Ciitarkian

Ciitarkian (Saccobipedulus saccoscientia)
General Information
Homeworld	Ciitarkia
Environment	Deep ocean trenches, although other locations have been colonized in the name of science. Mangrove swamps are the most common site for Ciitarkians to live when out of their natural environment.
Intelligence	Sapient
Biochemistry	Carbon-based lifeform
Biological Information
Lifespan	The average lifespan for a Ciitarkian is approximately 25 years, due to untimely demises at the hands of scientific experiments, although old-age experimentations have shown Ciitarkians living to the ripe old age of 50.
Locomotion	In a watery environment, movement is created through undulations of the entire body, with limbs tucked in close to the body. In a terrestrial environment, movement is achieved my walking either quadrupedally or bipedally.
Feeding Behavior	Omnivore
Lineage Information
Cultural Information
Alignment	True Neutral
Personality	Curious to a fault.
Language(s)	Ciitarkian Scientific Jargon Mnemosynian
Affiliation(s)	Vacotor Knowledge Symposium UFCL (some) Iskian Empire (some) Crux Space Piracy (some)
Capital City	Zoraya
Sociocultral characteristics
Scientific Taxonomy
Planet	Ciitarkia
Domain	Eukazoa "True Life" (Complex Organisms)
Kingdom	Actamalia "Active Soul" (Ciitarkia's Animals)
Phylum	Unspecified (Actamalians with Notochords)
Infraphylum	Unspecified (Jawed Vertebrates)
Superclass	Unspecified ("Bony Fish")
Class	Unspecified (Whiptails)
Superorder	Macrogastera "Large Stomach" (Macrogasters aka Gluttonfish)
Order	Unspecified
Infraorder	Unspecified (Clutching Gluttonfish)
Superfamily	Unspecified (Crawling Gluttonfish)
Family	Unspecified (Ancient Ciitarkians & their ancestors)
Genus	Saccobipedulus "Sack Biped" (Recent Ciitarkians)
Species	Saccoscientia "Science Sack" (Modern-Day Ciitarkians)
Other Information
Status	Vulnerable
Creator	Somarinoa

Description

Ciitarkians are well-known as the 'idiot scientists' of the Kyklos Galaxy. They believe in learning everything there is to know about the universe, and have done everything from mutate themselves horribly through various means to crushing themselves in black holes to flying straight into stars -- all in the name of absolute knowledge. Due to this fact, they are not nearly as prominent as other races (their numbers sometimes equal only a few hundred thousand at a time), but they are known to many races, as they have joined every allegiance they can possibly convince others to let them join.

They have a strange curiosity for the Human race and their civilization, specifically for the fact that they try so hard to be what they're not. For that reason, they have gained a form of respect from the Ciitarkians, and even those joined with the Crux (a group of Space Pirates) about to attempt to destroy a group of humans will flatter them with compliments and even invite them aboard their ships for a quick snack before battle. They are known to be loyal, however, and once they've chosen an allegiance, they will generally stick to it through thick and thin, which is why groups usually won't kick them out as they know these awkward fish-folk can be "relatively" trusted.

Statistics

• Species Nicknames: C-Heads, Debuggers
• Home Planet: Ciitarkia
• Capital City: Zoraya, Ciitarkia
• Primary Language(s): Ciitarkian, Scientific Jargon
• Secondary Language(s): Mnemosynian, any other languages that correlate with their vast array of experiments

