The Rixxikor (sometimes spelled Rixxicor) are a race of annoying, mildly intelligent skeletal-looking insects that are rapidly expanding into the universe. It's unclear where exactly the Rixxikor are from or if their homeworld still even exists. It is estimated that they number in the quadrillions but are thinly spread over hundreds of light years.

In the past the Black Claw Star Empire saw them as pests and attempted to exterminate them but simply could not locate all of them. They have also encountered the Essai in the past, and were eventually banned from the Essai Dreamworld for hooliganism.

After a period of population recovery, the Rixxikor started showing up on the frontiers of the Yamatai Star Empire in YE 36. Naturally, they are already causing problems.

In late YE 36, the Star Army of Yamatai gunship YSS Eucharis encountered a crashed starship full of Rixxikor on the third planet of the Splorfin system and made first contact. It did not go well. The Rixxikor, demanding a ride, invaded part of the gunship. In response, an away team member detonated explosives around the crashed ship, killing thousands of Rixxikor, and the ship left the survivors still marooned. Now the Rixxikor, in general, hold a vendetta against Yamatai.

In early YE 37, YSS Eucharis found that unknown, hostile starships were depositing Rixxikor on planet Higaflan in the Higaflan star system, and that the Rixxikor had set up colonies on the breadbasket world and that their numbers were skyrocketing. Local defense forces got into a firefight with the Eucharis after it was forced to land due to damage.

Later that year, Task Force 82 encountered a Rixxikor colony ship in the Nougfran System. The Eucharis sent over an away team to speak with Ruxxles, the self-described “Lord Supreme Royal Commander of Emperors of the Rixxikor Collective.”

“We have no idea where we are from. We come from far beyond, hundreds of light-years away from here. I hatched on a great machine world, but there was not enough food there. Then I was transported to a plentiful planet, but we ate everything there and soon it was crowded. Someone told me that there was a sector full of habitable planets, and many were unclaimed, so I ended up on this ship. And we have been many places since then. The last place we visited was a military space station…” – Ruxxles

In YE 38, Ruxxles had the YSS Eucharis stolen and then sent a large group of Rixxikor hitmen after Hanako and her crew while they were stranded on UX-1 I. During the attack, the Rixxikor destroyed the planet's Bisen Lighthouse. The crew escaped by taking the hit squad's shuttles and tracked their ship to a Graxlat scrapyard where Rixxikor colony ships were being constructed. The Eucharis crew devastated the shipyard and recovered the gunship.

In YE 39, the Star Army tried to limit the spread of Rixxikor by using such measures as Nodal Command 2719.

A popular meme among humanoids is that Rixxikor were once a band of humans, but they were such a pest to the ancient, godlike technocrats that they were cursed to roam the galaxy forever as insects. This idea is based on the Rixxikor's trolling behavior, use of trade language and on anti-insectoid racism. There is no evidence this idea is actually true, but that doesn't stop people from spreading it.

Rixxikor are vaguely humanoid in shape with long, very skinny limbs and a hunched, forward posture. Their heads are mantis-shaped and they have large eyes that are constantly shifting around, as well as a set of secondary eyes on the forehead that are motion-sensitive. It is possible that Rixxikor eyes see a large spectrum of light, as they seem to be able to sense a “glow” around volumetric camouflage, which makes it stand out to them¹⁾.

Their mouths have large mandibles that wiggle distractingly and a tiny set of arms on their chin that can hold food.

Rixxikor have hands with three long fingers, one of which opposes the other two. The fingers have needle-like claws and bulges on back of them that contain a type of acid that can liquify flesh. The acid can be pushed through the claws with enough force to squirt several meters. The inner edges of the Rixxikor's arms are sharp and fit together like scissors, and can easily slice through small tree trunks and plant foilage. This is used for both plant harvesting and to decapitate prey.

Their exoskeletons come in mottled combinations of purple, brown, green, and dark amber. Adult Rixxikor range from 1.3 (4'3“) to 2 meters (6'7”) in height and weigh 45 to 90 kilograms (99 to 198 pounds). Their size varies based on their diet. Their blood is sticky and orange.

Rixxikor are handy with weapons and are excellent melee fighters and climbers. They are able to move very quickly.

The Rixxikor are omnivorous scavengers and will eat basically anything and have no qualms about spoiled meat or eating out of trash cans. They are not affected by food-borne diseases or most acids. Food availability is a major factor in Rixxikor population and drives their expansion.

Note: Rixxikor seem to either lack bowel control or have basically zero standards of hygiene and will typically haphazardly defecate pellets continuously for hours after eating.

