Altairians

"The Altairians are an older and far more advanced species than our own."

The Altairians are a race of technologically advanced aliens. They were embroiled in civil war, with the Heralds represented by Klavic fighting against the Oligarchs, led by Klavic's rogue sister Ny'tah. Their ships and weapons maximize the use of chaining, piercing as well as stasis weapons to devastating effect, bringing a whole level of power previously unheard of.

They made their presence known for the first time when the Heralds sought out the help of the Miner Rebellion in their war against the Oligarchs.

It was later revealed, that they were distant cousins with humans, since Klavic's forefathers spliced their DNA with the humans in order to solve a fertility crisis, making them the forgotten genesis of their Eugenics program, and thus distant cousins.

They are now an endangered species, courtesy of the Scorched Earth Protocol On-Wah beamed off before the supernova hit.

History
The Altairians were a technologically advanced race that flourished on the planet of Altair. However, when the Xeno plague hit, a renegade astronautical engineer known as On-Wah gathered survivors and escaped, leaving the rest of the civilization to succumb to the virus, though they would have perished if it were not for the arrival of the Pharmakon. Meanwhile, the renegades plunged into civil war when a growing subfaction known as the Oligarchs led by On-Wah's daughter Ny'tah invaded and overthrew him.

On-Wah's son, Klavic and the remnants of On-Wah's followers form the Heralds, seeking out the Miner Rebellion for help against the Oligarchs during Contact. Klavic explains to the rebels that his Heralds come in peace, and are currently embroiled in a conflict with the Oligarchs, a splinter faction led by his sister, Ny'tah. He offered them the blueprints for the Bastion Cruiser and its weapons in exchange for their help in warding off the Oligarch assault.

In Deadlock, Ny'tah asks Klavic and his Heralds to surrender and to turn over all technology they shared with the Rebels, but they refuse, infuriating her and forcing her to send more fleets to destroy them. In exchange for the help from the rebels again, Klavic offers them the blueprints for the Paragon Battleship. The attack from the Oligarchs was revealed to be a diversion however, as Ny'tah was revealed to have raided VEGA's main processing site and stolen all of their solar shards, utilizing them to build a planet destroyer.

In Invasion, Ny'tah's campaign continues, and it was revealed that the Altairians' Eugenics Experiments were what caused the events of Colony 47 and the Alien Infection. Although they were put to a stop by On-Wah, if Ny'tah succeeds in wiping out the Heralds, she intends to revive said experiments, which could spell certain doom for the galaxy.

In Blindside, Ny'tah reveals a shocking revelation about On-Wah, causing Klavic to flee the conflict, most likely in search of the truth. Her Oligarch forces continue to draw near Rebel Space, claiming most of the territories surrounding it as well as the Carmine Nebula. Her Planet Destroyer, known as the Titan, nears completion, and she intends to obliterate Rebel HQ with it as target practice before turning it against her father. Klavic offers the Inquisitor Destroyer Blueprints before he left however, allowing the Rebels enough of an advantage to hold the line. It is all for naught however, as Ny'tah's Titan finishes construction, and she has the weapon charged and ready to fire at Rebel HQ, giving Burr no choice but to turn to the VEGA Federation for help.

In Doomsday, Klavic returns with information indicating that the Altairians and Rebels were distant cousins, and that could put Ny'tah at ease. Thanks to Larus, the test fire of the Titan is delayed by a few days, and the rebels have the blueprints for the Sovereign Carrier. The Heralds and Miner Rebellion launch a daring offensive through the Oligarch battle lines and eventually reach Ny'tah's ship. Klavic convinces her to stop her acts of terror, and the Oligarchs cease their attacks on the Miner Rebellion.

Ny'tah test fires the Titan on abandoned rebel sectors before turning it towards On-Wah's solar system. With On-Wah's ambitions revealed, Ny'tah has the Titan target the star, intending to destroy all of his planets at once. However, On-Wah's reaction time allows a transmission to escape the blast, something Ny'tah never thought was possible due to reaction time.

On-Wah's transmission was a scorched earth protocol called The Contingency, and it resulted in the eradication of all of the Altairian colonies on Altair, leaving Ny'tah, Klavic and their few thousand attendants to be the only Altairians left in existence.

Groups of Marauder clans have taken the opportunity to steal and repurpose Altairian tech. This was especially notable during Anarchy.

In Chrysalis and Catalyst, it was revealed that the remnants of the Altairians were conducting research on Alien Harvesters as well as their Surge Core power sources. Noting the threat of the Umbra was too great to be ignored, Klavic granted the rebels access to the Harvesters so that they could use it to stop the Umbra and save both of their species.

With the return of the Pharmakon, the Altairians have begun developing technology that could be used to defeat them, and will share their findings with the rebels as they proceed. They successfully reconstructed the Renascence Battlecruiser, but the blueprint was stolen by the Oligarchs soon after that, who intend to make it even more powerful with an Alien element synthesized from the Xeno Virus.

With the disappearance of Klavic in Demise, Ny'tah deploys the Zeus to expedite the search for him, where his ship was found destroyed at the hands of the Pharmakon, although it was suspected that Bishop was the one who lead them to him.

