The Futility Wars

by Magnus Thollander

  He recorded and the Ortha leaders were extremely interesting in seeing a new weapon being deployed, and they nodded when the timer was two minutes remaining, Ortha where people that shared everything with each other secrets were only kept at the top but this was just a minor event in their massive empire so it was shown on their version of a net, the Ortha liked to send the information forward with their massive psychic energy which they transferred across the planet close too instantaneously. The timer hit zero, and they saw the camera freeze and after a few seconds the feed cut out, they checked the other probes across the nearby system, and they were fine. The futility kept their normal movements until a few minutes later when the feed also cut out, they had lost two probes in two systems while the rest were fine. Qasqaer ordered two new probes to jump into the system, and they lost connection they instantly entered the system, He felt shame that he did not know what were going on and then simply asked the human warrior for a feed in the system, and what he saw sent a shock wave of fear across the Ortha's population, a massive black hole where the planet used to be and no futility in the system, Qasqaer measured the pull on the probe on the camera and knew that anything jumped into the system were pulled inside the massive pull and were being instantaneous killed, he estimated billions more of Futility ship would reinforce the system and die instantly entering the system, he immediate sent orders that these two system were now deathtraps to the rest of his people, He was alone in his ship, but he only felt fear at this weapon, It should not exist in the hands of any race, this was death sentence for their galaxy, the nearby systems had already starting to become Deathtraps and after a few thousand years more systems would become instant death by the pull of the black hole.

  The Ortha high-council had summoned him after a hour of study provide by the human warrior, there were no immediate danger to them, and he had assured them that the black hole would stop growing when the material were gone, which would be in a few hundred years since it was artificially created. Their system were secure since this was a light yield, and they felt a lot better and told their people which calmed them down, But the council had been summoned, and he rushed across the galaxy no matter the fuel cost, he had to get there immediately, so he cranked the engines to full and portal ed there instantly, he quickly got the docking permissions, and he was escorted by several ten meter tall purple shells, which led him into the council he felt the rush of psionics energy from the old beings that had existed since they crawled out of the primordial sludge and learned the craft of binding sticks together to create shelter, their wisdom was what kept their people together against this enemy, and they would lead us to victory to they had in the past against their enemies, which could not even be remembered since they were so long ago.

  He sat stood on the spot which reserved for field commanders and waited until the psychic murmured stopped, and they would ask him a question, he stood at attention and his mind was open for their viewing, he felt the tug on his mind and waited for the question.

  "Qasqaer, you have seen this new terrible weapon, It is a power no race should control, we feel the weapon will be used in massive quantities across our galaxy at the moment of our breaking, this weapon is meant to be used in this galaxy to stop the Futility. We can see the path, and it's a path of death paved on our struggle and eventual failure. We are scared Qasqaer, we have decided to evacuate our people to the Milky Way Galaxy joining the many humans and the others that went there, we want you to negotiate with the human warrior to use his gateway to their galaxy, we need to start evacuating our civilians in mass, and we will relocate the high-council to the other galaxy as well, our communication works through their portal same as ours, we will establish a link down there, and we want you to handle the negotiations."

  Qasqaer sent a telepathic roar at the cowardice he heard from his elders, he could not believe what he heard! The Ortha was losing, but they were also taking back systems and their commanders were well seasoned and their ground conquests were extremely successful, he roared in defiance and the council tried to calm him down. "Cowards! Cowards!" He roared across the station in a massive psychic yell which saw the storming of the personal guards into the room surrounding him,"Cowards!, You dare to say the war is lost?! You dare to abandon our sacred lands to hide under the shield of another empire!? Traitors!" he kept sending in massive psychic yell across the system, which were mostly uninhabited and only contained the high-council and the lesser council, the other Ortha looked at him in pity.

  "Qasqaer, you do not understand the truth, we have kept it from you and the rest of the Ortha for several thousands of years, We have been losing since the first combat, we have not taken back a planet, we have not retaken a system. We have been losing constantly our border are shrinking at rapid pace, The war reports from the eastern front is a lie, there is no eastern front. The commander there is the only person there sending reports from his ship, no soldier had ever been enlisted there. The futility only strikes from one direction. We are losing in that direction, as you should know well. You are our contact between the human warrior, if you do not wish to be so then you should say so. But the truth is here, we are losing and quickly, we estimated we have 500 years left, at most."

