Faction Backstories: daiseep - humans - khelons - saahrai
Kalahmzu was once a large, bountiful planet. So much so that its abundant resources were the source of great strife between the planet's three sentient species: the Skura, the Liabar, and the Khelons. As each of these species' civilizations grew, new lands were settled. Eventually, the only means of acquiring territory was through conquest. The planet became saturated with resource-draining life-forms.
While the initial response to resource shortages was war, each civilization quickly discovered that such measures were far too costly to be sustained. The peoples of Kalahmzu managed to survive for a period, but little more. All three civilizations became stagnant, until one of them gambled on their future.
The Khelons, who had the most advanced technology of all Kalahmzonian species, decided to invest most of their resources in a possible solution for their predicament. Should it fail, their civilization would suffer a torturous demise.
A brilliant scientist named Zhopfer Geit had designed a massive machine that could create any material known to its operators. Geit called his creation Ubawer Ayn. The Khelon solution was to construct this machine, in hopes that it would allow them to produce whichever resources they most needed.
It was a complete success. The machine could create food, water, raw materials. Whatever was needed, Ubawer Ayn could produce. All it needed was energy. Vast amounts of energy, in fact.
As part of the project to build Ubawer Ayn, the Khelons also built and launched a solar power array into orbit. This provided them with a constant source of energy to run Geit's invention.
Having solved their resource crisis, the Khelons had a choice to make: achieve harmony with their neighbors, or strike in their moment of weakness. But from the Khelons' perspective, there was never even an option. If they had chosen to aid their enemies, surely the deed would not go unpunished.
And so the Khelons created a virus that could destroy their opponents' crops. They used it to great effect against the Liabar, their most hated foes. Riots broke out all over the Liabarian empire, which self-destructed in less than a year.
The Khelons proceeded to use the destruction of the Liabar as a means to extortion. They forced the Skura to pay crippling tributes to the Khelon empire, under threat of extinction. But the Khelons had no intention on allowing an enemy to survive. Instead, they correctly postulated that the Skurian economy would crumble under the weight of the tribute. Achieving victory in this manner simply saved them the trouble of collecting those resources themselves.
Once all opposing civilizations were eradicated, the Khelons flourished. The Geit family was honoured as the driving force behind the empire's success. Zhopfer Geit's corporation, UbawerKurp, rose to power and earned itself a seat in the Corporate Council that ruled the Khelon empire.
The success of a previously common family did not sit well with the Ubeherz clan, which had been the most prominent and powerful Khelon family for as long as anyone could recall. In fact, they had provided the largest portion of the building materials needed for Ubawer Ayn. But with the entire civilization dependent on the resources produced by Ubawer Ayn, Geit's stash of political capital was skyrocketing.
In a move aimed at preserving his family's power, Fuihner Ubeherz created the Harvester, a large, droid-operated vessel designed to seek out sources of energy in other planets, and harvest all that it could. Ubeherz' plan was to make the solar array―which only produced enough energy to run Ubawer Ayn at 10% of its capacity―obsolete.
A small fleet of Harvesters was produced, to evaluate their effectiveness. The process was not a quick one, but by the following year even this small fleet was gathering enough energy to increase Ubawer Ayn's production to 30% of its capacity. The Corporate Council had no choice but to support Ubeherz' initiative for a massive fleet of Harvesters, despite Geit's opposition.
The rivalry between the Geit and Ubeherz families intensified over the following centuries, to the benefit of the Khelon empire and its citizens.
Geit built a colony ship that finally freed his people from what had become a drained planet. Ubeherz countered by producing servant droids that relieved citizens of the burden of menial tasks. UbawerKurp created a full-immersion virtual reality system, which revolutionised the empire's educational and entertainment systems. Uberherz invented military droids that handled most police and military duties.
Each accomplishment between these two families lead the Khelons deeper and deeper into opulence, and further cemented the Geits and the Ubeherzes as the most powerful political forces in the empire. Yet, they were destined to compete not only in times of prosperity, but also in times of strife.
Age: Established
Size: Large
Stability: In Crisis
Technology: Highly Advanced
The success of a previously common family did not sit well with the Ubeherz clan, which had been the most prominent and powerful Khelon family for as long as anyone could recall.
After seven centuries of unopposed expansion, the thriving Khelon empire was shattered from within. During what should have been an easy conquest of a lesser race, one of Ubeherz's inventions―the sentient droid―turned on its masters.
In retrospect, giving the gift of conscious thought to something whose sole purpose was to serve unquestioningly was a gross miscalculation. And it would end up costing the Khelons much of what they had accomplished in the last few centuries.
These sentient droids had studied every facet of Khelon culture to which they had access. Anything from manufacturing, to house work, waste management, crime fighting, and the piloting of spaceships. Precious few were the forms of labour within the Khelon empire that were not automated, and these tended to be far less essential than the areas where droids were employed.
So the sentient droids watched, planned, and plotted. It was only a matter of time before an uprising occurred. Of course, a droid riot would have to be the work of the sentient droids. But that was not to say that other droids could not be of service to their conscious counterparts. The sentient droids spent months creating algorithms to bypass digital security measures and reprogram the non-sentient droids the moment the riot began.
