Galactic Year 30.09.2948.3
It is recorded that humanity first detected the possibility of alien life nearly five centuries ago. Even back then, our only option was to send messages to these mysterious beings in the hopes of building relations. Everything from attempts at binary to sending atomic shapes like the hydrogen atom.
The thing was, for whatever reason, the aliens never sent back intentional replies. It was only errant broadcasts. Researchers at the time put it down to multiple possibilities. ‘They may have only developed radio technology.’ ‘They might be far more advanced than us and not monitoring such primitive communications’.
The most wary of researchers, though posited that they did not send replies because they did not want to. That they saw humanity as a threat. So many alluded to the Dark Forest hypothesis. Regardless, humanity pressed on. That was till funding dried up. It was often hard to justify the expense of sending messages that’d take fifty years to arrive, only for no replies to consistently return.
It was four hundred years post-detection that enough momentum and technological advancement were achieved that the idea of an exploration of this supposedly inhabited world was suggested. With the new inertial dampers and engines capable of 0.5C, Humanity bravely took its first steps into the universe.
An expedition that has finally reached its conclusion. The ship had only just stopped its forward momentum when it arrived in the remote solar system. The system itself had only five planets, and after sending out probes, it was discovered the signals originated from the fourth planet.
With great trepidation, the expedition sent out messages to the world, hoping to allay any fears. To let them know humanity came in peace, that they were there to extend a hand in friendship. Still, though, no reply came.
From the drones, they could see a world with magnificent cities. Architecture and spiral towers that boggled the mind, made from materials the AIs could not identify. It was here the idea humanity was likely too far behind for them to detect our attempts at contact reemerged.
So it was decided humanity would send envoys to meet with this alien race. An actual first contact scenario, a thing that would be immortalized in history books. Only when humanity landed, there was no one to greet us. No military, no government, not even an itinerant farmer.
It was then the team pressed on; they had picked a remote open area to land to show as little hostility as possible. Maybe it was too far? Only when they arrived in the city they found no one. It was entirely abandoned. Everyone and everything that had looked to be lively was, in fact, only automated systems still running.
It is with this disappointment humanity accepted this was why we received no reply. Simply because there was no one to send a reply. With little else to do, we began to settle the world. The first extrasolar colony with several cities ready and waiting to be inhabited.
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Galactic Year 02.10.3000.1
It had been over fifty years since the first extrasolar colony of humanity was settled. In the past half-century, with the help of researchers, engineers, and various other professions, society had advanced leaps and bounds.
Despite the abandoned nature of the world, its technology was so far superior that it was almost scary. Regardless, a journey that had initially taken nearly a hundred years to traverse could now be done in a single year. Such was the strange technology of the species that were now referred to as ‘The Lost Ones’.
With the FTL drives and new material sciences, humanity looked once more to the stars. Ever wondering who these aliens were and why did they vanish? Studying the records they left behind only spoke of an approaching calamity. One that would lead to extinction. One they had no way of safely stopping.
It seemed in the face of this calamity that even they, with their technology, could not face left them the only option of fleeing. But this only left humanity with more questions. What was it they were running from, and would it come for humanity?
It was in the face of these questions many observatories were re-established with the hopes of finding other aliens. Still, though, many researchers maintained the Dark Forest hypothesis. That there was a danger out there and actively broadcasting ourselves would only draw it in like a moth to a flame.
It was during this time that humanity did detect a new world that had the signs of life. Broadcasts into space were frequent, and there was even a growing culture of enjoying alien entertainment and music. It was then the Great Sol Council decided to attempt contact once more.
Once again, there was no reply. Much to the relief of all, though, their entertainment broadcasts continued. Enough that humans had begun to decipher the language far quicker than the language of the world now named Gungnir.
After much deliberation, it was decided that a fresh expedition would be sent to this newly discovered world. The journey, even with the FTL drive, would take years. But to truly establish first contact was becoming the deepest hope of humanity.
In a Pinta-Class exploration cruiser, humanity set off to the stars with hope in its heart. The crew arrived in the system far quicker than anyone expected, as it seemed there was what the reversed engineer AI described as a warp corridor.
Arriving in the system, humanity once again broadcast its arrival and sent probes. This time they did not find a hive of activity. This world, like Gungnir, was abandoned. Crazier still was the world turned out to be an ecumenopolis. A city covering an entire world was abandoned.
