Myzx

CLEA DATA FILE

Race Identity:

• Myzx

Appearance:

• Humanoid. The race has many different “appearances” depending on whether they are Android, Synthetic or worker.
  • Early android Myxz are very machine like in appearance. Though they are not as dextrous as later models they are extremely tough. Later generations took on a more organic appearance until the only way to differentiate them from synthetics was the surface colour which is typically metallic.
  • Synthetic Myzx generally resemble the race they were “converted” from. They have fine motor control of their joints and are movement is more fluidic. Whilst many look “human” this is down to parallel evolution. Many alien races share physical appearances to others despite the fact they are not directly linked. As with the Android Myzx there are variations in form due their generation. In older models the “conversion” left their outer surfaces quite weak and so armoured “clothing” is worn to improve protection. New generations are a lot stronger and the conversion is capable of recreating hair.
  • Synthetic Myzx can also be equipped with external “equipment” to function better in a specific role. In Adroid Myzx such adaptations were build inside. Though the adaptations alter their external appearance to be given an “upgrade” is considered a great honour as they can serve their people better.
  • Worker Myzx keep their appearance the same as before being conquered. The only change is a small implant inserted close to the base of the neck.

Attributes:

• Life span – unknown. Machine parts can be updated and biological shells replaced. Individuals could be as old as the Eopua.
• Stronger, faster then the average human male and can repair themselves quickly
• Technologically advanced

Interaction with Humans and Other Races:

• Outside of local cluster very little is known other than their habit of conquering others to use as slave labour and for resources.
• Eopua consider the greatest threat to the territory they protect. Without their constant vigilance they fear the Myzx would invade in order to enslave all the races in the local cluster in order to take resources.

Society:

• The Myzx have a royal ruling family the the remainder is a militaristic ordered regime. Loyalty and efficiency at a task ensures promotion. Dissension and disloyalty can be punishable with death.
• Android and Synthetic Myzx take an equal place in Myzx society and neither one is considered more important. Both classes though are considered superior to the slave worker caste.

Notes/History

When others talk about the Myzx they generally refer to them as  a machine race of android beings. However these are not the true Myzx for they were an entirely organic and practically a different species. The Myzx themselves call their organic counterparts Ancestral Myzx or the Progenitors.

Races who know of the Myzx history say they were once an prideful people who excelled at science and organisation. When they set out to explore away from the worlds they  saw other primitive races  with greater resources and looked upon them with disdain. Powerful and arrogant the Myzx simply chose to take what they wanted because they thought of themselves as untouchable.

Rather than trade, like more civilised people the Myzx simply invaded neighbouring territories, conquered the opposition and then absorbed their territory. At no time did the Myzx leadership think that inferior beings would ever challenged their military. That proved to be their undoing.

Fearful of their power and aware they could not stop the Myzx should they choose to attack, several alien races decided to form an alliance. They combined resources and decided to deal a significant blow to the Myzx empire, they created a biological weapon which would only affect the Myzx and made plans to attack the Myzx homeworld and neighbouring colonies. Since much of the military was involved in expanding the empire those worlds had little protection. Military commanders had down played the possibility of an enemy attack and this allowed their enemies to successfully deploy the weapons

Billions died in the initial attack and several colonies were obliterated but millions were “saved” by the use of technology. Almost the entire race went into hibernation via sleeper pods. These would later become known as the Ancestral Myzx or Progenitors.

There were not enough to save everyone by that means so the remainder of the race had to keep themselves alive via constant medical supervision in order to stave of the effects of the bioweapon. This meant each one of them faced a slow lingering death. With so many dead the Myzx military wanted revenge and retaliated, destroying the races that had created the weapon. Blinded by anger Myzx scientists backed the attacks because they believed they could find a cure. Only after the other races were wiped out did they realise they had overestimated their abilities . With none of the alien scientists who created the weapon left alive, the Myzx had destroyed their only hope.

Exploration was now the only way to proceed. Not knowing how long this would take and the chances that the disease would consume them before reaching the goal, the military took charge of everybody. Commanders decided that order was the best way to prevent chaos. Almost overnight Myzx society was transformed into a military chain of command. Those at the bottom had little rights and simply followed orders for the “good of society”. Daring to challenge that was tantamount to treason and the only way to climb he hierarchy was through loyalty and dedication to their work.

