The Star Hives
The worlds of the Star Hives are located somewhere near Golgan space but appear alien to our galaxy. Nobody knows whether their minions, the Hive Spawn, are travelers from a neighboring galaxy or transdimensional invaders, but the latter is thought to be more likely. The hivespawn are vaguely insectoid in form and behavior. the race is made up of several sub-species, each specializing to fulfill one role within the hive community. Among the sub-species are the heavily armored killer beetles, the vacuum wasps (able to soar through space like a fighter jet), and termite engineers (super-intelligent builders who secrete their own building materials). Biologically, the hivespawn have been discovered to be silicon-based creatures who do not need oxygen to survive.
Little is known about their culture or goals because most contacts with the Star Hives have been violent. It seems that each Star Hive is an independent unit, a kingdom (or ant-hill, as it were) unto itself. Like ants, they scavenge raw materials wherever they can find them, mining moons, asteroids, and planets--without regard as to whether or not they are inhabited. Ships unfortunate enough to run across a Star Hive's path are usually attacked without mercy by the hivespawn. The ship (and it's' crew!) are disassembled into useful components and taken into the hive. These acts have generated a "shoot first, ask questions later" policy on the part of most civilizations when it comes to these strange beings.
Most hivespawn seem to be mindlessly devoted to their work and the hive. They will sacrifice themselves unflinchingly and will fight to the death against hopeless odds. This has led many researchers to conclude that the hivespawn are mindless drones controlled by a group intelligence, although no one is sure. Every time a Star Hive has been detected in the Milky Way it is attacked and obliterated without warning by all humanoid fleets in the area. Raids by the hivespawn have increased in numbers lately. Someone has started circulating stories about a huge, moon-sized Mother Hive that can disgorge billions of warriors, able to overpower and eat an entire planet in a matter of hours. These rumors remain unconfirmed, but may be true.
*NOTE: if you want to learn more about the Star Hives, please purchase the books from Palladium RPG Games.