Interstellar Charlatans and the Goddess

A once-dominant ancient civilization has degenerated into parasitic interstellar swindlers. They wander the cosmos, impersonating local myths or fabricating deities, feeding low-tech civilizations to induce development, then parasitically ruling as gods or ancestors. Lacking governance skills, they plunder until planets collapse, then flee to new hunting grounds. One faction's luck runs out: in 150 years, they ruin the prosperous Ruby Planet, sparking a rebellion. Fleeing with nothing, they stumble upon an ancestral graveyard planet and unearth a real War God's tomb. To their shock, the legendary War God—depicted as a fierce muscle-bound man with a fabricated nemesis—is a cold, ethereal sleeping woman.