• Locomotive Capabilities: In a natural watery environment, movement is created through undulations of the entire body, with limbs tucked in close to the body for streamlining. In a terrestrial environment, movement is achieved my walking either quadrupedally or bipedally, partially dependent upon the nature of the local planet's gravitational output.
• Natural Environment: Deep ocean trenches, although other locations have been colonized in the name of science. Mangrove swamps are the most common site for Ciitarkians to live when out of their natural environment.
• Average Size: Ciitarkians never stop growing throughout life. Although most reach only a length of 7’ due to a sudden and oftentimes gruesome demise caused by experiments gone deadly (not always having gone awry), the oldest and most powerful Ciitarkians generally reach a length of 12’ before dying.
• Average Lifespan: The average lifespan for a Ciitarkian is approximately 25 years, due to untimely demises at the hands of scientific experiments, although old-age experimentations have shown Ciitarkians living to the ripe old age of 50 without the use of modern conveniences that would significantly extend the life of an individual well beyond its natural means. One individual, known as The Great Beyonder, was given a double life experiment to witness "the clever yawn" through the use of a time machine as well as test how long a Ciitarkian could live using modern methods of prolonging lifespans. However, they have not yet heard word from him about how long he lived for, primarily because he and his time machine exploded on the launchpad.
• Personality: Curious to a fault
• Affiliation(s): Vacotor Knowledge Symposium, can be found in as many other affiliations as will allow them in
• Alignment: True Neutral
• Bio-chemistry: Carbon-based lifeforms

Ciitarkians as they appear in Monster Space, Dangerous Wilds, and Long Story.

• Species Type: Warm-blooded deep-marine vertebrate
• Speech Style: Morse code-like language created by the blinking of their bioluminescent tail and spine. Out of water, however, they are known to use vocal cords as well for speech.
• Lifestyle: Social Scientists
• Hunt/Forage Success Rate: Naturally, they hunt 100% of the time, but they tend to hunt and forage at varying degrees in the name of science. Success rates also vary, although the typical natural hunting success rates are around 80%.
• Armor: Ciitarkian possess no natural armors, although many millions of armor designs have been created by various Ciitarkian scientists over the years. One of the most popular during wartimes is the "Reverse Impact Accelerator Pleated Expansion Armor" (RIAPEAs for short), which not only can expand with the user when feeding on particularly large food items, but also absorb kinetic force and release it at a sudden shockwave back, used to throw the attacker off their feet and often into other objects for blunt force damage.
• Defenses: A Ciitarkian’s natural defense is to eat the potential predator. See Weapons.
• Weapons: Ciitarkians possess huge gaping mouths, distensible stomachs, and long, whip-like tails tipped with a bioluminescent light. All of this is used in conjunction specifically for feeding purposes. Although Ciitarkians possess arms and legs, these are rarely used during natural conditions of feeding or fighting.
• Tools: Ciitarkians possess two semi-webbed hands that they use to manipulate objects. Many mechanical tools of theirs have since been built to aid in ever more precise manipulation.
• Method of Eating: Swims around in darkness, until prey is attracted to its bioluminescent light on the tip of its tail. Once successfully lured, the Ciitarkian slowly brings lure to the entrance of its mouth, and when prey comes in close enough, Ciitarkian nabs it and lets it slide into its distensible stomach, while the teeth hold it in place. Powerful paralyzing agents prevent struggling. Food is taken in through the mouth, then passed through the digestive system and out the anus on the other end; however, other methods have been attempted in the name of science. "Reverse Digestion" cults occasionally spring up, whom believe eating "in reverse" (anus to mouth consumption) is far healthier for the individuals. Every last one of these cults have quickly failed though as each and every last one of them die from starvation. Due to their extreme science nature, the cults continue to spring up but with extremely minor details (which had led to the deaths of the former cults) changed, to see if that will work for them.
• Reproductive Rate: Ciitarkians are capable of breeding at any time they choose. This helps maximize the replacement of the deaths each day by adult Ciitarkians on scientific missions.
• Gestation: Ciitarkians have evolved, due to their suicidally curious nature, a short incubation period of only 10 days before the eggs are laid.
• Offspring Incubation: 2 weeks before hatching.
• Number of Offspring: 100,000 per litter (all but 100 of each of these litters are used in experiments, although many of these experiments are not fatal to the youth).
• Offspring Survival Rate (before age of maturity): 90% -- few fatal experiments are done involving Ciitarkian young, and the young are now typically raised in hatcheries rather than the wild.
• Singular/Plural/Possessive: Ciitarkian / Ciitarkians / Ciitarkian

Physiology

Below in this next section, you will find information on the Ciitarkian's physical appearance, and explanations of things including, but not limited to, their skeletal structure and senses.

