Strogg
The Strogg are a cybernetic species that appear in Quake II, Quake IV and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.
Contents |
History
The Strogg were a race of cybernetic beings that preyed on the universe and established themselves on their homeworld of Stroggos. The early history of the Strogg was unknown except that in some point the race began to augment themselves cybernetically and gained enough technological knowledge to begin invading worlds. At some point, they discovered the planet Earth and sent forth a wave of invasion forces through starships into a slipgate around the planet. Their forces engaged the Global Defense Force in a long protracted war against the natives; a conflict that the Strogg invasion forces lost allowing Humanity to gain the secrets of space travel.
In response, mankind journeyed into space to take the war towards the Strogg and headed to their homeworld of Stroggos. They had discovered that the Strogg were ruled the Makron and that his death would defeat their foe. Thus, human forces launched Operation Alien Overlord with marines landing on the surface seeking to eliminate the Strogg leader. Heavy casualties were sustained by the human forces but a lone marine managed to succeed in the elimination of the Makron.
Biology
The Strogg are a barbaric race of telepathic alien cyborgs bent on universal domination to satisfy their dependence on the food-fuel known as Stroyent. The Strogg cannot be reasoned with or dissuaded; they are committed to the annihilation of any form of life in their path. Strogg victims not mulched into Stroyent are forced to undergo Stroggification -- a process of cybernetic augmentation and neurological hacking which removes their self-will and transforms them into ambulant weapons-drones, pliant to the will of the Supreme Strogg, the Makron.
Cybernetic Augmentation
The most distinctive characteristic of the Strogg is their ability to cybernetically augment themselves. Former enemies face a capture policy of Stroggification where suitable subjects are transported into Strogg Medical Facilities where they are restrianed in a metal slab placed in an assembly line. A laser scanner checks the victim for unknown parameters which is quickly followed by a large hypodermic needle which injects the target with a sizeable quantity of steroids through the chst. This is done so to allow the subject to survive the trauma of the cybernetic augmentation which is done without anesthesia. A Strogg scientist then inspects the subject and the wound after which another injection is made along with an incision in the face.
At the next station, a circular saw mounted on a mechanical arm begins to amputate the subjects lower legs above the knee in a messy fashion. Typically, the victim passes out from the pain and takes a bit of time to regain consciousness later. While a major artery is cut through the procedure, the victim does not bleed out which suggests that a cauterizer is used. Mechanical legs are grafted onto the thighs and armor plated is placed on the torso and extremeties which is riveted in place. A neurocyte is then placed in the subjects brain through the use of a large hypodermic needle which instantly allows for the understanding and reading the Strogg language. This includes a HUD programming allowing for the newly created Strogg to check their bodies systems.
Once this is complete, the final stage involves the subject being immersed in a liquid cylinder where they await the neurocyte being activated. If the victim is freed then the process is halted allowing for the newly cybernetically augmented subject to remain free from the Strogg programming. They gain numerous Strogg traits which is a slight increase in their running time as well as better endurance. Furthermore, they are capaale of using Strogg technology such as their teleporters or health stations. In addition, they are immune to the Strogg's laser defense grids which are normally lethal to Humans and other races that come into contact with them. While these do allow for a better warrior, the process turns the subject into a mutilated creature that does not resemble his species. The implants themselves also cannot be removed without dangerous side effects on the subject's body which is now dependant on the augmented traits.
Though advanced, the GDF through its Ark facility managed to learn enough about Strogg biotechnology to attempt to create a viral strain that was lethal to the Strogg but harmless against Humans. (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)
Stroggification
Stroggification is the fate that many alien races face when fighting against the Strogg who begin a process of cybernetically changing them with the addition of components that replace legs, arms and entire body sections. Technological parts are added such as caterpillar tracks, gravitic engines and reloadable missile launchers. Weapons are directly linked to the central nervous system of the host body allowing for directly integrating weapons. They accomplish this through the use of nanotechnology in their medical facilities to maintain the original organic tissue after the augmentation process. Human Doctors noted that the medical nanobots were capable of repairing the body even after the bodies death or if a body part was amputated from the host. As amuputations hinder the locomotive ability of the body considerly, the Strogg make use of supplements such as servomechanisms and artificial muscle to strength the body. Exoskeletons are constructed through the use of hardened tribinium which is extremely resistant to cutting tools that adds to their strength.
