Chapter 250: How to Develop Indigenous Peoples
The engineering teams had spent a considerable amount of time trying to solve the problem of the subterranean cave networks, but they had yet to find a viable solution.
Given the current geological instability, even if rich mineral deposits were located near the surface, the mining crews were hesitant to break ground because of the massive voids below. If a catastrophic collapse occurred during excavation, an entire mining outpost could be swallowed, resulting in a massive loss of life and heavy machinery.
With current Federation technology, it was technically possible to fight against nature by aggressively reinforcing the bedrock while simultaneously mining. However, the economic cost of such an operation was astronomical, and the return on investment simply wasn’t worth the risk.
Therefore, the general consensus among the geologists was to relocate the primary mining operations to the Arctic Circle.
The Arctic regions lacked volcanic or geothermal activity and remained in a deep freeze year-round. Surely, the subterranean crust there wouldn’t be as heavily honeycombed with caves.
Following rigorous analysis, the Senior Scientists had confirmed that the massive cavern networks were specifically carved out by the corrosive acid of the black swarms. Without a geothermal heat source to attract them, the black swarms wouldn’t naturally gather in the Arctic crust, meaning the geological integrity of those regions should be relatively stable.
As Jason listened to the experts debate the logistics, he carefully weighed his options.
Relocating the primary base wasn’t a massive setback... At the very least, from an economic standpoint, it was far simpler than trying to artificially reinforce an entire continent’s foundation. The void below them was practically endless; there was no point in forcing a lost cause.
The Federation wasn’t short on heavy equipment. The Ark still held a massive surplus of dormant construction modules and automated excavators that hadn’t been deployed yet. What they lacked was human capital. If they rebuilt the base, a large percentage of their engineering corps would have to be reassigned to the Arctic.
According to the experts, relocating to the Arctic came with distinct advantages and disadvantages.
The surface temperature hovered around a brutal minus 200 degrees Celsius. In such extreme cold, biological activity was essentially zero, and indigenous microbial life was non-existent. Consequently, the need for strict bio-quarantines and pathogen control in the Arctic would be drastically reduced, practically eliminating the risk of crew infections.
Furthermore, the Arctic was rich in easily accessible methane hydrate deposits, meaning the colony would never face an energy shortage!
However, the extreme sub-zero temperatures would push their heavy machinery to the breaking point, significantly increasing the rate of mechanical failures. Standard construction materials would fail instantly. Industrial polymers, especially synthetic cement, would have to be replaced with specialized, cryo-resistant formulas capable of withstanding the minus 200-degree chill.
In short, while these logistical challenges were significant, they weren’t unsolvable. And a problem that could be solved wasn’t a true crisis!
The greatest bottleneck currently restricting the Federation’s industrial expansion was its small population! Human capital was the ultimate resource. No matter how advanced their automated drones were, they weren’t true A.I. Every machine required human oversight and maintenance.
We need to drastically incentivize the birth rate, Jason thought. Two, three, four, even five kids per family! The more, the better.
They needed to aggressively expand public services, heavily subsidize education, and make having children the most appealing option for young couples.
Thank God we synthesized the stem cell rejuvenation therapies. People in their thirties and forties still have the physical vitality of their twenties, which has already caused a noticeable spike in the birth rate... Jason mused.
What I wouldn’t give for 200,000 highly educated engineers right now!
If push comes to shove, I’ll just order the production of contraceptives to be halted! If they get pregnant, they have to deliver!
Just as these wildly unethical thoughts flashed through his mind, the formal geological debate finally concluded.
"Then it’s settled. We will establish the new primary operations hub in the Arctic region. The smelting factories and infrastructure already built here won’t be demolished; they will be repurposed as a secondary biological research outpost!"
Jason finalized the agenda and smoothly pivoted the conversation toward the real reason he had called the meeting.
