Name of nation: A Lorca Ghaj (Eng: The Lorca Imperium)

Species: Lorca are muscular and tall, usually standing between 2.39 and 2.57 meters. Their jaws are quadruple-hinged, with an upper jaw and four lower mandibles arranged in two tiers. Mandible and upper jaw structure along with teeth shape and numbers result from different phenotypes, usually relative to ethnicity. They are still compatible with other members of the species, however. These mandibles have between eight and twelve teeth each and some Lorca, those whose descent is from the Lorca inhabitants of Sarudun, have an additional, larger fang on the tips of each mandible. Anywhere from eight to more than a dozen broader teeth may be mounted on the upper jaw structure. This structure will likely make it harder for them to speak alien languages, and vice versa, as some of the pronunciation is through mandible positioning which most other species lack, and as the Lorca have mandibles they have no lips to position to make certain sounds. They are omnivores however they are more inclined towards eating meat and their body is more adapted towards carnivorous. Lorca smell with the use of two nostrils, each slightly in front of and below the eye socket. Given their predatory nature, their sense of smell is very developed.
Their hands are tetradactyl, each having two fingers in the middle and an opposable thumb on either side. Their legs are digitigrade, with short upper and lower legs, using the two phalanges in their legs to support their weight when walking. This arrangement allows them to run very quickly and jump large distances. Their agility may also be attributed to their homeworld's high gravity (Which is 1.6G); the additional strength required to move normally in a higher-gravity environment would cause them to be more powerful in lower gravity situations. They also have a double set of pectoral muscles, which contributes to their notable strength. As an aside, their digitigrade stance makes it difficult for them to climb ladders
Lorca have a circulatory system in which two hearts pump indigo-colored blood, as their blood has a high level of hemoglobin. This higher level of hemoglobin and secondary heart is used to offset their larger size. Through a rare birth defect, they are sometimes born with only a single heart and while they will survive with only a single heart, they have much less stamina than their two hearted brethren. They breathe oxygen and their homeworld has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere.
Lorca have gray scaley skin, though those descended from the inhabitants of the Arusa subcontinent are a gray-brown colour. They have forward-facing eyes with vertical slits and horizontal eyelids that are reptilian in nature, giving them high-resolution central vision and depth perception. Interestingly, they have 4 types of cone cells in the eyes, however in most only three of these function correctly, the nerve ending in the fourth cone does not transmit to the brain. However, those descended from the inhabitants of the Arusa sub-continent or the Tauri islands have a fully function fourth cone, allowing them to see ultra-violet light spectrums. The arts are a popular "hobby" among those descended Arusa and Tauri because their bright paintings resulting from the way they see the world can sell for relatively high amounts, so Arusa and Tauri artists are among the more prosperous. The Lorca have approximately 130 million rod cells in their eyes. Their eyes are almost universally colored an yellow-orange.
Lorca exhibit minor sexual dimorphism, with the females being slightly smaller than the males and they are oviparous, laying eggs rather than giving live birth. The species is remarkably long-lived; Lorca over 70-80 years of age are usually fit for combat duty and their average life span is currently around 124 years. They also possess the ability to regrow lost limbs over a period of several months if properly fed

Description of government: An meritocratic Oligarchy. The government structure favours achievement over anything else. Physical and mental achievements are highly prized, the culture having woven their religion into these achievements, perhaps some ancient attempt at manipulation on a massive scale. Given their proud warrior culture it is perhaps inevitable that the military holds a considerable degree of power (indeed, all are trained from birth to fight so they can be called on if need be). At the top of the government is the high council, a body composed of three High Councillors. These councillors are elected by the council and then adopt a new ceremonial name. Below them is the Council, composed of 200 councillors. These recieve a ceremonial suffix –Ax. Next come the lower councils and below them the Ministries. Both adopt the honourific suffix of –Oi

Description of military: Their military is a large structure of well trained and extremely zealous soldiers. The source of their bravery and courage can also be a limiting factor, causing excessive zeal in some units. Their ships often have religious or spiritual sounding names.
Starship classes

Layman class fighter/bomber: A fast, single man fighter/bomber, designed for the express purpose of hassling the enemy and destroying hostiles on the ground
Gaia class dropship: A ship made to carry soldiers into the fray. Named after the Gaia from mythology, a race of female spirits who brought the Lorca into the world. They were also believed to be responsible for delivering babies to the eggs. Probably the closest in Lorca mythology to angels
Drop pod: A device used to deliver soldiers or weapons into a fight on the ground... or more rarely, into enemy ships when the shields are down
Honour class Corvette: This small and agile ship is used primarily for recon, policing action and small scale engagements. It lacks the firepower of its larger brethren but makes up for it in speed
Burden class transport: Exactly what it says on the tin a transport ship.
Legionary Class Frigate: Essentially a larger version of the corvette, designed to take larger prey. It is a light, defense focussed ship.
Inquisitor Class Prowler: A smaller, lightly armed ship. Designed for speed and equipped with stealth equipment, it is meant to stay near to planets, asteroids or other such large objects and spy on enemy fleets, possibly watching a planet for an ample time for a fleet to launch an attack...
Warrior class Destroyer: The Warrior class destroyer is stronger than the previous classes, carrying a larger range of weapons. Both durable and fast, it's large array of weaponry and defensive systems makes it a devestating opponent, paticularly to larger ships.
Garg class Cruiser: Named after the ancient war mounts, the Garg is larger than the previous classes and the last class before being considered a capital ship.
Elder class Battle Ship: The first ship to abandon the "evasion" approach of it's smaller brethren, the Elder class can withstand more punishment that the preceeding ships and cause more damage. It is also the first of the ship classes to be a 'Capital' ship
Blessed class Carrier: A large ship designed with the express purpose of carrying massive numbers of land forces, Layman fighter-Bombers and small star ships. Resembling an oversized Burden Class, it is armed with large plasma cannons and will always be used in conjunction with an escort force.
Battlemaster Class Ship of the Line: The Battlemaster is a ship designed to take massive punishment, while being able to deal it back it back. Although Dreadnaughts are the strongest ships in the navy, the Battlemasters are generally the most powerful encountered, a battlefleet likely containing at least one.
Overlord Class Dreadnaughts: The most powerful ships in usage by the Ghaj, the Overlord class combines aspects of a Battlemaster and a Blessed class, able to perform both functions. A major investment, an overlord accompanying a fleet spells trouble for the target...

