Ecology of the Hierarchy

Ecology of the Hierarchy

Created by the godlike Masari over ten thousand years ago, the Hierarchy are a ravenous, conquest-hungry race whose need for resources is widely known, widely feared, and insatiable. Originally living as an unintelligent insect race on their fertile but volcanic homeworld of Val Saro, they were altered through unknown means to become a sentient, space faring race. This, however, proved to be the Masari's undoing. The Hierarchy advanced too far, too fast, was societically unstable, and viciously disliked being the underlings of their creators.

In the end, the Hierarchy rebelled and won their freedom, destroying the once innumerable Masari down to a single city-ship, which consequently fled to Earth. From there, the Hierarchy began to face problems from no longer being regulated by their creators. Their nigh insatiable hunger for resources resulted in Val Saro being completely stripped of all valuables. All that was left was a barren ball of dirt, without a single trace of life or usable materials. Without their homeworld, the Hierarchy was forced to migrate from planet to planet, strip-mining each of everything useful. As they grew in number, the Hierarchy began operating from a main fleet, sending off splinters to harvest planets, eventually growing into the intergalactic entity they are today.

The Hierarchy did not have the advanced technology of the Masari, and thus began to meet significant resistance from sentient races, slowing down their rate of resource harvesting to intolerable levels. Desperate to keep themselves from extinction by starvation, the Hierarchy began to alter themselves in every way possible in order to become living weapons. As they gained a few inevitable victories, they began also incorporating alien technology and genetics into themselves, causing their technology to surge forward. In addition, their own original technology began to become more and more organic, allowing it to advance and adapt of its own volition. By the time the Hierarchy became the unstoppable juggernaut it is today, they held virtually no resemblance to the original insectoids of Val Saro. There is now no distinction between their bodies and their technology; their weapons and ships are as much a part of the Hierarchy as those who use them.

Biology

Though almost nothing like their ancestors, the original Hierarchy, the present-day Hierarchy is still noticeably insectoid. They are arranged into different castes, hence the name of their species. Each caste serves a different purpose within the Hierarchy: anything from administration to warfare. However, the castes are not as rigid as one might think, however. Considering itself the epitome of efficiency and effectiveness, the Hierarchy has no issue with individuals of one caste taking on the duties of another, so long as they are good at it. Sentient examples of Hierarchy are included in the castes as well.

While much of the Hierarchy's overall biology is unique, they have inherited certain traits from their creators. Most notable is their sensitivity to the arcane, also known as Light/Dark Energy. They lack the training and mental discipline to balance the two energies as the Masari have, but the Hierarchy has a number of weapons and tools that utilize their natural arcane sensitivity. This sensitivity also means that members of the Hierarchy are immune to attacks on the mind, and are also sensitive to mental contact. This is not a part of their physiology/mental structure that have always been there. It was an adaptation made to the Hierarchy by the Masari to protect the Hierarchy's members from prolonged exposure to mental contact with them. However, while every caste - organic and mechanical – possesses the potential for psychic abilities, some castes have more than others, and it is up to the individual to hone their abilities to a useable level. (An excellent example would be Kamal Re'x the Abductor, a member of the Manipulator caste who has spent his millennia-long life training his mind to the point of near-clairvoyance)

The Hierarchy has no single physical form. However, they do have a general set of physical traits that remains relatively constant throughout the castes, and all castes can be categorized into one of several Hierarchy body types. In general, Hierarchy members possess external eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth in approximately the same positions as they would be on a human or a Masari – this is no coincidence, but yet another designed trait from the Masari, one of the few that was not purged by the Hierarchy's many manipulations of their own bodies and minds. Organ structure is also somewhat constant. In general, their organs all perform the same tasks as human and Masari organs, but are arranged quite differently.

One quite interesting note about Hierarchy is that they are natural cyborgs – they are all born with mechanical parts of their physiology. The technology that allows this feat makes these structures virtually indistinguishable from purely organic body parts unless investigated very closely. The cybernetic parts are inextricably woven into their bodies. Likely related to this is the radioactivity of Hierarchy blood, which is a bright scarlet, turning a brilliant green when it comes into contact with oxygen. This radioactivity is required for a member of the Hierarchy to survive, as their cells use different kinds of radiation to produce energy. As a consequence, exposing their cells to high levels of radiation causes them to over clock, accelerating their body processes (particularly healing) in order to compensate for the influx of energy. However, this process cannot be sustained indefinitely, as the body loses the ability to rest in such conditions and will begin to rapidly wear down if radiated for too long.

Though it might seem strange at first, the Hierarchy's castes are usually capable of reproducing naturally, not just artificially. This is a product of racial paranoia. They insist on keeping every option for survival open, and fear that relying too much on artificial means will leave them vulnerable, as they would quickly die out if ever cut off from their technology. At the same time, sexual reproduction is much more unpredictable, and unfavorable mutations can occur. As a compromise, the Hierarchy is capable of utilizing both methods, but generally use a combination of the two.

From here, the majority of Hierarchy biology must be separated according to caste, as it differs too much to lump into one category. The different mindsets of each caste will also be included.