<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">United Humanity</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>United Humanity</strong><br/>The exact location of the human homeworld has been lost to history. Most scholars believe that mankind evolved on a single planet and spread out into the stars hundreds of thousands of years ago. Since the vast empires have risen, fallen, and risen once more, spreading humanity across the stars. Recently in response to contact with two alien civilizations, the normally disorganized human colonies have agreed to band together for mutual protection.<br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>The Great Diaspora</li><li>Bureaucratic nightmare</li><li>Humanity Fuck yeah!</li></ul></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Che`e hives</div><div class="spoiler_body">At the tip of the spiral arm lie the Che'e, (Pronounced Chi-E with a short pause between both vowel sounds) a race of cyberneticaly enhanced bugs. In contrast to the usual space bug stereotypes found in bad sci-fi movies, the Che'e are not a hive mind, not even a collective. The analogy they prefer to use to describe there civilization to humans is that of a Feudal monarchy. Althugh the average Che'e is a mindless worker or soldier incapable of higher level thinking or reproduction. The higher caste, drones and queens, are fully sentient and highly individualistic with a rich culture that evolved from complex mating rituals.<br/>The Che'e live in a constant state of low level warfare, with each hive competing for resources. Boundaries between hives are usually determined where neither side is unable to form a strategic advantage. To them, not taking something another person is not actively defending with force, would be impolite.<br/>This naturally caused problems when they first contacted humanity. What the Che'e considered to be fair competition, the humans interpreted as an aggressive act. The battle quickly escalated as the Chee invaded several colonies and enslaved the local populations. Eventually humanity, desperate to stop the alien advance, Glassed several habitable planets with fusion and antimatter bombs. Rendering previously bountiful systems uninhabitable.<br/>The Che'e were stunned by this act of mass destruction. The concept of total war or strategic weapons was utterly alien to them. War was a way to secure resources and establish dominance. What was the point of a war that destroyed resources and left behind nothing to dominate? A peace treaty was signed within days, although tensions between the two races remain high, and nearly a million humans still live in Che'e captivity.<br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Cybernetic Exoskeletons</li><li>Alien Chivalry</li><li>Enslavers</li></ul></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Kataylans</div><div class="spoiler_body"><div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/IM9JP.jpg)</div>In centuries long past most of the humanoid felines of the Kataylans lived simpler lives. Born as an engineered species to serve the old civilizations, the Kataylans had lived for centuries as a slave species with little understanding of the advanced technology surrounding them. In the old civilization's final years, they gathered six thousand of their Kataylan daughters to teach all they could. When the time came they returned the Kataylans to the world of Tiradath. As the ancient civilizations left, the Kataylans were left with fragments of their creator's knowledge and technology and in the coming centuries, they would build upon those secrets. Towering buildings and sprawling cities were forged across their home world, and in a mere matter of a millenia, they would expand into the stars, conquoring their star system and moving to their nearby systems of Helen, Siren, and Anor.<br/><br/>Kataylans themselves are a species of female humanoids adorned by feline ears and tails. By nature they are slender, shapely, and nimble. Standing barely over four feet tall with slightly lengthened limbs and rounded faces. Their skin color consists of varying shades and tints of brown like humans, however their hair and fur vary vastly into very vibrant colors occurring naturally. Due to their nature, Kataylans are capable with mating with numerous species around the galaxy. Humans and Che'e among them, they also are capable of mating with numerous non-sentient species from other worlds, and nearly every creature populating their home world of Tiradath.<br/><br/>Kataylan Aspects:<br/><strong>Sisters:</strong> The Kataylan species is a wholly female species of feline humanoids that inhabit the Tiradath Imperial Space. They share a subconscious link to one another, and easily empathize from one to another. On top of this, their bodies release strong pheromones that affect numerous creatures beyond their own species, often luring creatures into mating with them.<br/><strong>Engineered Nature:</strong> Kataylans share numerous similarities to feline creatures, sensitive ears and noses, vision in low light, sharp fangs, and a remarkable sense of balance. In addition to this, they have been engineered with long, prehensile tails, eyes that provide luminescence in complete darkness, rough and nearly a foot-long prehensile tongue, and a strong subconscious curiosity.