Alien Races

Zentraedi

The Zentraedi are a human-like alien race, genetically engineered centuries ago by the Robotech Masters of Tirol. As the Robotech Masters began to form their empire, they needed labor to mine the resources of the other worlds in the Fantoma system. To that end, the Robotech Masters had their scientists engineer a race of workers. These workers were similar to the native Tirolians (essentially human), but were engineered to be giants, ten times the size of a normal human. The Zentraedi were also engineered to be incredibly strong and resilient, a full-sized Zentraedi is even capable of surviving exposed to the vacuum of space for short periods. Eventually, however, the Robotech Masters found another use for their race of laborers. As the Robotech Empire expanded, there arose a need for an army for greater conquests, and to deal with any unknown threats. The Robotech Masters took their giants and erased their memories, implanting a false history of the Zentraedi as a race of great warriors.

The Zentraedi warriors were created fully grown, programmed at birth with the knowledge they required to serve as soldiers of the Robotech Masters. To prevent a possible revolt, the Robotech Masters ensured that the Zentraedi were allowed no culture of their own. In fact, the giant warriors were taught to fear culture and avoid it when encountered. As a result, the Zentraedi were generally used for assault and conquest, almost never as an occupying force. Both male and female Zentraedi were engineered, but were kept segregated into separate fleets. Contact between the two sexes, Zentran (male) and Meltran (female), was restricted to senior officers only, and then only when elements of the two fleets were on the same mission.

The Zentraedi were the first alien race encountered by Earth. A Zentraedi fleet under the command of General Breetai was sent to retrieve the lost SDF-1 from Earth. This led to the events of the First Robotech War, during which Breetai's fleet was frequently exposed to Earth culture. As a result, Breetai and his soldiers were considered contaminated by the Zentraedi leader Dolza and were to be destroyed. Rather than submit, Breetai turned on Dolza and allied his fleet with Earth. In the resulting final battle, the majority of the Zentraedi were destroyed. After the war, Breetai and his soldiers underwent a process called micronization that reduced the giants to human size and they were assimilated in Earth culture. Some assimilated more easily than others, usually those who managed to form friendships with humans. Some Zentraedi even took human partners and several of these pairing have resulted in Human-Zentraedi children. Of those who could not assimilate, the majority went renegade and formed terrorist groups or joined existing factions. This led to the conflicts collectively known as the Malcontent Uprisings (~2018-2020). By the end of these conflicts most of the renegade Zentraedi left on Earth had been killed or imprisoned. Some rogue full-sized Zentraedi fleets (both Zentran and Meltran) still exist out in space, but they are scattered far and wide and encountered only rarely.

Genetically, the Zentraedi are almost indistinguishable from humans. The only noticeable physical difference between a micronized Zentraedi and a human are the wider range of unusual skin and hair coloring among the Zentraedi. Unusual skin tones include, grey, blue, green and purple are not uncommon; nor are green, blue and purple hair. Even micronized, the Zentraedi are generally stronger and more resilient than the average human. Full size Zentraedi could live for centuries, but it is still too early to know if this also applies to micronized Zentraedi, or whether Human-Zentraedi hybrids will exhibit this sort of longevity.

Many Zentraedi, having been soldiers all their lives, continue to serve in a military role as members of the Expeditionary Forces. The micronized Zentraedi and the first generation of Human-Zentreadi hybrid children make up the largest group of aliens working in the United Earth Expeditionary Forces and living amongst humans on the colony worlds.

Tirolian

The Tirolians are nearly identical to humans, even on a genetic level. Theories abound as to how this is possible, ranging from parallel evolution to a common alien ancestor but nothing is known for sure. The Tirolians appear to be native to their homeworld, a moon of the gas giant Fantoma in the Valivarre system. Once the Tirolians achieved space travel they became a race of techno-scavengers, taking alien artifacts they discovered and adapting them to their own use. The scavenging efforts of the Tirolians led to rapid scientific and engineering advances, leading to a society where scientists occupied to highest castes. Biogenetic advances further transformed the society with the advent of genetic engineering and cloning. One of the great earlier triumphs of Tirolian scientists was the creation of the Zentraedi. Tirolian society changed again when the scientist Zor discovered the Invid Flower of Life on the planet Optera. With the flower, Zor was able to develop Protoculture, a nearly unlimted source of energy. From this discovery was born the science of Robotechnology and the highest caste of scientists named themselves the Robotech Masters. From the there the Tirolians went from scavengers to conquerors, carving out an empire. With the Zentraedi army at the vanguard, the Robotech Empire was born. To prevent any other race from discovering the secrets of Protoculture, the Robotech Masters had the planet Optera defoliated, eliminating the Flow of Life from that world. This act would eventually seal their doom.

The Robotech Masters soon discovered that although the Flower of Life would grow on other worlds, the seeds from these worlds were not suitable for the production of more Protoculture. As a result, the Masters sent Zor out to seed more and more worlds, hoping to find one on which the Flower would grow properly. Meanwhile, the Invid, the natives of Optera, had built a mighty army with which to take revenge on the Robotech Masters and launched an attack against the Empire.

Ashamed of what had been done with his discovery, Zor destroyed all copies of his research and, hosrtly before his death in an Invid attack, sent the last functioning Protoculture matrix (hidden in his battle fortress) to an unknown world to keep it from the Robotech Masters. Enraged, the Robotech Masters dispatched the Zentraedi to track down the missing fortress, but this left the Empire undefended. Soon world after world fell to the Invid horde. When the fortress was finally located, the Zentraedi failed to retrieve it. The desperate Robotech Masters then chose to abandon their homeworld to seek out the battle fortress themselves. The Masters took with them their entire space fleet, all the members of the ruling castes, and most of able-bodied populace. Left behind on Tirol were the lower classes, the elderly, the infirm, and the few radical scientists who had defied the Masters. Left essentially undefended, Tirol soon fell to the Invid. The occupation did not last long, though, as the Invid occupation was soon followed by the timely arrival of the Pioneer mission of the Robotech Expeditionary Forces from Earth. The REF was able to free Tirol from the Invid and form an alliance with the surviving Tirolians.

