Rezolians

Very little is known about the Rezolians. There have been three known incidents where they were encountered. At least another five unexplained colony disasters are suspected to be due to (or have involvement with) the Rezolians. It has been deduced they come from the spinward edge of unexplored space that borders current Imperium and Federation territory.

Roughly 28 years ago in separate instances, two naval warships were destroyed in engagements with an unrecognized class of starship. The Totunga from the Imperium Space Service (ISS-134A Totunga) and the Athens from the Federation Navy (FN-106Z Athens) were large warships crewed with 400-600 personnel. Each craft were pinnacle examples of their respective navy power at the time. Surviving accounts state that each ship came across an unusual energy signature near habitable planets. When they investigated the system, their ships were attacked. All hands were lost, save 2-3 persons that escaped in lifecraft which landed on nearby habitable planets within the system.

The third incident was approximately 26 years ago with the Melana Bay colony. It was newly established on the periphery of what is now Federation territory. The planet was undergoing basic terraforming operations to improve the density of its thin atmosphere. All contact with the colony was lost. After almost a year of no contact from Melana Bay, Federation Marines were sent to investigate. The marines reported that the colony was gone. The entire area and surrounding landmass was gouged out, with only a sparse amount of vegetation finally reclaiming its remains.

A broadcast signal from a X-boat communications network node was received two years later. Apparently as the colony was invaded, an unmanned courier craft was launched, and after three years was able to finally reach and broadcast what data it had recorded. The video images recovered showed a large craft of unknown design in low orbit around the planet, the launching of large ordinance to the planet surface, and the deployment of some type of nanobot payload which destroyed the colony and surrounding area. There was no record of any communication from the craft despite several attempts made by the colonists.

Approximately a year later (almost 2 years before the end of the 100 year war), a deep space probe picked up a repeating signal from what is presumed as Rezolian space. It was a common language message spoken in a halting manner, using an automated translator voice (with another chittering sound heard in the background). The message was brief, ‘We are Rezolian. Stars here our empire. Come more and Rezolian bring death.’

Physical Appearance

Rezolians have an internal skeletal structure and a roughly oblong abdomen/chest that has three segments. They have 8 limbs with 4 joints and each end in an appendage which has 4 digits. They have multiple sets of eyes and a set of large piercing fangs that flank a mouth of rows of smaller barbed mandibles. Their body is surrounded by a thick leathery skin that is covered in coarse hair which is mostly black or a deep brown, with stripes of either bright orange, yellows, or reds.

They move along with four of their rear limbs and use their upper four limbs to manipulate objects, but if needed they can propel themselves at great speed using all eight limbs. Their musculature is exceedingly strong. They are approximately 2 meters in length and stand about 1 ½ meter off the ground. The surviving navy and marine personnel that were boarded by the Rezolians call them spiders as their bodies look terrifyingly like huge earth tarantulas.

Technology

Rezolians appear to be an advanced alien species possessing cloaking, personal shielding, and teleportation technology. They use power armor suits in boarding assaults along with an array of sophisticated AI combat drones (the image below is an artist’s rendition of Rezolian power suits). After the Totunga engagement, two bodies of Rezolians were recovered from a suspected scout craft. Observed standard practice is that all craft and individual Rezolian casualties teleport back to their main craft. It appears that this technology failed, and a backup system was activated employing nanobots which destroyed the power suits and craft of the aliens, leaving only their corpses behind.

The Imperium and Federation scientists can only speculate on the technological level of the Rezolians, however they seem to employ particle accelerator personnel weapons, and ship armament of mass drivers and missile systems that deploy nanobot payloads which ‘eat’ the target craft. While is it rumored that cloaking technology and personal shielding are being developed by each respective military power, the use of Rezolian teleportation technology is disturbing. There is no existence of this technology beyond hypothetical theories in the known galaxy.

Culture

Currently there is no knowledge of Rezolian culture. They appear to be capable of speech and can see and hear in a wide spectrum and frequencies. Some communication may be through pheromones (based on physiological evidence). It is also suspected there is some manner of hierarchy due to the observance of larger(!) Rezolians in boarding actions.

Artist Rendition of Rezolian Power Armor (credit: Sucktoy)