The Palon
It is well known that earth has been pulverized by asteroids in the ancient past, pounded by those rocks in many events. Even earths own moon was a massive impact. Life is an enigma as well, surviving all of these events by some miracle. Some theorize that life on earth was wiped clean many times and survived by leaving genetic material frozen on asteroids, only to repopulate the blue planet later on. Whether this is true or not will surely be debated for eternity but it is clear that life evolved near identically on the planet Obayr. Be it a cross colonization or a god ran out of ideas, Earth has a twin.
The planet itself is a blue green paradise teeming with life. Humans there, self titled "Palon", evolved physically nearly identical with their distant cousins on earth. Socially however, there is a huge difference. Religion never took root on Obayr, only the philosophers of science opened churches to praise creation. Words of evolution and astronomy existed in place of a bible. And this world flourished until the day "They" arrived.
It would be on the eve of colonizing their first moon that an enigmatic race known as the "Hym" appeared. They shared their extreme technologies with the Palon. Warp drives, rapid fabricators... Among others. The technology was primitive to the Hym but enabled the Palon to advance rapidly. When earths humans were landing men on mars for the first time, Palon were reaching their nearest star.
Palon formed their government around a theocracy, those who made decisions based them on what they viewed as the will of the Hym. As time went, the Hym's physical presence slowly vanished until they were but a memory. Though they were gone, it did not stop the world from turning and those heavy traditions of that time has slowly faded. There are still pockets of hard core believers that sit down and pray to the Hym for deliverance and other rewards but for the most part, the word "Hym" is only shouted in extreme circumstances. Someone hoping not to die, "Oh Hym no.. please.." or the best, "Oh my Hym! mmmm don't stop!"
Times have changed drastically since the days of the Hym, decisions are still based on a centuries old model of doing whats best for the people at the expense of happiness at times and an overly strong love of ones nation. Below the outward zealotry and portrayal of a for the people of the people government, the average Palon just lives his or her life out, working, procreating, retiring, dying.
Technology
Unlike most other nations, Palon technology is seemingly random. They didn't grow into their technology like many other races but rather adapted it to their existing technology. Exotic and sleek ion thruster ports seemed forced on highly aesthetic but plain in comparison warships
Their ships however are a sight to behold, beautifully curved ships with azure blue engines glide peacefully through the void, an attempt by the Palon to honor their gods. Those curves and gentle shapes are made to reflect the majesty of their beliefs.. The curves that hide more barbaric weapons within. Palon make heavy use of gun ports with strong, blunt kinetic guns.
Their limited arcs force the Palon to engage in broadsides whilst being deadly effective, it opens their entire profile for an enemy to shoot at. Besides the brutish weapons comes a complete opposite, energy weapons that focus on the shields to offer a unlimited fire arc. These weapons lose much of their range potency if the shields were to fall but still retain a small amount from their emitters.
The Palon do not take technology for granted and cherish the feats that they have attains from reverse engineering or out right copying the devices and processes they encounter. All in all, The Palon are not super advanced but do not trail significantly behind the populace of the galaxy
Military
The Palon military is huge and bloated. It is believed that serving in the nations military is the only way to give thanks to the Hym as its showing selflessness in the defense of others. Noble as that may be, the soldiers are not as professional as a standard military. People find ways to be part time soldiers, treating it like a novelty.
There are those who be devoted to the cause and do their best to train the others. Sadly, the lack of any advanced training equates to an overly massive army of laughable quality and a navy that is so invested with high end technology and weapons, the people that are supposed to man them barely complete that job.
The Palon military commander's know this and are ashamed. There have been incentives, rewards, medals... Anything to push people but to no avail so they just stick to the adage quantity over quality. Cheap one man fighters fill the skies. Ships that are essentially giant guns strapped to an engine with guns strapped to that.. And missiles thrown in there all wrapped in a cocoon of overly thick metal composite makes up the navy.
Combat drones are growing in popularity as technology in the form of software is catching up to the needs. Drones were always used but were of limited operation, able to take commands but never make informed decisions. Now these exist. Fighter drones that adapt to their lead manned fighter that they escort and upon that pilots death, the drones can continue to fight.
The drones are trained to operate as a wingman, two for every one pilot. This gives the palon a large pool of strike craft that are capable of in and out of atmospheric flight. Capital ships aren't exempt from drone technology either as some types of frigates have been fully converted into automated killing machines.
As of present, the Drone fighters and ships are the most ferocious weapons available. With highly sophisticated systems that can instantly adapt to ever an ever changing battlefield as fast as any biologics crew, they can utilize the arsenal of the Palon to its fullest potential.
Sadly, the amount of drones isn't sufficient enough to replace their current standing horde.
The Faith
The HymThis race arrived to the Palon long ago, long enough where things have toned down and personal opinions as to their existence is really true but recent enough where they are still a very big influence on the Palon. The Hym is fabled to be a race so advanced that they shed their original forms long ago, to a being of pure energy. Capable of amazing feats like teleportation without a thought and transforming their image to what ever suits them. This has led many to question their existence, as maybe it was a creation of the church to get people in line, that anyone near you may be a Hym. Regardless as to if it's -really- true, it has worked.
In reality, the Hym are an ancient and very real thing. their technology is beyond the scope of most of the races they've came across but seem to keep to themselves. They do not profess being gods but have no issues with other races worshiping them. Peoples like the Palon, model their society after what they've been told by the Hym. necessities are everyone's responsibility and honor above all. Their craftsmanship is a heavy eye for the aesthetic and gentle curves flanked by expertly placed sharp angles shows in all of their artifacts. Their ships, which extremely rare to behold, is that of a massive translucent manta ray that moves absurdly fast for its size. And the energy output of a single of those ships could power an entire Palon core world, populated in the billions.
The race though likes to keep to themselves tucked away in the unknown of the unknown. Palon scholars do not believe they even exist in our dimension but rather some other reality that they originated from. The Hym are not an active player that anyone knows of but their influence in certain regions like the Palon systems is profound. They are worshiped as light bringers, those who bring up the lesser races and expose them to peace and prosperity. Their gifts are always benevolent. there are no free weapons but the immense power that the drive systems they share gives many ideas for how to use the excessive power reserve. Fortunately, there has been no races that became arrogant and abused that power. Perhaps its out of fear that no one with those gifts rose up, fear that the Hym may come back to punish abusers.
Regardless, there has not been an announced Hym in centuries.
