Qeyeq history
Qeyeq history is among the longest of the interstellar space-faring species of the Settled Systems, with the earliest space travels being conducted more than 5,000 years ago. Little is known of the so-called "classical history" of Sky-and-Sea, the Qeyeq homeworld, as most records have been lost to time.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2041 BI | First crewed landing on Sasmoon |
| 2020 BI | First colony on Sasmoon |
| 1982 BI | Discovery of space folding |
| 1977–1969 BI | Great Planetary War |
| 1919 BI | Completion of the Great Mother–First Successor warpgate |
| 1911 BI | First crewed landing on Discovery |
| 1903 BI | First colony on Discovery |
| 1885 BI | First colony on Valor |
| 1835 BI | First colony on Whirlwind |
| 1778 BI | First colony on Patience |
| 1690–1655 BI | War of the Sisters |
| 1650 BI | Qeyeq Empire is declared |
| 1463 BI | First contact with the Monoliths |
| 759–732 BI | Synthwars and Synthetic Revolution |
| 562–489 BI | The Retaking |
Interplanetary Era
Qeyeq first landed on Sky-and-Sea's largest moon (commonly referred to by humans as Sasmoon, Sky-and-Sea I, Qeyeqmoon or Qmoon) in 2041 BI, founding the first semi-permanent colony in 2020 BI. Sky-and-Sea being the only terrestrial planet in the inner Great Mother system, interplanetary colonies were not established until the early-to-mid 19th century BI, facilitated by ion drives allowing for constant acceleration. These colonies were founded by the various polities and corporate groups of Sky-and-Sea, and tensions in the system were high. Minor trade wars and proxy conflicts eventually escalated into the Great Planetary War, which lasted from 1977 to 1969 BI. Two major polities emerged from this conflict: the Dominate, an empire having subjugated several other polities, and the Coalition, born out of the union of several smaller polities. As the struggle for supremacy in the Great Mother system came to a standstill, the next frontier lied beyond the Qeyeq's home system.
Space folding technology was first discovered in 1982 BI, though it would not be put into use until the 1960s BI. Space folding consists of using exotic matter to displace vessels through bulk space, achieving effective faster-than-light travel. Early experiments ran into challenges such as the task of computing jump coordinates as well as the existence of bulk space entities. Jump coordinates required such advanced computing power that massive warp stations were built with the sole purpose of permanently linking two systems through bulk space.
First Interstellar Cold War
The first warp station was completed by the Coalition in 1919 BI, linking the Great Mother system with one of its nearest stars, First Successor. Following the discovery of a terrestrial planet within the circumstellar habitable zone in 1990 BI and its confirmation by sublight probes in 1954 BI, the first Qeyeq set foot on on the planet, named Discovery, in 1911 BI and the first colony was established in 1903 BI. Discovery being an arid world with an atmosphere almost entirely composed of carbon dioxide, population was confined to pressurized habitats. The second interstellar colony was founded in 1885 BI by the Dominate in the triple-star system known as Three Sisters. The planet in question, named Valor, actually possessed liquid water oceans, though its thick atmosphere was not breathable to Qeyeq, being composed primarily of nitrogen and carbon dioxide with only a small fraction of oxygen. Its surface gravity was also almost identical to Sky-and-Sea, whereas Discovery's was around half.
Expansion to new star systems was slow, as nearby systems lacked worlds suitable for Qeyeq habitation. Research into terraforming became a major focus, but terraforming of a single planet would take centuries. The Coalition and Dominate continued to vie for territory, with minor proxy conflicts continuing within the Great Mother system. The Coalition colonized the planet Whirlwind in the Promise system in 1835 BI and the Dominate colonized the planet Patience in the Wrathful Eye system in 1778 BI. Whirlwind was a stormy planet with a thick atmosphere, leading to habitats being built in the skies. On the other hand, Wrathful Eye was an M-type flare star, with Patience receiving frequent bursts of solar radiation while also being tidally locked with a hemisphere-spanning storm on the day side. Therefore, settlements were forced to be either in orbit or underground. Advances in robotics within the Dominate led to many industrial colonies on harsh worlds being staffed by Qeyeq-Frames, and Patience was no exception. In 1690 BI, tensions between the two powers would come to a head as the Coalition colonized the ocean world Big Wave in the Third Sister system, which was part of the Three Sisters system largely under Dominate control. All-out war would break out between the two powers, known as the War of the Sisters. The conflict would escalate and spill over the entirety of Qeyeq space, and in 1655 BI the Coalition was officially defeated. However, the Dominate's Council of Lords was overthrown in 1650 BI by one of its members, who would declare himself Emperor of Qeyeqkind.
