Galen

==The Galen: ==
It is widely believed in most parts of the galaxy that there are two supreme spacefaring races which have entered the Milky Way Galaxy: the Galen and the Elders.
They were unable to peacefully coexist with each other and fought each other to the detriment of both their peoples.
The Galen were masters of the science of genetics and had a hand in altering many other races. The species they found to be the best to work with was our own.
The Galen focused on improving the physical robustness and emotional stability of the human race, initially for some very personal reasons, but more lately to allow humanity to spread to more hostile environments. They combined the human genome with specialized genetic elements from alien races to create a race that could conquer the immense gravity of the G-class planets that the Galen preferred. This race is now known as the Supremis or Homo Sapiens Supremis and includes both the Velorians and the Arions.
The impetus for creating the Supremis race started more than four thousand years ago, following a vicious attack on the Galen by the Elders. In that attack, a pathogen was released that destroyed the reproductive capabilities of their females. Desperate to regain their lost fertility, they fell prey to an Elder plot that resulted in most of the Galen females entering a wormhole that led to a planet where they believed they would regain their ability to bear young. It was a trap they could not escape, for the actual terminus of their wormhole was a white dwarf star, a trap that not even the mighty Galen could escape.
From an an excerpt of the Archives of the Velorians:
::Despite the death of the females of their race, the Galen did not give up. Their first act was to enhance a selected group of humans to create beings whose powers rivaled their own and whose very presence and beauty would inspire them to continue the species. They placed them on the golden planet Velor, and in so doing, gave rise to a race of people who were called Velorians.
::The prototypes for such advanced humans were created four to five thousand years ago. During this period, the Galen experimented by creating a number of genetically advanced humans and releasing them back on Earth to see how they would prosper. They exhibited various powers such as invulnerability, extreme strength, and even unassisted flight. A murky but persistent memory of some of these encounters with prototypical Supremis persists among various human groups. Some of the Supremis were famous heroes, and others were themselves worshipped as gods. It is believed that beings such as Gilgamesh, Aphrodite, Hercules, Thor, Vainamoinen, Hiawatha, and other such deities and demigods were born of Supremis bloodlines. The gods of Olympus and Valhalla; such as Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, Odin and many others lived in the various heavens that were actually Galen created havens and which are now regarded as mere mythology on Earth but were in fact located on other planets.
The tome in the Library of Scribes continues in another section:
::Despite their heavy influence in Earth's ancient history, we know little about the Galen today. A glimpse at their history, however, seems to indicate some of their goals. We know that they favor a highly organized and efficient, though somewhat regimented society, at least for humans. They do not shrink from battle or war, believing this to be the best way to put their progeny and their culture to the test. Finally, they believe in enhancing physical attributes most useful for the kind of life they favor, and for that reason sought to move humans towards a goal of superior strength and stamina, which often as not lead to enhanced sexuality.
Then after the last war with the Elders they needed to save their race. Given that their lifespans are measured in millenia they had time. They turned to a project started by a young Galen female named Skietra and took it over. She had started by abducting the strongest and most vital members of a race of Scandinavian tribes that resembled the blonde, blue-eyed physical form she most preferred, and settled them on a planet named Velor to begin their enhancement. The resulting beings became the modern-day Velorians of which much is written in these chronicles. Their correct name is Homo Sapiens Supremis, and they are but the latest evolution of a synthesized race that has roots more than five thousand years in the past. The Galen scientists created their client race by using advanced genetic engineering techniques. When they finished, they inserted a 'control' into their genes that allow the presence of gold to nullify much of their physical power. The result was that they located the colony on a planet whose core was laden with pure gold (unlike Earth, where gold is usually found combined with silver in electrum, a natural alloy). The Galens then withdrew from their new planet and contented themselves to allow their new race to develop as they saw fit, other than leaving behind a large genetic computer called the Maternity Engine who's goal was to maintain the purity of their new creation. This did not work out as they had planned as Galen/Velorian hybrids tended to be at least 90% Velorian. The Galen had to start over to produce their surrogates and left the Velorians to themselves.