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[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "So, this is your final say on the matter," Ambassador Corrin spoke into his microphone, struggling to be heard over the cacophony of alien laughter. It took a few short seconds for his words to be translated into the various alien languages, and the laughter slowly diminished. His galactic translator had played the alien sounds in his earpiece as human laughter, using a track that sounded suspiciously like the one used in ancient, televised shows. He could hear the actual sounds echoing through the massive council hall, which was far more disturbing. The Skarr sounded worst, like the braying of a drowning donkey. The reptilian race and their actions were in fact the main reason of his current ire.
The year was 2232. It was supposed to be a joyous year for humanity, marking the 50th anniversary of their First Contact. Instead of celebrations, however, humanity was in outrage after one of their colonies had been wiped out, courtesy of the Skarr. Betta-2315, or Moria, as the colonists had named it, was a small moon, rich in ores. It had been entirely uninhabited or industrialized, when a prospecting party had discovered the thick veins of metals running beneath the moons surface. Two years later, Moria had been up and running with almost 230.000 inhabitants working and living there. Then the Skarr attacked, with no warning whatsoever, and slaughtered every man, woman and child on the moon. The reptilians used plasma weaponry, which burned and melted human flesh. Live video-feeds had been transmitted during the attack, and the nine planets of the Terran Federation were crying for blood.
"Ambassador Corrin-Terran," the Chancellor finally spoke, still smiling. "In my long life as Chancellor, I have never heard of these 'Rules of Engagement'. Indeed, they would seem to defeat the entire purpose of a war. I know it has only been a mere 50 rotations since your kind has joined the Galactic Council, but I would have hope you had learned by now, that might is always right. Do not come crying and stomping your foot like a petulant youngling, because you lack the strength to protect your own. It is my ruling that the Galactic Council will not levy sanctions against the Skarr," he continued, gesturing with one of his tentacle-like appendages at the distant reptilian, "nor will the Council interfere in this war. It has been 50 rotations, Ambassador Corrin-Terran, and humanity will have to learn to fend for itself."
The Chancellor paused, and turned to the silent human ambassador, who seemed to be trembling. His eyes, four black orbs, seemed to soften.
"I would offer some words of advice, Ambassador Corrin-Terran. The Skarr are masters of warfare, their soldiers superior to yours in all aspects. Surrender, and broker a treaty. Provided you can gather a suitable tribute, I am sure the Skarr will relent."
Corrin gripped the edge of his desk, breathing deeply to get his anger under control. It took a few moments, and his heart rate slowed. He looked up at the Chancellor, then to the sneering Skarr ambassador.
"Thank you, Chancellor, but that won't be necessary. Us humans, we are quite familiar with war. We've spent the last thousands of years fighting each other, after all. Our propensity for destruction is what eventually led to the first two world wars, after which we collectively agreed on the first draft of our Rules of Engagement. Even in the following three world wars, we managed to abide by them, for to not do so would have been mutually assured destruction. I daresay some of our more aggressive leaders are relishing the thought of a war without rules. All I can say on the matter, is that I tried." Corrin sighed, then turned to the Skarr ambassador.
"You shall have your war, Ambassador Threxl. May God have mercy on your souls."
With a final nod to the chancellor, Corrin turned and left the Council Hall, headed for his shuttle. A soft ping from his comms chimed in his earpiece.
"What was their answer, Ambassador?"
"As you suspected, General. You may proceed as you wish. My shuttle will be back on the TFN Kansas in less than ten minutes."
"Very good, Ambassador. I'll see you there." | Less than a century ago the Krahzak Pride was the most powerful and feared interstellar civilization. No other species or alliance could hope to survive a war with them, though a scant handful were powerful enough to make the prospect unenticing enough to the Krahzak. Instead they would discreetly scour the forest for signs of life and warn newcomers not to announce themselves when they step out of their home star system. But inevitably some could not be reached in time or not be convinced. Though few made their appearance as boldly and arrogant as species 51b9 (demonym: Hjuw'mahn) - only discovered at early stage 2 in the outer regions of a primary spiral arm - they invited every civilization to join something they called a Federeh'shon. Of course the Krahzak where happy to accept. It was awkward for me to attend back then. On one hand, as a young diplomatic novice it was quite the thrill being sent as envoy on a first contact mission but at the same time terrifying and sad, knowing the inevitable would not be far off.
After some biological safety checks to determine if our genome was succeptible to any of their endemic illnesses and compatible with their environment we were shown around their home world Keh'ple which had only somewhat recently been restored after a near miss on an GF1 event. Their efforts to restore the environment from genetic arches was impressive for our scientific division and a cultural exchange was with 51b9 was already in the negotiating phase when unfortunately relationships soured. As part of their Federeh'shon efforts they also proposed to establish universal rules of war. That's when the Krahzak scout showed his hand through an outburst of fur-straightening laughter. There was no point in pretending afterwards. Me and other delegates expressed what warnings and condolences we could without jeopardizing our own standing before beating a hasty retreat to our respective domains.
Then we waited. The first hunt was the most brutal one. Over time we obtained reports that 51b9 offered surprising resistance planet side despite and were despite their sheepish demanor in the negotiations and unassuming appearance quite cunning and resolute fighters and with even civilian populations readily participating in confrontations. But due to their lack of coordination and technology they never had more than the occasional victory. Their outlaying systems didn't survive for more than a few cycles and their home star colonies around Ahriz and Mjuhs fell the cycle after. That's when I was contacted directly by their head of diplomatic affairs to send a message to the Krahzak Pride - a message I would never have expected:
> Honored Krahzak Praetor
> Enough is enough! As you undoubtedly know from your hunting reports we are only one maybe two cycles from extinction.
> We have pled for your merci. We have fought for your recognition. You chose not to give us either. No one will choose our end but us.
> We have selected our strongest remaining warriors and offer you this: They will resettle to your systems willingly, breed, train and practice every day to satisfy your hunt in exchange for our continued existence. But if you choose the next cycle to be our last then you will join us and our sun in death!
> \- First Ambassador Santiago
I have never again been so conflicted about a decision since that day. Obviously I had to pass this message along. It was my duty and we could not take the chance of the Krahzak learning that we withheld this. But Nova bombs? They had been speculated as possible by our scientists. Now these Hjuw'mahns suggest that they had developed such a technology?!? Unlikely given their lack of technological prowess in every other domain. But IF! This would be the thing to finally give us parity with the Krahzak - maybe even superiority. Never again would we have to fear a potential hunt! But worse than that, if the Krahzak were to gain this technology they would have to clear upper hand on us too. I had no choice to pass this on to the military division and it was quickly decided that this technology must be obtained. It was one of the most hectic times of my life. How long could we delay this message to ensure we got there first without rendering the Krahzak unable to respond to the Hjuw'mahn offer? We were closer but we would have to consider them launching an early attack when they learned this. In the end a fleet was hastily assembled and dispatched. They should have had just enoug time to get to Keh'ple, extract as many scientists as we could and turn around before the Krahzak got there.
But our ships never returned. And our scouts sent after them painted a terrible picture. Their sun didn't quite go nova but had lost about 5% of it's mass in an was is presumed to be an articifial MASS ejection that ripped through the system incinerated everything in its path: Keh'ple, the Krahzak fleet, our fleet, the Gnimoy fleet, the Subru Alliance fleet as well as ships sent by the Atai Solidarity and the Nukan Dominion. The Krahzak vowed to make us all pay for our deceit and launched an ongoing hunt that would last 30 cycles. For years they ravaged the forest. We fought them with everything we had and barely made a dent. We lost so many systems, colonies and ships. And now our own were taken to be tributes alongside the Hjuw'mahns, fighting in smaller hunts back home and at times even against each other. Recordings being sent to us in taunt. And then, one day...
The hunt simply stopped. No more Krahzak fleets crossed our borders. No more messages were sent. No more colonies would go dark and no more of our scouts and merchants would vanish en route. For years we took it as a sign they were preparing for a final hunt to end us as well. We built as much force as we could but they never came. Eventually we dared to peek into their territory, carefully, timidly like the frightened abused children we have come to be. But no monsters were left in the forest. Every single one of their worlds, their colonies or outposts was gone. Stripped by partial novas, glassed from kinetic impacts, ravaged by plagues, fractured from core instabilities, burried under nucleogenic dust, suffocated by pyroclastic cataclysms. Nothing. NOTHING had remained.
Only a century ago the Krahzak Pride was the most powerful and feared interstellar civilization.
Today they are neither feared, nor powerful, nor interstellar, nor a civilization, nor anything at all.
Four cycles later a number of Hjuw'mahn-Krahzak hybrid ships approached each of our capitols casually asking: "About that Federation thing?" | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Humanity burst onto the scene a fair few centuries ago, but had always endeavored to make themselves helpful. They adapted technology in creative ways but ultimately they were poised to take but a minor note in galactic history.
Or they were until the Rh'nouts provoked them. A smallish race themselves they stood just a bit taller than the average human. Held features that were insectoid in nature though they did not appear to be brought up from preditors. Nor did the humans appear that way looking back.
The humans pleaded with the aggressors that certain rituals needed to be upheld. We never thought of them as an overly ceremonial people but while we arbitrated they insisted it was to keep their better nature's in check. We dismissed the claims stating that any handicaps they placed upon themselves were their own business.
The outer colonies of the humans began to go dark one by one. Nothing but the planet itself was spared. The Rh'nouts shared a similar atmosphere and as such those planets were the primary goal for them.
But then the humans mustered. The original colonies were retaken though not intact. They siphoned off the atmosphere after destroying the communication arrays. Leaving little more than a floating tomb behind. We are unsure if the radiation or the vacuum killed the Rh'nouts first.
The established colonies suffered a worse fate the shield technology we ourselves gifted humanity was put to devastating use when they encircled a planet and compressed its atmosphere causing their enemies to simply burst as they left their homes. Adapted technology indeed!
Rh'nout fleets met an end that would cause entire sectors to be closed off as humanity dumped payloads of nanomachines into their hulls with their only programming being to repurpose their surroundings into more of themselves.
But the core worlds suffered the worst fates. Planets are a finite resource, and habitable planets a rare one. After accelerating asteroids to near the speed of light. Engineering projects which must have started back when their own colonies were falling, they split the planets themselves asunder. Then bathed what was left in irradiated salts. Before sending our a galaxy wide ping with a contenious video feed stating that rules are nessicary.
Only the homeworld was spared for a given definition there of. They have tied a shield generator into the heart of the local star as power and simply sealed them there. They say as an object lesson and that no one will learn it if everyone is dead.
Humanity was poised to take but a minor note in galactic history. An adaptable and industrious people. But now they have shaken the order and stability of their milky way to its core. And we are happy to announce the official galactic rules of war. | We all couldn't quite believe it when 2022 started off like this. I remember since I was no more than five when it happened. But apparently SETI had found this recording.
"Um, uh...hey, did I fall asleep on this thing? Okay, okay. Testing, testing...alright, so, good- sometime in the future humanity. We are the Tyrhor...thian, wait that can't be right, Confederation (god, their pidgin language is so barbaric!) Anyway, uh, we're live from the past I guess, to tell you that the year in your world is 2062, and that today will be the meeting to discuss opening a war against you. You see, you have aspirations to go to space, and all aspiring space-faring beings must be tested with a no holds barred war for recognition on the Galactic Council. Must be a relief after being such a good species and not killing each other off by the deadline to be recognized as basically sapient. If you best all our finest Eggsecutioner (What? That's not a word, is it?) ships, and they do not transmit their kill signal, then you will be permitted to live. If not, you will face extinction. Namaste and have a nice day!"
That was the aliens' first, and last mistake. It gave us forty years to prepare. It gave me, Rex Nova, time to train in every martial art and with every weapon known to man, and then train in the newest, state of the art spacefaring fighter jets.
All of the world's industry, military and society forgot their petty Earth-based problems and rallied around making machines, computer systems, spacecraft and even self-regenerating rainforests that would be able to withstand any kind of alien armada.
We planned.
We plotted.
We waited.
And then the day finally came. The blessed day of alien bloodletting that we now think can bring about the Human Empire.
November 17th, 2062
Tyrhorthian battlecruisers set off nuclear mines around Pluto, causing several comets to smash into their fleet.
November 20th, 2062
Neptune's lightning was remotely redirected to completely annihilate their UFO carrier. Excellent.
November 22nd, 2062
Millions of turrets on Saturn's rings fire chemical, biological, nuclear, computer virus, and other weapons on missiles banned for use against humans. But not against aliens! LOOPHOLE!
November 26th, 2062
Have you ever heard the screams of thirty ships worth of Slimes when they plummet towards a storm as large as 300 Earths? I have on Jupiter my friends, and our wild, knives-in-teeth boarding parties are having an effect on the hive control ships.
December 2nd, 2062
Substantial losses, possibly in the thousands of ships, gouged the UN Mars Defensive Perimeter today. I was not one of them, and for every precious human they take, we take 100 of those boogers. Remember our rallying cry. We are 10 billion strong!
December 24th, 2062
The asteroid belt slowed em down, and now those melted morons have five ships against the twenty thousand ships of the Home Fleet and hundreds of thousands of fighters, led by me, each nuclear tipped in case of critical failure. Even a child could win money on what happens next, and it was Christmas for everyone.
December 25th
After the devastating battle, only one escape pod was left alive, and had survived well into what these "human" monsters considered morning by being quiet. But it had to warn its people, before it was too late, and it sent out a psychic signal.
"RUN."
Then it shot itself with its own moleculizer, ensuring the humans couldn't follow up for about a hundred years.
Would that be enough time, though? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "So, this is your final say on the matter," Ambassador Corrin spoke into his microphone, struggling to be heard over the cacophony of alien laughter. It took a few short seconds for his words to be translated into the various alien languages, and the laughter slowly diminished. His galactic translator had played the alien sounds in his earpiece as human laughter, using a track that sounded suspiciously like the one used in ancient, televised shows. He could hear the actual sounds echoing through the massive council hall, which was far more disturbing. The Skarr sounded worst, like the braying of a drowning donkey. The reptilian race and their actions were in fact the main reason of his current ire.
The year was 2232. It was supposed to be a joyous year for humanity, marking the 50th anniversary of their First Contact. Instead of celebrations, however, humanity was in outrage after one of their colonies had been wiped out, courtesy of the Skarr. Betta-2315, or Moria, as the colonists had named it, was a small moon, rich in ores. It had been entirely uninhabited or industrialized, when a prospecting party had discovered the thick veins of metals running beneath the moons surface. Two years later, Moria had been up and running with almost 230.000 inhabitants working and living there. Then the Skarr attacked, with no warning whatsoever, and slaughtered every man, woman and child on the moon. The reptilians used plasma weaponry, which burned and melted human flesh. Live video-feeds had been transmitted during the attack, and the nine planets of the Terran Federation were crying for blood.
"Ambassador Corrin-Terran," the Chancellor finally spoke, still smiling. "In my long life as Chancellor, I have never heard of these 'Rules of Engagement'. Indeed, they would seem to defeat the entire purpose of a war. I know it has only been a mere 50 rotations since your kind has joined the Galactic Council, but I would have hope you had learned by now, that might is always right. Do not come crying and stomping your foot like a petulant youngling, because you lack the strength to protect your own. It is my ruling that the Galactic Council will not levy sanctions against the Skarr," he continued, gesturing with one of his tentacle-like appendages at the distant reptilian, "nor will the Council interfere in this war. It has been 50 rotations, Ambassador Corrin-Terran, and humanity will have to learn to fend for itself."
The Chancellor paused, and turned to the silent human ambassador, who seemed to be trembling. His eyes, four black orbs, seemed to soften.
"I would offer some words of advice, Ambassador Corrin-Terran. The Skarr are masters of warfare, their soldiers superior to yours in all aspects. Surrender, and broker a treaty. Provided you can gather a suitable tribute, I am sure the Skarr will relent."