He casually changed the subject. "Oh, by the way, I have something highly classified to share with you all. Check the secure video file I just pushed to your local terminals. It was recorded by one of the missing Marines. Watch it closely."
He activated the master playback on the main screen, leaning back to observe the council’s reaction. Aside from the eight Marines currently asleep in the infirmary, he was the only person who had seen the footage.
The council members remained seated, some still reviewing their geological data, assuming Jason was about to show them a video of a new industrial drone or a collapsed tunnel.
The video began to play. The very first frame hit the room like a physical blow. Everyone—even those who had been distracted—froze completely, mirroring Jason’s exact reaction when he first saw it.
Jaws dropped. Eyes widened without blinking.
The footage showed the reptilian natives butchering the giant sandworm, followed by their crude attempts to interact with the armored Marines, and finally, a trek back to their massive subterranean village...
The video clearly showed the natives’ sheer confusion at the localized frost surrounding the Marines’ armor. One particularly curious lizardman nervously tapped the frozen plating. Startled by the biting cold, it yanked its claw back, only to touch it again seconds later. They couldn’t comprehend how water could suddenly turn to solid ice, or why the giants’ "scales" were so unnaturally hard.
The natives truly believed the Marines were "Messengers of the Gods"!
But despite their primitive tech, the lizardmen were incredibly clever. After some rudimentary gestures and bartering with the Marines, they seemed to grasp the situation. They produced a pouch of strangely pungent herbs and smeared the paste over the exterior of the powered armor.
The chemical scent emitted by the alien herbs acted as a natural repellent against the acidic black swarms, entirely replacing the need for the rapid-depleting coolant gas.
Sergeant Will and his squad, apparently tossing all tactical caution to the wind, followed the natives deeper into the dark, perhaps driven by curiosity, or perhaps believing their armored superiority gave them absolute control.
The footage eventually revealed a massive, sprawling indigenous village. Thousands of crude mounds and carved burrows dotted the landscape, housing an estimated population in the tens of thousands.
And the entire village was built inside a colossal caldera!
Yes, an underground volcanic crater!
The Marine had only recorded the settlement from a high vantage point; they hadn’t descended into the village itself. But everyone in the conference room could clearly see the thick, sluggish rivers of glowing magma hundreds of meters below the settlement! The fiery glow faintly illuminated the massive cavern, making it the brightest subterranean environment they had ever seen.
The magma wasn’t churning violently. The volcanic activity had likely been dormant for millennia, leaving only a slow, steady geothermal pulse.
Those reckless idiots under Sergeant Will’s command had blindly followed the natives right into the heart of a dormant volcano. They must have been absolutely terrified when they realized where they were.
A staggering number of the black acid-bugs blanketed the upper volcanic rock walls. It was an unfathomable swarm, millions of times larger than the one that had ambushed the convoy. If the previous swarm was a puddle, this was a dark, endless ocean!
However, saturated by the intense geothermal heat, the massive swarm appeared incredibly docile. They simply clung to the walls, absorbing the thermal radiation to survive and reproduce. Through millions of years of evolution, they instinctively knew exactly how close they could get to the magma without combusting.
In this hyper-thermal zone, ambient surface temperatures hovered between 30 to 40 degrees Celsius. Near the core, it likely spiked to 60 or 70 degrees!
The indigenous village was situated on the cooler outer rim, enjoying a stable 30 to 40-degree climate. In such a naturally hot environment, the thermal signatures of the powered armor simply blended into the background, meaning the acid-bugs completely ignored them, even without the herbal paste.
This massive caldera was the beating heart of the underground ecosystem. Fueled by boundless geothermal energy, the cavern teemed with massive subterranean fauna, towering fungal forests, and bizarre alien flora.
It was a world of geothermal life! They possessed the unique biological ability to synthesize organic matter purely by absorbing thermal radiation!