Skeleton

Like all macrogasters Ciitarkians lack a number of bones, which include the symplectic bone, the opercle bones (the gill flaps), as well as a typical ribcage; which in the Ciitarkian are made out of cartilage. The Ciitarkians possess a cartilage ribcage in order to help support their body in an upright position on land while still allowing the flexibility needed for them to swallow their occasionally-gargantuan prey. However, their jaws are quite enormous, and are built to allow the Ciitarkian to consume prey larger than they themselves happen to be.

Musculatory System

Little about a Ciitarkian's muscle system is interesting, and in fact they possess typically weak muscles, barely able to support a Ciitarkian in full bipedal walking (this has been genetically altered in most Ciitarkians intended for long periods on other worlds). However, a Ciitarkian's jaw's muscle segments, or "myomeres", are formed more like a V in comparison to a typical fish-equivalent's jaw, which is more W-shaped.

Brain & Nerve Center

While they are certainly sapient, the Ciitarkians in actuality possess smaller brains than those of Humans and many other like-brained species. While this makes some question their true intelligence, they use more of their brains at a time than some species, including man, putting them on a relatively equal intelligence level with other species.

The brain evolved to be so small to compensate for their massive jaws, in the same way as much of the rest of their body did. It is mostly flattened, covering the top of the mind like a firm pancake. Certain important areas are somewhat more bulky, but not by much; the brain has taken a preference for tight spaces.

Because of their short lifespan and their obsession over the sciences, they built a gargantuan super-computer, used to store all of their experiment results.

Digestive System

A comical image of one Ciitarkian's experiment: to eat the Aurix delegate in a certain location. Image does not show the stomach as extended, like it should be. The other species is an Ailodon.

Most of a Ciitarkian's body, unless genetically tampered with in the name of all knowledge, is dedicated to the digestive system. Over half of their chest cavity is taken up by their stomach, and this organ is distensible, allowing it to be stretched up to twice this size at any given time, making them able to consume a massive meal in one sitting.

While their stomach acid itself is not particularly strong, it does contain over 100 different chemical agents which all can cause paralysis. While this paralysis won't last forever on its own, a victim being suspended in it will not allow the creature the ability to recover, thereby spelling its doom. Even so, the creatures will often drown in this fluidic compound slurry before they actually die from melting to death.

While many off-world Ciitarkians will choose smaller rations to feed themselves to "not appear disgusting" to their sapient hosts, some continue the practice of large meals, making them appear bloated or rotund to other creatures. On occasion, portions of their meals will even hang out of their mouths, with the Ciitarkians not even noticing, much to the chagrin of "more civilized" species.

Respiratory System

Naturally, Ciitarkians breathe through gills that are like flattened lungs along the sides of their skull. They do not expand, and instead just let oxygenated water pass over several feathery extensions within. The opposite side of these gill-lungs again open up to the ocean, but no muscles operate them; water will pass through them properly so long as they continue to swim straight ahead. At the same time, however, swimming backwards will also allow them to breathe; this is an unintentional ability they gained thanks to the design of their gill-lungs.

Most Ciitarkians intended for off-world have been genetically modified to also possess typical lungs to breathe the oxygen many other sapient races breathe; at the same time, Ciitarkians intended for worlds with non-oxygen atmospheres usually will have their lungs modified for breathing in these atmospheres instead. Because of this, only a few off-world Ciitarkians require enclosed breathing apparatuses so long as they stay in the atmospheres they have been properly prepared for.