Technological Overview: The Ghaj has a highly militarily focused government, and as such they have some extremely advanced military technologies. They favor plasma weaponry as it will cauterize the wounds of the opponent as it melts through, thus reducing the amount of ‘honour’ the target will lose. Death through Anti-matter weaponry is also considered to be an honourable demise. Notable civic technologies include gravity lifts, gravity transport tubes, field bridges and other such applications. Most of these are derived from military technologies. Some technological advancements are slowed by their ideology, sometimes simply because upon creation nobody has used them as they feel they are dishonourable, though others have been focused on and over time they often show willingness to accept what they initially rejected.

Cultural Overview: Although they moved to a technologically advanced society and abandoned the old stone age tools, the ideals of honour were resistant to change. For most Lorca, an existence without honour is still worse than death.
Naturally, the way to gain honour in early society was through combat, and lacking an understanding of the world religions began to form around what has since been named in the common tongue of the Lorca as "A Kha o a Lor", or "The Path of the Warrior". It was believed that only those with honour would be admitted into paradise upon death, and that the honour of a family was also taken into account during the day of judgement. Naturally, the link was in time made between Family Honour and blood and as such honour became associated with blood. Since honour was carried in the blood, when one bleeds they are losing some of their honour. The spike of adrenaline during battle was said to be the feeling of honour rushing into the blood. Even though they now know the biology behind it and that blood carries no DNA, the traditions behind it still remain and some even contend that having an operation in shameful as it makes you "bleed without honour"
When the eggs are layed, most are turned over and the raised by the "Shapers" of the area. The young may have little communication with their parents or even none at all. These "Warrior Crèches'" are divided into Lances, which are the equivalent of squads in the Ghaj. Upon reaching the coming of age, the Lances are transferred to the fields it is believed would suit them best. These Lances are kept together where possible, and usually regard each other as brothers. Youths who are part of a Warrior Crèche have the suffix of -oo. The shapers have suffixes relative to their field, there is no shaper suffix.
Members of the military have the suffix -oa. "Swordsmen" have the suffix -ei, which denotes nobility; All swordsmen are automatically made part of the nobility, however the title is not hereditary. Swordsmen are allowed to wield the Plasma Sword, a weapon that is valued highly. It is considered an honourable weapon for a Lorca to use as it requires them to get close to their opponent, and to meet your fate on the tip of a Plasma Sword is considered one of the "least dishonourable" ways to be killed in battle, as it cauterises the wound and as such prevents blood loss, thus minimising the loss of honour. The plasma sword works by containing super heated plasma within a magnetic field to form a "blade". It is devastating in combat, though it requires the user to be close to their target. There are other technologically advanced melee weapons that may see use in combat, though most are not held to such as high regard. The exception is the gravity stave, which is weilded by the Honour Guardsmen of the Ghaj. The gravity stave creates a gravity well around the tip of the stave, which if thrust into an opponent can cause them to implode. It is considered a dishonourable way to die, as it is obiously extremely messy 'As is a fitting fate for those who use less than honourable means in war'. This gravity well can also be focused to pull objects or even people towards the user. Honour Guardsmen of the Ghaj are often found protecting Councillors or important government structures, but may be assigned to the command of high ranking officers and some may take command themselves. Some high ranked military officers are also permitted to use gravity staves.
With the advent of technology and enlightenment, technological prowess has become a new avenue for gaining honour. It is considered that a scientist will share in any honour his ideas and technologies lead to the creation of.
"Lorca" is actually two words combined into one. Lor, which means warrior, and Ca, which means glory. Together, they become "Glorius Warrior"
The most commonly used language is o to as "The Standard Tongue", but this is misleading. The Standard Tongue contains five languages within it, which although are officially choices in vocabularly are closer to five different languages. They are:
"Black Tongue" This denotes hostility, anger, hatred or rivalry. Commonly used by Lorca soliders in the field to communicate or taunt the enemy, it is noticibly harsher than the four other tongues.
"The Grey Tongue" This is commonly used when talking to others who are not related or close friends.
"The White Tongue" It is only used when the Lorca feels the person they are talking to its trust worthy. Not as harsh as the previous two tongues, it lacks the cruel under tones and is used by certain offices, councils and in warrior creches to symbolise fraternity and trust.
"The Fair Tongue" Only used to talk to a lover. This tongue was, according to legend, gifted to the Lorca race when the great warrior queen Zira Lukax slayed all the "fell beasts" of Idun with her bare hands to save the object of her lover. Seeing their love overcoming the beasts of Idun, the ancestors gifted them the fair tongue and performed the first binding ritual. There is some truth in this story, Zira did lead a great campaign into Idun to defeat a rival kingdom, and she executed the enemy king with her bare hands. However, while she was married soon after, it is unknown whether her partner was freed from Idun or whether he had ever been to Idun. It’s likely an example of two events being woven together with myth and legend over the millennia
“The Honour Tongue” The Honour Tongue is a more religious tongue, used during binding rituals and other such religious events, as well as in the Council. The tongue is said to hold spiritual power
The core tenets of A Kha a o Lor are:
1: Honour
2: Rectitude
3: Mercy (Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean show mercy and let them live, and can instead be interpreted as ‘Mercy by spilling the least honour possible’ depending on the practitioner)
4: Valour
5: Loyalty
6: Wisdom
7: Respect (This includes respect for one’s self, respect for one’s own body and respect for others. It also covers gaining respect and maintaining that respect. Similar to Mercy, this doesn’t mean they won’t brutally kill you)
8: Integrity (This is a controversial one, which often causes squabbles in debating circles. Questions often raised include whether the use of stealth breaks this tenet and whether it is justifiable to break this tenet to uphold others.)
There are several lesser tenets that one is recommended to follow that will increase ones honour, however they are not requirements for entrance into the afterlife unlike the core tenets. It is believed by followed of the path, that one does not need to know of or believe in A Kha a o Lor to be accepted into the afterlife, they will be permitted to enter as long as they have lived by the tenets. It is said that those in the afterlife may return to help others follow the path, and as such ancestor worship plays a large part in A Kha a o Lor.
Historically, Burials were conducted by the transport of the dead on a ‘War vehicle’. Traditionally, this was to be a Garg (A vicious, horse sized beast) drawn chariot, though with the advent of motor technology it was common to use military transport vehicles rather than traditional methods. In the case of war dead or multiple dead within a family, they were transported side by side. If the person was a criminal or traitor, they would be tied to the back of a Garg or motor vehicle and dragged along the ground. They would progress out of the city and across the country until they reached the regions House of the Dead. Upon reaching the house of the dead, they were taken from their transport and carried inside, where they were laid out on the stone death beds within the “Room of the Dead”. In one hand was placed a ceremonial crafted weapon (Usually a sword, spear or bow), and in the other a tool from their profession (In the case of a soldier, they received a ceremonial shield). They were then left for 8 days, one day for each tenet and then burnt to ashes and placed into an urn, which was then interred in the catacombs. If the person was a criminal or traitor, they would instead be flayed by the priests and then their bones crushed into powder, which was scattered along the floor of the catacombs so that they were trodden on by visitors. Their meat would be fed to animals. This method has been used to bury the dead for thousands of years but with the advent of space travel, the Ghaj moved towards ‘Tomb Worlds’, entire planets dedicated to this purpose. There are two of these such worlds, and the majority of the dead are now sent to these worlds, though some traditional burials still occur. On these worlds, the dead are given a ceremonial weapon and a tool from their profession, then preserved in stasis so that they never go through the dishonor of rotting. On these tomb worlds, people of note are given their own chambers while the others are lined along the walls of the massive halls. The powdered bones of criminals are still strewn across the catacomb floors, and pits are maintained where the priests will throw the flayed skin to the beasts below. However, a new custom has developed based on old Tauri burial customs, and sometimes the bones of criminals are incorporated into the construction work. The priests are the only ones to live on these tomb worlds, and they double as tomb guards, making sure none who lack permission defile the tombs of the dead. Permission to see a family member must be gained through the military station in orbit, which refuse to set foot on the planet or allow others to set foot on it without permission from the priests. It is believed that any that land on the planet without permission will be cursed

