Xenology Information Sheets

[Lorpius Prime]

Bats
Homeworld- Karee is the second planet orbiting a K-class star. It is an Earth-like planet with a physical and chemical environment that could easily support Human life, although the biological environment would present some unique challenges. Karee is slightly larger but less dense than Earth, with a surface gravity of 0.92g, atmospheric pressure is about 6% greater than Earth standard at the surface, and the surface temperature has the same range as Earth, but with a one to two degree higher average temperature. While precipitation is somewhat greater than on Earth, there is much less total surface water: Karee has no significant oceans.

Biology/Culture- Bats are almost indistinguishable from Earth mammals, just as most life native to Karee could fit neatly into Earth classifications. The most significant difference is that Bats (and most Karee-mammals) actually have 6 limbs in 3 pairs, although only 4 are readily apparent. The Bats' extra appendages, which are located between their "arms" and "legs", are small, mostly cartilaginous structures, which have evolved into a specialized function. These limbs are what enable the Bats to fold and unfurl their wings in a precise fashion useful for both in-flight maneuvering and to express various emotional states. A Bat's wings can be curled tightly around their bodies in a protective shield, leaving only their thin arms exposed; or extended up to half a meter beyond the reach of a Bat's hands, depending on the size of the individual.


Diagram of a Bat's wing structure and operation.

Bats have snouted faces, with roughly equal depth and width. Their eyes are binocular, with vertical-slit irises that provide functional vision in much lower light levels than Human eyes, with similar acuity. Normal eye color ranges from grey to blue, with very rare mutations producing yellow or orange eyes. Their mouths have minimal cheeks and lips. As a consequence, Bat languages tend to be guttural ones, requiring limited range of movement in the front of the mouth and tip of the tongue. Most Bats struggle to pronounce English (the only Human language they've tried to learn) properly, but can usually come close enough to be understood. Humans, on the other hand, have thus far been unable to naturally replicate the range of inflection required to speak the Bats' primary language. Although with sufficient training Humans can learn to understand the language, speech synthesizers remain the only way for Humans to replicate the language.

The Bats' diet is primarily meat-based, as they occupied an ecological niche on Karee roughly similar to large birds of prey on Earth. Bats developed agriculture on Karee much farther into their course of development than Humans, and even then mostly as a more organized means of raising animals for slaughter. Bats have well-developed claws on their feet and hands which are as useful for tearing flesh as gripping difficult surfaces. Digits on both hands and feet are highly articulated and capable of precise movements. Each foot and hand has five digits, with an opposable thumb on either end of three fingers or toes. Their feet are slightly larger than their hands, but not as well-developed for transport as Human feet. Bats can walk, and may manage a somewhat hobbling run, but their primary mode of transport is flight, and their feet are mostly used for gripping surfaces while at rest.

Bats are most comfortable in upright positions, and will typically stand or sit in chairs while working. When sleeping, Bats tend to cling to vertical surfaces such as walls or poles, and are able to lock their claws and limbs to remain in a stable position for extended periods.

Like Humans, Bats reproduce sexually and bear live young, called "pups", which are typically nursed for a period of months by their mothers. Unlike Humans, however, Bats do not typically form long-term mating pairs (although this is not unheard of or unacceptable behavior). After they are no longer physically dependent on their mothers, Bat pups are normally raised communally in nurseries. These are something like extensive versions of Human boarding schools, and there is significant stratification in the quality of nurseries depending on location and the wealth or politics of the parents (or sponsor, if the pup acquires a scholarship).

Economy- The Bats have an advanced market-based economy. High-technology manufactures drive a thriving manufacturing sector. Their engineers have achieved unparalleled levels of miniaturization and resource efficiency, meaning that Bats make the best electronic equipment and fine machinery in the known galaxy. Most starships in the galaxy have some Bat-made equipment, regardless of the operator. Common components include point-defense lasers, imaging systems, and computers. Most notable, however, are the Bat warp drives, which are far superior to anything produced by the Charterlings both in terms of energy efficiency and speed. Thus far, however, the Republic has managed to keep the technology behind their superior drives out of the hands of other races by limiting ownership to military forces and well-trusted corporate operators.

