Ultros

Ultros is the primary antagonist and title character of the Wrath of Ultros expansion following Order of Chaos. Ultros is the formidable leader of the Starwalkers; a faction of highly intelligible Mechaean beings that originated here on Pangaia, but escaped to the stars long ago to pursue the call of a mysterious celestial being known as Nebluon.

Ultros made his first appearance as a boss in the City of Aziek, where his fleet returned to protect the secrets of the temple in fear that his people's power source within the depth's of Aziek would be stolen. It was later revealed that the Utros fought in this raid was in fact one of the many clone units he controls using hive-mind technology. Ultros' brain is located on a distant world known as Niberu.

Following the defeat of Arcaius and the unlocking of the Elemental Prisons, Ultros and his armies have escaped the dying world of Niberu after fully exhausting it's resources and returned to cyberform Pangaia as their new home.

Ultros is fought several times during the leveling experience as players face his many drones in the invasion. He reveals that his primary unit, the brain, is on a ship currently travelling to Pangaia.

## Ultros Unit Locations

* Val'szuna, Temple of the Sun
* K'aak Chi
* Isitet

The expansion takes place on many new land masses. Even though the Elementals are a threat to civilization, the Niberian Exodus are much more dangerous. They plan to activate the ancient mechaean temple cities located around Pangaia to initiate planetary cyberforming, transforming all things organic into machine, creating mechanical ecosystems.

## Early History

A dark and powerful being known as Saur'un manifested in the south-western regions of Cimmera during the primordial ages, it corrupted the very land itself and grew as it consumed all in it's wake. The guardian O'rul, sent from Asgal to shape the continent and sow the seeds of life, encountered the cancerous monstrosity and after days of hacking away at it's abhorrent form, concluded that it could not be destroyed faster than it was growing and decided to build a mighty city named Isitet around the beast and imprisoned it.

O'rul hired the aid of the local sentient races to keep watch over the city and ensure Saur'un was never released, but time and time again the frail minds of the mortal beings were penetrated by the fiend's lingering presence and all fell to madness. Eventually, O'rul created a race of his own race. The autonomous robotic life forms he called the Mechaea were immune to Saur'un's influence, and after years of starvation, the beast died a slow death, but his essence lingered on.

## The Pale War

Years later, during the Pale War, the cruel and cunning Soggoth sent his most trusted generals to release and recruit the beast after having sensed it's presence. By this time, the Mechaean people had developed sentience, a sense of community and complex thinking, even splintering off into fragmented populations that travelled to distant lands to begin new civilizations, such as the city of Aziek. The remaining guardians of Isitet where able to defend against the Pale invasion and with the help of Archaius, sealed one of Soggoth's generals, Ik'thrul, within Saur'un's tomb. Among these, was Ultros.

Ultros had served as Saur'un's guard for generations. He came face to face with the Soggoth's monstrosity Ik'thrul during the invasion and for the first time in his long, repetitive life, he tasted the thrill of battle. After the war was won, he resumed his duties. This time, with a living prisoner to watch over.

## Descend into Madness

For years to follow, Ik'thrul taunted his keeper. He sensed Ultros' mind beginning to frail. Many times over, Ultros tried to get replaced as Ik'thrul's guard, aspiring to move onto better things in life, but this never came to pass. Eventually, Ultros sank into a void of delusions. Ik'thrul had successfully broken his will. He questioned his purpose on this world and fantasied at his potential. Ultros released Ik'thrul unexpectedly and the beast razed Isitet, but spared Ultros. Together, the pair claimed the ruins of the city and enslaved the Mechaean race. Ik'thrul shared his visions of power and conquest with Ultros, detailing his plans to revive the Dark Elder Soggoth, rinse the world of mortal beings and drown it's lands in death and decay.

Ultros did not oppose his partner in flesh, but was silently uninterested in the future Ik'thrul so desperately wanted for this world. Instead, Ultros' vision of the world's future was more... metallic. Knowing that the Pale General would eventually appose him, he sealed him back in the prison from whence he came, and was left to rot.

In response to the partial destruction of Isitet, the keeper Rel'Garan was awoken. He arrived to find a legion of weaponized mechaean soldiers who's minds had been hacked and re-written by Ultros. The Guardian was immediately overrun by the drones and restrained atop the peak of Isitet's central temple. Confused and frustrated with countless philosophical questions, Rel'Garan was interrogated as Ultros attempted to have him reveal their true purpose in life.

Rel'Garan was truthful. There was no ultimate plan, no purpose, no reason. The mechaean were designed to serve. They are nothing more than tools for the intricate works of the Maker's.

That was all he needed to hear. His worst fears confirmed true. Life was meaningless. Enraged beyond comprehension, Ultros ordered his soldiers to strip Rel'Garan down to his core. Layer by layer, piece by piece. The Guardian languished in agony. His torturous cries echoed through the forests of Gehennok as his very form was deconstructed into nothing more than spare parts. Ultros studied the remains of his former master and concluded that only gods could be responsibility for such intellectual design. And if gods existed, then they *must* have a master plan.

All of the Guardian's parts and pieces where sealed in impenetrable boxes of different shapes and sizes. Rel'Garan's crystalline core was unlike anything he'd ever seen. It's blinding iridescent glow resonated with a soft humming sound that even penetrated the walls of it's protective chamber. Ultros carried this one personally. He abandoned the ruined city of Isitet along with his soliders and the spoils of his master Rel'Garan's remains as they traveled north.

