THE TETRARCHS
Images of Tetrarch Elder Races, Courtesy of University of Zebulon Xenoarcheology department:
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In the distant past an ancient race once ruled the galaxy. They were at once great conquerors and by all counts benevolent rulers. Were they truly benevolent or were the records colored by fear? Little is known about this race, but one thing is known for sure: they are called the Tetrarchs. You may be familiar with some of the following statements found in Frontier literature:
"The Tetrarch Societies are assumed to be a once great galactic authority made up of a collection of races also referred to as the Tetrarch Elders . . .Some suspect that the races [of the Frontier] were slave races of the Tetrarch Elders, left behind . . ."—Nor's Guide to Allied Space
". . . an ancient temple left behind by a race who have a connection with the Tetrarchs."—Temple Raiders
"It has been speculated that an ancient unknown race of aliens (possibly the group known to xenoarchaeologists as the Tetrarchs) transplanted a small group of S'sessu to their present homeworld at that time."—Coming of the S'sessu
The Tetrarchs have taken on a mystical and even god-like aura in Frontier history, but most never even hear the name. It is talked around in scientific and historical societies, obscure religions, and secret organizations, but little ever reaches public circles, and usually only in exhaustive encyclopedias. One reference can be found in a textbook at the Zebulon Institute for Archaeology. In there, a timeline is given, claiming:
"10,500PF (Pre-Frontier) Last remnants of the mysterious Tetrarch Societies die out."
The Tetrarchs appear to have been the most technologically advanced society ever in the Frontier or its outlying areas. Their territory is suggested in ancient accounts to stretch beyond any known territories. References and varying depictions of the Tetrarchs are found up until around 10,000 p.f., at which point they just drop off the historical record. A later race known as the J'vaarians are believed to be descendants of the Tetrarchs, but nothing in the historical records ever show a direct connection. Depictions on ancient temple walls and artifacts show ancient races interacting with what are believed to be the Tetrarchs. However, though many ancient artifacts, technological and otherwise, have been found, none have been definitively linked to the Tetrarchs.
Some races claim descendancy, while others claim to have been created or enslaved by the Tetrarchs at one time, but no archaeological evidence can be found to support such claims, except elusive references in their culture to their beginnings and ancient trials. These claims lead many to believe that the tetrachs were masters of creating and manipulating life, forming new races and species.
One theory suggests that many of the races in the Frontier made up the Tetrarchs, but an apocalypse brought about a dark age that erased their histories. It has been suggested that the Clikk, who some speculate to be an early Vrusk race, were one such division of the Tetrarchs or perhaps were possibly responsible for their demise.
After approximately 10,000 years ago, the Tetrarchs would never again be seen in the Frontier. Despite all the efforts of archaeologists and historians, little do they know that the mystery of the Tetrarchs will forever be hidden in time.
Or, so it was thought...
THE ANKER ROSETTA
Image of the Anchor Rosetta: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s61 ... 09deea.jpg
In 115 f.y. Balto Arcturus, Professor of Xenolinguistics and Xenoarcheology, discovered a package sitting on his desk, in his office at Zebulon University, on Anker. The package was a large, flat rectangle wrapped in brown paper, tied with a string. On top of the package, was the following note, unsigned, typed in standard Pan-Galactic script:
Professor Arcturus,
We have watched your people for centuries. We have watched you and hoped. We fear that you are not ready for the awful burden that has been thrust upon you, but we can wait no longer
.
The great enemy awakens from it's ancient sleep and turns its hungry gaze upon us. The Tetrarch Elders are no more; even their protégées, the wise and powerful J'vaarians, have long since passed into dust. We- and you- are all that stands against the shadow which threatens to engulf the frontier
.
Seek the system with seven planets and the world with nine moons, which lies beyond the rim. On the seventh moon of this world, lies the Vault of the Elders. We have given you the key. Take this gift of knowledge and use it well. You will know what to do. Do not delay. We will buy you as much time as we can
Perhaps, with this final sacrifice, we can atone for this great doom that we have brought upon you.
When he unwrapped the package, Arcturus discovered an unmarked tablet of glossy black stone. Thinking himself the victim of a badly conceived prank, he picked up the stone and examined it disdainfully.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of power, and his mind was filled with images of blazing ciphers, which he recognized as ancient Tetrarch glyphs. For decades, the secrets of the Tetrarchs ancient language had eluded the finest scholars of the frontier. Now, suddenly, this mysterious stone had revealed the meanings of these symbols, directly to his mind, in the span of two or three seconds.
The glyphs were ideograms, carved into a substance that was a highly sophisticated, psionic-crystal lattice. The context of the ideograms could only be imparted through telepathy, to species that possessed the gift of psionics- and only by those who knew the proper command sequence to initiate the data transfer.
Fortunately, Arcturus was a gifted psionic, and the tablet had apparently been programmed by whomever had left it, to initiate the data transfer as soon as it was picked up by a psionic being. Now, armed with the knowledge of the Tetrarchs ancient tongue, Professor Arcturus prepared to seek out the world his mysterious benefactor had alluded to...
