All was quiet on Tsuka, the planet populated only by low intelligence organic life, not a human nor any other comparable species in sight, the flora and fauna maintained their balance and the planet prospered peacefully in it's isolation. All in all the planet was untouched by anything other than nature, having been left without it's true owners for so long now that it was as if they'd never been there at all.

Were someone to venture below the surface of the planet however they'd find a completely different environment, for the interior of the planet was entirely filled with sprawling passageways leading to great halls, each of which contained row upon row of stasis pods. Within each stasis pod sat a Tsukam, eyes closed seemingly only in a deep sleep, as they had been now for a long time, and as far as any could tell would be indefinitely. 

Were one to travel deeper down they'd find the pods becoming more and more advanced, with those further down having personal shielding and reinforced plating of materials unknown to any in the univers. Deeper still at the centre of the planet were one able to venture so far they'd find one single pod residing within the very core of the planet, shielded from the molten rock and minerals by many consecutive layers of shielding both energy based and physical. Within lay a single being, the Malloc'Akai of the Tsuram'akai, the first Tsukam to open their eyes and leave the stasis they'd been in for so long.

Kelleron's eyes opened slowly, their mind leaving the hazy landscape it had been in for the last several centuries and reconfiguring to see the glowing lava of the earth's core, seperated from them by layer upon layer of barriers yet still visible to their eyes. Their mind awoke sharply, with none of the usual grogginess or sluggishness one would expect from an awakening being, instead coming to life instantly with sharp recollection of their current situation. 

Their being in the centre of the planet and thus the most protected and insulated from the outside world had been no desire for their own survival, rather it was the logical choice being as them being the one with the most power they were also the one most able to create more Tsukam should they be the only survivor. It was hope that they'd not come to that but they had no idea what the situation further out from the core would be, although former diagnostics and predictions had shown a 99% chance that more than half of the Tsukam population would survive there currently was no way of knowing the truth. 

With several moments of intense concentration the internal energy shields were dispersed, a simple wave of energy directed towards the control matrixes quickly opening up long dormant systems and disabling hibernation protocols witin the Emperor's chambers. Kelleron took several steps on shaky legs, unused for so long that most muscle mass had wasted away, before they arrived at a chamber that opened with a slight wave of mental energy. Laying a hand on several large packets they were quickly decomposed into their base molecules before being recomposed inside of the Malloc'Akai, their mental strength having remained unaffected by the long hibernation. 

Within moments the minerals were distributed throughout Kelleron's body and formed into new muscles to replace those lost to atrophy, returning them to their top physical condition in seconds and allowing them to walk out of the chamber without even a limp in their step, deactivating energy shields and rebuilding physical barriers to form a pathway to the lower levels of the hibernation bays. Even as they moved Kelleron gathered mental energy into their arm before sending it flying with a flick that awoke all of the Malloc'ak buried deep within the earth only a single layer above Kelleron's own hibernation pod. With another shrug of mental energy primary systems and generators were bought  back online and the many complexes housing the remainder of their species began to awake, although some were damaged to heavily by time to come back online and so remained dormant. 

One of the first systems back online were the surface scanning systems, and by ripping the data flow from one of these machines Kelleron could see an idea of the surface of Tsuka for the first time in many years, the surface of the planet that they planned to rebuild on.

As Kelleron slowly made their way towards the surface, Tsukam newly awakened would detect the energy of their leader and progress towards them, generating a herd of beings following their emperor towards the surface of the planet, with more joining at each step. Primary systems were running already and great geothermal generators were back online powering the many underground chambers that had been their home for so long. 

Each awakening Tsukam would absorb a nutrient sack, prepared specifically for the purpose of restoring their atrophied bodies, then they would either follow the tide rising to the surface or move off to aid repairs on the many systems that had been broken during the long sleep. None would remain within their own pods as all would hurry to some task or other, each knowing there was much to done without having to be told and striving to do it, there was no room for laziness or idle hands within their ranks, especially not now.

Once the Malloc'Akai took their first step upon the surface of the planet a small smile appeared on his face, a rare show of emotion for a Tsukam, yet one that all felt, they were back on the surface on their home and all had survived the convergeance. What was there to not be happy about, their many cities and the majority of their produce was gone, but that just meant they would have to make it all again, and there was nothing more than creation in the minds of most of the Tsukam.

