We’ve uplifted a lot of animals to human-level intelligence. Gorillas and the other simians were easy from what I understand. Dolphins and similar guys were already high on the sentience list. We did cats and dogs too. Opposable thumbs and usable fingers and all systems are go. The trick I guess was making the changes genetically dominant so their kids were the same. But I’d really like to shoot the idiot that let those experimental rats escape.
There is one thing that we’ve found that is very rare in our travels. Throughout all of Terran space, we’ve not met another natural star-traveling race. For all the life-giving worlds we’ve found near Earth, for all the living beings that inhabit them, we’ve never found anyone else who built cities and civilizations. We’re it. Except for those who traveled thousands of lightyears to meet us, Earth and her colonies are alone.
The First Republic of Texas lived a very short time. In effect, it lasted long enough for Texas to ask for annexation by the United States of America, and for that request to be accepted. Texas never forgot her history of being a sovereign power though. Centuries have passed by and once again she is a sovereign Republic and an American State. It is amazing the history we have lived through.
History talks about how we met aliens and found out they were human too. Homo Sapiens that is. Homo Stellaris. Whatever. Point is, it’s sorta true. Yes, the most powerful are, but there are others. We’ve uplifted cats and dogs for instance. Other races have done similar things. Genetic engineering for fun and companionship. And for war as the Peloran can attest. I’ve met lots of different people out there, from a lot of different races. It’s a big galaxy.
The frequency of habitable worlds in our area of space is far beyond what scientists ever projected. Some people theorize some intelligent design process. Our terraforming of Mars and Venus is as an example of that. But we have yet to find any alien race with enough interest in our region of space to invest the time and effort it would take to terraform that many systems. Is it random chance or did someone design things that way? We still ask that question.
Forge of War on Amazon
Angel Flight on Amazon
Angel Strike on Amazon
Angel War on Amazon
Wolfenheim Rising on Amazon
Wolfenheim Emergent on Amazon
