As far as we can remember, our people have always been peaceful. We have worked together, in harmony, for millennia. We gazed with wonder and curiosity, first at the three suns of our solar system, and then to what we came to understand as suns blazing much further away. Tending and nurturing other life on The Garden, we created a paradise.
But nothing lasts forever. The ashes of history showed us that what comes into being, will, inevitably, die. Species endlessly arising, evolving, and going extinct. The suns of our solar system, blazing in their ever present multi-colour glow, would eventually envelop The Garden and destroy all life. For centuries we knew this, and for centuries more we sought to find a way to reach the stars.
It took many missions and experimental propulsion drives before finally we discovered what was thought impossible – stable, faster than light travel, using a hyperdrive network that spread across the galaxy like the veins within a leaf. Thus began an era of renewed hope and boundless unknown. We longed to find other life that could think and question and build like us, intelligent beings who could teach us as we could perhaps teach them.
After mapping the closest star systems, something completely unexpected arose. Not only evidence of past intelligent life, but a tantalising inkling of a link to our own history. A race of sentient plants, under onslaught by another species called the Grunur. Several of our native myths whispered of a buried past; one where, instead of individuals, we were all linked together through a ‘hive mind’; with colonies on multiple planets. No serious scientist had entertained such stories as real – yet now… Could it be we descended from this plant species? If so, what happened to these possible ancestors – and how could another intelligent species, the Grunur, act so aggressively and ruthlessly?
Until then, we theorised that to even move beyond the phase of being planetary bound, any species by necessity had to be able to cooperate and nurture all other life on their world. For if they didn’t, we thought, they’d simply destroy themselves, or the world on which they existed. Indeed, some of our scientific missions to other planets seemed to prove this – showing ruins of species who were relatively technically advanced, but whose technology and disregard for the ecological web they existed in also destroyed their worlds and, by extension, themselves.
Gaining new insights into the universe, going further and further to new systems, uncovering new sites about the Grunur and species known as the Baol, even finding a system of three habitable planets – one completely suitable for us – there seemed no end to the possibilities.
Then, abruptly, we came across what had long been anticipated – an alien craft! Soon after, two more, of completely different designs! The race was on to decipher all their different languages. Most in our society were eager to establish contact, but a few urged more caution. Could it be that one of these were related to the Grunur? And, if so, how would we defend ourselves? But we cast such concerns to the side and, before long, communications were first established with the first aliens.
They were strange, but then what did we expect? A race of collective intelligence, seeming related to the machines that we used for labour on The Garden, and yet clearly far more advanced. They called themselves Model 16s, and asked – to our shock and consternation – to be left alone. Perhaps later we could nurture a better relationship, but in the meantime our concentration turned to the two other aliens.
The next was some kind of volcanic, semi-crystalline entity - Theians. Their eyes glowed disturbingly, but the words they spoke made us shiver in excitement. Friendship… mutual discovery… sharing of knowledge! It was everything we hoped for. Envoys were exchanged and welcomed. Before long, mutual pacts were signed that enabled our people to journey to their worlds, and vice versa. Our young clamoured to see the marvels of their home planet, but the conditions made it difficult to stay for long.
As dramatic as all this was for our species, it was really the third alien encounter that changed everything.
---
Imagine a wind-blasted planet almost devoid of the green welcome of forests. There was no gentle singing of leaves there. With only one star, this planet plunged regularly into a death horror that they called ‘night’. Perhaps it was no wonder why such a species acted as it did.
They liked war. They liked to conquer. Were they the dreaded Grunur?
But these were a reptilian race, far different from what our archeologists had uncovered from descriptions of the Grunur, and with ships that bristled with a strange array of weapons.
Those few among us who had earlier called for caution now clamoured for something to be done. We had ships, we had weapons, but these had always been for the purpose of dealing with asteroids. Now, we tasked our scientists to research ways to defend ourselves against possible attack, and had our engineers undertake a frenzy of ship building.
