The Kalshodar are built as warriors and though there are some who are technically trained, they still rely on the humans of the Empyraen Navy for the day to day running and management of their fleets. 

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From navarchs and statègeon on the bridges of their massive cruisers, to mechanics, and fabricators, the Navy families that accompanied them on their long peregrination out into the galaxy were essential to their survival.

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Of course, even with advances in medicine, baseline humans do not live as long as a Kalshodar so, during their journey, a heredity system was instituted and large parts of the ships were given over to what Kalliades calls 'the sinews to our muscle' and their own strength; their families and trappings of off-duty life. There are whole communities in the depths of the cruisers. 

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Many of the current ship crews have never seen Gaia or stepped onto the surface of any planet.

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The one exception from the hereditary system is the pilots. The Kalshodar select and train youths they see as having the right potential themselves. Their reasoning is that the pilots keep them directly alive so they will not trust those skills to genetics alone.

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Some Pilots, like Captain Apollyon, were recruited on colony worlds they found along the way.