Ultronomicon - User contributions [en]

Sa-Matra

2004-10-29T22:18:49Z

Mmrnmhrm: moved sub-items around, simplified coding

__NOTOC__
{{UrQuanNav}}

The '''Sa-Matra''' is the name given to the awesome [[Precursor]] Battleship discovered by the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] thousands of years ago. It is the very symbol of [[Ur-Quan]] dominance; a virtually invincible war machine that guarantees that the Ur-Quan species will never need know fear of anything.

==History==

The Sa-Matra was discovered by chance during the first [[Doctrinal Conflict]] and turned the tide of that battle in favor of the Kzer-Za.

It was employed against the [[Alliance of Free Stars]] at the end of their war with the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za and their [[Hierarchy]] of [[Battle Thralls]]. It quickly broke the [[Chenjesu]]/[[Mmrnmhrm]] lines, incinerating conventional vessels at far beyond their own weapon's ranges. Very soon after the Sa-Matra entered the battle, the Alliance surrendered.

Some wonder as to why the Kzer-Za did not use the Sa-Matra sooner. Suspicion is that the ship holds such a strong, almost spiritual, significance that it was kept out of the fight as a symbol. Bringing it in at the end of the war was likely a decision made in light of the Kohr-Ah's imminent arrival, winning the battle quickly so that the Kzer-Za could prepare for the upcoming ritual war. Another possiblity is that the Kzer-Za were simply taking their time, confident in their eventual success.

Among the Ur-Quan, the word "Sa-Matra" means "Great Trophy", for that is what it is to them. It is the prize given to the race, [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] or [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]], who wins the [[Doctrinal Conflict]]. The Kzer-Za have always wondered whether the Kohr-Ah philosophy was right and dictated that the Sa-Matra would be the prize for the greater Doctrine when the two races met again.

==Description==

[[Image:Sa-matra_generators_down.png|right]]

Physically the vessel is huge and blue, with claws, spikes and similar sticking out of it. It has a large core-like sphere in the middle. It is surrounded by various force fields and defenses. Its weapon systems are the dreaded Repulsion Sphere, intellingent homing weapons that send ships flying away from it, and the dangerous Plasma Destruction Totoid, fireballs that surround and destroy any ship in seconds.

To attack it means almost certain destruction. Its ability to keep enemies at bay combined with the an unfathomable weapon range make it unassailable. Its impenetrable defenses allow it to face a hundred ships and continue fighting.

[[Category:Ships (Specific)]][[Category:Precursor Technology]]

MediaWiki talk:Editsection

2004-10-29T22:12:40Z

Mmrnmhrm:

Page elements that have "float:right" set will cause this element to be inappropriately placed. Add a "clear:right" to its style (or the stylesheet it uses) to fix it.

== I don't understand. ==

Can you be more clear? What goes wrong, where?

Won't clear:right place all following text below the item? I don't think that's the functionality we want. The purpose of floating objects is to have the following text wrap around them. Everything looks fine to me. Where do you see it doing something it's not supposed to? [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 00:12, 30 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Second War

2004-10-29T20:00:58Z

Mmrnmhrm: it was short, so i wrote some more. everything else is covered in other documents

'''The Second War''' occurs twenty years after the [[First War]] pitting the [[New Alliance of Free Stars]] against an even more powerful (but distracted) [[Ur-Quan Hierarchy]].

The Hierarchy appears to have won. The old Alliance is in ruins. Only one member isn't [[slave shield]]ed or destroyed, and they became [[Battle Thralls]]. It is a dark time for the quardrant, but on a small planet in the [[Vela]] system, which the inhabitants have named [[Unzervalt]], a secret weapon which may very well turn back the successes of [[The Ur-Quan Masters]] has been found.

[[The Captain]] will command his [[SIS|Flagship]] across the stars to win back freedom for all sentient life.

Kyabetsu

2004-10-29T19:18:01Z

Mmrnmhrm: improved readability

'''Kyabetsu''' is the former homeworld of the noble [[Shofixti]]. Orbiting the star Delta Gorno, it was once a lush, earth-like planet with vast forests and tall mountains. The Shofixti built cities and mud-fortresses on its many continents, and lived in a feudal society until the [[Yehat]] arrived and lifted them technologically and culturally to the level of a starfaring species.

When the [[Kzer-Za]] arrived and defeated the [[Alliance of Free Stars]], the Shofixti, who were about to be enslaved, made the ultimate sacrifice. They blew up their sun with a device similar to their [[Scout]] glory devices, except with a level of power akin to the [[Utwig Bomb]]. The partial nova destroyed hundreds of [[Hierarchy]] vessels but also struck their homeworld with devasting effects. As a result the Shofixti race is now nearly extinct and Kyabetsu is a battered, airless planet devoid of any life.

[[Category:Locations]]

Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah

2004-10-28T22:49:17Z

Mmrnmhrm: This one too

{{UrQuanNav}}
{{RaceBox|name=Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah|image=Kohr-AhComm.png|caption=A deadly Kohr-Ah captain|homeworld=Unknown|coordinates=Unknown|organizations=None|ship=[[Marauder]]}}

The '''Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah''' are one of the two subraces of the [[Ur-Quan]]. They share many physical characteristics with their [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] brethren, except their skin is black instead of green. Their race was genetically engineered by the [[Dnyarri]] from the main line of the Ur-Quan during the height of the Dnyarri Slave Empire. The Kohr-Ah were designed to be the "effectors," the builders and warriors of the Empire.

The Kohr-Ah named themselves for their greatest surviving leader following their successfull revolt against the Dnyarri, [[Kohr-Ah (Character)|Kohr-Ah]] (the individual) was a starship captain and is credited with the development of the [[Eternal Doctrine]], which all Kohr-Ah (the race) adhere to.

After their defeat by the Kzer-Za in the first [[Doctrinal Conflict]] they were banished to circle the galaxy, and when they next met the Kzer-Za they would begin the ceremonial war again to find which subrace's Doctrine was superior. It has been thousands of years and the Kohr-Ah have more than made up for their ancient losses. They have, in fact, surpassed the might of the Kzer-Za and are poised to win their civil war.

In the wake of their travels they have left half the galaxy devoid of sentient life, primarily through the use of their [[Marauder]] starships.

[[Category:Races]]

Ur-Quan Kzer-Za

2004-10-28T22:48:33Z

Mmrnmhrm: Does it look better this way? (Check the history to see what I mean)

{{UrQuanNav}}
{{RaceBox|name=Ur-Quan Kzer-Za|image=Kzer-ZaComm.png|caption=An imposing Ur-Quan captain|homeworld=Unknown|coordinates=Unknown|organizations=Controls [[Hierarchy of Battle Thralls]]|ship=[[Dreadnought]]}}

The '''Ur-Quan Kzer-Za''' are one of two subraces of [[Ur-Quan]]. They are nearly identical to their [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] brethren, the main difference being that their skin is green rather than black. Their race was genetically engineered by the [[Dnyarri]] from the main line of the Ur-Quan during the height of the Dnyarri Slave Empire. The Kzer-Za were designed to be the "thinkers," the scientists, technicians, and overseers of the Empire.

The Dnyarri did not name their creation. It was not until after the slave revolt that the Kzer-Za named themselves in honor of the martyred [[Kzer-Za (Character)|Kzer-Za]], who discovered the secret of their freedom.

The Kzer-Za follow the [[Path of Now and Forever]]. This doctrine states that they must seek out all sentient life and offer them a choice: imprisonment or enslavement. The Kzer-Za are aware that this way of life may be incorrect and so they willingly participate in the [[Doctrinal Conflict]] with the Kohr-Ah.

For several thousand years they have circled the galaxy, enslaving races into their [[Hierarchy]] or imprisoning them under [[slave shield]]s. Even one battle in their long history is an extreme situation in the eyes of a younger race. The [[First War]] that most contemporary races speak of was, to the Kzer-Za, just another of a thousand conquests.

The Ur-Quan Kzer-Za do battle in their [[Dreadnought]] starships.

[[Category:Races]]

File:Kohr-AhComm.png

2004-10-28T22:29:29Z

Mmrnmhrm: Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah communication image

Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah communication image

Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah

2004-10-28T22:29:04Z

Mmrnmhrm: Race Box

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="right"><tr><td>
{{RaceBox|name=Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah|image=Kohr-AhComm.png|caption=A deadly Kohr-Ah captain|homeworld=Unknown|coordinates=Unknown|organizations=None|ship=[[Marauder]]}}
</td></tr><tr><td>
{{UrQuanNav}}
</td></tr></table>

The '''Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah''' are one of the two subraces of the [[Ur-Quan]]. They share many physical characteristics with their [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] brethren, except their skin is black instead of green. Their race was genetically engineered by the [[Dnyarri]] from the main line of the Ur-Quan during the height of the Dnyarri Slave Empire. The Kohr-Ah were designed to be the "effectors," the builders and warriors of the Empire.

The Kohr-Ah named themselves for their greatest surviving leader following their successfull revolt against the Dnyarri, [[Kohr-Ah (Character)|Kohr-Ah]] (the individual) was a starship captain and is credited with the development of the [[Eternal Doctrine]], which all Kohr-Ah (the race) adhere to.

After their defeat by the Kzer-Za in the first [[Doctrinal Conflict]] they were banished to circle the galaxy, and when they next met the Kzer-Za they would begin the ceremonial war again to find which subrace's Doctrine was superior. It has been thousands of years and the Kohr-Ah have more than made up for their ancient losses. They have, in fact, surpassed the might of the Kzer-Za and are poised to win their civil war.

In the wake of their travels they have left half the galaxy devoid of sentient life, primarily through the use of their [[Marauder]] starships.

[[Category:Races]]

File:Kzer-ZaComm.png

2004-10-28T22:26:01Z

Mmrnmhrm: Ur-Quan Kzer-Za communication image

Ur-Quan Kzer-Za communication image

Ur-Quan Kzer-Za

2004-10-28T22:25:34Z

Mmrnmhrm: Race box

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="right"><tr><td>
{{RaceBox|name=Ur-Quan Kzer-Za|image=Kzer-ZaComm.png|caption=An imposing Ur-Quan captain|homeworld=Unknown|coordinates=Unknown|organizations=Controls [[Hierarchy of Battle Thralls]]|ship=[[Dreadnought]]}}
</td></tr><tr><td>
{{UrQuanNav}}
</td></tr></table>

The '''Ur-Quan Kzer-Za''' are one of two subraces of [[Ur-Quan]]. They are nearly identical to their [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] brethren, the main difference being that their skin is green rather than black. Their race was genetically engineered by the [[Dnyarri]] from the main line of the Ur-Quan during the height of the Dnyarri Slave Empire. The Kzer-Za were designed to be the "thinkers," the scientists, technicians, and overseers of the Empire.

The Dnyarri did not name their creation. It was not until after the slave revolt that the Kzer-Za named themselves in honor of the martyred [[Kzer-Za (Character)|Kzer-Za]], who discovered the secret of their freedom.

The Kzer-Za follow the [[Path of Now and Forever]]. This doctrine states that they must seek out all sentient life and offer them a choice: imprisonment or enslavement. The Kzer-Za are aware that this way of life may be incorrect and so they willingly participate in the [[Doctrinal Conflict]] with the Kohr-Ah.

For several thousand years they have circled the galaxy, enslaving races into their [[Hierarchy]] or imprisoning them under [[slave shield]]s. Even one battle in their long history is an extreme situation in the eyes of a younger race. The [[First War]] that most contemporary races speak of was, to the Kzer-Za, just another of a thousand conquests.

The Ur-Quan Kzer-Za do battle in their [[Dreadnought]] starships.

[[Category:Races]]

File:ChmmrComm.png

2004-10-28T22:17:25Z

Mmrnmhrm: Chmmr Communication Image

Chmmr Communication Image

Chmmr

2004-10-28T22:15:58Z

Mmrnmhrm: race box

{{RaceBox|name=Chmmr|image=ChmmrComm.png|caption=The hybrid Chmmr race|homeworld=Procyon II|coordinates=74.2 : 226.8|organizations=[[New Alliance of Free Stars]]|ship=[[Avatar]]}}

A composite race, created from the two seperate races of the [[Chenjesu]] and the [[Mmrnmhrm]]. The synthesis of the two races took place under the [[slave shield]] on the Chenjesu's homeworld of Procyon II. This process was fueled via solar power.

The Chmmr's synthesis project was intended to create a race and fabricate a technology powerful enough to defeat the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za|Ur-Quan]] single-handedly. The so-called "Process" was supposed to take some 30 years as it was powered solely by Procyon's sun. In a hasty call, [[The Captain]] has rushed the process forward using a [[Precursor]] [[Sun Device]] recovered from the [[Mycon]]. What was supposed to take decades has been accomplished in seconds but whatever the [[Chenjesu]] and [[Mmrnmhrm]] expected, the Chmmr were not it. The Chmmr expressed it when they claimed, "The process is incomplete yet we emerge".

They command the powerful [[Avatar]] battleships in combat. They combine the best traits of the [[Chenjesu]] and the [[Mmrnmhrm]]. The Chmmr were a major driving force behind the Second Alliance's victory.

[[Category:Races]]

Talk:Human

2004-10-28T21:58:35Z

Mmrnmhrm: Race Image

Oh, for God's sake. Someone's feeling cynical.

This is not how humans are portrayed in the SC2 universe, anyway. The human society of the future is much more peaceful and rational than the nations of today, and even at our worst we aren't as bad as many of the fictional races portrayed in the game. It shows as much lack of imagination to claim that human beings are the worst possible race in the universe as to claim they are the best.

