Chigs
The Chigs are an alien species that features in Space: Above and Beyond.
Contents |
History
The Chig species began on the moon which orbited their later homeworld and was sacred to the race for it considered the place where their life began. This was because of the mineral deposits found on its surface which indicated that the cosmic debris from a comet had impacted on the planet and were part of the same material which impacted Earth and thus sparked life on that world. In this sense, were born of the very same life that sparked and gave birth to Humanity.Hints were given that the Chigs had then began to silently observe Humanity since the time they lived in caves.
At some point, they were noted to had settled the world of Ixion that was heavily fortified by the Chigs. (Episode: Sugar Dirt)
Official first contact between Humanity and the Chigs began with an unmanned probe that was launched by military industrial corporation AeroTech Industries who landed on the celestial body known as 2064K which was actually the moon of the Chig homeworld. The probe was successful in gaining a limited amount of information on the Chigs before they sent a warning signal that brought about the probe's eventual destruction. Despite contact being achieved with the Chigs, Aerotech withheld information on this find for reasons only known to the corporation itself who kept it as a closely guarded secret. Thus, the nations of Earth were completely unaware of the existence of the Chigs.
By the mid 21st century, the Chigs declared open war against Humanity and launched a series of what appeared to have been unprovoked strikes against Earth's first colonies. These colonies were sponsored by Aerotech who designated them as the Vespa and Tellus colonies. The colonists were attack and killed with only a few survivors taken as prisoners. The Chig fleets then began a push for Earth and began to devastate the unprepared Earth forces. They were moving almost contested through the asteroid belt in Earth's solar system when they were defeated at the Battle of the Belt by the actions of the US Marines Aviator 58th Squadron which helped prevent their homeworld from falling to the Chigs. (Episode: Pilot) Following the Tellus attack, human colonists on the planet that were not killed were rounded up and sent into transports by the Chigs with only a few managed to evade capture. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home)
World Federation forces later went to investigate the Tellus Colony where they managed to recover a single human survivor but the military forces had to retreat due to Chig assault as they claimed the planet. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home) The alien forces were noted to had inflicted heavy damage against Earth's forces outside of Proxima. During this time, a development that emerged was that the robotic Silicates from the AI War were selling fuel to the Chigs. (Episode: The Dark Side of the Sun) At Planet Groombridge 34, Chigs were present on the world where a sniper targeted the World Federation Firebase station where they killed a human soldier. The freighter S.S. MacArthur later went through the Blood Valley trans-solar path where it was ambushed by a Chig destroyer but the ship was destroyed by the vessels crew. (Episode: Mutiny)
Despite this defeat, the element of surprise, better technology and their superior technology gave the Chigs a significant advantage over Humans in the early parts of the war. However, in time, the adaptability and the ferocity of Humanity managed to make up for this in their war against the Chigs. Mankinds use of guerilla tactics were counter to the Chigs tactics of large direct military strategies. Furthermore, special ops missions, infiltrations, assassinations, sabotage and small unit engagements proved to be quite effective against the Chigs and Earth's fleets began a slow push that brought them closer to the Chig homeworld.
As the war continued to rage between the two sides, the chigs began to form an alliance with remnants of the Human-built race of androids known as the Silicates. These machines were perfectly willing to work against Humanity after losing the AI Wars tha were waged on Earth and the Silicates eventual exodus from the planet. The nature of the alliance was vague and the true depths of it were unknown.
From Ixion, the Chigs launched a counterattack against the Earth fleets at Demios that was said to had left the world unprotected. (Episode: Sugar Dirt)
By the later part of 2063, the intelligence and surveillance missions conducted by the Earth fleets on Chig territory had successfully located the Chig homeworld. It was confirmed to have been the fourth planet within the Helious system. In 2064, after 18 months of heavy fighting, the Earth fleets began to prepare for an invasion of the Chig homeworld who's moon was designated "Anvil" in part of an military mission called Operation Roundhammer.
Despite the continuing war, the Chigs sent an ambassador to the USS Saratoga and was equipped with a translation device allowing them to communicate with Humans. The Ambassador was asked to explain his reasons for the Vesta and Tellus colony disasters. During the events of the negotiations, the ambassador revealed the connection of Aerotech in defiling their sacred moon as well as citing that that proof was capable of being produced that the amino acids that brought about the birth of their existence was similar to the content of the comet that struck Earth. The Ambassador then blamed the Aerotech representative for ignoring their warning calls and became violent after which it apparently detonated a hidden suicide bomb that seemingly killed most of the members of the diplomatic meeting.
