The Futility Wars

by Magnus Thollander

  The other aliens had between a 5000 and 5 million, which was odd in itself, but most races had a cooperative incline considering the crossbreeding and cross living across the thousands of years of traveling across the galaxy, He spoke the first words "I S-4XN-001 AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS GALAXY ARE THANKFUL THAT THE ALIEN KNOWN AS SEEDER FIRST CAME TO THIS GALAXY AND TAUGHT US HOW TO BECOME WARRIORS, WE HAD AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY AND STRUGGLE TO REACH THIS POINT AS THE RACE THAT DEFEATED THE FUTILITY AND SOLVED THE PROBLEM THAT WE COLLECTIVELY SHARED, ALTHOUGH OUR GALAXY WAS NEVER INVADED AND WE HAD TO FLEE OUR HOMES AND OUR PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THE FEAR AND CONSTANT PERIL THAT LOOMED OVER THEIR HEADS, I KNEW THE FEAR AND THE BURDEN ON OUR COLLECTIVE SHOULDERS TO BEAR FOR OUR PEOPLE, BUT NOW THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED AND NOW COMES ANOTHER CHAPTER IN OUR ALLIANCE OF BROTHERS, WHERE DO WE GO FROM NOW? DO WE DISBAND THIS ALLIANCE OF RACES, OR DO WE STAY TOGETHER? I FEEL THAT THE CARAVAN RE-ESTABLISH THEIR HOMEWARDS AND GALAXIES, AND THEN WE MEET REGULARLY EVERY 10 YEARS TO INSURE CONTACT, I CAN HOUSE SEVERAL GATEWAYS TO YOUR HOME GALAXY SAVING YOU THOUSANDS OF YEARS, ALTHOUGH THERE IS STILL REMNANTS OF FUTILITY LEFT IN MOST OF YOUR GALAXIES."

  The room was silent which was usual considering the warrior shells were faceless and emotionless machines, it was quiet enough to hear a pin even when the halls were surrounded by millions of living people watching, the entire alien convoy was quiet until a shell stood up, it belonged to the first race that established the warrior system they were the Rienka, half-tree and half-cyborg, they were slow moving ents that shuffled across the galaxy until they found out how to transfer their essence into machines and that had sped their massive society along, they used to eat alive by insects and other fauna until they became warriors and taught themselves how to conquer the stars until the fateful day the futility arrived and started to kill them, they had traveled across at least fifty to a hundred galaxies recruiting aliens and warning them of the impending doom, a handful had accepted their warrior upgrades and most were simply dead that refused.

  "THE HUMAN WARRIOR SPEAKS TRUTH AND REASON, AND WE SHOULD ALL TAKE HIS ADVICE ON THE HOW TO FIGHT BATTLES AND WARS. BUT... HE IS UNREASONABLE AND A BRUTE COMPARED TO THE NEEDS OF HIS PEOPLE AND OURS AS A WHOLE, WE THE FIRST WARRIORS KNOW OF THE SIDE-EFFECTS AND THE NEGATIVITY OF THE WARRIORS WHICH YOU HAD ALREADY SOLVED FOR US, IT IS TIME FOR THE WARRIORS TO RETIRE AND LET FLESH AND SAP RECLAIM OUR GALAXIES, WE SHOULD NEVER INTERFERE WITH OUR OWN RACES ANYMORE, WE SHOULD QUIETLY DO THE PROCEDURE TO BECOME LIVING AGAIN AND NOT MACHINES, WHICH WE ALL ARE IN AGREEMENT OF, THE WARRIORS HAVE A END HERE. WE SHOULD ALL GO BACK TO OUR ROOTS AND FOR THE GOOD OF THE SPIRITUALITY AND COOPERATION OF OUR RACES, WE NEED TO RETURN TO OUR ROOTS. THE WARRIOR PROGRAM HAS CREATED MORE FLAWS THAN IT SOLVED, STRUGGLE IS INEVITABLE BETWEEN OUR RACES, AND I WOULD LIKE THE HUMANS TO AGREE TO TURN OFF THE WARRIOR SYSTEM, AND BECOME MORTAL AGAIN FOR THE PEACE AND BETTERMENT OF THIS GALAXY." The official said, and every alien shell and living one stood up and clapped their hands like practiced choreography, seems they already had an end game in mind, and he felt like this was a joke? Give up everything he was because of some alien putting his nose where it did not belong.

