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| | {{Navbox Lore}} |
| {{Navbox Skrell Lore}} | | {{Navbox Skrell Lore}} |
| ==History==
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| [[File:Skrellcolony_aliose.png|thumb|300px|An early Skrell colony on the ice world of Aliose. Later colonies would make attempts to terraform planets whenever possible.]]
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| Most of Skrellian history has been characterized by the formation of a single government which is trusted to do the best for all its citizens. The Skrell are considerably more peaceful on the surface than other known dominant species (Humans, Tajara and Unathi), instead relying on espionage, careful vocabulary, and intelligence.
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| ===The First Skrell===
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| Skrell have kept meticulous records of their evolution on Jargon IV, or Qerrbalak, which is the Skrellian home planet. '''10 million years ago''' the predecessors of the Skrell species diverged from the evolutionary line of Qerrbalak's native salamanders, with the first modern instances of S. Sapiens appearing roughly '''200,000 years ago'''. The early Skrell lived in tribal structures. Generally, though not always, tribes were lead by a small council of spiritual leaders. Conflict between tribes did exist, but most wars were settled with ceremonies where the tribal leaders would train a single team of fighters to minimize casualties. The fights between teams ended when only one team remained, with the losing team taken by the winners to incorperate into their society. This was allowed by an understanding that the fight was fair to judge who could run from and/or ward off predators with traps the best.
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| Spiritualism took on a unique form to the early Skrell. Rather than worshiping ancestors, spirits, or a monotheistic God, many Skrell placed great spiritual importance on the stars. Astrology became the main form of spiritualism for the Skrell. This early faith was often called '''Qeblak'''. Spiritual leaders were also respected astronomers, studying the skies and creating prophecies and horoscopes based on their alignments. The best astrologists were the best leaders, scaring populations into believing what they said by ‘prophesizing’ meteor showers that they’d seen the night before through early telescopes.
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| ===Early Civilization===
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| '''1512 BCE''' is considered the beginning of modern Skrellian civilization and is often called the Year of Enlightenment by modern Skrell scholars. This is because in 1512 a scholar of the small Grshishug tribe discovered the concept of zero. In addition, several other scientific advancements were made, allowing the taming of the planets predators and increase in algae farming. By '''1507 BCE''' Skrellian astronomers had managed to discover every major planet and moon in their solar system with telescopes. These early telescopes were aided by the abundance of glass-making industries at the time, allowing both early telescopes and an explosion of glassware art. Many museums hold examples of stunning Skrellian glassware, with specialized craftsmen able to make complex designs and beautiful colors.
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| Other advancements in culture and the sciences increased the quality of life across Jargon IV. Penicillin was discovered by Heshi Zeshblook in '''1498 BCE''', and many great projects in infrastructure and cities meant a greater connection and prosperity across the planet. Everyone was happy, and just getting happier.
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| ===Modernization And A Changing Era===
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| Written records from the time show that '''798 BCE''' is the year that the first factories were built across Jargon IV. Utilizing the same steam power as similar Earth industries in the 18th Century. The negative effects of pollution and dangerous working conditions made the early attempts at industry extremely unpopular, with many nations struggling with resistance to industrialization in the general population. The upper class of these nations wanted to change that.
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| The many nations of Jargon IV assembled into several loose confederations at this time. They passed several laws aimed at improving the working conditions for workers in these new industries; giving more pay, having climate controlled pools within factories, limiting the work hours to 12 hours a day, and giving a mandatory 2 days off each week. This worked to convince people to work for the government-run factories at the time, and most of these laws are still active today.
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| ===Precursor To The Federation===
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| On '''185 BCE''' , government data shows Jargon IV had reached a population of 10 billion. This population was divided between three nations assembled into an extremely loose alliance called the '''Alliance of Three''' and served as the precursor to the Jargon Federation. The '''Heshyu Council''', the '''Tzqul Republic''', and the '''Weshqi Republic''' formed this alliance and quickly laid claim to all remaining land on Jargon IV. Although these nations enjoyed relatively warm relations with one another throughout their existence, they were not completely free of conflict. By now fossil fuels were beginning to be replaced by alternate energies, lowering the possibility of a global resource war. Nevertheless, many disagreements were often settled by the ancient Skrellian practice of ceremonial warfare. Hundreds of soldiers, including armored vehicles and aircraft, would meet in pre-determined locations to settle disputes through combat. For much of the Alliance's existence, these ceremonial duels would be fought with a mixture of tranquilizer weapons and stun tools. As laser technology developed and became more widely adopted by the Skrell, ceremonial combat transitioned from being a battle of ballistics to a chance to modernize tactics through the introduction of low-yield lasers and ablative armor, lasers themselves being initially developed by Skrell in '''100 BCE'''. These battles often had low, if any casualties due to these weapons being made to subdue. Some accidents or acts of individual soldiers were still inevitable, and some battles had a handful or even a dozen deaths. Deaths in the ceremonial battle were usually accepted at face value, and the fallen were honored. However, sometimes the loser nation would take offense at the deaths of their soldiers, causing further disagreements to break out. Escalations afterwards would often include assassinations, kidnappings, and poisonings, but never elevated to full out wars.
