This explains zombies too (makes them fit into the setting). Zombies are host minds that managed to overcome the human mind, but got damaged severely, to the level that only bodily functions remained, continuing operating on lower level instinct.

Maybe if I get off my __ and motivate my mind into it, this becomes something (hopefully entertaining).

And the reason no one can find any remnants of such spaceships on this planet is simple. Our vessels were organic (obviously!) and got disintegrated. And during our voyages we use to literally live inside it's brain(s?)

Interesting ... It seems somewhere in the past, our group lost the knowledge of crafting spaceships. And we got stuck on this planet. Now, we became depressed & restless and we're at each other's throat, fighting over whatever resources we can salvage.

Every time the colonists had to wait for their host to evolve into an advanced enough specie which is able to process language. Before that point, only thing that the colonists can do is induce huge pulses of energy to constantly push the creature's instincts to their limits: to force it to evolve.

That's actually why their brains evolved so strangely. Why these primates use at most 7% of their brains effectively? Because, we live inside the 93% part.

A few groups of elites among us, operate as the core collective mind which maintains the process of extracting the planet's resources. The rest of us are soldiers and data hubs working toward keeping the majority of the population in check and shape them as the work force, to advance our cause.

Their minds are of a primitive, shamanic, close-to-nature kind. But their drives are strong. We used our universal system for colonizing new planets (called The Civilization) to channel those drives into specific social rituals, so they can't interfere with our main operations.

What do you think subconscious is? It is the result of our effort in subduing the minds of these primates. They managed to leak some of their ideas to us through our moments of being absent minded or our dreams. They managed to create pathogens of their own by fooling us into it & use us: #COVID19?

We are playing it right now! But, I'm not sure how to proceed.

My current favorite system for this setting, is the Stoneburner RPG system (which is under an allowing license - not necessarily the setting, which is copyrighted differently).