The thoughts lasted only mere moments before they were replaced with actions, the Tsukam already spreading themselves out under the watchful eye of Kelleron and the Malloc'ac and beginning construction of the necessities, matter engines to form the materials they'd then need to form the materials they'd require for further constructions such as living spaces and the like. 

Tsukam spread out and formed large circles, with each Tsukam focussing streams of energy towards the centrepoint where they collided, molecules being split down into single atoms and then even further to their protons, neutrons and electrons before being rebuilt into the configuration desired by the collective, each atom built for a purpose and bound into increasingly growing molecules then compounds until over the course of many hours the creation would be done. Each matter engine took the shape of a large orb hovering above a spherical platform, the orb pulsing every few seconds and with each pulse reforming several molecules to the desired shape. While only the most basic form of matter engines they would suffice for now while they were in the infant phase of rebuilding, with time they would be reworked into the great engines of the past capable of creating entire constructs in moments.

Within days of the awakening matter engines dotted the planet, a small cluster of buildings had been formed in the centre of the plains, each exquisite in it's elegance yet built for function, for everything was built to purpose not for pleasure alone. The great workshop stood at the centre of the newborn city, the place of work and the centre of governance for the people of Tsuka, the main seat of power of the Malloc'Akai and a place of creation and development.

Dotted around the workshop were many lesser buildings; dwellings, smaller matter engines, power generation facilities and all the other things that a city needed to survive and thrive, few enterprises had popped up due to the early stages of growth. Around the perimeter of their newborn city rose twelve constructs similar in shape to the matter engines, each however was far larger and displayed a symbol of the clan that had built it, each being the Workshop of a particular clan and their base, while the same in build each contained some difference in aesthetics that would mark it for the clan that occupied it. 

Still in the city none were idle, Tsukam could be seen moving around at a pace akin to a jog for humans yet with no more effort than a walk would be for a human, using their superior agility to move from work to work faster and continue construction of the many secondary buildings that they could now afford to divert manpower towards. Dwellings were being expanded and matter engines created and refined to higher stages in order to feed the growing resource sink they were currently creating with their rapid expansion.

More and more systems from below were removed each day, each one broken down and reformed on the surface in order to quicken their growth, all that was left below ground were the great chambers of hibernation pods and the systems required should they be forced into hibernation again. 

The geothermal generators from below still functioned, generating the majority of their power on the surface, aided by newly built matter reactors as well more sustainable solar banks, fields of solar arrays having been built amongst the plains outside of the city to lessen the strain on their geothermal energy stations. 

With the beginnings of the empire having been created and the ground secured for themselves the Tsukam began to look further afield, so far they'd remained untouched by the rest of the universe, but they were loath to make the same mistakes as they had in the past. Large satellite dishes were constructed across the planet and a communication network established, with smaller settlements spread across the planet to ensure they had complete control and surveillance. Each settlement was given to the control of a clan, with each clan settlement having multiple satellite settlements under their control. 

Communication within settlements was instantaneous once the communcations network was set up, and each settlement was garrisoned with members of clan Menra for protection and security purposes, although no Tsukam would ever cause issue they were this time prepared for outside invaders so they would not be brought low as in the past.

It was not long before each of the clan settlements were considered a thriving city in their own rights, with a large matter engine built above each acting as their own headquarters, the main city on Tsuka being solely under the control of the clanless Emperor, still with it's original twelve spheres of each clan and single one for the emperor themself. Each now was much larger than it had been in the beginning, and Malloc'armon (City of the Makers) was now a sprawling mass of structures each built for a specific purpose yet none lacking in aesthetic qualities, designed and built by those occupying it and formed to represent what it contained. 

Great roads weave throughout the settlement and vehicles have now been created, both simple vehicles for travel and larger ones for transportation of goods, with great highways linking each of the satellite settlements to one another and to Malloc'armon. In-atmosphere flying vehicles are also in production and used widely by each of the clans, although as of yet travel outside of the atmosphere is limited only to several small orbiting satellites.

Although the Tsukam have spread and effectively colonised the planet most of the indigenous flora and fauna have remained alive on the planet, in areas undeveloped by the the Tsukam'akai or by having been catalogued and kept for purpose within sealed vaults for preservation and potential usage.