Prior to the start of the Interstellar War with the Charterlings, Bat merchants had been steadily losing ground to Charterling carriers. Even despite the war, trade with the Charterlings is a massive component of the Bat economy (technically this trade is "smuggling", but is tolerated by government), and most of this is carried on Charterling-operated ships. Internal trade, however, is almost exclusively carried on Bat freighters, as is trade with other races, most significantly the Kyhyex, whose own trade efforts are too erratic to create sustainable enterprises.

Despite the sizeable extent of the Bats' interstellar empire, most of their wealth is concentrated in their home system. Karee itself is the capital of the intellectual economy, but significant resource extraction and manufacturing centers have also grown up on the system's third and fourth planets, Gyungo and Korgyer (which are habitable, but far less pleasant than Karee). The Bats have never made a significant effort to upgrade the technological and industrial bases of their colony worlds, and although their oldest colonies represent a significant portion of their population and manufacturing base, they are significantly behind the home system in terms of technological capabilities, and the most advanced are roughly on par with the Charterlings.

Politics- Nearly all Bats are citizens of an interstellar nation called the Republic. The only exceptions are a handful of outlaws and long-range colonies from the pre-FTL era which the Republic has yet to discover. The Republic is a moderately representative but highly centralized state which is virtually unchanged from the original planetary government of Karee. Before the invention of FTL warp, travel times between colonized systems were too great to permit unified government. The Republic sent out many colony ships, but the colonies themselves were governed entirely independently. Interstellar trade occurred among only the very closest systems, and even then years would pass between freighters. When scientists on Karee developed the FTL warp drive, however, it was only a few years before Republic sent out fleets of warships to the closest and largest colonies to announce their "reunion" with the Republic. Resistance to reunion was limited, as most of the colonies could not hope to oppose the home system's might. Once war began with the Charterlings, all opposition to the Republic evaporated; and those colonies which had not yet been reunited approached the Republic's rulers themselves to volunteer for annexation.

The Republic is governed by a President who wields most of the executive authority. All residents of the home system vote directly for the President during election times, while each colony sends a number of electors to Karee empowered to vote in proportion to the number of Bats they represent. The President oversees a number of bureaucracies which have limited Republic-wide legislative power, mostly regarding taxes and a few basic rights guaranteed to all Bat citizens. The Military itself has extensive law-making powers to facilitate its primary responsibility of defending the Republic's territory against the Charterlings, although military detachments are always subordinate to the President and the Governor of any system in which they may be operating. The President appoints a Governor for each colony system (and is the Governor of the home system himself). The Governors have broad authority to wield executive power in the name of the President, and although each colony system has the right to dismiss a Governor it finds undesirable, the colony must wait for a replacement appointed by the President to arrive before the dismissal takes effect. Beyond the extensive power of the President, the bureaucracies, the military, and the Governors, each colony system is permitted to govern itself by whichever political process it sees fit, and political systems in the Bat colonies run the gamut from hereditary monarchies to absolute democracies. Colonies founded by the Republic since the advent of FTL warp, however, tend to mimic Karee's system of representative democracy.

Military- The Bats are one of the three first-rate military powers in the galaxy; and their military has successfully stood up to the long-running conflict with the Charterlings. Their fleets and soldiers tend to have the most advanced weaponry of any of the great powers. This technological advantage is mitigated, however, by the fact that their Navy is the smallest of the three combatants in their war. At any given time, a full third of the Bats' active warships are on station in the home system, guarding the heart of the Republic. With the remainder of their Navy responsible for defending an empire spanning hundreds of star systems, the Bats have limited flexibility to conduct offensive operations.

Unlike the Charterlings and Kyhyex, the Bats' naval philosophy places greater emphasis on speed and maneuverability. Fleets tend to have higher numbers of cruisers and other small ships where the Charterlings and Kyhyex rely heavily on their dreadnoughts. While this strategy does ultimately reduce the hull-to-gun ratio in the Bats' Navy, the Bats do enjoy compensating advantages in the range and power of their guns, as well as the effectiveness of their shielding. A skilled Bat cruiser captain could engage a Charterling dreadnought in single combat and still expect roughly even odds of surviving the battle, although the Naval high command would strongly discourage such behavior.