And why does everyone pick on the last 2000 years? Human beings have been fighting for much longer than that. Is this some misguided attempt to blame Christianity in particular for the bad things of the world, or something?

------------

Indeed. The last 2000 years, and actually, the last 100, represent the human society at its best. World War one.Hitler. Stalin. World War two. Auscwhitz. Birkenau. Normandy. Hiroshima. Arnheim. Iwo Jima. Berlin E/W. Vietnam. Nuff said.
------------
Yes. And before then there were no genocides, pointless wars, cruel oppressions, enslavements, or whatever. Right.

Just because we *know* the most about our recent history (because it's, duh, recent) doesn't mean that everything in our recent history actually outshines our ancient history. The most you can say is that we've done bad things on a larger *scale* in recent history than in ancient history. A hell of a lot of bad things happened to a hell of a lot of people in the years B.C.; human nature hasn't changed, despite what romantics who think modernity is the root of all evil will tell you.

Even then, you're historically blind if you don't see that the past 100 years, despite all the madness and terror, is the time the largest proportion of the world has had a chance to live to a decent lifespan, with a decent level of education and physical comfort, and a decent level of political rights. Or that, even in all the madness and terror of our long history, there haven't always been people trying to do their best to make life better for others out of love. The fact that you and others have the *capacity* to react to our history with such outrage shows that there is hope for the human race; one can easily imagine a human race where the people who saw this kind of sight with indifference, or outright glee, were the norm and not a chilling minority.
-------------

It is not ''conclusively'' proven that Humans and Syreen are cross-fertile. The only things known for sure are that Zelnick is telling is telling the tale to his "grandchildren" at the end of the game, and that those grandchildren are not obvious Human/Syreen hybrids. There are several explanations for this:

* Humans and Syreen are cross-fertile; human pigmentation genes (melanin) are dominant and thus will not appear in offspring if a Syreen appears at only one point. Syreen are, for all practical purposes, another race of humans (but are not Humans -- this term reserved for the Earthlings).
* Humans and Syreen can breed, but the offspring are not fertile; these children look human because they ''are'' -- Zelnick and Talana's children adopted. Syreen are hominids, but not (small-h) human.
* Humans and Syreen cannot breed; Zelnick and Talana themselves adopted. Solves all these problems neatly.
* Humans and Syreen may or may not be able to breed. We don't know, because on Unzervalt, "Grandfather" is simply a term of respect for the aged. Unlikely at best.

------------

Er, we don't know exactly to what degree Syreen are blue, or why. I'm assuming there's
some blue pigmentation in their skin, but whatever it is is actually pretty faint, and
may only appear as blue as it does because of the radiation of their native sun; in the
scene where Talana appears to Zelnick at the end of the game, she barely looks blue at
all, probably 'cause it doesn't show well in the light of the Starbase. Maybe the light
on Unzervalt is more similar to the lighting on the Starbase than to the Syreen ships'
lighting or Syra's lighting.

See the image here for what I mean: [http://www.classicgaming.com/starcontrol/sc2/aliens/syreen.shtml]

I see little reason to believe humans and Syreen aren't meant to be implied to be
cross-fertile. Maybe it's me reading into the authors' minds, but then the authors
did choose what to show and what not to show intentionally -- we shouldn't treat
the game as though it were a real-life record, random bits and pieces of information
falling into our laps; it's like a real-life documentary, where the director shows
us certain facts because we're meant to take home a correct interpretation based
on those facts. In this case the final choice is almost certainly invalid -- kids
might address some random elder as "Grandfather" out of respect, but they wouldn't
refer to the man's wife as "Grandma" in the third person. Believing the children
are second-generation adoptees is even weirder (human/Syreen offspring being
infertile, like mules, is even more of a wrinkle than human/Syreen offspring being
cross-fertile at all).

I think if we weren't meant to understand that humans and Syreen are cross-fertile,
we wouldn't have been presented with these kids as Zelnick and Talana's grandchildren
in the first place, and they would have just been adoring kids asking Zelnick the war
hero about his past. We are meant to take home a pretty big shock at seeing that
Zelnick and Talana are married, and that they've reproduced.

Also I really dispute that there's any need for the kids to be "obvious hybrids",
and that if they aren't it casts doubt on what would otherwise be an obvious
implication (i.e. if Zelnick and Talana were both humans you would *never* think
the ancestry of the kids at the end was in doubt). Grandchildren of an interracial
marriage often don't clearly show signs of being interracial and gravitate to one
side or the other of the racial spectrum by sheer genetic randomness, whether
a particular gene is dominant or not. Especially given that everything about the
end sequence is meant to emphasize the sameness of humans and Syreen rather than
their difference -- Talana is shown to have very human-looking skin with only a
hint of blueness, she speaks in a very casual, human tone without affectation,
and so on. I don't think we're meant to think that Syreen are anything more than
another Homo sapiens subspecies -- and indeed, the physiology of Syreen and humans
are so darn similar that it'd be just as surprising in its own way if they were
so physically alike yet were genetically different enough to not be cross-fertile
(all other hominid subspecies look different enough from us that it's somewhat
unlikely we'd find an individual of them sexually attractive, even with our
closest neighbors, the Neanderthals).

== Race Image ==

Why don't we just use the picture of Commander Hayes? It's much higher resolution. Much, much higher. (The SuperMelee pic is pretty ugly) [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 23:58, 28 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-28T21:53:48Z

Mmrnmhrm: Reformatted to display the same as before. did I mention that I can't stand this CSS garbage?

<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="float:right">
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<td style="background-color:rgb(187,187,187);text-align:center">'''{{{name}}}'''</td>
</tr>
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<td style="color:white;background-color:black;text-align:center">[[Image:{{{image}}}]]<br><small>{{{caption}}}</small></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center">

<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top">'''Homeworld'''</td>
<td style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top">{{{homeworld}}}</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top">'''Coordinates'''</td>
<td style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top">{{{coordinates}}}</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top">'''Member of'''</td>
<td style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top">{{{organizations}}}</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top">'''Ship'''</td>
<td style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top">{{{ship}}}</td>
</tr>
</table>

</td>
</tr>
</table>

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-28T15:44:04Z

Mmrnmhrm: changed my mind after seeing it in action

<table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td bgcolor="#bbbbbb" align="center">'''{{{name}}}'''</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="#000000" align="center"><font color="#ffffff">[[Image:{{{image}}}]]<br><small>{{{caption}}}</small></font></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">
<table border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0>
<tr><td align="right">'''Homeworld'''</td><td align="left">{{{homeworld}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td align="right">'''Coordinates'''</td><td align="left">{{{coordinates}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td align="right">'''Member of'''</td><td align="left">{{{organizations}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td align="right">'''Ship'''</td><td align="left">{{{ship}}}</td></tr>
</table>
</table>

User talk:Fadookie

2004-10-28T15:31:42Z

Mmrnmhrm: M-m-r-n-m-h-r-m

Please use descriptive file names for images. This makes it clear from the file name what the image is about, and prevents name clashes with past and future images. I have re-uploaded your image with a new name, as there is no way to rename an image. -- [[User:Svdb|SvdB]] 07:08, 29 Sep 2004 (CEST)

I apologize. Please understand that I had no frame of reference for how an uploaded image should be formatted, as this was the first one sumbitted. Anyway, I'll title any future images more descriptively.
-[[User:Fadookie|Fadookie]] 07:57, 29 Sep 2004 (CEST)

sorry about the redirect to my own space. i'm still learning wiki, and didn't know the <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> trick, and was tired of typing <nowiki>[[User:SamYeager|Sam]]</nowiki> every time i wanted to reference myself. the best i could do now is undo the redirect, because i can't delete the page now that it's there. eh. -[[User:SamYeager|SamYeager]] 08:01, 30 Sep 2004 (CEST)
:I've deleted it for you. - [[User:Svdb|SvdB]] 00:23, 1 Oct 2004 (CEST)

''Dingus, where did you get the idea the mycon have it in for the Ur-Quan?''

To answer your question: I read about it in SC Saga(there's a link to it from pages of now and forever), and it's quite reasonable if you think about it. The Mycon see other races as "the non", ultimately even the Ur-Quan. Because they are not part of Juffo-Wup, "the non has to become the void". --[[User:Dingus|Dingus]] 05:12, 14 Oct 2004 (CEST)

The quote from the Mycon is: "Juffo-Wup acknowledges the existence of un-Voidable Non. when we are faced with such, we join, absorb and wait for our opportunity to learn the weakness that will allow us to Void the Non.". Everyone but the Mycon are the Non, which must be voided. Remember that the Mycon voluntarilly joined the Hierarchy. -- [[User:Svdb|SvdB]] 08:27, 14 Oct 2004 (CEST)

== M-m-r-n-m-h-r-m ==

It's easy. The mnemonic that I use is "My Moron May Harm" and then you just remove all the vowels. [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 17:31, 28 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-28T15:24:10Z

Mmrnmhrm: more formatting

<table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td bgcolor="#bbbbbb" align="center">'''{{{name}}}'''</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="#000000" align="center"><font color="#ffffff">[[Image:{{{image}}}]]<br><small>{{{caption}}}</small></font></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">
<table border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0>
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<tr><td align="right">'''Coordinates'''</td><td align="center">{{{coordinates}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td align="right">'''Member of'''</td><td align="center">{{{organizations}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td align="right">'''Ship'''</td><td align="center">{{{ship}}}</td></tr>
</table>
</table>

File:MelnormeComm.png

2004-10-27T21:39:32Z

Mmrnmhrm: Melnorme Communication Image

Melnorme Communication Image

Melnorme

2004-10-27T21:36:02Z

Mmrnmhrm: racebox

{{RaceBox|name=Melnorme|image=MelnormeComm.png|caption=Trademaster [[Greenish]]|homeworld=unknown|coordinates=unknown|organizations=none|ship=[[Trader]]}}

The '''Melnorme''' (prounounced /[[media:Melnorme_as_pronounced_by_Greenish.ogg|'mɛlnɔːmeɪ]]/), as far as we know, are a race of traveling traders in information and technology. They appear as several yellow globs piled on top of each other, with a large smile and a single eye.

The Melnorme's basic culture revolves around exchanges of items, information, and commodities. They believe that giving without receiving is barbaric. The Melnorme lustly search for new information about biological creatures and the ominous [[Precursor]] [[Rainbow Worlds]], but to what end is unknown, although, it is probably safe to assume that they sell the information to someone else.

Melnorme are highly sensitive to color. Their bridge has a colorful background that changes to fit their mood or activities. Red is for travel, purple is generally assumed to be for trade (if one manages to find enough credits the Melnorme might even sell the information about turning purple) and when you meet a Melnorme with a blue bridge, know that he is locking his weapons systems on your ship.

It is suspected that the Melnorme are the [[Mael-Num]], or at least their descendants or an offshot species, but the Melnorme say nothing about it. The evidence does point that way, both because of their similar names and because the Kohr-Ah have referred to the Mael-Num as "one-eyed creatures". The fact that the Melnorme keep the locations of their homeworlds secret adds weight to the claim.

The Melnorme are never found in [[Hyperspace]] (unless they come looking for you) and are generally encountered only around supergiant star systems. It is suspected, though unsubstantiated, that they use some property of these stars to power some other form of propulsion for even faster interstellar travel; or perhaps not "travel" per se, but some sort of multi-presence, as Trademaster [[Greenish]] seems to always be located at every supergiant star in the quadrant.

The Melnorme's [[Trader]] ship, while not designed as a warship, is still capable of defending itself. Its charging Powerblaster Fearton Torpedos are known as the one thing that can actually absorb an Ur-Quan Fusion Blast and the Confusion Ray is capable of half crippling a ship's navigation and special systems.

[[Category:Races]]

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-27T21:32:41Z

Mmrnmhrm: black image background to deal with transparency issues

Arilou Lalee'lay

2004-10-27T21:24:03Z

Mmrnmhrm: oops, make the file name match

{{RaceBox|name=Arilou Lalee'lay|image=ArilouComm.png|caption=The ever enigmatic Arilou|homeworld=[[Falayalaralfali]]|coordinates=[[QuasiSpace]]|organizations=[[Alliance of Free Stars]],<br>[[New Alliance of Free Stars]]|ship=[[Skiff]]}}

The '''Arilou Lalee'lay''', or '''Arilou''' for short, are an enigmatic and reclusive species. While they were known to the members of the [[Alliance of Free Stars]], they chose to remain neutral in the first war against the [[Ur-Quan]]. However, they changed their minds and joined the Alliance within hours of the [[Human]]s being recruited by the [[Chenjesu]]. Their actions were equally mercurial at the end of the war, retreating and abandoning the other races as soon as the Humans were [[Slave Shield]]ed.

==Appearance and Phisiology==

The Arilou eerily resemble the [[human]] pop-culture image of an alien, with smooth blue-green to grey skin and huge eyes that dominate the face, and slightly shorter than humans, standing around 1.5 meters. Their [[Skiff]] spacecraft are also the spitting image of the "flying saucer" popularized by 20th century human science fiction.

This is no coincidence, as the Arilou ''were'' the cause of these stories, as well as having been responsible for other mythical creatures in [[Earth]]'s history, including Elves, Fairies, Martians, Greys, and Zeta Reticulans. Infact, the name "Arilou Lalee'lay" was used by the ancient Celt civilization to describe a race of mythological elf-like creatures. Whether the Arilou gave this name to themselves or took it as their own from the Celts is up for debate.

