Balokarids
The Balokarid are an avian species native to the planet Balokar, an arid-class planet located in the Eridanus System. They are the second extraterrestrial species encountered by humanity, first sighted by United Earth Confederate forces in the year 2499.
The Balokarid had only recently achieved long-range space flight prior to contact with mankind, settling their first extraterrestrial colony on a Goldilocks-class planet in a nearby star system. Sometime in the following months, a UEC battlegroup discovered the colony and deployed themselves in orbit above the region, and after a series of ecalating tensions, the colony had to be abandoned after a series of orbital bombardments and surface incursions by UEC forces. It is unknown how many Balokarid lives were lost, but estimated reports suggest losses within the hundreds of thousands.
Biology
The Balokarids are an avian species, standing on average between seven to nine feet tall. They are covered in a thick coat of feathers, which help insulate their bodies against the extreme temperatures of their arid homeworld. The colour of a Balokarid’s feathers is influenced by the parents’ colour palettes, with the father’s colours usually taking priority, though this is not always the case according to some reports.
Their features are distinct, with long, hard beaks protruding from the snout. Their hands have four fingers, with their feet sporting three long toes, with a fourth protruding from the ankle. Their legs are digitigrade, with their feather coats ending at the lower joint.
Like the common birds native to Earth, the Balokarids possess a distinctly syrinx-like organ near the lower parts of their throats, allowing them much finer control over the sounds they make and thus capable of copying human speech. Accoridng to Doctor Cairns, a Senior Medical Officer within the Alliance Navy and one of the first individuals to perform an exam on a Balokarid, the aliens do not necessarily speak but rather mimic the sounds they hear, allowing them a much broader vocal range.
Each Balokarid possesses the ability to manipulate every individual feather stalk, which assists to convey emotions and body language to one another. Balokarids also possess a much more advanced vision, allowing them to see broader ranges of colour and perceive objects at long distances in higher detail.
Strangely, Balokarids are viviparous despite their appearance. The gestation period is unusually long, with majority of females taking in some cases up to two years before giving birth to live young. Males are excepted to take care for the young, a tradition the Balokarids trace back to their ancestral days, though according to one Balokarid mother, it is not uncommon to see females helping their suitors raise their family in modern times. A standard clutch between a Balokarid pair is between 2 to 4 young.
Balokarid males may take many mates during their life, with the females vying for the attention of the far less numerous males. A survey taken on the current Balokarid population resiing withinm Alliance space confirms an average of one male to every three females. Since Balokarid young develop rather quickly compared to human young, a male can choose to part from the female once he is no longer required if he chooses. One interview with a Balokarid male confirmed that this traces back to Balokarid ancient traditions, and it is not uncommon for a male to take many mates during his life.
Wings
Balokarid sexual dimorphism has seen the females become far more stronger and agile than their male counterparts, no doubt a result of their more aggressive role in their society, as the females are expected to participate in more active roles, while the males tend to take care of children and mroe domestic duties.
The most obvious phyisical attribute of this is the wing structure exclusive to the females. These wings are located ont he forearms, and when not in use are housed in a series of sheathe covers. When the sheathes fold out, the total wingspan can reach up to five meters, sometimes more depending on the size of the Balokarid. At the time of documentation no Balokarid has been witnessed to take flight, though all questioned females claim that this is true. Some even claim to take flights ranging from thirty minutes to several hours before needing rest.
Society
The Balokar homeworld is divded into several fiefdoms locally known as Clans. Each clan controls a portion of Balokar’s surface which they are allowed to rule and build upon independently, and wars are waged to vie for territory and resources, though according to records obtained from Balokarid historians this practice has not been the case for many generations, as the long stretches of desert between the Clans make logistics difficult, and in some cases, the reward of conquest would not outweight the resource cost of moving troops and combat vehicles across kilometers of sand.
Each Clan is led by a group of leaders known as the Kith, who poessess total authority over the members of a Clan, though most Balokarids claim they are not rulers, and cannot force others to do their bidding. The term Kith has a vague definition and varies from each individual, and is not exclusive to just the Clan’s totalitarian leaders. ‘Kith’ can be associated to any individual with a leadership role. Squad leaders, fleet commanders, managers, engineer foremen, are these terms and similar roles are simply called ‘Kith’.
The relationships between Clans vary, with kinships falling back millenia, and deep rivalries spanning just as far. Two warring Clans resolve conflict through absorbing the defeated Clans territory to the victors. This way of life still exists to the current day even if the last Clan War took place 80 years ago accordin to historians.
Of the Clans, only the Kaaleshi Clan has been officially recognised. The Kaaleshi are the most technologically-advanced Clan on Balokar, and were responible for sending the first Balokarids to settle on another world.
The Kaaleshi named their new world Dur-shala, a planet with a breathable atomsphere and similar gravity to that of Earth. After the UEC forced them to abandon their colony, the Kaaleshi survivors encountered a Hub patrol fleet during the Battle of the Folium Nebula. After a series of battle against a pursuing UEC battlegroup, the aliens see themselves as part of the Alliance, and as of the Treaty of 2501, they are the first extraterrestrtial people to be recognised as members of the Alliance.
Balokarids have a unique ability to manufacture and produce substnatial projects in remarkable times, and there is a heavy focus on handcrafting in their culture. One documented case on the Hub station involved timing how long it took a group of twelve Balokarid engineers to disassemble a Pegasus-class dropship down to its basic parts and put it back together again. With basic tools provided by Hub personnel, the test group was able to complete the task in under two hours, with ten minutes spent at the beginning to study the blueprints of the spacecraft. It was only due to their innate skills of engineering that they were able to produce a standing force when the UEC preemptively attacked them on the Dur’shala colony.
