Aliens of the Rim: Hivers & Ithklur (Traveller New Era RPG) ~ Game Designers Workshop GDW 0318

Why did the Hivers assassinate Emperor Strephon? Why did the Hivers allow the Third Imperium to fall? What are the Hivers' plans for the future of humanity?

There are those who say that nothing takes place in charted space without the Hivers having anticipated it, planned it, shaped it, brought it into being by patient, careful manipulation.

The Hivers are the manipulators -- emotionless, perfectly rational beings possessed of infinite patience and subtlety. If interstellar history is a clock, the Hivers are the ones who wind it; the passage of time itself does their bidding...

"What do you get when you cross a golden retriever with a box of razor blades? How is it that the most efficient, merciless killers in the universe don't have a mean bone in their bodies? If violence is natural, guileless, and innocent, does that mean one need not take it so personally?

The Ithklur are the most feared warriors known to man. To an Ithklur, Vargr plunder is like a walk in the park; Aslan warrior spirit is the babbling of a toothless child. Other races make such a fuss over violence -- why not just do it and enjoy yourself?

To the Hivers, the Ithklur are their trained, elite shock troops, lovingly perfected by millenia of manipulation and social engineering. No finer tool has ever been fashioned.

But as far as the Ithklur are concerned, they have the Hivers just where they want them. Who wants to be a boring taxi driver anyway? If the Hivers want to pretend they're in charge, what does it really hurt, so long as they leave the Ithklur alone?