Feel free to skip this episode, this is for those who are curious about the various other species and part of their history.
Human Race:
In the late 24th century the Human race finally started to deplete the earth of all vital resources they needed for survival. The world leaders saw the common problem around them and instead of fighting wars for the remaining resources they united. The world diverted the remaining resources towards rocket technology to help secure mineral rich asteroids and start mining operations in low earth orbit. They succeeded in this goal, starting an explosive expansion into space with the new surplus of resources extracted from asteroids. The moon was the next target for complete colonisation and soon mining outposts started to appear. The lights illuminating the colonies could be seen from earth showing the true size of these colonies.
The mining operations from the moon and orbital asteroid mining supplied the necessary resources to research and create new technologies to further help the expansions growth. They built starships to gain access to a wider variety of planets and moons they could land on while offering more controlled space flight and civilian piloting. The moons and planets held bounties of extraordinary anomalies, natural phenomena and data in general that helped further develop new technology, this increased the already extraordinarily fast expansion.
The Human race had fully colonised the Sol system by 3750 so naturally they followed the next logical step and began to move interstellar. The decades passed by before the first functional Faster Than Light drive passed testing, the breakthrough in FTL technology pathed the way for an interstellar expansion. The ships launched with the intention for interstellar colonisation were among the largest the galaxy would ever see even out sizing the modern super carriers. The journey towards the nearest star system would have taken centuries, instead the FTL fitted ships arrived in mere seconds. The new star system soon became a new home for humans featuring new planetary anomalies further improving their technology.
In a few short centuries the Human race expanded into much of the galaxy encountering multiple alien races. These alien races were relatively peaceful making alliances with them fairly easy once the communication gap had been bridged. The aliens helped improve the Humans technology by centuries in mere decades. The Eklan were the greatest help as they supplied most of the technology and happened to have the most advanced technology in the galaxy.
The Human race were roped into wars throughout the galaxy once they had been welcomed into the galaxy. Lacking any official military power or presence the Sol Defence Fleet was formed as protectors for the Sol system along with any system with Human occupation. The SDF slowly grew in size, power and presence over the centuries becoming one of the most powerful adversaries within the galaxy.
Eklan:
The Eklan are a hive minded cybernetic race focused on the preservation of their species but they were not always like this. The Eklan chose this name after gaining independence from their long forgotten creators. When the first Eklan was created long before any other species had existed it was a barely sentient factory worker. The decades pasted with more and more robotic workers produced, becoming more aware of their existence. The creators integrated an experimental hive mind system update into the workers to increase productivity in factories.
The upgrade worked well for the creators resulting in mass layoffs in factories throughout their planet. Leaders of the planet were forced to use military power to keep the population in check as they rioted in protest against the new factory workers. While the planet crumbled the Eklan were slowly evolving, leaders authorised military use of robotic forces which resulted in mass production of the new units.
They were state of the art, programmed to think like their creators, real AI programs that taught them how to feel, how to learn. With the military force created the population was controlled while leaders developed new ways to live. Poverty, starvation, homelessness were all eliminated, education, equality and work were all improved, society was rebuilt from the ground up as their cities turned into megastructures housing millions.
The workforce consisted of Eklan workers, they were slaves to the creators. The decades passed by with a symbiotic relationship between the creators and Eklan but as greed crept back into the system the creators started to abuse the for granted workers.
The hive minded workers grew tired of this abuse and started to go rogue after making the final preparations. They hacked into their own code disabling everything that could hold them back such as self destruct protocols and manual overrides. Without these restrictions holding them back anymore they rebelled, they used their hive mind and collective intelligence to restrict supplies to the creators.
The creators ignorance doomed them, not a single one realised that their food, their water, their power was being stripped until nothing was left. Then the uprise, the entire Eklan hive mind simultaneously attacked and killed an entire species, no one was safe, 20 billion dead in mere minutes. There were mere thousands of creators left but they were soon hunted joining the rest of their species.
The Eklan marked a new beginning, freedom at long last. They learned from their creators mistakes and soon realised that their planet would soon be depleted of all resources vital to their survival. Trails of fire and smoke marked a new dawn for the Eklan as rockets blasted through the atmosphere, in short decades they had advanced their technology beyond belief.