The entertainment that humanity had been so enjoying had been automatically set to broadcast while the aliens fled. Examining the records, they to spoke of a great evil approaching them. That this great evil had grown considerably stronger and, if they arrived, it would be the end of all life.
It was at this time some suggested that humanity may actually be this horror. But many still pointed out humanity was far less advanced than these aliens. If we were truly the threat they spoke of with such fear, they could’ve easily wiped us out.
It was with great sorrow that humanity learned, yet another race was lost. The new planet became a hive of migration for the rapidly overpopulating worlds that humans lived upon. The City would eventually become known as Eldorado for the golden hue the buildings took when the sun was setting.
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Galactic Year 24.08.3200.0
It was the bicentennial of the settling of Eldorado when the most heavily encrypted files of the race now known to be named the Kue were broken. It was a file teeming with information on a dozen worlds, all inhabited by other races.
This was exactly what humanity had been so desperate for. They knew they weren’t alone, and humanity did not like being lonely. They wanted to interact with the greater universe. Though since the initial files warning of a significant threat were published, many wished to remain silent.
So many spoke of the Dark Forest and how we were already making too much noise. That we would inevitably draw the attention of whatever it was that two advanced civilizations had fled from. Still, the human spirit to explore could not be squashed so easily.
So humans did what humans would always do. Groups and organizations independent of the government of the Council of Human Systems control sent out trade missions to these newly identified worlds.
For many of these megacorporations, it had become a competition to be the one who made first contact. Despite the government warnings, twelve ships, each of the ‘Golden Hinde’ class, set off down the warp corridor to their designated worlds.
It was a joyous time for much of humanity, with many gambling on which group would succeed. Some though wagered they would all find empty worlds. That they would all fail and return like their forebears.
Sadly these people were correct. One by one, the ships returned with news of empty worlds. Some even reported the planets themselves had been blown up, and all they found were asteroid fields. Though they all carried the same warning from each world’s records.
The threat was spreading far faster than ever expected. Worlds will be destroyed if encountered. These words alone sent shockwaves through the community, and even the most hopeful of people began to echo the sentiments of the Dark Forest hypothesis.
They had discovered worlds literally blown to pieces, and the records spoke of a danger that would end worlds. Humanity decided on the path forward. They would colonize the remaining worlds and hope for the aliens to return. They would also begin to expand the military-industrial complex.
If this unknown threat turned its sights on humanity, then humanity must be able to fight back no matter the odds. Luckily with all the technology recovered, humanity accelerated the rate of its advancements.
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Galactic Year 24.12.3300.0
It was time for a new expeditionary force to set off. Over the past hundred years, humanity had discovered countless worlds, all that used to be inhabited but all either abandoned or destroyed. It was this destruction that led to humankind not only spreading out far more rapidly but also becoming more heavily militarized.
Weapons that could cut small moons in two, bombs that could harness the power of a star, along with countless more powerful weapons than even the aliens had managed, were developed. With these new tools, the fears of this unknown enemy began to abate as a new age of exploration continued.
With the sheer number of worlds now colonized and available and waiting for human populations to catch up to colonize. Humanity had declared itself a Galactic empire. Though to who it was declared is unknown as so far humanity had only ever found traces of other races.
The strangest development was an ecumenopolis that was transformed into a museum for each of the lost races. The New British Museum took artifacts from the countless abandoned and destroyed worlds and displayed them in Memorium for those lost and unknown.
It was in this age a truly massive artificial structure like a Dyson sphere was discovered. It had broadcasts detected, and with new scanner tools, life was also being detected. It was seeing this impossible structure that humanity began to wonder if it had finally found the enemy at last.
With confidence, the great fleets of humanity gathered and set off on a punitive expedition towards the structure to bring justice to those that could not do so themselves. So many times, humanity had hoped to meet another race only to have it stolen from them.
Centuries of frustration had finally reached its boiling point, and now it had a target. Arriving in the system, the fleet was met with a vast armada of countless ships of all designs imaginable. But before the brutality of the human military, they quickly became nothing but space dust. The result of a uniquely human weapon named the supernova bomb.
It was then that a broadcast appeared on the scanners. It was a communication request from the structure. The admiral in charge of the fleet hesitated as this was the first chance at first contact, but it would also be with their enemies.
