Z

Also known as the Z’uvrztsz (Zee-uv-urts-suz), the Z are a sentient, space-capable aquatic species based in the Machine Sector. Their homeworld is Mu Arae, a water world, and they have several colonies on other water worlds at adjacent stars. The Z prefer covert rather than overt aggression, as they are a race with a great deal of stress hormone, which has acted as part of their general survival mechanism, for millennia; as such, they have artificially created a genetically-engineered warrior caste, called the Sistal. The Sistal overwhelmingly crew and direct offensive operations on the Z's capital ships, and protect the Z's worlds and populace.

## Culture

The Z are extremely xenophobic, and interpret even mistaken appearances in their space as aggression, without altering this impression based on the claims or stated intent of the presumed aggressor. They are not interested in other species or cultures, nor are they interested in friendship, alliances, or exchanges of ideas. According to Z thought, to suggest that the Z have something to learn from other species would be insulting, and it is not an idea that occurs to them. They are apex predators and omnivores, seeing nothing wrong with (and even enjoying) the act of ripping apart and eating other aquatic species. Unlike humans, the Z do not possess a sense of affection for species that look like them; they do not keep pets, or see themselves in, anything that is not Z, and have a utilitarian outlook about non-sentient species. The Z are cultivars, creating an ambient flora of algae and phytoplankton that provides them with stable energy and nutrients as they swim in their favored bands of water. They also husband schools of non-sentient fish and other prey species, culling them without curtailing the longevity of their populations; in this context, they enjoy group hunting greatly. They also cultivate surplus flora and genetically-altered fauna in containment, usually for shipment to their colonies.

The Z regard elements like the Infernal Machine like they might regard a natural force or disaster; it simply exists and happens, and must only be combatted when it presents an immediate problem. The Tardek (and other humanoid species that look like them) are considered a predatory species. Since the Tardek are from the Machine Sector, the Z have a history of conflict with them, and the Tardek have long considered the Z a food species. The Z do not see meaningful difference between the Tardek, humans, Cetians, or any other humanoid species, though the Cetians were able to read the Z's anxiety levels and left them alone quickly enough to avoid further conflict. However, it is the Earth Republic's alliance and continued support of the Tardek that has precipitated the Z's present aggression, and so it would not be internally inconsistent for the Z to consider the Cetians a threat and aggressor for helping the Earth Republic while the two species (Z and human) were in conflict.

## Religion

The Z do not possess a positive religion; they would consider it both terrifying and insulting to even consider an entity or entities greater than themselves, that has power over them, or that created them. Anything that is other than the Z cannot, by definition, be benevolent. The Z possess a kind of radical Atheism, or a negative religion, that is inherently dualist in nature. There is the Z, who are the center of everything and the apex of creation, and there is the great Other. To the Z, this great Other manifests as many things: in the ocean, the Z traditionally called this "the Shadow that Lurks in the Deep," "the Abyssal One" or something similar, and it represents dangerous creatures or deep places that are not part of the Z or their optimal, territorial space. On the galactic scale, the great Other manifests as other species, who are harbingers or avatars of the Other. The very existence of species, ways of being and thinking, and worlds that are not Z represent danger on a scale that could be considered heretical or Satanic. By the Other's nature, it is adversarial, dangerous, and in need of extermination. The Other is not considered "valid" to the Z, and its experiences are not "real" like the Z's experiences.

## Stars

The Z have main or colonial holdings at:

- Mu Arae

- Lyra

- Cetus

- Phoenix Alpha

- Cygnus