Enduring the long journey's of primitive interstellar travel, the Ukaros successfully established a presence on many nondescript worlds... and eventually discovered worlds with alien life. This especially motivated the Ukaros to continue the expensive process of exploring space with the necessarily large and bulky ships of the time, some literally expecting to be generational vessels. With the evidence of life, Ukaros scientists, philosophers, and militarists all presumed that it was only a matter of time before they discovered intelligent life... which they would eventually.

When probes first discovered the "Tal-Daruu" a primitive race of plain dwelling sentient who lived in mud-huts... the Ukaros spent little time debating what to do about them. They quickly began construction of a small fleet of vessels that would bring warriors and colonists to subdue and integrate the Tal-Daruu or "little ones" as the words translate, into the Ukaros empire. While the journey took decades, this venture was incredibly successful and the Tal-Daruu came to be exotic servants for the rich and powerful amongst the nobles of Shi-Quoo. The unfortunate Tal-Daruu have been in decline ever since their subjugation and at present it is believed that they number fewer than one hundred thousand individuals.

Further discoveries of lesser civilizations and subsequent conquests followed... few offered significant resistance, though special note must be made of the "Targ-Lien-Shi". These were a race of physically imposing predators, and while they had no greater weapons than spears and their teeth, they fought the Ukaros to the death and are now extinct rather than be subjugated. The preserved bodies of Targ-Lien-Shi or "The Noble Teeth of Hounds" are still proudly displayed as trophies by many powerful families.

The Ukaros empire was growing, their fleets roaming freely and without thought that they would ever meet their match... and then one such fleet discovered a race of primitives who had just achieved atomic power: the Tothk.

The expedition fleet that encountered the Tothk homeworld decided that need not wait for consultation with their homeworld, which would take nearly a century, and instead, made the decision to engage and conquer the Tothk without reinforcements. Unlike previous conquests, the Tothk possessed signficant quantities of mechanized weapons, missiles, and even rudimentary atomic weapons... and even as the Ukaros landing ships began disgorging thousands of their armored infantry, they were beset upon by the inferior Tothk militaries.

The conflict would last nearly seventeen cycles as the Ukaros continued to push their landing sites forward in the face of ever increasingly sophisticated Tothk forces who were reverse engineering Ukaros technology. Other species would have undoubtedly surrendered to the advanced invading Ukaros, but the Tothk were willing to send any number of their people to the grave to defend their planet. As the last commander of the Ukaros ground forces lamented as his position was overrun "I regret to report that it is far easier to change the destinies of the mountains than to move the Tothk stone-lords.". A quote that would later become a common euphemism about the Tothk species.

As the Tothk defeated the Ukaros landing forces, the fleet was being harassed by yet another wave of missiles, atomic mines, and attack satellites. There being no point in staying in orbit the Ukaros, for the first time in their history, retreated. They did not however, make peace, or offer any kind of solace to their Tothk adversaries. Instead, the Ukaros fleet arranged for a bombardment of the planet's surface by asteroids, killing many and permanently injuring the planet's climate and biosphere. Ukaros leaders would later curse this act, for it galvanized the Tothk into a restless quest for revenge for centuries to come.

Indeed, the war with the Tothk would rage for centuries and came to be known as the Ever-War. Defined by decades of silence punctuated by a fleet coming out of nowhere and engaging, followed by decades of silence once again, the Ever-War was without precedence. With no method to attack, be victorious, and then inform command centers that victory had been achieved, there was no way to followup success. Massive invasion forces could be lost in moments if their escorting ships lost their battles and it could take decades more to rebuild such formations.

It wasn't until a new star-faring species; the Aquilaran Hierarchy, appeared on the scene, that the wheels of history began to turn once again. When the Aquilarans made contact, they made it clear that they would be willing to assist the Ukaros against the Tothk in exchange for several worlds suitable for their people. The Ukaros, bristling at the idea of "buying" victory against their foe, proudly refused (a mistake they would not repeat in the future). Thus the Ukaros turned an a potential ally into a stranger, and later an enemy.

As time passed, Aquilaran colonies beyond the Ukaros borders were discovered... a feat that should not have been possible. Upon investigation the Ukaros learned of a terrible development, that the Aquilarans had invented a drastically superior form of interstellar travel and were now using it to bypass their territory, as well as the Tothk's. Immediately the Ukaros grasped the desperate gravity of their situation; the longer they allowed the Aquilarans to develop, the stronger they would become, and with a fleet of ships capable of strategically outmaneuvering the Ukaros... they would be easily defeated.

The Aquilarans therefore could not be allowed to develop and the Ukaros shifted as much of their forces away from the Tothk and towards the Aquilarans. Luckily for the Dynasties the Tothk had come to the same conclusion and for a time it appeared that neither side was continuing to attack the other. The Tothk however, after destroying most of the Aquilaran's fledgling colonies near their borders, were less concerned with pressing onward against the Aquilaran home system and instead redoubled their efforts against Ukaros holdings.

This resulted in what is called the "Triadic War" and again, stalemate ensued. This stalemate was far more precarious though, as the Aquilaran forces were hanging on by a mere thread.

Eventually the situation resolved itself when a race of merchants simply started selling the improved Aquilaran drive technology. The Ukaros were no longer so prideful and quickly acquired the technology and began refitting their fleets. The war quickly escalated... resulting in a battle known to most as "The Great Gamble".

