[center][img]http://imgs.tuts.dragoart.com/easy-to-draw-tribal-tattoo_1_000000011708_3.gif[/img][/center]
[center][b] The Hau Covenant[/b][/center]

[b]Capital System[/b] 
Naru-Sen 

[b]Capital world/Hau homeworld[/b]
[img]http://content.wallpapers-room.com/presentationBig/Space_of_Colours_Children_of_Chimera_by_JoeJesus.jpg[/img]
Vaursa
 
The Capital world itself is a world slightly larger than earth with a slightly higher gravity. The world has a purple hue to it due to a large purple nebula cloud that is nearby. The cloud itself is remnants of a gas giant that was knocked off course by a huge asteroid, propelling it towards the star itself. Many wonder what the system would look like today had that asteroid not pulled the Giant off course.

[b]Location[/b]
Crux-Scutum arm

[b]Empire Size[/b] In excess of a three trillion . As a official census has been tried and failed thousands of times, the general community believes this to be the general number but many speculate it is far more.

[b]Empire Power[/b] The Hau covenant is vast, panning countless stars and the bodies that orbit them. Most would consider them a well-established Quadrant Power.

[b]Type Of Power[/b] Hau military forces are always striving to have the most top of the line technology that one could think of along side keeping things simple and flexible.Like their navy, the army is prided on being strong and mobile , a necessity to protect and project power over such a large territory. A benefit from having such a large territory and many different races thinking together is sheer scientific potential, allowing many exotic technologies to come around and with the resources available, both raw and refined, enables it to function as a economic powerhouse. It's hard to define a nation so vast that doesn't have the specific warlike or pacifist traits.

[b]Head Of State[/b] 
[hider=Matriarch Aurel][img]http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/77/r169_457x256_13651_Dark_Elf_3d_fantasy_character_elf_girl_woman_picture_image_digital_art.jpg[/img]
[i]Matriarch Aurel[/i]

Aurel is a veteran of two separate major incidents. Her first was during the first contact with the Humans when she was a mere pioneer. During the initial stages of the conflict, when the pioneer leadership was dying off due to combat with the humans, she quickly rose and took control of the situation is often regarded as the only reason the pioneers survived, though she always downplays her involvement. She would be in the right place at the right time when she was the lead admiral during the negotiations with the Karkosians during that conflict. The fact that she had been involved in the two incidents and led the Hau out of potential pointless conflicts, the Hau covenant elevated promoted her to the position of matriarch, a symbol of pride and the nations acknowledgment of her skills when dealing with the unknown.[/hider] 

[b]Government Type[/b]
 Republic Meritocracy/Timocracy. Each member nation has a total of four seats in a senate. Above the senate is a head of state titled a matriarch, which functions much like a president but is revered more like a queen figure. 

[b]Economic System[/b] 
A general mix between socialist and capitalist mindsets. Basic necessities are provided by the government however commodities are purchased and sold over a free market system.

[b]Religion[/b]
The nation itself has many races and with them, many religions. There is no one majority religion and the government proper only does not swear by any particular one. They generally believe that each person must swear fealty to the nation itself. Some say that the undying loyalty to the Hau Covenant cause is a religion onto its own.

[b]Race[/b]
There are three primary member and three lesser races currently though the Hau are still the dominant and most numerous making up just over 43% of the total population.
All the races have a natural life span but many have surpassed it due to biological engineering and other augmentations. Immortality is well doable but many Hau still value a limited life, to better value the time you have. 

[hider=Hau]

The Hau are a race of Humanoids that usually stand 7-8 ft tall, have long black hair and black pupils. They have feet that are dominated by three longer toes versus the traditional small five. Their hands have three longer fingers and an opposable thumb. They are warm blooded and do live birth. Most Hau females will have 4-10 offspring during their long life cycle averaging 670 earth years with males only living roughly 240. Hau are currently a matriarchal society with males being far more warlike but have dulled down due to so much time on the sidelines. Males are also heavily regulated in number, in old times, two in three males would be tossed off a cliff but as genetic modifications became more common, the mother can technically select the sex of her offspring as many consider "cliff tossing" to be archaic and cruel.

