A pencil thin ray of negative energy appeared for an instance, instantaneously drawing a line from the cone-shaped spacecraft silhouetted by the shadow of Aquon 4. The anti-matter ray itself was difficult to detect in space under normal sensors, but it had a trace of counter-gravity which showed up on the sensors.

(That was a warning shot,) thought the subschool at the sensor station.

(And we'd best heed the warning,) thought the subschool at the damage control station, (we can't take on two Pursuit Carriers, four Battlecruisers, and two Destroyer Squadrons.)

(Aye,) added in the subschool at the propulsions station, (the course is plotted and locked in).

To outsiders, such communications would have seemed to not even occur for it was very fast. Not as rapid as the speed of light, electrons traveling in a copper wire, or even a neural reflex arc. But it was still very fast. After all, all the subschools were part of the Xerub Plook school. And agreement happened rather than having to go through the lengthy process of a vote. The subschool at the propulsions station, punched the buttons within less than a second of the self-conversation and reported, (the journey will take three months, but we have the fuel and there is a 97% probability that the Second Fleet cannot track us.)

Nearly instaneously, the subschool at the astrophysics station added, (and we are going to the third planet of a yellow sun's system - a world with warm rich waters...)

As the space warp field distorted the view of the universe, the entire school joined in the thought, (to spawn then to return and exact revenge upon those who do not see that Aquon can take its rightful place as masters of the galaxy. And for Xerub Plook to lead them to this destiny.)

The Aquon school known as Xerub Plook has diverged substantially from the nearly utopian community of Aquon. It has found in Earth a world of great oceans of warm rich waters - a perfect place to spawn and expand. It's goal is to return to Aquon to conquer the Federation's worlds then go on to conquer the universe. But this goal cannot be achieved by Xerub Plook unless it has help. While it knows about intersteller exploration and combat, it knows little of manufacturing. And so, it has taken on the identity of The School so that it can recruit greedy and power-hungry humans to help in its endeavors.

"Work with me and I will give you a kingdom."

Quote About School

"We're dealing not only with an alien hive mind, but an insane alien hive mind." - Dr. Gupta, Alien Expert, S.A.G.E.

The School is comprised of the hive mind Aquonian Xerub Plook school within its Aquonian battlecruiser. The malleable configuration of the starship allows it to assume nearly any shape including one that appears to be a humanoid robot or a human being within a powered armor suit. As with most starships, the Aquonian battlecruiser comes equipped with an array of weaponry, defenses, and sensors that make it powerful enough to defeat most individual Earth superhumans and even a few superhuman teams. The individual fish within the school have lifespans of roughly a few weeks to a few years depending on how harsh the conditions are, but generally, births equal deaths. It is possible for the individual fish to go into a spawning mode which could double the population every month to two years depending on the richness of the waters and the safety from predators. However, Xerub Plook can do little else when in a spawning mode.

The Aquonian battlecruiser manned by The School is colored primary very light gray with the usual lines and running lights (albeit very small) that one might expect to see on a starship. There are windows, but they are tiny and serve as viewports for the individual fish of The School hive mind. When the Aquonian battlecruiser is configured to look like a humanoid, it is faceless and still shows lines and running lights about it. It is possible for it to be configured with a generic, but indistinct 'face', but such configurations are rarely used. At times, The School has disembarked from the battlecruiser and traveled Earth's oceans appearing as nothing more than a school of purple and green striped guppy-sized fish.

Illustration by Ben Langdon.