The Arilou have claimed responsibility for the infamous UFO sightings and alien abductions occuring on Earth, starting from 1940 or earlier and going to the year 2000 and beyond.

The Arilou are psychically active, communicating with other beings telepathically, and controlling their ships through mental commands.

==Homeworld==

The Arilou sphere of influence in [[HyperSpace]] is centered in the Chandrasekhar constellation, but their homeworld, [[Falayalaralfali]], can only be accessed via [[QuasiSpace]]. Chandrasekhar contains the only known natural entrance to QuasiSpace (a secret which the Arilou jealously guard) and this is presumably why the norminally pacifist Arilou defend the region so vigorously. Falayalaralfali bears a striking resembalance to [[Earth]].

==Relations with Other Races==

For some unknown reason, the Arilou seem to have a vested interest in the well-being of humankind. This attitude covers not just [[Humans]], but their offshot species the [[Androsynth]] as well as the genetically compatible [[Syreen]]. The Arilou often take a patronizing attitude towards these races, hinting that they know more than they are willing to say. They reveal little of what they truly know or what motivates their actions, and even when they do their answers are cryptic and generally leave even more questions in their wake.

The Arilou have a strong dislike of the newly-arrived [[Orz]], although this may be simply be an extension of their protectiveness of the Andosynth, who the Orz are assumed to have eradicated.

When it comes to the other races of the galaxy the Arilou take no notice as long as they are not a threat to their chosen wards. With this in mind, their actions in the first war seem quite reasonable; the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] would not have destroyed humanity, instead they would have given them the option to serve as [[battle thralls]] or to be [[slave shield]]ed; therefore the Arilou took no action. Once humanity decided to join the [[Alliance of Free Stars]] though, there was a chance the species could have been decimated by the conflict, so the Arilou joined in to defend them. And once Humanity was defeated and place beneath an invincible slave shield, the Arilou found it safe to retreat back into anonymity.

Needless to say, the Arilou are concerned about the possible victory of the [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] over their Kzer-Za brethren, as their [[Eternal Doctrine]] would be a great threat to Humanity and the Syreen. Therefore, the Arilou's assistance could be counted on in the Second War.

==Theories==

The following statements are not proven, and in many cases are not accepted by the majority of the community.

The genetic similarities between [[Humans]] and [[Syreen]], left to chance, are a statistical impossibity. Knowing how long the Arilou have been associating with Humans, it is likely that they are somehow responsible for this developement. Perhaps they seeded both the Human and Syreen homeworlds with the same species, or have continually crossbred the two to maintain genetic similarities, or perhaps have used some kind of otherwise unknown technology or psychic phenonmenon to guide the two species' evolution. The quesion is, why?

There are other disturbing facts about the Arilou. During one conversation between Arilou leaders and [[The Captain]], the translator was unable to properly translate one Arilou concept, instead providing a best-fit word: *time*. This indicates that Arilou may have a more profound understanding of what we think of as time. This has led to some speculation that the Arilou could be a future state — or at least a ''possible'' future state — of humanity (or the Syreen or their offspring). Indeed, the Arilou's seemingly magnanimous actions certainly take on a more logical — and also more self-serving — tone if one assumes that they are working to promote their own existence. This would also explain the similarity of [[Falayalaralfali]] to [[Earth]].

If one follows this path of thinking, it raises some interesting possibilities about [[Orz]]'s statements that the Arilou are from *above* (the future?) and that Orz is from *below* (the past?). These beliefs are likely incomplete, or at least naive simplifications, considering our lack of complete understanding for the Arilou concept of *time*.

[[Category: Races]]

File:ArilouComm.png

2004-10-27T21:23:04Z

Mmrnmhrm: Arilou Communication Picture

Arilou Communication Picture

Arilou Lalee'lay

2004-10-27T21:22:31Z

Mmrnmhrm: racebox

{{RaceBox|name=Arilou Lalee'lay|image=Arilou_Comm.png|caption=The ever enigmatic Arilou|homeworld=[[Falayalaralfali]]|coordinates=[[QuasiSpace]]|organizations=[[Alliance of Free Stars]],<br>[[New Alliance of Free Stars]]|ship=[[Skiff]]}}

The '''Arilou Lalee'lay''', or '''Arilou''' for short, are an enigmatic and reclusive species. While they were known to the members of the [[Alliance of Free Stars]], they chose to remain neutral in the first war against the [[Ur-Quan]]. However, they changed their minds and joined the Alliance within hours of the [[Human]]s being recruited by the [[Chenjesu]]. Their actions were equally mercurial at the end of the war, retreating and abandoning the other races as soon as the Humans were [[Slave Shield]]ed.

==Appearance and Phisiology==

The Arilou eerily resemble the [[human]] pop-culture image of an alien, with smooth blue-green to grey skin and huge eyes that dominate the face, and slightly shorter than humans, standing around 1.5 meters. Their [[Skiff]] spacecraft are also the spitting image of the "flying saucer" popularized by 20th century human science fiction.

This is no coincidence, as the Arilou ''were'' the cause of these stories, as well as having been responsible for other mythical creatures in [[Earth]]'s history, including Elves, Fairies, Martians, Greys, and Zeta Reticulans. Infact, the name "Arilou Lalee'lay" was used by the ancient Celt civilization to describe a race of mythological elf-like creatures. Whether the Arilou gave this name to themselves or took it as their own from the Celts is up for debate.

The Arilou have claimed responsibility for the infamous UFO sightings and alien abductions occuring on Earth, starting from 1940 or earlier and going to the year 2000 and beyond.

The Arilou are psychically active, communicating with other beings telepathically, and controlling their ships through mental commands.

==Homeworld==

The Arilou sphere of influence in [[HyperSpace]] is centered in the Chandrasekhar constellation, but their homeworld, [[Falayalaralfali]], can only be accessed via [[QuasiSpace]]. Chandrasekhar contains the only known natural entrance to QuasiSpace (a secret which the Arilou jealously guard) and this is presumably why the norminally pacifist Arilou defend the region so vigorously. Falayalaralfali bears a striking resembalance to [[Earth]].

==Relations with Other Races==

For some unknown reason, the Arilou seem to have a vested interest in the well-being of humankind. This attitude covers not just [[Humans]], but their offshot species the [[Androsynth]] as well as the genetically compatible [[Syreen]]. The Arilou often take a patronizing attitude towards these races, hinting that they know more than they are willing to say. They reveal little of what they truly know or what motivates their actions, and even when they do their answers are cryptic and generally leave even more questions in their wake.

The Arilou have a strong dislike of the newly-arrived [[Orz]], although this may be simply be an extension of their protectiveness of the Andosynth, who the Orz are assumed to have eradicated.

When it comes to the other races of the galaxy the Arilou take no notice as long as they are not a threat to their chosen wards. With this in mind, their actions in the first war seem quite reasonable; the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] would not have destroyed humanity, instead they would have given them the option to serve as [[battle thralls]] or to be [[slave shield]]ed; therefore the Arilou took no action. Once humanity decided to join the [[Alliance of Free Stars]] though, there was a chance the species could have been decimated by the conflict, so the Arilou joined in to defend them. And once Humanity was defeated and place beneath an invincible slave shield, the Arilou found it safe to retreat back into anonymity.

Needless to say, the Arilou are concerned about the possible victory of the [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] over their Kzer-Za brethren, as their [[Eternal Doctrine]] would be a great threat to Humanity and the Syreen. Therefore, the Arilou's assistance could be counted on in the Second War.

==Theories==

The following statements are not proven, and in many cases are not accepted by the majority of the community.

The genetic similarities between [[Humans]] and [[Syreen]], left to chance, are a statistical impossibity. Knowing how long the Arilou have been associating with Humans, it is likely that they are somehow responsible for this developement. Perhaps they seeded both the Human and Syreen homeworlds with the same species, or have continually crossbred the two to maintain genetic similarities, or perhaps have used some kind of otherwise unknown technology or psychic phenonmenon to guide the two species' evolution. The quesion is, why?

There are other disturbing facts about the Arilou. During one conversation between Arilou leaders and [[The Captain]], the translator was unable to properly translate one Arilou concept, instead providing a best-fit word: *time*. This indicates that Arilou may have a more profound understanding of what we think of as time. This has led to some speculation that the Arilou could be a future state — or at least a ''possible'' future state — of humanity (or the Syreen or their offspring). Indeed, the Arilou's seemingly magnanimous actions certainly take on a more logical — and also more self-serving — tone if one assumes that they are working to promote their own existence. This would also explain the similarity of [[Falayalaralfali]] to [[Earth]].

If one follows this path of thinking, it raises some interesting possibilities about [[Orz]]'s statements that the Arilou are from *above* (the future?) and that Orz is from *below* (the past?). These beliefs are likely incomplete, or at least naive simplifications, considering our lack of complete understanding for the Arilou concept of *time*.

[[Category: Races]]

Talk:Main Page

2004-10-27T15:30:23Z

Mmrnmhrm:

This warning isn't really the "first", "last", nor "only" spoiler warning. -- [[User:Svdb|SvdB]] 13:24, 27 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Then call it The Spoiler Warning of Now and Forever. If you really think it's over the top, you can tone it down, but I think it gets the point accross well. [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 17:30, 27 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Talk:Blade

2004-10-27T15:29:03Z

Mmrnmhrm:

Where do the terms "Sprout Gun" and "Lateral Thrusting System" (which can also be used to go backwards) come from? I can't find any reference to them. -- [[User:Svdb|SvdB]] 13:20, 27 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Made up by creative wikipedians (which is bad) or maybe from in game dialogue? I really don't know. Hmm, I'm being very unhelpful. The funny thing is, I've always heard them described that way. [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 17:29, 27 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Template talk:RaceBox

2004-10-27T15:15:29Z

Mmrnmhrm:

How about something like this?:

<table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#bbbbbb" align="center">'''{{{name}}}'''</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">[[Image:{{{image}}}]]<br><small>{{{caption}}}</small></td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">'''Homeworld'''</td><td align="left">{{{homeworld}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Coordinates'''</td><td>{{{coordinates}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Member of'''</td><td>{{{organizations}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Ship'''</td><td>{{{ship}}}</td></tr>
</table>

[[User:Svdb|SvdB]] 22:07, 26 Oct 2004 (CEST)
----

== Greek Alphabet ==

Looks good! The one thing I don't like is using the greek alphabet to denote a specific star in a constellation. First of all, the game writes it out (i.e. Alpha Serpentis, not α Serpentis). Second of all, such notation is confusing for readers not familiar with the greek alphabet. -[[User:Fadookie|Fadookie]] 06:12, 27 Oct 2004 (CEST)

But wiki markup supports greek! Oh well. I concede, I've been out voted again. Incidentally, the .pdf map that I have uses fake latin: a for α, b for β, d for δ, etc. Epsilon and Eta get confused and then the whole thing just looks dumb. I believe that most scientific star charts use Greek, but that's of little concern. [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 17:15, 27 Oct 2004 (CEST)

File:ZoqFotPikComm.png

2004-10-26T21:11:14Z

Mmrnmhrm: The Communication Image for the Zoq-Fot-Pik

The Communication Image for the Zoq-Fot-Pik

Zoq-Fot-Pik

2004-10-26T21:07:00Z

Mmrnmhrm: race box and more

{{RaceBox|name=Zoq-Fot-Pik|image=ZoqFotPikComm.png|caption=The Zoq, the Fot, and the Pik, in no particular order|homeworld=α Tucane I|coordinates=400.0x543.7|organizations=can join the [[New Alliance of Free Stars]]|ship=[[Stinger]]}}

The '''Zoq''', '''Fot''' and '''Pik''' are 3 separate races which evolved on a jungle like world. Zoq-Fot-Pik look like little green plants, blue springy things, and mute one eyed creatures, though usually even they can't say which is which. Having once been threatened by the carnivorous [[Zebranky]] they formed an alliance and destroyed them.

This alliance led to very big technological advances which eventually formed the current Zoq-Fot-Pik race. They spend much time together and usually argue about many things, including [[Frungy]], which is a sport some Zoq-Fot-Pik are obsessed about.

Their fighter-ship is called the [[Stinger]] and is known for its deadly tongue attack.

The Zoq-Fot-Pik first entered the galactic fray when they found their colony worlds were playing host to terrible space battles. These battles unleashed titanic forces as the two sides fought, and when they missed each other the small Zoq-Fot-Pik colonies suffered.

Having heard from "the great crystal ones", seemingly a reference to the [[Chenjesu]], of several races who often helped each other, the [[Alliance of Free Stars]], they set about making contact. The Alliance by this point however was already defeated. Years later [[The Captain]] met with them at [[Rigel]]. They relayed their dismays to him and begged for his help. It turned out that the battle taking place in their space was the [[Ur-Quan]] ceremonial [[Doctrinal Conflict]].

The militarily weak Zoq-Fot-Pik were only marginally helpful in defeating the [[Ur-Quan], but the value of the information they brought early on to the [[New Alliance of Free Stars]] cannot be denied.

[[Category:Races]]

Zoq-Fot-Pik

2004-10-26T20:29:10Z

Mmrnmhrm: more later, gotta head home

The '''Zoq''', '''Fot''' and '''Pik''' are 3 separate races which evolved on a jungle like world. Zoq-Fot-Pik look like little green plants, blue springy things, and mute one eyed creatures, though usually even they can't say which is which. Having once been threatened by the carnivore [[Zebranky]]s they formed an alliance and destroyed them.

