[Being a study of the enigmatic and advanced Callaran race]
HISTORY OF THE CALLARAN EMPIRE
Colonial Era
Many millennia ago, the Callarans learned the secrets of star travel. They launched colonial ships into the systems surrounding their homeworld Callar, settling on any inhabitable planets. The systems surrounding Callar were blessed with many inhabitable planets, and the Callarans soon spread to cover many star systems.
The Fourteen Kingdoms Era
Eventually the planets and systems of the Callarans began to drift apart, losing contact and becoming independent. The slowness of sublight speed travel caused the systems to lose contact with each other. Small groups of systems clustered together to provide resources to each other. There were fourteen groups of systems like this. They became known as the Callaran Houses.
The independent Houses began to colonize new systems, spreading the Empire across a larger region of space. As the Houses expanded, and light speed travel began to become possible, the Houses made contact with each other. Each House wanted to rule the newly united Callaran Empire over all others, and so the fourteen Houses set out to war against each other.
The First Dynasty Era
The civil wars within the Empire grew in scale and number. All through the Empire, Callaran Houses fought each other over who would rule the Empire. Terrible weapons of destruction were created and unleashed, massive psychic energies were used as each House sought to destroy the opposing Houses.
A young ruler in one of the Houses, House Veritans, set out on a different mission. He set out to unite the Houses and form a new government. His name was Harran Teishan.
Teishan led the military troops he had at his disposal in a series of civil wars, bringing House after House under his rule. His forces succeeded in bringing together twelve of the fourteen Houses, having to destroy the other two Houses when they revolted.
Teishan formed the Houses into the mighty Empire that they had once been. He ruled it as the first Emperor, until his death five hundred years later. Following his death was a series of sixteen dynasties over the next 5000 years, most Emperors coming from House Terikor, House Veritans, and House Tenserai.
The Empire favoured no House over another. Instead, the Empire was ruled not only by the Emperor, but also by a group of representatives from each of the twelve Houses that formed a Council.
The Dark Dynasty
Still, this was not good enough for one of the Houses. House Senitam, the second largest of the Houses at the time, decided to make an attempt at the throne of the Empire. The House gained support from House Delanti, and together the two Houses built up their strength. Without any warning, the two Houses launched an attack on Callar.
House Senitam and House Delanti attacked mercilessly, their forces destroying the sentry ships and battle stations orbiting Callar. The Home Fleet (Dekathai) was destroyed in just a few hours. With no other defense left, Callar was open to invasion. Fortunately, the other ten Houses sent a massed fleet to stop the two rebelling Houses. The rebel fleet was destroyed, but the other Houses lost many ships in their own fleets.
Immediately after the battle at Callar, the loyal Houses attacked and utterly destroyed House Senitam. House Delanti, however, submitted to the other Houses and asked for forgiveness. The other Houses, wanting nothing more than to see the Empire reunited again, agreed.
The Empire was reformed, and the eleven remaining Houses lived peacefully in what would soon become a time of great discovery for the Callarans, an era of prosperity that would last for twenty thousand years.
The Era of Enlightenment
Many more dynasties followed, and the Callarans enjoyed a time of peace. They sent out Scout ships to explore the surrounding systems, discovering new worlds and expanding the Empire. The Callaran scientists learned many new things, including the existence of the dimension known as the Nexus and how to use it, and the Empire prospered.
It was during this period of prosperity that the Jai society was formed, completely separate from any of the Houses. The Jai were the sages and advisors of the Empire, and its only psychic users. Their abilities to see into the future and predict upcoming events made them excellent advisors, and the entire Empire listened when they spoke.
It was this ability that allowed the Jai to see the upcoming danger. The Jai saw a God awakening, and a mighty race dying. They immediately told the Emperor and the leaders of the eleven Houses at the Vestigai, and the entire Empire set into motion to prepare for the coming events.
When the dark vision of the future became a reality, the Callaran Empire felt it. The Callarans shuddered as they felt the mighty psychic scream of agony echoing through the Warp. They felt the psychic death screams of the Eldar race, and they knew that they were in danger as well.
The Chaos Era
The Jai immediately began to train themselves to fight this new threat. They created weapons to magnify their psychic energy, and they researched new psychic powers to aid them in fighting this enemy. They set forth to learn more about this new threat, and they learned what it was - the Chaos God Slaanesh had awoke.
In other sections of the Empire, other Callarans set forth to combat Slaanesh and the other Chaos Gods. They saw their doom in their dreams, and these dreams created in them a desire to destroy Chaos and its followers at all costs. These Callarans turned their backs to the rest of the Callaran society, and created a new organization of Warriors, trained to fight Chaos, all of them knowing their doom was at hand. This new society of Warriors was called the Moritai.
The Imperial Era
While they prepared their military, the Callarans also sent out more Scout ships, to find new worlds. One of these Scout fleets came upon an inhabited world. The world's fleet attacked the Callarans, and the Scout fleet immediately destroyed it. The Scout fleet, not wanting any other hostile encounters, left the system.
Soon after this incident, though, a large fleet invaded the Callaran Empire. this fleet destroyed four Callaran colonies before the Callarans could react. In retaliation, they destroyed the invading fleet with one of their own fleets.
Seeing this as another threat to their Empire, the Callarans immediately began taking worlds from this new enemy, the Imperium. They imprisoned those who opposed them, but for those who did not, they gave them a place in society and the freedom to do what they wanted. They invited the conquered worlds into their Empire, and treated them as people of their own Empire.
The Callarans eventually attacked Denebar, the homeworld of the Lightning Fists chapter of Space Marines. The Callarans quickly destroyed the planet's defense fleet, and soon gained the upper hand. The leader of the Callaran force, Dominai Seran Fortan, personally led a force of Warriors into the citadel of the Lightning Fists. It was in this citadel that Fortan encountered Commander Darran Segranar, Chapter Master of the Lightning Fists.
The two commanders saw each other and immediately charged. In the highest tower of the citadel, the two clashed. Lightning claw and power sword met with Force Sword and Xenon Sword, and sparks flew from between the two combatants. They fought each other for hours, while the battle for the planet raged on around them. Eventually the two fell, exhausted, neither having gained an advantage over the other.
Lying on the floor, the two army commanders began to talk. They learned of each other's Empires, their differences and their similarities. Fortan learned that the attack upon the Callaran Empire was caused by a misunderstanding of the Callaran race. Having learned this, Fortan promised that he would order all attacks on the Imperium to cease if Segranar could stop the attacks upon the Callaran Empire. The two agreed, and immediately the Callarans left the world of Denebar.
The two Empires ceased their attacks upon each other, but they have no allegiance. The Callarans, satisfied that the Imperium no longer posed a threat, turned their attentions back toward Chaos. They have lived in a state of readiness to this day, however, watchful of any race or Empire that might be a threat to the Callaran Empire.