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The Malosians, more commonly known as Robonauts, evolved from intelligent jellyfish-like creatures
on the planet Malos. They were well-adapted to the planet's cold oceans. However, their star was
short-lived and when it entered the red giant stage the oceans of Malos rapidly evaporated. The
Malosians adapted their biology, through genetic engineering, to survive on land. Their tentacles
developed into limbs - indeed remove the gauntlet of a Malosian and you will find four tentacle-like
digits, each terminating in a mouth. They also developed exoskeletons to assist their movement on
land and to resist the hot and dry conditions. Urgently they took to the stars to escape their dying
world. Unfortunately, however, the Malosians have no empathy at all and few feelings. Born from a
desperate situation they act with paranoia toward all sentient life and, although not evil as such, they
are a warlike conquering race.
on the planet Malos. They were well-adapted to the planet's cold oceans. However, their star was
short-lived and when it entered the red giant stage the oceans of Malos rapidly evaporated. The
Malosians adapted their biology, through genetic engineering, to survive on land. Their tentacles
developed into limbs - indeed remove the gauntlet of a Malosian and you will find four tentacle-like
digits, each terminating in a mouth. They also developed exoskeletons to assist their movement on
land and to resist the hot and dry conditions. Urgently they took to the stars to escape their dying
world. Unfortunately, however, the Malosians have no empathy at all and few feelings. Born from a
desperate situation they act with paranoia toward all sentient life and, although not evil as such, they
are a warlike conquering race.
The firearm on the trooper's right arm is capable of launching plasma balls or laser beams, depending upon
fire mode. The manipulator on the trooper's left arm is a power manipulator designed for strength and for
crushing. However, it can change shape to perform more delicate tasks. A wide range of tools can replace
the firearm and manipulator.
(Click here for an earlier Pov-Ray rendition of a heavily armoured Malosian trooper).
fire mode. The manipulator on the trooper's left arm is a power manipulator designed for strength and for
crushing. However, it can change shape to perform more delicate tasks. A wide range of tools can replace
the firearm and manipulator.
(Click here for an earlier Pov-Ray rendition of a heavily armoured Malosian trooper).
Right: Malos as it is now - a blasted
desert world orbiting a dying star.
desert world orbiting a dying star.
Left: Malos as it once was - a vibrant
ocean planet with sub-zero oceans.
ocean planet with sub-zero oceans.
Click here to see a Malosian Black-Fire class dreadnought or click here to view the technical specs.
Little detail is available about Malos, except for the beamed log of the first explorers to land upon it. Their ship,
the explorer Quason-7 was one of a flotilla commissioned by the Symbraxis Corp to explore the great GCN-7401
nebula for potential resources. Their ship crash-landed on Malos, a planet on the far-side of the nebula, following
steering system failure. Marooned, the survivors discovered a hostile and peculiar world. The terrain consisted
almost entirely of hot desert sand dunes blasted by intense stellar radiation and stellar storms. At first the
explorers found no Robonauts. (The only Robonaut Malosian presence on the planet was a handful of science
facilities and military camps with shuttles delivering supplies and troops.) However, they made contact with a
cyborg species, the Cephalotrons, hostile initially, these creatures became allies to the stranded explorers.
Apparently these beings, consisting of little more than tentacled brains, were an off-shoot of early genetic
experiments by the Malosians on their own cells. This form escaped from its laboratory and multiplied at a
phenomenal rate, utilising technology that the Malosians had left on Malos. The Cephalotrons possessed genius
intellects, a legacy of their genetically engineered progenitors. The explorers learnt that the planet was infested
by several colonies of Ankaragi insectoids, themselves marooned following a previous space battle. These
insectoids were being attacked and eliminated by the planet's other indigenous population - the Robonauts, who
had already largely left the planet and colonised certain neighbouring systems. The stranded Ankaragi, despite
their rapid reproduction rate, were seemingly unable to prevail as their technological resources were limited. The
Cephalotrons had a total resentment of the Robonauts and the two species had previously engaged in total war -
a war which saw Malos sterilised almost completely. By the time that the crew of the Quason made contact with
them, the Cephalotrons were reduced to a handful in number, but still they strove to sabotage the Robonaut's
experiments. The crew of the Quason never left Malos - they all perished there, one-by-one. Shortly after the final
log transmission (sent by Engineer Stahl, the last crew survivor) Malos underwent a second sterilisation as it
became enveloped in neutron radiation. Speculation has it that the last Cephalotrons sacrificed themselves as
they annihilated a Robonaut invasion fleet that according to the log had landed to exterminate the Cephalotrons.