The extensive use of cybernetic augmentation means that the original biology of the Strogg is unknown as any creature is compatible with the enhancement procedure with any rce capable of being transformed into a Strogg. Quadrapedal organisms can be augmented with bio-mechanical implants allowing such creatures to be transformed into guard dogs while larger specimens can be enhanced with firepower as well as endurance making them heavy battle units. The one common characteristic of the Strogg are their glowing orange eyes.
The process involves the higher-brain functions being completely atrophied with a transciever unit called a Neurocyte being added into the body which links to the Strogg's Nexus. Once activated, the host becomes aware of their situation and actions but have little control over their cybernetic bodies. Some hosts remain capable of controlling their mouths but this is only until the transciever implant activates at which point former comrades now Stroggified mercilessly attack their friends.
Stroggification has a high success rate though there are failures with some who fail the augmentation being sent to biological-recycling facilities. Their partially transformed nature means that they resemble zombies that work in hazardrous facilities where chemicals begin to degrade their hippocampus and somatosensory systems.
During invasions of planets, the Strogg were known to deploy devices known as Stroggifiers that were designed to convert native inhabitants into Strogg troopers. This tactc was used during the Pacific Campaign where the Strogg used an improved version of the device in Australia in Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory. (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)
Society
Culture
The culture of the Strogg appears to be obsessively fixated on warfare and conflict with their entire society fixated on this singular purpose. Their buildings on their homeworld appear to consist of countless armored bunkers which seem to be of old construction as many are crude in appearance as well as rusted to their core. The one aspect of their being that shows some individuality is the use of nationalistic banners as well as symbols of orange and yellow coloring. In addition, their society tends to have a brutal and savage outlook in life with the biggest and strongest of their kind being automatically given positions of power and authority. Larger Strogg also tend to have little care for their weaker brethren and with them being sometimes killed from events such as simple trampling over them.
The Strogg made use of partially Stroggified being to part of their Stroyent Processing facilities. These Stroyent Processing Creatures were fixed into the room where their stomachs were used as a means of purifying Stroyent.
Strogg civilization was governed through a system that consisted of a number of Warlords. Each of these were given a post at a strategic location where they operated as command and control. Above the Warlords was a single leader chosen from their ranks who operated as the supreme leader of their kind who was known as the Makron. The Makron ruled from the homeworld of Stroggos where he was situated at the palace in the city of Cerberon. This supreme ruler had a unifying role among the Strogg and the Makron's death could see them becoming confused and leading to a period of turmoil as the Warlords battled among one another as they sought to determine a successor.
Nexus
The Nexus is a central massive communication network that directs the Stroggs forces and served as a primary processor for their activities which sometimes made it a weakness that enemies could exploit as it was the focal point of their civilization.
This computer based system had been active during the invasion of Earth and had in fact directed a Strogg task force in attacking a GDF facility in Finland called the Ark which had been developing a bioweapon for use against the Strogg forces. After the failure of orbital bombardment, the Nexus commanded the Strogg in the direction of an attack against the biodome and concluded that the use of mining lasers would penetrate the facility. The Nexus Tower came under threat later during the African Campaign when GDF forces attempted to use a Slipgate to assault the Strogg Nexus base in Antartica. (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)
When humanity invaded Stroggos, they attempted to destroy the Nexus by planting an EMP charge in it that would have wreaked havoc on the Stroggs command structure. However, the device was destroyed by a Strogg Harvester and alternate measures were attempted in order to win the conflict. (Quake 4)
Military
The central command of the Stroggs military forces is the Domination Hub that serves as a centerpiece of their invasion forces on the battlefield and coordinates their forces.
