SPOILER ALERT: This history reveals a lot of the background from the three games; a number of the surprises in Star Control II and Star Control III are given away here. No puzzles are solved, but many mysteries are wrecked. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Note: The Star Control: Interbellum novel incorporates some rather severe changes to the way the universe works. Check the Interbellum page for full details on Interbellum.

According to the natural order of the universe, sentient beings evolve from physical entities dependent on chemical energy to beings of pure energy that feed upon pure energy. Ideally, when a species begins to evolve into pure energy, they transcend this plane of existence and move on to another phase of being. However, this does not always occur.

At some point in the inconceivably distant past, a race we now know as the Eternal Ones began to make the shift to pure energy. However, they could not bring themselves to make the leap to translate themselves to the next phase of being. They have remained behind in this reality, feeding off of its energy.

As the Eternal Ones became more complex, the types of energy they required did too. First they could feed on any kind of energy (starlight, etc.) Then they required bioelectric energy from living beings. Eventually only the energies produced by sentient beings would suffice to sustain them.

When the Eternal Ones feed, they tear open thousands and thousands of HyperSpace Portals, channeling all the sentience in the galaxy into the galactic core, where they then feed. This process leaves many worlds devastated and every sentient in that galaxy dead.

Because of this, galactic sentience goes in cycles, with sentient beings rising up, conquering their galaxies, and then being struck down by the Eternal Ones.

Several races have been able to avoid the harvesting of the Eternal Ones; the Slylandro modified their form of sentience so the Eternal Ones would not find it edible, the Arilou hid in a TrueSpace eddy of QuasiSpace, and the Precursors devolved themselves into non-sentience.

The last Eternal One feeding was roughly 200,000 years ago, and one is due very soon. (Unless the campaign takes place after Star Control III, of course.)

Though the Precursors measure galactic cycles in Eternal One feedings, many civilizations have risen and fallen in this cycle as well. After the events in Star Control III, the League of Sentient Races controls the League Quadrant (from Star Control II), the Kessarri Quadrant, and (with the fall of the Hegemonic Crux) much of the Crux Quadrant as well. Soon (perhaps by the end of Star Control IV?) the League of Sentient Races may control the entire galaxy, as the Sentient Milieu did before it.

Since the Ur-Quan were solitary hunters, they did not get along very well with the other races (with the exception of the Taalo, who, with their silicon-based biology, did not trigger the fierce territoriality of the Ur-Quan), and so they became the Milieu's solitary scouts, landing on millions of worlds and bringing back thousands of artifacts. This also meant that the Ur-Quan were exposed to unknown dangers more than any other race in galactic history. The Ur-Quan, however, were usually quite capable of taking care of themselves. But one day an Ur-Quan scout made a routine landing on the planet Glilandy, checking some anomalous energy readings.

Glilandy was the homeworld of the Dnyarri. The Dnyarri were evil, intelligent, dog-sized, toad-shaped creatures with phenomenal mind-control powers. The Ur-Quan were especially susceptible to psychic control, and the scout brought hundreds of Dnyarri to the main Milieu worlds.

In weeks, the entire galaxy was under the control of the Dnyarri, with one exception: the Taalo. Their rock-like biology rendered them immune from the Dnyarri's psychic compulsion. The Dnyarri would not permit any race to not be under their heels, so they compelled the Ur-Quan to destroy the Taalo--the only race that the Ur-Quan had ever called "friend."

The Dnyarri favored the Ur-Quan, as they were easily compelled. The Dnyarri split the Ur-Quan into two sub-races; one Green, the thinkers and planners, and one Black, the warriers and doers. The Green Ur-Quan became the scientists and bureaucrats of the Dnyarri's empire, while the Black Ur-Quan became its grunt labor. Over three thousand years, the Milieu continued to degenerate. The Yuli and the Drall were found inferior by the Dnyarri and ordered destroyed. Long-term exposure to the Dnyarri's psychic compulsion led to severe mental damage amongst the surviving races. The Green Ur-Quan scientist Kzer-Za, working on solving this problem, discovered that when a slave dies, the Dnyarri disconnects its mind from the dying slave, lest it too be dragged down to death. The Dnyarri also disconnected from a slave that was undergoing extreme pain. By this time, the Dnyarri were growing lazy, and permitting their slaves moments of free will. When Kzer-Za was both near a transmitter and of free will, he injected himself with an acidic poison, and used his last tortured moments of life to broadcast his discovery to all Ur-Quan.