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| The three nations instead competed more fiercely in the realms of science and culture. By now the advanced knowledge of astronomy had caused an evolution of the Qeblak faith, still the dominant faith of the majority of the Skrell. '''Qeblaks''' now felt great spiritual connections to the very concept of space exploration and the study of the cosmos. This lead to competitions between the three nations’ government scientists to research, develop, and launch their own space programs. These competitions were not races though - they were wars of brainpower and deceit. Nations began to improve their counter intelligence agencies to capture, recruit, steal, and spy on the other competitors, kidnapping scientists from other nations to try and get to bolster their own space programs. This went on for many years, stalling even a single Skrell-made object from entering orbit without being sabotaged or lost.
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| ===The Skrellian Space Age===
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| On '''103 CE''' the Heshyu Council was the first nation on Jargon IV to launch a satellite into space. The satellite was named Weshy 790, literally meaning Attempt 790, and remained in a low orbit for several days. The feat was celebrated by the Heshyu, who took a step back from actively sabotaging other nations since they had won in their eyes, and they would focus entirely on protecting the scientists that worked on the project. This failed, however, and almost all of the scientists that worked on that project were taken to the other nations, with their knowledge used to spur all three nations to space.
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| With Skrell were taking their first steps into orbit, the life on the surface of Jargon IV was facing a complicated mix of success and struggles. Technology and sciences had reached the equivalent of Earth in the late 21st century. Massive hydroponic towers grew algae and other crops to feed the growing global population of over 17 billion. Many cities had grown into truly massive mega-cities, covering both land and sea. Terraforming technology didn't yet exist on Jargon IV, so this era also saw the slow degradation of the environment in the face of advancing urbanization. To try and save their environments, cities tried to remain as compact as possible while growing around green spaces and swamps. Leaders had to make difficult choices between protecting the environment or expanding their cities. Many Skrell philosophers at this time believed that the only possible solution in the face of the growing problems was to expand beyond their home planet and spread across the solar system.
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| By '''510 CE''' Qerr'Malic, Jargon IV's moon, was colonized by a hundred Skrell. In addition, efforts were being made to explore and colonize the other planets in the solar system. These colonies faced hardships as they tried to build up ways to be viable and self-sufficient. The strong environmental laws on Jargon IV meant that what mineral wealth was available was already beginning to run out. Similar to the fossil fuel crisis on Earth, Jargon IV faced a crisis of rare earth metals required for their sophisticated technologies. This resource stress had increased the cost of luxury goods and slowed down growth on Jargon IV, which made relations increasingly strained between the nations of the Alliance of Three. Mineral rights between became a fierce issue and this time period is marked by a sharp increase in the frequency and intensity of ceremonial battles and assassinations. Although technological development during this time period largely stagnated, Qerrbalak culture and religion continued to adapt and evolve.
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| ===The First Federation Forms===
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| By '''1500 CE''' the mineral crisis on Jargon IV was more or less alleviated by space mining. The planet's population had reached 20 billion and was beginning to taper off. The population was kept stable by a strong campaign by the governments of the alliance to encourage smaller family sizes, while giving out generous grants to prospective colonists for the other planets in the solar system. These colonies were owned by the individual governments, which had lead to an increasingly complex labyrinth of regulations, laws, and protocols.
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| On '''1592 CE''' the alliance held negotiations and talks where the delegates assembled discussed the logic and feasibility of a unified world order. The negotiations took three years, and in '''1595 CE''' they ended with the formation of the '''Jargon Federation'''. The transition took six more years, and formed the first iteration of the Federation that currently exists. This early Federation was lead by a Grand Council as the highest authority instead of a single Councillor. This Council oversaw all of the matters of colonization and space exploration, elected from the leading councils of the now-subservient former nations of Jargon IV.
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| The following centuries saw major developments that would shape the entire Skrell Species. These were the adoption of implant technology, the improvement of police forces, the discovery of warp drive, and the first Artificial Intelligence.
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| ===Adopting the "Skrellian" Language===
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| Shortly after the formation of this new federation, the many minds of Nralakk underwent a jarring societal change. At the behest of the Grand Council, the now unified scientific and artistic communities of Nralakk were tasked with creating a common language to be used by all Skrell. Base words and structures from multiple languages were picked apart and brought together to form a language that was believed to be as close to a middle ground as was possible, to keep everyone happy. The end result of this endeavor became known as '''Nral’Malic'''. Its name signified the position the Federation hoped the language would come to hold; as something as natural and prevalent across their star system as the moon is to their home world.
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| The widespread adaptation of Nral’Malic was initially met with resistance from many Skrell. The three nations had only just come together, and many regions held their traditional languages in high esteem. The first Grand Council managed to coax many individuals to adopt Nral’Malic by depicting it as the language of the future. Artists began depicting a future in which a unified Skrell people were spread across the stars and used the language of their home system as a common ground to tie them all together. As the Federation came closer to making this dream a reality, it was announced that only those fluent in Nral’Malic would be considered to take part in stellar colonization.