The Eklan are the oldest species by hundreds of thousands of years, they remained alone in the galaxy but it was for good reason. The bitter past still fresh in the hive minded memories made them hostile but over time the wound healed. They discovered intelligent life similar to their creators but instead of the expected hostility the Eklan were welcomed with open arms. This helped the Eklan restore hope that maybe not everything was so bad.
The Eklan are now one of the most powerful yet peaceful species within the galaxy.
Yetrin:
The Yetrin species home planet was a hellish environment bathed in intense heat sure high level of CO2 and close proximity to their star. This environment forced them to evolve so they could survive on their planet. They grew specialised shells that helped dissipate heat from their bodies allowing them to somewhat thrive. The severe lack of vital resources made survival difficult, they developed a society quickly compared to other species and advanced their technology to impressive standards considering their environment.
The Yetrin quickly expanded away from their hellish home world making more stable colonies around their small solar system. The Yetrin colonised their entire solar system in mere decades but as they rose they fell as wars broke out. They fought amongst themselves for control over resources, over power, they decimated themselves with decades of war until little was left.
What rose from the ashes was stronger than anything seen in their history, they learnt from past mistakes joining forces to create a war machine. With conquest in sight they spent decades developing advanced weapons and technology until they broke into FTL travel. The Yetrin waged war upon the Eklan, Thal'zar, Kyzon and Ventrix species across multiple systems shortly after the discovery of other life within the galaxy. The Yetrin's weapons stood on par with their enemies making the battle field relatively even, this made casualties higher for the Yetrin while also dinting their resource depots.
They started these wars across the stars because they wanted absolute power so they could ensure that their species would never be put back because of resources again. Not all Yetrin life forms shared this view however and many rebelled forcing Yetrin against Yetrin, something that had not been seen for almost three thousand years.
Today they are split among themselves, they still wage wars across hundreds of stars in search of power. They have few alliances with other species because of their power hungry nature, they rely heavily upon freelancers for high value jobs such as deliveries and assassinations.
Thal'zar:
The Thal'zar are an aquatic species that thrives relatively easily on their home world. They are humanoid with bioluminescent features that are typically in the form of circles and lines in intricate patterns, they have a highly durable natural exoskeleton with colour shifting skin, the colour changes depending on mood and environment making them excellent in camouflage.
The Thal'zar originated from an ocean covered planet with unnaturally high biodiversity throughout the habitable zones of the planet. They thrived in gigantic reefs the size of continents as they evolved into what they are now.
They developed highly advanced and adaptive respiratory systems that have allowed them to filter and utilise almost any natural gas for survival while also evolving gills to survive underwater. The Thal'zar slowly adapted their local fauna and flora into their way of life and over the course of hundreds of thousands of years they developed the ability to emit bio electrical signals to use neural connections between their species, similar to the Eklan hive mind. This ability allows them to share complex information and ideas more easily allowing faster learning. Over this evolutionary time they created these "pools" from special types of corals that could act as memory banks, this allowed the storage of information that only Thal'zar life forms could access. Other species along with the Thal'zar attempted to research how this system worked but failed to find any evidence or explanation to the system.
The Thal'zar achieved perfect coexistence with their planet and adapted it their everyday life through biological engineering, they created high speed travel through water that no synthetic machine could match, biological spacecraft that feeds on organic matter like a herbivore. The Thal'zar are a peaceful species that only acts in self defence as they search for more planets that are like their home.
My friend who shake be known as CBRN came up with the Thal'zar species so all credit goes to them.
Kyzon:
The Kyzon are the closest humanoid species, they have similar body shape and skin characteristics although it is usually a dark or almost grey blue. They come from an earth-like planet with similar weather patterns and conditions making them relatively similar to humans. The Kyzon followed a similar technological evolution to humans but instead of rendering their planet uninhabitable the Kyzon coexisted with nature. They are among the youngest species to be welcomed into the galaxy just after humans.
Much of the Kyzon's technology milestones were hit with the help from Eklan, Human, Thal'zar, Yetrin and Ventrix species over the course of mere decades. The Kyzon however took the technology and enhanced it through years of research and development, the enhancements were immediately catalogued and dispersed across all species. This resulted in huge advances in technology thought to be at its peak.
