It was the final stand. Earth would not go quietly into the night.
Grand Fleet Commander Adam Smith was as ready as he could ever be. Humanity had obtained superweapons from all of their closest allies. Everything from the nonlethal method that Diplomats favored to the Scientists' apocalyptic gravity manipulator. Everything was armed, supercharged, advanced as far as humans could take it.
And although the might of the Human Empire and its allies was enough to put down the C'Servoid slavers, the mad Algernons, and even the Rogue SuperEpic Space Monster, it was very likely that at the end of this very day, the human race would be over.
"…I wish this was the Grox," Nine-Seven-Oh said, and Adam blinked, wondering if he really just said that.
Nine-Seven-Oh, his second-in-command, was a rehabilitated dronox, a race that existed as slaves/test subjects under the Grox. For him to ask for the Grox instead of the current threat was… not reassuring.
"You're not serious, are you?"
Nine-Seven-Oh clenched his webbed fingers together. "The Grox will just kill you. These things are much, much worse."
"Perhaps we should ask the Grox for assistance, then?" Col. Vendmon asked. "We know that these… Omniths… have taken thousands of worlds just off the fifth galactic arm. The Grox can't possibly tolerate that."
"Spode forbid." That was General Lilim. "Such blasphemy cannot be accepted as a reasonable course of action…!"
"Enough." It was testament to the humans' reputation that all the other sapiens went silent. Adam rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Even if we were willing to ally with the Grox," he nodded at Vendmon, "I really doubt they'd be willing to ally with us. Anyways, it's too late now. The communications blackouts are getting pretty close to Earth."
The first time a human colony was found by an Omnith ship, they'd made contact with the bizarre creatures. Unlike any other creature in the galaxy, the Omniths were completely asymmetrical in appearance, with three spindly legs connected to three different kinds of feet (none of which looked like they could hold up the main body); spikes, antlers, claws, and other features sticking out at practically non-euclidian angles; and sixteen eye stalks of radically different sizes and shapes, pointing in seemingly random directions.
Their ship wasn't much better. It looked like a toddler on crack had glued musical instruments to a box and painted it in plaid and polka-dots to deliberately make it as painful to look at as possible.
In spite of their biology and lack of aesthetics, the creatures had seemed friendly enough, offering a trade deal and a tentative alliance. They'd dropped down on the planet to observe the human cities, and then… nothing. It was as if the planet stopped existing.
Sensory data showed that the Omniths had completely changed the surface, infusing the water with iron to the point that it appeared red. Additionally, all of the cities and vehicles had been changed as well, sharing their spaceship's vomit-inducing geometry and color scheme… or lack thereof. And most importantly, sensors indicated that mere minutes after the Omniths had descended, there was no human life remaining.
The event was the start of a pattern. After the first world, the Omniths no longer communicated with anyone. They showed up, the world's waters ran red, all sapient life but Omniths vanished, and the cities became a hell that only the theoretical offspring of Dali and Escher could dream up. No explanations, no requests to surrender, no mercy.
Even the Grox had more data on them!
The door slid open, and behind it, Sir Lancer von Knotts entered. Adam sighed in relief. Maybe they'd get some information now. "Knotts. Report."
"Commander Smith! I entered the wormhole that ran closest to the center of the galaxy. The Omniths are allied with the Grox!"
A cacophony erupted, one that Adam silenced with a gesture. "I know for certain that the Omniths and Grox have nothing in common, so explain this to me."
"As far as I can tell, the Grox really, really love how the Omniths violate the Galactic Code. They're even letting the Omniths take their worlds in the Center!"
"Take their worlds?!"
"It's as if the Grox don't even realize that those things are aggressively absorbing every system they come across!"
Lilim shook. "That can't… The Grox are… How can any species be worse than the Grox?! That's not possible!"
Their flagship shook suddenly, and the main screen flashed on. "Greetings, Earthlings."
Adam flinched, then gathered his determination. "Omnith."
"Yes." The creature's every movement was completely unlike any other species. It was as if they hadn't needed to deal with any of the conditions any other alien race had evolved from. "On behalf of my Empire, I'd like to offer my respect, and my condolences, to the last of the human species."
