Ascension is usually the final footstep of those civilizations that have successfully advanced to the pinnacle of possible development, it is often the last footnote that we see of these civilizations in this universe, and very seldom do we see involvement of these beings after.

            Transcension, ascension, transcendence, or whatever particular name is used basically describes a process where a civilization existing in this plane of reality, either transcends the use of matter, or disappears into a constructed reality of their own devising. Though the ways in which these races transcend are many, the methods used are all incredibly sophisticated, requiring the mastery of physics, and being able to wield powers that the Federation can only imagine.

            Though we have plenty to show that races do finally transcend, we know very little why they take this great step, because in every case the energies required are not trivial, or not to our understanding, and such a leap probably requires an equally determined dedication to a psychological belief. At the moment we can only speculate what drives an established civilization to disappear altogether.

            There are many current hypotheses behind transcension, most tend to draw upon rather simple motives, partially because it makes sense to believe that these simple ideas are universal, and far reaching into the far development of a civilization, but also because more complicated reasons can not be easily supported. One of the more powerful ideas at current time is that transcension allows a civilization to finally escape the chaos of the universe. Since man started to think it has strived to control its environment, to tame it, out of this control technologies and philosophies have emerged, and formed the basis of civilization. It is therefore no great leap to suggest that civilization as we know is based on a will to control and order, and that transcension removes that final barrier to perfect order, and continuity, by creating an ordered universe of their own design.

            Another hypothesis is founded on the idea that ascension offers a final escape from the constraining rules of the universe. Because corporeal beings have limited powers, there is an urge to experience and to explore beyond the capability of these bodies, for this reason civilization has constructed vehicles to carry these fragile bodies to ever more hostile environments or ever more distant destinations, but eventually there comes a point where the machines they make would make far better bodies than their original ones of flesh and blood, offering resistance against environments and time. So a civilization slowly evolves into a machine society, where most of its thoughts and citizens exist as data within machines, but even these material constructs have constraints, and although many of these can mitigated, the limits are still there as they were with their original bodies. Transcension offers the next leap, to abandon matter, and its constraining rules and take on another new form.

            A similar hypothesis follows the same line, by stating as a civilization increasingly desires certain resources, at first materials, and as it becomes more advanced, processing power and information, transcension is just the final barrier lifted which allows a civilization access to infinite resources.

            These above hypotheses run from simple ideas of desire, their motives are basic, but there also exists ideas behind more complex motives. A race of the sophistication required by ascension could pretty much dominate galaxy at the very least, if it had the will to, and the question of their lifetime as a civilization could equally be as total handing down their tasks to their machines. But such domination does not appear to be the case, though all powerful forces may exist they certainly do not act malignly, nor interfere to disrupt civilization, which supports the idea of truly advanced races to be incapable of this kind of aggressive domination, that conflict is only the response of last resort. If civilizations behave in this way then ascension begins to make sense, for a super powerful civilization their very presence may itself become a hazard to those younger races, not only through the potential of advanced technologies to be stolen, but also the psychological impact of their existence, which would perhaps change the way a civilization would evolve. Transcendence can then be seen as a way of limiting damage, a final selfless act, to grant the rest of the universe a chance to rear more untainted civilizations, which develop on their own with all the rich history and culture that entails.

            Though ascension as a benign force perhaps hints at the benevolence of the elder races, it perhaps might be wishful thinking. Ascension could also be thought as the ultimate in isolationism, as we seldom see races that have transcended interfering with how this universe has run, perhaps when a civilization has reached these heights it has seen too much of life, it may have to endure wars it did not wish to fight, it may have observed the destruction and chaos of quarreling races, or perhaps had been witness or perpetrator to unimaginable acts. Ascension then finally offers an escape, for then that civilization can withdraw, and forever avoid the chaos. There is perhaps a midway between the benign and the isolationist ideas, where the powers that a civilization develops become so great that they never dare use them, because no race could equal or resist them, so ascension offers an escape where they can avoid the responsibility of their powers, and can not be provoked into using them.

            Though some view ascension as almost unavoidable final step, many races within the Federation have disappeared without a trace, perhaps ascension is not the only possible ending. At the moment we can only speculate the motives behinds these impressive acts, and comprehend less still the technological powers these races must have wielded, our main hope is either contacting an ascended race, or perhaps better still because of the similarity of perspective finding the records of a race which has observed a race in the process of ascension (also we may have a chance of understanding how they record their data). For the moment ascension is just another bane in the xeno-archaeologist, depriving them of an ending, to the imaginative its an almost divine event, an expression of life striving for perfection.