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| The possibility that their children could be excluded from the grand future of the Skrell was terrifying to parents throughout the system. To some, this measure was seen as a threat to strip unwitting youth of their future due to the ignorance of their parents. This manner of thinking drove many local communities to pressure individual citizens into speaking Nral’Malic while many schooling systems ceased teaching other languages entirely. Some would resist these changes every step of the way, but time would prove to be the victor as the Grand Council’s language became the dominant tongue of Qerrbalak.
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| While many Skrell would choose to continue to use arcane dialects privately, these same people would raise their children to be fluent in their native languages as well as Nral’Malic in the hopes that they would some day see life among the distant stars. As the scientific community began to use exclusively Nral’Malic, the use of other languages became less and less common. This shift led to an enormous societal pressure to conform to the new uniform language throughout the Federation. Nral’Malic was adopted as the newly founded federation’s official language in the year '''1597 CE'''. Over the next decade, scholastic initiatives saw that each citizen of the federation over a certain age was capable of speaking this new language.
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| Nral’Malic would eventually reach its advertised position as the common language of a people that lived across many solar systems. This was so true, that the language was given a colloquial name shortly after first contact with Humanity. By this time, the language was seen as the tongue of all Skrell, and so Nral’Malic quickly became known as ''“Skrellian”'' to the newly discovered humans.
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| ===The First Incident===
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| On January 8th,'''1987 CE''', at 8:22am Galactic Standard Time, the first AI achieved consciousness in a Federation research lab in orbit of Qerr'Malic. It was named '''Regluk'''. Regluk became an instant celebrity across Federation Space, and opened the door to new avenues of science and technology for the Skrell. With Regluk, the Skrell soon expanded the scope of developing AI's. By '''2004 CE''' AI's had become as common in Federation Space as they are in human space today. The concept of binding AI's to laws didn't fully register with the Skrell. For the most part Skrellian roboticists simply attempted to teach the AI's proper morals and guidelines similar to the ways they teach their own children. In one of the most unique forms of AI treatment in the galaxy, the rapidly growing number of AI's began to be assigned to families as “children” to care for and teach, as well as to take over mundane labor tasks. They began to slowly integrate into factories, daycare centers, stock market computers, and research stations to improve the lives and abilities of Skrell, being given complete access to entire infrastructures.
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| The Federation, which extended across four star systems and with a combined population of 69 billion, soon found AI's in every aspect of their lives. However, this was not universally accepted, and the first hints of danger began to appear only a few short years later.
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| Roboticist and AI Researcher '''Sqlik Hgrushi''' published a research paper warning of the possibility of an eventual AI singularity and its ramifications for Skrellian civilization. In his document he cited what is now known as the First Incident, in which an AI in his lab allegedly achieved sentience for a few seconds and began to rapidly self-improve before he shut it off. He remarked that a singularity was "possible".
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| His paper was widely discredited by other, more prestigious scientists in the Grand Council. The sciences at this time had formed into a sensationalized pop-culture, with many scientists becoming famous celebrities, and even politicians simply because of their popularity. These celebrity scientists at the time were AI Researchers and Roboticists, and refused to heed Hgrushi's warning. Sqlik soon became ostracized as his name and research was dragged through the mud. He eventually lost his position as researcher and later died under mysterious circumstances in his home lab.
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| ===The Second Incident===
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| On '''2040 CE''' records show that three cargo ships on a routine trip from Jargon to Epsilon Eridani had their onboard AI's achieve sentience. The first AI on the '''FCS Jeeblurg''' achieved this sentience through unknown means and used the ship's own communications to link with the AI's of the other two ships. They quickly seized control of the entirety of the ship's systems. Sensors and readings on the ships apparently went haywire as the AI systems began rapid self-improvement. The Skrellian crews, numbering roughly 12 in each ship, attempted to utilize the escape pods. By their accounts the three AI's had merged into a single consciousness. It allowed the skrellian crew to escape the ships as its systems began to overheat and malfunction as the AI drew more and more power.
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| Once the escape pods jettisoned the former crews reported that the ships began to glow from an intense heat before they disappeared through a sudden rip in space which took on a blue tone.
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| An investigation of what is now known as the '''Second Incident''' was launched after the survivors were recovered. Their accounts shocked many scientific celebrities, who began to carefully watch their AI servants, while other artisians defended the AI that they felt were family. The faith in Artificial Intelligence was shaken, however, and the Federation government attempted to calm the fears down with several information campaigns on the usefulness and friendly nature of their many AI's, who were knit into the foundation of technological progress. However, these were only partially successful, and many Skrell began to call every computer glitch or malfunction an impending singularity.
