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A Brief History of Human Expansion
Beyond Concordiat Space

by Linda Evans

A Brief History of Human Expansion
Beyond Concordiat Space
And Subsequent Military Conflicts Between
Alien Species,
the Concordiat,
and
Human-Occupied "Fringe Space"

From
Human/Alien Wars of Conquest

Prof. Hermione Bast, Ph.D.,
Laumer Chair of Xenobiology

and
from

Human Expansion Beyond Concordiat Space: Its Impact on Human History

Prof. Chief Dan "Quicksilver" Puma, Ph.D.,
Laumer Chair of Concordiat History

New Republic Institute of Bolo Research

New Republic University Press
© 4030, © 4031

Introduction

The study of xenobiological life forms and military conflicts which impacted human space during the Concordiat years is of vital importance to the New Republic. Wars between humanity and various alien races destroyed not only vital records and entire technology bases (including stardrive, Bolo construction and maintenance, the construction or even use of energy-beam and other high-tech weapons, hyper-L communications, and transport systems); those wars also destroyed entire species and civilizations—our own very nearly among them.

It is well known that the disastrous war with the Melconian Empire, spanning multiple centuries, destroyed not only humanity's homeworld and the Concordiat Civilization as well as the canine-like Melconians' homeworld and Empire, but also left in tattered fragments the records which are so critical to humanity's future survival when, inevitably, we re-encounter alien species which our ancestors found hostile to humanity. It is also possible that unknown aliens have expanded their territories into space once occupied by various known or once-known alien civilizations as well as human space lost during the long conflict.

The compilation of these fragments into a coherent whole is the ongoing task of the New Republic's Institute of Bolo Research. Long-term Institute research projects led, for example, to the massive undertaking by Prof. Felix Hermes, Ph.D., Laumer Chair of Military History. Dr. Hermes' ground breaking work, "A Brief Technical History of the Bolo" from the Institute's first major report, Bolos in Their Own Words, is representative of the challenge scholars face in gathering, reconciling, and validating information from existing and often contradictory sources.

It is difficult, for example, to reconcile discrepancies about Bolo appearances, firepower, and introduction dates from even the earliest-known records, compiled during late Concordiat times by the luminary scholar Keith Laumer, who published all known-to-date anecdotal information available about the Bolos, including the impossible-to-explain Concordiat policy toward "abandoned" Bolos, relics of previous centuries' wars. Engaged as humanity was in a series of savage wars with a multitude of alien species, the destruction of any Bolo, which could have been retrofitted with updated psychotronics and weaponry at a fraction of the cost of a new Bolo and sent to the fringe worlds for active duty against alien incursions, is a mystery the scholars of this Institute have been unable to fathom.

The almost paranoid fear of a Bolo "running mad" is particularly difficult to understand in light of the fact that all known Bolos so destroyed would have been programmed with the Resartus code, which would have automatically taken over control of any Bolo whose personality programming was damaged, either in battle, or through deterioration over a considerable span of time, and prevented the affected Bolo from engaging in behavior that would endanger human lives. (The sole exception to this, of course, is recorded in an account of deliberate sabotage of the Bolos' programming by a traitor dealing with the merciless Djanni invaders; the "virus" written into the Bolos' main battle programming bypassed the Resartus code, thus preventing its activation when the Bolos went mad and were helpless to defend themselves from attack by Djanni "octopod" fighting machines, nine of which could kill a non-mad Bolo during battle.) This sabotage was accomplished only through the actions of a skilled psychotronician at a Sector Bolo Maintenance Control depot situated on a critical route to the heart of that Sector's richest systems. The traitor made certain the virus contaminated even the so-called "virgin-code" GM used to program new Bolos directly off assembly lines.

In re: the Concordiat policy of destroying the psychotronic personalities of "obsolete" and abandoned Bolos, the scholars of this Institute do not consider less than a single century sufficient time for deterioration of psychotronic circuitry to the level feared by the Concordiat government, as individual Bolos served the Concordiat for considerably longer than a century and were not considered in danger of psychotronic deterioration, senility, or madness. Indeed, the records themselves, so carefully compiled by Laumer, indicate that despite occasional outward deterioration, each Bolo so destroyed acted exactly as programmed when a threat to humanity was detected. The loss of these brave and invaluable Bolos, possibly ordered after the Djanni fiasco, or possibly ordered before that war—the records are too confused for certainty—may well have made the critical difference in the debacle of the Melconian "Lost War." It is, of course, New Republic policy to locate all extant Bolos and attempt to fit them with updated psychotronics and weaponry, understanding of which has only recently been regained due to the discovery of the active Bolo unit JNE which protected an enclave of humanity during the dark ages following the fall of the Concordiat and its brief successor, the first Republic, during the final stages of the Melconian war.

