Fiction:Sera Galaxy

"Among the countless offspring of the universe, in which we came into existence, is Sera – the Mother, our legacy and the only gift we received from our ancestors. It is, undoubtedly due to the blind luck, or at least it was, a home to myriad of species, which together created a society so unique and so beautiful, that it was beyond comprehension of those, who teared it down."

- Ahes Merren

Sera Galaxy, also known as "Maèrlandäỳr Cloud" or "The Feather" was a SBb type, relatively big galaxy located in Erion Beta Supergroup, situated near the edge of the observable universe. It was destroyed during the Annihilation, however it remains unsettled, whether all life existing in it was destroyed during the Great Seran War nearly a thousand years earlier. Currently Sera is inaccessible, however some civilizations that managed to escape it during the Exodus period of the war managed to reach other galaxies. Among such notable ones is URN, whose founders managed to reach the Cyrannus Galaxy in 1928.

Sera had few satellite galaxies and is believed to have been the central galaxy within the Sinai-Erion Group. It was a spiral barred galaxy with two distinct arms (Maèrlandäỳr Lär, Sändaùzar Lär) and few radius (noticeable branches of those arms). Stars in Sera presented a trend similar to the one in the Milky Way, with slightly higher rate of older and heavier stars. The galactic dust was rich in light elements, with the amount of heavier elements slightly higher than average. Abundance and hospitability of Sera directly translated to large biodiversity.

The accessible information about Sera is mostly defective, due to numerous difficulties in preserving it safe during the Exodus, as well as errors in data accrued during several years of intergalactic vacuum drift.

The White Eon
For several billion years after its formation, Sera remained completely sterile. Earliest signs of life trace back to around 8 bn. years ago, when the radiation level begun to decrease due to older star population dying out. This change let life to emerge in remote regions far from the galactic centre, which remained inhospitable since then.

The earliest acknowledged evidence of life presence come from the terminal regions of the Maèrlandäỳr Arm. First emergent species appeared around 9,4 bn. years ago in the Maèr-Kaza sector. These civilizations managed to contact each other and form a small society limited to area of around 180 ly in diameter. Eventually it turned out that these species exhibited puzzling similarities in physiology and biochemistry, however reason for this was then still unknown. This trend however remained the same in other areas of the galaxy – such coincidence continued to appear even between remote regions.

For millions of years, this occurrence remained unexplained. This, however, has changed with the discovery of so-called “” – around a dozen of celestial bodies, similar to the Moon in mass and size. These structures hid technology greatly exceeding the capabilities and knowledge of the Serans of that time. No apparent function of these structures was learned, although some popular theories state that the Silent Archives were either gigantic tombs, or humongous databases, storing data for unknown purpose.

Following discoveries have revealed more clues. Research made cooperatively by several galactic societies proved to be successful in defining the age and origin of those artifacts. Such region was narrowed down to approximately 500-300 ly in Maèrlandäỳr Arm, in the Ỳlzỳvàx-Meló sector. Due to the lack of any evidence of the existence of civilization that created these objects, the creators of the Silent Archives had been called “” (epj. Ỳlzỳvàx).

In the course of the next few centuries, more information about The Unseen was gathered. That eventually led to a series of events, which brought upon destructive conflicts all across the Sera. Wars over technology and influence became fatal for first civilizations – galaxy flawless up till then was profaned by the blood of billions of beings – the White Eon was about to end.

The Tephyr Eon
Sudden drop in total population of the galaxy caused by the series of so-called “Silent Wars”, which ended the White Eon, caused major downfall of the galactic society and culture for next few thousand years. Despite major loses on all sides, in just few hundred years civilizations damaged in those conflicts managed to fully recover and begun working together. Many “galactic hearths” – regions of the galaxy characterized by high biodiversity – were completely destroyed, however on the course of next few thousand years new ones begun to emerge.

Total population of the galaxy grew exponentially, causing many changes to the galaxy. Despite positive effects, like bustling trade, the malign ones were soon to follow. Rivalry between civilizations quickly grew in power, conflicts over the Silent Archives were more frequent than ever before, even despite the fact that not a single bit of the technology hidden within these structures was recovered up to this day. Chaos was slowly taking over the Sera once again – more and more outbreaks and wars finally caused utter destruction and extermination of over half of the species existing by this time. Intelligence that managed to survive this period of violence, now remembered as the “Loud Wars”, in many cases decided to leave Sera and seek future in other galaxies within the Sinai-Erion Group, as well as the satellite galaxies of the Sera – primarily and.

