Cybermen.
Cybermen Emblem.			Cybermen Emblem.
Cybermen Cybermen Emblem. A Cyberman. Species Information Home world Mondas Telos (adopted): Planet 14; The Keys of Marinus (Marinus); Gallifrey Type Cyborgs Aliases/Derogatory Names: Cyber-Race; Human.2; Plague Warriors; Special Commando Units; Royal Champions; Scarecrows. Species Type: Cyborgs. Affiliations: Tobias Vaughn; the Master; Cybus Industries; Pandorica Alliance; Beorge; First Order; Palpatinian Syhith; COBRA COMMAND; Dalek; Atorian Malcontnets; Invidia. Place Of Origin: Mondas. Controlled Worlds: Telos; Earth; Planet 14; Marinus; Mondasian colony ship; Pete's World; parallel universe. Notable Members: Krail; Cyber-Controller; Kroton; Zogron; Cyber-Leader; Limehouse Lurker; Zheng; Bremm; John Lumic; Lisa Hallett; Danny Pink; Wooden Cyberman; Handles; Bill Potts; Ashad; CyberReaper. The Cybermen are a "race" of cybernetically augmented humanoids. The exact histories of the Cybermen vary greatly due to separate yet parallel evolution; Most of their very early histories are lost, with only minor fragments still understood. Although almost all Cybermen lacked emotions, as they considered them to be a weakness and instead embraced pure logic, they were often born out of a human civilization's, or an individual's, fear for survival or an extreme desire for immortality. The Cybermen are slim and speak in a monotone, buzzing voice, due to their lack of emotion. Through the misuse of Cyber-Tech, Cybermen could be born on other worlds even if a civilization was not burdened by threats to survival, such as on Samotis, Centuria and Catrigan Nova. Due to parallel evolution, there were numerous similarities and differences between groups of Cybermen; most lacked names or individuality beyond a rank, and all sought to fully conquer their respective universes to ensure their survival and "upgrade" all "compatible" life forms to ensure those beings survived as well. Unable to naturally breed themselves, the Cybermen most often attempted to achieve these goals via a process called cyber-conversion, the physical and mental re-engineering of organic lifeforms, often humans and humanoids with similar biologies into Cybermen but like the Beorge. Throughout their collective history, the Cybermen established many Cyber-Empires and engaged in many different Cyber-Wars which eventually caused them to be pushed to the edge of extinction. However small pockets would survive and rebuild making them a minor threat to today. Physical Characteristics General Appearance The Cyberman form was known as a Cyber-body or Cyber-suit. Though the Cybermen's designs vary somewhat, though all had some things in common. Nearly all were predominantly silver in color, except for the Cyber-Scouts, who were completely black. Most also exhibited exposed circuitry and tubing on a rubber or mylar-textured outer skin, although some did not. The head is characterized handles on the head which house the emeiton inhibitor; some posses multiple inhibitors which connect together above the crown (there are notable exceptions); Some possessed weaponry within their helmets. The Mondans could fire lasers from the centerpiece of their side handles, while the Nomads contained four gun-barrels which fired quick shots. Other Features The Mondans notably retain organic, human hands, while Mondasian colony have caucasian gloves instead. Most other Cybermen are entirely covered by their metallic suits. Some partial conversions (usually interrupted mid-process) are known to exist that still hold human features. They are capable of rotating their heads 180 degrees, as well as being able to detach body parts such as their hands or their head. Their armor is thick enough to protect from most conventional weapons for a short time. The Neomorphs who attacked the UGC in 2526 had bulkier, more imposing forms and deeper voices. It is thought this band has some understanding of time travel, though how exactly is unclear. Early Mondasian had a quavering voice which put inflected syllables in a seemingly random, sing-song manner. Their suits were not entirely metallic, the face and hands being instead covered in a sort of hardened medical gauze. Conversion Cyber-conversion was the process by which compatible beings are physically and mentally altered into Cybermen. This process was necessary for the Cybermen to increase in number and has been carried out in many locations. Partial conversions have occurred; this is usually the result of an interruption but is still partly functional. A great weakness of the conversion is they could only convert humanoids. Vulnerabilities Any type of chaff will disrupt their sensors causing them to malfunction; On Menleck, gold was used due to the abundance in the mines at Ariea to stunning effect, as the Cybermen landing there actually caught fire. They are vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses from hand devices and they are vulnerable to their own blasters. Standard forcefeilds can be penetrated by any sufficiently slow, force field equipped object, but Cybermen seem to be particularly vulnerable to this effect. Other weaknesses include anything a normal biologic or machine might be vulnerable to, moderate levels of radiation (though levels too high for biologics to be considered safe for), and submergence (due to the electronics components) or vacuums exposure (due to the biological elements inside). Most Cybermen can be weakened by damage to their emotional inhibitor; Those with multiple inhibitors are less effected by damage this way, but can be effected to a degree (a very high IQ or Public Speaking, Cybermen Lore [+5% bonus is PC knows the lore of the specific faction], Computer Operations, Cyberjacking, Computer Hacking, Intelligence, Interrogation, Ventriloquism, Gambling, Seduction , History, Anthropology, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Computer Hacking, and Antiquarianism. GM's; This is a team effort but at 25% of the non-speaker/actor's skill or +1 level bonus, whichever is less). Feedback loops and neural inhibitor systems were some of many ways to damage a Cyberman's