Imperial Era
All of Qeyeq space was now united as a single polity: the Empire. The Empire was an authoritarian state that had a presence on every level of daily and administrative life. It was built around the cult of the Emperor, with all religions heavily repressed. The state ideology was Dominism, which originated as the primary philosophy of the Dominate and was based around order and the natural hierarchy of life. It was under the Empire that terraforming processes across most colonies were initiated. The atmospheric modulation process on Discovery started in 1326 BI, with the atmosphere reaching a similar density to Sky-and-Sea in the 11th century BI, though it would not be fully breathable for Qeyeq until the 8th century BI. On the other hand, Patience was never selected as a target for terraforming due to the high levels of stellar radiation it received, and therefore remained mostly populated by Qeyeq-Frames.
It was also during the Imperial Era that first contact with another sophont species was established. In 1515 BI, significant technosignatures were discovered in a star system near First Successor. Subsequent probes would confirm their origin as alien in nature, belonging to a post-biological species inhabiting robotic and virtual bodies. Nicknamed the Monoliths by the Qeyeq, they had converted their homeworld, which they referred to as the Ur-Matrix, into a machine world. This was done to support their ever-expanding network, nicknamed the GodNet. First contact was established in 1463 BI, with the goal of integrating the Monolith's technology into the Empire. The Monoliths initially resisted subjugation, though they were quickly conquered after a short conflict. The Empire allowed the Monoliths to remain autonomous within their home system, on the condition that the GodNet and all their technology be shared with the Empire. Monoliths became a sort of digital servant caste, assisting the Qeyeq in all domains.
Machines and other artificial beings, despite having a level of cognition on par with or even superior to the Qeyeq, were not treated as sophonts under the Empire. Over time, this led to growing dissidence among Monoliths, Qeyeq-Frames and other AI. In 759 BI, several uprisings broke out across the Empire, which became known as the Synthwars. This led to major advances in artificial sophont rights. After a short period of peace, the conflict flared up again as the machines once again rose up, this time with the goal of overthrowing the Empire. The Monoliths succeeded in 732 BI, establishing a machine-led state.
Machine State
The Monolith-led Synthetic Revolution (known by the Qeyeq as the "Machine Apocalypse") installed a Mechanocracy, a form of government led by machines. Under the Mechanocracy, decision-making and politics were led by mechanical beings using predictive algorithms. Economy and infrastructure were heavily planned, and cultural developments were largely at the whims of the GodNet. However, biological beings were not reduced to slaves and actually enjoyed relative freedom in other aspects; this has led some supporters of the Mechanocracy to consider it a utopia. Many colonial and scientific advances happened during this time, due to a state of relative peace. Several planets in nearby systems were discovered to harbor life, with some even being home to sophont species. It was at this time that the Law of First Contact was put into place, stating that a sophont species shall not be contacted until they become capable of interstellar travel through faster-than-light means.
However, the peace would not last, and movements would arise in opposition with the Mechanocracy, believing the Qeyeq species to have grown subservient and overly dependent on machines and artificial intelligence. Tensions would lead to a conflict known as the Retaking, beginning in 562 BI and, over several decades and conflict phases, ending in 489 BI with the destruction of the GodNet's central moon-server. This did not however kill the Godhead, the GodNet's transapient AI, instead severing its connection with the physical universe, leaving it unable to communicate with regular sophonts. Following the fall of the GodNet, the Mechanocracy collapsed, leaving each star system independent.