Bentrine
The Bentrine are an aquatic
species. They evolved on a planet that is covered by 90% water, As a
result they have a unique spatial awareness which makes them extremely
good pilots. They are a very old race compared to the rest of the PS.
The were sailing the black sea 400 years before any of the other races
of the PS has even launched a satellite into orbit. They were never
ones to mettle, content with just watching and learning.
Their history and constact with other races in the PS shows they averted many space-borne natural disasters away from the homeworlds of the other races. Like potentially dangerous comet strikes etc.
They fought long and hard to protect the lesser races when the Altarians invaded.
Nearly all technology today is the result of researching technology the Bentrine handed out.
Bentrine ships are constructed very fluidly, they look organic and alive, more so than Cerian ships. Bentrine ships are extremely durable as they're filled with water. They're not particularly fast but large slow ships tend to be screened by fast moving smaller ships that can take advantage of the Bentrines natural piloting abilities. I always pictured Bentrine ships as being shaped like a stingray, even with the long tail poking out the back. On the tail, up close to the fuselage their is a giant propeller like thing that spins like it would if it were underwater yet the ships glide through the black sea as if they're underwater. The black sea obviously being space. Bentrine ships are very smooth with no antennae or anything disrupting the smoothness of the hull, weapons retract fully into the hull when not in use, but when in use only extend out far enough to fire their ordinance then immediately retract back.
Modern Bentrine propulsion technology is a total mystery to the rest of the PS. Energy signatures from even the largest Bentrine ships are minimal compared to ships of equal weights from the rest of the PS. (Cloaked Saurian ships and Mon'Za being the exception.)
The Bentrine are naturally peaceful, they don't like to fight but they become ferocious when it's needed.
They speak slowly and deliberately, missunderstanding another being, or being missunderstood is an insult of the highest kind.
They encourage the other races to visit their homeworld regularly. Bentrine are very outgoing, but at the same time very reluctant to interfere. As an example, if a child were to get hurt in front of the average Bentrine, they'd not help because they would expect the child's family to do their duties. If an entire colony was damaged, bombed, sick, whatever they'd wait to see if the governing body of that colony stepped up to take care of their own. Only AFTER a reasonable amount of effort by the colonies own government was made would the Bentrine step in.
Bentrine have watched colonies in the past die completely out because their respective governing bodies wouldn't step up. While the Bentrine are remorseful at the loss of a life, any life, it's not their duty to do another being's duty.
Bentrine as a whole are very duty oriented. If they see something that needs to be fixed, they stop and do it theirselves.
The Bentrine government is called a "School".
The Bentrine are technically fish, they are somewhat cold blooded, and they stink. However they think everyone else stinks as well.
There is a sub-race among the Bentrine that are mammals. They look nearly identical to the common Bentrine, except they have live births, are warm blooded and have to come up for air occasionally, they breath out of 2 blow holes on the top of their heads. Despite being a minority, their isn't any appearant discrimination among them.
Their is no distinction between the 2 species of Bentrine, a Bentrine is a Bentrine. However, the mammalian Bentrine tend to be the most adventuresome and are the ones most likely to be seen wondering the galaxy.
They'll eat anything that doesn't eat them first and will fit in their mouths, much like the Saurians, however their is no evidence in their very long history of cannibalism.
The oceans on Bentria are enormously deep in places, and there are legends of another species of Bentrine that live at the very deepest of the oceans. They are just legends but most legends have some basis in fact.
There is evidence that at one time there was more dry land on Bentria and that life had evolved and live on it, but the land eventually dissapeared under the waves and life evolved to live in the water again. The Bentrine's system of belief is based on this, that a being will always go back to whence they came.
The Bentrine have no system of crime and punishment. Crime is, was foreign to them. They understand right and wrong, and they understood what the Altarians motivations were "wrong". However, crime is foreign. Bentrine aren't wired to do wrong. When aliens started visiting them they couldn't understand why these beings were doing some of the things they were doing as guests. So the Cerians stepped in. All crime on Bentria is dealt with by the Hierarchy, and it is dealt with harshly.
The Bentrine "technically" have a good sized chunk of territory in the PS, but they've only actually colonized 2 other planets. It's not that they can't terraform, or that there are no planets that aren't potentially suitable, they just don't care. They patrol their space but it's not to protect it, it's just to explore, gather resources from asteroids, conduct research or just swim through the black sea. The Cerians are the protectors of the Bentrine, if you're in Bentrine space and causing trouble the Hierarchy will destroy you faster than if you were in Cerian space. The Bentrine are fine with this.
The Bentrine School and the Cerian Hierarchy have frequent skirmishes, they are rarely ever bloody and most never result in long term damage to the ships involved. A couple of ships will meet up, shoot at each other for a while then move on like nothing happened.
Guests aboard Bentrine ships are provided with a suit of fully environmental power-armor adapted and specialized for operating on a Bentrine ship. Guest quarters are drained and made suitable for whatever atmosphere is needed.
