Karlack Aspects

"That which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear." - Seth.
When one mentions The Karlack Swarm, one must mention the Aspects. They are the controllers of the Swarm, they command the vast armies of the Karlack and serve as diplomats and leaders. It is through their guidance that the Swarm is managed, their influence controls everything that happens on Karlack Worlds, every action that the Swarm takes, is done because an Aspect wills it so. The origin of many Aspects is unknown, but the natural conclusion is that they are created by the OVERMIND, and that each of them has a specific purpose. Although some suspect that to be wrong, as there are several Aspects, most notably Princess Alyxia Komnenos, who were once members of another species. To add another layer of mystery, the Karlack are always on the look out for ESP capable individuals, and they will go to great lengths to capture and infest them. Aspects come in many forms, some are humanoid, and some take different shapes - such as Araq, who in his current incarnation is a gigantic Brood Ship of untold power. Some have even changed their forms over the centuries, adapting to fulfill their current purpose more effectively. The exact number of Aspects in existence is unknown, as there are only a few that have made their existence known to the Galaxy. These few are rather unique individuals, hated by some, but feared by all.
==Seth==
"You have caused us great discomfort, little flea... And I feel inclined to scratch." - Seth.
There is one among the Aspects whose wisdom and intelligence are respected by all, he is the oldest among them, some even believe that he was the First to be created - His name is Seth and his origins are shrouded in mystery. He takes the form of a human in his fifties, although he is far older and has been around for thousands of years. He has grey hair and an equally gray beard, his bright blue eyes are one of his more prominent features. He is one of the more reclusive Aspects and as such he is rarely seen by others, he spends most of his time on the Karlack Homeworld of Jahannam, and only leaves it when he is forced to deal with something personally. In recorded history he has made only one appearance. When the Imperium and the Karlack War was at its worst and the fighting was done across several sectors, he appeared leading several Broods and accomplishing quite a few victories over the forces of the God Emperor.
However these few battles meant little in the greater scheme of things, and Seth seemed to have some other purpose other than wining the war, what that was remains unknown - as he retreated back to the Karlack Homeworld as soon as it was achieved. Seth is a mystery to most of his fellow Aspects as well, as he is the only Aspect who refuses to share his memories with the rest of the Swarm. Due to the fact that the memories of all Aspects are shared through the OVERMIND, how Seth manages to keep his private is a mystery and the reason some of his fellow Aspects are suspicious of him and some even fear him. Seth is quite intelligent, ruthless and charismatic and these suspicions do not worry him at all. Being the oldest, his influence on the Swarm is great and he is known to guide the actions of his fellow Aspects, to achieve his mysterious purposes. Although he has spent thousands of years in isolation, with the exception of events during the Imperium - Karlack wars, recently due to unknown reasons he has become more active in guiding the Swarm. He is by far one of the most powerful and influential Aspects, and the fact that he has become active yet again, is not good news for the Swarm's neighbor's.
==Princess Alyxia Komnenos==
"Wanna see something really scary?" - Alyxia.
She was once the daughter of the God Emperor Heraclius, a powerful psychic like her father and an extremely skillful and capable diplomat, she served her father and the Imperium with great fervor and youthful ambition. She started doing diplomatic work quite young, but her youth did not stop her from achieving her goals - in just a couple of years she had become the best diplomat the Imperium ever had, in no small part thanks to her great psychic prowess, and she did much to smooth out relations between the Imperium and other nations. Some speculated that much of her accomplishments were due to her great beauty, and a charm that was legendary among the galaxies diplomats. She was indeed a beautiful girl, her long black hair was said to have a hypnotic effect on some, and her dark eyes could gaze so deep into your very soul, that even the most composed of men could feel their head spin and their heart skip a beat. Few had the capability to realize that they were being manipulated by her psychic talents. This young women was destined for great things and she was the apple of her fathers eye, unfortunately destiny sometimes has a sick sense of humor.
During a rather important diplomatic mission, her ship was preyed on by pirates who took her hostage - when, in one of the universes greatest feats of irony, the pirates soon became prey themselves. They say that, no matter how big, bad and scary to others you may be, there is always something worse than you out there. In this case the worse was about as bad as it could get, the pirates fell prey to the Karlack Swarm.
Princess Alyxia was merely an accidental prize that the swarm claimed, and in a few moments her destiny was forever changed. She became a ruthless and terrifying Aspect of the Karlack Swarm. Her appearance didn't change much, at least on the outside. She was still every bit as beautiful as always, but her mind was now a part of the swarm. A mind whose ambition was amplified, intellect expanded, senses heightened - but its purpose was forever changed. Alyxia became something different, a fact her father would never accept, and the cause for the many wars waged against the Karlack, by the Imperium of Man. Alyxia took to her new role as an Aspect quite well, her humanity was gone, but it was replaced with something far more wondrous. She became one of the Karlack Swarms leading diplomatic Aspects and she excelled in the job. Extremely beautiful, with a playful personality and quite a seductive and sometimes intimidating approach, backed up by the awesome power of the Karlack Swarm, she was the kind of diplomat - it was hard saying no to.
==Araq==
"We all know this is going to end in violence. Let's just cut right to the good stuff." - Araq.
An Aspect created for one purpose and one purpose only, to destroy the enemies of the Karlack Swarm. Araq is a giant creature with an almost triangular shape, covered with a thick layer of what appear like black scales and other strangely shaped protrusions on its outer surface. Some of which are suspected weapons, but the exact nature of these protrusions remains undetermined as there are very few survivors of an encounter with the creature.
Several kilometers in length, Araq is easily one of the largest mobile creatures of the swarm. He possesses immense fire power in his gigantic shape and has proven capable of obliterating entire fleets of ships on his own. He has also on more than one occasion proven capable of planetary biosphere destruction and infestation.
He is one of the most feared Aspects in existence, and his arrival on the field of battle is known to cause widespread panic, and in some cases loss of bowel control and conciseness, in lesser creatures. Whether this is a result of his awesome psychic power or merely a psychological effect of his appearance, remains unknown.
He is most often found roaming around in Wild Space, facing off against Imperium Ships or elements of the Solarian Star Force. He has had quite a few encounters with Brigadier Flash Stalin, and their mutual animosity brought about many a conflict between the Solarians and the Karlack Star Broods.
Category:The Karlack Swarm