Modern Hau males are still kept in check and luckily, due to their honor bound society, the males have adopted this philosophy. Some males still have these urges and find themselves in rehabilitation and reintegration centers. The females know that males are fighting an intense uphill battle to overcome their inherent nature. Some progress has been made through conditioning starting at birth but these successes have been few and far between. Females, surprisingly of the two, envision a world where a male could lead again, and not be factory workers, shipwrights or just mere sex slaves. (though some would prefer this role)[/hider][hider=Luchten]
[img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LPzNJ3AMKC4/TYtKYKF4JdI/AAAAAAAAAxA/adULWRfea7I/s1600/769_stream.jpg[/img]
[i]Rawr ![/i]

Luchten are a race of large humanoid creatures, generally standing 10-12 ft tall with an average life span of 250-300 earth years. When they joined the Covenant some 300 years ago, they possessed archaic weapons and warships, favoring hard hitting kinetic weapons and thick, flat armor. When the Hau sent research ships to examine a rapidly dying star, they encountered the brutish and warlike Luchten, who had no use of FTL and only had their home world and two home system colonies. At first there was conflict as the Luchten saw the Hau as invaders. The Hau brought overwhelming military force into the system and again attempted to study the star. After a week of examining it was clear that something was causing the star to create more flares than most stars do in their life cycles. 

Normal practice would be to just leave the system to its doom but the matriarch at the time was kind and did her best to save the Luchten. Countless transports were forced to dump material cargo and cancel civilian flights to ferry the doomed luchten to a new suitable world. They took a hard hit to their numbers but found resolve and a new place in the universe, united with the Hau. Today, they are a thriving member of the nation and make up a bulk of the ground forces.[/hider] [hider=Higlogen]
[img]http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/111/1280x736_19192_Arachnophobia_2d_horror_alien_spider_monster_picture_image_digital_art.jpg[/img]
Higlogens, or more commonly pronounced, Higs' are a spider-like race originating from a humid jungle like world. The planet contains a number of intelligent species but the Higs are by far the smartest and strongest. They became Apex predators early on due to their sticky webs and potent venom's. They were encountered by accident when one stowed away aboard a scout ship for a few days. As it had not killed anyone, it was given a chance to explain it self. The Hig had no true spacecraft of their own but had good knowledge of their immediate space (comparable to a 1950's space age). 

It was an easy integration as the Higs are a very curious race but short lived race as they only live an average of 120 years, a short time compared to the others, this short span makes them eager to see and experience new things. As of today, they operate in many special operations groups or anything requiring quick reflexes in general, fast typing skills too.[/hider][hider=Other races]

The Nuvi- a lighter than air race that has three stages. The first stage is when they are most solid. This stage will last till around 50 earth years. Their second stage, when they are most active will last until they are around 300 earth years old. At that point they begin to 'disperse' and that time frame between then and the end of life is broad. some have lasted till their 351st birth day and some have lived till 600. Most say its luck of the draw.. They have a generally misty appearance due to a more fluid body structure. Their bodies are unique for adjusting to the gravity and pressure of worlds to retain their form albeit ultra high gravity or dense worlds would smash or disperse them like any normal organic race.

Jolnia- These folks are tiny in shape, generally standing 3-5 ft tall and a life span of 90-140 earth years. They have abnormal upper body strength for the most part due to large muscular forearms that offset their smaller legs. They are able to walk on their hind legs but prefer to walk on all fours. Jolnia are very smart in their own right and are one of two races that had prior warp capability before joining the Covenant.

Nims- The second warp capable race. They are tall and fair skinned with large crests on their heads which they usually adorn with jewelry They have a long life span of roughly 500 earth years. They reach adulthood at around a 7th birth date which gives them a long time to think up and design their trade markelegant creations. Their ships were sleek and shiny, exemplifying their love of beautiful things. Their home world features large spires of a marble like stone, elaborate paved walkways and floating lanterns etc. Many of the nations more 'fancy' places are designed and ran by Nims.[/hider]

[b]Dominant Culture[/b]
The Hau race has dominated the Covenant from day one. Their beliefs on personal and family honor as well as undying duty to the Covenant itself has shaped every aspect of any members people so far. 