History: Although the Lorca had evolved to chase and hunt creatures comparable in size to dogs, their natural prey did not move in herds but were generally solitary. As such, while individuals could feed themselves, supporting tribes was near impossible. As such Lorca relied on pack tactics to bring down much larger prey in order to feed their tribes in the prehistoric era. This, coupled with the dangers that many of their new prey posed, led to them relying on each other heavily. Over time, these strong brotherhoods created codes of honour, which became high in value.
The early Kingdoms (A arl Haj) were a series of small kingdoms set around the continent of Sarudun. Although other advanced civilizations rose on the other continents, the history of Sarudun is considered not only the most important (having been the most successful) but is also the best documented. There were three major kingdoms in the early days Idun, Dadun and Judak. It was in this period that the nobility was conceived and the code of honour developed by the hunting tribes evolved into a religion. The end of this period is marked by the fall of Idun. Idun fell when Queen Zira of the Dadun invaded and killed the king, seizing control of Idun and creating the first ‘Ghaj’, or empire.
This collapse prompted the beginning of a series of events that would lead to the discovery of the other continents by the exiles of Idun. Word would eventually reach Sarudun some 150 years later and so began the “great rush”, a period of time where the powers of Sarudun invaded and attempted to seize the foreign continents. Gunpowder was first discovered 110 years after the great rush began and as such Sarudun began to dominate faster and faster, though powers such as Dadun began to build close ties with powerful native nations rather than trying to invade them. The natives were quick adopters of gunpowder, particularly on the continent of Arusa, and so began the bloody decade long wars between natives and invaders. It was during this great rush that the “Binding Debate” began in Judak. The King Hiro wished to divorce his Queen Kira in favour of a younger and more attractive bride. The Queen was beloved by the people, however, and she was not about to be forced off her throne simply because she was barren. She contended that she had not only been a faithful queen but a proud warrior, and had expanded the Judak Haj personally into the new world. Her many military ventures had brought her great honour… more honour, whispers began, than her husband. The King was having none of this and so beseeched the Council of Elders. They told the two that the binding was for life. Kira did not wish to kill Hiro, however Judak could not afford for the debate to continue. She invoked the law of the land, claiming that if one was stripped of their honour then they would be as good as dead and thus the binding would be over, and thus challenged him to honourable combat. It was a very controversial claim, as binding was usually considered to combine the honour of the two partners into one shared line. Hiro could not refuse to face Kira regardless, but Kira was considered to be a much better fighter than him. Thus, the king hatched a treacherous plot. As the duel began, the king signaled a marksman who shot the Queen through the skull. Believing the debate to be finished, the King took his new bride and rode back to his palace in bliss. The people grew unruly and the land erupted into rebellion. For 160 days war raged across Judak as the rebels fought the kings men. Neighboring kingdoms seized the opportunity to invade and carve up Judak, and by the time the civil war ended Judak had lost 60% of its homeland and many of its oversea territories had fallen. The rebels however, had won the war. The King was captured alive and brought before the court and sentenced to death “in the name of the crown”. He challenged this, stating “I who am your king can not be sentenced by my own authority without my own consent!”. To which the Judge reportedly retorted “And who, pray tell, stated that it was your crown?”, then calmly informed the King that he had been sentenced to death by the Crown of the Queen.
King Hiro was taken to “An honourless death by rifle”, and was reportedly shot by the same rifle employed to kill Queen Kira. Judak declared that it would remain a monarchy… and instated the dead Queen Kira as it’s monarch. A lavish funeral was held and it was declared that even in death the Queen was the rightful ruler of Judak. Although Judak was later absorbed into the United Lorca Ghaj (The name of the Union between Dadun and the Odul Confederacy of Arusa), the region of Judak to this day reports that it’s governor is “Queen Kira”, a tradition which the Ghaj still tolerates so long as a change in Steward is made known to the council. As a result, one seat in the council is known as “The seat of Kira Morax” but is always taken by the Steward of Judak. The story spread throughout the Lorca Ghaj in it’s romanticized retelling in the works of Koro Zorei, a popular novelist of the 11th century and a well-known writer to this day for his novels and plays revolving around historical events. Due to his works, the name Hiro came to be associated with oath breakers and betrayers.
The current system first belonged to the Odul Confederacy, but after the death of King Zoro Lukax of the Dadun Ghaj, Dadun adopted the system. Dadun and Odul had long since had close relations and 112 years after Dadun adopted the system, the two unified. Together, they controlled 46% of the planet’s surface (Dadun 31%, Odul 15%). They agreed the two nations would have an equal number of seats and would both send an equal number of high councilors. This decision was weighted in Odul’s favour, giving them much more political influence than they would have had if the system had been decided based on population. As such, Odul unified in order to dramatically increase their power while Dadun unified in order to cement their lead over their growing rival, the Hepto Ghaj on the Jauri continent. This union was called the “United Lorca Ghaj”
600 years later, the entire planet lay under the control of the United Lorca Ghaj, which changed it’s name to the ‘Lorca Ghaj’. 400 years after that, political reforms led to the council being selected from all regions rather than just Dadun and Odul. 200 years on, once the Lorca Ghaj’s space colonies had become fully developed, another political reform led to the council being selected from all planets also. It is expected that a region will send only the most skilled to the council to sit and make decisions on the Lorca Ghaj