  "S-4XN-001, YOU ARE THE MAIN REPRESENTATIVE OF HUMANITY AND MILKY WAY AS A WHOLE, WHAT DO YOU SAY?"

  "Wait! Let' me speak to him first!" said Seyla while standing up from her seat, S-4XN-001 was not amused by her interruption of his epic slam he was about to give, but he had to give at least some attention to that woman. He stood up and left the hall with Seyla following into an empty hallway, she threw herself into his metal arms, and he unconsciously hugged her back, and they stood there for what felt like an hour before she stared at him with weeping eyes, he knew what she wanted of him, and he shook his head.

  "I will go the middle line, I do not want this ride to end just yet, I have more to do, It's a calling for me, it's part of me now and going back fully is the same as that young boy stuck in that hospital, but i will walk the middle line. Pleasing some, but not all" He said, she wiped her tears and nodded.

  She had rather he stays as Matthias, and they could perhaps spend some more time together as a couple which was rare considering they had two daughters and another batch on the way, as he uncaring said it while might be part of his charm, Seyla were content and happy so it did not matter, Matthias nodded, and he stepped into the room again with Seyla watching from the door.

  "YES, THERE IS SOME TRUTH IN YOUR SPEAK THAT THE WARRIORS MIGHT NO LONGER BE NEEDED SINCE THE FUTILITY IS BEING EXTERMINATED BY "MYSELF", I WOULD CALCULATE THAT THEY WILL BE FINISHED FULLY IN LEAST 200 YEARS AT MINIMUM CONSIDERING THEIR ENDLESS NUMBERS, THEY ARE TRAPPED BETWEEN 5 GALAXIES THAT NEEDS TO BE WIPED OUT, BUT I WILL NEVER GIVE UP MY WARRIOR BODY OR MY RESOURCES FOR ANYONE, BUT... IF THE VOTE OF HUMANITY EXCEED 90%, I WILL START TO DISMANTLE EVERYTHING I HAVE IN ALL THE GALAXIES I WILL CANCEL ALL AGREEMENTS, PENALITES AND DEBTS, AND AFTER WHAT I CALCULATE TO BE AROUND 250 YEARS I WILL LEAVE FOR THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, AND WILL NOT RETURN UNLESS A VOTE OF LEAST 90% OF HUMANITY FOR MY RETURN, I WILL THEN LEAVE A SIGNAL TOWER THAT WILL BE ABLE TO CONTACT ME AND WILL BE TIED TO A VOTING SYSTEM LOGGING EVERY HUMAN EVER BORN, AND GIVING THEM THE RIGHT TO VOTE. THIS IS MY FINAL ORDER AND WISH FOR ALL OF YOU AND HUMANITY AS A WHOLE." Said S-4XN-001.

  The room was quiet and humanity as a whole was quiet, Should they vote for the warriors to be disbanded and what were the consequences? Should they let things stay as they were or should they seek something new? There was a lot to think about, The meeting was uneventful after that since S-4XN-001 simply left not caring what the aliens had to say anymore, he monitored the meeting obviously, and they were already planning to head back, and he would send them on the way using his massive gateways that now connected several galaxies including their home systems, it was the most uneventful first contact in the milky way that ever happened and the aliens were in agreement to return every 10 years for diplomatic reasons and perhaps some semblance of reunion, the aliens quickly scurried their way to the portals taking them home and humanity stood looking upon the new TV channel created with a vote, currently it was 0%, and they looked at each other and the few human factions were excited to see the rise of them instead of the warrior that suppressed and kept their ambitions down.

