Storyline proposal
Honor where honor is due
There is one thing that makes the Vi very different from other races: they are vegetable in nature. You are one of the few plants in the universe that can not only feel but also think and communicate telepathically with one another. On Omarion they grow mainly in equatorial areas and shine with their large and beautiful flowers.
Another - a humanoid - species lives on Omarion: the Vi now call them "Num'unor", the "first in them", or more freely translated: "the first in whom we were". The Vi - immobile themselves - had long watched these humanoids and discovered the advantage of being able to move. So, using their vast biological knowledge, they adapted their DNA to be compatible with the Num'unor brainstem. After this long preparation they waited until at some point one of them lay down to sleep next to one of these plants that were meaningless for Num'unor. The Vi penetrated the helpless with the help of its roots and took over its brain. Then he forced his host to tear the Vi out of the earth and place it on his neck, where the Vi continued to suck up.
All Vi on the planet telephatically observed the first attempts, with many wondering what the purpose of seeing actually is. So far, the Vi had only felt everything, i.e. reacted to touch, chemical stimuli and light. In his new role as host of a Num'unor, this only worked poorly - without seeing the host often injured himself. It brought further improvements when one of the Vi came up with the idea of using the host's memories as an aid on how to control such a body.
The Vi brought the host - after the movements worked to some extent - to look for more Vi and dig them out of the ground. He then carried these to a neighboring settlement, where he broke into houses with them and put the Vi there on new hosts. Soon most of the Vi, with almost a million members, had never been an innkeeper.
The Vi obtained their nutrients directly from the host, which, however, meant that the host now had to eat more than before. The Num'unor of course noticed the lost contact with their cities, and they dispatched a task force to investigate the situation there. The Vi tried to negotiate peacefully with the Num'unor, but when they discovered the formations on the back of the heads of their fellows, they were horrified and opened fire in panic.
The Vi, completely surprised by this violent attitude, were killed. All Vi who did not see it coming and had broken the connection felt the pain as the Vi died. Only a few Vi survived, most in the city were killed by the bullets penetrating their hosts. However, some were lucky enough that the bullets only killed their hosts and not themselves.
The Num'unor relayed the news that the residents of the place were infected by parasites and controlled. The Num'unor government now ordered the removal of the parasites. Troops were sent to all cities with which contact had been broken. But the Vi had witnessed the first massacre telepathically and had fled the cities.
And then they began their revenge. They developed a method to penetrate completely into the skull of their hosts and were thus hardly distinguishable from the invading Num'unor. In addition, when they took over a town, they began to keep in touch, thus confusing the Num'unor. They no longer knew where normal of them were and where the Vi were already in control. They began to secure the cities with the military so that not a thousand hosts, each with a few Vis in their hands, could take over an entire city in one night.
The Vi reproduced more and more diligently, so that they always had enough for a few new hosts. In addition, the custom arose during this time not to keep telepatic contact all the time, but only when you had something important to say, so that someone did not constantly transmit pain to someone else. In addition to their infiltration, the Vi began to openly take offensive attacks against the cities of the free Num'unor.
The memories of the acquired Num'unor enabled the Vi to foresee most of the steps and soon discovered the locations of the military bases. Within an Omarion decade, the Num'unor military power was destroyed, and a year later all Num'unor had become hosts. However, the Vi did not wipe out the Num'unor completely, but always kept enough of them alive to have enough hosts for themselves.
Technology now advanced and combined with the Vi’s extensive biological knowledge, they soon filled the void in the planet’s food chain.
Da'unor
However, a few decades later, the Vi ran into a serious problem - overpopulation. The Vi could survive for millennia, but the hosts died and no account was taken of how long it took to grow a new host. Placing a Vi in a growing Num'unor was too risky, however: the growing skull could seriously injure or crush the Vi. So the Vi started looking for a solution.