Today, the average Tirolian is a survivor of those left behind to be conquered by the Invid. The Robotech Masters and most of the ruling caste were killed at Earth during the Second Robotech War, though some civilians (mostly clones of the original populace taken from Tirol) survived and the majority were repatriated to Tirol; many of them are treated poorly by the native Tirolians, though. As a society, Tirol is starting to rebuild though the populace has been greatly humbled. Many are still trying to come to grips with the loss of prestige and power, much as it must have been for the Romans after their empire collapsed, though perhaps occupied Germany after the end of World War II would be a better analogy. The Tirolians still regard the Expeditionary Force as their liberators, though, and and pleased to have the assistance as they rebuild their world and society.

Most Tirolians remain on Tirol to rebuild, though many have volunteered to join the Expeditionary Forces to help fight against the Invid.

Sentinels Races

• Karbaran
  The natives of Karbara are large, ursine humanoids. Though tall and powerfully built, the Karbarans are actually known more for their engineering and mechanical skills. Since the liberation of their world, most Karabarans are helping with the reconstruction there. Of those Karabarans that live off-world, most can be found in the Expeditionary Force orbital shipyards and Deep Space Station factories assisting with construction of the new REF fleet.

• Garudan
  Primitive and tribal, the natives of Garuda have little technology. These vulpine humanoids are grazers who live in harmony with their biosphere. The unique atmosphere of Garuda keeps the natives in a constant state of higher consciousness, similar to those experienced by shamans of some native tribes on Earth. Because of this, the Garudans live life in both the physical and metaphysical world at the same time, something akin to the Dreamtime of the indigenous Australian tribes. Garudans have no natural enemies on their homeworld, as the atmospheric properties allow all life to co-exist peacefully. The atmosphere is also their primary means of nourishment, so the few who travel off-world must keep a steady supply on hand or they will perish. Attempts to synthesize the atmosphere to allow more Garudans to travel off-world have thus far ended in failure.

• Haydonite
  The reclusive Haydonites appear to be some form of cybernetic organism, but this is only speculation. Aside from the pair of Haydonites that were part of the Sentinels, none have been encountered away from their homeworld. At the request of the Haydonites details about them and their homeworld are kept secret, so much so that many members of the Expeditionary Forces do not even know they exist, except as rumor. In exchange for this secrecy, the Haydonites have been providing technological assistance to REF scientists.

• Perytonite
  According to the stories told, no two Perytonites look alike. Centuries of warfare have resulted in population that is heavily mutated. Essentially humanoid, Perytonites exhibit a wide range of unusual features including horns, tails, additional limbs and odd body shapes. Like the stories say, few exhibit the exact same mutations, leading to a species with a broad array of body types. Because of the cloak of mystery that surrounds their devastated world, rumors abound of Perytonites possessing strange and magical abilities. Of the few Perytonites that have been examined by Expeditionary Force scientists, those that do possess "supernatural" abilities tend to exhibit minor psychic or psychokinetic powers, the result of mutations rather than sorcery.

• Praxian
  The Amazonian Praxians are the result of a genetic experiment by an earlier civilization. The entire Praxian race is are human-looking females who have evolved into a society of warrior women similar to the Amazons of Greek myth. Reproduction is achieved by means of artificial insemination from one of the machines left behind by the mysterious race that originally created the Praxians. The Praxians themselves thus consider every child as a gift from the gods. This machine appears to maintain a gene bank, and also ensures that all children are female. Since the planet's liberation from the Invid many human males have settled on Praxis so a new generation is being created the "old-fashioned" way. So far these Human-Praxian children have all been female. Because of their warrior nature, many Praxians have volunteered for service in the Expeditionary Forces, making them the second most common alien race in the REF (behind the Zentraedi).

• Spherian
  Next to the Haydonites, the Spherians are the most exotic of the Sentinels races. These crystalline beings evolved from a space-borne virus that crashed on their world in a meteorite. The virus thrived in the crystalline world and evolved into a complex neural network. The Spherians are quite literally made of crystal, their bodies molded from the material that makes up their world. Due to the influence of alien races, Spherians have adopted a humanoid form, even going so far as to give themselves distinctly male or female appearances even though as a race they are asexual. Reproduction is achieved through a budding process, as a new Spherian is literally grown from its parent, emerging fully grown though more jagged and unformed. Spherians deliberately sculpt their bodies into smooth forms to differentiate themselves from the craggy landscape of their homeworld. Perhaps their most unusual trait, however, is the Spherian ability to merge back into the crystal surface of their world and re-form their body elsewhere. When the Invid invaded Spheris many of the natives simply chose to disappear into the planetary crust. Since traveling off-world, many Spherians have discovered that they can also merge with other planetary bodies, provided the surface crust contains sufficient crystalline minerals to maintain their consciousness. When they emerge, they can sculpt a new body from the surrounding material (again, assuming it has a compatible chemical makeup.) Most Spherians choose to remain on their homeworld. The few curious enough to leave can usually be found as tourists or as part of exploration efforts. Spherian culture revolves around crystals and they are experts at light and laser-based technology. The race's one vulnerability is a dependency on light; when in dark or dim environments their bodies tend to become brittle.

Invid