With Klavic's apparent death, the Altairians under Ny'tah severe all connections with the rebels for allowing this to happen. In Defection, Another larger Altairian force was also spotted heading from Altair, the Altairian home planet, to join the conflict, apparently surviving the destruction of their colonies as a result of the contingency protocol sent by On'wah. Led by the benevolent Evi'tah, they intend to exercise their supremacy over the rebels. They were also the survivors of the Xeno Plague on Altair, having yielded to the Pharmakon in order to preserve their civilisation.

They however make an agreement with the rebels, and Evi'tah enlists their help in investigating an Umbra Abandoned Facility during Awakening. Following the ambush by an unknown android which triggered Pharmakon defense protocols, Evi'tah ascertains this to be a result of Pharmakon's attempt to create custodians for the universe, and thus informs the rebels in Singularity that the android is not part of the Pharmakon hive mind. She then deploys a fleet of Ajaxes to clean up.

Evi'tah then deploys Orions to assist the rebels in recapturing that android after Umbra kidnaps her, known as V-153 in Pursuit, and they later track down V to Chiron's secret lab. Wanting to leave no survivors, Ny'tah deploys the Artemis to wipe out the entire facility.

Ships and Technology
The Altairian Ships are designed to counter the effects of various weapon mechanics, namely chain, pierce and stasis. They are also able to break through walls and force fields to a limited extent.

The Bastion Cruiser, a behemoth, has counter chain abilities, allowing it to reduce the number of targets that chaining weapons are able to hit. When its Firestorm Overload ability is combined with the Epsilon ECHO Cannon, its DPS is increased Tenfold, making it able to quickly destroy groups of enemies in one fell swoop. The Bastion's role is now shadowed by the Ajax, which makes use of its AoE bonuses from its weapons as well as its ability to absorb damage on behalf of its allies to effectively deny the opponent areas and thus opportunities for them to maneuver.

The Paragon Battleship is the epitome of firepower, with Counter pierce abilities reducing the number of targets that piercing weapons are able to hit, and a Barrage Overdrive ability granting increased projectile speed, turning speed and splash damage if enemies are detected in both firing Arcs, increasing its power massively when surrounded.

The Cavalier Cutter is the fastest ship in the Altairian fleet, an effective counter to stasis with built in stasis resistance, as well as its Catalyst overdrive ability increasing its speed, and shield defense and regeneration capabilities whenever it is affected by stasis.

The Inquisitor Destroyer is designed for siege warfare, with additional damage against modules as well as increased projectile range. The Destroyer's Ballista Overdrive also allows it to penetrate protective force fields and deal heavy damage to enemy modules behind it.

The Sovereign Carrier is the Flagship of any Altairian Fleet. It can be equipped with an overdrive generator that boosts the attributes of itself and its supporting fleet, and can utilize the Cyclotron Beam to lay waste to enemy targets from afar.

Using the technology from their ancestors' codices, the Altairians developed the Renascence Battlecruiser, capable of regenerating its shields when it takes DoT, as well as disrupting the phasing of Pharmakon Hulls.

A more recent invention, the Zeus specialist of the Altairians makes use of a new and improved chaining mechanic, Ricochet, to inflict devastating damage to multiple targets.

Their pride of the armada, the Orator Dreadnought, can spawn an armada of ships to overwhelm the enemy in battle, while its dual overdrives grant it increased attack and defense bonuses, especially against Pharmakon opponents.

The Altairians continue improve upon their technology even further and they have developed the Ajax, a titan-class hull that is capable of dealing heavy splash damage while absorbing damage with its shields on behalf of other hulls.

Their Fighter class Hull, the Orion, gains boosts to its maneuverability and shields when it takes damage, enabling it to close the distance with its enemies and wipe them out easily,

The successor to the Inquisitor, the Artemis deploys Hunt drones to further soften up the enemy from long range, and gains passive combat buffs in combat when the drone is destroyed or returns to it.

The Altairians also possess powerful shields and armor such as the Spectral Shell, and Resonant Armor.

The ALtairian ships are colored differently based on their allegiance. Altairian ships used by the Heralds are painted blue, whereas those used by the Oligarchs are coloured red.

Notable Figures
The Altairians are divided into two factions, The Heralds, who are allies with the rebels and the Oligarchs, formerly enemies.

The Heralds are represented by Envoy Klavic, a proud Altairian representative of the Heralds, and speaker of the teachings of his ascended father, On-Wah.

The Oligarchs are led by Klavic's rogue sister, Ny'tah. She strongly opposes her father On-Wah's teachings, and is hell bent on destroying her brother and the Heralds.

With the death of Klavic, and the arrival of another Altairian force, the only remaining figureheads of the Altairians include Ny'tah and her deserters, as well as Evi'tah and her divine army.

Trivia

 * The Altairians are the first Tier 7 faction.
 * The Altairians are split into two factions.
 * The Architecture of the Altairians was inspired largely by the Protoss from Starcraft.
 * The original name of the Altairians was Omegans.