The reptilian race was at least composed of individuals, rather than a collective mind that shunned all contact. Although they had the kind of culture that our sociologists had long proven as impossible to develop beyond a planet-bound existence – one of hierarchical values, dominated by a minority, with a ruthless imposed will. They called it an Imperium, and it was even ruled over by a single Emperor. Still, we had to try. No, we had no choice.
We sent them gifts. Our envoys mingled with their leaders – one day calling in great alarm to be returned to The Garden ‘or my nut will break open’, and the next in muted tones of hope. Thus it swung back and forth. The lizard Imperium was militaristic, aggressive, and yet – with time – we learned it abided with a strong sense of honour. Even so, we watched the movements of their warships with foreboding.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of our space, there was emptiness. Just drifting groups of space whales, and weird automaton units that guarded mineral rich worlds. It was there that our archeologists uncovered more secrets about the Baol. It was hardly a source of reassurance. This species – whether related to us or not – had apparently been completely massacred. Increasingly, it looked like they had been subject to genocide.
Was the same fate in store for us?
---
We spoke with our Theian friends about the mysteries of the universe, about the Baol, and increasingly about the lizard Imperium.
“Their desire for conquest is deeper than you can know,” the Theian envoy noted, his eyes glowing beneath ashen brows. “We just hope their attention will be focused on the robots.”
For it was true: the lizards had made some barbaric ‘declaration of war’ upon the Model-16 species. Their warships vanished out of sensor range, and we hoped that perhaps the two races would be embroiled in a never ending exchange of attrition, until – as we observed with many extinct non-sentient species on The Garden – they’d just destroy themselves.
“If only it was that easy,” our Theian friend said. He went on to recount how the lizard imperium had been space faring for longer than the Theians – suggesting they may have conquered or completely wiped out another species in the process – one, to our disbelief, even more aggressive than they are. “We had but one fleeting contact with that species, and they only expressed a desire to eat us.” We had to ask him three times to repeat that statement, thinking it was a mistranslation.
“We have to prepare, the galaxy is not as peaceful as your home world, and the lizards only yearn to go to war with us, and no doubt you as well before long,” the Theian envoy continued. “Will you come to our aid, if we come to yours?”
Our leaders were torn by the proposal. Some felt like we were starting to make headway with the lizards, whilst others pointed to the sparse Theian fleets. Against the armada of the lizards, we didn’t have to calculate who would win. But united…?
Remember we had never entered into wars before. The idea of spilling sap on a battlefield was abhorrent to us. So we politely declined the Theian proposal, whilst also noting that we needed to be better prepared, and would revisit it again in the future. Backed by new technologies, we began to equip a growing fleet of corvette craft – a last line of defense. Even better, we invested in developing the starbase of the trinary planet system, the one with a world we had just colonised, to act as a bastion against any attack. They had to pass through this system if they wanted to get any further into our space.
With time, our confidence grew. The starbase and corvettes would at least give the lizards pause for thought, if they even wanted to attack. And still there was still no sign of their fleets – presumably distant in Model-16 space, and perhaps even destroyed.
So we began to concentrate efforts elsewhere, expanding into other sectors, pushing further to discover more secrets.
---
So wondrous was the galaxy! We knew it long before we even left The Garden, but we were reminded of it constantly afresh. A new race was encountered, one that clustered around a single space-born colony; one based on artistic development. Rapidly we exchanged energy to construct their intriguing monuments and sponsor their endeavours, whilst our scientists pondered over wormholes and ancient alien constructs drifting alone in other systems. A new Baol dig site was found, but it lay far beyond the borders of our space, with no way to excavate it. Even so, we could eventually expand, and perhaps there we could uncover the secret of what happened.
One day, a frantic message blared in the Council Chamber.
“WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! HELP US!!!”
Our president, Ivory Stalk, feinted in panic from the Theian embassy message and required medical treatment. Our military commander – a newly created post insisted upon by the Theians – leapt into action.
“Send the Defense Fleet at once to Sector A12! We must go to their aid!”
