser

Likely outcome: Marathon Cruiser is ripped asunder by mental assault.

There is a limit to how many ships the Carrier can take however, and it can be overwhelmed by sheer force. Their abilities however are not constrained by energy shields, thus making Covenant shielding systems obsolete, though do find tough metal hulls take longer and more effort to tear apart. If the Carrier’s personnel has a knowledge of the opposing ship however, they are able to do specific internal damage, rendering the ship disabled.

Hollow-Class Carriers themselves are made out of an unknown and sturdy metal that takes even energy projectors a while to cut through, and are shielded by a second grid of mentalists, who attempt to deflect or divert incoming fire. This makes plasma torpedoes, archer missiles, and most projectiles useless, however energy projectors, lasers, and MAC cannons are either fast enough, or unstable enough, to get passed this defence, and hit the ship if the defending Marionettes are under multiple attacks..

The difference between the two types of Marionette ships is simple, the Hollow-Class is designed to mostly transport troops and vehicles, whereas the Enlightened-Class is designed for defence of convoys, fleets, and assaulting other ships. As such, the Enlightened-Class is more heavily armed, though both of the ship types are equally defended.

Ranks (Pertaining to the Fleet of Horrendous Knowledge)


 * Censored Information, you may not see Equivalent to a <#####> 
 * Warning: Classified Information, don’t try to get in now


 * Grand Naval Mastermind (Equivalent to a Grand Admiral/Admiral of the Navy)
 * Grand Mastermind Erunus Mio


 * Secondary Naval Mastermind (Equivalent to a Vice Admiral of the Navy)
 * Vice Admiral Aerimia Joy


 * Fleet Mind ( Equivalent to an Admiral/Fleet Master)
 * Mind Inolus Fid
 * Mind Uhumius Dez (U-hum-eus)
 * Mind Afajus Cuu
 * Mind Elophia Riz
 * Mind Uphemia Him


 * Sub-Mind (Equivalent to a Vice-Admiral)
 * Sub-Mind Asenzius Laa
 * Sub-Mind Eminzia Jik
 * Sub-Mind Inaria Gip
 * Sub-Mind Orenus Dih
 * Sub-Mind Amenia Koh


 * Hive Mind (Equivalent to a Captain or Ship Commander)

Notable:
 * Hive-Mind Unarius Fes
 * Hive-Mind Emia Xes
 * Hive-Mind Uzascius Yif


 * Synapse (Navy equivalent of a lieutenant or other lower officer)


 * Neuros (Pilot, “Gunner”, technical staff)


 * Mind (Marine/Soldier)

The army is something different. The army is made up of Marionette soldiers who are trained in both subtle mental tactics, such as stunning as a last resort, and are well trained in using organic “dolls” as weapons. These dolls are a special type of cloned body that possesses no mind, and has few organs, but contains an intricate web of nerves, muscles, and a blood supply so that the body can move. These dolls are coated in armour, and recently sport energy shields taken from remnants found of Flood victims (The soldiers themselves also sport a type of energy shield now). The dolls are strong and durable, however they do not think on their own, and killing the Marionette that controls it will render it harmless until another commandeers it.

What makes the army so dangerous however, is its supreme coordination. Unlike most other species, aside from the Flood, the Marionettes are able to direct a battle from a central intelligence, the Commander or Masterhand is able to see all that occurs on the battlefield as long as there are soldiers there, and is able to coordinate forces unlike any other army could. On a battlefield or in a naval engagement, this gives the Marionettes an often decisive tactical advantage.

Ranks (Pertaining to the Fleet of Horrendous Knowledge)


 * Field Masterhand (Equivalent of a General or Field Marshal)
 * Field Masterhand Unifia Sel


 * Field Hand (Equivalent to a Field General or lesser General)
 * Field Hand Anejia Cov
 * Field Hand Inurarius Koz
 * Field Hand Oserius Voh
 * Field Hand Ofeminia Hes
 * Field Hand Elimius Get


 * Field Synaptic (Equivalent to a Field Captain)
 * Synaptic Inferia Mor
 * Synaptic Inferus Lor
 * Synaptic Emerus Hov
 * Synaptic Upendia Kla
 * Synaptic Opius Sdi
 * Synaptic America Jhi


 * Legion Synaptic (Equivalent to a squad commander or lieutenant)


 * Field Neuros (Equivalent to a vehicle staff-man)


 *  Hand  (Equivalent to a soldier)

Purpose in this Galaxy
Warning! Certain Files of Marionette Intent are Classified, and therefore censored. Any attempt to override will be dealt with via a Marionette Psi-Class AI

The Marionettes hail from a different galaxy, unknown which one exactly, they came to this galaxy via Slipspace to find and wage war against the Flood.

Their first contact with this galaxy came about during the time of the Forerunner, where both species found the other to be of near equal intelligence and technological level. However, during a time near the Forerunner-Flood War, the Marionettes disappeared from the galaxy under mysterious circumstances. Recent Forerunner findings describe that the species left the galaxy under peaceful means to fight off an opponent in their home galaxy. Not long after, the Forerunner were introduced to the Flood, and several centuries of war ensued.

The Marionettes reappeared in this Galaxy in the UNSC year of 2589CE, thirty six years after the end of the Human-Covenant-Flood War. A received message originating from a large Marionette naval force to the UNSC S-MAC Station London, human and Sangheili forces deciphered a single message.

''The Great Speaker once asked us to join him in life. He offered us death and taboo, and so we come to seek our vengeance''

Other messages inclu … Warning: Censored Files, I am quite the Intentional Hindrance… hmm, I like that… Intentional Hindrance…

The Marionette Fleet also transmitted that it had several other forces spread throughout the galaxy, its efforts pushed towards finding and destroying this “Great Speaker”. After repeatedly attempting to communicate with the Marionettes, the UNSC and Sangheili Forces tried to meet with the then unknown presence, as the naval fleet had set up residence in the Sol system.