Tactics
Generally, the Strogg often sought to enhance their positions once invading a planet. They accomplished this through a wide variety of means one of which included deploying Stroggifiers at key locations in order to convert the local populace into Strogg soldiers which was seen during the Pacific Campaign at Australia. To further aid in this task, the Strogg were not above using bio-weapons to accomplish their goal. In such circumstances, they made use of the sinister Contaminator weapons that created a waterborn morale-sapping psychotropic prionite plague designed to make the natives docile and thus easy to convert. Such a tactic was used in the North American Campaign in California at Yosemite Valley. They were also not above of using local facilities to further produce resources such as Stroyent which was seen during the African Campaign in Khartown. Furthermore, they often deployed DataBrains to oversee the construction of major facilities for their cause as was seen during the operations on Earth in New Jersey.
They also worked to deny the enemy possible access to their technology that could be used against them. This was seen during the Northern Europe Campaign in Lake District, England where the GDF managed to cause a Strogg ship to crash and its auto-destruct sequence failed. Thus, the Strogg worked to regain access to the ship and power it with energy cells in order to deny the humans access to the advanced technology inside the vessel. During the same campaign, in Finland Lapland, the Strogg aggressively sought out GDF positions that had salvaged Strogg technology in order to prevent its analysis and reverse engineering.
The more important aspects of their technology that they sought to secure was the knowledge of the Slipgates. These advanced transportational tools had at times been secured by the humans during the Earth invasion. During the North American campaign, the Strogg moved in on Area 22 in Nevada, USA to prevent the GDF from studying a captured Slipgate and testing it in their underground facility.
The Strogg were also on the lookout for new weaons that could be used against them and sought to eliminate these advantages their enemies possessed. During the Pacific Campaign, the Strogg sought to destroy the GDF geothermal facility in New Zealands Whakaari Island that had been powering an EMP weapon designed to force the Strogg off the planet. Furthermore, after discovering of the viral weapon developed at the Finland facility known as The Ark, the Strogg Nexus commanded a task force of Strogg to be dispatched to Northern Europe in order to destroy it after orbital strikes had failed to penetrate the biodome GDF base. (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)
Infantry
- Aggressor :
- Technician :
- Oppressor :
Oppressor infantry.
The Oppressor provide the Strogg force with a fire support role on the battlefield and are capable of calling their starships to bring deployables to the planet allowing them to reinforce positions rapidly. They are also capable of directing their firepower against enemy targets.
They make use of Lacerators as their primary weapon against enemies. In addition, they carry Violator Beacons which, when deployed, allow the Strogg to direct laser firepower against enemy positions. Furthermore, they are capable of deploying tactical shields around locations thus giving infantry cover from enemy weapon fire.
- Infiltrator :
The Infiltrator serves as a stealthy saboteuer within the Strogg's forces. They are nightmares to their enemies as they are merciless backstabbing body snatchers who are capable of stealing an enemy disguise from a fallen enemy allowing them to approach positions without being detected by their foes.
They can be equipped with long range railguns which are used as sniper weapons to take out enemy forces at a distance. Furthermore, they make use of flyer drones for scouting and a teleporter to move about the battlefield. In addition to this, the Infiltrator can hack into computers taking over enemy deployables and dropping Psi Radars onto the field.
- Constructor :
Vehicles
The Strogg utilised varying number of vehicles within their military forces that included:
- Harvester : the Harvester was one type of ground based walker vehicle that were employed by the Strogg and highlight their advanced technology. These mecha are capable of surviving several attacks from tank-fored and man-portable armor-piercing munitions before it is disabled. They also made use of sphere-shaped mobile gun turrets that provide quick target acquisition. Their red spidery forms are distinctive across the battlefield as the Harvester fulfils its processor based role where it moves to gather scraps, meat and metal alike. They are equipped for both melee and ranged based combat. The former include the use of electric whips and claws strike while the latter include rocket launchers as well as nailguns.
