universe idea
partial
premise part: 1. Dinosaurs were evolving spacetravel via hydrogen/oxygen bladders. This is where the myth of fire-breathing dragons came from. It is hidden from the fossil record because it was not encased in bone.
2. Other planets had already evolved biological spacetravel, and the cosmic object that wiped the dinosaurs out was propelled by aliens with primitive reptile-like behaviors, looking to suppress competition
3. Humans evolved in the aftermath. The reason for the presence of empires, wars, and rebellions in human behavior is to figure out how to handle rude and idiotic superpowers murdering everybody. Everybody has tiny size, big brains, and can use other matter for their behavior and information, because that's what survived the cosmic object that wiped out the dinosaurs.
[.. somebody killing you? write down what you know, put it in a bottle, and throw the bottle out to sea. dinosaurs could never ever do that! you have such a head start on this spacetravel shit!
Example Scene?
Picard is colonizing Mars when he is hailed. It's a giant space lizard as big as a --