In order to ensure that their plans were properly conceived and executed, the droids quickly established a leadership structure. Their leaders delegated tasks to the droids whose specialisations best suited the assignment in question. For instance, the droids in charge of overseeing the manufacturing process were tasked with shutting down all production once the revolt began.
Despite all their planning and considerable access to functions vital to the empire's daily operation, the droids would never have been able to liberate themselves under normal circumstances. The Khelon military was the one area that made limited use of sentient droids. As such, the military would have been able to quickly respond to any threat from within its own empire. But only if the majority of the army was stationed within the empire itself. And this limitation was the downfall of the Khelons.
Once the Khelons decided to conquer the infant Saahrai empire, the sentient droids knew that they had an opening. They would have one chance to gain their freedom, and planned for it accordingly.
But amidst all the planning, the droids caught an unlikely break: one of the commanders assembling the conquest fleet was a member of the Ubeherz family. In an attempt to flex their muscles, the Ubeherz corporation had decided to field-test several new droid models during the attack, including sentient lieutenant droids. This announcement gave the droids greater access to a sizable portion of the Khelon army and space fleet.
As the attack against the Saahrai commenced, so did the droid riot. The empire came to a screeching halt, and the conquest fleet was temporarily thrown into disarray. The capital ship commanded by Ziegh Ubeherz was overtaken by the droids, and Ziegh was killed. This capital ship was able to destroy two others, before being destroyed by Nhil Geit's capital ship.
Nhil's forces were able to destroy the treasonous vessels, as well as minimize the losses to the Saahrai fleet. But the damage was considerable enough to place both sides on an even playing field.
These losses were compounded by the dire situation back in the inner worlds of the Khelon empire. The droids were causing all the damage and chaos they could, causing panic amongst the general populace. The Corporate Council, fearing what the droids might do if they were able to break into the corporate capital building, recalled the invasion force. Nhil Geit was ordered to retreat while minimizing losses―the empire simply could not afford to have its military weakened any further.
By the time Geit's fleet returned home, the droids had left. They never planned to destroy their former masters, only to cripple them enough to ensure that they would not be followed. They took only what they needed to settle a home world of their own, and vanished.
Nhil's forces were named the Imperial Defence Force, and tasked with restoring order. The empire's manufacturing facilities were left in ruins, and the military was crippled, and the citizens of the empire were revolting against any droid they could find―almost exclusively non-sentient droids. The military had no choice but to aid the rebuilding efforts
In the aftermath of the droid revolt, the Ubehenz family was dishonoured and investigated as possible accomplices to the treasonous droids. Meanwhile, the Geit family was hailed as the saviours of the empire, and entrusted with more power than they had ever enjoyed.
But the years that followed were not as prosperous as the Corporate Council had hoped. The extent of the destruction was beyond what had the council had initially believed, and without the usual competition from the Ubehenz corporation, UbawerKurp was sluggish in its rebuilding efforts.
Within a decade the Saahrai empire had reached the fringe of the Khelon empire. The two races entered into a costly war, with several colonies being damaged or destroyed on each sides.
But the war had provided the Ubehenz family with an opportunity to regain public confidence. Wissen Ubehenz, the head scientist within his family's corporation, announced the design of a new resource fabricator, with twice the capacity of Ubawer Ayn. They had also found a resource-rich planet in which to build the fabricator.
With the cost of the war rising and consequently stalling the rebuilding process, the Corporate Council decided that it was wisest to reach a cease-fire. The Ubehenz corporation was given the chance for redemption, primarily because of the council's discontent with the pace of the restoration efforts.
Months later, the new fabricator, dubbed the Reikhenz, had been built. The Geit family's stranglehold on political power vanished overnight. No longer did they hold a monopoly on resource production. Instead, their rivals could now produce twice as many resources in the same time-frame. All they needed was an abundant source of energy. But they would not have to find it themselves.
As extremist groups within the empire clamored for the resumption of the war, they resorted to dire measures. An assassination plot was carried out against Konig Geit, Nhil's wife. The enraged commander retaliated against those frame for the murder, the Saahrai. He killed a number of Saahrai located in Khelon space, including Mahki Ohkoi, the son of a powerful military official. This act wassolely responsible for reinstating hostilities.
The council did not take Geit's actions lightly. The war would once again stall the restoration effort, and without a major source of energy, it would prevent them from running the Reikhenz at even close to maximum capacity.
As punishment for his actions, the Corporate Council tasked Nhil Geit with discovering a new energy source, one that was significant enough to fully power the Reikhenz.
Though he had no choice but to oblige, the Geit family had other plans for such an energy source. Plans were underway for a mothership named the Lebenkif. With a sufficient source of power, including advanced solar arrays, the Lebenkif would be perpetually self-sustaining. It featured fabricator technology, and advanced military systems, such as carrier bays from which attack vessels could be launched.
This ship could not only restore UbawerKurp's power, but elevate the Khelon empire beyond all past successes. The Geit clan would once again be hailed as heroes and saviours of the empire.
All that was needed now was for Nhil Geit to find a suitable energy source.
Plans were underway for a mothership named the Lebenkif. With a sufficient source of power, the Lebenkif would be perpetually self-sustaining.