Martians

Martians (pronounced mar-chee-uns), are a highly advanced, carbon based bivalve-like sapient alien species native to the highly geothermic planet of Martia (mar-chee-uh).

History

The Martians evolved on the harsh planet of Martia, a world with planet-wide geothermic and hydrothermic activity. Hundreds of million of years of evolution had made the Martians very well adapted in resisting their planet's many dangers. Martian society first started off as just a bunch of gangs that prowled Martia's vent and spring covered surface. As time passed, the Martian gangs began unifying either peacefully or through war, eventually becoming one unified people. Thanks to the planetwide geothermal activity, the Martians had access to what was essentially an infinite energy source, which definitely assisted greatly in the progression of their society. At some point, the Martians made the switch to a syndicalist society, and began building up their military; both in order to defend against the deadly fauna of their homeworld, and for the case an alien species should try to invade.

Eventually, their fears became reality when another alien species from a very Earth-like planet in the same solar system launched an invasion of Martia. The foreigners used very brutal tactics, but overall were unsuccessful in their attempt due to the harsh environment of Martia. In response, the Martians launched an invasion of their own on this neighboring planet. The Martians also responded in brutality, with Martian soldiers being told to "kill anything and everything that moves". Through the use of tripod-mechs and chemical weapons, the Martians ended up bringing about the extinction of the enemy alien race.

These actions caught the attention of the Alliance of Planets, who confronted the Martians on their actions. The Martians explained that they did not care about expansion or colonization of other planets, but that in turn they would use any and all means to protect their homeworld in the event of an attack. The Martians also expressed much interest in joining the Alliance in hopes of preventing having to turn to such measures. The Alliance of Planets ultimately accepted them into the alliance.

Martia had also been discovered to hold huge amounts of various minerals that were very important across the galaxy for all sorts of purposes, from medicine, to fertilizer, to energy production, and more. This allowed the Martians to become a very prosperous and politically powerful species as a result. The Martians throughout it all continued to develop their military in the hopes of deterring any sort of outside attacks. This buildup, paired with the planet's incredibly harsh environment, and ther Martian doctrine of total annihilation of enemies deterred even the K'keeri from attempting any sort of invasions of Martia.

In 2005, the Thirteener Empire from the planet Parvus B, attempted an invasion of Martia. The Martians launched a brutal defense against the Thirteeners, firing on their cruisers before they even reached the planet's orbit. Despite this, the Thirteeners still attempted a landing on the planets surface. Up to 50% of the Thirteener landing craft were destroyed before they even reached the surface. The troops that were successfully able to land found themselves struggling under relentless assaults from the Martians, as well as the inhospitable terrain, even with the Thirteener's specialized gear. Not a single Thirteener Soldier who landed on Martia's surface is thought to have survived, with the Martians fighting under the oath to slaughter every last enemy. All Thirteener landing craft attempting to rescue their men or retreat from the planet were destroyed by Martian forces.

This went down in Thirteener history as their most disastrous defeat in all of history. At home mass panic broke out, due to the the Martian's reputation of complete and utter annihilation of enemy planets. The Martians wanted to do exactly that, but the Alliance of Planets was against it, leading to the Alliance perusing other courses of action.

Appearance and Biology

Martians bear a resemblance to the bivalve mollusks of earth like clams, scallops and muscles. Their body is made up of a soft and fleshy mantel which sits within the Martian's outer shell their entire lives. Martians have one eye on the front of their mantel that's used for short distance visual perception in conditions that allow them to safely do so, as they need to open the front of their shells to use their eye. Martians also posses a retractable siphon-like mouth with a sharp beak on the end that they shoot out of their shells to tear off chunks of food for consumption. Martians posses five tentacle-like limbs that extend out through holes in their shells. It has three legs; two in the front, one in the back, and two arms, giving them a tripod-like appearance. Each limb has three digits on it. This allows for Martians to be very mobile creatures and skilled climbers.

Martians have incredibly strong senses of chemoreception and mechanoreception. These senses are so strong that they can pinpoint the exact location of a nearby creature without needing to ever see it. Perhaps most impressing, Martians can still accurately hit a target with a projectile using only these two senses. Martians are also naturally able to filter out a variety of normally dangerous chemicals and substances out of their respiratory system when breathing,

Culture

Martians are a very social and cooperative species. Even before the rise of syndicalism within their society, Martian society functioned under the rules of the needs of the many over the needs of the few. Martians also do not live in individual housing units, instead living in communal units that lack private rooms, due to their lack of need for any. Martians sleep by retracting all their limbs into their shell and making a large group sleeping pile. Martians do not raise their individual young, instead laying them in a communal location where individuals who survived their childhood will join society upon reaching their adolescence. Martians take their military very seriously, with every last individual expected to serve in the event of an invasion. The Martians primarily wage war through chemical warfare, and extensive of tripod mechs that they designed to based on themselves.

Powers and Abilities

Heat resistance
Resistance to many dangerous chemicals
Sapience
Strong external shells
Very strong chemoreception and mechanoreception abilities
Advanced military technology like tripod mechs

System of Government

The Martians are a Syndicalist society.

Trivia

Most of the inspiration for the Martians is from the book War of the Worlds and its various film adaptations.
Martian society was also inspired off of the Siberian Black League from The New Order.