[b]Moral Values[/b]
The Hau Covenant itself has a strict moral code revolving around personal and societal honor. The more one accomplishes in life, the better that ones life will be. As all people have basic provisions guaranteed, those with high 'morals' would have the manors and estates, The ones with high standing within the military due to actions, are the ones that captain their star ships and lead the armies. The ones with no honor from committing crimes are normally relocated to mining facilities where they have a single chance to regain their honor. If that fails, they usually find themselves in a dark hole in some corner of the nation. Even though they may be mourned by family, families know that the nations well being comes first.

[b]Military Technology[/b]
Hau technology in general has always advanced from military applications. The Interactive holographic displays used in homes for streaming news or entertainment was originally a high end ship damage control system, to give crews a actual visual of the area before going in or for salvage teams unsure what to look for inside a ship. 'Matter Replicators' that can turn basic powdered ingredients into a full blown meal within a minute, came from a solution to ship food supply problems. Even the way-gate systems Hau use for transportation is based on earlier military rapid response technology.

Below is more prolific technologies that the Hau have developed for their continued advance across the stars.

[hider=WayGate][img]http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/deathwatch/Deathwatch_The-Warp-Gate_Skysoul_2_0.png[/img]
[i]Uuni System Way-Gate[/i]

 The Way-gate is one of the more prolific technologies they employ, A literal worm hole is connected from point A to point B using massive circular constructs. These are the primary means to travel from system to system other than typical FTL drives. Way-Gates have enabled the Hau to grow ten-fold since their creation and implementation over six hundred years ago[/hider][hider=Planetary Strip mining] Using enormous barge miner ships, the Hau have developed fast methods to open a world for raw resources. Using cutting beams and powerful magnetic fields, they literally rip huge masses of land from a planets surface. These strips are then broken down in any of said ships matter processors. The individual resources are then separated in to storage pods. There are very strict rules on not using any of these technologies on worlds with life but if they were to be used, it'd be disastrous for any race on the world.[/hider][hider=Displacement Drive]This is the Hau navy's primary method of space travel. It creates a gravity-like energy field that gives the ship incredible thrust and turn capabilities in all directions, with little fuel expended. This drive shows no "exhaust" nor any visible engine ports as one would imagine.[/hider][Hider=Variable Angle Shields]Shields have always been a mainstay of all space military ships. be it magnetic shielding all the way to the plasma shields of sci fi shows, they've all had one flaw, they operate in a bubble with the ship sitting in the middle. As energy field technology advanced so did the ideas behind shields. The Variable Angle Shield is the now modern primary defensive measure. The shield operates in two parts, the first is a high power, oscillating magnetic flux field to block radiation and lessen effects of energy based weapons by either 'deflecting' or diffusing the particles involved. The issue was still there of how to better resist kinetic weapons without the need for super dense heavy armor and a prayer. A new Active shield is layered atop that will "bend" its field to match the angle of an incoming projectile then slightly angle up to literally bounce the shot off. The same principle behind sloped armor, now applied to shields. It's not full proof but its saved many ships from that potential fatal shot.[/hider][hider=Neutron Cannon]This is a more common energy beam weapon that operates on Hau ships by use of small "domes" that protrude from various points on the hull. Each one has a wide fire arc and decent range before dissipation..[/hider][hider=Singularity energy core] The primary power source of the Hau ships is the Singularity core. Its a created by use of a highly powerful particle accelerator. and a simple matter scoop. The scoop only needs to be active for a minute to replenish a supply of particles that can last it for months on end and any simple element will work. The accelerator comes into play at this point. It fires these particles at high speed into one another, causing micro black holes. Using powerful magnetic an gravitational fields (ironically these are created from the same energy they block) the singularity is contained. To keep the singularity open, the collider continuously pumps small particles into it and by using special "spectral plates", they capture the immense amount of radiant energy that the block hole ejects. This energy is then pumped into huge rechargeable batteries that then regulate the power into the various systems of the ship. A safety measure is in place that if significant damage is taken, the collider can be turned off, or destroyed which will dissipate the black hole so that it does not consume the ship itself.[/hider][hider=Death Ray] The weapon is the prize of the Hau, a truly powerful weapon that exemplifies Hau military prowess. the weapon is set a grazer beams in a tight spiral pattern that creates a literal vacuum inside. As this channel consists of no protons at this point, A high energy Anti-proton beam is shot down the center. The grazers themselves deal their respective damage but the introduction of anti-protons will collide with any protons which will be destroyed in an extreme burst of energy. This weapon is fixed forward on most Hau ships and emanates a dark red and yellow spectral colors (for cool effects purposes.) [/hider]

