Bolo (tank) - Species

Species

Aetryx

A species of parasites that invaded a human planet after the Concordiat and the 'Last War'. They subverted a bunch of Mk. XXXII Bolo's by implanting them with copies of human consciousness, and used them to fight the Mk. XXXIIIs that Humanity (no longer the Concordiat) sent to liberate the planet. Aetryx infantry are genetically engineered brutes and they have some fairly heavy gravtanks, but nothing on the scale of a Bolo.

Anceti

An alien enemy of the concordiat with some advanced tecnology that allows them to use time as a weapons.

Axorc

An alien foe of the Concordiat known for operating large crawler tanks similar to large, mechanized and armored centipedes. Little is mentioned about the Axorc other than their choice of multi-legged armored vehicles and that the Concordiat decisively overcame the Axorc. The Axorc were mentioned in Bolo Brigade.

Deng:

Dog-sized spider-like aliens. Were the principal enemy of the Human Concordiat for centuries, and unlike some alien species, treaties could be used with them. Primary weapons were 'Yavac' type armored vehicles. Unlike later authors, Keith Laumer always portrayed the light Yavacs as multi-legged walkers, while the heavier units were tracked, like Bolos (Later authors missed or ignored this). Primary weapons were deep UV lasers, as well as assortments of other weapons. Generally inferior to contemporary Bolos, the Deng required superior numbers to overcome Concordiat Bolos. Deng military organization operated large formations, and used numerous infantry forces.

Grakaan:

An insectoid species with a vaguely humanoid appearance noted for a strong empire and a curious sense of humor. Their large empire, located far from the Galactic Core, has been known to resist all incursions into its territory and has never quarreled with humans of the Concordiat.

Harpies:

Not actual name of race. Little is known of their psychology. The Harpies invaded the Concordiat shortly after the introduction of the Mk. XXVIII Bolo to front-line service. the Harpy Military utilized mass swarms of semi-sentient, flying suicide infantry (which look like harpies, hence the name), supported by heavy close-air support in the form of airship-like egg-shaped flying units. Ships were relatively slow, and their heaviest weapons could only fire straight down. However, the Harpy Airships were massively armored and could resist the 110-cm Hellbores of the Mk. XXVIII's for a considerable time.

Humans:

Humans created and operated Bolo war machines that defended the Concordiat. Humans often allied with alien races, but rarely mixed with alien species outside of trade and war purposes. Almost no human colonies mixed with alien beings under shared living conditions while the Concordiat existed although a few, rare exceptions did occur.

Kezdai:

Saurian-like race, fractionalized by clans which formed the basis of their political system. Clan leadership tended to be military. The Kexdai began a campaign of expansionary conquests against Concordiat worlds during the period of total war with the Melconians. The Kezdai vastly underestimated the actual size of the Concordiat. Their actual threat level is around the same level as the Malach, a minor annoyance. The Kezdai Military was organized around 'light' combat armor, wheeled and contra-grav (tracks did not appear to be used at all), with infantry (armored, but not power armored) and extensive use of orbital fire support.

Khalesh:

Little available information. Briefly mentioned in "Bolo Rising" as an ally of the Melconian Empire.

K'Juur:

Little available information. Briefly mentioned in "Bolo Rising" as a foe fought by Bolos in the fratricidal Outreach War.

Malach:

Six-limbed raptor-like race, evolved from pack hunters in metal-poor old regions of the galaxy. Driven to conquest from old hunter instincts that had never worked out of their genetics. Malach society was ideologically an extremely militant social Darwinist group. The primary Malach ground weapon was a single-manned 'walker-type' capable of limited flight, atmospheric re-entry with a pod, and was armed with a variety of high energy weapons, magnetic shielding and low-yield tactical nuclear missiles. The Malach also employed unarmored infantry. The Malach operated a fleet based on large capital ship naval groups. The Malach were overall a small threat and their invasion was repulsed by a pair of old Mk. XXIV Bolos. If the regular Concordiat military had been deployed, the Malach most likely could have been easily crushed (In Bolo Brigade the Malach are mentioned, implying that most likely the Mk. XXX was the front-line Bolo. Given that two Mk. XXIV's were able to repulse the invasion, and actual Concordiat Brigade and Navy force would have been able to crush them in short order).

