Codex: Nukas

Name: Nuka (Plural: Nukas, Adjective: Nukae)

Sexes: Male and Female. Both present as “female” by galactic standards.

Height: Six to seven Terran feet.

Weight: Comparable to Terran standard.

Eyes: Standard pupils veiled by a secondary eyelid (white).

Body Coloration: Vibrant hues of yellow, orange, and red (males) with “cooler” colors like blue and purple for the females.

Other Notable Features: No hair, a single head tentacle of variable length, a large tail, and two hoof-like toes.

Lifespan: Functionally immortal.

Appearance

To any experienced galactic wanderer, nukas would appear as just another bipedal sapient among many - one more race of form-compatible aliens to integrate into the galactic whole - and however right they might be, the nukas bear a collection of interesting adaptations rarely seen outside their native Phaedra II.

The first feature many notice on a clothed nuka is the prominent tentacle which sprouts from the crown of the skull. This tentacle is more than just another head adornment. It’s a sensory organ and psionic amplifier, granting the entire species touch-limited telepathy and sensory projection. The dense web of nerves and supporting muscle tissue allows it to be more dexterous than a Terran’s fingers. Mated pairs will often slumber their ‘tikku’ (head tentacles) entwined, allowing them to share dreams together.

Next comes the tail - a thick, muscled limb that tapers to a rounded, quarter-inch diameter at the end of its three foot length. It is not scaled or adorned with the coverings found on reptilian-patterned species. Thick skin and instinctive muscular action protects it from dangerous ground while toughening it enough to be used as a whip-like weapon by agitated nukas. When healthy, it appears glossy from the nuka’s natural skin oils, and slick enough to yank from an attacker’s hand or slither into an appropriate orifice. See: LINK REDACTED. UNSAFE EXTRANET SITE..

Nuka faces appear in mostly familiar structure: two eyes with common mammalian pupillary structure and a pair of pouty lips beneath. No nose is present, and the pupils are usually concealed beneath a whitish secondary eyelid to shield them from the harsh glare of their suns. In nukae culture, pulling back these membranes is seen as an act of intimacy nearly on par with love-making, leading them to view many Rushers as even more brazen and lewd than the most debauched nuka.

Reproduction

Female nukae reproductive anatomy resembles the standard form taken by most life in the galaxy: a genital slit with a single clitoris, largely identical to that of a terran’s. Where they differ is in the physical act of reproduction; nukas are an egg-laying species. Roughly once every two months, a nuka will lay a whitish, oblong egg. The eggs are typically a foot in length and up to four inches in diameter, but samples as small as six inches and as long as eighteen have been documented. First lays are reported to be somewhat painful, which each lay after reported to be, “increasingly pleasurable”.

“Egg hotels” are a common sight in larger nukae settlements - a place a female nuka can stop to spend a night offloading her bi-monthly egg and relaxing in the afterglow, after which she can depart with it - or leave it to be disposed of - usually as garbage or a treat for a pet species.

Fertilization can take place for up to a week after laying. The male nuka will take their partner’s egg and insert it into their own genital slit, for male nukas lack the visible penis or testicles found on other races. Instead, they have a larger, somewhat meatier clitoris that can grow up two two inches long and almost as wide. This clitoris will release its sperm in the form of a clitoral foam released by the act of penetration. Nukae eggshells are highly permeable to this moisture, and are almost always fertilized when used this way. For this reason, ‘accidents’ are unheard of in their culture.

Egg rearing is simpler than in terran avians. The eggs are temperature stable and do not need to be incubated by body heat. A blanket or two in colder weather is all that is needed. Once a day, the egg must be bathed in a nutrient-rich food paste in order to fuel the unborn’s growth, and after seven or so months, a newborn nuka will emerge tail-horn first, though the horn is soon shed in order to prevent damage to the mother.

Additional nutrients are provided to the toddler-like newborn via regurgitation of partially digested foods through their “lipple” ducts. (For more information, see “Lipples” below.) After a few weeks of this, the young nukas gut flora is sufficiently developed for them to be weaned onto a galactic standard omnivorous diet.

Juvenile nukas mature in 30 years culturally but are biological adults by the age of 15.

Lipple

Despite the presence of breast tissue on male and female nukas, they do not have nipples. Where nipples would be, one will instead discover a pair of lush, full lips - large by Terran standards and as soft as a pleasure-trained galotian’s. Their purpose is not inherently sexual but instead defensive.

Phaedra II’s lushest zones, where nukas likely began their evolution, are home to a species of predator plants known only as ‘plugs’. This devious flora hunts by propelling itself from a pod via chemical reaction and lodging itself in the throat of a victim species and anchoring itself in place with numbing spines. Nukas managed to escape predation by developing auxiliary breathing channels on the chest, through the lipples. Scientists theorize that a gastric linkage evolved later to ease the rearing of freshly hatched young.

Nukas do not typically view their lipples in a sexual light. Their presence is rarely concealed on their home-world, where it is more comfortable to breathe through all three unimpeded. Nukas in the presence of coreward species quickly learn to conceal their breasts in public, an act they find uncomfortable at first but can adapt to over a few weeks. These cultural differences further fuel the nukae perception that coreward species are perverse.

Despite their cultural reservations, nukae lipples can and have been used as a recreational sexual zone, often at the prompting of a Rusher. Reports indicate the lipples lack teeth or tongues and are instead lined with rows of slick, undulating cilia that can gently massage intruders further in - or out - at the nuka’s whim.

Psionic Potential

Nukas are inherently psionic at a subconscious level but lack the necessary brain structures for conscious control or greater manipulation than earlier documented. Their potential with cybernetic augmentation is theorized to match some of the premier psionic species in the galaxy, easily outpacing the nascent efforts of humanity, slyveren, and rodenian alike. Partially substantiated rumor indicates confederate military brass are interested in their potential as uplifted psionic warriors, thanks to their large stature, redundant aspiration orifices, weaponizable tails, and mental potential.

The UGC denies any such considerations have been made and officially and strongly dismisses any accusations of weaponizing freshly Rushed races.

Radiation Resistance and Agelessness

Nuka genomes feature highly redundant triplets of DNA. Much like spaceborne computers, an error in one place can be detected and corrected by the paired redundancies. Damage from radiation is fixed in real time, rendering them immune to all but the most focused of exposure. As a result, Nukas are nearly immune to cancer and most effects of aging, resulting in near immortality. Xenogen has already expressed interest in sampling this feature, but legal entanglements with KihaCorp have kept them from the planet for now.

Surprisingly, this genetic resilience does not make them immune to modification - only sophisticated ones. A transformation that relies on altering a single sequence in each cell via high-end microsurgeons will have no lasting effect on a nuka, but a ‘dumb’ mod like the street drug Throbb that bombards the system with microsurgeons that replace every eligible sequence they can find will work just fine - and resist the lighter touches employed by most corrective treatments.

Rushers should not fear nukas carrying residual radiation from exposure. Their bodies’ microbiomes have already adapted to break down radioactive material into its inert parts, leaving scientists puzzled at the rapid adaptation on a slow-to-evolve species.