Herschelii

The Herschelii are the first known advanced civilization and one of the first early life forms in the entire universe.

Achievements
They started on their home world of Tronaii and were trendsetters in a series of firsts. They were the first to leave their solar system, first to colonize their own galaxy and the first to reach a distant galaxy (even though the first time they were slaughtered when they unknowingly entered Sk'Oran airspace.

The Herschelii were not the only species to colonize galaxies but they were in fact the first, and because of this are considered to be one of the largest influences in species development as almost all species link back to them in one way or another.

Technologies
They were able to reach 10% of the speed of light when they first started the program and had reached around 50% when a new technology was developed that made that form of travel obsolete overnight. This allowed them to travel to nearby stars and spread life to them. The pods they launched advanced robots that can automate base construction and thaw people out when ready.