THE DANGER IS STILL PRESENT

IN YOUR TIME, AS IT WAS IN OURS

Antecedents are believed to have been an ancient civilization, or group of civilizations, that possessed technology far outpacing what is currently available to the general population of the Protectorate. After an extinction event of unknown origin the individuals making up this civilization disappeared and left only fragments of their technology behind. The lack of personal belongings left limit speculation into the particulars of their society, and most academic and military focus remains on adapting pieces of equipment for use by the state. Officially, the Protectorate claims ownership of all Antecedent sites, though the degree to which they enforce this ownership is greatly variable.

The gates, large satellite structures left behind by the Antecedents, allow long distance travel by transporting ships from one to another near-instantly. It is believed these gates are capable of encoding matter and sending it as a signal to another gate, where the matter is decoded into its original state. Active gates are almost matched in number by inactive gates, which have been damaged enough to render them useless. A method of restoring gates to optimal functionality has not been discovered.

Instantaneous long distance communication is possible with the use of a more commonly found Antecedent relic. These items were originally able to communicate audio at the very least, but current technological limitations mean messages can only be sent in binary through an adapter system. These larger pieces of machinery are able to send and receive messages in text format, and are differentiated with user-set identity codes.

However, not all abandoned technology is beneficial, as seen with the small drones colloquially referred to as “wasps”. These small, tripod drones are found in groups of varying size, often associated with the ruins of Antecedent cities. After sensing a source of heat or movement, the drones swarm and attempt to encode the matter of the triggering item or organism, taking small portions with each “sting”. A single drone may not be of particular threat, but swarmed individuals have been entirely encoded in a matter of seconds, and a way to decode this matter has not been developed.