Human wars
| Human wars | |
|---|---|
| Participants | humans, varvax, dione, tenasi, UrDail, kitsen, and more |
| Effects | Formation of human preserves and the Superiority |
| Universe | Cytoverse |
“There haven't been any major conflicts since the human wars. ”
The Human Wars are a series of three historical conflicts between humanity and other sapient species of the galaxy, all motivated by humanity's desire to conquer all others. They concluded with humanity's defeat, and the subsequent formation of human enclaves like Detritus, as well as the Superiority, the current chief political power of the known universe.[2]
Background
“We're still uncivilized, Sonn. We have some war machines that could blast down your ships without even pausing. ”
Historically, most alien races discovered cytonics prior to developing advanced technology, and thus focused more on developing the former than the latter. Humanity being the sole exception to that rule, their tech vastly outstripped their closest competitor, the tenasi. As a result, the Phone Company made an effort to serve as the intermediaries between humanity and alien races, at least until humans would be peaceful enough to live with other, less war-like species in harmony.[3]
However, one of the PC's operatives, Jason Write, eventually learned that the aliens' peace came at a cost -- they would exile or imprison all citizens who did not comply with their vision of the world. He also found out that those alien dissidents sometimes escaped, and used cytonics to infiltrate human society and steal their technology. As a result, Write decided to release the information about Phone Company's discovery of faster-than-light travel.[3]
History
“They attacked us first, during the initial human war. Their leader claimed our shared past made us practically a human colony already. ”
The precise timeline of the conflict is unknown. Likewise, it's uncertain what the inciting incident was; currently, it's believed it was humanity's desire to conquer all other species.[2] In the First War, however, humans allied with an alien race of figments. The two species had access to highly advanced technology, including AI and miniaturized hologram projectors.[5] They conquered the kitsen first, claiming that their shared history made their homeworld essentially a human colony.[4] The First War ended in humanity's failure.[2]
During the Second War, humanity would build grand research facilities over abandoned planets and dying stars, such as Detritus. Their experiments resulted in the summoning of delvers, which freed themselves of humanity's control almost immediately, turning against their would-be masters and every other living thing.[6] Thirteen delvers were summoned in total; they would ravage the universe for several decades before eventually fading back to nowhere.[2] As the delvers hunted by radio communication and cytonics -- both highly common technologies at the time -- this presumably spelled the end of the Second War.
The Third War occurred approximately one hundred years prior to Spensa's birth.[7] Not all of humanity participated in it; some, like the crew of the Defiant, pleaded neutrality and fled instead. However, once the alien coalition -- either the precursor to Superiority or Superiority itself -- found them, they wound up going after them anyway.[8] Humanity still managed to conquer and ally with the UrDail;[9] despite that, they were still defeated and scattered to the winds, with the only survivors living in preserve-planets overseen by KRELL.[8]
Aftermath
“The Defiant hadn't taken part in the main war. They’d been condemned simply for being humans, and had been chased until they’d crashed on Detritus. ”
The Human Wars have had a tremendous impact on the universe at large. Human languages, including English, Manadrin Chinese, Hindi and Spanish, are still commonly spoken throughout the galaxy, and are carried by most translator pins.[2] Moreover, delvers were first summoned by humans during the Second War, and continue to be a threat, leading to a change in how cytonics are perceived and used.[10]
The Wars have also led to vast political upheavals. In their aftermath, the surviving humans were confined to a number of preserves, such as Detritus.[10] The Superiority, too, arose as a result of the Wars, becoming the dominant political power of the known universe thanks to its stranglehold on faster-than-light travel and communication.[8][2]