Torpedoes

secret behind andrium’s
artificially short life.
Where these ships are
now and who (or what)
their passengers have
become remains a
subject for speculation.
A reporter for the
Galactic News Network
(GNN) has stumbled
across allegations that
one of these ancient arks
passed through the
Promethean galaxy long
ago. This would mean
that the Prometheans
have been aware of
humanity for much
longer than they have
been willing to publicly
admit. The fate of the
people on that legendary
ark is unknown, but a
few Primates have been
forthcoming enough to
speculate that they were
enslaved by the Draconians.
Perhaps a colony
of humans still lives in
Prometheus under
Draconian control. The
Draconians have dismissed
this as Primate
fearmongering.
14
galaxy, each jockeying for political prominence
and struggling to carve out a haven
for themselves in the ruins of the Empire.
The Twelve currently are: House Red
Star, the Yoka-Shan Warworld, the Kashmere
Commonwealth, Hibernia Freehold,
the ASP Technocracy, the Data Sphere, the
Sigurd Archdioceses, the Unkulunkulu Archipelago,
Luches Utopia, House Tokugawa
(including the Po Yang Reserve), the Q’raj
Void Protectorate and House Colos.
The New Battles
Unfortunately, the end of the Terran-
Hatchling War didn’t mean that the Terrans
had run out of reasons to squabble
among themselves. The first battles were
small—minor starfighter skirmishes in
deep space—by the involved states’ mutual
consent. No Hatchlings were disturbed.
Matters soon escalated. Battles were
fought quickly and almost entirely by small
forces, either on the ground or in the
depths of space. The combatants carefully
and surgically went after their goals with
lightning attacks. No one dragged any skirmishes
out for long, and if it looked like
the matter could not be decided within
hours, the aggressors always broke off before
the Hatchlings could intervene.
The ban on holocaustic weapons that the
Emperor himself had violated was reinstated
by tacit agreement. The last thing
anyone wanted to do was awaken every
Hatchling in the galactic arm again. There
was no need for any treaty.
Reawakenings
As the struggles increased in frequency
and ferocity, Hatchling Clutches were inevitably
awakened by those willing to push
the envelope just a little too far. Each time,
the former combatants quickly allied themselves
against the greater threat. In nearly
all cases, only one Clutch was awakened,
and the Hatchlings were quickly defeated.
Sometimes the battle with the Hatchlings
awakened even more Clutches, and the
planet involved was soon overwhelmed.
Most planets have constructed arks, as it
seems that the best decision in many cases
was simply to leave and let the Hatchlings
have the planet. Then the Terrans can return,
destroy any hibernating Clutches they
find and reclaim their homelands.
Still, such awakenings were rare at first.
At the time, very few planets had the time
or resources to expend hassling with their
neighboring states. They were far too busy
getting their own affairs in order to care
about the larger picture, as along as they
weren’t personally being attacked. That
changed when the refugees from House
Devon returned.
Homecoming
When they left the blazing remnants of
the Empire far behind, the Devon refugees
had absolutely no intention of ever returning.
They headed straight along the Orion
arm of the galaxy, looking for uninhabited
planets on which they could start a new life
for themselves. Instead, they stumbled
upon a highly developed alien civilization,
one with which they were able to strike up
a quick friendship.
Since the aliens looked a lot like humanoid
apes, the Devons originally dubbed their
newfound friends the Primates. They later
discovered that the apelike creatures were
only one of dozens of races confederated
under the same government, a group
known collectively as the Galandar Confederation.
Still, the name stuck, and all of
these creatures, no matter what their appearance,
are collectively called Primates
to this day.
The Primates’ Tale
Once the Devons were able to establish
communications with the Primates, they
related to them a rough history of humanity,
ending with the tragic events of the
Terran-Hatchling War. The Primates listened
patiently, asking many questions, eager
to learn about their newfound friends.
When the Devons were done, the Primates
had a story of their own.
The Primates come from a neighboring
galaxy many light years away, known to
Terrans as Prometheus. The first of their
races to reach for the stars were the apelike
creatures with whom the Devons made
their initial contact. Once they developed
a faster-than-light drive of their own, they
set out to explore their galaxy. There they
found many other races, several of which
were making the leap outside their home
planets’ atmospheres.