Futuristic The Deep Dark: A Space-Age, Intergalactic Freeroam RP

[Vindictive]

The Huk

Spoiler

Race

The Huk (or Hukuk) are a militaristic race of post-humanoid killers, raiders and despots. Strength is the only word of law in Hukuk "society" and Huk Command requires absolute and unwavering loyalty from every single member of its race.


The Huk language is brief, crude and simplistic. For example, one common phrase: Huk'vak'tek Vis'tuk which, roughly and very approximately translates to "For Huk [with] Strength [and] Loyalty". Their language - referred to by linguists as "Huk'ees" - is notable for its generous use of the phonetic ?k? at the end of words and the pace of its delivery. The language is delivered rapidly with no breaks in rhythm. When in conversation with another Hukuk, individuals are capable of processing their own language incredibly quickly and conversations between parties can seem to be one continuous stream of language passed from one side to another.


Not only is it incredibly hard for outsiders to imitate this and pass as Hukuk over radio communications, but the language itself is not well known by any institute and has never been successfully studied beyond simple phrases which cannot be verified. Hukuk military communication is incredibly vague and limited, their forces operating seemingly independently from one another in synchronicity, in what strategists believe to be an example of complete and utter co-operation on a tactical level. In essence, every Hukuk is operating from the same page of a predefined set of operational responses. They think the same, react the same and obey their instructions without question.

Physiology

Hukuk physiology is, like their technology and strategy, simple and effective - if short lived.


All Hukuk are similar in appearance and little genetic variation is present. Each is a bipedal humanoid of about 6 feet tall (excluding prosthetic enhancement) with pallid, hairless flesh and milky white eyes. Field autopsies have discovered signs of genetic manipulation and degradation, suspected to be caused by repeated cloning of the ancient DNA of their progenitors or mass production of simple organic "templates" created from scratch. Similarly, their DNA lacks signs of long term cell maturation, placing the age of fully grown Hukuk soldiers at little more than 5-10 years, it is unknown whether they are prone to quick maturation naturally or are simply artificially grown to a later stage in their development.


It is suspected that whichever race The Huk are descended from once reproduced naturally but as of yet no evidence of any female Hukuk has ever been recorded.


The most noticeable result of this artificial reproduction, aside from their almost uniform appearance, is the poor physiological condition of each Hukuk. Not one example of a Hukuk soldier has been studied that did not suffer from some level of genetic damage. Notable physical characteristics of this damage include a minor presence of skin loss or rupturing, loss of limbs, loss or organs, malformed vocal chords, loss of hearing, loss of sight, tumours, respiratory diseases and suspected mental illness.


To counter this, Hukuk cybernetics are incredibly prevalent within their military and each individual might sport a variety of prosthetics to replace or enhance damaged or missing physical components (see Technology notes for more on Hukuk cybernetics).

[/spoilers]

Politics

Huk Command is the only and supreme political power that exists within The Huk and is a total Military Dictatorship. Its political structure is entirely despotic and is ultimately ruled over by a triumvirate of its most experienced and successful commanders in the form of a Junta. Little else is known about its workings as Hukuk Diplomats simply do not exist and there has never been an example of peaceful or constructive dialogue between The Huk and any other Government or Mega Corporation. They are incredibly xenophobic and despise all other forms of life, viewing them as corrupt and weak.


The Huk use crude voice synthesisers to mimic other languages in an approximation of a Hukuk voicebox, these are used purely for propaganda, threats and psychological warfare. It is considered a taboo to speak any other language than Huk'ees.

Military

The Huk Military is a brutal force that revels in the complete destruction of weaker and less competent forces. There is no word for honour in Huk'ees and no tactic is too low or despicable for Hukuk forces. They routinely attack civilian populations, trade routes and low-security corporate operations almost at random.


Hukuk Military Doctrine dictates the use of large scale assaults with blinding speed and overwhelming force. Their preferred tactics in both ground and ship operations are large numbers of conventional units that hit hard, fast and close. The Huk do not field any special ops units or carry out covert strikes - when assaulting a ship they will attempt to kill the entire crew room by room with as much firepower as possible with little regard to casualties. They are not an occupying force and do not occupy installations or territory any longer than it takes for them to be stripped of usable resources. The Huk leave only corpses.


