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#+B2006
The Ishimans initial analysis of the rogue asteroid was correct: it was artificially created, and originated in the Cantharan system of Los Ran during the Boodan War. Further examination of the samples you retrieved reveals a sinister secret.
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The asteroid was saturated with a biomechanical virus, apparently designed to lie dormant within the asteroid until it collided with a living planet. The artificial virus, millions of tiny mechanisms, would then activate and seek out compatible life which it could infest.
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A relic of the Boodan war, the biomechanisms could have been some kind of weapon, but the method of distribution--on artificial asteroids--would have been too slow for any tactical use. Its purpose is obscure.
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This Boodan Mechanism is beyond any known races ability. The ramifications of its discovery this far from Cantharis are staggering. It now seems the Cantharan Crusades have more to do with hunting down and harnessing this virus than they do with obliteration of the Unenlightened.
According to the Ares prologue, no known race created the Boodan Mechanism and the Ishiman/Human Cooperative could discern no purpose for its creation.
The only unknown race which is mentioned in Ares are the Grolk-apparently the creators of the Audemedon as well. However, an earlier Ares prologue says the Boodan Civil war was "centuries ago". Ares takes place in at least 2200 AD. Slug's "Before They Sailed" addon was set in 1400 and told how the Salrilians defeated and enslaved the Audemedons. Correct me if I'm wrong, but his timetable and plot were based upon "less public" information and should match the "Ares canon" If the Audemedons were created and became conscious only fifty years before they were enslaved, then that puts their creation at 1350 AD or earlier.
I think we can resonable assume that the Grolk were destroyed by their creation-after all, the Ishimans,according to the Level 16 Prologue did not know who created the Audemedon(or didn't share the information, hinting at a darker motive there as well...)
So if the Grolk were exterminated in 1350 AD, they disappeared from the scene at LEAST 850 years before Ares takes place. In that case, why would the Ishimans have not said "close to a millenium" rather than "centuries ago" The fact that "centuries" is used hints at the Boodan Civil War-and the construction of the Boodan Mechanism-being AFTER the enslavement of the Audemedons and the destruction of the Grolk. This is also supported by the fact that the Cantharan Order had conquered merely "dozens" of systems such as Earth on their crusades. If the Order's crusades were in fact merely to follow the Boodan Mechanism as the Ishimans speculated and knowing that they took place after the Civil War, I'd say that perhaps the Boodan Civil War can be fixed at 1900-2000 AD-just enough time to conquer "dozens" of systems assuming heavy resistance on the ground that was not dealt with using weapons of mass destruction such as nukes, antimatter, etc.
So if the Grolk and their experiments can be ruled out, is there another "superrace" lurking in the background, waiting when the time is right for Ares 2 
(hint, hint) Or have the Ishimans simply vastly underestimated the Salrilian and Audemedon technology?
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"It could be argued that MacOS X is less of an operating system and more of a screen saver (puts up pretty images for you to stare at while preventing you from actually getting work done)."
-mcb
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