Spoiler: Spoiler

Arlie leaned back in her seat for a moment and studied the faces of her audience. She was about to continue the story when someone took the chance and asked a question. Lily wondering something asked, “Out of curiosity, what did other peoples think of the clearly brewing war?”

Arlie sighed, and replied, “I would love to tell you that. Unfortunately, our forty-year conflict with the Cylovans went largely unnoticed. Not entirely mind you, that race I alluded to earlier very much did notice some of the effects of the conflict. At first, all they found were planets with their surfaces stripped of major resources. Materials our mining ships had collected, and brought back to the fleet to fuel ship construction, and to help build a strategic reserve.”

Rose frowned, something bothering her, but it was Lily who asked a second question first, “Surely someone must have noticed something more?”

“Well the Sylnari, did notice the unusual Cylovan activity, but their resources were stretched thin, and their elders never approved the long-range scouting mission needed to reveal what was going on. The other race I mentioned actually saw the most. Even though they never did stumble on to a battle, they did find the aftermath. A couple years into the war, a couple of their ships stumbled onto a debris field. We were there, but they never saw us. Nor did we bother to reveal ourselves. All they ended up seeing were the destroyed hulks of Cylovan warships. Any of ours had already been salvaged by our ships. That proved to be a trend of theirs for a long time, but eventually, they began to find the battlefields where some of our ships were still floating adrift. Not to mention, not all of the ships we lost ended up salvaged. A few of them even drifted across the galaxy. A couple of our warships including a cruiser even ended up in the hands of the Krall, thanks to a wormhole. Before you ask though, most wormholes including that one are unstable. They open periodically, and travel through them can be a little unpredictable. It really depends on the type of wormhole. That particular type is called a nexus wormhole, it has several mouths spread out across the galaxy, these mouths are one way. On one side of the galaxy, a mouth opened and swallowed our disabled and abandoned cruiser. A couple centuries later, that same cruiser was spat out of the wormhole on the far edge of Krall space. Where it remained drifting for another century and a half before a Krall scoutship stumbled across the wreck.

As for what they did with it. At first, they studied it, and then they later restored the ship to operational status. Before ultimately gifting it to the still young Terran Empire in 576 SDE. The Empire was fighting a war with the Valorians. Our cruiser was quickly incorporated into their fleet, and made extensive use of. While old, it did have its advantages, namely the toughest armor in the quadrant, and a powerful stealth system that rendered it invisible to most ship scanners. As for weapons, the Terrans did not get any of our torpedoes, as the ship had exhausted its entire supply before it had been disabled centuries before in that battle with the Cylovans. They did have our beam weapons, which while powerful and still useful were a very different sort of beast from the weapons they were used to. The last thing of import they got from the ship was our database. It did not have everything we knew, but it covered topics that greatly aided their scientific development. This also brings me to the part that is relevant to your question. The Terrans did learn of our conflict with the Cylovans, and saw it through our eyes. Many were fascinated by it, and others were horrified. Through our database, they were able to witness how powerful the Cylovans were, and well the race of rogue machines terrified many of their leaders. They ultimately covered up the conflict, and our database ended up gathering dust in a lab.”

Rose took advantage of the pause to ask her question. “You said this war lasted forty years. Did it really take you that long to defeat the Cylovans?”

Arlie looked down, her expression turning downcast. Before she could even reply both girls understood, in unison they cried, “YOU LOST!!!?”

Looking back up, she replied in a sad tone, “That really depends on how you define victory and defeat. The Cylovan Collective was ultimately too large, their numbers too great. We waged a campaign that met significant success, and while there were setbacks. Our forces ultimately destroyed countless ships, razed numerous colonies to the ground, and even destroyed important industrial centers. ...Ultimately, they wore us done to the point that we felt we could no longer continue the war. So we withdrew, and as for where we went. I already gave you a few clues. Anyway, I think it best that I get back to telling you how our conflict went. How we ended up getting to that point.”