Conflict breeds creativity - Part 2
This was the true nature of humanity. To stop at nothing once they had set their collective mind to a task to either prove it true or deny it as a falsehood. In the breadth of two short Terran lifetimes, they had mastered the art of manipulating what they called “Dark Energy” which we know as the Cosmological Repulsive Law. Fifty years later, they had traveled as far as the innermost galactic core (to be noted, a suicidal trek that only the desperate would engage in). Ten years after that, they began to mass produce antimatter on an unparalleled scale. Ocular spiracles turned, attention drifted from the inane squabbles of their own to the insane human populace as they exploded instead of trickled from their solar system to neighboring stars. They stripped every unclaimed world they touched of whatever the soil or atmosphere would allow to them, only to further accelerate their growth that would rival the great empires that now are long gone.
From this, the Galactic Council became unnerved. The Terrans spreading across their own “backyard”, they expediently started to make headway into the secrets of the universe that, as of yet in this entry, few others had breached. Due to our “friendship” of centuries gone by, the humans have had nothing but a peaceful, amicable, and symbiotic relationship with us, the orchestrators of their advance. They would begin to catch up to our own level of technology and understanding, yet untempered by the wisdom of age and experience. With exponential growth, they’d overtake us in almost all things. In recognition and gratitude of our dealings with each other, they shared their advances with us, and we Santari would happily share what we could without question. We had become one of the most intertwined and mutually beneficial allies of the entire galaxy.
To be sure, the Council saw all of this as nothing but heretical. They dominated the galaxy, they had every other race “under their thumb” as the humans would say. To advance beyond what they deemed appropriate was nothing short of chastising a god in the minds of other species. In the past, they had sent probes to the Terran homeworld called Earth, attempting to dissuade them from advancing too quickly. The Council, in their vast superiority to any other, never allowed technological advancement of any species beyond what they were comfortable with. They had the power and means to enforce these rules to any and all in the Core Worlds and wouldn’t lightly give it up. They offered admittance to the alliance the Council controlled, but as such, they would need to adhere to many laws that stunt quick growth, and only sign off on research on what they would allow. In return, trade lanes would be opened up to Sol and her watery rock, they would gain a seat on the Council, and would be defended from whatever plight may come to them. They even brought schematics for a neural implant that would allow the humans total access to logical ways of thinking, bringing everlasting peace to their kind. The only downside was they’d have to put aside creativity in favor of being taken care of.
Humanity saw this for what it truly was, it is the same reason we denied the Council as well. It was an insidious means of control. They would have none of it and destroyed the probe that sent this message as a final “fuck you” to the galaxy.
Through fear and just a hint of jealousy at their willingness to deny the Council, our two species would soon become scorned, the community of the Milky Way lashing out against us for bringing such an unknown variable unto them all, and by proxy the Council. Due to the Terrans living on the very fringe of the galaxy, outside the arm of influence of the Council, many of our worlds and star systems were razed to but bitter molten metal. Billions of us Santari laid exterminated for a “crime” we committed in swift and brutal sieges. Over a century, we retreated behind the lines of the humans. This is when their virtues of acceptance of those not of Earth finally became one of their most endearing qualities that we Santari would never forget. This is when we embraced the humans as much as they had us. As hard as it was for us to leave our home, they did their absolute most to find and terraform planets for us to settle on.
Looking back, we actually did so little for them that it is disgraceful to us. In our graciousness, we worked as hard as we could for them. Still, they would never allow our kind to feel such inadequacies. When our exoskeletons started to buckle, they would find us non-physical labor. When our nerve bundles became overwhelmed with our duty, they would force us to “take it easy” and rest. Many who would read this would think that we had been forced to work, that in return for asylum in their territory, we’d break our appendages toiling for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. We, as a species, were so honored by their acceptance and open arms that we felt indebted to quite literally work ourselves to termination for such unabashed camaraderie. Terrans, however, would surprise us yet again by allowing us to rebuild our society, with New Xenathiks being only 7 light years away from Earth. Their territory was our territory, their homes were our homes.
During these times, they knew a force to be reckoned with would be coming. Preparedness became paramount. War was inevitable, and their distance from the outer Core Worlds gave them the time they needed. Breeding increased with incredible speed, mining of entire star systems became the norm, construction of dreadnaught class starships began with the newest weapons brought to bear. The Terrans then took the brunt of the force as the Council’s forces advanced. Nearly one quarter of their outer colonies laid waste in an effort to quell their expansion. We did what we could, given the vast resources the Terrans allotted to us. Working side-by-side, our now small numbers labored until our carapaces would no longer allow, or until we were forced to stop.
Before this log continues, I should note a particular un-named Humanity Scholar who once quoted “Conflict breeds creativity”. Creativity, as a human construct, was its defining characteristic millennia before their journey to the stars, yet would prove most valuable now more than ever for them and ourselves.
Within fifteen years of the first Galactic Armada advance into their territory, their population exploded nearly threefold when their political structure began utilizing Terran and Santari propaganda. Within another ten years, the now 8.4 trillion humans had finished constructing fleets of unrivaled scale and destructive power. Their speed of breeding, construction, harvesting, and innovation became that of legend. Over the next fifty years, they held their ground - training every new combatant with the skills necessary to operate every basic facet of a starship, with us Santari being trained and taught alongside them. Again, they’d be at the forefront of our own advance. The Terrans never let up, and never let us fall behind in terms of education and brotherhood.
Obliterating every last ship that dared to face them, they then sent a second and third wave of ships to reinforce the line. Over the next single short year, they breached the front lines of the armada. Their natural chemically enhanced minds from adrenaline during battle would serve them well enough to laugh in the face of death and not even feel a mortal wound from combat. From there, one hundred years later, they had pushed into the heart of the Council’s Core Worlds. Over the next 200 years, they would either conquer, obliterate, or force the surrender of any species that stood in their way, while chartering peace treaties with those who had stayed out of the war and putting the Santari at the highest echelons of non-Terran politics. The ban on research was abolished, and a new age of enlightenment and technological might exploded throughout the galaxy.
We had done comparatively nothing for them. We never served their interests until they were beyond us, we gave them the worst of trade deals in the early years, and we thought nothing of them besides mere apes. Their own ingenuity would have brought all of this to the same end regardless of our intervention. Now, while the Milky Way stands as a united and prosperous whole, dominated by the “lowly” humans, we have only a single thing to say: Terrans are beyond horrifying, but are the best of allies. Woe be to any who stands against them.
-Karnitegal, First in the Order of the Historical Records.
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