  Seyla was the first to vote and put a YES, and the percentage moved to 1% automatically and that opened the floodgates, soon it ticked two 2% and after a day it was now hovering at 20%, There were some news station reporting and were scrambling the minds of the voters by giving pros and cons constantly, speculating that everyone had to leave the garden system or the paradise system due to his ownership, but S-4XN-001 had to televise an appearance tell him that nothing will change in the short term, but humans will have to struggle more and become more active in their survival, he would hand over the food processor and downgrade several high-tech solutions that were not ready to be spread to humanity or his reluctance to give them it for free, but there was a solution and that was the Vanguard would take up the cup and control all the food production and fuel production that were needed to keep the systems online, S-4XN-001 also stated that humanity needed to develop their own gateways since he would not refuel them and his gateways were massive power drains that could never be supplied with currently technological standard, but portal drives were plenty although inefficient fuel costs they were workable around this problem, traveling across galaxies was no-go but the milky way had billions of stars to explore so that was not a problem, After the televised appliance the vote hit 90% which even shocked him, Had he treated humanity so unfairly? Was he a tyrant that left his people to die? No, he had kept them alive and fed, entertained and healthily.

  He could not understand it and neither could anyone else that voted, they felt this was the path for them no matter how much they had to struggle or their lives worsened, deep down they felt like pets rather than people they were being kept and grown in controlled environments and their lust for life was extinguished, they also needed and adventure and uncertainty in their
lives, they basically set the milky way on fire and wanted to be the ones that put it out instead of the machine that hover over them, The changes were instant and people saw more vanguard forces appearing around the performed planets while every single battleship and titan vanished, across the universe every single warrior battleship were starting to vanish and the warrior procedure were canceled and blocked from being done, Every warrior in the milky way started their turn back to mortal shells which was an adjustment as a whole, their fleets were being scrapped their resources were turned to credits, and they could live extremely wealthy.

  Seyla had seen the changes happening a long time ago since she had lived with the masses and above the masses in a sense, she had made a few requests of her "husband" since they officially got married the moment the vote passed, it was a non-event in a sense nobody really knew not even their daughters and soon to be son, Yui was now the supreme leader of the Vanguard, while creating a flood of managers to be trained for the aftermath and change of life that was about to happen, the overhaul on the planets would cause countless riots but the truth was in writing, Every human could not live in private residences forever and the few planets they had farming would not last them forever, they had learned one thing from their countless work hours that space farming was a unproductive mess compared to green planets, they shook their heads knowing they would now have to struggle to feed their population in a few hundred years and had to displace billions unless they invented the performing techniques they never had, Yui had contacted Seyla, and she revealed that there were a few "hidden" food plants and stores that could supply more human, so they had time to solve this problem when he finally left, which he instantly started doing.

  The Ortha had a televised appearance in the milky way thanking for the human warriors' assistance in their galaxy and were happy that their deal of resources would end early within 250 years, and that humanity will always be a friend of theirs, perhaps it was a change of course for Ortha, or the fear of the massive army that now were missing from the galaxy unknown to anyone. Yui pulled up her sleeves and got to work.

  Year 3010

  Exactly 250 years later the last of the portals were being dismantled, it was the most watched televised event in history with the last gateway a massive behemoth of a structure connecting to whom know where turned silent and stood as a reminder of the might warrior that gave them a future and fought valiantly for them, Humanity had not changed drastically and business was business until the realization of the future was now theirs and humanity as a whole being the trade of chaos, The vanguard was the last beacon holding the humans as a whole in check, but they were humans and could not be anywhere, they operated massive command ships that were known as "The Betrayers", they saw them as a cult of the old warrior culture and should practice peace and benevolence instead, but Ricardo knew that it was the first punch from the shadow that struck them, and he would not please them by responding, he had his responsibility and that was the garden and paradise system.

  He had admitted that publicly that they were Vanguard territory, and they should still obey the laws set by the warrior known as S-4XN-001, or they would be exiled to a colony somewhere else, or an abandoned trading post which there were plenty of, most warriors just abandoned their drones and stations across the galaxy and only took their most mobile and flexible ships with them when they turned human, there were massive armies of humans building battleships to conquer and claim their pieces of the universe now that could without fear of the powerful warriors stomping on their feet.

