Halian

Halians are an avian race native to Amer, and are the founders of the United Republic of Amer Prime, as well as being an ally of the Trans-Galactic Government.

Biology and appearance
Halians bear the appearance of a winged avian humanoid, standing upright with two arms and two legs, with extreme similarities to the Terran bald eagle. While they have five fingers in standard humanoid fashion, their feet only possess four digits, with the fourth being a hind toe. The digits on their feet have dark talons at their ends, while those on their hands do not have talons that are as sharp or defined. The plumage on the torsos, arms, and upper legs of adult Halians is evenly dark brown. Most notably, and in contrast to their body plumage, they sport white plumage covering their heads, only parting for their raptorial beaks. Their beaks, lower legs, and irises are bright yellow, with their lower legs and feet being feather-free. Younger Halians, often called fledglings, have dark brown plumage with some uneven white streaks over their entire bodies, along with a yellow-tipped black beak, while Halian children, often called chicks, have entirely grey plumage and black beaks. The grey plumage persists until about 12 years of age, and the entirely brown plumage persists until 18-19 years of age. Males and females have identical plumage coloration, although females are known to be somewhat taller on average, and bear other traits of female humanoids, including defined breasts, although they are meant to store a form of crop milk and not mammalian milk. While not usually displaying extreme differences in appearance, Halians are known to be able to stylize plumage on their heads, which could even resemble human hair styling in some cases. Modernized standard of living allows Halians to live for an average of 130 years, and they age similarly to humans. Halians are born in eggs, which hatch after 35 days. While they are born with wings on their backs, they are unable to properly fly for a few years, although some are able to hover at 8 months old. Their wings and flight skills grow with them as they grow older, with their adult wingspan reaching 7' long. Halian flight is not achieved through sheer wing power alone, as their wings are too small to support their weight. Rather, their flight comes from wing-based graviton control matrices, which allow them to fly and hover, although their wings need to be used as controllers of some sort, requiring Halians to spread, flap, or otherwise move their wings to control their flight. Like most other species, Halians can augment themselves with cybernetics and other forms of enhancements, and have very low sensitivity and compatibility to the supernatural. They are only genetically compatible with very few species in the universe, mostly other avians. Halians are able to create chirping whistles and other gull-like calls, which make up their native language of Hightin.