An emergency Council meeting was called, and Ivory Stalk hesitated. Such decisions had to be taken to the people, as part of a referendum. Even then, the Council had final say, closely guided and overseen by an Assembly of Scientists. Within days the referendum result came back: 46% of the population approved of aiding the Theians. With such a thin margin, the Council was torn in two. But the Assembly brought our sight back to the immensity of the Imperium fleets. They had crept back into sensor range, apparently having dealt with the robots, and they loomed upon the Theian defence line like a surging tsunami.
The commander cursed. “We can strike from behind – it will be our only chance!”
Our envoys murmured mixed messages, saying that our gifts had pleased the lizards, and that they definitely regarded us somewhat amicably. There was much weight put on that word, ‘somewhat’. And no forgetting the very same demeanour had been shown to the Theians.
But we couldn’t help them. Not yet. We watched, redirecting resources meant for better things to building up our own little fleet.
Six systems away, the first battle flared. Thousands upon thousands of lives lost – lizards and Theians alike. Ships drifted as lifeless hulks in an unforgiving vacuum. Beyond, the blue glow of Theian worlds seemed alike to gems, waiting only to be snatched.
Somehow, a fleet over double our size no longer existed. It lay behind the lizard armada – completely destroyed.
We rushed even more resources into our starbase defence, whilst also commanding a friendly space whale creature recently encountered in the quiet expanse to position itself alongside our corvettes.
And we watched, in sadness, as the Theian homeworld was surrounded and had its planetary defenses battered down. The very last message implored us to come, and somehow it was leaked to the public. Disorder and rioting rapidly followed, of a kind never known in our history. Now over half the population was demanding we go to the Theians aid – with a particularly rebellious group called the Manifesti almost toppling one of the artistic monuments of the other aliens we had spent so much energy on. The military commander himself burst into the Council chamber, spouting profanities, and roared for action.
---
Later this episode was looked back as one of the worst in our galactic history. We were so young then. So vulnerable. With a president whose lack of backbone and courage saw him unelected within a few years, never to stand again. For it was he who made the ultimate decision, backed as it was by the Assembly. And, though it will never be admitted, it was he who saved us that day from certain destruction.
We didn’t aid the Theians. We watched, as their worlds were overrun. As their entire species was subjugated beneath the might of the lizard Imperium, no longer able to act of its own accord. To make it even worse, if the lizards later waged wage war on us, the Theians would be forced to join them. Perhaps it was what we deserved.
Before Ivory Stalk lost power, he presided over an intensive diplomatic campaign. Resources meant for exploration, science and development were instead used to ‘placate’ the lizards with lavish gifts. It was even rumoured that special parties were organised on our home world where the lizard envoys committed all kinds of twisted deeds.
They smiled and joked with us, all the time keeping their fleets just on the rim of our space. The commander ordered the defence fleet and space whale creature to patrol back and forth before the starbase, now glowing with formidable armaments, practicing manuevres and testing new weapons. Whether it was the gifts, the parties, or the image of a growing fleet next to a rather large space whale, the lizard Imperium made no further moves. They even signed a non-aggression pact – something our envoys were confident, given the lizard’s sense of honour, would never be broken.
But we would never forget what they did.
---
Our people looked to the universe now with both wonder and trepidation. We knew, at any moment, the lizards could strike. Even if they declared friendship and abided with the treaty, everything had an ending. Their whole society was based on war and conquest – the Theians had been conquered, the Model 16s apparently reduced to a few systems, and then there was us.
No matter how much resources we kept pumping into more vessels, we just couldn’t compete with the Imperium. So our hopes drifted to the quiet expanse of space that pointed to the last Baol site. Some even spoke of leaving our worlds, including our treasured home paradise, to resettle there, on planets yet to be discovered.
Occasionally subdued messages from the Theians arrived – apparently they were allowed a small degree of independence to sign treaties. Behind their words trying to assure us that ‘everything is great here’, we knew they were oppressed by the Imperium, with the lizards knowing and probably dictating every word they said. To their credit, they didn’t seem to harbour any blame towards us for not going to their aid, perhaps realising the futility of it. Even so, most of us felt ashamed for not helping them.
