Home world and physical description:
The Phi-Kari’s home world is similar to earth but 15% larger. It is dominated by two large continents, a northern colder one and a southern more tropical one. The planet is roughly 50% covered by water and at their closest points the two continents are 900 miles apart. Numerous small islands also dot the surface. These features played a major part in the evolution of the Phi-Kari.
The Phi-Kari Union is made up primarily of two sub species from the same stock. One, the Phi evolved on the northern, colder continent while the Kari evolved on the southern, much warmer one. As a result, while both variants are mostly the same in appearance and function there are notable difference as a result of the different climates, they evolved in.
The Phi, on the northern continent are more compact, denser and stronger than the Kari. The Kari on the other hand are taller, not as strong but are faster and more agile. There is little doubt that adapting to the two different climates is responsible for this difference. The two sub spices tough hide like skin also have different colored patterns. The Phi tend to have colors of greys and browns while the Kari are more colorful with various shades of green mixed in with spots of red, brown and yellow.
The similarities include their basic form. Both versions walk up right on two legs and have a main body section similar in function to humans. They have two regular proportioned arms with an additional much smaller pair located around their hip and stomach area. It has been proven that early on in their evolutionary development this smaller set of hands had more refined motor skills and was most likely used for task that required greater agility such as carrying young and basic tool building. While the larger pair were used for “heavy lifting” and protection when fighting. All the appendages end in three digits, one acting as a thumb. It is possible for Phi-Kari to grow notable, sharp and dangerous claws but in modern times this is frowned upon and they are kept filed down.
The Phi have a shorter more compact neck while the Kari have a longer one. Both have a head that features one pair of eyes in front like humans except that they are set vertical instead of horizontal. They also have a single eye in the upper middle of the head that can see what is above them. This most likely served as a defense against predators such as large birds or other creatures in trees, etc. A mouth full of teeth in the form of a short dog like snot is also present along with an ear on each side, protected by a slightly raised bone ridge.
Both variations have reptile like skin and strips of thin, very colorful “feathers” that start at the back of the head and extend down the back. The females have a much more colorful version. Though normally flat against the body these thin feathers of skin will raise up during times of extreme emotion ranging from anger to fear to sexual attraction and more.
There is a male and female version of each with physically noticeable differences and they lay between 2-4 eggs for reproduction, which has an average cycle time of one earth year. Mating between the two sub species is possible but until modern medicine, the mortality rate of any offspring remained notably high.
Brief pre star travel history:
Because of climate conditions the Kari to the south were able to transfer to agriculturally based societies and began to develop technology at a faster pace than the Phi to the north, that remained in more nomadic groups that followed sources of food with regular migration patterns.
Eventually it was the Kari that entered an “age of sail” and discovered the northern continent and the apparent long-lost cousins that inhabited it. Not surprisingly the various government bodies of the Kari considered this new continent as a resource to be claimed and exploited, along with its inhabitants. The next 400 years were dominated with war after war as the Kari fought the Phi and each other for control of the northern continent. Eventually as technology allowed for ever more affective was to kill ever increasing numbers of all involved it was realized that lasting peace would some how have to be accomplished or the species would destroy itself. This eventually led to the Union that brought peace.
Even with peace a notable level of prejudice among the Kari and resentment among the Phi remained. Off spring that are a result of the two sub species mating is still meet with mixed opinion, depending on whom you ask. As time goes on it is becoming more common and accepted with some suggesting that eventually the two will become one. It wasn’t until the age of space travel began and the discovery that they were not alone in the universe that a true culture of unity began.
Current culture and politics:
The Phi-Kari has a representation democracy. The government allows other races a limited amount of travel within its territory although humans enjoy a favored status. Open trade and a robust industrial base support a strong economy. The Phi-Kari practice a range of religions and have an uncanny interest in human “pop culture” in terms of art, music, entertainment, etc. Both sub species have traditions that have been adopted by the other. For example, the Kari have contributed an ornate head band known as a marma. This crown has the owner’s family crest on it as well as other engravings or rare stones to recognize great feats either they or past family members have accomplished worth remembering. The quality and value of these obviously vary depending on the personal wealth of the owner. The Phi have contributed a ritual that requires a small but painful, self-inflicted cut to be done before entering combat of any kind that involves life or death. The individual then speaks a traditional phrase “May my blood allow me to defeat the blood of my enemy.” The act is said to not just be symbolic, but the quick but sharp pain is meant to heighten the sense’s for combat. Once done, the wound is not to be healed or tended to until the fight is over.
The Union enjoys healthy trade with the Commonwealth and holds humans in high regard. The two governments have no official alliance, but it is rumored they conduct regular joint military exercises and have limited exchanges of military technology. The Union has also been buying a limited amount of military equipment from the Commonwealth including fairly “modern” fighters, strikers and bombers to use on their carriers in place of gun boats. The fact that both share common threats from both the Imperium and the Trazari certainly only fuels what many consider an unofficial alliance.
Military ships, weapons and tactics:
In general, Union ships are slightly larger than those of other factions due to the nature of their main weapons system. Like the Commonwealth Phi-Kari warships sacrifice speed. Unlike the Commonwealth this sacrifice is made to allow greater firepower. For the purpose of economics and to allow ships both large and small to use the same tactics their navy uses one main weapon system and uses the same size version on all warships. Smaller ships simple carry less of them. This allows destroyers to fight at the same range as capital ships.
This weapon, the Quantum Disruption Cannon, is designed to disrupt any energy pattern used for any purpose, including those that naturally occur on the atomic level to create and maintain mass. The weapon is known for being able to deliver impressive damage at long ranges but somewhat slow to recharge. The system can be over charged to allow for even greater range and damage but at the risk of being overloaded and suffer breakdowns in the form of burn outs, overloads, etc, to its various parts. The weapon though relatively light weight is very bulky putting practical limits on firing arcs. To help compensate for this the larger ships, starting with cruisers, often mount one or more of these weapons to each side in addition to the main battery facing forward. In practice this means that most Union capital ships carry a larger number of main guns than other factions but are not able to always deploy them against the same target simultaneously.
Ironically this configuration makes the larger ships particular dangers in close quarters combat even though the weapons original purpose was to give a range advantage. A common tactic is to use the forward firing weapons while closing with an enemy and then going into enemy formations to allow “broadside” fire to finish off heavily damaged targets. This “all around” weapons lay out also has proven very useful in countering the Trazari ships notable speed advantage since Union heavy units can bring at least some main weapons onto enemy targets regardless of which angle they attack from.
Defensively speaking Phi-Kari ships have a balance of both harden armor and energy barriers. In addition to regular capital ships the Union navy deploys a respectable number of carriers. Armed with gun boats these carriers are another tactic used to counter the Trazari practice of using massive numbers of “cheap” small to medium size vessels to overwhelm enemies.
In closing, the Phi-Kari Union has evolved into a major player on the galactic stage over the past centuries of slow but continuous growth. The government attempts to have peaceful relations with all factions that are open to such an arrangement. When necessary the Union military has proven to be a capable and dangerous opponent not to be taken lightly. A healthy economy and industrial base ensure the Union’s military is capable of long campaigns when needed and is well prepared to protect its interest on all levels.
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