Within Malloc'armon in a large chamber in the centre of it's workshop stood Kelleron, dwarfed by a matter engine hovering above them and arms outstretched manipulating the particles that were spewed forth with each pulse from the sphere. In front of them in a glowing nimbus of light sat the project they were focussing on so wholely, a smaller more refined version of the matter engine that would hopefully provide each Tsukam house with the ability to generate basic materials for themselves allowing the Malloc more ease to work with.

A small nudge to their mind caused the Malloc'Akai to pause in their making, lowering the half completed sphere to the ground before using a small stream of power to reform the wall in front of them and create an opening to allow Skelk in. 

"Progress to the makers" Skelk began with the traditional greeting of the Tsukam, removing a plasteel gauntlet from their arm to reveal the clan emblem on their palm to Kelleron as was also custom. Kelleron raised their sleeve slightly to reveal their own personal emblem halfway up the back of their forearm and returned the traditional greeting. They knew that an interruption from Skelk during making wasn't something to brush off, while most Tsukam despised Skelk's ways Kelleron saw the use of them and simply viewed it as another usage of their abilities.

"It is time we set our sights further than Tsuka, the universe has changed since the time of the Convergeance, we should not be blind to those changes and instead seek them out before something seeks us out first. It would be wise to send scouts out with our more recently developed interplanetary transports, at least to any nearby planetary bodies or peoples. Even lesser life forms can bring us low if they attack us, it pains us to say but we are no longer at the glory of our past, what we have is but a shadow and could be blown away by any more established civilization of primitive beings." 

Kelleron's face remained expressionless throughout, their mind already working through Skelk's proposal as the words left the Malloc'ak's mouth. It would be a prudent measure for sure, they were but a shadow of their past at current so to get a lay of the land would benefit them hugely. "Do it, each transport shall be heavily armoured with instructions to flee should they meet hostile contact, exploration only, do not engage lesser species currently only observe." 

Skelk removed their gauntlet once again to show their crest, Kelleron showing their own also, before Skelk departed and the hole in the wall was sealed. With barely a thought the process of making was taken up once again.

Meanwhile across the planet communications were sent for automated scouting and observation vessels to be made, as well as for the construction of spaceports from which to launch them. What had previously been only a ground faring race was now readying itself to take to the stars.

The matter engines were continuously improved upon, leading to far more efficient models, energy production was increased, geothermal energy taken from the core being supplemented by more refined solar farms and even energy collected from matter engines specialised only to energy production. 

Now that all necessary buildings were out of the way an economy began to form, trade between clans having been replaced with the Varn (unit of currency) more clan backed businesses were formed as well as several independent companies, things began to progress beyond the simple stages of an infant civilisation and into a more mature and settled age. 

A planetary surveillance network was formed from orbiting satellites, linked to each of the cities to allow them to view events from all across the planet, the Tsukam have no secrets from one another after all, and surveillance and communication were key to the growth and advancement of production. 

Exploration fleets were sent out to scout the surroundings of their planet and map the universe, with regular data dumps back to the central servers forming a map of their surroundings for the Tsukam'akai to work off of for now. They may be ground bound for now but once they'd fully developed this planet there would be a desperate need for expansion.

Nutrient farms began to spring up, great bio-domes where nutritious material was grown and harvested for the consumption of the Tsukam, who had formerly been living off of sustenance prepared from before the fall of their civilization stored deep underground that were rapidly running out. Each bio-dome was unique in what materials it farmed but each contained some form of nutrient rich flora or fauna that would provide the Tsukam'akai with far more efficient sustenance than what they currently had. 

Beyond the simple needs of food bio-domes were also used to grow useful biological materials for medicines and the like, with so many Tsukam common diseases and issues began to surface, although each could be cured by manipulation of energy it was far less strenuous to treat them with medicines and rest as other races would. It was less of a strain on the Malloc and although it took longer it allowed Malloc to continue on with their tasks rather than have to heal every Tsukam that got ill or injured themselves.

One thing however that they did not seem able to heal were the Gemen, the Gemen had been their long time companions and workers ever since their subjugation by the Tsukam'akai. Unfortunately however not a single Gemen had survived the hibernation due to their physiology being incredibly different from the Tsukam'akai. Their loss was sorely missed, not for any sort of sentimental reason but simply because all of the tasks that they used to perform now had to be taken up by machines or by other Tsukam, a far less efficient method, it was not remorse they'd all died simply a slight annoyance at the inconvenience it caused the rest of them.