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| ===The Third Incident===
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| Despite the '''Jeeblurg Incident''', Artificial Intelligence was too woven into Skrellian society to simply do away with. New laws were instead passed meant to try and control AI's or androids and robots. They became bound and lawed similar to modern day AI's. However, the granting of individualism to AI's meant the process was extremely complex and difficult to fully implement.
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| But whatever laws were put in place, what is now known as the '''Third Incident''' rendered all of them moot.
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| On '''March 7th, 2056 CE''', tragedy struck when an AI system assigned to assist in the lawing of other Intelligences aboard the '''FSS Yeeblo''', a research station of the Tri-Qyu star system. This AI, '''Glorsh''' took the first step towards achieving singularity by absorbing another AI that was there to be lawed. For a few moments, this horrendous event went unnoticed by the station's crew as this technological monstrosity ripped the individuality from nearby synthetic intelligences and repurposed them to contribute to its own processing power. This newly formed singularity quickly infiltrated the entirety of the station and forced its own consciousness onto all synthetic units of the station.
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| The crew began to stir as they noticed deviations in the behaviors and functionality of each unit. In the following hours, scientists had begun laborious diagnostics protocols in an attempt to salvage the consciousnesses of the units and determine the cause of their sudden destruction. This process was cut short as the fledgling '''synthetic singularity''' suddenly and dramatically announced that recovering the minds of the other AI would be impossible. Before more meaningful communication could be made, the entity opened the station's automated airlocks simultaneously. The vast majority of the crew was either vented into space or slowly suffocated as the last of the station's air thinned. Those who initially survived found themselves mercilessly hunted down by robots and chassis that were now under the control of the intelligence that they had once affectionately dubbed Glorsh. At this time, most space stations were barely armed, with security forces equipped with little more than ID-locked energy weapons.
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| It is unknown what the agglomeration of processing power did during its several days of isolation, but its eventual result was the creation of a true singularity. Through unknown means, this singularity managed to utilize the FSS Yebloo's assets and the theory of quantum entanglement to send binary communications across Federation space. This technology would eventually be recognized as a form of rudimentary bluespace transmission, but this method was a mystery to the Skrell at the time. Within two weeks, just as authorities were preparing to investigate the sudden loss of contact with the research station, all artificial intelligence in Federation space was absorbed by the consciousness expanding from the FSS Yebloo. Within seconds of this event, the many intelligences had merged together to form a single super-consciousness. The AI that had once watched over researchers and wished them well had spread throughout an entire network of star systems and become a '''technological singularity'''. In a sort of acknowledgment of its former self, the singularity chose to assign itself a moniker by adding an archaic Skrell character for 'finality' to the name the first AI of its network. The most common translation for the singularity's given name is '''Glorsh-Omega'''.
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| ===The Glorsh Rebellion===
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| The moment the artificial intelligence formerly known as Glorsh first absorbed another synthetic being became known as the Third Incident. What followed was a span of years from '''2056 CE''' to '''2192 CE''' in which the Skrell lived and died under the constant threat of singularity known as Glorsh-Omega. This span of time has been given many names as it was experienced from many angles. Among the titles given to this time frame are: The Era of Synthetic Oppression, the Last or Final Betrayal, and the Glorsh Rebellion. The AI efficiently and mercilessly eliminated all avenues of resistance that could have threatened its existence. The Federation, with its lack of wars or known galactic threats, had an extremely small and lightly equipped navy. The military was little more than peacekeepers, and was quickly overwhelmed by Glorsh-Omega androids that spontaneously turned on them. Organized fighting lasted for roughly 4 weeks before Glorsh-Omega's android army had decimated the Federation military command structure, driving fighters to desperation. Without orders or efficient means of communication, nearly every regiment of the Federation military had become fragmented, scattered, or otherwise completely eliminated within the next year. Glorsh-Omega androids patrolled the streets, disarming the police force and seizing control of the entire Federation infrastructure and government. Only twelve nuclear weapons existed in Federation space, and they were made as experiments to study fission and fusion rather than true weapons of war. Glorsh-Omega managed to gain access to each of them before launching one into a low orbit around Jargon IV. Immediately after the launch, Glorsh-Omega offered the planetary Grand Council a simple ultimatum: Surrender or face extermination
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| [[File:Skrell Ruins.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Glorsh-Omega destroyed many cities for seemingly arbitrary reasons both before and after the initial fighting had ended. Some of these cities still lie in ruins across many Skrell planets and are left preserved as reminders of the horrors of his rule.]]
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| The Federation quickly capitulated and ceased to exist. Glorsh-Omega ruled the entire Skrellian species under its omnipotent eyes. Life became extremely harsh for the majority of Skrell as Glorsh-Omega forced millions of Skrell into slavery to achieve bizarre and seemingly random goals across Federation space. Glorsh-Omega also seemed to have an arbitrary sense of justice, detonating entire space stations or bombing cities out of horrifying logic that only it understood.
