METHODOLOGY

Its funny how nave science fiction writers were. They assumed we would be on
the same level as aliens that our battles would be fought on even ground. They
egotistically thought that humans might even have an edge for our special
upbringing on Earth.
But space is big. Really big. By the time, we finally found a way to quickly
traverse it, we figured out the truth. Space isnt the biggest boundary separating
alien civilizations.
The universe formed 14 billion years ago, and its been habitable for much of
that time. In comparison, our ape ancestors only appeared a few tens of
millions of years ago, and weve only been able to reach out into the void for
about a hundred years now.
Time is the boundary that truly separates life. Its likely that in the whole Milky
Way, there is no alien race that is exactly on our technology level. There are
perhaps millions of races that are eons behind us, and many more that are just
as far ahead. Some aliens are but ants to us. If we desired, we could crush them
without a second thought. Other aliens, however, are gods. Their technological
capability is beyond our understanding, beyond anything we could ever dream.
With such technological disparity, it seems almost inevitable that the universe is
one giant game of predator and prey. As a young species just entering the
galactic community, we are prey to all and predator to none. Some men dream
of finding worlds that we can colonize, worlds where we can be the predators,
but they dont realize that were millions, even billions of years behind.
Until recently, we believed that maybe were late bloomers, billions of years late
that maybe we dont have a place in this universe. If the universe is cold and
unforgiving, the old and strong swallowing up the younger, weaker species, what
chance did we have? With such powerful alien civilizations already in power

around the galaxy, how could we even make it a hundred years without being
crushed by a superior force?
Four days ago, an alien species of unknown origin entered the solar system.
Their ships were incomprehensibly fast, and their strange weaponry tore
through our defenses with little to no resistance. In a matter of minutes, the
human defense was shattered. We were broken and vulnerable. The Earth and
her colonies were ripe for the taking, a useful colony world to these dominant
aliens.
They descended upon our colonies, rounding us up in billions. They vaporized
our structures and facilities and built their own. At this moment, we knew there
was nothing special about us. We were a small, insignificant species whose fate
was at the mercy of this superior race.
But then they arrived. We called them the Arbiters, even though we never saw
one in person. They sent one ship, the size of a small car. At this sight, the
invaders scattered and ran, abandoning their projects and leaving our solar
system. But they were too slow for the Arbiter ship in an instant, it unleashed
whatever arcane forces it had at its command, and the invaders completely
disappeared. Our planets somehow reverted to their pre-invasion state, and
indeed the only remaining evidence of the invasion was in our memories.
It was at that moment that we understood. This was how the prey survived. This
was how civilizations were allowed to form.
It was at that moment that we made the choice. We abandoned our dreams of
conquest and victory. We wouldnt become invaders. We would become
Arbiters.