The most obvious solution was to clone the Num'unor and then grow the embryos in special tanks. But the Vi decided to go one step further: the creation of a servant race, a race that would support the Vi, serve them as security guards and hosts. So the Vi started planning a breed. They created a species that was strong, quick, and devoted. Due to the fact that this species combined all these characteristics and was to become the new host of the Vi, the species was christened Da'unor: all in one.
Then the Vi accomplished a biological masterpiece: they created a new brain for the Da'unor. After years of work, the first Da'unor was created. All Vi (some of which had to be planted back in the ground without a host) were eagerly awaiting the moment when the Da'unor would finally be ready. However, when the moment came, controlling this body was very difficult. The body almost choked because the instinct to breathe was absent. This could be added at the last second, otherwise the Da'unor project would have failed at the beginning.
However, since the brain first had to learn the other automatic processes, the Vi had to make sure, for example, that it always blinked so as not to let the eyes dry out. At least the organs were working by themselves and after a while the processes such as walking and breathing were stored in the Da'unor's brain.
And then the Da'unor showed its strengths: It was able to jump 31% further than a Num'unor could, and it was able to lift 23% heavier loads. Most Vi now wanted a Da'unor to host them. With this the breeding of the Da'unor began.
The researchers continued to improve the brain, and a few more years later, the first independent-thinking Da'unor saw the light of day. Some Vi were skeptical until the end whether this daring experiment could also be successful, but the Da'unor caning met all expectations. He was hardworking and curious, respected the rule of the Vi, and took pride in serving them. The Vi are - rightly - prouder of nothing than the creation of the Da'unor. The “fathers” of the self-thinking Da'unor gave their creation another nickname: Dem'nama. Of our sons.
The message
There is a reason the Vi believe they must order the galaxy under their rule: there is a building on their homeworld that is calculated to be almost as old as the star system itself. Only after exploring the Da'unor this was discovered. Only the highest of the Vi even know of the existence of this building, and only a few dozen have ever set foot in it. In addition, only one Da'unor was once initiated, but he has long since fallen to dust and was the only non-Vi ever initiated to take the secret with him to his grave.
This building is hidden in a huge mountain, the Je'gna, the finger of the ancients. The Vi believe that the first species to colonize their planet and galaxy established their capital on this mountain. The only structure in this building is an obelisk of a strange nature, called simply "the warning of the ancients".
As soon as someone approaches it, the obelisk plays an ancient message that also seems to be a memory: You can see how the ancients explored life in the galaxy and how they - wherever they went - found war. Finally, an old man known as a star seer prophesied that several billions of years later, when the old people had long ceased to exist, the messengers of death would come. They would bring death and ruin to all races in the galaxy. This part of the message is the most intense: one sees burning worlds, stars entwined in blackness and whole peoples that are suddenly extinguished. You can see hail from meteors falling on the worlds, devastating continents. You hear the screams of the innocent as their cities are destroyed.
The old people - so the message goes on - were feverishly looking for a way to prevent this fate. They decided to create a way to unite all the races of the galaxy so that they could work together to ward off the messengers of death. As this connection between all peoples, they created the Vi. It was to be they who would later gather all the peoples under one banner, control them and lead them into battle against the unknown. They gave the Vi their talent for control, made them adaptable and settled the Num'unor on Omarion to give the Vi someone with whom they could realize their incredible potential. But first they planted the Vi in the ground, where they would slumber for a long time and only intervene when the time was ripe.
The few who had seen this prophecy told - whenever possible - of the prophesied chaos in the galaxy, the war and the suffering of so many who simply want to live in peace. And that it is the duty of the Vi to bring peace to these peoples!
This message is discussed again and again among the Vi: Will this future come true? Is this likely? What measures still have to be taken to protect against the messengers of death? Or is the star seer not right at all? Or could the ancients look through space-time and have actually seen a section of the future.
Despite all the discussions and unanswered questions: The Vi, like the ancients, are convinced that this prophecy is true and will really happen. After all, that part of the message that foresaw their rule has already occurred just as the message prophesied.