Nothing could be worse than seeing a Sathar cruiser parked in orbit above your planet. It is the primary goal of the UPF Spacefleet to take care of these issues, no matter how outgunned or overpowered they may find themselves.

Those are your options upon sight of any Sathar. They are a mysterious race, and they will always opt for suicide over capture. They are also keen on collecting their fallen (and occasionally fallen enemies as well), most likely as donors for their cybernetic experiments.

What we do know about them

Average Size: 3.5m long
Average Mass: 55kg
Average Lifespan: unknown
Reproduction: hermaphroditic, unknown
Body Temperature: believed endothermic

Almost nothing is known about the Sathar society. They have tried to kill every alien creature they have met in the Frontier, usually with alarming success. No one knows why the Sathar attack so viciously or what they hope to gain. All attempts to contact the Sathar peacefully have failed. No Sathar has ever been captured alive, because they kill themselves before they can be taken. In one case, a UPF Spacefleet vessel pulled alongside a crippled Sathar ship with the intent to board, and the Sathar ship self-destructed taking out both vessels to avoid capture. Biologists have not been able to find a revival technique that works on the Sathar either.

Scientists have propsed several theories, based on reports and observations. The most widely accepted was written by Gdtlask Gltak, a Vrusk sociologist. Gltak's theory states that all Sathar belong to military units called cadres. The markings on the back of the Sathar's head identify its cadre. Each cadre trains its members as soldiers from the time they are born. Gltak theorizes that Sathar attack alien worlds because their military society would crumble if there were no enemy to fight.

Be warned though that this is only a theory, until a Sathar is captured alive their true motivation will not be known. All Sathar should be considered hostile and dangerous. Citiezens of the Frontier who encounter Sathar are required by law to report these incidents immediately. If escape is impossible, citizens are advised to attack on sight, as friendly approaches have always failed in the past.

Sathar are also known to use Dralasite, Human, Vrusk, and Yazirian agents to overthrow the Frontier governments, terrorize citizens, and disrupt trade. Like the Sathar themselves, these agents are extremely dangerous. Suspicious beings should be reported immediately. Citizens are discouraged from attacking Sathar agents, as most are trained and experienced killers.

Captured recordings show that the Sathar can speak Human and Yazirian languages as well as Pan Galactic. They hiss and lisp when they speak, their native language has never been translated.

The Zuraqqor

 

The Zuraqqor are a race of intelligent bipedal insects. They have large bug-like eyes, two antennae, and small wings. They are cunning and dangerous, and any encounter with them should be immediately reported. Like the Sathar, if escape is impossible citizens should attack and/or defend themselves with whatever means available. Unlike the Sathar though, Zuraqqor are not suicidal and live specimens have been captured. What we have found out from them follows:

The Zuraqqor hail from the Aslonian Realm, beyond the White Light and Xagyg Dust Nebulae, coexisting with two other sentient races there (the Leorians and Mongrelians, neither of which are hostile as there have been recent encounters with them that have occured within the Frontier with no ill effects). Apparently the Sathar don't see either race as a threat or else they allow them to exist to preserve their alliance with the Zuraqqor, but the Zuraqqor do not know why the Sathar do not attack them. In fact the Zuraqqor are only permitted access to one of the Sathar homeworlds and access to several others are permitted only under Sathar escort. We have also learned of the existence of several lost tribes of Dralasites, Humans, Vrusk, and Yazirians that have been engaged in a decades long multi-civil war residing within the Realm, and like the Leorians and Mongrelians, the Sathar have left them alone too, perhaps observing the war and awaiting the outcome or victor of said war. Captured Zuraqqor have yet to divulge the location of the Sathar homeworlds, although we are speculating based on what they have described about the Aslonian Realm that the Sathar most likely occupy the Vast Expanse, as depicted in the stellar maps found in Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space.

The Zuraqqor live in vast communal structures called Hives, each Hive housing 100,000 or more. Zuraqqor homeworlds are divided into Hive Districts, each controlling and governing several Hives. Their society is divided into five classes, called orders: worker, warrior, technician, king, and queen. The class of each Zuraqqor is determined at birth. The five orders have slightly different physical structure that distinguish one another. Individual Zuraqqor do not have much personality, they act as members of their class.

About 75% of all Zuraqqor are workers. Workers do the basic labor of society. The task could be simple, such as on an assembly line, or complex, such as a merchant banker. Workers might use machines as part of their jobs, however they will never repair, direct, or command machines or robots in such duties. That task is the perogative of the technician class. Workers are sexless creatures with a heavier build than the other orders.

