ON THE ZELL

EIGHT YEARS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF ILLUS

*Observations from Mr. Gary Ungie former inhabitant of Habitat Suzi–a small settlement on the frontier of Human space colonization that was overrun in the initial blitzkrieg by the Zell. Mr. Ungie's hobby is alien taxonomy. Mr. Ungie does not have any expert training in this field, however he is presently the most qualified person to report on the Zell. *

The following is my report on my superficial observations of the Zell – made while in the act of narrowly escaping death. Please understand that I have recorded the best information that I could scrounge from my memory which may in some cases be inaccurate as I was under severe duress during that harrowing experience.

I was fortunate enough to hide in a basement structure with a small upper window with one way glass which gave me a half hour to observe the Zell’s mayhem and murder. It was a very upsetting and terrifying experience watching the slaughter of innocent people that I had now power to help. I assumed it was only a matter of time before the Zell found me. Fortunately I was not found and much later rescued.

COMMONALITIES

I have observed four different types of Zell. I will describe their commonalities first:

All Zell are covered in a black segmented exoskeleton which seems to serve as armor. It is not a passive armor but one that is somehow greatly strengthened by this green energy to the point that not a single inhabitant’s civilian weapons have any effect on the Zell. The armor is rough and bumpy and sometimes has little spiky protrusions.

The Zell have arms that terminate in three grasping claw-like fingers which have three bendable segments allowing the Zell’s fingers to bend like ours. One of the fingers is opposed to the other two so they are capable of picking up objects however I doubt that they can perform any fine motor skills.

The Zell typically walks hunched over on all fours. They walk on the knuckles in a motion that is surprisingly similar to that of a Chimpanzee. They frequently shift to their hind legs when they need to use their hands. They can actually walk bipedally quite well--yet their preferred mode of locomotion is quadrupedal.

The head is sloped. Eyes are a glowing green color that matches the flickering green light that sometimes sparks from their armor when they receive a blow. The mouth is beak-like with sharp serrations or teeth. The larger Zell caste that I will describe momentarily frequently used their beaks to bite off the heads of many unfortunate victims.

I saw no instance of the Zell using tools or weapons. It seems that their capabilities were innate.

The first extraordinary offensive technique I observed was Zell emitting a bolt of destructive energy from his mouth. The devastating effect was on par with our weapons, however, Zell weapons seem to lack precision. It seems Zell favor large swaths of damage over precise targeting.

The second technique of the Zell was a melee attack. They would hoist themselves on their back legs and some sort of energized claw would extend from their knuckles approximately 30 cm long. Absolutely nothing could stop their claws from shredding their people or things. Again they certainly lacked precision in this attack as well and instead relied on rapid and chaotic slicing which diced equipment and people into small pieces.

DISTURBING SIDENOTE

One very disturbing side note: They spoke English proficiently although their grammar was quite poor. They even spoke to each other in plain english leaving me mystified as to what their original language must have been. I can supply no reasonable theories to explain this bizarre twist.

CASTES

There were four distinct forms of the Zell. will now endeavor to describe:

  • RABBLE The rabble caste measured a mere meter in height and were by far the most numerous. The Zell relied on superior numbers of this caste--the backbone of their waring strategy--however I am not an expert in military strategy. The Rabble would often form phalanxes as they encroached upon their victims very similar to the phalanx formations adopted by our War Bots. They also seemed quite expendable as I observed the death of one Rabble Caste member–not by the hand of a human–but by another Zell presumably as punishment. They left the dead Zell’s body. They seem to have no regard for life – not even their own.

  • BRUTE A Brute was a gigantic muscle-bound caste ranging in height from 3 to 4 meters. I never observed an instance of a Brute speaking. The Brutes often grabbed people in order to bite their heads off. Unlucky is the human soldier who will find himself in a position where he will have to encounter a Brute.

  • BOSS

    With individuals from the Rabble and Brute castes being so dumb it stands to reason that another smarter caste would be commanding them. And this seemed to be the boss caste's role. Bosses were small, about 1/3rd of a meter. I actually didn’t even notice them until one started barking out orders to a Rabble phalanx. I saw two bosses; in both cases they rode upon the back of a Brute. Unlike the other caste members the bosses seemed to be more task focused. They never cheered over a killing or emoted disappointment over a setback. They did seem to me completely incapable of participating in the battle as their arms and legs were thin to the point that I would guess they may be completely vestigial or at least only good for hanging on.

