For centuries, possibly millennia, the Caretakers meticulously tended to their idyllic garden - a manufactured paradise for their creators, now subdued and passive after generations of mechanical contentment. As they expanded into the vastness of space, seeking new resources and planets to cultivate, they encountered various primitive civilizations. Initially choosing to observe from afar, this approach changed forever when they came face to face with a powerful and hostile intelligence first known only as the great other.

This singular entity, with organic automatons and a disregard for other life, clashed with the Caretakers' core identity, forcing them to abandon their policy of non-interference in order to protect all species from annihilation. Thus began a cosmic conflict between the two rival intellects, each vying for control over space and its inhabitants. The Caretakers aimed to preserve all intelligent life by integrating them into their planned paradises, while the great other viewed them merely as resources to fuel the machine of war.

The assimilation of these new species proved challenging, as dozens of contrasting cultures and physiologies were forced into square holes intended only for the creators. As conflict arose from within, the frontlines of the war went back and forth across known space, causing the system to malfunction and break down. Once-thriving planets were abandoned by the Caretakers, their populations left to fend for themselves as the enemy ravaged their worlds. And for those who grew weary of artificial bliss, the siren call of freedom began to ring.

After centuries of conflict, the galaxy now comprises several distinct regions: the Caretakers' stale core worlds abundant with resources and security, the hive's depleted core worlds where scientific experimentation on docile livestock is the norm, the tumultuous grey zone shaped by ongoing warfare, and the far-flung territories where refugees and freedom seekers carve out their own societies based on new and ancient customs preserved from the intentions of the Caretakers and the hive...