Warriors are the fighters of Zuraqqor society. They too are sexless and make up about 10% of the population. They are heavier and stronger than all orders except workers, but they are more agile than any of them and are the only ones normally permitted to bear weapons, although other classes may bear arms if the threat of death is imminent. Zuraqqor warriors repair and maintain any and all personal weapons, but the heavier equipment is maintained by the technicians attached with the squad.

Technicians have a monopoly on science and technology in the Zuraqqor society. They have larger brains than warriors or workers, but are not as strong as either. Technicians have gender, but they are sterile. Technicians make up 10% of Zuraqqor society. Over the years, technicians became more important as technology became more complex. Technicians now enjoy privileges that workers and warriors do not have. Technicians have a decisive role in society and try to limit kings and queens to figurehead status. Rival groups of technicians often stage palace revolutions to put their own candidates on the thrones.

Queens are the leaders of the worker order (although their power, like that of the kings, is now limited by the technician order). Each Hive contains one Queen. The Hive Queens elect one District Queen yearly and the District Queens elect a Planetary Queen every ten years. Aside from their leadership duties, the queens mate with their kings to produce each generation of Zuraqqor. The queens bear thousands of young several times per year. Zuraqqor young are born in a primitive embryo stage and then mature in the Hive hatcheries.

Kings lead the Zuraqqor warriors, just as queens lead the workers. There is one King in each Hive. Kings have an organization similar to that of the queens.

The Cythar are a new discovery to the UPF, when a large mobile space station dropped out of the void in the K'aken-Kar system. Ken'zah Kit fell prey to their rapid assault, consisting of both the heavy defensive systems on the station itself and ten 6-unit squadrons of various sized fighter craft ranging from class one to class three hulls. The smaller craft were single operator star fighters lined with fusion bombs, obviously designed for ramming attacks as well as sporting laser weapons for ship to ship combat. The medium sized Raiders were manned by two to three Cythar and featured both laser and rocket weapon systems, while the larger craft were bombers manned by two crew members and the nuclear powered energy weapons were obviously intended for heavy damage on larger targets such as capital ships, orbital space stations, and planetary assault.

If it weren't for the timely commissioning of the latest SF-1 Dagger squadron the planet surely would have fallen. Together with the Ken'zah-Kit Militia and several Strike Force NOVA vessels that were insystem at the time, the Cythar forces were eventually overtaken and driven off, but at the cost of heavy casualties among the defending fleet.

When some of the salvageable enemy wreckage was recovered afterwards, it was shocking to discover that these various fighter craft were manned by bipedal armored cybernetic robots featuring a sweeping LED visual sensor and a reverberating voice module in the head, and brains and nervous systems as well as support organs of Sathar nature. Certainly this explains why the Sathar gather their dead and fallen after battles, they appear to be utilizing and ressurecting their fallen comrades to continue serving the Sathar cause in the form of these deadly cybot warriors that have been dubbed "Cythar", an acronym for Cybernetic Sathar.

So far three classes of Cythar have been identified: Drones, Centurions, and Officers. Drones have a single CPU to assist the organic brain, and so far all the drone brains tend to be somewhat lacking in size when compared to normal Sathar brains. In theory, Drone brains were most likely surgically altered prior to cybernetic incorporation. Drones appear to be incapable of independant thought or action, yet retain the basic motor skills from their organic brain and are capable of learning and adapting to new conditions. Drone armor is dull in appearance. Drones were found amongst the wreckage of fighter craft.

Centurions feature normal sized Sathar brains that operate independantly of their single CPU, which merely serves to power the mechanical and electronic systems. They most likely are capable of operating independantly and making decisions, much like a living being would. Centurion armor is albedoline coated and polished to a mirror-like finish. Centurions were found along with Drones among the wreckage of many of the class two Raider craft.

Officers are immediately distinguished from Centurions with their polished gold albedoline armor. The only difference aside from visual appearance is their dual CPU units are wired to their organic brains, indicating that they are both hardwired to other systems as well as capable of free thought and decision making. Officers were recovered from the wreckage of the bomber craft, and an occasional one was found with a couple of the Raider craft as well, possibly indication of a Raider squadron leader.

A fourth class featuring matte black armor has been reported, but none have been acquired for analysis yet. It is presumed that these are stealth models designed for intelligence missions.

Just like the other Sathar allies, any civilian encounters with Cythar should be reported immediately. They should not be attacked unless as a last resort, as they are very dangerous cybernetic beings and completely unpredictable, although their slow reaction and movement speed does allow one to obtain the upper hand in some situations.

* Special thanks to Wolfe (at the Omega Rising forum) for drumming up the Cythar name.