Drak

"The Drak are the eldest living. Not the firstborn, for they are long gone, but the eldest living, and yet they are far younger than the stars."
- Anonymous Quarg, First Contact: Quarg
The Drak are the oldest and most technologically advanced race in the game. They are most commonly seen represented by an Archon.
The mission of the Drak is to preserve the species of the Milky Way. The Pug say that the Archons have failed in their duty many times before, and that the Archons are very sad as a result. 
Sometimes "Drak" and "Archon" are used interchangeably, but other times they are referred to as separate entities.
== History ==
Little is known about the Drak, although what is known is that they have been around for longer than any other known race. They are not the first civilization to rise in the galaxy, but they are the oldest that still exists. 
They were once an immensely destructive species that obliterated entire star systems in their wars, which were apparently so devastating that they nearly destroyed the galaxy. However, they "learned wisdom" and abandoned their old ways, embracing pacifism (although some say that Drak perished as the result of their wars, leaving only the Archons behind). For millions of years, they've controlled access to their Jump Drive technology and altered the galaxy's hyperlanes to keep its species from warring with each other so that there can never be another conflict like the ones that happened in their early days. In the 2790s, they ended the Korath Civil War by destroying their star-killing weapons and exiled the Korath Exiles from their home space with help from the Quarg. 
The Drak will only step in to intervene if a species is threatening to wipe themselves out, as the Korath almost did in their civil war. The Drak will also interfere if they detect a species developed "obscene technologies of war" like planet killers, star destroyers and reality-warping weaponry. The Unfettered Hai claim that the Drak altered the Hai to become more friendly. 
== Attributes ==
The physical appearance of the Drak is unknown.
The Drak are thought to be capable of telepathic communication of some sort, as there are several instances of the player or other in-game characters hearing voices in their head originating from an Archon.
The Drak only have a single known ship, known as the Archon (pictured in the infobox). Archons appear to be partially biological but not entirely and not through natural evolution. Some of their biology appears to be related to the Void Sprites.
As of version 0.9.12, only six Archons are known to exist within the game: "Watchful Gravetender," "Snows of Far Door Nai," "Kasiliri's Folly," "Sword of Eden," "Sleeping Dragon," and "Lifted Lorax."
== Technology ==
=== Ships ===
Heavy Warship
* Archon
=== Outfits ===
Weapons
* Drak Antimatter Cannon (Augmented)
* Drak Turret (Augmented)
* Drak Draining Field (Augmented)
* Drak Distancer
* Drak Anti-Missile Field (Augmented)
Systems
* Jump Drive
== Interspecies Relations ==
The Drak are neutral towards nearly every race unless provoked. It is possible that the Drak operate on an entirely different morality system from the rest of the galaxy. Their definition of a tremendous sadness, as shown by the Archons, is the extinction of a native species of the Milky Way.
* Human: Unknown, most likely neutral. The Drak are known to be concerned for humanity's future, due to their violent ways.
* Remnant: Unknown, but perhaps slightly negative. A single Drak Archon in the Nenia system will attack Remnant ships on sight due to their prior experimentation on the Void Sprites, but will not pursue them outside the system.
* Hai: Unknown, most likely neutral.
* Unfettered Hai: Unknown, possibly neutral on their end (though they could very well become hostile if the Unfettered become too aggressive). The Unfettered claim the Drak modified the Hai to suppress their aggressiveness and make them peaceful.
* Korath Exiles: The Archons intervened in the Korath civil war and banished the Korath who did not agree to their demands to the core. Those would become the Korath Exiles. The current Drak attitude towards the Exiles is unknown, though they do warn the Wanderers to not harm either of the remaining Korath factions, meaning that they are protective of the Exiles. There's rumors among the Korath that if the only habitable world they have, Far'en Lai, is destroyed or left uninhabitable, the Drak would wipe them out. The three Archons that inhabit Kasikfar, Fasitopfar and Peresedersi are implied to be blockading the Exiles to keep them from returning to their home space and potentially harm the Kor Efreti.
* Kor Efreti: The Drak are very protective of the Kor Efreti, due to their status as a nearly-extinct species in the galaxy.
* Kor Mereti: Hostile, however the Drak do not seek to destroy the Kor Mereti, because they are a monument of the dying Korath. They also disconnected the former Mereti system of Sayaiban from the rest of Korath space due to its all-devouring nanobot swarm, both to protect others from it and to preserve it as the last great creation of the Korath.
* Kor Sestor: Hostile, however the Drak do not seek to destroy the Kor Sestor, because they are a monument of the dying Korath.
* Quarg: Friendly, The Drak gifted their Jump Drive tech to the Quarg as they were deemed worthy, and the Quarg act as servants for the Drak (though they do get a large amount of autonomy).
* Pug: Thought to be neutral, as an unnamed Quarg claims that the Drak would not intervene in the Pug invasion of human space due to their policies towards interspecies wars. However, Archons will attack Pug ships due to an unspecified incident that did not end well for the Drak.
* Wanderers: A single Archon is claimed to appear at the moment that the Wanderers arrive at Spera Anatrusk through the Eye, threatening great punishment if the Wanderers harmed either the Kor Efreti or the Korath Exiles.
* Rulei: The Drak are believed to have disconnected Rulei space from the rest of Acheron after their extinction, to keep younger races like the Gegno from destroying themselves with their advanced technology.
== Trivia ==
* Outside of save-file editing, it is impossible to legitimately obtain Drak outfits or ships as Archons have the "never disabled" tag.
* There is some evidence in the game to suggest that the Archons and the Drak are separate from each other; they are closely related, but not necessarily the same entities.
Category:Species
Category:Faction