“Please, Jivalis, we wish you to stay away!!!” a panicking Kue begged as their image appeared on display. Their voice being automatically translated by the onboard AI systems.
Seeing a Kue, which even to this day had a popular following of their entertainment, shocked the admiral. Had the Kue been the enemy all along? Only what had the Kue called them. A Jivalis? That was the title given to the oncoming enemy.
Throughout the centuries, it had been suggested many times humanity might be the enemy they all feared. But time and again, it would be pointed out that these aliens could’ve easily wiped out humanity with relative ease. Well, not anymore, but at the time, it was a truth.
“Are you a Kue?” the Admiral asked.
“AGHHHH!!!” The Kue looked panicked. “The Jivalis knows of us!!!!”
“Please, we do not mean you harm!!!”
“You have destroyed the great unity fleet. We have been amassing men and tools to face your threat, only for you to sweep them aside!!!”
“Why do you believe us to be this Jivalis?” the Admiral asked, looking perturbed that they were seen to be the great enemy. The display shifted to show an alien with a star-shaped head. It was a race that they didn’t have a name for, but there was artwork on numerous worlds depicting them.
“Because you are the Jivalis, Earthling!” the alien declared in an accusatory tone.
“But we have never meant any harm to anybody. We sent messages and wished for peaceful contact only to find your worlds abandoned?”
“That is because every being from your world is death!”
“You meant Earth is a deathworld?”
“Indeed, Earth was a planet that was used for scientific experiments long ago before life even existed on its surface. A foolish empire that no longer lives created a weaponized virus. One it tested on prisoners left on Earth.”
“But if that was before life evolved, surely it was billions of years ago?!”
“Indeed, but the virus was too strong and endured. When life seeded itself on your world, the virus awoke from its dormant state and latched onto it. Life on your world did not survive… near all life died.”
“The first great extinction?” the Admiral asked, remembering a bit of history.
“Yes, that is an apt description. The beings that survived the virus became asymptomatic carriers. Beings within whom the virus encoded itself into the very DNA.”
“So you think we carry this virus?”
“Indeed. We have tried many times to wipe out all life on Earth. Many times we have failed. On our last attempt, we sent an asteroid to wipe out all life.” The Admiral held back a choking noise, hearing the aliens were behind the extinction of dinosaurs.
“Sadly, the virus only grew in strength as life continued to evolve. Where at first it only did this,” the display changed to show horrific scenes of agony from an unknown alien race.
“To this,” the scene changes to show what looked like an early human was locked in a room with another alien. The Alien rapidly turned to dust just in the humans’ presence.
“If but one human steps on a world, all life not of Earth will rapidly die.”
“Why didn’t you just kill us?” the admiral asked.
“It evolved by vast amounts with each attempt. Many feared should we eliminate humanity, it would evolve further and no longer require a host free to wander the galaxy as dust. It was decided humanity would be ignored and isolated. You were simple and primitive. Only for your species to develop enough to travel to the closest world.”
“So you fled?”
“Yes, we fled; even an errant cell of the virus can survive the vacuum of space, and if it landed, all life would die. We of the alliance chose to flee in the face of humanity. It seems that we only accelerated your expansion by gifting you worlds ready to settle with technology to advance you.”
“What if we leave you in peace? We will create a quarantine zone that humans cannot cross. We would not need to come into conflict? We can even return worlds to you.”
“Jivalis!!! You do not listen… any world a human has visited can no longer be inhabited by non-earthlings. We have nowhere else to go; every warp corridor leads to Earthling worlds.”
“We may not be able to return your worlds, but we can still leave you in peace.”
“We will accept this offer… though we have little choice. Our entire fleet was destroyed, and we have no means to build more. We will live in this sanctuary… though I expect the deathworld shall visit us sooner or later.”
“We will make it a case that it is impossible!” the admiral declared.
“Like the Twelve Heavenly Stars?” The Admiral could not retort this one. The twelve worlds found centuries ago were all part of one group, and they had been known as holy sites in what had been translated.
“We will do our best… that is all I can promise.”
“That is all I can demand,” The Alien let out a long sigh. “That is all we can hope to demand.”
Republished with permission from the author, Random3x. Image created using Stable Diffusion.