Though the regime was harsh it did work and the Myzx were able to keep going for a lot longer than scientists ever thought was possible. With no cure to be found locally the race started to spread out in the galaxy expanding the search. And weaker races they encountered were defeated. This allowed them to expand technology and medical knowledge by taking it from other races.

Though a cure was not forthcoming the Myzx scientists amassed enough knowledge that they found a way of transferring the consciousness of a person into a machine. Though the first “machines” were quite crude they served the purpose for without an organic body they were free of the disease.

Returning home they transformed all the Progenitors into living machines. Despite still having the means to think like an organic, the Myzx had by now embraced the fact their new forms, and now that they had saved their race it was time to build a new empire.

Rebuilding the Empire

The military though was not willing to just hand back power to those whom had been in stasis. Their way of controlling the people had been key to their survival as a race and that it should continue. The military leaders though felt that there had to be some compromise as tradition needed to be honoured. Without tradition there was a danger in their people losing their identity. For this reason they decided to reinstate the royal family.

Before the collapse of the empire the leaders of the Myzx had long since sidelined the royal family, and reduced them to a ceremonial rule. The military though acknowledged that in the past when the Royals had the true power they were a strong people. They theorised that if the Royals had been in control  then their people would never have been defeated. Now that the Myzx were about to enter a new chapter in their existence the military wanted the  Royals to lead them. Ever since the military decreed that the Myzx have been led as a whole by either the   Emperor or Empress, whilst lesser Royals split the leadership duties between them as the ruler sees fit.

With new bodies, the Myzx were no longer tied back to the need for food and water. They did however required other resources to maintain their new forms. Whilst over time they improved the bodies and they started to resemble more organic forms they were still machines and could still break down.

After they had drained their own territory of resources they Myzx once more headed out to the stars. Since the military did not trust “outsiders” the only way to acquire what they needed was to conquer other races and absorb them into the empire rather than trade for resources. This had set them on the path to destruction in the first place but now as a military regime, the decisions would include tactical considerations.

Developing the Conquest Plan

Whilst resources were vital for the Myzx, obtaining them would require work. Since their own people were small in number, strategists suggested they make use of conquered populations by turning them into slave labour.

Already the Myzx had developed technology that which translated words so “aliens” could understand the Myzx and vice-versa. One part was attached to where an alien produced speech and converted the sounds to allow them to “speak” another language whilst a small device placed in the ear translated incoming speech.  The purpose of such devices was simply to allow conquered races to understand what the Myzx were telling them without the continual use of force. However the devices could not make a conquered race do any work for the Myzx and most would try to rebel at the first opportunity. However the Myzx scientists had a solution for that.

During their experiments into placing the consciousness of a Myzx citizen into an android body scientists had first come up with an implant to facilitate the transfer. That idea was later abandoned with the invention of “transfer machines” but the scientists who created the implants felt that the technology could be adapted.

The Emperor authorised a trial and the Myzx military found a remote isolated colony belonging to the Kraal and harvested the people. It took many more experiments and the loss of many of those alien lives but the scientists were able to produce a unit that  could “reprogram” some of the individuals personal drives and turn them into productive workers. Should they prove resistant to the artificial mind alteration then the same device could also inflict punishment. Though the technology worked the scientists could not guarantee it would work on every race the Myzx encountered.

Having already ascertained the Kraal were a weak people technology wise the Myzx now invaded their territory and in a relatively short space of time had seized control over all of them.

Heeding the scientists warnings, before conquering the next race that stood in the path of the Myzx, the Emperor took a cautious approach and devised a fool proof conquest plan. What followed was so successful that the pattern that would be repeated continuously and become quite well known to other races who wished to avoid the Myzx.

The first part of the plan involved sending in small waves of scout ships. They would access tactical status of the opposition.  If the Myzx had better technology  or the opposition lacked adequate tactical power then stage two would be initiated.

This involved collecting a “sample” of the population. Captives would then be studied to test the effectiveness of the implant and any modifications made. This procedure was exactly the same as was done on the Kraal. In their case the tests were successful and they became victims but if an alien species turned out to be too resistant to the implants then the second stage would be deemed a failure.

If and only if both initial stages of the plan were successful the Emperor would order a full scale invasion.

In the beginning if an invasion was abandoned due to a failure of stage two, the fleet would simply move on. When this happened quite regularly the scientists adopted a new strategy and held onto “samples”. The purpose behind this was to retry the tests if technology of the implants improved. The Myzx fleet could then return to a previously abandoned campaign.

