A rather long introduction to the races in SETR

(This is a rather long introduction to the races in SETR. I've only included the basic
history of each race, as including all of it would probably take all day and dinner is ready in an hour. It makes no mention of some very important things in SETR, like Polarisation, or any but beginning wars.)

Race: ESF/Earth-Sol Federation
Homeworld: Earth
Technological Level: 1
Political Standing: N/a
Advantage: 447

The ESF has existed for about 500 years, from the fall of the United Earth Committee to the rise of an ordered state almost 200 years later. It exists covering about 200 star systems, and about as many inhabited worlds. Because it exists on the edge of the spiral arm, further colonisation has stopped for the ESF, it's passage inwards blocked by the Union of Worlds. It tries to maintain some form of a democracy, though is mostly run by a number of extremely powerful corporations. It has rather primitive technology compared to the multitude of other races in the galaxy.

Race: Union of Worlds
Homeworld: Beurasaj
Technological Level: 2
Political Standing: Protected
Advantage: 456

A splinter faction of the ESF that revolted during the anarchic depression the ESF suffered during it's second colonial era. They received support and supplies from the ESF at the beginning, who were eager to be relieved of administrating the worlds nearer the galactic core. Eventually, hostilities opened about 80 years ago and the ESF and Union fought a war. Since then, no fighting has occurred, and a permamanent peace treaty signed. Recently, the Union has gained a technological advantage over the ESF, how great it is remains unkown.

Race: Naarad
Homeworld: Obiaxatron
Technological Level: 5
Political Standing: Honoured
Advantage: 567

The Naarad race originally began very similar to humanity, albeit with the typical alien influence their different climate and physique allowed for. After discovering space travel, they found another race, the Jaddriack, who dwelt in the local gas giant star and were already developing stardrives. These 2 races worked together, until a civil war broke out on Obiaxatron. The civil war grew to cosmic proportions, when one of the factions detonated a number of thermonuclear missiles near the sun, and destabilised the star. Realising they had only 50 years before the sun expanded to a point where their home planet, Ugasmawaron became uninhabitable, the Jaddriack left the system in their newly inter-galactic ships, and left the Naarad with none of their technology. The sun changed, and Obiaxatron suffered severe effects of this change. Alot of planet life on the planet died, and the surface became a scorched wasteland. Still fighting, one of the Naarad factions conceived of a new weapon. Modifying computers with neural networks to fit inside and collaberate with biological brains, thereby giving soldiers super-enhanced reaction time and intelligence. This was done with the soldier CS-123. The experiment proved to be a success, and interlinked, the soldiers converged and annihilated all opposition on their ruined homeworld. But in that time the biological/electrical AI had grown to self-awareness, and together, the soldiers took control of their civil government, forcing all Naarad to implant control chips in their minds and become a node for Naarad. Following this, they became quickly advanced in the spacefaring sciences, discovering many new technologies. They expanded quickly, and before long encountered the mighty Jaddriack. Surprised at finding their old brothers, the Jaddriack offered a peace treaty, but secretly launched attacks all over Naarad space, aimed at cripping the Naarad war effort and using them as slaves to fill the gap caused by the invconvenient Jaddriack physiology. The attack was at first successful, but soon suffered apalling losses as the Naarad adapted and used Jaddriack technology against them. An uneasy stalemate was formed, and then a non-aggression pact was signed. The Naard encountered many new races in their expansion towards the stars, and fought many wars with them. In this respect, the Jaddriack were very useful in protecting the borders of Naarad space. An alliance was signed, and excepting a few cases of marked hostility, these 2 empires have functioned side by side against the wider galaxy as allies for aeons.

Race: Jaddriack
Homeworld: Realiswaron
Technological Level: 5
Political Standing: Disliked
Advantage: 567

