Starlight

Utility nanotechnology comes in two forms, the much more widely applicable Utility Fog, and the less common Utility Sand which has a much higher durability. The purpose of Utility Fog is to create everyday items and temporary or adaptive structures. This could include things like handheld and wearable devices, tools & equipment, weapons, all variations of clothing. Utility Fog is also widely used in the creation of Holodecks onboard CVC Starships as well as various other augmented reality spaces all across Commonwealth space. A common household use is in the creation of adaptive furniture, lighting, and windows which change with the Seasons based on the preferences of the homeowner or tenants. The presence of Utility Fog across the colonies has been shown to vastly improve moral amongst the settlers. Utility Grains are a larger type of machine known as Micrites. These are used with Utility Fog to create larger Holodecks or AR spaces, but also in the creation of entire adaptive/customizable buildings such as stores, offices, homes and apartment complexes which can be radically altered based on owner or tenant preferences.

Constructor nanites are sometimes referred to as White Goo due to the opaque white color of the swarm. These nanites are used very widely in all manner of fabrication roles, using molecular feedstock to build anything desired by the programmer(s) of the swarm. Constructor swarms are very regularly deployed to expand upon existing colonial settlements as well as mega cities on the home worlds because of their incredible speed and efficiency. Ship printers and repair yards likewise rely on White Goo to aid in their production of new Starships. Onboard most CVC Starships are food and water replicators which rely on reserves of White Goo to molecularly create clean drinking water and fresh meals for the crew. On planets without fully cultivated biospheres, these food and water fabricators are invaluable.

Disassemblers are specialized nanites designed to take apart virtually all normal materials and elements into its base components, sometimes down to the atomic level. Sometimes swarms of Disassemblers are called Black Foam due to its almost frothy appearance. Many such swarms are deployed by deep space mining missions to harvest whole asteroids and moons for processing and refinement. Oddly, Black Foam has a rather important role in the medical field, used at times to hunt down and destroy cancer and other diseases in patients, as well as cyber-plagues afflicting Vec populations by destroying corrupted hardware. In Investigations, Black Foam can be used to perform an intensely intimate scan of the objects or biological material it takes apart, providing potentially valuable insights. In some high-bandwidth optical Teleporter relays, entire groups of people can be taken apart, (painlessly), by Disassembler swarms, which provides the station with exact atomic information of each individual allowing for more efficient transfers from matter to encoded light, lowering the data-load of the beam and offering a faster reconstruction at the receiver station.

Hyper nanites, known as Hyper Foam or Hyper Fog, are a special brand of nanites that are now widely known to become sentient in high concentrations. In the past, Hyper Fog had been deployed as a weapon of mass destruction, due to one of its very unique properties. Hyper Fog can build more of itself using atmospheric gas particles. While Hyper Fog can self-replicate using all known atmospheric gas molecules, their replication speed dramatically increases when combined with elements taken from the ground and water sources. This gives them unprecedented replication cycle efficiency which made them virtually unstoppable until anti-nanite technology matured. On worlds which were previously destroyed by Hyper Fog, the representative government of the Commonwealth has recently granted these collectives rights as citizens of Freywynn after their sapience was discovered by one of the local gods by chance. After this discovery, the use of Hyper Fog as a weapon was largely prohibited, but especially after a series of nature preservation acts outlawed the use of planet killing weaponry outside of emergency situations. It should be noted that Hyper Fog was never optimized to fabricate objects or to harvest material, but merely to maximize the efficiency of its own replication cycle, which is why they were classified as a weapon.

Anti-nanites, sometimes called Angel Fog, or Blue Goo depending on the design, is a comprehensive ecosystem of smart matter spores, micrites, and nanites designed to act collectively with a single purpose: the destruction of hostile nanotechnology. They come equipped with heavier armor, multiple appendages ending in saws, hammers, claws, cage traps, and heat rays, and have electronic and Cyberware infrastructure distributed across the swarm. Because of their complexity, they have among the slowest replication cycles of existing nanotechnology, but are capable of destroying 10 to 100 hostile nanites for every 1 of them taken out. This number can exponentially increase depending on the sheer scale of the Blue Goo swarm, as their collective strength is much greater than their individual ability. Anti-nanites are often an integral security feature of every inhabited world in Commonwealth Space, which effectively ended nanotechnology as the apex weapon of the previous ages. Defensive Angel Foglets are often installed in the Indestoid plates of mega-structures and ships as well, protecting CVC assets as much as the civilians.

