cityship | Ohm Society and Biology

Ohm “society”, for lack of a better word, has one simple, guiding principle at its foundation: everything one does is for the good of the whole. Though this seems rather simplistic and obvious, the Ohm take this principle to its absolute level. The Ohm differ from hive-minds in that each Ohm is an individual with a distinct personality and opinions, but their close, psychic connection with each other reinforces their desire to help and protect other Ohm. Essentially, their society flourishes using the concept of voluntary self-sacrifice: Though each Ohm would never willingly ask another Ohm to do so, each of them would gladly give up their own lives for the good of the Ohm as a whole. Of course, this doesn’t mean that an Ohm would throw its own life away for any reason, but if it believed it necessary, it would sacrifice itself without a moment’s notice. Because of this, each Ohm is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the species’ survival.

Due to the fact that each and every Ohm is willing to give of themselves for the species’ wellbeing, they don’t have a strict concept of hierarchy. Rather, each decision is made by the unit that would be affected as a whole. In other words, something that would affect the species as a whole is voted upon by the entire species, while something that would only affect one colony would be voted on by that colony, though other members of the species are often invited to offer input. While for any other species this would be a lengthy and rigorous process, the Ohm have perfected this through the use of a vast, instantaneous psychic network that spans across dimensions to all Ohm colonies. The Ohm’s powerful minds can instantaneously process the issue being decided upon, form an opinion, and offer that opinion to the Council, the center of the Ohm’s psychic network and the closest thing the Ohm have to a true authority. The Council is a group of dedicated Ohm individuals who forgo the use of Secondary Bodies, instead undergoing a process to enhance the mental capabilities of their Primary Bodies. Whenever an issue must be decided upon, the opinions of each involved individual is sent to the Council, who deliberately consider and process each and every one, before coming to a conclusion and sending that back to those involved. This process is repeated several times until all involved members are satisfied with the outcome. However, due to their extremely powerful minds, this process only takes the Ohm a fraction of a second for each decision, allowing them to react quickly to changing situations.

Ohm are typically born in one of several vast birthing caverns that can be found in each Ohm colony. These are presided over by a number of Ohm Brood-mothers, who are both the birth mothers as well as caretakers of all the Ohm offspring. The Brood-mothers are assisted in this task by a force of lesser caretakers, and the birthing caverns are heavily guarded at all times. Though several Brood-mothers will lay their eggs at the same time in a birthing cycle, all of the Ohm born from a particular cavern in the same birthing cycle consider each other siblings. This means that each Ohm typically counts several thousand other Ohm as its brothers and sisters. When an Ohm is born, it takes the shape of a dog-sized, beetle-like insect with a soft white shell. Ohm are always named by their Brood-Mother by one of the first few things they do after being born, typically chosen based on certain “portents”, for lack of a better word. Therefore, while an Ohm’s name would seem like just a jumble of alien syllables to anyone else, when translated, many Ohm names are along the lines of “Rolls Around Adorably”, “Nibbled on Sibling’s Antennae”, or “Made Squeaking Noises”. An Ohm’s name-action typically has some sort of important association with it. For example, “Rolls Around Adorably” denotes that this Ohm will have great wisdom when they mature, while “Nibbled on Sibling’s Antennae” denotes that this Ohm will be particularly protective of its brood-siblings.

As an Ohm matures, their carapaces become darker and harder, and they begin to develop powerful psychic abilities, eventually becoming a full part of the Ohm psychic array. A mature Ohm’s shape changes from being mostly beetle like to having a fully articulated neck to accommodate their enlarged cranium, and their lower bodies begin to atrophy slightly as they use their psychic abilities to move themselves from place to place.

Once an Ohm is fully matured, they are ready to begin contributing to the species as a whole. It is at this time that an Ohm is granted their Secondary Bodies. These are specially bred, bio-engineered bodies that have no will or consciousness of their own, which become extensions of their controlling Ohm’s will. In this way, though the Ohm as a whole are not a hive mind, each individual Ohm is essentially a “mini” hive mind. Each Secondary Body is designed for a specific purpose. A majority are for simple, non-combat purposes, such as construction, agriculture, and other such needs. However, each Ohm is also given Secondary Bodies specifically for combat. Most are given the simplest form of combat body, the “Grunt”. However, those who show particular aptitude for combat will be given more and more specialized combat bodies. While the Ohm combat forces do not have a strict hierarchy, those Ohm who show an extreme ability for combat are given the position of “general” in these forces, and their suggestions regarding combat strategy and war efforts are almost always followed without hesitation, not for their authority but for their experience and skill in combat.

While the Ohm combat forces are mostly designed for protection, they are easily capable of going on the offense, which they have been increasingly doing so in recent years. Generally, the Ohm have a fairly simple put powerful approach to war. To the Ohm, it is territory that is of the most important consideration in their war efforts. The Ohm will first attempt to determine what territories are of strategic importance to the enemy. They will then quickly send in a number of ships that they believe will be necessary to attack the territory. The first phase of their invasion begins by sending in recon units, to determine what kind of defenses the planet has and to set up an observation net. Next, they will send in waves upon waves of Grunts using warp-gates opened across the surface of the planet to gauge the strength of the planet’s defenses. They will then begin to send in more powerful and specialized units in the areas of greatest resistance. At this point, Ohm tactics will focus on attempting to force the enemy to abandon the planet. Those who do not flee are fought back against with increasing ferocity until the next and final stage of the invasion begins. Whether or not the enemy abandoned the planet, the Ohm will then use the Nodes currently on the battlefield to use their powerful psychic abilities to create warp-rifts in the space-time continuum around the planet. The Ohm then withdraw their forces, and the warp-rifts continue to expand until the entire planet is essentially destroyed as the space around it is torn apart. In the Ohm’s view, this robs the enemy of vital staging points for attacks.

However, the Ohm’s approach to war is also one of the reasons why the Daligig have easily made them seem to be horrible, monstrous creatures that do nothing but devour whole realities. In reality, the Daligig mislead the Ohm into thinking particular planets are strategic positions, causing the Ohm to attack them. Typically, these worlds are “lynchpin” worlds from which the Daligig intend to gather Chosen for the Transmigration project. When these lynchpin worlds are destroyed, the entire reality that housed them begins to crumble, eventually being destroyed entirely. In addition, by tricking the Ohm to attack world after world, the entire multiverse becomes distracted by trying to stop them, allowing the Daligig to quietly go about enacting Project Godhead.