Corrin gripped the edge of his desk, breathing deeply to get his anger under control. It took a few moments, and his heart rate slowed. He looked up at the Chancellor, then to the sneering Skarr ambassador.
"Thank you, Chancellor, but that won't be necessary. Us humans, we are quite familiar with war. We've spent the last thousands of years fighting each other, after all. Our propensity for destruction is what eventually led to the first two world wars, after which we collectively agreed on the first draft of our Rules of Engagement. Even in the following three world wars, we managed to abide by them, for to not do so would have been mutually assured destruction. I daresay some of our more aggressive leaders are relishing the thought of a war without rules. All I can say on the matter, is that I tried." Corrin sighed, then turned to the Skarr ambassador.
"You shall have your war, Ambassador Threxl. May God have mercy on your souls."
With a final nod to the chancellor, Corrin turned and left the Council Hall, headed for his shuttle. A soft ping from his comms chimed in his earpiece.
"What was their answer, Ambassador?"
"As you suspected, General. You may proceed as you wish. My shuttle will be back on the TFN Kansas in less than ten minutes."
"Very good, Ambassador. I'll see you there." | We all couldn't quite believe it when 2022 started off like this. I remember since I was no more than five when it happened. But apparently SETI had found this recording.
"Um, uh...hey, did I fall asleep on this thing? Okay, okay. Testing, testing...alright, so, good- sometime in the future humanity. We are the Tyrhor...thian, wait that can't be right, Confederation (god, their pidgin language is so barbaric!) Anyway, uh, we're live from the past I guess, to tell you that the year in your world is 2062, and that today will be the meeting to discuss opening a war against you. You see, you have aspirations to go to space, and all aspiring space-faring beings must be tested with a no holds barred war for recognition on the Galactic Council. Must be a relief after being such a good species and not killing each other off by the deadline to be recognized as basically sapient. If you best all our finest Eggsecutioner (What? That's not a word, is it?) ships, and they do not transmit their kill signal, then you will be permitted to live. If not, you will face extinction. Namaste and have a nice day!"
That was the aliens' first, and last mistake. It gave us forty years to prepare. It gave me, Rex Nova, time to train in every martial art and with every weapon known to man, and then train in the newest, state of the art spacefaring fighter jets.
All of the world's industry, military and society forgot their petty Earth-based problems and rallied around making machines, computer systems, spacecraft and even self-regenerating rainforests that would be able to withstand any kind of alien armada.
We planned.
We plotted.
We waited.
And then the day finally came. The blessed day of alien bloodletting that we now think can bring about the Human Empire.
November 17th, 2062
Tyrhorthian battlecruisers set off nuclear mines around Pluto, causing several comets to smash into their fleet.
November 20th, 2062
Neptune's lightning was remotely redirected to completely annihilate their UFO carrier. Excellent.
November 22nd, 2062
Millions of turrets on Saturn's rings fire chemical, biological, nuclear, computer virus, and other weapons on missiles banned for use against humans. But not against aliens! LOOPHOLE!
November 26th, 2062
Have you ever heard the screams of thirty ships worth of Slimes when they plummet towards a storm as large as 300 Earths? I have on Jupiter my friends, and our wild, knives-in-teeth boarding parties are having an effect on the hive control ships.
December 2nd, 2062
Substantial losses, possibly in the thousands of ships, gouged the UN Mars Defensive Perimeter today. I was not one of them, and for every precious human they take, we take 100 of those boogers. Remember our rallying cry. We are 10 billion strong!
December 24th, 2062
The asteroid belt slowed em down, and now those melted morons have five ships against the twenty thousand ships of the Home Fleet and hundreds of thousands of fighters, led by me, each nuclear tipped in case of critical failure. Even a child could win money on what happens next, and it was Christmas for everyone.
December 25th
After the devastating battle, only one escape pod was left alive, and had survived well into what these "human" monsters considered morning by being quiet. But it had to warn its people, before it was too late, and it sent out a psychic signal.
"RUN."
Then it shot itself with its own moleculizer, ensuring the humans couldn't follow up for about a hundred years.
Would that be enough time, though? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | The galactic imperium council observed humanity’s colonization of planets for decades, amused as the first tentative steps seemed to come from the whole planet, and then devolved into a race for materials, that then sparked wars amongst the human “nations”. Pitiful race that couldn’t even align itself to the great cause of intergalactic colonization. It just caused them to go to war. Interestingly enough the humans went from basic space ships, which took them a hundred thousand years of evolution to create, to near light speed craft in less than a decade once war broke out. They showed some potential.
Once they reached the fourth solar system of colonies the Imperium decided to take action and voted unanimously these humans were to be stopped and declared war on them. We destroyed some of their asteroid mining operations and took the few survivors as prisoners.
The humans requested parlay. We paused aggressions and waited in the chamber on AletraC for the human delegation to arrive.
“We are a little surprised by this action, it took us until now to understand that your communication was, in fact, a declaration of war. You are the first alien contact we had, and didn’t expect it to be so aggressive.” The human ambassador said.
“The Imperium has been studying the human race for millennia and once we confirmed your inability to unite as one people it was decided you would not be allowed to populate beyond your own quadrant. As soon as you moved beyond Centauri 7 we sent the declaration of war.”
“Yes, we noticed your attacks. How would you describe these attacks?”
“I’m sorry, Human, what do you mean? We would describe them as ‘going to war’. We launched our military against your position, destroyed your defenses, and captured prisoners. War.”
“And what are the rules of this war?”
“Rules? We have no rules. Frankly, we have no war. The imperium exists for the purpose of expansion and colonization, our military is far superior to any other, so we have no need for rules. You will surrender, or perish. That is all you need to know. You are only lucky it is us doing the conquering before you destroyed each other in your endless attrition you call war amongst yourselves.”
“You don’t understand. What you call attrition, we call restraint. I’ll ask again, what are the rules of engagement, treatment of prisoners, protection of non-combatants, acceptable weaponry?”
“Human, I’ll respond again in a way you can hopefully understand. IT IS WAR. RULES HAVE NO PLACE IN WAR. DO YOU SURRENDER?”
I count this as the first warning of our cosmic mistake, and I only hope enough of the imperium survives to be kind to my memory. We have never dealt with a species so violent as to create something called a ‘suicide attack’ that was able to make it beyond a few hundred years of civilized evolution. Our lack of understanding about these rules the humans had probably are why we dismissed their projectile weapons, and never detected the weapons strapped to them that created mini suns when detonated.
The council was vaporized that day, those were the last thoughts of the Imperium Negotiator Ng’aat echoed through his people on the capitol ships near the council chambers followed by a cosmic scream and the psychic damage of such a death to a people that shared a mind.
Then a flash of light from where the chamber used to be as it exploded with force never seen by the imperium.
It seems that was the sign the humans were waiting for, as they launched projectiles from their ships and planets into the stars. Their first response of the war. We expected conventional explosives, no longer a threat to us. What they sent were much larger versions of those contained stars. The damage was staggering.
That was only the beginning. | We all couldn't quite believe it when 2022 started off like this. I remember since I was no more than five when it happened. But apparently SETI had found this recording.
"Um, uh...hey, did I fall asleep on this thing? Okay, okay. Testing, testing...alright, so, good- sometime in the future humanity. We are the Tyrhor...thian, wait that can't be right, Confederation (god, their pidgin language is so barbaric!) Anyway, uh, we're live from the past I guess, to tell you that the year in your world is 2062, and that today will be the meeting to discuss opening a war against you. You see, you have aspirations to go to space, and all aspiring space-faring beings must be tested with a no holds barred war for recognition on the Galactic Council. Must be a relief after being such a good species and not killing each other off by the deadline to be recognized as basically sapient. If you best all our finest Eggsecutioner (What? That's not a word, is it?) ships, and they do not transmit their kill signal, then you will be permitted to live. If not, you will face extinction. Namaste and have a nice day!"
That was the aliens' first, and last mistake. It gave us forty years to prepare. It gave me, Rex Nova, time to train in every martial art and with every weapon known to man, and then train in the newest, state of the art spacefaring fighter jets.
All of the world's industry, military and society forgot their petty Earth-based problems and rallied around making machines, computer systems, spacecraft and even self-regenerating rainforests that would be able to withstand any kind of alien armada.
We planned.
We plotted.
We waited.
And then the day finally came. The blessed day of alien bloodletting that we now think can bring about the Human Empire.
November 17th, 2062
Tyrhorthian battlecruisers set off nuclear mines around Pluto, causing several comets to smash into their fleet.
November 20th, 2062
Neptune's lightning was remotely redirected to completely annihilate their UFO carrier. Excellent.
November 22nd, 2062
Millions of turrets on Saturn's rings fire chemical, biological, nuclear, computer virus, and other weapons on missiles banned for use against humans. But not against aliens! LOOPHOLE!
November 26th, 2062
Have you ever heard the screams of thirty ships worth of Slimes when they plummet towards a storm as large as 300 Earths? I have on Jupiter my friends, and our wild, knives-in-teeth boarding parties are having an effect on the hive control ships.
December 2nd, 2062
Substantial losses, possibly in the thousands of ships, gouged the UN Mars Defensive Perimeter today. I was not one of them, and for every precious human they take, we take 100 of those boogers. Remember our rallying cry. We are 10 billion strong!
December 24th, 2062
The asteroid belt slowed em down, and now those melted morons have five ships against the twenty thousand ships of the Home Fleet and hundreds of thousands of fighters, led by me, each nuclear tipped in case of critical failure. Even a child could win money on what happens next, and it was Christmas for everyone.
December 25th
After the devastating battle, only one escape pod was left alive, and had survived well into what these "human" monsters considered morning by being quiet. But it had to warn its people, before it was too late, and it sent out a psychic signal.
"RUN."
Then it shot itself with its own moleculizer, ensuring the humans couldn't follow up for about a hundred years.
Would that be enough time, though? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | The great Warchief, the leader of the most powerful fleet in known space, waited patiently on his ship orbiting a planet. It had gone two years since his ships conquered the human settlement at the border of the empire he served.
The victory was swift. The few human military vessels was defeated in matter of minutes. Their beam weapons was no match for the empires shield technology.
The human had asked to send medical and evacuation ships to rescue the surviving crew and take the colonist home.
The great Warchief had said that he would allow it and that the ships would be protected.
He had lied. The medical and evacuation ships was left burning in space as a warning to the humans. After that, he had completely wiped out the human settlement, executed most of them and sent a few as pets to the royal court.
The humans had been upset and accused him for breaking the ”rules of war”.
He had laughed.
”Rules of war? There’s no rules of war!” he said to the human ruler, still laughing.
The Warchief had seen how the human rulers face changed. From fear, to anger to determination. It had made him somewhat uncomfortable, but with the mightiest fleet behind him he choose to ignore it.
The Warchiefs empire had taken up on itself to give newcomers to the galactic stage a slap on the wrist. Just to keep them in place. If you can’t handle a bloody noose on the galactic stage, you should scurry back to where you came from.
It had been some skirmishers. Small groups of human ships had attacked nearly every system in the empire. Nothing to difficult to handle though. Most of the ships was destroyed.
The humans had also send non weaponised pods with a a lot of electronics in them to every system. Many pods. Probably to get som intel. That had been attempts to destroy the pods, but they were to many. That was nothing that worried the great Warchief though. It was good if the humans fully understood the full might of the empire.
Now he patiently waited. He knew that the humans would try to take the colony back, fail and forced to accept that this is now part of the empire.
Suddenly his aid came running.
The Warchief was shocked to hear that they had lost contact with two of the empires most important worlds: the naval shipyard and the farming planet for the core worlds.
Impossible. It can’t be the humans! Four fleets protected each of the worlds. The puny humans would not be able to conquer them.
Two scout ships was sent. Both returned with troubled reports.
The humans had not conquered the planets. No, they had done something much worse.
They had destroyed not only the planets, but the whole systems. They had somehow made the star explode in each. Eight fleets destroyed and billions of the Empires loyal servants living on the planets was killed.
The Warchief was in disbelief. The humans had in a swift and decisive blow, crippled his fleet and food supply.
He couldn’t understand how.
The bridge contacted him.
The humans was here.
He ran to the bridge and the tactical screen was filled with red dots. So many, in fact, that the onboard computer couldn’t keep track. The human fleet was not fancy, it was nothing more than prams with engines and railguns.
Railsguns! What in the empires name! It hadn’t been used in thousands of years.
A wall of accelerated projectiles was fired at once from all of the human ships.
Followed by another wave of projectiles. And another. And another.
The great Warchief saw how the projectiles kinetic force did short work of his front guard ships shields. By the third wave the shield was gone and the projectiles ripped the ships in pieces.
The projectiles came closer to the bulk of his fleet. He knew that they wouldn’t have a chance. He ordered a retreat. The small ships would make it, but the big capitol ships was too slow and would be destroyed.
Then the computer got locked onto an extremely big asteroid closing in on the planet that now instead of humans was populated with millions of settlers from all over the empire. Somehow the humans had managed to launch an asteroid! And it would kill everything on the planet and probably make it inhabitable for centuries.
The Warchief suddenly realised. The humans had created the rules of war to keep themselves in check. To protect themselves - and strangely enough their enemy.
Without the rules of war, the humans was unstoppable savages always on the brink of self destruction. But if they manage to channel that destruction outwards…
The last thought through his mind when the projectiles smashed into his ship was: May the gods help the rest of the galaxy. | We all couldn't quite believe it when 2022 started off like this. I remember since I was no more than five when it happened. But apparently SETI had found this recording.
"Um, uh...hey, did I fall asleep on this thing? Okay, okay. Testing, testing...alright, so, good- sometime in the future humanity. We are the Tyrhor...thian, wait that can't be right, Confederation (god, their pidgin language is so barbaric!) Anyway, uh, we're live from the past I guess, to tell you that the year in your world is 2062, and that today will be the meeting to discuss opening a war against you. You see, you have aspirations to go to space, and all aspiring space-faring beings must be tested with a no holds barred war for recognition on the Galactic Council. Must be a relief after being such a good species and not killing each other off by the deadline to be recognized as basically sapient. If you best all our finest Eggsecutioner (What? That's not a word, is it?) ships, and they do not transmit their kill signal, then you will be permitted to live. If not, you will face extinction. Namaste and have a nice day!"
That was the aliens' first, and last mistake. It gave us forty years to prepare. It gave me, Rex Nova, time to train in every martial art and with every weapon known to man, and then train in the newest, state of the art spacefaring fighter jets.
All of the world's industry, military and society forgot their petty Earth-based problems and rallied around making machines, computer systems, spacecraft and even self-regenerating rainforests that would be able to withstand any kind of alien armada.
We planned.
We plotted.
We waited.
And then the day finally came. The blessed day of alien bloodletting that we now think can bring about the Human Empire.
November 17th, 2062
Tyrhorthian battlecruisers set off nuclear mines around Pluto, causing several comets to smash into their fleet.
November 20th, 2062
Neptune's lightning was remotely redirected to completely annihilate their UFO carrier. Excellent.
November 22nd, 2062
Millions of turrets on Saturn's rings fire chemical, biological, nuclear, computer virus, and other weapons on missiles banned for use against humans. But not against aliens! LOOPHOLE!
November 26th, 2062
Have you ever heard the screams of thirty ships worth of Slimes when they plummet towards a storm as large as 300 Earths? I have on Jupiter my friends, and our wild, knives-in-teeth boarding parties are having an effect on the hive control ships.
December 2nd, 2062
Substantial losses, possibly in the thousands of ships, gouged the UN Mars Defensive Perimeter today. I was not one of them, and for every precious human they take, we take 100 of those boogers. Remember our rallying cry. We are 10 billion strong!
December 24th, 2062
The asteroid belt slowed em down, and now those melted morons have five ships against the twenty thousand ships of the Home Fleet and hundreds of thousands of fighters, led by me, each nuclear tipped in case of critical failure. Even a child could win money on what happens next, and it was Christmas for everyone.
December 25th
After the devastating battle, only one escape pod was left alive, and had survived well into what these "human" monsters considered morning by being quiet. But it had to warn its people, before it was too late, and it sent out a psychic signal.
