Jack of Harts

The “squirrelly” nature of the Branan is not what made them a failure of Albion gengineering. The Albion could have worked with that. What they couldn’t work with was a far more fundamental flaw. They had been too ambitious when they created the Branan. The vast majority of Earth-like life, including birds and humans, has four limbs. Two arms or wings and two legs. The Branan were created with six limbs, two legs, two arms, and two wings. The Albion had hoped they would be able to fly and carry standard human weapons, making them a superior aerial combat force. The Branan could only master four limbs though, and the remaining two would inevitably become dead weight. The Albion tried to correct the problem for years, but finally abandoned the Branan, and Betelgeuse entirely, as a failed experiment to begin focusing on more promising paths of research.