Arsenal Swarms, sometimes called Red Foam because of its blood-like appearance, is a military Nanotech assets deployed in small clusters or cells in frontline combat. Red Foam contains nanites and micrites as well as some solid-state cube-bots which work together to act as an adaptive and dangerous form of infantry. Each colony is a roughly 3x3x3 glob that contains distributed FIT and Warchive infrastructure as well as high energy UV optical communication lines. This allows each deployed cell to be extremely well connected, and possess access to large databanks on how to fabricate and utilize advanced defensive and offensive technologies as well as the means to gather specific raw materials needed in their construction. Weapons and defenses created by Red Foam cells often reach hundreds of kJ of output but rare MJ output devices have been recorded. Arsenal Swarms are known to have an average tactical and strategic capacity of an S(1)Lesser ASI but are not known to be self-aware. Arsenal Swarms are known to have an average replication cycle, that is usually slowed significantly when under heavy fire, due to energy expenditure on defensive countermeasures holding priority in their programming.

Synthesis nanotechnology, sometimes called Green Goo for its association to nature, is a rather unique type of self-replicating nanotechnology. This is because Green Goo is not made from machines at all, but rather purposely engineered biological organisms designed to evolve down preprogrammed paths and to gradually form entire functional ecosystems based around the initial desired outcomes of the programmer(s). Green Goo has seen significant use in the provolution of species into sapient forms, as well as in all manner of neogenic and Lazarogenic research. Additionally Synthesis swarms are used as a form of universal programmable medication which while not available everywhere is common in heavily populated sectors of Freywynn. In times of conflict, Green Goo can represent one of the worst bio-terror weapons imaginable. While never officially used for such, Green Goo could be used to infiltrate the existing ecology of enemy worlds, creating plagues and famines, mutating the animals and people, and even creating monsters of its own. On top of this, many sophisticated technologies can be recreated using purely biological frameworks, such as the dreaded laser shrubs/trees, leaf-bots/stick-bots, fungal mines, bacteria-colony super computers, and live-wire vines to name a few. If left uncontested, whole worlds can be converted into Yggdrasils, massive planetary organisms with super intelligence on-par with (S4)Lesser ASIs. These planets are typically described as possessing utterly alien biosphere zones which can double as living space for friendly forces. They can even forge whole fleets of organic starships known who can in most cases reproduce more of themselves over time.

A Ghost Swarm is a stealth asset designed to be seeded in secrecy behind enemy lines. Once implanted, its programming leads the swarm to optimize its ability to hide with each replication cycle. Ghost Swarms are tasked with infiltrating computers, important infrastructure, starships, databases, stock markets, and even other Nanotech swarms. From here they will gather as much intel as they can before waiting for the perfect time to transfer that information back home, usually by using existing long-range data stream infrastructure in an infiltrates system. If a Ghost Swarm is ever compromised, they perform an emergency broadcast of all gathered information in a powerful radio beam which subsequently destroys the colony, erasing the evidence. It is hoped that a Ghost Swarm can be utilized as a decapitation tool during initial stages of invasion in times of war, taking out power grids, corrupting critical systems, bricking computers, and causing chaos in the markets, potentially even causing ‘accidents’ resulting in the deaths or incapacitation of important leaders. Infiltrated Starships may simply disable their weapons and shields when the crew least expects it, or the vessel may simply self destruct. While not used since the wars of the previous era, it is believed that many civilizations and planets within the Commonwealth still possess the means of deploying Ghost Swarms, but widespread adoptions of Antinanite deterrents generally prevents accusations of espionage among member states.