"RUN."
Then it shot itself with its own moleculizer, ensuring the humans couldn't follow up for about a hundred years.
Would that be enough time, though? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | August 18th, 4057:
Fuckin Xeno scum got carpet bombed and napalmed into non-existence. That's the 8th or so planet that's been given the "Ring of Fire" treatment. We've been blasting "Napalm Sticks To Kids" at them for a while before flattening them. Apparently some other species are more vulnerable to psychological warfare. They're saying this is just the start.
August 27th, 4057:
The Xenos have started running whenever they hear those songs. We're taking prisoners without even trying. I don't know where they take the prisoners. But judging by the large holes that we're digging, I think I know what's happening.
August 28th, 4057:
Jesus Christ. We're digging the holes so parents can execute their women and children, then they castrate themselves. We're making them cut their fucking balls off. What the actual shit are we doing here? We have rules for a reason. I guess this is psychological warfare, but... Christ.
September 14th, 4057:
The Xenos called for a surrender. We refused. I don't know what the President's doing, but I don't much care for it. I can't deal with the screams anymore. If they try and flee we blow them up. If they try and fight we blow them up. Half the time if they surrender we blow them up. The rest of the time? Read my previous entry.
September 17th, 4057:
They've offered unconditional surrender. We keep refusing. I'm sick. I can't do this anymore. I put in a leave request.
September 18th, 4057:
It was denied.
October 21st, 4057:
It's been a while. We're still fighting. But I wouldn't call it fighting, it's systematic torture and genocide of a species. We're at their homeworld though. It can't last much longer.
December 18th 4057:
We gathered up every last of their species in the galaxy. It took months but we did it. We put them all in one spot. Then we threw White Phosphorus on them. We recorded it. We sent it to the Counsel. Rules of War are being put in place. Was it worth it? | We all couldn't quite believe it when 2022 started off like this. I remember since I was no more than five when it happened. But apparently SETI had found this recording.
"Um, uh...hey, did I fall asleep on this thing? Okay, okay. Testing, testing...alright, so, good- sometime in the future humanity. We are the Tyrhor...thian, wait that can't be right, Confederation (god, their pidgin language is so barbaric!) Anyway, uh, we're live from the past I guess, to tell you that the year in your world is 2062, and that today will be the meeting to discuss opening a war against you. You see, you have aspirations to go to space, and all aspiring space-faring beings must be tested with a no holds barred war for recognition on the Galactic Council. Must be a relief after being such a good species and not killing each other off by the deadline to be recognized as basically sapient. If you best all our finest Eggsecutioner (What? That's not a word, is it?) ships, and they do not transmit their kill signal, then you will be permitted to live. If not, you will face extinction. Namaste and have a nice day!"
That was the aliens' first, and last mistake. It gave us forty years to prepare. It gave me, Rex Nova, time to train in every martial art and with every weapon known to man, and then train in the newest, state of the art spacefaring fighter jets.
All of the world's industry, military and society forgot their petty Earth-based problems and rallied around making machines, computer systems, spacecraft and even self-regenerating rainforests that would be able to withstand any kind of alien armada.
We planned.
We plotted.
We waited.
And then the day finally came. The blessed day of alien bloodletting that we now think can bring about the Human Empire.
November 17th, 2062
Tyrhorthian battlecruisers set off nuclear mines around Pluto, causing several comets to smash into their fleet.
November 20th, 2062
Neptune's lightning was remotely redirected to completely annihilate their UFO carrier. Excellent.
November 22nd, 2062
Millions of turrets on Saturn's rings fire chemical, biological, nuclear, computer virus, and other weapons on missiles banned for use against humans. But not against aliens! LOOPHOLE!
November 26th, 2062
Have you ever heard the screams of thirty ships worth of Slimes when they plummet towards a storm as large as 300 Earths? I have on Jupiter my friends, and our wild, knives-in-teeth boarding parties are having an effect on the hive control ships.
December 2nd, 2062
Substantial losses, possibly in the thousands of ships, gouged the UN Mars Defensive Perimeter today. I was not one of them, and for every precious human they take, we take 100 of those boogers. Remember our rallying cry. We are 10 billion strong!
December 24th, 2062
The asteroid belt slowed em down, and now those melted morons have five ships against the twenty thousand ships of the Home Fleet and hundreds of thousands of fighters, led by me, each nuclear tipped in case of critical failure. Even a child could win money on what happens next, and it was Christmas for everyone.
December 25th
After the devastating battle, only one escape pod was left alive, and had survived well into what these "human" monsters considered morning by being quiet. But it had to warn its people, before it was too late, and it sent out a psychic signal.
"RUN."
Then it shot itself with its own moleculizer, ensuring the humans couldn't follow up for about a hundred years.
Would that be enough time, though? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | My name is Dr. Asclepius. I am not here in the senate chambers to make any demands. I am simply an ambassador, here to speak on behalf of all humanity.
It has been a year and a half since humanity stood on the galactic stage.
But this year and a half is already filled with more bloodshed, more atrocities, and more unspeakable things than anyone in the galactic community has ever seen - save for us Humans.
Members of the Galactic Federation, you scoffed at us when we came to you, asking what the rules of war were. You assumed that we needed rules because we were weak, because we needed protection.
That is not the case, as you have unfortunately had to experience firsthand. If I could direct your attention to the screens?
This was Xyrillia, one of the largest centers of commerce in the entire galaxy, home to tens of trillions of lifeforms from a myriad of different planets.
This is it now - *completely and utterly uninhabitable.* All life, wiped from the very surface. Billions of families, all gone in an instant. The air is so toxic that spending ten seconds on the surface without protective equipment is fatal.
This is merely one example of what has occurred.
*This* is known as Operation Stardust Axis. The Mietra, pushed to the brink, when their many space colonies came crashing down onto the surfaces of their planets, turning their once great cities into desert wastelands. Very few survived.
I'm sure you remember the diseases that spread like wildfire, killing millions.
When we plunged entire systems into pitch darkness, blocking planets from receiving the light of their stars through an impenetrable nanomachine fog.
Even as I speak, nuclear fires from reactor bombs still rage on multiple inhabited planets, burning and spreading their poison.
Do you see now? These rules of war are not a shield. They are not cowardice.
They are shackles, chains, restraints upon a race that would have wiped themselves out many years ago if it did not have them.
When you declared war upon humanity, you removed the seal on a monster that no human wishes to see themselves become.
In the course of this war, many a human has done things that would make them shoot up in their beds screaming from the sins that they carry.
I myself am a physician, widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest of the medical minds of my race, rather fitting, considering my name. When one learns how to heal in any field, they also learn how to kill someone in the most horrific and awful ways possible.
I've studied each of the species here on an operating table. I could easily stitch together your wounds, cure you of your ailments, provide prostheses that function just as well and perhaps even better than the original - and just as easily remove your organs and bones one-by-one in alphabetical order while you are still alive. I could formulate a gene-altering disease that would render all living members of your race completely infertile. I could create machines that slowly liquefy you from the inside-out and convert you into biofuel.
When one becomes a physician, they are to take an oath to do no harm, for this very reason.
And yet, even I am not innocent. I have broken that oath many a time because of this war.
These hands of mine have done unforgivable things to the innocent, to mothers, to children.
So please, I implore you on behalf of all humanity - stop this war, before all of us are lost. The laws of war are in place to ensure that we are better than beasts. I would ask that we all adhere to them, if not for ourselves, then for our children.
>Human ambassador Dr. Asclepius's message to the Galactic senate, shortly before the surrender of the Federation, putting an end to the bloody 'Lawless War.' | We all couldn't quite believe it when 2022 started off like this. I remember since I was no more than five when it happened. But apparently SETI had found this recording.
"Um, uh...hey, did I fall asleep on this thing? Okay, okay. Testing, testing...alright, so, good- sometime in the future humanity. We are the Tyrhor...thian, wait that can't be right, Confederation (god, their pidgin language is so barbaric!) Anyway, uh, we're live from the past I guess, to tell you that the year in your world is 2062, and that today will be the meeting to discuss opening a war against you. You see, you have aspirations to go to space, and all aspiring space-faring beings must be tested with a no holds barred war for recognition on the Galactic Council. Must be a relief after being such a good species and not killing each other off by the deadline to be recognized as basically sapient. If you best all our finest Eggsecutioner (What? That's not a word, is it?) ships, and they do not transmit their kill signal, then you will be permitted to live. If not, you will face extinction. Namaste and have a nice day!"
That was the aliens' first, and last mistake. It gave us forty years to prepare. It gave me, Rex Nova, time to train in every martial art and with every weapon known to man, and then train in the newest, state of the art spacefaring fighter jets.
All of the world's industry, military and society forgot their petty Earth-based problems and rallied around making machines, computer systems, spacecraft and even self-regenerating rainforests that would be able to withstand any kind of alien armada.
We planned.
We plotted.
We waited.
And then the day finally came. The blessed day of alien bloodletting that we now think can bring about the Human Empire.
November 17th, 2062
Tyrhorthian battlecruisers set off nuclear mines around Pluto, causing several comets to smash into their fleet.
November 20th, 2062
Neptune's lightning was remotely redirected to completely annihilate their UFO carrier. Excellent.
November 22nd, 2062
Millions of turrets on Saturn's rings fire chemical, biological, nuclear, computer virus, and other weapons on missiles banned for use against humans. But not against aliens! LOOPHOLE!
November 26th, 2062
Have you ever heard the screams of thirty ships worth of Slimes when they plummet towards a storm as large as 300 Earths? I have on Jupiter my friends, and our wild, knives-in-teeth boarding parties are having an effect on the hive control ships.
December 2nd, 2062
Substantial losses, possibly in the thousands of ships, gouged the UN Mars Defensive Perimeter today. I was not one of them, and for every precious human they take, we take 100 of those boogers. Remember our rallying cry. We are 10 billion strong!
December 24th, 2062
The asteroid belt slowed em down, and now those melted morons have five ships against the twenty thousand ships of the Home Fleet and hundreds of thousands of fighters, led by me, each nuclear tipped in case of critical failure. Even a child could win money on what happens next, and it was Christmas for everyone.
December 25th
After the devastating battle, only one escape pod was left alive, and had survived well into what these "human" monsters considered morning by being quiet. But it had to warn its people, before it was too late, and it sent out a psychic signal.
"RUN."
Then it shot itself with its own moleculizer, ensuring the humans couldn't follow up for about a hundred years.
Would that be enough time, though? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "So, this is your final say on the matter," Ambassador Corrin spoke into his microphone, struggling to be heard over the cacophony of alien laughter. It took a few short seconds for his words to be translated into the various alien languages, and the laughter slowly diminished. His galactic translator had played the alien sounds in his earpiece as human laughter, using a track that sounded suspiciously like the one used in ancient, televised shows. He could hear the actual sounds echoing through the massive council hall, which was far more disturbing. The Skarr sounded worst, like the braying of a drowning donkey. The reptilian race and their actions were in fact the main reason of his current ire.
The year was 2232. It was supposed to be a joyous year for humanity, marking the 50th anniversary of their First Contact. Instead of celebrations, however, humanity was in outrage after one of their colonies had been wiped out, courtesy of the Skarr. Betta-2315, or Moria, as the colonists had named it, was a small moon, rich in ores. It had been entirely uninhabited or industrialized, when a prospecting party had discovered the thick veins of metals running beneath the moons surface. Two years later, Moria had been up and running with almost 230.000 inhabitants working and living there. Then the Skarr attacked, with no warning whatsoever, and slaughtered every man, woman and child on the moon. The reptilians used plasma weaponry, which burned and melted human flesh. Live video-feeds had been transmitted during the attack, and the nine planets of the Terran Federation were crying for blood.
"Ambassador Corrin-Terran," the Chancellor finally spoke, still smiling. "In my long life as Chancellor, I have never heard of these 'Rules of Engagement'. Indeed, they would seem to defeat the entire purpose of a war. I know it has only been a mere 50 rotations since your kind has joined the Galactic Council, but I would have hope you had learned by now, that might is always right. Do not come crying and stomping your foot like a petulant youngling, because you lack the strength to protect your own. It is my ruling that the Galactic Council will not levy sanctions against the Skarr," he continued, gesturing with one of his tentacle-like appendages at the distant reptilian, "nor will the Council interfere in this war. It has been 50 rotations, Ambassador Corrin-Terran, and humanity will have to learn to fend for itself."
The Chancellor paused, and turned to the silent human ambassador, who seemed to be trembling. His eyes, four black orbs, seemed to soften.
"I would offer some words of advice, Ambassador Corrin-Terran. The Skarr are masters of warfare, their soldiers superior to yours in all aspects. Surrender, and broker a treaty. Provided you can gather a suitable tribute, I am sure the Skarr will relent."
Corrin gripped the edge of his desk, breathing deeply to get his anger under control. It took a few moments, and his heart rate slowed. He looked up at the Chancellor, then to the sneering Skarr ambassador.
"Thank you, Chancellor, but that won't be necessary. Us humans, we are quite familiar with war. We've spent the last thousands of years fighting each other, after all. Our propensity for destruction is what eventually led to the first two world wars, after which we collectively agreed on the first draft of our Rules of Engagement. Even in the following three world wars, we managed to abide by them, for to not do so would have been mutually assured destruction. I daresay some of our more aggressive leaders are relishing the thought of a war without rules. All I can say on the matter, is that I tried." Corrin sighed, then turned to the Skarr ambassador.
"You shall have your war, Ambassador Threxl. May God have mercy on your souls."
With a final nod to the chancellor, Corrin turned and left the Council Hall, headed for his shuttle. A soft ping from his comms chimed in his earpiece.
"What was their answer, Ambassador?"
"As you suspected, General. You may proceed as you wish. My shuttle will be back on the TFN Kansas in less than ten minutes."
"Very good, Ambassador. I'll see you there." | Humanity burst onto the scene a fair few centuries ago, but had always endeavored to make themselves helpful. They adapted technology in creative ways but ultimately they were poised to take but a minor note in galactic history.
Or they were until the Rh'nouts provoked them. A smallish race themselves they stood just a bit taller than the average human. Held features that were insectoid in nature though they did not appear to be brought up from preditors. Nor did the humans appear that way looking back.
The humans pleaded with the aggressors that certain rituals needed to be upheld. We never thought of them as an overly ceremonial people but while we arbitrated they insisted it was to keep their better nature's in check. We dismissed the claims stating that any handicaps they placed upon themselves were their own business.
The outer colonies of the humans began to go dark one by one. Nothing but the planet itself was spared. The Rh'nouts shared a similar atmosphere and as such those planets were the primary goal for them.
But then the humans mustered. The original colonies were retaken though not intact. They siphoned off the atmosphere after destroying the communication arrays. Leaving little more than a floating tomb behind. We are unsure if the radiation or the vacuum killed the Rh'nouts first.
The established colonies suffered a worse fate the shield technology we ourselves gifted humanity was put to devastating use when they encircled a planet and compressed its atmosphere causing their enemies to simply burst as they left their homes. Adapted technology indeed!
Rh'nout fleets met an end that would cause entire sectors to be closed off as humanity dumped payloads of nanomachines into their hulls with their only programming being to repurpose their surroundings into more of themselves.
But the core worlds suffered the worst fates. Planets are a finite resource, and habitable planets a rare one. After accelerating asteroids to near the speed of light. Engineering projects which must have started back when their own colonies were falling, they split the planets themselves asunder. Then bathed what was left in irradiated salts. Before sending our a galaxy wide ping with a contenious video feed stating that rules are nessicary.
Only the homeworld was spared for a given definition there of. They have tied a shield generator into the heart of the local star as power and simply sealed them there. They say as an object lesson and that no one will learn it if everyone is dead.
