Half living crystal, half machine, the Chmmr are a new hybrid of two Old Alliance races, the Chenjesu and the Mmrnmhrm. This synthesis, when complete, will produce the most powerful race in the known region of the galaxy. The two races' reasons for engaging in this hybridization are largely unknown, but some researchers surmise that for the Chenjesu, it was a matter of evolution. Having long since established a stable technology and philosophy, the crystalline Chenjesu may have felt a need for "new blood" to promote radical change and growth. The Mmrnmhrm's reasons were probably much more pragmatic. Their creator, a huge alien factory-vessel know as the Mother Ark, was failing and, without a new system for reproduction, the robotic Mmrnmhrm faced gradual but inevitable extinction.
The Chenjesu and Mmrnmhrm made the final decision to begin the hybrid synthesis, called the Process, after the two races were defeated by the Ur-Quan Hierarchy in 2134. They both chose to be imprisoned under a slave shield on the Chenjesu's homeworld, Procyon 2. Not knowing what the two races planned, the Ur-Quan agreed to this situation, and for the past twenty years, The Process has continued. Estimates for the Process' completion date range from 90-110 Earth years, depending on the precise solar energy output of the slightly variable star Procyon. If an additional source of solar energy could be found, the Process would be completed much sooner.