Organs

Again like all macrogasters, Ciitarkians are missing their pelvic fins and do not possess a swim bladder. It should also be added that Ciitarkians are completely lacking in the scales department, and therefore possess only smooth skin.

Senses

While they do possess a number of senses, most are only fair at best. The two most important organs to a Ciitarkian are the eyes and the lateral line.

Despite being a naturally deep sea species, their eyes remain relatively strong because they communicate to one another through bioluminescence. In the dark, this is also the only real way that they can find one another. While the eyes are small in comparison to the rest of their body, they are great for night vision, with much of the eye being an enormous pupil. The eyes also have become the habitat of microscopic organisms who have developed a commensal relationship with their Ciitarkian hosts. While the microbes are protected from the many filter feeders in the ocean, the Ciitarkians gain and lose nothing in the process. However, the chemicals released by the microbes' breathing produces a low-level green glow. Because of this, the Ciitarkians have evolved eyelids for use while hunting. These eyelids work by being transparent yet darkened akin to sunglasses. These eyelids have led some Human-loving Ciitarkians to form a cultural clique based around the song Sunglasses at Night, written by Canadian Corey Hart in 1983. Some humans bemusedly refer to this movement as the Seapunk movement, though they have little to do with the similarly-named human movement of the early 21st century.

Scientific Experimentation

A Ciitarkian pilot.

Ciitarkians make and follow as exactly as possible their hypothetical protocols for each and every experiment. If an experiment does not absolutely require the deaths of any being (except, perhaps, minus the Ciitarkians themselves), they will do whatever they can to avoid doing so. For example, if their experiment requires detonating a star and seeing if their current ship and shield technologies can withstand a resulting supernova, they will generally attempt to do so in a planetary system that is not believed to cause any fatal reactions to other species.

This being the case, however, many organisms die at the hands of Ciitarkian scientists, as they often do experiments that do require fatalities, such as the dreaded, "Can a major bustling, unsuspecting city-world survive a sudden mass fluctuator explosion in the midst of morning rush hour traffic?", which resulted in the deaths of many millions.

If an experiment entails how a planet's species will survive with the extinction of a single organism, they usually will keep several specimens on-board to prevent absolute extinction from the universe, although they're not likely to replace them on the surface again, unless it too is part of their ghastly experiment.

Because they are so unpredictable to other races, they are widely looked upon with suspicion when they suddenly arrive in a location, or if their current experiment is not known to the local populace. Even their closest allies, the Glairnogs, do not necessarily approve of their means to an end, but they remain closely-knit thanks to their common, highly-scientific cultures. Likewise, while the Mnemosyne do not support their methods (whom believe in not intervening in other species' cultures), they remain allies and share scientific information.

Ciitarkian Technologies

Armors

Retaliation Armor

The Reverse Impact Accelerator Pleated Expansion Armor or RIAPEA for short - also known as Retaliation Armor - is one of the more popular Ciitarkian armors on the field. It is designed with pleats which allow for its wearer to continue to eat as plentifully as they desire while not leaving them wearing baggy clothing that would get in the way of everything else. However, it also is capable of absorbing kinetic energy and releasing it in a sphere at the same level the armor was impacted with; while this does not protect the wearer from being killed by weaponry or being thrown from concussive blasts, it does aid in allowing the release of energy from the armor to possibly hit the attacker for the same amount of injury.

As with all non-experimental Ciitarkian armors, it is covered in small transparent domes to allow the wielder to continue to utilize their bioluminescent communicatory and/or hunting habits.

Weaponry

Vibration Calibrator

The Dual-User Experimental Molecular Vibration Calibrator MkII - or simply DUEMViCaM or Vibration Calibrator - is a short-ranged experimental item used in times of war due to its capability of horrible devastation to the targeted individual. The item is part of an on-going experiment to attempt to perfect a method to move through solid objects such as walls, and currently is at a level where an operator must utilize the device to allow another tester to have their molecules dispersed; however, the molecule dispersal will only last for a second and a half before rapidly regrouping to their normal mass.

