Hey everyone! Here's an awesome new pic I had done by NagaiNosfw over on Twitter.

It's of my previously unnamed Gahru Banshee, but with a more futuristic design. Her name is "Berlin" and she's part of the infamous group of freedom fighters known as, "The Liberators."

Now the origin of the Liberators stems from the Gahru's own troubled past. Hailing from the same homeworld as the Pumari, the Gahru (also known as the "Moura" by Pumari officials) have a rather turbulent history with their genetic cousins.

Though sharing many similarities, the Gahru are physically stronger and more aggressive than their mainstream counterparts and, therefore more inclined to resort to violence to settle their disputes. This is seen prominently in the Pumari archives detailing their ancestors' accounts of ancient Gahru who willfully segregated themselves from the Pumari, believing them to be far too weak in comparison to their own. Isolating themselves to the more resource-sparse mountains of their planet, the Gahru essentially stunted themselves while the more free-range Pumari bloomed. With their population and level of technology far outpacing the Gahru's, the Pumari eventually forced their standoffish neighbors to join their society - whether they wanted to or not.

Becoming the dominant species of their planet, the Pumari made numerous attempts to try to get the Gahru to assimilate into their way of life - but because of the Gahru's natural aggression, as well as the Pumari's strict code of living, made such endeavors impossible. The Pumari at this point had developed an extremely authoritarian government that believed wholeheartedly that their people's survival depended on everyone acting, behaving, and believing the same way.

Not down with that idea, the Gahru conducted numerous rebellions and uprisings against the despotic Pumari, but unfortunately, all of them failed against their military might.

Realizing that bringing the Gahru into the fold was a fruitless undertaking, the Pumari opted instead to find another place for them in their society - as slaves. Utilizing their impressive strength and resilience, the Pumari forced the Gahru into penal colonies and used them as menial laborers. This practice continued well into the space age where the Pumari would even have them colonize more dangerous planets to extract the resources they needed to build their immense fleets.

Now this practice of "indentured servitude" would persist until the end of "The Second Conflict", the second galactic spanning war in the history of the Aelurus Galaxy. With its end, a pact was formed between three of the four major participants of the war - the UFE (United Federation Empire), the Commune, and the Sovereign Coalition (which is the faction the Pumari are a part of ), in a bid to prevent any future conflicts of its scale from happening again. It was during the start of this cooperation however, that news reached the masses about the Pumari's treatment of the Gahru, which led to an immediate public outcry. Viewing the implementation of slaves as barbaric, especially in this age of technological advancement, the leadership of the UFE and Commune demanded the Sovereign Coalition to free the Gahru from their captivity.

Unable to resist their demands, the Pumari relented and gave the Gahru their freedom - under the one condition that they be ferried to a planet elsewhere, citing their issues with each other in the past. Agreeing to this, the Galactic Community pooled their resources together and provided a multitude of ships and supplies to the Gahru, along with a designated system of planets in the Outer Expanse, the numerous star systems that exist outside the boundaries of the major factions that be. Bidding them good luck, the hope was for the Gahru to colonize a new planet and develop themselves to the point that they too could join the Galactic Community one day - but almost a decade later, it would become apparent that this would not be the case.

Now it first started with what seemed to be random attacks on UFE colonies looking to expand out into the Outer Expanse. Initially believing them to be the mischievous acts of pirates and raiders, the UFE paid little mind to them until the attacks became more frequent and FAR more severe. Looking into the reports, UFE officials were startled to find these attackers weren't just a random band of ne'er-do-wells, but actually an entire army of Gahru armed with a vast array of munitions and attack ships.

Dubbing themselves as "The Liberators", these Gahru ultra-anarchists are dead set on destroying every form of government in the galaxy. They believe that every governing body, no matter how small or beneficial, is capable of tyranny and therefore must be destroyed. Believing no quarter should be given and no chance of redemption should be allowed, they invade an area with the aim of leveling everything in sight, scavenging whatever resources they may find useful, and leaving what's left of the inhabiting population to rebuild something better. They offer no guidance for what's to come next, only the promise that should it be more of the same, they'll return. They do though offer survivors the opportunity to join their ranks, but aside from that, they bear no concerns for those that get left behind. In their eyes, "Flames pay no mind to the ashes."

Still reeling from the immense losses they suffered during the Second Conflict, the UFE knew they couldn't mobilize an offensive against the Liberators. Unsure of their numbers or where they were even based, the UFE instead opted to reinforce their planets bordering the Outer Expanse, to fend off any Liberator attacks. Fearing also what word of these brazen interlopers would do to their reputation on the galactic stage, the UFE also utilized its control over the media to suppress any news about their attacks - effectively portraying any instances of theirs to be minimal and the doings of petty raiders to the general population of their core worlds.

And so, biding their time, the UFE hopes to stave off the Liberators long enough to build their forces back up and eliminate them in one fell swoop, but as their frequency of attacks and numbers continue to grow, it'll eventually become apparent that this will be no easy feat.

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Artwork by NagaiNosfw.

*If you want to see more of NagaiNosfw's awesome work, check out his Twitter at https://twitter.com/NagaiNosfwart