"Sabmiqys ( ????? / Antares 2117) is a quarantined system in the Antares sector occupied by intelligent robots. Scouts from the Vilani Imperium first flew by the world in -5889, but their ships were destroyed by internal explosions. The system was interdicted and named Gashukubi, which is Vilani for "Certain Death".
Towards the end of the Interstellar Wars, Terran breakthroughs in weapons technology produced the meson gun. The first Vilani to encounter this weapon were horrified - their ships exploded from the inside, just like in the Gashukubi legends. Rumours of the "gashukubi" weapon did much to sap the Vilani will to fight.
With the founding of the Second Imperium , the Vilani soon realised that the Gashukubi system was defended by planetary-based meson weapons. The startling truth was that the inhabitants possessed a superior weapons technology. When the Sylean Federation created meson screens as a protection against meson fire, it opened the way for first contact in 311.
The Scouts were met by armed robots. Many of the first contact crew were herded off at gunpoint, never to return. This pattern was repeated on several subsequent contact attempts. Within the Scouts, the word "Sabmiqys" came to describe any mission with a small chance of survival.
Eventually, the Scouts learned the local language and asked to meet "those in charge". Finally, they got to meet the actual Sabmiqys. The race is from omnivore/gatherer stock. They average 2.5m in height, and mass about 100kg. The Sabmiqys are thin and lithe, with no body hair and a bumpy, thick, spongy grey hide. They have two legs, four tentacle arms with four finger manipulators, a head with two eyes, four nostril slits, and a wide mouth with over 100 teeth. Very few exist, and the society seems to be made up of robots of all kinds. What really shocked the Scouts, however, was that a few of the Sabmiqys claimed to be over 10,000 years old!
In the late 600's, a Scout contact party stumbled upon a robot repair facility. They discovered that a "living" Sabmiqys was undergoing extensive repairs. The Sabmiqys are actually extremely sophisticated pseudo-biological robots. The truth gradually emerged that the original inhabitants of the planet were all been killed by a virulent virus in approximately -8000. The virus came from a Sabmiqys sub-light probe upon its return from a nearby star system. The ship was studied for six months - the incubation period of the virus. Once the deaths started, it was all over in very quickly. The entire population - estimated in the millions - died within 10 days. The remaining million or so robots left on the planet decided that space travel is of little or no value, and have never pursued interstellar exploration.
Currently, Sabmiqys is still an interdicted Red Zone world. The robots are not counted as population, as the Imperium does not recognise their sentience. Travellers are advised not to go to Sabmiqys for any reason. Many who have violated the Red Zone restriction have never returned.
(CHALLENGE-28, 1115)"
I found the above in Beowulf Down's Traveller Library Data at:
http://www.pcug.org.au/~davidjw/
Has anyone done anything with this in reguards to Virus and the Black Curtain. Seems like something to look into?
Towards the end of the Interstellar Wars, Terran breakthroughs in weapons technology produced the meson gun. The first Vilani to encounter this weapon were horrified - their ships exploded from the inside, just like in the Gashukubi legends. Rumours of the "gashukubi" weapon did much to sap the Vilani will to fight.
With the founding of the Second Imperium , the Vilani soon realised that the Gashukubi system was defended by planetary-based meson weapons. The startling truth was that the inhabitants possessed a superior weapons technology. When the Sylean Federation created meson screens as a protection against meson fire, it opened the way for first contact in 311.
The Scouts were met by armed robots. Many of the first contact crew were herded off at gunpoint, never to return. This pattern was repeated on several subsequent contact attempts. Within the Scouts, the word "Sabmiqys" came to describe any mission with a small chance of survival.
Eventually, the Scouts learned the local language and asked to meet "those in charge". Finally, they got to meet the actual Sabmiqys. The race is from omnivore/gatherer stock. They average 2.5m in height, and mass about 100kg. The Sabmiqys are thin and lithe, with no body hair and a bumpy, thick, spongy grey hide. They have two legs, four tentacle arms with four finger manipulators, a head with two eyes, four nostril slits, and a wide mouth with over 100 teeth. Very few exist, and the society seems to be made up of robots of all kinds. What really shocked the Scouts, however, was that a few of the Sabmiqys claimed to be over 10,000 years old!
In the late 600's, a Scout contact party stumbled upon a robot repair facility. They discovered that a "living" Sabmiqys was undergoing extensive repairs. The Sabmiqys are actually extremely sophisticated pseudo-biological robots. The truth gradually emerged that the original inhabitants of the planet were all been killed by a virulent virus in approximately -8000. The virus came from a Sabmiqys sub-light probe upon its return from a nearby star system. The ship was studied for six months - the incubation period of the virus. Once the deaths started, it was all over in very quickly. The entire population - estimated in the millions - died within 10 days. The remaining million or so robots left on the planet decided that space travel is of little or no value, and have never pursued interstellar exploration.
Currently, Sabmiqys is still an interdicted Red Zone world. The robots are not counted as population, as the Imperium does not recognise their sentience. Travellers are advised not to go to Sabmiqys for any reason. Many who have violated the Red Zone restriction have never returned.
(CHALLENGE-28, 1115)"
I found the above in Beowulf Down's Traveller Library Data at:
http://www.pcug.org.au/~davidjw/
Has anyone done anything with this in reguards to Virus and the Black Curtain. Seems like something to look into?