- Desecrator : Serving as a tank within the Strogg forces which are heavily armed and heavil armoured. Their long low shape makes it appear as a loathsome segmented insect which acts floating nightmarish weapon on the battlefield. Its equipped with a powerful cannon thats mounted on a turret base as well as a heavy lacerator on the hull. For increased firepower, the Desecreator can enter into a siege mode though suffers from reduced mobility in this state. A single pilot can make use of the vehicle but for maximum efficiency, a gunner is required.
- Cyclops : The Cyclops is a large two legged heavy walker that is a terrifying sight on the battlefield with its articulated legs providing it a level of mobility that allows it to move over most surfaces and make a surprising ambush against the enemy. Its twin plasma cannons and a heavy lacerator give it a powerful punch at a distance though its slow firing rate means that its vulnerable to a determined short ranged assault. Similar to the Desecreator, the Cyclops can enter into a siege mode which reduces its silhouette and trasforming the mech into an immobile turret.
- Hog : The Hog provides the Strogg armies with a light attack vehicle and a level reconnaisance. Its wheeled form provides it a high level of mobility on the battlefield and it makes use of a plasma cannon whose rapid rate of fire can be used against enemies. It typically carries a single driver and an optional gunner. The advanced Strogg technology allows it to projects an absorptive destructive energy shield around its nose. A typical tactic used by Strogg drivers is to engage the Hogs booster sending it smashing into enemy vehicles. This allows it crash into enemy units; dealing massive damage to them with relative harm to the Hog or its driver.
- Tormentor : A hovering buzzing nightmare that provides a level of air support to the Strogg forces. They are heavily armed and make use of a heavy lacerator, strocket missiles and a light plasma cannon making it dangerous threat to enemy infantry. Its four vectored anti-gravity repulsors and light armour allows it to move rapidly across the battlefield. Similar to some of the other vehicles in the Strogg military, a single operator can drive the Tormentor but for maximum efficieny a gunner is required.
- Icarus : Not technically a vehicle but a wearable equipment worn by Strogg infantry. These are anti-gravity backpacks that allows a soldier to fly across the environment in short hops though are incapable of jumping atop the tallest of buildings. The pack also allows the user to drop stroybombs whose lethal explosive nature which are a threat to both infantry and vehicles. The disadvantage of the Icarus was its slow and noisy nature making it an easy target when airborne. This forces the Strogg to restrict their movements to rapid low hops in order to make use of cover from enemy weaponfire. This often allows Icarus wearing Strogg to make a demoralizing surprise aerial assault when the enemy is unaware of the sudden attack.
