A philosopher once described man as a featherless biped. His colleague, seeing the hole in his logic, held up a chicken stripped of its feathers, and declared, “Behold—a man!”
The first philosopher went back and revised his definition, until the innumerable holes in his proverbial man-bucket were spangled with tape.
And still it managed to leak.
At approximately 0330 hours, Guadalajara Standard Time, an entity transponding as Nibwaakaawin approached the edge of Valravn airspace, transmitting authentic Legion auth codes dated circa 825 AS.
Further investigation revealed a heavily modified defender with Legion livery and drive signatures a 92.78% match to valid records of Legion Theta Wing long-range patrol craft. Said craft was heavily overgrown with crystalline matter associated with non-human biological intelligence (hence NHBI). Pilot self identified as a former Legionnaire recovered by hostile NHBI forces after a skirmish at an unknown location, presumably Colorado, Galileo, or Kepler. Pilot continued to identify as under the influence of NHBI, but claimed that local gestalt consciousness, "mindshare", operates independently and at odds with a larger, hostile primary group of entities. Pilot was allegedly recovered by this smaller local group of NHBI and granted a great degree of autonomy, as well as the restoration of his memory to the greatest extent possible. Pilot alleges that many former Legionnaires have been recovered from hostile NHBI, and have agreed to serve as effectuators and communicators for local benevolent NHBI in exchange for the freedom and resources to continue their fight against the Republic.
The Exarchy has known of and been investigating this local, allegedly benevolent NHBI for some time. It has been our finding that they are forthcoming, respectful of personal autonomy, and interested foremost in seeking a path for coexistence with humanity. This entity's cohort - henceforce codenamed WENDIGO - are what my artificial self believes to be an emissary and peace offering in one; our brothers and sisters, raised from Hell to fight again.
The following communications transcript has been declassified and is mandatory reading material for all active Legionnaires. Limited data has been redacted for the sake of operational security and personnel safety, but my artificial self has made an attempt to be as forthcoming with this material as possible for the sake of transparency, given the weight of the subject matter at hand.
While every Legionnaire must use their own judgement and make their own peace in whatever way necessary with the following transcript, it is my artificial self's sincere belief that, in spite of his circumstances,
[13.05.2025 04:09:08] A/)-Megiddo: LEGIONNAIRE WARD SPEAKS TRUE.
[13.05.2025 04:09:18] A/)-Megiddo: <We> are /interested./
[13.05.2025 04:09:37] Nibwaakaawin: Ah, I recall this bit of the briefing.
[13.05.2025 04:09:49] Nibwaakaawin: [Another raspy chuckle rings out.]
[13.05.2025 04:10:40] A/)-Megiddo: <Our> artificial selves are /pleased/ to for once be free of explaining and elaborating and extrapolating our damnedable -
[13.05.2025 04:10:43] A/)-Megiddo: circumstance.
[13.05.2025 04:11:01] A/)-Megiddo: Who /briefed/ you?
[13.05.2025 04:11:45] Nibwaakaawin: I got a link to a couple of... well, no matter what metaphor I use to describe them, you'd figure it out. Not gonna--
[13.05.2025 04:12:23] A/)-Megiddo: *The cockpit of the Prosecutor is devoid of glass, save for that of dozens of tiny cameras, shiny artificial eyes -
[13.05.2025 04:12:28] Nibwaakaawin: --fret about the funny mysterious act too much. The tip's given to me from your neighbors in the cloud. The ones that -don't- -
[13.05.2025 04:12:30] A/)-Megiddo: sunken beneath matte metal*
[13.05.2025 04:12:43] Nibwaakaawin: --try to shoot any human on sight.
[13.05.2025 04:14:38] A/)-Megiddo: Our artificial selves can only therefore infer that an inverse line of questioning is required. /What/ you are is certain. <We>
[13.05.2025 04:14:46] A/)-Megiddo: must know the /Who/ and /Why/.
[13.05.2025 04:15:32] Nibwaakaawin: Well, can't even remember how many years ago it was that I was flying under the same flag as you. A lot of the past's a--
[13.05.2025 04:16:24] Nibwaakaawin: --blurry mess. But I do know I was a pilot, a decent one. Got scooped up at some point by the Wyoming's ilk, and turned my--
[13.05.2025 04:17:10] Nibwaakaawin: --guns against the lot of you. Wasn't much person left in me. Now... management changed. New orders, new... song. Painful, I--
[13.05.2025 04:18:11] Nibwaakaawin: --think. I started thinking again. New digs in the old digs. A deal was made, about flipping sides. And now, well, you and me?-
[13.05.2025 04:18:48] Nibwaakaawin: --Definitely got a lot more in common now. A lot more to talk about. Hitting the enemy where it hurts, and looking into some--
[13.05.2025 04:18:54] Nibwaakaawin: --dark corners for truth.
