A History of the Homo Intelligens People

Chapter 6 First Among Equals
 

Intelligens Triumphant
 
 

"The Intelligens personnel are impossible. They’re insubordinate at best. They only salute the officers that they like. They only obey orders that they deem to be right. The only day we can get them all on parade is pay day" stated the annoyed Lyonies General Lyseon, currently deputy army chief . He went on "… and that’s not all. Then there was last week."

"What happened this time?" a somewhat amused General Msinga asked.

"During the Trooping of the Lyonies Guards on Parade, something that they’ve done forever & a day on Epsilon, the Intelligens Colours Guards decided to have their own ceremony at the same time. Out they came with all sorts of musical instruments as the Lyonies Guards were changing the Colours. Until this day no one knows what the Intelligens Guards ‘band’ was playing other than drowning out everyone else with noise!" explained Lyseon.

"Really?" laughed Msinga.

"It’s not funny General!" Lyseon almost shouted

"Oh I bet it’s not for some" was Msinga curt reply.

The look from Lyseon was not a happy one. Msinga went on regardless "They’re just celebrating the fact that they, the Intelligens People, more than proved our worth in the recent crisis. They’ll settle down shortly".

The President, seeing that this conversation was getting nowhere, decided to cut in, "General Msinga, I’ve decided that there’s an excellent job for you. How would you like to be Head of Military Intelligence?"

This caught Msinga by complete surprise & he blurted out "You’ve got to be kidding!" And then quickly added, after he realised to whom he was talking to, "Sir".

"No, not at all. You’ve handled yourself brilliantly over the last few weeks General". The promotion was also a snub to Lyseon who was being a condescending pest to the President’s favourite general & the latest UFP hero of the hour.

"With all due respect Mr President…  I hate those spooks & tech geeks! You can never trust them" protested Msinga. He went on, "And every time I see a Buckhoo I have to summon all my discipline in order to not punch its lights out!".

"That’s why you’re the best candidate for the job General" was the President’s logical reasoning.

General Msinga’s appointment would be the first of many to come. As it would happen, Intelligens would more or less continue to be appointed to head the Military Intelligence Corps for centuries to come. The no-nonsense & sceptical attitudes of the Intelligens appeared to balance the more "imaginative" & "autonomous" aspects in the culture of the Corps.
 
 

Exodus
 
 

They were gone before anyone actually realised it. The Jehovah, realising that they had been manipulated into doing the bidding of the Wellous, were not overly kind in their retribution.  Supported by the UDF "Rust Bucket" 7th Fleet, the previous allies of the Jehovah were soon in trouble. In fact, the Bennigious & the Xixaho did not hang around to find out what the Jehovah had in store for them. They immediately abandoned their positions & retreated back to their own territories leaving the Wellous to face the Jehovah.

The Wellous did not hang around long either. After initial encounters, wherein the Wellous did not stand a chance, they too took off for their own territory. On the way, the Wellous soon had to fight their way through Phillis territory. The Phillis, now free of their so-called protectors, turned on them. Although the Wellous were more of a match for the Phillis, the Phillis nonetheless had the numbers as well as good motivation for their attacks. Abandoning even the border with Sassnorah Sector, the Phillis threw everything at the Wellous.

Soon the exiled Phillis government invited the UDF to help them liberate all Philis territory. This was somewhat  a fait accompli as the Jehovah & UDF 7th Fleet had already crossed into Phillis territory in pursuit of the Wellous. Now, at least, this made these actions legitimate. Furthermore it permitted the UDF 12th Fleet to cross over from Sassnorah Sector & help the Phillis restore order.

As the Jehovah Fleet headed home, after liberating Phillis territory, they opened diplomatic relations with the UFP. Considering the circumstances, it was an impressive achievement. They also invited visitors to their own federation in order to open up peaceful relations with their kindred. Having said that, it did not take long before the Phillis to begin complaining about the fact that the Jehovah were part of the Ancients Alliance that invaded & took over their territory. The main saving grace for the Jehovah is that they could honestly state that none of their forces were involved with such actions. The Phillis would have to deal with the Wellous on that matter.

On another matter, however, even though Spiritous & Fontusme could deal with the sudden change in allies, the reaction of the Intelligens was another matter. Their planet Earth, which still was home to many of the Intelligens population, had come under attack from none other than the Sapiens, albeit from another society. Still, to the Intelligens, it was merely semantics. This was besides the fact that Sapiens also originated from Earth. Yet long after the Ancients Alliance War, Sapiens soon discovered that they were being blamed by the Intelligens for the whole mess.

