CLEA DATA FILE
Race Identity:
- Merlateenan
Appearance:
- Humanoid
- Pointed ears
- Finger nails can morph into elongated points
- Pointed teeth
- Blue Skin
Attributes:
- Aquatic
- Great Strength – can survive at depth without special equipment
- Use highly advanced technology
- Skilled warrior
- Breathe underwater unaided.
- The can breathe on land but choose not to inhabit the land
- They use highly mechanised drone forces. Several individuals can control entire divisions.
Interaction with Humans and Other Races:
- The Merlateenan are known to conquer other aquatic worlds. Considering most races the Eopua have dealt with are not aquatic they are not considered a galaxy wide threat since the majority of “intelligent” races live on land.
- As a race they did not set out to directly threaten humans but after clashes would see humans as a problem. Their interest in Earth was merely desired for its strategic position which would enable them to launch attacks of on other races.
- The Merlateenan established an outpost in the middle of the Pacific. To turn it into a fully established base they need resources which could only be found in the shallows. As on other worlds when they came across other aquatic lifeforms they tried to subjugate them. From the outset they were therefore hostile to our known races of aquatic species beta.
- After initial parties looking for resources were force away by humans they became aggressive to humans as well and starting deploying their drone forces while attempting to harvest minerals. Since this occurs in the shallow regions, usually less than 200 metres depth, the “zone” classed as shoreline and coastal shelves any conflict with the Merlanteen does not occur in the ocean depths but often within a hundred miles of a coastline. The Merlateenan are not above taking resources from land albeit they avoid using the surface as they are at a disadvantage.
Society:
- From intelligence, CLEA has learned that the Merlateenan have a strict hierarchy which seems to be based on specific roles, such as soldiers, workers etc. As the only visitors to Earth have been from Merlateenan trying to establish a beach head only their military has been encountered.
It is believed that their forces obey standardised military ideas with different levels of command. The highest ranking individuals controlling an incursion seems to be “royals” and they can be identified as they have hair and wear black/silver armour. Lower ranks appear to shave their heads.
Notes/History
CLEA has not had much large scale encounters with the Merlateenan unlike other aquatic groups of heroes. Whereas the only other aquatic alien raiders, the Glissen are simply aggressive the Merlateenan have a purpose in what they are doing and could be considered even more dangerous but unlike the Glissen they will not go looking for trouble. However they will attack if challenged and possess technology that makes them unstoppable underwater.
As far CLEA is aware the Merlateenan are conquerors of aquatic planets that they add to their empire. In general they have no interest in “land people”. This means that they would normally have no interest in humans or the Earth. However the location of our planet is strategically important to them for use as staging grounds for attacks on other races, a means to limit stretching out supply lines. Since our world has two thirds of the surface covered in water they have taken the unusual step of trying to establish an undersea base. Since they require water to survive the space ships they travel in are built for speed and defence. They are more vulnerable in space than most other races and so they avoid encounters with other races until planet side.
Since the Merlateenan subjugate intelligent underwater life forms this has made them a threat to the known races of human species beta that live underwater. Unlike on land and even in space where there are many costumed adventurers and CLEA has its own assets, currently there is very little the agency can do to deal with the Merlateenan directly unless they chose to come to the surface
At depth the Merlateenan cannot be fought since only a few military submarines can reach them. However they need to obtain raw materials in shallower regions where they can be engaged . It it was not for the dedicated work of groups such as the Taniwha and the “unofficial” Ocean Deep group who put a stop to the Merlateenan resource gathering, in effect waging a conflict of “attrition” then then the Merlateenan would have managed to gain the foot hold on our world that they so desperately desire.
The Taniwha were the first humans to come across the Merlateenan. They repelled the aliens and thought they had stopped an invasion. Only later did they discover that they had merely dealt with a resource hunting party. Having proven that “land beings” could be a threat the Merlateenan sent future expeditions with more armed support in the form of various drone craft.
It took quite some time for CLEA to realise that after every clash, the Merlateenan did not leave the planet but merely retreated to a base deep in the Pacific. Unlike other alien races which would send in additional forces from outside to deal with problems, the Merlateenan seem to several limit this and instead rely on equipment they brought with them. This could indicate that whenever the steal resources they can actually build replacement weapons. The use of mechanised/automated forces also means that only a small occupying force is needed to control a very much larger “army”.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the Merlateenan force is under the command of a royal prince and princess with perhaps only thirty of forty other individuals in charge of the automated systems. There are also rumours that they occasionally take human captives to study and interrogate. Since such prisoners would be taken to the base on the ocean floor there is no possibility of rescuing them.
