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The 'Kharaa' is an Alien creature from a race of unknown origin,
first encountered on the deep-space mining vessel TSA-M Bastion
and was responsible for the loss of that ship and all hands.
It its base level, the Alien itself is an evolving form of
bacterium. Gaining access to a ship by unknown means, the
infection spreads across the decks of a space-faring vessel,
growing like a moss and feeding on the ship's energy source
like a parasite. When a threat to its survival is detected,
the bacteria evolves and forms a Hive, from which the Kharaa
will spawn mobile and highly agile lifeforms to defend itself.
Alien
lifeforms are shapeshifters, capable of spontaneously 'evolving'
into higher, more powerful lifeforms as the level of threat
to the bacterium increases. As the need for more strength
arises, a lifeform will retreat into cocoon form and begin
gestating, and after a matter of mere minutes a more powerful
lifeform will emerge from the egg.
Lifeforms
come in five different incarnations: the ground-hugging Skulk,
the fat structure-building Gorge, the flying poison cloud-spitting
Lerk, the monstrous humanoid, spike-fisted Fade, and the huge
elephant-like biological tank: the fearsome Onos.
Skulk
In their smallest incarnation - the Skulk - the Aliens are
small creatures, low to the ground and running on four legs.
They can move extremely quickly and attack with sharp teeth
and powerful jaws. At the beginning of the game, all of the
Aliens spawn as Skulks. Each time they die, no matter which
life form they were at the time of their death, they will
respawn at one of their Hives as a lowly Skulk. Skulks are
very fragile and can't take much punishment before dying,
so it will only take a few rounds to put them down. Their
speed, however, makes aiming at them a little difficult. They
are most effective in packs where their numbers will overwhelm
defending Marines.
Gorge
The Alien Gorge is the first level of evolution above the
Skulk. Fat and slow, they waddle around on four stumpy legs
and are the Alien's builder role. They are the only lifeform
capable of spawning the Aliens' biological structures and
despite their weak combat prowess, are nonetheless an essential
element in the Alien development cycle. The structures they
build increase the battle power of the combat lifeforms and
some are able to defend themselves by ejecting sharp needlespines
at intruders that flay them to shreds.
Lerk
The Lerk is a small, winged lifeform capable of highspeed
flight and is the Kharaa's support lifeform. Armed with a
viscious set of teeth and a spore gland capable of projecting
poisonous gas, these lifeforms can prove very dangerous despite
their weak carapace. Harder to kill than a Skulk, it is only
their speed that keeps them alive; their carapace is not very
thick and a few accurate rounds will put them away. The Lerk
can nonetheless be a powerful asset - Marines attempting to
operate in an area filled with poison gas are going to find
life very difficult, not to mention short.
Fade
The Fade is the first real threat to be spawned from the Kharaa's
hives. A monsterous eight foot tall humanoid with thick skin
and a hard carapace, it walks upright on two musclebound legs.
It also has two equally powerful arms that terminate in long,
swordlike points that it likes to use to impale and gut Marines.
Hard to kill and nothing short of deadly up close, the Fade
is the primary Warrior form of the Alien combat machine.
Onos
The Onos is the ultimate stage of evolution for the Kharaa.
A truly massive two-ton hulk of flesh and muscle, it stands
twelve feet tall and stomps about the ship on four massive
legs that cause the very ground to shake under its weight.
The Onos has a very strong armored carapace - nothing short
of a squad of Marines armed with very heavy firepower is going
to put this beast down. And they will have a tough time trying;
while slow, the Onos wields a long, sharp, deadly tusk on
its snout that it uses to throw bits of Marine about the ship.
By exploring
the ship's decks, growing new resource chambers and evolving
power through the use of ability chambers, it is the objective
of the Kharaa to resist the Marine effort to exterminate its
lifeforms and push back, killing the murderous humans and
retaining control of the ship so it may continue to feed on
its energy source.
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