[b]Hau Military[/b]

Hau forces are very numerous and possess potent weapons of war, coupled with a huge economy and access to every resource necessary, makes them a true force to be reckoned with but with that force, is always the drawbacks. Its huge borders is the biggest of those drawbacks and early on, it was obvious that rapid response forces were the only way to bolster system defenses. These rapid response fleets are usually full strength fleets that most nations would field but are far more mobile due to the type of warships the Hau employ. That, along side posted system defenders, usually fleet strength as well, give systems a chance to survive.

Along with those fleets, are various static defenses. Everything from tiny gun drones to massive carrier sized battle stations protect the systems themselves. The Hau also have various defenses deployed in the harder to detect areas, like blank star systems and nebula's as sensors have a harder time in them. The vast area of space however, has fewer defenses but with that area much easier to scan, rapid forces are able to be deployed before a fleet travelling "in the open" would arrive. There are larger defensive concentrations along certain borders that the Hau deem tactically important such as along the short Hau/Fed border. The defenses are usually watched over by Hidden Hau fleets that are constantly at the ready to counter any attack from the most immediate threat. Defenses along the northern border, with the Karkosians, are similar but on a smaller scale as the two have become friendly. This by no mean is to say the Hau defenses are lazy or under powered but more so a gesture that the Karkosians aren't directly in the Hau's sights.

[hider=Organic War machines] A very simple concept that consists of growing your ship onto a frame of special metal. All regular Hau weapons employ this except firearms. When tanks are destroyed, the organism dies along with any weaponry that is with it. Some say its a cheap ass way to make sure your tech stays secured but if it works, why not.[/hider][Hider=The Hau legion]
A force comprised of many races. The ranks are always mixed to give a general the maximum options in a conflict.
[img]http://images.wikia.com/nationceation/images/a/a0/Plasma_Rifle.jpg[/img]
[i]Heavy Ion rifle, Hau Variant[/i]

Seeing as the Union has many races of different size and shape, weapons have to be adjusted for each. An example is the Heavy Ion rifle. The Hau version is sleek and typical rifle like where as the Luchtens model is bulky with a large under-slung bayonet. The weapons operate on the same principle but are adapted for each races use. 

[img]http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/029/9/6/v_o_l_f_mech_concept_by_lee99-d4o2fed.jpg[/img]
[i]One of the more common combat units[/i]

[img]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gunship_575.jpg[/img]
[i]A typical atmospheric gunship[/i]

The Hau machines of war are like the navy, Armored frames with an organism grown onto it. Craft like the gunship or tank utilize larger Ion arrays and what is known as a 'pulse cannon' which is more or less a fully automatic plasma cannon

[img]http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u230/ppcccaps/wotw5.jpg[/img]
[i]The First time Humanity encountered the Hau ground forces. A Tripod bears down upon doomed men and women[/i]

The largest and by far most intimidating Hau ground asset is the Tripod. Its massive size and height gives it a very good view of the battlefield but its most frightening ability is its incredible maneuverability. With each 'leg' having a segmented design, it can adjust each segments angle to enable precise and fluid movements in regards to lowering, side stepping and walking, Coupled with a powerful shield and dual Wide beam Radiation arrays capable of literally melting people, (the only Hau machine that uses this nasty weapon.) and high powered Ion cannons to deal with hard targets. This massive war machine was built to not only to destroy but to intimidate.[/hider][Hider=Navy ships]
The Hau navy relies on numerous smaller but high tech warships. The need for mobility to fight and defend such a large expanse has all but removed the need for large capital ships as most would field. In no way are these ships weak in comparison though. Hau vessels use a wide array of tactics in their naval combat but seeing as most of their ships are inherently fast and maneuverable with smaller profiles, their ship to ship combat is generally more offensive in nature than the hulking metal fortresses of some others

