It was not long before the Enlar discovered that, in one of the neighboring systems of their home star, existed a fruitful world not all that dissimilar from their own that was hospitable to life.

Upon this planet, lived a species of short, vaguely humanoid, 4-limbed organisms now known to those well-versed in the echoes of Ancient History as the Crenations. Fearful of any direct contact with these creatures, the Enlar concealed their presence, content to observe the unwary Crenation populous from the safety of orbit above their world.

The Crenations were a barbaric and fragmented civilization of many different tribal factions that were constantly at war with one another. Though they had developed a number of highly sophisticated languages amidst the various, primitive societies that scattered across the vastness of their war-ravaged planet, any form of technological innovation—beyond the most rudimentary of weapons and protective structures—was utterly beyond their comprehension. Loyal only to their secular warlords, they were a sentient species bred for battle, as was evident by their powerful limbs and their lean, muscular, upright-walking bodies.

But, in “one of the galaxy’s most astounding coincidences” (as it was to later be called, by the Mandralor), shortly after the Enlar arrived in orbit above the Crenation home world transpired the Advent of Mandrala.

The Enlar were at once fascinated by Mandrala, who was some form of mutant to the original Crenation genus. Possessing an extra pair of limbs protruding from each side of his abdomen, the monolithic creature stood at twice the height of any other Crenation that walked the face of his ancient world. He was a being of uncanny intelligence and charisma, and (like the Enlar) despised any act of physical confrontation, resorting to violence only when absolutely necessary.

Despite his pacifistic proclivities amidst a planet saturated with war-mongering overlords, Mandrala ultimately managed to unite his species: bringing them beneath the banner of one leader, and one mind. Mere decades passed before the he had morphed the savage Crenation world into a theological civilization based upon the complete obedience of their secular (and simultaneously religious) leader: himself.

Honoring the holy commands of Lord Order, with whom Mandrala allegedly made repeated, personal interventions throughout the course of his unnaturally long lifespan, the prophet guided his people with the benevolence of an enlightened, altruistic dictator. And because he never aged (although his various offspring did) Mandrala soon became no less than an all-out deity to his children: he was the Voice of God Himself, and no one questioned his authority.

Being both physically and mentally superior to the 4-limbed mainstream Crenation species, Mandrala’s dominant traits soon overwhelmed the Crenation gene pool. Within the span of just a few dozen generations, the Crenations morphed into the Mandralor: possessing the prophet’s appearance, as all their offspring were born with his idiosyncratic pair of extra limbs and prodigious intellect

It was then, upon the dawning moments of peaceful civilization on the planet below, that the Enlar chose to reveal themselves to the Mandralor. Though the secrets of interstellar flight were still far beyond them, the Mandralor were not shocked to discover the existence of the Enlar. Their leader, Mandrala, had spoken of countless “spiritual encounters with Lord Order,” where “strange, luminescent beings from the sky descended to their world,” and gave him guidance. And when Mandrala immediately accepted the boon of Enlar friendship, upon an understanding of their seemingly divine existence, the galaxy’s first inter-species camaraderie was born.

Like the Enlar, the Mandralor were possessed by some inbred interest to understand the universe around them. They constantly demanded information from the Enlar about the myriad undiscovered stars in the sky, for they were a young race, and never had opportunity to explore the galaxy for themselves.

At first, the Enlar were hesitant to reveal any of their secrets to their unproven allies, but they soon learned to exploit the interest of the Mandralor for their own benefit….

As a “gift,” the Enlar provided a steady supply of reliable (albeit outdated and oftentimes dilapidated beyond value) starships for the Mandralor, asking only that they share the bounty of information that they discovered with their benefactors. Acting with boundless enthusiasm, the grateful Mandralor used these vessels to scout out and chart the surrounding abyss—zealously throwing themselves in harm’s way under the command of their prophetic leader, Mandrala.

Without any further hesitation, the entire Enlar civilization ceased their unnecessarily risky interstellar explorations. Staying within the relative safety of their own borders, they merely awaited for the regular reports by the legions of naively curious Mandralor explorers. Indeed, the Enlars’ plan had worked beautifully: the Mandralor became their early scouts.

And when, after only a few short decades of exploration, the Mandralor came into contact with the Legionites, the Enlar soon became very intrigued. Having recently acquired a profound interest in societal manipulation ever since their discovery of the Mandralor, the Enlar decided to experiment with this species as well….

The Legionites were mountainous, whale-like creatures of solid muscle and bone that could barely even support their own massive weight outside the buoyancy of their boggy habitats. Pleasantly living out their lives, eating plants that grew in the verdant bogs of their homeworld, their primitive form of communication had, thus far, led their civilization into only the first stages of development. Because of this, the Legionite people were very susceptible to superstition and suggestion, being easily led and readily swayed in their pacifistic nature. Though they brains possessed only modest neurological sophistication, their huge, brawny bodies proved very readily capable of tolerating the harsh conditions of industrious slave labor.

The Enlar easily manipulated the Legionites into a sort of unified world government, and established a “puppet leader” (whom they had full control over at all times) at its head. In this method, the Enlar quickly became ruthless taskmasters over their entire species.

Though only a handful of the huge creatures were ever aware of their influence, he Lagionites almost instantaneously overtook nearly all of the Enlar’s production of ships and arms. Hundreds of thousands of new, giant space cruisers were constructed for the use of the Mandralor’s interstellar explorations.

And so the galaxy’s first Union of races was born: upon the relentless courage of the Mandralor, the administrative perspicacity of the Enlar, and the backbreaking labor of the Legionites….

Within a few short decades, the Mandralor already had proven to be far more adept at reconnaissance than the Enlar ever were.

They discovered many semi-sentient races, whose barbaric tendencies and societies were not all too dissimilar from those of the early Crenation civilization. Most of these races, who were ultimately be deemed in later days as the “Goth,” had not developed far enough to the point on Enlar interest. Leaving the “lesser creatures” to themselves, the Enlar commanded the Mandralor to continue their expedition across the universe—until they ultimately came across something utterly shocking in the scope of its horrors.

What the Mandralor found was too destructive—too volatile a possibility to be left unchecked without the watchful eye of their Enlar masters. Stretching far beyond the territories mapped out by the Enlar, and relaying information between their colonies in the absence of more advanced communication devices, like interstellar messengers of the Ancient Age, they quickly retreated back to the heart of Enlar territory.

But, by the time they had returned to relay the message, they had discovered that they were too late…