Rixxikor are Oxygen-breathing Carbon-based life forms that can live in a wide range of environments in spite of their sensitivity to temperature. In the cold, Rixxikor are slower and can enter a state of suspended animation. They can survive long-term in temperatures of up to 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit).

Rixxikor have short lifespans of just ten years and they have extremely high rates of reproduction and are hermaphrodites. They lay a clutch of about 3-5 eggs nearly every hour while they are awake. The eggs are fertilized by any Rixxikor around by a sex organ that sprays a foul-smelling sperm mist. The Rixxikor will spray this mist frequently even when there are no eggs around to mark territory or for emphasis in conversations, making them a nuisance. It takes just one month for a Rixxikor egg to reach the adult stage, and during that month they exist in a sort of sticky maggot form that burrows in the ground or lurks in urban sewers, consuming any organic material it finds. After an additional three months, they will have grown to full height.

If Rixxikor lays about 4 eggs an hour for 8 hours each day, one Rixxikor could birth 720 offspring in 30 days. When those offspring start laying their own eggs, the growth may start becoming exponential. By 60 days, there will be an estimated 252,000 Rixxikor descendants of the original Rixxikor. By day 70, there could be over a million and by day 79, more than ten million. But this assumes a 100% survival rate, which is uncommon because Rixxikor abandon eggs the way that sea life does, just leaving them strewn wherever conditions look “acceptable.” This is a species with fairly selfish instincts. They may eat sometimes eat eggs of other Rixxikor (or maybe even their own) when other food options are unavailable. In general, Rixxikor that don't have known offspring want to create lots of offspring, and Rixxikor that do have known offspring get reckless and want to fight people. When a Rixxikor thinks all his kids are probably dead, his instinct is to go back into egg-spamming mode.

Curiously, a Rixxikor's off-spring seem to inherit much of their parent's language, personality, and most important memories via some kind of genetic memory.

“Rixxikor gonna Rixxikor.” They are foul, temperamental aliens who are easily influenced yet incredibly disrespectful. They are known for being immature, violent brats and callous assholes. Rixxikor are instinctively driven to reproduce and once they have reproduced they care little about their personal survival and impulsively want to go fight something…anything that looks like a threat to the Rixxikor collective. As a culture they tend to be morally bankrupt and place a very low value on life.

The Rixxikor tend to have a mob mentality. A single Rixxikor tends to be reasonable, if unpleasant, but the more fellow Rixxikor are around, the more each tries to show off and outdo the others.

Rixxikor tend to be avid collectors of junk and often become hoarders set on passing their treasure stashes to their future offspring. A salvage yard or land-fill is an ideal place for an overnight Rixxikor colony.

Rixxikor may wear shirts but they almost never wear pants. If they can find an offensive T-Shirt, that's considered excellent. In cold climates, they prefer leather jackets and and knitted arm and leg warmers, and vests with electric heating systems.

Rixxikor can and will eat almost any organic matter available, and to save money, they are usually found eating the food waste of other species. Rixxikor will also eat corpses or manure. In rural settings they are able to eat dead leaves and they engage in agriculture, farming things like sugarcane and hemp.

Although they can eat almost anything organic, Rixxikor have a special taste for acidic food. Cases have been seen where a Rixxikor will eat something disgusting in front of a human, just to get the person to vomit, and then they will slurp up the resulting vomit.

“I eat turds in the sewage like birds in the suet, got chitin not plumage, yeah that's how I do it.” – a Rixxikor

Rixxikor communicate through a system of grunts, bastardized Trade (language), and rude hand gestures. It is also clear that they have some sort of instinctive scent-based marking system that allows them to give basic suggestions to each other, like “there's food over here” and “go fuck yourself.”

When Rixxikor get on the internet, they tend to post a lot in the comment sections.

Not every Rixxikor actually has a name, but when they do, they tend to be three or four syllables, rough sounding, and contain the letter X at least once and tend to end in a vowel or an R.

Examples:

• Komaxelo
• Ranexur
• Luxuster
• Taxuklar
• Trixaro
• Ruxxles (The self-proclaimed “Lord Supreme Royal Commander of Emperors of the Rixxikor Collective”)

When a Rixxikor lacks a name, it usually just calls itself “Rixx” when asked to identify itself. This could lead to some confusion, as there are billions of unnamed Rixxikor and they all look fairly similar. Rixxikor deliberately use this culture of anonymity to get away with things, including avoiding bills and police investigations.

Rixxikor deliberately cause confusion by alternating insistence on the spelling of their species name as “Rixxikor” or “Rixxicor.” It appears that currently their preferred spelling is with a K and the “original” spelling was with a C. Whichever spelling you use, a Rixxikor will probably tell you it is the wrong way. Sometimes variations like Rizzicor and Rzz'kr are also seen. There is some evidence that the Rixxikor species name varies by “colony.”