The Bats are also the only one of the great powers that has an organized Army, although this is less of an advantage than it might seem. Ground combat during the Interstellar War has been exceedingly rare, and boarding actions only slightly less so. When they have occurred, however, the Charterlings' militias have proved to be formidable enough opponents that a well-trained and well-equipped Army has been the only element which allows the Bats much hope of victory at all. Since individual Charterlings are about as resilient as the Bats' armored vehicles—and able to carry weapons just as heavy—killing one is not an easy proposition. Fighting off dozens at a time, even if they are neither trained nor organized, can be a nightmare.

[Lorpius Prime]

Charterlings
Homeworld- The proper name of the Charterlings' homeworld is an unpronounceable series of clicks to a Human, although the Bats can manage with some difficulty. Humans tend to refer to the world (which they only know of in the abstract, having no actual descriptions) as simply "The Charterling Homeworld", although a term originally used jokingly is beginning to catch on: "The Nest". It is the first planet orbiting a red giant star, and the only terrestrial planet in its system. From a Human perspective, it is a thoroughly unpleasant world, exerting nearly 1.5g at the surface, with a thin but poisonous atmosphere, and hardly any water.

Biology/Culture- Charterlings are not as easily equated to Earth creatures as the Bats. But they do appear vaguely insect-like, and some Humans who have encountered them have compared the Charterlings to 3-meter tall blue mantises. Unlike actual insects, however, Charterlings only have four limbs. Their legs are relatively large, providing fast movement despite their size, while their arms are in closer proportion to their bodies, although still much larger than Human arms. Charterlings have six eyes covering the top of a domed head, providing an extensive field of vision that covers the space above and around them. Their eyes are not very mobile, however, and their visual acuity is somewhat less than Humans'.

Of all the known sentient species, Charterlings show the greatest degree of sexual dimorphism. Male Charterlings have an extra segment on their arm appendages past the hands, which houses part of their reproductive system. However, this extension is faced with a knife-like serrated edge that contributes to the Charterlings' mantis-like appearance. The appendage is not a physical danger to other Charterlings, due to their remarkably tough exoskeleton, but could easily be employed as a weapon against less resilient species. Female Charterlings lack this feature, but are characterized by a noticeably larger stature and their oversized external jaws. While male Charterlings' arm-blades are not a threat to their fellows, the females' mandibles can easily be used to crush and kill other Charterlings—and often are.

Charterlings reproduce sexually, and often form lasting mating groups. These tend to be less permanent than Human matings, and are not always a simple pair of individuals, although more than five Charterlings in a "family" is uncommon. Mating groups also tend to form around a single individual of one sex or the other, usually female, but occasionally male. Mating groups can be a risky enterprise, especially for males, as females will occasionally kill their partner after mating. The Charterling government has been taking steps to discourage this behavior, but with mixed results.

Charterlings are an extremely long-lived species, and normal individuals are capable of living indefinitely. Practically, however, few Charterlings live longer than a few centuries for a variety of reasons. Charterlings do age, and experience decay in their biological functions that reduce their resistance to disease, weaken muscles, and diminish mental capacity. Elderly Charterlings tend to die of infection, accidental injury, or self-inflicted causes (such as forgetting to eat), and no Charterling death on record has been demonstrably unpreventable. It is actually infant Charterlings which have the highest death rate in their species, and the leading cause of death is infanticide. Charterling females lay eggs in clutches of around twenty. After hatching, however, a brood will be culled down to no more than two or three individuals within a year or two. To the extent that the Charterling government provides its citizens with individual "rights", Charterling offspring do not qualify for any of these until they are approximately ten years old (although most Charterlings which survive to the age of 3 will live to adulthood). Before that time, Charterling parents aggressively cull their offspring, leaving only the fittest (generally meaning the biggest and strongest) individuals, while killing and consuming the rest.

Charterlings communicate using an audible language, but do not have vocal cords like Bats or Humans. They produce meaningful sound both by clicking their mandibles, and using a specialized and highly versatile speech organ. This is actually a pair of specialized ears, located on their torso, which function much like electronic speakers, using muscle power to vibrate a membrane. The practical effect is that, although the Charterling language is mostly clicking noises, they are able to produce nearly any sound they can imagine. Even more effective than parrots, the Charterlings which have interacted with Humans have done so speaking perfect English, although each has invariably done so using the accent of the Human linguist who recorded the instruction program from which they learned the language.

