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In the Alpha sector of the galaxy, the year 4620, what is left of humanity lives onboard a space station called Starport orbiting the planet Arth, a haven for the survivors of the Old Empire. Due to heavy radiation, the inhabitants have been forced to live beneath the planet's crust for centuries.
In recent times, the radiation has finally dissipated from the surface, allowing the population to unearth long-lost technology belonging to Arth's original settlers. The inhabitants of Arth have recently discovered two things: first, that they were once a colony world of Earth; and second, Endurium, a crystalline mineral that fuels interstellar flight.
An independent company called Interstel is dispatching ships to mine for resources, particularly Endurium. In addition, Interstel employees are instructed to seek information about Arth's history, alien artifacts, and planets with optimum environments for colonization.
Arth scientists discover that stars throughout the local region of the galaxy are flaring, and the home planet of Arth is in danger.
By following clues given in Interstel announcements and through contact with alien races in space, the crew discovers an Old Empire starship adrift in space. An endlessly repeating distress call has been transmitting from the ship for over a thousand years. Before the fall of the Old Empire, a scientific expedition known as the Noah 9 left Earth in search of Heaven, a paradise world to which humans could immigrate. The expedition never arrived, leaving a fleet of Mechan ships forever waiting for their arrival. Once their coded questions are answered correctly, the Mechans assume that the crew is, in fact, the long-awaited Noah 9.
The Mechans (more properly, the Mechan Nine) are a starfaring race of androids, originally launched from Earth in the closing days of the Old Empire (3479) as part of Project Noah, the same project that established Arth as an Imperial Colony. The Mechans were part of the ninth Noah group (since confirmed as the last Noah mission planned). They were sent to the planet of Heaven (α145x107, p4) with the job of terraforming a marginally suitable planet into a world suitable for colonization within a yearâs time, and to defend that world from the Empireâs enemies until the colony ship arrived. The Mechans had Heaven ready to go by the time the colony ship Lasthope was due to arrive. Unfortunately for the Mechans, the transport never arrived, having been marooned on a less suitable world after a terrorist attack on the ship. The Mechans waited for the arrival of the Lasthope for over a thousand years.
When Interstel crews began encountering the Mechans, their programming sensed Human lifesigns and their failsafe programming kicked in (owing to political turmoil within the Empire at the time of its collapse), preventing contact until a protocol was correctly received. Though it took some effort, an Interstel crew finally responded properly in 4620, and contact was re-established between the Mechans and Humankind, though a few hundred years late. Since then, the Mechans have accepted the final fate of âGroup Nineâ, and have come into the service of âGroup Twoâ, as they call the p:w
eople of Arth.
Further investigation leads the crew to Earth, the home world of the Old Empire. The planet lies in ruins and is devoid of all life, but contains information about the history of Old Empire and its fate.
The Old Empire consisted of an alliance between various alien races: humanity, the Velox, the Thrynn, the Elowan and later on the Spemin who betrayed the old empire.
An ancient race of starfaring insectoids, the Veloxi have been in space longer than any other race. Resembling large ants, theyâre the "oldest" of the Alpha Sector races, and have seen the Old Empire rise and fall, the First and Second Waves sweep through the region, and the formerly planet-bound races of the sector finally join them among the stars. It is not surprising, therefore, that they see themselves as more civilized and superior to their allies. Notwithstanding their condescension, however, they maintain friendly relations with most of their neighbors. They are exceptionally strong and durable and have excellent hand/eye coordination. These traits, in conjunction with a well-developed spatial sense, make them well suited for engineering and technical tasks. While Veloxi do not have ears in the conventional sense, their olfactory antennas are very sensitive to vibration, and they can discern variations in pitch and tone. This enables them to hear and understand spoken language, and their vocal apparatus is such that it can produce comprehensible speech, though their verbal communications with each other sound exactly like non-sentient insect buzzing to other species. Due to their strength and multiple sets of legs, Veloxi are very fast and maneuverable, and are exceptional in soldier or security roles. While they are handy with modern weapons, they also have a formidable bite, and in close combat, can quickly tear through an enemyâs soft tissues. As with earth ants, there is a single female queen called "Grand Lovely" who is responsible for laying eggs and reproduction of all the other Veloxi.
The Elowan are a race of plant creatures native to the Alpha sector. Although originally from the second planet of the Thoss system, (named by them Eleran), after the fall of the Old Empire they were driven from there by their neighbors, the Thrynn. Subsequently, they established a second homeworld that was later destroyed by the Crystal Planet mere months before the Interstel crew halted the flares. Beleaguered and battered, their unfortunate racial history has left them few and far between. They were forced into neutrality during the conflict with the Gazurtoid due to the predations of the Thrynn.