This alliance led to very big technological advances which eventually formed the current Zoq-Fot-Pik race. They spend much time together and usually argue about many things, including [[Frungy]], which is a sport some Zoq-Fot-Pik are obsessed about.

Their fighter-ship is called [[Stinger]] and is known for its deadly tongue attack.

The Zoq-Fot-Pik first entered the galactic fray when they found their colony worlds were playing host to terrible space battles. These battles unleashed titanic forces as the two sides fought, and when they missed the small Zoq-Fot-Pik colonies suffered.

Having heard from "the great crystal ones", seemingly a reference to the [[Chenjesu]] of several races who often helped each other, the [[Alliance of Free Stars]], they set about making contact. They were not successful until years later when [[The Captain]] met with them at Rigel.

They relayed their dismays to him and begged for his help. It turned out that the battles taking place in their space was the [[Ur-Quan]] ceremonial [[Doctrinal Conflict]].

[[Category:Races]]

User talk:Mmrnmhrm

2004-10-26T20:10:55Z

Mmrnmhrm: it's my talk page and i'll edit it if i want to

== Uncategorized pages ==

I upgraded the mediawiki software. [[Special:Uncategorizedpages]] should work now.

----

Awesome! Thanks. It's a very useful tool.

[[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 15:51, 8 Oct 2004 (CEST)

== Locations ==

General open discussion: Locations, I think there's enough to warrant a new category. Between stars, planets and costellations (which could even be subcategories) there's more than enough. (You can all thank the "uncategorized pages" link above for this revelation.)

Should we bother? I know that some people have been actively deleting links to specific stars or planets for fear that we'll end up with a bloated catalog of space. Even if that happens (which I doubt it will) would that be so bad?

Discussion welcome. Bring it on!

[[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 17:23, 8 Oct 2004 (CEST)

----

Except for a few special planets, I think that all common stars and constellations could be placed together on a few pages. What's there to tell about them anyhow?
I don't object to a Locations category though, even if it would contain only a few places.
-- [[User:Svdb|SvdB]] 19:58, 8 Oct 2004 (CEST)

----

Done! Welcome to [[:Category:Locations]].

[[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 00:22, 9 Oct 2004 (CEST)

== Are we done? ==

The pace of editing is slowing down greatly of late. It's not for a lack of caring, I think it's just that the wiki is nearing completion (in as much as such things ever do). Most topics have been covered, corected and reformatted. I keep looking for something to add or change, and it's getting harder and harder to find anything that needs work.

So like, congratulations to everyone. I'm sure there's more, but it seems that the vast majority of our task is done here.

[[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 19:46, 13 Oct 2004 (CEST)

----

The Utronomicon is definitely out of its infancy, but it is certainly not done growing.

I still think there is plenty of work to be done. There are still many stubs that could be expanded into full articles, and the wiki is visually sparse, with only a few images in use. I think now we can focus less on raw content and more on asthetics- formatting, adding pictures, and ensuring a consistent tense/point of view. Also, there are lots of personnel who deserve their own biographies. -[[User:Fadookie|Fadookie]]

----

A new page with a basic description can be added very quickly. Writing a thoroughly researched article about some subject takes a lot more work. This may be why the editing appears to be slowing down (I haven't noticed it myself). There may not be much new pages left to add, but there are certainly a lot of subjects that could use a lot of attention. -- [[User:Svdb|SvdB]] 08:22, 14 Oct 2004 (CEST)

== reverting ==

How does one perform an automatic revert? When I was correcting the vandalism on the front page, I copied the code from the history page into notepad, corrected the html, and pasted it back in to the edit box. -[[User:Fadookie|Fadookie]] 19:31, 22 Oct 2004 (CEST)

----

The "correct" way, as it was explained to me, is to go to the history view, click on the link for the old edit (it will be a date) and save. It will give a warning saying that it's overwriting with an older version. What ever you did, there was some text missing and some of your html was off (I saw a <;tr> in there) [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 22:08, 22 Oct 2004 (CEST)

That seems to work much better. Thanks! -[[User:Fadookie|Fadookie]] 10:56, 23 Oct 2004 (CEST)

== Ur-Quan add ons ==

I'm thinking of adding a little Ur-Quan navigation menu to the myriad articles that are Ur-Quan related (three races, two doctrines and their war, the sa-matra, hierarchy, thralls, etc.) simply because there is SO MUCH to say about them. I'd make it a template, a little box on the upper right of each page. Would that be cool? Should it be done? What other topics should have similar things done for them? Taxoboxes for ships? Whatchall think? [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 20:52, 25 Oct 2004 (CEST)

----

As I wrote on [[Talk:Ur-Quan]], i think it's great. I would support you adding the menu to all of the constituent ur-quan articles. -[[User:Fadookie|Fadookie]] 04:58, 26 Oct 2004 (CEST)

User talk:Mudlock

2004-10-26T19:54:34Z

Mmrnmhrm: androsynth help

As the only logged in user to work on the Androsynth this month, could you work on it some more? It's absurdly huge, big enough that the wiki code is complaining about it. You know it pretty well, please please please break it up into smaller articles. [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 21:54, 26 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-26T19:33:51Z

Mmrnmhrm: trying to get image to align correctly

<table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td bgcolor="#bbbbbb" align="center">'''{{{name}}}'''</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:{{{image}}}]]<br><small>{{{caption}}}</small></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">

'''Homeworld: '''{{{homeworld}}}<br>
'''coordinates: '''{{{coordinates}}}<br>
'''Member of: '''{{{organizations}}}<br>
'''Ship: '''{{{ship}}}

</td></tr>
</table>

Human

2004-10-26T19:25:54Z

Mmrnmhrm: racebox for a bit closer to home. i need pix and hypercoords

{{RaceBox|name=Humans|image=placeholder.png|caption=no image available|homeworld=Sol III ([[Earth]])|coordinates=unknown|organizations=[[Alliance of Free Stars]],<br>[[New Alliance of Free Stars]]|ship=[[Cruiser]]}}

'''Humans''', or '''Humanity''' — also '''[[Earthling]]''' — is the race of hominid life forms native to the third planet, [[Earth]], of the Sol system. Since this species is the one responsible for creating this encyclopedia, we presume the details of Human's physical nature, history and social organization are familiar to most of our readership. Those seeking more details can look to other Human knowledge bases, including this article from a Human general-knowledge repository: [[wikipedia:Human]]. We will here consider those features of the Human species pertinent for xenologists, and also to the events leading up to and beyond first contact with other sentient species.

==Description, Early History==

Humans, rather than being descended from pure predators like the [[Yehat]] or grazers and insectivores like the [[Zoq-Fot-Pik]], are descended from primates; omnivorous, social creatures that had to cooperate and use clever strategies to scrounge food and defend themselves from larger predators. Other species find the evolutionary niche from which Humans evolved amusing, referring to them derogatorily as "monkeys" or "apes". It seems that Humans have developed in a few unique ways due to their ancestry. For one thing, humans have an unusually strong tension between their ideals of individual rights and community loyalty, causing them to turn to inefficient and complex means to hold their society together. Though all governments have some degree of bureaucracy, only among Humans has this practice, essentially an attempt at coercion through the mechanistic application of increasingly complex formal legal structures, become the central aspect of governance.

The odd Human tendency to maintain long-term tension between opposing drives also led to the phenomenon of the "Cold War" in their recent history, as competing Human nation-states, too stingy of their peace and prosperity to engage each other in combat outright yet too set in their ideological boundaries to negotiate a true settlement, played games of brinkmanship with each other, endlessly amassing stockpiles of ever-more-powerful weapons in an attempt to indirectly coerce each other into submission. This practice of endlessly vacillating between threats and appeasements may make Humans appear scattered and confused to more straightforward races (though one such race, the [[Thraddash]], admired this ability in the humans and sought, unsuccessfully, to mimic it); however, in the long run the flexibility gained by this Human mindset seems to have served them well.

Perhaps it was this odd balance that gave Humans their technological precocity. All we know is that in the last few centuries of pre-interstellar Human development (the 18th to 20th centuries), Human technological progress and industrial development exploded at a rate that intrigued even such mighty races as the [[Ur-Quan]]. As Earth developed increasingly powerful radio transmission capabilities in the 1930s, the spacefaring races of the nearby stars began to watch this new race and attempt to judge their potential. Though their technology and social organization resembled in many ways those of a typical early modern (post-atomic) civilization, their social infrastructure somehow allowed them to very quickly establish an industrial capacity that rivaled that of advanced races like the [[Chenjesu]], and the speed with which this was followed by their discovery of space travel and exploration of their home satellite in the 1960s sparked intense discussions in their vicinity of space. The Chenjesu, their most powerful close neighbors, considered making contact with the Humans but still considered them too young and volatile for such contact to be conducted responsibly; the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]], meanwhile, made Earth a priority world to invade and conquer, despite their contemptuous opinion of Human innovation. Surprisingly, no other races, advanced or otherwise, made successful efforts to contact Earth in all of this time; during a phase of technological development when many other races would have made contact with other races and at least partially been uplifted, Earth happened to be in a region of space where no one was available to make the offer. Humans were forced to make the difficult transition to a high-technological society on their own, a fact that has earned them respect from species like the Yehat.

==Recent History==

The recent history of Human society has seen the slow combination of the various squabbling empires, tribes and kingdoms of humanity into large, self-organized nation-states that themselves combined into complex alliances; the final and greatest pair of opposing alliances formed after the so-called Second World War in the 1940s, the point at which alien surveillance of Earth began in earnest. The capitalist states led by the United States of America and the communist states led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, unable to curb the warlike, competitive urge that had poisoned Human cooperation since the beginning of their history, engaged in the aforementioned Cold War brinkmanship tactics, maintaining a tense peace based only on the threat of universal destruction by both sides' arsenals of jealously hoarded nuclear missiles if hostilities ever broke out.

This Cold War lasted until, in the year 1991, the United States and its allies declared a victory that turned out to be short-lived. The communist nations' centrally planned economies proved less robust than the market-based capitalist economies. When the United States began their (never to be fully completed) "Star Wars" project, creating massive orbital laser arrays to intercept and harmlessly destroy any Soviet missile attack and giving the United States an unanswerable advantage in any future missile exchange, the Soviets attempted to expand their arsenals in response but lacked the funds, leading to the economic collapse of themselves and their allies. Their deadly nuclear arsenals, hoewver, remained, and poverty-stricken Soviet officials proved willing to sell them off to the highest bidder. With nuclear missiles now owned piecemeal by numerous local dictators and warlords, the formerly stable set of alliances broke down; nations formerly dominated by the Soviet Union or too weak to be aligned in the Cold War now became dangerous nuclear threats, and without a common enemy the great capitalist nations turned against each other.

The tenuous illusion of peace finally shattered in the so-called [[Small War of 2015]] in the region known as the Middle East, a region that had been the origin of many of Earth's oldest societies and religions and long a hotbed of Earth's deepest, oldest cultural conflicts. Combatants in a local dispute, secretly backed by the world's remaining great powers, initiated a strategic nuclear exchange of less than a dozen missiles. Even the use of such a small percentage of the available nuclear arsenals killed millions of Humans and decimated all civilization in the area, and it later became known that a retaliatory global strike had almost been launched by the combatant nations' larger sponsors and only averted at the last minute.

This shocking catastrophe, and the holocaust that almost accompanied it, finally provided the spur for Humans to overcome their deep-seated ideological disagreements, vesting supreme political power in an organization known as a United Nations that had originally been a mere arbitration council with nominal powers over Earth's many sovereign states. Though Earth's nations retained their cultural identity, the United Nations was allowed to attain military ascendancy with a worldwide peacekeeping army and police force. The immense stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction produced during the nations' Cold War madness were impounded by the United Nations and their production became one of Earth's greatest taboos. Even so, Humans' inborn paranoia kept them from destroying these weapons utterly, and their disassembled components were stored as reminders of the past in giant Peace Vaults. A ten-year concerted effort by the United Nations and the leaders of its member states finally led to the abolition of intraspecies war among Humans in the year 2025. The United Nations became a true, unified political entity, although it was still seen as a sort of meta-nation by many humans, and observed this tradition in several ways; for instance, it had no permanent capital, instead rotating its base of operations from national capital to national capital every ten years.

It was in this time that the humans gave rise to the phenomenon of the [[Androsynth]], a race of artificial clones of humans, whose right to be recognized as fellow humans had been withdrawn due to a wave of religious hysteria. Their enhanced strength and intelligence as well as their easily exploitable legal status made them highly useful tools for humans in the coming century of high technological development.

It was in the 21st century that human sublight space travel became highly advanced, allowing humans to explore, exploit and colonize most of their own inner star system, concentrated mostly in factory bases on their own satellite, Luna, and in the asteroid belt between the inner and outer systems. The United Nations formed its first major new military arm since the Peacekeeping Army, a space-based regulatory office known as [[Star Control (Organization)|Star Control]], established with a permanent headquarters in the city of Geneva, Switzerland. Humans began working on discovering the secret of Hyperspatial travel; unfortunately for them, the highest-level workers on [[Hyperspace]] included many Androsynth, and in the [[Slave Revolt of 2085]] all Androsynth, with the help of human sympathizers, managed to successfully hijack all of Earth's orbital space stations. The Androsynth used their high intelligence and the many technological secret they had hoarded from their masters to modify the space station's equipment into technology far beyond anything humans had yet seen; defending themselves from Star Control forces with powerful MASER weapons, they soon created the first Hyperdrive systems known in Sol space and pushed up out of Human history for the rest of the century.