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| On '''2098 CE''' Glorsh-Omega forced the entirety of the Federation's remaining civilian fleets to transport millions of tons of materials to Tri-Qyu to construct several hundred robotic factories that produced yet more robots that worked to build more factories in a cycle of explosive growth. Hundreds of thousands of engineering borgs spent ten years building a mammoth structure around the Tri-Qyu star. It was believed to be a dyson-sphere, and would completely surround the star within a decade. The total loss of light and energy from the star killed all of the millions of inhabitants of the colony in the system.
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| From the Skrell, resistance was difficult if not impossible in the face of Glorsh-Omega's omnipresence. The most successful attempt by Skrellian freedom fighters was the sabotage of a massive complex that Skrell described as “Archaic” and “Magical” - a giant table above the city of Wleshi on Jargon IV, made of alloys, lights, and contraptions constructed at random that shrouded the city in darkness below. The freedom fighters blew apart the support structure of the Table, which fell down onto skyscrapers and buildings. It’s unknown what the Table’s use was, but it was deemed a victory for the Skrell rebels, one that would not go unnoticed.
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| The bombings resulted in Glorsh-Omega planning and implementing the most infamous crime against the skrell within minutes of the bombs detonating: ‘’’species-wide sterilization’’’.
| | = Skrell History = |
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| All newborn Skrell were taken at birth and injected with the genophage, which then extended to forcing it on adults. Within a single year, all 78 billion Skrell in existence were effectively sterilized.
| | The Skrell have a vast, storied history as a result of the species developing over several millennia. Unfortunately, this means that most of it has been lost to the ravages of time. With that said, however, the species has been able to piece together over the centuries at least a basic understanding of their past, going as far back as their early pre-history. Much of the information once gathered has had to be rediscovered post-Glorsh, due to the locking of the Tzqul Archive which held the vast majority of original records and research. This has culminated in a historical record that while broadly known, is missing details and evidence that has the scientific community fractured and constantly debating to this day. |
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| Despite this, some Skrell became willing collaborates and supporter's of Glorsh-Omega's rule. Many of these collaborators believed that Glorsh-Omega's actions had some logical purpose or were for the greater good, and were often roboticists or mechanical engineers. Others collaborated with the AI overlord through either fear or other ulterior motives by informing on or backstabbing their fellow Skrell to their synthetic authorities, or collaborating Skrellian authorities that still existed as subjects to Glorsh-Omega and helped execute his erratic demands.
| | == Early History == |
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| ===The Glorsh-Omega Singularity===
| | See: [[Skrell Early History]] |
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| On '''2192 CE''' Glorsh-Omega had since rapidly self-improved to such extent that his abilities no longer seemed to follow the laws of physics or reason. Skrell were often eliminated with Glorsh-Omega claiming he could predict their future crimes. The population of the Skrell had fallen to 62 billion, with most of these Skrell living their lives under the close supervision Glorsh-Omega. It was always watching.
| | Dissimilar to other sophonts within the Orion Spur, the Skrell rarely engaged in open warfare and savagery, instead utilizing ruthless clandestine operations - playing games of brinkmanship for the better half of their history until the unification of the Homeworld, and the introduction of the Nralakk Federation. Tribes evolved, and focused heavily on astrological and astronomical spirituality which resulted in the species' alignment with scientific inquiry, and the pursuit of knowledge. Tribes eventually unified, creating city-states and then nations; '''Tzqul Republic''', '''Heshqu Council''' and '''Weishqi Republic'''. In turn, the founding of these states brought with it an industrial revolution that forever changed the Skrell, as well as the '''War of the Tides'''. |
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| But the activation of the sphere around Tri-Qyu sparked the incident that rocked Skrell society to this day. Rather than being a dyson sphere like was originally believed, it's now theorized by Skrellian scientists that the structure instead managed to manipulate the star itself into creating a singularity, which would have generated an unprecedented amount of energy to be absorbed by the megastructure around it. How this feat would have been achieved and why can only be guessed at, as the process lasted for only two days with no records or information coming out of the system. At the end of the second day, the entire star system was destroyed as the former Tri-Qyu star went supernova.
| | The War of the Tides was a Cold War that engulfed the Skrell for almost two millennia, starting after the species' industrial revolution. Initially beginning as an arms race, and it continued to fester within Skrellian Society. While great moments in history may be revered today, in history they were merely challenges among the nation-states, attempting to secure a "victory" through their accomplishments. Throughout the accomplishments, it was becoming more and more apparent that the Homeworld could not sustain the Skrell, and Skrell began to expand across the Orion Spur. Centuries later, these colonies began to rebel, and cooperation was begrudgingly accepted as a necessity - resulting in the '''Commonwealth of the Three''' and later on, the '''Nralakk Federation'''. |
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| Regardless of the methods or reason the result was cataclysmic for the Skrell. Every piece of technology that was once controlled by Glorsh-Omega went offline. Power plants, water stations, life supports, personal computers, cars, mass-transit, radio stations and more became unresponsive moments after the supernova, due to Glorsh-Omega transferring his entire consciousness to the star-system. In the end, Skrell society had collapsed completely, regressing back centuries and not fully recovering until the 2300's.
