Tarc

The Tarc were sentient crustacean species, indigenous to the planet of Hjaff. Standing at around two meters tall with four arms and a chitinous exoskeleton they appeared intimidating to most humanoids, a reputation furthered by their ruthless and emotionless behaviour. Tarc did not in fact lack emotion but believed them to be a private thing not to be shared with others. Fiercely protective of their culture and sovereignty, Tarc saw other species as a threat to this and as a result were incredibly isolationist as a society. The Tarc colonized the star systems around their homeworld, making it into a buffer between them and the rest of the galaxy, destroying any who entered it with their navy, the Ivlacav Gourn. This led the species into conflict with the Galactic Empire.

Biology and appearance
The Tarc were a carnivorous species of crustacean that originally evolved from sea-dwelling creatures but were forced to adapt to life on land and became well adapted to the arid desert environment of their homeworld Hjaff. These adaptations included great tolerance of high temperatures and the ability to go without fresh water for extended periods of time, despite their aquatic origin. These traits were due to the fact that Tarc were covered entirely in a chitinous exoskeleton which could store water and act as a means of controlling body temperature. The exoskeleton also provided protection from damage for the Tarc but made them far heavier and more bulky than Humans and humanoids of similar size. This did however make them more intimidating.

Usually around two meters tall Tarc were bipeds, possessing two legs and four arms as well as two eyes and a pair of antenna. The upper pair of arms were dexterous with three fingers on each hand, while the lower arms ended in claws which were used for fighting. Despite their size Tarc had surprisingly quick reflexes, but their weight caused them to be relatively slow on land.

Due to their diet of meat, Tarc never evolved the need for lips, teeth or tongues, instead possessing hollow spikes inside their mouths which would inject acidic saliva into food. Once the food was shredded into smaller pieces it would then be ingested directly through the spikes for nourishment, as the Tarc lacked stomachs. The lack of a stomach meant Tarc could not digest tough or sinewy meat and their diet consisted of sand mollusks and other small creatures native to the deserts of their homeworld which had soft meat. The Tarc mouth structure also resulted in the Tarc language being spoken in a series of clicks and clacks from their mouth spikes accompanied by growls and grunts. Due to the lack of a tongue Tarc could not speak Basic or most other languages.

Society and culture
Tarcs were generally seen as a cold and emotionless people by most other beings, and although they did not lack emotion they believed it was a private thing that need not be shared with others. They also often came across as ruthless, only caring about their own survival, although this was entirely a product of their culture and the environment they lived in, not due to lack of emotion. The actions of a Tarc were always necessary and decisive, aiming to achieve a specific result within a set time period, often more short term than long. If an action did not achieve the desired result another would be quickly implemented to replace it. Deliberation was rare amongst the Tarc and not highly valued.

Tarc culture originally consisted of a large number of different nations, each prioritising the protection of their own sovereignty and culture against the others. This lead to many wars between the nations, although the Tarc were not a particularly violent or warlike species, when they saw it as a necessary action to achieve their goal they used it as they would any other action. Tarc tactics normally consisted of using overwhelming force to defeat and then destroy the enemy in a short period of time, with mercy never being an option. The Tarc only engage in conflict for what they believe is truly an appropriate action to achieve the goal they seek, very rarely out of anger or hatred, although they are capable of such emotions. However during combat Tarc sometimes became enraged due to their pent up emotions. Whilst enraged they were incredibly dangerous, attacking anything and anyone nearby.

Tarc culture developed however as the nations became more advanced and came to depend on each other and the global economy of Hjaff more than their own individual economies. The nations eventually integrated into a single union which sought stability. This union was politically a hierarchical system and was lead by two political bodies, the continental leadership and the Keddek, an individual planetary leader. The continental leaders were three individuals each representing one of Hjaff's continents who acted as advisers to the Keddek and assisted him in carrying out his rule. The Keddek was superior to the three leaders and had near full power over the entire species, but had to obey the Hjaff constitution whilst ruling, otherwise the continental leaders were expected to over throw the ruler with their combined military strength and choose a replacement. All positions of leadership within the Tarc political system were held for eight standard years, which was the equivalent of ten Tarc years, before a vote is taken for whom would next hold the position. All Tarc were expected to vote in these elections and those who didn't faced punishment normally in the form of a prison sentence or indentured servitude.

