The Frontiersmen

The Frontiersmen are a nomadic race, whose mission is to explore and document everything about the galaxy they inhabit.



Homeworld: Madrigal
Madrigal is the 2nd closest planet to its sun, Madrigal Primus, in the solar system typically referred to as "Home" by Eru'di and, by extension, many pilgrims joining the exploration fleets. It is a high-pressure environment, but otherwise very Earth-like. Much of the planet is forest though there is a massive desert known as "The Blasted Sands" in the eastern hemisphere, where numerous hostile creatures reside. It is, to this day, the only part of Madrigal that has not seen any kind of colonization, or even  The southern pole is covered in snow and ice, yet is one of the most popular tourist destinations for Eru'di on vacation or other visiting races.

The planet's surface is 65% land and 35% water, though melt from the southern ice caps frequently leads to flooding around the mainland. This resulted in the construction of elevated cities, at least towards the oceans. Much of the planet is covered in dense forest, at least where cities have not been constructed.

The Blasted sands are an enigma, even to the Eru'di who have inhabited the planet for millennia. No sentient being to ever enter the sands has returned, though when surveyed from a distance, various lifeforms can be seen. The Sands are inhabited, but not by anything friendly.

As the principal population centre of the Eru'di, much care has gone into defending it from extraplanetary assaults. Numerous orbital and sub-orbital cannons cover the planet, though they are very rarely used, and early warning beacons alert those planetside to incoming vessels long before they come in range.

The Nexus
The Nexus is the central hub of Frontiersman culture. Though numerous population centres exist around the planet, none see the level of traffic The Nexus does. It is a capital city that doubles as a tourist trap, as many members of various species joining an expedition fleet will stop by and see what the local businesses have to offer. It is also the largest starport.

History
The Frontiersmen, in truth, are not a race or government per se, but a culture, propagated by the ancient race that calls themselves the Eru'di.

Curious by nature, the Eru'di magistrate tasked several of its vast fleets to simply head outside of known space and explore all they could, and to be sure to document it. The result was a centuries-long exodus that saw the Eru'di encounter alien races and planets of all kinds, some of which were returned to the race's homeworld of Madrigal in the form of exotic spices, foods and pets.

Where they encountered civilized races, the Eru'di would attempt to make peace, so they could learn about foreign cultures. In some cases, members of these new races (typically less advanced races) would join the expeditionary fleet and partake in the culture.

Inspired by what they had seen, many such expeditionary fleets would set off on another adventure shortly after returning to Madrigal. Truly, they only returned so that their findings could be shared with the rest of their race. From these humble beginnings sprouted the Frontiersmen culture. As the Eru'di encountered more and more civilized races, so did the size of the expeditionary fleets swell in size. Erstwhile exiles and other adventurous races would lend their own explorer ships to contribute to the endless quest to see all the universe had to offer. Though tolerant of the newcomers, Eru'di leaders on Madrigal quickly realized they would need a means of identifying unfamiliar races that had joined the fleets. This led to the creation of the Universal Identification Suit, referred to as the UIDS or simply "ID Suit", which carried a signal unique to each individual. Typically a black coverall, these suits would help in identifying a member of an exploration fleet, as the signal was compatible with all but the most-absent fleets.

Ground forces or away teams often wear armour over their UIDS, coloured to match their role. Scientists wear blue, scouts wear grey, soldiers wear red or black, engineers wear yellow, and envoys wear white. Shapes of armour, especially helmets, vary according to race, status and sometimes even personal preference.

Frontiersmen occupy several planets in their solar system, though they only refer to Madrigal or their mother fleet as "home". Most other planets occupied by Eru'di or other members of The Frontiersmen are either used as resource extracting operations or "extended research missions".

Biology
Though the term "Frontiersmen" refers to the culture of wandering nomads, the Eru'di themselves are rarely discussed. Unlike humans, who vary drastically in terms of musculature, the overwhelming majority of Eru'di are of an "athletic" build; muscular, yet slender. Their irises vary in colour from dark blue to bright pink. The average Eru'di is remarkably similar to a Human, in terms of shape, though they are approximately 10% larger than the average human, undoubtedly to accommodate their larger lungs and heart.



A very noticeable feature of the Eru'di is their breathing habits. To a human, an Eru'di at rest does not appear to be breathing, when they in fact are simply taking very long, deep breaths. This results in them being able to physically exert themselves for a longer period of time in comparison to other races. A trained Eru'di submerged in liquid or otherwise unable to breathe can hold his breath for upwards of three minutes, giving him plenty of time to surface or disable an attacker. They can also recover quickly from strenuous activities, allowing them to cross great distances by foot. This increased blood pressure comes as a result of centuries of evolution on the high-pressure Madrigal, and in fact was one of the greatest driving factors towards the creation of first-generation UIDS suits.

