Technology -- Liir
From SOTS
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BioTechnology
The Liir have shown that they have some skill in BioTechnology. They created and unleashed a bioweapon tailored to Suul'ka physiology on their homeworld of Muur. The resulting disease was so virulent and lethal that it appears to have quickly spread beyond the colony and completely eradicated the Suul’ka, at least from nearby sectors of space.
Curiously, although Liir theoretically have an equal and potentially even greater facility with bio-engineering than the Hivers, they appear to regard their own bodies as sacrosanct and rarely if ever make such modifications. The different sizes and shapes of Liir that you see fall within natural variances.
Landsuits
A Liir "spacesuits" is more correctly a Landsuit, used by a Liir for any extended operations outside of their normal liquid environment. They can maneuver in zero gravity rather gracefully – the maneuvering jets of the suit simulate swimming. As such, the easiest solution when boarding an enemy craft would be for them to cut whatever artificial gravity might exist in an advanced ship before boarding. Landsuits releases a minute amount of ozone along with oxygen as part of its scrubbing mechanism. A whiff of ozone is one of the hints that a Liir is nearby, although out of sight.
Ships
Liirian ships of the line have a very high mass-to-size ratio, as their ships must be filled with a super-oxygenated liquid medium to allow the Liir to breathe and move freely. Fortunately, the unusual system of propulsion employed by the Liirian fleet allows them to compensate for the colossal mass of their vessels.
The Liir use an inertia-less “stutter” drive, which moves through space by teleporting the entire ship in tiny spatial increments of a millimeter or so. The implications of this drive system are many: for example, a Liirian ship does not use thrust to accelerate or decelerate. It also allows for the mass of a Liirian ship to be a non-issue, as the ship never develops the inertia of a body in motion; it simply changes its space-time coordinates. The Liir DO use reaction thrusters for close maneuvers and rotation. So a Liir ship with a destroyed drive can still rotate. For combat maneuvers, they use both...their reaction thrusters are used as secondary systems.
The “speed” of a Liirian vessel is determined by the number of teleports per second that its engine can perform. It is not difficult for the Liir to achieve relativistic speeds in open space, but the stutter drive has a distinct disadvantage when operating in a gravity well. Any object massive enough to cause a large space-time distortion—be it a planet, star or black hole—can severely slow the movement of a Liirian ship.
Prior to the invasion of the Suul'ka, the Liir would have been roughly equivalent to a Bronze Age culture.
All Liirian technology is grounded in their physical and mental abilities. This is simply abstracted for game purposes. When a Liirian player researches Waldo Units, it is assumed that they are finding a way to amplify and extend the range and precision of standard Liir telekinesis, etc.
Liir shipwrights are a relatively new sub-category of their engineers. There has been a long-standing tradition of "fire-shaping" among the civilian Liir—that is, Liir whose strong, long-range telekinetic ability gave them the strength and dexterity to use volcanic forges and smelters. These Liir are the creators of the "steel-singing" discipline and were a powerful force during the Suul'ka Rebellion. They were responsible for the feats of back engineering which made the Liir drive to the stars possible and their continued work and research will expand Liir technology during the course of any game.
Liirian drive tech tends to inspire a combination of puzzlement and dismay among the other races.
"Where was the last reported sighting? And they're WHERE now? Well, for heaven's sake don't try to engage them in open space – get your back to a big gravity well and pray it slows them down..."
Liir-only Technologies
Star Drives
StutterWarp - Enables the basic engine section. (Starting Technology)
Improved StutterWarp - Enables a new engine section. (Core Technology)
FlickerDrive - Enables a new engine section. (Core Technology)
Micro-FlickerDrive - Retrofits missiles with the defensive benefits of the FlickerDrive. (Core Technology)
Shield Technology
Focused Shielding - Allows the creation of the Protectorate Mission Section for Cruisers and Dreadnoughts, which broadcasts a Mk3 Shield to ships in range.