<br/><strong>Daughters of the Empire:</strong> The the Empire of Tiradath is a structured and relatively peaceful land. Protected by a standing military, largely operating within space, air, and the ground. Citizens of the empire are freely fed and housed, and decently educated, though require a two year mandatory military service whenever they come of age.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Telipaths</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>Telipaths.</strong><br/>A small percentage of humanity (about 1 in one million or less on most worlds) has the potential to communicate telepathically. Telipaths are indispensable for space travel for two reasons. Firstly, being able to detect the presence of a slipknot and coax it open requires a telepathic navigator (Leading some to suspect that the slipstream is actualy a living being.) And secondly, Telepathic communications travel faster than light and are unrestricted by distance. Telipaths can communicate with each other even on other planets if they form a connection with each other by focusing on a common mental image. Having met the other telipath helps a lot, as does having an emotional connection with him/her, but all that is necessary is for both parties to focus on an agreed upon symbol. At T2 and higher it becomes possible for telipaths to serve as relays for encrypted digital information by stimulating parts one telipath's brain electronically after a connection is formed, and observing the resulting change in the other's via MRI. Both telipaths will perceive the information as static however and this becomes physically and mentally exhausting.<br/>As far as anybody can tell Telepathy does not allow for Mind reading, telipaths can only broadcast thoughts for other telipaths to hear, the private thoughts of others are inaudible to them and non telipaths are unable to project thoughts outside of there heads. If there was somebody who could pry into the thoughts of others, or send his thoughts into the minds of normal people, there existence would probably be covered up by shadowy organizations, the existence of which cannot be confirmed or denied  ;)<br/>Mechanically, Psionics is represented by a new Skill called "Telepathy", The skill is rolled to make contact with another telipath, it also determines how much digitized information they can transmit before becoming exhausted. When Navigating a starship through the slipstream, the navigation skill is capped by the Telepathy skill. If the character has the Military grade stunt for Telepathy, they can attack the mind of anybody they are in telepathic contact with. This is an opposed roll that does damage to the losers Composure track.<br/>Other psychic powers, if they existed, would be represented by stunts as explained in the rulebook and SRD.<br/>The following aspects also apply to all psychic phenomena.<br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Staring into the void</li><li>Between two points</li><li>One in a million</li></ul></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Synths</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>Synths</strong><br/>Making a machine capable of sapient thought and self awareness is possible from T1 onwards. At T1 such a machine is a cryo-cooled quantum supercomputer the size of a room. At T2 it shrinks down to something that could fit on a desk. At T3 a mind can fit on a single microchip, and at T4 sentience can be embedded in the very fabric of space itself. A mind constructed for a specific purpose, while still retaining free will and creativity, is highly useful to any technological civilization. At T1 and higher most ships are at least partly computer controlled, and at T2 and higher, most civilizations consider sentient computers to legally be citizens with similar rights and responsibilities as organic humans. Instead of "Artificial Intelligence" or "robot" which are considered derogatory. Most machines prefer to be called "Synthetic Intelligences" often abbreviated as "SI" or "Synth." Mech or Mecha is also used to refer to mechanical bodies controlled by a Synthetic intelligence. And "Drone" is used to refer to a Synth designed for military use.<br/>Mechanically all Synths have a stunt called "Synthetic Intelligence", this allows them to download there minds into mechanical bodies, (A normal android body costs as much as a spacesuit and has similar physical capability to a normal human, more advanced ones for combat and industry are built as powered armor.) and Man multiple stations in space combat without the -1 penalty for multitasking. Before T4, synths are incapable of telepathy, and thus cannot take the skill. All Sentient machines are also effected by the following aspects.<br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Organics provide the ends, Synthetics provide the means</li><li>Check your privilege meat-bag</li><li>Harder Better Faster Stronger</li></ul></div></div>