Editing Quest:Hive Queen Quest (section)

==== Taidaren ====
Taidarens are small, nimble scavengers that evolved to live in the canopy of foliage while feeding on refuse and dead animals, their intelligence a result of being forced to outsmart predators and other scavengers of their world. They possess small cylindrical bodies composed of a number of membranes and supportive cartilage that compartmentalize their bodies like the inside of an orange wrapped around a spinal column in the center of the body. They possess six limbs each ending in a four fingered zygodactylous grasper with no differentiation between hands and feet. Their heads are armored with a series of bony plates ending in a small proboscis like beak used to whistle for both communication and echolocation, above which is a single small and poorly developed eye. The eye is used only to discern movement and sources of light, and can only see details at a close distance, while distance and detail is detected via echolocation. They feed on anything and everything, with a preference for putrid and partially decomposed food, which is easier to digest for them. They eat by injecting their beak like a needle into a food source, then pumping stomach acid into it to liquefy the insides before sucking out the remains. For this reason more decomposed and liquified foods are more easy to consume, however juicy fruits such as oranges can be easily consumed fresh.

These tree dwelling scavengers developed an industrial civilization within the Hydra system, and even managed to briefly explore their home system before being discovered by Confederate scouts. While the Confederate and independant colonists quickly filled the other worlds of Hydra, the Taidarens themselves were largely ignored and left to their own devices until negotiations between Union and local forces came to a joint agreement on annexing the Taidaren homeworld into the Union. At the time, the Taidaren governments were on the brink of nuclear war, and their world had been heavily polluted far beyond the abilities of the Taidarens to repair. Atmospheric processors were quickly set up, and trade for advanced medical systems established as well as a garrison of marines and orbital forces to enforce the disarming of the disbanded governments' atomic arsenal. Today, Taidarens are seen as filthy vermin by most, but their sharp intellect and crafty nature make them excellent mechanics and technicians, while their robust immune systems give them low living standards, making them an excellent source of cheap industrial labor in urban areas of the Union while maintaining their poor reputation as smelly and unwashed creatures.

Of course, they are indeed smelly and unwashed, but neither indicate a lack of civility. Traditional Taidaren culture is a matriarchy consisting of a number of tightly knit mother-led clans organized by the eldest mother. Taidaren females are often twice or more the size of a male, and will typically lay an egg four to six times a year, with each egg containing 3 genetically identical Taidaren males. Only the process of laying a female egg requires any genetic material from a male, and such events are rare, and often signify the start of a new alliance among family clans and involve months of intense negotiations.

It is a common misconception among humans that Taidarens possess some form of esp or shared intelligence, but this is not true. While Taidaren males will act, speak, and often even think in tandem with each other they are still individuals, although in Taidaren culture the term 'brothers' or 'triplets' could be translated into 'person', and as such they are often treated as singular individuals, often sharing a name and legal identity. In traditional Taidaren law, a brother can, and often is held responsible for crimes done by his siblings, and will share in the credit of heroic deeds as well as share debts and assets alike. The loss of a brother is often considered worse than losing a limb, but is relatively common due to a lack of medical care and cultural misconceptions regarding medical technology, however such trends are decreasing. Outside of their homeworld, which has been maintained as a reservation, Taidarens can often be found as unregistered workers and squatters living in sewage networks, shanties, and wandering alleys in packs, perfectly content to scavenge food from dumpsters and hold temporary jobs as mechanics, technicians, or janitorial work.