They came like a swarm of insects, thousands upon thousands of them. There were so many... winged, crawling, running on mutated limbs. They resembled little more than a wall of corrupted flesh. We knew at once that the planet was lost. There was nothing that could stop them once the swarm of Res’Ai began its assault. Every tactical move we made was overrun and overpowered in seconds by this colossal hive mind. We abandoned the planet, destroyed as many as we could from orbit, and bombed every living thing we could see, innocent, enemy, or animal. Even if they were fighting the Res'Ai, anything left on that planet was doomed to become one of them. Do what you will with me, jettison me into the void for genocide, hold me before a tribunal of true soldiers- they would have done the same. So would you if you had seen the swarms that assailed us; seen your comrades turned into monsters. I do not regret reducing the planet to ash. I regret not doing it the moment the Res’Ai arrived.

-Gorath Malicaz Zet, Ugnix Shock Trooper addressing the Elder Ugnix council

Overview

Res'Ai are a mystery to most other races, they are an aggressive, parasitic species of creatures that operate as a singular hive-mind. Their fragmented, communal knowledge spanning thousands of years, ability to communicate across the universe in milliseconds, and invasive reproduction and parasitic assimilation have made this race one of the most deadly in all the universe. Res'Ai do not use any form of technological weapons. They rely solely on sheer numbers and varied weapons of physicality to dispatch their foes.

History/Origins

The Res'Ai are perhaps the oldest living race of creatures in the universe, their earliest recorded fossils dating nearly 120 million years old. Queens of the Res'Ai often arise from the most powerful of the species to rule over planets or solar systems and serve as primary relay points for the hive mind’s intergalactic network, which is capable of sending messages across Res’Ai intergalactic territory in milliseconds. Were it not for their animalistic nature and lack of societal structure or technology, the Res'Ai would have overwhelmed the whole of the universe many millennia ago. No one knows where the Res'Ai originated from, as there is no history or relics to denote their origin, but specimens and fossil records indicate they may have originated on a planet now long since devoured by a black hole, or, more alarmingly, from another dimension of reality entirely. The Res'Ai have only one purpose: to devour, destroy, assimilate, and spawn, and they do it very, VERY effectively.

Religion/Ideology

Res'Ai have no religion, no ideology, no society. The race as a whole is one singular hive-mind with hubs of queens controlling various colonies throughout the universe, mainly for the purpose of finding resources and allocating troops to retrieve them. The Res'Ai are of one mind and are essentially one being inhabiting millions of bodies with various functions- much like the cells of a body. Still, some postulate that a single “mother” entity serves a primary function in the operation and organization of this entity, and many hope that one day someone will find this “mother” and strike a terrible blow against the Res'Ai.

Biology

Res'Ai are a parasitic race of creatures that corrupt their hosts beyond recognition. Their ability to adapt to new environments by corrupting and overtaking host creatures has allowed the parasitic race to spread throughout the universe with ease. As a whole, the Res'Ai have few physiological similarities. Each planet that the race conquers is swarmed by Res'Ai that infect sentient creatures and animals alike, adapting their most useful biological weapons and survival capabilities for themselves while corrupting their flesh with Res'Ai DNA. Scientists argue a great deal over the parasitic species’ anatomy, but a few facts are universally accepted.

First, all Res'Ai possess a brain comprised of hollowed resonating chambers which somehow serve as a primal instinctive brain for things like eating, breathing, and sleeping, as well as a way for the hive mind to communicate as a whole simultaneously. The biology of this brain is something of a mystery and one of rigorous study by all the other factions.

Second, all Res'Ai reproduce by secreting eggs. Each body that they corrupt mutates to allow for the propagation and dispersal of these eggs. The eggs can be laid in a living or dead host. A living host is corrupted over time the parasite overwhelms its original consciousness and physicality- transforming it into a biological weapon perfectly suited to its home environment. Eggs that are laid in corpses usually hatch and consume the dead flesh in minutes, growing to resemble strange hybrid forms of the deceased creature and a more “pure” Res'Ai physique than the others, but don’t possess all the traits of the truly “pure.”

Third, only queen Res'Ai actually lay eggs that produce “pure” Res'Ai. These are the most powerful of the race- capable of controlling and manipulating other creatures telepathically. Pure Res'Ai are primarily insectile in physicality.

Combat/Tactics

Res'Ai act on instinct, which (for most species) would mean they are easily disposed of. However, because of their extensive hive mind, the Res'Ai are surprisingly tactically proficient. Res'Ai will throw themselves into the line of fire seemingly for no reason, only to later reveal there was a much more elaborate system of operations that necessitated this sacrifice for the race’s survival. The most common tactic of Res'Ai is to overwhelm their opponents with sheer numbers, infecting and corrupting the living and dead to serve as a part of the hive mind as often as possible. The most powerful Res'Ai (such as the “pure” or the queens) do not often engage in combat, preferring to possess the minds of other soldiers or serve as relay points for the hive mind. All Res'Ai possess the fragmented knowledge of all that have lived before them. Their instincts seem to serve them just as effectively as some of the most genius and well-laid battle plans.