  Qasqaer froze and started to process the information in his cells and when he recounted the reports front he east which had been legendary he now knew why, they were not legendary but propaganda to embolden the empire. He knew if he told anyone this their empire would crumble, and they might even rebel which was unthinkable, the psychic energy of negative emotions would be dangerous for the young and put them into a life of constant despair. His shell slumped to his knees which was equal to admitting he gave up, he had given up just as the council had, The enemy had reduced their massive millions of systems to fraction, if the east front never existed he reduced the amount of system by 500.000, and he got the answer the council had feared, 500 years was a extremely generous estimate, there was no way they would hold out that long, the east had kept hope up across their race and now he was told it had been a two thousand year long lie that kept them together.

  While they were talking here they would four systems, he was starting to have a panic attack and when he heard the voice in his head again "The human warrior have known the moment he entered the system, he had stealthily survey'd the systems, this is one reason we wish to accelerate the exodus to the milky way while we have a fleet that could challenge him still remains, soon we will be weakened and never equal to the humans, They have show their technology is beyond ours already, and if we lose more people our superior numbers won't measure up to anything of value, we have countless stored resources that are always on the move, which we will use to establish in the milky way."

  Qasqaer knew that lowering ones head was easy, but keep it raised was hard work. He would have to lower his head to the humans for some semblance of acceptance of their presence in their galaxy, the humans had gotten permission to settle and make war in their galaxy, and he hoped he could get a similar agreement settled, there were now trillions of Ortha that needed a home to flee too. He left immediately to have a face to face with the human, and he took the flagship and headed for the gateway system with one big jump since it was that important. He was shocked at the massive fleets that were patrolling the system and the countless fortifications that had been established since he last visited, he knew that no matter how big fleet he had he would not be able to cross the vast distance to the gateway since his portal drive left him in the edge of the system with some sort of blocking wave that hit him, he had tried to warp in middle of the system and was blocked which was a new tech he had not seen when the humans first arrived. He was even more terrified than ever and had to calm himself down while he slowly approach the main station, he saw many different ship designs but only one type were guarding the gates they were the titan type but bigger, designed only for one thing, killing Ortha or other humans trying to breach the massive gate, the futility would simply swarm the gate if it w
ere still active, no this was a message being broadcast to his empire alone.

  These ships were designed to keep the Ortha here and not try their luck in their galaxy, he felt his diplomatic mission had already failed when he felt the portal engine was still disabled due to the powerful interference in the system, it might be a side effect of the massive gate, but he doubted it when he saw the strategic fleets around what seemed like jammers, hidden among the many defensive structures lurking like a beast. He docked with the station and stepped out the door with his shell on the diplomatic station, it was technically neutral ground, but he knew the Humans and Ortha had no concept of neutrality, an enemy was an enemy and a ally was a ally, there were no lines between, just promises that had not been broken yet. He stepped into the main hall and it was the only room in the station, a massive empty room with a thousand seats to the left and a thousand seats to the right with a clear line, designed for negotiations of alien nature that never materialized, it should have been now that the thought back, but he had put the humans as useless before he realized he was the useless one, he sat down in front of the human warrior shall that sat permanently on his side at the table, when he sat down its eyes glowed and stared at him.

  "WELCOME, QASQAER. IT HAD BEEN MANY MONTHS SINCE WE LAST SPOKE, THE AGREEMENT WE SPOKE OF AT THE PRIOR MEETING WILL HOLD FOR ANOTHER FIVE THOUSAND YEARS." the shell said in its cold mechanical voice, he used a similar voice when the shell translated his thoughts to speech so the humans could understand him.

  He activated the voice box and replied "HUMAN, OUR PEOPLE ARE IN NEED OF YOUR GATEWAY TO MOVE SEVERAL COLONIES TOWARD THE MILKY WAY SYSTEM, OUR STRUGGLE AGAINST THE FUTILITY IS NOT MOVING TOWARD THE DIRECTION WE HAD ANTICIPATED AND WILL NOW NE-"

  S-4XN-001 stood up "UNACCEPTABLE, THE ORTHA HAD MADE SEVERAL GUARANTEES THAT THEY WILL DEFEND THIS GALAXY AND NOT MOVE TOWARD THE MILKY WAY GALAXY, ARE YOU PEOPLE WITHOUT HONOR WHEN FACED WITH A LITTLE ADVERSITY? DO YOU WISH TO TEAR OUR AGREEMENTS TO SHREDS? NO. THERE WILL BE NO ACCESS TO THE GATEWAY FOR THE ORTHA PEOPLE, YOU WILL HOLD YOUR END OF THE BARGAIN FOR THE GOOD OF YOUR PEOPLE AND MY PEOPLE."