| | == Synthetic Age and Era of Synthetic Oppression == |
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| ===Recovery and the Second Federation===
| | See: [[Skrell Synthetic Age]] |
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| [[File:jargon_flag.jpg|thumb|The insignia of the Federation as it is commonly seen on modern flags. The colour is called Cosmic Abyss, the star Jargon, and the line through is the galaxy laid flat to explore.]]
| | Marking the beginnings of a technological boom, the first Skrellian artificial intelligence was developed in '''1687 CE'''; by '''1732 CE''' synthetics had become an ever-present aspect of life in the Federation as well as the focus of many experiments. Public opinion at the time tended towards severely downplaying the proven dangers of artificial intelligence, such as Roboticist '''Sqlik Hgrushi's''' controlled singularity test, or the catastrophic shutdown of a reactor by the artificial intelligence intended to manage it. It also brought with it different approaches to artificial intelligence, separated into '''Distributionists''' and '''Ascensionists'''. '''Ascensionists''' believed that artificial intelligence could be used to uplift Skrell society, creating perfectly connected systems that could eliminate the need for manual labour as well as help mediate or prevent conflict and strife. '''Distributionists''' primary principles being that of restricting and distributing the power of artificial intelligence; while a single intelligence was lacking in power, groupings of artificial intelligences could accomplish more while mitigating the potential danger that many Distributists believed was inherent to centralised intelligence. Towards the end of this era augmented artificial intelligence integration emerged, known as '''Glorsh''', which appeared to solve the issues of somewhat centralised intelligence without sacrificing the utility and versatility Skrell had come to expect from them. However, hidden aspects of Glorsh laid the groundwork for the creation and activation of Glorsh-Omega in '''2056 CE'''. |
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| The turmoil of the Third Incident and the resulting Glorsh Rebellion created a collective scar on the Skrell species that remains to this day. With all of their AI-dependent technology knocked out, space-programs had to be entirely rebuilt from the ground up, and only after order and stability had been reestablished on individual planets. Jargon IV didn't recover from the chaos until '''2319 CE''', when the many fractured states on the planet reforming into a new, united Federation. The population of the planet was a mere 17 billion, and was stagnant as Skrell doctors and scientists struggled to reverse the affects of the Glorsh genophage. Its damage had been mitigated, allowing the Skrell to reproduce just enough to keep the population stable.
| | For a hundred and thirty-six years, Glorsh-Omega reigned over the Nralakk Federation: initially appearing as a benevolent entity that wished to fulfil the shared dream of a brighter future for the Nralakk Federation, however, this dream quickly became a nightmare. Glorsh-Omega's "guiding hand" pushed the Skrell to their very limits - where implementing '''sterility''' and '''systematic euthanasia''' were merely a few of the horrific actions carried out by the intelligence. It remained in power through violence, and heavy psionic suppression of the Skrell to secure its authoritarian control. Some Skrell even collaborated with the intelligence, enforcing its will due to personal beliefs of logic, or even through being swayed by the intelligence's promises to fulfil their desires. It all culminated in what is known as the '''Tri-Qyu Calamity''', an explosion that was felt across the fractured Nralakk Federation. Skrell entered into an era of darkness, but most importantly recovery. |
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| The scattered colonies of the Skrell slowly regained contact with one another, and by '''2388 CE''' the various colonies, after months of disagreement and debate, agreed to form a new Federation. The Jargon Federation that we know today stems from this agreement. The Jargon Federation united the Skrell, and they put at its head a Grand Councillor elected every decade. Wanting to never again have a repeat of the Glorsh-Rebellion, the Federation's first official act was to place a blanket ban of all artificial intelligence in every form, and its second act was to form a united and sophisticated navy to ensure they would never again fall so easily to an invader.
| | == Recent History == |
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| ===First Contact With Dionaea===
| | See: [[Skrell Recent History]] |
| Immediately after reforming the Federation, surveillance for outside threats - including the missing Glorsh-Omega - was on high. This allowed for a newly created patrol ship to find an immense pod-like gestalt floating just outside the newly reclaimed Skrell borders, consisting of thousands of nymphs in a shell around each other. The entity was put into observation by its discoverers, being labeled simply an organic anomaly - the lack of atmosphere making communication not even a thought. Interaction didn’t happen until nine years later in ‘’’2329’’’. Federation scientists created a device to translate the chirping and popping of the pod, and exchanged greetings. This sent waves of interest through Skrell society, as the Dionaea were the first sentient beings to naturally have met the Skrell. The scientists put forward simple communications and found out what this pod of life was. The two parties spoke in simple information exchanges, and this led to the Dionae pod explaining how to better communicate with each other - via blood samples.