THE TETRARCH SYSTEM
Arcturus spent the next three years searching feverishly for the system alluded to in the message. As it turns out, he need not have went to all the trouble; in the end, the system found him.
In late 118 f.y., an old friend of Arcturus, an Osakar star merchant by the name of Som-Ulon, told him of a planetary system recently discovered by a survey vessel of the Capellan Free Merchants, approximately 4.5 light years rimward of Kazak and Cryxia.
The system was a gold mine of resources. A massive asteroid belt, rich with mineral deposits, encircled the system and several planets in the system also possessed extensive deposits of ores and minerals. The Rim Coalition immediately moved to take ownership of the area, opening it up to the Free Merchants for exploitation and development. A sort of gold rush ensued, with miners, traders and prospectors, from all over the frontier, flooding into the system in hopes of striking it rich.
But the real gold mine was yet to be discovered. Around the fourth planet in the system, a titanic, ringed, gas giant named Arkhold, the Coalition discovered a moon that was flourishing with life. Ark 7 was a mars-sized body with a vast ocean and three large continents, lush with a complex ecosystem of plants and animals and, most astonishing of all- a multitude of technologically advanced structures of vast scope and awesome complexity.
Strangely, planetary scans revealed no movement or activity in these alien cities. Though satellite surveillance revealed the presence of several intelligent species, none of these possessed the knowledge to build such structures. Indeed, the most sophisticated among them had only achieved a level of advancement equivalent to medieval level technology.
Intrigued, Free Merchant explorers attempted to land a shuttle on the outskirts of one of the cities, to investigate further. Shockingly, when the landing shuttle had approached within fifty kilometers, the dormant structures flared to life, and a powerful beam lanced out from the center of the city, cutting the ship in half and killing everyone aboard.
Shocked and infuriated by the unexpected attack, the captain of the orbiting vessel opened up with every weapon at his disposal, in a retaliatory strike. An instant before the weapons struck home, a defense screen snapped into place around the alien city; the barrage of missiles and lasers was absorbed without effect. A mere second later, the city responded, firing a beam of unimaginable power at the orbiting vessel, shearing through it's armor and defense screens and cutting the ship apart as easily as it had the shuttle.
The government of the Rim Coalition was in an uproar. They had been (to their mind) the target of an unprovoked attack, by an unknown civilization, possessing weapon technology far in advance of anything ever encountered in the frontier. They assembled a large fleet of warships, which they dispatched to the system, and promptly blockaded the moon, preparing to intercept any attacking fleet that might boil forth from it's surface. But, once again, the cities grew dormant and silent.
When Arcturus heard this tale, he was elated. Here was a system with planets matching those described in the message. He booked passage in a commercial transport, and arrived in system several weeks later. Accompanying him, were three of his closest colleagues- the esteemed Xenoarcheologists: Gratch Hakosoar, Ch'vax'tic, and Drus Rugloop. Together, the four scientists convinced the commander of the blockading fleet (after much argument and protest) to allow them to take a shuttle to the planets surface.
Arcturus and his colleagues were playing a hunch. Approaching one of the cities from a great distance, they landed their craft approximately sixty kilometers away and trekked the rest of the distance on foot. Much to the surprise of the fleet commander, the expedition was able to approach unmolested. Whatever controlled the cities defenses apparently only considered approaching ships to be a threat. Small parties of individuals on the ground triggered no aggressive response.
A careful study of the cities bore out Arcturus's suspicions; they were of Tetrarch origin and design. Several monuments were stamped in Tetrarch script, and the professor determined that this was once an important outpost of the civilizations galaxy spanning culture. Why it was abandoned, was a mystery. But one thing was certain- the moon was a treasure trove of advanced technology which, if unlocked, could allow the societies of the frontier to advance their own civilizations by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.
While the Rim Coalition knew that they now possessed the most valuable real estate in the galaxy, they also recognized that they lacked the technological expertise to exploit it. They also knew that the prize of Ark 7 was tempting enough to draw other space-faring nations, such as the UPF and the Sathar empire, to claim it for themselves.
To forestall a conflict, and insure that they themselves would benefit from the discovery, the Coalition made a bold but canny decision; they publicly announced that mining rights in the asteroid field and three of Ark 7's continents would be put up for sale to any frontier mega corporations that were interested in them. Their only stipulation, was that the Coalition would retain overall control of the system and the large chain of islands on Ark 7, dubbed the Capellan Archipelago, and that the corporations would freely share all scientific discoveries gleaned from the areas they controlled.
The plan proved successful beyond the Coalition's wildest dreams. Most of the corporations jumped at the idea. A bidding war broke out between Streel Corporation, PGC, and Galactic Overall Development Co, over the choicest land on Ark 7. The negotiations were tense, but eventually all parties were able to acquire a continent of their own and came away satisfied. The Coalition made tremendous amounts of profit and gained additional security to bolster the system, as the mega corporations brought in their own fleets to defend their new assets.
By 125 f.y., each of the mega corps had established permanent bases in the system, as well as scientific outposts on the moons surface. Survey teams were dispatched with ambassadors, to make contact with the native inhabitants of the world, and establish friendly relations. The exploration of Ark 7's mysteries, was about to begin!