Scott Sigler: The Rookie

As for defense, the middle of the line might as well be sovereign territory of the Ki Empire. With massive strength and the low center of gravity, Ki nose guards and defensive tackles are specialists at shutting down the run. The Ki are also able to lay devastating hits due to their “gather” ability, where they can briefly compact their tubular body from twelve feet to eight feet, then suddenly expand with violent force. The “gather” lets them deliver crushing hits anywhere in a ten-foot radius. It is a common technique in tackling as well as in block-destruct.

From “Species Biology & Football,” written by Cho-Ah-Huity

Sklorno were once considered the bane of the galaxy. An aggressive, fast-growing species, Sklorno females reach reproductive maturity in seven years. They also can breed up to twice a year, with potential broods of ten to twelve children. This would create severe overpopulation, save for the fact that in Sklorno society cannibalism is not only socially acceptable, it is considered a normal part of life. When the population exceeds the food supply, the government simply selects the individuals that are to become food themselves.

This behavior is indicative of what makes the Sklorno so “alien” to the other sentient species. The Sklorno have little or no concern for individual life. What matters in their culture is the success of the entire species, the “macro-environmental” scale if you will. Because of this attitude, the Sklorno were a vicious warring race, and tried several times to exterminate other species and expand their territory via war. The Sklorno, in fact, started the First Intergalactic War when they conquered the planet Withrit, and exterminated all intelligent life (amounting to about 2.1 billion Whitokians). The Sklorno were also the first species to destroy a planet’s ability to sustain life when they saturation-bombed Ionath, which then belonging to the Prawatt Jihad.

So what does this history lesson have to do with Species Biology & Football? You must understand the culture of the Sklorno if you are to understand their strengths and weaknesses as football players. Individual life holds little meaning for the Sklorno, while the success of the overall species is all-important. This attitude translates literally to the gridiron. Sklorno do whatever it takes to put the team ahead.

On top of that, they’re the fastest and most agile species in the galaxy. With 40-yard dash speeds up to a blistering 3.0, and vertical leaps of up to fifteen feet, they seem almost genetically-engineered to play wide receiver and defensive back. A Sklorno receiver fully extended and at top jumping height can pull down a ball that’s thrown twenty feet over her head. Despite their speed, the Sklorno are the least strong of the playing races. Improvements in inertia-based protective equipment have greatly reduced Sklorno deaths, although during a given Upper Tier season one can still expect five to eight deaths.

Creterakian officials introduced football in Sklorno space just 23 years ago. It has become a massive cultural phenomenon. Football is the number-one spectator sport, surpassing the traditional sports of spot-racing and even soccer, which the Sklorno have dominated since Humans introduced it 62 years ago. With military expansion halted by Creterakian rule, young Sklorno females have few outlets for their aggressive tribal tendencies. Football has filled that gap.

A societal quirk has developed due to the GFL, where Sklorno players (and some fans) put their team on a slightly higher level than their species. For many Sklorno, football isn’t like a religion, it is a religion. Sociologists say that the team-based nature of the GFL is a perfect, microcosmic replica of the warring culture, and it appeals to the Sklorno at a very instinctive level. With the success of the species always at the forefront of their thoughts, Sklorno tend to idolize those that define a team’s success — coaches and quarterbacks. There are actual churches spread throughout Sklorno space that are dedicated to coaches, like To Pirates coach Yuri Rockmananoff, and quarterbacks, like Hittoni Hullwalkers legend Sam London and two-time Tier One Championship MVP Donald Pine.

From “Creterak: The Unforeseen Dynasty,” by Hammond Gomez

It is almost inconceivable to anyone under the age of 40 that once, not so long ago, no one had even heard of a “Creterakian.” Considering that race’s almost total control over the galaxy, it is just as inconceivable to those people that the Creterakians were once looked at as an asset to be claimed, not a military power to be feared.

Creterak is a medium-sized planet, disadvantageously located in a political “hot zone” near the galactic core. The planet borders the Harrah Tribal Accord, The Quyth Concordia and the Rewall Association. It is also uncomfortably close to the last known position of the Prawatt Jihad fleet. This proximity proved to be a spark for military conflict.

The Creterakians were centuries behind other races in most technologies, but surprisingly advanced in some areas. Signal detection, for example, is an area in which that race completely outclasses all others. The Creterakians managed to “hide” their planet from detection for over 250 years, and were completely unknown until they achieved FTL capability in 2639.

The existence of a sentient race hidden within in a well-explored area stunned every scientist in the galaxy. Military officials of three separate systems saw a potential asset near the border of potential enemies. Within hours of the announcement, the Tribal Accord, the Association and the Concordia sent “diplomatic” fleets to Creterak. All three systems immediately claimed the rights to the new planet.

Even as the Galactic Council met to discuss claims to Creterak, skirmishes erupted between the Harrah and Quyth fleets just three days after the planet’s discovery. Within a week, the skirmishes evolved into minor naval battles claiming well over 50,000 lives. What had begun as an amazing discovery quickly grew into the potential for a Fifth Galactic War. Each government sent reinforcements, resulting in three armada-class fleets circling the planet.

In a claimed effort to stem the violence, the Creterakians sent delegates to every ship in all three fleets. Again, it is inconceivable to young people today that the fleets fell for such a simple ruse. But look at it from the historical standpoint: the Creterakians were small, seemingly harmless creatures, they had no inter-species battle experience, and they had no military craft. Humans have even described Creterakians as “cute.” Nothing was known of them other than the fact they had FTL capability and could speak every known language, which they had absorbed from centuries of signal monitoring.

One small delegate vessel traveled to each ship in all three fleets, but no one suspected just how many Creterakians could pack into such a confined space. In primitive shuttles that would seat four humans in relative comfort, the Creterakians packed over 300 shock troops. In addition, no one had ever faced soldiers that moved as fast as the Creterakians, who can fly up to 45 miles per hour. The results were almost instant — the Creterakians seized control of three entire fleets as their soldiers tore through the ships with unheard of speed, killing most of the crew even before alarms could be sounded.

With their borders secure, the Creterakians launched the largest invasion force the galaxy has ever seen. Like a cell bursting with a deadly virus, over 50,000 transport vessels departed from Creterak and spread throughout the galaxy. Each vessel contained at least one million Creterakian soldiers — a force 50 billion strong. Subsequent research shows the Creterakians had been planning their attack for 125 years, all the while going undetected by every race in the galaxy.