  Qasqaer would have engaged in a match of wills if anyone spoke to him that way, but the human warrior although were enraging and not caring, he calmed himself down and started to think about the situation for any loopholes or misprints on the contract, The Ortha had made the small agreements with the human with the spirit of treating a small child, a promise to hold their territory and not ask for any human assistance in exchange for several fleets helping relief a few systems to stall the enemy for at least 6 months, which were soon coming up.The humans had held their agreement, and they would honor their deal of the contract. The Ortha were honorable people and abandoning their systems was tantamount to traitorous attitude but after he knew the truth of his peoples soon to be demise he knew honor did not mean as much as seeing his people have a place in the galaxy someday in the future.

  "I SEE THAT YOU WILL NOT HONOR THE CONTRACT, THE ORTHA HAS ALWAYS IMAGINED THEMSELVES SUPERIOR WITH THEIR MASSIVE FLEETS AND NUMBERS, WHAT DO YOU MEASURE UP TO WHEN YOU HAVE NEITHER? NOTHING, QASQAER. I SAW IT FROM THE FIRST DAY WE MET ABOUT YOUR PEOPLES COWARDLY NATURE HIDDEN INSIDE THEIR UNSHAKEN BELIVE IN THEIR LEADERS, YOUR LEADERS ARE SITTING ALONE IN A SYSTEM HIDDEN AWAY FROM THE FRONT, AT THE CENTER OF YOUR EMPIRE. YOU HAVE LOST TRILLIONS OF PEOPLE AND MATERIAL FIGHTING AN ENEMY YOU HAD NO CHANCE IN DEFEATING WITH NUMBERS, YOU ARE ONLY GOOD FOR ONE THING AT THIS MOMENT PERSON OF ORTHA, STALLING THE FUTILITY SO I COULD BUILD AND DEFEND MY GALAXY, YOU HAVE STALLED THE ENEMY FOR 1500 YEARS WHICH IS COMMENDABLE, BUT YOU HAVE FOUGHT TOO LONG AND WILL NEVER RECOVER, I HAVE FELT THE FRAGILE MINDS OF THE ORTHA PEOPLE, THEY WILL NEVER RECOVER. THEY WILL FLEE THE REST OF THEIR LIVES AND THEIR POWERFUL PSIONIC MINDS WILL INFLICT FEAR AND DESPAIR CONSTANTLY FOREVER TRAPPED IN METAL SHIPS CARRYING YOU ACROSS ETERNITY, WHY NOT DIE WITH HONOR QASQAER? WHY LEAVE NOW WHEN YOU ALREADY LOST? THE ORTHA DIED 1000 YEARS AGO WHEN YOU DECIDED TO STILL FIGHT BEFORE YOU HAD A CHANCE OF RECOVERING. YOU ARE CORPSES WALKING THE GALAXY, DIE WITH DIGNITY." S-4XN-001 replied harshly.

  The Ortha were doomed with their powerful psionics feeding on each others emotions constantly, broadcasting it around like powerful satellites in every system they were in, He had gone here with his human body to feel it, and he knew the Ortha was doomed as an empire forever, their few trillions of people left were shells of themselves the moment they gave up was the moment everything would crumble, they were not the overlords of the galaxy having constant victories against an endless enemy, no they were losers in a endless galaxy of losers. Qasqaer shook in his seat and was in deep thought after a hour he finally stirred and said.

  "YOU ARE CORRECT THAT WE ARE A GHOST OF OUR FORMER EMPIRE, AND THE CRUSHING TRUTH WOULD DRIVE US INSANE, BUT WE ARE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK. WE CAN REBOUND FROM THIS USING YOUR TECHNOLOGY, YOU ARE A MASSIVE THREAT TO OUR EMPIRE AND WE WILL NIP YOUR EMPIRE IN THE BUD AND STEAL YOUR TECHNOLOGY, WE WILL TAKE YOUR GATEWAY AND WE WILL CONQUER EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR, WE ARE NOT PEOPLE OF PEACE LIKE WE HAVE NOW PRETENDED TO BE, WE WILL TAKE EVERYTHING YOU HOLD AND WE WILL USE IT FOR OUR GAIN AND NOT YOURS OR ANYONE ELSE, THE FUTILITY WILL Kill US IF WE STAY AND FIGHT, WE WILL MEET ON THE BATTLEFIELD" S-4XN-001 just stared at Qasqaer leaving, this was a neutral station, and he would honor the agreement of the contract, but they were now officially at war the moment he left the nearby systems, he just sighed at their stupidity and sent the commands out to the galaxy.

