Star*Drive Externals in Fading Suns
General Intro
The human race has encountered a vast array of different alien species in the centuries of exploration and colonization. During the Second Republic, external has come to be used as the classification for aliens outside the human sphere of influence. Until a species was categorized, cataloged, and
brought into the human alliance – either through absorption, treaty, or annexation – it was listed as external in all
official and unofficial databases.
In the closing years of the Second Republic, the external classification has taken on darker and more foreboding connotations. On the far edges of the Republic, contact with external species are considered to be dangerous, mysterious, even hostile were reported. Most scientists at the time attributed these reports to the inherent dangers of life on the human frontier, but that only explains part of it. These reports fell silent however after the collapse of the Second Republic. It was not until contact with the Vau that the external classification was re-awakened. So has the paranoia of other external threats as contact is made with lost worlds. Rumors of strange and powerful species on the edges of the galaxy concern the Emperor and the Church.
GM Notes
The Externals from Star*Drive are a fascinating combination of Cthulhoid creatures, with a little Heinlein arachnid alien thrown in. Through out the material, the imply that the I’krl was imprisoned. I have not read far enough to learn by who, even if they do, but to work it into the Fading Suns setting, the Annunaki is an easy candidate. The whys and the what-fors don’t really matter. Both settins have this rich and mysterious precursor history that can be inter-meshed however the GM wishes to.
Rumors of their arrival started back in the late Second Republic but when keys were lost or destroyed, gates were sealed or destroyed, those rumors fell silent. The Externals have similar knowledge as the Annunaki and understand Jumpgate technology better than humans but their influence is still limited. The I’krl remain imprisoned and the resources of their agents are limited to what they can glean from the humans. The Emperor played right into their hands when he started his campaign of recontacting the Lost Worlds.
I am going to write a series of articles as I integrate them into Fading Suns. I am not sure how far it will go but I have started on it, so I will post as I finish them and see where it goes. Hopefully, it will inspire someone.
