Your characters are Human or Jeshen. You know what Humans are, and Jeshen are very humanoid indeed - tailed, hairless, hermaphroditic, semi-aquatic humanoids. They run Jeshen Space, and own the choicest Real Estate. Of course, they were here first, and they took in Humanity as refugees, and beggars should not be choosers.

At any rate, Humanity has convinced the Jeshen that they co-evolved with their servitor apecies - uplifted animals, robots, and bioroids - and they could not live without them. So, though it disgusts the Jeshen, Humans have their slaves, and Jeshen Space is crawling with secrets and conflicts!