Children of Danu — Rod Rogers

The conflict for universal hegemony began long ago, before the Earth was formed, long before Sol coalesced to ignite fusion in her heart. Before the Milky Way existed, and before matter and energy erupted into this new domain we call the universe, conflict raged on a scale never witnessed by humankind -- an unending mordant contest that eventually eliminated every preeminent civilization of the period and effectively rendered all known ancient domains incapable of sustaining life.

That time has passed, but the root of contention still exists in the vast and shadowed depths of this universe. Complaisant and irenic, Humankind has lived in ignorance and cloaked in anonymity on a small water world circling an unremarkable yellow dwarf lying within a lesser spur of the minor Cygnus arm of the Milky Way. Invisible and undetected, the teeming billions gained mastery over their little world, their star system, and then extended their domain into the stars. They colonized distant worlds by developing super-luminous travel through wormholes; unaware that this technology sent a message out into the void that said: Here I am.

Eventually someone took notice.