The authors would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the enormous debt owed to Bolo Unit JNE, whose memory banks contained much of the surviving material on alien species encountered by humanity during the past thousand years as well as virtually all known history of the Concordiat and human expansion to "fringe space" surrounding the Concordiat in an ever-expanding "shell" of exploration and colonization outward from official Concordiat-ruled space. Other far inferior sources include physical evidence found by anthropological expeditions to known former-human-occupied worlds and anecdotal evidence handed down through surviving generations of isolated human enclaves. Characteristically, anecdotal evidence is reduced to the status of folklore and even mythology, in those areas where transmission of information took the form of religious duty that metamorphosed into mythic cycles taught as dogma. Sources also rarely appear in the discovery of a (sadly but usually) dead Bolo, from which stored files can sometimes be retrieved through techniques developed in cooperation with Bolo Unit JNE at the New Republic's Institute of Bolo Research. Such retrieval methods are always attempted before the Institute retrofits such rediscovered Bolos and returns them to active-duty status.

Unfortunately, due to the exigencies of the final war with Melcon, much of JNE's historical data was erased in favor of constantly updated battle programming as the Bolos learned more and more about Djanni tactics, policies, and strategic maneuvers. As a result, information on other species and their behavior, weaponry, biology, etc. plus much information on human history and culture (included in the computer banks of each Bolo) was deleted in favor of critical and increasingly complex battle data on the Melconian conflict and the Melconian species. What is known of alien contacts with the Concordiat and the history of the Concordiat's growth and expansion is a combination of JNE's surviving xenobiological and historical memory files and the sources listed above. Due to their nature, anecdotal sources are often confused, contradictory, and frustrating to the scholar attempting to piece together a complete picture of the Concordiat years.

The Institute and the authors hope that other scholars will build on this preliminary work as the New Republic expands and gathers surviving human enclaves back into the fold of human space-faring civilization. Recent finds, for instance, have been published at the layman's level to reassure the still-shaken populace of the New Republic, but have yet to be fully analyzed and incorporated into the Institute's scholarly databases.

Expanding this preliminary report, drawn from the admittedly incomplete second and third scholarly research reports regarding the former Concordiat civilization is one of the critical goals of the New Republic: hence the importance of the Chairs of Xenobiology and Concordiat History at the Laumer Institute for Bolo Research (LIBR—an acronym suggestive of ancient-languages' terms for liberty and freedom). Humanity's survival may well depend on the accuracy and completeness of our work. Great care has been taken, therefore, in the compilation of this report.

In this work, the authors will attempt to piece together known information in the following two areas:

Alien life forms of a direct and serious threat to the Concordiat Civilization
Alien life forms encountered in non-Concordiat, human-occupied "fringe" space, at the outer perimeter of human expansion beyond Concordiat territory—alien species which, if unchecked, could (and may have) become a Primary threat to the inner worlds of the Concordiat itself.

It should be noted that available information on "Primary" alien species of a direct and serious threat to the Concordiat far outweighs information on aliens encountered only in fringe areas. Contact with many of these fringe "perimeter" worlds was minimal at best even during Concordiat times. There is much fertile ground for discovery in this area of research.

With these observations made, the goal of this report is to provide as complete a picture as possible to the representatives of the New Republic's government, in order to offer guidance in setting xenobiological policy based on historical research. It is known that a large number of hostile alien species were encountered, precipitating wars which were sometimes contained within one star system and which sometimes—as in the Melconian disaster—destroyed world after world. Understanding what is known of these various species will assist the New Republic in preparing to deal with these species should they be encountered again during the rebuilding process. It is known, however, that non-hostile alien relationships with humanity existed, as evidenced by the Cayones, trader/smugglers who operated between Concordiat space and the fringe worlds and who collected gold with a passion surpassing even humanity's, for reasons unknown. What became of such non-hostile, space-faring species during and after the collapse of the Concordiat civilization remains a mystery this Institute hopes to solve.