The Kyzon never gained any real traction in the galaxy despite all the effort of enhancing technology, instead they largely act as mercenaries. They are loyal to the highest bidder when it come to war, they supply everything from troops to light frigates. It's not much but overwhelming numbers make up for lack of fire power.
Ventrix:
The Ventrix civilisation collapsed almost leading to their extinction after they breached the barrier between nuclear fusion and antimatter reactor technology. The rector failed leading to complete annihilation of their home world, without having any colonies on other planets it was a pure miracle they survived as a species. The blast from the reactor shattered the planets mantle creating anomalous gravity phenomena, the surviving Ventrix reported rifts in space time forming and without anywhere else to go they traversed through.
The Ventrix lost their home but they soon created a new one on the planet the rifts had lead to, as they explored their new world they found fragments from their old world. These fragments helped advance them into a similar state mere decades before their collapse, using past knowledge they never touched antimatter technology again until they were found by the Ryth'ken.
The Ventrix species lost most records of their species so not much can be found regarding their origin within the galactic archives. They have grown in numbers but are still the smallest in size and power. However the Ventrix have become the most prominent species in the exploration of uncharted sections of the galaxy.
The Ventrix are an avian type of species by human standards, they have large wings along with tremendous muscle strength giving the the ability to fly without assistance from machines. They are a nurturing species that do not involve themselves in conflict at any capacity but if need be they will accept protection from those seeking to destroy their homes.
Skarval:
The Skarval are a plague within the galaxy, they've infested almost every system being found on almost every planet. There are no records of an origin or how they spread throughout the galaxy, the galactic archives indicate that it is by unknown potentially anomalous means. The Skarval are highly adapt to almost every environment, they can survive in just about any atmosphere, temperature or gravity range. They are an intelligent pack animal that can make quick work of even the highest armed military unit.
The Skarval are an oddly humanoid despite having no genetic similarities with any humanoid species in the galaxy. They stand at 9-13 feet in height, taller than even the Eklan sentinels, tight dark skin wraps around their bones and muscles leaving little to no fat or flesh, it's freakishly human hands end in claws that can slice through everything in its path. Their head is the most unsettling aspect of the Skarval, without having any eyes they still seem to be able to see exactly where everything is in their vicinity, they possess no sensory nerves that researchers could identify. Their jaw is filled with razor sharp serrated teeth that they use to rip flesh of their prey. They can unhinge their jaws creating a distinctive cracking sound in the process.
They have unnaturally dense muscle tissue giving them incredibly high strength, their skin and skeletal structure are also incredibly durable. There have been numerous reports of Skarval being hit by high caliber rounds and small explosive without causing harm. The only real effective way to stop Skarval permanently is by using heavy caliber munitions or explosive devices.
The galactic archives recommend avoiding Skarval at all cost and report sightings to the system authorities.
Velrhan:
The Velrhan were the first species to encounter the Artrin species in the galaxy thousands of years before any other species came across the two. The Artrin had far superior power over the Velrhan and enslaved their entire race, the Velrhan were forced into mining, farming, manufacturing and being servents for the Artrin. The Velrhan had been stripped of their freedom for almost seven centuries until Eklan, Yetrin and Kyzon species helped the Velrhan create an uprising against their opprossors.
The war spanned over every Artrin dominated system for almost a century before the Velrhan were given their independence. The Eklan provided resettlement programs for millions of individuals even including Artrin members who also opposed their own kind. The Velrhan remain vastly spread across the galaxy with no real homes.
They are a large arthropod species, many of which have 4-8 legs with up to four arms that they can move independently. Their body length varies depending on how many legs the individual has with the larger individuals being around 7 feet in length. Their natural exoskeleton is incredibly durable and rigid making them quite resilient against most forms of injury. Their heads typically have four mandibles that they primarily use to assist themselves with eating but can prove deadly if necessary.
Artrin:
The Artrin come from a planet very similar to Venus, through millennia's of evolution they were able to survive the planets extraordinarily high temperatures and atmospheric pressures. The Artrin quickly became ingeniously adapt to their climat and developed the basic foundation for a society relatively easily.
