Creature:Skabox

"We did not ask to be created. We did not ask to be raised from our clouded seas onto the scalding sands. We did not ask for our bodies to collapse, our skin to slough off, our muscles to atrophy, our lungs and hearts to shrivel to dried husks. We asked for none of this. We simply dealt with what we were given. We adapted. We survived. We reinforced our bodies and minds until they begged and screamed and rasped and cried for us to stop, but we kept going. We destroyed species. We destroyed ecosystems. We destroyed planets. We spread the Suffering across our reign. The only planets we dared save, we converted into megacities, for our people to live - nay, thrive. We now stand before the Gigaquadrant, and we pose one question: do you stand with us or against us?"

- Grand Admiral Tuus, 2740-2798

The Skabox are an unintentionally uplifted race of space pirate bipeds hailing from the wasteland planet Xex. Their botched uplifting left the entire species with genetic mutations resulting in malfunctioning organs and sloughing of skin and muscles with age. As a result, the Skabox are incredibly physically frail, relying on specialized helmets to breathe and various other wearables to aid strength.

Early Ascension (2623-2624)
In 2623, a ship of unknown origin on patrol was either shot down or experienced mechanical failure (Wreck historians disagree) and crash-landed on the planet Xex, near the coast of a small lake. The only life on the planet at the time were sparse single-celled organisms, and the planet's ecosystem would likely crash once the cells left the water. However, the ship's fuel cells emitted a strange form of radiation: omicron energy. Due to the massive amounts of energy, significant evolutionary changes were seen within all of the cells within hours, the most evolved being the cells eventually leading to the Skabox.

After a matter of approximately thirteen months, the first life emerged from the oceans of Xex, the Proto-Skabox. Skabox biologists have come to the consensus that the Proto-Skabox was most likely a small, blobby creature with a short tail, four legs, and a powerful jaw. On land, the omicron radiation, undisturbed by water, sped up the process of evolution even further, with the modern Skabox evolving within three months. However, rapid evolution had unfortunate side effects: approximately eight weeks into the evolution process, the larger body mass of the evolving Proto-Skabox lead to a greater ability to absorb omicron energy. A degenerative disease caused by overexposure to omicron energy began to develop among the Proto-Skabox, with an extremely long, painful death as the primary side effects. Further generations of Skabox began to lose skin, and even further generations lost muscle, bone, and the occasional vital organ, all while still evolving. Eventually, the modern Skabox began to tolerate the increased amounts of omicron energy surprisingly well, leading to a plateau in evolution.

After fully evolving, the brain of the Skabox began to increase in power, leading to the advent of Skabox tribes. Most Skabox poulations were within three-quarters of a mile from the shipwreck, which was now being worshiped as a god. At this point, the Skabox had only evolved a primitive click language similar to Morse code called K'. One month after the fourth tribe had been created, the ' 'K KK' K Tribe began a series of pilgrimages to the site of the wreck, being cited as journeys of spiritual enlightenment in official tribe documents. The voyagers were estimated to be inside the wreck for a grand total of three days, some stealing technology for the gain of the tribe and others copying down the symbols of Basic flashing across the cracked screens inside the ship on Skabox-skin papyrus.

Omicron Revolution (2624-2626)
After coming back from the wreck, the voyager had been altered. They now wore strange half-assembled glowing helmets and spoke in tongues as they desperately tried to explain to the chieftain of the tribe what had transpired in the wreck. The chieftain, unable to understand them, demanded that half of the tribe, including all governing officials, go to the wreck and see just what happened. The half of the tribe was estimated to have spent nine days living within the wreck trying to decipher the strange metals that made it up or the blinking lights that needed no sun. On the third day of living within the wreck, a quarter of the tribesmen had been affected by the wreck's machines. One recalls "Upon the rise of the Sun, Chieftain commands that we rise and follow him through. We see many strange things. We see small Suns trapped in rock water. We see the walls made from shiny rock. K' 'KK ' was commanded to eat the rock. He died there. Many of us have died. But the ones who wear the helmets of shiny rock do not die. They are stronger, faster, smarter. Chieftain has demanded that his warriors wear the helmets so they can conquer the others who worship the Wreck. I told Chieftain I was a warrior and he placed the helmet on me. Chieftain is a fool. I hope he too dies."

Upon the return of the tribe to the camp, they noticed that the other half of the population was missing. According to legend, a warrior found a note scrawled on papyrus pinned to a hut wall with the finger bone of a dead Skabox that approximately read "We are tired of death. We will find life." This saying is now a Skabox proverb.