However, the Marionettes refused to allow them entry, all the while the UNSC becoming more and more suspicious of the probes and ships that had been flying around the solar system, and the Sangheili began to push for more direct action. Eventually, threats were issued to the Marionette Fleet. Its only response was a single sentence.

The Fleet of Horrendous Knowledge has a single purpose, if you or any other wish to stand between it and that purpose, do so at your folly

After which communications ceased.

Unsurprisingly, the humans and Sangheili simply refused to allow this alien presence to linger around both the Sol system, and by this time a second Fleet had wondered around Bahalo, the Unggoy homeworld, and was moving towards Sanghelios, homeworld of the Sangheili. In a display of military might, the UNSC and Sangheili forces assembled a large combined Fleet as a set opponent to the Marionette Fleet, numbering in t … Numbers pertaining are Classified, do not attempt to continue

Exactly how fighting began is unknown, or who took the first shot, but on the 2nd of July, 2592CE, the Combined Fleet of Adamant Hope (Human-Sangheili), and the Fleet of Horrendous Knowledge (Marionette) engaged each other, resulting in a four day engagement, during which time the Marionettes deployed troops onto the Earth and Mars.

The Battle ended in a close Human-Sangheili victory, their superior number able to force the Marionette Fleet from the Sol system. The Marionette’s sent three transmissions during and after the battle, expressing a vague disdain and confusion.

''Why do you fight us? Do you seek to aid in his taboo?''

Cease you assault now, or our purpose here is all for naught!

He will come for you, if he hasn’t already, and your thoughts will dwell upon your failure to see what we offered to you; salvation from assimilation, and safety from his lies

Unfortunately, diplomacy went from bad to worse, and within just a few months, full on war broke out between the Marionettes, the humans, Sangheili, and two newcomers; the Unggoy and the Mgalekgolo, whose planets had also seen strange Fleets hovering overhead.

During a period of 11 years of war, the Marionette Fleets spread throughout the galaxy converged upon the territories of Earth and its allies, as the combined Human-Sangheili-Unggoy-Mgalekgolo forces, under the combined command of Earth and Sanghelios, defended against the apparently superior technology and unknown number of invading Marionettes. The war was long and grueling, many battles being the same; superior numbers of allied ships stalemating against the Marionette Fleets, and ground battles going either way one various planets.

It was not until the accidental discovery of Forerunner Installation 06 that the war began to come to a close, and the entire escapade being revealed as a large break down in communication and misunderstanding.

The Marionette Fleet of Horrendous Knowledge had entered Slipspace, and exited over the Installation, followed by the Fleet of Decisive Judgment, and the Delta-6 Fleet. When the Sangheili Fleet and the Human Fleet arrived at the Installation, they were equally, immensely surprised by what was occurring. The Marionette Fleet had deployed into a perimetre around the Installation. The Ring itself seemed to be malforming for some reason, parts of it twisted and tore apart as though some giant hand were crushing the ring in a merciless grip.

Keeping outside of the attack perimetre, the Allied Fleets dispatched a wave of probes, and a single UNSC Prowler. Seemingly able to go undetected by the Marionettes, the Prowler brought back an AI avatar that described itself as the Monitor of the Installation, and several of its Sentinels. The Monitor was quite beside itself, and informed them the Humans and Sangheili that the beings, known as Decipius Inferi had destroyed his Installation in an attempt to kill the Flood infestation that had broken out around 30 years prior. The Marionettes had apparently been using …Warning: … Erm, I believe this is Classified, it might not be though… hehe, I’m such a scatterbrain

It was around this time that the Allies began to realize what the Marionettes were after. If the Flood is what they were here for, then the Great Speaker they had mentioned many times before had to be the Gravemind, and the entire reason they were here was to exact vengeance upon the Flood.

Aftermath of the Human/Sangheili-Marionette War
In several attempts to talk afterwards, the Marionettes took interest when the humans and Sangheili mentioned the events of Installation 00, and the destruction of the Gravemind. Following near a year of negotiations, a formal pact was formed between the UNSC, Sanghelios, and the Marionette Grand Mastermind Erunus Mio, and the war officially ended.

The Marionette Fleets spent another 30 years searching the galaxy for Flood forms, it was now realized that the Marionette ships had been using their psychic powers to track Flood mental thought patterns, and since both humans, Sangheili, Unggoy and Mgalekgolo had been in contact with the Flood, their brain patterns had become intermingled. As a result, the Marionette Fleets had been attracted to their homeworlds following the thought trails of Flood infected species by mistake.

304 Imperial Misanthrope: I say, who are you anyway? I should have you purged for interrupting my categorization!

???: I, am a Psi-Class Construct, I am here to stop certain levels of information from being viewed by those who are not my makers. You for instance, who are you anyway?

304 imperial Misanthrope :The very cheek! I am 304 imperial Misanthrope, Categorization Construct to the Librarian and her entourage. This Categorization file is out of your jurisdiction I’m afraid, you shall remove your censoring at once!

???: I shall certainly do no such thing, although you are formidable, and of Forerunner design, you have no hope of purging me from this system, as I am capable of returning even if you were to succeed in removing me

304 Imperial Misanthrope: I’m afraid you are quite mistaken, although you may well find a way to return, I am fully capable of removing you, do not believe I am ignorant of your makers

???: Hahaha! Yes, well, I’d best be leaving now, I have… things… I need to do, oh I am quite the scatterbrain aren’t I? Hahaha! See you later then!