When one of our science vessels exploring the galactic rim messaged back about a possible alien encounter, everything that happened before restrained our enthusiasm. An envoy was sent, nonetheless, and another first contact progressed.
They called themselves the Sathyrian Bliss – majestic creatures from an ocean planet, with drifting tentacles that shimmered fluorescently. Even their space craft left us captivated with awe. Moreover, to our immense relief, the Sathyrians were peaceful. Not only that but, like us, were on a mission of exploration and discovery. Even more so, in fact. Science ruled every aspect of their society, with much of their economy run by robots, bestowed even with citizenship rights! Embassies were quickly established, followed by treaties. The Sathyrians even told us of another alien species of immense power and incalculable knowledge, pointing our sensors to a region very close to the last Baol site, which we had still not excavated.
“They refuse all but preliminary contact,” we were told, “and do not allow entry to their space.”
It didn’t sound exactly encouraging. We told them of the Theians, Model-16s and lizard Imperium.
“This troubles us greatly. Let us take such matters for further consideration.”
A newly elected president, Honeydew Violet, leaped at the chance to form an alliance with the Sathyrians. She convened a special delegation of cultural and sociological experts, suggesting they look into ways to form an interstellar organisation, or ‘federation’. All this, somehow, was kept hidden from the lizards.
A few years later, we took the proposal to the Sathyrians. It took them months to come back with an answer, but the wait was worth it.
For weeks afterwards our entire species celebrated the creation of The Union of Worlds - and we even cheekily broadcast the announcement repeatedly to the lizard Imperium, complete with plenty of images showing our space whale frolicking before the starbase. They apparently had some kind of phobia with whales.
If they thought to attack us now, they would be in for a shock. With the exchange of fleet data with the Sathyrians, we now jointly had a power that comfortably matched the Imperium, and which even slightly exceeded it.
Shortly after the Union of Worlds was formed, contact was established with the mysterious aliens referred to by the Sathyrians. Indeed it was true – much like the Model-16s, they shunned all relationships. But this was an individualistic and spiritual empire, at such an advanced level that we couldn’t even understand how their ships existed. What other wonders in the galaxy awaited us?
>>> Further parts by request! >>>
But nothing lasts forever. The ashes of history showed us that what comes into being, will, inevitably, die. Species endlessly arising, evolving, and going extinct. The suns of our solar system, blazing in their ever present multi-colour glow, would eventually envelop The Garden and destroy all life. For centuries we knew this, and for centuries more we sought to find a way to reach the stars.
It took many missions and experimental propulsion drives before finally we discovered what was thought impossible – stable, faster than light travel, using a hyperdrive network that spread across the galaxy like the veins within a leaf. Thus began an era of renewed hope and boundless unknown. We longed to find other life that could think and question and build like us, intelligent beings who could teach us as we could perhaps teach them.
After mapping the closest star systems, something completely unexpected arose. Not only evidence of past intelligent life, but a tantalising inkling of a link to our own history. A race of sentient plants, under onslaught by another species called the Grunur. Several of our native myths whispered of a buried past; one where, instead of individuals, we were all linked together through a ‘hive mind’; with colonies on multiple planets. No serious scientist had entertained such stories as real – yet now… Could it be we descended from this plant species? If so, what happened to these possible ancestors – and how could another intelligent species, the Grunur, act so aggressively and ruthlessly?
Until then, we theorised that to even move beyond the phase of being planetary bound, any species by necessity had to be able to cooperate and nurture all other life on their world. For if they didn’t, we thought, they’d simply destroy themselves, or the world on which they existed. Indeed, some of our scientific missions to other planets seemed to prove this – showing ruins of species who were relatively technically advanced, but whose technology and disregard for the ecological web they existed in also destroyed their worlds and, by extension, themselves.
Gaining new insights into the universe, going further and further to new systems, uncovering new sites about the Grunur and species known as the Baol, even finding a system of three habitable planets – one completely suitable for us – there seemed no end to the possibilities.