emotional inhibitor. The Cybermen are also particularly vulnerable to high heat in a contained environment (such as tunnels and onboard ships) due to poor heat protection. Hierarchy Each Cyberman collective has a central system called The Planner that is nominally the leader, though if this is damaged or destroyed the longest serving member will take over command long enough to lead the faction to victory or safety (depending on the circumstances). The next 'order' of the collective is the Cybermen proper, who lead the attack and form the central citizry of any given faction. Below them are Cyberslaves, typically newly converted members who have not fully converted mentally and can only follow basic orders. Technology Bodies As discussed, the Cybermen are humanoids with cybernetic overlays making them stronger and faster and far more resistant to damage (see technical specs). Ships The Cybermen use a wide variety of ships, with no two exactly alike in any significant respects beyond powerplants and drive systems (as there aren't too many varieties to begin with). They are often sighted using converted ships captured over time, including at least one occasion of a converted T'yran QUEEN T'YR AHNEE-Class 'cruiser.' Weapons The Cybermen clearly prefer their own designs for weapons, which includes a basic assault weapon not very unlike the BlasTech E-16a6, a lance-like device that operates on the same principles but with the added benefit of being a lance, head and wrist lasers, and clubs. Basic clubs strikes many off-guard; The Cybermen clearly have a history of later edged weapons, yet seem to prefer a basic steel pipe instead. They have also been seen with weapons captured from other groups, including UGC Gallant designs. Battlefield Support Systems Cybermen have been seen using a type of drone not fully understood by the UGC, nor any others. A white, internally luminescent orb about 2 inches across will move seemingly directed by the Cyberman who launched it (or others), serving in both probe and fire support (artillery) roles. These drones aren't used overly much, meaning either they're difficult and/or expensive to manufacture or they do too much damage to the battlefield, or a combination thereof. In any case, whatever the orb senses the Cybermen sense collectively. The is more than anecdotal evidence that the Cybermen are capable of time travel though it is clearly primitive, limited, and even dangerous. It's also not idly speculated that the Cybermen either happenstantially acted in a way that suggested foreknowledge of events without considering how those events came to be, or were deliberately acting to push the future events (typically a major defeat), since the outcome of all the recorded events ends in Cybermen defeats. As it is not known from what time these attacks would have been launched, there is no way as yet to know if there is an overriding logic to the actions. Culture Focus on survival The Cybermen have made survival their sole objective. They believe "upgrading" compatible lifeforms to be a necessity for survival (by growing their numbers) and as a way to bring about true equality and peace for others (whether they want it or not). The Krail believe they have achieved "true mastery" through "freedom from disease, lack of pain, and protection against heat and cold," as the alternative is to "die in misery" and that "[people] will have no need of emotion." When in large numbers, the Cybermen attacked in massive numbers to overwhelm. Individuality And Emotion Throughout their history Cybermen have lacked individuality or names. This was a result of their emotions being removed during the conversion process as the removal of a weakness, becoming a part of the "evolution" the Cybermen believed they represented. Those who were converted would no longer suffer from emotions like grief, and rage, and pain. Another Cyberman once heralded its race as one that would "remove all fear." Early Cybermen had individual names but eventually, abandoned them. ship mounted Planners are primarily responsible for making decisions and long-term plans. Planners have been observed to display characteristics that could be linked to emotions such as anger, amusement, and, at times, smugness. History The exact history of the Cybermen is somewhat of a mystery, though more is known about them than their Beorge counterparts. Mondas and Marinus Various sources indicated that Mondas was the birthplace of the Cybermen. According to one account, the Cybermen were originally an aquatic species known as the Voord, who themselves had theorized origins as an experiment by parties unknown. The Voord were fused with bodysuits which telepathically linked the entire race. Through experimentation they evolved their bodysuits into full-fledged Cybersuits. With this change, they renamed their home planet Marinus to Mondas. The other three major factions appear to be parallel development, though it's not entirely clear this is organic in nature; There is evidence they may have intentionally emulated the Modasians in an attempt to survive Mondasian attacks in the past, and/or been the victims of forced conversion. Spreading Into The Universe The Cybermen's spread into the universe was hampered for centuries by the lack of effective FTL capabilities. While their early ships were about 2 times faster than light, distances between stars is enormous (consider that it takes about 5 and half hours for light to reach Pluto from Sol; even at 2 times that, it would still be 2 hours 45 minutes). Another obstacle is the lack of other suitable life in the near area to the Cybermen's native regions in the Glaifreyian (formerly Bode's) Galaxy. While resources weren't overly abundant through the region, they were still sufficient quantities that the Cybermen had very little reason to expand past there until older bodies started wearing out. As they did so, they found pickings relatively slim, and exhausted those resources rather quickly before realizing they had to keep "breeder" populations intact until plentiful populations could be discovered. First Cyber Wars By the 2150s, the