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Overview
The Yovions were the oldest, wisest and overall greatest race in the known history of the Haok sector, a sector of the South Arm of the Realtra-S galaxy.Their Empire emerged at a time were the sector was devoid of any other space traveling civilisation, allowing them to grow rapidely and impose themselves to any newcomer.
They are the only Empire to have lived through both the First and Second Birth of the Haok sector, in which they played key roles. The size of their Empire reached its highest point in the middle of the First Birth, where it peaked at around 10,000 colonies, a tenth of which were fully developped. During the Second Birth, they willingly droped to arond 500, but all developped to the maximum.
The Yovion Empire always pioritized diplomatic solutions and peace. This naturaly lead them to form many alliances, but none as important to them as the one with the Ralos, a specie they uplifted and bonded with.
On the other hand, their headstart in their evolution allowed them to build a military power stronger than any other the Haok sector. It was only ever matched by the Triumphor and the Ganorians, the latter causing the Yovions's extinction.
History
Early Empire and First Birth (0 YC - 4370 YC)
Founding of the Empire
Like many other species, the Yovions had their fair share of wars during their civilization stage. Religion, power, wealth, every reason that could birth a conflict was used at least once in their history. What distinguished the Yovions from other species was that nearly all these conflicts ended in a diplomatic manner. Rarely was a side completely annihilated or conquered, eventually the opposing forces chose to end their conflicts as peacefully as they could. A predisposition that inevitably led them to form a diplomat empire in the space stage.
Before creating an Empire, a specie usually explores its own star system first and the Yovions were no exception, but what they found certainly was. Indeed, it turned out Yovaa was not the only inhabitable planet in their system, another one they called Ralos harbored life as well, and not just any life: intelligent life. However, the Ralos (the Yovions gave them the same name as their planet) were drastically behind them in evolution, only just beggining to transition from tribal to civilization, and so the Yovions decided unanimously to let them develop before attempting too much contact. Instead theyt switched their focus to forming their own Galactic Empire.
After six centuries of colonizing and expanding, their Empire was already several hundreds of planets strong, yet they had still not met any other intelligent life outside their system. Convinced they couldn’t be the only ones wandering in space, they moved their efforts to exploring the confines of their sector, which they had named Haok. They eventually found what they were looking for: new intelligent species building their own Empires.
Expansion and dominance
To be precised, they found 11 other Empires, 10 that were rather close and therfore discovered quite fast (from 599 YC to 623 YC) and 1, the Triumphor Empire, which was encountered much later (in 4221 YC) due to its remote location on the outskirts of the sector.
The first 10 were all very young and small: no more than 200 years old for the oldest. Whether in size, technology or knowledge, they all paled in comparison to the Yovions. Moreover, as the Yovions discovered them one by one, they learned each time that they were the first outsiders to contact them. And so the diplomat empire then realized that their sector was pretty much empty of developped space civilizations, theirs was among the first of their era in Haok.
The Yovions relished interacting with these new beings, they were simply fascinated with other cultures, other ways of learning and discovering. Although there was conflict at first with some of the other Empires, their dedication and skill in diplomacy allowed them to prevent any major destruction. Soon enough they became allies with all 10 of their new neighbours, and grew even stronger through it. Indeed, the Yovions were particularly good at taking the best of other’s technologies and improving on it, so the closer they were to their allies, the more they absorbed their knowledge and incorporated it as their own. Through this method, and with their initial advantage, the Yovions quickly imposed themselves as the dominant force in the sector. Under their guidance, they and the 10 other Empires formed the "11 First Alliance" which guaranteed peace and cooperation between all the Empires of Haok. This era of prosperity was later named the “First Birth” and it lasted 4000 years (442 YC-4370 YC).