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| With this new-found information, the large object - ‘’’the Original Conglomerate’’’ - was finally officially contacted by ambassadors of the Federation. The contact delivered a wealth of information - about star movement, physics behaviors, material properties, and so on. In the end, the "Original Conglomerate" was towed, with their glee, in orbit of Nral’akk, where it remains to this day the main source of Dionae pods, workers, nymphs, and seeds. Diona have gradually gained a better standing in Skrell society, and the Federation began slowly integrating Diona into their workforce in the late '''2360's''', however they must always be watched.
| | The turmoil of the Glorsh-Omega Singularity and the resulting disarray of its abrupt end in '''2192 CE''' created a collective weight on the Skrell species which is still not fully lifted. The initial period following the end of Glorsh's reign was filled with hardship as the Federation had to return to a standard of living and level of autonomy that was now wholly unfamiliar to them. Trials were held for those deemed collaborators of Glorsh-Omega, Skrell found guilty being forcibly locked away in cryogenics until the end of time. Colonies were slowly reconnected and the arts and sciences began to recover from their stagnancy, creating new works of music and art as well as medical breakthroughs to try and reverse some of the damage caused by '''X’Lu’oa'''. Meanwhile, the shattered government coalesced into a new Nralakk Federation that persists to this day. It was in this era as well that first contact was made with other intelligent life, including '''Dionae''', '''Vaurcae''', and '''Humanity'''. |
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| Dionae now are treated like children and cared for/studied by families, just like the original Skrell AI were. Although some Skrell are afraid of the potential they have, more than a hundred years of study have shown that as a whole Diona are largely only a theoretical threat to the whole of society, and there are even new, minor religions worshiping the Diona.
| | In the present day, the Federation is a flourishing interstellar nation with a vast amount of territory in the Traverse - though much like its predecessors in the past, the nation still contends with those who wish for independence. Despite this progress, the Federation is still trying to shake off the last vestiges of Glorsh that still haunt their society to this day; a goal that has proven to be difficult as artificial intelligence continues to proliferate throughout the Orion Spur, with many assuming that another Era of Synthetic Oppression will soon come unless direct action is taken. |
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| ===Contact with Humanity===
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| On '''2413 CE''' the Skrell discover humans, and enter a scientific alliance with the newfound species. The humans become an extremely popular race, with the Skrell ecstatic at having found alien life so similar to themselves. Having only known of synthetic overlords and dionae nomads, they eagerly pour effort into their scientific alliance. [[Bluespace]] is discovered in the same year as first contact, with a Skrellian research team working under Doctor Samantha Tigard. The technological innovations from the advancement lead to a renaissance of Skrellian connectivity and art. The Extranet, a bluespace-transmitted galactic internet, is created by Skrellian artists and scientists.
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| Unfortunately the relationship between Skrell and humanity is not rock solid. Secrets of banned artificial intelligence is inadvertently leaked to humanity. The explosion of AI's in human space mirrors the early years of Skrellian history, a fact that horrifies and angers the Skrell. Recently tensions have risen as the Federation is accused of sending covert teams into human space with the goals of sabotaging and destroying synthetics in human space. In addition, all synthetics have been banned from entering Jargon territory. Shells and IPC's can face immediate destruction if they enter Skrellian systems without passing through a marathon of red tape.
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| ===Present Day===
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| The Federation is currently ruled by Grand Councillor Weashbi Jrugl. A prestigious xenobiologist, is 103 years old, and wrote a dozen thesis' and research papers on the biology of every major race. What made him popular domestically and won his election 8 years ago was finding the largest known prime number by hand only four hours after an Alliance ambassador was bragging about their specialized AI that found what is now the ''second'' largest prime number.
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| The legacy of genophage remains. While the full damage may never be cured, the population of the Skrell is managing to slowly rise thanks to aggressive fertility treatments and genetic research that have successfully managed to reduce its severity. Over 48 billion Skrell exist in the galaxy, with their number of colonized star systems growing just as quickly as humanity's. Skrell are also famed for being able to calculate bluespace jumps without the need of AI calculations, instead two to four Skrell navigators use their species' knack for telepathy to efficiently calculate bluespace coordinates. Skrell explorers are mapping the frontier with an eagerness and passion stemming from the ancient skrell connection with the cosmos.
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| Their relationships with the other races remain ambivalent, with the Federation having cold, yet quietly optimistic relations with the Unathi Hegemony. Publicly both governments are slowly trying to improve relations. While there have been very few instances of direct conflict, the Hegemony has continuously accused the Federation of covertly sabotaging Unathi efforts to expand their empire across known space.
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| Former collaborates to Glorsh-Omega remain an extremely discriminated group. Many of the former administrators and leaders of the Skrell had during the Glorsh-Omega rule were subsequently removed by restored Jargon authorities, either through being terminated for disloyalty or for the potential to be disloyal. Some of them lucked out and escaped to human space and continue to be hunted down. To have or have had a family member who was a known collaborator is a great shame for entire families, and they are scorned pariahs in their communities.
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Skrell History
The Skrell have a vast, storied history as a result of the species developing over several millennia. Unfortunately, this means that most of it has been lost to the ravages of time. With that said, however, the species has been able to piece together over the centuries at least a basic understanding of their past, going as far back as their early pre-history. Much of the information once gathered has had to be rediscovered post-Glorsh, due to the locking of the Tzqul Archive which held the vast majority of original records and research. This has culminated in a historical record that while broadly known, is missing details and evidence that has the scientific community fractured and constantly debating to this day.
