Invasion

As we pondered the fate of the Hhil, we allowed them to temporarily continue in their development.  Time went on and they continued to evolve in their own way.  Like their brethren on Eiotros, the inhabitants of Hhilei advanced in science and technology.  Unlike their brethren on Eiotros, the Hhil stubbornly focused their skills and abilities on developing more and more devastating devices of war.  They seemed to have such a hunger for conquest.

I was concerned as it was inevitable that this species on Hhilei would in time become a deep spacefaring species.  When that time came, I knew that they would come into contact with their brethren on Eiotros.  Already, they had the technology to gaze into the heavens and note distant Eiotros.  But their technology was still far too primitive to discover the Eiotrii themselves.  Certainly, they would make it their goal to invade and conquer Eiotros, for that was their way.  That is, if they survived to that day and not destroy themselves before.

As we continued to debate the fate of our second project, I watched them.  I watched as they quickly moved from heavy industrialized and polluted societies to the time when they first developed primitive space vessels.  I watched as they successfully visited one of the smaller asteroids that their Hhil ancestors had first wondered at in their sky ages before and believed them to be deities.

I watched as they honed their skills and technologies.  One by one, and with countless disastrous attempts, the Hhil visited and claimed the many hundreds of heavenly bodies that orbited around Hhilei itself and further out into the ruins of the former solar system that orbited around the ancient cindered sun.  I feared that their inevitable encounter with the Eiotrii was to come far too soon.

The ancient species had returned and we named them the Ueitilh.  The species that had caused the eradication of the Hhil's ancient ancestors had returned and their destination was the ruins that orbited the cindered sun.  We monitored their journey across the quadrant.  We detected that they traveled in vessels made for war.  Somehow they knew.  Somehow they detected the presence of their ancient enemy.

They knew of the existence of the Hhil.  Surely this ancient species was returning to destroy their ancient enemy again.  We must study Ueitilh technology closely in order to understand how they knew.  We watched as the Ueitilh forces arrived on Hhilei.  We observed the Hhil as they prepared against the threat from unknown invaders.

I noted how the various Hhil civilizations quickly put aside their violence toward each other and joined their technologies to face their common foe.  I was pleased at this.  But despite the arrival and intentions of the Ueitilh, we had yet to decide what we would do with the Hhil, the question remained.  Would we allow the Ueitilh to answer our question for us and allow the Hhil to be eradicated as their ancestors had been?  Or, would we remove the threat and allow our project to continue to evolve?

Some of our people say that we should allow events to unfold as they may.  It was a quandary that we had to decide quickly.

Bilret - Elder Geneticist