Hetarek Culture.
The Hetarek have roamed and raided the universe for millennia. Trapped by the speed of light as they have not developed wormhole travel, and with an average lifespan of less than thirty Earth-years, every raid becomes a multi-generational affair designed to bring honor to a particular clan. These raiding parties identify target planets and seize them, turning them into profitable colonies. If a clan can maintain a planet for a full generation, it becomes eligible for the Hetarek Hegemony, the elite class that rules Hetarek culture. The warrior culture and short natural lifespan combine to give Hetarek a philosophy that decentralizes the individual.
For a warrior culture, the Hetarek do not eat the flesh of dead animals. Instead, their diet remains almost exclusively of schleckt cooked in multiple forms. A low, fibrous planet with broad, bright red leaves sticking out from a heavy, almost wood-like stalk, schleckt is high in protein. It grows well in the same climate and soil as human grapes.
Hetarek Physiology.
Generally described as “lizard-like,” Hetarek have six limbs and a short tail. The front two limbs can function as either legs or arms, depending upon the need, and end in three opposable claws. Their eyes sit on the sides of their heads above a long snout. Lipless, and with sharp teeth, they rely heavily on guttural sounds to communicate. Thus, their language cannot be replicated by humans, although some Ahai have been able to mimic it. Their height when standing on four limbs, their typical method of locomotion, generally exceeds that of the average human, but not significantly. Their skin becomes scaly with age, and their coloring a darker green.
The Hetarek prefer hot, dry climates that mimic their homeworld, even though most off-world Hetarek have never been to Heta, a barely-habitable, high-mass planet orbiting a binary red dwarf system. Their eyes remain adapted to red light, but are not as adapted to night vision. Because of Heta’s mass, the Hetarek have evolved into powerful jumpers on less massive planets.
Hetareks are almost exclusively males, with the small number of queens carefully controlled for use as breeding. A highly technical process, genes cultivated from clans within the Hetarek Hegemony are used to fertilize eggs based on the precise needs of the clan. Geneticists help identify the distribution of particular traits amongst a clutch. The queens, who dramatically outsize their male counterparts and lack defined claws, lay hundreds of eggs in Hatcheries. The Hatcheries then nurture the Hetarek hatchlings for up to three years before they are self-sufficient and assigned to their duties. It is considered an honor for a Hetarek who has died to be turned into a nutrient-rich slurry to be fed to the queens and the hatchlings. It is seen as part of the cycle of life, and is referred to as a Return Ceremony, a very secretive and solemn event.
The Hetarek religion is virtually unknown. It is known from reports and recovered Hetarek files that there is a religion, governed by Shamans, but that the religion only plays a part role at birth, death, and the start of a raid or colonization.
Hetarek Military.
The Hetarek have a rigid military structure designed for colonization. The majority of Hatchlings created carry warrior traits. A Hetarek cannot be considered a true warrior until he has earned is rtek blade. A heavy, paddle-like blade above the grip with a long, narrow blade ending in a spike beneath the grip, rtek blades are designed for short, sharp strikes. It is considered a test of skill for a warrior to be able to cut his enemy lengthwise with the rtek blade, often with the warrior rearing back on his hindmost legs and crushing down upon his victim. Hetarek warriors do not earn their blades until they have killed an enemy without it. While the Hetarek prefer to use the rtek blade, they generally use laser and projectile weapons for medium- and long-range fighting.
The true Hetarek prowess is their combat in space. The Hetarek employed a large EMP cannon during the invasion of Earth, although, during the evacuation, multiple sources noted that only one ship, the flagship, carried the cannon, and that other ships in the Hetarek fleet distances themselves from the flagship before it fired. This weapon is largely considered to be the primary cause for the fall of Earth.
The Hetarek use small battleships called Asps, a sharp-pointed arrowhead capable of both fleet engagements and discharging smaller fighting vessels, such as Scythes. The Scythe, a cross between a heavy fighter and a light transport, shaped like its namesake, a long curve. It can carry a small number of Hetarek or be outfitted for space engagements. Capable of atmospheric entry, it is the workhorse of the Hetarek fleet. Sickles are light-fighters generally used to engage enemy ships. They do have atmospheric ability, but their maneuverability is severely limited. They resemble the shape of their cousin the Scythe, but are much smaller, only fitting a single Hetarek pilot. It is notable that Hetarek ships are severely limited in atmospheres that are turbulent or have a high humidity. Generally, Hetarek will not fly through clouds or into precipitation.
Their military ranks are sparse, with Dargas function as general officers, Akes as junior and mid-level officers, and Arvts as their non-commissioned officer corps. While the military remains the primary effort in any colonization plan, they fall under the organization of the colonizing force.
Colonization.
Each Hetarek colonization is a numbers game. They clan seeking colonization must carefully balance its resources since the colony will be isolated from Heta. Typically, the Hetarek will invade rapidly, and start a process roughly translated as the “Culling.” They kill the sick and eldery, anyone who might not be capable of hard labor, or anyone capable of resisting. They determine the goal of the colony, such as mining a rare type of ore, then carefully calculate how many natives must be kept alive to conduct harvesting. They use that number to determine who many natives must be kept alive to keep those workers alive and the Hetarek necessary to support them. Everyone not fitting into that equation is killed, either directly or through starvation, forced relocation, or other means of en masse control. While the Hetarek do not seek out to control every inch of territory, as doing so would be an inefficient use of resources, they destroy enough that the little that they do not control is irrelevant to their process.
Once the Hetarek have control of the native population left alive as a labor force, that labor force is left generally on its own to meet certain quotas. The cost of not meeting these quotas is death. At regular intervals, the production of a given location is inventoried. If the inventory fails to meet the quota, the Hetarek execute natives as punishment. The Hetarek also use these inventories as an opportunity to kill those who are “aging out” or have other limitations to their usefulness. The Hetarek always execute some natives as an incentive for each production facility to exceed its quota.
The quotas and resource management is directed by the Kevak, the head minister in charge of the colonization project. Beneath the Kevak are a series of Khuus, ministers responsible for particular effort, such as resource management, and as Dunds, governors of geographic regions of the colony.
The Hetarek have been known to breed slaves from natives captured from successful colonization. The so-called Metic Ahai are the primary example. Descendants from captured Ahai, the Metic Ahai are often used as overseers on colonized planets. Given the Hetarek limitations on verbal communication, they often rely on natives who can understand Hetarek speech to act as intermediaries with the local population.