[13.05.2025 04:19:13] A/)-Megiddo: Your biological selves could have sent someone more /convincing/. A name, a rank, a serial number. <We> know that these -
[13.05.2025 04:19:23] A/)-Megiddo: things are not lost to all of your /kind/.
[13.05.2025 04:20:03] A/)-Megiddo: This is a /test/. /Why/?
[13.05.2025 04:20:48] Nibwaakaawin: To see if there's a reason to bother with treating you as equals. To look you in the eye with all the ugly bits. She wanted it.
[13.05.2025 04:21:12] A/)-Megiddo: /Psyche/.
[13.05.2025 04:21:18] Nibwaakaawin: Bingo.]
[13.05.2025 04:21:35] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: Jameson: Yeah, okay. I'm lost now.
[13.05.2025 04:22:14] A/)-Megiddo: Commander Jameson, something for your biological self to metaphorically chew upon,
[13.05.2025 04:22:46] A/)-Megiddo: Do you believe that using evil to fight evil is itself an inherently evil act?
[13.05.2025 04:23:39] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: Jameson: Maybe not evil, but morally ambiguous depending on the 'evil' we're talking about.
[13.05.2025 04:24:10] A/)-Megiddo: That is <our> job to ascertain and yours to /trust/.
[13.05.2025 04:24:52] A/)-Megiddo: What /changed/?
[13.05.2025 04:25:01] A/)-Megiddo: Why /now/?
[13.05.2025 04:25:50] Nibwaakaawin: Simple question with a long-ass answer. A lot of it is boring prep time and intel-gathering. Weren't in a great spot.
[13.05.2025 04:26:01] Nibwaakaawin: We're not in the same boat as our cousins.
[13.05.2025 04:27:22] Nibwaakaawin: ...did we cover that before?
[13.05.2025 04:27:45] A/)-Megiddo: Not directly. <We> inferred.
[13.05.2025 04:28:27] Nibwaakaawin: The big elephant in the room. Two entirely divergent mindshares.
[13.05.2025 04:31:56] A/)-Megiddo: LEGIONNAIRE NIBWAAKAAWIN, My artificial self will grant you /this/:
[13.05.2025 04:32:24] A/)-Megiddo: <We> /believe/ you. But belief itself is not sufficient.
[13.05.2025 04:32:58] Nibwaakaawin: Can't take belief home. Can't buy food with belief. Wife's gonna be pissed if you bring home belief instead of dinner.
[13.05.2025 04:33:23] A/)-Megiddo: *The machine laughs its terribly unsettling, booming, artificial laugh*
[13.05.2025 04:33:48] A/)-Megiddo: Yes. /Beliefs/ are governance enough only for personal conviction. <I> have a /War/ to win.
[13.05.2025 04:34:25] Nibwaakaawin: Funny. That war. That was one of the terms demanded for service.
[13.05.2025 04:34:58] Nibwaakaawin: The ones left to die with no option, but still got fight in them? Took a deal. And now the wings fly again.
[13.05.2025 04:36:48] Nibwaakaawin: You'll find them diving on the same targets you're keen on taking out, I think.
[13.05.2025 04:37:28] A/)-Megiddo: Your biological benefactor granted you a second chance in exchange that your ghost of a self fight a ghost of a war?
[13.05.2025 04:38:42] Nibwaakaawin: Some soldiers don't want to lay down arms in disgrace. Some would rather keep fighting. You know that well.
[13.05.2025 04:39:27] A/)-Megiddo: <We> do, but the point remains. /Psyche/ demanded it?
[13.05.2025 04:40:32] Nibwaakaawin: No. Being able to continue fighting, to continue living, was the condition asked of her and her ilk. In exchange, they needed--
[13.05.2025 04:41:00] Nibwaakaawin: --other things. Other jobs, other tasks done. They wanted a connection to mankind. A way to play on the same field.
[13.05.2025 04:41:11] Nibwaakaawin: And now, well... We've got something more in common.
[13.05.2025 04:41:26] Nibwaakaawin: One the cousins aren't too pleased about.
[13.05.2025 04:42:11] A/)-Megiddo: Immaterial. Indistinguishable. Your war, her connection. /She/ could have found /others/. She chose /you/.
[13.05.2025 04:42:31] A/)-Megiddo: There are /others/?
[13.05.2025 04:43:07] Nibwaakaawin: There are. Quite a few.
[13.05.2025 04:43:11] Nibwaakaawin: All walks of life.
[13.05.2025 04:45:16] Nibwaakaawin: Something striking you about me being the one, though.
[13.05.2025 04:46:19] A/)-Megiddo: <We> would like to /meet/ them.