Despite its ending, the Tephyr Eon marked the golden era of the galaxy. Biodiversity and advancements in technology and culture reached levels never to be reached again. Many species that left Sera by the end of this eon have never returned, however new galactic hearths continued to appear. Arguably the most popular symbol of the Tephyr Eon is the Blue Tephyr flower – a plant incredibly common in all reaches of Sera, renowned for its beauty, taste and aroma.

The Two Hegemonies Period
Next few centuries passed by relatively peacefully, while the civilizations were advancing slowly, yet gradually. This calm period was interrupted by the appearance of humanoid race of unknown origin, calling themselves “Tana’a”. Aggressive policy of the invaders and cruel attitude towards Seran natives quickly resulted in deeming them the “Eb’kóbat” – Cruel Tribe. Tana’a begun their conquests around 1,24 billion years ago. The pace of their advancements suggest that in fact they might have originated from a nearby galaxy, where they probably managed to subjugate its dominant part.

Rapid actions taken by the Tana’a became distressful for the Serans – for the first time, they were to stand up against such overwhelming enemy. After few years since the invaders appeared for the first time, the major civilizations located in the Sändaùzar Arm, far more threatened by the attackers, begun constructing a coalition, now known as the “Sändaùzar Pact”. Despite major dominance of the Tana’a, this new alliance proved surprisingly successful in battles. Effectiveness of the guerrilla attacks and sabotage attempts have significantly damaged the Tana’a command, presumably as well as their communication with their main, extragalactic military command. Eventually in spite of immense war enthusiasm on the side of the defenders, state of unstable equilibrium was soon to follow – attacks became less and less regular, engagements scarce. Throughout next few years only few small skirmishes occurred, and though both sides were officially at war with each other, warfare ceased and the territories under control of the Tana’a and Sändaùzar Pact lasted somewhat in peace.

Sändaùzar Pact, formally a democratic alliance, had soon started to turn into an autocratic regime under the control of fairly broad group of oligarchs of diversified origin. The most influential species - Óuşal and B’vuph, ruthlessly governed all allied territory. For around 30 years these groups managed to wield the power over subjugated states, although the unrest, mostly instigated by refugees who escaped sectors under the Tana’a control, became a significant threat to the regime. First uprisings have risen up within the Tana’a territory. Some of the rebellious groups have joined up together forming factions, which often decided to recognise authority of the Sändaùzar Pact. Hastened overextension of the administration, paired with renewed military actions against the Tana’a soon led up to numerous separatist outbreaks throughout the Pact’s territory.

Last few years of the Two Hegemonies Period were very chaotic. Many smaller groups and factions, which started to appear soon after the Tana’a demise, formed minor coalitions and short-lived alliances. The upcoming dire times of galaxy-wide civil war have caused another wave of extinction spanning entire Sera. One of the casus belli used in these conflicts to legitimize them were the claims for the leftovers of The Unseen – in just few dozen years all known Silent Archives were destroyed, numerous artefacts and relics have vanished or were lost in the galactic dust.

The Calm Eon
Fractured galactic society, divided into uncountable groups and alliances covering small amounts of space, often separated by hundreds of light years from one another, gradually achieved stabilized state. Fall of the Two Hegemonies caused numerous civil wars and geopolitical crises have led to significant devastation in the regions encompassed by recent conflicts.

Period currently remembered as the “Calm Eon” has left few primary sources. Those which survived up to this day, are often damaged or nearly impossible to read off. Slow changes in the species composition of the galaxy allowed recovery of the losses made in recent centuries. In order to assure peace in the galaxy and prevent possible conflicts in the future, soon many minor, regional defensive alliances begun to form. Those coordinated associations however nearly always became local warmongers, subjugating any sovereign states present in their neighbourhood, against which coalitions have often formed. In order to end this, around 2,5 bn. years ago, several meetings in various sectors of the galaxy were arranged. Representatives of invited civilizations have agreed to establish a pan-galactic organization, soon deemed the “Seran Collective” prior to its formal formation. In the course of next few decades, nearly a third of all Seran spacefaring civilizations have joined the organization.

Thanks to the actions taken by the Collective’s committee, the situation in the galaxy was further stabilized, what resulted in long-lasting time of peace. The organization itself was not only dedicated to preserving the peacefulness though. Collective soon became recognized as an association of nations willing to enrich their culture, join the free market or share technologies with each other. 236 years after the establishment of the Seran Collective, the Galactic Parliament, gathering emissaries of all the members of the organization, was brought to life.

The Calm Eon had no clear end, although the event regarded as its demise was the beginning of the Şelesyan war around 93.902 years BCE, which encompassed a large chunk of the Sändaùzar Arm, mainly in the Ormoléka and Sýath sectors.