Fiction:Aztlan

Aztlan is the colloquial name given to the sector of space, and sometimes also the people, populated by a Neo-Aztec society. The descendants of transplanted 16th century Nahua peoples, primarily from the Aztec Triple alliance and their rival polity the Tlaxcala, they are notable for their skilled use of a highly-sophisticated, omnipurpose utility fog/nanoswarm which so fuels their civilisation. Despite this technological gift from long-gone precursor aliens, the society remains largely as it was since before the transplant, with significant technological and societal progress being surprisingly slow.

Origins, 1490s-1520 to 2600
While the exact date is unknown what is known is that in about 1490-1520 AD, the abducted vast numbers of Nahua people, specifically from the Aztec Triple Alliance and the neighbouring Tlaxcala kingdom, for a resettlement and cultural preservation project. The colony ships that carried these people were automated, and were designed to quickly and discreetly resettle these people on a suitable world. Due to a massive system malfunction, however, the ship was sent off course, and for over a millenium wandered around the barest outskirts of intergalactic space, using its damaged circuits and code to find a suitable world. Eventually, the starships, in and around the 2600s, found a suitable, tropical world and ejected its still-preserved human cargo to the surface, before promptly self-destructing. The people emerge, confused but determined, and begin to build a society.

Alien Overlordship, 2600-2700
There were, however, issues early on. Soon after the villages and towns were established along national lines-- Aztec and Tlaxcala-- the two groups begin fighting eachother in bush warfare, as a continuation to the bitter rivalry they so had in the past. This would go on for about fifty years.

While the Aztecs did pay attention to the strange artifacts on their new homeworld-- dead stargates and large monuments that the like-- it wasn't until two small groups of aliens, the remaining precursor aliens who built these monuments, revealed themselves to the Aztecs and Tlaxcalans, respectively, that they learnt the secrets of some of this technology. These aliens taught the primitive humans how to use their sole remaining technological artifact-- a form of omnipurpose Utility Fog, that replicates through the consumption of organic materials, particularly using protein and iron. The Fog could be used to assist in infrastructural projects, binding and sealing things-- such as starships made of stone and wood-- and even as a form of propulsion, such as thrusters and even a rudimentary, exotic form of "firearm" using the Fog. The Fog was also useful for computation and interfaces.

These two groups of aliens, however, had ulterior, sinister motives and a mutual rivalry, the origin of which has since been lost to time. Having taught their respective groups of humans Fog use, they then pitted them against one another, using their leaders as easily influenced pawns, the new priesthood that had sprung up around them to manipulate the regular people, and the armies to deal blows to their rivals without having to risk their own safety. It was during this time that the Aztecs built their first functioning stargates to the surfaces of other worlds using the fog and architectural techniques, and also their first starships (which used a less-stable, short-range form of stargate to facilitate interstellar travel). Even with the vast expansion of land and population over this ~50 year period, however, the Aztecs and Tlaxcala were still stretched to near the breaking point by the constant demands for men and war of their alien overlords.

Eventually, things came to a head, and when in a fit of anger an Aztec jaguar warrior lashed out and cut the head off of an alien who had been on his way to a audience with the Huey-Tlatoani of the Aztecs, the deceit was quickly revealed, and unravelled. The aliens were not gods, nor, as it was soon after revealed, were they working in the best interests of humanity. The aliens were rapidly overthrown and the priesthood that had endorsed them sacrificed to the true gods, whose worship was hastily reinstated. It would not be long for news to spread to the Tlaxcalans, and they too overthrew their alien masters and reinstated old worship.

Society
Societal structure has changed little from the traditional Aztec societies they hail from. Organised into ethnically-defined city-states known as Altepetl, they are heavily militarised with a meritocratic military structure, whose ranks are determined largely by the number of captives that are taken. The different warrior orders-- Knights of the Jaguar, Eagle, and Arrow, survive and thrive, having been upgraded through the integration of the Fog into their biology to become supersoldiers.

Altepetls often form tightly-knit alliances, known as Altepetl Confederations, and often with one city becoming the superior partner, thus forming an empire of sorts. Altepetls otherwise commonly go to war with eachother for captives and tribute, building empires by force. These empires are highly decentralised and hegemonic, often focused around a single city and allowing the local government to exist so long tribute continues to be paid. These polities are ruled by Tlatoani, or "speakers". Essentially, they are kings, elected by a council of elders. They are always from the royal dynasty. Particularly powerful Tlatoanis may be referred to as Huey-Tlatoani-- "Great Speaker".

Technology
Essentially, the neo-Aztec society uses technology almost identical to their 16th-century predecessors. Their biggest asset, however, is the omnipurpose utility fog they obtained from their former alien overlords. This fog might be used to move heavy objects, repair damage, propel objects, bind and seal things-- and enhance human beings if grafted into them. The Fog is also used to power their stargates. The utility fog, ultimately, is a nanoswarm sustained and expanded by organic protein and iron. Thus, human sacrifices are used to build the swarm, and fog is seen as the gods' will made manifest on earth by the humans who use it.

The Fog is also used to construct starships. The starships, whose hull is made of stone and wood, are bound and sealed by the Fog, and its interfaces and propulsion are also fog-based. The possess a form of FTL drive through the use of unstable, relatively short-range stargates opened by the ship itself. These ships, while underpowered and possessing poor maneuverability, often make up for their individual weakness in sheer numbers, being relatively-cheap to produce. These stoneships, as they're called by outsiders, are often used in piracy against civilian craft.

The stargates themselves represent a unique and exotic technology on which much of the society is built upon. A network of planetside gates, constantly maintained by Fog and a special, apolitical order of priests, offer instant transportation between worlds. Due to this, most stargates are put on international grounds, far away from cities. It is often also stipulated that armies may not invade other worlds using the stargates, though this is sometimes ignored by bribing the local gatekeeper-priests for safe passage.

Another curious property of the stargates is the inability to transport most forms of iron or steel through. Any iron components or objects, short of the iron in one's blood or in the Fog, is left at the entrance on the other side. When one attempts to throw iron through a gate, it bounces off as if being thrown against a trampoline. This, on top of practical concerns such as the relatively-primitive smithing technology of the mesoamericans, the surprising ineffectiveness of most iron weapons against traditional mesoamerican armour, and the expense of iron and steel weapons compared to traditional wood-and-obsidian ones means that, even after 200 years, the inhabitants of Aztlan still use their traditional weapons of choice.