Tranc Wars Introduction
The Tranc Wars began in areas of the Milky Way far away from the Solar System. Such wars would rage for thousands of solar years before starfaring humanity would be aware of these wars.
The causes of the wars rest with a species known as the Tranc, who plotted to dominate the galaxy. The Tranc did not have the largest numbers or the most advanced technology in the Milky Way, but they had an intense will and vast social discipline.
The knowledge of other stellar civilizations motivated the early Tranc to adopt a subtle and covert approach. Motivations might have initially been for defensive reasons, but the Tranc turned in time to plans of how to control and subvert other stellar civilizations.
Tranc endeavors got bolder over the centuries as they became more successful. Cycles of new gain and new successes developed. Thousands of stealthful colonies would be founded and while new fields of technology be acquired or stolen from other civilizations.
Flux field generation technology was gained about a thousand years into their galactic plan. This form of superluminal technology enabled the Tranc to greatly expand their ambitions. After finding a way to apply the technology, the Tranc began to covertly build a vast network of flux relay stations across the galaxy.
The first stages of the Tranc’s galactic plans had been to hide their efforts and homeworld in plain sight by subterfuge. The homeworld was part of a large interstellar trade region.
Second stages were the slow subversion or infiltration of all stellar societies the Tranc had frequent contact with at this early stage. The Tranc would move on to piracy, covert operations, and building a campaign interstellar infrastructure.
Third stages of this galactic plan were empowered by the flux generators. With this new technology the Tranc were able to greatly expand the practical range of their galactic expansion. This led to thousands of hidden colonies and bases.
Fourth stage of the galactic plan would have the Tranc approach with stellar civilizations far from their home regions. Those more advanced they would spy and attempt to steal technology. Primitive species the Tranc would conquer and enslave. Stellar societies of comparable technology to the Tranc were infiltrated and subverted through espionage and covert operations
The fifth stage of the Tranc’s plan was to begin covert efforts to use stolen technology from more advanced civilizations to greatly empower the Tranc capacity to act. Then they could begin to stealthily commit to operations to weaken the most dangerous powers in the galaxy. This stage would be disrupted before it was well along by two incidents occurring within a decade of each other, but on opposite sides of the galaxy.
These two incidents would be the discovery of the Tranc’s plans by the Sskaria and the Aracana. Both events would spark the outrage of the two factions who discovered the Tranc’s efforts and exploitation of others.
The Aracana would be the first to discover the Tranc endeavors. But the later to react. Wandering starships observed the Tranc expanding and establishing hidden outposts and noted it. These efforts would not draw any concern from the Aracana.
What would be eventually considered is the exploitation and mass atrocities committed by the Tranc against other sapient species. These incidents would also be reported by the Starships to the homeworlds as well. The authorities on the homeworld would be slow to react.
When they did react contemplations of how to stop the Tranc were long debated among the Aracana. The only effective method that seemed a solution was a strange, alien concept known to other species, but never practiced among the Aracana. And this was the institution of war.
Observations from afar had the Aracana see other species practice wide scale conflict, but that was not the Aracana’s way. Conflicts were just a part of disagreements, with the actual art of violence being performed between individuals in duels, either for personal disagreements or as champions for larger causes.
The Aracana would be slow to decide upon war, but even slower to plan and prepare for it.
The second incident would be a complex miscalculation by a Tranc regional commander. Expansion into a new region of space brought awareness to the Tranc of a new starfaring nation, the Cetes.
Tranc observation of the Cetes lasted several years. During that time, regional strategic communities considered the best way to exploit this new civilization. There was some debate if they should be infiltrated or conquered.
Conquest was always a risky and time consuming effort. It would often destroy future potential exploitation of a civilization as well
Wars of conquest could also draw the attention of the more advanced civilizations in the galaxy if the Tranc were not cautious. This would bring more awareness than the Tranc wanted long term from such powers.
Yet the Cetes had more advanced hyperspace superluminal access technology than the Tranc had. Such a tempting target made the Tranc regional commander weigh their options carefully.
After almost a decade of observation they attacked the Cetes outer colonies and began to wage a hit and run attack strategy to wear the Cetes down and attrition their space fleet.
The initial strategy of the Tranc worked. They presented a sinister and deadly presence to the Cetes, that struck on surprise and vanished. The war would go against the Cetes for almost two years of their time. Each battle brought higher losses. When they won it seemed to have little impact on slowly the invader’s war efforts. The Cetes began to despair on their colonies were cut off or destroyed one by one.