The Elowan start life the same way as most species of plant; tiny seeds buried in the soil. Their childhood is spent in a semi-sentient sessile condition, wherein for the most part they take in energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil. Upon reaching adolescence, Elowan become self aware and uproot themselves from the soil, joining society. As adults, they remain mobile until about midway through adulthood, at which point they again take root in the ground. At this point reproduction takes place. Elowan go through what could be termed ârapid senilityâ as their heads sprout flowers, each containing a stamen and pistils; the pollen of these flowers carries the individualâs genetic information. The Elowan lose a good deal of upper brain function during this time, and generally are unable to carry on intelligent conversations; only when the reproduction cycle is complete, and the flowers drop off, does their sentience fully reassert itself. With 299 out of 300 Elowan, no fertilization takes place; they simply regain their brain function, uproot, and then continue their lives. Elowan may go through the reproduction cycle a few more times, but if they reach old age without successfully reproducing, they do not go through the change again. However, for the rare 1 of every 300, a far different fate awaits. When an adult Elowan successfully cross-pollinates, instead of uprooting, its head forms into a melon-like fruit called Headfruit. This fruit contains hundreds of fertilized seeds; when the Headfruit is ripe, it is 'harvested' in a ceremony called (appropriately) the "Harvest Festival". During the Festival, the seeds are extracted and planted, becoming the next generation of Elowan seedlings. In this instance, the Elowan in question makes the ultimate sacrifice: Much like the Earth praying mantis, the cost of successful reproduction is death. With such a low rate of successful reproduction, the Elowan are especially vulnerable to extinction, as even hundreds of adults may be unable to reproduce. Knowing this, the Thrynn have made a sport of stealing and eating the Headfruit, a despicable practice they managed to spread to miscreants in the Old Empire when both races were a part of that body. As adults, Elowan describe themselves as âomnivorous producersâ; they get most of their energy from sunlight and absorb carbon from the atmosphere, but also get some of their energy and nutritional needs from ingested organisms. These latter are ingested through their vines, which have special structures for breaking down and digesting them. All Elowan are hermaphrodites, as when they take root in the ground for reproduction, they sprout flowers containing both stamen and pistils.
Elowan have no mouths or vocal organs, nor lungs with which to breath, and consequently cannot speak audibly. However, they can vibrate their vines and leaves in such a way as to produce sound, though the audible range is extremely limited. Therefore, in communicating with each other, they mostly use an elaborate form of sign language, with vine, leaf, body, and head positioning providing every interchange with different shades of meaning. The Elowan will sometimes use their 'verbal' abilities to speak to other aliens, though this process is very difficult for them and few individuals are proficient at it; it is a testament to their high aptitude for communication that they have translated their motion based language into a spoken language at all. Due to the difficulties involved, however, most Elowan simply wear translation units to facilitate communication with other races, which give literal verbal translations of what is being signed (they are not particularly good at catching sarcasm).
Natives of the planet Thoss (α129x33, p4), the reptilian Thrynn have been in space for nearly two thousand years. When the Empire discovered them in 2770, they had already devised sublight technology and were conducting explorations of their solar system. This was an unfortunate series of events for their neighbors the Elowan, who resided in the same system and were often attacked by the Thrynn. With the intervention of the Empire, however, both races were incorporated and their quarrel smoothed over.
That state of affairs lasted until the fall of the Empire in 3480, at which point the Thrynn, seizing their chance, overwhelmingly attacked Eleran and drove the Elowan from the planet, a dire event for which the Elowan have never forgiven them.
Now a small, star-faring Confederacy, the Thrynn have weathered the First and Second Waves and survived (through no real action of their own) the flares of the Crystal Planet. A cunning, clever race, the Thrynn now look to the stars for solid allies in the Veloxi and Humans, and hold renewed hope that their final victory over their old nemeses, the Elowan and Gazurtoid, could be close at hand.
The Thrynn are a bi-pedal, carnivorous, reptilian species. Although graceful, with long necks and tails, they are very muscular and are covered with tough protective scales. They range in color from green to grey and are approximately 1.5 meters in height. Like Humans, they have an internal skeleton, and two forward set eyes. The Thrynn have a fair overall learning rate and a fair constitution. Thrynn are exclusively carnivorous; they occasionally eat other foods as supplements should they require them, but otherwise stick strictly to meat. Thrynn use a spoken language, but are perfectly capable of learning and communicating in Arthian tongues. They have a strong tendency to slur their Sâs and Râs, however.
The Spemin are a sentient (though just barely) race of amoeboids native to the Alpha Sector. Interstel Vice-Director Phexipotex once described Spemin as "an arrogant mass of slime". That particular statement is largely accurate, and generally reflects the attitude most sentient races have towards the Spemin (to be fair, they largely deserve it).