Economy- The Charterlings are easily the wealthiest race in the galaxy. While the Bats may build the finest wares of any known race, they have never been able to leverage this skill into material advantage in quite the same way as the Charterlings. Indeed, the Charterlings have often profited far more from Bat inventions than the Bat themselves have. The most egregious example, from the Bats' perspective at least, is FTL warp drive, which was acquired by the Charterlings within a decade of its invention on Karee, and spread throughout the Charterling merchant fleets before the first Bat colony was even reunified with the Republic.

Charterling merchants carry the bulk of interstellar trade, and not even war with the Kyhyex and Bats has changed this. While most other species' trade is performed on an ad-hoc basis or by independent freighter owners, Charterling trade is usually conducted by several enormous corporations, each of which owns and operates entire fleets of freighters that travel along extensive and thoroughly-planned trading routes. Supporting and expanding their trade network has required the creation of substantial infrastructure in the form of warehouses, repair yards, and manufactories, across dozens of star systems. This process has lead to a much greater diffusion of wealth than in the Bats' Republic. The two dozen or so "hub" systems of the Charterlings' trading empire are every bit as prosperous and affluent as the home system, and perhaps even more so.

Apart from trade and financial instruments, Charterlings are best known for their ability to manufacture a variety of special materials. The Charterlings have managed to adapt some of their own biological processes on an industrial scale. By replicating and refining the natural mechanisms which create their bones, nerves, and webbing, they are able to produce large quantities of ultra-high-strength materials, nearly superconductive fibers, and other materials which neither the Bats nor Kyhyex have been able to produce in industrially useful amounts.

Politics- Despite the superficially free-market nature of their economy, the Charterlings live in an essentially feudal society. Individuals readily subordinate themselves to a strictly ordered hierarchy led by a Queen (Kings have occurred in Charterling history, but they are exceedingly rare). The Queen rules with absolute power, usually through a court of ministers who have some authority to govern in the Queen's name, but no personal authority of their own. Below the Queen and court are vassals with near-absolute authority over different territories. The vassals then rule over lower ranks of lords controlling smaller territorial subdivisions, and so on down the ladder to "free" subjects without titles of their own. Each citizen is subject to a number of obligations to their immediate superiors in the hierarchy. The most important of these are the provision of taxes and offering of children for service.

After the first few years of life, when the most brutal period of culling has passed, Charterling children are sorted into various positions within the hierarchy of their society. Children who display exceptional characteristics (size, intelligence, strength, etc.) may be selected by their guardians as "offerings" to the guardians' superiors, who will essentially purchase children they like in exchange for rewards of title, reproductive rights, or simple cash. Children may be traded up through the social ranks many times in this manner, and truly outstanding individuals have the potential to even become royal consorts if the monarch takes notice of them. Few children ever rise more than a single rank, however, and after several years their social position is usually settled until they are able to trade their own children or accomplishments for further advancement.

The military serves a special role within this social system. Because it must be a high-quality professional force in order to meet its critical defensive responsibilities, the military has developed as an almost parallel structure to the standard social hierarchy. The military is under the direct command of the Charterling monarch, and is essentially considered to be a branch of the royal family itself. This gives it the authority to recruit children into its service from any level of society. Because the military can call upon almost limitless resources with which to buy the recruits it wants, offerings to the military are a popular strategy for the ambitious parents of talented children to quickly climb the social ladder. Only Charterlings at the very highest levels of society are likely to find the military's offers stingy, and even then none would dare to turn down agents of the royal family. The military does not often recruit from the highest levels, however; and even their normal practices rarely interfere with political scheming, since the military tends to select children for different traits than those usually sought by civilians.

Military- The Charterlings are considered one of three great powers in the galaxy, but this designation can be misleading. By almost any measure, the Charterlings have a larger Navy than the Bats and the Kyhyex combined: they have more ships, which are more massive, and carry more guns. However, the Charterling Navy also has far more commitments than either the Bats or Kyhyex. Since their economy is so distributed, the Charterlings keep large fleets at every one of their hub systems; and each one of these is large enough to put up a serious fight against the Bats' Home Fleet. That portion of the Navy which isn't permanently anchored to a major economic center is mostly occupied with constant patrols of the Charterlings trade routes—without which the hub systems would whither. All of these commitments leave the Charterling Navy with only a small strategic reserve that can be used for offensive operations. As a result, the Navy has generally had a difficult time conducting offensive operations against either the Bats or the Kyhyex, and it has mostly fought a defensive war against enemy (usually Kyhyex) provocations.