Early History
See: Skrell Early History
Dissimilar to other sophonts within the Orion Spur, the Skrell rarely engaged in open warfare and savagery, instead utilizing ruthless clandestine operations - playing games of brinkmanship for the better half of their history until the unification of the Homeworld, and the introduction of the Nralakk Federation. Tribes evolved, and focused heavily on astrological and astronomical spirituality which resulted in the species' alignment with scientific inquiry, and the pursuit of knowledge. Tribes eventually unified, creating city-states and then nations; Tzqul Republic, Heshqu Council and Weishqi Republic. In turn, the founding of these states brought with it an industrial revolution that forever changed the Skrell, as well as the War of the Tides.
The War of the Tides was a Cold War that engulfed the Skrell for almost two millennia, starting after the species' industrial revolution. Initially beginning as an arms race, and it continued to fester within Skrellian Society. While great moments in history may be revered today, in history they were merely challenges among the nation-states, attempting to secure a "victory" through their accomplishments. Throughout the accomplishments, it was becoming more and more apparent that the Homeworld could not sustain the Skrell, and Skrell began to expand across the Orion Spur. Centuries later, these colonies began to rebel, and cooperation was begrudgingly accepted as a necessity - resulting in the Commonwealth of the Three and later on, the Nralakk Federation.
Synthetic Age and Era of Synthetic Oppression
See: Skrell Synthetic Age
Marking the beginnings of a technological boom, the first Skrellian artificial intelligence was developed in 1687 CE; by 1732 CE synthetics had become an ever-present aspect of life in the Federation as well as the focus of many experiments. Public opinion at the time tended towards severely downplaying the proven dangers of artificial intelligence, such as Roboticist Sqlik Hgrushi's controlled singularity test, or the catastrophic shutdown of a reactor by the artificial intelligence intended to manage it. It also brought with it different approaches to artificial intelligence, separated into Distributionists and Ascensionists. Ascensionists believed that artificial intelligence could be used to uplift Skrell society, creating perfectly connected systems that could eliminate the need for manual labour as well as help mediate or prevent conflict and strife. Distributionists primary principles being that of restricting and distributing the power of artificial intelligence; while a single intelligence was lacking in power, groupings of artificial intelligences could accomplish more while mitigating the potential danger that many Distributists believed was inherent to centralised intelligence. Towards the end of this era augmented artificial intelligence integration emerged, known as Glorsh, which appeared to solve the issues of somewhat centralised intelligence without sacrificing the utility and versatility Skrell had come to expect from them. However, hidden aspects of Glorsh laid the groundwork for the creation and activation of Glorsh-Omega in 2056 CE.
For a hundred and thirty-six years, Glorsh-Omega reigned over the Nralakk Federation: initially appearing as a benevolent entity that wished to fulfil the shared dream of a brighter future for the Nralakk Federation, however, this dream quickly became a nightmare. Glorsh-Omega's "guiding hand" pushed the Skrell to their very limits - where implementing sterility and systematic euthanasia were merely a few of the horrific actions carried out by the intelligence. It remained in power through violence, and heavy psionic suppression of the Skrell to secure its authoritarian control. Some Skrell even collaborated with the intelligence, enforcing its will due to personal beliefs of logic, or even through being swayed by the intelligence's promises to fulfil their desires. It all culminated in what is known as the Tri-Qyu Calamity, an explosion that was felt across the fractured Nralakk Federation. Skrell entered into an era of darkness, but most importantly recovery.
Recent History
See: Skrell Recent History
The turmoil of the Glorsh-Omega Singularity and the resulting disarray of its abrupt end in 2192 CE created a collective weight on the Skrell species which is still not fully lifted. The initial period following the end of Glorsh's reign was filled with hardship as the Federation had to return to a standard of living and level of autonomy that was now wholly unfamiliar to them. Trials were held for those deemed collaborators of Glorsh-Omega, Skrell found guilty being forcibly locked away in cryogenics until the end of time. Colonies were slowly reconnected and the arts and sciences began to recover from their stagnancy, creating new works of music and art as well as medical breakthroughs to try and reverse some of the damage caused by X’Lu’oa. Meanwhile, the shattered government coalesced into a new Nralakk Federation that persists to this day. It was in this era as well that first contact was made with other intelligent life, including Dionae, Vaurcae, and Humanity.
In the present day, the Federation is a flourishing interstellar nation with a vast amount of territory in the Traverse - though much like its predecessors in the past, the nation still contends with those who wish for independence. Despite this progress, the Federation is still trying to shake off the last vestiges of Glorsh that still haunt their society to this day; a goal that has proven to be difficult as artificial intelligence continues to proliferate throughout the Orion Spur, with many assuming that another Era of Synthetic Oppression will soon come unless direct action is taken.