If The Huk are defeated in battle their remaining forces will often splinter, like fragments in a wound, and operate independently and suicidally - attempting to cause as much damage and disruption as possible to nearby systems before being hunted down and removed or seemingly burning themselves out.


In space battles they prefer boarding parties and close range bombardments over long-range engagements and complicated fleet manouvres. Their ships have a variety of sizes and armaments. In ground operations troops and vehicles are deployed via kinetic pods merely seconds after brutally powerful bombardments - emerging from the still flaming ruins and craters firing their weapons and shouting their war cries moments after the shells strike.


They also make frequent use of psychological warfare, taunting and insulting their victims by flooding unsecured communication channels with horrific images and sounds, threats and proclamations of Hukuk superiority.

Technology

Hukuk technology is somewhat advanced but lacks the finesse and long term reliability of other species. Crude, dangerous and chaotically simple - it's a perfect representation of the species as a whole.


Hukuk technology is instantly recognisable by its rough construction, appearing molded and poorly made, and is caked in lines of a black oil-like organic liquid. The surfaces of weapons and vehicles can appear greasy or burned near the firing/exhaust ports. Energy is provided through a mixture of highly radioactive fusion engines and incredibly volatile chemical engines. Both are exceedingly loud and give off high energy readings to even the most basic detection equipment.


Their military fields a mixture of chemical, ballistic and radiological weaponry. Rapid firing and close range weaponry is where The Huk excel, whether rapid firing flak weaponry that shreds and ricochet through the corridors of a ship or volatile chemical throwers that burn, bubble or ignite anything they reach with a foul yellow flame. A wide variety of conventional weapons and explosives can be found in the Hukuk armoury - however they lack any form of energy weapons.


Advanced cybernetics and prostheses are common among Hukuk troopers. In some cases they are to replace missing organic components such as sensory receptors, limbs or organs and in others to enhance existing ones. These are often powered by the same miniaturised reactors that power their armour. It is constructed from the same material as their weaponry and other equipment and shares a similar appearance.


Analysis shows that their evidently mass produced technology is primarily formed from resilient bioplastics. These materials are uniform throughout all Hukuk technology from starfighters to pistols. Whilst examples of larger equipment and vehicles such as ships remain operational for extended periods of time - smaller equipment, such as firearms or armour, begins to breakdown more quickly and begins to catastrophically fail. In test conditions, infantry weapons and equipment are operational for only a few months before beginning to fail, sometimes spectacularly - although this is rarely ever seen in military engagements. It is suspected, due to the nature of the Hukuk to fight until completely destroyed (and their ability to fight without clear supply lines), that there exists advanced re-purposing and reclamation technologies within their fleets, capable of being supplied with existing or damaged Hukuk technology and restructuring it into fresh equipment. Some extravagant theories suggest that the Hukuk are capable of recycling their own corpses into military equipment but, although records do indicate the Hukuk retrieve their own fallen comrades where possible, this is largely considered to be an outlandish and unsubstantiated claim.

Spoiler

These are a race I've only been working on recently so forgive me if any bits seem a bit brief or unfinished. Aside from overall flavour of races I like to leave some specifics, like vehicles, ships and weapons, to the imagination rather than specify exactly what they have in more detail so GMs have a bit more freedom with their interpretation and scenes.

 

[AlphaDraco]

So, the Huk are the Grineer?

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

Damn communication, that was something I forgot to put in, I suppose it wouldn't matter as Dredge communication is impossible to understand save for another Dredge or some crack league scientist. Its color based, flashed and blurs from their bioluminescent lighting and occasional vocal input via singing.

 

[LeviathanL]

I'd be able to think /plagiarize something about individual Devor, if you want.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

I'd be able to think /plagiarize something about individual Devor, if you want.

Hey man just don't do what I did and write a now almost 15 page paper on your thingies. While we all would like it to be original don't be my version of original. All it ends up in is headaches and frustration as you try to calculate maximum jump height.

 

[Vindictive]

So, the Huk are the Grineer?

Not exactly. There are some big differences. But biologically and technologically they're similar.