==First Contact==

It was at the beginning of the 22nd century, in the year 2112, when humans first made contact with a truly alien race. The [[Chenjesu]], who had been aware of Humanity since the 1930s, now saw that the situation with the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] had grown desperate; Ur-Quan hostilities had broken out within range of Sol and, though great in technological sophistication, the Chenjesu and their [[Mmrnmhrm]] allies lacked the resources and labor to expand their fleets quickly enough to match the swelling [[Hierarchy]] of [[Battle Thralls]], while their new [[Yehat]] and [[Shofixti]] allies were too far away to assist in the major conflict. As a race with a large population, powerful industrial technology, and easy access to many natural resources, the humans were the ally the Chenjesu desperately needed. Three years before, humans had pushed out the farthest they ever had from their sun, building a major installation on the asteroid Ceres. Now, a messenger ship from the Chenjesu accosted the humans at Ceres Base, begging for their help in what they termed the "Great Crucible of Sentience".

The humans were immensely shell-shocked, having been in the unusual state of utter isolation from alien races for their whole history. They rallied admirably, though, and persuaded by the Chenjesu's storytelling skills and detailed records of Ur-Quan atrocities, the highest official of the United Nations, High Provost [[Ivana Or-Kachov]], along with [[Star Control (Organization)|Star Control]]'s General [[Juan O'Reilly]], signed a concord with the [[Alliance of Free Stars]]' civilian Secretary of Space [[Zeep-Eep]] (of the Yehat) and Commander-in-Chief [[Bzrrak Ktazzz]] (of the Chenjesu) pledging Earth's full commitment to the war in return for Alliance protection.

The speed with which humans were thrust into such a perilous situation without even a basic experience in dealing with other sentient races made humans appear to be clumsy and provincial next to the more sophisticated races of the Alliance, leading to such diplomatic blunders as the Human/[[Syreen]] crew exchange, an accidental human attack on an [[Arilou Lalee'lay|Arilou]] fleet, and the inadvent insulting of the [[VUX]]. Nonetheless the human industrial base became crucial in the war effort; a massive, worldwide effort was made to reignite the engines of war formerly concentrated in the nation of the United States of America. In a nod both to expediency and tradition, the final assembly centers for the new starships of Earth were established in the city of Detroit, Michigan, long a bastion of Earth's original Industrial Revolution. Moreover, it was Human-developed skills in intelligence and profiling that led to the creation of Star Control's division of [[SSRII|Synthetic Special Reconstruction and Intergalactic Intelligence]], which pieced together diverse data to come up with the first detailed profiles on Hierarchy races available to the Alliance -- though these profiles are seen as flawed and biased today, they were nonetheless a triumph of Human ingenuity. Star Control itself in this era became one of the major operations centers of the Alliance, directing the operations of many fleets of many races.

Interestingly, it was Earth's entrance into the Alliance that coincided with the sudden appearance of a fleet of the Arilou Lalee'lay, a race no other race had ever encountered before, around Luna with desires to join the Alliance. Suspicions of some connection between the Arilou and Humans seem to have been borne out by recent events. Similarly, the discovery of the Syreen sent shockwaves through human society as the obvious connection between the two races was recognized.

Humans fought bravely in the war, producing a relatively crude but numerous and flexible fleet that fought on multiple fronts, while also providing many officers and crew for allied fleets. Those who had chosen to maintain the Peace Vaults in the first days of the Peacekeeping Army were vindicated; even the Chenjesu were shocked by the total destructive power represented by the sheer number of the old alliances' nuclear warheads and the United States' half-finished orbital laser defense systems. Primitive as they were, refitted for ship-to-ship combat they became the reliable and ubiquitous weapons system of the Earthling [[Cruiser]]. Unfortunately, the Alliance proved unable to hold off the Hierarchy forces forever, and once the [[Sa-Matra]] came into play the Alliance was doomed. The Ur-Quan Kzer-Za, having very little respect for the complex bureaucratic jumble that characterized human government, insisted that the human terms of surrender be decided upon by a purely democratic vote, which led to humans becoming a [[slave shield]]ed fallow species in the year 2134.

==After the War==

By chance, however, it had been a Human expedition that went to the [[Precursor]] ruins on [[Vela]] 1 in that same year, just before the war ended; when the humans were marooned there, the world was renamed [[Unzervalt]] ("Our World"). The story is well known of how the Humans activated the Precursor factory there and created a great [[SIS|Precursor ship]], the equivalent of an all-purpose cruiser/service tug, which they managed to send away from the planet before they were discovered and shielded by the Ur-Quan. It was this Precursor ship, the Vindicator, commanded by the famous young [[The Captain|Captain Zelnick]], that returned to Earth in 2155 and joined with Commander [[Hayes]] of the Hierarchy Starbase the humans maintained in Earth orbit, launching the series of guerrilla actions against the Hierarchy known variously as the War of Liberation or the [[Second War]] of the Alliance. The ragtag fleet known as the [[New Alliance of Free Stars]] was led by these Humans for most of its career, and it was their cunning and persistence that eventually led to the downfall of both Ur-Quan subspecies in 2159, freeing the [[Kzer-Za]] slaves and preventing a wholesale [[Kohr-Ah]] genocide. For all their faults, the free races of the galaxy owe the Humans a great debt.

==Relations to other races==

Physically, humans appear to follow a similar body plan to many (though not all) spacefaring species, the generally useful one of a bipedal configuration with mobile graspers (hands and arms) with a wide range of motion and a dedicated sensory appendage (a head), leading some human chauvinists to describe most sentient races as "humanoid" (though there are still very great biological differences among "humanoid" species). Some of Human beings' personality traits may come from their status as a "naked ape", having a highly flexible body capable of using many tools but itself greatly lacking in resilience or natural defenses, compared to races with protective exoskeletons or natural venom weapons. One consequence of this combination of humans' relatively high awareness of danger with their relatively vulnerable bodies is that their potential for the experience of pain and fear is very high, making them a favorite victim of [[Ilwrath]] religious rituals.

Interestingly, the [[VUX]] race has had a highly negative history with humans. The VUX race appears highly distasteful to Human eyes, and Humans had long regarded Captain [[Jeffry L. Rand]]'s inadvertent insult of a VUX captain as one of their greatest diplomatic missteps. However, it later transpired that the VUX culture, placing far more emphasis on vanity and personal appearance than humans did, was repelled by Human appearance to a far greater degree, and the VUX had only played up the incident of the Insult to justify their own irrational desire to destroy the Human species because of their visceral reaction to its appearance.

Other notable relationships to aliens include the unusually strong fraternal bond between Humans and [[Yehat]]. The Yehat found a great deal more in common with the Humans than with other races, greatly respecting the fact that humans, like the Yehat, had progressed to the age of space travel through a bloody history of intraspecies war and cultural conflict without the civilizing influence of "higher" races. Humans' similar long experience with warfare had led them to develop a concept of "honor", strong personal integrity among even enemies, similar to the code that formed the basis of Yehat law and morality. The Yehat thus saw the humans as spiritual siblings, and in communication with humans consciously chose to name many of their cultural concepts after similar concepts from human history, primarily the milieu of medieval Europe; similarly they drew many parallels between the hybrid culture that their [[Shofixti]] charges developed and that of feudal Japan. Zelnick's own human upbringing gave him enough sympathy for the Yehat, and enough Yehat sympathy for him, that he was able to successfully engineer the Yehat Revolution against their Ur-Quan-allied Veep-Zeep rulers in the Second War.

====Relations with the Arilou and Syreen====

The most interesting connection humans have with other races, however, is with the [[Arilou Lalee'lay]]. The name "Arilou Lalee'lay" is a name from an ancient human culture, the Celts; though there was little opportunity to discuss this matter during the war. From the Arilou's first appearance Humans recognized their disc-shaped ships and their appearance, as small, hairless humanoids with luminescent large eyes, as being identical to that of the beings from the human 20th century known as "Roswell Grays". Recent Human history was peppered with incidents of Humans claiming to have observed disc-shaped alien craft traveling through the atmosphere (such as in the famous incident over Roswell, New Mexico), even of memories of being captured, studied and modified by small, mysterious beings inside such craft, often resulting in repeated visits to check up on the progress of their "patients", sometimes resulting in mysterious and sudden pregnancies. Though often dismissed as cases of hysteria and rumor, modern investigations found top-secret records from studies conducted by that time's national governments, such as the United States Army's Project Blue Book, of legitimate, unexplainable instances of encounters with aliens whose descriptions exactly matched the Arilou. On closer investigation, vaguer references from Humans' past about such creatures as elves, faerie, duendes, and so on seem to resonate with the modern stories of UFOs.

Widespread suspicion and hostility toward the Arilou continued throughout the course of the war, and during the Second War, when the Arilou reappeared as Zelnick's personal benefactors, Zelnick was able to confront them about these rumors, which, surprisingly, they gladly confirmed, naming themselves as the elves and Roswell Grays of human mythology, though maddeningly reluctant to give specific details.

It now seems undeniable that humans' reputation for being an isolated race with no outside contact was exaggerated; indeed, that very situation may have been purposely engineered by the one race that had a close and continued yet clandestine and one-sided relationship with Humans for their whole history. The Arilou have implied they have been intimately involved with the development of the human species from the very beginning, perhaps being responsible for the evolution of the human species itself, or at least for the origins of human civilization; we know that their only real purpose in joining the Alliance was to protect humanity from possible total destruction, and after the slave-shielding of Earth they immediately withdrew. The Arilou hold a paternal attitude toward humans which they insist is benevolent; they seem to have, in a series of carefully timed interventions, been steering the human race toward a specific destiny, as the Arilou's tools — or perhaps their heirs. For this purpose the main procedure seems to have been the careful crafting of the structure of Human instinct (instinct being a characteristic the Arilou claim to entirely lack) through both genetic and social engineering. The Arilou claim to have been primarily responsible for preventing human interaction with extra-dimensional entities like the [[Orz]], the perils of which very quickly consumed the [[Androsynth]] after their separation from the main Human species. Some even speculate a connection between the Arilou and Zelnick's affinity for Precursor technology that made the Second War possible, given that the Arilou claimed to have visited Unzervalt close to the time of Zelnick's birth.

Arilou engineering might lend an explanation to the odd relationship humans have with the [[Syreen]]; the two species are physiologically almost identical, the only difference being a blue-colored element in Syreen skin pigmentation and various signs of their having been adapted to a higher-temperature climate; moreover, the two species are ''genetically'' almost identical, and have in fact proven to be cross-fertile and capable of sexual reproduction. This is a statistically impossible coincidence, and indicates the two races must have a common ancestor and must have been separated very recently in their evolutionary history. The obvious explanation is that the Arilou either took Syreen stock to Earth to begin breeding humans or human stock to Syra to begin breeding Syreen -- Arilou attitudes toward the two indicate the former is more probably true.

If this is so, there is a very good chance that the Syreen either function as a control group for the Arilou/human experiment, or else are simply an abandoned original population. Indeed, the Arilou had been guarding a Syreen region of space and vanished to leave the Syreen defenseless once they heard the humans had been safely slave-shielded, indicating their lack of interest in the Syreen.

This relationship appears even more likely when we examine the resemblance Syreen society bears to human society. The Syreen's natural mode of existence, based on peaceful cooperation, balanced and harmonious relationships with natural forces, and strong appreciation of sensual and aesthetic pleasures closely resembles the paradise long dreamt of by human mystics and philosophers and striven for by human political reformers, but never achieved in human history. Syreen historical development followed a path of combining hunter-gatherer tribes into agricultural collectives, until society was unified into a peaceful agrarian super-community. Humans, for some reason, never experienced this sociological transformation; the Agricultural Revolution, rather than putting military dominance and political power into the hands of a collective agrarian system, instead served to funnel resources to the hunting and raiding cultures, whose competitive, expansionist cultural system absorbed the agrarian societies and forced them into a resource-hoarding, conquest-seeking model of society, leading to the system of militaristic empires and nation-states that defined Earth history.

Furthermore, the Syreen, like the Humans, defined much of their society's roles based on a gender binary based on sex, but unlike in Humans, in Syreen society the feminine dominated the masculine. Human society almost became the inverse of the Syreen, with the masculine, for most of their history, seen as having natural priority over the feminine, so that Earth's leadership and military even now is male-dominated, just as the Syreen's was female-dominated.

Humans, in other words, lived as though they had the instincts and ecological niche of predators like the Yehat, even though their ecological niche as farmers and builders should have created a Syreen-like society. It seems plausible that this is the Arilou's doing, using the Humans' combined desire for prosperity in peacetime and victory in wartime in order to push the Humans to great technological sophistication far in advance of the unaltered Syreen.

The molding of humans into a high-technology competitive society may also be responsible for another major difference between Humans and Syreen; though Humans have long been known to have detectable psychic potential, training in the use of psychic abilities has never existed beyond the most rudimentary degree in human society, while in Syreen society it has been commonplace and formed part of the basis for the Syreen's complex rituals of social interaction, as well as being the technological foundation of the Syreen's defense systems. Human psychic abilities seem to have been purposely locked up by the Arilou, perhaps as part of the Arilou's system of protecting Humanity from extra-dimensional threats.

[[Category:Races]]

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2004-10-26T19:22:39Z

Mmrnmhrm: almost got it...

