The Battle of Eyden

                                    

                                          
---COMBAT REPORT---
                          
---EYDEN COUNTER-OFFENSIVE---
                          
---COMBINED REPUBLIC AND FEDERATION FORCES---
                          
THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS OF XIKKAX, ADDED FOR XENOS PERSPECTIVE OF THE BATTLE OF EYDEN
                          
You will have to forgive me, even now recalling the event fills me with fear. Fear of the Vordt, certainly, but they are not all that I fear. The humans, I find even more terrifying, and as supposed allies I know that such a stance is rather unfair to them but if you had seen what I had seen on that day you would look upon them in a new light as well.
                          
I am Scyll. The humans, they call us *lobsters*, as we apparently share some superficial similarities to small arthropods that evolved on their homeworld of Earth. I find it quite amusing, actually, as the humans initially thought such a fact rather novel and worthy of note. But we are all godborne people, and such coincidences are in fact very common. That my own progenitor gods saw fit to fashion us with such a form is simply because they believed it to be superior to any other choice. On that, both our own gods and those of the Vordt agree, but that is as far as our similarities go. They are voracious, ever consuming while we are scholars, scientists, poets.
                          
You may be wondering why I am speaking of this. What do the physiological and psychological differences between the Scyll and the Vordt have to do with humans? Well, you must know where I am coming from, my history, in order to understand my appreciation, and fear, towards the humans due to their actions in pushing back the Vordt swarm.
                          
My people were born on binary worlds known collectively as Eyden. Which one we truly originated from is lost to time and I'm not sure even our gods truly know anymore, but from whichever one was our birthplace we were quickly able to spore the other and spread. Telepathic connection through channeling of the Cosmic Resonance allowed our peoples to develop convergent cultures, and eventually unite under one banner once short distance space flight was discovered.
                          
Each of our worlds were Garden Worlds, one of the rarest under the Federal Galactic Encyclopedium of Planets. Paradises, where we were the dominant species simply by right of being godborne, vibrant and fertile, streams teeming with ichthyic life for sustenance. Perfect.
                          
Neither of our peoples knew of warfare before arriving on the galactic stage. Why would we? No other force on either planet could threaten us, and our resources were plentiful. Combined with our natural longevity and slow reproduction rates there was never any reason for us to learn how to fight.
                          
That changed swiftly.
                          
By the time the humans had left their own stellar system, by the time they had vanquished the Orken and... done the unthinkable... my people had been amongst the stars for generations. And as our generations were much longer than theirs that meant we had been around for a very, very long time.
                          
We had learned of war by then, a concept so bizarre to us at first but one we found the need to embrace were we to survive. The galaxy is not a kind place, and though resources are quite abundant, getting to them is never easy and more often than not it is simpler to take from someone who already has what you need. And if you could not adequately defend your own resources from those who sought them, the you were as good as dead.
                          
And so came the Vordt. Angered at the continued rejection of alliance by our own gods against the other great deities of Alympion, Ssth'rk, the chief deity of the Vordt directed his swarms towards our small nation. By collective decree, the gods of Alympion are forbidden from interfering in interspecies conflict directly, though whether from fear of another Orthrag incident or because they saw the wisdom of Lady Gaia's "help those who help themselves" mentality (to borrow a turn of phrase from the humans) none truly knew. We were not getting any help from the High Realm to alleviate our plight.