 

[LeviathanL]

[QUOTE="Jarkov Malachai]Hey man just don't do what I did and write a now almost 15 page paper on your thingies. While we all would like it to be original don't be my version of original. All it ends up in is headaches and frustration as you try to calculate maximum jump height.

[/QUOTE]
I don't think I will, I have a life outside of this forum.

 

[AlphaDraco]

Not exactly. There are some big differences. But biologically and technologically they're similar.

What's the difference? I'm not trying to be rude, but it seems that they are identical.

 

[Vindictive]

What's the difference? I'm not trying to be rude, but it seems that they are identical.

• The Huk are ruled by a Military Junta. The Grineer are ruled by a monarchy.
  
• The Huk are more an empire of loyal comrades, all blindly loyal to one another. The Grineer are more like a hive under the control of their Queens.
  
• It's purposefully unclear whether The Huk are mostly cloned or manufactured/designed. The Grineer are all cloned.
  
• The Huk are alien. The Grineer are human.
  
• The Huk are vast and more widespread. The Grineer are much smaller in number and own a small area.
  
• The Huk barely communicate with anyone except as a weapon - even then using only a speech synthesiser. The Grineer interact, trade and have diplomatic talks.
  
• The Huk are always loyal. The Grineer can rebel and are more "human".
  
• The Huk are made out of the same basic materials as their weapons and ships. The Grineer aren't.
  
• The Huk recycle their own corpses to make body armour, weapons etc. The Grineer can't.
  
• The Huk use the same bioplastic material in everything. The Grineer use various metals in almost all of their equipment. Their technology is far more human.
  
• The Huk never adopt or learn from alien technology, they see it as weak and flawed regardless of its actual strength. The Grineer have adopted "alien" or more advanced technology and are frequently hunting lost secrets.
  
• The Huk are proud of their nature and would never consider themselves biologically weak or flawed. The Grineer attempt to improve their DNA, sometimes by mixing it with others, and recognise their flaws.
  
• The Huk don't recognise value in any other lifeform, it dies along with everything else. The Grineer train other more primitive lifeforms and fight with them.
  
• The Huk stick with chemical/ballistic weapons. The Grineer have developed energy weapons.
  
• The Huk have technology that degrades over time like they do, requiring constant replacement. The Grineer don't.
  
• The Huk don't expand, they raid and pillage, never occupying territories longer than it takes to steal any resources they need. The Grineer fight to conquer and control territories and populations.
  
• The Huk are blind aggression and shock, using almost exclusively close range attacks. The Grineer fight like a normal, conventional force.
  
• Huk'ees is an alien language and is barely understood, with an inhumanly quick pace and response time. The Grineer language is a degradation of English and well known by other factions.
  
• The Huk are arguably more violent, warlike and ultimately alien. The Grineer have a lot more similarities to normal humanity.
  

If I wanted them to be identical to the Grineer I could/would have made them far more similar. Give me a little credit at least for some of the ideas. I wanted a race that took some basic Grineer aspects and turned the "these guys are horrible" factor up to 11. They're a homogenous group of filthy, hyper-aggressive xenophobic scum with no sense of individuality. They and their equipment continually decay. They're technologically, biologically, ideologically and diplomatically stagnant communist cyber-zombies.


<(￣ー￣)>

 

[Yesman]

If I wanted them to be identical to the Grineer I could/would have made them far more similar. Give me a little credit at least for some of the ideas.

You forgot a smug face <(￣ー￣)>

 

[LeviathanL]

Is this amount of details getting out of hand? It hasn't even started yet.

 

[Vindictive]

You forgot a smug face <(￣ー￣)>

Fixed

Is this amount of details getting out of hand? It hasn't even started yet.

Nah, it's nice to have something to do whilst we're waiting to start. They're just background ideas to fill out the GM's vision of the universe.

 

[Yesman]

Does this work?


Illegal markets:


Whether you're touring a bustling city or traveling across the open country, chances are that nobody is doing nothing at nowhere. Follow the hidden signs, low whispers, and hidden sign language and you'll eventually find yourself in one of these illegal markets. Here, you'll be able to find all sorts of smuggled goods including drugs, weaponry, slaves, endangered animals, and much more. You might also find some invaluable information and secrets.


