Outer powers

A star slowly spun, its radiant light blocked and regularly interrupted by small, mirror-like structures that orbit around it, the ten small planets in the system all covered in the metal cities are built by.

A Dyson sphere, billions of mirrors redirected sunlight to solar collectors, which sucked the light up like candy, greedy for more and more energy, which was promptly redirected away to power the colossal city planets.

This is the capital of one of the outer powers currently owning a portion of the Orion Arm, it alone generating enough capital to feed tens of thousands of ships, not to mention something as relatively small as the Imperial Fleet.

Among these behemoths of technology and power stood all kinds of civilizations and species, each proving their mettle against the waves of time and others who sought to threaten them.

When a nation reaches old age, they tend to think differently, they feel differently, and something fundamental changes within them.

They become slower but steadier, more patient and wise, but lose much of their energy in the process.

Many fade into decadence, and most simply no longer bother to expand, since when they can create resources out of thin air whenever they please, terraform planets in weeks, and do things that are indistinguishable from magic, why should they?

This nation is still comparatively young, still hungry for glory and attention, but is slowly slipping away into the pleasures of procrastination, a demon many have fallen to before them.

the ones who don't become one of the elders, and any who don't lose their ambitions are destroyed by them when they become a threat to them, put down like a wild animal.

...Maybe that's why many give up and allow themselves to slip away.

Such is the fate of those who long for power in the current galaxy, of course, They don't care for the young ones, they are of no concern for these titans, but among one of these is a nation.

The Azburgian Interstellar Empire.

A nation built upon the principles of a meritocracy, but with a monarch at the helm, guiding the educated masses, who serve loyally in return.

A deadly combination of the two most common yet effective government types in human history, and ones that are commonly seen across other civilizations as well, although seeing them combined into one is rare, to say the least.

With a determined and driven people and a capable absolute monarch, the nation was destined for triumph and success, that's not to say it hasn't faced challenges.

Ironically, the arguably greatest obstacle to the success of this race is its own members, with selfish presidents, who were elected totally legitimately, and an easily swayed and emotional population, these people have brushed against extinction many times, fighting so much that rules had to be made.

You know, so they don't kill millions in the most brutal ways possible. Completely normal stuff.

...And they wondered why aliens don't want to talk to them without a gas mask and a gun Just in case.

This bloody upbringing and competitiveness did give them an edge over others, millions of years of competing for resources, position, and territory had marked humanity with blood, but also intelligence, power, and a thirst for more.

A predator on its homeworld, humans became a hunter in the stars as well, unlike the cattle which they conquered with ease.

However, humanity's will is its most impressive quality, their endurance the greatest of any animal on Earth, this trait also proved useful in the Colosseum of space.

Humans were definitely not a force to be trifled with, and the powers of the Orion Arm knew this from experience.

The outer powers considered them the greatest obstacle to their plans, but they couldn't reach them yet.

For now, they were weak, but they could easily see that changing with enough time.

When they learned something, they used that to learn faster, and after that faster again and again, which meant that they were growing explosively, not slowing down for a second.

The second they descended into chaos again, they would strike, they wouldn't make the mistake of giving them time like the HIVE did.

No, they aren't as arrogant and foolish as that creature.

Earth itself was an anomaly to these races, as its surroundings suggested.

It felt like there were other people there, or a different civilization at least, which made very little sense.

The humans are already there, there was very little time for another advanced species to form before them.

Of course, there is the possibility that humans were a space-fearing civilization before, but degenerated back into a planet-bound species, but that was deemed unlikely since there would be some kind of records left over. Or more evidence of their existence at least.

Still, an anomaly so intriguing was rare, so they watched with interest as the humans explored and came up with their own theories, each ranging from nonsense to something actually possible.

This would take a long time to solve, but that is okay, they had all the time the universe had.

His majesty is also a strange specimen, doing things that should be impossible for his species is not normal, obviously.

His genes are reportedly completely within the limits, but his strength is somehow even better than expected.

There are many possibilities for this one, he could be enhanced by another power, using him as a puppet without their knowledge, but considering the prideful nature of humans, that's unlikely.

He could have also just gotten lucky and won the human generic lottery like no one else in recorded history, which is... a bit unlikely...

The last major theory is that he could be enhanced by supernatural means, but that is met with skepticism at best, since only a few can use the supernatural forces in the universe to their advantage with any consistency.

Well the answer would reveal itself in time, but they know all too well these young ones wont stay still in that time, and chaos would reign again, and when it did...

They would dominate.