"I have a thought. The edge of Hunter territory isn't far from us, but they operated on the far side of what Hunters considered known space. Is it possible that Hunters or another species with a territory that lay closer to us had seen, observed, or interacted with that society and had tried to establish a colony in this Galaxy?" Nico asked.
Khan shook her head. "At the time we interacted with them five hundred thousand years ago, we were among the most advanced species we had ever encountered and the oldest since so many become genetically unstable after a few hundred thousand years and either devolve or evolve into something entirely different.
Never mind keeping the same mythology, the human species didn't exist a million years ago and likely won't exist a million years from now, given their rate of evolution. These ruins are a million or more years old, and the statue was found in even more ancient ruins, buried in many layers of rubble beneath the surface ruins."
She paused for a moment while Max worked to grasp the full implications. At the very least, the statue matched the description of a Hunter fairy tale monster from half a million years ago. Still, the ruins were twice that old and a billion standard units apart, being separated by hundreds of thousands of stars.
There was a chance that it was a simple coincidence, the law of probabilities having two societies creating nearly identical-looking things, but the ancient ruins where there should have been no sentient life in this galaxy made Max think that maybe there was a large portion of their history missing.
"I know this isn't the question anyone wants to hear, but what are the chances that this is the home Galaxy of those beings who eradicated and replaced entire civilizations in an instant? If they started here and then moved on for some reason, either due to a threat, war, or a simple urge to explore, it is possible that our Galaxy might have hosted an advanced civilization when most of the planets were only beginning to show signs of intelligence." Max suggested.
"That was my thought when I called you here. I looked into your lore for signs, and they are all there. Your entire history is full of monsters, lost civilizations, and other myths that match the species in your Galaxy, which you wouldn't get to meet until after you invented space travel.
I think that this cluster of identical systems might have been their first attempt at forming a Galaxy to their own wishes as they spread through the stars.
But if they were here and then later so far away, it means that they might have gone in other directions as well. If that is the case, they might not all be gone, and we might be in for a rather rude surprise if we happen to see them again." The Huntress agreed.
"So, what is your proposal?" Max asked.
"I think we need more than a few floating cities full of humans and some alien resorts. I want to bring a full Hunter Fleet to this Galaxy and search the other identical planets for signs of the oldest ruins and this strange material so that we can understand it and the species that made it.
A million years ago, they were more powerful than anything that we have ever seen since. We can't pass up that opportunity to grow as a species."
That logic actually made a lot of sense to Max, given the Hunter society's obsession with strength.
"If that is the case, take this data. It is an experiment with weaponizing space-time that will create the most rudimentary form of that material. I don't know anything about using or shaping it or even about the majority of its properties, but I can verify that this experiment is best performed in the void between solar systems, at least a light year away from your ship." Nico informed Khan with a sigh.
Even the Huntress looked shocked at the description of what she had been trying to do when she discovered how to make this material. Space was malleable. They did it every day when they activated their Warp Drives, but to intentionally alter the flow of time was insanity.
To the Hunters' knowledge, it was beyond anything that could be manipulated, a universal constant that lay behind the fundamental rules governing all of creation.
"We will have others perform the experiment in a controlled environment. Just in case it attracts the attention of those who formed this material, we will do it somewhere in enemy territory, as far as possible from any friendly species, and then we will inform you of the results." Huntress Khan agreed with an abundance of caution.
Nico nodded in approval of her idea to sacrifice an enemy species if their attempts to create a new form of matter angered a species that was a million years more advanced than they were, and started mentally scrolling through the options for exploring the region while the terraforming of this planet began.
"None of the planets can be seen from the others, so you shouldn't have any issues with someone noticing that a load of Hunter ships are in the region. There is nothing in our agreement that prevents you from coming here in large numbers for scientific research, so the presence of an entire Hunter fleet won't be a problem at our end. Will it be a problem with your allies?" Max asked.
"Possibly. Most of them required us to stop expanding our territory, so if they think that we will be setting up our own colonies in this system, they might not take it well, but your assistance on that matter will help smooth everything over if there are any misunderstandings.
They also track any large movements of our fleet because everyone is paranoid that we are going to hunt them for sport despite the agreements and our history of being true to our word, so the disappearance of a lot of vessels could be an issue if we don't space the departures correctly."
"Hunters really do have it hard, don't you? We will support your research and even tell others that we called you in to make sure that the region was safe for humans to expand into if you would like. That's within our agreements, since the only species here are highly aggressive and hostile ones that our agreement lists as game species." Max suggested.
"We have an accord then. I will inform the others, so they can begin the work of preparing for the study, and I will let you get back to beginning to terraform this world back to peak standard.
It has occurred to me that if this world is truly that species' ancestral home, you might earn some goodwill with them if you repair the planets that they used up in their early developmental days." Huntress Khan agreed, ending the meeting.
"Oh, one more thing. About the cloaking field. How do you hide the transmission of sound?" Nico asked as they started walking back toward the shuttle bay.
"That part is easy, just bring up a modulated air filtration barrier, and it will dampen the vibrations enough to silence any sound from inside. We found it out by accident when we first started exploring water worlds for new game."
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