To properly deal with this, the Vibration Calibrator is set up to fire a concussive blast to "bump" the test subject to have a chance to sail through an object since they wouldn't have time to run at a wall afterwards normally with the current amount of time the molecules will remain spread out.

After hundreds of Ciitarkian scientist deaths, the device was retooled to allow for portability, to see the technology's usefulness in purposeful destruction. It is now wielded by an operator and is intended to be fired at point-blank range into an opponent. The concussive blast with throw the victim back as well as disperse their molecules, allowing them to pass through solid objects. However, this concussive blast does only minimal damage - the weapon's true purpose is to try to get their foes to pass only partially through an object before they are suddenly solid again, thereby permanently fusing them inside of whatever object they happen to be passing through, such as a wall, a bulkhead or another organism (preferably another opponent).

It is considered a difficult weapon to utilize properly, but upon gaining expertise in its usage it becomes a piece of highly deadly arsenal.

Blindfire

The Alterable Trajectory Surprise Attack Military Grade Firearm - also known as the ATSAMGraF and referred to by Humanity as a Blindfire - is a Ciitarkian firearm built specifically for militaristic purposes, unlike most other hardware found in their military's possession.

Its purpose is to protect the wielder while at the same time allowing surprise and hopefully mortal damage to be inflicted on enemies in cover. To do this, the gun and its ammunition work in tandem, creating a small warp tunnel-like tube of altered atmosphere, forcing the bullets to travel within this arc of influence. The weapons' trajectory can be changed at any time by the user through simply reloading their weapon, which allows them to touch a trajectory button within at the same time before finishing the reload. Not touching the button at all during a reload resets the weapon to fire straight ahead like a normal firearm. The weapon can also be set to fire outwards and arc to move backwards in a sort of U-turn effect in any of the eight major compass rose directions. It can also be set to fire directly backwards or even at any diagonal in both forward and backward firing trajectories.

Orphanarium

The Surplus Offspring Quick-Feeding Launcher - also known as the SOQFeLa (pronounced "Sockfella") and referred to by Humanity as an Orphanarium or, less commonly, an Adopter or Late Aborter - is a moderately-ranged burst semiauto firearm, which has very unconventional ammunition: baby Ciitarkians.

Originally designed as a possible way for a parent to quickly feed her many offspring by loading them into this weapon and firing them at a food item, it has since met several other uses in Ciitarkian society after its minimal success in the civilian home market. Because Ciitarkians breed so fast, Ciitarkian fry are now occasionally used as makeshift ammo during times of all-out war. This weapon holds the young in a straight position within a microstasis field that operates quite similar to an ammo clip. Depending on the model used, 3 or 5 young will be fired at terminal velocity, still captivated by their microstasis field. Upon impact with a target the field matrix is disrupted and quickly disintegrates - the intention of this is to allow the baby Ciitarkian to wake up and actually feed upon the intended victim, which will cause minor damage over time should the fries end up embedded in an enemies flesh.

In the end, most of the young used in this method are lost and will perish, but it is not hard for the stock to be replenished.

Impatient Anchor

The Dual-User Minimal Effort Diving Weight Adjuster - also referred to as the DUMEDWA (pronounced "Dumb Edwuh") or the Impatient Anchor - is a deep sea exploration method slightly adapted for military use.

The Impatient Anchor fires crampon-shaped projectile that pierces an individual target's armor (originally the diving suit the Ciitarkians would wear would be adapted to support this procedure). These spikes not only puncture armor and pierce the flesh underneath but also utilize miniature gravity-alteration devices that force an object to react to the local gravitational field at a more significant level, essentially making the wearer or victim appear to weigh much heavier, slowing down their movements on a variable scale (dependent directly on how many spikes have been shoved into the victim) which makes them a much-easier target as the number of spikes in them increases. A victim must personally remove each spike to stop this gravity affect process, which causes injury to them, as well.