The end of the negotiations seemingly restarted hostilities between the Chigs and Humans.
- The series ended after its first season which means that the further history of the Chigs and the end of the war remains unknown.
Overview
Biology
The ultimate revelation of the Chigs was that life on their homeworld began through panspermia. They developed into a humanoid species with a clammy pink soft skin. Their small black eyes were recessed in eye sockets with gills on either sides of their heads along with jutting chins. The unique conditions of their home planet meant that they breathed a methane rich atmosphere and communicated through a series of cetacean-like whistles and clicks. Their biology meant that they died and disintegrated when in contact with oxgyen based atmospheres which necessitated them in using complex suits to survive in other atmospheres. Furthermore, water had a profound impact on them as it was a poison to their systems resulting in immediate death if injested. Chigs were noted to possess a dark green blood.
Desite the similarity in the amino acids in their birth and the different environment they were born in, the Chigs evolved at a faster rate when compared to Humanity.
Culture
The Chigs are hinted at believing Humanity to be a culturally unevolved as well as violent race which was why they shunned contact with them.
The fact that they wore complex fully encapsulating armored environmental suits meant that Humans never saw the actual appearance of a Chig. Furthermore, the did not communicate with mankind and the designation Chig was not the name of their species but rather a nickname given to them by Humans due to their environmental suits. (Episode: Pilot)
The actual name of the species was unknown with the name Chigs being a derogatory designation given by humans. Due to their armoured appearance, the aliens were referred to as Chigs or Chigoes after the Earth flea-like insects that burrowed into human flesh. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home) In reality, the species hated being called "Chigs", "Chigoes" or aliens. They in turn refer to Humans in a term that translated to mean "red stink creature" which referred to the offensive color as well as odor of Human blood.
According to survivor accounts, it was believed that the aliens were afraid of the dead and stayed away from sites that contained deceased remains. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home)
It was known to had taken fifty quantum charnel computers interlinked on four continents to decode the aliens complex language. (Episode: Pilot, Part 2)
In terms of tactics, Chig squadrons were known to attack their enemies in groups which necessitated enemy pilots to watch their backs. Furthermore, they had a low angle of attack thus forcing enemies to keep their crafts nose level. (Episode: Pilot, Part 2) Generally, Chig attack jets always struck in groups rather than in lone assaults. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home)
Technology
Due to their biological requirements, the aliens made use of sophisticated suits that allowed them to operate in other environments such as Earth. These suits were equipped with slots for important equipment such as memory storage devices. (Episode: Pilot) These suits also allowed them to carry infantry scale weapons that fired an unknown form of projectile. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home)
They used a form of scanning technology that employed an active gamma pulse which he used during search operations. (Episode: Mutiny)
In terms of starship armaments, the aliens utilised a form of unknown projectile as their weapons and also made use of missiles. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home)
After initial contact, it was discovered that Chig fighter crafts were constructed of an unknown alien metal. Their fighters were described as being faster with a greater rate of climb. (Episode: Pilot, Part 2) They had also developed the means of refine the organic ore from the Kezbek mining colony which was known to Humanity as Sewell Fuel. This ore was used to power an advanced prototype stealth fighter that saw use in the Chig War until its destruction. (Episode: The Angriest Angel, Part 2) Chigs made use of a form of transport craft that was used to deploy individuals between worlds. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home)
One type of vessel was designated the U3-78 that was an alien Class D Destroyer that operated in the role of a hunter-killer. Its weapon package included rockets, mines and guided weapons along with microwave technology that interfered with communications as well as caused reactor temperatures to spike. These ships used directed microwaves to cripple their target before approaching in to eliminate their prey. (Episode: Mutiny) They made use of much larger capital ships that were used on offensive operations. (Episode: Pilot)
Chigs deployed a type of weapon satellite in orbit around planets that were equipped with missiles and tasked with sentry duty where they launched their weapons payload against intruding enemies. (Episode: The Farthest Man from Home)
Members
- Chiggy von Richthofen :
Notes
- The Chigs were introduced as antagonists in the television series but the show was cancelled with no resolution to the storyline.
Appearances
- Space: Above and Beyond:
External Link
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