For general information about Beyond The Stellar Empire, a
play-by-mail space opera, see the BSE
Home page.
This page contains information about the MYR affiliation.
The MYR stand approximately 2 meters tall and are shaped like slender humanoids. They are covered with an extremely short, golden brown fur. Because of their arboreal ancestry, they bear a resemblance to terran flying squirrels. Their physical appearance gives them a strangely erotic appearance to many humans. Their slight build is deceptive as the average MYR is twice as strong as the corresponding human.
The MYR are a territorial race. Initially they viewed their
home world as the end-all of the universe. The MYR do not fight
among themselves. However, having dealt with several incursions
by interloping extraterrestials in the past, they have a severe
distaste for outsiders.
After Managing to salvage an interstellar drive from one of the
invading alien races, the MYR set their territorial objectives
to encompass their entire home system of St. Gaudens. Upon traveling
to nearby systems, they encountered their space-faring neighbors
in the Trans-Canally Region of the galaxy.
The MYR naturally distrusted these neighbors and suffered an uneasy
co-existence for many years. To protect themselves, the MYR developed
the POSITRON GUN and methods for hiding their colonies from detection.
However, over the centuries the MYR learned to trust the other
Trans-Canally races. This resulted in the MYR joining the Trans-Canally
Alliance (TCA).
The MYR are governed by a theocratic ruler who is said to speak
with the voice of their god. The MYR give great credence to the
spoken word, sometimes even over a written document.
Due to their territorial instincts, the MYR are excellent explorers.
Their ships have been designed to travel very fast and to use
space efficiently. Their desires to expand beyond their home system
have long since disappeared. They will only do so for the sake
of MYR honor or as a commitment to the TCA. They do not tolerate
outsiders colonizing St. Gaudens.
The Myrship is the only ship Myrrians can currently build and is quite unique in several different aspects, which makes it a standout in a sea of ship classes. The most notable feature of the MYRship is its hull shift. With the ability to hold 100 MUs of material per hull its has heads turning and gives a hint at the advanced technology the MYR once possessed. The MYRship has the hull configuration of 10-10-10 and as a result can hold enough thrust engines to obtain a base speed of 0.7 with plenty of room left over for jump engines and shields in the engine section combined with a very spacious command section allows the ship to cover a lot ground with superior sensor capabilities. This not only makes it a very popular exploration ship, but a recon/patrol ship as well. With the existing limits in hull size between the Capellan Periphery-Draconian Cluster and Draconian Cluster-Nexus jumps the MYRship is in high demand with its small size and ability to hold a decent amount of goods. Many other races are so impressed by the MYRship they are developing technologies to mimic the ship's abilities.
Redloc's starport is the center of activity for the Myrrians.
It contains most of the government offices as well as the main
shipyards, the Myrrian Exploration Academy, maintenance and repair
facilities as well as the planetside hiport loading and unloading
zone. The starport is also where most colonists go to unwind as
the shopping facilities, night clubs, sports facilities, restaurants
have something to offer everyone.
One sport in particular is immensely popular with the Myrrian people. It is called Gummer ball. It is one of the few truly 3 dimensional games that has a simple set of rules. The playing area consists of ropes, vertical poles and horizontal beams. The game is played by 2 teams with 5 players each. The players are allowed to jump, swing, climb and pass the gummer ball in any fashion they choose as long as the players or the ball don't touch the ground. Points are awarded by placing the gummer ball on the opposition's pad. Other races have tried the game, but are unable to master it to our ability.
The shipyards located at Redloc were named after Kir Avon who was the Spokesbeing for the Myrrian race at the forging of the Trans-Canally Alliance (TCA) and was the first to hold the office of Minister of the Interior of the TCA. While not as extensive in size as some other race's shipyards, Avon Shipyards are quite expansive when you consider the only ship made is 30 hulls in size. While some of the shipyards facilities are considered off-limits in order to protect the secret of the hull shift, tours of the remaining facilities are very popular especially with school groups. Large robotic cranes can be seen moving hulls from storage areas toward the hidden assembly yard. If the ship is for some important alien dignitary then it is common to hold a small ceremony as the new ships are being pulled out of the assembly yard into the outfitting area. Here in the outfitting area the starcaptain and crew take possession of the ship and outfit it will engines, sensors, shields, etc. If lucky enough the tour is treated to a close up examination of a freshly built *** seed ship *** waiting for a customer to pick it up in the outfitting area.
