Morta

The Morta is the name given to a parasitic galactic plague which infests and mutates both lifeforms and spaceships.

Appearance

All encountered Morta creatures seem to have been infested or mutated versions of other lifeforms. The infestation itself appears in the form of glowing green veins and tendrils, which appear to run all the way through the thing which was infested. This can be very visually disturbing, as the creatures often look horribly mutilated.

Morta spaceships appear to be very large bio-organisms which essentially act as living vessels. It is hypothesised that the designs have evolved over a long period of time, first learning to mimic other ships that were previously infested, then evolving from that point into their own vessel designs.

Culture

Morta creatures seem to have some sort of shared intelligence, although the mechanism behind how this works is not properly understood by the other races. It is possible that they act on some form of very highly evolved instinct. It is also possible there is a more sinister hive mind at work to control the plague. Either way, the infested lifeform appears to completely lose the ability to control its own thoughts or behaviours once the infestation has properly taken hold, instead succumbing completely to the Morta.

The main objective of the Morta seems to be to spread itself throughout the entire galaxy indiscriminately.

Technology

The Morta are considered to be the simplest and least technologically capable of the four races, instead relying on biological means to further spread themselves across the galaxy. Nevertheless, it can't be overlooked that the Morta are capable of faster-than-light travel, controlling spaceships and consuming resources on a stellar level, and actively competing and warring with other races on a grand scale.

Combat style

In space battles, the Morta fight by attacking using a form of concentrated biomatter which is extremely corrosive, almost like an acid or venom. They can salvage debris in order to obtain more power during fights. They can also fire parasites at enemy vessels in order to infest them, either for the purpose of completely destroying the enemy vessel, or, in some instances, to take over control of it.

Background information

The Morta act as the Intryon universe's equivalent to other annoying galactic infestations or scourges that act with a hive mind mentality, such as the Borg from Star Trek, the Zerg from StarCraft, the Replicators from Stargate, or the Flood from Halo. The design takes some inspiration from all of these. The concept of using bioships is also not new in sci-fi; additional inspiration comes from Species 8472 in Star Trek and the Wraith from Stargate. Similar concepts can be found in other sci-fi universes.

The name comes from mort, which is French for death. Morta was the goddess of death in Roman mythology.