Name: Kiko Mahn Stellar Hegemony
Tier: 1
Core Civics: Fanatic Spiritualists, Fanatic Militarists, Environmentalist.
Government Type: Despotic Hegemony, Ruling Council
Primary Species: Kiko Mahn
]Population Estimate: 400 Million (Kiko) 680 Billion (Client species, constituent species)
Founding: ~200,000-100,000 BCE
Biography: The Kiko Mahn Stellar Hegemony (the Hegemony, the Kiko) are a society primarily governed by an elite caste of Kiko that portray themselves as gods incarnate. The most powerful of these lords together form the Ruling Council. This council dictates nearly all aspects of life, policy and economics for the entire hegemony. Kiko view themselves as distinctly separate from all other races of the galaxy. Their society is made up overwhelmingly of enslaved or assimilated races, societies with inferior technology or societies conquered by the Kiko. While only a small fraction of the Kiko are directly in the ruling class, all Kiko are in a superior caste to any client or constituent species. They enjoy a starkly better quality of life, live on luxurious worlds or in luxurious cities on non core worlds.
The Kiko are a species of feline bipeds. Among the oldest races still active in the galaxy most of their history is not known or shrouded in secrecy by the ruling elite. What is known is they are almost completely genetically different from the ancient members of their species and nearly always have full body cybernetics or augments. Many species have high use of cybernetics but the Kiko is noteworthy for having almost every member of their species be cybernetically augmented. A result of this is they are the longest living sentient race. Members are considered young adults by the age of 150 and middle age is considered between 850-950. The life expectancy of the Kiko is poorly understood due to their secrecy. The lower bound is thought to be around 2000 years although there are legends and myths of Kiko living to be as old as 10,000. Scientists from the other tier one civilizations often consider this to be an exaggeration though the actual number could be higher than 5000.
Other physical features include gargantuan stature with most measuring at least two and a half meters with the tallest being over three meters tall. While not the largest advance race they are still among the most physically intimidating. This build offers them incredible strength, the aforementioned venerability, an extreme tolerance to physical harm or damage and among the most resilient immune systems of any species.
A less known but key trait of the Kiko is that they are a constructed species. Their name, Kiko Mahn, translates to “Born of the First Ones”. Because they are constructed by the precursors (though the Kiko continue to claim they were naturally birthed by cosmic forces through the precursors) they are able to make use of what technology was left behind after their creators disappeared. Partially because they were created by the precursors the Kiko view themselves as the rightful ruler of the galaxy. Kiko religion states they are the divine custodians of the worlds and nature found throughout the Milky Way. They consider other races (especially those that consume natural resources of worlds) to be either heretical or like a disease. The Hegemony is currently engaged with a galaxy wide war to concur the rest of space outside of their borders. Races that willingly submit to them are either, in the best case, used as a puppet government, most often used for slave labor or occasionally exterminated out right.
Races that are absorbed into the Hegemony fall into a few different castes. The lowest of these are slaves, bulk menial labor or extreme hazard workers. Usually concurred species, tier four and five species caught in their boarders and other species deemed the least useful are found in this caste. Mobility from this group is explicitly forbidden. Just above this are the general masses. It is made up of factory or office workers, agricultural workers and sometimes low level government employees. While markedly better than the caste below it life for these members is still considered below the galactic average. Jobs of higher esteem are typically not attainable to these people though it is not illegal for them to migrate to the next caste above them.
Next is the upper middle class. These include the doctors, religious scientists, low level religious workers, the low military officer classes and some portions of the financial sector. This caste interfaces with the Kiko the most and typically has an above average quality of life. The lowest members of the Kiko species may be equivalent to members of this caste but they are still considered above them.
Beyond the upper middle class is the lower rungs of direct Kiko society. These are low level lieutenants and government officials, the middle military officer class and the low and mid levels of the religious sect. Members of this caste, almost exclusively Kiko, enjoy a very high quality of life although not quite as hedonistic as the ruling class.
Between the low tier and the ruling class are the middle Kiko. Examples include demigods (assistants or personal servants, advisors, military generals and admirals, etc.) high level government officials and the middle and some of the high members of the religious sect. Most of this caste live extremely luxurious lives although at the whim of the ruling class.
Finally at the peak of Kiko society is the ruling class. This group is made up exclusively of the Gods of the hegemony. These gods are rulers of either the constituent members of the hegemony (i.e. being the ruler of a puppet government) at the lowest end and the Council of Twelve at the top. The Council of Twelve are comprised of the most politically, religiously or militarily powerful Kiko. In the scale of their society this council can change frequently. Whether through coup from lesser members or conspiracy by other council members the only way to ensure your position is to not be the weakest. Six of the twelve are the head of the church, three are the supreme leaders of the military and the remaining three control the most wealth of the hegemony.
The council largely rules the Hegemony to either to further their personal agendas or to further the goal of conquering the galaxy. Typically the conquest war is the only thing they can come to a consistent agreement on. Each individual on the council retains a great deal of autonomy over their respective areas though it is not unheard of to see infighting.