Confuser

The Variable Inertia Physics Spherical Artillery Launching Device or VIPSALD for short - also known by humanity as the Confuser - is an unconventional artillery weapon used both to test randomocity, chaos theory as well as for powerful military use.

This cumbersome device lobs a sphere in a low arc, firing straight out only to quickly lose momentum as it plummets to the earth. However, its true power lies in what occurs upon landing: the weapon, upon making contact with the ground, sets off a random variable device hidden inside that affects its gravity and rebound capabilities. It is hugely unpredictable at this point, as it is entirely random whether it may start bouncing rapidly from floor to ceiling, or bounce off in some random direction, or suddenly take off at either a quick or slow speed either straight ahead or any other angle, or even stop dead with no inertia whatsoever. No matter where it goes, it will either implode after 3 seconds or after it stops moving, which ever occurs last. This will cause objects to lurch towards it and pull nearby, unexpecting sapients off of their feet - however, the real power lies in the blunt force from the cannonball-like object smashing into them.

It is considered a very useful device for the Ciitarkian military, and is perhaps one of the more feared weapons of the Ciitarkians' arsenal.

Daredevil Device

The Personal Projectile Propulsion System or PPPS for short - also known as the Daredevil Device - is a set of rockets that can be mounted onto the head armor of a Ciitarkian's battle armor, although it is designed to adapt to any style or sculpting of armor due to the many Ciitarkian armors in existence, which allows for its usage by other races.

Initially developed as an option for quick transport of an individual from location to location on Ciitarkia, it was developed as a military-grade object soon afterwards initially for experimentation but eventually as a common-use item. In the military, it can be used both to suddenly escape a potential barrage by enemy ordinance or a way to suddenly attack a foe when one has run out of ammunition by allowing their bodies to hit a foe. To survive the impacts their trajectory may lead to their armor is built to lock up (although other species armors do not do this). However, a Ciitarkian utilizing the device can still be killed by conventional firepower as they fly past opponents, if said opponents are quick enough triggerfingers. Even so, this does not interrupt the device and the Ciitarkian will continue to travel to their destination, only they won't be standing up afterwards.

This item was adapted from the technology used in the experiment performed by Nozh Gavarr, known to many humans under the nickname Bulletnose.

C'maun

The Precision Focused Portable Tractor Beam Rifle or simply PreFoPTraBeR (pronounced "Preefawp Trabur") for short - also known to various humans (initially conceived by "old media" nerds but eventually finding ground amongst the space marines as well) as either the C'maun (after Arnold Schwarzenegger's stereotypical accent) or The Scorpion Device - is yet another weapon modified for military usage from its initial form in the civilian districts, in this case for quick loading of non-fragile cargo at spaceports.

Built for pulling objects from afar to a specific location, they utilize a very accurate and particularly powerful scope and rifle barrel system, which fires a high-velocity tractor stream that makes contact with an item and yanks it to the user. While the user oftentimes has to quickly duck out of the way at the docks, in the military its use is usually more gruesome.

Most often, it is used either to hit a target opponent - usually in the head - and yank them towards the user, likely incurring blunt force trauma along the way and also allowing the user to perform a coup d'état as a final blow to the now-usually prone victim. Another method used, if the target refuses to come out of cover, is to either yank the cover itself out of the way or on a moveable object behind the opponent and hopefully crush them as it flies forward.

Like an Energy Leash it can also be used to pull objects such as weapons to the user.

Damncam

The Virtual HUD-Guided Molecular Disassembler Rocket or VHUDGuMoDiR (pronounced "Vuhd Gum-ohduhr") for short - also known to humanity as the Damncam (a shortened form of the oft-used phrase "Damn Camera!" when dealing with Ciitarkians using this weapon) is a weapon that was initially built for military use, although it has also found uses in the mining industry.

