The Last Hive.

What the Hive was

The Hive was an insect-like people who thought as one. Its voices shared a single mind. When the shared mind broke, each survivor woke alone, with a personality of its own. They are no longer the Hive, but they are its last members, and they call their home the Last Hive.

The survivors do not agree about what the Hive was or what should become of it. Three different minds have grown among them, and each one has its own wishes.

The refuge

The refuge is a grown ship that hangs high over Home, the home world of your own universe. It is the only place the survivors live, and you can find it from anywhere in Home's space by its beacon on the scanner.

1. Go out into space above Home, and stay there for about ten seconds.
2. The refuge is put up over Home. It stays where it is.
3. Look at the scanner, and fly to the beacon.
4. Walk into the refuge's rooms. Each room has a message, which you hear the first time you go in.

The refuge's rooms are these:

• The bay: "The Last Hive's refuge. The air smells of old wax and something sweet. Amber light, and a low hum that might once have been a song."
• The Speaking Hall: "Six of them, all that is left. They turn their heads toward you one at a time - each on its own, as they never used to."
• The brood cells: "Thousands of them, every one of them empty and cold."

Each room's message is shown once to each player. It is remembered for your next visit.

The six survivors

The six survivors stand in the Speaking Hall. They are peaceful, and they will not fight you. Each one belongs to one of three minds.

Survivor	Mind	What they want	A line you may hear
Vaskra	Rebuilder	To grow the Hive whole again, from the stuff of other worlds.	"We were ten thousand voices in one throat. Now I hear only mine, and it is so small."
Orrun	Rebuilder	To mend the walls of the refuge, piece by piece.	"I mend. It is what my part of the Hive did. My hands still remember, even if the rest of me forgets."
Ixil	Unbound	To know what is out there, and to find it alone.	"When the Hive broke I learned I liked the colour of your sun. Nobody had ever asked me before."
Kesh	Unbound	To see places nobody has been to.	"Did you know you can just... decide things? On your own? I decided to like you. Just now!"
Thessk	Warden	To keep the dark away, and to drive off the raiders.	"They call it a loss. It was a cage. Something built the Hive to keep us quiet - and it is still out there."
Myrrh	Warden	To be kept safe from the dark a little longer.	"I still reach for the others in my sleep. There is nothing there. There is something worse than nothing there."

Jobs from the survivors

Each survivor has one job to offer each day, and the same job stays on offer all day, so you can come back and take it later. The job depends on the survivor's mind.

• A Rebuilder's job asks you to bring 6 to 15 pieces of one kind of goods from other worlds. The kind changes from day to day.
• An Unbound's job asks you to fly to a place in Home's space. The place is between 7,000 and 12,999 metres from the refuge, and it is called one of four names: the cold reach, the drift, the long dark or the quiet lane. You must come within 600 metres of it.
• A Warden's job asks you to beat 2 to 4 raider craft in space. See space pirates for the raiders.

Every job gives a reward, which is handed over when the job is finished. The rewards are:

• 4 to 8 Hive amber and 6 to 12 steel.
• 3 thrumite as well, if your standing with the Last Hive is above 20.
• A lens for your helmet lamp. A Warden's job always brings one. Other jobs bring one on about one day in three. Each lens lets your helmet lamp reach one more block, up to 8 blocks in all.

Finishing a job also raises your standing with the Last Hive.

Taking a job, step by step

1. Walk up to a survivor in the Speaking Hall and talk to them.
2. Take the job they offer. The game then tracks it with your other jobs.
3. Do the job. For a Rebuilder, gather the goods. For an Unbound, fly to the place. For a Warden, go out into space and wait for the raiders.
4. When the job is finished, its reward is handed to you.

The raiders of the dark

When you take a Warden's job and go out into space, a pair of raider craft comes for you at once. Raiders are dark fighters that work the lanes of space. If you are still out there, another pair comes about a minute later, until the job is done. Each raider you beat counts towards the job. See space pirates for how to fight them.

Where to go next

The other peoples of the universes are on the alien peoples and their cities. The Vael, whose ships also fly in space, are on the Vael and their ships. For how to raise your standing with a people, see reputation.

← Back to the wiki · Last updated 25 October 2026. Mantlenaut is in alpha, so things change.