Mantle

The Mantle was a concept that referred to a single, superior race exercising its authority in its galaxy, namely the Milky Way. The Order of the Mantle was a popular galactic belief system based around this fundamental concept. It referred to the superior races that inherited or acquired control of the galaxy as part of a succession. If applied correctly, every race to develop sapience would have their time to leave their impression on the galaxy. This system appealed to many, and after millenia of race after race acquiring control of the galaxy, the race to create this system was lost to history, as were their ideas of how the Mantle was to be ruled. 
Now, only the three most recent races in the lineage are remembered, the Precursors, the Forerunners, and most recently, the .
==Known history==
===The Precursors===
Unlike most other races, the Precursors were devout followers of the the beliefs of the Order of the Mantle. Their ambition was the very reason the previous race chose to peacefully pass the Mantle down to them. A part of the philosophy went that each successor was supposed to be even more advanced than the last. As a result of this, the Precursors were more than eager to see an even more suitable successor take the reigns, and chose to squander their time gene splicing to create the perfect race. In doing so, they overlooked the aspect of the philosophy that stated that they were to wait until a suitable candidate appeared to them.
Based around the deluded idea that only the perfect race, the pinnacle of all evolution with supreme intelligence and technology was fit to hold the Mantle after them, the Precursor's Mantle was by far the most sinister.