Editing Space: Above and Beyond (section)

===Chig War (2063)===
{{Redirect|Chigs||Chig (disambiguation){{!}}Chig}}

'''Chigs''' (sometimes referred to as Glyphs) are a fictional alien species in the science fiction television series ''Space: Above and Beyond''. ''Chig'' is not the species' name for itself but a human-coined [[nickname]] (referencing the [[Tunga penetrans|chigoe flea]]).<ref name="The Farthest Man from Home"/>

====Background====
Chigs are humanoid, [[bipedalism|bipedal]] aliens that serve as the primary [[antagonist]]s in the series. They appear to be unable to survive in atmospheres that support human life; they are often seen wearing armored life-support systems that provide them with the [[methane]] they need to breathe. Chig armor suits also have a suicide mechanism that is triggered when the helmet is forcibly removed, quickly dissolving the Chig inside. In the episode "Choice or Chance", a Chig is apparently able to take human form and interact with other humans in an ordinary atmosphere until killed, when it turns to slime in the manner of earlier Chig deaths.<ref name="Choice or Chance"/> How this is achieved is not explained. Distinguishing characteristics of the un-armored Chig are small black eyes set deeply in the head, pink skin, a lack of a prominent nose, a protruding upper jaw, and structures resembling [[gills]] to either side of the [[mandible]].

[[File:Space- Above and Beyond - Chig (2).jpg|thumb|A Chig's face is shown in the series finale.]]

The series provides little evidence about the Chigs until the last two episodes, choosing to initially present the Chigs as a traditional science-fiction alien enemy out to destroy humanity. Throughout the series, the writers provide several small clues regarding the nature of the Chigs, their motives, and their biology before devoting the last two episodes of the series to revealing the possibility that Chigs and humans are related species.

====History====
As the series presents it, human contact with the Chigs begins when an uncrewed probe, launched by the military-industrial corporation Aero-Tech, lands on "celestial body 2064K" (later given military designation 'Anvil'), the [[natural satellite|moon]] orbiting the Chig homeworld. This moon is sacred to the Chigs because it is where life originated via [[panspermia]] and where Chigs still go to be born.<ref name="And If They Lay Us Down To Rest..."/> The Chigs evolved from bacteria that originated on Earth billions of years ago: an asteroid collision threw these bacteria into space, carried by [[meteorite]]s, where they eventually landed on the Chig sacred moon. Life on Earth had already advanced to the [[eukaryote]] stage of development, and the rate of evolution proceeded slightly faster for the bacteria on their new world, allowing life there to evolve to the point that it could produce the sentient Chigs at roughly the same time that modern humans evolved.

The Aero-Tech probe manages to obtain a limited amount of data before the Chigs send a warning signal through it and destroy the probe. Aero-Tech, for unknown reasons, apparently chooses to keep this "[[First contact (science fiction)|first contact]]" a secret from the governments of Earth. In early 2063, Chigs declare war on humanity, launching what appears to be an unprovoked first-strike against humanity's budding interstellar colonies. The colonists, sponsored by Aero-Tech and called the Vesta and Tellus colonies, are attacked, destroyed, and the few survivors taken prisoner. The Chig space forces begin a push towards Earth, devastating the unprepared Earth forces. Only the actions of the US Marines Aviator 58th Squadron at the Battle of the Belt prevent Earth itself from falling (the battle was fought in the [[Jupiter Trojan|Trojan asteroid field]] at Jupiter's [[Lagrangian point]], not the [[main asteroid belt]]).<ref name="Pilot"/>

Through surprise, superior numbers, and advanced technology, the Chigs gained the advantage in early battles. However, humanity's adaptability and ferocity catch them off guard. The Chigs, who favor large, direct military strategies, are unprepared for the guerrilla tactics used by the human forces. [[Special operations]] missions, infiltrations, assassinations, [[sabotage]], and small unit engagements all prove effective against the Chig attackers. The Chigs ally with the remnants of the [[Silicate (Space: Above and Beyond)|Silicates]], a human-built race of [[Android (robot)|androids]], that fled to space after losing the AI Wars on Earth. The nature of the alliance is vague and not expanded upon in the series. Just as humans are ready to conquer the Chig homeworld, an emissary comes to negotiate for peaceful relations. The emissary reveals that humans and Chigs seem to have a common origin, based on their chemical makeup.