Humanity was poised to take but a minor note in galactic history. An adaptable and industrious people. But now they have shaken the order and stability of their milky way to its core. And we are happy to announce the official galactic rules of war. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Voxl abruptly closed the human history book given to her so she could learn a bit about there past, well, the past for the Americans. She just left Australia in her trip to learn more about humanity and there kind. She was amused when she learned that humans had specific ways of war to make it “less vile”. She found it funnier when she learned about the Emu War, knowing that humanity lost too a wild animal she thought that they served her kind no threat. She thought.
“Mark..you said you had rules for war, please explain to me why one of them involved using gas to kill thousands of innocents, and why your country used two extremely deadly toxic bombs you call nukes on two defenseless cities..?” She asked her human roommate. A random person would be assigned to watch the alien for two months, depending on the size of the country also decided how many humans would care for the aliens.
“Oh that…that would be World War 2 or The Second Great War..we have the rules for a reason Voxl. Not all humans are kind, or even decent..the gas was made by a tyrant who wanted to control the entirety of Europe and eventually the world..he blamed a religious group called the Jewish for his problems. The bombs from us were in response to Japan’s bombing on a military base called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our president at the time called Japan’s emperor told him to surrender or else the first would be dropped, well you can figure out the rest from there…” Mark explained, shame filled his voice.
“Well, you guys stopped making nukes right..?” Voxl asked, worried that if her kind ever dared waged war on humanity, they would suffer terrible consequences.
“Most countries have, though some power thirsty leaders still do..I’m sorry you had to see that side of humanity, I promise not all of us are blood hungry killers.” Mark said.
Voxl put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey! It’s okay Mark..all kinds have there good and bad, I just hope the bad of my kind doesn’t try to hurt yours, I’ve seen the good of humanity,” A small smile crept up on her face, “You’re one of them.”
Mark chuckled as the two friends sat down and continued to discuss there kinds and cultures. | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | The great Warchief, the leader of the most powerful fleet in known space, waited patiently on his ship orbiting a planet. It had gone two years since his ships conquered the human settlement at the border of the empire he served.
The victory was swift. The few human military vessels was defeated in matter of minutes. Their beam weapons was no match for the empires shield technology.
The human had asked to send medical and evacuation ships to rescue the surviving crew and take the colonist home.
The great Warchief had said that he would allow it and that the ships would be protected.
He had lied. The medical and evacuation ships was left burning in space as a warning to the humans. After that, he had completely wiped out the human settlement, executed most of them and sent a few as pets to the royal court.
The humans had been upset and accused him for breaking the ”rules of war”.
He had laughed.
”Rules of war? There’s no rules of war!” he said to the human ruler, still laughing.
The Warchief had seen how the human rulers face changed. From fear, to anger to determination. It had made him somewhat uncomfortable, but with the mightiest fleet behind him he choose to ignore it.
The Warchiefs empire had taken up on itself to give newcomers to the galactic stage a slap on the wrist. Just to keep them in place. If you can’t handle a bloody noose on the galactic stage, you should scurry back to where you came from.
It had been some skirmishers. Small groups of human ships had attacked nearly every system in the empire. Nothing to difficult to handle though. Most of the ships was destroyed.
The humans had also send non weaponised pods with a a lot of electronics in them to every system. Many pods. Probably to get som intel. That had been attempts to destroy the pods, but they were to many. That was nothing that worried the great Warchief though. It was good if the humans fully understood the full might of the empire.
Now he patiently waited. He knew that the humans would try to take the colony back, fail and forced to accept that this is now part of the empire.
Suddenly his aid came running.
The Warchief was shocked to hear that they had lost contact with two of the empires most important worlds: the naval shipyard and the farming planet for the core worlds.
Impossible. It can’t be the humans! Four fleets protected each of the worlds. The puny humans would not be able to conquer them.
Two scout ships was sent. Both returned with troubled reports.
The humans had not conquered the planets. No, they had done something much worse.
They had destroyed not only the planets, but the whole systems. They had somehow made the star explode in each. Eight fleets destroyed and billions of the Empires loyal servants living on the planets was killed.
The Warchief was in disbelief. The humans had in a swift and decisive blow, crippled his fleet and food supply.
He couldn’t understand how.
The bridge contacted him.
The humans was here.
He ran to the bridge and the tactical screen was filled with red dots. So many, in fact, that the onboard computer couldn’t keep track. The human fleet was not fancy, it was nothing more than prams with engines and railguns.
Railsguns! What in the empires name! It hadn’t been used in thousands of years.
A wall of accelerated projectiles was fired at once from all of the human ships.
Followed by another wave of projectiles. And another. And another.
The great Warchief saw how the projectiles kinetic force did short work of his front guard ships shields. By the third wave the shield was gone and the projectiles ripped the ships in pieces.
The projectiles came closer to the bulk of his fleet. He knew that they wouldn’t have a chance. He ordered a retreat. The small ships would make it, but the big capitol ships was too slow and would be destroyed.
Then the computer got locked onto an extremely big asteroid closing in on the planet that now instead of humans was populated with millions of settlers from all over the empire. Somehow the humans had managed to launch an asteroid! And it would kill everything on the planet and probably make it inhabitable for centuries.
The Warchief suddenly realised. The humans had created the rules of war to keep themselves in check. To protect themselves - and strangely enough their enemy.
Without the rules of war, the humans was unstoppable savages always on the brink of self destruction. But if they manage to channel that destruction outwards…
The last thought through his mind when the projectiles smashed into his ship was: May the gods help the rest of the galaxy. | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | The Rindan were the first to encounter them. Those organic masses of flesh and bone. Humans.
They were placated with trinkets and waste, and allowed their young to be carted off world to be held and displayed by the noble and powerful.
Their attempts to negotiate peace and harmony only allowed further exploitation. Seizing areas of their surface rich in vital resources.
The Rindan were followed by the Kortar, who enslaved much of their populations. The Vilifax harvested their brains and embedded them in their world machines on Earth and off in the stars. Then us. We who harvest and give to all others that give life to the stars.
Human slaves served as meal and incubators to many young of the various hosts, which the humans ‘loved’ as much as their own
The human governments fell when they realised our war machines were piloted by their young. That their feeble and wretched served us loyally and faithfully
The humans were nothing. Another meat puppet to service the dwindling outpost of ‘Earth’
And then…
Then they changed. They became silent. Subdued.
The Dawn of Sorrows saw all of our young lost before one earth rotation. Their surprisingly complex manipulations of the earth elements created tiny creatures that turned our young to stone. A parents embrace led to our demise.
And it was carried off world by our own, affecting all of our newborn off world. Some pockets of young were jettisoned into the coldness of space to await a revitalisation. Hopefully.
But that wasn’t the worst of it
The Kortar, who had invested in a sizeable nest on earth, were expelled by their own newer brood. The new young having been ‘poisoned’ to serve these meat things. This poison spread to the rest of the Kortar worlds, and now they are a shadow of their former selves. Succumbing to numerous squabbles and inner turmoil that had not been since they first touched the stars.
The Vilifax foresaw all of our pain and devastation and separated themselves from Earth… but their world machines had already been working to destroy the Vilifaxian home worlds. All of them. One by one. And the Vilifax could do nothing to stop them
The Rindan were the last, and greatest of us
No one knows what became of them.
The Rindan upheld all of our power, and elevated us to traverse the stars and survive the darkness
And now they’re gone. Their ships empty and circling Earths Sun. Slowly falling in
They’re gone, and shadows grow on the Earth outpost. It eats at all of our power. It’s under our flesh, sowing doubt and discord. Eating our young, our homes, and our memories
We were once great. We were powerful.
What happened to us? | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "With all due respect, don't you think we should lay down some ground rules about civilian targets and so forth?" spoke General Kitt to the assembled warcouncil of Terra. "It seems like the humane thing to do."
"Humane implies humanity, and these creatures have none. I am questioning the military's priorities if it doesn't understand this simple concept."
General Kitt spoke again: "I mean, have we at least tried diplomacy? I got the report on the state department delegation, and I can't really see that we communicated effectively to them. I have to think if we just communicated the need for these rules more effectively... Or if we just let them fully understand that we come in peace... I'm sure we could win them over, and they might be happy to share their technology and adopt our ways."
"General, this council is ordering you to execute order 55. The motion passed in a landslide. Bring back what technology you can. These thorns in our side laughed at us in their communiques."
"I understand! But just hear me out. If we don't have some ground rules -- even we just make them and they don't follow them -- there's not going to be anything left. This plan needs some exceptions, as I've outlined before. And the boys back home really want to get their hands on some Xenotech, which you know requires some exceptions. Plus you know, at least half of the equation here is human and capable of expression humanity. For long term relationships perhaps, we should hold back as well."
"You are correct on one point, despite your pontification. We do need a xenotechnology clause. We have considered this. You will not like it, however. As for long term relations, they are of no consequence. Our allies will be glad of their riddance. General, this discussion is concluded. You yourself have studied galactic traditions in warfare, and they do not agree on any kind of rules in warfare. They violate our space and the peace of our citizenry. What they consider sacrosanct varies by civilization, and the only thing they agree on is getting together to kill all the ambassadors we attempt to send of late, and raiding our colonies. The plans have been drawn up, we will add the xenotechnology clause, and if you are unwilling to carry these orders out, we will put someone new in charge."
"I understand, Councilmember."
—
The general stood on the bridge of his starship. He paced the long gallery, gazing out at the stars. There was a time when ships such at this carried a great payload of armaments: projectiles, light based weapons, drones, and so forth. But there was no need for such crassness anymore; humanity had risen above the need for the gruesome ends such devices brought. It was ships like this one that inspired awe, terror, and peace. Humanity had enjoyed an unprecedented prosperity under the council's benevolent guidance through the disarmament process that accompanied this class of ship.
The general gazed across the bridge, which didn't look at all like what the generations of old had imagined. His crew sat cross-legged on zafutons in rows and columns, their eyes closed as they communed with their technological implants and carried out their duties, motionless. The new motto of this millenia was emblazoned on the wall of the bridge, not that anyone but the captain was looking: "strike first, strike hard, get out fast, no mercy."
A voice crackled from the walls of the bridge. "Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. We are calling to inform you that we detect sufficient charge in the polaron manifold. You are go at your leisure. Monitor out."
Kitt sighed. The ship looked like some kind of clockwork arrowhead, more scaffold than hull. The energy heads sparked with irridescent radiance; space was ready to be folded.
"This is General Kitt of Councilship Mercy, acknowledged. Thank you Monitor. Mercy out."
A fold opened in space, and a weird ripple passed through the ship. The deck hummed as information began flowing through the folds. It was clear that all ships were indeed in position and charged.
"Fleet, this is General Kitt. On my mark, all ships posted to designated research targets, reverse the local bioorganic strong force in the biogenetic profiles that have been transmitted to you. On my mark, all ships posted to all other systems, execute space folding maneouvers: you are ordered to relocate your target star, and all its planets, to the Saggitarius A\* Aeon Horizon."
"To all ships, I want to say a few words to reassure your consciences. I know that you all know basic relato-gravimistics. But allow me to soliloquize on the, ehm, gravity, of the situation. It is a milestone day. TODAY, ALL OUR ENEMIES — their planets, their stars, their outposts, their civilization — all of it will be moved to the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\* — that's right, the black hole at the center of our galaxy — where they will find that, due to time dilation, they can no longer interfere with humanity. After today, for all practical purposes, they will be frozen in time. I want to let each and every one of you know that we do not make this decision lightly. We must protect our humanity, which we do today. May our enemies enjoy their lives in their new timeframe until the heat death. They will live on... And by the time we have colonized the galaxy and made friends with the less aggressive civilizations, perhaps one day we can reverse some of this process. At least we can dream of a better future for these barbarians."
And having given his speech, the general issued the order. Space folded, and most of the civilizations of the milky way vanished without a trace in their former environs; and ten thousands new stars shone in the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\*.
"Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. Congratulations. Terra sends its regards. We have also received communiques from our allies. They are pleased. The Council wishes to award you the Medal of Valiance on live Newscast. Please stand by to be transferred..." | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | August 18th, 4057:
Fuckin Xeno scum got carpet bombed and napalmed into non-existence. That's the 8th or so planet that's been given the "Ring of Fire" treatment. We've been blasting "Napalm Sticks To Kids" at them for a while before flattening them. Apparently some other species are more vulnerable to psychological warfare. They're saying this is just the start.
August 27th, 4057:
The Xenos have started running whenever they hear those songs. We're taking prisoners without even trying. I don't know where they take the prisoners. But judging by the large holes that we're digging, I think I know what's happening.
August 28th, 4057:
Jesus Christ. We're digging the holes so parents can execute their women and children, then they castrate themselves. We're making them cut their fucking balls off. What the actual shit are we doing here? We have rules for a reason. I guess this is psychological warfare, but... Christ.
September 14th, 4057:
The Xenos called for a surrender. We refused. I don't know what the President's doing, but I don't much care for it. I can't deal with the screams anymore. If they try and flee we blow them up. If they try and fight we blow them up. Half the time if they surrender we blow them up. The rest of the time? Read my previous entry.
September 17th, 4057:
They've offered unconditional surrender. We keep refusing. I'm sick. I can't do this anymore. I put in a leave request.
September 18th, 4057:
It was denied.
October 21st, 4057:
It's been a while. We're still fighting. But I wouldn't call it fighting, it's systematic torture and genocide of a species. We're at their homeworld though. It can't last much longer.
December 18th 4057:
We gathered up every last of their species in the galaxy. It took months but we did it. We put them all in one spot. Then we threw White Phosphorus on them. We recorded it. We sent it to the Counsel. Rules of War are being put in place. Was it worth it? | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | My name is Dr. Asclepius. I am not here in the senate chambers to make any demands. I am simply an ambassador, here to speak on behalf of all humanity.
It has been a year and a half since humanity stood on the galactic stage.
But this year and a half is already filled with more bloodshed, more atrocities, and more unspeakable things than anyone in the galactic community has ever seen - save for us Humans.
Members of the Galactic Federation, you scoffed at us when we came to you, asking what the rules of war were. You assumed that we needed rules because we were weak, because we needed protection.
That is not the case, as you have unfortunately had to experience firsthand. If I could direct your attention to the screens?
This was Xyrillia, one of the largest centers of commerce in the entire galaxy, home to tens of trillions of lifeforms from a myriad of different planets.
This is it now - *completely and utterly uninhabitable.* All life, wiped from the very surface. Billions of families, all gone in an instant. The air is so toxic that spending ten seconds on the surface without protective equipment is fatal.
This is merely one example of what has occurred.
*This* is known as Operation Stardust Axis. The Mietra, pushed to the brink, when their many space colonies came crashing down onto the surfaces of their planets, turning their once great cities into desert wastelands. Very few survived.
I'm sure you remember the diseases that spread like wildfire, killing millions.
When we plunged entire systems into pitch darkness, blocking planets from receiving the light of their stars through an impenetrable nanomachine fog.
Even as I speak, nuclear fires from reactor bombs still rage on multiple inhabited planets, burning and spreading their poison.
Do you see now? These rules of war are not a shield. They are not cowardice.
They are shackles, chains, restraints upon a race that would have wiped themselves out many years ago if it did not have them.
When you declared war upon humanity, you removed the seal on a monster that no human wishes to see themselves become.
In the course of this war, many a human has done things that would make them shoot up in their beds screaming from the sins that they carry.
I myself am a physician, widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest of the medical minds of my race, rather fitting, considering my name. When one learns how to heal in any field, they also learn how to kill someone in the most horrific and awful ways possible.
I've studied each of the species here on an operating table. I could easily stitch together your wounds, cure you of your ailments, provide prostheses that function just as well and perhaps even better than the original - and just as easily remove your organs and bones one-by-one in alphabetical order while you are still alive. I could formulate a gene-altering disease that would render all living members of your race completely infertile. I could create machines that slowly liquefy you from the inside-out and convert you into biofuel.
When one becomes a physician, they are to take an oath to do no harm, for this very reason.
And yet, even I am not innocent. I have broken that oath many a time because of this war.
These hands of mine have done unforgivable things to the innocent, to mothers, to children.