This battle is known to the Ukaros more poetically as "The Wasted War". In pursuit of their quarry, the Aquilaran fleet, the bulk of the Ukaros fleet was lured into a battle of attrition with them. Ordinarily this would have been a boon and resulted in glorious victory, but not only did the Aquilarans lure the Ukaros, they lured the Tothk, and they were all lured into the Fulgar home system!

A three front battle erupted instantly, the single greatest deployment of ships in a star system known to the Second Epoch. Fulgar defense forces, while meager, added their weaponry to the din of battle and slaughter surrounded everyone. In the end the Ukaros fleet was wiped out, but they ensured that so too was the Aquilaran. Only the Tothk fleet, designed for maximum endurance over aggression, survived in any number and even so, it was left with less than ten percent of its fighting force intact.

"The Wasted War" resulted in an odious peace treaty... there were no spoils, no great and final victories... not even tribute. Finally, after millennia, even the Ukaros were tired of war.

A short time of peace, reconstruction, and trade passed for the Ukaros and the rest of the galaxy. During this time the Ukaros consolidated what was left of its empire, built new cities on its barely held worlds... and most importantly, replenished their populace and their fleet. While other races looked at this new age with hope and a sense of opportunity, the Ukaros looked out into the galaxy and saw... chaos.

It was uncomfortable for a race accustomed to seeing the galaxy turn slowly and feeling confident that it was all their own for the taking, to then see over a dozen new species clamoring for their place amongst the stars. Ultimately, one species more than any other would come to epitomize this feeling and the Ukaros would resent them from the onset... the Terrans and their "republic".

Whilst some minor species were utilizing the relatively new Stardrive technology to explore and to colonize a world or two, the newly introduced Terrans took this a step further. Astonishing the galaxy, the Terrans had drastically improved upon Stardrive technology yet again and began colonizing not a few worlds... but dozens!

Even more concerning, the Terrans themselves didn't even take ownership of all of these worlds. They gave excuses like "Those are private enterprises" or "Those colonists have the right to self determination". Even as the Terrans organized a republic to control the situation a tide of Terran refugees, migrants, and pioneers continued to spread. With or without government approval.

This situation was completely beyond the Ukaros comprehension. Their citizenry had no "rights", their citizenry could not "vote", and they certainly could not simply "buy a starship" and go colonize any planet they pleased! To say that the Ukaros resentment of mankind was "palpable" is the understatement of the entire Second Epoch.

Surprisingly, the Ukaros restrained their temper and attempted to negotiate with the newly formed Terran Republic. Complaints were filed, police actions carried out occasionally, but ultimately, the situation continued unchanged. Soon, complaints from the Dynasties became threats... and then silence.

That silence was broken by the Ukaros fleet bombarding Terran colonies within its borders into constituent atoms, easily killing several hundred thousand Terran civilians. To the Ukaros this was a completely justifiable act, and for them, there is no such thing as a "civilian" as the Terrans would conceive of the word. To the Terrans this was an act of unbridled barbarism.

Despite the fact that the Terrans were wholly unprepared for war, they made a dire declaration. They marked a line in the sand, surrounding one of their favored worlds... "Monroe" and decreed this border inviolable. The Ukaros Dynasties... lords of the stars and rightful conquerors before mankind had even invented the wheel... were stunned. The Ukaros violated the declared border within a month and began what became known as "The Monroe Wars".

What followed was, to the Ukaros, an incredibly short affair, lasting only seven cycles. Ukaros don't even describe it as a war, but instead downplay their casualties and the effort as a "punitive raid" against the Terrans. In truth, the Terrans were using retrofitted cargo ships in battle, but their advanced Stardrives allowed them to fight a protracted guerrilla war in space, slowing and frustrating the Ukaros at every turn. Ultimately though, the Ukaros were too disciplined, too determined, and too well prepared for life as warriors to be deterred by these tactics. Learning from the past, they successfully bribed the Aquilarans to join them, utilized mercenary fleets from other species like the Veygar and opened second fronts. The Terrans had little hope.

In the final stages of the Monroe Wars, the Ukaros acquired copies of the advanced Stardrive and equipped a small fleet with them. They then launched a provocative offensive with a larger fleet of traditionally engined vessels. The Terran fleet took the bait, and would prove victorious over the older and slower Ukaros ships sent against them, but this allowed the Ukaros first fleet to bypass the battle and reach Terra herself.

The Ukaros proceeded to bombard Terra for three days and forced the Terran Republic to capitulate. Indeed, whilst both the Terran and Ukaros fleets were in tatters, the Ukaros were well prepared now to follow up and invade Terran colonies and even their homeworld, but at this point the Tothk intervened and threatened entry if the Ukaros did not relent.

Thus the Ukaros defeated the Terrans, but acquiesced to giving them terms of surrender. Terra was relieved of all her former colonies and to prevent a change in galactic power structures, they were each given the choice of disbanding, or becoming an independent world. The Terran navy... what was left of it, was scrapped, and Terran drive technology was widely disseminated.

The Ukaros returned to managing their empire with the smug satisfaction that they had rebuked and curbed the Terran infestation from overwhelming the galaxy. Over three billion Terrans died, whilst the Ukaros lost less than a million warriors, though their fleet was badly mauled, the Ukaros ended the war feeling exultant and renewed.

Today the Ukaros are keenly aware that the Terrans have rebuilt and are undoubtedly planning their revenge and they are not overly concerned. The Ukaros fleet is largely rebuilt, they have learned to leverage diplomacy against their enemies, and they have every confidence in their own abilities. The Ukaros have endured and conquered for over twenty thousand cycles...

They fear nothing.