Not long afterwards, violence hit the streets of Earth. Sapiens were soon being attacked by Intelligens who, even though gave back as much as they took, nevertheless this was unacceptable behaviour. Before much could be done, however, the violence spread from Earth to elsewhere in rapid succession. Regardless of the planet, wherever there were Sapiens & Intelligens, trouble was bound to occur. Even on Epsilon, fights broke out between the two human species, although it should be noted that Intelligens personnel of the UDF did behave themselves & were often instrumental in stopping the violence.

Matters, however, came to a head on the planet Sirus. Being rather cosmopolitan in its population, a large number of Sapiens had settled on the planet along with many other species. In a matching circumstance, a similar number of Intelligens, about one billion, had also made Sirus home. Although Fontusme outnumbered the other human species, that did not stop a civil war from breaking out. UDF troops had to be rushed to the planet in an effort to restore order. Eventually the UDF was successful, but many of the waring parties were killed or injured. And still the ill feelings between many Sapiens & Intelligens remained.

During this period, however, it had started. For centuries now, Sapiens had been slowly left out of the deliberations of the Federation. Ever since Spiritous evolved & Luminous had joined the UFP, the Sapiens had become more & more alienated. Now many Intelligens had turned on them. It started with a trickle, but some Sapiens soon started taking up the invitation of the Jehovah. Here another federation, this one involving only other Sapiens, offered sanctuary.

After the Sirus Civil War, though, the trickle of Sapiens to the Jehovah became a flood. Millions soon immigrated to Jehovah space in the hope of finding a new & peaceful life. At first the Jehovah did not notice the influx, being at first only a few thousand, but soon millions arrived. The Jehovah did not know what to do, but upon hearing of the internal troubles of the UFP, decided to allow the dramatic increase in immigrants.

Although two centuries would go by, eventually the UFP was all but emptied of Sapiens. Once numbering 100 billion in population on the eve of the Catharsis, now a mere few thousand remained in the UFP. The Jehovah, on the other hand, gained 12 billion new citizens. This was beneficial to the Jehovah in many respects, the most important being fresh blood. Being a million years older & totally isolated, the Jehovah had begun having genealogical problems. Having come from a mere 10 000 original settlers, the Jehovah were becoming genetically stagnate. Now increasing their numbers from 14 billion to 26 billion, the influx of new genes into the general population all but removed, after a few generations, many of the genealogical problems that basically come with inbreeding.

Another benefit was also important. The large increase in population meant a much larger economy. Although material wealth was not a major concern for the Jehovah, they did, nevertheless, being corporeal beings require material things for everyday life. Thus a strong economy meant life was comfortable & above all enjoyable, whilst the larger population meant growth in all manner of things including territory. Having almost doubled their population in two hundred years, meant territorial expansion. Luckily for the neighbours of the Jehovah, especially the Wellous, there was still much unclaimed territory. More importantly, an uninhabited Earth-like planet was discovered & colonised immediately. It was called Sanctuary.

Linked with the huge scale immigration was technology transfer. Even though the Jehovah may have been more advanced in many areas than the UFP, they did not have any Vale Gateway technology. But with the transfer of 12 billion people, came knowledge. And this knowledge included personnel who knew how to construct Skimmer Drives not to mention Vale Gateways. Thus thanks to this unexpected bonus, the Jehovah were soon enjoying the same rapid movement of shipping around their federation & elsewhere in the galaxy. Furthermore, a whole new plain of existence was opened to them, even though the SSS were not overly appreciative of having a new human civilisation buzzing around the Elysium Universe.
 
 
 

The Dark Ages
 
 
 

In hindsight, the Sapiens had shown much wisdom in leaving the UFP, for the next one hundred years life within the UFP would not be overly pleasant for many. The increase in the Intelligens population, combined with arrogance, ushered in a period of  constant civil unrest bordering on civil war. Actually it would be fair to say that a civil war among the Intelligens actually took place.

Although many did not support their fellow Intelligens when they attacked the Sapiens, nonetheless the success of the "campaign" against the Sapiens only spurred this faction on. Now numbering around 10 billion Intelligens, at least a quarter continued a "campaign" against other species deemed inferior to Intelligens. Unfortunately that was most other species including the Fontusme.