But the Yovions were so dominant that they involved themselves in nearly everything that happened in Haok. They would negotiate treaties in conflicts that didn't concern them, influence decisions of justice in other Empires, and overall push their opinions and philosophy on everyone. They were convinced that they knew better than anyone what was good for the sector and for peace. Althought this was mostly true, the way they casualy disregarded any thinking that went against their own seemed at best irrespectful, at worst dangerous. Yet the other Empires accepted this in exchange for the wealth and progress that came alongside the Yovions help, but the more time passed, the less independent they were. The Yovions imposed their ways and traditions in everything : trade, science, food, entertainment , there was no limit...so much that, over the centuries, they erased little by little the cultures of the their allies, who became completly dependent on the Yovions in all aspects of their lives and of their thoughts.
Only one Empire openly defied the Yovions: the 12th one known as the Triumphor Empire.
The Yovions had won every conflict they had had with any of the 10 first so far. But the Triumphor were different. Having developped on the outskirts of Haok, they were discovered far later than the 10 others, in 4221 YC. They immedietly distinguished themselves as belligerent warriors, thirsty for any battle they could have. When first contact was made, they had responded by attacking the 11 First Alliance, for no other reason than the glory of defeating their first rival Empires. They managed to conquer several colonies until they finaly stopped in the face of the Yovions in 4227 YC, recognizing their superior power. Since then, they accepted not to attack the Alliance, yet collaborated little with it. An unneasy peace that lasted up until 4370 YC.
Haok Throne War (4370 YC- 4502 YC)
Tension with the Triumphor
The Yovions were never satisfied with the peace they negociated with the Triumphor in 4227 YC. They wanted to go further, to change the nature of their former enemies, just as they had changed those of the 11 First Alliance. But despite the greatest efforts of the Yovions and their constant insistance and meddling, the Triumphor refused to change their philosophy of force. The more time passsed, the more the Yovions viewed them as barbaric warmongers that couldn't be civilzed, and tension between them increased slwly but surely.
After 150 years of tensed relations, the breaking point was reached in 4370 YC when the Triumphor discovered the Yovions had stolen some of their best weaponry from them and were attempting to retroengineer it for themselves. This was aggravated by the fact that, officially, the Yovions had continuously demanded that the Triumphor reduce their arsenal to guarantee peace.
The Yovions defended themselves by saying they would use these weapons to protect and not destroy, a weak argument that certainly did not convince the Triumphor. Infuriated, they attacked the Yovions and sparked a devastating war known as the Haok Throne War, for it was clear that the victor would rule the entire sector.
War and consequences
Everyone knew the Yovions and the 11 First Alliance would eventually win. Their Empires were so much larger, so much more advanced and had so many more resources, so why did the conflict last over a century? Why were the Triumphor allowed to devastate the entire sector before finally being defeated by a worn out Yovion Empire?
First, the Yovions had underestimated their enemy’s numbers and talent for battle. The Triumphor are dedicated to warfare by nature, so despite having an Empire 100 times smaller than the Yovions, their military power was roughly equal. They also had a much greater experience in battle and in military strategy, which were like religions to them. The Triumphor's carefully planned attacks and particularly strong and organized defense allowed them to resist the assaults of the Yovions while slowly but surely wipping out their allies. Eventually, they had successfully destroyed every Empire of the 11 First save the Yovions themselves.
But that had taken so much of their ressources that they could not win in the long term against their final adversary. After having defended their border from the last desperate assault of the Triumphor, the Yovions launched a counter attack that punched right through the exhausted Triumphor, defeating them and destroying their Empire once and for all. Nonetheless, forseeing this, a few remaining Triumphor fled from the sector and beyond, where even their battered and worn enemies lost their trace.
The Yovions had won the war but lost everything else. Half of their Empire was in ruins and they had lost every friend they ever had. It was year 4502 YC and they were once again alone in Haok.
The Ralos Project and Second Birth (4805 YC - 35 045 YC)
Uplifting the Ralos
For 300 years, the Yovion Empire worked on rebuilding itself, this time limiting their amount of colonies to what was strictly necessary, and optimizing each of them to perfection. But a question they had left aside now came back: the question of the Ralos’s future.