Bentrine are the best musicians in the galaxy. They can mimic the sounds of most brass instruments and can reach notes while singing that are impossible for any other race to duplicate without machinery.
Bentrine speak in a very melodic manner, and most beings think they're singing even when they're not. Their language is very difficult, but not impossible to learn if you use a translator to clean out the water diffusion of the sound. While most beings will never be able to speak it, you can learn it and understand it.
The Bentrine find Humans very amusing, especially their forms of music and video entertainment. They love Human opera (and Cerian opera) music, but their taste in video learns towards simple things like old black & white tv and animal related shows. They dislike Flipper immensely because the stupid Humans never bothered to understand that the Dolphin kept telling them over and over "GIVE ME A FUCKIN' FISH YOU IGNORANT LAND LUBBERS!".
They have a wry sense of humor, splashing water on a land dweller will give them hours of entertainment, it's even more fun if the land dweller doesn't like it, but they won't push if the land dweller isn't have fun as well.
The Bentrine have cloned many types of Sol/Earth sea dwelling fish and mammals. There are now thousands of different breeds of animals from the Earths oceans that call Bentria home. The Bentrine see Dolphins as kindred spirits, and much to the dismay of Humans, Dolphins are more intelligent than Humans and tried for centuries to communicate.
Dolphins are very foul mouthed creatures, yes they like to play and splash, but make no mistake it wasn't "please" they were saying when they were squeaking for fish.
Bentrine have a minor genetic memory. If one Bentrine learns something, then their children will have a very good chance of knowing it as well. They don't even understand how it works, and not all memories are passed along.
Bentrine can live to be several THOUSAND years old. Outliving even the Mon'Za. They take pride in their elders and it's an honor and blessing to hear stories or learn from an elder.
Bentrine never stop growing, it's estimated that for every 1000 years of life they weigh upwards of a ton. Their technical default/defacto leader weighs 14 tons, and is as spry as a being half his age. He states however he's lost his mind and can't remember his name. (His name is Peeq) He's a pervert, a trickster, and once you get him laughing he'll go on for weeks.
Peeq likes to ask mammals to lift their shirts, his favorite videos are by Benny Hill. Go figure,,,,
He favors a relatively young Betrine of 290 years named "Stee". She's sharp, all business and relatively humorless which is not in line with most Bentrine, but she's the odds on favorite to be a respresentative for the Summit.
Bentrine homes are, for the most part non-existant. When they settle down for the night they will go to their family which can number in the hundreds and spend their downtime just drifting with their family. They do favor certain locations, which a being might consider a home, but they don't technically have nor build residences for individual families.
They do however build for land aliens and are quite adept at it despite their water lifestyle.
Their history and constact with other races in the PS shows they averted many space-borne natural disasters away from the homeworlds of the other races. Like potentially dangerous comet strikes etc.
They fought long and hard to protect the lesser races when the Altarians invaded.
Nearly all technology today is the result of researching technology the Bentrine handed out.
Bentrine ships are constructed very fluidly, they look organic and alive, more so than Cerian ships. Bentrine ships are extremely durable as they're filled with water. They're not particularly fast but large slow ships tend to be screened by fast moving smaller ships that can take advantage of the Bentrines natural piloting abilities. I always pictured Bentrine ships as being shaped like a stingray, even with the long tail poking out the back. On the tail, up close to the fuselage their is a giant propeller like thing that spins like it would if it were underwater yet the ships glide through the black sea as if they're underwater. The black sea obviously being space. Bentrine ships are very smooth with no antennae or anything disrupting the smoothness of the hull, weapons retract fully into the hull when not in use, but when in use only extend out far enough to fire their ordinance then immediately retract back.
Modern Bentrine propulsion technology is a total mystery to the rest of the PS. Energy signatures from even the largest Bentrine ships are minimal compared to ships of equal weights from the rest of the PS. (Cloaked Saurian ships and Mon'Za being the exception.)
The Bentrine are naturally peaceful, they don't like to fight but they become ferocious when it's needed.
They speak slowly and deliberately, missunderstanding another being, or being missunderstood is an insult of the highest kind.
They encourage the other races to visit their homeworld regularly. Bentrine are very outgoing, but at the same time very reluctant to interfere. As an example, if a child were to get hurt in front of the average Bentrine, they'd not help because they would expect the child's family to do their duties. If an entire colony was damaged, bombed, sick, whatever they'd wait to see if the governing body of that colony stepped up to take care of their own. Only AFTER a reasonable amount of effort by the colonies own government was made would the Bentrine step in.
Bentrine have watched colonies in the past die completely out because their respective governing bodies wouldn't step up. While the Bentrine are remorseful at the loss of a life, any life, it's not their duty to do another being's duty.
Bentrine as a whole are very duty oriented. If they see something that needs to be fixed, they stop and do it theirselves.
The Bentrine government is called a "School".
The Bentrine are technically fish, they are somewhat cold blooded, and they stink. However they think everyone else stinks as well.