Other:
Lorca use the CT (Current Time) acronym to denote anything happening after ‘Year 0’, and OT (Old Time) when referring to anything before it. Year 0 was originally used because that was considered to be when the “A Uai a o Lor” (Eng: The Guide of the Warrior) was written, but since then it has become apparent that the book was widespread at least 500 years before that. Rather than change all the dates, the Lorca simply kept the acronyms. The current year is CT 3112. The Lorca Ghaj has been united for 1800 years of that time, and the government is referred to by some as the “Ancient Duality”

Matriarch Aurel

Aurel is a veteran of two separate major incidents. Her first was during the first contact with the Humans when she was a mere pioneer. During the initial stages of the conflict, when the pioneer leadership was dying off due to combat with the humans, she quickly rose and took control of the situation is often regarded as the only reason the pioneers survived, though she always downplays her involvement. She would be in the right place at the right time when she was the lead admiral during the negotiations with the Karkosians during that conflict. The fact that she had been involved in the two incidents and led the Hau out of potential pointless conflicts, the Hau covenant elevated promoted her to the position of matriarch, a symbol of pride and the nations acknowledgment of her skills when dealing with the unknown.

The Hau are a race of Humanoids that usually stand 7-8 ft tall, have long black hair and black pupils. They have feet that are dominated by three longer toes versus the traditional small five. Their hands have three longer fingers and an opposable thumb. They are warm blooded and do live birth. Most Hau females will have 4-10 offspring during their long life cycle averaging 670 earth years with males only living roughly 240. Hau are currently a matriarchal society with males being far more warlike but have dulled down due to so much time on the sidelines. Males are also heavily regulated in number, in old times, two in three males would be tossed off a cliff but as genetic modifications became more common, the mother can technically select the sex of her offspring as many consider "cliff tossing" to be archaic and cruel.

Modern Hau males are still kept in check and luckily, due to their honor bound society, the males have adopted this philosophy. Some males still have these urges and find themselves in rehabilitation and reintegration centers. The females know that males are fighting an intense uphill battle to overcome their inherent nature. Some progress has been made through conditioning starting at birth but these successes have been few and far between. Females, surprisingly of the two, envision a world where a male could lead again, and not be factory workers, shipwrights or just mere sex slaves. (though some would prefer this role)

Rawr !