An unusual species, having evolved an a huge gas giant. After about 500 million years, so the legend goes, one of their kind looked up at the stars and built rock to throw at it by using the unusually dense particles near the core of their fierce planet. Being hunted and almost exterminated by the Chinak, the Jaddriack soon learned how to utilise dense materials covering the atmosphere for long-range weapons, hurled by their many tentacles. Unable to manufacture complicated objects, they enslaved a lesser species on the planet's surface to assemble these, being as they were giant floating jellyfish. In their vast environment, they were able to scavenge for material enough to build all the spaceships they wanted, and fuel besides. They launched their first spaceship about 10,000 after the last Chinak had been hunted to exctinction. Due to their gaseous environment, the Jaddriack had evolved similar to most other species, one of their most distinct differences (under the surface) was a lack of competition or ego between individual Jaddriack. This was instrumental to the survival of their race, and continues to this day. They founded space colonies above their homeplanet soon afterwards, and in other smaller gas giants where they found ample resources. The Jaddriack were surprised one day when they received a diplomatic envoy from another intelligent race habiting the same star system. An uneasy alliance was coveted, and trade routes established. Without the means to carry out an assault on each other's heavily defended homeworld, they more or less existed peacefully. Exporting valuable materials from the heart of their planet, the Jaddriack gained intricate Naarad devices their enslaved race the slowly dying Iki Vrae could not manufacture. The Jaddriack accelerated their weapons research and before long discovered Stardrives. Soon afterwards, the Naarad were plunged into civil war over a disagreement the fabulously influencial Naarad traders had with their strict regulation government. Various factions emerged, and the Jaddriack realised that once their homeworld was left defenseless, the Naarad would be left open to capture and enslavement. This changed when the sun was destabilised by nuclear weapons of the trading faction. The Jaddriack packed up and left the system as fast as they could, leaving their brethren to be destroyed by the star. Arriving after a long time in the Yui system, they scavenged the area for a suitable habitation. Finding one, they settled on Realiswaron. Jaddriack expanded soon after this, mainly to find another slave race considering the Iki Vrae were now all but extinct. They soon found a sentient primitive lifeform on one of the planets in the system, and hastily took over their world and shipped them off for the vast orbital construction stations they had set up in preparation for their arrival. They manufactured more and more ships, with better weapons. The Jaddriack left this system, and spread outwards, scourging less advanced life and capturing others. Eventually, they encountered a race more powerful than themselves: the Meson. Similar in many ways to the Jaddriack, the Meson forgave their rash attacks and formulated a treaty. If the Jaddriack were ever to assault a Meson ship, world or base again, they would be utterly annihilated. Far far far more advanced, the Meson were left alone. Since then, the Jaddriack encountered the Naarad again and allied with them after an unsuccessful capture attempt. Things have been going rather well recently, mainly because the Jaddriack are terrified of Naarad, a race, like the Meson, they can't understand.

Race: (Meson?)
Homeworld: Kitehain
Technological Level: 7
Political Standing: Feared
Advantage: 1033

One of the oldest races in the universe, the history of the race known only as the Meson is a long and terrible one. Evolving on a lava world in the early days of the universe, they discovered sentience through linking their amoeba like consciousness through group physical contact. Eventually they evolved more appendages, and the ability to manipulate their environment, but the ability to maintain telepathic contact and to meld their thoughts together remained, and was even persistent without physical contact. With entire planet united under one consciousness, the Meson took only 13 years to research, build, and launch their first fusion rocket ship. Great strides were made, and they left their homeworld soon after, first making sure every Meson who left would be connected with the link through a subetheric telepathic link. They spread onwards, seeding the universe with life. Moving onwards and onwards, they encountered nothing but cooling stars and uninhabited lava worlds like their own. Eventually, they encountered one race that had been dwelling in the stars for longer than they: the Armadian. With technology out of the feeble reach of their imaginations, the Armadians were duly impressed by the speed with which the Meson had reached the galactic plane. Sending occasional and enigmatic messages of greetings, congratulations, and what seemed insanity, the Armadian were left alone by the Meson, as they continued expanding and mapping the galaxy. Some time had passed, and now the Meson controlled a full 2/3 of the galaxy. They did encounter some species other than themselves, and lonely for company helped some of them with the more basic points of their technology. Some of these races were like themselves, others nots. A galactic combine was formed of these first races, called the 'Meson'. What the Meson called themselves in that time is unkown. Of the races the Meson mixed with, none have been encountered, supposed eradicated by the Dech'red'nor. The Meson made great strides and coexisted with these races for millenia, until the galaxy was surprised by an invasion from the neighouring galaxy, Andromeda. The invaders easily destroyed the peaceful installations of the Meson, and all the other races that blocked their path to the centre of Andromeda. Records from that time are non-existant, wiped out in the systematic annihilation of species by the Dech'red'nor. Soon afterwards, the Dechrednor settled in the galaxy, establishing colonies there. Not long after the dust had settled from their last colony outpost, a massive incursion by the Armadian wiped out all Dechrednor life from the galaxy, and gave testament to the terrifying weapon other races would from then on call 'alter'.