The massive stone pillars and rock walls supporting the caldera had been heavily corroded by the black swarm over millions of years. The resulting chemical reaction had left behind a highly condensed, translucent slag that actually reflected the glowing magma! This biological byproduct was essentially an organic super-ceramic, explaining why a cavern of this impossible size hadn’t collapsed under the weight of the continent above it.
In the video, one of the Marines, driven by curiosity, had actually tried to cut into one of the translucent pillars with his high-frequency plasma-saw. The blade barely left a superficial scratch.
The plasma-saw was forged from military-grade Superalloy Z! That fact alone demonstrated the terrifying density of the hardened bio-slag.
It was spectacular. Absolutely spectacular!
Watching the footage again, Jason was still filled with profound awe. The alien majesty of the subterranean world defied all human imagination.
A heavy silence descended over the conference rooms on both the surface and up on The Ark. Everyone held their breath, completely mesmerized.
They were frantically processing the impossible imagery, feeling as though they were watching a high-budget sci-fi film.
But they all knew Jason wouldn’t call an emergency council meeting just to screen a movie...
As the video ended and the screens faded to black, the executives remained frozen in stunned silence.
"This is..."
After a long, breathless pause, one of the lead biologists slammed his hands onto the table, his eyes wide. "A subterranean ecosystem? An indigenous civilization?! All discovered in a single cavern network?!"
"Is this a digital render? Captain, where did this footage come from?"
"Is this real? Tell me this isn’t some VR simulation!"
A flurry of panicked, excited questions erupted across the room. Their rational minds initially rejected what they were seeing, assuming it had to be a fake.
However, the raw, unedited helmet-cam telemetry and the hyper-realistic physics of the environment made a hoax impossible. Furthermore, there was zero logical reason to fabricate something this massive just to prank the High Council.
Even Security Director Austin’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. "Wait a minute! Is that Sergeant Will in the footage? Those are my Marines! What the hell is going on?!"
Hearing Austin’s frantic shout, the council realized the terrifying truth: the footage was absolutely real! Their eyes grew impossibly wide as the sheer magnitude of the discovery crashed over them.
A vast, continent-spanning cave network housing an intelligent, indigenous civilization!
What did "indigenous" even mean in this context?
The executives in the room began breathing heavily, their faces flushed with unprecedented excitement.
But despite the thrill, no one had any immediate tactical or diplomatic solutions for dealing with these natives.
"Damn it! Bag ’em all and send them to the mines!" Dr. Arthur Lambert suddenly shouted, jumping up from his seat. In truth, his field of aerospace engineering had absolutely nothing to do with xeno-sociology; he was just caught up in the wild adrenaline of the moment.
The sheer absurdity of the suggestion broke the tension, and the room erupted into nervous laughter.
Mining was brutal, heavy labor. These reptilian natives were incredibly scrawny; if you put the entire village to work, they probably wouldn’t match the output of a single automated excavator.
But as the laughter died down, a heavy, contemplative silence returned.
What did it mean for humanity to stumble upon another intelligent civilization so casually?
These weren’t simple-minded grunts; they were the brightest minds of their generation. They looked at the broader, cosmic implications.
In the vast, dark expanse of the universe, wasn’t intelligent life supposed to be incredibly rare?
Or... was it?
Was humanity really just astronomically lucky? If advanced civilizations were a statistical anomaly, how could they just stumble onto one hiding in a cave?
If basic biological life was commonplace, then perhaps the spark of civilization was commonplace, too. That would explain why they found intelligent life on a moderately habitable rock like Nyx...
But putting aside the philosophical debate of the Fermi Paradox, the immediate question remained: How should the Federation handle these reptilian natives?
This was the absolute priority.
Humans were neither pure saints nor mindless butchers; morality was rarely black and white. From the cold, calculating perspective of a surviving civilization, every decision had to be measured against a single metric: "Interests."
What could this primitive civilization offer humanity? What strategic benefits could they provide? Could they assist the Federation’s expansion? And most importantly... could they ever pose a threat?
These were the questions that would shape the future of both species.