Luchten are a race of large humanoid creatures, generally standing 10-12 ft tall with an average life span of 250-300 earth years. When they joined the Covenant some 3,000 years ago, they possessed archaic weapons and warships, favoring hard hitting kinetic weapons and thick, flat armor. When the Hau sent research ships to examine a rapidly dying star, they encountered the brutish and warlike Luchten, who had no use of FTL and only had their home world and two home system colonies. At first there was conflict as the Luchten saw the Hau as invaders. The Hau brought overwhelming military force into the system and again attempted to study the star. After a week of examining it was clear that something was causing the star to create more flares than most stars do in their life cycles.

Normal practice would be to just leave the system to its doom but the matriarch at the time was kind and did her best to save the Luchten. Countless transports were forced to dump material cargo and cancel civilian flights to ferry the doomed luchten to a new suitable world. They took a hard hit to their numbers but found resolve and a new place in the universe, united with the Hau. Today, they are a thriving member of the nation and make up a bulk of the ground forces.

Higlogens, or more commonly pronounced, Higs' are a spider-like race originating from a humid jungle like world. The planet contains a number of intelligent species but the Higs are by far the smartest and strongest. They became Apex predators early on due to their sticky webs and potent venom's. They were encountered by accident when one stowed away aboard a scout ship for a few days. As it had not killed anyone, it was given a chance to explain it self. The Hig had no true spacecraft of their own but had good knowledge of their immediate space (comparable to a 1950's space age).

It was an easy integration as the Higs are a very curious race but short lived race as they only live an average of 120 years, a short time compared to the others, this short span makes them eager to see and experience new things. As of today, they operate in many special operations groups or anything requiring quick reflexes in general, fast typing skills too.

The Nuvi- a lighter than air race that has three stages. The first stage is when they are most solid. This stage will last till around 50 earth years. Their second stage, when they are most active will last until they are around 300 earth years old. At that point they begin to 'disperse' and that time frame between then and the end of life is broad. some have lasted till their 351st birth day and some have lived till 600. Most say its luck of the draw.. They have a generally misty appearance due to a more fluid body structure. Their bodies are unique for adjusting to the gravity and pressure of worlds to retain their form albeit ultra high gravity or dense worlds would smash or disperse them like any normal organic race.

Jolnia- These folks are tiny in shape, generally standing 3-5 ft tall and a life span of 90-140 earth years. They have abnormal upper body strength for the most part due to large muscular forearms that offset their smaller legs. They are able to walk on their hind legs but prefer to walk on all fours. Jolnia are very smart in their own right and are one of two races that had prior warp capability before joining the Covenant.

Nims- The second warp capable race. They are tall and fair skinned with large crests on their heads which they usually adorn with jewelry They have a long life span of roughly 500 earth years. They reach adulthood at around a 7th birth date which gives them a long time to think up and design their trade markelegant creations. Their ships were sleek and shiny, exemplifying their love of beautiful things. Their home world features large spires of a marble like stone, elaborate paved walkways and floating lanterns etc. Many of the nations more 'fancy' places are designed and ran by Nims.

Uuni System Way-Gate

The Way-gate is one of the more prolific technologies they employ, A literal worm hole is connected from point A to point B using massive circular constructs. These are the primary means to travel from system to system other than typical FTL drives. Way-Gates have enabled the Hau to grow ten-fold since their creation and implementation over six hundred years ago

The field (generated by each individual Jammer) possesses Extra-Newtonian properties, and interacts with spacetime in a way that affects the motion of matter and energy across it. Akin to non-Newtonian fluids, the idea is that the motion of matter and energy across spacetime affected by the field changes in a non-linear fashion proportional to the strain that motion causes (strain being generated by the field) - particularly in regards to matter and energy moving faster than the speed of light.This device will function across all energy spectrum, including those created by the fundimental laws of 'magical FTL' as that energy is required, as any other type, creates a strain of motion. The effect of this to a ship caught in the field is a state of Halted FTL. The vessel, travelling would immediately be pulled out of this space via the field projected by the Jammer

Using enormous barge miner ships, the Hau have developed fast methods to open a world for raw resources. Using cutting beams and powerful magnetic fields, they literally rip huge masses of land from a planets surface. These strips are then broken down in any of said ships matter processors. The individual resources are then separated in to storage pods. There are very strict rules on not using any of these technologies on worlds with life but if they were to be used, it'd be disastrous for any race on the world.

This is the Hau navy's primary method of space travel. It creates a gravity-like energy field that gives the ship incredible thrust and turn capabilities in all directions, with little fuel expended. This drive shows no "exhaust" nor any visible engine ports as one would imagine.

Shields have always been a mainstay of all space military ships. be it magnetic shielding all the way to the plasma shields of sci fi shows, they've all had one flaw, they operate in a bubble with the ship sitting in the middle. As energy field technology advanced so did the ideas behind shields. The Variable Angle Shield is the now modern primary defensive measure. The shield operates in two parts, the first is a high power, oscillating magnetic flux field to block radiation and lessen effects of energy based weapons by either 'deflecting' or diffusing the particles involved. The issue was still there of how to better resist kinetic weapons without the need for super dense heavy armor and a prayer. A new Active shield is layered atop that will "bend" its field to match the angle of an incoming projectile then slightly angle up to literally bounce the shot off. The same principle behind sloped armor, now applied to shields. It's not full proof but its saved many ships from that potential fatal shot.

The hulls of ships is a series of heavy metal elements reinforced by a biological layer capable of re-arranging particles to bolster damaged areas of hull. The outer hull has spaced heavy armor plated resting on a thick resin that acts as a cushion for the armor itself. These armor plates contain a nerve like structure that is attached to large capacitors underneath the secondary armor plating, these function as a absorbent for incoming energy damage of all types with magic being the strongest source. Once the capacitor is filled, it diverts the energy into the weapons batteries of the vessel, literally turning the enemies energy weapons against their maker.