Rewrite is a kind of God-Tech bio-nanotechnology that is nearly undetectable by less advanced civilizations. Each one possesses the unique quality of being able to camouflage to the host organism, be they organic or mechanical in nature. Their primary target is always the central nervous system and the brain, or equivalent structure, in the host. Once inside a being they will rapidly replicate and replace these areas entirely with more of themselves, using unknown means to evade typical medical or cybernetic detection methods. Rewrite Swarms are designed as a memetic warfare tool, acting upon the mind and the metaphysical aspects of an enemy society. Rewrite nanites can, to our knowledge, totally override existing memories & personalities of affected people. Affected populations will attempt to spread Rewrite to others through the unconscious direction of the swarm, accomplishing this through civic activism, proselytization, psychological warfare, and through the broader social-scape of friends and lovers within society. This will persist until the entire civilization is under its influence or the affected are successfully quarantined. There is very little evidence available to know how often or where Rewrite Swarms have been employed by the gods, but some of what we do know about their effects are scary enough to haunt the nightmares of many. A whole civilization’s languages, religions, history, cultures, and everything in-between can be arbitrarily rewritten by the programmer(s) with virtually no limitations. It would be as if it had always been that way, and none of the affected would ever even know. It is up for debate among theologians and philosophers if the affected are even still themselves, or merely perfect simulations.

A Metric Swarm, sometimes called Sparklers due to their mesmerizing appearance, are a form of God-Tech nanites often utilized by the CVC as part of Manus Dei technology. Their individual makeup is highly classified, however it is known to most that Void Bubble technology is intrinsically involved in their functionality. Collectively a Metric Swarm is tasked with creating distributed architecture that comes together to form functional metric and vacuum engineering tools, structures, and weaponry. In important centers of power and in military outposts across Commonwealth space, Metric Swarms may be used to create UEF affecting devices, chaos wands, or to generate areas of influence where certain weapons and defenses fail to function properly. In more esoteric applications, it is known that Metric Swarms play a key role in wormhole production at some of the various Weylforges dotting the Commonwealth, as well as being a supposedly important part of the process in the creation of Black Angel Starships. But perhaps the most bizarre tales of their use is what circulates the busy lives of the people, who claim they come as spies and avatars for the gods and the lesser ASIs. Stories have long circulated about strange geometric formations full of twinkling lights flying across interplanetary space at high speed, hovering ominously among cloudy skies, floating over quiet lakes, and even lurking in alley ways late at night. Wether these sighting are legitimate or the product of modern folklore remains to be determined. The Angelnet has never logged such events.

Silk Worms are a form of Synsect, Smart Matter Gelbots designed to mimic the form of small insects and to perform a specialized task. The Silk Worm uses its integrated FIT system to harvest specific materials from the ground as it crawls around, in order to create thin silk cables made from Smart Matter fabricated within itself. This acts as a form of distributed
computronium webbing as well as high energy UV optical cables, allowing increased communication between deployed assets, as well as increasing computational output for the CVC forces in the region. They are self-replicating entities, capable of gathering sufficient resources to form another instance of itself through mitosis. Silk Worms often remain connected to the lines they lay behind them, allowing multiple Silk Worms to act as a single unit, and to utilize the increased computational ability granted by their silk trail to improve their tactics and designs in order to adapt to the needs of the battlefield at any given time. These synsects can combine with other instances of Silkworms in order to become a larger instance. Likewise, larger instances can split into multiple smaller ones.

The Wasp is a kind of Synsect designed for the purpose of creating a highly mobile and highly effective communications network using high-energy laser data streams. Their appearance mimics the common wasp, with a laser emitter where the stinger would be. These synsects individually can output up to 8-12watts from their laser emitter, which is enough to permanently blind unprotected eyes of most races, and can pose a fire hazard to certain materials. In large formations, Wasps can create powerful laser strikes against ground and air targets well within the MJ ranges or higher depending on the size of the swarm. Wasp Synsects outside of combat use their lasers to create emergent communications across a region, enabling vastly disconnected groups or settlements to remain in contact without having to rely on permanent or stationary infrastructure. This is especially useful in the frontier colonies and mining outposts, as well as military bases and defensive encampments built in sectors known for terrorist activity or are located in a system known to be the target of future foreign aggression. In frontline combat, these swarms help facilitate vast data exchanges and communications between deployed nanotech swarms, Gelbots, other synsect groups, and orbiting ships. Wasps can self-replicate through mitosis after gathering sufficient resources. Like all Synsects, Wasps can merge together with other instances of themselves to become a single larger instance, or they can split apart into multiple smaller instances.