Then, abruptly, we came across what had long been anticipated – an alien craft! Soon after, two more, of completely different designs! The race was on to decipher all their different languages. Most in our society were eager to establish contact, but a few urged more caution. Could it be that one of these were related to the Grunur? And, if so, how would we defend ourselves? But we cast such concerns to the side and, before long, communications were first established with the first aliens.
They were strange, but then what did we expect? A race of collective intelligence, seeming related to the machines that we used for labour on The Garden, and yet clearly far more advanced. They called themselves Model 16s, and asked – to our shock and consternation – to be left alone. Perhaps later we could nurture a better relationship, but in the meantime our concentration turned to the two other aliens.
The next was some kind of volcanic, semi-crystalline entity - Theians. Their eyes glowed disturbingly, but the words they spoke made us shiver in excitement. Friendship… mutual discovery… sharing of knowledge! It was everything we hoped for. Envoys were exchanged and welcomed. Before long, mutual pacts were signed that enabled our people to journey to their worlds, and vice versa. Our young clamoured to see the marvels of their home planet, but the conditions made it difficult to stay for long.
As dramatic as all this was for our species, it was really the third alien encounter that changed everything.
---
Imagine a wind-blasted planet almost devoid of the green welcome of forests. There was no gentle singing of leaves there. With only one star, this planet plunged regularly into a death horror that they called ‘night’. Perhaps it was no wonder why such a species acted as it did.
They liked war. They liked to conquer. Were they the dreaded Grunur?
But these were a reptilian race, far different from what our archeologists had uncovered from descriptions of the Grunur, and with ships that bristled with a strange array of weapons.
Those few among us who had earlier called for caution now clamoured for something to be done. We had ships, we had weapons, but these had always been for the purpose of dealing with asteroids. Now, we tasked our scientists to research ways to defend ourselves against possible attack, and had our engineers undertake a frenzy of ship building.
The reptilian race was at least composed of individuals, rather than a collective mind that shunned all contact. Although they had the kind of culture that our sociologists had long proven as impossible to develop beyond a planet-bound existence – one of hierarchical values, dominated by a minority, with a ruthless imposed will. They called it an Imperium, and it was even ruled over by a single Emperor. Still, we had to try. No, we had no choice.
We sent them gifts. Our envoys mingled with their leaders – one day calling in great alarm to be returned to The Garden ‘or my nut will break open’, and the next in muted tones of hope. Thus it swung back and forth. The lizard Imperium was militaristic, aggressive, and yet – with time – we learned it abided with a strong sense of honour. Even so, we watched the movements of their warships with foreboding.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of our space, there was emptiness. Just drifting groups of space whales, and weird automaton units that guarded mineral rich worlds. It was there that our archeologists uncovered more secrets about the Baol. It was hardly a source of reassurance. This species – whether related to us or not – had apparently been completely massacred. Increasingly, it looked like they had been subject to genocide.
Was the same fate in store for us?
---
We spoke with our Theian friends about the mysteries of the universe, about the Baol, and increasingly about the lizard Imperium.
“Their desire for conquest is deeper than you can know,” the Theian envoy noted, his eyes glowing beneath ashen brows. “We just hope their attention will be focused on the robots.”
For it was true: the lizards had made some barbaric ‘declaration of war’ upon the Model-16 species. Their warships vanished out of sensor range, and we hoped that perhaps the two races would be embroiled in a never ending exchange of attrition, until – as we observed with many extinct non-sentient species on The Garden – they’d just destroy themselves.
“If only it was that easy,” our Theian friend said. He went on to recount how the lizard imperium had been space faring for longer than the Theians – suggesting they may have conquered or completely wiped out another species in the process – one, to our disbelief, even more aggressive than they are. “We had but one fleeting contact with that species, and they only expressed a desire to eat us.” We had to ask him three times to repeat that statement, thinking it was a mistranslation.
“We have to prepare, the galaxy is not as peaceful as your home world, and the lizards only yearn to go to war with us, and no doubt you as well before long,” the Theian envoy continued. “Will you come to our aid, if we come to yours?”