Most of these illegal markets are formed, protected, and enforced by different shady organizations. Individual will find themselves treated differently depending on their relationship with these organizations.

 

[Vindictive]

Does this work?
Illegal markets:


Whether you're touring a bustling city or traveling across the open country, chances are that nobody is doing nothing at nowhere. Follow the hidden signs, low whispers, and hidden sign language and you'll eventually find yourself in one of these illegal markets. Here, you'll be able to find all sorts of smuggled goods including drugs, weaponry, slaves, endangered animals, and much more. You might also find some invaluable information and secrets.


Most of these illegal markets are formed, protected, and enforced by different shady organizations. Individual will find themselves treated differently depending on their relationship with these organizations.

I like it. Less than premium space-stations might also have a seedy underbelly, particularly if they're in hard to reach places, hidden within asteroid fields, nebulae, giant battlegrounds filled with shattered ships - anywhere the chances of law enforcement being present are low.

 

[LeviathanL]

I have two possible characters in mind:


- a Colonian who was basically a social experiment on childcare, and ended up the youngest Colonian able to shape-shift.


- a human in a permanent life-support suit who is an extremist at fighting the Devor. May or may not be able to teleport short distances and/or do gravity manipulation stuff.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

Does this work?
Illegal markets:


Whether you're touring a bustling city or traveling across the open country, chances are that nobody is doing nothing at nowhere. Follow the hidden signs, low whispers, and hidden sign language and you'll eventually find yourself in one of these illegal markets. Here, you'll be able to find all sorts of smuggled goods including drugs, weaponry, slaves, endangered animals, and much more. You might also find some invaluable information and secrets.


Most of these illegal markets are formed, protected, and enforced by different shady organizations. Individual will find themselves treated differently depending on their relationship with these organizations.

Ohh ive got a way to make that slightly better with this.


The Ravens Syndicate, originally a pirate organization led by the Infamous and seemingly unkillable Galumora, The Lady of Ravens. This pirate fleet has turned into a large and far reaching criminal syndicate with fingers in almost every plum.


Their a secretive lot, often operating through multiple sub factions that don't even know just who they are working for.


Their leader is still a myth, rumor has it the Lady of Ravens is not dead but still alive even after the millennia since her reported death, working behind the scenes of planets and monarchies to bring about her goals... whatever they may be.

 

[LeviathanL]

I felt the need to go on image-hunt. I may have overdone it.

Spoiler

Maybe a Dredge, I don't know

 

[AlphaDraco]

• The Huk are ruled by a Military Junta. The Grineer are ruled by a monarchy.
  
• The Huk are more an empire of loyal comrades, all blindly loyal to one another. The Grineer are more like a hive under the control of their Queens.
  
• It's purposefully unclear whether The Huk are mostly cloned or manufactured/designed. The Grineer are all cloned.
  
• The Huk are alien. The Grineer are human.
  
• The Huk are vast and more widespread. The Grineer are much smaller in number and own a small area.
  
• The Huk barely communicate with anyone except as a weapon - even then using only a speech synthesiser. The Grineer interact, trade and have diplomatic talks.
  
• The Huk are always loyal. The Grineer can rebel and are more "human".
  
• The Huk are made out of the same basic materials as their weapons and ships. The Grineer aren't.
  
• The Huk recycle their own corpses to make body armour, weapons etc. The Grineer can't.
  
• The Huk use the same bioplastic material in everything. The Grineer use various metals in almost all of their equipment. Their technology is far more human.
  
• The Huk never adopt or learn from alien technology, they see it as weak and flawed regardless of its actual strength. The Grineer have adopted "alien" or more advanced technology and are frequently hunting lost secrets.
  
• The Huk are proud of their nature and would never consider themselves biologically weak or flawed. The Grineer attempt to improve their DNA, sometimes by mixing it with others, and recognise their flaws.
  
• The Huk don't recognise value in any other lifeform, it dies along with everything else. The Grineer train other more primitive lifeforms and fight with them.
  
• The Huk stick with chemical/ballistic weapons. The Grineer have developed energy weapons.
  
• The Huk have technology that degrades over time like they do, requiring constant replacement. The Grineer don't.
  
• The Huk don't expand, they raid and pillage, never occupying territories longer than it takes to steal any resources they need. The Grineer fight to conquer and control territories and populations.
  