With the growth of their cities now came the time to increase the workshop to a reasonable size, their current one only having been a temporary model during their growth phase. Now that they'd reached sufficient size however they'd need to establish a more permanent and fitting workshop for the civilization. 

The top Malloc of each family as well as each Malloc'ak and the Malloc'Akai themselves were all to work on this project, plans were drawn up over the course of many weeks of collaboration and input from each Malloc before construction was even begun. When it was all were required to lend their effort, all focussing their efforts and putting all else on hold to create a workshop sufficient to be the centrepoint of their civilization once again. 

After many weeks of highly taxing work from all the Malloc involved, in several instances the Malloc having spent so much energy they reverted to their core form, the new workshop was complete in Malloc'armon. A towering sphere hovering above the centre of the capital with four smaller spheres horizontally orbiting it, each a powerful matter engine in it's own right capable of supplying any materials needed to the Workshop. It was the first great work of the newly reformed Tsukam'akai and there was much rejoicing at their creation upon it's completion.

A door was opened in the side of Kelleron's space in the workshop, Skelk came rushing in, rushing through the formal greeting and presentation of their clan symbol before they began speaking. "One of our southern settlements has come under attack. Approximately an hour ago several ships breached our defences in the area and launched an attack on one of our nutrient cultivation settlements. They've not left the area yet and seem only to be causing damage and looting us. Initial scans showed human life only, we think it's possible it's some form of piracy of the lesser life forms." 

Kelleron's brow furrowed, it wasn't a great threat if they remained only in the southern regions, but it showed just how weak their security was in the more newly developed settlements if even the lesser lifeforms could penetrate them so easily. "I assume you'll want to deal with this personally." They could see the slight twitch of Skelk's fingers that betrayed their urge to fight, Skelk was a Tsukam of war and action and thus far all had been peaceful. 

A brief nod was all the required confirmation before Skelk departed, they'd only just managed to begin rebuilding here and no lesser life form was going to cause them so much trouble so early on in their development. It may only have been one nutrient cultivation settlement but they were newly formed and a vital part of their growth, so all were needed for now to continue their growth at optimum efficiency.

It took no time at all for Skelk to return to their own clan headquarters within Malloc'armon and gather their most trusted clan members to fight. While they had very little military machinery in a functioning state beyond very basic defences and basic battle drones each of the Tsukam in their clan were competent Malloc in battle and able to fight effectively with weapons of their choice. The Tsukam quickly loaded up into several low atmosphere transports and headed to the south where the attack had taken place.

While on route to the conflict in the south each of the Malloc readied themselves, each picking a weapon with which they were proficient and manipulating the matter around them to form their desired weapon. No two Malloc were armed exactly alike as each had their own proficiencies and desires, all those within Skelk's clan were battle ready, although often shunned by the rest of society they had a purpose and knew how to carry it out.

Skelk took only a basic revolver pistol and combat blade, they were against lesser life forms with primitive technology and abilities, and they were out only to defend their own settlements more than anything else. These small nutrient production facilities were necessary for their continued growth and stability. 

A large cloud of smoke and dust could be seen as they approached the settlement, with a large craft hovering above it as several smaller ones had landed on the floor. Small arms fire rattled off of their armoured approach fliers as the humans attempted to dissuade them, a few lucky shots to propulsion systems causing several of the crafts to crash land short of their target. The human vessel above held up a steady stream of missile fire towards them as those Malloc who had cooperated to form larger weapons returned fire with missile, mortar and cannon. 

Upon reaching the settlement the entirety of those in Skelk's force would quickly disembark from their craft and engage the humans, gunshots could be heard all throughout the settlement as the Menra tore into the humans with their created weaponry, causing minimal damage to the surrounding buildings and providing safe escape for the non-combatants that remained in the settlement.

Skelk lead the charge in, their gun barking death with the speed they pulled the trigger and their knife swinging through the air, the blade singing as it sliced through human flesh as Skelk danced through the human lines like a wind of death. Ever moving firing, stabbing, slashing, then moving on before the humans could even begin to aim at him, followed behind by the tide of Malloc that would engulf them. 

