NationStates Jolt Archive

Space. No matter which galaxy you were in, space was always black. So vast and limitless that it inspired agoraphobia in the hardiest of explorers. Yet, so cold and deadly that it also inspired claustrophobia at the same time.
Yet, every single white pin-prick in this vast black sheet of fabric was a new place to explore, a new people to meet, a new wonder to behold, and that is why the Reticulites kept spreading further and further out.

Peloria’s lilac eyes could never absorb enough of the universe to become tired. Where others saw nothing, she saw something. Where others saw boredom, she saw excitement. It was probably why she was permitted to head this Galactic Explorer; a vast, 60km ship full to the brim with sensors and laboratories. She had that special something that inspired generations of Reticulites to continue to seek out new treasures in an otherwise dull universe.

A science team of over one hundred souls was already on the surface of a promising planet, which hovered below them peacefully despite the fact that it was hurtling around a ball of fire at a phenomenal speed. Green and lush, with deep blue oceans making up most of the surface, it may hold the seeds of a new breed of sentient life form that the Reticulites may one day be interested in meeting. Perhaps even the species that one day helps this galaxy become the 18th member of the Universal Commonwealth?

Such thoughts were far-fetched and distracting. She put them to one side of her vastly efficient mind and began studying the initial sensor reports of this galaxy. There were so many different locations with potential for life that it would take them months to analyse them all.

She took a look around the control centre of this vast ship, the primary control centre at least. It was a perfect testament to their peaceful nature; softened materials covering the bare metals, and rounding the sharp corners. A nice, bright, soft cream colour was the primary theme, with a slightly blue carpet covering the floor. The consoles displayed their information with a nice shade of blue, unless it was colour-coded, or an image of something multicoloured. They appeared to be touch-screen holograms, though they did not act like them.
The people who milled around the control centre all appeared to be in remarkable health; ideal weights for their heights, no scarring or apparent deformities, all beautiful in their own way. They all appeared to be happy in their work, their skin having a somewhat healthy glow. They all wore loose, casual clothes, mostly white with a few light browns.
Olius was one of the most skilled of all the crew; an expert in more sciences than most worlds ever figure out. He sat near the port side of the control centre; he was responsible for an entire wall of panels.

“The science team are enjoying themselves,” said Olius, the man in charge of several different science stations on this control area. “They report that the temperatures down there are wonderful, and the scenery impressive.”

“Ask them to bring back some images,” she smiled. “I would like to go down myself, but alas, we are on a tight schedule.”

“Will-do,” he nodded. “Say, Peloria, when was the last time you went to the recreational centre?”

“Oooh, it must have been over a week ago,” she said. She grinned mischievously. “Why, do you have something in mind, Olius?”

“I was thinking that maybe we could go down there and play a little hoptilius when we are finished with our watch,” he said. “It’s always a more entertaining game when someone with a mind such as yours joins in.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, and nodded. “I will consider it.”



“What is this?” Illuvitar asked, tapping his shoe on a sheet of metal visible beneath the dirt. He tapped a tiny device stuck to his temple, and focussed his vision on it.


“Unknown metallic alloy,” he said, reading off a list of words that scrolled across his view. “A power source! There could already be sentients here!”

“Or somewhere in this galaxy, at least,” Maldrid nodded, after scanning it for himself. “Let’s brush away some of this dirt and see if we can’t figure out what it… hold on.”

“What is it?” Illuvitar asked.

“I am detecting a transmission from this device,” he said, frowning. “Very advanced, matching our own technological levels.”

“What does it say?” Illuvitar asked curiously.

“I don’t think it says anything,” Maldrid shrugged, brushing some dirt from his brilliant-white clothing and standing up again. “It seems to be some sort of machine to machine code, probably automated. I will go back up to the Explorer and analyse it anyway. Keep the others working, see if you can learn anything.” He closed his eyes for a second, and a burst of brilliant-white, beautiful light swirled around him, and he was gone.



“Hello there, Maldrid!” Peloria smiled as he appeared nearby. “Testing out the teleportation equipment again, I see? You are like a bouncing ball on these missions.”

“What can I say? I love the feeling,” he grinned, and sat down beside one of the consoles.

