La'fin
The La'fin is a league of three species inhabitating several worlds in the Small Magellanic Cloud. They are known as an especially untrustworthy and secretive group, which seems to always be willing to attack its neighbours.
Contents
Anatomy
First of all, what should be taken into account is that the La'fin as a species comprise three species in itself: all of three species go by the same name, despite their different positions in the La'fin society.
La'fin species # 1: The warlords
The "warlord species" of the La'fin are small fungal-like brains that require additional means to move around. They are approximately 1 meter in size and their weight varies from 50 - 80 kilograms.
They have two eyes and a mouth, but no visible hearing organs. Their skin is either dark red or pinkish for the younger members of this race. These warlords rule over the two species as undisputed kings - perhaps some sorts of loyalty drugs or brainwashing keeps the masses at bay.
La'fin species # 2: The soldiers
The "soldier species" of the La'fin are quite tall humanoids with long hands and pale white skin. They have eyes and ears, yet they produce no sounds or speech due to some sorts of surgical operations upon their childhood.
The soldier species has the job of acting as crews for the La'fin starships. Their tasks seem to be of a feudal warrior-class, which could be specifically bred for sole task of defence. What should be noted about the physical characteristics of the soldier-species, is that they seem to have no visible reproductive organs. It is therefore even more likely, that they are simply constructed for the task rather than being born naturally.
La'fin species # 3: The workers
The working class of the La'fin species are short humanoids with black skin. This particular species also has two normal eyes and peculiar-looking ears sticking out of the skull like a pair of horns. They also have two pairs of feet and two paw-like arms. However, all of the members of this race wish to conceal themselves with robes so that their appearance wouldn't be revealed to the outsider. They seem to be very social beings, however, since they often try to engage in conversations with fellow members of the same race, unlike the warrior-class.
This species is normally encountered in various the physical tasks: engineering, sanitation, farming etc. physical work is handled by these particular creatures.
Known history
The La'fin as a species inhabits the Small Magellanic Cloud, which is largely unknown to the powers of the Milky Way Galaxy.
It seems probable, that the original La'fin are indeed the fungal "warlord species" that have probably conquered the two other species under their rule at some point. It is unknown however, which one of the two subsidiary species was annexed first: it would seem that the conquests of these two species by the fungal La'fin happened a very long ago, judging from the way both the warrior-species and the workers have adapted to the idea of belonging to the same race.
The La'fin have also taken part in large-scale wars in their home galaxy: one of the recorded conflicts is an alliance between the La'fin and the Gorgs against the Great Lightness. This initial conflict ended with a peace treaty, however fifty years later the La'fin ambitions of apparent violent conquest led to the La'fin War, a conflict in which the La'fin received support from some unknown first one race.
The war didn't go too well for the La'fin, since powerful races from the Small Magellanic Cloud allied themselves against the violent invasion attempt. As the race which had been allied with the La'fin learned of the escalation, it quickly withdrew and left the La'fin to fend for themselves against an alliance of the T-Race, Gorgs and Healers. This powerful triumvirate crushed the La'fin aggressors, and apparently forced the La'fin to sue for peace after a disastrous campaign for the La'fin.
Apparently the La'fin society along with its' colonial assests were in shambles after this war. Just how did the La'fin recover, is currently unknown. However, it must've taken a considerable amount of time for the La'fin to recover to their military might that was seen in their campaigns in the Milky Way Galaxy's Beta Quadrant.
Apparently much later the La'fin found a wormhole from their own galaxy, which led to the Beta Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy. Little did they know, that the Gigerdians had constructed a small station to study the phenomenon on the other side. However, as the La'fin sent a sizeable armada of ships through the wormhole, and detected an unknown settlement near the entrance, all hell broke loose: the La'fin attacked and destroyed the Kirenas Station while Gigerdi Alliance Military forces were sent to the location for assistance.
The first contact was bloody as both sides engaged in a heavy fire fight over the system. Eventually the La'fin had to withdraw, and thus proposed an end to the hostalities by a non-aggression pact. The GA agreed to this, and signed off the whole deal as a big misunderstanding. After a few months GA deep space surveys established contact with the Braccattians in the Small Magellanic Cloud: their way of life had also been touched by direct La'fin aggression towards their colonization attempts and the Braccattian homeworld itself. The GA reacted by sending a small task-force of ships to assist the Braccattians on eliminating the La'fin aggressors.
This caused strain on the GA-La'fin relations, which was even felt in the La'fin worlds. However that didn't seem slow the La'fin down, since shortly later small La'fin raiding parties originating from the Small Magellanic Cloud somehow managed to slip through the wormhole, and harass Texian shipping lanes in the Beta Quadrant.
This time a combined effort by GA and Texian forces put an end to the raids: the GA decided that continued aggression led by the La'fin would probably have to be dealt with more seriously. As the Gigerdi Alliance Senate pondered new policies to be implemented against the La'fin, an unforeseen turn of events unraveled: the La'fin contacted the GA and requested an audience before the senate.
As the La'fin ambassadors arrived to Gigerdi Prime, they had confusing news for the intergalactic community. According to the two ambassadors, all of the La'fin attacks against the races in the Milky Way Galaxy had been carried out by a La'fin rebel faction, which now wanted to sign a peace treaty with the official La'fin government and end all hostalities. As proof of this, the second La'fin ambassador identified himself as a member of this rebel group, and proposed a peace treaty to the La'fin government official before the GA senate.
A peace treaty was signed before the senate. Both of the La'fin factions vowed for a new peaceful future between the two fighting factions and more importantly with the races of the Milky Way Galaxy. As the La'fin ambassadors were escorted back to the wormhole, little did the GA now that a fully prepped La'fin invasion fleet was waiting on the other side.
Shortly after the La'fin fleets jumped back into the Beta Quadrant, they yet again unleashed a full-fledged invasion of the nearby systems. The following surprise attack is known as the La'fin Conflict, in which the La'fin managed to wreak considerable havoc on the GA's colonies and fleets in the Beta Quadrant. The La'fin certainly had the element of surprise on their side for a moment, since they had managed to confuse many local defences by moving around the area under the newly signed peace treaty with the GA.
Naturally the GA had to pull its' entire resources together to destroy the invaders. At the end of the conflict, the La'fin had to once again retreat back to their own territories under heavy losses.
After the La'fin Conflict, no notable contacts with the La'fin have been made. Several attempts have been made to pinpoint the exact location of the La'fin homeworld, but due to the vastness of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the location has remained unknown.
Society
Very little is yet again known about the social structures of the La'fin. It has been speculated, that the La'fin society is strictly a feudal state with one ruling class and two lower classes.
According to this theory, it would appear that the fungal organisms act as the ruling elite, the pale and tall humanoids as the warriors and the smaller working class humanoids as the peasants and workers.
Technology
- See also: La'fin tech
Very little is known about other La'fin technology or the general level of advancements in their society besides military technology.
However it is presumed that the La'fin in general seem to be quite well advanced, judging from the way their military technology seems to have certain very powerful products.
