Prior

General Information

Species Name: Priors
Base: Unknown
Mode Of Governance: Unknown
Tech Level: (Alpha: Pre Warp. Beta: Warp Capable. Delta: Able to harness ALL available resources. Gamma: Q level.) Gamma

Physical Descriptors

As of this moment there are no indicators as to the original form of the Priors. Not even The Myriad have met a Prior, though they are quick to sell on their relics. Even the relics they left behind, whose purpose and function remain a mystery, could very easily not conform to their humanoid counterparts. This has not stopped them ascending to local stellar deities to some cultures, ascribing their own morphology onto the ancient builders.

Key Points

The Prior’s were long gone by the arrival of the Iconian’s brief stint as miracle works of the Milky Way. Their empire, or congress, or hive mind left behind no record of their deeds or intentions. What they did leave behind, in an abundance speaking of a group whose influence spanned the local galactic group, were their artefacts.

These artefacts range in size from nanoscale and below, to macro-scale stellar constructs rivalling even the Dyson Spheres of the Milky Way Sphere Builders. Made of a bone-like material that is not organic, it is clear from recorded history that these devices all possess an astonishingly advanced self-repair mechanism. Many of these artefacts are tended by autonomous servitors, sharing the soft white set shell material of their stationary counterparts.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All Prior artefacts above shuttlecraft size are inhabited by an entity called The Censor. It is unknown at this time if the Censor is a sentient digital entity or a sophisticated monitoring program. What is known is that the Censor is able to determine what is a danger it and the artefacts it is guarding. A first tier response to threats is to render them harmless, this can be achieved either through defences like barrier shields, or changing the plank constant and ensuring no nuclear fission or fusion events are able to happen in its proximity. Examples of this system have shown photon torpedoes being stopped dead in their tracks, robbed of both motive and destructive force, as well as antimatter and fusion-based power generators becoming inoperable due to a change in the localised Planck constant.

How this is achieved is unknown, but is believed to be the Censor’s lowest threat response. Higher threat responses have been witnessed to include allowing anti matter and regular three dimensional matter to exist in the same space without mutually destroying themselves.

All Prior artefacts are to be placed on the Prohibited Export List for Canopus Station Customs (CSC). All discovered artefacts are to be logged, their position recorded, and warning buoys assigned to any.

Classified as following.

• Pico class artefact, inert and function unknown.
• Oscar class artefacts, inert and function known.
• Romeo class artefacts, active devices without evident harmful intent.
• Typhoon class artefacts, active devices with evident harmful intent.
• Zulu class, Theta Level Extinction Event capable artefacts.

Artefacts Of Note

World Flower: Oscar class artefact Found on Carpathia. It is a planet-wide terraformer, apparently damaged beyond the range of its self repair methods. It has numerous active servitors, but only a 30 mile radius of effect. Within this bubble all nuclear fission/fusion events are negated, and phased energy weapons do not function. There are possibly more of these structures spread out throughout Messier 4, given the high number of M-class worlds discovered in a star cluster populated by older stars.

The Mire: Typhoon class artefact. A macro stellar construct enclosing an altered neutron star, which it uses as a gravitational motor. This energy is used to reinforce a barrier effect around an area of space called tortured space. Tortured space does not obey standard Newtonian physics, possibly acting as a container for higher dimensional matter. It is unknown if The Mire is the cause for the area of space, or is in fact containing it from spreading further.

The Wandering World: Rumoured to exist. This a possible Typhoon/Zulu class artefact. Apothical information indicates The Wandering World is a planet sized construct, that superficially simulates the surface and rough features of a class M planet. Large structures grow from it in large looping arches that extend out into low and high orbit. These constructs appear to act as a planetary structural integrity field, which the Wander World uses when it utilities a form of superluminal travel. It is unknown if this is a warp like FTL propulsion system. Further investigation is required.

The Vanishing Box: Zulu class artefact the size of a shoe box. In operation similar to a holo camera, with viewfinder on one end and a lens on the other. Anything caught in the viewfinders field of vision when the Vanishing Box is used vanishes. This is a scaling phenomena, meaning that depending on the vantage point celestial bodies and continents are at risk. Mode of operation unknown.

Pass Key/Whisper Gate: Romeo class artefact. Resembling a shuttle craft sized spinal vertebrae made of bone and glass, the Pass Key is one of the more common artefacts of Prior occupation. Their original purpose is unknown, but with careful manipulation they act as a sort of IFF transponder for the Prior Whisper Gate phase space accelerator gate system. With a Pass Key a Whisper Gate will ascend out of the corona of its parent star and activate. The setting of a Pass Key’s interior mechanism act as a routing mechanism, telling the Whisper Gate where to send the packet of stored information that was once a ship. It is unknown what an improperly formatted routing instruction might do, as the true extent of the Prior Whisper Gate network has not been mapped. It is hoped that with use of the Whisper Gate network a return journey to the Alpha Quadrant could become a reality without the construction of a companion gateway to the Alpha Accelerator.