• The Huk are blind aggression and shock, using almost exclusively close range attacks. The Grineer fight like a normal, conventional force.
  
• Huk'ees is an alien language and is barely understood, with an inhumanly quick pace and response time. The Grineer language is a degradation of English and well known by other factions.
  
• The Huk are arguably more violent, warlike and ultimately alien. The Grineer have a lot more similarities to normal humanity.
  

If I wanted them to be identical to the Grineer I could/would have made them far more similar. Give me a little credit at least for some of the ideas. I wanted a race that took some basic Grineer aspects and turned the "these guys are horrible" factor up to 11. They're a homogenous group of filthy, hyper-aggressive xenophobic scum with no sense of individuality. They and their equipment continually decay. They're technologically, biologically, ideologically and diplomatically stagnant communist cyber-zombies.


<(￣ー￣)>

So basically, the differences comes to psychology, language and technology used... With that logic, third world citizens are a different species than first world citizens.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

Nah, the Dredge are more elegant in their walk, look, and style... as well as in their murdering!

 

[Vindictive]

So basically, the differences comes to psychology, language and technology used... With that logic, third world citizens are a different species than first world citizens.

If you're going to have a meaningful discussion about what someone else has written don't resort to straw man tactics.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

So ive got a couple other idea's for some cool ancient but long forgotten civilizations which might make for some cool plots if need be.

 

[Cry U 945]

Okay! So let's take a step back and look at this from a third person perspective. @Vindictive, you came up with a race using inspiration from another race. @AlphaDraco, you think the race should have more original features and resemble the source material less.


Here's how we solve this:


For one, I personally as GM have no major issue with using another piece of fiction as source material, as long as there is enough original content and diversity to make sure we're exercising our creative juices. Hell, the Devorantem are a hyper-hybrid mix of Halo's Flood, Warhammer 40K's Tyranids, and Starcraft's Zerg!


So I see a simple solution: Vindictive, great job on creating the Huk, and nice job on trying to diversify them. Can we diversify them a bit more? If we do so it'll solve this situation and allow us to alter them and bend them a bit more to fit this universe.


Now, to respond to the stuff everybody else has posted so far:


@Jarkov Malachai: when looking at the Dredge, I saw them as an NPC theme-setting species, though I have no problem with them being used as a player character as long as they're properly balanced. I also like the idea of the Raven Syndicate.


@LeviathanL: Thanks for the pics, they help to characterize things. (Though the last one gives me nightmares!)


@Vindictive: I like the spaceports ideas, gives us a place for showdowns, character interactions, etc.


@Yesman: Love the characterization on the black market!


And as far as spaceports go, I was planning that they'd show up quite often, maybe even more often than planets for some characters, depending on their dispositions, etc.

 

[Cry U 945]

@Jarkov Malachai we already have an ancient race of sorts planned, currently dubbed the Precursors. While they haven't been alive for eons as far as anyone knows, their ruins divulge all sorts of info on the Devor. If you can make anything out of that, go ahead and run it by me, it'd help a lot in constructing things.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

@Jarkov Malachai[/URL] we already have an ancient race of sorts planned, currently dubbed the Precursors. While they haven't been alive for eons as far as anyone knows, their ruins divulge all sorts of info on the Devor. If you can make anything out of that, go ahead and run it by me, it'd help a lot in constructing things.

Right, s'pose I will considering theirs a creation myth/story that goes into them but a lot of it doesnt really have to be explained or mentioned as well. *shrugs shoulders* its an ancient race, no need to know everything and no way to know everything but from what I can Gather the Devor are going to be the Antagonists? Like basically Swarm/Zerg/Flood zombie monsters which wreck peoples lives?


... *grins slowly* oh yea I think I can help you on that note with my Foragers Corp.

 

[Vindictive]

That's fair enough. However I feel like I've diversified them enough thematically already. I even provided, when asked, a long list of differences ranging from political, biological, technological, martial, linguistical and psychological that somehow got reduced down to 3 for the sake of a witty remark.


@AlphaDraco if you want to suggest some changes to The Huk you're more than welcome mate. It's a group RP after all, just try to keep them constructive this time, for my sake.