The next encounter took place over a Parween world.  A dozen races and their warships had beaten down the defenses and were using kinetic strikes to destroy the industry and population below when the Nephilim intervened. The first the allies knew of the Nephilim was when ten of their ships exploded. The Nephilim warships had come out of hyper behind their victims and blown them apart. Not one of the seventy ships in orbit survived the battle that lasted less than thirty seconds. The only reason the alliance knew what had happened was because of a convoy of damaged warships that were preparing to open a jump gate to head back to the fleet yards for repairs. One of them made it back. It had hit a gravity eddy in hyper and had been pushed ahead of the rest of the ships. The Nephilim, it was thought, had missed it because of the sensor jamming that gravity waves cause in hyper. It would be years before the Alliance found out the Nephilim could track them in hyper and attack nearly tracelessly.

Fortunately, about this time the technology granted to the races by the Elohim was beginning to be understood and put into true production. Improved armor, weapons, drives, and sensors were coming out in ships designed to use them properly, instead of on ships that had been hastily modified for the new techs. This merely meant that the alliance could damage the Nephilim ships, if they got lucky enough to survive that long. It was a new phase of the war that forced the aloof Elohim to get directly involved in the fighting, but only after nearly half the alliance races had been exterminated in a blitz that lasted nearly two years.

Even during this fighting, the Commonwealth had been expanding until it was hit by the Blitz as well. Despite the pressure to call the fleets home, the Commonwealth kept its defenses weakened to aid in the defense of the remaining members of the alliance. It cost them dearly before the Elohim interceded.  Two thirds of the home fleet had been destroyed as well as almost half of the Commonwealths most productive planets.  But they had also blunted the Horde as they counterattacked under Nephilim orders.  

The Nephilim had evidently figured that with the Horde striking its targets in conjunction with other raids by the Nephilim fleet that the alliance front line would fall apart under stress as the remaining races called their fleets home to protect their own home worlds. It did and did not happen. A few of the races did call their ravaged fleets home, but others ordered a counter attack. The resulting confusion was a heaven sent opportunity for raiding and was enjoyed thoroughly by both sides. Elohim and Nephilim fleets seemed to encounter each other by accident, blowing up each others plans because of high ship losses.

During this time yet more of the races died under withering orbital bombardments by both sides. It was beginning to get hard to maintain large servant fleets by both sides. The only races not seeming to be suffering in the fighting were the primary antagonists. The Nephilim and the Elohim.  

The Elohim called a council of races and informed them that there need be only one more push to win. The Nephilim had lost enough planets to weaken them fatally and it was time to end this. The few remaining races of the alliance put forth everything they had. A fleet emerged that was bigger then any seen before by the alliance.  Even with its industrial ability nearly shattered, most of the races had reserves of some type and had released them all to end this war. The vast fleet went forth, escorted by the Elohim, into hell.

The Commonwealth of Numeria has a recorded history dating back more then 100,000 years. But they count their ascendancy to the stars when they built their first moon outpost on the larger of their two moons as their beginning date. From there it was a rapid expansion to fill their solar system and even to go beyond their solar system. At first this was done through the use of jump gates. These were ancient gates that allowed travel through hyper space from one gate to another gate. It was not instantaneous, but it meant that you could reach another solar system in a matter of hours moving at 12.4 m/sec, instead of thousands of years. The gates were a mile across with a throat of three quarters of a mile wide. This was seriously more than sufficient for Numerian needs.

Their expansion through the ancient jump gate network was rapid, until they met the Mairid, a race of intelligent insects. The result was an intense competition for He3 and other resources for space oriented expansion. It came to a head when the super gas giants in Nagan were discovered to be loaded with strategic materials that both races wanted. War broke out in less than 20 days and lasted almost 20 years. At the end of which the Numerian Commonwealth was the local military power and the Mairid had had their colonies taken and had been confined to their home world with the threat of their moons being dropped on them if they did anything against the treaty that they had signed. It was a threat the Mairid believed.  They had found out that the Numerians were bad bluffers and tended to say exactly what they were going to do and tended to do exactly that.  The Numerians had accomplished one other thing as well. They had their first client state.  

The entire Mairid-Commonwealth War could have been avoided if the Mairid had understood the nature of the Numerian mind. If a Numerian says he will do something, he will.  They do not bluff as a rule. It just is not in their nature. The Numerians are literally honest to a fault. Why? It is hard to lie when everyone around you is an empath and can sense deception. Add in to this the fact that they are line of sight telepaths as well… It makes for a very literal society that tends to speak its mind openly and can make for highly blunt politics as well.  

Even in the time of the Mairid-Commonwealth War, the Commonwealth was the ancestor of an old civilization of nearly continuous history going back to the days of swords and chemically propelled projectiles. Strangely, they never developed bows or crossbows on their own. But when they met the Romans the technologies spread rapidly through Commonwealth space in the form of competition leagues with a popularity  equaled only by their equivalent of soap operas. This would change little except to switch back and forth with Hand to Hand forms of various types. While most Numerians did not practice the Martial arts, they did enjoy watching them.

A Bit on the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth had three castes of people. The Warriors, the Priesthoods, and the Worker castes. While an individual could leave a cast for another, it was generally into the Warrior or Priestly castes in that order of preference. The Warrior caste was a dangerous life style and was always in need of replacements. If this was not confusing enough, each caste had Orders. They were not really guilds, as they were really focused on modes of philosophy and a particular outlook on life. The military both supported directly and indirectly over 20 Orders of which by far the largest were the Naff’Bei and the Aero’Bei.  

The Priestly Orders were as varied as the Terran’s religions and sub religions, but were focused on the aspects of one God and generally considered each other as valid parts of the whole.

The Worker Castes had the closest equivalent to a true guild system, but also carried with it an umbrella of worker Unions similar to what the Terra had in the late 20th century.

Government
The Government of the Commonwealth of Numeria underwent several incarnations until it settled on its current configuration gained from its reorganization to meet the stresses and threat of the Mairid-Commonwealth War.  There are many layers, ranging from local to interstellar.

Towns and Cities: Senate law does not cover this specifically, but case law has settled it down to fully elected or half elected councils with its members rotating every 8 to 15 years. Non-elected may appoint their successors, but may not be reappointed. They may be reelected.  Elected officials may serve a maximum of 8 terms or 60 years, whichever is greater.

Regions: Planetary regions are elected, but may not serve their terms consecutively.  Their terms are 10 to 15 years.
System Governors:  These guys are appointed by the Senate and rule until relieved.

The Senate: The Senate is an elected body done by majority vote. Each planetary system gets 2 senators. They are responsible for formulating law and counter balancing the court system.

Prime Minister: He is elected from the Senate. This office is the Executor of the laws and the standing directives  of the Ruling Council.

The Sanei: The Ruling Council.  Made up of three equal groups appointed from each of the castes. This council is responsible for dealing with foreign nations and the stated aims of the Commonwealth.  A Saneia can serve in other layers of the government and keep his seat. Most Sanei are not well known and can walk amongst the commons with little or no notice. This is not true of them all, of course. Several are extremely well known and actively involved in politics.

It is a strange political system, but it seems to work for them.