Ixcoxar

"'Our victory has proved our worth, we are the Scarred. Strength and Honor above all; for our path is one of death and destruction. All we do, we do for the Conclave! Glory to the Scarred and let the enemy fear our blades!'""-High lord Iatnul"The Ixcoxar, otherwise known as "the Scarred" or more commonly referred to as "the Enslaved" are a religious, fanatical and war-like sect of the human race that were subjugated by an Empire coalition of alien races when they left the core worlds for the Frontier. They differ vastly from the other human races.

Overview
The Ixcoxar are humans, hailing from the home world of Earth, out of all the others, they are the most ruthless, vicious and war like faction of the humans. Their moral and ethics are considered barbaric to the other human factions but to the Ixcoxar, they see the other humans as weak and not worthy to be an Ixcoxar. Ever since their subjugation, they have long forgotten their past history; for the chains that shackle their freedom have eroded their legacy as humans of Earth. After such a long subjugate, the newer generations have embraced their new path and forged themselves a new name birth from a combination of the human tongue and the Conclave's language.

They own their own set of planets; currently five, all of them were given by the Conclave as their victories over the many long years they have served the Conclave loyally.

Forgotten Past
Long before they were called the Ixcoxar, they were human settlers born out of the prosperity that occurred in Earth during the early expansion era of the 28th century. They were one of the few group of shuttles that were not bound in contract with corporations but with a country in hopes that they could colonize a planet and use it to fuel their home country. They landed far away from the Lantea sector further than they had hoped but none the less, they landed on a semi lush planet. The planet wasn't given a name other NW-01 to signify; New World 01. For a time they managed to build a city and slowly spread through the Mars size planet and eventually became a colony. Once that was done, they continue to spread throughout to the nearby planets and moons. It seemed things were going well and for a time it did; but what they didn't realize was one of the planets they had settled on was an outpost for the Alien Empire or rather Covenant which came to be known as the Conclave of Ulhrul ("Purity").

Religion
The Ku'lav ("Unity") is the religion of the Ixcoxar, born out of the Dark Schism, the first High Lord known as Iatnul brought the Ixcoxar, the Ku'lav and with it their every thought and emotion were as one; together he unified their people and began to pave the way for the Ixcoxar. It is a cybernetic input within the base of the skull where it connects with the brain stem; the brain implant along side the connection allows for all thoughts to be shared through everyone who is connected with the Ku'lav.

All Ixcoxar that are linked together can feel their every thoughts; it is hard to hide their thoughts as they are constantly connected. When one dies, their last memory is downloaded into the neural link and is stored within the great archive of the Ixcoxar, where they can tap into the memories of their fallen to gain knowledge or learn from their mistakes.

Despite this, each Ixcoxar are themselves, they all retain their individuality, as the K'urol, can act as an influence on people, it will not alter their personality at all.

Culture and Society
"'Only the strongest shall prevail; those that cannot serve, death is your path. Such is the way of all Ixcoxar'"The Ixcoxar's culture mainly stems from their years of subjugation and the role forced upon them by the Conclave; despite initial distrust, many of the older generations are no longer alive to tell the tale of the human culture and thus the Ixcoxar culture is what they've been taught by their High Lord and Conclave.

From birth all Ixcoxar are given a number; that is their position in the hierarch and army.

Sacred Combat
Tu'lari ("Glory by Death"), is the way of all Ixcoxar; it is the only way for any Ixcoxar to move up the Caste System. Any Ixcoxar can take the position of the one above him, there are but three rules that govern the ritual and is taken very seriously. The battle takes place between two people, the challenger and the challenged; they can call for help but no more than four is allowed to aid one. Once the battle has commence, it will last until one is left standing. All battles varies in time and must begin the moment the Sun is highest in the sky. This ensures that the Conclave will always be given the best warriors provided by the Ixcoxar.
 * 1) The fight must be declared and fought in the Ring of Ascension.
 * 2) Those that have declared for the challenger or challenged are not allowed to back out nor surrender; doing so is considered an act of cowardice and will be killed as well.
 * 3) Only the Challenger and Challenged may duel each other.

Caste System
Because the Ixcoxar values strength and honor above all, the Conclave created the Caste system for them, to ensure that the most loyal and powerful will serve as the will and might of the High Lord but in return will also prove to be the most loyal and subservient to the Empire itself.

The Caste system is nothing than giving the High Lord the illusion of power by allowing him/her to lord over their people; they even went as far as to give him a seat on the Council but his words holds no sway nor weight.

