The Despair of the First Ones.

There are beings in the universe, many magnitudes older than any races that came after them; most of those either lived on and joined the pantheon that was the First Ones, although many of the older races didn't care for them since they were considered too young, and indeed many of them had not yet ascended beyond the physical realm, but many were still accepted because they had passed the point where they would be on the same level of the Younger Races.

Over the course of billions of years and joined by other ascended species, the First Ones grew bored of the Milky Way galaxy; they had sent out expeditions to explore and gather knowledge on other galaxies within the local group, of course, but they had not been able to carry out such expeditions in the centuries before since the conditions within hyperspace made it impossible. As their technology and understanding of hyperspace had improved, they had sent out expeditions to other galaxies.

They had made many discoveries. In the Andromeda galaxy, they discovered the local equivalent of First Ones within that galaxy had found another means of travelling within hyperspace, or to be more accurate, they did not travel within hyperspace itself. They had found the means of creating a space-warp effect where they were able to travel at high speeds while both being merged with hyperspace and ordinary space.

When the Milky Way First Ones encountered them, this alien race were the guardians and the protectors of the Younger Races and they had spent millions of years fighting with another First One race who fought to control the galaxy and wrestle away control from their opposite number.

The Milky Way First Ones were no strangers to protecting the Younger Races.

And, the First Ones of the Milky Way were not strangers to war either.

The Shadows, known to all of the Elder Races as 'the Lords of Chaos,' believed that strength, true strength came from conflict. The Shadows had spent centuries fighting among themselves to drive their scientific knowledge to levels where even the Firstborn of the First Ones, of which Lorien himself was the original, were impressed by, although with the 'Travellers' who were natural explorers and scientists and had spent centuries exploring the universe thanks to their greater ability to traverse hyperspace although they did not like sharing their technology and their knowledge with others as the only ones capable of matching them. It was only their general apathy, their curiosity of the universe and their disdain towards the

However, the Vorlons, known as 'the Lords of Order,' were the natural enemies of the Shadows because of their conflicting views. The Vorlons believed the Younger races should follow the guidelines of order and discipline, and advance from there. The Shadows believed the opposite; they believed the Younger Races must attack and war among themselves, allowing for the weaker races to die out or be enslaved to drive evolution up until they eventually rebelled against their oppressors.

Many of the First Ones could see the logic within the philosophy, but that didn't mean they had to like it. However, many of the First Ones, especially the Firstborn and the Travellers were willing to step in if they felt the Shadows were going too far, but the Shadows had negotiated Rules of Engagement the Younger Races had no hope of understanding with one another.

The general gist of the Rules of Engagement was the Shadows would not cross specific lines. If they did the other First Ones would be within their rights to engage them in battle. But the Rules of Engagement should not be broken by the other First Ones; the fact they had been negotiated by Lorien himself, the First One, the other First Ones would not dare break the rules. Many of the First Ones had gone on their own paths, but their respect for Lorien would never fade away.

In the Andromeda galaxy, however, the First Ones were surprised by what they experienced when they saw the war, the seemingly never-ending war for the first time.

This First One race opposed to the protector species had enslaved millions of Younger Races within that galaxy, but they had gone further than that. They had brainwashed the Younger Races into seeing them as Gods, and they had somehow gained power from the worship of the Younger Races. The Milky Way First Ones, already shocked by this discovery were even more shocked when they learnt the Enemy was trying to destroy their enemies so they would be seen and worshipped as Gods of the galaxy by the Younger Races, and become all-powerful.

While many of the Milky Way First Ones did not want to interfere as they believed it was none of their concern, they did eventually get involved in the conflict when they discovered the Enemy were gaining more and more ground with their emissaries spreading the word throughout the galaxy, and the resources of the protective First One race were spreading thinner and thinner; the First Ones predicted they would either lose the war or be forced to surrender.

The Milky Way First Ones entered into an alliance with the Andromeda galaxy First One species who was close to their own agenda, and they used their mastery of hyperspace to help launch a number of surprise attacks while the Travellers worked with their counterparts in the Andromeda galaxy. The Travellers technology was vastly superior to their opposite in some ways, and for a million years they managed to hold the line against the Enemy and delayed their eventual take over of the galaxy. It wasn't until the First Ones blasted a signal throughout the galaxy after spending 50,000 years working on the means, freed the Younger Races under the thrall of the Enemy forces that they were weakened.

The Enemy was blasted back to their homeworld, and their solar system was surrounded by satellites which prevented them from gaining strength from other Younger Races.

But in their home galaxy, the Age of the First Ones was drawing to an end.

The First Ones were outgrowing their ancestral galaxy, and many newer races were beginning to evolve; they knew it would only be a matter of time before the new generations of Younger Races rose. Some of the First Ones did not want to leave; they felt they could still live in their home galaxy, but the consensus was that it was time to leave. Many of the First Ones left the Milky Way; thousands left within a million years, and over the coming centuries more would leave simply due to loneliness.

Before the older First Ones left, the Vorlons and the Shadows volunteered to remain in the Milky Way. They wanted to remain as guardians and protectors of the Younger Races, and help them to evolve into something better than the First Ones. It was a noble course of action, but as the centuries passed, both races found they couldn't work together and the inevitable happened as it had before.

War.

The two races fought among themselves for centuries before they got the idea of using the Younger Races as pawns to determine who was right.

The remaining First Ones looked on and wept. At first, they fought against the Shadows, but their conflict with the Vorlons, some of it going back millennia, just drove them away until there were only a few First Ones left, including Lorien.

They wanted the insane cycle of madness to end while the Vorlons and Shadows became obsessively determined to find out who was right, and who's way was correct.

Order or Chaos.


Author's note - I have always been curious about why the First Ones and other races never visited other galaxies, but what if they had the power to do that only after they'd reached a certain level? The Andromeda galaxy story came about with what I know of the Ori from Stargate. Please let me know what you think.