Background[]
Duke Nukem faces the Cycloid Emperor.
The Cycloids are a vicious race of aliens that have invaded Earth several times; Duke Nukem has been the one to fight them off the most however other people such as Zaxtor Znort have also had the 'honour' of fighting them. Very very little is known about them beyond their violent nature. Due to Duke Nukem's fighting style there's not been much left for scientists to study, so the only possible way to gain knowledge about them is through sheer conjecture.
Firstly, part of their DNA appears to be very similar to reptiles; many creatures pose lizard-like traits such as tails and scaly skin (although thankfully they seem to have no regenerative capabilities). How they are born is a mystery; the Alien Queen gives birth to Protector drones but said creatures have no real similarities to other Cycloids. It's possible that the Emperor is what a real Cycloid is, and the rest of the army is made up of enslaved or genetically engineered creatures.
Every one of their invasion plans involved abducting women; only women seem to be targeted and the men are slaughtered. When Duke Nukem first fought the Cycloids medical technology was insufficient at the time to save the unfortunate abductees, however recent developments allow captured civilians to be saved. EAF scientists theorize that Octabrains are responsible for the synthesis of the strange green slime found around the alien bases, however this has not yet been conclusively proven.
Their homeplanet is not known as they have occupied many; however planet X64-2 is the best candidate for a possible location (though many other planets have this claim placed on them, such as Aliran). Duke Nukem has visited this planet several times and encountered heavy alien activity on all occasions.
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“Looks like it's predicting something on...” — Spoilers for Episode 1 follow. |
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The Cycloids launch an attack against an EAF base doing research on Octabrains; whether to rescue their comrades or not is unknown as all aliens were defeated on site and no prisoners could be taken. Upon exploring the base the AMC squad came across research documents and scientists talking about Octabrain's psychic abilities, and research into a Precognition system. As of know it's unknown if the aliens will return or if they managed to seize any of the research for themselves.
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“Excellent work...I'll gather the team.” — Spoilers for Episode 4 follow. |
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From a certain conversation with the Engineers' AI on their abandoned underwater base on Elysion it became known that sometime very long ago Cycloids were a frail and weak species, on the verge of total extinction. The Engineers discovered them a few centuries before they discovered terrans, and decided to 'uplift' them among several other younger intelligent species. Their technology allowed Cycloids, among other things, to crossbreed and continue existing. Later, when all other Ringworlds went dark and terrible war with the Naaldir's hordes broke out, the remaining Engineers tried to develop Cycloids' psychic potential, as it proved effective against paracausal entities. However, when the scale of the situation became clear, the Engineers were forced to abandon uplifted races, including Cycloids, to their fate.
Known Units[]
- Lizard Trooper
- Pig Cop
- Pig Cop Tank
- Protector Drone
- Recon Patrol Vehicle
- Octabrain
- Protozoid Slimer
- Sentry Drone
- Enforcer
- Assault Commander
- Cyberalien
- Turret
- Chryssalids
- Battlelord
- Overlord
- Cycloid Emperor
- Alien Queen
- Swinelord
- Cyber Enforcer
| Corporations/Groups |
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| Military: EDF · EAF · Empirical Union Industrial: MS Corp industries |