All over the galaxy, Ur-Quan began mutilating themselves, causing themselves extreme pain for just long enough to find the nearest Dnyarri and crush it to a pulp. This technique was refined into a device called the Excruciator that generated an continual stream of agony, making the Ur-Quan's life a living hell, but granting it complete freedom as well. In months, the Slave Revolt was won, and the Green and Black Ur-Quan met in orbit above Glilandy to decide what to do to the remaining Dnyarri on the planet's surface, and to decide how to ensure that the Ur-Quan would never again be made slaves.

The first decision was reached quickly. The Dnyarri were to be genetically modified into sub-sentience, and then forced to serve the Ur-Quan as translators for all eternity.

The second decision was much more difficult. The Green Ur-Quan, calling themselves the Kzer-Za after the Ur-Quan who started the revolt, proposed the "Path of Now and Forever," which stipulated that all other races must either fight for the Ur-Quan as battle thralls or be imprisoned forever beneath an impenetrable force shield. The black Ur-Quan, calling themselves the Kohr-Ah after a charismatic fleet officer, proposed a simpler alternative: the "Eternal Doctrine" which calls for the systematic eradication of all non-Ur-Quan sentient life. The Kohr-Ah annihilated the Yuptar, and the Kzer-Za imprisoned the Faz, and both met above the homeworld of the Mael-Num. Neither faction of Ur-Quan would submit. Somebody fired a shot, and the first Doctrinal War began. The Mael-Num fled their worlds while the Ur-Quan fought, never to be seen again.

The Doctrinal War would have ended with the destruction of both sides had the Kzer-Za not discovered a Precursor battleship, which they called the "Sa-Matra," meaning "Great Trophy." With the Sa-Matra on their side, the Kzer-Za defeated the Kohr-Ah swiftly. The First Doctrinal War was over.

But the Kzer-Za were humble in their victory. Instead of exterminating the Kohr-Ah, the Kzer-Za exiled them, bidding them travel against the spin of the galaxy, while the Kzer-Za traveled with its spin. Each would pursue its seperate doctrines. When again they would meet, they would fight in a ritual combat in the Second Doctrinal War, and the Sa-Matra would go to the winner.

The Ur-Quan sub-races went their seperate ways, leaving a wake of destruction behind them. The Sentient Milieu had collapsed. Never since has a multi-species civilization spanned the entire galaxy.

As the Ur-Quan moved through the galaxy, they battled many races. Now, where they battled them is sort of a mystery, because logically either the Crux Quadrant or the Kessari Quadrant must have been destroyed by the Kohr-Ah or the Kzer-Za, but just skip over that. OK? Anyway, when the Kzer-Za entered the quadrant, they conquered the Thraddash, the Umgah, and the Spathi. They attempted to attack the Ilwrath, but a defense force of Chenjesu and Mmrnmhrm turned them back. The Ur-Quan shifted over, subjugating the Androsynth and the VUX. In this time the Mycon joined the Hierarchy voluntarily. With these forces, they successfully took the Ilwrath. With these races they began the assault on the Alliance.

The Hierarchy of Battle Thralls really only existed to fight the Alliance of Free Stars, though once the Alliance was defeated they continued until the disastrous end of the Second Doctrinal War and the successful conclusion of the Liberation War. (The battles between the Hierarchy and the Alliance are chronicled in Star Control. Play Star Control II to reenact the Liberation Wars.)