The Meson now had sole control over the entire galaxy; the ability to manipulate any race inside it's boundaries. They built up navies from scavenged remains of the Dechrednor, using their technology to augment their ships. While in the meantime, the Armadian, made no move to stop them. Around this time, a strange event occurred which cannot be explained except by the Meson or Armadian themselves. The Meson navies attacked the Preknese, a small race living next to the Armadian homeworld, and utterly exterminated their race. In response, the Armadian launched an all out counterattack, but were too late. Unable to save this apparently primitive and insignificant race from exctinction, they began the largest war in the history of the galaxy against the Meson. It lasted 20 years, and after that time, the only living Meson was on Kitehain. Performing some kind of gravitational collapse on Kitehain, the Armadian then proceeded to destroy all the remaining Dechrednor and Meson technology left scattered over the galaxy.

Eventually, a billion years passed. For the Meson, a hundred years passed, imprisoned by seriously stuffed up laws of time and space near their star system. Quickly they made preparations for the reclamation of their territory, unkowning of what had happened. They found a single message buoy outside Kitehain, with the message 'You are free to reclaim uninhabited space as long as you do not interfere with the younger races. The Dechrednor technology is forbidden.'

Soon afterwards, they founded their warship fleets once again, determined to make up for lost time and not touching the Dechrednor weapons at all. Eventually they encountered the Jaddriack, who attacked them. Was it not for the Armadians, the Meson would have gladly destroyed their race. They continued this policy, and it has served them well to this day: fight only in retaliation, and gain land through alliances, not war.

Race: Zirzacht
Homeworld: Siy Tint
Technological Level: 4
Political Standing: Dispised
Advantage: 783

The Zirzacht, of all the races in the galaxy, resemble humanity the most in their history. Following a more or less uneventful 2000 years of war and conflict, one society retained dominance of the world that entered the space age. But this time it was a monarchy. The emperor of Siy Tint. With absolute power and obedient subjects, he was able to make his presence felt when it came to star travel, something the Zirzacht were reluctant to undertake. They made and piloted the first ships, and constructed better ones after that, still pursuing the dream of populating the galaxy with Zirzacht long since the emperor died. Very young, they encountered the Jaddriack early on in their forages, and were quickly pressed to defend their system. Losing badly, they were suprised by the arrival of a Meson probe, offering a deal that was hard to refuse. Control over the surrounding 10 systems, in return for an alliance that would preserve their race. The Zirzacht accepted the treaty, and soon a Meson fleet arrived and destroyed the Jaddriack forces. The Zirzacht rejoiced in their generous alliance, but it was not for long. The Meson claimed control of the nearby systems, and started using them and mining them very severely for new metals. The Zirzacht resented this, and were force out on perilous trips more than 10 systems reach from their homeworld. Mining such remote asteroid belts, a group of Zirzacht revolted and formed their own government: the Zirzacht Free Combine but known afterwards as the pirates. War was difficult for a while, the Zirzacht combine too far out of range for attack. This changed when the Zirzacht detected a cloaked Dechrednor battlestation, full of weapons, ship designs and automated factories. They instantly put them to use, and the Meson were surprised by the homeworld being attacked by what seemed like Dechrednor opponents. The Armadian arrived soon afterwards, and terminated the Zirzacht rampage, exterminating their home in the asteroid belts. In their death throes, the combine transmitted all the specs, everything on the Dechrednor weapons they could via radio and subetheric waves. Every race in the galaxy now knew the secret of very powerful weapons. The Armadian soon sent out emissaries to all the races, telling them the immense danger of using such weapons, and the inevitable destruction of their race that would follow. For some reason, the Zirzacht were told that they could use these weapons. Straight away, they founded an extremely powerful small force, and sent it on a payback expedition to the Jaddriack empire, which was nursing it's wounds from a war with the Duthul. The war was a great success in terms of cost for the Zirzacht, and the terrible weakness of the Empire was revealed. Though stopped, many ships were lost on the Jaddriack side. Their offensive technology coming to a standstill. The Zirzacht soon broke up, some of them disobeying their emperor, and taking off for new worlds outside repressive alien control. The emperor instituted the Royal Navy, which is now involved in fighting off the pirate Zirzacht forces most of the time. Having thrown out the Meson treaty, they are now all alone, and engaged in a never-ending civil war.

(Well that's about it. I didn't include anything but the more basic histories of each race, and not even all the races at that, just ones with full tech trees. I will modify this to include more history soon.)

(This message has been edited by Count Altair El Alemein (edited 07-24-2001).)

Heh, that's a nice, deep plot there.
It's not up to Marathon, but then what is?
Thanks for raising the bar for my future projects ;).

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Formerly-Rampant Human-Coded AI

Thanks, but you haven't seen the half of it. If I get more replies on this post, I may consider adding some more of the wars/races, Polarisation, and Nadir.

Deleted

Lucky I got to this post before you guys read it! Maybe Darkk was right about my ego

(This message has been edited by Count Altair El Alemein (edited 07-26-2001).)