This Intelligens "campaign" was conducted mostly by gangs of thugs. Such behaviour was not new to Intelligens. For much of their existence on Earth, prior to contact with the UFP, a number of Intelligens males often formed gangs that terrorised the rest of the population. Such behaviour can be traced back to the first generations & it was often commented that, other than gene manipulation, such behaviour would always occur at some level.

This, however, was no excuse as far as other species were concerned. The first to face the antics of these gangs were the Intelligens "traditional" enemy the Buckhoo & Braggah. As before, members of these species were singled out for violence. Unlike previously, though, the violence was not due to some injustice inflicted upon the Intelligens. This time it was for the sheer enjoyment of torment. Other species soon suffered the same as the Buckhoo & the Braggah. And that meant several worlds had to deal with the increasing violence.

On some worlds, things had become so bad that the UDF had to send the troops in to help local law enforcement agencies deal with the unrest. This, at first, appeared to settle things down, & for a brief period peace came back to these troubled worlds, only for other planets to endure rampages by other Intelligens gangs. Again the UDF was rushed to trouble spots in order to establish law & order. Alas this often meant that the civil rights of both the guilty & innocent were infringed upon, which inturn, caused further problems, especially in the political arena.

If this situation was not bad enough, several Intelligens communities, that had remained peaceful, began to organise vigilante groups which began to conduct their own version of law enforcement. These groups often ignored UFP laws, though, & conducted their own form of justice. Within a few years, all Intelligens communities, especially on Earth, relied more on the vigilante groups rather than the local law enforcement agencies, even if the local police service was made up of Intelligens personnel.

The result of all this meant that a small scale civil war raged within the Intelligens community. This would smoulder on for some sixty years. As the civil war continued, other species were eventually dragged into the mess, whilst vigilantes would fight the gang members in defending the others. Sometimes this would mean major street battles involving hundreds of people using illegal weapons of great destruction.

After one such street battle on Earth, which lasted two days, martial law was eventually declared by President Papivin (Spiritous). And Earth was not the only planet involved. The martial law declaration covered all of UFP territory. As a result the UDF was given sweeping powers. The vigilante groups, however, were wise enough to disband: but not the gangs. Within a month, all the Intelligens gangs were annihilated, thus ending almost a century of Intelligens violence. Yet, even though the President’s hardline policy was successful, the general population was not overly grateful for the manner in which peace was finally achieved. The President was not re-elected for a second term.

An often overlooked result of the Dark Ages was the change in attitudes of several species about the future of the Federation. Most noted among these were the Spiritous. Already a significant number of Spiritous had left the UFP to explore the universe. This group, numbering a few billion, had left not long after the Catharsis. After their departure, only a few left, although this number did eventually build up after eons had past. Some, however, returned. But the recent civil unrest, created by  the Intelligens, convinced many it was time to move on. Thus the second great Spiritous exodus began & with them went a significant number of Fontusme.
.
 
 

Ascension to the Throne
 
 
 

Considering the problems of the Dark Ages, it was not at all surprising that it took sometime for the Intelligens to gain political power in the form of the Presidency. An alliance of Spiritous, Fontusme, Lyonies & Zargah ensured that the Intelligens would have to wait until this alliance thought that they had matured enough to share the political leadership of the UFP. Even when the Intelligens population eventually surpassed the Fontusme population of 50 billion, there was not enough votes from elsewhere, including those from the larger Spiritous population of around 60 billion.

A number of events, however, would take place that would change Intelligens place in the political leadership stakes. The first was already in motion: the changes in population levels. As mentioned,  Intelligens were rising in numbers, whilst Spiritous & Fontusme were lowering. But it would take other events to change the political status quo.

Unforseen at the time was the granting of Federation membership to the Phillis. Having missed the horrors of the Dark Ages, the Phillis had no way of knowing what life could be like, especially with the Intelligens playing up. Furthermore, the Phillis had a great respect for the Intelligens. Not only was their wine always good, but they knew that the Intelligens had played a major part in the Ancients Alliance War. Thanks to the Intelligens, the Phillis had gotten their freedom. They were also aware that the Intelligens hated the Wellous about as much as they did.

Even though the new Phillis voters usually supported Intelligens candidates, there were not enough new votes. With the Intelligens becoming frustrated for political power, they took a page out of Buckhoo activities. Through clandestine means the Intelligens Congressional leadership began negotiations with the Cordah to apply for UFP membership. Indeed this idea was nothing new. Only recently, the idea was raised again after the United Health Commission had helped out the Cordah in a major way.

