Hai

"Living on their doorstep? Of course I do. Why do you think the Navy maintains such a large base on Farpoint in the first place? It's not like the human anarchists up north pose that much of a threat."
-Admiral Danforth, mission: Invade Avalon (Wanderers: Alpha Surveillance F)
The Hai are an alien species that resides in a separate group of colonies to the east of the Far North. Uniquely, it is one of the first alien species you can visit without a Jump Drive, via the wormhole that links Ultima Thule to Waypoint. They are generally friendly to humans, letting them coexist with them. They are squirrel-like, but are around the size of humans. They are apparently extremely long-lived compared to humans, as one "elderly-looking Hai" claims to be hundreds of years old. There are now about 40 billion Hai.
The Hai are not completely peaceful. They are split into two factions: the regular, peaceful Hai, and the Unfettered Hai. The term "Hai" generally refers to their peaceful faction, the one closer to the wormhole. The Unfettered constantly attack the Hai for resources and territory, forcing the Hai to fight back in self-defense.
== History ==
The Hai developed spaceflight in about 117,000 B.C and they reached the peak of their empire at about 97,000 B.C.E. We know that the Hai empire expanded up to what is now Wanderer space and all the way out to the Deep. They had a period of civil wars stretching 5,000 years, from 92,000 B.C.E to 87,000 B.C., which included conflicts with the now-extinct Sheragi. About when those wars ended, the Hai decided that they would be better off with a small collection of systems than with a large empire. They pulled out of what was to become human space and the ruined northern territories.
Somewhere in the Second Millennium A.D., the Hai made contact with the Korath of the Anatruskor Empire, who'd used their Jump Drives to reach them. At first, the Hai-Korathi relations were peaceful, but sporadic due to the unreliability of the latter's technology. Unfortunately this did not last, as when the Korath Civil War began, the Anatruskors sought the Hai's help to fight their enemies. Outraged by their refusal, the Anatruskors and their allies the Sestors launched raids to Hai space. To protect their homelands, some brave Hai, who would later become the Unfettered, rose up to resist the invaders. The invasion lasted for decades, but then abruptly ended in about 2820. Most Hai were glad to return to their peaceful lives, but some Hai found life to be boring and meaningless without the excitement and unpredictability of war, and so they settled worlds in the extreme north of Hai space, forming their own faction, the Unfettered Hai.
During the raids, the Hai were visited by "humans": the Alphas. Because of the their extreme innate hostility towards other species, the Alphas tried to take advantage of the Hai, whom they deemed to be weak because of their peacefulness, but were overwhelmed and banned from Hai space. Later, the Hai were visited by regular humans, who showed the Hai that not all humans are evil.
== Attributes ==
The Hai are slightly shorter than humans and resemble giant squirrels. They are extremely energetic and are compared to hyperactive children. When they go on vacation, they prefer to go to violent, chaotic worlds rather than calm ones. The majority of the Hai species is notable for being very friendly towards outsiders, due in part to the Hai's interest in novelty.
All of the Hai ships are named after some type of invertebrate creature that may or may not make up part of a Hai diet.
== Culture ==
Hai culture is in part based on a set of tenets taught to young Hai, which are known as the "maturity tenets". The list is known to number to thirteen or more, although it appears accepted that tenets after the tenth may be seen more as guidelines than rules.
The first three tenets are known to be:
# Maintain a clear separation between fantasy and reality.
# Be honest in dealings with others.
# Gamble only on skill, not on chance.
Although none of these are regarded to be unbreakable rules for adult Hai transgressing them is frowned upon, especially publicly, because they're seen as defining the difference between a mature, responsible member of society and one who is naïve and immature.
Hai culture also has a large tolerance of the Unfettered Hai. The mainstream Hai regard themselves as owing their erstwhile cousins a debt, and that leads them to ignore the idea of policing the Unfettered Hai's reckless warmongering. This attitude backfires when the Unfettered Hai launch an invasion of the peaceful Wanderers. Furthermore the Hai will ignore Unfettered sympathizers attacking human captains who capture Unfettered worlds, and the Hai defense forces will even support such attackers if the human captain attempts to defend his or her ship.
== Technology ==
The Hai are designed to be a "tier 1.5" race, roughly in between tier 1 races like humans and tier 2 races like the Wanderers, although some players consider them to be closer to "tier 1.1." Hai tech is generally slightly more space-efficient and balanced than its human counterparts, at the price of a higher amount of credits being needed to purchase the outfits and Hai space being somewhat difficult to access for a new player. This makes Hai technology something to be desired but also something that is somewhat difficult to acquire in the early game. Nonetheless, a player with the time and credits can make careful use of Hai and human technology mixed together to make a decent craft. As the player advances through the game and gains access to progressively more advanced Remnant, Korath and Wanderer outfits, most Hai tech is gradually replaced. That being said, a player can find themselves still using Hai technology in the late-game as a combination of its decent cost and space-efficiency make it a reliable fallback option.
