HOME | DD

Description
The Milky Way alone is home to over one hundred billion planets. Most of these worlds are dead rocks or gas giants, but about twenty billion are similar to the human homeworld, Earth. Over sixty million worlds with Earth-like conditions have been terraformed over the millennia. Two billion worlds, about a third similar to Earth, have given rise to life in some capacity in their history.

Most alien life was, and remains, simple, and poses no threat to humanity's hegemony over the galaxy. On ninety-nine percent of the Milky Way's life-bearing worlds, life is no more complex than the unicellular life that arose on Earth. These curiosities are studied closely by human scientists, and samples are taken to various laboratories all throughout the galaxy. Typically, this world is inhospitable to human life, and is too costly to terraform, so they remain preserved as they were during discovery. If the world is fit for terraforming, then samples are taken of the alien life and studied elsewhere, and the planet is terraformed.

Of the remaining one percent of life-bearing worlds, more complex organisms arise. A good portion — approximately eighty percent — of these lifeforms are microscopic and simple compared to terran life, comparable to terran slime mold. Of the twenty percent that have developed non-microscopic multicellular organisms, approximately sixty percent have exclusively sessile lifeforms, comparable to terran plants or fungi. The remaining forty percent have ecosystems that would be more familiar to the average human, containing both sessile and mobile forms of life interacting in a large ecosystem. These worlds are prized, both for their scientific and recreational value. Those worlds which have been thoroughly studied become game preserves, where the galaxy's elite role-play as intrepid explorers of strange, alien worlds. A handful alien worlds have atmospheres and climates that are friendly enough that visitors do not require hazardous environment suits; these worlds are the most highly-prized game preserves of all.

Given the vastness of the Milky Way, intelligent life is a rarity, and technologically advanced intelligent life rarer still. Intelligence has only arisen independently about a million times, and almost every single instance of intelligent life has not led to any technology more advanced than the use of rudimentary tools. Agriculture has only been observed approximately fifty thousand times, metalworking approximately ten thousand, and the development of an equivalent to the steam engine only two thousand times. More often than not, alien civilizations that develop nuclear fission destroy themselves before they reach the stage of interstellar travel: of 982 different alien civilizations known to have developed nuclear fission, only 208 have not fought a nuclear war. Almost every single one of the 982 civilizations never rebuilt. Humanity cannot be counted among that number, but it was fortunate enough to survive the Ash Winter and enter an interstellar stage of development.

The discovery of intelligent life is not normally cause for alarm among the human powers, and has been for millennia. As most intelligent alien life remains primitive, these intelligent aliens are treated no differently from their non-sapient counterparts. Their worlds are transformed into scientific outposts or game preserves, and the sapients are monitored closely to ensure that they remain in their primitive state. These aliens rarely leave their home star system, as they more often than not find terran environments hostile. Those that do leave are considered curiosities, and are paraded around as such. Most major Imperial houses and high-ranking Federation officers have private zoos, where they keep samples of intelligent alien life for their own amusement.

The vast majority of alien life that develops the technology for interstellar travel does not use it. Instead, the parallel development of advanced computer systems and biological engineering leads to the creation of a contained society, content to consume the resources of its home star system. Most of these civilizations develop an analogue to the hedonic engine, or another mind-computer interface similar to those still used in the Consortium. These aliens are considered a threat by the galactic community, as they often have the technology to develop relativistic kill vehicles. Thus, the discovery of such an alien civilization is always cause for a human invasion. As they have for millennia past, upon the discovery of an interplanetary alien civilization, the Protectorate of Mankind will issue an official determination if the civilization is a threat or not. If it is a threat, the Protectorate will issue a call to arms that the nearest human powers — often the Federation or the Empire — have an obligation to answer. These powers will then send an expeditionary force to destroy all alien orbital and interplanetary assets, confining the alien species to its homeworld. If communications can be established, demands will be set by the Protectorate — submission to human rule and forbidding the construction of interplanetary assets, particularly relativistic kill vehicles. If an alien species refuses the terms, then their homeworld is bombarded and the entire civilization scoured from existence. If the human occupation force is feeling generous, then a show of force will be made prior to a final demand, such as the destruction of a nearby planet via World Fortress.

Only a handful of alien species have developed faster-than-light travel, and those that have were mostly destroyed by the First or Second Empire. Only fragments of these alien empires remain, mostly in the form of old prison worlds where those aliens intelligent enough to submit were moved. Here, these aliens still tell legends of the greatness of their ancient empire, and preserve ancient relics of their old empires. These worlds have largely fallen under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate, whose scientists still study these ancient, defeated foes. Most of these species were either destroyed by the Tick Swarm or the Berzerkers, developed by the First and Second Empire, respectively. These self-replicating engines of destruction ran rampant throughout the galaxy millennia ago, dedicated to destroying the enemies of man. In some portions of the galaxy, they remain a threat to any alien, and sometimes human, system. Those civilizations destroyed by these two swarms have been almost completely scoured from the stars, with only a few dead relics remaining as proof of their having ever existed.