Given the information we do possess, it is almost certain that humanity will re-encounter hostile alien life forms. The work of the Laumer Institute is therefore of utmost importance to the survival of humanity, not only from the perspective of preparation for war, but also from the perspective of searching out species with which to form alliances as humanity once more builds a civilization among the stars.

Alien and Human Wars During Known History of the Concordiat and Other Human Civilizations

Aliens/Enemy Historical Record Bolo Mark Timeline

Humanity Lost Legion III (2018) (21st c.) 2018

Beginning of collapse of pre-Concordiat human civilization during "Crazy Years."

Humanity Ancestral Voices III (21st c.) 2018

Humanity Night of the Trolls II (2015) (21st c.) 2098+
III (2018)

Collapse after "Crazy Years."

Jyncji Ploughshare XVI (2650) (27th c.) ~2665

1st attack by Jyncji not recognized as xenoforming biological warfare by humans; 1st Jyncji contact? 1st alien contact?

Humanity Operation Desert Fox XVI? (2650) (27th c.) ~2670

Deng Final Mission XV Model Y (27th c.) 2675
(Rogue Bolo "Book II") (2615)

Outlying worlds' fringe war; eventually became a threat to Concordiat inner worlds. 1st encounter with Deng?

Soetti Courier XV/M (~2580) (28th c.) 2780

Outlying worlds' fringe war; traders/pirates.

Humanity Field Test XX (2796) (28th c.) 2796

Deng Final Mission XV Model Y (29th c.) 2800+
(Rogue Bolo "Book II") (2615)

Outlying worlds' fringe war.

Deng Little Red Hen XXI Model I (29th c.) 2870
"Special"

Have become threat to Concordiat-aligned inner worlds.

Jyncji Ploughshare XVI (2650) (30th c.) 2950+

2nd Jyncji war; outlying worlds' fringe war

Humanity Legacy of Leonidas XX/B (2796) (30th c.) 2961+

Between non-Concordiat worlds in war of conquest; in expanding "fringe" area of human-occupied space beyond Concordiat central worlds.

Humanity Miles to Go XXIII (2912) (30th c.) ~3000
"Quern"

3 wars; no description of alien species survives extant; only known that Quern were the major opponent of MARK XXIII; this account takes place eighty years after 1st Quern war, which destroyed most of the sector's files on disbursement and assignments of various Bolo units in the Sector.

Xykdap The Farmer's Wife XX/M (Moseby) (31st c.) 3069
(introduced 2796;
Digger built ~2800)

Pushed out of home space by Jyncji; presumed extinct, but this is conjecture only.

Deng Little Dog Gone XX/B (2796) (31st c.) 3080
(built ~2868)

Incursion into fringe-area space; follows cycle of approx. one attack per century by Deng.

Xiala Ghost of Resartus XXI (2869) (32nd c.) 3169+

Attack Milagso every 20-50 years after 1st major invasion attempt; key route to inner worlds; continue to attack other human planets in fringe space while developing new plans to take strategically positioned Milagso.

Xalontese Shared Experience XXVIII (32nd c.) 3186

"Harpies"; Primary enemy of Mark XXVIII; Fringe-Worlds War fought by colonists and Concordiat troop reinforcements.

Axorc Rogue Bolo Book I XXX (3231) (33rd c.) 3231

Very fragmented anecdotal source with many errors; see next record for further data.

Axorc A Relic of War XXV (3001) (33rd c.) 3231

Very fragmented anecdotal source with many errors; unknown if this is same "crystalline," space-cold-and-vacuum-adapted species in both sources or two separate species. Research awaits discovery of further sources. This source's description reads like a description of DENG military equipment more than any other known species, particularly the crystalline, telepathic, self-presumed godlike entity calling itself Axorc as noted in the immediately preceding record, an entity which threatened the human homeworld, Terra, itself; destroyed by 1st Bolo Mark XXX.

Anceti As Our Strength Lessens XXX (33rd c.) 3231+

a.       The Last Command XXVIII (3186) (33rd c.) 3231

Humanity You're It XXIX (3190) (33rd c.) 3231+
(XXX's on line)

(Kai-Sabres clones of Mark XXVIII (3186) built after decades of espionage, so revolt was planned by 3186.)

Non-Concordiat Worlds in War of Conquest; "fringe" area of human-occupied space.

Djann The Murphosensor Bomb XXX (33rd c.) 3231

Humanity Camelot XXIV (2961) (33rd c.) 3241

Pirates. (XXX's on line)

Cayones

Smugglers & Freighters; alien/human peaceful accommodation for trade; plus Unknown Alien Enemy.

Humanity Sir Kendrick's Lady XXIV (2961) (33rd c.) 3241+

Pirates.

Melcon Empire/ Melconian War Began
Deng War ~ 220 years before Endings (34th c.) ~3300

Scholarly theory given known facts: Deng war of ~3080 knocked Deng back extra 100 years. Humanity didn't expect another Deng attack. Unprepared for it, complacent in safety; when humanity is reported as disorganized and ineffective in fighting a defensive war, the Melconians decide it's a perfect time to strike. Humanity is faced with a major crisis: break policy & destroy the Deng as a space-faring race or fight a war on two fronts. Humanity chooses the former option & ends up in a long, genocidal war with Melcon as a result. The Melconian conflict devolves into a war of extermination by both sides. Result: 1 small colony of Melconian survivors; survival of tiny enclaves of humanity on fringe-area worlds; both homeworlds destroyed.

Melcon Empire/ Scholarly theory (cont.) (35th c.) ~3450
Deng

Melcon Endings (Last War/ XXXIII (3450) (36th c.) 3520
Lost War)

Melconian Empire; Melconian Empire destroyed and only a handful of survivors found by Bolo "Sherman." Number of surviving human enclaves unknown.

Deng/ Combat Unit XXXI (3303) (37th c.) 3606
Melconians (Last War/Lost War)

(Story takes place during attempt at rebuilding "New Concordiat"; Hyper-L transport and communications and most other high-tech knowledge lost.)

Hryxi Legacy XXIX Model C (139th c.) 11,783
(3190)

Have exterminated every human-occupied world known to surviving Bolo on homeworld; the Bolo posits that enclaves, possibly entire planets, may survive, but all known human worlds are in the Hryxi records and its records (admittedly centuries out of date per source's stated timeline). Hryxi records match the Bolo's, which show that all known human colonies have been destroyed. Only a handful of human children survive the orbital nuclear attack on Terra, location of last known group of humans—anthropologists and their families there to study ancient artifacts while relying on nano-technology for nearly everything; humans unable to conceive of deliberate attack to destroy a species. This record is one of two which represent the dark ages following the end of the Melconian Wars and the present. Scholarly research must assume flawed dates in this anecdotal record.

Unknown Alien Ghosts LX Unknown

Shape Shifters; that is basically the only knowledge transmitted by this final, fragmentary record. Only other record of shape-shifting aliens names the snake-like Xiala. Scholarly research must assume flawed dating and Bolo Mark number in this anecdotal record.

Survey of Xenobiological Life Forms
Of a Direct and Serious Threat
To the Concordiat Civilization Or
Encountered in Fringe-Space Battles by Colonists
Beyond the Boundaries Of
Concordiat-Controlled Space

Life Form: Jyncji

Human Nickname: N/A

Physiology: Toothed-snouts, covered with spines (reminiscent of Terran porcupines), size unknown.

Culture/Socio-economic Structure: Highly regimented in a strict ranking order similar to old-Terran feudal systems, with careers and entire family-line reputations made and destroyed on the approval of superiors and the success or failure of a mission.

Degree of Speciocentricity/Xenophobia: Highly speciocentric; do not consider the destruction of other sentient life-forms to be of any concern whatever, except as relates to the "enemy's" counter-strike capabilities.

Battle Tactics: Armadas in space send waves of fighters to cripple enemy defenses, imitating where possible enemy fighter configuration and manipulating where possible internal strife of enemy factions to their advantage. During barrage of fighter attack, Jyncji launch a biological-weapons pod which will xenoform the target planet to Jyncji specifications (thus destroying the enemy biologically in an outbreak of incurable "plagues") as a prelude to colonization. If a mere hint of danger to Jyncji forces is detected, the armada breaks off direct attack and retreats, leaving the biological weapon to complete its work. This is the greatest weakness in Jyncji tactics.

Space Capabilities: Fighters aboard battleships of armadas charged with securing a target world for the Jyncji civilization.

