A Thrall inquiry...

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My dear old mentor,

I hope the day finds you well and I apologize in advance for what will certainly be a lack of pleasantries in this communication.  I will cut straight to the point.  The project (the one we’ve been discussing at length) has reached a critical stage.  We’ve finally been able to penetrate the outer layers of the device and see what we are dealing with inside.  That was three weeks ago, and since then progress has accelerated even further.  The device was not a weapon at all as we first thought.  It’s for secure media storage!  It does not appear to contain any sensitive military data (which high command is upset about) but rather a detailed and comprehensive history of the species.  Up until now this alien species was a complete enigma to us which makes this quite a find.

They did not evolve on their home world in the sense that we as humans are familiar with but were bioengineered.  This historical document finally gives us an explanation behind the strange DNA sequences and coding that we’ve seen in the alien soldiers.  These bioengineers left a sort of “maker’s mark” within the strands of DNA.  They are mentioned in vague terms (as gods) within the historical media but it does go to great length in describing their ability to mold and shape genetic material.  They tinkered with their own genetic make-up heavily in order to adapt to life on many varied worlds and even in vacuum.  When they were confronted with other hostile species they used their abilities to adapt and survive or engineered genetic solutions to remove the aggressors (biological weaponry is the favored theory among the group).  They were not expansionist themselves but were eventually being pressured by other species that had achieved a level of advancement that couldn’t be matched by genetic tinkering alone.  This brings us to species 2127A.  The gods created this species to be the ultimate warrior, a champion to defend them from their enemies.  This is where the history gets even more interesting.  According to the device, the gods created 1000 different species and placed them on a world that was previously uninhabited by intelligent life.  They were given no technology or aid but a simple directive coded into their DNA, to survive, thrive, and eradicate the other intelligent species until they were the last man standing.  This took many generations of course (and there are accounts of many of the amazing triumphs by 2127A that take place during that period) but eventually we find our species at the top of the heap.  By the end of this process the various species that were left were using weapons, technology, and strategy, every bit as advanced and effective as what humans employ today.

The planet was really just a test ground to select the species that the gods would then mass-produce and throw into battle against their enemies.  Species 2127A was just getting started.  The device references “a legion 1 billion strong” that was created to end the wars that were plaguing the gods.  Centuries of warfare later sees the gods in a very safe place, many of their worst enemies pushed to the fringes of their territory and secured by this all-conquering legion.  Something happens here that is referenced as “the fracture”.  An event occurs in which a highly-placed individual within the legion breaks his genetic imperative and finds a way to defect.  This must have been something of a shock because all of the data we are seeing is that strong instinctual imperatives are coded into the species to prevent disloyalty or internecine warfare.  We are not talking about a group here but a single individual (perhaps a mutation occurred?).  This individual rallies a massive coalition of alien species to a single banner and makes war on the gods and species 2127A.  It’s an all-in contest with the highest stakes, complete extinction for the losing side.  Weapons and science that we’ve never even dreamed of are employed, and so brutal are the strategies put into place that unfathomable numbers perish.  The device references this time as the Terminal War.  The accounts of some of the battles are just mind-blowing.  Species 2127A once again proves its resiliency and purges the threat.  The one referred to only as “The Defector” is captured, tortured for some time, and then sacrificed to the gods.  However, in the eyes of the gods it’s seen as a pointless gesture.  They’ve made plans of their own.  Their creation, as effective as it might be, has shown a design flaw manifested in the defector.  The gods feel they can never trust 2127A again and refuse to shoulder the risk.  They create strains of new species to hunt down 2127A and eradicate them which begin what is referred to in the device as “The Great Search”.  It’s a quest for redemption that this species is on.  To conquer and subjugate endlessly until their creators grant them forgiveness and bring them back into favored status.  They don’t seem to hang onto the territory they capture, using the resources to replenish their war machine and then moving on, making the universe safe for their gods whether their gods want them to or not.  They have strong genetic imperatives that prevent them from taking the war to their creators, so they live on the run.  It is notable that there are many accounts in the device that tell of 2127A battling what are referenced as “pretender strains”, which we can only surmise are the new breeds of super soldier that the gods have engineered and sent to destroy 2127A.  We don’t know everything of course, there is so much data here to sift through, but Psych Division thinks they can use this stuff to give the army a sort of edge out there.  It could be possible through the psionics; a sort of mental suggestion that we are the gods or messengers of the gods.  I don’t know.

I realize your opposition to the department and the reasons for it and I respect them.  You know that and so you are probably wondering why I chose to spill any of this to you at all.  The reason is because I knew if I just asked you to come back that you’d tell me no outright.  I guess this is the salesman in me, hopefully wetting your appetite to really push the boundaries on what we know about 2127A.  From what I’m seeing coming from this device, they won’t stop, and we are just another speed bump on their crusade for redemption.  The department has asked me to tell you that you’d be fully reinstated as department chair if you decided to come back.  Cullen is aware and wants you back bad enough that he will gladly step down to make way for you.  The administrator has found something suitably cushy and prestigious for him I assure you.

I hope this will have exposed some chink in that craggy armor of yours my friend.  We need you.
With warm regards,

Ian Hart

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