Due to the richness of herbal plant life on Balokar, the consumption of herbs and refinement of psychoactive compounds has become a staple in many parts of Balokarid life. These traditions involve inhaling, smoking, or otherwise consuming substances that can enhance or dilute different senses of the body. Balokarids have been witnessed to partake in these rituals before battle, though these herbs are also used recreationally.
On their homeworld, Balokarids harvest twenty one different types of stimulants, with twelve categories with varying ranges of stress relief and medical properties. They are harvested from trees and plants, which are cultivated to enhance the physical performance of a clan. Not all of these stimulants have been documented, but the most common substance is called fentula, which is a powdery chemical that when inhaled, increases the eyesight and situational awareness of the consumer. The effect can last for up to three hours.
When questioned about addiction, Balokarids do not appear to understand the concept. It is unclear if this is because they use substances so often the concept simply does not translate, or if every Balokarid is addicted already. It is unknown what these chemicals would do to a human if one was to consume them, though the physical differences between the species conclude that Balokarid chemicals are too strong for humans to ingest safely even in small doses.
Planets and Systems
The Balokarid homewold, simply known as Balokar, is an arid-class world covered almost entirely in sand, with one single ocean located just below the equator. Many Clans are built around this precious source of water, though many others have found ways to settle out in the deserts and still thrive to the present day. These nomadic clans are rumoured to be slightly different in appearance to the Balokarids of the Kaaleshi Clan, though no known images currently exist.
In the Balokar star system, there are no other habitable worlds with acceptable living conditions. The Balokarids have recently colonised their first world outside of their native planet, in the neighboring star system they call Dur’shala. This system was located in a contested area of space between Alliance space and UEC territory, only a few month’s trip to the Folium Nebula, where the Hub is located. Dur’shala is conveniently similar to Balokar, covered in dust and canyons that channel water across the surface like veins. The Kaaleshi, who managed to achieve space travel first out of all the Clans, sent their brand new, experimental fleet of ships to settle there.
Upon colonising, however, they soon encountered humanity for the very first time. The United Earth Confederation had likewise sent a scouting group to the surface of the planet, settling an outpost only kilometers from the Balokarid colony. The Kaaleshi sent scouts to assess their capabilities, finding that the UEC outnumbered them and was setting up defences. The Balokarids followed suit, sending a message back to the homeworld for reinforcements, claiming that the humans may stage an attack. This powerful signal forced the humans to react, and a destroyer-class ship took up a position above the colony, and commenced orbital bombardment
The Clan had several carrier-class ships holding space-capable fighter craft known as Sala’ci, both in orbit and on the ground, but the fighters were in the experimental stage of production at this time, and their tactics were ineffective against the overwhelming firepower of the UEC, and the colony was forced to be abandoned. The survivors assembled the remaining ships, led by the Kith called Shaliyya, fleeing into the nearby Folium Nebula, hoping its clouds of energy could hide them from any pursuers. Shaliyya is now the representative for all Balokarid citizens on the Hub. It is unclear how many were left behind during the evacuation, or what has become of them or the colony at this time.
Technology
Laser weaponry is highly developed in the Balokarid military. This technology was allegadly sourced from a Collosus wreckage located within the Balokar system. Balokarid soldiers are often seen wielding heavy weaponry in which lenses magnify a point of energy from a large battery, angled down a series of mirrors to form a superheated beam travelling at near instantaneous speeds. The sheer temperature of a laser can shred through most known materials, and even Collosal alloy armour, as long as accuracy is maintained, though raw temperature falloff due to excessive range is a major downside, which is why Balokarids prefer short-range engagements and charging tactics in warfare to close distances.
This preference for close-quarters combat is complemented by the shielding technology the Balokarids are most renowndly known for. Depending on the power available to the generator, a shield can completely encase anything from a ship, all the way to a personal shield barrier. These shields are made of an assortment of diamond-shaped transulscent panel that create a sphere around the energy source, and any kinetic force directed at these barriers is deflected away, but it has been witnessed that sustained gunfire can collapse these barriers, since the uninterrupted kinetic force begins to ‘overload’ the panel. A shield panel takes several minutes to recharge and reactivate. Despite initial speculation, obejcts cannot pass through the inner face of a shield, and the user must either deactivate the barrier or fire around the panels.
Military
Although new to space flight and combat in zero-gravity, the Balokarids have a cemented military doctrine that has been tried and tested in the desert environments of the homeworld. With a focus on protective shield technology, almost every aircraft or combat vehicle is installed with a shield generator, and most soldiers are trained to use with shield gauntlets.
Landships
Balokarid landships are large tracked vehicles with twin-barreled laser canons mounted on a turret, encased in mirrors rather than traditional armour to help deflect incoming energy beams that manage to break past the shield. They can be anywhere from 13 to 15 meters long, with a height and width of around 5 meters A normal landship is crewed by 3 members, a gunner, a driver, and a commander.
Aircraft
Balokarid spacecraft are heavily inspired by the desert fliers used on Balokar according to reports. The most advanced design of air superiority fighters is the Sala’ci, an intercepter capable of fighting both in and out of a vaccum, equipped with two 10 meter long laser cannons that can track two targets independently.
Spaceships
There is currently only one dedicated space ship the Balokarids have designed. The carrier-class ship is simply its namesake, a monumental ship that rivals most human colony ships in size, capable of housing over 20,000 Balokarids, with several hangar spaces lining its flanks. These hangars possess unique shielded exterior doors, which allow physical pbejcts to pass through without the atmosphere venting into space. This allows the Balokarid to quickly launch all 150 Sala’ci craft within the berthes in only a few short minutes. Carriers do not possess any armaments, however, and are too large to house shield generators to properly protect their hulls, and thus rely on their launched craft and additional spacecraft for support.