Where the Thargoids Roam
26 Aug 2022(Baron) Rigel Kynse
Where the Thargoids RoamA Short Analysis on Unnecessary Competition Between Homo sapiens and
Thargus thargoid
By Baron Rigel Kynes,
High Docent at the Imperial Institute and Canonner of Canonn Interstellar Research Group
Introduction
In recent years humanity has been absorbed in a conflict with an alien species of unknown origin. The interaction between Humans (Homo sapiens) and Thargoids (Thargus thargoid) began between 3125 and 3151. This first stage of contact ended after the mycoid bioweapon was deployed against the Thargoid, and at the time thought to have led to their extinction. However in 3303 humanity started encountering Thargoid vessels again, and as time went on this evolved into a full-fledged conflict between the two species. If we look at this conflict through a purely ecological lens it makes almost no sense why this must continue. In fact, it seems that we are driving the conflict by being a threat to the Thargoids. Allow me to elaborate.
Modern Ecology of Humans
The niche of modern humans is a complicated one. While we are spacefarers, to develop a large population of any real magnitude we must terraform worlds that already have the right conditions to do so. These are worlds with atmospheres that have close to 7-8 parts nitrogen and 2-3 parts oxygen. Our worlds must also have a large amount of Water(H2O) present in liquid form. Our terraformed and habitable worlds are where most of our population resides. These worlds require large amounts of raw materials and resources that we mine and exploit from space-based sources, such as rings of planetary bodies and asteroid/comet belts surrounding stars. Humans also mine on the surface of uninhabitable planets and moons. While we exploit our star systems quite heavily, it is a drop in the bucket compared to what is present in these systems. Humans extract mostly metals and rare minerals from inhabited and exploited star systems. While humans have a large presence in the stars and the galactic ecosystem we hardly would be noticeable if something wasn't looking for us. I don't think the Thargoids were looking.
Known Ecology of Thargoids
Not much is known about the natural habitat of the Thargoids. It is hypothesized that they evolved on ammonia worlds and thus are only present in serious populations on such planets. However it is well established that they have been spacefaring for millions of years (at least back to the times of the Guardians), so may at this point be primarily a space-based organism. This is substantiated by the fact that they seem to have a natural affinity for hyperspace, having the ability to pull human ships out of hyperspace whenever they see fit. The only planetary sites that seem to interest the Thargoids are their barnacle, and large star map structures. It seems the only mineral/resource extraction is done at these Thargoid barnacle sites, where they collect meta alloys. It is thought that the barnacles convert planetary minerals into the almost organic/living meta alloys. All Thargoid devices and technology are thought to be somewhat biological or organic. It may be that Thargoids actually primarily exist in hyperspace, only making their way to this part of space to collect materials for reproduction or their general life processes. However, this is just conjecture and may be false. They could be based on ammonia worlds yet to be discovered.
Competition and Niche Overlap
In nature, most species' conflict and competition are driven by the use of the same habitat or resources. Meaning if two species share the same niche in the same habitat they compete and often drive one or the other to extinction. There is relatively little overlap in resource or habitat usage of Thargus Thargoid and Homo sapiens. We have no use for ammonia worlds, and Thargoids have no use for earth-like worlds. The Thargoids are not known to need any of the metals or valuable resources in the asteroid belt or planetary rings, and we have very limited need or use for meta alloys. Perhaps the planets where the meta alloys and Thargoid structures are found are overlapping territory but these places are few and far between and would be easily avoided by humans, given there is nothing unique about these planets that humans cannot find elsewhere. Hyperspace is perhaps another overlap, but conflict is not a full-blown conclusion when a hyperspace interdiction occurs. Most conflict in these cases comes from humans attacking first, or humans possessing equipment that is threatening to the Thargoid (guardian tech).
Conclusion
Humans and Thargoids could easily avoid each other and provide no mutual threat or competition. Most of this conflict has been driven by political and philosophical reasoning on the side of humans. At the beginning of encounters with Thargoids, they were relatively peaceful and left human ships alone. The exception to this was when humans used force or were perceived as a threat to Thargoid ships. If humans avoided Thargoid structures and barnacles and even left nebulae where Thargoids are known to inhabit the likelihood of conflict would, in my opinion, drastically decrease.
Discussion
Think of the Thargoids like an ant colony. When an ant colony perceives a threat it attacks the threat. It swarms what is in its territory or harms its nest or resource-gathering sites. After the threat has passed the ants continue with business as usual or rebuild what was destroyed. They never go after the source of the threat with the thought of malice or revenge or for any cultural or philosophical reason. The Thargoids I think would be much the same. Humans however have actively hunted and attacked the Thargoids, seeking them out and becoming a threat to them. If humans ceased this activity and simply left the Thargoids alone in their system we would have peace, but for political, cultural, and philosophical reasons we continue, and that is why we are where we are today.
Citations
Thargoid. Elite Dangerous Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2022, from https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Thargoid
YouTube. (2019). Elite Dangerous - The Alien Story. YouTube. Retrieved August 26, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTsV6fqdvHs.
Google Doc Version
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oO5f3iZQ_i_4ETpwULf5zTdfVuuH_I1nO6crKOi-pNo/edit?usp=sharing