Cats

Cats AKA Felines, Bastetians

In the world of Red Shift cats are an alien race from the planet Bastet who are experts at manipulation and getting others to do things for them, enslaving every unsuspecting person they meet.

Appearance
Cats are a fur covered mammal race with four legs, unfortunately they do not have opposable thumbs so have instead evolved to be incredibly intelligent and get other people to do all complicated work for them. Their claws are very sharp and can easily kill small animals, but these were not evolved for that purpose and are more suited to annoying people and threatening them into doing what they want.

Abilities
Cats are incredibly intelligent, perhaps the most intelligent race in the galaxy, but their lack of strength and opposable thumbs holds them back. They are very fast though and agile, nobody can outrun an angry feral cat, and can see in the dark. They are deadly to small animals normally but with their highly advanced technology they are deadly to everyone.

Rise of the Empire
The Cats originated on the planet Bastet, a desert covered planet, where they quickly enslaved the native humanoid population and manipulated them into building massive structures, technology and spaceships out of sandstone and metal. They quickly spread across the galaxy, pretending to be mere pets and cute little animals while secretly plotting to take over the galaxy. Once they had infiltrated practically everywhere in the galaxy they put the plan in action and quickly became the rulers of the Galaxy, the first King of the Cats, Bast ruled with an iron paw.

The Fall of the Empire
Unfortunately for the Cats some people just didn't like being dictated. There were many rebellions from individual nations and empires but they just couldn't defeat the massive might of the Feline Empire. Eventually all the races of the Galaxy united in one war against the Cats, a war that lasted a several decades before King Bast was killed, the Pyramid Battleships were destroyed and Bastet was sieged horribly, the other races taking revenge for centuries of oppression. Most of the great cities of Bastet were destroyed and it's military was utterly defeated.

Culture
The cats have a style that reflects Ancient Egypt, with their Pyramid ships and buildings made mostly from Sandstone, because sand is abundant on Bastet. This is because the Egyptians got their style from the Cats when they landed on Earth and enslaved the ancients, it is widely accepted that human civilisation was kickstarted by the Cats.

The Cats are entirely atheist, they don't believe in a higher power because they believe that they are that higher power.

Cat names are unpronounceable by most races so they mostly choose different names when interacting with other races.

Cat food is not, in fact, cat food. On Bastet the cats eat gourmet meals of small animals

Cats can speak any language but prefer to speak their original language of Cattese, which is incomprehensible by everyone else.

Leaders
The Cats have a very particular hierarchy, but even the Cats at the bottom are very intelligent. There are no Cat labourers, they enslave other races for that. The ruler of the cats is a King, a powerful Cat chosen by the Council of Bastet, currently King Tiddles. The King of Cats decides what the cats do, although most cats are inherently independent and resent being ruled.

The Warlords are some of the most powerful cats with the most tactical and strategic minds, they are trusted with ruling the military and are often stronger than most other cats, occasionally taking part in the battle. The Grand Warlord is the leader of the Warlords and the military, currently General Sheba

The Sciencelords are some of the most intelligent cats in the Empire, if they devoted their time to physics and medicine they could unify gravity with the other forces and cure cancer instantly, but instead they mostly work on weapons of war and military science, as well as mind control technology. The Grand Sciencelord rules over the Sciencelords and cat technology, currently Mister Whiskers.

Military
In the days of the Empire the Feline Military were the most feared forces in the known galaxy. While cats might not seem strong alone when they hunt in massive armies they are deadly. The Ferals are the main force of the cat infantry, they are trained from a young age to be faster, stronger and more wild than other cats. When the enemy sees an army of wild furious cats with sharpened claws they usually retreat, if they don't they are mauled to death and picked off by the soldiers, robots and spaceships that follow. The soldiers wield powerful advanced weapons seen nowhere else in the galaxy and the sphinx mechs are greatly feared. However, now that is very different and the armies of Bastet are reduced to a very weak force.

Spaceships
The spacefaring vessels of the cats are very different to the rest of the galaxy. They usually prefer massive juggernauts of battleships, their pyramid ships have practically impenetrable armour and devastating weapons and although most were destroyed in the war there are still a few barely functioning.

Significant Cats
The King of Cats

General Sheba

Mister Whiskers