Technologically, Charterling warships are usually considered inferior to those of the Bats, but superior to those of the Kyhyex. This generalization can be misleading, however. While a top-of-the-line Bat warship in perfect condition will almost certainly wield heavier weapons, stronger shields, and faster engines than a Charterling warship of the same class, such an idealized contest rarely occurs. Charterling vessels tend to be of sturdier construction than Bat ones, and will have fewer equipment failures, thus saving on maintenance costs. The Charterlings also have a much more developed naval infrastructure than the Bats, and thus have readier access to high-quality repairs when maintenance is necessary. The cumulative effect is that, while Bat warships may often possess technically superior equipment to their Charterling opponents, the Charterling warships are more likely to be in good condition, and their inferior equipment more likely to be fully functional. Nor do all Bat warships represent the cutting edge of the Republic's technology. Any warships not built at the Karee shipyards themselves are likely to be a generation or two behind the Bat's best. This includes many of the cruisers and most smaller vessels defending the Republic's colony worlds. In this way, the Charterlings' extensive naval infrastructure can also provide a significant combat advantage—by keeping a larger portion of their fleet up to date.

[Lorpius Prime]

Kyhyex
Homeworld- None. The Kyhyex as they are generally known to the Bats and Charterlings do not have a homeworld. They are descended from the Beta-Kyhyex, but do not have any influence on Tharnhost or any other system within the Beta-Kyhyex sphere.

Biology/Culture- Externally, the Kyhyex appear to be yellow-gray amorphous blobs, tending towards rough spheres a little larger than a meter in diameter. This shape is the source of their name, a Bat word whose meaning approximates to "blob". Kyhyex biology is unlike every other form of intelligent life in the known galaxy. Despite their size, the Kyhyex are not cellular organisms, and in fact more closely resemble single-celled organisms on a macro-scale. Nor are the Kyhyex even "organic", and do not depend upon any of the basic chemical compounds that other life forms do in order to sustain themselves.

The hide of a Kyhyex is a sheet of nano-scale fibers that creates a tremendous surface area and can interact with atoms of almost any size. The depth of these fibers produces the color gradient that characterizes the Kyhyex appearance, which changes from various angles and lighting. The hide of a Kyhyex functions as the contact point of a highly versatile matter dis-assembler and re-assembler. A Kyhyex can "digest" effectively any element up through Plutonium, although the process is slowed by more complex molecules. The re-assembler function is less powerful, although still impressive. A Kyhyex is able to extrude most any basic material from its hide, from copper to high-carbon steel so long as the raw materials are available. While the Kyhyex have conscious control over this process, they do not have a great degree of precision, and could not manufacture complex items like microchips in this manner.

Upon digestion of a material, a Kyhyex may either store the atoms within its body for later use (or until the atoms decay naturally), or break them down for energy. The internal mechanisms of a Kyhyex can induce any atom to radioactive decay and harvest energy as the material dissolves. This process is most efficient for the heaviest elements, but a Kyhyex can gain some useful amount of energy even from breaking down hydrogen. The conversion produces a significant amount of waste heat and radiation, however, and the need to limit normal energy expenditures are the cause of most Kyhyex's lethargic movements. A Kyhyex is capable of great bursts of energy, but only at the cost of significant bodily damage.

But while the Kyhyex can extract energy from any material, they require a very specific combination of elements in order to grow or reproduce. Once a Kyhyex has consumed enough of these materials to grow to a sufficient size—generally around two meters in diameter—it is capable of reproducing through fission. The Kyhyex will split to form two separate individuals. This is not quite analogous to the cellular process of division which produces two identical daughter cells. Kyhyex have almost total conscious control of their reproduction, including which memories will be inherited by the offspring. As a result, individual Kyhyex choose to reproduce in different ways, some do create two identical copies of themselves, while others will "bud" a much smaller daughter with only limited memories off of a larger body, which effectively continues as the original individual.