Indeed, back in their home system, the Yovions saw the Ralos were still stuck in Tribal Stage. They could not seem to transition to Civilisation, despite being the only intelligent specie left. What’s worse, every simulation using the ThEA (Theory of Evolution by Archetypes, used by the Yovions to predict the evolution of a specie) indicated that the Ralos would never succeed in doing so, they would slowly go extinct and their evolution would end at the Tribal Stage.
The Yovions were faced with a dilemma: let nature play its part and abandon the Ralos, or interfere and try to uplift them with all the risks it implied. The debates lasted for decades, with many argueing that they should not interfere. It was after all this habit of interfering that had led to their war with the Triumphor, and they had to learn from their mistakes. But as the doom of the Ralos came closer, public opinion shifted and a new view on the matter emerged: so much intelligent life had been lost because of them, were they really going to let another one die right in front of of their eyes, in their own system? Finally, in 4805 YC, it was decided to save the Ralos and uplift them all the way to Space stage.
The Project took 5 millennia, at the end of which the Ralos began building their own Space Empire. The Yovions had taken care to help the Ralos without taking away their freedom or creativity. The Ralos became their closest ally and an unbreakable bond was formed between the two species. Together they set out to rebuild the Haok sector and prepare for any future Empire that would emerge. This marked the beggining of the “Second Birth”.
Beggining of the Second Birth
Over the next 25,000 years many new Empires emerged. New species discovering the wonders of space travel, exploring the universe, expanding ever further beyond…Some disappeared, by war or by chance, but others remained. In any case their number kept increasing as they appeared from systems no one had thought of, as if the sector itself was coming alive. 35,000 years later there were far more Empires in Haok than after the First Birth. They talked, traded, battled, allied and so on…All different but all with one thing in common: all knew about the mighty Yovions, oldest and wisest Empire of Haok: largest economy, greatest military power, most advanced scientifically and present long before any other. Eternal guardians along with their strong and faithful friends the Ralos. A few tried to defy them, hoping to rule the sector through their destruction, only to be defeated swiftly. Many others looked up to them, wishing to befriend them, and more often than not the Yovions would accept that friendship, but they would never blindly interfere in another Empire’s affaires, not anymore. They had learned from their past, and though they still actively worked for peace, they never forced their help or their decisions on anyone again.
The Ganor Swarming (35 045 YC - 35 057 YC)
Unknown enemy
The greatness of the Yovions made many jealous or afraid, but none dared to challenge them. Yet suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere in the year 35 045 YC, several colonies of the Yovions were attacked. It was rapidly clear that the attacker was a new Empire in the sector for it resembled none that the Yovions knew (and they knew all of them in Haok). These creatures used organic based technologies and, though their fleets were rather small, attacked with huge amounts of land troops, multiplying like a virus after hitting ground. Fortunately, every Yovion colony was optimized in every way including defense. Indeed, the Yovions had chosen quality over quantity for their Empire (unlike most). This meant that even though they had fewer colonies, each was extremely well organized and developed, allowing them to resist the initial attacks of the invaders.
But before they had time to think of what happened, a second assault arrived, and then a third…The enemy was relentless. Their tactic was always the same: break through the Yovion fleet, ignore the enemy ships, and land as many invading forces as possible to swarm the planet. Once they were on it, they multiplied so fast no amount of bombing could stop them.
For 9 years, the Yovions resisted the best they could, abandonning very few colonies to the enemy. But no matter how well they resisted, it meant nothing if they did not counter attack, which was impossible for the simple reason that, despite all their technologies and knowledge, the Yovions were unable to track these creatures and learn their origins. They appeared at the edge of a system without any way of detecting them until it was too late. Likewise, communication seemed impossible, as diplomats the Yovions tried to contact their enemy in every possible way, but without success. The only word they managed to decipher from their enemy’s communications was the one they used to refer to themselves: “Ganorian”. It is at that time that the war was named the Ganor Swarming.
And a swarming it was.