Our leaders were torn by the proposal. Some felt like we were starting to make headway with the lizards, whilst others pointed to the sparse Theian fleets. Against the armada of the lizards, we didn’t have to calculate who would win. But united…?
Remember we had never entered into wars before. The idea of spilling sap on a battlefield was abhorrent to us. So we politely declined the Theian proposal, whilst also noting that we needed to be better prepared, and would revisit it again in the future. Backed by new technologies, we began to equip a growing fleet of corvette craft – a last line of defense. Even better, we invested in developing the starbase of the trinary planet system, the one with a world we had just colonised, to act as a bastion against any attack. They had to pass through this system if they wanted to get any further into our space.
With time, our confidence grew. The starbase and corvettes would at least give the lizards pause for thought, if they even wanted to attack. And still there was still no sign of their fleets – presumably distant in Model-16 space, and perhaps even destroyed.
So we began to concentrate efforts elsewhere, expanding into other sectors, pushing further to discover more secrets.
---
So wondrous was the galaxy! We knew it long before we even left The Garden, but we were reminded of it constantly afresh. A new race was encountered, one that clustered around a single space-born colony; one based on artistic development. Rapidly we exchanged energy to construct their intriguing monuments and sponsor their endeavours, whilst our scientists pondered over wormholes and ancient alien constructs drifting alone in other systems. A new Baol dig site was found, but it lay far beyond the borders of our space, with no way to excavate it. Even so, we could eventually expand, and perhaps there we could uncover the secret of what happened.
One day, a frantic message blared in the Council Chamber.
“WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! HELP US!!!”
Our president, Ivory Stalk, feinted in panic from the Theian embassy message and required medical treatment. Our military commander – a newly created post insisted upon by the Theians – leapt into action.
“Send the Defense Fleet at once to Sector A12! We must go to their aid!”
An emergency Council meeting was called, and Ivory Stalk hesitated. Such decisions had to be taken to the people, as part of a referendum. Even then, the Council had final say, closely guided and overseen by an Assembly of Scientists. Within days the referendum result came back: 46% of the population approved of aiding the Theians. With such a thin margin, the Council was torn in two. But the Assembly brought our sight back to the immensity of the Imperium fleets. They had crept back into sensor range, apparently having dealt with the robots, and they loomed upon the Theian defence line like a surging tsunami.
The commander cursed. “We can strike from behind – it will be our only chance!”
Our envoys murmured mixed messages, saying that our gifts had pleased the lizards, and that they definitely regarded us somewhat amicably. There was much weight put on that word, ‘somewhat’. And no forgetting the very same demeanour had been shown to the Theians.
But we couldn’t help them. Not yet. We watched, redirecting resources meant for better things to building up our own little fleet.
Six systems away, the first battle flared. Thousands upon thousands of lives lost – lizards and Theians alike. Ships drifted as lifeless hulks in an unforgiving vacuum. Beyond, the blue glow of Theian worlds seemed alike to gems, waiting only to be snatched.
Somehow, a fleet over double our size no longer existed. It lay behind the lizard armada – completely destroyed.
We rushed even more resources into our starbase defence, whilst also commanding a friendly space whale creature recently encountered in the quiet expanse to position itself alongside our corvettes.
And we watched, in sadness, as the Theian homeworld was surrounded and had its planetary defenses battered down. The very last message implored us to come, and somehow it was leaked to the public. Disorder and rioting rapidly followed, of a kind never known in our history. Now over half the population was demanding we go to the Theians aid – with a particularly rebellious group called the Manifesti almost toppling one of the artistic monuments of the other aliens we had spent so much energy on. The military commander himself burst into the Council chamber, spouting profanities, and roared for action.
---
Later this episode was looked back as one of the worst in our galactic history. We were so young then. So vulnerable. With a president whose lack of backbone and courage saw him unelected within a few years, never to stand again. For it was he who made the ultimate decision, backed as it was by the Assembly. And, though it will never be admitted, it was he who saved us that day from certain destruction.