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Androsynth

2004-10-26T19:00:36Z

Mmrnmhrm: experimenting on the androsynth, it seems only human ;) could someone more familiar with this article break it up, it's huge

{{RaceBox|name=Androsynth|image=placeholder.png|caption=There are no readily available images of Androsynth|homeworld=η Vulpeculae II|coordinates=unknown|organizations=[[Hierarchy]]|ship=[[Guardian]]}}

The '''Androsynth''' were a genetically engineered off-shoot of [[Humans]], developed after the [[Small War of 2015]] but before the [[First War]]. Abused for both religious reasons and for their legal expendability, they abandoned their progenitors in a feat of mass-exodus. They eventually settled in the Velpeculae constellation, one-time homeworlds of the vanished [[Taalo]]. Later, the Androsynth were conquered by, and then joined, the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za|Ur-Quan]] [[Hierarchy]] of [[battle thralls]], fighting against humanity and the [[Alliance of Free Stars]] in the First War. Several years after the war's end, they were apparently wiped out by the [[Orz]], who seemed to come from out of nowhere, possibly drawn to Velpeculae by the Andosynth's [[Dimensional Fatigue]] experiments.

==Origins==

The story of the Androsynth begins in the initial renaissance of peaceful development of science and technology in the first days after the [[Small War of 2015]], when the warring nations of [[Earth]] were united under the United Nations. The UN, fearing a future global holocaust if the development of weapons of mass destruction continued, began forcibly trying to steer [[Human]] innovation toward peaceful applications that could benefit a unified, cooperative Human race. They specifically restricted work related to existing "Mass-Kill" devices, barring physicists and engineers from many cutting-edge fields including the study of nuclear power or high-energy lasers. With human creativity thus stymied in the areas it had been strongest for most of its recent past, humans began exploring the new and fruitful field of biotechnology.

A brilliant Swiss scientist named [[Hsien Ho]] at the Zurich BioTeknik, one of the institutions that sprung up to meet the new demand for biotech research, did an extensive study of the completed map of the human genetic code that the Human Genome Project had finished decades before. Modern technology now allowed him to use this information to edit human genes at will and then develop a reliable, cost-effective method of parthenogenesis — eventually not even requiring a biological host mother — to grow living individuals based on those genes. Ho had realized the dreams of generations of engineering and cloning researchers — being able to produce artificially designed human beings.

In 2019, Ho began creating a series of such "designer people". None of their genetic traits were outside the normal capacity of human beings, but Ho's engineering created an improbably "perfect" genetic code, with any possibility for genetic disease or disability wiped out, and the chances for physical health and fitness, very high intelligence, and a strong and balanced personality maximized. The new humans were all genetic near-clones of each other, with only slight differences between individuals. In order to prevent the various potential complications linked to reproduction (both flaws that might show up in his genetic sequencing, and political opposition from those who saw the clones as a threat to "normal" humans) Ho made all his clones male and congenitally sterile.

The original hopes of Hsien Ho were that, as the clones matured, they would be slowly integrated into Human society and, serving as great scientists, artists and engineers, open the door for future improvement of the human race through. Unfortunately, these hopes would not be realized, thanks to the vagaries of Human politics. Many Humans, still traumatized by the near-brush with total destruction of their species in the Small War, found themselves bereft of spiritual solace. Many of the world's oldest and most powerful religions had collapsed, or had their foundations deeply shaken, as their most sacred sites in the Middle East had been melted to glass by nuclear weapons. Filing this vacuum came the teachings of one [[Jason MacBride]], a man who had formerly made his living selling used ground-transport vehicles before he received what he believed to be a divine revelation.

==Slavery==

MacBride believed the Millennium was near — a profound shift of the nature of existence, an end to the metaphorical "thousand years" of Human history and the beginning of a new "thousand years". In this new Millennium, Humans would ascend to a godlike, wholly spiritual existence, free from struggle or doubt. MacBride predicted a specific date — March 11, 2046 — on which normal human existence would end and any of sufficient faith and virtue would attain this ascension. Whether it was MacBride's strong personal charisma or just the novelty of a sincere new religious movement, one unaffiliated with the discredited religions of the past and unafraid to make boldly optimistic claims in a pessimistic time, MacBride's influence spread like wildfire and he soon became one of the most influential leaders on Earth, though he never formally considered himself more than the first among equals in his movement, taking no title other than "Brother Jason".

MacBride claimed that he and his followers were the Homo Deus, or "Godly Men". The use of the Latin term was to imply that his followers would become a new Human species, superior to ordinary men and women, at the moment of the new Millennium. MacBride's religion, acting as a cultural opponent of the United Nations' humanist, materialist, technological plans for a future utopia, thus saw the creation of an ''artificial'' race of humans, using godless science to further human evolution, as the ultimate blasphemy.

MacBride thus began a public campaign attacking the adolescent clones. He named them "Android Synthetica" or "Built Man-Like Things" (idiomatically, the "Artificial False Men"), a conscious parallel to his "Homo Deus". This name, interestingly, uses Greek words rather than Latin; whether this was intentional or not (MacBride was no scholar), it soon gained the connotation among the Homo Deus of defining these artificial humans as not even worthy of an ordinary Latin genus-species name, placing them outside of the taxonomy of "natural" animals.

The rest of the world, grown complacent in their material peace and prosperity after the Small War, allowed the Homo Deus movement to win legal battle after legal battle, stripping away the clones' rights and increasingly defining them as non-human. The "Android Synthetica" term used by Homo Deus, shortened to "Androsynth", eventually became the commonly used name for them, and by the time the clones reached adulthood they had attained a legal status more or less parallel with slavery. They were immensely valuable both as scientific curiosities and for their native genetic talents that made them excellent at refined intellectual work, and were pampered and sheltered wherever they went. However, the corporations who had sponsored their development effectively owned them as chattels. They lacked the basic rights to bargain for their wages, choose what projects they wished to work on, or freely express their views and participate in governance and independent economic activity, a state that the enlightened governments of Earth at this point would never have tolerated for any Humans had not the dehumanizing rhetoric aimed at them by the Homo Deus not infected Earth's culture to such a degree.

The day March 11, 2046 came and went, and no detectable change in the human condition took place. MacBride, shamed and discredited, claimed that the that the vast majority of his followers had been deceiving him about the purity of their hearts and motives, and that their faithlessness poisoned the movement and prevented the Millennium. Soon, the Homo Deus movement dissipated, and MacBride faded from public life, leaving the legitimacy of his most enduring political legacy, the definition of the Androsynth as non-human non-citizens, in question. Nonetheless opportunistic corporations continued to finance the creation of new generations of Androsynth to join Ho's original creations.

Whatever the ethical issues involved, the prospect of having preternaturally talented and competent employees whom one could legally control with absolute authority was irresistible. By the 2070s, tens of thousands of Androsynth existed all over the world, and the cutting edge of human technological research was dependent on the Androsynth as an easily exploitable intellectual resource. In particular, Androsynth researchers were deeply involved in humanities most ambitious technological project to date, the creation of a hyperdrive that would allow them to break the speed-of-light barrier and reach the stars.

==Exodus==

It was, in retrospect, inevitable that a group whose usefulness came from their high levels of education, intelligence and resourcefulness, with a cultural sense of ethics and morality that was, after all, essentially human, would grow to understand their uniquely subjugated position in the world, find it intolerable, and find a way to escape it. This was reinforced by the Androsynth's knowledge that they were designed to be superior to the ordinary Human population by every Human standard. Finding themselves slaves in a society that they increasingly began to see as beneath their level, they began an intense series of secret communications with each other and with a growing worldwide network of Human sympathizers.

The last humiliation was when a group of scientists in the Eurasian Region of the United Nations used several Androsynth as disposable guinea pigs in a highly dangerous physics experiment that left many maimed or killed. The experiment would have been impossible to conduct without subjects who were both humanly intelligent and resourceful, yet legally expendable; even then, the project would have been unthinkable in earlier decades when Androsynth had been rarer and more valuable. Outraged Eurasian Androsynth responded to news of these abuses with the abortive Hamburg Revolt, in which isolated Androsynth rioters briefly seized control of that city before they were violently suppressed by the UN Peacekeeping Army. It was this incident that crystallized for the Androsynth community how impossible it would be for them to live in peace with Human masters who saw them as property, and it drove them to universally commit to planning for revolution and escape.

Utilizing their refined organizational skills, and a number of technological breakthroughs they had carefully kept secret from their masters, in the spring of 2085 the Androsynth and their human friends staged the violent Clone Revolt. With quick and deadly precision, the Androsynth captured almost every spaceport on the planet. Androsynth engineers and managers had been integral to the operations of the world's largest spaceflight centers, and had used their influence there to secretly siphon off over a thousand spacecraft from the world's shipping, keeping them fueled and ready in preparation for a mass Androsynth exodus. Within 48 hours, all Androsynth had left the Earth's surface and seized control of all of Earth's orbital and lunar stations.

Shocked and terrified, the authorities of Earth mobilized [[Star Control (Organization)|Star Control]], a wing of the United Nations military created to maintain order in extraterrestrial space. Facing the greatest breakdown of order imaginable, Star Control forces launched strike after strike against the Androsynth. However, the Androsynth, in defiance of the UN ban on exploring laser technology, had earlier researched a cheap and effective means of converting ordinary radio transmitters into huge microwave-frequency lasers (that is, MASERs), far more powerful than anything available to the stagnant Earth military-industrial complex. They jury-rigged a large arsenal of MASERs from the peaceful stations' formerly benign communications arrays and used them to effortlessly demolish Star Control invasion forces for two months.

The Androsynth, rejected from the Human race and now no longer considering themselves Human, now blockaded vital traffic between Earth and its mining and manufacturing outposts in the inner system, and were in prime position to attack their former masters with whatever weapons of mass destruction they might possess or eventually create. A numbed United Nations now faced a dangerous, unpredictable, ''inhuman'' enemy inside their jurisdiction; seeing no other options, they steeled themselves to unlock the [[Peace Vaults]], where Earth's ancient stockpiles of nuclear warheads and orbital lasers had been kept in reserve for an event such as this.

Whether the Androsynth became aware of the UN's plans or not is unknown, but in all probability they recognized that their hold on near-Earth space was not tenable in the long term. Before Earth's arsenals could be refitted for duty, Star Control observers saw eight of the largest orbital stations, including the recently finished StarLight Hilton, an exotic luxury hotel, accelerating toward the outer system.

The Androsynth engineers had somehow modified huge, ungainly orbital habitats into fast, powerful spacecraft. Despite the stations' great mass, their new engines were able to accelerate them quickly enough that Star Control's fastest interception vessels were unable to stop them or even catch up with them. However, one of the faster ten-thruster ore freighters in the asteroid belt, taking advantage of the Androsynth's abandonment of their near-Earth strongholds to return to Earth with its cargo, detected the Androsynth fleet passing it and was able to intercept the Androsynth by pushing its engines to their limits. Before the freighter's pilot could act, he saw the Androsynth vessels surround themselves with a glowing, rotating energy field, which then suddenly moved to a point 500 meters ahead of the vessels, creating a huge glowing red region of space like a "great hole". The vessels accelerated into the hole, at which point vessels and hole suddenly vanished.

In the years to come, humans would correctly identify this phenomenon as a hyperdrive "pushing up" into [[HyperSpace]] by opening a portal (a region of Hyperspatial overlap with [[TrueSpace]]), a sight familiar to spacefaring races. Not only had the Androsynth created a working hyperdrive in secret, they had managed to fit all eight of their habitats with hyperdrives powerful enough to carry those huge structures out of the Sol system. The Humans of Earth would never make that last leap into technological modernity on their own, only acquiring hyperdrive technology when given it by the [[Chenjesu]] at the founding of the [[Alliance of Free Stars|Alliance]].

==The War==

Little is now known about the Androsynth's history after their "Emigration", as they called it. However, we can infer that they eventually arrived at the Vulpeculae constellation, the same place the long-dead [[Taalo]] race had made their home in the days of the [[Sentient Milieu]]. Finding the second planet of the star Eta Vulpeculae a suitably Earthlike world, they settled there and began expanding, soon having a bustling population and a colonial sphere of influence throughout Vulpeculae space, even establishing uneasy but peaceful interstellar relations with their [[Spathi]] neighbors.

Unfortunately, they had barely been free for thirty years when the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za|Ur-Quan]] [[Hierarchy]] entered the quadrant. Turned away by the [[Chenjesu]] and [[Mmrnmhrm]]'s initial defense force, which had halted the Ur-Quan fleet's rimward advance towards Sol, the Ur-Quan headed spinward to accumulate more local [[Battle Thralls]] for the war ahead. With the prized resources and industrial capacity of [[Earth]] inaccessible to them, and the [[Chenjesu]] already busily recruiting the Humans into their [[Alliance of Free Stars]], the Ur-Quan decided to use the Humans' wayward children against them.

The Androsynth, upon hearing the Ur-Quan's demands of fealty, had no wish to again be enslaved, and fought bitterly to retain their freedom. Unfortunately, their relatively small population and underdeveloped military was no match for the Hierarchy's might. Faced with humiliating defeat in the year 2112, the Androsynth, as the Ur-Quan most likely predicted, chose to accept the status of Battle Thrall and maintain the illusion of freedom. Cementing this illusion in their own minds, Androsynth culture accepted their place in the Hierarchy by rationalizing it, not primarily as serving their new Ur-Quan masters, but as an opportunity to wreak revenge upon their former Human masters.

The rebuilt Androsynth military thus became an enthusiastic supporter of the Hierarchy, demanding to primarily be placed in combat against the Humans as a condition of their service; the Ur-Quan gladly indulged them in this, as had been their plan, and found them to be a highly effective weapon against the Humans. Androsynth ship designs and tactics were optimized for use against the comparatively more primitive Star Control forces, and Androsynth commanders, filled with bloodlust, would go outside their Ur-Quan-given orders and purposely seek out Earth-built vessels to hunt for sport.

