Torpedoes

Jocko’s nudged the
accelerator on his Pit
Viper along. It was a
decent craft, if in somewhat
poor repair. He
hadn’t bothered to
name it. The way things
were in Luches, it was
best to never get too
attached to anything,
not even your ship.
As his squadron of
eight pilots, four in Pit
Vipers and four in Spirit
Riders, zoomed toward
its target, they came
around the light side of
the moon. As they did, a
number of starfighters
suddenly slid into full
view, their carapaces
gleaming in the raw
sunlight.
Captain Zamyatan
cursed. “By their marking,
they’re Colosian.
That means Draconians.”
He cursed again.
“They were waiting for
us. Someone must have
tipped them off!”
Normally at this
point, Zamyatan would
have asked his pilots if
they wanted to defect. It
happened quite regularly
when a Luches
force was outnumbered.
And they were certainly
outnumbered now.
Jocko took a quick
44
The Primates
Of the two major Promethean societies,
the Primates are by far the most human.
Perhaps the fact that they are mostly warmblooded
(as opposed to the cold-blooded
Saurons) like Terrans contributes to this.
Anyhow, there seems to be a natural kinship
between the Primates and humanity.
The name “Primates” applies to both the
main race of that Promethean society, as
well as to the society as a whole. The Primate
society was founded by a race of starfaring
creatures that truly resemble nothing
more (at least to the uneducated Terran
eye) than an anthropomorphic
cross between a gorilla and a
bear.
Their language is
difficult for the human
tongue, and so all of the
common names given
to any of the Primate
races are simply rough
Terran approximations of
the originals. (The same
goes for the Draconians
and nearly every other “alien”
race.)
Primate Society
The Primate society is composed of dozens
of races, each of which has its own distinct
place as a vital part within the greater
whole. All of these races, with a few exceptions,
participate in the Primate exploration
and military forces, though—at least
as far as the Terrans can determine.
No Terrans have traveled to Prometheus
as of yet, so it is impossible to know anything
about either Promethean society for
sure. All the humans know is what they’ve
been told. With the numerous Terran exploration
expeditions that have been
launched to investigate the Promethean
galaxy, it is certainly only a matter of time
until at least part of the truth is found out.
Primates and Terrans
The Primates have been, for the most
part, extremely friendly to the Terrans and
apparently forthcoming about themselves
and their society. Since their arrival in Terran
space, they have actively pursued alliances
with Terran states, but they have not
created any undue pressure for any one
group to join with them.
They do not begrudge any state its independence,
but they make it quite clear that
they are the sworn foes of any who have
extensive dealings with the Draconians.
Few states have found it worthwhile
to remain entirely neutral, although
several of the Twelve
have proven themselves
powerful enough to do so.
Over the last few jampacked
years, the leaders
of far more Terran planets
have chosen to side
with the Primates than
against them. This may
have a lot to do with the
fact that the Primates entered Terran
space before their rivals the Draconians
did, but the proud Primates and
their allies prefer to believe that all of their
treaties are good and solid ones anyway, no
matter what the circumstances may have
been when they were originally made or
how substantially they may have changed
since then.
Despite the number of states that have
signed on with the Primates (in practice if
not officially), the power of the Primate alliance
is still roughly equivalent to that of
the Draconian pact. The Draconians’ allies
are fewer, but they tend to be the more powerful
groups, those that managed to survive
the Terran-Hatchling war better, so the
balance of power remains precariously the
same.