Database and Lore

Shal’tar, Capital of Subclan Nak’Ko’Ken

*Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: The First Peace arc* “There are many worlds that belong to the Shal’rein clan. Two systems hold the greatest importance of them all. One is perhaps more beloved than the other. Shal’tar, is that world….,” Jal’tor’alarein, leading Shal’rein prophet and historian. There is no doubt that the Shal’rein have managed to circumvent and avoid eliminating themselves. Contrary to belief, the Itrean species were not always fighting the other species, but sometimes themselves to a more extreme degree. While there are many different sub-clans, the recent unity of their species has ushered in an era where they can fight back against the other clan species. Shal’tar, however, holds its most significant importance in history in how it shaped the Itrean species as a whole. History The discovery of Shal’tar was made as late as 70,000 years ago during the age of “New Space.” The Shal’rein, at the time, didn’t see much value in it when they settled, but they had a unique situation in their hands. For one, the star system, located over 4,000 light-years from Sol, was one of the rare systems in the galaxy that had three habitable worlds orbiting one single solitary low luminous K-type star. Second, Shal’tar was a super- Earth-sized planet almost entirely covered in water. Third, Shin’tar was a super-Earth-sized planet with enormous mineral wealth, and Givern, the desert world, also had oxygen. The combination of the three and the abundance of gas giants and moons would further provide mineral wealth. Shal’tar was actually chosen by past warlords as a base of operations. As the population of the Shal’rein had moved further closer to the nearby habitable systems, it didn’t take long for subclan Shala’Ko’Ken to see the value of the Shal’tar system. By this time period, there were two major Shal’rein superpowers. Both Shala’Ko’Ken and Gok’Shinta were struggling to fight one another for water worlds. While there were a few other subclans, these two clans did their best to outcompete against the other. Ironically, the fact that there were three habitable worlds meant that the Shal’tar system had an enormous value to it. Huge defenses were placed upon it despite the constant assaults from the other Shal’rein subclans. There were numerous close calls for the Shal’tar system. Prior to Emperor Jalgren, Shal’tar nearly fell to a well-coordinated assault by the Gok’Shinta. While the system was victorious, the system defenses were almost completely wiped out. There were numerous efforts by the Shala’Ko’Ken to rebuild everything, but it was obvious that another assault would have conquered the system. Ironically, it would be Jalgren that would intervene unintentionally. During his widescale campaign to conquer the Itrean species, he would send his forces to go and take on the Shal’rein. While there was resistance to his invasion, the Shal’rein had already weakened themselves greatly. Shal’tar was looked at as the capital of the Shala’Ko’Ken, and it would be here that he would devote an enormous amount of time in taking it. Much to his surprise, the siege would be short before the space forces over Shal’tar were obliterated. Much to the surprise of the Shal’rein, they didn’t expect to see that Jalgren wasn’t going to be dropping bombs over their waters. It was Jalgren’s attempt to wipe out any offensive capability in each of the Itrean species. Shal’tar would instead be kept as a world under the spotlight. The Empire of Jalgren had made careful negotiation with the Shal’rein people and promised them protection from the Gok’Shinta. While they were obviously skeptical, Jalgren was true to his word. He further promised the Shal’rein that if they cooperated, he would begin to allow a small amount of Shal’rein to move into the interior of Aksren clan space. The emperor was lenient, and rumors spread that the great Aksren even had a Shal’rein mistress by his throne, a fellow Shal’tar citizen. Jalgren was true to his word as the system agreed to stop all resistance. It would be the capital that lived under constant debate if the Aksren emperor sought to enslave the Shal’rein but never really did. For 20,000 years, Shal’tar and the system were very quiet time periods. The empire allowed more and more of the Shal’rein to live among them, and the peaceful era would result in tripling the population. However, that legacy was soon to end. Long after Jalgren’s passing, the empire began to fall apart from the inside out. Prejudice and discrimination were rampant, and the Shal’rein was just one of the many species to be brutally repressed by the empire. It would be Rototrein that would begin his rebellion on Shal’tar. By this time period, the imperial forces were starting to fragment. During times of little oversight, the Shal’rein would turn to their underwater cities to manufacture a series of warships that could fight against the empire. The first series of battles were disasters for the Shal’tar people, but the unified effort of the other clan species, including rebel Aksren, quickly turned the tide. After the empire was crushed, three new sub- clans would form. The powerful subclan of Nak’Ko’Ken would claim the world as their own and would become its capital. The descendants