Ra-Shi Virus

The **Ra-Shi** were a hellish, biomechanical, virus-based species. Ra-Shi were vicious, remorseless killing machines that could infect both organic and mechanical entities. They followed the every command of the Ra-Shi Virus that gave them life, which in turn obeyed a "queen". Each Ra-Shi started out as part of a different race that had been infected, whether by an Infector unit or direct contact with a different Ra-Shi. When an individual was infected, a violent transformation took place and turned them into one of those bloodthirsty monsters. Basic Ra-Shi were part of the Virus Stage 1.

## Biology

To truly understand what the Ra-Shi was, one needed to look past the frightening exterior and into the inner working mechanics. It was actually comprised of a series of microscopic, virulent, biomechanical machines, or viral nanites. All were controlled by a central control cube present somewhere within the host's body.

## Technology

Ra-Shi technology was very unique, having been, during their first appearance, the only form of biomechanical shape-shifting ever to exist. In other words, Ra-Shi could rapidly change their vessels into exact copies of those around them. A very useful adaption, especially when the enemy was stronger. The more races the Ra-Shi encountered and thus converted, the stronger they became. That was how they nearly destroyed a substantial portion of civilization within the galaxy. Had the queen not been destroyed, they would have been impossible to stop.

## Culture

Ra-Shi were cannibalistic, violent, and above all, sadistic. They would not think twice of killing someone; in fact, they appeared to enjoy it. The behavior of the Ra-Shi was also determined by the current queen in control. In the case of the First Ra-Shi War, the Ra-Shi Queen sought power. In turn, the Ra-Shi turned violent and began to take over numerous planets. However, if a queen was 'good' natured, the Ra-Shi would become more docile and even disappear for decades until the next queen was chosen.

### Free-willed variants

Free-willed Ra-Shi, rare as they were, carried personal beliefs derived from the particular race, culture, or individual they had converted.

## Elite Class

Some Ra-Shi could evolve to the point of perfection, in which they were mostly machine. Those Ra-Shi elites were powerful and deadly, and appeared to have a degree of free will and high intelligence. However, they remained loyal to the ruling queen. There was yet another class of Ra-Shi, known as Jasarthian (Ra-Shi Virus Stage 2), which occurred when a Ra-Shi grew older and matured. Jasarthians were very rare, but it was said that they had the ability to shape-shift into any form they pleased.

## After the First Ra-Shi War

When the queen of the Ra-Shi was destroyed and her armies encapsulated in a remote asteroid, the remaining individuals scattered. At that point, they possessed free will, and some even tried to continue where the lives of their hosts had left off in the galaxy. However, many could never return to society due to fear and hatred against them. A majority of them turned to piracy, carrying with them their acquired taste for violence and blood. However, if a new queen had emerged, they would have rejoined the ranks of their original deadly purpose. All free-willed Ra-Shi eventually died off.

## Reawakening

During the last year of the Kreet War, the asteroid that the Ra-Shi had been sealed in was breached by the Kreet. The Kreet formed an allegiance with the Ra-Shi, who promised the Kreet an immense amount of power. They quickly spread, eventually consuming billions of sentients and countless starships. They betrayed the Kreet and consumed them, leading to the race's extinction.

### Apparent defeat

They remained a pervasive and destructive force until a special weapon was developed by Space Dynamics, which aided greatly in the war effort against them and led to the apparent defeat of the powerful Starcrusher, their current leader, in September 3016 over the skies of Corneria.

### Final defeat

Over three years later, however, it was discovered that Starcrusher was not only alive, but had possessed the body of Klak hero and Phoenix Alliance leader General Arhn and was orchestrating the reconstruction of his forces while simultaneously weakening the Phoenix Alliance. In November 3019, before the once-ailing Ra-Shi remnants could unleash their rebuilt army, all units were killed due to a galaxy-wide computer virus developed by the advanced Aaltice species, thus completely ending the war and rendering the virulent species extinct.