The Kra'Vak

Howdy guys...

I've been forced to think on the Kra'Vak, their technology, weapons and
organization quite a bit lately seeing that I'm writing this Röt Hafen
thing.
information about them is pretty sparse. A page in More Thrust, karla's
Kidnap.
a very few posts here on the list (John Leary and Chad's posts have been
appreciated)

I've always been more of a "Bug" type of guy when it comes to my Aliens.
I like
the monolithic, indecipherable alieness of Heinlen's Bugs, Steakley's
Ants,
Weber's Arachnid Omnovoracity (The cannibal thing was a nice touch)

Anyway, so far in my story everything has been told from the human
prospective.
makes things easy. But I'd like to delve into Kra'Vak thinking a bit
more.

A few observations...(jump in if I screw up here)

The Kra'Vak operate on a clan system based on familial units. They've
been
coming up from somewhere in the Galactic core. No one knows hold old
their race
is, where their home planets are or even where they have bases.
Apparently it is
possible to either decipher their communications or interpret their
language
based on some of the intel that's been leaked to us. (Unlike say the
Omnovoracity where we fought a whole war and never figured out anything
at all
about how they communicate or what their motivations are). There's no
telling so
much how big a "Clan" is. Though each clan's ground forces are small in
number.
They are a  hunter race. They're clan structure leads to much strife
within
clans and they are as apt to fight each other as they are apt to fight
each
other as aliens.

It would seem that this kind of cultural would have several inherent
drawbacks
to prosecuting major wars. First off, the Clan system seems quite
fragmented,
what with all the interclan squabbling going on. This also dampens
important
things such as intelligence collection and dissemination as well as
technological  research and the sharing of ideas. It gets in the way of
coordinating large military forces. But if these are potential problems
the
Kra'Vak still seem to be doing quite well for themselves (heck they got
themselves recognized on GZGs who's who of space faring races.)

I think that the Kra'Vak are in part experts at reverse engineering.
(Just a
hunch) They have been spreading through the galaxy, an aggressive race
taking
whatever they can but moving on. Perhaps they've been able to
incorporate
advanced technologies from captured alien equipment or subjugated races.
perhaps
their industries operate on robotic or slave workers.

OR

The Kra'Vak are not just Clan oriented but also a Caste culture. There
may be
other types of Kra'Vak here to for unseen due to the limited exposure
with
humans. This would explain the technological advancement, industrial
powerbase,
etc etc.
 Perhaps some Clans are comprise solely or Warrior Castes and some of
worker
Caste and they form parasitical alliances to each's mutual benefit.

Those of you who play Kra'Vak. What's been going n in your minds re:
these
issues? Thanks...

Los