Energy Emission Civilization Scale (A1-0)

The Energy Emission Civilization Scale (EECS) is a categorization system devised by the researchers of the Galactyan Empire to surpass the limits and shortcomings of the terran Kardashev Scale and all other similar scales that classify civilizations by the amount of energy they consume compared to the energy emitted by their local star, and the amount intercepted by their local planet. While theoretically useful this scale isn't so in practice, since many civilizations which do have energy budgets exceeding the entire available energy of a single planet seldom use that amount in a single location, but rather gather and use it across a number of worlds and habitats. Similarly, many civilizations that employ energies equal to or higher than the output of a single star can be distributed across dozens, hundreds or thousands of star systems, rather than employing the energies of a single stellar source.

This is why, after extensive observation of the known civilizations within Sector A1-0, the researchers devised the Energy Emission Civilization Scale, that classifies known and detected civilizations purely on their observed energy emissions, rather than comparing a civilization's energy usage to their local celestial objects.

The scale divides civilizations into four different categories:

Null Energy Emission Civilizations (NEECs)

NEECs are civilizations without an energy output that is sufficient for them to be detectable above the background emissions of their native habitat. For reference, Earth during the Agricultural Age (8500 BCE to late 17th century CE) or the Industrial Age (18th to late 20th century CE) would have been classified as a NEEC.

Not many NEECs are known even within the Sector due to the difficulty of detection, but it is considered likely that they outnumber energy emitting civilizations by an order of magnitude. While one might assume NEECs to be primitive and rudimentary, this class of civilizations can be extremely diverse. Sapient or even transapient civilizations might emit no detectable energy for a wide variety of reasons, as they might be non-technological, low technological, or post-technological. They might, on the other hand, be purposefully hiding, using advanced sapient or transapient-level technologies and devices to conceal their energy signatures to the rest of the wider Sector and Universe. If this is the case, it's rather impossible to determine why said civilizations are hiding in the first place: some may be hiding to escape past actions and current threats, avoid future ones, or simply because they chose to. The reasons to hide are almost as numerous as these "Hiders" themselves, but the notable lack of many energy emitting civilizations, especially compared to the livelihood of the Sector, may hint to hidden dangers lurking amidst the stars.

Some of the most notable examples of NEECs within Sector A1-0 are (or were until recent developments):

• The Nunn: at the time of contact and before their absorption in the Galactyan Empire, this civilization of neutron matter beings living in the superfluid outer core of various neutron stars possessed rather primitive technology, but they still had a quite intuitive understanding of very complex ecological dynamics and applied mathematics that allows them to manipulate the species and nutrients present in the surrounding environment to obtain larger amounts of food and resources.
• The Xeemee: at the time of contact and before their absorption in the Galactyan Empire, this civilization of magnetohydrodynamic beings existing in the metallic hydrogen core of a gas giant had quite advanced technology, possessing multiple core-wide energy-storage, transportation and communication systems made out of the same magnetohydrodynamic interaction structures, whose emissions however were deeply hidden from wider space by the rest of the gas giant.
• The Xe'Qarin: at the time of contact and before their absorption in the Commonwealth Of Empires, this civilization of insect/crustacean-like beings living on a warm earth-like world with a thick atmosphere possessed relatively primitive technology, comparable to Earth during the late Agricultural Age and before the Middle Ages. However, they still possessed an intuitive understanding of ecological behaviors, and were quite capable at manipulating the natural world around them.

Low Energy Emission Civilizations (LEECs)

LEECs are civilizations with energy emissions well above those of their natural environment, that are however still difficult to detect at any great interstellar distance. For reference, Earth during the Information Age (21st century CE) would have been classified as a LEEC.

Some of the most notable examples of NEECs within Sector A1-0 are (or were until recent developments):

• The Oshnephku: at the time of discovery and in the current era this civilization of tree-like swarming beings living on a lower-gravity warm planet possesses technology roughly similar to Earth during the late 20th century, while still being more advanced specifically in the field of nuclear technologies and computation. Nuclear reactors power their societies, and nuclear weapons have been used more than once in their monomaniacal quest to eradicate all exotrophic life.

Medium Energy Emission Civilizations (MEECs)

MEECs are civilizations with energy emissions that can be both considerably lower and higher than all the energy available on a single planet. The total detectable emissions by such a civilization can be considerable, but generally quite diffuse, and classify them somewhere between Kardaschev type I and II levels. It is not uncommon for MEECs to have an extension much bigger than a single planet or even a single star system, as many large civilizations in the Sector can be classified as MEECs.

Some of the most notable examples of NEECs within Sector A1-0 are (or were until recent developments):

• The Yehani'mul: at the time of contact and before their absorption in the Commonwealth Of Empires, this civilization of large hairy mammals had previously reached the Late Interplanetary Stage, but had recently fell back considerably due to a system-wide economic and societal collapse caused by a mosaic of different factors and disasters, ranging from deadly gengineered plagues to rogue self-replicating nanoswarms.

High Energy Emission Civilizations (HEECs)

HEECs are civilizations that control and emit much more energy than a hypothetical Kardaschev type II civilisation, but each is distributed over thousands or tens of thousands of stars. In these civilizations vast system-wide infrastructure and megastructure networks are common, but are not always present: in fact, even without building megastructures such as Dyson Swarms a civilization who has started to colonize nearby stars successfully may exceed the energy use of a Kardashev type II civilization quite rapidly.

Some of the most notable examples of HEECs within Sector A1-0 are: