Prologue to Kanan of Earth
Book 1 of the Human Chronicles
By Manny Vazquez, M.S., LMFT, Christian Counselor and Storyteller
The Risan Conflict
No one knows where life began in the Universe. Some say it began in the farthest reaches of space on a small green and blue planet circling a nondescript yellow star. Others postulate that life sprang up individually on the diverse planets in the galaxy and evolved gradually over eons.
Regardless, somewhere in the galaxy, sentient beings built a civilization advanced enough to venture out into space. Over millions of years, these spacefaring creatures explored the galaxy. They came across other lifeforms, and eventually the various sentient creatures from the more advanced planets formed a Galactic Government, first to keep the peace and then to keep the order.
Eventually, as is often the case with bureaucracies, this federation of planets became power hungry. They continued their inexorable quest across the galaxy, swallowing up planets into their guild. The process when they came across a new race of intelligent beings was always the same. In a grand entrance, they often surprised the beings on the newly discovered planets and offered them a choice, join their Galactic Alliance or face destruction. It was always a given that the newly discovered beings would acquiesce, and thus, the Galactic Alliance of Planets grew in numbers and strength.
And so it went for millennia, until one day, the Alliance discovered the people of the small planet of Risa.
The Risan people were different than the other beings the Alliance had discovered before. For beginners, they did not seem shocked that they were not alone in the Universe. When the Galactic Alliance ships arrived in their solar system, the Risans met them in space, and their spacefaring vessels in many ways appeared superior to those of the Alliance. The Risans had not mastered the art of interstellar travel, but they were very advanced in other technologies.
At first, the Alliance offered the same deal to the Risans that they had offered to countless planets before. To their utter surprise, the Risans rejected their offer and politely asked the Alliance to leave their solar system. For the first time, the Alliance faced resistance. Although there had been uprisings against their power before, those had been quickly quelled. The Alliance went back to their capital world and met to discuss what do with what they termed the Risan problem.
About a Risan year later, the Alliance returned to Risa in full force, with an armada that they hoped would convince the Risan people to surrender. To their surprise, in merely a year, the Risans had built a formidable armada themselves.
The two fleets faced each other in space. For several days, negotiations were made between the two sides. The Alliance made it clear the Risans would be allowed to live their lives freely, but only as part of the Galactic Alliance of Planets, as they needed to ensure that there was peace and order. The Risans simply said “no,” and they would not back off.
History records several versions of what happened next. Regardless, one side fired the first shot, and the battle was on. The Risans proved far superior to their Galactic counterparts. The dogfights in space were completely one-sided, and the Risans broke through and began to easily destroy the Galactic starships. The Risans won the battle decisively and the remaining Alliance warships managed to limp away to fight another day. This was the first Galactic War, and it went to the Risans.
The Galactic Alliance began to build an even bigger, more formidable space armada. The Risans, too, prepared for the eventual Galactic War II. Five Risan years after the Firsts War, the Alliance returned to Risa, much more advanced than before. Above the Risan planet, in the space between its two moons, the two fleets met in battle, which was fierce.
The Second Galactic War raged for weeks, with many casualties on both sides. The Risans fought bravely, but in the end, the sheer numbers of the Galactic Alliance forces were just too much for them. Risa fell, and the planet was invaded by the armies of the Alliance. The war raged on the ground as well, with the the Risan planet eventually falling, it’s survivors dragged away in chains. The Great Galactic Alliance of Planets had won the Second Galactic War but at a great cost. Millions of its beings had died in the two wars, and some of them questioned why the Risans had been deemed such a threat.
The Galactic Alliance convened a committee to study what they named the Risan Conflict. The outcome of the hearings, during which generals and soldiers testified just how fierce the Risan people had been and how intelligent they seemed in battle, was to acknowledge that this sort of thing could not be allowed to happen again.
The Galactic Alliance was aware of how patterns appeared to repeat on different planets where they discovered sentient life. There were many similar races of beings on different planets along the way of their exploration. The Alliance agreed that if they ever ran into another people like the Risans, they would shoot first and ask questions later.
The Galactic Committee on the Risan Conflict prepared a report for everyone in the Galaxy to be aware of what had happened at Risa. On the last page of the report, in full color, was a picture of the male and female of the species of sentient beings found on Risa. The people of a small planet light years away called Earth would have been very interested in seeing that last page of the report, for it depicted a human male and female.
Prologue II
Again…
And thus, the Galactic Alliance of Planets resumed their exploration of the galaxy. Every so often, they would discover a new planet with sentient beings on it, and they were much more cautious in the way they approached the new planet every time they did.
For millennia, they continued their march across the galaxy, until one day, when they found a planet with another human race on it. These were the people of Tarra and again, the Risan tragedy was in danger of happening all over again…
To Be Continued in Book I of the Human Chronicles: Kanan of Earth