Spider Files 010: Bat Aliens! [Worldbuilding Sketch] (Patreon)

Early concepts for the Cabati, the species that attempted to colonize O!elli! They're mainly inspired by IRL colonial powers, so a blend of France, England, Dutch etc inspirations

Their ubiquitous spacefaring tendencies originated from Ghould, the gas giant their homeworld orbits. Constantly staring up at this massive object in the sky fueled their desire to take to take flight, eventually resulting in a massive orbital industry (at a cost, of course). Unchecked industrial development and many wars have left Cabati Prime a cold, desolate place. With a near endless supply of fuel from Ghould and dwindling natural resources on their homeworld, they set their sights on other habitable planets to conquer.

As a relatively diminutive species I wanted Cabati "space suits" to basically be mechanized power armor. I'm not really sure what originally made me go "tiny bat pilot + giant robot body" all those years ago but I'm sticking with it! I think it was meant to be a play on the knights in shining armor trope, except the armor is a mechanized exoskeleton haha.

The crown jewel of their empire was the Conglootimax Trading company, a hypercorperate entity that spanned multiple planets and controlled trade and resources. In many ways Conglootimax was an empire in its own right, fielding a massive fleet of ships and its own private military force. CGM believed itself to be honorable and just, despite stomping on the necks of natives from every planet it came across.

In their region of space, the Cabati have a monopoly on communication technology which has kept them relevant long after the golden age of their empire has passed. Following prolonged scrutiny from the intergalactic community, the Cabati Empire has appologized for the harm it has caused and have cut ties with Conglootimax (on paper). They strive to have healthier relationships with their previous vassal states... but its hard to teach an old dog new tricks.