Religion The Eru'di's religion is based around the concept of the All-maker, the being who created the universe. Whether this being is a god, a cosmological event, or a science experiment from a different dimension depends on who you ask, but every sect has a different story. The Eru'di are not ones to impose their beliefs on anyone else, because that would be counter productive to their mission of learning everything unique about foreign races. Religious ceremonies are rare, though praises or curses involving the All-maker can be frequently heard from lucky (or unlucky) members of the Eru'di race.

Technology
Though Frontiersmen practice friendliness in an effort to learn, rather than destroy, sometimes conflict is unavoidable. Frontiersmen weapons are typically of the plasma or laser variety. Plasma weapons are devastating against flesh and armour, and are used on the surface of planets. Laser weapons are highly accurate but often lack the ability to pierce heavy armour, so are typically utilised during boarding actions or as sniper rifles, where a skilled marksman can land a shot on an opponent's head or joints in armour.

The UIDS is the pinnacle of Eru'di technology. Its features include a polarized visor, an identification system linked to the Eru'di's Universal Identification Database (UID), protection against most kinds of physical damage, as well as a rebreather system. The suit is also pressurized so the wearer is comfortable no matter what planet he may be on. All of these technologies can be altered to suit the needs of various races (including alien-shaped variants), though the process is lengthy. Most races are left to their own devices regarding planetary landings; members of foreign races wearing a UIDS suit are typically of high stature, envoys, or very rich pilgrims.

The Nexus is the large, floating starport where hundreds of Eru'di explorers come and go every day. Initially just a large number of small, floating city-islands, eventually connected through a highway system. It is where most pilgrims head on their journey. Indeed, the "pilgrimage" industry is booming, and one can find many gift shops selling common materials like mining waste as valuable treasure, which pilgrims buy by the dozens and bring home with them.

Fleets
A typical Eru'di exploration fleet consists of three vessels: a capital dreadnought and two carrier vessels. Additional ships from other races may supplement the fleet should other sentient races want to join in the expedition. Indeed, it is not uncommon to see a Frontiersman fleet featuring dozens of ships from as many races.

The first carrier is the science ship, featuring laboratories and storage facilities for geologists and biologists in the fleet. These are expansive labs, accommodating up to five dozen lab technicians at any given time. These ships also have large storage facilities, including storage for biological specimens.

The second, smaller carrier holds politicians and the like. Envoys, Xenolinguists and other such personnel live here. Documents regarding language, culture, interspecies discussions and politics are produced and stored here, as well.

The dreadnought is the primary logistics vessel, as well as the most heavily armed and armoured. It holds arguably the most important task in the fleet: storing data. These capital ships contain three colossal hard drives, one for each ship in the fleet, which contains all the necessary data required for their journey. This could include personnel manifests, computer programs, or entertainment, as well as research data. The storage space of these hard drives can be approximated at one exabyte each. The dreadnought in an exploration fleet also serves as a resupply station; should a ship run low on supplies of any kind, the dreadnought is there to ensure they do not run completely dry.

All three ships have a security contingent aboard, though the dreadnought has a far greater force, being a military vessel. These security teams provide both shipside and planetside security, and are well stocked.

Modus Operandi


Initial landings in new locations are conducted by security personnel from the dreadnought, ensuring the local flora and fauna is not innately hostile. Once given the green light, biologists and geologists land and begin taking specimens where they can, being careful not to cause any permanent damage to the environment. Regarding animal life, they try to take deceased specimens when they can.

A typical survey team consists of one to four scientists of a particular type, with two to eight security personnel accompanying them. Though the scientists are always armed with a plasma pistol, the security teams carry larger plasma rifles, though they're kept on a low power setting unless an aggressor is particularly persistent. Specimens recovered from an away mission are returned to the on-ship labs, where their properties are studied and recorded.

Should sentient life forms be found, a team formed of xenolinguists and envoys will be sent down to attempt to achieve communication. Whereas biologists and geologists typically have one security officer attached to each researcher plus one NCO leading, members of the political set will usually have two security "buddies" each. Communication between the Eru'di and a foreign race is achieved through a translator built into a xenolinguist or envoy's UIDS, which picks up on vocal patterns translated by the user. Though far from perfect, Eru'di xenolinguists are trained to pick up on mannerisms through methods other than the translator's readings, including gestures and body language.

Length of expeditions is dictated by a semi-annual rotation cycle, though a typical planetary research mission could vary from two Earth months to three years, depending on the efficiency of the crew and the number of regions to research. It's common practice to not leave a planet until everything has been documented in some form.