The Garden

## Nanotechnology

Compared to most civilizations in the Milky Way, the Garden is at near-transcendent levels of technological prowess, but this is somewhat hampered by their adherence to all-encompassing cultural stigmas. For instance, while possessing an extensive understanding of how light can be manipulated and directed, they lack competent laser weaponry. Their idea of an ideal society is one that has perfected recycling, never wastes resources, and is capable of both rapid expansion and adaptation.

To the end of not wasting resources, the Garden's standard firearms are flimsy shells of .35 caliber bullets that shatter upon coming into contact with any sufficiently resilient surface. The contents of these bullets are then expelled, and being aggressive nanomachines, they proceed to eat through armour and flesh alike. The speed of this process depends on the number of bullets that come into contact with the target. These nanomachines rapidly reproduce with consumed mass to compensate for their short lifespan.

Of course, the Garden has been known to deploy much more long-lived strains of nanotechnology. When they wish to *really* dig into a planet, they will drop pods filled with masses of semi-liquid nanomachines from orbit. These superior (but far more expensive) machines will proceed to consume all organic mass within a pre-designated radius, then sacrifice their own bodies to multiply until a pre-designated number of nanomachines has been reached. At this point, they will await further instructions, from being told to fortify the position to simply continuing to spread and expand the secured perimeter.

Finally, the most destructive of all hardly qualify as nanomachines. They are much akin to insects, with six legs, segmented bodies, and paper-thin wings. Their purpose is to consume and spread, just as their kin, but they are different in this regard: Where smaller and less hostile strains simply devour, these larger automatons can "infect" organic constructs. If swift countermeasures are not taken, it is not uncommon to discover previously lush and inhabited land looking as desolate as it had during the infancy of the planet; all life little more than soulless husks dedicated to serving as hosts for the reproduction of the ever-spreading plague of nanomachines.

## Interstellar Warfare

Space is one of the few places that the Garden genuinely struggles to survive in. There is very little to assimilate. Hardly any mass, very little energy, and near to nothing in the ways of assimilation-worthy constructs. Space is the only place they do not hesitate to employ laser weaponry, which is generally viewed as a terrible waste of valuable light and heat. That said, those lasers are still weak compared to the firepower of other, more refined weapon systems.

The tactics of the Garden are considerably less subtle among the stars. They see the void as a battleground where maneuvering and clever positioning have substantially less value. Rather than trying to flank their opponents and make use of a wide array of powerful starships, they'll simply deploy a dozen large voidships (at most), and deploy thousands of drones to rip apart enemy vessels.

The standard interstellar drone of the Garden is a serpent-like construct that is equipped with countless maneuvering jets, an extremely flexible body, and an equally flexible mind. It has been known to twist and writhe around incoming projectiles, to the point of being something of a proving-hunt for aspiring pilots. When facing them, relying on computer targeting is often a terrible folly, and those who err in this tend to be rewarded with a burst of beam weaponry or a blob of nanomachines eating through their precious hull.

Slightly less standard drones include a construct that is remiss of sphere comprised of needles. Those needles, and the plating covering them, all seem to float separate from each other, but remain bound by a field invisible to the naked eye. What practical function this serves is somewhat difficult to discern, but it is a popular theory that their unattached nature allows them to join up with others of their kind and form larger, more destructive constructs of varying forms and firepower. Popular because, to the displeasure of many deceased explorers' families, such constructs have been spotted on multiple occasions. As far as combat goes, they feature the standard shattering ballistics of the Garden (though in .75 caliber), beam weaponry, and a strangely irregular degree of hardlight shielding. Single units are always lightly shielded, but the more that are grouped together, the more powerful their shielding becomes. Similarly, their laser weaponry becomes more powerful in groups. It's not hard to discern that there's some power sharing occurring between the drones. Fortunately, they seem to serve the role of guard dogs, and are rarely sent out for offensive measures.