High Lord of the Ixcoxar
The title High Lord is bestowed to only the strongest, mightiest and most brutal of the Ixcoxar, s/he serve as the Empire's strongest of the Vanguard and leads his/her people. High Lords are not earned, they are forged and taken from the previous. In order to be a High Lord, the Blades of High Glory must challenged the High Lord to a ritual combat, to prove each other's might and there is always a loser, for there is no surrender. The High Lord wields a pair of white and black incandescent forearm blades, forged specially for the High Lord.

Swords of High Glory
They are the highest ranking member of the Ixcoxar, second only to the High Lord himself. Those that rise in the ranks are those capable of proving their worth to the Covenant and in turn the High Lord himself. There are two titles within the caste that allows them to prove their worth and strength. All members wield the color red to show that they are above all the others.

Warlords
Warlords are the five highest ranked members of the High Glory, they are the strongest and most powerful members of the entire Ixcoxar, their might is second only to the High Lord himself. They are not to be taken lightly as a single member can take out multiple foes with quick precision and power. They are high intelligent and have earned their rank by carving a path of destruction in their wake; many of them have ascended their ranks by ruthlessly beating their opponents in Tu'lari. They are all highly devoted to the service of the High Lord and to many, they seem to act as apprentices to the High Lord.

The current Disciples are as follows from first to fifth
 * Aerav
 * Mara
 * Zavir
 * Craix
 * Kayel

Disciples
Discples are the weaker of the ten but despite their status, they are still among the most strongest there is. They serve as the High Lords judge and jury, those that fail, disobey or even bring dishonor among them are judge by these five. Despite not being as powerful as the Ascendants they are a member of the High Glory for a reason; which is that their might in combat is also not to be taken lightly.

Xhulh
Xhulh ("Berserk") are the second in the caste following the High Glory, they are the veterans of the Ixcoxar, having seen multiple wars and lived through them. Many of them are preparing themselves to usurp the Adepts and Disciples to take their place among the High Lord; thus they are very ruthless in battle, many of them acting like Berserker hence their names.

Vanquisher
Vanquisher Caste makes up the bulk of the system and yet it is also divided into three different sections depending on their skill and purpose.

Zealot
Zealot Caste is the most basic and abundant caste in the system, they make up the bulk of the population and serve as the backbone of the army in combat, they are young and are more than willing to charge into their demise if it means they can ascend the rank and attain strength and glory. They each wield a powerful molecular blade when drawn it lights into an incandescent color of blue, green, yellow and purple. The blade itself is able to cut through almost all substances due to the fact that it breaks molecular bonds at the smallest level.

Slayer
Slayers are the step up from the Zealot caste, they serve as the Ixcoxar's stealth specialization, their cybernetics are designed to allow them to sneak in and out of places, assassinate their targets and back out before they even knew what happened.

Hunter
Hunters make up the least of the Vanquisher caste and yet their purpose differs; rather than fighting in combat, their purpose is to hunt down the unworthy, those who have failed or have proven they are useless within the Ixcoxars population and must be killed. More often than not, they tend to run and hide, thus the name Hunter was given for their purpose. Hunters are few in number but they are perhaps the strongest within the Vanquisher Caste.

Fallen Kindred
"'May death find us quick and we shall embrace it for the High Lord'"The Fallen Kindred is a caste system of itself, they are those who have fallen in battle but survive, they are considered a disgrace and an outcast. As such they are at the bottom of the ranking. Despite this, they are given one last chance to prove their worth and perhaps return to the fold but many of them do not last long in combat for their injuries have crippled them and they are weaker and slower the rest of their brethren. They will gladly sacrifice their life for the High Lord.

Technology
Nearly all technology is provided for by the Covenant of Ulhrul; seeing as they are the front line soldiers of the Empire. Due to such an advance race providing their technology. they are the only humans with very powerful technology thus far.

The beating heart of all technology created by the Conclave comes from the crystal called Gehniite, originally from a Lesser race called the Astarte, the Gehniite, is an enigmatic crystal formed from beneath the planet's surface but it's properties are what makes them highly sought and guarded. The crystal comes in various sizes and shapes though it's often reshaped to be a four sided diamond. The crystal itself at an inert state is able to produce it's own energy and a lot of it, a large Gehniite crystal can power an entire city for decades; however it's true uniqueness comes from the fact that it can change it's properties when exposed to various chemicals and gasses not to mention when exposed to super high heats, it can be loosen to change it's structural shape. Also, when reacted to electricity, it can create energy in the form of blades or even "bullets", Conclave weapons act as focuses for the crystal's energy to be focused and acted as a weapon. Most crystals that act as power conduits to power ships, buildings, weapons are in their inert state and various technology is used to harness the inert energy is stored within the crystal, though an electrical shock can be applied to the crystal to give it a jolt of power to give it more energy.