The Menra severely outnumbered the humans, but they were utilising all of the cover quite adeptly, once the outskirts of the settlements were breached it was slow working to advance even a few more inches. While a Tsukam couldn't die as such they still felt pain and so avoided getting injured, they took cover and kept up a slow siege of the pirate's positions, raining down bullets, grenades and missiles on the entrenched pirates. 

It was very slow moving but the Tsukam were definitely advancing, making their way towards the centre of the settlement bit by bit, forming a safe front line with Malloc behind shielding noncombatants and ensuring they safely got to the landing vessels for evacuation. There were far more cores than there were Tsukam unfortunately, the settlement having been fairly new and weakly defended so the surprise raid having done far more damage than would have been liked. Each core was gathered up and placed in a seperate lander that would transport them directly back to Malloc'armon for them to be reformed in the workshop.

Throughout the day Skelk could be found wherever the fighting was thickest, and wherever they were the Tsukam would invariably push back the humans in great pushes, ambushing them from rooftops and simply piercing their barricades with blade and bullet Skelk brought death to the humans wherever they went.

By the end of the encounter all of the pirates were dead, not a single one had survived the offensive of the Tsukam'akai, even their great ship had been brought down by some well placed missiles and lay smouldering just outside of the settlement, the small landers were mainly untouched as the pirates hadn't even been able to fall back to them before they were overwhelmed. Skelk's forces combed the bodies finishing any that still showed signs of life, others picking up the cores of fallen Tsukam for transport back to Malloc'armon for reforming. All in all it had been a landslide victory for the Tsukam, but unfortunately the damage had already been dealt to the settlement, and it would take time to get it functioning again as well as to reform all those defeated in this attack. 

A report had been sent back to the clan leaders and Kelleron, security forces all across the planet were on alert for follow up attacks and for potential future attempts at piracy, the remains of this attack were brought to matter furnaces and broken down for resources, the landers and ships taken apart and also deconstructed to provide fuel for the matter engines. 

Once all had been cleaned up Malloc began arriving to repair the damage to the nutrient production settlement, repairing the various bio-domes and dwellings that had been damaged in the fighting as well as clearing the debris caused by damage, it was quite the task and would take several days. Luckily it had become quite the priority and so Malloc appeared in droves to lend their aid to the project, it was widely known these plants were integral to their continued growth and none wanted to impede the growth of their own empire so happily offered their efforts.

Settlement patrols were increased several times over as were deployments of clan Menra's forces, their losses having been minimal in the recapture from the pirates. A detatchment of them were now left in each settlement and all planetary policing and security were given over to clan Menra, with Skelk in command over any combat situations as the only one truly proficient in combat. 

It was regrettable how things had happened but also there were lessons to be learned. The planetary surveillance systems were linked to a control centre in clan Menra's headquarters in Malloc'armon where Skelk remained in residence, and early warning sensors were deployed so that were anything to approach the planet the Tsukam'akai would know about it before it breached their atmosphere and be able to have a response ready this time.

Several anti air batteries were set up within the twelve clan capitals with several placed in Malloc'armon, the simple dishonour of having lesser species penetrate their defences so deeply caused the whole race to bristle and put measures into place to ensure it would be much harder on the next lot that even attempted to try.

A galactic map was compiled from the data captured by the various scout vessels sent out, they had a fairly good idea of the main factions that seemed to currently have their dominion over the universe and their rough locations. No detailed information had yet been discovered as the vessels had strict orders to avoid contact, but they had a general idea of the layout of the universe and areas of influence of certain factions and their names due to capturing general chatter radio signals and sifting through them for information.

The current threat seemed to be the helix virus that was sweeping through the northern reaches of the universe, something that was particularly dangerous as it could corrupt both organic and inorganic constructs. It was likely to not be quite as large as had been made out, just the lesser life forms had difficulty combating it due to their relatively low technological levels. While it may be a large hurdle for the lesser life forms it likely wouldn't be all that difficult for a competent Malloc to combat, although they had no desire to go charging in against it until more data was taken so that they could get a more accurate reading on it's threat level.

Still, the universe on the whole didn't seem all that dangerous to them, from what they knew so far the main threat to them was likely to be space pirates and this helix virus, both of which current simulations were saying would be an inconvenience but would be highly unlikely to cause them any serious lasting damage. All they needed to do was use their far superior intellect and they could likely dominate the lesser life forms, maybe even gain themselves some new Gemen to replace those lost in the fall.

