SPECIES: HYDRAN

The Hydran Kingdom is inhabited by a single race, the Hydrans. They are one of the more 'alien' dominant races in the known galaxy. The atmosphere of the Hydran homeworld is rich in methane, which they breathe. This would be uncomfortable (or fatal) to most Federation species.

Hydrans have three arms, three legs and three eyes. Their skin is tough and leathery. Hydrans have three sexes, which are generally referred to as Male, Female, and Matriarchal. All births result in triplets (one of each sex) that are cared for by the Matriarchal. Males tend to dominate the command and technical positions, while females form most of the labor force, fighter pilots, and ground combat troops. Some females can hold command positions, or even the throne. Matriarchals are non-sentient and never hold positions in business or industry.
The Hydrans have a Pantheon of minor gods, some of which are of a higher order (and the order may change as different political factions come to power within any given group.) Each household has its own god or gods, as does each starship, squadron, and fleet.

The Hydran government is a Monarchy. The lines of succession are quite complex since the Hydrans are anything but monogamous. The Royal Family consists of approximately 30,000 beings, with some 1,200 Princes (both male and female.) Theoretically, any one of the princes could ascend to the throne. There is an extensive nobility that involves itself in internal politics and a strong Civil Service that actually runs the day to day affairs of government.
The Hydrans were once conquered by the Klingons and Lyrans and held as a client state for nearly 50 years. Powerful merchant guilds setup the "Lost Colonies" during this time and eventually developed the technology and resources to remove the Klingons and Lyrans from their space.
Despite their odd appearance, Hydrans are almost human in terms of their philosophy and disposition. In general, they don't attack unless provoked, and are more interested in scientific exploration than territorial expansion.

The starships of the Hydran Kingdom come in one of three flavors: fusion and fighter armed for close combat, hellbore armed for long-distance support fire, and command ships with both types of weaponry. The hellbore-armed ships are less common than the fusion and fighter armed ships. This is fitting with the Hydran fighter doctrine. The smaller fighters are used to harass and attack the enemy, giving the fusion-armed ship time to close the distance and reach firing range. Hydran ships are well known for their sturdiness. They can take a substantial amount of internal damage before losing critical systems.

The Hydran starship is the master of the knife fight, specializing in fighting an opponent at close range. Their ships are built extremely well and are capable of taking substantial internal damage before they lose critical systems.
Despite their high quality Hydran ships tend to have disadvantages, class for class, against their opponents. The Hydran fleet has compensated for this by taking to Fighters in a very big way.
Hydrans are unique in that most of their starships carry Fighters, making them dangerous and unpredictable opponents - unless the Fighters have been eliminated. Most ships of the Kingdom are equipped with small fighter-craft. Hydrans rely heavily on their fighters.
Hydran weapons technology is innovative; they have two unique heavy weapons systems, and were the inventors of the Gatling Phaser (Phaser G). The Fusion Cannon is meant to be used at very close range and is the primary heavy weapons used by Hydran fighters. To complement their Fusion beams, the Hellbore Cannon is a long range, heavy support weapon and is also carried on some of their fighters.
The Gatling Phaser (Phaser G), is a rapid fire Phaser 3. It is an excellent defensive phaser against Missiles and Fighters. Hydran Fighters are also sometimes armed with Phaser G's.  Hydrans ships come in three basic varieties: Fusion-and-Fighter armed starships for close combat; Hellbore armed starships (with few fighters) for long-distance support; and combination ships that adopt the strengths of both of the other types. Despite the fact that 80% of their ships are already capable of carrying Fighters, the Hydrans also deploy dedicated Fighter Carriers. The pure Carriers devote most of their resources to Fighter support and as a result are less able in combat than other Hydran ships.
The primary weapons of the Hydran starship are the Fusion Cannon, Hellbore, and Phaser 2's and G's. Secondary weapons are Phaser 1's and 3's.