Their metal alloys are forged from various high density metals and minerals which is then folded into each other through presses and then shocked, heat treated and pressed once more before it is subjected to a multitude of gasses and substances; this process allows the Conclave to manipulate the durability and strength of the metal not to mention the color. The process was created to fix any imperfections within the molecular structure and to make the material hard enough that there wouldn't be any molecular cracks within the metal when it takes damage and as such it's highly durable and able to take extreme heat, pressure and damage.

Cybernetics serve as the heart of all Ixcoxar weapons; all of them are powered by the Gehniite crystal and forged from the metal alloy created from the Conclave. Death Blades - The Death Blades, the swords that have seen countless battles and covered countless planets in blood; the name is fitting for the Ixcoxar weapon. It is forged similar to the metal alloys that make up their body implants and the Conclave's building but their swords are forged from another metal, designed to be light yet durable and able to contain energy from the Gehniite. Their swords are basic yet intricate, the blade itself is translucent white in color yet when drawn, the crystal will surge in energy covering the blade to an incandescent blue, purple, green color; for the Swords of High Glory, their colors are red. The metal is what makes it powerful; as it slices through the air and into the object, the metal will vibrate at a molecular level creating energy stored and as it connects with the object, the energy transfer is what starts to break down the atoms and molecular structure from within; coupled with the Gehniite crystal, the crystals energy is what enhances the cutting power and keeps the metal in check to ensure that the metal will not slowly fall apart due to wear and tear. Because of this, it is able to cut through many object despite their density, strength or material.
 * Leg Implants - Ixcoxar's legs are replaced with the implants that are modeled to fit the person's body type/height, they are translucent black with blue or red light up which highlights and accentuates the model along the edges and sometimes you can see the various machinery inside the leg. Each one of them is fitted with a booster to give them a murderous burst of speed or when running at top speed, be activated to boost them further. With their legs they can run at top speeds of 110 mph and with the boosters activated they can run nearly 140 mph. In a burst of speed used by the boosters, they can go from 0 to 70 in the blink of an eye. The booster is housed at the back of the calves so it won't hinder them when running. Also, beneath the feet is a special grip called a molecular grip; the design is that the molecules would become sticky enough to stick to nearly all surfaces ranging from metallic to even smooth plastic like material. Thus in turns allows them to run on almost all surfaces without falling off.
 * Arm Implants - the Ixcoxar's arm are replaced with the cybernetics, they can lift multiple times their own weight, able to crush hard objects like steel and able to react much faster; not to mention they can store forearm gauntlet blades to act as a secondary weapon much like a short sword.
 * Eye Implants - their eyes can be replaced with implants allow them to see various spectrum that the human eye could never see. The eye allows them to see far past the human vision and with much more clarity able to see small objects like a bullet hurling towards them. Their greatest addition is the ability to see objects in greater frames per second that they are known to be able to cut through small fast moving objects heading towards them
 * Organ Implants - Organ Implants aren't necessary though things like the heart is an implant, giving them better blood flow and able to circulate oxygen throughout the body much faster. Lungs can be replaced as well to intake more oxygen for the body. However, things like their stomach, kidneys, livers do not need to be implanted.
 * Neural Implant - All Ixcoxar are given a neural link web designed to cover over the top of the brain and it helps stimulate the brain, allowing them to process information much quicker and vastly improving reaction time and also improves electrical impulses of the brain to function much better and more efficient. The web can also 'hijack' the brain during times of duress or near death situation since it monitors the overall health of the Ixcoxar and as such can override their functions and can make the Ixcoxar act as a raging berserkerer; ignoring pain and continue fighting. The most important part of the Neural Web is it allows them to connect with the U'ivash, the 'Unified Light' of the people; for without it, the neural link would simply overwhelm the human brain and eventual death.
 * Exoskeleton - Before being sent to war; all Ixcoxar are outfitted with an black hardened yet flexible exoskeleton, created in the shape of plates that allows for better flexibility, that serves two purpose; to protect their body and cybernetic implants and to acts as an NBC suit to allow them to endure harsh environments that would otherwise kill a normal human. The Exoskeleton is retrofitted with an Gehniite crystal designed to put up an energy shield around the user itself. Although invisible; when an object strikes the shield, you will be able to see the object make contact with the shield itself as it ripples lightly but when a strong enough force is applied, the shield can be shattered like glass in the shape of triangles. The shield can be reformed over time as the crystal itself will need to draw on power to recreate the shield. The exoskeleton also has a small booster designed to give them an extra reach in jump but also to help slow down descent from orbit should their pods ever fail in descent.