Androsynth became one of the Humans most feared enemies in the war, second only to the [[Ilwrath]]. Humans found it terrifying to fight an enemy that they saw as a genetically enhanced version of themselves, the "next step of human evolution". Moreover, humans experienced deep collective guilt at being asked to direct their strength against an enemy whom their own mothers and fathers had been complicit in cruelly oppressing, a sense that the Androsynth's hatred of Humanity was justified and Humanity's defeat at Androsynth hands would be deserved. These psychological factors, combined with the incredible speed and manueverability of Androsynth [[Guardian]] vessels in Blazer attack mode, which made them almost impossible to detect with primitive Human laser-scanning arrays — a fact the Androsynth utilized to great effect in their hit-and-run tactics against human fleets — made patrolling Androsynth-contested space one of the most dreaded tasks for Human commanders in the war. Human captains in Androsynth territory became obsessed with their invisible enemies and their inevitable vengeance, often mistaking nearby asteroids for Guardians and madly destroying them in bursts of what Star Control officers colloquially termed "clone fever".

As thralls, the Androsynth saved their energies for their anti-Human war, choosing to keep a low profile within the Hierarchy. Though they achieved a fearsome reputation as warriors, especially among their Spathi neighbors, few other thralls had much contact with them. The [[VUX]], for instance, knew of them and found their appearance as repellent as that of the Humans, but chose for various reasons to vent their xenophobic hatred on the main human race and mostly ignored the Humans' clones.

After the war ended in 2134, with the Humans defeated and Earth [[Slave Shield|slave-shield]]ed, the Ur-Quan left for their [[Doctrinal Conflict]], leaving their slaves more or less unattended. The Androsynth, gratified to have participated in the defeat and humiliation of their former masters, re-embarked on their peaceful programs of scientific research and self-improvement.

==Disappearance==

A decade after the end of the war, an Androsynth Guardian, performing a long-range high-speed scouting mission in Blazer form, detected a [[Precursor]] artifact in Alpha Lalande, which it recovered. The device generated waves of altered space-time — a phenomenon Androsynth scientists dubbed [[Dimensional Fatigue]], or DF — that allowed them to observe numerous other realities separated from ours, aside from the previously discovered and easily accessible [[HyperSpace]].

What happened next is extremely unclear. The story only became known during the [[Second War]], when [[Captain Zelnick]] of the [[Vindicator]] began investigating strange reports from the Spathi of the Androsynth's recent disappearance from interstellar affairs. What had once been Androsynth space was now populated by a new sentient race that seemed to have come from nowhere, fish-like beings calling themselves [[Orz]]. They had made their home on the nearby world of Gamma Vulpeculae 1, spoke a bizarre tongue that human linguists had great difficulty in translating even with Precursor computer technology, and were singularly unwilling to discuss the fate of the Androsynth.

The Vindicator's Science Officer [[Bukowski]] led an ill-fated expedition onto Eta Vulpeculae 2 to investigate the Androsynth's fate. From pieced-together computer records, he learned of the Androsynth's acquisition of the Precursor artifacts and their discovery of DF phenomena. Eager to potentially use newly discovered extradimensional spaces as media for transport and communication with even more compressed distances than HyperSpace, they began experiments, only to make contact with some sort of sentient being living in another space. The entity or entities then began to make reciprocal contact with them, manifesting itself in the form of anomalous, supernatural-seeming physical events eerily similar to those described in Earth paranormal studies; fundamental forces like gravity experienced wild fluctuations in their strength, sensors began to inconsistently perceive nonexistent objects, and physical objects appeared to undergo motion and stress from sourceless, disembodied forces. The Androsynth frantically consulted their sketchy records of such phenomena, derived from a few Earth studies rarely seen as reputable, but to no avail.

Though we can never know the details, the Androsynth at some point appear to have waged some sort of massive ground war; curiously, there appear to have been no invasions or bombardments from space, no combat in orbit or in the atmosphere, or even any substantial combat outside the Androsynth's own cities; it appears they were either warring against each other or some enemy that suddenly appeared in their midst. With the cities devastated by nuclear explosions that detonated from within, all Androsynth bodies then appear to have mysteriously vanished; no biological traces of the Androsynth remained on the planet. And then, somehow, the civilization of the Orz appeared, ships, settlements and all.

We might have learned more had Bukowski not himself gone insane during his investigations, claiming that his increasing knowledge of [["They"|"Them"]] — the entities responsible for the Androsynth's disappearance — had allowed "Them" to make a psychic link with him personally, and that further research would draw "Their" attention and cause the human race to be destroyed as the Androsynth had. He was found by his team in the process of destroying all remaining Androsynth computer records, bleeding heavily from self-inflicted wounds (though some witnesses reported seeing wounds spontaneously appear on his body). He was rushed back to Earth's [[Starbase]] for psychiatric treatment and the expedition was scrapped. Though Bukowski later achieved some level of recovery, he never again spoke of anything he'd learned on the Androsynth homeworld.

Speculation rages as to why the Androsynth vanished. It may have just been their bad luck to discover DF at all, or to have studied the particular dimensional space that they did. Or it may be that human psychology, after ages of having been engineered by the extra-dimensional [[Arilou]], is particularly vulnerable to attack from extra-dimensional entities for one reason or another. Once the Androsynth left the fold of the main Human race, they seem to have left whatever form of protection the Arilou claim to have placed on the Human race to prevent an attack by "Them".

It may also be that they were unfortunate in their choice of a home. Zelnick confirmed speculations by xenohistorians that the Taalo homeworld had been the second moon of Delta Vulpeculae 3. If some translators interpret particular statements by the Orz correctly, the Taalo had some mastery of DF technology themselves and were able to use this technology to travel between realities, using it to escape destruction from the [[Dnyarri]] Slave Empire. This action in the past might have contributed to attracting the attention of extra-dimensional entities to the physical vicinity of the Vulpeculae constellation and put the Androsynth at greater risk, though our understanding of the relationship between physical places in our space-time and "Theirs" is hazy at best.

==Appearance, Society, Culture==

The original Androsynth were all created from a single genetic encoding of what was meant to be a physically optimal human being. Their shared genome causes them all to look very similar, if not identical. Their features appear more or less like those of an average man of the Caucasian race, though part of Hsien Ho's enhancements were to make their features unusually regular and symmetrical, and therefore unusually attractive by human convention. Perhaps in defiance of their original creator's insistence on the perfect symmetry of their faces and bodies, the later generations of Androsynth on Earth adopted an asymmetrical hairstyle, all brushing their hair meticulously to the right of their heads. This was their one stylistic affectation. On Earth, Androsynth were constantly required to wear uniforms with a triangular insignia informing others of their Androsynth status, along with a headset keeping them constantly in radio contact with their work supervisors. This uniform was supplemented with a small tattoo under the right eye of the same Androsynth insignia in case an Androsynth escaped his supervisors and attempted to disguise himself.

After the Slave Revolt and the Emigration, the Androsynth appear to have kept many of these markers of their former slavery as a conscious badge of pride, continuing to wear the uniforms and tattoos and use the headsets (later incorporating visors to add communication of visual data) in memory of their ancestors' way of life. They did, however, abandon the distinctive hairstyles; they also apparently made modifications to the base Androsynth genome, adding melanin to their skin and hair to make themselves more resilient against solar radiation in their colonizing efforts.

The Androsynth, all male and without functioning testes, continued to produce new generations using their own version of Ho's parthenogenesis process. Rather than adopt the naming conventions of their human oppressors, they continued to wear the impersonal alphanumeric callsigns given to them by their masters as another badge of pride, with each clone identified by a set of letters corresponding to the "batch" in which he was created, then a number identifying the order in which he'd been born from that batch.

Sexual relationships and family structures among the Androsynth were, obviously, normatively "homosexual," as no female gender existed in their ranks. Androsynth revolutionary theory seemed to consciously identify itself with ideas similar to those expressed in the gay-rights movement of the late 20th and early 21st century, as the Androsynth, like homosexuals, had to confront and reject traditional religious and cultural definitions of "humanity" based on one's being part of an unbroken chain of sexual reproduction that defined one's family line. This may be why the Androsynth after the Emigration consciously changed the Androsynth insignia from a black inverted triangle to a pink one, imitating the 20th-century symbol of homosexual liberation.

This perceived parallel may have tied into human perceptions of the Androsynth as having the mannerisms of a refined, patrician elite, free of the coarser inclinations of ordinary human males (a stereotype often applied to homosexual male humans even in modern times). It is true that the Androsynth, due to their training and professions, apparently developed a desire for engineering elegance and aesthetic purity that appears extreme next to human culture.

This perception is exacerbated by their choice to model their fleet of Guardian vessels after the original space stations in their escape fleet, so that each Guardian has the features of a complete, self-sustaining spaceborne habitat, packing in as much useful living and working space as possible using the StarLight Hilton's avant-garde intriciately layered architecture. Rather than sacrificing this space for the increased acceleration and manueverability of a lower-mass ship when designing military vessels, Androsynth engineers discovered a more intricate, complex and elegant solution (if a more unwieldy one). Perhaps the most amazing engineering accomplishment was the invention of the "Blazer", a retrofitting of Guardian vessels allowing them to change configuration in a deceptively simple manner, allowing for much more efficient thruster use and the ability to use their own large mass as a weapon, instantly changing the existing quasi-civilian Guardian habitats into one of the sector's most powerful battle fleets. The development of such an alien-seeming technology is perhaps the best demonstration of how far Androsynth scientific and cultural development diverged from humans' during their separation.

What little else we know of Androsynth civilization comes from our encounters with them in combat. Both naturally blessed with great intellectual quickness and with a culture that encouraged constant communication through the ubiquitous headset-visors, Androsynth were able to function in concert as crews more easily than Humans, with small teams able to carry out most of a ship's command functions with little computer equipment or verbal communication in comparison with a Human bridge. They also required far fewer amenities in battle conditions, their bodies being physically hale enough to function under much greater stresses than that of the average human crewman.

Before their disappearance, they had a well-developed urban culture on their own planet, with several large cities whose daily activities were all linked by a giant computer network based on an enormous central server, with smaller mainframes serving the central-computing needs of each city and dedicated research station. The Androsynth emphasized centrally coordinated research and information storage, and their intricate library system did not begin to break down until the early stages of their disappearance. The meticulous record-keeping of their computers is the main reason we have even as complete a picture of their last days as we do today.

[[Category:Races]]

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-26T18:56:23Z

Mmrnmhrm: almost done, i have to save it to make it display in the actual article (which I am previewing)

<table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td bgcolor="#bbbbbb" align="center">'''{{{name}}}'''</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:{{{image}}}|thumb|{{{caption}}}]]</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">

'''Homeworld:''' {{{homeworld}}}<br>
'''coordinates:''' {{{coordinates}}}<br>
'''Member of:''' {{{organizations}}}<br>
'''Ship:''' {{{ship}}}

</td></tr>
</table>

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-26T18:50:08Z

Mmrnmhrm: bear with me, i'm new at this

<table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td bgcolor="#888888" align="center">'''{{{name}}}'''</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:{{{image}}}|thumb|{{{caption}}}]]</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">

'''Homeworld:'''{{{homeworld}}}<br>
'''coordinates:'''{{{coordinates}}}<br>
'''Member of:'''{{{organizations}}}<br>
'''Ship:'''{{{ship}}}

</td></tr>
</table>

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-26T18:34:00Z

Mmrnmhrm: ...which we should have previewed first

<table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td bgcolor="#888888" align="center">{{{name}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:{{{image}}}|{{{caption}}}]]</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">

Homeworld:{{{homeworld}}}<br>
coordinates:{{{coordinates}}}<br>
Member of:{{{organizations}}}<br>
Ship:{{{ship}}}

</td></tr>
</table>

Template:RaceBox

2004-10-26T18:32:08Z

Mmrnmhrm: rough draft for a standard race box

<table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td bgcolor="#888888" align="center">Name: {{{name}}}</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:{{{image}}}|{{{caption}}}]]</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">

Homeworld:{{{homeworld}}}
coordinates:{{{coordinates}}}
Member of:{{{organizations}}}
Ship:{{{ship}}}

</td></tr>
</table>

Category talk:Races

2004-10-26T17:42:31Z

Mmrnmhrm: Taxobox

Wikipedia has a workable little solution for factboxes. They're used for living things (hence being called taxoboxes) to give bulleted, pre-formatted information for the topic that's tiresome to read in paragraph form. (for a random example see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odobenidae]) I think it might be a good idea to include something like this for races in the Ultronomicon. What kind of information should they have? Here's my starting list:

* Name of the race (duh)
* Homeworld (Star name and coordinates, planet (and or moon) number/letter and name)
* Member of (list all that apply): Sentient Milieu, Alliance, New Alliance, Hierarchy
* Ship
* A picture

Comments?

[[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 19:42, 26 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Sa-Matra

2004-10-26T14:37:30Z

Mmrnmhrm: Expanded and made it sound more invincible

__NOTOC__
<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:Sa-matra_generators_down.png]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>{{UrQuanNav}}</td></tr>
</table>

The '''Sa-Matra''' is the name given to the awesome [[Precursor]] Battleship discovered by the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] thousands of years ago. It is the very symbol of [[Ur-Quan]] dominance; a virtually invincible war machine that guarantees that the Ur-Quan species will never need know fear of anything.