The Hau do have a number of more common technologies in the universe, Rail/coil-guns, Grazers, and other radiological weapons. The hulls of ships is a series of heavy metal elements reinforced by a biological layer capable of re-arranging particles to bolster damaged areas of hull. The outer hull has spaced heavy armor plated resting on a thick resin that acts as a cushion for the armor itself. 
[img]http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/3803/voy136wr2.jpg[/img]
[i]The Hau's primary warship, the Cruiser.[/i]

There are three primary types, the Cruiser, which is the mainstay vessel of the Hau. It carries a fixed forward Death-Ray along side various smaller armaments. These vessels are very fast, amazingly maneuverable and operate with a small crew. On a more relative scale, people would likely associate them with a frigate class in terms of tonnage and a total length of roughly 210m

[img]http://images-cdn.perfectworld.com/www/f2/fe/f2fe2659a28cf8d26aeadd1d41ca5cb71389987142.jpg[/img]
[i]A battleship on routine patrol[/i]

The second is the battleship which carries two side-mounted Death-rays with a wider firing arc of fire along side its superior armaments compared to the cruiser .These ships still retain incredible speed for their size, being close to two-thirds of the cruiser it supports These are nearly double the length and general displacement of the Cruiser it fights along side.
[img]http://members.chello.at/sattler_norbert/Vorastra_Red.jpg[/img]
[i]Dreadnought Raya, Technically the Matriarchs flag ship[/i]

And finally a ship that goes against Hau doctrine, the Dreadnought, Unlike the other ships, it is not geared for direct knife fights as its huge size makes it a obvious target. Rather it will snipe foes from long distance and use the Massive 1240mm .'Siege' coiilgun. It's the largest magnetic accelerator weapon the hau employ and only sees other use on orbital defense stations. When dreadnoughts duel in combat trials, the two rarely ever score any hits on one another as the range they fire gives the enemy ample time to move. It's not uncommon to see them fire at each other for hours before disengaging due to fatigue. These usually sit as fleet centerpieces and operate as siege/ command ships.[/hider]
[hider=The Pioneers]
[img]http://www.segnidalcielo.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/space_fleet1.jpg[/img]

The Pioneers are the expansionist force of the Hau. These men and women from all the Hau races are sent out on special ships to distant stars to spread Hau influence.
These ships will arrive at a system and begin setting up a way-gate. Most of the vessels are lightly armed and armored to train Hau to use what resources they have to survive. Being a Pioneer is a high honor among the Hau as when they return from their mission, they have more or less passed a rite of passage and the grand honor it brings. Most Pioneers become officers and admirals in the armed forces and some even become influential members of the government and in Aurels case, the Matriarch.[/hider]
[b]History[/b]

When humans were looking to the stars, the time of realization that they weren't gods but rather bodies far off, when they discovered that their world was not the center of the solar system, The Hau were already landing on their first moon to use as a spring board to the rest of their system. It's well known among Hau that the expansion into space could have occurred decades sooner but they had a problem bigger than any doomsday weapon at the time, Males.

During the Hau's long history, the males lead it down the path of destruction. During a final battle of what would be a seventh world war and millions lay dead over the course of ten years, an unlikely uprising came about. Females rose from the ashes and with a quick and heavy-handed action, took down most of the major nations. The males weren't happy and as they were prone to extreme violent reactions, tried to take their world back. It was futile though as females at this point, after so many had died, outnumbered males three to one. The males were eventually, over many generations, sidelined to a role of mating utility and after a few more decades, somewhat rose to a better social status. The females however, had every right to veto anything a male would do and males were also not allowed to be in any position of power.