Fighting Machines: Fighters which are both space- and atmospheric-capable; battleships are essentially transport ships only.

Weapons Technology: Fighters with energy and explosive weapons, biological weaponry launched from Armada flagship is highly refined.

Life Form: Deng

Human Nickname: "Spodders"

Physiology: Head/body in one central, blue-black, ovoid structure which is covered with fur; eight chitinous limbs capable of great speed; size is approximately that of native Terran average-sized dog. Size is of little importance outside infantry combat, as Deng use fighting machines which are also octopodal and the heavier of which are armored comparably to that of the time-period's Bolos.

Culture/Socio-economic Structure: Unknown

Degree of Speciocentricity/Xenophobia: High degree of speciocentricity. The Deng initiate invasions to which human colonies and/or the Concordiat respond, based on intelligence gathered on Deng troop and transport movements. Generally very little time or warning for human colonies to prepare for war. The Deng attack fringe-worlds in approximate century-long intervals, at times advancing far enough to become a direct threat to Concordiat systems, then are pushed back again and the war generally ends in treaty, which the Deng invariably break after sufficient time has passed that the human treaty-makers are dead and the Concordiat is lulled into a false sense of security that the Deng are no longer a threat.

Battle Tactics: Apparently do not learn from mistakes; possibly a "hard-wired" biological failing in the species. Invariably send out a strike force which appears to be the main battle group but is a diversionary force only. Main battle group attacks from flank while enemy is fully engaged with diversionary force, having committed all its resources to that first-wave attack. Even if the enemy perceives the ruse and responds appropriately and in time to meet the main battle group and destroy it, the Deng will continue to follow orders and march into enemy guns to be slaughtered. This suggests that Deng combat troops are expendable "drones" from a very large native population base made up of differing physical types, such as was found in native-Terran ants and bees (which exhibited similar patterns of attack).

Space Capabilities: Excellent. Can maneuver in ways that circumvent planetary warning systems to off-load infantry and heavy "artillery" which, once groundbound, launches a surprise- or near-surprise attack.

Fighting Machines: Several types, from eight-legged scout vehicles that "run" on vulnerable limbs to mid-size and heavy battle machines as physically strong and as heavily armored as contemporary Bolos. Deng fighting machines are called "Yavacs" and are differentiated by further designation as "Yavac Scout," "Yavac Heavy Armor," etc. These heavy battle machines are very difficult to stop unless they can be lured into a suicidal charge into an ambush.

Weapons Technology: Energy weapons, including those which are lethal and those which stun an enemy which is then secured for intelligence-gathering purposes or to prevent any alarm from being sounded. Stunning weapons are known as "zond-projectors"; lethal energy weapons of a tripod design and infantry-portable in size, are called z-beamers, which are used in attacking enemy installations directly and are deadly to humans. Heavy fighting machines use energy weapons of a type which a Bolo can absorb, use to replenish its own depleted power sources, and even redirect against the enemy via its own energy weapons systems, so long as the Bolo does not overheat from the attack of energy weapons trained against it. Deng fighting machines give out a radiation signal in the "W-band" which Bolos can pinpoint and track. "W-band" radiation is considered the characteristic signature of Deng fighting units.

Life Form: Soetti

Human Nickname: "Sweaties"

Physiology: Near-human size; native-Terran crab-like in form with deadly mandibles, chitinous limbs, and a reputation of arrogance and brutality towards enemies. The Soetti carefully guarded the secret of their own physiological "Achilles heel": their limbs are extremely brittle. Even a minor wound to such a limb will kill a Soetti individual within seconds. Once humanity learns this, much of the terror of the Soetti dissipates.

Culture/Socio-economic Structure: Traders, ship-to-ship pirates. Will board human vessels and demand that all valuables be turned over upon pain of death. Soetti use such tactics as a smokescreen to hide attacking armadas poised to strike a particularly useful system, either because of its wealth or its strategic position as a base of operations deeper into human-occupied space.

Degree of Speciocentricity/Xenophobia: High degree of speciocentricity which translates into behavior that is arrogant and into attitudes of superiority to soft-skinned humans.

Battle Tactics: Soetti display a flaw in strategic thinking similar to that of the Deng: once a battle-plan is drawn up, the Soetti will continue to attack usi...