The nanite swarm is a simple weapon used on surface engagements. The weapon is released via a simple shell in to a population center. The shell will open above the target and from inside, millions of tiny nanobots in the form of a gray cloud falls to the surface. The cloud will spread in different directs based upon the amount of targets. Each is powered by a small anti gravity charge that will expend itself rather quickly so the weapon has to act fast once the drive engages. The bots will actively seek out living and synthetic targets. Te bots will then enter a hosts tissue through any opening and begin changing the targets cells in to a vicious, fast spreading cancer that will move its way to the hosts brain. As the brain is affected by the cancer, the victim begins acting erratically before eventually turning in to a mindless flesh eating creature. The creatures have no fear as they possess no upper brain function. They have a simple directive, walk around or eat. they are able to distinguish others affected so they do not kill each other instead of other living or synthetic targets.

The Polaron Cannon is a simple, yet very effective mass projector. The weapon is formed on what would appear as domes on the hull of the ship. This Dome creates a polaron cluster and fires it outward. As the polaron cluster disperses, it begins to draw matter towards it, no matter the type. This weapon, over distance, will gain mass until it reaches a critical mass and will then begin to trail particles. This gives the weapon a unique, comet like appearance as it glides across the battlefield. The weapon has a large impact forces equivalent to the amount of matter dragged along. If there is no shield up and any polarons are still intact, they wll interact with the hull, warping the area where the weapon impacts. This creatues a large dent at the very least before the particle burns out.

The primary power source of the Hau ships is the Singularity core. Its a created by use of a highly powerful particle accelerator. and a simple matter scoop. The scoop only needs to be active for a minute to replenish a supply of particles that can last it for months on end and any simple element will work. The accelerator comes into play at this point. It fires these particles at high speed into one another, causing micro black holes. Using powerful magnetic an gravitational fields (ironically these are created from the same energy they block) the singularity is contained. To keep the singularity open, the collider continuously pumps small particles into it and by using special "spectral plates", they capture the immense amount of radiant energy that the block hole ejects. This energy is then pumped into huge rechargeable batteries that then regulate the power into the various systems of the ship. A safety measure is in place that if significant damage is taken, the collider can be turned off, or destroyed which will dissipate the black hole so that it does not consume the ship itself.

This weapon fires a linear particle flux array that upon contact with designated point, creates a intense gravitational field, similar to the event horizon of a black hole. This effect will render any ships technically phased out of the current timeline and as time begins to speed up, the various particles of the ship begin to literally vibrate due to stress and over time, will tear itself apart in to a cloud of super-heated shards which eventually dissipate into subatomic particles.

The weapon is the prize of the Hau, a truly powerful weapon that exemplifies Hau military prowess. the weapon is set a grazer beams in a tight spiral pattern that creates a literal vacuum inside. As this channel consists of no neutrons at this point, A high energy Anti-neutron beam is shot down the center. The grazers themselves deal their respective damage but the introduction of anti-neutrons will collide with any neutrons which will be destroyed in an extreme burst of energy. This weapon is fixed forward on most Hau ships and emanates a dark red and yellow spectral colors (for cool effects purposes.)

At certain point around the ship are special hard-points that focus Specialized Grazers that operate in a spiral formation, akin to a 'Death ray' Creating a matter-less vacuum. Through this vacuum, inert gravitons fire in a linear beam array that will literally increase mass fields around the unlucky victim upon contact with a target with mass. This increase in the mass field will amplify a targets inherent gravitational pull to over ten thousand times its nominal state. This effect will literally pull the vessel in to itself until reaching a point smaller than a quark. This weapon can be charged to fire in to a planets gravity well, far outside of a planets barrier shield. As the weapon interacts with the planets gravity, it will cause the planet to pull into itself as if a black hole was eating it aline. This weapon can be used against stars as well but this property renders a planetary system lifeless and will usually cause the star to become a moving singularity, eating up anything it moves to.

A very simple concept that consists of growing your ship onto a frame of special metal. All regular Hau weapons employ this except firearms. When tanks are destroyed, the organism dies along with any weaponry that is with it. Some say its a cheap ass way to make sure your tech stays secured but if it works, why not.

A force comprised of many races. The ranks are always mixed to give a general the maximum options in a conflict.

Heavy Ion rifle, Hau Variant

Seeing as the Union has many races of different size and shape, weapons have to be adjusted for each. An example is the Heavy Ion rifle. The Hau version is sleek and typical rifle like where as the Luchtens model is bulky with a large under-slung bayonet. The weapons operate on the same principle but are adapted for each races use.


One of the more common combat units


A typical atmospheric gunship

The Hau machines of war are like the navy, Armored frames with an organism grown onto it. Craft like the gunship or tank utilize larger Ion arrays and what is known as a 'pulse cannon' which is more or less a fully automatic plasma cannon


The first time an now extinct race encountered the Hau Tripod. The massive walker bears down upon doomed men and women

The largest and by far most intimidating Hau ground asset is the Tripod. Its massive size and height gives it a very good view of the battlefield but its most frightening ability is its incredible maneuverability. With each 'leg' having a segmented design, it can adjust each segments angle to enable precise and fluid movements in regards to lowering, side stepping and walking, Coupled with a powerful shield and dual Wide beam Radiation arrays capable of literally melting people, (the only Hau machine that uses this nasty weapon.) and high powered Ion cannons to deal with hard targets. This massive war machine was built to not only to destroy but to intimidate.