Sometimes if a new alien species was unlucky enough to happen across the Myzx fleet, they would be kept and tested in the same manner. In theory if the tests on random encounters proved successful the Myzx would already have completed stage two before actually finding the territory belonging to the species which might be ripe for invasion at a later time. “Random” alien species were also a bonus as it gave scientists plenty of extra and varied biological samples to work with even if the implant tests were not successful.

Once a population was conquered any “samples” connected with that particular race were no longer needed. Until that time scientists often kept their catalogue of alien species in stasis. As well as keeping them alive for longer it reduced the resources needed to maintain them.

However “random” species that were later discovered to have come from a technologically superior race would often be discarded at the science council’s discretion. Theoretically if an alien race developed technology at the same rate as them, then even if the implants could be made to work then it would still be impossible to complete stage one of the conquest plan. Keeping such captives, even in stasis was considered a huge waste of resources unless there was a significant reason to retain them.

Worker Class

Unlike a lot of advanced races which had progressed beyond the need to slavery the Myzx have not. When it come to menial tasks many  turn to machines to perform such work. For a machine race to employ organics for the same purpose is an irony but to the Myzx they see an advantage.

Unlike themselves organics required very little maintenance. They are also easily replaced with individuals from other conquered races and organics are versatile, able to operate in a wide range of environs.

The slaves represent the lowest level of Myzx society although the Myzx refer to them as the worker caste. With an ever growing population the Myzx eventually came to a point where they simply could not manage. This was when the Emperor decided that loyal workers could be given higher positions by becoming “chosen” whereupon they would received an artificial body.

The chance to escape the hard rigours of the worker class is desirable by many and they strive to be rewarded in this manner despite the fact their own people would see them as traitors.

Later Myzx Generations

Whilst the first generations of Myzx were all androids with the personalities of their previous organic selves, later Myzx generations have come from the worker caste, slaves which have become “chosen”.

Whereas the original Myzx androids contained an exact duplicate of their original consciousness when it came to transferring the consciousness of “chosen” ones, scientists decided to take additional precautions. Just as the implants fitted to slaves tried to adjust the brain patterns of the individual to discourage dissension, when chosen ones were given new bodies and moved up the Myzx hierarchy additional alterations were added during the transference. This made the individual  supremely loyal to the Myzx cause and most of their  “organic” memories were “adjusted” to support that .

Following the procedure a new “chosen” Myzx would be filled with the desire to do their best for the empire whilst at the same time have no feelings for the race they had once belonged to. Being now classed as equal to “true” Myzx meant to climb the ranks the same way other Myzx did, through loyalty, honour and hard work.

With advanced in technology Myzx scientists continuously improved the android form. Whereas they had once been clunky machines which were prone to problems, with each new generation they became more organic in appearance.

When resources were in good supply a Myzx could be offered a transfer to a newer body. Most would accept the offer but it was not always the case for some Myzx actually developed a preference for older tech bodies and wish to remain with their current body despite older machines having greater reliability issues.

Eventually the Myzx developed technology that could literally transform an organic body into a living machine which they called “Synthetics”.  Unlike a mind transfer to an android body, when a   Myzx  is offered the chance of “conversion” the mind actually remains in its current body. The organic body though is broken apart cell by cell and rebuilt with advanced polymers. This means once the procedure is started it cannot be reverse. Also due to the fact the technology was developed after the “true” Myzx were all turned into androids, Synthetic Myzx are all created from “chosen” ones.

The time to perform a “conversion” is exactly the same time a “chosen” one would have the mind placed into an android for the first time since the process requires an organic body. As with the mind transfer, during the conversion process similar mind manipulations are installed.

Perfecting the “conversion” process took quite some time and many died during the early trials. The first successes did not produce complete facsimile of the original organic body but a sort of cross between a synthetic and android being.   Many of these unique prototypes still exist in Myzx society.

Though the intention was to completely phase out the androids in the later generation of Myzx the Emperor’s advisers realised there was still a need for both types of “machine” in their race. Androids often made better fighting forces and work supervisors since they were far stronger and more resilient to damage. Conversely though Synthetics were weaker they  have greater dexterity and finer motor control.

Since the race required both for survival the Myzx Emperor ruled that both should be used by their people. That meant when a worker was “chosen” they could be turned into either a synthetic or an android. Whichever option they were given depended on the needs of the Empire at the time.

