United Dominion - Genetic Engineering and Uplifting

Ixee are highly talented at engineering species, and use it for more than just biological and cultural uplift. While they do not genetically engineer themselves (their evolved traits select against most diseases and deformation naturally) they do engineer various animals for food production.

To feed the ever-burgeoning ixee populations, there are many species of engineered fish, created to be easy to farm in large numbers but cramped spaces, and to ensure the full range of nutrients ixee require.

The most popular creation, however, is the sloar, which is produced solely for export and is very popular amongst many star states. The sloar is a dense, meaty, lean creature that lives its full, sedentary life-cycle in two trays. After an embryo is created, it is first placed in a solution which conditions its glands to produce any of a variety of thin jellies that keep its skin moisturized and flavors the meat. This jelly is both a marinade and is often used as a natural sauce. After the glands have been conditioned, the sloar is moved to a feeding tray to grow to maturity.

Some humans who have seen sloar have called them "pork loins with faces" - though this is obviously hyperbole. They are, however, very simple creatures with few external or internal features other than the most basic of digestive tracts and many secretory glands for their jelly.

A sloar grows to maturity in a tray of pinkish nutrients that it absorbs through its skin, and has some basic filtering organs in case of tray contamination. It also has four small organs that appear to be eyes but are actually clusters of chromatophores that can change color to indicate the health and maturity of the sloar. This helps in determining if any are unsafe or unready to be processed. Behind these are the gonads, which are typically harvested during processing and kept in the farm facility to maintain stock.

The sloar's filtering organs and digestive tract are not edible for most species, but the processing removes this core of the animal and allows for easy creation of filets and ground sloar. Despite being advised against for consumption, the tract and filters are still exported alongside the processed sloar, as there remains a market for these parts amongst connoisseurs.

The mouth of the tract is capped by a vestigial beak which comes in various colors and patterns due to the engineering process and the programming solution. These beaks are seen as collectibles by some, so are likewise exported.

Uplifting

Ixee scientists have long been interested in uplifting species and guiding their societal evolution. Their first full and successful attempt was the uplifting of the Hroa'agh people. First contact was made nearly one thousand years ago after second centuries of passive monitoring, thus beginning the process of learning Hroa'agh societies and cultures inside and out and slowly introducing different states to new ideas and technologies. The experiment in the full uplifting of the species began approximately 800 years ago, and was judged to be completed after 300 years - when the Hroa'agh reached a stable and near-equal technological level. They have since formed their own state, the Grand Empire of the Thousand Suns.

They have gone on to uplift various other minor species, though some have petered out or destroyed themselves and others have been subsumed by various ixee factions (most notably, the Systems Cooperative). Generally interested in both the mechanics of creating equal cultures and in guiding societal evolutions both directly, as a mentor species, and indirectly, without the knowledge of the society in question, there have been a great many primitive societies that have felt the effects of ixee science. Many of them continue to be unaware, as they were not uplifted in full (or even close) to the ixee level of technological advancement.

The most current experiment is a joint venture between the United Dominion and the Military Electorate: it consists of early ape-descended sapients and the ultimate goal is to see either what it takes for ape-descended sapients to not develop extremely aggressive, genocidal tendencies, or if they always tend toward those impulses. It is a currently in a low-impact stage, where ixee researchers may step in to help guide one or more societies on the planet in question, but do so rarely and conceal their involvement and existence as best as possible.

Flag of the Grand Empire

Since uplifting the hroa'agh to a similar level of technological advancement between eight hundred and one thousand years ago, they have been staunch allies of the United Dominion, if not the other ixee states. The Grand Empire of the Ten Thousand Suns is itself considered a resource and ally, but beyond that, the various communities of ixee make use of independent hroa'agh mercenaries for security.

The United Dominion also keeps on payroll hroa'agh privateers to patrol routes between settled worlds, nations both allied and hostile, and to gather information regarding the general state of the galaxy (primarily the Alpha quadrant, where ixee have limited influence, and the Gamma quadrant, where ixee have the most interest).