Shofixti
| Shofixti | ||||||||
| ShofixtiComm.png Tanaka, last of the Shofixti | ||||||||
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The Shofixti are a marsupial race of honorable mammals whose homeworld, Kyabetsu, was at Delta Gorno I.
Their technology, culture and religion (referred to as "Yehat Ancestor Worship"1) are greatly influenced by the Yehat, who uplifted them.
Biology
The Shofixti are described by the Melnorme as "meta-marsupial". They typically have brown fur, and have an extremely short gestation period. Because of this, the Shofixti can reproduce rapidly and age into adulthood within a few months.
History
Early history
The Shofixti were uplifted to the stars just a few decades before the Ur-Quan Slave War, in 2075,2 by the Yehat, who took on the role of an adoptive guardian over the Shofixti. Before the Yehat discovered them, the Shofixti had a feudal culture that closely resembled that of Earth's medieval Japan, centered around warlords living in mud castles. The warlike Yehat admired the Shofixti's courage and sense of honor, and the Shofixti felt the same of their Yehat brethren.
Ur-Quan Slave War
During the Ur-Quan Slave War, the Shofixti formed the backbone of the Alliance of Free Stars. Their rapid reproduction rates made them valuable to the Alliance by providing enough personnel to keep the Alliance ships fully-manned, even during the bleakest periods of the War. Their fast Scout ships also provided much of the reconnaissance for the Alliance.
After the fall of the Human fleet, the Shofixti and Yehat forces withdrew to the Gorno system but did not permit the Syreen to follow. As the Ur-Quan Dreadnought force bore down upon Delta Gorno, the Yehat Queen suddenly ordered a withdrawal of every Terminator back to the Serpentis stars. Without the support of the Yehat fleet, the Shofixti ships were no match for the Ur-Quan fleet, but the Shofixti still fought bravely, even as the last of their ships were destroyed. With the Ur-Quan fleet advancing on their homeworld, the Shofixti used a Precursor bomb device to remove the surface layers of their sun, causing a miniature nova that incinerated all of the Shofixti-inhabited inner worlds.
This final act of courage and defiance destroyed all Dreadnoughts in the system, but at the cost of nearly the entire Shofixti race. The description of the losses suffered by Ur-Quan fleet varies from source to source: the Yehat assert that nearly thirty percent of the entire Ur-Quan war fleet had been destroyed, the Melnorme say that over a hundred Dreadnoughts had been caught in the miniature nova and the Shofixti allege that there were hundreds of Dreadnoughts destroyed. According to the Chmmr, this act also resulted in the Kohr-Ah fleet vastly outnumbering the Ur-Quan, which gave them a very significant advantage in the Doctrinal Conflict. Fwiffo, on the other hand, states that the blast only destroyed "dozens of Dreadnoughts", implying that a relatively small number of ships were lost.
Star Control II
While the Shofixti were nearly wiped out in the Ur-Quan Slave War, there are some who survived:
- Captain Tanaka (and possibly his brother Katana), whose ship was damaged by a VUX Intruder, was unable to travel to Kyabetsu in time to take part in its defense.
- Sixteen Shofixti Maidens were captured and kept under cryogenic suspension by Admiral ZEX.
Optional events
During Star Control II The Captain can make contact with Tanaka or Katana guarding the remnants of the Delta Gorno system. He can also recover the Shofixti Maidens and unite them with Tanaka or Katana.
The subsequent "duties" faithfully carried out by the last surviving Shofixti revive the race and help the New Alliance of Free Stars two months later by providing numerous reinforcements to supplement the limited number of human personnel available from the Earth Starbase.
Notes and references
- 1Star Control manual, pg. 30.
- 2Star Control II manual, pg. 63. (PC)