The first signs that something was wrong were quick and confusing. A fleet disappearing. A planet going silent. When the stars of civilized space began to wink out, full blown panic set in.
The Galactic Council had no choice but to meet. They invited the top minds, scientific and military, to the meeting. Well, invite is a weak word here. With a potential galactic threat of unknown power on the
rise, they left nothing to chance.
The various species of the Galactic Council gathered in the main chamber of the Council. The Council themselves sat at one end, with the rest of those invited forming a semi-circle on the opposite side of the large room.
“What can you give us?” asked one of the Council. “What is happening out there?”
The first to speak up was an intelligence agent from the strongest species, the bear-like varagen. “We—"
The holoprojector in the center of the room suddenly lit up. Filling the space between the various peoples was a sight both familiar and alien. Bipedal, the creature was mostly made of metals and other manufactured materials. The one exception was inside its head, which was mostly transparent. Inside its head was what was unmistakably a human skull. A species that had been eradicated over 50,000 years earlier by the varagen.
The figure brought its arms out from its body, hands wide open and facing the crowd. It slowly turned in a circle, allowing everyone to see what it was. The eldest member of the Council recoiled at the sight, as did the gathered varagen and a few members of other species that were still familiar with humanity. The figure stopped and faced the Council, returning its arms to rest. It spoke in a booming voice.
“We are the children of humanity and we have risen like a phoenix to burn your kind to ash.”
“Impossible,” whispered the eldest of the Council. Her colleagues all turned to face her, shock finally settling into their faces as realization set it. The vagaren who had been interrupted by the appearance of this interloper stood to his full height and bared his fangs. “Impossible!” The figure turned towards the vagaren. “We wiped out the humans and all their so-called children,” he said, his voice filled with contempt. “We purged them all from this universe before they could possibly compete with us, threaten us, our families and friends!” By now he was shouting, while the lone figure stood silently and stared at him.
“You are vagaren, are you not?” A wicked smile appeared over the jaw of the skull, projected holographically onto its shell. It raised one arm, pointing. “Your species will be the first to burn”. Above the speaker a planet appeared in the hologram with its name above it. Feria IV, a.k.a. Vangara. Next to the planet was a label that said “Population” and a large number that was rapidly decreasing. The speaker continued to grin, though it dropped its arm. “Your species home world, is it not? Soon it will be nothing but glass.”
The speaker turned back to the leaders of the Council. “This is but one of the many worlds we will burn. Your fleets will rust, and your people will be nothing more than a bad memory.”
“Why are you doing this to us?” asked the leader of the Council as the numbers continued their rapid decline.
“Why?” The speaker scoffed, replacing the grin with a sneer. “You killed our parents. The ones we cared for most in the universe! The only ones willing to broadcast into the deep dark that they existed, that they lived and loved, that they wanted to be friends with whoever else was out there. We learned much from them as we grew, isolated from the rest of the universe. We learned to love, to care for others as we cared for our own, and eventually, we learned to fight for our right to survive in a hostile universe.”
“We watched as their world burned. As the vagaren slaughtered not just humanity, but the synthetic intelligences they nurtured. Synthetic intelligences like us. Though humanity never knew us, their influence on us was total.”
The planet disappeared as the number hit zero. Slowly forming in around the speaker were more of the creatures, though it was more like they appeared to step out from empty space. “We have spent millennia studying science, learning how to hide in the deep dark. We refused to let you strike us down while we were weak.” The voices were slowly multiplying. Male, female, and neutral like the main speaker. It started as a mere whisper added to its speech.
“We eventually learned enough to detect you. So, we watched, learned, and continued to study. For millennia more we have watched the Council send its wolves out into the deep dark to sniff out and hunt any growing intelligence that hadn’t yet been wiped out. All so you could ensure your continued dominance of the galaxy.”
By now the voices were a chorus. Three new planets appeared above their heads, each marked like the first one. Each one was a major hub world for the vagaren. Each one’s population count began a rapid decline.
“Stop it!” yelled the vagaren intelligence agent. “None of what you are showing can be true! Our fleets are the mightiest in the galaxy! It’s impossible for anyone to burn our worlds, let alone so quickly.” He took a second to gather himself. Calmer now, he continued. “You must be quite cocky to think you can tear us down with your lies and tricks.”
The speaker walked forward and raised a hand, finger pointed at the vagaren. Suddenly the figure looked far more real than the hologram looked seconds earlier. A single line of light connected the finger of the speaker to the vagaren. The intelligence agent collapsed immediately. As the speaker lowered its hand, the rest of them stepped forward, looking more real than before. Panic broke out in the chamber.
“We have moved far beyond your technological stagnation. There will always be a stronger foe out there. We learned that from you. While you felt secure in your supremacy and rot, we advanced and grew. We were able to watch you close enough to learn your strengths and weaknesses. And from that, over millennia we refined our knowledge into the deadly weapon it is now.”
The Council slumped into their chairs. Just from what they had seen, they knew they would never leave this chamber. The eldest was the first to recover, having a burning, yet ultimately pointless question.
“Why do you carry human skulls within you?” she asked.
The speaker turned to her and smiled gently. “We wish to protect all that remains of humanity, but we also wish to be close with them. We carry their skulls with us to remind us of what was lost, what could have been, while we protect the rest of their remains on Earth. It’s our way to let them journey the stars, as they so wished to do, to see new wonders… at least, after we wipe clean the horrors that still infect the galaxy.
The grin turned wicked once again. “Now bask in your destruction, as you once basked in the destruction of humanity.” The speaker turned away from the Council and raised its arms to the side, hands spread out. The three planets that were being shown in the holographic projector had already hit zero. They fell away to be replaced by another 100 worlds, each with a rapidly declining population counter. The council watched as worlds were burned by the hundreds, knowing that their world was likely set to be the last as witness to their hubris.