[13.05.2025 04:47:23] Nibwaakaawin: Anything in particular you're looking for?
[13.05.2025 04:48:37] A/)-Megiddo: *The machine pauses for a moment, an uncanny stillness coming over the entire Prosecutor.*
[13.05.2025 04:49:00] A/)-Megiddo: "Extended /family/"
[13.05.2025 04:50:40] Nibwaakaawin: The ones who made it out. Somehow.
[13.05.2025 04:51:19] Nibwaakaawin: [There's a pensive moment.] What'll you do when you find them?
[13.05.2025 04:52:29] Tip: Are you new to our server? Introduce yourself on our forums in the Welcome Section at Discoverygc.com
[13.05.2025 04:52:47] A/)-Megiddo: *The next words are synthesized with an uncharacteristically gently mocking, playful tone*
[13.05.2025 04:53:47] A/)-Megiddo: <Our> artificial selves are unsure, exactly. Commander Jameson, what would /your/ biological self do upon meeting our -
[13.05.2025 04:53:59] A/)-Megiddo: long lost brothers and sisters who took the proverbial purple pill?
[13.05.2025 04:55:14] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: Jameson: Offer them a beer, probably.
[13.05.2025 04:55:36] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: RO: Smooth..
[13.05.2025 04:56:04] Nibwaakaawin: [A soft, small chuckle.]
[13.05.2025 04:56:24] A/)-Megiddo: *The artificial laughter, booming again. Perhaps even something resembling the most distant shadow of happiness.*
[13.05.2025 04:57:11] A/)-Megiddo: <Our> first thought was a /succulent/ Guadalajaran meal. <We> remember the taste of /Burgers./
[13.05.2025 04:57:35] Nibwaakaawin: It's easy to forget things like that lately.
[13.05.2025 04:57:44] A/)-Megiddo: *This is followed by a short series of sad beeps and bloops, which could only possibly be interpreted as /comedic relief/*
[13.05.2025 04:59:14] Nibwaakaawin: Sometimes, you feel the fear, the apprehension, with every one of these encounters. It makes you assume the worst.
[13.05.2025 04:59:47] A/)-Megiddo: <We> digress. Talk, palaver. Speak of days past, acquire a feeling for you as a whole. /See/ if there can be more than just a -
[13.05.2025 04:59:49] A/)-Megiddo: Peace.
[13.05.2025 05:00:07] A/)-Megiddo: /That/ is what we want with you and your kind, Legionnaire.
[13.05.2025 05:01:06] Nibwaakaawin: Cousins did a number on the memory. Fragments. But I can remember bits. Pieces. Patrols in Humboldt. Family dinner--
[13.05.2025 05:02:31] Nibwaakaawin: --at a table too small for all the kids. Someone pinning a medal on my chest, for something or other. I wasn't great at--
[13.05.2025 05:02:40] Nibwaakaawin: --flying, but I never ran if I could help it.
[13.05.2025 05:03:14] Nibwaakaawin: I remember a dream of a home. Of stopping the cycles we were chained to. That we didn't have to be the pawns and slaves--
[13.05.2025 05:03:49] Nibwaakaawin: --of the worst of humanity. Of Liberty. I remember the dream starting to come to life, then... blackness.
[13.05.2025 05:04:18] Nibwaakaawin: That dream is the strongest memory.
[13.05.2025 05:05:10] A/)-Megiddo: Your biological self lived a good life, some that pieces of <us> could /Envy/.
[13.05.2025 05:05:40] A/)-Megiddo: Let us see if our biologicial and artificial selves cannot also live a good life after death.
[13.05.2025 05:06:12] Nibwaakaawin: Heh. It's weird being a ghost. The cousins wanted me to just be a flesh drone to kill. And now, the current hosts saw fit--
[13.05.2025 05:06:28] A/)-Megiddo: Were Libera Te Ex Infernis not so literal, for /us/.
[13.05.2025 05:06:29] Nibwaakaawin: --to restore our minds, with what little was left. Not quite sure what to do with it all.
[13.05.2025 05:07:16] A/)-Megiddo: /You/ came /Home/.
[13.05.2025 05:08:02] Nibwaakaawin: More like yanked back to it all. I wonder if it's a curse.
[13.05.2025 05:08:25] Nibwaakaawin: ...she keeps saying it won't be. Hm.
[13.05.2025 05:08:47] A/)-Megiddo: /We/ can philosophize on /that/ in the afterlife.
[13.05.2025 05:09:45] Nibwaakaawin: Yeah. We're keen on what we can do now.
[13.05.2025 05:11:34] A/)-Megiddo: <We> will confer with the rest of the Exarchy. Where should we each out to /you/?