=== Ships ===
Transport
* Cicada
* Scarab
Space Liner
* Centipede
Light Freighter
* Aphid
* Water Bug
Heavy Freighter
* Geocoris
Interceptor
* Grasshopper
Light Warship
* Lightning Bug
Medium Warship
* Ladybug (upcoming)
* Pond Strider
* Sea Scorpion
Heavy Warship
* Shield Beetle
* Solifuge
Fighter
* Violin Spider
Drone
* Flea
=== Outfits ===
Weapons
* Ion Cannon
* Pulse Cannon
* Pulse Turret
* Hai Tracker Pod
** Hai Tracker
** Tracker Storage Pod
* Skipper Railgun
** Skipper Railgun Slug
** Skipper Slug Rack
* Bullfrog Anti-Missile
* Chameleon Anti-Missile
Systems
* Hai Corundum Regenerator
* Hai Diamond Regenerator
* Hai Cuttlefish Jammer
* Hai Williwaw Cooling
* Quantum Keystone
Power
* Sand Cell
* Pebble Core
* Geode Reactor
* Boulder Reactor
* Hai Chasm Batteries
* Hai Fissure Batteries
* Hai Gorge Batteries
* Hai Ravine Batteries
* Hai Valley Batteries
Engines
* "Baellie" Atomic Engines
* "Basrem", "Benga", "Biroo", "Bondir", "Bufaer" Atomic Thruster
* "Basrem", "Benga", "Biroo", "Bondir", "Bufaer" Atomic Steering
* "Basrem", "Benga", "Biroo" Reverse Thruster
Hand to Hand:
* Pulse Rifle
== Interspecies Relations ==
The Hai are generally very friendly towards other species, and only ever fight in self-defense (or so they claim).
* Humans: The Hai are particularly friendly towards human merchants and explorers because their society has stagnated, and so they look to humans for change and excitement. They have, in fact, made diplomatic contact with the Republic, but this is kept secret from most of humanity so that the Hai can prepare for the slowly increasing human population in their space.
* Alphas: The Alphas were the first "humans" to contact the Hai back in the 30th century, but because of their cruel and selfish nature, they were banned from Hai space.
* Remnant: While the Remnant haven't personally met the Hai, they can learn of their existence (and their large supply of Quantum Keystones) from the player.
* Unfettered Hai: The Hai and the Unfettered have an extremely asymmetrical relationship; while the Hai view the Unfettered as an "excited" militia of sorts after being invaded by the Korath, and are apparently indebted to them, the Unfettered perceive the Hai as weak cowards and look down upon them.
* Korath: The Hai met the Korath somewhere in the 1000s C.E., when the Anatruskor Empire developed their own Jump Drives. Relations turned sour in the 2580s, early in the Korath Civil War when the Hai refused to fight in it, angering the Anatruskor-Sestor alliance, who started raiding their home space. The Hai may or may not feel contempt toward the Korath for their attacks and for changing the Unfettered.
* Builders: According to the Quarg, in their early history the Hai attacked the Builders when they first encountered them. The disparity of technology between both races and the violence of their assault terrified the Builders so much that they became xenophobic. The Hai ships that invaded the Graveyard were destroyed at a heavy cost. 
* Quarg: While the Hai and the Quarg do not often mention each other to the player, they seem to be on friendly terms, as the Hai have allowed for a Quarg ringworld to be built in their space in Hevru Hai. Hai ships can be seen landing on and taking off from the ringworld, indicating possible trade relations.
* Pug: The Hai have not yet interacted with the Pug, as far as we know.
* Wanderers: Until the player notifies the Hai of the Wanderers' existence, they are completely unaware of them, but once they are, they are eager to pursue diplomatic relations with the Wanderers and try their best to stop the Unfettered attacks on the Wanderers (but fail because of their peaceful beliefs).
* Drak: The Hai are apparently grateful for the Drak because, as they claim, the Drak made them think about the choice of whether to have expansive territory with endless warfare, or a small group of colonies with peace. The Hai chose the latter.
== Trivia ==
* The Quarg ringworld in Hai space is one of three complete ringworlds the player can visit in the game, and is one of the two ringworlds that are still controlled by the Quarg.
* The Hai originally used human outfits (S-270 Regenerator, S-970 Regenerator, Fusion Reactor, Fission Reactor, Dwarf Core, human batteries, human atomic engines, human anti-missile turrets) because Michael was lazy, but a collaborative effort led by Wrzlprnft and LocalGod created the outfits they use today.
Category:Species
Category:Hai
Category:Faction