of Rototrein led Nak’Ko’Ken, and the family was widely accepted by the population alike. Shal’tar would instead serve as a rallying cry for all the Shal’rein to remain united together rather than fight each other. Instead, a well-planned series of raids were made from the planet to reclaim many of the lost territories claimed by the fractured Aksren empire. It would lead to a successful outcome. Regardless, Shal’tar is not the only important system in the hands of the Shal’rein. The “Trial of the Gun” would be used to justly pass leadership of the entire Shal’rein clan fairly from one sub-clan to the other as per the wishes of Rototrein. The planet of Shal’tar would instead slowly transform to that of an administration platform. Various Fleet Adjuncts would still control their fleets but adhere to the leader’s supreme words. However, at times of leadership changes, the main capital world would shift to other vital worlds. Recent History Technically, Shal’tar lacks much of the shipbuilding infrastructure in the system with the exception of the major underwater shipbuilding platforms that connect to a large rail launcher from the surface. This is not the sole producer of vessels for the Shal’rein clan since other systems are more properly dedicated to ship production. This doesn’t include the defense stations that can house the vessels to repair and maintain. However, the planet of Shin’tar is a mineral-rich location. This includes extremely rare metals that are only found in a few locations of Shal’rein space. This isn’t including the gas giants that also supply metal-rich worlds as well. This still doesn’t stop the biggest and most powerful of wealthy families from living on this planet. The great diversity of the three planets allows a host of different Shal’rein. Shal’tar itself is a super-Earth planet. Its world has 60% more gravity than Earth. This causes much of the Shal’rein that live on the surface to be rather strong in physical physique and prowess. The people of Nak’Ko’Ken are generally known for their more towering height and pointed snouts. Their warships also reflect that of precision. However, much like anything, the Shal’rein have become a melting pot of various ethnicities, cultural ideals, and physical appearances. Much like Hot’lar, the world of Givern is one that is quite unique for the Shal’rein. Instead of being a world that everyone avoids, a religious group of Shal’rein have called it their home. Givern is the size of Venus but lacks a super-heated atmosphere. Instead, the air is very thin but still quite hot. Deep chasms provide many special plants the ability to cycle oxygen for the planet. The Givern people are often quoted to be the “Sand Sharks” of the Shal’rein clan that coincide with subclan Xixik. They have learned and adapted themselves to use extremely little water. Instead, they use basic moisture vaporators to extract any water that they can. The people have learned to manufacture and create special materials and food that can help feed the population, much to the surprise of a seemingly barren world. Shal’tar, perhaps took the worst amount of damage when it came to the scourge of the Emphra. Of the many-core worlds in the Itrean species, the Emphra tried to launch five raids onto the planet. Three of the attacks were repelled successfully, but twice, the planet fell under heavy siege. Two cities in the second siege accounted for a billion people who were lost as the Emphra consumed them. The Shal’rein had to use nuclear weapons to ensure that the people wouldn’t be turned into husks. In the water, the Emphra was able to “swim,” but the Shal’rein were also well adapted to fighting and luring the enemy into nuclear depth bomb traps. Regardless, the fourth siege would last for almost two months and would be even worse than the second siege. Most of the fighting would be underneath the water. It wouldn’t be until the advent of specially refined particle beam weaponry that would save Shal’tar from being turned into a nuclear radioactive water pit. Givern and Shin’tar would be spared from the Emphra attacks. In the last five years, a few of the Shal’rein would move out to Yutilian space. While other Shal’rein worlds were far worse in damage and had higher immigration towards the somewhat welcoming Yutilians, Shal’tar had a much lower vacancy rate. Despite the hardships of the Emphra and economic recovery, this didn’t stop the Shal’rein from leaving their world. To them, Shal’tar was simply too beautiful to leave. Instead, Shal’tar would remain as one of two central locations for administration. As the Shal’rein populations became more blended, it’s not a surprise to have other subclan populations that settled onto other worlds. Even the Master Adjunct, Gular’Shel, a fellow Gok’Shinta native had moved to live on planet Shal’tar, the world that he was never born from. During the Itrean Civil War, Shal’tar would be fortified. Despite its weaker defenses, this won’t stop numerous Shal’rein fleets from coming in to defend it. Some military analysts consider the star system to be a wayward trap for any Aksren clan Fleet Adjunct that hungers to wipe out Shal’tar. There would be three small battles over the star system, but the Aksren have gained little ground or done anything to dissuade the Shal’rein from budging.