====Technology====
Chig technology is slightly more advanced than Human technology at the beginning of the series, though only loosely, on the scale of a few decades of advancement. Chigs have [[faster than light]] spacefaring technology and advanced weapon systems. They use a combination of plasma-based energy weapons and [[ballistic missile]]s for their aerospace fighters and [[capital ship]]s. Chig ground forces use [[anti-gravity]] hover tanks (T-77s) for heavy armor and anti-personnel [[plasma weapon]]s and [[flamethrower]]s. Study of a downed Chig fightercraft in early episodes revealed that they are faster and have a better rate of climb than their human counterparts. Human "Hammerhead" fighters have a heavier weapons load and are more maneuverable. The Chigs have large battleships and a destroyer-class vessel, capable of causing energy spikes within human starship reactors, that uses a special [[microwave energy]] weapon generator. They have also developed a [[stealth fighter]] with a hull impervious to standard aerial cannon fire, and they have a red-colored fighter that can travel across the gravity field of a [[black hole]].

====Culture====
Much about Chig society remains unknown throughout the series, which presents them as mysterious and terrifying aliens trying to destroy humanity. Their hierarchy and general [[social structure]]s remain unexplained. From the Chig ambassador's claims in the final two episodes, it seems that they consider the moon on which they evolved (codenamed "Anvil" by humans) to be "[[sacred]]". One curious practice observed since early in the war with humanity was that whenever Chig infantry encountered the grave of a dead human soldier, they would dig up the body and mutilate the corpse, typically by dismembering it. At first, the human military thought this was a terror-tactic, meant to frighten human soldiers. It was eventually discovered that while the Chigs may possess some form of "religion" (given that they consider their breeding grounds to be sacred), they never developed a concept of an [[afterlife]].

Humans are, it turns out, just as much mysterious and terrifying aliens to the Chigs as they are to humans. As the Chigs encountered snippets of human culture, through intercepted radio transmissions or recovered personal effects, they drastically misinterpreted this alien concept of an "afterlife". This led the Chigs to believe that dead human soldiers will ''literally'' spring back to life sometime after their death and that burying a corpse aids in this process. Genuinely terrified of this human "army of zombies", Chig infantry then began to dig up the graves of human soldiers they came across in order to dismember their corpses to make sure they "stay dead".<ref name="Pearly"/>

Just as humans have applied the [[derogatory]] "Chig" [[moniker]] to the aliens, they have a slang term for humans. According to their Silicate allies, the term loosely translates as "Red Stink Creature".<ref name="Choice or Chance" /> Chigs have green instead of red blood, and they smell like [[sulfur]]. As it turns out, humans' red blood and non-sulfur smell strikes the Chigs as just as disturbingly "unnatural" as their alien biology seems to humans.

====Chigs of note====
* "Chiggy von Richthofen" – named after [[Manfred von Richthofen]] – flew an advanced Chig stealth fighter, with the words [[Inferno (Dante)|"Abandon All Hope"]] written in English on its hull. Its armor was impervious to standard cannon fire, and it was a superior vessel to Earth fighters, destroying dozens of them. "Chiggy von Richthofen" was killed in a dogfight against Lt. Col. T.C. McQueen, who used missiles to breach the armor of the fighter.
* Chig Ambassador: A Chig envoy 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 producing English. The Chig attempted to explain the circumstances of the Vesta and Tellus colony massacres, blaming Aero-Tech CEO E. Allen Wayne for desecrating the sacred moon of their homeworld with an uncrewed probe. When Wayne refused to admit to the act, the Chig attacked him. As Lt. Col. McQueen fired a weapon to kill the Chig ambassador, the mixture of methane and oxygen ignited, resulting in an explosion that killed the Ambassador, Wayne, and several top Earth military officers.