Utilizing a small propellant system housed inside an only slightly larger case for carrying issues, the Damncam is remotely connected directly into its user's helmet HUD, allowing for them to control its destination directly. To the outside observer however this may seem strange as their head looks around rapidly and awkardly as if they were playing in a 20th century virtual reality booth. Confused, some opponents may even walk up to the Ciitarkian guiding the rocket to try and figure out what he is doing, only to have the Ciitarkian suddenly look directly in the foe's direction with the soon-to-be-victim becoming nothing but pink mist very shortly thereafter.

Should the Ciitarkian utilizing the cam suddenly be killed in mid-shot, the rocket will simply continue on its current trajectory until it reaches a solid surface and detonates. This sort of event is best known as having occurred in a battle between Ciitarkians and Snapdragons where an unguided Damncam rocket smashed into the external stabilizers of the Ciitarkian fast-attack vessel, the Impossible to Hit, leading to not only a particularly ironic explosion but also the eventual loss of the battle by the Ciitarkians (and subsequently the unnecessary and ritualistic deaths of over 13,000,000 Ciitarkian "PoWs").

Outside of war uses, the Damncam can be used to guide a small rocket into an already-drilled hole to open up areas for mining, to save trapped miners, or even to collapse dangerously unstable mines. Other uses can be found within the construction industry to blow up sides of mountains with some precision where precision itself is key to the stability of the area.

Manipulator

The or simply for short - known as the Manipulator within human circles - is yet another Gravity Gun that, like the C'maun, is mainly a cargo docks tool that has been refurbished for use on the battlefield.

A simple tool, the Manipulator latches on to the molecules of a target in true tractor beam fashion, allowing a user to pick up an object or a foe and move it around at their whim. While the item caught in the tractor field does not move at the same speed as the wielder might move the gun (in a similar manner that waving a hand is much faster than waving a whole arm), it is still sufficient to cause blunt force trauma to an opponent, especially if it is the opponent themselves caught in the tractor field.

The wielder must keep in mind that the tool cannot hold an object indefinitely, and the tractor beam will quickly drain the power supply if held on. A user should move objects as fast as possible to their newly intended destination to keep from draining the battery too quickly; while the battery does recharge, it does so somewhat slowly and may not be convenient in battle situations.

The weapon can be used to fling an opponent away if the tractor beam hits an opponent and then the gun itself pulled quickly to the side and turned off, launching the foe away. This is often used near cliffs to quickly dispose of otherwise dangerous opponents.

Slammer

The Handheld Concussion-Gravity Fluctuation Device or simply HaCoGraFluD (pronounced "Hack-awg-ruh-fludd") - also known as the Slammer or Slammer Grenade amongst humans who have encountered it or heard about it from others who have encountered it - is a small, handheld device that, like conventional grenades, is intended to be thrown to await detonation.

A Slammer explodes with enough concussive force to throw even heavy objects across a room, but within a half-second or so the Slammer suddenly pulls all moveable objects back to its center, having created a miniature black hole that, while it quickly dissipates, still has enough force to pull everything back towards itself. This weapon is considered deadly on five different levels: first, the initial concussive force alone is enough to cause moderate to heavy damage. Secondly is the blunt force trauma a victim may incur upon possibly being slammed into an immoveable object such as a wall, likely crushing bones. Next comes the sudden jerk in the opposite direction that the objects were traveling in, often snapping necks and paralyzing or straight up killing the victims. Afterwards the victims will be faced with another blunt force trauma incident, this one far more dangerous than the first due to the increased speed and the fact that all moveable objects now slam into each other. Finally, those who have miraculously survived are generally quite prone for at least a few choice seconds afterwards, allowing for a final blow to the vital organs before they ever even recover.

Cleanup Cannon

The Indiscriminate Aimed Tractor Beam Miniscule Singularity Sanitation Box - also known as the IATBeMSSaB to Ciitarkians and the Cleanup Cannon to Humanity - is a deployable device originally intended as a way to dispose of hazardous materials from finished experiments and the like, which can and will have devastating effects on uncleared rooms.