The entire surface of a Kyhyex's hide is photosensitive, allowing them to "see" across most of the electromagnetic spectrum, from the radio range up through x-rays. They are also able to consciously emit radiation up into the ultraviolet range. The energy efficiency of their emissions is diminished at higher frequencies, however, and Kyhyex mostly confine their emissions to the radio and microwave ranges.

Kyhyex are not capable of ordinary speech (though they hear well enough), and communicate using their EM broadcasts. To the extent that the Kyhyex have "language", it more closely resembles digitized data transfers than the audible languages of most other species. Indeed, a Kyhyex familiar with the relevant protocols can interface directly with the electronic communications equipment of other races. In the few instances of direct personal contact between a Kyhyex and an individual of another species, the Kyhyex have used devices which Humans would recognize as simple AM radios to synthesize speech.

Economy- In terms of simple potential, the Kyhyex economy is a behemoth. The Kyhyex control a larger volume of space than the Bats and Charterlings combined, and actually occupy a far greater percentage of the star systems within their territory. Neither the Bats nor Charterlings have any firm estimate of the Kyhyex population, beyond the knowledge that it is orders of magnitude greater than that of any other known species. And since each Kyhyex individual is itself a small factory, the aggregate industrial output of the species is enough to assemble multiple planets' worth of mass on a yearly basis.

Such an analysis is grossly misleading, however. The reality is that the Kyhyex do not actually have an "economy" in the same sense that the other civilized races would use the term. Kyhyex economic activity is as chaotic and disorganized as their political system. Kyhyex have little demand for any sort of products which might be called consumer goods. Reproduction is their sole motivation, and their economic activity reflects this. Large numbers of Kyhyex do often cooperate to achieve specific goals, but these ventures are almost invariably ad-hoc and temporary. Trade among Kyhyex themselves is negligible, but they import vast amounts goods from the Charterlings and Bats: mostly starship components. Kyhyex on a colony seeking to leave for new resources which they can use to reproduce will band together to manufacture some product, usually simple but bulky products like habitats or ship hulls, which they can trade to Bat or Charterling merchants for complex manufactures such as lasers and warp drives necessary for them to travel to other planets. The Kyhyex will then cooperate as long as it takes to reach their destination on a new colony world. Once they have arrived, however, such associations tend to dissolve quickly as, to the Kyhyex mind, they no longer have any purpose.

Politics- Only the very oldest and most heavily populated of the Kyhyex star systems have anything resembling a government authority. The saturation of these systems with Kyhyex eventually drove the populations (or a portion thereof) to cooperate in the creation of some simple yet broadly-applied policies. Unlike the Beta-Kyhyex, however, the ultimate objective of these "governments" is still purely the expansion of the Kyhyex species, but they do engage in a greater-than-usual degree of long-range planning in the pursuit of this goal.

Still, the decisions of this handful of authorities have tremendous influence on the stance of the entire Kyhyex species with regards to the other races of the galaxy. The established system governments are responsible for most of the Kyhyex colonization fleets, which are sent out to seed colonies in new systems. Once seeded, new colonies are unlikely to have much impact on other systems for centuries until they reach their own saturation point. It is the originating systems, who choose the destinations for the colony fleets, whose decisions have far-reaching consequences for the other species of the galaxy. It is with these systems that the Bats have formed their alliance, and against whom the Charterlings have declared war.

Military- Like all of their endeavors, the Kyhyex "navy" is an impermanent and disorganized affair. Although at any given time the Kyhyex operate anywhere from two to three times as many warships as their Bat allies; they are probably somewhat less effective as an actual military force.

Most Kyhyex warships are little more than armed transports, constructed and crewed by would-be Kyhex colonists with the knowledge that they are likely to meet violent resistance as they seek new resources. Such ships are certainly nothing to sneer at, and tend to wield the heaviest weaponry the Kyhyex can construct or buy from the Bats or Charterlings. Compared to the dedicated warships of other species' navies, however, they tend to be underpowered for their size, and especially lacking for armor and other defensive countermeasures. These ships are most threatening when grouped in large numbers, and the Kyhyex will typically attempt to assemble in large numbers in the hope of overwhelming system defense forces.