With the females in charge, many weapons of mass destruction were dismantled and the world basked in an unbelievable unity and with it, came quick expansion to space. With the resources of the solar system at their command, Hau spread like wild fire through their immediate region of space. sleeper ships would fly many light years to reach a new world, to spread the Hau's influence. As technology progressed, they discovered and created many new technologies like the way-gate systems and how to use 'Ahn' space to traverse long distance faster than most FTL drives.

The Hau continued their quick expansion in all directions and for a time, started to believe they were the most advanced race in the universe. Time would prove them wrong when they encountered humanity, [b]Definite first contact story, yet to be gone through with sigma[/b]

With their advance east halted, they began focusing those forces in other directions. In the north, the Hau would hit another roadblock in the form of the insectoid 'Karkosians 'and like the humans before, First contact could have went far better. It all started during a Hau expedition to a new system. The star itself had a number of worlds and moons but nothing very prolific to most. The area was in Hau interest though due to proximity to other potential nearby stars. Work was nearly complete on a way-gate when a new force had entered the scene. It turned out the Hau weren't the only ones set on colonizing this system and the following combat almost turned it into a war zone. 

A Task force sized fleet (Relative to Hau standards) had entered the systems outskirts during mid-day on the Hau colony. Sensors had detected the fluctuation from their FTL drives and were actively tracking the ships advance. It wasn't long before their sensors were blocked though, and communications severed. Were they an invading race? Pirates? Turned out these Karkosians believed the Hau were the latter of the two. The Hau only had pioneer ships and they were small in number, enough that they knew no matter how hard they fought, it would end in defeat. The colony was ordered to fortify and prepare a probe with a hard-coded message, a request for help if the probe would make it out of the system to begin with. As the Hau flotilla sped towards the enemy fleet, the base began setting up area shields and heavy weaponry to hopefully defend against the incoming foe but before they could even prepare the probe, they could see wreckage burning in to the atmosphere like fiery rain. As the Way-gate itself wasn't operational yet, they knew it wouldn't stand a chance either but seeing as it was on the dark side of the planet, they couldn't see the bright flash from its explosion. At this point, the colonists had nowhere to run as this enemy force now controlled the skies.

These Karkosian ships moved to a point that they were visible in low orbit, at least a few were. With that sight, ground batteries began firing up but they knew that if the warships failed fighting the Karkosians, their ground batteries would be like throwing paper clips at a steel wall, hoping to tear it down. As dusk set in, tracers could be seen everywhere as the batteries tried shooting down drop ships that were landing in the distance. Its unknown if any were damaged or destroyed but even if so, it wasn't enough to stop the far superior force these Karkosians brought to the field. Within hours the bases shield was destroyed and gunfire erupted in the outskirts of the small colony. Layers of walls, some built as static defense and others that were hastily set up, had mounted heavy machine guns and deployed light armored vehicles mounting small caliber weapons. They got a few kills in before the enemy force pulled out completely. It was then that the Hau forces got the message to stand down or be destroyed. At first they laughed and opened fire again but after more casualties and the arrival of large Karkosian war machines that shrugged off anything the colonists had left, they took the second message seriously., The colonists had to swallow their pride and accept defeat. They may be a proud people but they weren't stupid. 

When the Karkosians neared the colony, they weren't blood thirsty at all but in fact a honorable (or ignorant) race that kept their distance even though there could be a sneak attack. After a few talks, they had thought the Hau force to be pirates so it was a mild mistake. The Karkosians however, didn't seem to hold a grudge and allowed the Hau colony to send a message home. It took a few weeks before a Hau task force arrived in system to end the situation and neutralize the threat. The Hau colonists had sent messages to not underestimate the Karkosians and against some officers so called better judgement, they stood down and started parlay. It ended well with the two coming to some small conditions, the Hau not creating a way-gate in the system but retaining their colony and the Karkosians limiting their birth rate as a sign that they will not overrun the system. The Hau colony became a sort of embassy to the Karkosians and their colony functioned likewise. Even though the two had met, neither side knew the full scope of the other, something that would always make the Hau hesitant to take any further steps towards the Karkosians.

When the conflict ended, the Hau had no choice but to adapt to the new revelation that they weren't alone and weren't supreme among the stars.