Peleng

Description
The Pelengs are a race of branchio-necked amphibians, normally referred to as leprases. These creatures can live both on the land and in liquid environment, and are capable of breathing practically any type of gas mixtures, including small amounts of nitrogen. As any other leprases the Pelengs feed off acidic plankton and calloid riff sediments.

Culture
The Pelengs are pirates, saboteurs, and provocateurs. Although formally they are part of the Galaxy Commonwealth, in reality the Pelengs do not maintain any strong economic or diplomatic relations with the other races. Direct and quick profit at any cost is the sole goal of any individual Peleng and their whole civilization.

The Pelengs treat all other races equally badly. Especially those ones who are smarter than them. The Peleng attempts at removing the lag in technological development boil down to a very complex and sophisticated system of industrial espionage. The Peleng Dzukhallag Department is the best espionage and sabotage organization in the entire Coalition

The Peleng follow a caste-system that is steeped in tradition, and common amongst worlds in the Coalition. It is not uncommon for goods from one Peleng world to be transported to another simply to ensure that these traditions are not lost between individual colonies.

The most honored cast in Peleng society is the Lyakusha, the pirate caste; skilled as pilots and tradesmen, these "aquisition specialists" are responsible for more economic growth for the Peleng than the traders, researchers, and diplomats combined. Unfortunately, Coalition membership forces the Peleng to adhere to a code of conduct that goes contrary to their nature; the Lyakusha and other violent criminals are still policed as any other race would do.

In Coalition space, the Peleng are largely reduced to smuggling (as they do not recognize anything as contraband), and the Lyakusha (being unwelcome in Coalition space) are pushed to join the Pirate Brotherhood. If a Peleng planet is taken over by the Brotherhood, it suffers little damage in the "surrender"; the leadership often remains the same, with the exception of the brutal murder of any Coalition diplomats and the Coalition garrison commander..

Technology
Peleng Technological advancement is directly proportional to the advancement of their neighbors; that is to say, they steal it, whatever it was sitting on, and if possible, tractor beam the building and all of the vehicles in its parking lot along with it. Peleng science is largely connected to the development of boosters; a scientist outside of the pharmaceutical distribution profession is mostly a technician with a blowtorch and a loose sense of other people's personal property.

This approach has worked for the Peleng and shows in their ship design (probably also stolen). Peleng hulls tend to have more cargo space than others of the same mass and often have various enhancements to engine nacelles to facilitate hit-and-run tactics and looting. Unfortunately, the Peleng often steal the best parts out of the smaller equipment they loot or build before reselling, so Peleng equipment is known for being unreliable and glitchy. Captains using Peleng parts are advised to bring spares or be ready to repair often.