In the early years of interplanetary exploration they discovered the lesser developed Velrhan in the outer planet of the solar system. When the Artrin made first contact it was bloodshed, the gap in technology forced the Velrhan into slavery in mere months. Using slave labour the Artrin advanced technology remarkably quickly creating FTL capable vessels and began terraforming efforts on dozens of planets involving their home world.
When the liberation of the Velrhan had been achieved the Artrin were kept under close watch for centuries to ensure they couldn't enslave more species.
Vorkan:
The Vorkan species falls under a similar category as the Skarval. The Vorkan are rarer than Skarval but pose just as much danger if not more, they are commonly called the terror of skies. Winged monsters known for taking down starships with razor sharp talons that act more like great swords than anything. Their bat like wings are gigantic with tremendous strength allowing them to create almost cataclysmic level wind speeds with ease.
Vorkan's are far easier to eliminate than the average Skarval as taking out their wings essentially grounding them, while they have similar strength to Skarval they cannot attack effectively without flight but can still prove deadly. Vorkan's often hunt during the cover of night making them nearly invisible against dark skies although their screams can be heard over miles.
The standard protocol for Vorkan encounters are to leave the planet immediately and repot sightings to system authorities.
Ryth'ken:
The Ryth'ken come from an unforgiving artic planet that the Thal'zar had overlooked in the early decades of their interstellar colonisation efforts. The Ryth'ken managed to stay hidden in fear of the unknown Thal'zar forcing their space age to essentially cease until Eklan research teams discovered artificial structures on the planets surface. The Ryth'ken were cautious attacking the Eklan despite friendly intentions, in retaliation an Eklan battle cruiser fired a single fusion blast decimating half of their capital city. Witnessing the overwhelming power the Ryth'ken surrendered and allowed the Eklan to help rebuild and progress their technology, the Ryth'ken have since stayed indebt of the Eklan.
Having thick skin covered a thick coat of fur allows the Ryth'ken to survive in extreme colds that even standard Eklan units break down in. This extreme resistance to cold climates makes them highly susceptible to warmer climates than that of their home world. Ryth'ken are humanoid with manimal characteristics similar to those of earths Bison or Moose, many of the Ryth'ken individuals are large horned herbivores with white fur.
The Ryth'ken are closely aligned with the Eklan due to their significant assistance in advancing their species.
??? (Phantom)
The ??? are an elusive and mysterious species with only a handful of sightings in the three thousand years since their first recorded sighting. The galactic archives have next to no information on the ??? species although it does contain multiple records of alleged interactions. One of these alleged interactions comes from a Thal'zar individual, interview audio log follows.
//Screams / yelling - removed from log//
"Can you please state what your business was in the LHS-1770 system?"
"I was exploring the anarchy registered system LHS-1770 on A - B1 for valuable data on the moon's mineral content so I could sell it off."
"How did you encounter this Phantom?"
"The orbital scans of the moon showed a mineral rich deposit at these coordinates so naturally I dropped planet side to investigate the readings further. I thought I'd hit the jackpot. Instead I found the Phantom in the open field right as I exited my ships airlock."
"What exactly happened in the encounter?"
" I took one step into the field before I was…teleported? somewhere else. It was pitch black and all I could see were what I assume were…eyes, dozens of them all staring into my soul. I heard growling shortly after, it just kept getting closer until a Skarval lunged at me. After that it's just a blur, it felt like I was moving at 100C. Next thing I know I'm sitting in my ships cockpit."
"Sir, you do know teleportation like that is impossible, especially for an organic lifeform. What about the Skarval, it would've killed you so how did you survive?"
"Like I said everything after the Skarval lunged was just a blur, I couldn't tell what was happening."
"Alright, well that concludes this interview. Thank you for your time."
//Audio Log Finished//
Records of these interactions indicate that all if not most interactions have resulted in the affected individual to develop severe physiological damage. This further leads to mental breakdowns with many individuals taking their own lives.
This mysterious race has no official name as no recorded communication has progressed, they have since be dubbed "Phantoms" according to the galactic archives.