Technology
The Strogg are a highly advanced race with technology that was superior to that used by humanity. This range from advanced energy weapons to interstellar starships and the capacity to reach faster-than-light travel. They also made use of wormholes to cross massive distances in space which was the means through which they assaulted the planet Earth origianlly. A variation of this was teleportation abilities that were restricted to Strogg use only as humans who used it were killed isntalled unless they were Stroggified which may be a possible security measure introduced into these teleporter systems. The Strogg have further refined the technology to make use of it on a personal level amongst their infantry forces. (Quake 4)
They make extensive use of biotechnology and cybernetics to accomplish their goals with levels far above that of normal humans. One example of such technology was the Stroyent processing facility which was revealed to be a massive creature fixed to the facility whose stomach was used to process the enzyme for the Strogg. (Quake 4)
Another notable example of their use of portal forms of technology was the Slipgates. This was used to transport their entire invasion forces to arrive over the planet Earth thus giving them orbital superiority over their enemies. Small slipgates were used on planetary theaters allowing the Strogg rapid deployment capabilities from one part of the world to another. This unique advantage was something that was jealously guarded by the Strogg who made attempts at destroying any attempt by enemies of reverse engineering this technology as it gave them the means of going into space. (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)
Strogg starships were large vessels consisting of large vessels as well as smaller attack craft. Such ships often consisted of auto-destructor sequences allowing them to destroy any damage crashed vessel in order to prevent its advanced technology from being reverse engineered by the enemy. However, there were occassions where this self destruct failed which necessitated the Strogg in securing the crashed ship. Once inside, the Strogg reactivated these vessels in order to further secure the target from enemy control. (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)
In terms of weaponry, the species possessed a wide variety of highly advanced such technology. This ranged from dark matter that was capable of creating micro black holes for use against enemies to energy weapons such as plasma launchers or blasters to projectile weapons such as the lacerators. They also made use of orbital laser weapons to bombard enemy positions from their starships though certain targets can be well protected from enemy attacks. More exotic forms of such weapons also included the use of the Contaminator installations which created a waterborn plague consisting of prion compounds that infect enemies and turn them into docile targets for the Strogg. These were typically deployed at enemy water supplies in order to fully impact on enemy positions. They also had potent defensive technologies such as shields that can protect Strogg assets from enemy missile attacks. (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)
Though not a telepathic race themselbves, the Strogg have made use of psionic technology. This was seen in the use of their psychic deployable platforms that were designed as a form of radar system that sought out nearby enemies. (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)
They had a range of weaponry at their disposal that included:
- Accurized Lacerator :
- Blaster Hyperblaster :
- Lacerator :
- Nailgun: :
- Lightning Pistol :
- Obliterator :
- Plasma Launcher :
- Railgun :
- Scrambler Grenade :
- Shrap Grenade :
- Spikes :
Strogg made use of a number of deployable weapon platforms that included:
- Dark Matter Cannon : A colossal tactical based bombardment weapon that is deployed on the battlefield by the Strogg Oppressor infantry. It represented state of the art Strogg bosonic orb technology at the time. When firing, the dark matter cannon fired a fizzing, flaming energy orb in a lethal arc across the battlefield. Once this energy weapon charged into its target, it initiated a catastrophic reaction. This weapon served as the original prototype for the later Big Gun and BFG deployed in latter years.
- Shield Generator : These deployed Strogg energy projectors provide a level of protection against enemy fire support by neutralizing incoming artillery through the use of a disruptive energy shield. Its effective against most form of weapon fire from artillery to missiles but seems incapable of defending against airstrikes which are triggered through hand held smoke signals.
- Rail Howitzer : Another powerful bombardment weapon that is deployed from orbit onto the battlefield when a location is designated by a Strogg Oppressor. Once given a chance to bear, the Rail Howitzer begins to fire super accelerated explosive shells at enemy positions bringing about devastating damage to anything in that location.
- PSI-Radar : A psionic based surveilance and intelligence gathering device that is called from orbit by a Strogg Infiltrator. This device tracks enemy vehicles and infantry that pass within its range where it passes on its data to the Domination Hub strcuture where upon its projected to individual Strogg command maps.
- Plasma Mortar : The final form of bombardment device within the Stroggs arsenal. This squad device fires a gob of fizzing plasma at high trajectory whereupon it comes crashing down upon the enemy position. This makes it an effective tool in taking on positions with strong frontal cover. Such a weapon effectively allows the Strogg Oppressor infantry to overwhelm a position with intense firepower; typically these are chokepoints or fixed positions.
- Anti-Personnel Turret :
- Anti-Vehicle Turret :
Notes
- The Stroggs information based system, the Nexus did not feature in the Quake games until Quake 4. It was later mentioned during the Northern Europe Campaign in Quake Wars: Enemy Territory and also became a vital objective during the final mission in the African Campaign.
Appearances
- Quake 2:
- Quake 4:
- Quake Wars: Enemy Territory:
External Links
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