History of the Opiros

Evolution

The Opiros evolved from simple predatory roots. At first they were lone predators that only came together to mate. The conditions on their homeworld remained good for millions of years and there were no extinction events that would have hindered their evolution.

At first there were several very similar species that thrived on their world, which was, and still is, very tropical with only cold parts in the most southern and northern parts of the planet. The race of Opiros thrived the most and soon started to expand their numbers and territories, while displacing other competitive species, some of which later became extinct.

Their increasing numbers caused them to move farther and farther, which caused some changes in some of the different Opiros. Over time their brain capacity started to increase significantly too. This enabled for more specialized problem-solving skills and due to their more efficient evolution compared to other species they drove many competitive races to extinction.

Pack-hunting skills started to evolve later on and Opiro packs were formed, the packs were lead by a specific pack leader. Due to the rather small differences between males and females it usually varied which one was leading. Later on the Opiros became very well developed in making tools, which soon became part of their lives. They had very little of need for tools when hunting, but they did help them in other parts of their lives and also to further develop their race and expand.

Birth of civilization

After close to half a century an actual culture had developed. With the capability for speech as well as cognitive capabilities. Small societies had emerged and even housing. Their necessity for hunting was considered as one of their biggest weaknesses. However, no attempts were made to change that and the societies remained relatively small.

Technological advancements still occurred, although this was slower than most races due to the small amount of Opiros. Cooperation between different societies was deepened, but due to slow transportation it wasn't very effective.

However, this was not a problem for the Opiros and technological development was slow. Their societies grew slowly over the centuries while also advancing their technological capabilities. The lack of food was the biggest factor that slowed their expansion as there was not enough food to feed all the kittens that were born.

Over time the high death rate of kittens started to trouble many of the Opiros and joint operations to prevent it were decided. All the "scientist" Opiros came together to discuss the possible solution to this problem. There was a lot of pondering and discussion; it was a difficult decision, but it was thought that artificial food was the only way to solve the problem, or manual growth of actual prey. The latter solution was chosen to be tried first as the Opiros loathed the idea of artificial food. Some Opiros, however, voiced their concerns regarding the manual growth of prey, that it would be too unnatural, but these were a minority and thus ignored. This decision applied only to the Opiros living on the main continents. Those who had moved to continents and island separated from the main one couldn't do this, not yet at least.

This technique allowed the Opiros to start expanding and growing more again, although their development was slower than that of an average species.

The intercommunication between the various societies remained only on development level. There were some struggles over hunting territories, but rarely any violence. The various Opiro societies remained relatively isolated from each other and communicated only when necessary. Trading was rare, but occasionally practiced.

The more isolated Opiro groups later on came to the same conclusion as those on the main continent.

To reach the stars

Finally a fascination towards the stars began among the Opiros. While many considered as a way to expand and seek out new prey, some were interested in exploring new territories. While their biggest "cities" already contained close to 10 000 Opiros it was still viewed too little to start effective space conquest. Improved communication and transportation was needed on their world to improve the cooperation between the various "cities".

It has been assumed that the Opiros were the first race to develop a planet-wide version of the now present Galaxy net, while their other technological development was slower than that of most others.

Once effective communication was established among the Opiros of the main continent it was decided that connection was to be established with the rest of the Opiro groups. Most of them were located in the later decades, but some of the smaller ones remained hidden for a century.

Industrial development slowly started, but pollution of any kind wasn't viewed well so the initial development was slow, same was with transportation. It took a century for a real industrial work to begin and for faster transportation to be invented as they had to be much cleaner than the first versions. At this point the development of Opiros increased significantly and their societies changed most.

Space program started a few decades later to reach both of the moons orbiting their planet and later on the rest of the solar system, which had been observed for several centuries by certain people.

Formation of Opiro Empire

Finally the space exploration begun as the moons were visited. To colonize them, however, would take significantly more time as well as to reach the neighboring planets, but the Opiros were confident that would happen.

One of the other things that concerned the Opiros was the need for a more centralized government and leadership in case they would find other developed species in the galaxy. There was much thought on the type of government that would be established. It was clear, however, that it was to be similar to the current pack leader-system with one person being above the rest.

A type of an empire was decided: lead by an empress or an emperor and also a senate, elected by the people. The empress or emperor would have the supreme control, but the senate would handle most of the affairs. In order to choose the emperor they decided to bring together all the pack leaders who would be interested and make them do various tests, including duels, group fighting, hunting and problem solving. The one to reach the best score would become the first empress or emperor. And the latter ones would be chosen the same way every ten years. The senate would be elected every eight years.

