A leviathan-class creature is flying through space, propelled by some unknown force.
It's chitinous armor gleams in the light of the stars that stream past it leaving tracing lines. Tentacles furled and unfurled around it unaffected by it's momentum. Glowing green pustules pulsed as if about to burst.
This eldritch monstrosity floated through space as if it were an ocean. With a very specific destination in mind.
Three encephalon's met in a wide cavity within the creatures body. The cavern was inlayed with many chitin-covered ribs.
Insectoid beings which torso's stood upright while their thoraxes remained parallel to the ground. They discussed and deliberated their plans for universal domination.
They did not speak english, nor did they speak out loud. But telepathically. Their voices echoed in one another's minds as if three or four voices of slightly different octaves harmonized on top of each other.
"Sister, why did you call?" one asked. The smallest of the gathering. Her chitin had blue splotches mixed in with their traditional pearlescent pattern swirls.
They looked towards the queen who had ordered the meeting. She was fairly large as far as encephalon go—with orange and brown colors in her carapace. Many braid-like tendrils emerging from the back of her crowned head down the length of her back.
"I bring grave news... One of us has been captured."
The silence following the announcement stretched for several moments. Until the smallest of the gathering spoke once more.
"Impossible."
"I wish it were so." she began to transmit images in their minds. Images of planets covered in stars of light. Surrounded by metallic space stations. Then an image of Zykra contained within cages and chains. Experimented on. Their cries of pain trilled in their ears. Even now.
"This... What are these creatures?" the queen who had not spoken yet did so now. She was heavily scarred, one of her antenna severed, claw marks in her chitin and many of her legs had healed crooked. She had a mostly black carapace.
"Humans. A soft, fledgling race that relies on prosthesis to enact their will. 5 million years old or so and have taken many forms. They caught our sister off guard with their sudden evolution. We suspect that perhaps they have a hand in it."
"But such a thing would violate our agreement! How do you know their influence is involved with these creatures?" the smallest of the three-the blue queen pouted.
"Their rapid evolution non-withstanding, individuals with strong psionic abilities have begun to appear. Abilities similar to the still ones. Far too similar for mere coincidence."
The black queen spoke next; "Interference or coincidence—we must eliminate this race. Crush them before they progress any further. You say they've captured one of us?"
The orange queen nodded.
"Ku'senai. The brood queen."
"Of course. She was always weak." the black queen said, looking away in annoyance.
"Don't speak ill of her! Her brood is largest!" the blue queen chastised.
"Hers is only largest to compensate for their fragile nature. Their armor, soft. Their claws blunted by the flesh of soft ones. Her territory is too young for a real challenge."
"In any case our sister has contacted me with plans of her own regarding these 'humans'."
They both looked to the orange queen then. They respected her, because he respected her.
"She has discovered a rarity among rarities. An individual with psionic abilities more like ours than the still ones."
If encephalons had a way of expressing surprise, they would've done so now. Through the clenching of their hands, the straightening of their posture.
"Interesting..." the black queen said.
"It seems that the still ones may of made a mistake!" the blue queen said, pointing a clawed hand into the air to accentuate the point.
The orange queen walked to a porous window in the Caasik leviathans body. Observing the cosmos beyond a thin fleshy green membrane.
"If we can assimilate another race like the encephalon to the swarm, the power balance in creation will be destabilized. And the death of the still ones will be within our abilities once more. Ku'senai's capture by these lesser hominids will lead to their downfall."
"But you say it is only one?"
The orange queen did the Zykra equivalent of nodding then. Her antenna flicked backwards.
"We will recreate their essence in time. It is a costly process, but worthwhile for our cause. His eminence will understand."
"What is our sisters plan?" the blue queen asked.
"She intends to convert this human individual to our cause, and turn her lose on her own people."
The black and blue queen exchanged confused glances, their glowing violet eyes widening and narrowing. "But why? She had not turned her swarm against the humans?"
"She fears it will spur their advancement further. These humans have a capacity for adaptation that is largely unknown to us. Their ability to craft prosthesis is unlike any before. They feel no shame in altering themselves or their environments unnaturally. Again, like the still ones."
The blue queen looked towards a glowing green spawning pool on the floor of the Caasik. The shadow of a larvae swam within. "So she intends to allow the infestation to grow from within..."
"Precisely. A rather ingenious plan that serves both our goals. Eliminating the threat of the humans while sharpening a weapon to use against the still ones. This conflict will grow them, and sway them towards the swarms cause. The still ones stagnation and heresy will be ended, and his eminence will rule once more."