The Cordah, it was discovered by their horrified medical personnel, were slowly becoming sterile. At first this was kept quiet as the scientists worked on a cure, but none was found. In desperation the Cordah turned to the UFP for help. This was quickly forthcoming & the combined brains of both civilisations soon found a cure to the joyful accolades of the Cordah. At the time, considering the positive feeling between the two powers, the Federation raised the idea of the Cordah joining. Although they did not say no, it was politely put on hold.

That was until now. The Intelligens political number crunchers did their sums & realised that if the Cordah supported their candidates they may just have enough votes. Still, there would need to be hard electoral campaigning elsewhere, but the Presidency could be theirs. Thus taking the UFP by total surprise, the Intelligens sponsored Cordah membership. What was an even bigger surprise was the Cordah’s acceptance of the invitation.

But the biggest surprise of all was what came next. Regardless of recent success, it would be a long wait for the Intelligens to gain power. Having to defer their Presidency campaign until the respective time passed before the Cordah were a voting member of the UFP, a further decade would go by until the Intelligens got their chance. In the meantime the Intelligens political machine went to work behind the scenes. First of all they worked on the other human species for support, yet none of these appeared overly interested in voting for Intelligens candidates. The Zargah, though, were another story.

Thus the first "Corah" election, as it became christened considering it was the first that they participated in, actually became the Intelligens election. Brandon Mapitha successfully brought together enough votes to seriously challenge the Spiritous/Fontusme block which had held power for centuries. Mapitha was, however, very lucky. The opinion polls all indicated that he was about 5% behind the Fontusme favourite Michelle Bowden. But the Vice-President seeking election in her own right was too confident. At the last minute, noting a change in the political wind, the Blurgiss vote dropped Bowden in favour of Mapitha. It was just enough.

The new Intelligens Administration quickly established itself & deliberately went about wooing the minority voters. Although President Mapitha’s popularity would come & go, he would nevertheless just scrape in for a second term. Many saw his Administrations as nothing new, but a number of Executive Orders dealing with security,  introduced during his second term, were seen by some as being ominous of things to come. Yet the voters were satisfied with the general business of the UFP. They would replace Mapotha with his Vice-President Arnold Bemba, another Intelligens.
 
 
 
 

The Short Intelligens Empire
 
 
 
 

Although the democratic structure of the UFP basically remained the same, under three successive Intelligens Administrations, the nature of the Federation changed: it would become all but an empire in name. This was somewhat feared by the Fontusme. Slowly more authoritarian & reactionary policies percolated their way into everyday government. Having said that, the rule of law & democratic representation continued as before, but government became more accountable to itself & less to the general population.

In many ways this suited the Centre-Right parties fine. A coalition of Intelligens, Blurgiss,  Zargah, Phillis & Cordah, among others, were happy to support such a situation as long as the Federation benefited as a result. The coalition was partly successful due to two reasons. The nasty political games of the past had seen the departure of many Spiritous & Fontusme citizens who left to explore the galaxy & universe. Another aspect was the alienation of the Lyonies. Having been part of the Centre-Right from the beginning, they became alarmed by the war-like attitudes of the new conservative alliance. In doing so, their withdrawal from this alliance only ensured that it would become even more reactionary.

And war-like would soon become war. For well over a million years, the UFP had only known a handful of war years. Peace was the norm, even though the UDF was strong throughout the history of the Federation. That would now change. The limited patience of the Intelligens, which was somewhat matched by the Zargah, meant that there would now be limited tolerance for diplomatic negotiations. Although the Phillis & Cordah had joined the UFP during a time of peace, expansion of Federation territory now came through battle.

The first to suffer this expansion were the Morden. This civilisation, located rimward of Quence, had often skirmished with UDF border patrols. Noted for being a rather cruel & barbaric society, even the Intelligens felt repulsed by some of their antics. After it was discovered that some UPX personnel had been captured, the Morden sacrificed these UFP citizens in a cruel ceremony to their war god. And the Morden made no secret of the sacrificial ceremony. Much of the UFP citizenship watched on in horror. The response, however, from the Federation was not what the Morden anticipated or wanted.

