Invaded

Introduction

Invaded

"It was the day we realised we weren't alone. A grey, mysterious shuttle-like craft had landed. Out of the vehicle came forth a slim figure. I stared in shock and awe as everyone around me did the same. The being was hairless, had grey skin and its long, thin eyes was covered in dark blue, so much so that you couldn't make out its pupils, if it even had any. The creature was about the height of an average human. It had an elongated skull and wore what appeared to be elaborate robes of red and purple. Next to leave the alien ship were six figures similar in height to the first one and each was armed with a rifle I had never seen before. They were dressed in metal suits and their faces were completely covered by their helmets. The last figure to walk out of the ship seemed like a familiar one to me. As I strained my eyes to see who it was, I was shocked to realise that it was... a human!" – Anonymous, an account on the first encounter with the Kol'rak aliens. 

The Kol'raks began colonising new planets in search of resources and allies but lost thier goal during the expansion of the empire and far off fleets weren't able to receive the messages that reminded them to only colonise and make allies.

About the Kol'rak (Skip to Prologue if not bothered to read)

Proxima B lies within the Alpha Centauri system, the closest star system to Earth's solar system. It was discovered by humans in 2016 and is predicted to contain life. Little do they know, however, that the planet also harbours an intelligent civilisation. Proxima B's geography included a supercontinent which was surrounded by water. On that supercontinent, the Kol'rak race began their civilisation. In only 4000 years, they would evolve into a spacefaring nation and become a serious threat to humanity.

The Kol'rak are a hairless, humanoid race. They possess a pair of thin, dark blue eyes, however, they do not have eyelids like humans. The aliens have 4 digits on their hands, 3 fingers and a thumb. On their feet, they have 5 toes, like humans. They have grey skin and do not possess lips, so their mouth would look like a dark line on the bottom half of their face. Their bodies are slim and although the Kol'rak are about the height of humans, on average, a Kol'rak soldier would have around 10% less strength than a human civilian due to their smaller muscle mass. Their lack of muscle mass was a result of evolution caused by an ancient virus on their home planet which consumed muscle tissue and infected them during the early stages of their civilisation. As such, their lower muscle mass reduces the effects of this virus, although by now they have developed cures for the disease.

It is unknown when the Kol'rak evolved on their home planet, which they know it by the name of Vosh'an, which translates into "home world". What is known, however, is that they exited what was equivalent to their Stone Age around 6000 years ago. Thus, they began to settle in their lands and formed tribes across their supercontinent. 500 years later, as their population increased and the demand for resources rose, the tribes initiated wars against one another. So began their equivalent of the Dark Ages, which would last 1500 years. The constant warfare took its toll on the Kol'rak and not only were people dying of war, but they were also dying of starvation and disease caused by the ongoing wars. It seemed as if the Kol'rak were on the verge of wiping themselves out. However, near the end of this period of turmoil, Shan'To came to power within his tribe. Shan'To was a brilliant military strategist and led his tribe to victory against the other tribes in battle, eventually unifying the supercontinent and crowning himself Emperor. As well as being a great commander, Shan'To also created an ideology far ahead of his time. After unifying the Kol'rak, he knew the defeated tribes will rise once again, whether it would be in his lifetime or not. In order to prevent another disastrous war which will surely wipe out the Kol'rak, he introduced a policy of unification to unite every aspect of society. He treated the people well and preached to them that in order for their civilisation to survive, they needed to stay unified. Shan'To also replaced the traditional tribal societies with more organised urban societies, introduced rights to the people and made himself and future Emperors Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, among many other reforms. Shan'To's reforms were extremely successful and allowed the Kol'rak to remain unified thousands of years after his death. However, his policies were only aimed at racial, not interracial, unification and as a result would have serious consequences on other intelligent races that will come under Kol'rak rule. After Shan'To's death, the Kol'rak will not go to war for another 1500 years until the advent of space travel and contact with extraterrestrial civilisations.