So please, I implore you on behalf of all humanity - stop this war, before all of us are lost. The laws of war are in place to ensure that we are better than beasts. I would ask that we all adhere to them, if not for ourselves, then for our children.
>Human ambassador Dr. Asclepius's message to the Galactic senate, shortly before the surrender of the Federation, putting an end to the bloody 'Lawless War.' | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Know this. You have done this to yourselves.
You were warned. Even as you laughed and called us primitives, wanting our planets to add to the so-called Million Worlds of your dominion. So many times you were warned: our hyperdrives are not like yours.
We told you this when you arrived to terraform our colonies. We warned you that our drives do not bend spacetime like yours. They pierce holes in it, and that with effort, we can form those holes anywhere.
We warned you of the things we could do to you, but chose not to.
You did not believe our warnings. You could not comprehend having a capability and not using it. Still, we took the higher road, offering you an armistice, but our offer of peace was met with violence and fire.
We gave you too many chances.
Now, ash and boiling oceans are all that remains of our final colonies. You likely think you have won, but I suspect you do not appreciate the scope of what devils you now unleash upon yourselves.
You did not break our spirits with your fire. Those of us remaining are hardened. Our old restraint is burned away now—our high minded scruples were ground to dust beneath your boots.
It is not the better angels of our nature you see before you now, for you have killed them too, along with our colonies, all of their blood still slick upon your hands.
No. You will suffer the wrath of our long restrained demons instead. The gates are opened, and their chains now lie upon the ground.
You will watch as the stars around which every one of your Million Worlds revolves fade to oblivion as their mass drains away into carefully targeted hyperdrive apertures, like water from a bathtub. Your Million Worlds will die, and then you, too, will understand what it is to have everything taken from you.
You launched the first strike of this war. We have launched the last. | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | It is a sad day. The newcomers to our little slice of home declared war. We sent communiques inquiring as to the rules of engagement to their leadership, and they responded with images of our diplomats tortured, abused in the cruelest, most inhumane of ways, signed in the name of the Kiej Dominion.
Those insect bastards murdered my brother, for those images. I still have nightmares, honestly. Like, it's his body but with my face, screaming every single despairing lament ever spoken by humans. I'm interrupted in my thoughts by my second. "Commander Smith." He salutes me and I return it, and receive from him orders from not only Command but also the United Systems Confederation.
'Show the Kiej why we have rules. Your only restraints are to attempt to salvage one of their transports for research purposes.' I smirk. It takes all my will to not cackle like a mad woman. It fails, and my second leaves, scared.
A week later, I stride amongst the ruins, the smoldering blight left in the wake of my vengeance, seated across from the Dominion High Command. They've signed a very punishing peace treaty, reparations to bankrupt God Himself, admission as a member state in the Greater Stellar Alliance, and, as a special concession to me, the bug that murdered my brother. I had already handed in my resignation, dated and timed for when the USC accepted the terms of the treaty and the Dominion signed it. I walked in to the room, an arsenal of implements following me.
---
Commander Isla Smith, retired, last log before retirement. | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “Yeah, that sucks for them. But why are you angry at us?” Amanda Smith, leader of the elite Beartooth division, looked up at Commander Her’clud in confusion. “You said you wanted the planet taken at any cost, so we took it. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem? The problem is that you killed every single sentient being on the planet! You took no prisoners! There were over 718 million life forms two cycle ago, and now there are none! Have you no mercy or restraint?!?!”
Amanda stepped to the side to avoid being hit by Commander Her’clud’s flailing tentacles. She wiped the slime off her arm with a look of disgust, and then turned to the rest of the Galactic Tributary. “Did any of you bother to read my holo-messages detailing this siege? Anyone, anyone at all?” She was greeted with silence and blank looks. She sighed to herself. It didn’t matter what species she was dealing with, the leaders at the top were all the same- annoying, arrogant, and absolutely impossible to communicate with.
“If any of you had bothered to open my holo-messages, you would already know that the vast majority of the planet fled within the first two hours of the siege. As required by our Rules of War, all civilians, injured, surrendering combatants, and such were allowed to flee the planet without fear of attack. After the first wave fled, we launched one Devastation missile at the second most populated city. Again according to our Rules of War, we had messaged the planet to warn them of the impending missile strike, giving plenty of time to evacuate. We recorded less than two thousand confirmed kills from this event. This led to the second wave of flight from the planet. We followed up with a squadron of In Between drones, to ferret out the remaining hostiles. We confirmed just over five thousand drone kills.”
Amanda pulled up her messages to the Council, letting them play silently in the background as she continued her recap of the siege.
“We paused our actions to allow the third wave of inhabitants to flee. After sufficient time had passed to let the ships leave the system, we began in-person actions. Of the original 718 million inhabitants, less than 80 thousand remained on the planet. Sixty-two Beartooth units were dispatched to find and eliminate any remaining hostiles. It took just over one cycle to clear the planet, and less than one thousand kills were confirmed. The rest of the planet’s inhabitants were deemed to be non-hostile, and as required by our Rules of War, were not harmed. They were escorted to evacuation ships, we programmed the coordinates to their next colonized planet, and sent them on their way.”
A glance around the room told her that this was not what the Council had expected to hear. One of the reasons humans had been excluded from the intergalactic community for so long was because of their reputation for war. Humans were known to be one of the fiercest, violent, and most bloodthirsty species ever contacted. They certainly had the bloodiest past of all the intergalactic members.
Amanda not only knew of this reputation, she actively used it to her advantage. She had even used it when thinking of the motto for her division (Fingers on the trigger, ready aim fire!). So she wasn’t surprised that the Council had automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion when hearing that she had cleared an entire planet of all sentient beings in less than two cycles.
But to call up the entire Galactic Tributary to consider expelling the entire human race? She couldn’t believe the audacity of these leaders. And then she had a thought…
“This meeting was called for based on undocumented fears, and could have been avoided completely if any of you had bothered to read my messages. As you can see by the messages playing behind me, a total of 47 updates were given over the course of the siege. Each update was sent to the full Council, and yet none of you opened a single one? Why is that? Why was my division asked to clear this planet, only to face disciplinary actions for completing the objectives of the Council?”
She was again met with silence and blank stares, but this time the stares were a little too blank, too practiced… And with those stares, she had her answer. Commander Her’clud opened his mouth to speak, but Amanda glared at him with such forced that he immediately closed his mouth and began to turn a horrible shade of orange.
Amanda raised her voice, and spoke to the Tributary with all the authority befitting her position as leader of the most accredited military division the galaxy had ever seen. “As a member of the intergalactic community, it is my right to know who has requested the exclusion of the entire human race as punishment for completing Council objectives. Let them speak now, and defend their position.”
After a moment, her request was answered. Amanda barely stifled the shivers that always came when communicating with an Ecconichian.
She listened as the beautiful melodies filled the air, rising and falling in wonderful harmony. She listened as the notes turned dark and low, creating a story of insanity and horrors with music alone.
When the final notes ended, Amanda wanted to cry out in relief. Instead, she braced herself and responded. “The history of the human race is indeed mired with war, genocide, and horrors that many species here will hopefully never experience. It is always filled with acts of insanity, acts that have no reason whatsoever as their motives.
“But the act of sending delegates to the Galactic Tributary year after year to request the official creation of Galactic Rules of War is not an act of insanity. Even though humans have been ridiculed, mocked, and disrespected for asking this year after year, we will continue to bring this before the Tributary until it is done.
“The Council gave the directive to take planet Ximotin by any means necessary. It is known far and wide that my Beartooth division is the most successful military division the galaxy has ever seen, and we were specifically requested by the Council for this task.
“We could have chosen to nuke the entire planet and render it uninhabitable for the next hundred millennium. We could have chosen to release Skin missiles in the atmosphere and afflict the entire population with an incurable plague. We know the Ximo population is very susceptible to high pitched noises, so we could have just blasted air raid sirens and driven them all insane.
“Instead, by our Rules of War, we were required to give non-combatants multiple chances to flee, without fear of attack. We were required to announce all missile strikes and give the intended target area enough time to evacuate. We were required to evaluate any potential hostiles before shooting to kill. We were required to escort all remaining non-combatants to evacuation ships and see them safely on their way.
“The history of the human race is mired with war, genocide, and horrors. But it is also filled with men and women who stood up against those acts. It is filled with men and women who risked everything to punish the worst offenders in our race. It is filled with hope that we will grow and rise above those acts.
“Human delegates will continue to advocate for Galactic Rules of War because we know how necessary they are. We know that war brings out the worst in any species, and that Rules of War may be the only thing to prevent incomprehensible acts of evil from occurring. We know that Rules of War keep individuals from crossing the line between acceptable and unacceptable. And we know that they work. They save lives, planets, and entire species.
“Because of our Rules of War, a planet with 718 million life forms was emptied in less than two cycles, with just under eight thousand deaths.
“I believe my division was chosen to clear planet Ximotin as an example of why we should be expelled from the intergalactic community. Instead, we have done the opposite and shown why Rules of War are necessary and how they are used.
“Should the Galactic Tributary decide to expel the human race anyway, so be it. But I believe it would be much better if you actually open my damn messages and take a proper look at them. Think of what could have been, and then see what actually occurred. Advocating for Galactic Rules of War is an act of hope, not insanity. The siege of planet Ximotin is now a real-life example of how this could only help the intergalactic community as a whole.
“We will abide by the decision of the Galactic Tributary, for better or worse. Make your decision and communicate it to us as soon as you are done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a very long report to give my commander.”
With that, Amanda stepped off the podium and exited the chambers, followed by the few ranked members allowed to accompany her. She walked away with her head held high, and hope that this would finally result in the creation of the official Galactic Rules of War. Because if this didn’t do it, nothing would. | There were horrors outside the door.
Horrors upon horrors upon horrors.
Nothing that no one else had not lived through before, learned before, seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched before.
Screaming blades in the dark and stark flashes of light in the void.
But none of that mattered, because it was outside the door. In a little functionary's room there was only discussion, even if it led nowhere. Full of pockmarks and blood and the acrid stench of fear, death, and pain.
"There's nothing to be done, so why are you here?" Asked the diplomat in the chair. A chair where many predecessors of theirs had died both quickly and not.
There was no protection for diplomats you see.
But still they sent a diplomat. For that was just the way of things it seemed, for those that begged for rules.
Foolish to send a sacrifice, even as worlds burned.
Tallies taken, debts driven, horrors heaped.
Perhaps it was one of their rules? No others continued to send messengers when war came. It was pointless. Purposeless.
"Because you are here, I am to repair the room, and it is my inclination to ask. Why is it that you come? Your people are at war with conquest block. Too come here is to die, it is not as if the other blocks here would care." Asked the mason with their trowel. They worked slowly, aged ligaments and pock riddled lungs taking toll.
"The last one said it was because it was their job. The one before because it was necessary. The one before that said it was a punishment." The scrape of mortar upon the walls.
"...Good answers. I am here to maintain a channel of communication between us and yours and them. That is a purpose of it." The diplomat replied, dulled voice and attention, disillusioned and uncaring? The mason coughed as another hole was filled.
"A purpose, one of many?" Another hole was filled. Pock riddled lungs did not take well to the dust of masonry.
"...it is done and I suppose it does no harm to tell you. There will be no victory for my people. Yours understands that very well." The diplomat comments, it leans upon the table and watches the mason work. The tiredness of it coming close.
"But perhaps not well enough. While we cannot achieve victory, we are very able to deny our enemy victory...it is strange to us that yours never understands that."
"It is a paradoxical statement, to not allow your enemy victory is to win victory yourself. Is it not?" The mason had to stop the work, the tiredness of it all creeping upon aging limbs.
"...no, it is because we resign ourselves to defeat, as long as you all are here with us...you should go home, the assassins will come soon..." The diplomat sighed as they lay their head upon the table. Resigned to death, as was all the others.
"...I do not understand, but thank you for your answer. I will leave when I am done." The mason felt hind limbs collapse, a coldness in everything, a heaviness in the lungs.
"...too late now...I am sorry. Truly." The diplomat sighed, there were horrors outside the door.
And none of it mattered. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | The great Warchief, the leader of the most powerful fleet in known space, waited patiently on his ship orbiting a planet. It had gone two years since his ships conquered the human settlement at the border of the empire he served.
The victory was swift. The few human military vessels was defeated in matter of minutes. Their beam weapons was no match for the empires shield technology.
The human had asked to send medical and evacuation ships to rescue the surviving crew and take the colonist home.
The great Warchief had said that he would allow it and that the ships would be protected.
He had lied. The medical and evacuation ships was left burning in space as a warning to the humans. After that, he had completely wiped out the human settlement, executed most of them and sent a few as pets to the royal court.
The humans had been upset and accused him for breaking the ”rules of war”.
He had laughed.
”Rules of war? There’s no rules of war!” he said to the human ruler, still laughing.
The Warchief had seen how the human rulers face changed. From fear, to anger to determination. It had made him somewhat uncomfortable, but with the mightiest fleet behind him he choose to ignore it.
The Warchiefs empire had taken up on itself to give newcomers to the galactic stage a slap on the wrist. Just to keep them in place. If you can’t handle a bloody noose on the galactic stage, you should scurry back to where you came from.
It had been some skirmishers. Small groups of human ships had attacked nearly every system in the empire. Nothing to difficult to handle though. Most of the ships was destroyed.
The humans had also send non weaponised pods with a a lot of electronics in them to every system. Many pods. Probably to get som intel. That had been attempts to destroy the pods, but they were to many. That was nothing that worried the great Warchief though. It was good if the humans fully understood the full might of the empire.
Now he patiently waited. He knew that the humans would try to take the colony back, fail and forced to accept that this is now part of the empire.
Suddenly his aid came running.
The Warchief was shocked to hear that they had lost contact with two of the empires most important worlds: the naval shipyard and the farming planet for the core worlds.
Impossible. It can’t be the humans! Four fleets protected each of the worlds. The puny humans would not be able to conquer them.
Two scout ships was sent. Both returned with troubled reports.
The humans had not conquered the planets. No, they had done something much worse.
They had destroyed not only the planets, but the whole systems. They had somehow made the star explode in each. Eight fleets destroyed and billions of the Empires loyal servants living on the planets was killed.
The Warchief was in disbelief. The humans had in a swift and decisive blow, crippled his fleet and food supply.
He couldn’t understand how.
The bridge contacted him.
The humans was here.
He ran to the bridge and the tactical screen was filled with red dots. So many, in fact, that the onboard computer couldn’t keep track. The human fleet was not fancy, it was nothing more than prams with engines and railguns.
Railsguns! What in the empires name! It hadn’t been used in thousands of years.
A wall of accelerated projectiles was fired at once from all of the human ships.
Followed by another wave of projectiles. And another. And another.
The great Warchief saw how the projectiles kinetic force did short work of his front guard ships shields. By the third wave the shield was gone and the projectiles ripped the ships in pieces.
The projectiles came closer to the bulk of his fleet. He knew that they wouldn’t have a chance. He ordered a retreat. The small ships would make it, but the big capitol ships was too slow and would be destroyed.
Then the computer got locked onto an extremely big asteroid closing in on the planet that now instead of humans was populated with millions of settlers from all over the empire. Somehow the humans had managed to launch an asteroid! And it would kill everything on the planet and probably make it inhabitable for centuries.
The Warchief suddenly realised. The humans had created the rules of war to keep themselves in check. To protect themselves - and strangely enough their enemy.
Without the rules of war, the humans was unstoppable savages always on the brink of self destruction. But if they manage to channel that destruction outwards…
The last thought through his mind when the projectiles smashed into his ship was: May the gods help the rest of the galaxy. | Voxl abruptly closed the human history book given to her so she could learn a bit about there past, well, the past for the Americans. She just left Australia in her trip to learn more about humanity and there kind. She was amused when she learned that humans had specific ways of war to make it “less vile”. She found it funnier when she learned about the Emu War, knowing that humanity lost too a wild animal she thought that they served her kind no threat. She thought.
