Chapter 384: (Its a Sin) (2/2)

They also weaponized ore delivery systems. The big one, on Luna, was ”Harsh Mistress” and it blew holes two miles wide in the Precursor by hitting it with two thousand ton slugs of iron ferrite moving at .34C.

We had a scout that saw that and we immediately backed off.

The Omniqueens weren't sure if the PAWM was chasing us, and what they saw startled them.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Leading to ”The Plan”, which worked out wonderfully for the Mantid Omniqueens.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

LEEBAW CONTEMPLATION POOL

OK, I think I understand a little bit better why all of you are so worried.

That's a single day, and we see evidence of unwilling genetic tampering, warfare, unrestrained scientific expansion, and cultural problems that appear to run fairly deep.

My people wonder, at times, why the Terrans do not treat us as primitives beneath their notice.

They aren't that far removed from us, are they? From our little cities? Our curiosity?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

My little amphibious friend, how old was your oldest city before the Lanaktallan arrived?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

LEEBAW CONTEMPLATION POOL

About twelve thousand years. It was where writing was developed. It was important to us and the Lanaktallan destroyed it.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Those headlines you read? Not only was your city older, but your city predated such things as the radio, sliced bread, knowledge of DNA, or even widespread electricity.

It is not whether they see you as primitives, but will you make the same mistake as everyone does?

Will you view them as primitives?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

Considering they brought back to life the PUBVIAN RACE I don't see how we'd see them as primitive.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

I have a question pertaining to everything.

What's the longest time of peace in Terran Descent Humanity's history?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

Ninety-Eight days.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

No, I mean since then.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

PUBVIAN DOMINION

Ninety-eight days.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Oh.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

A Terran in motion tends to stay in motion.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

P'Thok's First Rule of Humans.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Is it wrong?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

No.

That's what makes it so funny.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

So you showed it to us to get us to understand exactly what we're going to be seeing?

Do you really think they'll change back to be like they were? It was thousands of years ago.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

LEEBAW CONTEMPLATION POOL

We aren't afraid.

We have learned the lesson of jawnconnor.

We will learn all the Terrans, even the Earthlings, will teach us.

Never again will we allow others to despoil our waters, our world.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HAKANIAN GESTALT

They showed it to us for another reason.

Look at what is going on.

The Precursor Autonomous War Machine approaches. The Extinction Rebellion is testing their weapons. The Friend Plague is going to hit. The Primate War is only a decade away.

Daxin's mother is alive.

Hell, he might have been born already, records are spotty.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

PUBVIAN DOMINION

The Hamburger Kingdom had developed the method for creating the Immortal Janissary in a Black Box Project that would later force us to submit.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

We Precursors make long plans, then expect everyone to be shocked and awed by our 'rapid' attacks and operations.

That was a single day's headlines, for a single news outlet. On a single planet. On a single infonet.

Think about that for a moment.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

Oh. OH. OH! I get it.

Terrans could handle that kind of information load and relegate it to almost background noise while still absorbing the data.

Apply that to warfare.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

And whoever this was that did the temporal attack has no idea what they unleashed.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

In order to achieve space flight, every single race so far discovered had melded into one cultural whole, worked in cooperation as a species, and had given up warfare for tens of thousand of years.

Our mystery attacker must have assumed that the Terrans were some kind of slave species of the Mantid and did something stupid.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLD

They assumed that pre-FTL humans would be docile, unable to fight, be before the Mantid 'adjusted' what they see as a slave race.

I have a feeling that in the history of bad ideas, this ranks right up there with the Lanaktallan attacking the Harmonous Cluster.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

In the history of bad ideas, it'll go down in history as one of the worse.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS

One again: Our Father is NOT a maniac.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

BIOLOGICAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS

Yeah. Our Father is not a complete blood thirsty lunatic.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COOPERATIVE

You're talking like TerraSol is a rabid animal you have to put down and are just trying to justify it to the family.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

No. No. Digital Omnimessiah, I'm sorry.

No, we're just trying to prepare our newest members.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

AKLTAK FREE FLIGHT

Prepare us for what?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

What you're going to see when the cat's let out of the bag, so to speak.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---