Vive le Starlis: Ch. 8; History of the Universe pt. 1 Nikkitrina Feral It had been a long, boring day for Nikki. Her MechCommander shift was made up entirely of paperwork, her Enforcer shift was stationed in the radio room, and it would figure that no one called in even a lousy bank robbery. The high point of her day, however, was that feeling you get from the almost non-existent G’s in the elevator on her way to, and from, work. She slid into the couch, in no hurry, only looking forward to bedtime that night. Felina got home about five minutes after her, obviously in an entirely different mood. “Nikki,” Felina exclaimed, “I got a great idea today during work.” Nikki looked up, but didn’t say anything. “You know how I was telling you about how I was raised by my real parents for five years before being separated from them, so they got a chance to teach me most of what I need to know about our past and purpose. I think it’s about time to teach you, and today’s a perfect time to start.” “Anything to pass the time,” Nikki agreed, though not sounding full-hearted. “Where should I begin?” Felina asked. “How about the beginning,” Nikki suggested, “You know, the thing that comes before the middle and the end.” Felina shot Nikki a glare, “You know, I don’t have to do this.” “You know,” Nikki retorted, “I don’t have to care.” “Why don’t I just start now,” Felina suggested, wanting to avoid an argument. “The Maylana species originated on a distant planet, much different from this one, or any other planet the species would ever live on. It had a much denser atmosphere and greater gravity. Most animals had four or more legs, and none had just two. The plants were shorter and wider, with broader leaves and green trunks to adapt to the gravity and misty atmosphere. The Maylana are traced to this planet because it was the last place that the species split from variation. From that point on, they only evolved. At that point Maylanas looked a bit like a furry cross between a cow, rhino, and hamster, all with six legs. They were herbivores, but had no natural predators because of their size. As time progressed, they evolved little, but technology still developed. Unlike on this planet, where technology revolved around physical objects, Maylana technology focused on psi. Psi is the natural psychic energy that exists within all living things, from plants, to animals, to single celled organisms. Maylanas learned to tap into this energy and harness it improve their quality of life. There was no real need for much improvement of life, with no predators, and their society a peaceful one, most of the advancements was made towards the individual’s power to do good for others. For two million years, nothing happened. The Maylanas hardly evolved because there was no need, and the relatively dormant planet surface with few volcanoes and few natural disasters posed absolutely no threat. It was something extraterrestrial that caused the era of peace to end. In the history books it was known as the First Armageddon. The death from above came in the form of a 400 km. wide asteroid. The Maylana’s psi technology enabled them to detect the asteroid in time to come up with a plan. Together, they developed a ship that could rescue about half of the population.” “OK, I think I need to explain how the psi technology works. When a Maylana has mastered their psi powers, they can will things into existence. Say we needed, oh, a spaceship, to hold lots of kats, and travel at about the speed of light, in ‘lickedy-split’ amount of time. A large enough population could do that if they knew and understood certain plans to go by. Each Maylana was assigned a certain part of the ship to develop based upon their psi powers. Psi is finite. You can only do so much before you have to stop and re-charge.” “When they had the parts, some had to be put together by hand, others were willed together by Maylana elders who had reached the bounds of the species’ available psi abilities. All in all, it took about five days to complete, and half of the population made it to safety with 38, or 37, something like that, hours to spare. The species survived on that ship for about one and a half centuries before finding a hospitable planet to settle down on. They named it this time. They called it Rehnar, which means ‘new hope.’ This planet was much different from the last one. It had an atmosphere much like our own, much less gravity, and large predators. In response to the changes, the Maylanas had to use their psi energy to will a mass evolution of the species, it still took 100 years before they had adapted completely, and many lives were lost in the process. The population was reduced to fewer than 10000 individuals, more than 1/190,000th of what it was when they got there, and over 1/360,000th of the original population on the previous planet. The evolution saved the species though, enabling them to get a paw hold on the top of the food chain, as predators. On Rehnar, Maylanas became predators for the first time, which was never to change. They became lankier, with four legs, fangs and claws. They still preferred not to hunt other animals, using their new weapons instead as a defense from other predators. They did hunt on occasion, mostly because their lifestyle and body insisted on at least an omnivorous diet. Over all, they were much like a combination of today’s big cats and wolves, just much larger, about the same mass as an elephant. The low gravity and light atmosphere allowed for a larger body. The Maylana lifespan never changed from here on. It stayed at a steady 500 years, the same as today. On this planet only 1.6 million years passed before the Second Armageddon surfaced. A truly evil creature unleashed itself upon the planet. Thought to have been brought to Rehnar on space debris that constantly pummel the planet, the pathogenic single celled monster moved in swarms, both air and water borne, it was, and is unstoppable. It had a psi power of its own, preventing the Maylanas from willing it out of existence. It was named Hisher Numar, meaning ‘The Great Disease.’ It attacked and killed every plant and animal species, wiping out other bacteria, and even viruses. The already depleted Maylana species fled to space, unable to hardly save themselves, let alone other creatures. It took only 3 days for the Great Disease to wipe out all traces of life. The planet Rehnar was literally eaten alive.” “The surviving 120 Maylanas made it to a safe planet rather soon, it only took 40 years to find it. This one they named Marneh Juhr, or ‘purple sky,’ because the sky looked purple every sunrise and sunset. Marneh Juhr was very similar to Rehnar in the way of gravity and other environmental factors. The plant and animal life was very different. The plants in general were not very tall, but grew close to the ground in clusters, animals lived in the clusters of plants in family groups and kept their home from being taken by other animals. Not the entire planet was like this, but most of it was. The Maylanas evolved a smaller frame, but changed little else. This planet didn’t last long at all, only about 300 years. It was too close to Rehnar, and somehow the Great Disease got there too. This time it sought after only Maylanas, it affected no other species. The Maylanas were forced to flee again. Only 34 got out alive.” “Becoming ill of their life of ‘planet hopping’, the Maylana sought a means of vengeance. If not that, at least a way of stopping The Great Disease from killing. Now that it was only going after Maylanas, the threat to their species was increased. The Great Disease also seemed to develop intelligence, making their task all the more difficult and vital. For centuries the Maylana searched for a new home, far from their old one, all the while developing genetic engineering and advancing their psi powers. 800 years after leaving Marneh Juhr, they found a new home. It was the largest of the planets, with the thickest atmosphere, but less gravity than their original home. They named it Kirnah Juhr, ‘water sky’, because it almost always rained. It was a tropical planet though, with warm lush forests and jungles, and the Maylanas made themselves right at home among the local animals. Kirnah Juhr is where they put their plan into action.” “Well, I think that’s all for today. Good night Nikki!” Felina hopped up quickly and headed off to bed. Nikki, still in her listening position, knees tucked under her chin called after her, “We’ll pick it up tomorrow, right?” No response. “Well, we better,” she said under her breath, then got up, stretched, and walked off to her own room.