ONE: Epilogue of Hermesh

20. The Manwatu Enigma

Helmeshi folklore spoke of the simile coined by the pioneer voyagers who ventured into outer space and made contact with the first alien species. The phrase they came up with, unimaginatively enough, was "As mysterious as a Manwatu."

Even centuries later, many Helmeshi, especially the young ones, were still mesmerised by the accounts of the astronaut who spotted the first Manwatu ship. Apparently it was so big that he initially mistook it for a moon circling a gas giant.

Then, after the last war, when hostilities finally ended between the Amarthians and the Helmeshi, exchange of ideas started amongst their scholars, scientists and anthropologists. Even during their initial interaction it was soon apparent to both sides that when it came to the Manwatus, one particular question had remained unanswered: "How ancient are the Manwatus?"

The Manwatus inhabited a cluster of star systems, situated right at the center of Hermesh. With the Helmeshi and Amarthian home worlds located on either end of the disc shaped galaxy, it was no surprise that Manwatus were the first aliens that they both made contact with. 

But for any nascent space faring species, encountering beings as ancient and mysterious as the Manwatus was a daunting prospect. Not only were they thousands of years ahead of the Amarthians and Helmeshi in science and technology, it turned out, a very long time ago, the Manwatus had transitioned beyond organic life, when their ancestors had transmuted themselves into non-organic bodies. This made the Manwatus, in a manner of speaking, immortal.

But even though the Manwatus seemed more than willing to help both the species in their quest to explore and colonise Hermesh, they themselves turned out to be militantly secretive about their past. This secrecy was to such an extent that neither the Amarthians nor the Helmeshi were allowed access to most of the systems inhabited by the Manwatus.

But given how advanced the Manwatus were, trying to find answers to questions involving them, without their help or potentially trespassing in their space, was a level of transgression that neither of the two, relatively primitive species, were ready to risk. As a result, the oldest and the most advanced species of Hermesh, also remained its most mysterious.

However, as the Amarthians and the Helmeshi began their exploration of either ends of the galaxy, they soon realised that the Manwatues had left their footprints all across Hermesh. Some of these discoveries, which were archaeological in nature, gave birth to more perplexing questions than answers. Both the Helmeshi and the Amarthians independently stumbled across settlements in different uninhabited, even inhospitable planets which turned out to be abandoned Manwatu colonies. The controversy emerged when these ruins were properly dated.

Most of these Manwatu settlements scattered across the galaxy, turned out to be millions of years old. But if that were true, it meant that the first spacefaring civilization of the galaxy started colonizing Hermesh before the Amarthians and the Helmeshi had even evolved into their current forms.

Those discoveries presented what appeared to be conclusive proof that the Manwatus were far older than initially estimated. Yet if that was true, then they also had to be significantly more advanced than they had led the Amarthians and Helmeshi to believe. Unfortunately, it was the reticence of the Manwatus to divulge their secrets that fueled more outlandish theories.

Over the centuries that followed, both the Helmeshi and the Amarthians gradually increased their interaction with the Manwatus. And from time to time they found countless clues about this ancient race that hinted, not only to a mysterious past, but also a present shrouded in secrets. Of them there were two that prompted even more speculation and deepened the Manwatus enigma.

The Amarthians were the first to know of the great archive of Narhathimeh. It was Eolan, the pupil of Mondroh Annokh who spoke about it during the last days of her life. But without any proof to support her claims, not everyone completely believed what she had to say. Still, those who did choose to believe the words of one of the greatest scientific minds of all time and even many who didn't, read Eolan's account of the Narhathimeh archives in wonder.

She claimed that it contained records of Hermesh and the universe, stretching back hundreds of millions of years. Apparently, some of these records were so meticulously detailed and scientifically accurate that Eolan was convinced the only way the Manwatus could have recorded those data was if they had mastered faster than light space travel over a hundred million years ago.

The Helmeshi, on the other hand, had their own stories to tell. A Helmeshi science ship once apparently got sucked into an invisible vortex while conducting scientific experiments in a region close to Manwatu space. When they finally got their bearings right, they found themselves inexplicably transported to an uncharted region of space, deep inside Manwatu territory. Not sure what to do and how to return, the science ship sent out a distress call and waited patiently to be contacted.

Upon their return, the crew of the ship claimed to have been visited by a strange alien ship with creatures whose existence was hitherto unknown. These aliens seemed harmless, at first sight. They were simply looking back at them with comparable curiosity.

But just as the Helmeshi were about to make first contact, three Manwatu ships appeared and escorted the science ship back to Helmeshi space. When asked about the aliens, the Manwatus refused to say anything. When the Helmeshi ship returned to the nearest space station, they discovered that all records of the alien encounter had been erased from the ship's memory.

For the next two centuries, this Helmeshi encounter remained in the realms of space folklore. Some suggested that the Manwatus might be nurturing another sentient species, who were not advanced enough to make contact with other space faring species just yet. Others speculated that the Helmeshi may have accidentally stumbled close to the never-before-seen Manwatu home planet of Andhor. And aliens they encountered, might well be an offshoot of what the Manwatus were, before their transformation to non organic life.

It was this second story that 1st Admiral Herrek'Nole, was remembering, as he found himself immersed in an emotional cocktail of nervousness, fear, apprehension and excitement. He did have his reasons to be concerned. The highest ranking Helmeshi officer was on an unsanctioned mission. Nole knew he was gambling everything on a single hunch and a lingering hope that the one miracle the entire galaxy needed at the moment had somehow come true.

So intense was this inkling, that only 20 days after being promoted and given the responsibility to defend the centre of the Boran Expanse, 1st Admiral Herrek'Nole took the unprecedented decision of temporarily abandoning his charge and making an unplanned rendezvous, deep inside what was once considered to be the heart of enemy territory.

Since the war ended, this was the first time that he was returning to that region of Hermesh. But unlike previous occasions, Nole was making this dreaded journey with a single ship. The Helmeshi Admiral knew the risks involved. He also knew he had no choice but to make this journey.

Suddenly distracted, Nole looked up. For some reason, the ship was slowing down. As he activated his visual communicator the image of Miin'maaron, his second-in-command appeared.

"Why are we reducing speed? We're still inside Helmeshi space," Nole gestured.

"We're approaching Woo'zol, 1st Admiral.

But my calculations confirm that we will make the rendezvous in time," Miin'maaron gestured in reply.

The 1st Admiral did not respond. Instead, turning off the visual communicator, he looked out of his window. Far off in the distance, like a white speck of dust floating in space was what remained of the forward most Helmeshi outpost along the edge of what was once Manwatu space. It was here that one of the darkest secrets of the 'immortal race' finally emerged from the shadows, bringing with it an inferno, the likes of which Hermesh had never seen before.

Woo'zol went down in history as the first casualty of the last war. Nole could imagine how, over a hundred years ago, from within the starless cosmic darkness he was staring into at that moment, four hundred menacing ships had emerged, coming right for that station. They might have resembled the strange ship seen by that stranded Helmeshi crew, over two centuries ago. Only this time, these ships were amongst the most powerful battleships that the galaxy had ever seen. And the name of those aliens was finally revealed, across the galaxy, as the Xacreths!