“What are you up to today, Maldrid?” Peloria asked, standing up and stepping beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“We just found some kind of transmitter device on the surface,” Maldrid said. “I am trying to find out what it transmitted, where it transmitted, and why we didn’t scan it when we arrived.”

“Interesting,” Peloria said. “Do you think there could be sentients on this planet?”

“I do not think so,” Maldrid shook his head. “Our sensors might have missed this, but they were specifically looking for sentients. We would have spotted them.”

“Well, at least we have something to look forward to whilst we explore this galaxy,” she said, patting him and walking back to a chair.

She had to call on all her telekinetic powers to stop herself falling over, though, when the ship started to shudder violently half-way through her short journey. A flash of light poured through the windows, temporarily blinding everyone who saw it.



When the light subsided, something unthinkable could be seen. A vast ship dwarfed the white Reticulite Galactic Explorer, looming over it like a vulture, blotting out all the sunlight. It was simply vast. No lights were visible on the green-grey metal surface, except for around huge docking ports, each one large enough to accommodate the Reticuli vessel.

The vast ship hovered in space, motionless and peaceful, without doing anything.



“What is that?” Peloria asked, looking out of the windows. Nearly all the stars were gone, instead replaced by the hull of the new vessel.

“I… don’t know,” Olius said, surprised. All the monitors around him were flickering madly, shutting off one at a time. “At first the sensors had trouble penetrating the hull. It was simply too dense. But once I did, the power levels were so enormous… the sensors have simply overloaded! How can anything generate so much power…?”

“And what would they need it for?” Peloria asked rhetorically, and ominously.

“Something is happening…” Olius warned. “I… don’t know what. Some sort of directed energy emitters can be sensed. Do they think our ships power systems are inadequate, perhaps, and wish to give us aid?”



Suddenly, a beam of blue light, several kilometres thick, burst out and instantly collided with the Reticulite vessel. The serene white hull plating of the helpless, vast vessel was turned to black and blasted away as the beam cut right through it, bursting out through the other side just a few seconds later.

The massive vessel slowly split in half, debris and bodies spewing from the exposed decks, followed by short bursts of flames and gasses. The lighting, visible through the thousands of tiny windows, began to flicker as the two halves slowly drifted apart.



As she clung to a console hopelessly, a tear came to Peloria’s eye as she felt so many die at once. Lights exploded around her, computers tore from their holdings in massive explosions, noxious fumes poured in through devastated circulation systems, people flew everywhere as the half-ship lurched violently from side to side. But the deaths of so many had incapacitated her.

“I have sent an emergency message to Reticuli 4!” Olius screamed as his computer blew to pieces, shredding half of his body into a bloody mess and knocking him to the floor.



The large ship fired two more, smaller, beams of energy at each half of the crippled vessel, blasting them to pieces instantly. The debris field that caused was enormous and fast-spreading, with most of it falling down to the planet below. A hundred scientists were down there still.

The alien ship vanished in a flash of light, as quickly as it had arrived, leaving nothing but a dense field of bodies and twisted shards of metal above the lush planet.

Rain. Lightening. Thunder. Weather. Whichever planet you went to, in whichever galaxy that existed, weather could always turn against you at some point.

Falius, ambassador to the 13th Galaxy of the Universal Commonwealth, had been looking forward to visiting the planet’s capitol today. Now he had decided against it. It wouldn’t exactly be pleasant. He had heard of a vast water fountain in their city centre, nearly 100 feet tall, yet it never let any water escape beyond the fountain. It had sounded fascinating, but now he would get wet regardless.

He sighed and stepped away from the balcony, sitting down at his console. The Reticulite embassy was designed pretty much the same as their ships, albeit far more elegantly with gold decorations and deep red carpets, instead of light blue. He began to read some of the diplomatic reports. Some of the species in this galaxy were requesting Reticulite aid in defeating a new virus that had arisen on their planet. Falius clicked on the report and ordered a supply of medical nanites to be delivered to them. Another species had discovered a violent criminal living amongst them, and had no clue what to do with it. Falius simply typed out a message telling them to educate the person on why he was wrong, and give him the tools necessary to change his ways.