The Federation President, Marco Hawane (an Intelligens), immediately declared war on the Morden. Five UDF fleets invaded Morden territory & were ordered to show no mercy. President Hawane gave clear orders that the Morden were to be decimated: their society was to be crushed & any resemblance of it was to be erased forever. Some UDF commanders, however, refused to commit what they considered to be genocide. These were immediately replaced, though, by officers who were willing to obey the President’s orders to the limit.

Within a month, the Morden were crushed - literally. Although no casualty figures are available for the Morden, simply due to the fact that the UDF were ordered not to calculate such figures or even let anyone else do so, it is estimated that 65% of the Morden population were annihilated. The remainder were placed in camps to be "re-educated". Needless to say, all Morden territory (& just as much adjacent unclaimed territory) was incorporated into the UFP.

Even though there was a news blackout during the Morden War, information nonetheless leaked out. When the destruction & estimates of Morden deaths rates became known, the Wellous, Bennigious & the Xixaho, all of who had been very quiet since the Ancients Alliance War, began to speak out against the Morden War. Even the Jehovah whispered dissatisfaction with the conduct of the UFP. Clearly the great Federation had dramatically changed & possibly not for the better.

As more & more information came out from the new Morden Sector, so too did the criticism from the Wellous & their allies. Some three years went by wherein the Wellous built up their armed forces in fear of this new militaristic UFP. They were wise to do so.  At the same time, President Hawane, had been re-elected & appeared as war-like as ever. In doing so, he had raised the spectre, as part of his campaign, of a possible war with the Wellous.

He had many reasons, including personal ones, for such a war as did many other Intelligens. In fact the President had two relatives, that were fighter pilots, who were killed when the 7th Fleet stopped the Jehovah advance at Earth. Although he knew it was Jehovah weapons fire which killed them, it was nevertheless Wellous treachery that brought on the war. As far as the President was concerned, the Wellous had never paid for their sins.

This time it was the Wellous who would be tricked. In deliberately causing a skirmish along the Phillis Sector border with Wellous forces, President Hawane unleashed the most dreadful war yet to be seen. Ten UDF fleets crossed the border crushing all before them. Even though the Wellous had built up their forces, the largest that they ever had been, it did little to stem the tide. A bright ray of hope, however, came in the form of Bennigious & Xixaho fleets that had rushed to support their ally. Alas these allies only slowed down the advancing UDF fleets.

Soon, though, most Wellous territory was overrun. Only their home planet held out due to massive defences. Elsewhere, however, the remnants of Wellous Fleets, combined with their respective allies, now fought desperately to stop both Bennigious & Xixaho territory from being invaded. Noting the tougher resistance, which had almost turned the UDF advance into a halt, President Hawane sent five new UDF fleets to the front lines. With these new fresh forces, the Ancients had no chance. Soon the home planets of the Bennigious & the Xixaho were all that were left of these once proud civilisations.

President Hawane demanded, even pleaded, that the remnants of the Ancients surrender. He was even prepared to offer terms, which surprised many of his supporters.  But the Ancients refused. Therein followed the most controversial episode in Federation history. Angered by the response of the Ancients, especially by the Wellous, the President ordered planetary bombardment.

Hundreds of asteroids were thus collected & hurled at the surface of the three planets. Many did not make it, due to interceptions by the respective planet’s defence systems, but just as many got through. Hundreds of explosions, each equal to a 50 megaton thermonuclear explosion, rocked the various planets destroying everything. Billions of people were killed as a result. In the end, even though the various planet’s defence systems may still have been operational, the planets that they were defending were dead. President Hawane was happy enough to leave the three planets that way as a warning to others: this was the fate that awaited anyone who wanted to be an enemy of the UFP.
 
 
 

Reactions
 
 
 

It did not take long for the rest of the galaxy to take notice of the fall of the Wellous, Bennigious & Xixaho. More to the point was the way in which they had been conquered. Although the Jehovah had no fondness for the Wellous, the destruction of their home planet was another matter altogether. Furthermore was the annexation of the former territories of these Ancients. Even so, this did not mean that Jehovah space now bordered the UFP, but it did mean that this militaristic UFP was ever closer. Coupled with this was the fact that Intelligens had made it very clear in the past that Sapiens (& Jehovah) were not at all considered friends.

The Nazzer were also another group that raised concerns about the future intensions of the UFP. Like the Jehovah, the UFP did not necessarily border Nazzer space, as there was much unclaimed territory between them, but again the UFP was getting closer. Nazzer diplomats approached the UFP government with various anxieties only to be told that "… the Federation has no intentions of making any hostile act against those that are considered to be it’s friends".