The most highly developed (and saturated) of the Kyhyex systems do maintain military forces which resemble other species' professional navies in some ways. All of these systems are protected by extensive defensive networks composed primarily of automated weapons, intended to counter the threat of a Charterling offensive against the largest source of Kyhyex colonists. Because the societies in these systems also depend on sending out a continuous stream of colonists, however, they have had to develop a means of projecting power into other systems in order to find new colonies and defend colonial expeditions. As a result, the developed systems have built or otherwise acquired fleets of true purpose-built warships which are actually intended to make return journeys to their system of origin. Actually holding onto these ships is a source of some difficulty for the Kyhyex, however. Convincing a Kyhyex crew to leave behind the opportunities for reproduction in an unsettled system requires longer-term thinking than comes easily to most Kyhyex. Desertion is a constant problem for the Kyhyex fleet, and the result is a rate of warship turnover much higher than even their combat casualties would suggest. For those Kyhyex who do return from their scouting and escort missions, however, the rewards are necessarily lavish. To the extent that the concept of individual wealth exists within Kyhyex society, soldiers form far and away the richest segment of the population.

[Lorpius Prime]

Beta-Kyhyex
Homeworld- Tharnhost. The center of the Beta-Kyhyex domain, and the origin of all the known galaxy's Kyhyex is not a natural astronomical object, but an artificial construct. It is a nearly perfect disc, nearly 30,000 kilometers in diameter, with a slight curve covering less than 1 degree of arc in all directions. Only slightly less massive than the Earth, and with a significantly greater surface area, it is the only astronomical object orbiting the nearest star: a small white dwarf.

Biology/Culture- Biologically, the Beta-Kyhyex are identical to the other Kyhyex known to the galaxy. Their social organization is vastly different, however. The Beta-Kyhyex form a supremely conservative culture, the focus of which is repressing their natural reproductive drive. Where most Kyhyex are perceived as recklessly impulsive, the Beta-Kyhyex are painfully cautious. While most Kyhyex are seen as incurious and single-minded, the Beta-Kyhyex have developed a highly intellectual and inward-looking culture as the most effective alternative to constant reproduction.

Economy- While the Beta-Kyhyex have a much more developed and organized economy than the rest of their species; its nature makes it even more difficult to quantify in terms of the other known species' market systems. The Beta-Kyhyex economy is essentially a planned one, with resources and production allocated by the conscious direction of government authorities, rather than relying on the emergent behavior of a free market. Like other Kyhyex, the Beta-Kyhyex do not have anything like other known species' levels of demand for "consumer" goods, and their economy is overwhelmingly dominated by large scale research projects and heavy industry. Still, the Beta-Kyhyex do have some light industry devoted to producing consumer wares, and some individuals spend considerable effort acquiring luxury goods in order to live in their own version of opulence.

While the conventional wisdom in the known universe places the Bats at the top of the technological ladder, the Beta-Kyhyex have access to some technologies which are beyond the cutting edge available on Karee. Since the Beta-Kyhyex economy has much less exposure to trade with other races, however, this fact is not well appreciated. Probably the most well-known technological marvel of the Beta-Kyhyex is their stargates. The Beta-Kyhyex use these enormous, complicated, and power-hungry machines to generate artificial wormholes, enabling instantaneous travel between two otherwise distant parts of space. Every Beta-Kyhyex system has at least one stargate connecting it to one other system, and most have two or more, forming part of a vast network constructed over hundreds of thousands of years. Even now, the Beta-Kyhyex continue to expand their stargate network, but it is a slow process, as each device is the size of some planets, and takes decades to build. Less than a dozen new stargates have been constructed since the Charterlings first discovered the Beta-Kyhyex 14,000 years ago.

Still, despite such wonders, the Beta-Kyhyex are not more advanced than the other races in all ways. Their warp drives, both FTL and sublight, are noticeably inferior to that of either the Bats or Charterlings. The Beta-Kyhyex import a large number of goods from the Charterlings in particular, and these are used in the construction of the less exotic elements of their space infrastructure. In exchange, the Beta-Kyhyex tend to sell bulk manufactures, much like the rest of their species, but generally of a higher and more consistent quality. While the Charterlings have been attempting to acquire examples of advanced Beta-Kyhyex technology almost from the moment of first contact, their efforts to that end thus far have been far less successful than with the Bats.