First contact between the Old Empire and the Spemin was in 2675. At the time, the Spemin were in a pre-technological state. The Old Empire put a lot of effort into teaching the Spemin their science and technology, with the goal of making them a valued contributor to Imperial society (much like what they did with the Thrynn and the Elowan). In 2790 the Secret Society for Spemin Superiority (the SSSS) gained power on the Spemin homeworld of Spewta (α82x148, p1) and declared war on the Empire, attacking with the same technology the Empire had given them.
The Empire largely ignored this declaration until the Spemin began raiding nearby unarmed colonies and commercial interests, at which point a Imperial task force was sent in for a counter-attack. This task force inadvertently managed to destroy the entire Spemin war fleet in the process.
When the First Wave reached the Alpha Sector in the year 3000, the Spemin begged for protection from the approaching Numlox and Phlegmak fleets, which the Empire granted despite the earlier aggression. However, at the end of the First Wave (3260) the Spemin began commerce raiding once again. With the Empire in a weakened state it was some time before a task force could be spared to end the raiding.
When the Second Wave began in 3400 the Spemin asked the Empire for protection again. The Empire flat out refused to protect the Spemin again owing to their earlier aggression. To preserve their race, the Spemin managed to trick the Gazurtoid into an alliance.
The Spemin provided the invaders with intimate knowledge of Imperial technologies and locations of Imperial colonies. The Gazurtoid, for their part, kept the Spemin informed about the movements of the Uhlek, thus allowing the Spemin to stay out of their way. This kept the Spemin from being annihilated by the Uhlek when they passed through Spemin territory; they simply moved to stay out of the way.
With the Empire gone, the Spemin expanded their sphere of influence, such that by the time Arth sent out its first interstellar expedition, the Spemin had one of the larger spheres of influence in the Alpha Sector.
Additional clues to the flaring of stars are found in the Four Seedlings, a quadrilaterally symmetrical system made up of four suns. Centuries ago, the leaders of the Old Empire realized something was causing hostile aliens to flee from the center of the galaxy. In various wars at least two of these hostile races were defeated, the Numlox and the Phlegmak, but the arrival of 2 other races, the Gazurtoid and Uhlek nearly destroy the old empire.
The Gazurtoid are an aquatic, xenophobic species. They have been on the run from solar flares for so long that they forgot why the were running and have adapted a religious goal, repeated ad nauseam, to cleanse the galaxy of all air breathing species of life. They normally convey this message by attacking ships of any air breathing species they encounter, but have been known to let those who are willing to listen to their religious rhetoric or pretend to be waterbreathing themselves (eg the Spemin) to be spared.
The Gazurtoid are in a state of war with almost every other starfaring race except the Uhlek.
Native to the Delta Sector, the Leghk were once a peaceful, benevolent race who held science and philosophy in the highest regard, and were therefore one of the most technologically advanced civilizations in the entire universe. Unfortunately, a being from another dimension known simply as "The Uhl" appeared in their territory a million years in the past, and began "possessing" the minds of the Leghk telepathically. A great war between the normal Leghk and the possessed Leghk ensued in which billions died, and in which the Leghk's vaunted faith in science ultimately failed them utterly. Attempts to save their civilization
After completing the possession of the Leghk, the Uhl Leghk (or Uhlek, as they were now known), remained in the Delta Sector until 40,000 years ago, when the Crystal Planet passed through the Delta Sector. Migrating outward every 2000 years, the Uhlek entered the Alpha Sector as part of the Second Wave in 3400. Along with the Gazurtoid, they were directly responsible for the final fall of the Old Empire in 3480. They ultimately settled in the far outward expanses of the Sector, and remained there awaiting their next migration cycle until the destruction of the Brain World by planing of a "Black Egg" planet bomb.
The greatest minds from each of the races gathered at this location, where they discovered that the Crystal Planet was slowly eradicating all life. In a last act, they sent a human named Commander McConnell to end it, but he failed. The Crystal Planet is slowly moving through the galaxy and causes nearby stars to flare up and destroy all life in the system.
After exploring various solar systems, gathering clues, and finding special artifacts that grant access to the Crystal Planet, ultimately the crew destroys it before the player's home system flares. Commander McConnell's last journal entry was be found on the surface of the Crystal Planet; in it, he shares his discovery that Endurium is actually a race of living, sentient beings who are being burned up as fuel for interstellar travel by various organic, carbon based alien races including humanity.
Because their metabolism is extremely slow due to their crystalline makeup, they are not even aware of outside life and have come to view other races as a kind of virus and create the Crystal Planet in order to wipe out all organic life.
The Crystal planet was destroyed after the crew successfully planted an artifact created by another another alien race called the "Black Egg" on the Crystal Planet's surface and retreats back into space, causing the planet to explode, and the flaring of stars to end. Later on, most starfaring races switch to a new fuel type called Shyneum.