Krillan
The Krillan are a species of insect-like beings who closely resemble Terran ants in their appearance.
Basic Information
Biological Traits
The Krillan are a species of insect-like beings who closely resemble Terran ants in their appearance. They have a hardened outer exoskeleton which provides their more delicate internal organs with protection against injury. Like ants, they have three body segments and three pairs of legs which are joined to the middle one. Krillan stand upright on their two rearmost legs and the lowest segment which is the abdomen.
Each of their legs end in two-clawed finger-like appendages which they use to manipulate objects. The upper two legs are used for these tasks. However when running, Krillan may drop onto all six legs to do so, much like ants. The head possesses two large black eyes and mandibles which they use to both consume food (they are carnivorous) and communicate with other Krillan using a combination of clicks and screeches. A pair of sensory antennae also extend from the top of their heads which give them their enhanced hearing and scent.
Like humans, they come in many colours and sizes depending on phenotype. The most common type seen are black coloured Kree-Krillan which also happen to be the smallest of the species, the least harmful and the most docile. They are around the same size as the average man in height and possess a bit more physical strength, and are a lot faster when running on all six legs. Their most notable trait is their offensive capability which takes the form of a ball of acid which they can regurgitate and spit at their enemies several meters away. This acid is highly corrosive and capable of melting through metal in high concentrations.
Another phenotype includes a red coloured Schree-Krillan which larger than the average human (2.1-2.4 meters), more aggressive and far stronger. Schree-Krillan are able to deliver a potent venom through their mandibles via biting which temporarily renders the victim paralysed. Their mandibles are also larger and tipped with blades which can be used for close-quarters combat. They are also not above eating their weaker cousins.
The third known and rarest phenotype is the Tritia-Krillan. They are very similar to the Kree-Krillan in their appearance with the notable difference being the four wings on their backs which allow them to fly and their black-and-yellow striped design. They are less aggressive than Schree-Krillan but can immediately become very aggressive if provoked. The tip of their abdomens feature a wasp-like stinger blade which can be used as a close-quarters weapon or to deliver a lethal venom which can kill a grown human being in seconds. The injection of this venom typically causes the victim’s body to bloat up due to the massive blood clotting across the entire body, resulting in a rather agonising death.
Each of the Krillan phenotypes have their own version of a Queen which is essentially a massive version of themselves (often twice as big as each respective phenotype). In terms of sexual dimorphism, there is no difference between males and females until a female is chosen to moult into a Queen. In her Queen state, the female can choose to mate with whomsoever she chooses and can lay hundreds of eggs over the period of a week, thereby creating her own hive. A Queen can also choose when she wants to stop laying eggs and assume a more active role in the functioning of her hive.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Krillans live in hive-like societies that are governed by a single matriarch. The size of these hives can vary widely depending on how many eggs the queen is able to give birth to. Males and females play a crucial role in the everyday running of the hive which include defending it and finding food to keep everyone, including the newly-born maggot Krillans fed.
Despite their appearance and lifestyle, Krillans are an intelligent and sentient species in much the same way humans are, but they are more prone to following their base animalistic desires for survival and reproduction and further propagation of the species. Outliers to this may exist, Krillan who separate themselves from their hives and take on a more freelance lifestyle, but they are few and far in between.
In a hive, there are also those who are tasked with scientific research endeavours, who are in charge of researching and developing the latest technology in the fields of medicine and war. Krillan hives can either feud with each other, live in harmony together by combining their respective hives, or outright ignore each other by keeping their distance.
Alliances are much more common between common phenotypes, and feuds are more common between Krillan hives that do not belong to the same phenotype. For example, Kree-Killan hives are more likely to establish alliances with each other but unlikely to do so with Tritia-Krillan. Although there is a notable pattern. Kree-Krillan are more likely to ally themselves with Tritia-Krillan if there is some mutual benefit. However both species seem adverse to allying themselves with Schree-Krillan.
The Schree-Krillan seem to be the most outcast of all the phenotypes, likely due to their aggressive behaviour. This is reflected in their general lifestyle. Schree-Krillan hives compose pirate fleets which attack and raid other ships for their supplies. In contrast, Kree and Tritia Krillan are more like scavengers and tend not to get involved too much in fights unless absolutely necessary.
As mentioned before, the size of a hive may vary. All three phenotypes establish their hives on either asteroids or the starships they use to traverse space. Hives, depending on their size, can consist of a single or multiple ships with the flagship being where the Queen resides. The Queen is highly feared and respected in Krillan society, although coups are not uncommon and mostly take place if the Queen is deemed to weak to continue leading (which would result in the females tearing her apart and then battling against each other to determine who would moult into the next monarch) or if the crew have grown resentful of her leadership and attack her when she’s most vulnerable (usually during her pregnancy).
Civilization and Culture
Average Technological Level
The Krillan species’ development of technology is a fairly recent phenomena and as such, their starships, weapons and such are rudimentary compared to what the CONCORD alliance possesses.
For weapons, Krillan utilise high caliber (12.7mm equivalent) ballistic firearms such as rifles and pistols which fire chemically propelled projectiles. Explosive ordinance is also often utilised which takes the form of a grenade launcher which, upon exploding, releases a wave of acidic matter that rapidly eats through rock and metal. All three Krillan races also make use of energy weapons which aren’t of their own design, rather reverse engineered from their scavenging and piracy activities. Krillan can also make use of bladed weapons, some of which are attached to their weapons.
Their starships possess rudimentary armour which can provide minimal protection against anti-ship ballistic missiles. However energy weapons can eat through the hulls with minimal effort, especially considering that Krillan starships lack any sort of energy shielding whatsoever. Their FTL drives rank Level 2 on the Technological Advancements in FTL index. In terms of weapons, their starships use tracking missile launchers and mass accelerators for their main cannons. However this technology may be improved by scavenging and reverse engineering other species’ technology (but these additions are obviously not standard).
Krillan do not generally place much emphasis on personal body armour. What little protection they do wear consists of a minimal amount of armour plating protecting their bodies, but no real research and investment is put into these areas. Krillans have however developed an orange coloured substance which, when injected into the body, can heal even lethal injuries. To communicate with other species, Krillans make use of translator disks worn around their necks - likely also reverse engineered from superior technology.
History
The Krillan race spent thousands of years developing and establishing empires on their home planet of Vicite. Their technological development was only something that began in the last three centuries, which did not progress far until the planet was hit by the Celestial Mist that occurred due to The Cataclysm.
Their planet devastated and the majority of their population exterminated, the survivors escaped upon a handful of starships and made it into the surviving southern sector of space where they rebuilt what they could and established hives on ships and asteroids.
Now, the Krillan race has no real home and only uses the aforementioned ships and asteroids as their habitats, base of operations, production plants and research colonies. They exist as either scavengers or pirates, taking whatever technology they can find and studying and reverse engineering them for their own species’ benefit.
The loss of their homeworld did nothing to stow the tenacity of these creatures, only further fuelled their will for survival and continued existence of their species. Krillans are often seen onboard Osiris Station, many of them having become mercenaries as either freelancers who left their hives or existing members of hives who take on contracts for the benefit of their Queens.
