Hostile Exterminator Builders (HEB)

See also: Exterminators; The Chosen; Exterminator War; Grand Armada; Forerunners; Zubat

The Hostile Exterminator Builders, universally abbreviated to HEB, are an alien civilisation located approximately five years' hyperspace travel from Human Space. They are now known to call themselves The Chosen, which is the preferred term in diplomatic and academic usage. The older nickname "Roaches", derived from their external carapace and superficially insect-like appearance, remains common but is generally regarded as derogatory.

The Exterminators

The HEB first became known to humanity indirectly, as the creators of the Exterminator Super Battleships which attacked Human Space during the Exterminator War of 3196–3200.
The Exterminators were wholly automated warships controlled by sophisticated but non-sentient artificial intelligences. They destroyed 76 human worlds and killed more than 900 million people before combined human forces defeated them. Study of captured Exterminator systems eventually revealed both their likely point of origin and evidence that their builders had some ancient connection with the vanished Forerunner civilisation.
It subsequently became clear that the Exterminators had not originally been sent to destroy humanity. They had been searching for the Forerunners and attempting to provoke a response from them. Humanity appears to have been encountered accidentally.

First Contact

Direct contact came several years later when alien forces established a series of militarised colonies outside Human Space. The resulting conflict became known as the Roach War.
Human forces defeated these advance settlements, after which part of the surviving Chosen fleet conducted damaging raids deep into Human Space. Internal dissension eventually split the force. Around 80,000 Chosen ground troops surrendered and were permitted to settle on Zubat in Quadrant Zero, while the surviving space fleet escaped towards HEB Space.

Communication with Chosen prisoners revealed that they called themselves The Chosen and provided the first substantial information on their language, society and political organisation.

Chosen Civilisation

At the beginning of the Grand Armada campaign, HEB Space contained 25 inhabited worlds with an estimated population of approximately 7.9 billion sophonts. Around 1.4 billion lived on HEB13, regarded as the Chosen homeworld and political centre. Seven systems possessed significant shipbuilding facilities, with thirteen major shipyards identified. Their total economic capacity was estimated as roughly comparable with a second-rank human interstellar power.
Chosen society at that time was dominated by a powerful priesthood. Much communication appears to incorporate pheromonal as well as spoken elements, which initially complicated human attempts at translation and psychological operations.
The central feature of Chosen religion and government was what they regarded as their divine authority. Human investigation ultimately established that this "god" was in fact an ancient hostile Forerunner artificial intelligence, apparently associated with a surviving Forerunner vessel or installation beneath the principal temple complex on HEB13.
The extent to which the AI created, controlled or merely influenced Chosen civilisation remains uncertain.

The Grand Armada

Following the Roach War, a coalition of human powers assembled the Grand Armada and despatched it to HEB Space. The journey itself took approximately five years.
The Armada reached HEB Space in 3223 and launched a major campaign against the Chosen military. Human forces attacked HEB13 and HEB11, destroyed much of the Chosen fleet and seized the principal temple complex on the homeworld.
The Forerunner AI demonstrated an ability to take control of human automated warships. After heavy fighting, assault forces penetrated the underground complex and destroyed the AI with a tactical nuclear device. Subsequent recovery of a previously compromised Venerian drone battleship confirmed that its systems became controllable again immediately following the AI's destruction.
The Grand Armada subsequently destroyed the remaining known Chosen shipyards and defeated their concentrated fleet. Human information operations also bypassed the priesthood's control of communications and publicised the destruction of the supposed deity and the consequences of the Chosen attacks on humanity.
Political fighting then broke out across the Chosen homeworld. At least three rival factions approached the Grand Armada seeking human assistance against their opponents. The Armada concluded that the immediate military threat to Human Space had been neutralised.

Aftermath

The destruction of the AI and the defeat of the Chosen armed forces caused a major political and economic collapse throughout HEB Space. Human forces remained for several years while attempting to stabilise the region and prevent a renewed threat. Reports reaching Quadrant Zero in 3227 still described substantial work remaining before conditions could be considered stable.
The bulk of the Grand Armada subsequently withdrew. Major formations began reaching the Homeworlds in 3230, with further forces returning during 3231. The Venerian, Martian and Greater Federation fleets were among those formally welcomed home after deployments lasting roughly two decades from original departure to eventual return.
Humanity has not completely withdrawn from HEB Space. Permanent or semi-permanent human enclaves remain, notably the long-established Wolfer base at Haven and Venerian settlements at Gold and Juno. The Venerian government continues to characterise its presence at Gold and Juno as a continuing responsibility arising from the war rather than territorial expansion.