  Chapter 12

  Year 3029

  Ricardo shook his head watching the latest news coming out from the galaxy, He had seen this coming since the vote was started to oust the warriors, and he knew that the greed of mankind could not be contained without proper force, Several new empires had announced their presence in the universe and the first galactic war had broken out between two rival factions fighting over an abandoned warrior research post which was a treasure trove of upgrades to their weaponry and drives, the lives lost were in the millions and Ricardo could not act on it, it was not his mandate which he had kept forever, he would keep the Garden and Paradise infrastructure and planets safe and the rest was for the humanity to solve, there had been countless changes on the planet, and he had to crack a few heads now and then, people were not happy about sudden tax rises and property taxes that were needed, and the free fall of mineral prices without the massive amount coming in, Ricardo could supply himself and his fleet with minerals, but he could not begin trading them in the quantities need and for the first time they price of the market was no longer stable, and was in complete free fall copper was a credit a ton, while A1-Minerals where a billion a ton, the prices were staggering and several thousands of ship makers went out of business instantaneously.

  There was a horror of knowing how much the warrior known as S-4XN-001 had dipped his fingers into every aspect of their lives, and the truth was broadcast to them. Everything they did, Everything they owed was pretty much made with his minerals and resources, and they were not coming anymore. The warehouses were draining and the workforce could not keep up, they were making drones by the billions, and they could still not come up even, the more they made they more they needed, especially the rich old warriors that saw the trend early and bought out a lot of stocks before the managers noticed the incoming minerals were cut by at least 90%, The economy would have crashed if Seyla had not stepped in and froze the market, to then refill it to optimal levels increasing their time to solve it, Ricardo knew if anyone had unlimited money and resources it was her, She had moved around like a ghost in the galaxy and was treated with respect in any Vanguard port her id got scanned, she was probably quite tired of all the red carpet and worshiping gazes from the Vanguard soldiers.

  Ricardo had a few fans himself but nothing could keep the secret that she was the silent Empress of humanity controlling life and death and probably had a way to bring the warrior known as S-4XN-001 home if things got too bad, which had been a rumor traveling around the galaxy since day 1, The channel that had the vote had stopped reporting and only a special council he had no idea who was part of it could re-trigger the vote, he assumed Seyla was one of them and maybe a few diplomatic envoys, but nobody knew who the shadow-council was that controlled the true fate of humanity with bringing back the massive warrior that did whatever in the center of the universe.

  Juliet threw a punch across the room splitting the thick metal sheet in half under the fevered gaze of her students, she had created a temple in middle of nowhere using her superior wealth and technology she had gotten from her father which was now missing, she probably knew he would watch or visiting every once in awhile, but she was busy teaching how to control and use the humanities psychic gift after being injected by the serum that speed up the natural process, she had the biggest stash of anti-matter in the galaxy, and she had countless potions made and trained millions of people to use their psychic gifts for good, mostly because she felt lonely having this power, and she wanted someone to be stronger than she in this aspect, The students looked upon her like she was a goddess that descended the earth knowing that this was not possible, she had to break their thinking to teach them the many meditations and training exercises needed to channel it, Her best student had been her little brother Daniel which were now missing, he had a state-of-the-art spaceship made for him and countless hidden resources set aside, it had irked her something fierce knowing her father had treated their brother better than her, and she was terrified of his potential and technological advantage, she just hoped nobody would bother him too much, or they were gonna have some problems.

  An alarm sounded out which was rare, and she looked at her vid screen, war just been declared between the two major factions, the Collective Empire and the massive Trade Federation known as IPEX, she went to her office to check out the data, and she shook her head at the waste of life that was about to begin, as soon as war was declared several billions of
battleships started to destroy their massive holding planet, which was a human made performed object, the planet was being siege by the ship and their battle fleets were engaging in a life and death struggle, since the empire never took prisoners especially with how low the food production were in the dark galaxy, which was everyone called the things outside the garden system, which were closed of from the rest of the galaxy unless you paid and extremely big fee to use the Vanguards only portal out, which was offline for most of the day to conserve energy, they basically admitted they could no longer afford to power it unless an emergency and the amount of power it required to run for a day would wipe out most corporations wallets, it only sometimes ran which were a godsend to most traders since it had an announced schedule where you could book tickets incredibly cheap, and it mostly connected to the old gates that were inactive but still heavily guarded by sentient AI's left by the warrior, as a warning.