There is a sub-race among the Bentrine that are mammals. They look nearly identical to the common Bentrine, except they have live births, are warm blooded and have to come up for air occasionally, they breath out of 2 blow holes on the top of their heads. Despite being a minority, their isn't any appearant discrimination among them.
Their is no distinction between the 2 species of Bentrine, a Bentrine is a Bentrine. However, the mammalian Bentrine tend to be the most adventuresome and are the ones most likely to be seen wondering the galaxy.
They'll eat anything that doesn't eat them first and will fit in their mouths, much like the Saurians, however their is no evidence in their very long history of cannibalism.
The oceans on Bentria are enormously deep in places, and there are legends of another species of Bentrine that live at the very deepest of the oceans. They are just legends but most legends have some basis in fact.
There is evidence that at one time there was more dry land on Bentria and that life had evolved and live on it, but the land eventually dissapeared under the waves and life evolved to live in the water again. The Bentrine's system of belief is based on this, that a being will always go back to whence they came.
The Bentrine have no system of crime and punishment. Crime is, was foreign to them. They understand right and wrong, and they understood what the Altarians motivations were "wrong". However, crime is foreign. Bentrine aren't wired to do wrong. When aliens started visiting them they couldn't understand why these beings were doing some of the things they were doing as guests. So the Cerians stepped in. All crime on Bentria is dealt with by the Hierarchy, and it is dealt with harshly.
The Bentrine "technically" have a good sized chunk of territory in the PS, but they've only actually colonized 2 other planets. It's not that they can't terraform, or that there are no planets that aren't potentially suitable, they just don't care. They patrol their space but it's not to protect it, it's just to explore, gather resources from asteroids, conduct research or just swim through the black sea. The Cerians are the protectors of the Bentrine, if you're in Bentrine space and causing trouble the Hierarchy will destroy you faster than if you were in Cerian space. The Bentrine are fine with this.
The Bentrine School and the Cerian Hierarchy have frequent skirmishes, they are rarely ever bloody and most never result in long term damage to the ships involved. A couple of ships will meet up, shoot at each other for a while then move on like nothing happened.
Guests aboard Bentrine ships are provided with a suit of fully environmental power-armor adapted and specialized for operating on a Bentrine ship. Guest quarters are drained and made suitable for whatever atmosphere is needed.
Bentrine are the best musicians in the galaxy. They can mimic the sounds of most brass instruments and can reach notes while singing that are impossible for any other race to duplicate without machinery.
Bentrine speak in a very melodic manner, and most beings think they're singing even when they're not. Their language is very difficult, but not impossible to learn if you use a translator to clean out the water diffusion of the sound. While most beings will never be able to speak it, you can learn it and understand it.
The Bentrine find Humans very amusing, especially their forms of music and video entertainment. They love Human opera (and Cerian opera) music, but their taste in video learns towards simple things like old black & white tv and animal related shows. They dislike Flipper immensely because the stupid Humans never bothered to understand that the Dolphin kept telling them over and over "GIVE ME A FUCKIN' FISH YOU IGNORANT LAND LUBBERS!".
They have a wry sense of humor, splashing water on a land dweller will give them hours of entertainment, it's even more fun if the land dweller doesn't like it, but they won't push if the land dweller isn't have fun as well.
The Bentrine have cloned many types of Sol/Earth sea dwelling fish and mammals. There are now thousands of different breeds of animals from the Earths oceans that call Bentria home. The Bentrine see Dolphins as kindred spirits, and much to the dismay of Humans, Dolphins are more intelligent than Humans and tried for centuries to communicate.
Dolphins are very foul mouthed creatures, yes they like to play and splash, but make no mistake it wasn't "please" they were saying when they were squeaking for fish.
Bentrine have a minor genetic memory. If one Bentrine learns something, then their children will have a very good chance of knowing it as well. They don't even understand how it works, and not all memories are passed along.
Bentrine can live to be several THOUSAND years old. Outliving even the Mon'Za. They take pride in their elders and it's an honor and blessing to hear stories or learn from an elder.
Bentrine never stop growing, it's estimated that for every 1000 years of life they weigh upwards of a ton. Their technical default/defacto leader weighs 14 tons, and is as spry as a being half his age. He states however he's lost his mind and can't remember his name. (His name is Peeq) He's a pervert, a trickster, and once you get him laughing he'll go on for weeks.
Peeq likes to ask mammals to lift their shirts, his favorite videos are by Benny Hill. Go figure,,,,
He favors a relatively young Betrine of 290 years named "Stee". She's sharp, all business and relatively humorless which is not in line with most Bentrine, but she's the odds on favorite to be a respresentative for the Summit.
Bentrine homes are, for the most part non-existant. When they settle down for the night they will go to their family which can number in the hundreds and spend their downtime just drifting with their family. They do favor certain locations, which a being might consider a home, but they don't technically have nor build residences for individual families.
They do however build for land aliens and are quite adept at it despite their water lifestyle.