Modern humanity takes a more nuanced approach to aliens with faster-than-light capabilities. Those aliens with only a handful of star systems will be treated as their interplanetary counterparts are, and are reduced to their homeworld, but those interstellar empires of considerable size are treated with more respect. As destroying these aliens will take considerably more effort than their interplanetary counterparts, efforts will often be made to communicate with the aliens prior to engaging in hostilities. If communications prove impossible or fruitless, then the Protectorate will issue a call for a crusade, a long campaign wherein every human power is required to commit a fraction of their overall military force to the Protectorate. This united human force will then systematically destroy the entire alien empire, system by system, stopping only when the entire alien species has been reduced to only a few million survivors. These survivors are then taken to Protectorate Command, where their defeat is broadcast to the entire galaxy. Such is the importance of a crusade that most inter-human wars are forced to a ceasefire throughout its entire duration, with the final broadcast serving as a sign that hostilities can continue.

Some alien empires, such as the Dynic Hegemony and the Kerdin Empire, are powerful enough to challenge the galactic powers. These powers exist completely outside of the regular galactic political system, and are considered rogue states in a perpetual state of hostility with the human powers. There has been occasional cooperation between these alien empires and human powers, normally against a common foe, but there has never been a lasting alliance between a human and alien power.

Throughout the galaxy's history, only two alien species are known to have matched the development of the Second Empire. These species, known as the Ancients and the Old Ones, rose and fell five hundred million and one hundred million years ago, respectively. Signs of entire star systems being destroyed, black holes being used as weapons of mass destruction, and the remains of ancient superstructures such as system spheres and system rings, are scattered throughout the galaxy, proving the scale of these ancient empires. While it can never be known for certain, records indicate that the Ancients were destroyed by an internal civil war over a trivial matter of philosophy, and the Old Ones were gradually destroyed by their own machines, in a parallel to the War of the Cog Lords. Because of their relative rarity, Ancient and Old One relics are highly prized, perhaps even more than those of the Second Empire.

Description
The Milky Way alone is home to over one hundred billion planets. Most of these worlds are dead rocks or gas giants, but about twenty billion are similar to the human homeworld, Earth. Over sixty million worlds with Earth-like conditions have been terraformed over the millennia. Two billion worlds, about a third similar to Earth, have given rise to life in some capacity in their history.

Most alien life was, and remains, simple, and poses no threat to humanity's hegemony over the galaxy. On ninety-nine percent of the Milky Way's life-bearing worlds, life is no more complex than the unicellular life that arose on Earth. These curiosities are studied closely by human scientists, and samples are taken to various laboratories all throughout the galaxy. Typically, this world is inhospitable to human life, and is too costly to terraform, so they remain preserved as they were during discovery. If the world is fit for terraforming, then samples are taken of the alien life and studied elsewhere, and the planet is terraformed.

Of the remaining one percent of life-bearing worlds, more complex organisms arise. A good portion — approximately eighty percent — of these lifeforms are microscopic and simple compared to terran life, comparable to terran slime mold. Of the twenty percent that have developed non-microscopic multicellular organisms, approximately sixty percent have exclusively sessile lifeforms, comparable to terran plants or fungi. The remaining forty percent have ecosystems that would be more familiar to the average human, containing both sessile and mobile forms of life interacting in a large ecosystem. These worlds are prized, both for their scientific and recreational value. Those worlds which have been thoroughly studied become game preserves, where the galaxy's elite role-play as intrepid explorers of strange, alien worlds. A handful alien worlds have atmospheres and climates that are friendly enough that visitors do not require hazardous environment suits; these worlds are the most highly-prized game preserves of all.

Given the vastness of the Milky Way, intelligent life is a rarity, and technologically advanced intelligent life rarer still. Intelligence has only arisen independently about a million times, and almost every single instance of intelligent life has not led to any technology more advanced than the use of rudimentary tools. Agriculture has only been observed approximately fifty thousand times, metalworking approximately ten thousand, and the development of an equivalent to the steam engine only two thousand times. More often than not, alien civilizations that develop nuclear fission destroy themselves before they reach the stage of interstellar travel: of 982 different alien civilizations known to have developed nuclear fission, only 208 have not fought a nuclear war. Almost every single one of the 982 civilizations never rebuilt. Humanity cannot be counted among that number, but it was fortunate enough to survive the Ash Winter and enter an interstellar stage of development.