The Alliance of Free Stars was originally a mutual defense pact between the Chenjesu and the Mmrnmhrm. The Yehat and their uplifted subrace the Shofixti joined after the Hierarchy attacked their stars. Shortly after this, in 2112, the Chenjesu contacted us and convinced us to join the Alliance. The day after we joined the Alliance, the Arilou La Lee'Lay showed up in orbit around Luna, asking to also be inducted into the Alliance. The final member of the Alliance, though unofficial, were the Syreen, a race of space gypsies who had been suffering from VUX raids on their space habitats. The Habitats were moved into Human Space, and the heavy industry of the Earthlings supplied the Alliance while cranking out Human Cruisers and Syreen Penetrators to assist the war effort.

The Great Crucible of Sentience was the Chenjesu's name for the five-year war fought between the Alliance of Free Stars and the Ur-Quan Hierarchy of Battle Thralls. (This conflict is documented in Star Control.) With seven races fighting on each side (the Thraddash were left behind to guard the flank), the superior technology and tactics of the Ur-Quan gave them the advantage throughout most of the War. However, after years of combat, the Coreward Front remained intact. It was at this point that the Ur-Quan elected to end the conflict.

The Kzer-Za brought their trump card into the game--the horrific Sa-Matra. The Alliance forces were rapidly defeated. The Chenjesu and the Mmrnmhrm were slave-shielded together on their homeworld, where they began The Process. They sent a message to the Humans, recommending a temporary surrender until a way could be found to defeat the Sa-Matra. The Humans fell to the Ur-Quan next. Without the Humans' war materials, and without the Chenjesu's leadership, the Alliance fell apart. The Yehat and the Shofixti prepared a final defense at the Shofixti Homeworld at Delta Gorno as the Arilou left this reality behind. The Syreen were left alone, directly in the path of the Ur-Quan Armada. Following the Syreen's surrender and imprisonment on Betelgeuse, the Ur-Quan turned their fleets toward the last races.

The Yehat and the Shofixti fleets were ready for the Ur-Quan Armada at Delta Gorno. However, the Ur-Quan assaulted the Yehat homeworld before the Shofixti's. The Yehat Empire had been in the process of decay for some time--the Warriors of the Starship Clans had been united under the promise of the Veep-Neep Queens--that under their wing, the Starship Clans would never suffer defeat. When the Ur-Quan Armada arrived at Gamma Serpentis, the Veep-Neep Queen abruptly shifted alliance to the Ur-Quan, thus joining them as Battle Thralls. The Yehat fleet was ordered to pull out of Delta Gorno. Although they believed their Queen's switch of allegiance as ultimately dishonorable, they obeyed, leaving the Shofixti alone to fight the Ur-Quan Armada.

The Shofixti fought valiantly against the Ur-Quan, but given their favored tactic--closing to their opponents and detonating their suicidal Glory Devices--the entire defense force was gone in hours. The Dreadnoughts moved towards the Shofixti homeworld of Kyabetsu. The Shofixti, realizing that they had lost, now sought to ensure that both sides would lose. The Shofixti detonated a massive Precursor matter/anti-matter bomb in the outer photosphere of their sun, causing the pressurized plasma within to burst out in an artificial nova. All the inner worlds were devastated, but the entire task force was annihilated. With this one stroke, the Hierarchy's battle fleet was reduced by 30%, but the Alliance had fallen.

When the Ur-Quan imprisoned the Humans on Earth, they neglected to destroy one of their colonies. This colony, Unzervalt, was the outgrowth of a top-secret research expedition to Vela II after all contact with Earth was lost. After twenty years of isolation, the research colony had managed to unearth a Precursor starship factory and decipher how to set it in action. Although there were not enough materials available on the planet to build a complete vessel, the ship, lightly armed, with a skeleton crew, and flying on fumes, returned to Earth, to find it under a slave shield.

After some convincing, the commander of Earth Starbase agreed to assist the starship's captain in fighting the Ur-Quan. With this was the Concordance born. (This tale is told in Star Control II. Yes, I'm aware that "The Concordance of Alien Nations" is only one of the options you get for naming the new alliance. But all the other choices are derivative. GMs running a Star Control II campaign can name it whatever they please.)