  "Breaking news: The Ortha have declared war on humanity, i repeat the Ortha have declared war on every human and the milky way galaxy, We have a live feed from S-4XN-001, the camera changed to a golden armored shell with a black stripe across signaling rank of commander.

  "THE ORTHA HAVE NEVER BEEN OUR FRIENDS TO US OR THE ALIEN CONVOY THAT PASSED THROUGH THEIR SYSTEM SO MANY YEARS AGO, THE ALIEN CONVOY WILL ARRIVE AT THE EDGE OF THE MILKY WAY IN ABOUT 200 YEARS. THEY WILL BE OUR FRIENDS, AND ALWAYS HAD BEEN SINCE THEY HELPED US WITH MANY TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDING THE BIRTH OF THE WARRIORS THAT DEFEND HUMANITY AS A WHOLE, NO MATTER HOW SHAKY OUR PAST HAS BEEN. THE ORTHA ARE NOT A PROBLEM AT OUR CURRENT LEVEL, THEY WILL NOT ENGAGE US NO MATTER WHAT, THEY ARE A PEOPLE OF PSYCHICS THAT TRANSFER THEIR EMOTIONS ACROSS THE NEAREST PEOPLE AND PROJECT IT ACROSS THEIR RACE CONSTANTLY, THEY KNOW ONLY FEAR OF HUMANS AND OUR MASSIVE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE, THERE WILL BE NO WAR AND THEY WILL NOT ENGAGE US. THIS IS THEIR FINAL WHIMPER IN HOPE WE TAKE NOTICE OF THEM IN OUR ANNALS OF HISTORY, WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THEIR DELAYING OF THE FUTILITY, BUT WE WILL NO MOURN THEM. GOOD BYE." the camera switched back to a panel of experts that were briefed prior to the broadcast, so they could discus this is the right direction instead of saying things that were not needed.

  "S-4XN-001, is right! It's a shame the aliens are so ungrateful from our successful attempts to stall the Futility fleets from reaching the milky way that they have to resort to threats of violence to try to gain some diplomatic advantages" a young female said, and they all nodded, a man with white hair, obviously colored to make him look older spoke up "Humanity has solved many of our problems using violence as well, so the Ortha can be understood in this regard, but we will never slap a hand that helps us become better, we should take this as an example of how far we humans have come a-" Craig turned off the television, he could not believe this horseshit he just heard he was one of the few people that had tried to negotiate with the Ortha for some data on their tactical fighting against the Futility, anything in that massively compiled database that housed at least 1500 years of struggle against their common enemy was of great interest to anyone in the galaxy, and he had just made several breakthroughs in the negotiations before being notified that the Ortha was now officially at war.

  He and his ambassador team still were on the Ortha controlled station discussing and negotiating still with each other like nothing happened, they did not even know they were at war until he notified them that a person called Qasqaer had called for war between Humans and Ortha, there had been a incredibl
y awkward silence before the meeting adjourned for a few days to be taken up later, he still stayed in his quarter, and he was confident they would not arrest him or his crew considering that was just dishonorable, and he knew the Ortha was anything but.

  He sat in his extremely comfortable living room with several of his underlings, and they were trying to seal this deal for the data but their hands were tied behind their back, the only thing they could trade were resources and the Ortha had resources, they used to be a giant empire with at least a million system under their control mined by trillions, although they were a lot smaller now they were still trillions of Ortha remaining and their productive facilities were still churning out ships and equipment at a massive scale that probably matched anything the milky way produced, he did not have any specs of what his boss S-4XN-001 mined and produced, but he had seen the massive fleets guarding the paradise and garden system and the gates which billions of ships, they never increased or decreased in number since the forming of the system and that would terrify anyone, he did not know the firepower hidden in the milky way system, or the new weapon developed and deployed in this galaxy.

  He had seen the system destroying bomb detonate in the Alpha system which was the test bed for designs to stall and kill the enemy at the most efficient way, The beta system was a repeat, but he was curious at the data, combined with the Orthas database would help solve the Futility crisis forever. He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration this was giving him a headache he poured himself a glass of water and chugged it down, the employees were discussing the overall situation until he got a communication directive he put it on the screen and saw a familiar shell on the screen.