The Hau navy relies on numerous smaller but high tech warships. The need for mobility to fight and defend such a large expanse has all but removed the need for large capital ships as most would field. In no way are these ships weak in comparison though. Hau vessels use a wide array of tactics in their naval combat but seeing as most of their ships are inherently fast and maneuverable with smaller profiles, their ship to ship combat is generally more offensive in nature than the hulking metal fortresses of some others


The Hau's primary warship, the Cruiser.

There are three primary types, the Cruiser, which is the mainstay vessel of the Hau. It carries a fixed forward Death-Ray along side various smaller armaments. These vessels are very fast, amazingly maneuverable and operate with a small crew. On a more relative scale, people would likely associate them with a frigate class in terms of tonnage and a total length of roughly 210m


A battleship on routine patrol

The second is the battleship which carries two side-mounted Death-rays with a wider firing arc of fire along side its superior armaments compared to the cruiser .These ships still retain incredible speed for their size, being close to two-thirds of the cruiser it supports These are nearly double the length and general displacement of the Cruiser it fights along side.

Dreadnought Raya, Technically the Matriarchs flag ship

And finally a ship that goes against Hau doctrine, the Dreadnought, Unlike the other ships, it is not geared for direct knife fights as its huge size makes it a obvious target. Rather it will snipe foes from long distance and use the Massive 1240mm .'Siege' coiilgun. It's the largest magnetic accelerator weapon the hau employ and only sees other use on orbital defense stations. When dreadnoughts duel in combat trials, the two rarely ever score any hits on one another as the range they fire gives the enemy ample time to move. It's not uncommon to see them fire at each other for hours before disengaging due to fatigue. These usually sit as fleet centerpieces and operate as siege/ command ships.

The Pioneers are the expansionist force of the Hau. These men and women from all the Hau races are sent out on special ships to distant stars to spread Hau influence.
These ships will arrive at a system and begin setting up a way-gate. Most of the vessels are lightly armed and armored to train Hau to use what resources they have to survive. Being a Pioneer is a high honor among the Hau as when they return from their mission, they have more or less passed a rite of passage and the grand honor it brings. Most Pioneers become officers and admirals in the armed forces and some even become influential members of the government and in Aurels case, the Matriarch.

Name of nation: The Aeonas Hegemony

Species:Characterized by an thick hexagonal plates exoskeleton that covers almost entirely Ourian skin (except for the neck, hands and *cough* private locations), and low sexual dimorphism, this race body reseambles particularly that of other species. Vertebrates, bipedal mammals, Padovens have, like many other species, a capillary cardiac system, a neuronal one, organic fabrics and a diplontic life cycle. They are particularly tall and based on an avian build.
Having a slow metabolism, Ourians need half-dozen more hours of sleep during the night than averange species, though noticeably increasing their life-span, tranquillity and thoughtfulness.
Having evolved in an envirnment based on L-amminacids, Ourians are not able of disgesting any kind of organism not based on the same amminoacid structure. Though originally evolved from an herbivore species, they are omnivore, and really appreciate eating soft and well-coocked meat.
With small and thick eyes, their prolonged head is covered with unusually straight shining plates, that end over a toothed mouth - to be noted the presence of six canines-, devoid of lips. Lastly, on the side of the mouth, important is the presence of two long and moving mandibles, once used by Ourians' ancestors to group substantial bundles of grass to be eaten; today they don't have any pratical use anymore, since the invention of cutlery, but still bear symbolic meanings and attractiveness.
Their hearing is really developed, and they can catch even lower and higher frequences compared to other species. For this reason it is commonly said 'listening to the universe' in order to indicate someone who isn't very talkative, because when in empty space, Ourians can hear a weak background considered as the 'Universe melody'.
An interesting anomaly of Ourian physiognomy is an odd soft protuberance situated behind the neck, capable of stretching over their heads and shrinking back at will: though without any practical utility, thus leaving geneticists really baffled on why their race developed something this useless, this hood-like sack is often used by people to cover their heads during particularly hot or rainy days.




Description of government: The Aeonas Hegemony is an intergovernmental organization, first founded in 7678 C.I. in order to promote planetary and extraplanetary co-government. Officially declared a federation twenty years later, it regrouped the 23 nations of the Aeonas Hegemony under a common flag,
In the Hegemony, each state preserves limited local authonomy, whilst the executive, the legislative and the judiciary are held by the central government.
Each great state boasts one to three representatives* in the 'Nations Council', a counseling organ from which are elected those deputies who will make up the General Council. The latter detains legislative power, and the power to elect through a votation system the Primarchs, heads of the military.
The judiciary power is composed of a tripartite organ, each composed of different courts for various crimes, ranging from war ones, to civil ones.
Lastly, the executive is held by the Hegemony Steward, a life tenure office, who has moreover veto over the laws passed in the General Council. The Union Steward is elected by the Nations Council after a week of mourning after his predecessor's death.



Description of military: Disciplined and well organized by a mandatory military school, starting from 16 to 20 years, the Ourians are not likely to start a war without a real reason, mostly because of the kind pulses their massive fleets, built in fear of what lurks outside of their systems, emanes, or just because they have a very lazy vision of conflicts.
The military is generally divided in 30 ranks, of which ten are the ones acquirable during the mandatory military service; the militia-men and soldiers are then divided in a very large number of regiments, which themselves compose a fleet, each ruled by an Admiral Cruiser

The Flag.ship 'Inferno'


Technological Overview: It's still unbelievable that half a century before Ourians were blocked at the information age, stuck with the simple minded and primitive thought that digital watches were a pretty good idea. Even more awfully inconceivable for the Forces of the universe is their fast ascend to greater space technologies and quantum phisics and electronics.
However, not minding their unexpected discovery of a lost alien civilization technologies compendium, people may fall into error and think these fellas as all-knowing geniouses. Here is a basic example of the most important technologies