"Not an overly positive & reassuring statement" added the Nazzer Ambassador in her report to her government. Linked to the Ambassador’s concerns, the Nazzer could feel that relations between the two civilisations had clearly become cold. Further concern was the absence of a truly multi-specie representation in the UFP government. Apart from Intelligens, Blurgiss & Zargah, there was almost no other specie in governmental posts. Most notably absent were Fontusme, Lyonies & Nazzernich.

With this in mind, the Nazzer approached several civilisations including the Jehovah. Finding that several others had thoughts similar to themselves, a loose coalition was formed in order to counter the power of the militaristic UFP. Naturally news of such an organisation got back to Epsilon, whereupon the retiring President Hawane, once again surprised many, by ordering a non-aggression policy along the borders. Clearly he had become concerned with the reaction of the other major powers to the Federation’s interstellar policies of the past few years. It was one thing to take on those who the UFP had, but it was another matter to take on the likes of the Nazzer & Jehovah.

President Hawane, even though his policies were very controversial, left the UFP a huge legacy. The Federation had rid itself of enemies on its borders. Although none of these really had the potential to conquer the UFP, they could cause much trouble along the borders. These were now gone & added to this was a large increase in territory. The next President would now preside over almost half of the Milky Way Galaxy. No other civilisation had ever come close to this situation & nothing like it would ever follow.

Having said that, much of the Federation population was disgruntled. Having seen a drastic change in their Federation to that of an empire, the voters finally spoke up. It would take a further two hundred years before another Intelligens became President. The Lyonies finally supported en masse the Centre-Left parties. In doing so a government coalition of Fontusme, Vargary, Lyonies, Nazzernich, & those remaining Spiritous, would become well established & last for just over two hundred years.  The Intelligens empire had fallen.
 
 
 

Enlightenment & Salvation
 
 
 

It was inevitable that Intelligens would return to the leadership of the UFP. Unlike previously, however, Intelligens had once more learned the lesson. Still it took one hundred years in the political wilderness before the majority of Federation citizens thought that they would give the Intelligens another chance.

All the same, Intelligens still remained a powerful force in the Congress. By sheer weight of numbers, a significant block of Representatives & Senators ensured that enough votes were in the Congress to stop much of the key aspects of earlier Intelligens Administrations being reversed. The most significant of these were the territorial gains. In fact several initiatives were put into place during this period which would see these conquered  regions partly colonised, although this was never overly popular.

More importantly, during this period, the Fontusme took it upon themselves to educate the Intelligens in the more civilised aspects of an advanced & mature society. Many Intelligens found this to be somewhat patronising, but an equal number cherished the fact that this may give their specie the chance to truly be considered equals. This division within the Intelligens was reflective of the specie since its early days on Earth. This had become even more apparent since the troubled times of the Dark Ages.

Thankfully, slowly but surely, the great bulk of Intelligens slowly came around to the patient teachings of the Fontusme. Even though there was an extreme radical Intelligens movement against the Fontusme, it was limited in its numbers. That did not mean that there were several riots though. Such events often took place, but never got too far. Furthermore, Intelligens within the UDF were more than keen to partake in suppression of  such activity. It appeared that the high standards required for entry into the UDF ensured that the more intelligent & enlightened members of the Intelligens were taken. Only the riff-raff were left to course trouble.

Nonetheless, this period was no where near as bad as the Dark Ages & eventually Intelligens were brought back into the fold. This was not necessarily for pious reasons, but due to the fact that the Morden, now that some time had passed since their defeat, had began to return to their old ways. If the riots of the Intelligens looked bad, they were nothing compared to the Morden Uprising. Once again battle returned to the Morden as they turned on other UFP citizens. Once again UDF forces had to return to subdue this barbaric race. Ironically, even though the Intelligens may have fallen from grace, they were still in the front lines fighting for their fellow citizens.

It was probably the actions of the Intelligens during the Morden Uprising that convinced the Fontusme & Lyonies that the Intelligens could be trusted with leadership once again. This time the Federation would not be disappointed. Justine Msinga, a descendant of the famous General of the same name, was finally elected President.  She would be the first of hundreds to come over the preceding eons.

From the beginning of  President Msinga’s Administration it was very clear that the Intelligens had changed. The most noted policy, which would become Constitutional Law, was the Multi-Specie Amendment. This brought in requirements which demanded that all species must be employed in government according to its ratio of population. Never again would entire groups be excluded from government. The previous attempts by the Intelligens to build an empire from the federation was stopped before it could ever start again. It also was a popular move ensuring much electoral support from the small specie groups within the UFP.
 
