The Ring of Life

We left Earth almost a million years earlier, a far flung colony. It is said that on the way the ship got to close to a sun when sling-shotting our way to our new home and the ship's crew and passengers were heavily dosed with a rare radiation. That and the dark dim world we finally settled on changed us over time. Over a thousand years ago it was decided that we were no longer human.

On our new world, Genesis, the planet somehow aided dramatically in reproduction. In a short span we had filled a world twice the size of Earth and it was growing cramped very quickly. To not at least bare twins was considered an ill omen, for a while at least. Then it was almost unheard of to bare only a single child.

We also began to develop limited telepathy and infra-red vision. Our scientific advances came in vast leaps and bounds for a while.

But the greatest gift our new home had given us was the Ring of Life. Set within the instability of a vast nebulae was a ring of rich worlds. It was not long before we had colonized almost half the ring's worlds.

It was then that we found two other races on opposite borders. They told us of two more races that inhabited the same system on the other side of the Ring of Life. The latter were dug into a three thousand year old war that would probably go on for many more. Despite this, all four races quickly sued for peace between our species.

The resulting trade generously helped our economy boom and we set aside concern over the other races and set about promoting science as well as religion. With the discovery of the races a powerful religion raised its head and quickly spread, in variations, throughout our many worlds. Our understanding of the divine and of our universe were equals in our colossal road of progress.

So why do my bones ache and my breath grow shallow? As Head Director of Foreign Affairs I had recently received a transmission from the Ukra-Tal Collective on our Arakang border. After translation its dire portent was clear: “The war between the Abbidon Enclave and the Drushocka has escalated into genocide. Lord Fazrad of the Drushocka has forsaken any moral chains and has begun gassing and then bombing the Enclaves worlds into useless hunks that must remain lifeless for thousands of years. Had they the capability we are sure they would simply destroy their planets out-right. The Ring of Life is withering, we must take action.”

Our brothers words were sure to mirror our own once the council had gathered. I sent the message along with due haste.

Only twenty years (2 earth days) later I was given a peculiar order. I was to assess my needs in personal and budget to construct a military branch. It was unheard of! We had not a single military vessel and no department to manage them. Of course we had six different terrestrial branches to deal with inter-planetary 'differences' but space was just too vast and expensive a place to warrant a war there.

I consulted both the Imperator from the Ukra-Tal and High Priest Rakul from the Norak immediately. The figures were astronomical; until we got to personnel. There was a catch of course; to build the tactical computers we would need to man our new fleet we had to make a costly trade to both our allies.

Only the Norak Continuum shared our views though, so our fleet had to compensate for their loss. They believed action had to be taken, but they abhorred the idea of doing it with violent pacification of the offenders. They did however allow us passage through their systems.

The plans were set and the Empires industry began assembling ships in orbit. I did not know how this would end. If we failed, how long would it be before retribution came? A century perhaps, but with the lack of defenses throughout the empire and our virgin knowledge of interstellar war I did not believe it to be near enough time to prepare.

The only recourse was to make certain we did not lose. To this end we nearly destroyed our economy in trade with the Norak for armor and weapons schematics. I still worried though; those races had thousands of years to practice their craft and though one empire was only a fraction of the size of the other, both stood at a timeless stalemate. That is, until the gassing and mass bombing.

We had to put a stop to it all. But will our efforts be enough to tame them and preserve the Ring of Life?

To be continued...