So small were their problems. Sometimes it even bored Falius, but he was glad that they didn’t have larger problems to contend with. He…
Something wasn’t right. Several reports had just come through half-finished, stating the presence of large ships in several star systems. The reports were asking if these were new Reticulite ships on test flights, but Falius knew nothing of such ships. Certainly not as many as these reports seemed to indicate. And unnervingly, all the reports were cut short, as though the transmissions were terminated before they were finished.

He was about to signal the home world, in the 1st Galaxy, but his screen started to flicker until he could no longer read the contents. He grabbed hold of his desk desperately as his office began to shake violently. A flash of light from somewhere in space lit up the entire city, forcing him to take one hand from his desk to shield his eyes.

As the rumbling and the light subsided, he could hear various alarms and emergency warnings going off automatically in the city outside. The doors were burst open and one of the natives of this planet strode in nervously. He had no ears, but antennae, which twitched nervously above his bright red face. He must have been only four feet high.

“Isss your peoplesss tesssting new ssship?” the man asked, panicked.

“No, I do not think so…” Falius said, confused. “There is a wealth of reports asking me the same thing. I was just…”

They both turned around as they heard something. A beam of blue light slammed down into the city from the sky, sweeping across the planet, blasting all signs of civilisation clean. Rain turned to steam as it touched it, giving it a mysterious smoking effect. Falius was disintegrated before he could even utter a word.



The two Galactic Explorers that had resided near the planet were now clouds of debris, as the vast alien ship disappeared in a flash of light. The planet below was no longer the idyllic world of jungles and beautiful cities that it had once been. Fires burned across its surface, smoke slowly filling the atmosphere with noxious gases. Huge craters stood in place of where the cities once were, ten billion people killed within a few short seconds.

***

The Council of the Reticuli was convened in an emergency. All the representatives sat around the large circular room, talking amongst themselves nervously. Never before had anyone threatened, or even been able to threaten, the Reticuli. They had no contingency plan in the event that they did.

“Quiet please, people,” said a man, standing up. “We have a very serious problem, everybody. Hours ago, one of our Galactic Explorers in the 18th Galaxy was completely destroyed by an unknown force, with no warning or provocation. Then just a few minutes ago, we lost contact with the 13th Galaxy. All of the sentients in that galaxy were our friends, and our sensors can no longer detect their life signatures. I have decided to put something before the Council that I never thought anyone would suggest, in a billion years. I wish for you all to decide upon whether we should recall all Reticulites to the homeworld.”

The Council began whispering vigorously, shocked by the very idea.

“What about our friends in the 17 Galaxies?” someone called out. “We promised to be their supporters and help them achieve a certain standard of life! Are we just going to walk away in their most dire times of crisis?”

“Our agreement was to help them with their medicines, to help them with their sciences, to help them with their society problems,” the man said, apparently the Leader of the Council. “Our agreement did not include defending them against… weapons. Besides which, it is possible that maintaining a Reticulite presence there is endangering them all; these barbarians started their onslaught with one of our own Galactic Explorers. It may be that we are the only ones they are concerned with. Now, all in favour of an emergency recall, raise your hands.”

The Council looked at each other. Three quarters of them raised their hands; the others folded their arms and shook their heads in disbelief.

“We have an agreement, then,” the Leader nodded sadly. “I… I will give the order, then.”

All over the universe, planetary colonies were dismantled hurriedly as the trillions of Reticulites desperately tried to pack themselves into the Galactic Explorers that waited to pick them up. Once-bustling cities on other worlds were left abandoned and empty, only to be destroyed by their attackers shortly afterwards.

The alien ships swept through the 17 Galaxies, destroying entire worlds as they searched for the Reticulites. Fleets of Galactic Explorers sent to try to make peace with their new enemies were wiped out in the blink of an eye. Billions up billions of souls perished every day as the aliens continued their relentless assault.



Tens of thousands of 60km long, white vessels literally streamed into the Milky Way, queued up for light-years as they headed for the Epsilon Reticuli system, which was, at the time, essentially the centre of the known universe. They carried trillions of Reticulites to the home world, not knowing how they could possibly fit them all onto the Earth-sized world. As they went, they evacuated the populations of any inhabited worlds in this galaxy, efficiently strip-mining the universe of their existence.

On Reticuli 4, the stars were blocked from view by the thousands of massive ships that surrounded them; all trying desperately to transport their payloads down to the surface before it was too late.