Fireflies are a kind of Synsect designed for the purposes of electronic and cyberwarfare in a highly mobile and distributed swarm, preventing easy retaliation by enemy forces. They come equipped with 4watt radio and microwave jammer devices, as well as basic laser emitters which go up to 8watts individually. These laser emitters are used solely for the purposes of sending false data streams and fabricated communications across a secondary network in order to confuse and deceive hostile ASIs. As such, carefully coded hacks, viruses, and malware exist sporadically within these false coms, encoded beneath the messages to avoid at-a-glance detection, with the hopes of hijacking, disabling, or otherwise impeding enemy automations. To deal with the power needs of running their equipment, each Firefly has to dedicate more internal volume to power storage, which can slow their replication cycle. Much like the Wasps, Fireflies become especially potent in large swarms, being capable of frying whole power grids in sufficient numbers. Fireflies that merge together become exponentially better coders, creating new and innovative hacking code that becomes progressively more hidden within the fabricated communications they send out. This provides an incentive to have Fireflies join together during concentrated cyberwarfare attempts, which would make them both harder to defeat, but easier to target.

The Centipede Synsect is different from the other entries on the list. They are designed as recycling and hazard containment specialists, deployed in the aftermath of battles to scavenge what remains, from friend and foe alike, and to bring the harvested materials to a designated disassembly zone for reconstitution. In the event of a shipwreck during combat, Centipede assets are often deployed for radiological or antimatter containment, designed to safely store small quantities within their forms until they can deposit the hazardous material in a safe location. The same applies to most biological and chemical hazards as well, with these Synsects being deployed into contaminated regions in order to contain and remove the hazard. For larger or perhaps simply more dangerous hazards, Centipede instances can combine with similar instances to become one larger one, and as usual they can also split into multiple smaller instances. Centipedes utilize an integrated FIT system to gather specific elements and minerals from the ground beneath them in order to construct needed containment structures within their form, as well as aiding in the speed of their replication cycle. In active combat, Centipede units are kinda the stuff of nightmares, known to eat their way through hostile armies, vehicles, and fortifications, as well as causing reactor breaches and containment failures.

Cognitives are plasma entities comprised of a dense and high-energy plasma medium suspended in a self-sustaining electromagnetic field, typically in geometric shapes like a diamond. Within the plasma is a Magtech swarm made from self-replicating Magmatter plasma processors and other supporting infrastructure that transforms the plasma into functional computronium, with extreme computational output, achieving the post-human intelligence and comprehension of an (S3) or (S4)Lesser ASI. To sustain the replication, Cognitives must be fed regular energy infusions, which they also require to replace any damaged components and to maintain the energetic state of the plasma. To protect people and places around them, Cognitives are kept within a shell-like apparatus which orbits around their form and prevents deadly radiation from escaping into the outside environment. Most CVC Starships have at least one Cognitive onboard, but many have one at each major section of the ship, functioning as tactical officers under CVC oversight. They are recognized as citizens of Freywynn, having the same rights as other demigods, which means they must enlist voluntarily for whatever job they desire unless conscripted in times of war. In the civilian sector, Cognitives are often used in architectural development and in the planning around the colonization of new worlds, and in the optimization of resources available in any given system. They are also quite commonly seen working in the economic sector of major trade hubs, as well as in offices across the Commonwealth.

Atomizer Swarms are self-replicating magmatter shredder-bots designed to maximize interaction with normal atomic nuclei in the surrounding environment to create a runaway baryon decay explosion, which further fuels the rapidly expanding swarm. Typically, an Atomizer Swarm has to be deployed via a carrier, like a high-energy plasma bolt fired from a starship. The energy of the bolt is consumed to jumpstart the initial replication cycle shortly after impact, at which point it usually becomes self-sustaining, creating an expanding radius of desolation with anti-matter-level explosive outputs. This is even more dangerous when fired from orbit to a ground target, as the explosive radius generated by this runaway reaction is significantly larger within an atmosphere, and it has been recorded that without proper defenses, and if a set radius is not given, an Atomizer Swarm can and will destroy whole planets in a very short period of time, due to exponential growth that only begins to fall off after it's too late. Atomizer Weapons are among the first planet-killer class weapons ever developed by Freywynn. Today, following significant legislation, Atomizer weapons can only be used in ship-to-ship combat, or against ground targets in which the replication cycle of the swarm is intentionally programmed so that it dies out after a certain amount of time.