Encountering the Eopua

After many conquests the Myzx arrived at the local cluster, drawn here after detecting valuable resources. Upon reaching out galaxy they found the Eopua, a formidable opponent and thus their way barred temporary stopping the growth of territory under their control.

As per the Conquest Plan  the Myzx sent in several scout ships to gather intelligence on the Eopua defences. Once past the perimeter they learned that the Eopua protected many races which were well suited to being added to their regime a fact proven by the tests. The main problem was they could not find any weakness in the Eopua. This meant that technically stage one of the plan failed and an invasion could not be initiated.

However one curious fact the scouts learned was that the Eopua seemed intent on protecting an “experiment” involving a species known as humans. Thinking this might a weakness and maybe a key to defeating the Eopua the Myzx decided to acquire some samples and succeeded in snatching some of the “modified” humans as well as some “normal” ones for comparison.

The Myzx had already sent scouts to the system in the past but the Eopua had intercepted and destroyed they ships (unaware that one had crash landed on Earth where its dead occupant would be used centuries later by Dr Pierre Mercer to “create” the first Raider.)

As with their initial incursions, the arrival in the Sol system was detected. Knowing about the Myzx conquest plan, the Eopua had been content to let the scout ships leave, shepherding the intruders away from Earth. The Eopua though were never aware that in one of the incursion attempts one of the scout ships had got into difficulty and had ended up crash landing whereupon its dead occupant would be used centuries later by Dr Pierre Mercer to “create” the first Raider.

Content that the could easily deal with the Myzx, the Eopua were not bothered about the latest attempt to visit Earth so instead of destroying the ship they decided that they should simply “encourage” it to leave. As far as the Eopua patrol was concerned, the Myzx was simply spying and checking the Eopua tactical status.

Things though took a decidedly hostile turn when instead of spying on the Eopua the Myzx scout ship landed on Earth and kidnapped several humans. interfering with their experiment was not going to be tolerated. The Myzx were one of the reasons the Eopua had set about creating the Alpha humans in the first place since the galaxy would need protecting from the machine race once they were gone.

The Eopua dispatched a group of ships and sent it after the Myzx scout that had visited to Earth. They could not intercept it before it left Eopua space but that was not going to stop the grey aliens and so followed the scout until it reached the advance Myzx fleet hiding just beyond the border.

Without warning the Eopua attacked. The Myzx fleet responded but all they could do was buy enough time for the scout ship to escape before they were totally decimated. By the time the ship reached the safety of Myzx space the Emperor was already receiving reports of massive casualties and the fact the Eopua had suffered little.  For the first time in their history the Myzx, the  Emperor ordered the remaining ships of the advanced fleet to  retreat.

Though stage 1 on the Conquest Plan stated that an invasion would not occur if the enemy was found technically or tactically superior and the Eopua was both, the admiral of the advanced fleet was not held to blame for the losses since it was the Eopua that had been the aggressors in the Admiral’s opinion.

The Myzx would later learn that the Eopua as a race were dying out and the humans had been selected as their replacement. The cargo they had stolen was therefore seen as being even more valuable. If the humans could be made compatible with their technology then it was only a matter of playing the waiting game. Being long lived themselves this was not a major problem.

With the Eopua gone and the humans defeated then the entire galaxy would belong to the Myzx. What the scientists learned through studying the captives was that whilst “normal” humans were compatible with Myzx implants, Alpha humans were able to reject them. Of particular note to the Myzx was that Alpha’s seemed to have special abilities.

Trying to perform tests on these individuals proved next to impossible until the Myzx scientists stumbled upon the same “weakness” as their Earth counterparts had done years earlier,  namely a small electrical charge at a specific frequency could stop an Alpha using their abilities.

Though the Myzx chose to simply wait out until the Eopua met their fate, and would not return to our galaxy until that happened, they did not realise that in their battle the grey aliens would deal the Myzx another blow in a most unexpected way.

Rise and Fall of the Resistance Movement

Having perfected mind alterations on “Chosen” ones whether they became Synthetics or Androids, it never entered the thoughts of the Myzx scientists that such programming could be undone.  By chance the Eopua managed it with the energy weapons on their ships.

In the months following the battle a few of the Myzx survivors started to regain some of their  original “unchanged” personalities. This led them to develop feelings for their own races which they saw being used as slaves. Up until the battle those Myzx would not have thought twice about punishing a slave that was once a member of their own race but that changed. Digusted at their own actions they wanted to make amends.