Nomads were involved in a war with Voga. In order to expand their numbers, the Nomads invaded Agora and used the threat of total destruction to turn the planet into a self-renewing source of physically healthy humans. The Cybermen eventually managed to quell most of Voga, but not without severely weakening themselves and were forced to use a stolen Selachian ship. For the next few decades, the Nomads returned to Agora every three years to collect 500 ready-to-convert humans. Second Cyber War As the Cybermen began contact with one another, they came into direct conflict. The Second Cyber Wat was fought between Cybermen factions, lasting 2,000 years. As the war wound down, the factions agreed to strict treaty lines to avoid further conflicts, and to trade agreements. Third Cyber War The Cybermen and Daleks came into contact next. After a brief skirmish, the Daleks gained control over a Planner and took control over a ship of around a half million surviving Cybermen, using them essentially as slave labor. In and of itself this wouldn't be an issue, but the other Cybermen of the lager faction and the other factions realized control over this Planner gave the Daleks direct access to their own Planners, and in time a rescue plan of sorts was launched; The ship would be destroyed, nothing more nothing less. Any Cybermen that happened to survive the assault would be allowed to return to the collective. Further, at least two of the Cybermen factions launched a major retaliatory strike against the Daleks, forcing them back from their border systems until a truce was signed. The lager ramifications of the Third Cyber War was to demonstrate to the Cybermen that closer relations were in the entire body's larger intersts, and while they would remain separate bodies they would work more closely together. First Great Orion Cyber Wars of 22th century Orion conflict The Cybermen's first major threat from a non-cybernetic source came in the form of the First Great Orion War, when they confronted the Gallifreyians. This 'pitiful world' should have been a walk over, but the Gallifreyians put up quite a bit more resistance than was expected- So much so that the Cybermen were forced to retreat for the first time in their history from a purely biologic enemy. The conflict lasted for over 100, during which time all the major Cybermen factions contributed some forces, each entering the fray fully expecting to break the enemy where their allies had not; None succeeded, thought Gallifrey herself, and her people, did suffer extensive damage (such that much of the damage can still clearly be identified as such in the southern continents, with the bomb craters still shar and clear enough to see by the naked eye). Second Great Orion Cyber War (2426) The next conflict was with the UGC, as they sought to expand their empire; Rumors of time-travelling peoples in the Bode Galaxy drew their attention, and in the process they stumbled upon the Dalek empire and Cybermen Collectives. The Dalek foolishly struck first, having detected the approach if the UGC more than a year before the UGC would have detected their presence; The Cybermen had already detected the new empire but hadn't paid it any heed until the Dalek-Galactique conflict began. As the Daleks retreated in every corner, thhy begged their former enemies of aid; The Cybermen immediately began war preparations, making use of over 10,000 Dalek ships (under Dalek control) to sortie forward. However, they wisely backed down when they realized their staging area, a system on the former opposite border of the Dalek empire from themselves, was overrun the day after their own arrival by over one million Spacy and Patrol vsls, then smallest of which were more than large enough to take the Dalek ships in their prime (which they no longer were) in as little as a three-on-one fight. The Cybermen then murdered their Dalek ships masters and asked for a truce. (See Cybermen-UGC and Cybermen-Dalek Relations.) Cyber-Wars Survivors Very little currently survives of the former Cyberman collectives per se; As their most desperate resource (people to convert) dwindles, their ability to hold territory does with it. However, they did come out of the Second Great Orion War largely intact, if humiliated by their 'defeat.' Relations With other Empires Voga/Agora The relationship with the Agorans is strictly Master/slave in nature. The Agorans have risen up from time to time, only to be ruthlessly quelled. Were in not for Agoran breeders, the Cybermen would no longer exist. The UGC has made releasing Voga a condition of peace- A condition the Cybermen reject out of hand. Daleks Relations with the Dalek is understandably strained; The Daleks fought the Cybermen, then turned to them for help to fight the Galactiques, only to have the Cybermen turn on the Daleks when it was discovered the true might of the UGC- A power even the Daleks knew nothing about. However the two factions know they MUST cooperate, or the UGC will in time crush them both. As a result the two factions are working towards improving overall relations. Gallifreyians The Cybermen remain wary of the Gallifreyians, for this is the only enemy to actually match them in combat. However the Gallifreyians' decision to close themselves away from the universe at large has made the immediacy of the threat posed by them dim over time- A dimming the Gallifreyians aren't keen to reverse. The truce with the Gallifreyians is holding at the moment, and likely will for a long time to come. The UGC The Galactiques are the first enemy that truly posed a threat to the Cybermen; The Battle Of AlHamian didn't end because the UGC ran of capability, it ended because the UGC chose largely not to act. Indeed, UCG ship's captains were ordered NOT to engage the enemy unless engaged, and only while the enemy ship presented a threat- Rules of Engagement doe of the captains interpreted rather loosely, leading to several captains to be revealed of the duties. The Cybermen currently have a truce with the Galactiques, but have been systemically testing the border regions looking for weak points (and found many).