Ekrosian Guardians

Template:Species TemplateThe Ekrosian Guardians are a collection of over 3.2 quadrillion semi-sapient machines within the Carina Galaxy. These objects are most heavily concentrated on the planet Ekros, however, they are fairly common throughout the galaxy at large. It is unknown what their true name is, who created them, for what purpose they were created, or when they were created.

What is known is that they exhibit insect-like cooperation levels. One on its own, while dangerous, is not capable of leaving the planet it is on or self-replicating. Instead, it takes large numbers of these machines working in tandem to build the ships and factories needed for the beings to self-replicate. Several "specimens" of Guardians have been captured. However, they stop functioning whenever they "know" they have been captured. The mechanism behind this is unknown. Even so, the physical attributes of the machines have been thoroughly studied. (Details on the layout can be found here.)

Much like communal insects, such as termites or ants, they seem to have a Queen. The various civilizations of the Carina Galaxy have different names for the Queen as well as many of the researchers studying the Guardians. The most common name given to the Queen (among researchers) is "Eden." The Queen is most likely sapient. Throughout their history, they have rarely left their galaxy. When they did live their galaxy, they went on sprees of destruction likely causing many fledgling civilizations to fall. The reasons for this is unknown, however, these "Crusades" as they are commonly called usually happen whenever important events are about to occur. For instance, the first modern crusade happened during the War of the Decamillennial Transition. Other crusades are predicted to have happened about fifty thousand years apart. There is no evidence suggesting another crusade will occur soon, however, even the first modern crusade also happened with no evidence.

History

Pre-History

While it is unknown when they first came to be, there are numerous historical accounts of these beings. Documents surviving from the Proto-Empyrean (a nation that once controlled a large portion of the Milky Way) describe what are presumably the guardians as this:

"In a small galaxy called 'Acquiescence' there lies a [data corrupted] Losing many ships to these beings, we have decided not to waste time in this galaxy until our enemies are subjugated. There are simply too many of them, far too many of them. Were they a rival civilization then perhaps we could convert them. However, they are more akin to a force of nature than a civilization. Perhaps [data corrupted]"

Other civilizations regarded them in similar ways.