The problem was each of those affected by the Eopua weapons thought they were alone. A single Myzx against an Empire was ridiculous odds and the chances of setting the workers free was zero. In time though several individual that had these same feelings found each other. That let to them finding others and soon they decided to form a resistance movement.

Going against the edict of the Emperor was considered treason so each of them knew that when they started down the path they would fact death if discovered. That however did not stop them. Calling themselves the Ogla they started small at first and caused minor disruptions on the Myzx homeworld and in the fleet. Being subtle meant they could get away.

During each of the disruptions the Ogla would send out a message to the Emperor demanding the slaves be set free. The Emperor ignored the request so the Ogla decided to try something more dramatic. They raided several work colonies and set the slaves free. This time the Emperor “heard” the message and responded by having the colonies destroyed, as an example to  show what would happen to those that tried to revolt against the empire. Billions were killed but the Emperor was not done. He then decreed that the actions of the Ogla movement was treason. Kill squads were sent to seek out the Ogla whereupon they were “eliminated” for the “good of the empire.”

The few Ogla that remained knew they had failed. Rather than continue the fight they decided it was best to wait until the situation changed at which point they could try again.  In a structured society where everyone has a purpose hiding was not an option since “vanishing” would immediately look suspicious. The best course of action was therefore to continue with their “normal” duties and hide in plain sight. About the only luck they had was Myzx scientists failed to link the members of the Ogla with the survivors of the battle with the Eopua. Had they did then all of the remaining Ogla would have been identified.  Just as the Emperor was prepared to wait for the Eopua to die out, the Ogla were prepared to wait for the right opportunity to rise once more. For two of the Ogla though fate had different plans.

The Myzx Ogla and Humans

Twenty years after the Eopua defeated the Myzx, they still had kept hold of their human captives. Having learned early on that normal humans were suitable for use with their implants, they had been kept in stasis since then in case further studies  were needed. Since the Alphas could not be defeated they would be regularly experimented on every time improvements were made to the implants. Annoyingly the scientists would be thwarted every time.

Since the same facility developed weapons it had been built on a remote moon. By keeping it away from large Myzx population centres, if an accident occurred then collateral damage was minimal. The location also had the advantage that any threat could be detected long before it landed on the moon thus giving the security forces adequate time to prepare.

It was in the ranks of the security forces that two of the Ogla found themselves. Having military experience and being veterans of many battles meant they were given positions of power yet due to their past background nobody suspected they belonged to the outlawed resistance movement. The pair intended to keep their allegiances secret until one day one of the human Alphas managed to get free.

Despite the fact he was strong the two Myzx knew that security would inevitably swarm the rampaging Alpha and  recapture him.  Having tried to set slaves free in the past the pair were unable to leave the human to his fate and decided to assist.

Initially the human considered them the enemy until they took out a security squad. Then after realising they were friend not foe the trio worked together to escape the complex. In the chaos of the battle that followed the human managed to free many more captives  adding the the problems of the Myzx trying to contain the outbreak.

Though they all tried to stick together, once the Ogla led the captives out of the facility it was clear than not everyone was with them. To go back was to die so those that remained chose to follow the Ogla in order to escape the moon. The group by then consisted of two Ogla and four Alpha humans as well as a pair of Luzerran.

The three day trek to the spaceport gave them all time to learn each other. Upon arrival at the destination the group once more had to fight Myzx in order to steal a shuttle. From there they headed to a place known as the “ships graveyard” a storage facility where the Myzx took alien vessels they had captured.

Here the Luzerran chose to go their own way and stole a vessel suitable for their needs whilst the remaining group stole a Zhan class Frigate that once belonged to the Terrus. Heavily armoured and with plenty of weapons it was ideal for making an escape from Myzx space. They would later become known as Vanguard

The outbreak from the facility was an embarrassment for the Emperor and so he ordered a detachment to retrieve the Ogla at all costs. Fearing that the Ogla movement might resurface and gain momentum he needed to set an example to his people that dissension in the ranks would not be tolerated.

To this end he had his military commanders form a special team, the Mannoth, whose only task was to capture or eliminate the  Ogla pair and the humans that they had helped.

Frustratingly for the Emperor he has still not received word of any success by the Mannoth and currently with their expansion barred by the Eopua their progress as a race has been halted.