The crew training center was named after 2 TCA-IMP war heroes, Ensign C'Com and Ensign Matr'v, who in one of the battles of Farnham's Kind tagged a total of 10 Samillian war cruisers for damage. Here the trainees not only learn the basics of starship operation, but the code of conduct by which a Myrrian crewman must live by. The top 5% of the graduates are allowed to enroll in the Myrrian Exploration Academy.
The Myrrian Exploration Academy's (or MEA) main train facility
is located in Redloc starport, while they have a number of smaller
field training facilities scattered throughout space. Every exploration
starcaptain MUST earn his/her commission and most cadets are weeded
out in the first few days of training. The training is not limited
to the classroom either. as there is extensive field and practical
training. The practical training includes a lot of hands on work
at the Redloc shipyards, where cadets not only learn the
basics of ship building design and theory they also help assemble
ships so that they can fully appreciate the engineering involved.
The Head Administrator of the academy is "Ol' One Eye"
who gained that nickname for an obvious reason, if you ever saw
him (most cadets have other various names for him). Even though
he is busy with his administration duties he still finds the time
to "weed out the weenies" as he likes to say. He teaches
some of the advanced classes, including advanced astrophysics,
non-verbal alien communications and advanced physics lab. As most
graduates say, "first you must pass the academy, then you
must pass Ol' One Eye".
[Note: many rumors abound about how Ol' One Eye lost his eye.
The only rumor that has really stuck was that he lost it in friendly
fight with an off-world soldier challenged him in one-on-one combat
with the soldier being in a MEK. He won the fight, but ultimately
paid for it. While this sounds ridiculous to most, cadets tend
to favor this rumor as they say he is that tough. When he is asked
about the eye, he just smiles and chuckles.]
In mid-195, Speaker Silver Cascade became concerned about the security of Redloc's starport. These concerns were not necessarily from off-worlders either, as reports would come in daily about Myrrian colonists trying to sneak aboard exploration vessels. Some colonists would go to extreme lengths such as disguise themselves as repairbots, build secret compartments in biolabs and on a few occasions diversions were created to divert security's attention. While all the incidents were peaceful and no one was hurt or no charges laid something had to be done as security personnel were being overrun. He sought out the toughest, meanest troops could find and formed a security force, the OVERSEERS, which quickly earned the nickname the "Starport Bashers". While they are not the most intelligent Myrrians to be sure, (rumor has it most cannot read) they were effective, incidents involving Myrrian colonists trying to sneak aboard vessels dropped to zero over a two week period.
While having numerous hospitals as any colony would, one definitely sticks out. The Cheki Advanced Medical Facility was named after the rich Myrrian who donated the funds to build the hospital in 189, H.G. Cheki. The director of the hospital is Dr. Rel E. Helit, who prides herself on running a really tight facility. The hospital is geared to the explorer class and in late 194, the facilities were upgraded to include an alien micro- biological unit to deal with explorers coming back with exotic viruses and infections. Fortunately, this unit has only had to deal with common nose, ear and throat infections in recent times. The facility also houses the severe burn unit and the Redloc rehabilitation clinic. The clinic is known as one of the best in the TCA and has helped hundreds patients overcome possibly crippling injuries so that they can lead normal lives again. Debates rage over to either expand this facility or to build another. The hospital is subsidized and fees are only 5 stellars per visit.
While Myrrian colonists, generally, work very hard in the factories of Redloc, it cannot be said that they are not allowed to have a good time. The air in the factories is filled with chittering and chattering along with the occasional old Myrrian folk song while the weekly production orders are being filled. Everyone goes home with a smile and comes back the next day eager to work.
Recently, it was heard that humans have procedures called 'Hair transplants'. This caught the interest of several Myrrians as many of the elder colonists have a problem with thinning fur. Hope is that this procedure can be used on Myrrians as well which is bound to boost morale. Any human or other alien familiar with this technique is encouraged to contact Speaker Silver Cascade.