After reaching the Vale of Mechinas, where the temple city of Aziek was located, he first approached the native Mechaean people peacefully, explaining that his home was destroyed and they had no where to go. It did not take long before Ultros was able to hack the mind of Aziek's king, Deltron. He established a sanctum beneath the city where he stored and studied the unearthly technology salvaged from the Guardian, while his soldiers silently blended in with society as they awaited their next orders.

## A New Age

Several years went by. Ultros spent most of his time arguing with the voices in his head while he tried to decipher the technology that made The Guardian's tick. He had convinced himself that a high power must exist. Who designed the Guardians? What where *their* purpose? All these questioned remained unanswered and Ultros fell ill. As with any other life form, Mechaean people were not immortal despite their incredibly long life spans. Their bodies would eventually begin to slow and break down just as any other working mechanism; organic and metallic alike. Ultros was old and dying.

Unlike organic beings, however, Ultros - the brilliant mind he was - believed he could easily avoid death by transferring his conscious into the body of another. But any old mechaean drone would simply not do. Ultros needed something bigger, stronger, more durable. Something like that of a Guardian.

He knew he didn't have much time, so he began work on a temporary storage unit to preserve his mind while a body was specially designed for him. Using the technology he had stripped from Rel'Garan, he created a super computer capable of programming his consciousness into code. With the help of his trusted puppet, King Deltron, his mind was uploaded to the super computer deep within Aziek. His empty vessel was broken down and reassembled into a slicker, more technologically advanced model never before seen in Mechaean history. Infused with Rel'Garan's core, the suit radiated with an astounding amount of energy. It took a a few more years before the body was perfected so it could harness the Guardian's essence without being torn apart from the inside-out, but eventually it was achieved.

Four decades had passed since Ultron's arrival at Aziek, but finally his conscious was downloaded from the super computer and into this powerful new suit, capable of incredible feats of strength and superhuman abilities. This was the beginning of a new era. An age of technological superiority. Ultros dethroned his pawn, Deltros, and claimed all of Mechinas for himself.

He began mass producing improved bodies for his soldiers and ordered them to be upgraded by using the same supercomputer he had occupied for 30 years as a tool to transfer their minds across to their new forms. Those loyal to Deltros were unsettled with Ultros' maniacle ways and refused to take on the new bodies. This caused a civil war between the two factions, although the Deltronian Mechaea were easily defeated and subdued by their advanced counterparts. Many were enslaved and forced to undergo the transformation whereas others managed to escape Mechinas and Ultros' wrath.

Fueled by Rel'Garon's core, Ultros reached new intellectual heights. He was finally able to fully decipher the technological advances of his creator's design and use it to build weapons, ships and much more.

## The War of the Frozen North

Ultros' forces were armed and ready to conquer. Through his studies, Ultros learned of the existance of Asgal, the Higher Plane - a land of immortal beings who were responsible for the genius behind the Guardian's design. Unknown to him was Asgal's true location; unreachable by typical means, he instead planned to take to the stars in search of this world and challenge his makers.

With the power of the Guardian Rel'Garon coursing through his metallic body, Ultros marched his forces further north toward the frozen peaks of Amon'Amarth where he planned to assemble and launch his fleet into the sky.

The dwarves of Dundir suffered many casualties to the onslaught through their land but rose up to defend their territory. The earthspeakers used their shamanistic abilities to animate golems from the mountains to crush their foes and the mages called upon the frigid air to freeze their fragile internal functions. Ultros' forces were evenly matched, but the drones were difficult to defeat. Where one fell, another would take its place. Aziek was producing more mechaean drones to send as reinforcements. The Dwarves eventually caught wind of this and attempted to infiltrate Mechinas to stem Ultros' forces, but utterly failed to penetrate the Vale's defenses.

The dwarves could do nothing but retreat to their underground halls and chambers and allow Ultros and his legion to continue his unstoppable onslaught through the mountains. After reaching the summit of Amon'Amarth, Ultros and his forces began work on a vessel capable of spaceflight. This was done in a matter of weeks.

Within the core of Aziek back in Mechinas was a power source called the Infinitum - a generator powered by the harnessed life essence of Rel'Garon. Due to the Guardian's connection with the Higher Plane, the Infinitum was capable of siphoning powering directly from the Immortal world itself and convert it into a renewable energy. This energy was stored throughout the walls of the temple city and could be transferred to Ultros' ship through electromagnetic radiation sent from a beacon at the top of the temple. The temple itself would later evolve to become a sentient being.

## The Search for Asgal

The Mechinas Vale was well guarded. Titanic protectors were built to keep guard over the inner Vale while countless security measures where in place around the perimeter of the Vale to ensure it remained hidden. If Mechinas was ever breached, putting the Infinitum at risk of being discovered, an alarm would signal Ultros' fleet.

The ships left from the peak of Amon'Amarth and ascended into the dark, starry abyss, in search of the Higher Plane. It is unknown what happened after this point - how long they travelled for and how they came into contact with the interstellar being Nebulon, but the Starwalker fleet would eventually make their home on the black world of Niberu.