To keep up with the large need for security and defence that was now being enforced on Tsuka clan Melna opened up their recruitment once again, gathering many small families of young aspiring Malloc to join in on the one clan that chose to take the fight up close and personal to the lesser life forms. While joining clan Melna was looked down upon by most of the Tsukam, the endorsemend of the Malloc'akai had made it no longer be such a huge shame as it had be in the past, and their recent victory over the human pirates had brought them some respect in the eyes of a lot of the Malloc. 

Clan Melna, a clan that since the first major war of the Tsukam and the subjugation of the first Gemen had been the smallest by far and had a mark of shamelessness, grew to rival the other eleven clans in size once again, in pure body count becoming stronger than most others yet lacking the infrastructure and economies that the others had built up over their times of having far more working Malloc. It was a beginning of the end for the inferiority of clan Melna however and allowed them to step up to par with the rest of the clans and also have enough members to secure the planet far more efficiently.

Training for clan Melna was fast paced, brutal, and incredibly physical which differed greatly from that of the other clans, even those who had obtained the title of Malloc upon entering clan Melna were required to undergo further training in the clan's techniques and combat styles. Even a seasoned Malloc can struggle adjusting to using their power in such a way and as such most were slow to adjust, but training was provided to all who wanted it.

Several more small skirmishes took place with pirates of various origins, each one ending in defeat for the pirates and only a very small setback to the Tsukam'akai. Since the patrols and security had been increased and with the addition of early warning systems it was known beforehand where the attacks would come from and so the Menra would be there ready to face the threat in advance. Only one skirmish actually made it to the ground when a far larger pirate force than was expected appeared and destroyed one of the early warning satellites causing them to be able to slip in without an accurate firepower report being placed.

Even the greatest of the attacks was beaten back with minimum losses, and each skirmish gave the newest recruits of the clan a chance to test out their new training within a real battle environment. It was a success for the Tsukam'akai in more ways than one, it allowed them to blood the newest Menra recruits and easily gather materials for use in the matter engines. The only real downside to it was that any Tsukam that did fall required a fair bit of expenditure of time and energy to reform their bodies.

All in all the pirate attacks proved nothing more serious than a training exercise, with only minimal damage to infrastructure that could be fixed quickly enough with the amount of active makers with sufficient facilities that they now posessed.

Tsuka was only a step away from full operational capacity, all they needed now was a navy capable of breaching the atmosphere, if they could defend against a threat before it even breached the atmosphere things would be a hell of a lot easier. Great workshops were built in Malloc'armon, with smaller ones residing in each of the clan capitals, functioning as spaceports and factories solely designed to create spacecraft. 

Not just combat craft, specialised scouting craft, larger bombers, fighters, transport vessels, plans were even made for great behemoth vessels and orbital cannons and the likes. All well out of reach currently but the research had already begun on the projects, many eager makers beginning already to calculate the dimensions, energy sources and power of such advanced weaponry and how to make them feasible, but they were definitely a bit down the line still.

For now the focus was mainly on planetary defense and transport vessels, enough so they'd have a navy sufficient enough to defend their own planet and maybe attack another. Colonial ships were also in the making, they'd reached critical mass on this planet without disrupting the balance of life too far, they'd next need to be looking to expand and make the beginnings of the Tsukam'akai empire on other planets.

With all set and sorted there were only a few final points to be set, the Tsukam'akai formally linked to the intergalactic market and began trading with other planets, setting up routes to the human and other species markets in order to scout them out and gain more detailed information on the various factions that currently littered this galaxy. They began to make links with several companies and the like and announce themselves to the different nearby planets and factions, for now they attempted to come off as friendly and diplomatic, chances were in the future they'd have to take a guiding hand with the lesser lifeforms in order to ensure they weren't surrounded by pure idiocy but for now all they needed was to begin making connections with the other life around them.

They may be technologically supreme to their neighbours and the others, but currently they were just a fledgeling compared to the hawk they were before, so making positive connections with other races would help them grow quicker and ensure they wouldn't be struck down by any of the larger empires to quickly. 

The empire of the Tsukam'akai formally entered the universe and got involved.