The Bak'Turim are the opportunistic predators of Orion. While the Hissho have ritual combat over ho
nor, the Centauri conquer from a sense of duty, and the Kalogeros see themselves as mighty warriors. The Bak'Turim on the other hand raid settlements for food and scrap. Their space force resembles a pirate clan more than a navy.
Descended from creatures resembling armadillos, these centaurids live by speed. A million years ago they were running down prey on the savannahs of their tectonically stable homeworld. Now they conduct raids for tribute and supplies, their own economy a mess of Packs fighting over every scrap of metal. The same tectonic stability that gives them so much room to run, also prevented the formation of mountains filled with ore from the mantle.
Their society is divided into family clans, called Packs, that act as micronation and corporation. Packs work together begrudgingly but these alliances brought the Bak'Turim into space and into the modern era. Their border are remote enough that they have yet to face the greater military powers. That hasn't stopped minor powers like the Drekar and California Republic from answering their raids with pirate hunting campaigns.
Today they don't so much conquer as terrorize. Outer colonies and outposts are raided and then extorted for whatever resources they think they can get. Humans compare the Bak'turim to organized crime families and perhaps they are not far off.
- Hardy: A second Shaken result in combat does not cause a Wound.
- Frenzy: This allows them to make an extra Fighting attack per round at a –2 penalty to all Fighting rolls. This attack must be taken at the same time as another Fighting attack though it may target any two foes adjacent to the hero (Wild Cards roll two Fighting dice and one Wild Die). The –2 penalty is subtracted from all attacks.
- Strong: You start with a d6 in Strength at the beginning of Character Creation .
- Brutish: The Smarts Attribute can never advance beyond a d6.
- Outsider: Due to their history of slavery and reputation as hired muscle the Kalgon are treated as second class citizens by the average Commonwealth sophont. -2 Charisma to all but own species.
- Hard of Hearing: -2 to all Notice rolls made to hear.