We didn’t aid the Theians. We watched, as their worlds were overrun. As their entire species was subjugated beneath the might of the lizard Imperium, no longer able to act of its own accord. To make it even worse, if the lizards later waged wage war on us, the Theians would be forced to join them. Perhaps it was what we deserved.
Before Ivory Stalk lost power, he presided over an intensive diplomatic campaign. Resources meant for exploration, science and development were instead used to ‘placate’ the lizards with lavish gifts. It was even rumoured that special parties were organised on our home world where the lizard envoys committed all kinds of twisted deeds.
They smiled and joked with us, all the time keeping their fleets just on the rim of our space. The commander ordered the defence fleet and space whale creature to patrol back and forth before the starbase, now glowing with formidable armaments, practicing manuevres and testing new weapons. Whether it was the gifts, the parties, or the image of a growing fleet next to a rather large space whale, the lizard Imperium made no further moves. They even signed a non-aggression pact – something our envoys were confident, given the lizard’s sense of honour, would never be broken.
But we would never forget what they did.
---
Our people looked to the universe now with both wonder and trepidation. We knew, at any moment, the lizards could strike. Even if they declared friendship and abided with the treaty, everything had an ending. Their whole society was based on war and conquest – the Theians had been conquered, the Model 16s apparently reduced to a few systems, and then there was us.
No matter how much resources we kept pumping into more vessels, we just couldn’t compete with the Imperium. So our hopes drifted to the quiet expanse of space that pointed to the last Baol site. Some even spoke of leaving our worlds, including our treasured home paradise, to resettle there, on planets yet to be discovered.
Occasionally subdued messages from the Theians arrived – apparently they were allowed a small degree of independence to sign treaties. Behind their words trying to assure us that ‘everything is great here’, we knew they were oppressed by the Imperium, with the lizards knowing and probably dictating every word they said. To their credit, they didn’t seem to harbour any blame towards us for not going to their aid, perhaps realising the futility of it. Even so, most of us felt ashamed for not helping them.
When one of our science vessels exploring the galactic rim messaged back about a possible alien encounter, everything that happened before restrained our enthusiasm. An envoy was sent, nonetheless, and another first contact progressed.
They called themselves the Sathyrian Bliss – majestic creatures from an ocean planet, with drifting tentacles that shimmered fluorescently. Even their space craft left us captivated with awe. Moreover, to our immense relief, the Sathyrians were peaceful. Not only that but, like us, were on a mission of exploration and discovery. Even more so, in fact. Science ruled every aspect of their society, with much of their economy run by robots, bestowed even with citizenship rights! Embassies were quickly established, followed by treaties. The Sathyrians even told us of another alien species of immense power and incalculable knowledge, pointing our sensors to a region very close to the last Baol site, which we had still not excavated.
“They refuse all but preliminary contact,” we were told, “and do not allow entry to their space.”
It didn’t sound exactly encouraging. We told them of the Theians, Model-16s and lizard Imperium.
“This troubles us greatly. Let us take such matters for further consideration.”
A newly elected president, Honeydew Violet, leaped at the chance to form an alliance with the Sathyrians. She convened a special delegation of cultural and sociological experts, suggesting they look into ways to form an interstellar organisation, or ‘federation’. All this, somehow, was kept hidden from the lizards.
A few years later, we took the proposal to the Sathyrians. It took them months to come back with an answer, but the wait was worth it.
For weeks afterwards our entire species celebrated the creation of The Union of Worlds - and we even cheekily broadcast the announcement repeatedly to the lizard Imperium, complete with plenty of images showing our space whale frolicking before the starbase. They apparently had some kind of phobia with whales.
If they thought to attack us now, they would be in for a shock. With the exchange of fleet data with the Sathyrians, we now jointly had a power that comfortably matched the Imperium, and which even slightly exceeded it.
Shortly after the Union of Worlds was formed, contact was established with the mysterious aliens referred to by the Sathyrians. Indeed it was true – much like the Model-16s, they shunned all relationships. But this was an individualistic and spiritual empire, at such an advanced level that we couldn’t even understand how their ships existed. What other wonders in the galaxy awaited us?
>>> Further parts by request! >>>
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