“Mark..you said you had rules for war, please explain to me why one of them involved using gas to kill thousands of innocents, and why your country used two extremely deadly toxic bombs you call nukes on two defenseless cities..?” She asked her human roommate. A random person would be assigned to watch the alien for two months, depending on the size of the country also decided how many humans would care for the aliens.
“Oh that…that would be World War 2 or The Second Great War..we have the rules for a reason Voxl. Not all humans are kind, or even decent..the gas was made by a tyrant who wanted to control the entirety of Europe and eventually the world..he blamed a religious group called the Jewish for his problems. The bombs from us were in response to Japan’s bombing on a military base called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our president at the time called Japan’s emperor told him to surrender or else the first would be dropped, well you can figure out the rest from there…” Mark explained, shame filled his voice.
“Well, you guys stopped making nukes right..?” Voxl asked, worried that if her kind ever dared waged war on humanity, they would suffer terrible consequences.
“Most countries have, though some power thirsty leaders still do..I’m sorry you had to see that side of humanity, I promise not all of us are blood hungry killers.” Mark said.
Voxl put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey! It’s okay Mark..all kinds have there good and bad, I just hope the bad of my kind doesn’t try to hurt yours, I’ve seen the good of humanity,” A small smile crept up on her face, “You’re one of them.”
Mark chuckled as the two friends sat down and continued to discuss there kinds and cultures. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | The Rindan were the first to encounter them. Those organic masses of flesh and bone. Humans.
They were placated with trinkets and waste, and allowed their young to be carted off world to be held and displayed by the noble and powerful.
Their attempts to negotiate peace and harmony only allowed further exploitation. Seizing areas of their surface rich in vital resources.
The Rindan were followed by the Kortar, who enslaved much of their populations. The Vilifax harvested their brains and embedded them in their world machines on Earth and off in the stars. Then us. We who harvest and give to all others that give life to the stars.
Human slaves served as meal and incubators to many young of the various hosts, which the humans ‘loved’ as much as their own
The human governments fell when they realised our war machines were piloted by their young. That their feeble and wretched served us loyally and faithfully
The humans were nothing. Another meat puppet to service the dwindling outpost of ‘Earth’
And then…
Then they changed. They became silent. Subdued.
The Dawn of Sorrows saw all of our young lost before one earth rotation. Their surprisingly complex manipulations of the earth elements created tiny creatures that turned our young to stone. A parents embrace led to our demise.
And it was carried off world by our own, affecting all of our newborn off world. Some pockets of young were jettisoned into the coldness of space to await a revitalisation. Hopefully.
But that wasn’t the worst of it
The Kortar, who had invested in a sizeable nest on earth, were expelled by their own newer brood. The new young having been ‘poisoned’ to serve these meat things. This poison spread to the rest of the Kortar worlds, and now they are a shadow of their former selves. Succumbing to numerous squabbles and inner turmoil that had not been since they first touched the stars.
The Vilifax foresaw all of our pain and devastation and separated themselves from Earth… but their world machines had already been working to destroy the Vilifaxian home worlds. All of them. One by one. And the Vilifax could do nothing to stop them
The Rindan were the last, and greatest of us
No one knows what became of them.
The Rindan upheld all of our power, and elevated us to traverse the stars and survive the darkness
And now they’re gone. Their ships empty and circling Earths Sun. Slowly falling in
They’re gone, and shadows grow on the Earth outpost. It eats at all of our power. It’s under our flesh, sowing doubt and discord. Eating our young, our homes, and our memories
We were once great. We were powerful.
What happened to us? | Voxl abruptly closed the human history book given to her so she could learn a bit about there past, well, the past for the Americans. She just left Australia in her trip to learn more about humanity and there kind. She was amused when she learned that humans had specific ways of war to make it “less vile”. She found it funnier when she learned about the Emu War, knowing that humanity lost too a wild animal she thought that they served her kind no threat. She thought.
“Mark..you said you had rules for war, please explain to me why one of them involved using gas to kill thousands of innocents, and why your country used two extremely deadly toxic bombs you call nukes on two defenseless cities..?” She asked her human roommate. A random person would be assigned to watch the alien for two months, depending on the size of the country also decided how many humans would care for the aliens.
“Oh that…that would be World War 2 or The Second Great War..we have the rules for a reason Voxl. Not all humans are kind, or even decent..the gas was made by a tyrant who wanted to control the entirety of Europe and eventually the world..he blamed a religious group called the Jewish for his problems. The bombs from us were in response to Japan’s bombing on a military base called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our president at the time called Japan’s emperor told him to surrender or else the first would be dropped, well you can figure out the rest from there…” Mark explained, shame filled his voice.
“Well, you guys stopped making nukes right..?” Voxl asked, worried that if her kind ever dared waged war on humanity, they would suffer terrible consequences.
“Most countries have, though some power thirsty leaders still do..I’m sorry you had to see that side of humanity, I promise not all of us are blood hungry killers.” Mark said.
Voxl put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey! It’s okay Mark..all kinds have there good and bad, I just hope the bad of my kind doesn’t try to hurt yours, I’ve seen the good of humanity,” A small smile crept up on her face, “You’re one of them.”
Mark chuckled as the two friends sat down and continued to discuss there kinds and cultures. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "With all due respect, don't you think we should lay down some ground rules about civilian targets and so forth?" spoke General Kitt to the assembled warcouncil of Terra. "It seems like the humane thing to do."
"Humane implies humanity, and these creatures have none. I am questioning the military's priorities if it doesn't understand this simple concept."
General Kitt spoke again: "I mean, have we at least tried diplomacy? I got the report on the state department delegation, and I can't really see that we communicated effectively to them. I have to think if we just communicated the need for these rules more effectively... Or if we just let them fully understand that we come in peace... I'm sure we could win them over, and they might be happy to share their technology and adopt our ways."
"General, this council is ordering you to execute order 55. The motion passed in a landslide. Bring back what technology you can. These thorns in our side laughed at us in their communiques."
"I understand! But just hear me out. If we don't have some ground rules -- even we just make them and they don't follow them -- there's not going to be anything left. This plan needs some exceptions, as I've outlined before. And the boys back home really want to get their hands on some Xenotech, which you know requires some exceptions. Plus you know, at least half of the equation here is human and capable of expression humanity. For long term relationships perhaps, we should hold back as well."
"You are correct on one point, despite your pontification. We do need a xenotechnology clause. We have considered this. You will not like it, however. As for long term relations, they are of no consequence. Our allies will be glad of their riddance. General, this discussion is concluded. You yourself have studied galactic traditions in warfare, and they do not agree on any kind of rules in warfare. They violate our space and the peace of our citizenry. What they consider sacrosanct varies by civilization, and the only thing they agree on is getting together to kill all the ambassadors we attempt to send of late, and raiding our colonies. The plans have been drawn up, we will add the xenotechnology clause, and if you are unwilling to carry these orders out, we will put someone new in charge."
"I understand, Councilmember."
—
The general stood on the bridge of his starship. He paced the long gallery, gazing out at the stars. There was a time when ships such at this carried a great payload of armaments: projectiles, light based weapons, drones, and so forth. But there was no need for such crassness anymore; humanity had risen above the need for the gruesome ends such devices brought. It was ships like this one that inspired awe, terror, and peace. Humanity had enjoyed an unprecedented prosperity under the council's benevolent guidance through the disarmament process that accompanied this class of ship.
The general gazed across the bridge, which didn't look at all like what the generations of old had imagined. His crew sat cross-legged on zafutons in rows and columns, their eyes closed as they communed with their technological implants and carried out their duties, motionless. The new motto of this millenia was emblazoned on the wall of the bridge, not that anyone but the captain was looking: "strike first, strike hard, get out fast, no mercy."
A voice crackled from the walls of the bridge. "Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. We are calling to inform you that we detect sufficient charge in the polaron manifold. You are go at your leisure. Monitor out."
Kitt sighed. The ship looked like some kind of clockwork arrowhead, more scaffold than hull. The energy heads sparked with irridescent radiance; space was ready to be folded.
"This is General Kitt of Councilship Mercy, acknowledged. Thank you Monitor. Mercy out."
A fold opened in space, and a weird ripple passed through the ship. The deck hummed as information began flowing through the folds. It was clear that all ships were indeed in position and charged.
"Fleet, this is General Kitt. On my mark, all ships posted to designated research targets, reverse the local bioorganic strong force in the biogenetic profiles that have been transmitted to you. On my mark, all ships posted to all other systems, execute space folding maneouvers: you are ordered to relocate your target star, and all its planets, to the Saggitarius A\* Aeon Horizon."
"To all ships, I want to say a few words to reassure your consciences. I know that you all know basic relato-gravimistics. But allow me to soliloquize on the, ehm, gravity, of the situation. It is a milestone day. TODAY, ALL OUR ENEMIES — their planets, their stars, their outposts, their civilization — all of it will be moved to the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\* — that's right, the black hole at the center of our galaxy — where they will find that, due to time dilation, they can no longer interfere with humanity. After today, for all practical purposes, they will be frozen in time. I want to let each and every one of you know that we do not make this decision lightly. We must protect our humanity, which we do today. May our enemies enjoy their lives in their new timeframe until the heat death. They will live on... And by the time we have colonized the galaxy and made friends with the less aggressive civilizations, perhaps one day we can reverse some of this process. At least we can dream of a better future for these barbarians."
And having given his speech, the general issued the order. Space folded, and most of the civilizations of the milky way vanished without a trace in their former environs; and ten thousands new stars shone in the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\*.
"Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. Congratulations. Terra sends its regards. We have also received communiques from our allies. They are pleased. The Council wishes to award you the Medal of Valiance on live Newscast. Please stand by to be transferred..." | Voxl abruptly closed the human history book given to her so she could learn a bit about there past, well, the past for the Americans. She just left Australia in her trip to learn more about humanity and there kind. She was amused when she learned that humans had specific ways of war to make it “less vile”. She found it funnier when she learned about the Emu War, knowing that humanity lost too a wild animal she thought that they served her kind no threat. She thought.
“Mark..you said you had rules for war, please explain to me why one of them involved using gas to kill thousands of innocents, and why your country used two extremely deadly toxic bombs you call nukes on two defenseless cities..?” She asked her human roommate. A random person would be assigned to watch the alien for two months, depending on the size of the country also decided how many humans would care for the aliens.
“Oh that…that would be World War 2 or The Second Great War..we have the rules for a reason Voxl. Not all humans are kind, or even decent..the gas was made by a tyrant who wanted to control the entirety of Europe and eventually the world..he blamed a religious group called the Jewish for his problems. The bombs from us were in response to Japan’s bombing on a military base called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our president at the time called Japan’s emperor told him to surrender or else the first would be dropped, well you can figure out the rest from there…” Mark explained, shame filled his voice.
“Well, you guys stopped making nukes right..?” Voxl asked, worried that if her kind ever dared waged war on humanity, they would suffer terrible consequences.
“Most countries have, though some power thirsty leaders still do..I’m sorry you had to see that side of humanity, I promise not all of us are blood hungry killers.” Mark said.
Voxl put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey! It’s okay Mark..all kinds have there good and bad, I just hope the bad of my kind doesn’t try to hurt yours, I’ve seen the good of humanity,” A small smile crept up on her face, “You’re one of them.”
Mark chuckled as the two friends sat down and continued to discuss there kinds and cultures. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | August 18th, 4057:
Fuckin Xeno scum got carpet bombed and napalmed into non-existence. That's the 8th or so planet that's been given the "Ring of Fire" treatment. We've been blasting "Napalm Sticks To Kids" at them for a while before flattening them. Apparently some other species are more vulnerable to psychological warfare. They're saying this is just the start.
August 27th, 4057:
The Xenos have started running whenever they hear those songs. We're taking prisoners without even trying. I don't know where they take the prisoners. But judging by the large holes that we're digging, I think I know what's happening.
August 28th, 4057:
Jesus Christ. We're digging the holes so parents can execute their women and children, then they castrate themselves. We're making them cut their fucking balls off. What the actual shit are we doing here? We have rules for a reason. I guess this is psychological warfare, but... Christ.
September 14th, 4057:
The Xenos called for a surrender. We refused. I don't know what the President's doing, but I don't much care for it. I can't deal with the screams anymore. If they try and flee we blow them up. If they try and fight we blow them up. Half the time if they surrender we blow them up. The rest of the time? Read my previous entry.
September 17th, 4057:
They've offered unconditional surrender. We keep refusing. I'm sick. I can't do this anymore. I put in a leave request.
September 18th, 4057:
It was denied.
October 21st, 4057:
It's been a while. We're still fighting. But I wouldn't call it fighting, it's systematic torture and genocide of a species. We're at their homeworld though. It can't last much longer.
December 18th 4057:
We gathered up every last of their species in the galaxy. It took months but we did it. We put them all in one spot. Then we threw White Phosphorus on them. We recorded it. We sent it to the Counsel. Rules of War are being put in place. Was it worth it? | Voxl abruptly closed the human history book given to her so she could learn a bit about there past, well, the past for the Americans. She just left Australia in her trip to learn more about humanity and there kind. She was amused when she learned that humans had specific ways of war to make it “less vile”. She found it funnier when she learned about the Emu War, knowing that humanity lost too a wild animal she thought that they served her kind no threat. She thought.
“Mark..you said you had rules for war, please explain to me why one of them involved using gas to kill thousands of innocents, and why your country used two extremely deadly toxic bombs you call nukes on two defenseless cities..?” She asked her human roommate. A random person would be assigned to watch the alien for two months, depending on the size of the country also decided how many humans would care for the aliens.
“Oh that…that would be World War 2 or The Second Great War..we have the rules for a reason Voxl. Not all humans are kind, or even decent..the gas was made by a tyrant who wanted to control the entirety of Europe and eventually the world..he blamed a religious group called the Jewish for his problems. The bombs from us were in response to Japan’s bombing on a military base called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our president at the time called Japan’s emperor told him to surrender or else the first would be dropped, well you can figure out the rest from there…” Mark explained, shame filled his voice.
“Well, you guys stopped making nukes right..?” Voxl asked, worried that if her kind ever dared waged war on humanity, they would suffer terrible consequences.
“Most countries have, though some power thirsty leaders still do..I’m sorry you had to see that side of humanity, I promise not all of us are blood hungry killers.” Mark said.
Voxl put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey! It’s okay Mark..all kinds have there good and bad, I just hope the bad of my kind doesn’t try to hurt yours, I’ve seen the good of humanity,” A small smile crept up on her face, “You’re one of them.”
Mark chuckled as the two friends sat down and continued to discuss there kinds and cultures. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | My name is Dr. Asclepius. I am not here in the senate chambers to make any demands. I am simply an ambassador, here to speak on behalf of all humanity.
It has been a year and a half since humanity stood on the galactic stage.
But this year and a half is already filled with more bloodshed, more atrocities, and more unspeakable things than anyone in the galactic community has ever seen - save for us Humans.
Members of the Galactic Federation, you scoffed at us when we came to you, asking what the rules of war were. You assumed that we needed rules because we were weak, because we needed protection.
That is not the case, as you have unfortunately had to experience firsthand. If I could direct your attention to the screens?
This was Xyrillia, one of the largest centers of commerce in the entire galaxy, home to tens of trillions of lifeforms from a myriad of different planets.
This is it now - *completely and utterly uninhabitable.* All life, wiped from the very surface. Billions of families, all gone in an instant. The air is so toxic that spending ten seconds on the surface without protective equipment is fatal.
This is merely one example of what has occurred.
*This* is known as Operation Stardust Axis. The Mietra, pushed to the brink, when their many space colonies came crashing down onto the surfaces of their planets, turning their once great cities into desert wastelands. Very few survived.
I'm sure you remember the diseases that spread like wildfire, killing millions.
When we plunged entire systems into pitch darkness, blocking planets from receiving the light of their stars through an impenetrable nanomachine fog.
Even as I speak, nuclear fires from reactor bombs still rage on multiple inhabited planets, burning and spreading their poison.