The Tarc possessed a zero tolerance policy in relation to other species, something that could border on xenophobia, as they saw them as a threat to their culture. The space surrounding their homeworld in the Colonies was colonized and acted as a buffer between them and the rest of the galaxy, with the Tarc navy, known as the Ivlacav Gourn, destroying any ship that enters the region. The species attempted no further expansion beyond this defended region and was a crime for a Tarc to leave their home system and those caught leaving were charged with an offence if they did not have the necessary permission.

History
The Tarc originally evolved in the few small oceans of Hjaff before beginning to move onto the shores at an early stage in their development. Once on land they moved further and further away from their aquatic origins and deeper into the deserts that made up most of their homeworld. In the harsh desert conditions the species began to develop complex tools to help them survive, and soon advanced and spread across the planet. As they spread the early Tarc formed into a large number of different nations of varying size and strength across the different continents of Hjaff. These nations each sought to defend their individual cultures and sovereignty and as a results often came into conflict with one another. After a long period of these various international wars, in which the Tarc society and levels of technology slowly developed, each nation came slowly to depend on one another in a global economy. Due to this dependence the Tarc nation's eventually ceased to fight one another and integrated into a single union, lead by a global leader named the Keddek and a body of three continental leaders.

Shortly after the formation of the union the Tarc began space exploration in the surrounding systems of their own Hjaff system. They colonised these regions, taking control of 20 systems encountering other sentient life, most likely the Abinyshi species who lived on the planet Inysh in the nearby Inysh system. The Tarc were horrified but not shocked at the alien life, which they saw as a threat to their culture. The Tarc immediately retreated and ceased all space exploration making their colonised systems a buffer between them and the rest of the galaxy. Military outposts were built on many worlds at the edge of their region of colonised space and the Tarc navy, named the Ivlacav Gourn destroyed all intruders on sight.

This lead to a number of skirmishes between the Ivlacav Gourn and the Imperial Navy during the reign of the Galactic Empire. The Tarc won all such skirmishes prompting Imperial Moff Joss Leskwin, who controlled the region of space containing the Tarc controlled systems, to form a strike force strong enough to take on the Tarc Navy and engage the species in full scale war. During the growing conflict between the Empire and the Tarc, some Tarc began to suggest they should seek aid from the Alliance to Restore the Republic, as their culture would be preserved better under their control than the Empires. These Tarc however had little political representation or influence.

Prominent Iyra Xenobiologist Tem Eliss, wrote an article on the Tarc species in his book the The University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life during their conflict with the Empire. At the guides time of writing the current Keddeck on Hjaff was named Visacc. By 137 ABY, the Tarc found their world within the bounds of the Sith Lord Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire.

Tarc in the galaxy
Given that Tarc were forbidden to leave their region of colonised space, very few were found in the rest of the galaxy. Due to the isolated nature of the Tarc and their inability to speak basic those Tarc that did leave Hjaff had an incredibly difficult time communicating with other beings as almost no non-Tarc spoke their language. Given the restrictions on leaving their homeworld most Tarc found away from Hjaff and it's surrounding systems were outcasts or criminals and as such came to work usually for criminal organisations. They usually found employment as bodyguards, enforcers, bounty hunters and assassins due to their large intimidating appearance and strength. Once such Tarc was Fascyn who became an assassin and bounty hunter as part of the Bounty Hunters' Guild known as House Salaktori, one of the most powerful and influential bounty hunting house. Fascyn was personally selected by the house' CEO to join as all members were.

Behind the scenes
Tarc were first created as species for the West End Games Roleplaying game, with a detailed description of the race given in the fourteenth issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal series of supplement books in the Alien Encounters article series, the article including Tarc was written by Trevor J. Wilson and Craig Robert Carey and published in 1997. The article also included an illustration of a Tarc by Pablo Hidalgo and role-playing attributes for the species which favoured dexterity, strength and perception whilst being average in the remaining attributes. Some of the information from the article was then republished in Alien Encounters another West End Games supplement book released in 1998 which included reduced versions of all previous Alien Encounter articles collected together by Jen Seiden. The Tarc have received no other mention in Star Wars related media bar a mentioned in the entry for their homeworld Hjaff in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia published in 2008 and written by Stephen J. Sansweet and Pablo Hidalgo.