==History==

The Sa-Matra was discoverd by chance during the first [[Doctrinal Conflict]] and turned the tide of that battle in favor of the Kzer-Za.

It was employed against the [[Alliance of Free Stars]] at the end of their war with the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za and their [[Hierarchy]] of [[Battle Thralls]]. It quickly broke the [[Chenjesu]]/[[Mmrnmhrm]] lines, incinerating conventional vessels at far beyond their own weapon's ranges. Very soon after the Sa-Matra entered the battle, the Alliance surrendered.

Some wonder as to why the Kzer-Za did not use the Sa-Matra sooner. Suspicion is that the ship holds such a strong, almost spiritual, significance that it was kept out of the fight as a symbol. Bringing it in at the end of the war was likely a decision made in light of the Kohr-Ah's imminent arrival, winning the battle quickly so that the Kzer-Za could prepare for the upcoming ritual war. Another possiblity is that the Kzer-Za were simply taking their time, confident in their eventual success.

Among the Ur-Quan, the word "Sa-Matra" means "Great Trophy", for that is what it is to them. It is the prize given to the race, [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] or [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]], who wins the [[Doctrinal Conflict]]. The Kzer-Za have always wondered whether the Kohr-Ah philosophy was right and dictated that the Sa-Matra would be the prize for the greater Doctrine when the two races met again.

==Description==

Physically the vessel is huge and blue, with claws, spikes and similar sticking out of it. It has a large core-like sphere in the middle. It is surrounded by various force fields and defenses. Its weapon systems are the dreaded Repulsion Sphere, intellingent homing weapons that send ships flying away from it, and the dangerous Plasma Destruction Totoid, fireballs that surround and destroy any ship in seconds.

To attack it means almost certain destruction. Its ability to keep enemies at bay combined with the an unfathomable weapon range make it unassailable. Its impenetrable defenses allow it to face a hundred ships and continue fighting.

[[Category:Ships (Specific)]][[Category:Precursor Technology]]

Talk:Ur-Quan

2004-10-26T13:59:20Z

Mmrnmhrm:

Would it be prudent to break out the parts of this article about the [[Dnyarri Slave Revolt]] and the [[Doctrinal Conflict]], and put the information in their own articles?

== sidebar ==

Excellent work on the sidebar, mmrn.. mrmmnhrmm... m- oh forget it. Good job, though. Do you think it should be copied into its constituent articles, or just left on the main ur-quan article? Either way, there should be a link back to the main ur-quan article from every 'child' page. -[[User:Fadookie|Fadookie]] 04:53, 26 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Ok, there is now the template UrQuanNav which can easily be stuck into any Ur-Quan related page. It was a bit of a hack to get it to nest with existing graphics (like on the [[Dreadnought]], [[Marauder]], and [[Sa-Matra]] pages), but it works and I don't know of a more correct way of doing it. [[User:Mmrnmhrm|Mmrnmhrm]] 15:59, 26 Oct 2004 (CEST)

Template:UrQuanNav

2004-10-26T13:51:10Z

Mmrnmhrm: some links went to redirects, changing to primary article

<table style="margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em;" border="1" cellspacing="0" align="right" cellpadding="2">
<tr><th bgcolor="#10b010">Ur-Quan Topics</th></tr>
<tr><td>

*Speciation
**[[Ur-Quan]]
**[[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]]
**[[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]]
*Personalities
**[[Kzer-Za (Character)]]
**[[Kohr-Ah (Character)]]
*Philosophies
**[[Path of Now and Forever]]
***[[Ur-Quan Hierarchy]]
***[[Battle Thrall]]
***[[Slave Shield]]
**[[Eternal Doctrine]]
**[[Doctrinal Conflict]]
*Ships
**[[Dreadnought]]
**[[Marauder]]
**[[Sa-Matra]]
*Science
**[[Excruciator]]
**[[Talking Pet]]

</td></tr>
</table>

Talking Pet

2004-10-26T13:49:47Z

Mmrnmhrm: UQNav

{{UrQuanNav}}

:''This article refers to the [[Ur-Quan]] translator species of talking pets. For information about ''The'' Talking Pet see: [[Talking Pet (device)]].

The [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] and [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] both choose to act as though they are superior to all other races they encounter (and if their conquests are any indication, they may very well be right). Part of this superiority forbids them from condescending to even speak to lower life forms directly. Instead they use '''Talking Pets''' — a form of genetically modified [[Dnyarri]] — who serve as intermediaries. The Ur-Quan speaks to the Pet and the Pet then speaks to the alien ship captain.

Excruciator (Ur-Quan)

2004-10-26T13:49:02Z

Mmrnmhrm: UQNav

{{UrQuanNav}}

:''This page is about the Ur-Quan torture device. For information on the Ilwrath use of the word "Excruciator", see [[Excruciator (Ilwrath)]]

An '''Excruciator''' is a device meant to be worn (or perhaps implanted would be a better word) which inundates the recipient's brain with unimaginable pain. It is usually called by the definite article (The Excruciator) rather than the indefinite (An Excruciator) because of its deep historical significance (like ''The'' Model-T).

When the [[Ur-Quan]] martyr [[Kzer-Za (Character)|Kzer-Za]], for whom the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] name themselves, discovered that pain was the only way to be free of [[Dnyarri]] compulsion (thus beginning the Dnyarri Slave Revolt), he inflicted this pain upon himself with acidic poison. This tactic, while greatly successful, had the downside of guaranteeing his death.

Later on in the revolution it was, oddly enough, a black Ur-Quan (later to be known as the [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]]) who perfected the Excruciator. The device was non-lethal and the pain it gave to its subject was incredible. For years all Ur-Quan (and assumedly the other races of the [[Sentient Milieu]] whom the Ur-Quan liberated) wore this device as the only way to combat the Dnyarri.

Sa-Matra

2004-10-26T13:38:57Z

Mmrnmhrm: UQNav

<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:Sa-matra_generators_down.png]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>{{UrQuanNav}}</td></tr>
</table>

The '''Sa-Matra''' is the name given to a [[Precursor]] Battleship discovered by the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]]. It is the very symbol of [[Ur-Quan]] dominance; a virtually invincible war machine that guarantees that the Ur-Quan species will never need know fear of anything.

This weapon was employed against the [[Alliance of Free Stars]] during their war with the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za and their Hierarchy of Battle Thralls. It quickly broke the [[Chenjesu]]/[[Mmrnmhrm]] lines, incinerating conventional vessels at far beyond their own weapons ranges, and led directly to their surrender to the Kzer-Za.

Among the Ur-Quan, the word "Sa-Matra" means "Great Trophy", for that is what it is to them. It is the prize given to the race, [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] or Kzer-Za, who wins the Doctrinal Conflict.

Physically the vessel is huge, blue, with claws, spikes and similar sticking out of it. It has a large core-like sphere in the middle. Its weapon systems are the dreaded Repulsion Sphere, intellingent homing weapons that send ships flying a long way. The other one are the Plasma Destruction Totoids, fireballs that track and destroy any ship in seconds.

[[Category:Ships (Specific)]][[Category:Precursor Technology]]

Marauder

2004-10-26T13:36:52Z

Mmrnmhrm: UQNav

<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:Kohr-Ah_Marauder_Icon.png]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>{{UrQuanNav}}</td></tr>
</table>

The [[Kohr-Ah]] [[Marauder]] is a very powerful vessel rivaling the [[Kzer-Za|Ur-Quan]] [[Dreadnought]]. It is armed with spinning sawblades and a destructive F.R.I.E.D. system.

The sawblades will travel until the fire button is released, effectively giving them unlimited range. Ideal for placing one in the line of travel of the enemy. The blades come with a short-range homing capability.

The F.R.I.E.D., aka, "Fiery Ring of Inevitable and Eternal Destruction" is a ring of superheated plasma that expands from the Marauder and annihilates anything in its path. If a F.R.I.E.D. shot and an enemy projectile collide, the F.R.I.E.D. will always win. This property makes them good for defense. Using F.R.I.E.D. consumes half of the maximum battery.

Overall, the Kohr-Ah Marauder is one of the most powerful ships in the Quadrant.

*Crew complement: 42
*Battery capacity: 42
*Recharge rate: High

[[Category:Ships]]

Dreadnought

2004-10-26T13:31:00Z

Mmrnmhrm: UQNav

__NOTOC__
<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align="right">
<tr><td>[[Image:Star_control_i_ur-quan_dreadnought_databank.png|thumb|Starship Databank Entry]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>{{UrQuanNav}}</td></tr>
</table>

The [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] '''Dreadnought''' is the mainstay of the Hierarchy fleets. A fully-crewed Dreadnought can crush most opponents with ease.

==Navigation==
The Dreadnought is not a fast or nimble ship. It doesn't have to be. One of these ships — never mind a full fleet of them — can lumber along and expect to defeat almost any opponent. The strength of the Dreadnought lies in its enormous firepower and considerable crew size.

==Armament==

===Primary===
The Dreadnought's fusion cannon can destroy small ships in one or two hits. The only drawbacks to this weapon are the Dreadnought's never-quite-fast-enough turn rate and the significant amount of energy required to employ it. The second factor is mostly negligable given the Dreadnought's high energy recharge rate. So powerful is this attack that defensive systems like the [[Chmmr]] [[Avatar]]'s Zap-Sat array are useless against it; it is rumored however that a fully charged [[Melnorme]] [[Trader]] Energy Bolt will win in a head-on collision.

===Secondary===
The Ur-Quan captain can also send out small, one-man fighter ships armed with lasers to harass the enemy. Each fighter has only a limited supply of life support and fuel and must return to the Dreadnought after its brief sortie. These fighters are of little use against ships equipped with auto targetting weapons (such as the [[Earthling]] [[Cruiser]]) but a sufficient swarm of them can team up to puncture an enemy hull in seconds.

==Technical Readout==
*Crew complement: 42
*Battery capacity: 42
*Recharge Rate: High

[[Category:Ships]]

Doctrinal Conflict

2004-10-26T13:28:30Z

Mmrnmhrm: UQNav

{{UrQuanNav}}

The [[Ur-Quan]] '''Doctrinal Conflict''' or '''Doctrinal War''' is the method by which the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]] and [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]] decide whose Doctrine (either the [[Path of Now and Forever]] for the Kzer-Za or the [[Eternal Doctrine]] in the case of the Kohr-Ah) is superior.

The Conflict began when the two Ur-Quan subspecies first started enforcing their Doctrines, immediately following the successful revolt against enslavement by the [[Dnyarri]]. The Kzer-Za had already enslaved the [[Faz]] and the Kohr-Ah had burned the worlds of the [[Yuptar]]. The two great fleets met above the homeworld of the [[Mael-Num]], the last free race of the [[Sentient Milieu]]. The Kohr-Ah had come to destroy it and the Kzer-Za to imprison it.

The ensuing battle was long and violent enough for the Mael-Num to escape. The Kzer-Za fleets were loosing and the Kohr-Ah would have won had a mysterious [[Precursor]] warship not been found by the Kzer-Za. This vessel, later called the [[Sa-Matra]], turned the tide of the battles. The Kohr-Ah fleets were reduced to a fraction of their original numbers as the Sa-Matra devestated their ranks.

The Kzer-Za, victorious, still recognized that they could be in error and that it was possible that the Kohr-Ah were correct. Because of this belief, rather than enslaving the Kohr-Ah, they sent them out into the unknown of the galaxy and instructed them to carry out the Eternal Doctrine as they orbited it. The Kzer-Za moved out in the opposite direction, taking the Sa-Matra with them. It was decided that when they next met, the two subraces would fight a ritual war to discover the true superiority between the Doctrines. The loser would step aside and the winner would take the Sa-Matra as a prize and use it to enact their will upon the galaxy.

It is during this Second Doctrinal Conflict that [[The Ur-Quan Masters]] occurs.

Eternal Doctrine

2004-10-26T13:28:07Z

Mmrnmhrm: UQnav

{{UrQuanNav}}

The [[Ur-Quan]] [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah|Kohr-Ah]] follow the '''Eternal Doctrine'''. It states, simply, that all non-Ur-Quan sentient species are to be exterminated from the galaxy.

The first race destoyed in the name of the Eternal Doctrine was the [[Yuptar]], a one time ally of the Ur-Quan in the [[Sentient Milieu]]. After their loss in the first [[Doctrinal War]] to the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]], the Kohr-Ah were banished to circle the galaxy, but were allowed to continue enforcing the Eternal Doctrine.

They became nomads and slowly rebuilt their fleets over the millennia to be equal to, and then stronger than, those of their Kzer-Za brothers. In the mean time, the Kohr-Ah have destroyed countless races. Their ship captains keep relics (usually a single bone of each species they have personally destroyed) as trophies showing their adherence to their race's ideals. Some individual captains have collected thousands of such items.

The Kohr-Ah are also taken with the belief of reincarnation. They believe that by destroying other sentients, cleansing them, they will allow those beings the opportunity to be reborn as Ur-Quan. The Kohr-Ah are thus completely remorseless killers. However, this belief is not necessary to their cause. Their reasons for galaxy wide genocide go beyond faith. It is a matter of practicality. The Ur-Quan were enslaved once, in the most horrible way imaginable, and will never allow it to happen again. To ensure that no race can threaten them, they must all be destroyed utterly.

The Eternal Doctrine is in oppostion to the Kzer-Za [[Path of Now and Forever]]. In the second Doctrinal War between these two schools of thought, had it not been for the intervention of [[The Captain]], the Kohr-Ah likely would have won, thus sentencing the galaxy to extermination.