Do you see now? These rules of war are not a shield. They are not cowardice.
They are shackles, chains, restraints upon a race that would have wiped themselves out many years ago if it did not have them.
When you declared war upon humanity, you removed the seal on a monster that no human wishes to see themselves become.
In the course of this war, many a human has done things that would make them shoot up in their beds screaming from the sins that they carry.
I myself am a physician, widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest of the medical minds of my race, rather fitting, considering my name. When one learns how to heal in any field, they also learn how to kill someone in the most horrific and awful ways possible.
I've studied each of the species here on an operating table. I could easily stitch together your wounds, cure you of your ailments, provide prostheses that function just as well and perhaps even better than the original - and just as easily remove your organs and bones one-by-one in alphabetical order while you are still alive. I could formulate a gene-altering disease that would render all living members of your race completely infertile. I could create machines that slowly liquefy you from the inside-out and convert you into biofuel.
When one becomes a physician, they are to take an oath to do no harm, for this very reason.
And yet, even I am not innocent. I have broken that oath many a time because of this war.
These hands of mine have done unforgivable things to the innocent, to mothers, to children.
So please, I implore you on behalf of all humanity - stop this war, before all of us are lost. The laws of war are in place to ensure that we are better than beasts. I would ask that we all adhere to them, if not for ourselves, then for our children.
>Human ambassador Dr. Asclepius's message to the Galactic senate, shortly before the surrender of the Federation, putting an end to the bloody 'Lawless War.' | Voxl abruptly closed the human history book given to her so she could learn a bit about there past, well, the past for the Americans. She just left Australia in her trip to learn more about humanity and there kind. She was amused when she learned that humans had specific ways of war to make it “less vile”. She found it funnier when she learned about the Emu War, knowing that humanity lost too a wild animal she thought that they served her kind no threat. She thought.
“Mark..you said you had rules for war, please explain to me why one of them involved using gas to kill thousands of innocents, and why your country used two extremely deadly toxic bombs you call nukes on two defenseless cities..?” She asked her human roommate. A random person would be assigned to watch the alien for two months, depending on the size of the country also decided how many humans would care for the aliens.
“Oh that…that would be World War 2 or The Second Great War..we have the rules for a reason Voxl. Not all humans are kind, or even decent..the gas was made by a tyrant who wanted to control the entirety of Europe and eventually the world..he blamed a religious group called the Jewish for his problems. The bombs from us were in response to Japan’s bombing on a military base called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our president at the time called Japan’s emperor told him to surrender or else the first would be dropped, well you can figure out the rest from there…” Mark explained, shame filled his voice.
“Well, you guys stopped making nukes right..?” Voxl asked, worried that if her kind ever dared waged war on humanity, they would suffer terrible consequences.
“Most countries have, though some power thirsty leaders still do..I’m sorry you had to see that side of humanity, I promise not all of us are blood hungry killers.” Mark said.
Voxl put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey! It’s okay Mark..all kinds have there good and bad, I just hope the bad of my kind doesn’t try to hurt yours, I’ve seen the good of humanity,” A small smile crept up on her face, “You’re one of them.”
Mark chuckled as the two friends sat down and continued to discuss there kinds and cultures. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Know this. You have done this to yourselves.
You were warned. Even as you laughed and called us primitives, wanting our planets to add to the so-called Million Worlds of your dominion. So many times you were warned: our hyperdrives are not like yours.
We told you this when you arrived to terraform our colonies. We warned you that our drives do not bend spacetime like yours. They pierce holes in it, and that with effort, we can form those holes anywhere.
We warned you of the things we could do to you, but chose not to.
You did not believe our warnings. You could not comprehend having a capability and not using it. Still, we took the higher road, offering you an armistice, but our offer of peace was met with violence and fire.
We gave you too many chances.
Now, ash and boiling oceans are all that remains of our final colonies. You likely think you have won, but I suspect you do not appreciate the scope of what devils you now unleash upon yourselves.
You did not break our spirits with your fire. Those of us remaining are hardened. Our old restraint is burned away now—our high minded scruples were ground to dust beneath your boots.
It is not the better angels of our nature you see before you now, for you have killed them too, along with our colonies, all of their blood still slick upon your hands.
No. You will suffer the wrath of our long restrained demons instead. The gates are opened, and their chains now lie upon the ground.
You will watch as the stars around which every one of your Million Worlds revolves fade to oblivion as their mass drains away into carefully targeted hyperdrive apertures, like water from a bathtub. Your Million Worlds will die, and then you, too, will understand what it is to have everything taken from you.
You launched the first strike of this war. We have launched the last. | Voxl abruptly closed the human history book given to her so she could learn a bit about there past, well, the past for the Americans. She just left Australia in her trip to learn more about humanity and there kind. She was amused when she learned that humans had specific ways of war to make it “less vile”. She found it funnier when she learned about the Emu War, knowing that humanity lost too a wild animal she thought that they served her kind no threat. She thought.
“Mark..you said you had rules for war, please explain to me why one of them involved using gas to kill thousands of innocents, and why your country used two extremely deadly toxic bombs you call nukes on two defenseless cities..?” She asked her human roommate. A random person would be assigned to watch the alien for two months, depending on the size of the country also decided how many humans would care for the aliens.
“Oh that…that would be World War 2 or The Second Great War..we have the rules for a reason Voxl. Not all humans are kind, or even decent..the gas was made by a tyrant who wanted to control the entirety of Europe and eventually the world..he blamed a religious group called the Jewish for his problems. The bombs from us were in response to Japan’s bombing on a military base called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our president at the time called Japan’s emperor told him to surrender or else the first would be dropped, well you can figure out the rest from there…” Mark explained, shame filled his voice.
“Well, you guys stopped making nukes right..?” Voxl asked, worried that if her kind ever dared waged war on humanity, they would suffer terrible consequences.
“Most countries have, though some power thirsty leaders still do..I’m sorry you had to see that side of humanity, I promise not all of us are blood hungry killers.” Mark said.
Voxl put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey! It’s okay Mark..all kinds have there good and bad, I just hope the bad of my kind doesn’t try to hurt yours, I’ve seen the good of humanity,” A small smile crept up on her face, “You’re one of them.”
Mark chuckled as the two friends sat down and continued to discuss there kinds and cultures. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | It is a sad day. The newcomers to our little slice of home declared war. We sent communiques inquiring as to the rules of engagement to their leadership, and they responded with images of our diplomats tortured, abused in the cruelest, most inhumane of ways, signed in the name of the Kiej Dominion.
Those insect bastards murdered my brother, for those images. I still have nightmares, honestly. Like, it's his body but with my face, screaming every single despairing lament ever spoken by humans. I'm interrupted in my thoughts by my second. "Commander Smith." He salutes me and I return it, and receive from him orders from not only Command but also the United Systems Confederation.
'Show the Kiej why we have rules. Your only restraints are to attempt to salvage one of their transports for research purposes.' I smirk. It takes all my will to not cackle like a mad woman. It fails, and my second leaves, scared.
A week later, I stride amongst the ruins, the smoldering blight left in the wake of my vengeance, seated across from the Dominion High Command. They've signed a very punishing peace treaty, reparations to bankrupt God Himself, admission as a member state in the Greater Stellar Alliance, and, as a special concession to me, the bug that murdered my brother. I had already handed in my resignation, dated and timed for when the USC accepted the terms of the treaty and the Dominion signed it. I walked in to the room, an arsenal of implements following me.
---
Commander Isla Smith, retired, last log before retirement. | Voxl abruptly closed the human history book given to her so she could learn a bit about there past, well, the past for the Americans. She just left Australia in her trip to learn more about humanity and there kind. She was amused when she learned that humans had specific ways of war to make it “less vile”. She found it funnier when she learned about the Emu War, knowing that humanity lost too a wild animal she thought that they served her kind no threat. She thought.
“Mark..you said you had rules for war, please explain to me why one of them involved using gas to kill thousands of innocents, and why your country used two extremely deadly toxic bombs you call nukes on two defenseless cities..?” She asked her human roommate. A random person would be assigned to watch the alien for two months, depending on the size of the country also decided how many humans would care for the aliens.
“Oh that…that would be World War 2 or The Second Great War..we have the rules for a reason Voxl. Not all humans are kind, or even decent..the gas was made by a tyrant who wanted to control the entirety of Europe and eventually the world..he blamed a religious group called the Jewish for his problems. The bombs from us were in response to Japan’s bombing on a military base called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our president at the time called Japan’s emperor told him to surrender or else the first would be dropped, well you can figure out the rest from there…” Mark explained, shame filled his voice.
“Well, you guys stopped making nukes right..?” Voxl asked, worried that if her kind ever dared waged war on humanity, they would suffer terrible consequences.
“Most countries have, though some power thirsty leaders still do..I’m sorry you had to see that side of humanity, I promise not all of us are blood hungry killers.” Mark said.
Voxl put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey! It’s okay Mark..all kinds have there good and bad, I just hope the bad of my kind doesn’t try to hurt yours, I’ve seen the good of humanity,” A small smile crept up on her face, “You’re one of them.”
Mark chuckled as the two friends sat down and continued to discuss there kinds and cultures. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "With all due respect, don't you think we should lay down some ground rules about civilian targets and so forth?" spoke General Kitt to the assembled warcouncil of Terra. "It seems like the humane thing to do."
"Humane implies humanity, and these creatures have none. I am questioning the military's priorities if it doesn't understand this simple concept."
General Kitt spoke again: "I mean, have we at least tried diplomacy? I got the report on the state department delegation, and I can't really see that we communicated effectively to them. I have to think if we just communicated the need for these rules more effectively... Or if we just let them fully understand that we come in peace... I'm sure we could win them over, and they might be happy to share their technology and adopt our ways."
"General, this council is ordering you to execute order 55. The motion passed in a landslide. Bring back what technology you can. These thorns in our side laughed at us in their communiques."
"I understand! But just hear me out. If we don't have some ground rules -- even we just make them and they don't follow them -- there's not going to be anything left. This plan needs some exceptions, as I've outlined before. And the boys back home really want to get their hands on some Xenotech, which you know requires some exceptions. Plus you know, at least half of the equation here is human and capable of expression humanity. For long term relationships perhaps, we should hold back as well."
"You are correct on one point, despite your pontification. We do need a xenotechnology clause. We have considered this. You will not like it, however. As for long term relations, they are of no consequence. Our allies will be glad of their riddance. General, this discussion is concluded. You yourself have studied galactic traditions in warfare, and they do not agree on any kind of rules in warfare. They violate our space and the peace of our citizenry. What they consider sacrosanct varies by civilization, and the only thing they agree on is getting together to kill all the ambassadors we attempt to send of late, and raiding our colonies. The plans have been drawn up, we will add the xenotechnology clause, and if you are unwilling to carry these orders out, we will put someone new in charge."
"I understand, Councilmember."
—
The general stood on the bridge of his starship. He paced the long gallery, gazing out at the stars. There was a time when ships such at this carried a great payload of armaments: projectiles, light based weapons, drones, and so forth. But there was no need for such crassness anymore; humanity had risen above the need for the gruesome ends such devices brought. It was ships like this one that inspired awe, terror, and peace. Humanity had enjoyed an unprecedented prosperity under the council's benevolent guidance through the disarmament process that accompanied this class of ship.
The general gazed across the bridge, which didn't look at all like what the generations of old had imagined. His crew sat cross-legged on zafutons in rows and columns, their eyes closed as they communed with their technological implants and carried out their duties, motionless. The new motto of this millenia was emblazoned on the wall of the bridge, not that anyone but the captain was looking: "strike first, strike hard, get out fast, no mercy."
A voice crackled from the walls of the bridge. "Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. We are calling to inform you that we detect sufficient charge in the polaron manifold. You are go at your leisure. Monitor out."
Kitt sighed. The ship looked like some kind of clockwork arrowhead, more scaffold than hull. The energy heads sparked with irridescent radiance; space was ready to be folded.
"This is General Kitt of Councilship Mercy, acknowledged. Thank you Monitor. Mercy out."
A fold opened in space, and a weird ripple passed through the ship. The deck hummed as information began flowing through the folds. It was clear that all ships were indeed in position and charged.
"Fleet, this is General Kitt. On my mark, all ships posted to designated research targets, reverse the local bioorganic strong force in the biogenetic profiles that have been transmitted to you. On my mark, all ships posted to all other systems, execute space folding maneouvers: you are ordered to relocate your target star, and all its planets, to the Saggitarius A\* Aeon Horizon."
"To all ships, I want to say a few words to reassure your consciences. I know that you all know basic relato-gravimistics. But allow me to soliloquize on the, ehm, gravity, of the situation. It is a milestone day. TODAY, ALL OUR ENEMIES — their planets, their stars, their outposts, their civilization — all of it will be moved to the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\* — that's right, the black hole at the center of our galaxy — where they will find that, due to time dilation, they can no longer interfere with humanity. After today, for all practical purposes, they will be frozen in time. I want to let each and every one of you know that we do not make this decision lightly. We must protect our humanity, which we do today. May our enemies enjoy their lives in their new timeframe until the heat death. They will live on... And by the time we have colonized the galaxy and made friends with the less aggressive civilizations, perhaps one day we can reverse some of this process. At least we can dream of a better future for these barbarians."
And having given his speech, the general issued the order. Space folded, and most of the civilizations of the milky way vanished without a trace in their former environs; and ten thousands new stars shone in the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\*.
"Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. Congratulations. Terra sends its regards. We have also received communiques from our allies. They are pleased. The Council wishes to award you the Medal of Valiance on live Newscast. Please stand by to be transferred..." | The Rindan were the first to encounter them. Those organic masses of flesh and bone. Humans.
They were placated with trinkets and waste, and allowed their young to be carted off world to be held and displayed by the noble and powerful.
Their attempts to negotiate peace and harmony only allowed further exploitation. Seizing areas of their surface rich in vital resources.
The Rindan were followed by the Kortar, who enslaved much of their populations. The Vilifax harvested their brains and embedded them in their world machines on Earth and off in the stars. Then us. We who harvest and give to all others that give life to the stars.
Human slaves served as meal and incubators to many young of the various hosts, which the humans ‘loved’ as much as their own
The human governments fell when they realised our war machines were piloted by their young. That their feeble and wretched served us loyally and faithfully
The humans were nothing. Another meat puppet to service the dwindling outpost of ‘Earth’
And then…
Then they changed. They became silent. Subdued.
The Dawn of Sorrows saw all of our young lost before one earth rotation. Their surprisingly complex manipulations of the earth elements created tiny creatures that turned our young to stone. A parents embrace led to our demise.
And it was carried off world by our own, affecting all of our newborn off world. Some pockets of young were jettisoned into the coldness of space to await a revitalisation. Hopefully.
But that wasn’t the worst of it
The Kortar, who had invested in a sizeable nest on earth, were expelled by their own newer brood. The new young having been ‘poisoned’ to serve these meat things. This poison spread to the rest of the Kortar worlds, and now they are a shadow of their former selves. Succumbing to numerous squabbles and inner turmoil that had not been since they first touched the stars.
The Vilifax foresaw all of our pain and devastation and separated themselves from Earth… but their world machines had already been working to destroy the Vilifaxian home worlds. All of them. One by one. And the Vilifax could do nothing to stop them
The Rindan were the last, and greatest of us
No one knows what became of them.
The Rindan upheld all of our power, and elevated us to traverse the stars and survive the darkness
And now they’re gone. Their ships empty and circling Earths Sun. Slowly falling in
They’re gone, and shadows grow on the Earth outpost. It eats at all of our power. It’s under our flesh, sowing doubt and discord. Eating our young, our homes, and our memories
We were once great. We were powerful.
What happened to us? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | August 18th, 4057:
Fuckin Xeno scum got carpet bombed and napalmed into non-existence. That's the 8th or so planet that's been given the "Ring of Fire" treatment. We've been blasting "Napalm Sticks To Kids" at them for a while before flattening them. Apparently some other species are more vulnerable to psychological warfare. They're saying this is just the start.