Apparently they activated some sort of doomsday device of unknown origin (possibly a relic of earlier Malosian
civilisation).
The Malosians are currently at war with the UGA (United Galactic Alliance) and their industrial capacity and speed
of technological development are great problems. Malosians are totally loyal to the cause of their empire and
strive constantly to secure their future survival by attempting to eliminate all sentient life-forms that may be
potential competition. This 'paranoia' motivates the Malosians to engage in constant warfare. However, survival is
their primary aim, rather than war itself. It isn't clear how such a technological and intelligent race became so bent
on warfare. Perhaps this mentality is a result of their extensive genetic engineering of their own genotype. With
their highly advanced technology, the Malosians represent the biggest threat currently in the known galaxy.
Malosian troopers are formidable opponents in battle, but it is in space where wars are lost and won. Control
space and you have won the war as planet after planet can be sieged at will. The Malosian warfleets excel in
combat. They have superb gunnery and fire control and they have miniaturised many starship systems, allowing
their warships to carry a formidable array of weapons. They are also experts in developing armoured hulls. In
short, their spacefleets are formidable. The Malosian Black-Fire class dreadnoughts are the backbone of the
Malosian warfleets. These ships are more than a match for anything that the UGA has.
the explorer Quason-7 was one of a flotilla commissioned by the Symbraxis Corp to explore the great GCN-7401
nebula for potential resources. Their ship crash-landed on Malos, a planet on the far-side of the nebula, following
steering system failure. Marooned, the survivors discovered a hostile and peculiar world. The terrain consisted
almost entirely of hot desert sand dunes blasted by intense stellar radiation and stellar storms. At first the
explorers found no Robonauts. (The only Robonaut Malosian presence on the planet was a handful of science
facilities and military camps with shuttles delivering supplies and troops.) However, they made contact with a
cyborg species, the Cephalotrons, hostile initially, these creatures became allies to the stranded explorers.
Apparently these beings, consisting of little more than tentacled brains, were an off-shoot of early genetic
experiments by the Malosians on their own cells. This form escaped from its laboratory and multiplied at a
phenomenal rate, utilising technology that the Malosians had left on Malos. The Cephalotrons possessed genius
intellects, a legacy of their genetically engineered progenitors. The explorers learnt that the planet was infested
by several colonies of Ankaragi insectoids, themselves marooned following a previous space battle. These
insectoids were being attacked and eliminated by the planet's other indigenous population - the Robonauts, who
had already largely left the planet and colonised certain neighbouring systems. The stranded Ankaragi, despite
their rapid reproduction rate, were seemingly unable to prevail as their technological resources were limited. The
Cephalotrons had a total resentment of the Robonauts and the two species had previously engaged in total war -
a war which saw Malos sterilised almost completely. By the time that the crew of the Quason made contact with
them, the Cephalotrons were reduced to a handful in number, but still they strove to sabotage the Robonaut's
experiments. The crew of the Quason never left Malos - they all perished there, one-by-one. Shortly after the final
log transmission (sent by Engineer Stahl, the last crew survivor) Malos underwent a second sterilisation as it
became enveloped in neutron radiation. Speculation has it that the last Cephalotrons sacrificed themselves as
they annihilated a Robonaut invasion fleet that according to the log had landed to exterminate the Cephalotrons.
Apparently they activated some sort of doomsday device of unknown origin (possibly a relic of earlier Malosian
civilisation).
