Species Name: Khale
Species Adjective: Khale
Empire Name: Intergalactic Khale Conglomerate
Empire Adjective: Khale Conglomerate
Phenotype: Reptilian
Traits: Resilient, Intelligent, slow breeders
Ethos: Fanatic Materialist, Militarist
Government: Scientific Directorate
Homeworld: 'Khale', meaning "Life"
Planet type: Arid
Starting weaponry: Missiles
Starting FTL drive: Warp
Short Description of Species:
The Khale are a race of Reptilians, who value intellect and knowledge above everything. They stand an average of 2 metres tall and their bodies are covered with hard scales which vary in colour from yellow-brown to green. The Khale mate for life and almost always carry a single child or twins. They are intelligent and focussed on science, but the majority of them is trained in the ancient arts of war and honour for their ancestral ways and traditions.
Short Description of Empire and History:
For centuries, the Khales were a proud race of warrior nomads. Following a code of honour, this reptilian species lived in constant war between their Families, where the slightest insult from one minor lord to another could lead to wars spanning decades. As wars raged on the Khales began using more and more dangerous weaponry: in quick succession, they discovered gunpowder, dynamite and shortly after, atomic power. This last invention proved to be their downfall as their entire world was obliterated by nuclear fire at the end of the Final War, forcing the survivors into caverns and bunkers.
Nuclear winter swept the planet, destroying all but the hardiest species. The Khales constructed underground passages between the various hideouts and finally found peace after such a long war. Close to the end of the second century in their forced hiding the Khales found what the thought had been lost: a vault filled with seeds and animals thought long lost, enough to repopulate their destroyed environment once more. The Khales Conglomerate came into being, an entity focused on the preservation of life and researching the secrets of the Universe. After the nuclear winter died down, the Khales rose once more from their hiding to claim their ancestral home. In mere years they quickly repopulated their world, reintroducing species and rebuilding their hive towers. After finishing this the people, now united in a single purpose, looked up at the stars and wondered...
The first basic prototype spaceship was quickly constructed. The first Khale landed on their moon ten years later and constructed multiple orbital structures and intersystem vessels. The research of the first FTL drive took considerably longer seeing the lack of any knowledge in particles smaller than atoms that the Khales had recovered from the remains of their former civilization. It took decades of ceaseless work until a genius named Gre Volken finally discovered a way for matter to be transported on velocities several times higher than that of the speed of light by moving into a separate dimension aptly named the Volken-dimension, or simply recognized as the 'Warp'.
Now, the newly named Intergalactic Khales Conglomerate stands at the entrance of a new era: the research vessel 'IKC Volken' is ready to make its first travel through their solar system, followed by the first warp jumps of the Khales.
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(I couldn't help but start writing a bit on the adventures of the Khale people. My apologies if this makes the post too long...
)
"This is Captain Horatio of the IKC Volken. Greetings to you, people of the Conglomerate!”
The captain looked around the bridge of his ship, his eye slits fluttering quickly in his excitement. He stood a little over 2 metres tall, the average length of his species, his scales having a slightly greener hue than that of his other crewmembers, the result of slight biological modifications of his own hand. His communication officer blinked at him, confirming that the communication array was online and that his words were send throughout the system. Most of the Khales would be watching their viewscreens at that moment, deep inside their cavern cities, hearing his words broadcasted into space.
The Volken would be the first manned vessel to make the two-month jump to the nearest system which would, if the initial long-range scans proved correct, be able to house the dry climate planets that might be suitable for the Khales to make their home. Having reached the edge of their solar system their ship would now be able to pull away from the gravity centre of the system and enter the warp. In mere minutes, they would make the first interstellar jump in the history of their people.
“People of Khale! Survivors of the End Wars! Our research, our ceaseless work, our dedication: it has all led to this very moment! In less than a minute, we will enter the Volken-Dimension and begin our journey. A new age dawns on us, my brood-brothers and sisters! We will explore and discover new worlds to settle, new anomalies to research and, in all possibility, new people to meet.”
“We might not know who or what is out there, but we, the Khales, will find out! May the Sun Warm Our Backs on alien worlds. May Our Ancestors be Remembered. Nivva Ssillai.”
On the planet of Khale, the people cheered. Aboard the planetary ships, the Khale rejoiced. However, the crew of the IKC Volken would not be able to hear it. They had already activated their jump drive and were on the long journey to another system, another world.
