Raiders

The Raiders, also known as "Space Raiders" in various historical texts, are understood as a collection of factions with undetermined origin that raided multiple civilisations largely between the years -2000 and -500. These raids were responsible for the collapse of various small and large empires in the region, taking away much historical account of the empires from before.

Historical Account
The origin of the Raiders is unknown, but it is suspected they originate from a star system around the Kappa Cluster, as those systems were raided as early as year -2000. It is also now known that there were several factions of raiders, each with their own customs and boundaries. While historians of the Kappa Dynasty and Omega Dynasty mostly described the events of the raiders after the fact, they interpreted the events as a single invading force that conquered various worlds. The more likely fact is that it was a wave of migration of various space faring species united in some goals and technology, but not in politics and culutre.

As most settlements that were raided were destroyed or lost contact with other allied civilizations, little accurate information remains of the raids. Accounts in Endless War and No End to War of the Dyanstic Wars series describe the unpreparedness of various civilisations against the raids, and the eventual asimilation and adaptation of the raiders into their own small empires. The Tau Confederacy and Ibrahimian Empire were not able to survive the raids, and the Kappa Dynasty was greatly reduced in size and influence.

Technology
The Raider Longship was a staple of the Raider fleet. It was a hybrid air and spacecraft, custom built and the first of its class in a line of space warfare vehicles. Its versatility in air and space allowed it to gain dominance in the developed Tau Kappa Systems, against planets ravaged by war, and in the undeveloped outer systems.