Many events of galactic significance occurred while the Concordance marshalled its power. The Kohr-Ah arrived in the quadrant and the Second Doctrinal War began. The Chenjesu and Mmrnmhrm were fused together into the hybrid Chmmr. The Shofixti were reborn, and the Yehat overthrew their Queen. The Pkunk rejoined with the Yehat. The Syreen learned the fate of their homeworld and extracted their revenge. Finally, the Ur-Quan's invincible battle platform, the Sa-Matra, was destroyed by the Concordance, the captain sacrificing his Precursor vessel to annihilate the Sa-Matra with a Precursor bomb similar to the one used by the Shofixti to nearly exterminate themselves.

After the defeat of the Ur-Quan the Concordance mutated into the League of Sentient Races.

The League of Sentient Races was founded after the Liberation Wars to maintain peace in the quadrant. The requirements for joining were simple; all that is necessary is the foreswearing of slavery and genocide. Because of this, every race available in the quadrant joined the League except the Druuge, the Ilwrath, and the Thraddash.

The Ur-Quan joined the League as well. Both Doctrines lost the Second Doctrinal War, and the two factions had falled into chaos. But an Ur-Quan Kzer-Za developed a new doctrine: The Path Of Ceaseless Vigilance. This path is similar to the Path of Now and Forever, but with one crucial difference: with the Path of Ceaseless Vigilance, there are no preemptive strikes. Sentient races are monitored by the Ur-Quan until they become direct threats to Ur-Quan well-being. Then the threatening race is offered a choice: be sealed under a slave shield or be annihilated. The Ur-Quan will then act on that choice. (This is permissible by League standards on the grounds that a race that can seriously threaten the Ur-Quan can also seriously threaten the League.)

Soon after the founding of the League, HyperSpace travel collapsed and several star systems proceeded to collapse from unnatural interdimensional fatigue. The Human captain who commanded the Precursor Starship during the Liberation Wars, and who now was the Captain of the League of Sentient Races, had constructed another vessel, this time with a new engine technology called the Warp Bubble that permitted interstellar travel even without HyperSpace.

The League mounted an expedition to the Kessari Quadrant, seeking some way to restore the fundamental structure of reality. It was here that they met the Hegemonic Crux.

The Hegemonic Crux is not native to the Kessari Quadrant; they are also invaders, seeking conquest. The Crux consists of five main races, held together by the trickery of the Ploxis Plutocrats. The K'tang and the Daktaklakpak have both been tricked into believing that they are the true rulers of the Crux. This is untrue; the Ploxis' Precursor vessel is the source of the power of the Crux. The Doogs and the Clairconctlar both are trapped in allegiance to the Crux through the manipulations of the Ploxis. The Harika and the Yorn have joined the Crux because they believe that the Crux holds the only hope for their two species' salvation. The Doogs, Clair, and Harika all turn to the League when the deceptions are revealed and thwarted.

After losing all their subordinate races, the Crux was finally defeated by the League when their Precursor vessel was destroyed. After the destruction of the Ploxis' Precursor vessel, they set off their "Eternal One Bomb" that summoned the Eternal Ones. Quick thinking by the League saved the galaxy from destruction. (No, I'm not going to tell you how it's done. Play Star Control III and find out.)

Campaigns set after the events in Star Control III could either take place in the League Quadrant (putting down Ilwrath rebellions, funded by the Druuge and the Kohr-Ah?) the Kessari Quadrant (calming things down and asserting full League control), in the Crux Quadrant (cleaning up the final mess), or possibly in the final quadrant that we haven't heard about yet, save that it must have been where the Mael-Num homeworld was (because it's on the opposite end of the galaxy from the League, and the Kzer-Za and Kohr-Ah met in the League Quadrant). Most of the mysteries have been solved in SCIII, though: what happened to the Precursors, why the Arilou are interested in Humans, what the Ultron does, and what the Rainbow Worlds are really for.

But hey, that just means the players can never prove you wrong, right?