Melconian:

Roughly human-sized anthropomorphic canids (bipedal dog-like humanoids). Psychologically speaking, Melconians employed thinking very similar to the humans of the Concordiat. the Melconians controlled a very large empire, with a long military history, estimated to be around twice the size of the Concordiat at its height. They used heavy armor and infantry units in large numbers. Melconian infantry was armored, but did not use heavy powered armor like the Concordiat. Unlike Bolos, which were designed to operate as single, independent combatants, Melconian heavy mechanized units were focused on a single battlefield role. Melconian technology was less advanced than the Concordiat's (they never got around to putting AI's in their units).

Quern:

Little available information. Major threat during the time where the Mk. XXIII was the front-line Bolo unit. Caused considerable damage during their invasion, striking into core worlds. Concordiat counter-attack resulted in what was believed to be the total annihilation of the Quern race and they were never heard from again.

Tersae:

A primitive, vaguely anthropomorphic avian race (bipedal bird-like humanoids). The Tersae were an biologically-engineered species created by the Melconians in order to better understand sentience. The Melconians controlled the Tersae (who were divided into tribes) via a series of radios which beamed instructions to them. The Tersae came into conflict with humans at the orders of the Melconians, who were at the time altering them still further with increased aggression in mind. When humanity discovered the truth, the Melconians fled the system and released a Tersae-specific nerve gas, wiping out most of the population, but some survived with the help of the Humans. The Melconians were not blamed at the time, as Earth and Melcon had not yet made first contact with each other yet. (Note: Not to be confused with the similar 'Tersae' of the BattleTech series, though ~very~ similar).

Tolun:

The Tolun (bipedal frog-like humanoids) are mentioned in "Bolo Rising" as follows: "The Tolun were nonhumans, members of a very old species that maintained a trading and mercantile empire across much of this region of space." And: “Two enormous golden eyes with jet-black, hourglass pupils blinked once, then twice again. The Tolun reminded Jaime, in a distant and somewhat warty-skinned way, of holographs he’d seen of an extinct Terran amphibian called a toad. Sshejevaalgh had the same rounded snout, the same bulging eyes rising above the same flat-skulled, golden-brown head. No toad had ever sported those writhing sensory tendrils sprouting from the side of the head, like golden angleworm-sideburns, though, and when he opened his mouth, the factor displayed a most untoadlike triple array of slicing teeth and stranger, less comprehensible mouth parts.” And: “He--at least Jaime assumed it was a he, though he knew very little about Tolun biology—wore an ornately patterned robe or cloak, a jarring mix of reds, pinks, and aqua colors that, no doubt, was pleasing to Tolun visual senses but for humans was downright painful.” The Tolun are sharp traders and always desire to learn new technologies even though their own is estimated to be considerably more advanced than present human technologies.

Vovoin:

Little available information. Briefly mentioned in "Bolo Rising" as a foe fought by Bolos in the fratricidal Outreach War.

Xalontese:

Little available information. Briefly mentioned in "Bolo Rising" as a foe fought by Bolos in the Fringe Worlds War.

Yezhoth:

Little available information. In "Bolo Rising" an old vessel of the Yezhoth is prepared by the !*!*! to transport humans and thus they are (or were) at least geometrically similar to humans.

!*!*!:

The "!*!*!" are the chief antagonist in "Bolo Rising" and are a machine intelligence / civilization capable of subverting Bolos under the right conditions. They are believed to have originated somewhere in the Galactic Core and then rapidly expanded, destroying or conquering the organic civilizations they encountered. Their motivations are not well understood, but their martial technology is. The "!*!*!" employ Berzerker-like war machines of every size between an insect and a planetoid and have no compulsion against flinging asteroids or rocks against planets with immense momentum causing near nuclear-like devastation.