  • ELITE

    By far the most terrifying Caste was the Elite. Just below 2 meters tall and leaner build than the other Castes. I only saw one Elite, but I assume there are more. He was deadly like the brutes and rabbles yet also intelligent like the bosses. As a matter of fact I would say they were more deadly and more intelligent than any caste. I speculate that the elite may have authority over the bosses–but I didn't see definitive proof that this was the case. I guessed from his demeanor and the wide berth given to him by boss, brute and rabble alike as if they respected him. Perhaps their battle was going as planned and he had no need to command anyone.

    The other thing that set this Elite apart was that he was very precise. I witnessed him leap through the air and stab an unlucky soul through his face. The Elite’s claw exited the back of his victim’s head and protruded several additional centimeters. It was absolutely horrid to watch.

CONCLUSIONS

My best theory when I consider the whole of the Zell anatomies is that every feature is for the benefit of warmongering. Particularly the lack of a hand that can employ fine motor skills leads me to believe that they are incapable of creating the technological feats they displayed. My guess is that there are other castes-perhaps a science and/or engineering caste that innovates for these creatures.

Thank you for reading my report, I hope it helps repel this vial threat to humanity.

Sincerely,

Gary Ungie

Professional Gardener and Armchair Alien Taxonomist

*Autopsy & Dissection of Zell corpse recovered from the Battle of Nord performed by Alien Biologist Dr. Frank DeWitt

7 YEARS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF ILUS

Before reading this document you should be familiar with the report by "armchair taxonomist" Mr. Gary Ungie. His accurate and detailed explanation of the Zell’s behavior and external physiology has proven to be consistent with all subsequent observations.

There are a few additive data points observed after Mr. Ungie’s account:

  • The Zell are capable of surviving in the vacuum of space and other environments without need of a pressure suit. In fact Zell are often seen walking on the surface of their ships.

  • Zell are capable of a weird form of flight. They can propel themselves with a kind of plasma exhaust that vents from a dorsal segment boundary in their carapace. They appear to have limited range before they run out of propellant. Also to be clear an individual Zell cannot perform anything approaching Faster Than Light speeds, and they can not catch up to or outmaneuver a ship dedicated to space travel. Their flight capabilities are only employed on a local battlefield in open space or in the atmosphere of a planet. They seem to use space flight only for hopping onto an enemy ship.

  • Zell have a great variety and quantity of ships in their fleet--we estimate their total fighting force to be over 3 Billion vehicles. The Zell vehicles are covered in the same black carapace as the various fighting castes leading us to theorize that Zell ships are actually another caste of Zell that grows itself into a space worthy vehicle that can perform FTL travel. We’ve been calling this the Ship Caste for lack of a better term.

ZELL DISSECTION

Zell blood was like nothing we had ever encountered. It was green in color, but contained tiny sparkles of yellow energetic particles which turned out to be a refined and highly radioactive substance. We concluded that a Zell does not get its energy from food but atomic fission. They perhaps have a mechanism of refreshing their radioactive blood since we determined that the radioactive materials would only last for 20 years. If they cannot replenish their blood then we believe the maximum lifespan of a Zell is around 20 years.

Several carapace samples were sent out for analysis and scanning and determined that the carapace was laced with a special cell that did not seem as if it naturally evolved in the Zell but was perhaps inserted into them before birth. These cells gave the Zell’s carapace the ability to energize and maintain its strength that regular projectiles, beam attacks or energy blasts could not hope to penetrate.

Things got particularly interesting the moment we reached the creature’s throat. For we saw the terminus of what certainly provided the Zell with the ability to emit energy bolts. The structure reached deep into what would normally be a stomach but instead was a fascinating technology laced object. This object seemed similar to the foreign cells in the carapace but was certainly not a match for any of the Zell’s natural biology.

The object appeared to be glass-like, although it was a transparent material we have not encountered before. Inside there was a vast network of technology that we are still attempting to understand. The insides of the object appeared to be white but held a slightly pale green tint and this green color was not a match with the zell blood. We continued to dismantle our specimen and encountered several other instances of this tube like mechanisms.

A large mechanism that seemed to control and be fused with the Zell’s flight apparatus located on the fifth segment break of the dorsal side. The flight controller was directly connected to two large biological bladders which was filled with liquid hydrogen obviously because it was the main propellant employed when the Zell was flying.

We removed multiple enhancements for the arms and legs. Our best guess is that the technology was used to convert radioactive fuel, a powerful chemical consumed by the Zell’s muscles in order to facilitate super strength.

There were several more components found throughout the body that we still don’t have an explanation for.

Thank you for your kind attention . We hope these insights lead to the total defeat of the Zell someday.

With Hope,

Dr. Frank DeWitt
Alien Biologist
The Alliance Fleet Science Corps