Habitat
General habitat: Temperate to cool (earlier stages of species), variable

Gravity: 1.0 g

Pressure: Standard

Atmosphere: Type 1

Ambient concentration of Celestial Energy or Magic: Irrelevant

History
Halians are native to the planet Amer, where they evolved from a race of raptorial flight-capable creatures that held a resemblance to a griffin, who also bore the proto-graviton matrices that modern Halians evolved with. Halians formed many different tribes throughout their early existence, with many wars or territorial expansions changing the map of political dominance. Sometime during this era, Nova Yerok was formed as a city-state, and was the most modern and heavily fortified structure on Amer, as well as a center of art and scientific developments. As time went on, most tribes fell or merged, until the city-state of Nova Yerok, now expanded into the Union of Nova Yerok, had dominance over most of the planet. This allowed the Halians to construct modern cities, and expanded Nova Yerok into the planet's first megacity, After developing fossil fuel-based spacecraft, they were contacted by the expanding Commonwealth, an alien megacorporation seeking dominance over the sector. The Halians, swayed by the promise of interstellar integration and gifts of advanced technology, agreed to join the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth took control of Amer and Ica shortly afterwards, silencing Halian protests once the megacorporation's true intentions became clear. Amer was placed under the control of a Britonican cyborg known as Bartiman Rik, who promptly organized mass colonization of other Commonwealth-affiliated races into Amer, preventing the Halians from gaining positions of power. The Halians were forced to remain silent, although many began organizing rebellions in secret, and took advantage of Commonwealth interstellar infrastructure to contact members of other oppressed species, such as the Lutrinites from Amer's moon of Ica. Some Halians managed to gain positions of some political influence, and many enlisted in the planet's local defense force. Then, Commonwealth fleets were diverted in an attempt to capture the sovereign world of Cavor, as the native Saitronites were putting up a strong defense. With Commonwealth forces being diverted for the war efforts, Amer was allowed to build up its own defense force, which the Halians took advantage of. Using their new positions, revolutionaries under the leadership of Halian General Reorg Pashincon promptly launched a successful revolution against the Commonwealth, capturing their assets on and around the planet. Most Commonwealth colonists fled, leaving the Halians and Lutrinites to organize again and use captured assets against Commonwealth forces. This destroyed attack fleets attempting to strike Cavor, and secured the Amer Prime System as an independent state, certified by a the surrender of Commonwealth General Ornwalli. Commonwealth retaliation was swift, but with the news of the Amerian Revolution and its success, initially relayed by Pashincon himself through hacked Commonwealth channels, various other oppressed worlds and systems, even the population of Eiel Britonica itself, rose up against the Commonwealth, destabilizing them and causing them to break down. This allowed the Halians to create the United Republic of Amer Prime, a new state that would reshape the Nostrom Cardinal Galaxy. Under URAP, Halians and all other worlds and species who joined them were able to advance in ways that they weren't able to under Commonwealth control. After over a century of expansion, URAP came into conflict with Ursus following the Solar War, starting a century-long cold war between the two states, proving to be some of the most trying times for URAP, with Halians split between favoring swift military action or negotiations of peace. However, after Ursus collapsed due to civil war, the Nostrom Cardinal Galaxy had peace for some time, prompting a gradual breakdown of URAP's military forces. During the time of the War for the Chronicle Timeline, the Halians, along with the rest of URAP, allied themselves with the Trans-Galactic Government, noting all the striking similarities between their governments and people, rebuilding its former military might following an invasion attempt on Ica by a Titan Regime-backed terrorist. The Halians became a valuable ally to the Government in No Man's Space, allowing their space to serve as the center for forward movements.

Society
Halians are a modernized, industrial race with a strong love for their republic and its values. Although they were initially in favor of a rather isolated society with strict laws, they soon changed, becoming willing to integrate more willing species into their republic, expanding their laws for equal treatment of all species, even former Commonwealth allies and founders, despite times of protests and other conflicts involving the development and implementations of such amendments. Halians are known to show their devotion to their values whenever possible, often through clothing in the colors of the URAP flag. While many are prone to jingoism, harmful amounts of pride, or extreme exceptionalism, which could prompt conflicts or other altercations, they are most often friendly and easy to approach, especially if one agrees with their values. Their striking similarities to the old Earth nation of the United States, the predecessor of the Trans-Galactic Government, in both government structure and core values, prompted them to eagerly agree to an alliance, especially after they saw the enemy of the Government, the Titan Regime and New Intergalactic Empire. Under Republic law, adult citizens are allowed to possess firearms and other weapons, and thus, many adult Halians possess guns and additional armaments in various quantities. They are quite defensive of their right to own, manufacture, and augment such weapons, and are known for having strict discipline in their handling, with crimes along the lines of firearm misuse or murder carrying extremely severe penalties, both legally and socially. Most adult Halians own hovercars, but usually only use them for long-distance transportation, traveling with non-flight capable species, or when transporting heavy cargo, preferring to use their own wings to fly short distances, and also use hovercars to transport chicks and fledglings who don't have enough flight experience or stamina to reliably follow on their own. Although the date of being laid as an egg is often remembered by Halians, it is mostly commemorated with little more than a reminder, with date of hatching being commemorated with proper a birthday celebration. Legal age is measured from the date of hatching.

General characteristics
Type of government: Federal Republic

Technology level: Highly advanced

Proficiency in magic and other supernatural abilities: Low

Cultural traits: Stalwart patriotism

Population: Thriving