Fiction:First Cognatus Empire

The Cognatus are a religious hegemony of multiple alien species, controlling a very large portion of the Orion Arm in the Milky Way galaxy.

Defiler
The Defiler are a small species of servant warriors in the unified races of the Cognatus. They are the lowest rank, and are usually used as cannon fodder or hard-labor workers. They are usually mistreated by their higher ranking Cognatus and Nequam. The Defilers were one of the later species conquered and absorbed into the Cognatus. While not overly intelligent or creative on the battlefield, they are one of the most cordial and sociable of the Cognatus races as they possess a very strong pack mentality, often associating with each other in groups, instigating them to present danger when encountered in large numbers. They are the most common front-line troops.

Velox
The Velox are a saurian species which serve the Cognatus as mercenaries. Velox will either serve as snipers or scouts within the Covenant due to their excellent sense of sight, smell and hearing.

Nequam
The Nequam, are the newest members of the Cognatus. They are a large ape-like species. Despite their savagery, Nequam have proved intelligent enough to achieve spaceflight and space-faring status, though their warlike nature meant they quickly collapsed into civil war, and quickly afterwards, fell back to their former pre-space status and learning nothing from the experience. Unlike Cognati, who are masterfully skilled tacticians, the Nequam combat mentality relies on overwhelming force, sheer strength, power in numbers, and incredibly strong firepower.

Cognati
The Cognati are a reptilian-like alien race of fierce, proud, strong, intelligent warriors and skilled combat tacticians. Cognati are named after their home planet, Cognatia. Cognati are extremely intelligent and always demonstrate this in combat. Although Cognati are naturally very intelligent, their culture's long dependence on a military-industrial scheme has led to an emphasis on might over science. However they are the political leaders of the Cognatus and construct gigantic warships.