Humans

A sentient and sapient species of hominids, descended from arboreal creatures.

## Biology

Humans have an erect posture, with two legs, two arms and a head which comprises the brain and most of the sense organs Humans are carbon-based lifeforms, and have an internal skeleton containing calcium phosphate, which gives the bones strength and durability.

More than 60% of the Human body is composed of liquid water. Their circulatory system is closed and they have a heart and two lungs (though they are able to survive with only one lung), located in the chest area. Humans have two pairs of limbs, the lower pair adapted for bipedal walking (*legs*) and the upper for carrying (*arms*). Human arms end in *hands*. Hand are intricate arrangements of five miniature limbs that can be used as grapples, tweezers, clusters of feelers, baskets or semaphore machines, giving them a highly effective way to grasp and manipulate objects as opposed other adaptations such as claws or tentacles;

Humans balance vertically on their legs, and Human knees bend backwards. Human feet evolved from a second pair of hands, which can bear the Human's weight, but cannot perform any of the actions of the true hands. However, Humans have also developed sufficiently to perform tasks using their feet as a matter of choice and need in place of the hands where absent.

## History

Centuries before arriving at Terra, after the depletion of resources on their birth planet, Earth, both Mars and Venus, the two planets in the system closest to Earth, were terraformed and colonized by humans for their natural resources. Then, 200 years later, both planets demanded independence from Earth, to no avail. This dispute escalated into a violent interplanetary war that rendered all three planets uninhabitable. The humans were evacuated from all three now uninhabitable planets on the Ark, a generation ship which now contained the last remnants of the human race.

The Ark and its passengers travelled for several generations in search for a new home, during which the Ark began to suffer damage and began to break down. Humanity gained hope as they found what seemed to be the answer to their prayers, arriving at Terra, and gave it its name. But soon they discovered it was not only an alien world currently inimical to human life, it was an inhabited one, with its own sentient species. After arrival in orbit of Terra and in their desire for knowledge and curiosity, they abducted the native Terrians for scientific research. in the process the humans learned the Terrian language, which in turn was then programmed into humanity's robotic assistants for later interaction.

After discovering the apparent primitiveness of the inhabitants, a faction of humans, led by the commander of the Ark's military wing, General Hemmer, proposed a plan of conquest for the planet. General Hemmer and his supporters were tired of living on the Ark and wanted to terraform a new home regardless of the fact that changing the atmosphere of Terra to be suitable for human life would poison the atmosphere for the native life forms, who would be driven to extinction. Unfortunately, the ark had deteriorated to such a degree that it could only generate and maintain oxygen for two more months. After this the humans would all asphyxiate and go extinct.

General Hemmer grew impatient with the democratic leadership of civilian council and the long deliberations on how to go about dealing with their species' problems. The war-hungry commander of Earthforce launched a coup, usurping the council, declaring war on the Terrians, and forcibly implementing his genocidal plan to create a new Earth for humanity. He was defeated in the resulting conflict and the civilian leadership of humanity and the Terrians negotiated the construction of a colony for humanity, ensuring the species' survival on Terra. The Ark was abandoned and left to fragment in space.

## Society and Culture

The humans have a rich and ancient society with art and culture being highly prized. They also have a strong academic tradition, with major progress in science and technology. For all their enlightenment they are very warlike with a long history of conflict. Ironically, this is almost identical to the Terrians they oppose.

## Technology

The Humans excel at space science and engineering, as evidenced by the Ark and Earthforce's extensive space-based military craft. They have advanced knowledge of physics and technological applications thereof, as seen by the Ark's centrifugal based artificial gravity. The humans also have advanced knowledge and applications in artificial intelligence, robotics, holography, and other information and communication technologies; this is shown through the Ark's near-ubiquitous robotic assistants like Giddy and Lambdnine and the robotic workers like Sayfour and the other similar robots seen maintaining the Ark and its auxiliary spacecraft as well as the many holograms and holographic computer displays within the Ark and its vehicles.

Despite appearing to have superior technology, firepower, and defenses to the Terrians, the humans are actually surpassed by them in all but the social sciences and social technologies, The Humans' conventional military technology might be inferior, but their soft sciences enable them to field a highly trained and educated military. This greater knowledge and experience in combat and warfare, along with numerical superiority in terms of soldiers and vehicles, allowed them to decimate the Terrian resistance despite being otherwise technologically outclassed.