Writings of the TOTGA-verse

Other Inhabitants of the Milky Way Galaxy
Sometimes it can feel like cybertronians and humans (and occasionally the quintessons) are the main players on the interstellar stage. While theirs are certainly storied histories, they share the galaxy with many other civilizations. Below are just a few of the neighbors to the New Imperium and the UHP.

Dire Wraiths

The Dire Wraiths are a hostile species native to an uncharted region of the Milky Way ominously named the Dark Nebula. It is unexplored because of its being the Wraiths’ home- no-one else has ever ventured into the nebula and returned. In eons past, the Dire Wraiths would leave the Dark Nebula to attack other species and conquer their worlds, but they were chased back into their region of space and haven’t been seen since.

The Wraiths are an organic species: bipedal, reptilian, and possessing four arms and naturally-growing blades of bone protruding from their scales. They have six narrow eyes- three on either side of their head- and wide jaws packed with fangs. Their technology is advanced, though a good amount of it has come from other species that they have either conquered or attempted to conquer. Wraiths also have the ability to infect other life-forms with their cells, spreading them like a virus and effectively mutating the victims into more Dire Wraiths. These converts have many of the same traits and abilities of their original selves, but their minds are overwritten with a new personality. It is unlikely that this is a naturally-evolved ability, though whether the Wraiths use it chiefly as a biological weapon or a means of reproduction is unclear. Not even mechanical life-forms are immune to the infection, though the resulting hybrids created from such fusions are often grotesque.

The Dire Wraiths attacked the Imperium of Cybertron in 100013400 CE, laying siege to its outer colonies. They were swiftly repelled, however, and they were then beat back into the Dark Nebula by an interspecies organization called the Solstar Order. What the Dire Wraiths have been up to since, is anyone’s guess.

Rock Lords

The Rock Lords are bipedal crustaceans native to the planet Quartex, named for their rugged and durable shells that resemble formations of volcanic rock. Theirs used to be a society of conquerors, subjugating other species and picking their worlds’ clean of natural resources, but a chance encounter with the Knights of Cybertron in 37400 BCE made them see the error of their ways (at the point of the Star Saber). Retreating to their home system, the Rock Lords restructured their society and made reparations to the civilizations they had conquered. The Rock Lords further redeemed themselves in the Third Quintesson War, fighting alongside the Federation of Allied Species against the quintessons. These days, they mostly keep to themselves, and aren’t in the minds of the rest of interstellar society all that much.

Nebulons

The Nebulon Republics are one of the oldest civilizations alive today in the Milky Way Galaxy, having already achieved advanced interstellar travel by the time they made First Contact with the Imperium of Cybertron in 39500 BCE. Their homeworld, Nebulos, features harsh environments and enormous predatory organisms, so ancient nebulons quickly learned that they needed to band together in order to survive.

Nebulons are humanoids, and physically weak in comparison to most other species. Perhaps to compensate for this, their civilization is highly technologically advanced. Powered exosuits are commonplace in civilian and military sectors, and cybernetic enhancement is a widespread cultural practice. They have long been allies of the cybertronians, and the two species have frequently exchanged technology in their time together. The spirit of cooperation that was fostered among their ancestors continues to influence their dealings with other species: they seek coexistence with others when at all possible, and commit themselves to preserving mutually-beneficial partnerships with longtime allies.

Mikesu

The mikesu are a relatively young civilization- they have “only” achieved interstellar travel within the last twenty million years, but they have done well for themselves in that time. They’re remarkably similar to humans in appearance- from the neck down, at least. They’re distinguishable from homo sapiens through their leaner musculatures, vertically-oriented pupils, and feline-like ears atop their heads. Junkions and humans with a particular obsession with certain facets of popular media seem to have a bizarre affinity for the mikesu, which most mikesu have learned to begrudgingly tolerate. They hail from the planet Godbless, so named because their creation myth tells that the planet was made habitable by their supreme deity as a show of good will.

The mikesu are a hardy people, taking to the stars with great vigor. They can often be found on space stations or civilian fleets, or acting as scouts on planetary exploration missions. On the whole, they are an amiable sort; though individual temperaments can vary, as with any civilization.

Lithonians

The lithonians are a race of artificial intelligences hailing from the planet Lithone. Unlike cybertronians (to whom they are frequently compared), lithonians are purely software-based organisms; the mechanical bodies they frequently inhabit are merely constructs that they can transfer their consciousnesses to and from with ease. They were created some eighteen million years ago by an unknown organic race, who all perished in some mysterious calamity that swept through their modest collection of worlds. The lithonians aren’t the most social of civilizations- most of them just want to be left alone, and to leave others alone. Some are more adventurous, though, and download themselves into hardy Excursion Chassis to explore the galaxy and interact with other cultures.

Vok

Technically, the vok do not live in the Milky Way galaxy- or in the physical universe at all. They’re an incorporeal race of energy beings who come from another plane of existence, though they seem to have a strange interest in the people and goings-on of the Milky Way. They’re known to conduct bizarre experiments on planets uninhabited by intelligent life, setting up biomechanical machines on their surfaces and altering the local flora and fauna. What purposes these experiments serve are unknown, but they violate a litany of ethics doctrines established by the Federation of Allied Species. Because of the vok’s trans-dimensional nature, however, punishing them directly for their transgressions is… difficult. It seems the Allied Species must be content with dismantling their technology wherever and whenever they find it. The vok never seem to put up much of a fight whenever their experiments are compromised; they simply salvage what they can and relocate elsewhere. They have never directly threatened an intelligent civilization, as far as anyone can tell, but they are still regarded with suspicion by most, and officially considered hostile by the Allied Species.

Thraal and A'ovan

Any discussion on the thraal cannot be held without mentioning the a’ovan; and any discussion on the a’ovan cannot be held without mentioning the thraal. Long before cybertronians became as proficient as they are in interstellar warfare, the thraal and a’ovan peoples were already masters of the craft- having honed their skills against each other for ages. The thraal are the more militaristic of the two species, but both civilizations claim that it was the other that started the conflict. Their most recent war came to an end some two-thousand years ago, after they decimated many of each others’ star systems with superluminal weapons. They live together now on their remaining worlds, and there is great hope that this alliance will be permanent.

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