Enclaves of Civilization around the Quiet ZoC

Message Insert: Poor tiny islands, doomed to be swallowed by the sea

Moth here again, I've cross referenced some of those files Snail sent us with the stuff we got out of the Quiet data core. Here's an outline of other human enclaves and a few aliens out there at the edge of what was once human and is now Quiet space.

Also, we should probably be concerned about the Cacophony. There seems to be enclaves of them all over the place. Maybe Morgan can ask them where all of them came from (or did they just spread like us?)

Qin Shi Huang

Message Insert: The Last glory of a fallen empire names its self after the first

Qin Shi Huang seem to be the remnants of the Chinese state which was the largest power on Earth when we left and for most of the rest of the time up until the Quiet's take over. They appear to be refugees from one of that states deep range colonies which along with a frontier fleet managed to evacuate ahead of the Quiet, and made a series of long jumps to their present territory, which covers around 5000 worlds, unified under a single central government.

Qin Shi Huang seems to be somewhat behind us in terms of augmentation, but not to the same extent the NNU is, with Quiet forces noticing extensive use of cybernetics and even some level of speciation, though they report themselves physically superior. Qin Shi Huang's technology in other areas appears alarmingly high however, with evidence of combat teleportation of even atmospheric units, and the use of various very unusual beam weapons and other advanced devices.

Qin Shi Huang could definitely be a threat to the Expanse, though for now, we're both going to be busy fighting the Quiet for a long time.

The Synthesis

They don't in their hearts believe that humans can beat monsters, so they have done away with humanity themselves

Another direct remnant of Earth's culture, the Synthesis are ethnically Indian, though given how radically they've transformed themselves. The Synthesis are, like QSH, refugees, but they got away with less, or perhaps they were just better at radical thinking. Either way, when the Quiet encountered them, they found themselves faced with legions of genetically engineered super soldiers of various types.

The Synthesis don't seem to be as good at mental engineering as we are, but they have top notch genetics, and their genetic templates tend to be very specialized, meaning they exceed ours in their specialization. They have about four thousand systems, and a very robust technology base, with rhenium based coil guns and particle beams as their main weapons technologies.

It's unclear what their society is like from Quiet reports, but I'm currently theorizing it's a genetic caste system from some of the raw data. Again, they could be a problem if we beat the Quiet, but they'll be a valuable ally doing it.

The Sapphire Alliance

Message Insert: No one thought they'd survive, now, there's no-one left to care

Good news, there's another Whiteflame offshoot out there, apparently when we left several ships were deployed in the opposite direction to us, and this lot bore fruit. They sound a bit weird though, apparently they found some kind of alien species out there which they spliced into their DNA. It gave them a somewhat alien appearance (a bit like our Alfar friends) and telepathic powers (I don't have the data to say how these work scientifically, but they seem fairly powerful).

The Sapphire Alliance has technology that seems about as advanced as ours, though their tech paradigm is very divergent. They don't seem to have speciated like we have, all sticking to a single generalist body plan, and they seem to be using battleships as their primary war platform, rather than carriers.

I'd love to know what their system of government is, but as usual, the Quiet tell us nothing much. I guess it's hard to understand politics without a conscious mind. Oh well.

The MilRah

Message Insert: The Quiet know no acceptance
Type 2?
The MilRah are an alien race who've got a human population. They're relatively low tech, and frankly they may well get ploughed under by the Quiet if they don't get some assistance within the next few years. The MilRah themselves are small swarms or packs of 5-10 individuals with a sonic linkup between them.

They were apparently just about starfaring when they were met by a convoy of human refugees who needed a place to settle. Now the humans have pretty much integrated into their society, despite the heavy differences in physiology, supplying advanced technology in exchange for resources, local wealth etc.

They only have about 300 worlds so far, and the Quiet are beginning to apply pressure to their borders. I guess we'll see if this new combined civilization can resist (It's interesting enough that I suggest we help them out if at all possible)

The People of the Valley

Message Insert: is the price they pay worth survival?

Not much is known here, except they appear to be a mix of ethnicities, Iranian, Nigerian and several others, and they're extremely well equipped. The Quiet believe they've acquired some kind of advanced fabricator, maybe from one of the Ten or a previous civilization. Whatever it is, it's allowed a refugee polity of 500 worlds to hold its own against the entire Quiet fleet. We should pay them a visit at some point.

Falen-Ree

Message Insert: 'they have succeeded as humanity can't, because they have none of our flaws. However, our flaws may doom them too
Moth Insert: Gosh, she sure is cheerful isn't she?
Type 2?

The Falen-Ree are an alien species currently at war with the Quiet. They apparently have a considerably higher empathy, at least for their own kind than humans do, and have created an extremely egalitarian and very socialist society, even before they managed to build replicators (which they now have). They are a nice, friendly people by all accounts, which hasn't stopped the Quiet from setting out to destroy them utterly.

The Fallen-Ree control a series of colonial regions at the edge of the Quiet ZoC, and are apparently fighting a pretty massive war with them right now. They employ mostly large battleships in their defense, of which they build hundreds off, deploying them with little crew and much automation. They seem to be holding their own though, at least for now, though how long this can continue the Quiet do not know.

Eighteen Echo

Message Insert: Newness does not bring hope

The Quiet don't know the name for this lot, so they just call them Eighteen Echo. They don't appear to have any particular ethnicity, though the visual images suggest they're much darker than the NNU. They also seem to have a very extensive empire, at least a thousand planets. The Quiet don't seem to understand how their government works so it must be reasonably exotic. Their technology also appears to be pretty high, with large amounts of nanotech which can eat armour and shape shift their weapons. They also seem to use a lot of power armour.