Adam's blood went cold. "Condolences?"
One of the thing's dangling eyestalks rose like an elephant's trunk, staring at them. "You and those on the planet below are the last of your kind." Before Adam could process that, the creature kept speaking. "Hardly the first time this has happened for us. And yet, it is the first time we have ever stopped to talk before delivering the final reckoning. It is because we have great respect for you."
"And why is that?" Adam asked angrily, hands clenched at his sides.
"There are ten general archetypes that other 'sapiens,' as you call them, typically fall under." The Omnith's distended arm reached over and grabbed a tablet, reading it off. "Bard, Diplomat, Ecologist, Knight, Scientist, Shaman, Trader, Wanderer, Warrior, and Zealot. They are common because our shared physics system produces similar conditions, and thus similar mental makeups, for most species. There are only three we have found who are any different."
"The Grox, yourselves, and humans?"
"Correct!" The Omnith said, hopping in a way that made Adam sick to watch. "The Grox we would group with the others as the 'Annihilator' Archetype. We would do so because those eleven archetypes are all the same on a fundamental level: a single-minded focus on irrelevant tripe. The Grox only differs from a Warrior species in the sheer scale of aggression they display, and from a Zealot species in that they worship themselves."
"And you're different?"
"Very different." The Omnith leaned forwards. "We thrive on different. The unstable and unbalanced. For every Archetype there is something missing, a core component of the others. By specializing in one aspect, in grasping a balance, they all lose on something else. We are generalists, maximizing our abilities in all fields. It is why we took the name Omnith. Ωμνιθ, in our native tongue. The ones who are all."
"And so are we." It made sense. Humans built a galactic empire on their ability to adapt. They easily fit in with every other species. "But that doesn't mean we go around destroying other species."
"Yes. And that is where we differ. Your kind, they adopt the qualities of others, becoming of whichever archetype they surround themselves by. It is an incredible ability, one to respect. We can almost admire it."
"And you?"
"We are above all archetypes. Specialization is for fools. We do everything equally well. Even before we evolved sapience, our kind could run faster, jump higher, fly further than any other. We spit the most deadly poisons, charged with an unmatched force, shredded our opponents with unparalleled teeth and claws. We have the most charm, pose with the highest finesse, dance greater than any other, sing music that would make you weep. There is absolutely nothing that any species has that matches anything we have."
"Is that a fact?" Perhaps Adam could talk his way out of this one…
The alien made an expression that Adam would later learn was smugness. "Why don't you see for yourself?"
A beam of light blasted out of the Omnith ship, striking not just their flagship, but the planet below as well. Adam convulsed, his body shifting…
That's why all other sapiens disappeared. They didn't die.
They just became Omniths.
On that day, the only humans left were a few thousands scattered across alien worlds. In time, they too would join the Omniths, becoming part of the species that would destroy the rigid patterns and structures of the universe, to be the only sapiens left.
A/N: The Omniths are a real creature that I played as. I decided early on that I wanted a creature that was horrifically asymmetrical with mismatching body parts and sixteen eyestalks, kind of as a joke. I even gave it a wing… on its back left ankle… upside-down. There is absolutely no way according to any law of aviation that they should've been able to fly, but I guess the Omniths didn't care and did it anyways.
The longer I played, the longer I imagined how their culture would be and how they would react to the universe at large. Their buildings? Asymmetrical and colored like a preschooler's art project. Their vehicles? Embrace physical impossibilities of movement and are as colorful as an irate sailor in a clown jumper. Their spaceship? The description in the above story is tame in comparison to the reality.
And I mean, technically speaking, they're Zealots, but as the only effect of a philosophy is on the bonuses/superweapon, I could roleplay them however I wanted. It's kind of fun to play an all-assimilating Empire. Oh? Found a new species? Well, before they can do anything, lemme just drop down and hit the superweapon button… Thanks for the planet, suckers!
But why would the Omniths do that? Why break Galactic Code? Why attract the ire of an entire galaxy?
Easy. They hate symmetry.
Fun fact: All Maxis creatures except the Grox are perfectly symmetrical.
My choice of allies was clear.