The discovery of intelligent life is not normally cause for alarm among the human powers, and has been for millennia. As most intelligent alien life remains primitive, these intelligent aliens are treated no differently from their non-sapient counterparts. Their worlds are transformed into scientific outposts or game preserves, and the sapients are monitored closely to ensure that they remain in their primitive state. These aliens rarely leave their home star system, as they more often than not find terran environments hostile. Those that do leave are considered curiosities, and are paraded around as such. Most major Imperial houses and high-ranking Federation officers have private zoos, where they keep samples of intelligent alien life for their own amusement.

The vast majority of alien life that develops the technology for interstellar travel does not use it. Instead, the parallel development of advanced computer systems and biological engineering leads to the creation of a contained society, content to consume the resources of its home star system. Most of these civilizations develop an analogue to the hedonic engine, or another mind-computer interface similar to those still used in the Consortium. These aliens are considered a threat by the galactic community, as they often have the technology to develop relativistic kill vehicles. Thus, the discovery of such an alien civilization is always cause for a human invasion. As they have for millennia past, upon the discovery of an interplanetary alien civilization, the Protectorate of Mankind will issue an official determination if the civilization is a threat or not. If it is a threat, the Protectorate will issue a call to arms that the nearest human powers — often the Federation or the Empire — have an obligation to answer. These powers will then send an expeditionary force to destroy all alien orbital and interplanetary assets, confining the alien species to its homeworld. If communications can be established, demands will be set by the Protectorate — submission to human rule and forbidding the construction of interplanetary assets, particularly relativistic kill vehicles. If an alien species refuses the terms, then their homeworld is bombarded and the entire civilization scoured from existence. If the human occupation force is feeling generous, then a show of force will be made prior to a final demand, such as the destruction of a nearby planet via World Fortress.

Only a handful of alien species have developed faster-than-light travel, and those that have were mostly destroyed by the First or Second Empire. Only fragments of these alien empires remain, mostly in the form of old prison worlds where those aliens intelligent enough to submit were moved. Here, these aliens still tell legends of the greatness of their ancient empire, and preserve ancient relics of their old empires. These worlds have largely fallen under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate, whose scientists still study these ancient, defeated foes. Most of these species were either destroyed by the Tick Swarm or the Berzerkers, developed by the First and Second Empire, respectively. These self-replicating engines of destruction ran rampant throughout the galaxy millennia ago, dedicated to destroying the enemies of man. In some portions of the galaxy, they remain a threat to any alien, and sometimes human, system. Those civilizations destroyed by these two swarms have been almost completely scoured from the stars, with only a few dead relics remaining as proof of their having ever existed.

Modern humanity takes a more nuanced approach to aliens with faster-than-light capabilities. Those aliens with only a handful of star systems will be treated as their interplanetary counterparts are, and are reduced to their homeworld, but those interstellar empires of considerable size are treated with more respect. As destroying these aliens will take considerably more effort than their interplanetary counterparts, efforts will often be made to communicate with the aliens prior to engaging in hostilities. If communications prove impossible or fruitless, then the Protectorate will issue a call for a crusade, a long campaign wherein every human power is required to commit a fraction of their overall military force to the Protectorate. This united human force will then systematically destroy the entire alien empire, system by system, stopping only when the entire alien species has been reduced to only a few million survivors. These survivors are then taken to Protectorate Command, where their defeat is broadcast to the entire galaxy. Such is the importance of a crusade that most inter-human wars are forced to a ceasefire throughout its entire duration, with the final broadcast serving as a sign that hostilities can continue.

Some alien empires, such as the Dynic Hegemony and the Kerdin Empire, are powerful enough to challenge the galactic powers. These powers exist completely outside of the regular galactic political system, and are considered rogue states in a perpetual state of hostility with the human powers. There has been occasional cooperation between these alien empires and human powers, normally against a common foe, but there has never been a lasting alliance between a human and alien power.

Throughout the galaxy's history, only two alien species are known to have matched the development of the Second Empire. These species, known as the Ancients and the Old Ones, rose and fell five hundred million and one hundred million years ago, respectively. Signs of entire star systems being destroyed, black holes being used as weapons of mass destruction, and the remains of ancient superstructures such as system spheres and system rings, are scattered throughout the galaxy, proving the scale of these ancient empires. While it can never be known for certain, records indicate that the Ancients were destroyed by an internal civil war over a trivial matter of philosophy, and the Old Ones were gradually destroyed by their own machines, in a parallel to the War of the Cog Lords. Because of their relative rarity, Ancient and Old One relics are highly prized, perhaps even more than those of the Second Empire.