Ok, first, some background intel for you. The Kristang were not at the top of the allied coalition, which I already figured, from the fact they needed to hitch an interstellar ride on a Thuranin star carrier. What was news to me was that the Thuranin weren't at the top either. The allied coalition is led by cat-like aliens called the Maxohlx. Rumored to be cat-like, since no human, and very few Kristang, had ever seen one. As humans were unlikely to ever see a Maxohlx in my lifetime, all I'll say about them is they are an ancient species, with incredible technology. Surely when the Maxohlx fought, they were armed with something better than an M-fucking-4. And I know 'Maxohlx' is an odd name, it was the best our G2 people could think of to spell how the word sounds when the Kristang said it.

The home planet of the Maxohlx is two thirds of the way around the galaxy from Earth, if that means anything to you, which it doesn't to me. It's far, far away. The Thuranin, we learned, were themselves not unique, they were only responsible for a small slice of the galaxy under Maxohlx control, and the Kristang handled a couple thousand cubic lightyears under Thuranin control. The Maxohlx had other second tier species besides the Thuranin, and the Thuranin had two other species under their command, that we knew of, besides the Kristang. The Thuranin are sort of little green men, they are shorter than the average human, but humanoid, with two legs, two arms, two eyes and a bald head. Humans who had talked with the Kristang got the impression that the Kristang didn't like their 'patrons', and the feeling was mutual; the Thuranin are disdainful of any species with lesser technology. I wonder what they thought of pitiful humans.

On the enemy side, the situation was similar. At the top were the Rindhalu, who are creepy looking spider type things. Just thinking about it made my skin crawl. Their second tier allies, in this quadrant of the galaxy, are the Jeraptha, who are almost as creepy, being insects. The Jeraptha aren't a hive mind like bees, they are more like beetles. The Ruhar are a client species of the Jeraptha, the same way the Kristang were clients of the Thuranin. Based on some things the Kristang said, our G2 intel people speculated the Ruhar had slightly better technology than the Kristang.

Kristang propaganda, I say propaganda because that's what it sounded like to me, said the Rindhalu were older, much older, than the Maxohlx, and had tried to suppress the development of other intelligent species in the galaxy, until the righteous Maxohlx rebelled, many thousands of years ago. The allies were fighting for the right of intelligent species to develop on their own, while the enemy species were slaves of the creepy spider Rindhalu, who wanted total control of the galaxy. For an advanced species, the Kristang had remarkably clumsy propaganda. Think Soviet Union, or North Korea, or Nazi Germany. We allies are fighting the evil enemy for the glorious and virtuous common people! Under the magnificent guidance of our supreme leaders, our righteous cause will triumph! Strength through unity! And so on. Anyway, that's what we were told. I'm sure the truth is more complicated, it always is.