The EereE
Physiology:
The EereE are a single-gendered avian species that stand at an average of 1.8 metres tall. Their most well-known biological attribute is probably their natural ability to fly, which they accomplish with feathered wings. Their wings are unique in that they have more than one exposed digit, including an opposable thumb, forming fingers for them to grasp with.
Other interesting physical attributes of the EereE include their mouths, which possess two bony extensions that appears to be a miniature beak, but are actually forward-extending tusks. The EereE mouth possesses 36 teeth (not including tusks): 8 incisors, 4 canines, 12 premolars, and 12 molars. Their tongue is used for reproductive purposes in addition to the usual functions of a tongue. The EereE larynx produces a series of high-pitched screeching sounds and as a result, that is what their language sounds like without a translator.
EereE eyes are extremely acute, as necessary for a flying species. However, they have relatively poor hearing and virtually no sense of smell; they have the ability to detect certain pheromones and chemicals by tasting the air, but the function is extremely rudimentary compared to an actual smelling sense. An EereE’s head has a crest-like extension which serves as some protection for the cranium, as well as a mating display, with each individual having a unique crest and a specific attraction to certain other crests.
EereE are oviparous, meaning that they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Their eggs are coated in a hardened shell to protect them, but they are still rather easily damaged, either from blunt force or from lack of incubation. Modern technology has increased the successful hatching rate to 98.01%. Naturally, EereE young depend on adults to survive until they develop the ability to fly, but nowadays the young stay with their parents for considerably longer.
The EereE are a predatory species, and usually feed on prey significantly smaller than them, gripping on with their talons. In addition to their intelligence, the EereE are capable of moving at rapid speeds in air as well as in land, making them deadly hunters. However, their hollow bones make them very lightweight (a necessity for flying), which means they are not particularly durable. Their physical strength is also unremarkable compared to their body size.
EereE technology in the Mirror Universe is roughly on par with the Federation during the mid-24th century, but more advanced in certain aspects and less so in others. The EereE possess most of the technology that major Beta Quadrant races have, such as transporters, holograms, replicators, and so on, with the exception of cloaking devices, which they never had the need to invent.
EereE ships are modeled off their own appearances, giving them a similar look to warbirds. They differ from the classical warbird look by having two long extensions at the rear of the vessel. These are their warp nacelles, meant to represent an EereE’s legs while in flight. EereE ships are equipped with standard shielding systems and phaser arrays that are a century behind Starfleet’s phaser technology. When faced with a technologically superior opponent, the EereE instead rely on improvised weaponry to do the bulk of their damage such as sending deadly resonance bursts or venting and igniting warp plasma at incoming enemies.
Modern EereE architecture consists primarily of massive buildings with platforms on the side of each floor for landing convenience. The EereE use their natural flight ability, as well as technological creations such as hovercraft, shuttles and jetpacks to traverse these towers. Due to their nesting habits in prehistoric times, EereE prefer to live at high altitudes.
The EereE are renowned (or infamous) for their fanatical devotion to ideals of order, but they were not always like this. Much like the Vulcans, the EereE used to be a violent, warmongering species that nearly destroyed themselves as a result of internal conflict. Survivors of this conflict, which they named the Great Chaos, formed the philosophy that the EereE are known for today.
EereE define life as anything that consumes external resources in order to reduce internal entropy, in other words, lifeforms bring order to themselves at the cost of raw resources. Thus, the EereE see the ultimate goal of life as the reduction of disorder, and the ultimate lifeform to be one that reduces all disorder in the universe, saving it from total collapse. This concept is the basis of all EereE beliefs.
The first followers of this philosophy swept across their war torn homeworld, uniting it through both diplomacy and force. Under a single, ruthlessly efficient regime, the EereE advanced rapidly and soon developed warp capability, being one of the first to do so in their region of space. They become a conquering empire, intent on imposing their way of thinking upon everyone else, and took over several inhabited star systems.
One of their conquests was a species now known as the Arshai, at the time a pre-warp civilization with industrial age technology. They attempted to convert the Arshai to their culture, and in return gave them advanced weaponry and technology. However, due to disagreements between several Arshai factions, the Arshai broke into a bloody civil war which eventually rendered their homeworld uninhabitable.
The EereE realized that their attempt to bring order to the Arshai had only caused more chaos than the Arshai ever could on their own. Horrified at what they had done, they changed their ways dramatically over the next few years, becoming highly isolationist. They now believed that leaving others the way they are was the best way to keep order, and developed a ruleset similar to Starfleet’s Prime Directive. They also relinquished control of what they had conquered, save for those that wanted them to continue ruling over them, due to heavy indoctrination or lack of alternative governance.
The EereE tried to rectify their actions by offering the Arshai one of the uninhabited planets they controlled, which had a similar climate to the Arshai homeworld. Having no other choice, the surviving Arshai, scattered and on the brink of extinction, not only took residence inside EereE space, but accepted their rule, being in no condition to rule themselves. Over the next couple of centuries, the EereE gave the Arshai sufficient technology to repopulate while strictly regulating their development. This included limiting the Arshai to one planet, restricting any expansion as it was against the ‘order of life.’
EereE civilization underwent radical reconstruction as well. No longer focused on war and expansion, their research into better forms of warp drive and weaponry practically came to a halt. Instead, they sought to maximize order within their own society. They resorted to robotics and artificial intelligence, believing a machine, which is capable of making unbiased decisions, to be much more suited for the task of ruling. They willingly subjugated themselves to an AI network called the Overseer, which took over EereE society.
The Overseer was a superintelligence composed of a variety of smaller AIs and non-self-aware programs, much like a mechanical hive mind. Under its watchful gaze, the EereE prospered once more while keeping to the space they already owned. The EereE populace lived in relative peace (with the few dissenters being quickly and effectively silenced), and their elite soldiers allowed themselves to be cybernetically enhanced to better defend their territory.
Modern EereE rarely venture beyond their heavily guarded space. They, with the assistance of their vassal races, are self-sufficient, negating the need for EereE to trade or even contact anyone else. The species they rule over, such as the Arshai, still regularly wander off, but EereE themselves are generally unheard of, let alone seen outside their territory and the surrounding regions. Almost all aspects of EereE life is now regulated by the Overseer, which acts like a caring, if not slightly overprotective parent. This has given the EereE a somewhat xenophobic approach to outsiders.
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