But it was already too late.

The system shook with fear, as two of the vast alien ships appeared beside the outer gas giant of the system, right next to the stream of ships. Bursts of blue energy spewed out from their hulls, ripping through the line of ships. One of the two alien vessels set upon a reverse course, ploughing towards the end of the line, blasting the helpless ships to pieces as it went.
The other ship slowly turned and headed for Reticuli 4. Hundreds of beams of blue light, kilometres thick, burst out repeatedly, picking off the fully-loaded ships in droves. Some of the Reticuli vessels simply gave up, and rammed into the attacking vessel. There was no damage.



“It is too late!” one of the citizens of the planet screamed, pointing up at the sky. Explosions filled it, debris streamed into the atmosphere like rain. They could clearly see the vast alien vessel right above them, blotting out the sun. Its beams of light cut through the ships as though they were nothing.

“Charge the generator!” Leader Feltoro shouted. “Try to let as many teleportations through as possible... and then activate the shield.”

“But... the rest of our people will be stuck up there!” the man shouted. “Those barbarians will destroy them!”

“Do you not think I know that?” Feltoro shouted. “We must protect this world. It is a hard decision, but I tell you that every single person up there would agree with me.”

Feltoro turned and headed back into the Council Palace, stepping up some of the marble stairs and bursting into a control room. He pointed at one of the operators.

“Tell all the ships on the night-side to begin the emergency ‘Saviour’ plan at once!” he said, as the ground shook. A piece of debris had collided with a building nearby, levelling half a city block.

“Yes, Feltoro!” the man nodded and placed his hands against the controls.



The ships hiding behind the planet’s shadow had already transported the survivors to the surface. They turned and started thrusting towards the gas giant at a high speed.
The alien ship had finished with the ships on the light side, and noticed them moving away. It began firing in their direction, picking them off one by one as they desperately tried to break away. Its large hangar bay doors started to open, and thousands of small fighters streamed out of it, chasing them down.

One Galactic Explorer made it through the ferocious barrage of explosions. It plunged into the thick atmosphere of the gas giant carefully, disappearing from view and from sensors. The fighters veered away and headed back for their mothership.



The ground shook again, more violently this time.

“Feltoro, they have started firing on the surface!” one of the controllers shouted, panicking.

“What!?” Feltoro exclaimed. He could sense the man’s thoughts though; he wasn't mistaken. He could feel millions of people dying every second, on their home world, of all places...

“Two cities have just been destroyed!” the controller said, shaking nervously.

“That's it then, raise the shield,” Feltoro told him. “Make sure that the scientists put everything they have into keeping it operational.”

“They are raising it now, Feltoro,” the controller nodded, somewhat relieved.



The thick beams of light suddenly stopped blasting through the cities, and seemed to be blocked by the very atmosphere of the planet. Closer inspection revealed that the planet's atmosphere was glowing and rippling with the impacts, like an energy shield.

So the alien vessel increased its firepower. Two smaller capital ships emerged from the vast hangar doors, adding their own firepower. Fighters streamed out and collided with the energy shield, temporarily coating the entire planet in a blanket of explosions.

After a few hours, the second alien vessel casually approached the planet, having just destroyed over 20,000 Galactic Explorers, and began to fire upon the planet as well.

Scientists on the surface desperately worked to keep the shield at full power as the entire planet shook with the impacts. The entire sky, on both sides of the planet, was illuminated with a bright blue glow as the shield constantly repelled the relentless onslaught. Systems overloaded, smoke poured from the large mountain they had built the generator under. Just when it seemed like the generator would overload and fail, the aliens stopped firing.

They recalled their fighters, their capital ships, and the two phenomenal vessels began slowly moving away from the planet, until they disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.



Feltoro opened his eyes slowly, and turned to look out of the window of his office. The thunderous noise had stopped. The sky darkened, and, through the clouds of debris, he could see the stars again. The imposing silhouettes of their aggressors no longer hovered above them.

A controller leaned into his office, and Feltoro nodded to him wearily. He stepped in and walked up to the desk.

“Fifteen cities were destroyed before we raised the shields,” the controller said sadly. “All contact with the 17 Galaxies, including our friends in them, has been lost. Our sensors no longer detect sentient life there. We have lost the entire fleet of Galactic Explorers, bar one.”