The government seemed to work well and the first emperor was chosen. The Opiros were now unified under the banner of the Opiro Empire, except some of the smaller societies which chose to remain isolated.

The Opiro "cities" still remained small, with no more than 30 000 Opiros living in them. Buildings were also rarely used and the "cities" were often just portions of a jungle with significant amount of Opiros.

Space conquest

Decades later the colonization effort begun. First colonies were established on the other moon orbiting Miue. The other one had poorer conditions and was only colonized decades later. First expeditions were sent into the solar system and the colonization effort for the neighboring planets begun.

Expansion was steady, but the necessity of meat and their rather large size were factors that slowed it down. Still, over time, their homesystem was colonized and sleeper ships were sent into the neighboring system.

Some of the colonies established by the sleeper ships didn't survive, but even some surviving colonies was viewed as an extremely positive thing. It was clear that a FTL-drive had to be invented.

With the use of a FTL-drive there was no longer such a need for sleeper ships. Colonization continued slowly, but steadily and the Opiro space started to extend to the nearby systems. It was clear that at some point the Opiros would come up with other sentient species so light weapon systems were installed on the colony ships.

First contacts

Decades after the initial colonization begun the Opiros came across the 1110110110101111; a small scout ship that had entered the Opiro area. The Opiros possessed battle fleets already at this point and easily destroyed this vessel. The Opiros tolerated no trespassers on their territory and were prepared to destroy any potential targets that were to violate their space. They had no interest to open diplomatic connections either.

Unfortunate for the Opiros the 1110110110101111s responded to the destruction of their scout ship with a battle fleet and drove the Opiros out of the area, which they had claimed themselves. The Opiros considered this as an act of war and decided to retake the area. Thus a war was declared between the two races.

While Opiros had less advanced technology they were much more competent fighters. Due to the technological advancements of the 1110110110101111s and the better tactics and fighting skills of the Opiros the war neither side gained the upper hand in the war.

Finally, the 1110110110101111s attacked straight into Miue and threatened to bombard the planet if the Opiros would not accept to a peace treaty. Opiros saw no choice and accepted, but vowed to reclaim the areas that belonged them later as they considered the compassion and trust of the 1110110110101111s to be their greatest weakness. Unfortunate for the Opiros, however, the 1110110110101111s established connection to the Lihters a few years later.

Opiros were planning on expanding towards the Lihter space and threatened to attack them if they would not withdraw, however, because of 1110110110101111 support to the Lihters the Opiros had to back off.

Through the Lihters the Opiros received contact to the Humans and the Q<RE-Ôs. The V'As'Ta'Rs were also located neir their space. The B² contact followed later on.

United Commonwealth of Planets

Main Article: History of the United Commonwealth of Planets

There were high tensions between the V'As'Ta'Rs and the Opiros, still the Opiros had managed to form diplomatic negotiations with the other species and started to view intergalactic diplomacy rather positively. Still, the V'As'Ta'Rs were considered as a major threat and the border was patrolled tightly. The other governments were afraid that any possible incidents could lead to war.

Main Article: V'As'Ta'R-Opiro Conflict

Soon the Opiros started mysteriously loose ships. They blamed the V'As'Ta'Rs, but the V'As'Ta'R denied it and claimed the Opiros were trying to frame them. When the V'As'Ta'R loosed few ships they believed that the Opiros were attacking them. A war looked more than likely between the two species which was not well viewed by the other species in the region. Lihters and 1110110110101111 suspected that there was something else involved.

While the Opiros and V'As'Ta'R began fighting, Lihters, 1110110110101111, B² and Q<RE-Ô investigated the initial attacks. Soon they started suffering similar ones and they were convinced that it was something else.

The V'As'Ta'R and Opiros fought against each other fiercely. The Opiros, while physically well equipped for fighting, were not as good in it than the V'As'Ta'R, still they were able to hold them off. The war, or rather conflict, soon came to an end when the other races presented proof that some 3rd party was involved. The races joined forces together and discovered a cloak capable ship belonging to some unknown race. After extensive search and hunt the combined forces intercepted the ship and disabled it, but failed to board it as it soon self-destructed.

This saw an end to the conflict and the Opiros understood the importance of galactic cooperation as they were still rather small forces working in a large galaxy.