Extrasapien Engineering

The Star League represented the pinnacle of technological achievement for humanity - scientific and engineering advancements far beyond our current capabilities. However, the pace of deterioration of humanity’s technological capabilities has outstripped what can simply be explained by war while simultaneously reports of events requiring advanced technological capacity that exceed that of the Star League continue to occur. In this paper, we introduce the field of extrasapien engineering and highlight examples of these conflicting themes that all but ensure that non-human intelligence must be at work in our corner of the galaxy.

Astrophysicist Frank Drake [FR-1961] established the Drake equation, which helps provide a probability of the existence of non-human intelligence in the universe. Despite the limited data at the time, this has become a foundational equation for the study of extrasapien engineering. Despite claims that humanity has encountered zero non-human intelligence as we explore the galaxy, the Drake equation all but guarantees that the probability of non-human intelligence remains high. Indeed, Barison Reed [BR-2847] highlighted this curious discrepancy in his paper outlining the improbability of all life on every planet ever discovered by humanity remaining firmly below the thresholds for sentience. Given the statistical certainty of the existence of non-human intelligence, one must ask where these entities are to be found.

Consider the work of Carn et. al. [JC-2876] documenting the levels of destruction in the industrial base of each successor state during the first and second Succession Wars. In this paper, the authors outline the expected levels of industrial capacity, both military and civilian, for all successor states over the next 100 years, accounting for different possible governmental policies which may encourage or degrade retention of technological capacity. While we have not seen the level of degradation in the Inner Sphere that the Periphery powers have experienced, the progress of humanity has been more difficult than expected, despite many of the successor states adopting policy recommendations from this paper designed to preserve and expand the technological capacity of humanity. While there are several possible explanations for this higher that expected degradation [SR-2903, RM-2912, RO-1914], the scope of the degradation suggests either a widespread conspiracy, such as the theory that ComStar is secretly destroying Star League technology to ensure their dominance [PZ-2985], or an entity with surveillance and intervention capabilities currently surpassing those of any successor state.

The widespread degradation of the technological capacity of the successor states is outstripped by the devastation of the Outworlds Alliance following the fall of the Star League. While the commonly held reason for the Outworlds Alliance abandoning two thirds of their worlds, approximately 100 systems, is the loss of infrastructure and trade from the Star League [RK-2830], this level of abandonment has not been seen in any of the other Periphery nations. This so called ‘Outworlds Wastes’ is one of humanity’s furthest reaches into space from Terra; perhaps explorers discovered something so significant and powerful that prompted the extreme withdrawal and following economic devastation of the Outworlds Alliance, such as a extrasapien presence.

The idea of an extrasapien presence begins to look more compelling when considering reports of events that exceed the capacity of the Star League. The Minnesota Tribe [OV-2828] struck various military targets in the Draconis Combine between 9 October 2825 and 9 March 2827, fanning fears of the Star League Defense Force returning [CB-2926]. These forces outmatched Draconis Combine military forces, leading to a series of lopsided victories before the Minnesota Tribe vanished. While no conclusive proof has come of archeological expeditions, there is a compelling narrative for extrasapien origins for this group, as Minnesota was a region on Terra known for unexplained extrasapien encounters. The locations attacked by the Minnesota Tribe are within relatively short travel distance from the Outworlds Wastes region that was abandoned.

Finally, accounts of mysterious disappearances indicate the presence of an extrasapien intelligence collecting human ships and crews. Consider the battle of Dieron in 2787 [TR-2788]. Although the Lyran Commonwealth forces were largely successful in their objectives, the four surviving ships of the Lyran naval squadron disappeared and no evidence of them has been found to this date. The disappearance of over 1,000 crew and 4 of the surviving warships of the era without any debris or sign of capture remains improbable without their capture by a more advanced force.

Consider also the SLS Tripitz [TR-2785], a SLDF Black Lion class battlecruser, which is widely considered one of the most successful SLDF warships [WY-2802]. The SLS Tripitz was tasked with evacuating members of House Cameron in the event of an emergency, such as the Amaris Coup. Reports indicate that the SLS Tripitz left the Sol system following the coup; however there is no report of the warship ever joining with other SLDF naval forces. Given its importance in the fleet, suggestions of maintenance issues, a misjump, or a mutiny are unlikely. The disappearance of the SLDF’s most important warship and its cargo - the family of the First Lord - can be most simply explained by the intervention of an external entity with the capability to overwhelm a top of the line SLDF battlecruiser, such as an extrasapien entity.

This paper will explore these concerns within the new intellectual framework of extrasapien engineering. In the first section, we provide the prerequisite background information for the establishment of this field of study. We first outline the statistical probability of extrasapien intelligence in section 2. In section 3 we explore the unprecedented degradation of humanity’s technological capacity and explore the potential explanations. In section 4 we consider the unexplained events listed above, as well as several others, and outline the technological capacity required to execute these events as well as explain why they exceed the current or past capabilities of humanity. Lastly, in section 5 we outline the common techniques from this analysis and provide a framework for establishing the technical specifications required for these events to have occurred. In the conclusion, we demonstrate to the reader how these factors come together to demonstrate provide the current best estimates of technological capacity of extrasapien group or groups currently operating in the portion of the galaxy inhabited by humanity.

A Sad Legacy

The above text is an excerpt from the infamous paper Extrasapien Engineering: Motivation and Foundation by Dr Manu Kerner. This text is held as an example of one of the most notable academic controversies of the past century. The full manuscript was leaked to the public during review for publication in the New Avalon Journal of Modern Engineering, along with an extensive critique of every point brought forth by Dr Kerner. The dry critique was quickly taken as a sensational ‘special interest’ news item by several prominent newsrooms, leading to its widespread ridicule throughout the academic and political circles of the Inner Sphere within a year.

While the 3 reviewers steadfastly refused to disclose who had leaked the manuscript, Dr Kerner blamed longtime rival Professor Aias Snider. Footage of the resulting physical altercation at the University of Robinson added to the budding fervor over the leaked manuscript and helped ensure it would become widespread news. Following the altercation, Dr Kerner was banned from all academic institutions in the Federated Suns and several academic institutions in the rest of the Inner Sphere. Dr Kerner vowed to find evidence to prove the theories in the manuscript correct and vanished from academic circles. Following sporadic reports of Dr “Spooky” Kerner sightings across the Inner Sphere, news coverage eventually faded. It remains unclear what ultimately happened to Dr Manu Kerner.

Graduate programs hold the leaked review as an example of well executed, detailed peer review while also using the public spectacle as an example for their students of a breakdown in professional ethics and potential consequences. While academics are historically viewed as producing results that fail to meaningfully advance human knowledge or sometimes even engage with reality, examples such as this demonstrate that the peer review process is critical to maintaining the accuracy and credibility of scientific endeavors.

Metadata

Started: 9 Mar 2026

Last edited: 11 Mar 2026

Special thanks to Dusty ‘Star Colonel’ Guerra for the idea of the rapid collapse of the Outworlds Wastes.