The Rixxikor fight among themselves constantly and only unify as a “do-ocracy” in response to existential external threats. Attempts to form governments are frequent and typically result in spectacular failures, leading to a constant state of near-anarchy and to skepticism about all political matters. To rise to leadership in Rixxikor society, one has to have a convincing plan, be charismatic, and have ongoing success. Regardless of the current government, the Rixxikor refer to their people as the Rixxikor Collective.

They're entirely decentralized. They're like internet mobs. They have no leaders, no spokeperson, no home, and no known origin. They're biologically gifted so each, as an individual, are not forced to rely on anyone else and each can raise their own empire, which competes with others for resources. Destroying part of the mob only enrages the survivors. Rixxikor hordes can regenerate and reappear in large numbers not long after even the most destructive wars because, as long as one survives, the species will eventually proliferate again.

Rixxikor have been used by the Interstellar Kingdom Of Kuvexia as a sort of economic weapon by moving them into enemy space, forcing their enemies to figure out how to deal with a growing Rixxikor population.

The Kuvexians do not allow Rixxikor to serve in the Kuvexian Military.

The Rixxikor are sort of a natural nemesis to the Yamatai Star Empire because Yamatai is a society big on rights, providing for people, and, to an extent, the value of life. Whereas the Rixxikor have no regard for life, will just multiply until the resources run out, and will just take advantage of any legal rights Yamatai gives them.

Yamatai could eventually be forced to declare a war just so it has a legal way to deal with the Rixxikor by force before they overtake the population of non-Rixxikor and turn the known galaxy into space-Somalia via economics. The problem is wars are traditionally against governments, not a species, and Yamatai is not looking to be accused of genocide again like it was after their attack on the Freespacers.

Rixxikor have an average level of technology for the SARPiverse. Due to their short lifespan, the Rixxikor tend not to develop much technology on their own but acquire it through trading with other species, usually in return for invading something, or by stealing it in Viking-style raids.

Rikkikor have been known to use their strength in numbers to trade their services to Graxlat tinkerers to obtain cobbled-together starships and starfighters.

It's hard to talk about the Rixxikor as a whole because they are very spread out and because they lack a homeworld, and the Rixxikor Collective is a not much of a government. Individual Rixxikor tend to be poor, which contributes to their junk-hoarding tendencies and trash-digging lifestyles.

It is very difficult for a Rixxikor to get or hold a normal job because of their crude behavior and general immaturity, and because other species that know the Rixxikor tend to choose not to associate with them. Thus, many Rixxikor have gone into stealing to survive, from breaking into houses to planet-scale raids involving millions of Rixxikor.

That said, the Rixxikor also make good farmers, having a natural knack for growing food. They prefer to grow acidic citrus fruits like grapefruit (a delicacy!). Farming Rixxikor tend to be the most peaceful ones. But they're still laying eggs that will result in typical Rixxikor.

Rixxikor make decent soldiers or mercenaries for corporations who care more about muscle and numbers than reputation, so they tend to end up as either alien invaders of frontier worlds or as hired thugs for somebody evil. If a group can convince just one Rixxikor to join, then there's a good chance it'll have a steady stream of expendable bug-thugs.

Because of the high rate of Rixxikor multiplication, one would probably want a certain level of fatality for the missions they are sent on. Hiring Rixxikor is playing with fire, because they could turn the employer's facilities into overcrowded Rixxikor favelas.

The point of this species is to create unending swarms of bug aliens to fight off. The Rixxikor aren't inherently evil, they're just driven to invade because their population growth is so unsustainable that anywhere they go eventually becomes an overcrowded slum. While this race may look humorous at first, they are a real threat; the threatening part isn't their physicality or intelligence or technology. It's that they're just incredibly numerous.

• Approved by Wes as canon on 2014/07/30²⁾
• First appeared in the YSS Eucharis Plot in September 2014 Mission 22.2: Echoes of the Past - Part 2

• “I like to base Rixxikor dialogue on Youtube comments.” –Wes 1/8/2016
• “I designed Rixxikor with the inspiration of anonymous a–hole gamers on the internet. They're a species based on things like 12-year-olds cussing out you in CoD, and Youtube comment sections that make you want to bash your own brains out.” –Wes 11/9/2015
• “I imagine the oldest and wisest RIxxikor to basically have a Bender-like personality.”
• “I think in the future the Rixxikor will have that inverse ninja law thing going for them. One Rixxikor is a walking comedy show. A horde of Rixxikor are a threat to be eliminated.” -Wes