Klick

The Klicks are a fictional race of aliens within Star*Drive.

At the far end of the Verge, alien species unheard of before the Second Galactic War have begun to stir. Slowly but inexorably expanding into civilized space, the alien klicks and their allies began by devastating the entire Silver Bell colony on Spes, followed by fierce ground fighting on Rakke. The Galactic Concord has responded as quickly as possible, but faster-than-light technology being what it is, even distress messages take many days to get through.

Klicks are arachnid-like aliens from a distant part of the milky way galaxy. Ferocious, aggressive, and merciless, they have invaded human-controlled space in a slow and steady wave of invasion. Though the Galactic Concord has slowed their progress, the Klicks are determined and resourceful.

Klicks have strange, wedge-shaped bodies covered with smooth, chitinous plates. They possess six multi-jointed legs ending in thick claws, and an additional pair of forelimbs ending in sharp, manipulating claws. A klick's sensory organs hang in a pendulous glob below the main part of its body, between the forelimbs.

The klicks employ brutal but effective "hit-and-run" combat tactics. They favor ambushes and overwhelming numbers. Military analysts have suggested that klicks have a hive-mind social structure, like terrestrial insects, but scientists discard the notion as unlikely "Earth-centered" thinking.

The name "klick" was coined by Galactic Concord soldiers and based on the odd clicking sounds that the aliens make when they communicate. To further stymie efforts to understand this enigmatic species, klicks captured in combat never survive longer than a few hours—generally because of terrible wounds sustained during their apprehension.

A klick naturally produces a field of energy that causes non-klicks to feel weak and tired. Galactic Concord soldiers, accordingly, prefer to battle klicks from a safe distance.