Chigs

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The Chigs are a fictional alien species in the science fiction television series Space: Above and Beyond. The term "Chig" is not the name of the species, but rather a nickname, which was given to them by humans, referring to the Earth animal known as the chigoe.[1] The vast majority of information on the "Chig" species comes from the final two episodes of the series, "And If They Lay Us Down To Rest..." and "...Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best".

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[edit] History

Known human contact with the Chigs began when an unmanned Aerotech probe landed on celestial body 2064K , the moon of the Chigs' home planet. This probe was destroyed after a warning signal was sent through it. In early 2063, the Chigs declared war on humanity, destroying the Aerotech devised Vesta colony and the Tellus colony ship and killing many colonists. The survivors were taken prisoner. The Chig space forces began a push straight towards Earth, devastating the unprepared Earth militaries. Only the actions of the US Marines Armed Aviator 58th Squadron at the Battle of the Belt prevent Earth itself from falling.

Although the element of surprise, superior numbers and their advanced technology gave the Chigs the advantage in early battles, the adaptability and ferocity of the humans caught them off guard. The Chigs, who favored large direct military strategies, were unprepared for the guerrilla tactics used by the human forces. Special ops missions, infiltrations, assassinations, sabotage, and small unit engagements all proved effective against the Chig attackers. Despite their best efforts, humankind pushes closer and closer to the Chig homeworld.

The Chigs entered into an alliance with the remnants of the Silicates (androids) that fled to space after losing the AI wars on Earth. The exact nature of this alliance is vague and not built upon in episodes.

In late 2063, intelligence and surveillance missions in Chig territory located the Chig homeworld, confirming it was the fourth planet of the Helios system. By 2064, after 18 months of heavy fighting, the Earth forces are preparing to invade the Chig homeworld. The series identifies this as the fourth planet of the Helios system which has no less than one moon (later designated 'Anvil' during Operation Roundhammer) in orbit of it.

This moon is sacred because the Chigs' "life began" there and they still go there to be born.[2] However, in the episode "...Tell Our Moms We Did Our Best", On the eve of the invasion a Chig envoy was sent alone and unarmed to the USS Saratoga to negotiate an end to hostilities between humans and Chigs. It was equipped with a translation device capable of translating to English. The Ambassador was asked to explain the reasons for the Vesta and Tellus colony massacres as both systems were billions of killometers from the Chig homeworld. The Chig ambassador revealed that after centuries of investigation, unfamiliar minerals were discovered on their sacred moon. The unfamiliar minerals were determined to be cosmic debris from a planet impacted by a comet before there was life. After centuries of space exploration they found that the closest planet with the exact mineral composition was Earth. The Ambassador went on to claim that his race can prove that early amino acids on earth are identical to those in the debris found on their sacred moon and thus "life began". Though the Chigs evolved in a different environment and at a faster rate they are "from the same place" as the human race, long-standing knowledge of the Earth was hinted at in the episode "Stardust". The Chigs had been silently observing the human race since humanity, in the words of the ambassador, "were in caves" and he continues; "That is all the Earth has ever been. That is why we told you to stay away." This indicates that the Chigs regard the human race as culturally unevolved. The envoy blamed Aerotech CEO, E. Allen Wayne, for desecrating the sacred moon of their homeworld with the unmanned probe and ignoring the warning sent through it. When Wayne refused to admit to this and started calling the Ambassador murderous and bloodthirsty the Ambassador physically attacked him, and apparently detonated a hidden bomb that kills itself, Wayne and several top Earth military officers. Lieutenant Colonel T.C. McQueen was severely wounded, losing his lower right leg in the explosion.


[edit] Biology

A Chig's face is shown in the series finale
A Chig's face is shown in the series finale

The Space: Above and Beyond finale states that life on the Chig homeworld began through panspermia. Chigs are humanoid, with clammy pink skin. They have small, black eyes in recessed eye sockets, with gills on the sides of their head and large, jutting chins. They breathe a methane-rich atmosphere, and seem to communicate in a series of cetacean-like whistles and clicks. Chigs die and disintegrate upon contact with oxygen-atmospheres, so their true appearance is rarely seen by humans (e.g. the Chig ambassador that appears in the final episode). Water, something that every living organism on Earth requires, is a poison to their systems and causes immediate death if ingested. Human ground soldiers never see them when they are not wearing their faceless, fully-encapsulating armor (which contains methane-atmosphere life-support). The appearance of their armored environment suits is what made humans nickname them "Chigs".

[edit] Culture

If history of the chigs is largely unknown even less is known of their culture with almost all insights being furnished by their Silicate/A.I. allies. It is stated that prior to contact with humans, the Chigs had no concept of an afterlife of any kind, though a form of ritual burial is seen taking place in a later episode. Thus, after learning this concept from human prisoners, they falsely believe that fallen human soldiers are capable of being resurrected in some way. For this reason, they have taken to unearthing buried soldiers and mutilating their bodies so as to prevent them from joining an "army of zombies".

They hate being called "Chigs", "Chigoes", or aliens. They refer to humans with a term that roughly translates to "red stink creature", which refers to the offensive color and odor that human blood has for them.

[edit] Technology

Chigs have faster-than-light spacefaring technology and advanced weapon systems. Analysis of Chig fightercraft has shown that compared to their Earth Force counterpart, the Hammerhead fighter, Chig fighters are faster and have a greater rate of climb. However, Earth Force fighters are more maneuverable than Chig fightercraft, and have a heavier weapons loadout.

The Chigs use a combination of plasma-based energy weapons and ballistic missiles for their aerospace fighters and capital ships. Chig ground forces use anti-gravity hover tanks, designated T-77s for heavy armor. Chig soldiers have been observed using anti-personnel plasma weapons and flamethrowers.

They also possess large battleships that were seen in their initial invasion attempt on Earth. Additionally, they have a destroyer class vessel that was capable of causing energy spikes within human starships using a specialized generator. They also developed a stealth fighter with a hull impervious to standard aerial cannon fire.

[edit] Chigs of Note

  • "Chiggy von Richthofen" – named after Manfred von Richthofen, "Chiggy von Richthofen" flew an advanced Chig stealth fighter, with the words "Abandon All Hope" written in English on its hull. Its armour was impervious to standard cannon fire and was a superior vessel to Earth fighters and destroyed dozens of them. "Chiggy von Richthofen" was killed in a dogfight against Lt. Col. T.C. McQueen.
  • Chig Ambassador – A Chig envoy sent alone and putatively unarmed to the USS Saratoga to negotiate an end to hostilities between humans and Chigs. It was equipped with a translation device capable of producing English. The Chig attempted to explain the circumstances of the Vesta and Tellus colony massacres, blaming Aerotech CEO E. Allen Wayne for desecrating the sacred moon of their homeworld with an unmanned probe. When Wayne refused to admit to the act, the Chig attacked him and apparently detonated a hidden bomb that killed itself, Wayne, and several top Earth military officers.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Farthest Man from Home". Space: Above and Beyond.
  2. ^ "And If They Lay Us Down To Rest...". Space: Above and Beyond.