Krigan Empire

An endless swarm of teeth and claws and eyes. Without fear or mercy. A race driven by an ancient hatred, born a million million years before our ancestors crawled out from the sea. That's who the Krigan are. And pray to all the gods you know should they ever come for you.

— Gen. Andrew Ryan - 5th Confederate Fleet

Andromeda is a vast place, filled with all manner of fascinating things. And its various inhabitants have taken great efforts to explore every inch of it. With one notable exception. There is a sector of space near the galactic core even the most expansionistic of empires will avoid like the plague. Because there is something in this volatile region of space. A sleeping giant. A realm of unconquerable might. A race of warriors without count, fear or equal. A swarm that will ruthlessly eliminate everything it deems a threat. The Krigan Empire.

Memories of Carnage

by Noé Leyva

The Krigan emerged from the nuclear ashes of Kaedis-5, millions of years after the previous inhabitants had destroyed one another. A maelstrom of radiation, mutation and constant battle for survival had created a race with an aggression never before seen. The drive to survive, to destroy any threat to the Hive, was bred into their very core through millennia of carnage. It was this very nature that drove the Krigan Empire, which emerged around 700 AD, to spread across the galaxy. This drive that made them attack and destroy every advanced civilization they encountered. Saw them turn themselves into mindless engines of annihilation. And which made them turn on one another when their last enemy was vanquished. Only the genocidal cataclysm, caused by the Krigan known as Katurn, managed to halt this descent, at the cost of a hundred billion Krigan.
Since the end of this bloodbath in 2379 AD, the Empire has taken a more reasonable approach, rarely interacting with the newly emerging powers of Andromeda. Yet it continues to defend its territories with the same ancient ferocity. Sooner or later any spacefaring civilization learns to respect the insectoid Empire, for the words of its leaders, is backed by thousands of warships and hundreds of millions of warriors. Still recovering, the Krigan Empire undoubtedly remains the preeminent superpower of the Andromeda Galaxy.

A Billion Minds as One

Calling the Krigan a Hivemind, while accurate, would not cover the whole truth. The entire species does share a single conscious and can theoretically be commanded by as few as one of the Hive Queens, which serve as the Hive Mind's origin and focal points. However, all Krigan, apart from basic worker and combat drones, have some level of individuality and can remove themselves from the Hive's conscious at will. The conscious itself consists of several layers, the most basic of which allows casual conversation and exchange of information. One the other end is the Primary Layer, only accessible by the Queens, only used in the direst of circumstances and able to forcefully control the entirety of the Krigan Species.

Dual Rule

Broodmothers

At the heart of the swarm are the Hive Queens, massive organisms that birth the majority of all Krigan and are assumed to be the origin of the Hive's conscious. Constantly connected to the Hivemind, they collect and process information from across the entire Empire. Based on this, they determine things such as resource allocation, construction and colonization among a myriad of other things. The total number of Queens is unknown.

Warriors Without Equal

Genetically engineered to be the ultimate warriors, the Primarchs are the military leaders of the Empire. They are the only ones able to resist the Primary Layer and can themselves assert control over the swarm, although not to the degree of the Queens. Military Needs, technological advancement and war are their domains and they work in near-perfect synchronisation with the Queens to ensure the future of the Empire.

The World for A Drop of Energy

Not much is to be said about the Empire's economy as it doesn't have one, in the conventional sense at least. With the exception of food, everything needed for the nation to function is produced from a chitin-like material that, depending on its consistency, serves as the foundation for everything from small household items to the titanic warships of the fleet. It is produced by Construction Drones, which only need enough energy to operate. The amount of available energy is the only limit to their potential production and construction capabilities and the Krigan will make use of any possible source to sate their needs.

Endless Swarm

by Irena Šmitáková

Protecting the Empire is the largest military in the known Andromeda Galaxy. While a shadow of their ancient self, the Krigan Imperial Navy and Army dwarf any other force by far. Currently, the Empire is known to field up to 10.000 warships of varying size, including a total of 105 warships identified as Super Dreadnoughts. The Krigan are known to utilize every known ship class, favouring to field vast swarms of Frigates and Destroyers, the titanic Battleships and Dreadnaughts serving as the command points of a fleet formation. Carriers are not a separate ship class in the Krigan Navy, as every vessel is able to send a number of Fighters and Bombers toward the enemy.
Numbering over a hundred million individuals, the Krigan Imperial Army is an often-confusing body to dissect. It does not use specific types of soldiers or equipment, rather it utilizes a broad range of so-called "base creatures" which can mutate based on what is needed. Both in space and on the surface, the Krigan favour to destroy their opponents through superior firepower and sheer mass. Their unique Hivemind enables them to instantly move orders across the battlefield and coordinate actions across entire systems, all the while the individual soldiers can make their own decisions based on the available data. A deadly combination that few have found an answer for.

I have seen a thousand worlds burn. Seen Empires that have lasted ten thousand years disappear in just ten. I have seen more death and torment than all your kind combined. Do not think that there is anything you could threaten me with.

— Kain, Primarch of the Empire to a Human Envoy

Founding Date

700 BC

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Capital

Kaedis-5

Head of State

Council of Hive Queens

Government System

Hive-mind

Power Structure

Unitary state

Location

Outer Galactic Core

by Stas Yurev

Diplomatic Relations
The Krigan Empire remains in a state of "controlled neutrality" toward the wider Galaxy. Its borders with the Stellar Confederacy, Teutan Hierarchy and several Xsi-Shin Warlords are marked with Neutral Zones and field substantial military forces. In recent times, the Empire has begun to send envoys to other civilizations to prevent future incidents and enable better communication.

Last time we fought them, we had to nuke a dozen of our planets just to halt the onslaught. Might give you an idea of what we are f***ing dealing with!

— Confederate General Alan Mattias

Treatment of "Primitive" Civilizations
A common misconception is that the Krigan eliminate all life they encounter. This is simply not true. Only species advanced enough to harm the entirety of the Hive are seen as threats and treated accordingly. In truth, there are several primitive civilizations within the Empire's borders. Some are the remnants of Empires destroyed during the Rampage, which deliberately reduced their technological level to cease appearing as a threat.
Only a few are advanced enough to be in contact with the Empire. Relations are decent for the most part. The Krigan largely ignore them and in exchange, the subjects swear to remain "loyal" i.e. peaceful towards the insectoid race. Not that they could present any sort of actual threat, but the Krigan are unwilling to have these "primitives" become agents for foreign powers.

by Pierre Santamaria