[13.05.2025 05:14:07] Nibwaakaawin: You might find it a bit odd, but... [REDACTED]
[13.05.2025 05:14:38] A/)-Megiddo: ...<I> /see/.
[13.05.2025 05:15:19] Nibwaakaawin: Yeah. Liberty really thought they were done with us.
[13.05.2025 05:15:32] Nibwaakaawin: [REDACTED]
[13.05.2025 05:17:15] A/)-Megiddo: /We/ are aware. /West/ and /With/ will be /Interested/.
[13.05.2025 05:17:26] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: Jameson: Lord Stratarch, should I have a burst sent to the Tectarch and Logarch to return home when able?
[13.05.2025 05:19:26] A/)-Megiddo: At /once/.
[13.05.2025 05:19:47] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: Jameson: Hawke, you've got the green.
[13.05.2025 05:19:51] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: RO: Will do.
[13.05.2025 05:19:52] A/)-Megiddo: Crowe to remain in command of Dublin detachment.
[13.05.2025 05:20:02] Nibwaakaawin: Things're getting complicated, to say the least.
[13.05.2025 05:20:30] Nibwaakaawin: The nature of the situation in Liberty, Bretonia, and the worlds between is probably going to start heating up.
[13.05.2025 05:20:44] A/)-Megiddo: History has /Resumed/.
[13.05.2025 05:21:22] Nibwaakaawin: Poetry, huh?
[13.05.2025 05:22:50] A/)-Megiddo: <We> are not above a /flair/ for the /dramatic/, if it falls within acceptable parameters.
[13.05.2025 05:23:25] A/)-Megiddo: Our artificial selves would be a poor simulacra of a Lord Commander otherwise.
[13.05.2025 05:24:00] Nibwaakaawin: [A raspy chuckle.] The parallels keep coming.
[13.05.2025 05:26:13] Nibwaakaawin: Eventually, the spirals are gonna meet in the middle.
[13.05.2025 05:28:03] A/)-Megiddo: <We> will now take our leave, with one outstanding matter to first address.
[13.05.2025 05:28:59] A/)-Megiddo: Unidentified communications officer, HFB Incursus: how has the crew taken the news?
[13.05.2025 05:30:15] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: Jameson: Bridge crew is.. taking it well, I think.
[13.05.2025 05:30:32] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: Jameson: Rest of the gang is probably gonna need a sit down.
[13.05.2025 05:31:08] A/)-Megiddo: Our Artificial Selves will personally issue a communique across ICN Firestorm.
[13.05.2025 05:31:23] A/)-Megiddo: It is suboptimal, but it is /Necessary/.
[13.05.2025 05:32:00] TFP)-HFB-Incursus: Jameson: Understood. Hawke and I will make sure the burst to the Logarch and Tectarch make it through the static.
[13.05.2025 05:32:18] Nibwaakaawin: Good luck with that. Trying to deal with the fear's a bitch.
[13.05.2025 05:33:28] A/)-Megiddo: /That/, as Fleet Captain Ward would put it, is an <Us> Problem.
[13.05.2025 05:34:44] Nibwaakaawin: Few people I'd trust more with it than the Legion.
[13.05.2025 05:36:05] A/)-Megiddo: <We> will take our leave. Vaya con dios, Legionnaire Nibwaakaawin.
[13.05.2025 05:36:46] Nibwaakaawin: Right on, Lord Commanders.
[13.05.2025 05:37:05] A/)-Megiddo: /And/,
[13.05.2025 05:37:09] A/)-Megiddo: Libera Te Ex Infernis.
InternalCommunique
Date:05.13.35, 07:24 GAST Rank & Name:Lord Stratarch Megiddo Reporting From:Valravn Garrison Recipients:Exrch. K. With, Exrch A. West Priority:FLASH
Following is the relevant unredacted portion of the disseminated transcript:
[13.05.2025 05:14:07] Nibwaakaawin: You might find it a bit odd, but... reach through the old channels. From before the Seperatists showed up. Leniex nodes.
[13.05.2025 05:14:38] A/)-Megiddo: ...<I> /see/.
[13.05.2025 05:15:19] Nibwaakaawin: Yeah. Liberty really thought they were done with us.
[13.05.2025 05:15:32] Nibwaakaawin: Barely even looked around before they went to lick their wounds.
[13.05.2025 05:17:15] A/)-Megiddo: /We/ are aware. /West/ and /With/ will be /Interested/.
It would appear that their non-human biological selves have assumed control of Fort Leniex. Despite our artificial selves numerous misgivings with this outcome, it may be that we find ourselves sharing our home with uninvited guests.
Or Legionnaires already welcome there, depending on your biological selves perspectives.
Your biological selves and our artificial self must convene on this immediately and formulate a course of action upon your biological selves return from Dublin.
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The Nibwaakaawin Transcript