-FAL Engines: It was the Ourian scientist Jigglemat that firstly identified the signal of the alien compendium, and that permitted its recovery from the wasted asteroids orbiting around Andraste. Without anyone expecting it, they returned home after only one year. At their return, the spacenauts and the scientist himself explained the happening, revealing that it took almost one year with their current technologies to reach the cluster in question, whilst it required only one minute with few minded changs to their primitive engines. The following year was launched the ambitious project of reaching the farthest planet of the system in 10 hours. The result was a success, crowned with the discovery of the 'Artifact', and of the star-gate.
-Terra Formation & sculpting: One could say Ourians have gardeni- terra forming in their very veins. Since the beginnings of their time-span as sentient beings Ourians have always felt keen on adapting the outdoor environment. After the inevitable discovery of basic process of terraformation, Ourians followed the path, making giant steps in this discipline, which most of them like to define 'art'. The 'Terraformer' profession is a very profitable one, expecially in these periods when land owners of new colonies don't really appreciate their barren and inhospitable planets.
-Orbital Construction: Given for granted their passion for indoor decors and habitable modules, Ourans have become capable of creating self-sustaining colonies for the harsh environments. One of them, and probably the fiercest after the surface of a star, is space itself. Giant orbital cities and domes sprawling of life circumnavigate daily the system's planets, or, for those who seek easy profit, the rouge stations on planetoids provide content as well contempt.
Billionaire psychopathic and misanthropic Holiania even proposed the overly dreamy project of creating an artificial planet from the scratches of asteroids and useless comets but was fiercely opposed by the Hegemony Steward. Who knows why?
-Shields: The shields industry is a very florid one! It is estimated that personal use shields form up 5% of the whole Hegemony economy. It is so utterly prosperous that even every new ship is able to be armed at low cost with efficient reflective hulls' isotopes and plasma shields. Think about the cruisers!
-Weapons: Surprisingly enough, on the alien compendium there were no schematics for advanced warfare. Seriously? Make love not peace? At least Ourans had the time to develop atomic and advanced kinetic missiles and projectiles
-Shields: The shields industry is a very florid one! It is estimated that personal use shields form up 5% of the whole Hegemony economy. It is so utterly prosperous that even every new ship is able to be armed at low cost with efficient reflective hulls' isotopes and plasma shields. Think about the cruisers!

Cultural and Historical Overview: Almost seven thousands of years before the current times, Vituvia - Ourian homeworld - was devastated by a cataclysm, which transformed that idylliac terran world into a scorching ball of restlessness. A comet, moving unexpectedly away from its course, entered in contact with the atmosphere of the planet, unleashing high values of toxic gases; moreover, after the melting of the frozen gases, the comet revealed an heavy metallic core, which survived and crashed with unimaginable strenght on the surface.
The Ourians, silent spectators of their world premature end, eventually adapted, evolved to strive and survive in the new hostile environment: taller and more slender physognomies appeared, and they naturally developed in the successive two thousand years enzymes for digesting meat based meals, easier to find in those blasted lands.
Eventually from the ashes of the world they boosted an healing process of their own planet, slowly regaining pieces of land from the toxic miasma, or rebuilding the fractures on the land. Today Vituvia has returned to his former beauty, partly at least, having undergone an heavy terraformation process. Godless, Ourians rebuilt their world with their own capabilities, thus ascending to a new level of self-conception. They were the center of the universe.
Today the original tendency of equilibre and sobrity frequent during the cataclysm has passed out, and since the last thousand of years -basically, the return of drinkable waters in most inlands- the Ourians have started again to regroup in differentiated ethnics and cvilizations, eventually leading to the birth of very different nations all through the world. Cultures are now incredibly different each from another, and describing each one of them would be quite a pain in- it would be really wearsome.
Only to be noted that Ourian mix of cultures has led to the birth of the 'New Empire' culture, a global elegant but simple union of arts, architecture and forms of speech, which is swiftly gaining its space in both planetary and extraplanetary communities.
Of what was before the cataclysm, very little remains: only shadows of a forgotten past, and the first light that wasn't from their sun.

Formerly, the Hegemony is based on the sacrosanct equality of rights for all Ourians.
In practice, society is based on a socio-economic hierarchical system based on wealth, and merits. Basically, the self-fulfillment of the individual is entirely based on its capability of striving through this sprawling society, and also on its social background. However, the government bases most of his fortune on this propaganda, promising better conditions and a more just meritocracy.
Still, socio-economic inequalities are frequent, and probably the situation will never change. This is in fact the main reason why the numbers of people enrolling in colonial missions in the system is esponentially growing, having seen that by creating a new colony - and thus a new state -, they would achieve that generally precluded high-ranking position. Of course, that if they survive the unknown environment.

What has majorly influenced Ourian's culture in the last century was the discovery of the first alien artifact - shortly after followed by that of a gigantic network of star-portals - which vividly ignited discussion and Ourian imagination. Surely, discovering they were not alone in the universe had been a great shock, but the Hegemony didn't take this lightly. If somewhere off in the deep sea of the galaxy there was something - or better someone - still probably unaware of their presence, they had to be prepared.
In few years state financed xeno-linguistics and archeology sprouted as mushrooms in all the planets of Alpha-Aeria - hegemony home-system - in order to decipher the glyphs and characters of the ruins, and, eventually, become able to colonize an another system even before FTL engines.

Nations Count: 28 = 23 firstborn Aeonas Nations and 5 official colonies - 9 rouge stations, on asteroids or orbitating around Andraste or other planets, yet to be recognized.