 
 

Passing of  the Torch
 
 
 

Even though the UFP would go through several crises over the eons, Intelligens Administrations dealt with these rather effectively. All the same, they cooperated with the other species of the Federation who were much older & wiser than they. This in reality was a strength that the Intelligens had which had been overlooked in previous times. In fact it was probably safe to say that this ability to actually listen to wiser minds probably came from their period in the wilderness after the Intelligens empire.

This ability would not be the only one. After the great bulk of the Spiritous finally left UFP space to explore the universe, Intelligens were more than equal to the task of taking over from their ancient cousins. Intelligens would thus become the glue that kept the Federation together. For 500 000 years Intelligens would keep the Federation going. Alas, it was the Catharsis of Intelligens that would see  the demise of the great Federation.

It was with much irony that, for the bulk of the time when Intelligens led the UFP, the Federation remained stable & for the most part knew peace. There would be no further expansion of the UFP in territory, although its influence throughout the Milky Way Galaxy & beyond was without question. At one point, however, discussions were raised about the Nazzer & Jehovah joining the Federation, which would have greatly expanded both the strength & territory of the UFP, but in the end all three of these civilisations thought it best to remain separate albeit close allies.

Of cause nothing remains the same forever. Within a few years of the Intelligens Catharsis the Federation fell apart. As was feared previously, when Catharsis of a major specie took place, this time the strain upon the UFP was far too great. Even though Homo Apparitio, the evolutionary successor of Intelligens, was just as capable as Spiritous & Fontusme, many regions & species wanted to go their own way.

The end result was a dozen new federations. These inevitably resembled the defunct UFP, but reflected more local issues & regions. Ironically, many of these "baby" federations reflected those previous civilisations in their respective area & their members. Even the new Community of Planets, established by the Lyonies, Vargary, Drey, Fontusme & Apparitio, reflected much of the original UFP of 1.5 million years ago.

Yet even this "Federation of Ancients" would likewise one day collapse. The Lyonies would eventually move to the Elysium Universe. The Vargary would hang around in their sector of space, once again all alone, as before. They would finally follow in the footsteps of the Lyonies. In a similar fashion, the Drey would isolate themselves from the universe around them. In doing so, they would eventually die out. By this time the Spiritous had dispersed & left to explore the universe. Following them, the Fontusme would follow, whilst as many others went Beyond the Vale.

For their part in the overall galaxy, the Nazzer would continue to be involved in the scheme of things. Even after the collapse of the Community of Planets, they continued to keep contact with those societies which they could. But even they, in the end, tired of helping the young races. Eventually the Nazzer went Beyond the Vale & retired to the Elysium Universe.

For the Sapiens, known collectively as the Jehovah, theirs would be a different future. With the collapse of both the UFP & the Community of Planets, the Sapiens/Jehovah only kept contact with the Nazzer. Then, as was their wont, when the Nazzer left, the Jehovah went back into isolation. The Catharsis would never visit the Jehovah. They would remain corporeal beings for their entire existence.

Due to numerous reasons, most notably because of deadly radiation that started coming from the wormhole that orbited their main planet, the Jehovah would eventually have to move. At first this was to the planet Sanctuary. After 2 billion years there, however, they had to move again as Sanctuary’s sun eventually turned into a red giant. Finally, they would move to the planet Fin, once a rather barren planet, but now the Garden of Eden. Alas their numbers had been, after 5 billion years, drastically reduced to a mere 500 million due to incurrable gene contamination: at one stage the Sapiens population had reached 100 billion.

Only the Apparitio stayed behind. Having the torch of knowledge, enlightenment & wisdom past to them, they took it upon themselves to be the guardian of the young. Many new species had either been born or were well on the way to the evolution of new sentient species within the territory of the long defunct UFP. Whilst many may not need any help at all in maturing, Apparitio knew all too well from their own history that many would need help in merely surviving. Sadly many did not survive. Nevertheless this was the mission of the Apparitio now. Yet it would take 5 billion years before they themselves could pass over the torch to Homo Pan Spiritous & then move on. As history would demonstrate, just as the SSS Guardian Michael once said, Intelligens were indeed the key.
 

This creative work is the property of David Mark Atwell.
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