-1The Coming of the End.

Kilarians children were told the nightmare stories of the Destrus Ur Orbus from a very young age.

Told how the Destroyers of Worlds controlled an empire that spanned over a thousand light years. Told of the lightning attacks launched by their raiders, leaving nothing unpillaged. Stories told of how vast empires were swallowed whole and their citizens turned into common slaves. Stories that told of the awesome power of the vast warships that were controlled by the evil creatures that were without a true name of their own.

Yevins called them the Mac’T’Kar, Raiders from the Black; the Regos called them the Vash, Pillagers.

Kilarian children were told of the Great Alliance that their ancestors had formed with a dozen other races to stand against these horrific creatures, and how their Grand Fleet had been swept away in the blink of an eye, leaving barely enough time for a handful from the various races to flee their homes and travel over ten thousand light years to their new home.

Most Kilarians grew to believe that these stories were fairy tales, taught to discourage exploration by younger generations. Almost no one believed that the Destrus Ur Orbus existed, let alone threaten the Kilarian Triumvirate and their allies again.

So when the first merchant ships disappeared at the edges of star systems, or never made their deliveries at the other end of a transit lane, many blamed it on pirates. Action was taken to quell the threat posed by some rogue military vessel that preyed on the unarmed merchants that traversed the space ways of the fledging Union of Races.

It wasn’t until someone survived a “pirate” attack, and brought back the recording of the ultimatum posed by them that some started to worry.

Only the Elders of each generation of Kilarians ever saw the aging data chips of their civilization before the Great Exile. Only those twelve living Kilarians recognized the pale skin of the creature on the holo-image that the small frigate had managed to bring back. Understood the ancient dialect of the Kilarian tongue that had long since been changed with influence from their neighbors and changing culture.

And so only those Elders knew that a dark cloud had descended upon their people once more.

For the Raiders of the Black, the Pillagers, the Destroyers of Worlds had once again come to prey upon the Kilarians and the Yevins, the Regos and Tash. For the Destrus Ur Orbus had long memories, and did not soon forget when game escaped their great hunt…