“One?” Feltoro looked up.

“Yes,” the controller nodded. “The ‘Saviour’ plan paid off a little, it seems. There is a Galactic Explorer now hiding inside Reticuli 5 in full hibernation mode, so that we may call upon them when it is safe to do so. Not much consolation... so many dead, so quickly... trillions of people...”

Feltoro patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

“We are a resourceful people, my friend,” Feltoro said. “The Reticulites will always survive. Somehow.



Deep beneath the atmosphere of the gas giant, a massive Galactic Explorer held position. Shields held off the powerful forces that tried to rip her apart. The few crew members who had survived were in stasis, all ship systems were on standby. Nanites and AI now maintained the ship until it was signalled by the home world. Little did they realise that they would remain inside the planet for more than two billion years, never to be signalled again.

It had been millions of years since the 'Culling', as they had come to know it. All memory of the Reticulites had faded. Planets that had once been home to primitive societies of cave dwellers now took to the stars, filling the enormous power vacuum that had been left by the demise of the Universal Commonwealth. They fought petty wars with their neighbours over trivial matters; barbarians ruled space now, and forever more.

Still, even amongst societies who had never encountered the Reticulites in their former glory, the myths were the same -- never approach the ghost system of Epsilon Reticuli. Its clouds of ancient debris hold terrible secrets of atrocities of old, and must never be disturbed. This made their isolation much easier.

The once-beautiful cities of Epsilon Reticuli 4 had lost their former vibrancy. Instead of an enlightened people of optimism, it was now home to a society of paranoid pessimists, fearful of anybody without lilac eyes. The tale of their destruction had grown and twisted over the millennia, into a terrible legend of evil destroyers. All outsiders were to be feared, all non-Reticuli were to be shunned. Aliens once trusted friends in the great Commonwealth had long-since been made extinct by fear and mistrust. The population dwindled to all-time lows; mere millions now clung to the abandoned glory of Reticuli.

The final days were dawning, though. The sun was harsh and deadly now. Its rays completely scorched skin within minutes, an understandable problem for any society. The seas had already begun to evaporate as the average temperature of the planet had nearly doubled, and the thick atmosphere made it much worse. Their race was soon to be consigned to the history books once and for all.

Or at least, that was how it would be if they were any other people. Pessimistic they may be, but resourceful as well. Huge underground caverns were still being carved out, and equipped with the latest nano-technology and geo-thermal power systems. A computer construct who had been named 'Afanso' was being installed and tied in with all systems in preparation for the migration. It would be cruel to install him and leave him down there for ages, alone, so it was obviously not long before the caverns were to be populated.

People looked up into the sky as there was a bright flash. They cried out and shouted in panic; it had begun. As the sun slowly began to grow in size, people ran through the streets, ducking for cover as the heat became infinitely worse -- instant death would be the punishment for anybody venturing from the shelter of their homes. Epsilon Reticuli itself was growing, and its roasting surface was coming closer to their homeworld every second. The shockwave would be upon them soon enough, so they needed to move the Great Barrier's wall below ground to protect their new home from damage.

It took many days to move people underground, and nearly 50% of people didn't make it in time. The doors had to be sealed shut lest they all die. The sun grew relentlessly. People watched underground in horror with their sensors as the first three planets of the system were engulfed completely.

People left on the outside roasted almost instantly, as though a nuclear bomb had been detonated on their head. Buildings cracked and metal melted from the sheer heat of the sun. The atmosphere was heated to such a point that it simply burned off into space, followed by whatever remained of the oceans. Remaining plantlife died. The world turned completely brown in a flash. And then the shockwave of the rapid expansion of the star hit, smashing to pieces any buildings which had somehow stayed upright.

They often said it was easier to destroy than it was to create, and they were right. Hundreds of millions of years of prosperity died in an instant. For two billion years the Reticulites would live a wretched existence in the darkness, underground, never being heard from again.

Nature forgot about one thing, though. The Galactic Explorer, hidden away neatly in the gas giant Reticuli 5, protected by millions of years worth of advanced technology, its crew sleeping. It would become the saviour of the Reticulites. But not for a long time.