The Tranc pushed the Cetes back to their home star system and pushed the Cetes into one large fleet battle. After losing the battle, the surviving Cete forces retreated to their inner region of their inner region of their star system. At this turn of events, the Tranc believed it was just a matter of time before they would be launching an invasion of the Cetes homeworld. The high gravity and different atmosphere mix would force the need for environmental suits and hazardous environ power armor, but those were long addressed issues for the Tranc efforts.
The real surprise came for the Tranc at the time. The Cetes had a long history of contact and aid from a more advanced civilization, the Sskaria Technologary.
The Sskaria in an era before, had made contact with the Cetes when the Cetes were still bound to their homeworld, but looking into space with hopeful potential. First Contact was made when a Sskaria scout ship chose to save a dying Cetes space mission to their nearest moon. Altruistic ehte act might have been, but it put a new responsibility upon the Skarria as a whole society.
It was their first contact with any other intelligent life since the Sskaria had defeated a remnant of the Imperial Malanthekar fleets in the defense of their Builders.
As a machine intelligence, the Sskaria had thought it difficult to deal with the biological intelligences they had observed in the galaxy up to this point.
The dealings between the Cetes and Sskaria would last centuries. During these times, the Sskaria learned much of dealing with biological intelligents, and the Cetes made great advances in technological advances and scientific knowledge.
Trends began to develop that concerned the Sskaria leadership. The Cetes were depending more and more to make progress upon Sskaria tutorship. If it was just a matter of mentorship, things might have not become a crisis. Instead, the Cetes were starting to seek out not just Sskaria advice, but also approval and permission.
After quiet deliberations between the leadership of the Sskaria and the Cetes, the decision was made that the Sskaria would move onward, yet secretly leave communication channels in case of future crisis the Cetes may face. It was this method that the Cetes would reach out to in their dire need.
The Sskaria response to the emergency call was rapid. Tranc war fleets moved to attack the surviving Cete forces, to find several new, strange ships awaiting their attack.
Sskaria forces would quickly defeat the Tranc and secured the surviving Cetes worlds. Then the Sskaria set out to find the origin of the Tranc attack and the motivees. The effort took more effort than the Sskaria suspected.
After searching several thousand star systems, the Sskaria discovered a Tranc flux relay generator station. Study of this find gained technological knowledge, but also an idea of how the Tranc strategically operated.
It took several more years for the Sskaria to find the regional hidden colony of the Tranc. The Sskaria moved to attack and conquer the Tranc facility. The goal was to seize all intelligence and material for the Sskaria to fully comprehend the Tranc efforts.
With all goals achieved, the Sskaria discovered the Tranc’s galactic plans and the thousands of years of progress. Much of the Tranc’s achievements and plans offended the sensibility programmed into the Sskaria by their builders. The Sskaria had originally been created as sentient weapons with ethical restraints. Much of this programming still guided the Sskaria, comparable to the instincts guiding biological intelligences.
This program caused the Sskaria to chose to do something about the Tranc, seeing the Tranc as a threat to the whole galaxy.
The next step was what approach should the Sskaria take to counter the Tranc. Debate took years. During this duration, the Tranc became aware of the compromise of their regional assets in that part of the galaxy. The Tranc Central Committee did not suspect how much information the Sskaria had gained. So the Tranc destroyed all of their bases and abandoned colonies in the region and strategically pulled back.
It was hoped that disengaging for a few centuries from the area would allow the Tranc time to hide their projects. The Tranc would not get that time. The Sskaria decided to try and engage other stellar civilizations to show them the true threat of the Tranc. The Sskaria also outfit expeditionary fleets. These fleets would begin to press a war against the Tranc on a galactic scale.
These two incidents would seriously threaten the Tranc’s galactic conquest plan. The Sskaria expeditionary fleets would begin to push inward from the middle distances of their quadrant of the Milky Way, while the new Aracana War Fleet would spread out all across half the outer regions of the galaxy.
These actions would be countered at regional levels at first by the Tranc leadership. That would be a costly mistake. By the time Tranc Central Committee strategically reacted, the Tranc were effectively in two galactic wars.
These wars would redefine the entire civilizations of all three major belligerents; Tranc, Sskaria, and Aracana. In time, dozens of other species would become involved on all sides, and the wars would last thousands of human years.