What's In A Name?

A Ciitarkian as it appears in Spore.

Because of the vast number of Ciitarkians that could be alive at any given time thanks to their high number of offspring per litter, they adapted a very complex naming system; however, experiments have led them to realize most races find calling them by their full names a hassle, and so they often use either only their Fore and Hind names or their Family and Given Name to describe themselves. At the same time, many Ciitarkians pick up nicknames based on their current experiment they are carrying out, such as Bulletnose.

A typical name is split up into multiple sections, starting with their planet of origin and ending with their family name, and then the name their family chose for them. Names are assigned after sexual maturity is reached.

The following is the rundown of an example name:

• Home Planet: Ciitarkia
• Continent: Heevosh
• Country: Squato
• Science-State: Zoraya
• Clan: Buula
• Family: Nozhs
• Given Name: Gavarr
• Full Name: Ciitarkia Heevosh Squato Zoraya Buula Nozhs Gavarr
• Shortened Name: Ciitarkia Gavarr or Nozhs Gavarr

Associations

Ciitarkian associations with other races are extremely temporary; all associations outside of the Vacotor Knowledge Symposium are due to active experiments being performed by their people. As such, only races with permanent association with the Ciitarkians one way or another are listed here.

Permanent Allies

• Mnemosyne
• Glairnog

Permanent Enemies

• Kaetarkian
• Snapdragon

List of known colonies

• Aetarkia
• Biitarkia
• Ciitarkia (Homeworld)
• Diitarkia
• Eitarkia
• Ephtarkia
• Jiitarkia
• Aychtarkia
• Aitarkia
• Jaetarkia
• Kaetarkia (Overrun by the Chaos Legions; homeworld of the Kaetarkians)
• Eltarkia
• Emtarkia
• Niitarkia
• Oetarkia
• Piitarkia
• Quutarkia
• Artarkia
• Estarkia
• Tartarkia
• Yutarkia
• Viitarkia
• Wiitarkia
• Extarkia
• Waitarkia
• Ziitarkia

Trivia

• The correct way to pronounce "Ciitarkian" is "See-tar-key-uhn".
• Ciitarkians are not idiots, but will do anything in the name of science. This has gone so far as to cause cannibalism of entire years of young as well as purposefully flying straight into a black hole or supernova.
• Although Ciitarkians physically have a smaller brain than mankind, they also use more of it at a time. Most information is available to all Ciitarkians through their Universal Database of Knowledge, a gargantuan super computer with 1700 backups.
• Generally speaking, there is at least one Ciitarkian in every major affiliation throughout the known galaxy; at least in the ones that they have any chance of getting into. This is, like everything else, part of one of their on-going experiments.
• Ciitarkians are truly allied with another scientific race, known as the Glairnogs. Due to the fact that these races share scientific knowledge with one another, no Ciitarkian science experiment has lead purposefully to the deaths or distrust of the Glairnogs. This is undocumented in other species' relationships with the Ciitarkians.
• The Ciitarkians have a mutated, ill-mannered "cousins" known as the Kaetarkians. Kaetarkians were once a large band of Ciitarkian scientists who ventured out into an unspecified sector, only to come back as horribly ill-tempered mutants, seeking the destruction of their former brothers and sisters.
• The Ciitarkians were created as a strange alien race with very odd cybernetic implants when the author was still in 5th Grade, roughly around June of 1994 while living temporarily in Phoenix, Arizona. The original idea was spawned from created while playing with letter magnets on a refrigerator at his home in Ninilchik, Alaska.
• The nickname "Debuggers" was invented by the author on July 23rd 2006, having come up with it the day they started the original SporeWiki page for the race. All ideas about the Ciitarkian way of life had been created much earlier and "Debuggers" just seemed like it fit their personalities perfectly.