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Plot Rundown (Full Premise)
In the beginning, the Ohm were the first sentient species to achieve multiversal travel. They were masters of biotechnology, but otherwise weren't much different from many of the other modern multiversal culture. However, as they expanded their understanding of the multiverse and their technology grew, they began to genetically alter their own forms as well, adapting themselves to the numerous realities they spread out to. However, they became too agressive with their genetic alterations, and soon the genetic code of the entire species was beginning to degrade.
In order to halt the process, they needed to take countless samples of potentially compatible genetic material for stabilization. Which, unfortunately, seemed to be most common in other sentient species, a number of whom were just emerging as multiversal cultures. Thus, they began the first multiversal war in their effort to obtain enough genetic information to stabilise their whole species.
With their superior technology, the Ohm quickly defeated their enemies and obtained enough samples, but many of their commanders and leaders developed a taste for conquest. Despite having saved their people, they continued waging wars with other sentient beings and conquering their worlds. Soon, however, a splinter faction within the Ohm formed, viewing these campaigns as senseless and meaningless. When debate couldn't end the conflicts, the splinter group openly waged war against their former comrades.
Ultimately, with the devastatingly advanced weaponry of the Ohm on both sides, there was no clear victor, and both sides incurred devastating losses. The leaders of the Ohm saw that this conflict would only lead to the destruction of their race at its own hand, and they realised exactly how foolish they had been in the first place. They called a truce. The Ohm leaders called for their people to leave the civilized part of the multiverse to make a new home for themselves far out of the way, where no one else would ever be bothered by them again. The splinter faction, however, chose to remain. Some of them were still dissatisfied with the past actions of their old leaders, and so chose to wander the multiverse on their own. They became the Rom, in time. The rest, however, felt it was their duty to restore order to the multiverse, since the action of their former comrades brought so much chaos to it. This group became the Daligig.
Over the following ages, the three groups became much different, both culturally and in evolutionary terms. The Rom chose not to alter their forms, as that was what had brought about the previous wars in the first place, and so they were the closest to the original Ohm in physical form. As they wandered, they began to learn more of the multiverse's mysteries, and they soon learned how to see and interpret the Threads of Fate.
The Ohm, choosing a life of seclusion, altered themselves to best adapt to this new way of living. They developed a demi-hivemind, where they are all connected yet unique, each offering their own viewpoint while simultaneously being able to understand the views of their fellow Ohm.
In time, the Ohm became used to their life of seclusion, to the point where they eventually forgot about the possibility of other sentient creatures.
Meanwhile, the Daligig soon established themselves as peacekeepers in the multiverse. They looked for many ways to do so, starting with bluntly intervening in the wars of other sentients.
However, this was highly inefficient, and only served to incite anger from other species, and as such, they opted for more peaceful measures. They genetically altered themselves, choosing a form that carried many species' subconscious cues to make themselves appear harmless and peaceful, while also giving themselves empathetic powers. Using this, they were able to quickly establish peace with other species, forming the first major multiversal alliance, the GIA.
However, the multiverse was still a highly chaotic place. The Daligig withdrew from the GIA to allow it to govern itself while they focused on the larger issue of establishing a true multiversal peace.
One attempted project was Project Godhead, where the Daligig would attempt to make contact with the multiverse's more esoteric beings and ask them for help. That was when they encountered the being that referred to itself only as It.
It was immensely powerful, and promised them that It could bring absolute and lasting peace. All It asked of them was that they would pledge themselves eternally to It, and do what It asked of them. As you can probably guess, this is when things went horribly wrong.
Many of the Daligig were skeptical, but the opportunity seemed far too good to immediately pass up without investigating the issue further. They eventually put it to a vote, one which the entire population of the Daligig took part in. Unfortunately, It had already began influencing many of the Daligig already. Those who voted in favor of pledging themselves to It staged a terrible and bloody coup, slaughtering all of those who voted against it. This act forever stained the Daligig with Its influence.
The Daligig as an entire species were pledged to It, even those yet to be born. All Daligig are now born with the inherent desire to further It's goals, though this doesn't mean they don't have goals of their own. Secluding themselves from prying eyes, they developed in to a cruel, manipulative race. Their young are born into camps where the weak and incompetent are weeded out, so that only the best and the brightest will live to serve the aims of the Daligig. Even their psychic abilities were irrevocably altered. Where they were once peaceful empaths, the Daligig now developed powers that could subtly influence the minds of others, allowing them to manipulate them to their will.
Once It finished shaping the Daligig into the perfect tool for Its plans, It set them out on Its true goal. You see, It is an immensely powerful being that actually "exists" outside of the multiverse. Essentially, it is made out of "nothing". And, for reasons of Its own, it wishes to bring all of existance to nothingness as well. However, as powerful as It is, even It cannot do this alone.
But It does know of a way to accomplish Its goals. At the center of the multiverse lies the source of all existance. Claiming control of this source would essentially elevate one as the absolute god of the multiverse, able to reshape it or even destroy it at whim. However, it is normally impossible to access this source, but the Daligig eventually researched a way it would be possible: The Engine of Fate. This was not an actual machine, per se, but rather a restructuring of the threads of Fate in a way that would cause the barriers of the source to break down. This would involve altering the fate of countless realities.
To begin their plan, the Daligig discovered a hive world of the Ohm, where they nursed many of their young, and attacked it. The Ohm, forever altered by their eons-long seclusion, were unable to understand who, exactly had attacked them, as they had long since forgotten what it was like to encounter beings that were not a part of their collective. As such, it was easy for the Daligig to fool the Ohm into attacking numerous realities at key locations that would cause that reality's Threads of Fate to collapse, destroying the reality entirely. This provided the Daligig the perfect excuse to start "rescuing" countless Chosen--people with the ability to alter the threads of Fate in a more subtle manner than the Ohm--and use them to further their goals in the guise of "missions" that would supposedly restore the balance that was upset by the Ohm.
Obviously, this is where the Crew comes in. The Daligig utilized ships taken from the Ghyyl--a race the Rom had entrusted with many of the ancient Ohm's secrets of biotechnology, whom the Daligig had secretly enslaved--and formed the Transmigration fleet. However, an unforseen multiversal storm scattered many of the ships, including the Transmigration Nine. Stacy, damaged from the storm, began releasing the first crew (the crew from the original game) when she began slowly losing power to her stasis pods.
The Daligig aboard the ship had been killed during the storm, but Stacy, whose programming had become partially corrupted from the damage, continued on her mission anyway. This crew, though small, completed numerous missions, but without the Daligig in the way to control them, they eventually discovered the secrets that Stacy held about their captors.
(Momma!stacy is actually a good guy and really does wuv all the crew, and the Warden is a seperate entity that was "grafted" on to her to keep her under control)
Eventually, the Daligig caught up with the Tran9, but the crew, armed with what they knew, staged a revolt against them. Unfortunately, the Daligig were far too powerful, and this small crew was quickly defeated, many of whom were either killed or had their memories wiped and sent back into the pods.
The Daligig, having reclaimed only one of the Transmigration vessels, continued on their mission. They cycled through several small crews aboard Stacy, experimenting on those with interesting or powerful abilities, and repodding those who were too nosey and curious.
Eventually, however, the Transmigration Nine came under attacked by Flesh Pirates, hoping to loot the massive ship's pod bay to sell as slaves or black market organs. Normally, the Daligig could have repelled them easily, but the actions of an individual in the currently active crew (Cargn) caused chaos and disarray among the Daligig and their soldiers, causing them to be overrun and killed, thus causing the situation as it was at the beginning of the current game.
And that's pretty much it for the backstory, other than the Catastrophists, which have their own page.