The Malosians are currently at war with the UGA (United Galactic Alliance) and their industrial capacity and speed
of technological development are great problems. Malosians are totally loyal to the cause of their empire and
strive constantly to secure their future survival by attempting to eliminate all sentient life-forms that may be
potential competition. This 'paranoia' motivates the Malosians to engage in constant warfare. However, survival is
their primary aim, rather than war itself. It isn't clear how such a technological and intelligent race became so bent
on warfare. Perhaps this mentality is a result of their extensive genetic engineering of their own genotype. With
their highly advanced technology, the Malosians represent the biggest threat currently in the known galaxy.
Malosian troopers are formidable opponents in battle, but it is in space where wars are lost and won. Control
space and you have won the war as planet after planet can be sieged at will. The Malosian warfleets excel in
combat. They have superb gunnery and fire control and they have miniaturised many starship systems, allowing
their warships to carry a formidable array of weapons. They are also experts in developing armoured hulls. In
short, their spacefleets are formidable. The Malosian Black-Fire class dreadnoughts are the backbone of the
Malosian warfleets. These ships are more than a match for anything that the UGA has.
Did you know?
Proof that the Malosians evolved from jellyfish-like ancestors became apparent on the planet Tau-Draco 5. A
small colony of Malosians arrived on the planet, but shortly afterwards they began to notice the strange effect of
degeneration - they began to slowly evolve backwards. They attempted to ensure their survival by constructing
temporal stasis fields around their base camp, with limited success. They located the source as an alien device on
the planet, which was generating a sophisticated chronon-field that caused genetic material to revert to its
primordial state. Attempts to use Malosian androids to deactivate the field were eventually successful, but by this
point all that remained of the colonists were blobs of jelly that did not survive long on this desert planet.
Proof that the Malosians evolved from jellyfish-like ancestors became apparent on the planet Tau-Draco 5. A
small colony of Malosians arrived on the planet, but shortly afterwards they began to notice the strange effect of
degeneration - they began to slowly evolve backwards. They attempted to ensure their survival by constructing
temporal stasis fields around their base camp, with limited success. They located the source as an alien device on
the planet, which was generating a sophisticated chronon-field that caused genetic material to revert to its
primordial state. Attempts to use Malosian androids to deactivate the field were eventually successful, but by this
point all that remained of the colonists were blobs of jelly that did not survive long on this desert planet.
Malosian evolution
The picture above shows one of the Malosian ancestral forms - a tentacled jellyfish like creature which lived in the
ammonia oceans that once covered Malos. These creatures later adapted to life on land, their brains enlarged
and the tentacles fused into two pairs of limbs, except at the distal ends where the tentacles remained free,
forming the digits. It is not known for certain how far they evolved by natural means until their own genetic
engineering took over. The Malosians today are experts at genetic engineering and organism design and
manufacture. They have produced several morphological variants of their own species. Some individuals still
resemble the creature above somewhat, and are used as brains to control cybernetic appliances, including heavy
war-borgs.
Much of what we know about these ancestral forms comes from historic records retrieved by explorers from Malos
and also by observations of their own generation plants and genetic make-up. Today, Malosians reproduce by
artificial means, using temporal accelerators when sufficient power is available, and they are seen to pass through
several embryonic stages thought to be recapitulations of their evolutionary ancestry (much as human embryos
pass through a stage possessing pharyngeal slits, which are thought to be ancestral gill slits). One such
embryonic form resembles the one above, but lacks tentacles and detaches discs from the conical column of
discs underneath the bell, with each disc developing into a complete individual (a process known as
polyembryony). Malosians have combined teh genetic material from both genders into each individual (their cells
are binucleate tetraploid). The ancestral forms soon became social creatures, using a combination of tentacle
movements and bioluminescence to communicate, in addition to very low pitched infrasounds (below the threshold
of human hearing). The pictures below show an ancestral Malosian signalling, see if you can guess what they are
saying and what the whole message may mean(click on the thumbnails to enlarge)!
