A schism emerged between the nature-worshipping traditionalists and the technologically minded progressives – a divide that widened with alarming speed. Efforts were made to defuse the rising tension, but the traditionalists felt alienated by the rapid rate of change. Artificial intelligence and the development of the monolith network became scapegoats for all manner of social ills, and the traditionalists began to clamour for a return to simpler times. Ultimately the ideological divergence proved insurmountable, a second civil war erupted, quickly engulfing most of the Guardians’ star systems.
[14] The abolitionists seized control of the homeworld, and exiled supporters of a liberated AI.
[5]
In its early stages, the war was fought primarily by soldiers, but within a decade – and after significant loss of life – most of the fighting was conducted remotely. The progressives fought with automated combat machines. These engines of war took various forms, from autonomous drones to vast, lumbering dreadnoughts imbued with limited artificial intelligence. On the other side, the traditionalists relied mostly on biological weapons. They used germ warfare alongside long-range missiles loaded with corrosive enzymes, which could target the enemy’s war machines from a great distance.
[15]
The main issue was the internecine nature of the conflict, which raged for over one hundred years and brought the Guardians’ civilisation to its knees, retarding any further social development. But the challenges facing the traditionalists were exacerbated by the fact that they devoted most of their resources to honouring the dead. They regarded the departed in much the same way as the primitive cultures of
Sol, constructing vast shrines to honour the deceased. As their situation worsened, they became increasingly obsessed with these practices. With so much of their resources dedicated to these rites, it is little wonder that their enemies’ war machines were able to overwhelm them.
[16]
Remarkably, it seems the artificial intelligences developed during the conflict became fully self aware at some point, and were horrified by the destruction unfolding around them. It’s difficult to get a sense of exactly what happened next, as the Guardians were not privy to the Constructs’ thoughts. But reading between the lines, Ram Tah believes the Constructs determined that even if peace was restored the Guardians would never be able to transcend their violent natures. Ram Tah believes they decided that the only way to preclude further violence – while giving their own burgeoning society the best possible chance of survival – was to destroy what remained of the Guardians’ civilisation. By this time, the Constructs had complete control of the Guardians’ munitions and automated war machines. Their attack, when it came, was swift and merciless. Strategic nuclear and chemical-weapon strikes were executed with a precision that only a machine race could accomplish. The few that survived were able to record what had happened, but they soon succumbed to radiation poisoning.
[2] Increasingly automated weapons irradiated the Guardians’ planets, forcing the creation of protective shield domes. As these eventually fell, so did the last of the Guardians.
[5] The Guardians were utterly destroyed.
[2]