Fall of the Empire
After their 9 years of valiant resistance and vain attempts to understand the Ganorians, the Yovions were overwhelmed. They had few colonies to begin with, emaking each loss devastating for their Empire. In 35 054 YC, they lost a series of key planets central to their war effort, triggering a domino effect that lead the Ganorians to destroy hundreds of Yovions worlds in mere months. On each of them, the Ganorians wiped out all life forms before abandoning it. They did not conquer, they did not capture, they just exterminated…and no one knew why.
The Yovion's numerous allies, so eager to join them when they were strong, now abandoned them, fearing the plague of the Ganorians would spread to them. Only the Ralos, eternally loyal to their masters, continued to fight with them, but it was not enough. Eventually, Yovaa, the Yovions’s homeworld, was the last remaining planet of their Empire. The battle to defend it seemed endless as the Yovions and Ralos poured all their military might to save this ultimate bastion. For a while, it seemed they might hold, destroying the Ganorian waves one after another. But as they did before, the Ganorians just kept increasing in numbers. Finaly, Yovaa fell in the year 35 057 YC, and the mighty Yovion Empire was no more.
Extinction (35 071 YC - 35 095 YC)
Ganorian's Hunt
The last Yovions could only watch as their home was wiped of all its life and transformed into a corrupted hive for the Ganorians. For some reason, although the Ganorians had abandoned every colony they destroyed until now, they had made an exception for Yovaa which they actively occupied. The remaining Yovions became refugees, scattered among Ralos colonies and a few other Empires. They had lost everything, they went from being the masters of their sector to mere wanderers, and they didn’t even know why. Why had the Ganorians been willing to go so far, commit so much, just to destroy an Empire they never had contact with? As being dedicated to diplomacy and understanding, this both terrified and infuriated the Yovions.
They never found the answer, and they were about to learn just how committed the Ganorians really were. After the fall of Yovaa, it seemed at first that the Ganorians had stopped, content with destroying the Yovion’s Empire. A dozen of years past without them appearing again.
And then, as suddenly as the first time, they reappeared in 35 071 YC and started wiping out colonies again. This time they targeted multiple Empires, though mostly the Ralos. It didn’t take long to understand what these targets had in common…they were attacking every colony that had Yovion refugees, even the smallest amount. Almost immediately, the very few Empires who had accepted to take Yovions deported them without a second thought. Soon enough, the Ralos were the one and only Empire ready to protect their masters, and the Ganorians made them pay for it.
This second war went even worse than the first one. The Ralos had already invested a lot to vainly defend the Yovion Empire, and so now they stood alone and weakened against the endless swarm of Ganorians. It was obvious the fate of the Ralos would be the same as their masters. The Yovions knew this, so they organized a consultation among themselves (they were around 30,000 left at that time) and ultimately voted the decision that sealed their fate.
Last Effort
They decided to separate completely from the Ralos. All the refugees would be transferred to a new colony far away from their allies, at a location known only to the Yovions. The risk was obvious, if the Ganorians found this colony, it would mean extinction. But it was a risk they had to take, if this was to be the end of the Yovions then they refused to drag the Ralos down with them. Of course, the Ralos protested violently, some even suggested stopping the Yovions by force. But in the end they chose to obey their master’s final orders. And so, in year 35 075 YC, after 4 of watching their friends being torn apart by the Ganorians, the Yovions assembled all their refugees and left the Ralos for good, hoping to save them.
On their new home, the Yovions started establishing their colony using the resources provided by the Ralos before their departure. One last hope, one last chance for their kind. They remained in contact with their old friends but made sure to keep their location secret. They learned that the Ganorians had ceased attacking the Ralos after the Yovion's departure and had vanished once more, a most welcomed news.
As the colony began to grow, they allowed themselves to hope. 20 years passed, their only city was flourishing and their population growing. Maybe the Ganorians would not find them here, maybe they had finally given up. A false hope. The Ganorians arrived as they always had. Having little to no defenses, the Yovions were doomed, and their colony was eradicated as all others were before it. Their last transmissions were to the Ralos, to tell them of their end, so that they would not be forgotten.
Society
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