The picture above shows one of the Malosian ancestral forms - a tentacled jellyfish like creature which lived in the
ammonia oceans that once covered Malos. These creatures later adapted to life on land, their brains enlarged
and the tentacles fused into two pairs of limbs, except at the distal ends where the tentacles remained free,
forming the digits. It is not known for certain how far they evolved by natural means until their own genetic
engineering took over. The Malosians today are experts at genetic engineering and organism design and
manufacture. They have produced several morphological variants of their own species. Some individuals still
resemble the creature above somewhat, and are used as brains to control cybernetic appliances, including heavy
war-borgs.
Much of what we know about these ancestral forms comes from historic records retrieved by explorers from Malos
and also by observations of their own generation plants and genetic make-up. Today, Malosians reproduce by
artificial means, using temporal accelerators when sufficient power is available, and they are seen to pass through
several embryonic stages thought to be recapitulations of their evolutionary ancestry (much as human embryos
pass through a stage possessing pharyngeal slits, which are thought to be ancestral gill slits). One such
embryonic form resembles the one above, but lacks tentacles and detaches discs from the conical column of
discs underneath the bell, with each disc developing into a complete individual (a process known as
polyembryony). Malosians have combined teh genetic material from both genders into each individual (their cells
are binucleate tetraploid). The ancestral forms soon became social creatures, using a combination of tentacle
movements and bioluminescence to communicate, in addition to very low pitched infrasounds (below the threshold
of human hearing). The pictures below show an ancestral Malosian signalling, see if you can guess what they are
saying and what the whole message may mean(click on the thumbnails to enlarge)!
Above: an early form of Malosian trooper. Having evolved into bipedal amphibious creatures, as the Malosian
oceans slowly shrank, these troopers were genetically modified and bear lethal stinging tentacles.
oceans slowly shrank, these troopers were genetically modified and bear lethal stinging tentacles.
The exoskeletal armour is photoreactive and so can change colour and pattern to match the environ and so
camouflage the trooper. It also has the ability to dissipate laser beams and can protect from intense heat as
well as the coldness and vacuum of space. The armour can confer invisibility over a narrow band of
wavelengths by causing light to flow around the trooper without reflection, absorption or refraction. The
armour is an intelligent composite material that can repair itself to some degree, though damaged modules
are easily replaced. The armour has a nanostructure that not even Erfavlin technology has yet been able to
duplicate and contains a superheavy element that has yet to be produced on Earth.
This trooper can ruin twice as fast as a human without tiring. Its reactions are much faster than those of most
humans and it is as strong as the strongest man. Its brain is programmed with weapons skills, tactics and
essential technical skills.
camouflage the trooper. It also has the ability to dissipate laser beams and can protect from intense heat as
well as the coldness and vacuum of space. The armour can confer invisibility over a narrow band of
wavelengths by causing light to flow around the trooper without reflection, absorption or refraction. The
armour is an intelligent composite material that can repair itself to some degree, though damaged modules
are easily replaced. The armour has a nanostructure that not even Erfavlin technology has yet been able to
duplicate and contains a superheavy element that has yet to be produced on Earth.
This trooper can ruin twice as fast as a human without tiring. Its reactions are much faster than those of most
humans and it is as strong as the strongest man. Its brain is programmed with weapons skills, tactics and
essential technical skills.
Right: these automated drones were encountered on
Malos by the crew of the Quason. They are
formidable opponents. They typically drilled into the
sands of Malos and then emerged to attack without
warning! They were armed with a 360-degree laser
torus capable of firing in up to four different
directions simultaneously and two heavy laser
turrets, mechano-plasma drills, an anti-personel
defence screen, dust-storm generators, radiation
screens and reflective hulls.
Malos by the crew of the Quason. They are
formidable opponents. They typically drilled into the
sands of Malos and then emerged to attack without
warning! They were armed with a 360-degree laser
torus capable of firing in up to four different
directions simultaneously and two heavy laser
turrets, mechano-plasma drills, an anti-personel
defence screen, dust-storm generators, radiation
screens and reflective hulls.
Above: a Robonaut facility infiltrated by a stealth probe. The giant
vessel contains a modified Malosian which is little more that a
giant tentacled brain (left).
vessel contains a modified Malosian which is little more that a
giant tentacled brain (left).
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