August 27th, 4057:
The Xenos have started running whenever they hear those songs. We're taking prisoners without even trying. I don't know where they take the prisoners. But judging by the large holes that we're digging, I think I know what's happening.
August 28th, 4057:
Jesus Christ. We're digging the holes so parents can execute their women and children, then they castrate themselves. We're making them cut their fucking balls off. What the actual shit are we doing here? We have rules for a reason. I guess this is psychological warfare, but... Christ.
September 14th, 4057:
The Xenos called for a surrender. We refused. I don't know what the President's doing, but I don't much care for it. I can't deal with the screams anymore. If they try and flee we blow them up. If they try and fight we blow them up. Half the time if they surrender we blow them up. The rest of the time? Read my previous entry.
September 17th, 4057:
They've offered unconditional surrender. We keep refusing. I'm sick. I can't do this anymore. I put in a leave request.
September 18th, 4057:
It was denied.
October 21st, 4057:
It's been a while. We're still fighting. But I wouldn't call it fighting, it's systematic torture and genocide of a species. We're at their homeworld though. It can't last much longer.
December 18th 4057:
We gathered up every last of their species in the galaxy. It took months but we did it. We put them all in one spot. Then we threw White Phosphorus on them. We recorded it. We sent it to the Counsel. Rules of War are being put in place. Was it worth it? | The Rindan were the first to encounter them. Those organic masses of flesh and bone. Humans.
They were placated with trinkets and waste, and allowed their young to be carted off world to be held and displayed by the noble and powerful.
Their attempts to negotiate peace and harmony only allowed further exploitation. Seizing areas of their surface rich in vital resources.
The Rindan were followed by the Kortar, who enslaved much of their populations. The Vilifax harvested their brains and embedded them in their world machines on Earth and off in the stars. Then us. We who harvest and give to all others that give life to the stars.
Human slaves served as meal and incubators to many young of the various hosts, which the humans ‘loved’ as much as their own
The human governments fell when they realised our war machines were piloted by their young. That their feeble and wretched served us loyally and faithfully
The humans were nothing. Another meat puppet to service the dwindling outpost of ‘Earth’
And then…
Then they changed. They became silent. Subdued.
The Dawn of Sorrows saw all of our young lost before one earth rotation. Their surprisingly complex manipulations of the earth elements created tiny creatures that turned our young to stone. A parents embrace led to our demise.
And it was carried off world by our own, affecting all of our newborn off world. Some pockets of young were jettisoned into the coldness of space to await a revitalisation. Hopefully.
But that wasn’t the worst of it
The Kortar, who had invested in a sizeable nest on earth, were expelled by their own newer brood. The new young having been ‘poisoned’ to serve these meat things. This poison spread to the rest of the Kortar worlds, and now they are a shadow of their former selves. Succumbing to numerous squabbles and inner turmoil that had not been since they first touched the stars.
The Vilifax foresaw all of our pain and devastation and separated themselves from Earth… but their world machines had already been working to destroy the Vilifaxian home worlds. All of them. One by one. And the Vilifax could do nothing to stop them
The Rindan were the last, and greatest of us
No one knows what became of them.
The Rindan upheld all of our power, and elevated us to traverse the stars and survive the darkness
And now they’re gone. Their ships empty and circling Earths Sun. Slowly falling in
They’re gone, and shadows grow on the Earth outpost. It eats at all of our power. It’s under our flesh, sowing doubt and discord. Eating our young, our homes, and our memories
We were once great. We were powerful.
What happened to us? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | My name is Dr. Asclepius. I am not here in the senate chambers to make any demands. I am simply an ambassador, here to speak on behalf of all humanity.
It has been a year and a half since humanity stood on the galactic stage.
But this year and a half is already filled with more bloodshed, more atrocities, and more unspeakable things than anyone in the galactic community has ever seen - save for us Humans.
Members of the Galactic Federation, you scoffed at us when we came to you, asking what the rules of war were. You assumed that we needed rules because we were weak, because we needed protection.
That is not the case, as you have unfortunately had to experience firsthand. If I could direct your attention to the screens?
This was Xyrillia, one of the largest centers of commerce in the entire galaxy, home to tens of trillions of lifeforms from a myriad of different planets.
This is it now - *completely and utterly uninhabitable.* All life, wiped from the very surface. Billions of families, all gone in an instant. The air is so toxic that spending ten seconds on the surface without protective equipment is fatal.
This is merely one example of what has occurred.
*This* is known as Operation Stardust Axis. The Mietra, pushed to the brink, when their many space colonies came crashing down onto the surfaces of their planets, turning their once great cities into desert wastelands. Very few survived.
I'm sure you remember the diseases that spread like wildfire, killing millions.
When we plunged entire systems into pitch darkness, blocking planets from receiving the light of their stars through an impenetrable nanomachine fog.
Even as I speak, nuclear fires from reactor bombs still rage on multiple inhabited planets, burning and spreading their poison.
Do you see now? These rules of war are not a shield. They are not cowardice.
They are shackles, chains, restraints upon a race that would have wiped themselves out many years ago if it did not have them.
When you declared war upon humanity, you removed the seal on a monster that no human wishes to see themselves become.
In the course of this war, many a human has done things that would make them shoot up in their beds screaming from the sins that they carry.
I myself am a physician, widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest of the medical minds of my race, rather fitting, considering my name. When one learns how to heal in any field, they also learn how to kill someone in the most horrific and awful ways possible.
I've studied each of the species here on an operating table. I could easily stitch together your wounds, cure you of your ailments, provide prostheses that function just as well and perhaps even better than the original - and just as easily remove your organs and bones one-by-one in alphabetical order while you are still alive. I could formulate a gene-altering disease that would render all living members of your race completely infertile. I could create machines that slowly liquefy you from the inside-out and convert you into biofuel.
When one becomes a physician, they are to take an oath to do no harm, for this very reason.
And yet, even I am not innocent. I have broken that oath many a time because of this war.
These hands of mine have done unforgivable things to the innocent, to mothers, to children.
So please, I implore you on behalf of all humanity - stop this war, before all of us are lost. The laws of war are in place to ensure that we are better than beasts. I would ask that we all adhere to them, if not for ourselves, then for our children.
>Human ambassador Dr. Asclepius's message to the Galactic senate, shortly before the surrender of the Federation, putting an end to the bloody 'Lawless War.' | The Rindan were the first to encounter them. Those organic masses of flesh and bone. Humans.
They were placated with trinkets and waste, and allowed their young to be carted off world to be held and displayed by the noble and powerful.
Their attempts to negotiate peace and harmony only allowed further exploitation. Seizing areas of their surface rich in vital resources.
The Rindan were followed by the Kortar, who enslaved much of their populations. The Vilifax harvested their brains and embedded them in their world machines on Earth and off in the stars. Then us. We who harvest and give to all others that give life to the stars.
Human slaves served as meal and incubators to many young of the various hosts, which the humans ‘loved’ as much as their own
The human governments fell when they realised our war machines were piloted by their young. That their feeble and wretched served us loyally and faithfully
The humans were nothing. Another meat puppet to service the dwindling outpost of ‘Earth’
And then…
Then they changed. They became silent. Subdued.
The Dawn of Sorrows saw all of our young lost before one earth rotation. Their surprisingly complex manipulations of the earth elements created tiny creatures that turned our young to stone. A parents embrace led to our demise.
And it was carried off world by our own, affecting all of our newborn off world. Some pockets of young were jettisoned into the coldness of space to await a revitalisation. Hopefully.
But that wasn’t the worst of it
The Kortar, who had invested in a sizeable nest on earth, were expelled by their own newer brood. The new young having been ‘poisoned’ to serve these meat things. This poison spread to the rest of the Kortar worlds, and now they are a shadow of their former selves. Succumbing to numerous squabbles and inner turmoil that had not been since they first touched the stars.
The Vilifax foresaw all of our pain and devastation and separated themselves from Earth… but their world machines had already been working to destroy the Vilifaxian home worlds. All of them. One by one. And the Vilifax could do nothing to stop them
The Rindan were the last, and greatest of us
No one knows what became of them.
The Rindan upheld all of our power, and elevated us to traverse the stars and survive the darkness
And now they’re gone. Their ships empty and circling Earths Sun. Slowly falling in
They’re gone, and shadows grow on the Earth outpost. It eats at all of our power. It’s under our flesh, sowing doubt and discord. Eating our young, our homes, and our memories
We were once great. We were powerful.
What happened to us? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Know this. You have done this to yourselves.
You were warned. Even as you laughed and called us primitives, wanting our planets to add to the so-called Million Worlds of your dominion. So many times you were warned: our hyperdrives are not like yours.
We told you this when you arrived to terraform our colonies. We warned you that our drives do not bend spacetime like yours. They pierce holes in it, and that with effort, we can form those holes anywhere.
We warned you of the things we could do to you, but chose not to.
You did not believe our warnings. You could not comprehend having a capability and not using it. Still, we took the higher road, offering you an armistice, but our offer of peace was met with violence and fire.
We gave you too many chances.
Now, ash and boiling oceans are all that remains of our final colonies. You likely think you have won, but I suspect you do not appreciate the scope of what devils you now unleash upon yourselves.
You did not break our spirits with your fire. Those of us remaining are hardened. Our old restraint is burned away now—our high minded scruples were ground to dust beneath your boots.
It is not the better angels of our nature you see before you now, for you have killed them too, along with our colonies, all of their blood still slick upon your hands.
No. You will suffer the wrath of our long restrained demons instead. The gates are opened, and their chains now lie upon the ground.
You will watch as the stars around which every one of your Million Worlds revolves fade to oblivion as their mass drains away into carefully targeted hyperdrive apertures, like water from a bathtub. Your Million Worlds will die, and then you, too, will understand what it is to have everything taken from you.
You launched the first strike of this war. We have launched the last. | The Rindan were the first to encounter them. Those organic masses of flesh and bone. Humans.
They were placated with trinkets and waste, and allowed their young to be carted off world to be held and displayed by the noble and powerful.
Their attempts to negotiate peace and harmony only allowed further exploitation. Seizing areas of their surface rich in vital resources.
The Rindan were followed by the Kortar, who enslaved much of their populations. The Vilifax harvested their brains and embedded them in their world machines on Earth and off in the stars. Then us. We who harvest and give to all others that give life to the stars.
Human slaves served as meal and incubators to many young of the various hosts, which the humans ‘loved’ as much as their own
The human governments fell when they realised our war machines were piloted by their young. That their feeble and wretched served us loyally and faithfully
The humans were nothing. Another meat puppet to service the dwindling outpost of ‘Earth’
And then…
Then they changed. They became silent. Subdued.
The Dawn of Sorrows saw all of our young lost before one earth rotation. Their surprisingly complex manipulations of the earth elements created tiny creatures that turned our young to stone. A parents embrace led to our demise.
And it was carried off world by our own, affecting all of our newborn off world. Some pockets of young were jettisoned into the coldness of space to await a revitalisation. Hopefully.
But that wasn’t the worst of it
The Kortar, who had invested in a sizeable nest on earth, were expelled by their own newer brood. The new young having been ‘poisoned’ to serve these meat things. This poison spread to the rest of the Kortar worlds, and now they are a shadow of their former selves. Succumbing to numerous squabbles and inner turmoil that had not been since they first touched the stars.
The Vilifax foresaw all of our pain and devastation and separated themselves from Earth… but their world machines had already been working to destroy the Vilifaxian home worlds. All of them. One by one. And the Vilifax could do nothing to stop them
The Rindan were the last, and greatest of us
No one knows what became of them.
The Rindan upheld all of our power, and elevated us to traverse the stars and survive the darkness
And now they’re gone. Their ships empty and circling Earths Sun. Slowly falling in
They’re gone, and shadows grow on the Earth outpost. It eats at all of our power. It’s under our flesh, sowing doubt and discord. Eating our young, our homes, and our memories
We were once great. We were powerful.
What happened to us? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | August 18th, 4057:
Fuckin Xeno scum got carpet bombed and napalmed into non-existence. That's the 8th or so planet that's been given the "Ring of Fire" treatment. We've been blasting "Napalm Sticks To Kids" at them for a while before flattening them. Apparently some other species are more vulnerable to psychological warfare. They're saying this is just the start.
August 27th, 4057:
The Xenos have started running whenever they hear those songs. We're taking prisoners without even trying. I don't know where they take the prisoners. But judging by the large holes that we're digging, I think I know what's happening.
August 28th, 4057:
Jesus Christ. We're digging the holes so parents can execute their women and children, then they castrate themselves. We're making them cut their fucking balls off. What the actual shit are we doing here? We have rules for a reason. I guess this is psychological warfare, but... Christ.
September 14th, 4057:
The Xenos called for a surrender. We refused. I don't know what the President's doing, but I don't much care for it. I can't deal with the screams anymore. If they try and flee we blow them up. If they try and fight we blow them up. Half the time if they surrender we blow them up. The rest of the time? Read my previous entry.
September 17th, 4057:
They've offered unconditional surrender. We keep refusing. I'm sick. I can't do this anymore. I put in a leave request.
September 18th, 4057:
It was denied.
October 21st, 4057:
It's been a while. We're still fighting. But I wouldn't call it fighting, it's systematic torture and genocide of a species. We're at their homeworld though. It can't last much longer.
December 18th 4057:
We gathered up every last of their species in the galaxy. It took months but we did it. We put them all in one spot. Then we threw White Phosphorus on them. We recorded it. We sent it to the Counsel. Rules of War are being put in place. Was it worth it? | "With all due respect, don't you think we should lay down some ground rules about civilian targets and so forth?" spoke General Kitt to the assembled warcouncil of Terra. "It seems like the humane thing to do."
"Humane implies humanity, and these creatures have none. I am questioning the military's priorities if it doesn't understand this simple concept."
General Kitt spoke again: "I mean, have we at least tried diplomacy? I got the report on the state department delegation, and I can't really see that we communicated effectively to them. I have to think if we just communicated the need for these rules more effectively... Or if we just let them fully understand that we come in peace... I'm sure we could win them over, and they might be happy to share their technology and adopt our ways."
"General, this council is ordering you to execute order 55. The motion passed in a landslide. Bring back what technology you can. These thorns in our side laughed at us in their communiques."
"I understand! But just hear me out. If we don't have some ground rules -- even we just make them and they don't follow them -- there's not going to be anything left. This plan needs some exceptions, as I've outlined before. And the boys back home really want to get their hands on some Xenotech, which you know requires some exceptions. Plus you know, at least half of the equation here is human and capable of expression humanity. For long term relationships perhaps, we should hold back as well."
"You are correct on one point, despite your pontification. We do need a xenotechnology clause. We have considered this. You will not like it, however. As for long term relations, they are of no consequence. Our allies will be glad of their riddance. General, this discussion is concluded. You yourself have studied galactic traditions in warfare, and they do not agree on any kind of rules in warfare. They violate our space and the peace of our citizenry. What they consider sacrosanct varies by civilization, and the only thing they agree on is getting together to kill all the ambassadors we attempt to send of late, and raiding our colonies. The plans have been drawn up, we will add the xenotechnology clause, and if you are unwilling to carry these orders out, we will put someone new in charge."
"I understand, Councilmember."
—
The general stood on the bridge of his starship. He paced the long gallery, gazing out at the stars. There was a time when ships such at this carried a great payload of armaments: projectiles, light based weapons, drones, and so forth. But there was no need for such crassness anymore; humanity had risen above the need for the gruesome ends such devices brought. It was ships like this one that inspired awe, terror, and peace. Humanity had enjoyed an unprecedented prosperity under the council's benevolent guidance through the disarmament process that accompanied this class of ship.
The general gazed across the bridge, which didn't look at all like what the generations of old had imagined. His crew sat cross-legged on zafutons in rows and columns, their eyes closed as they communed with their technological implants and carried out their duties, motionless. The new motto of this millenia was emblazoned on the wall of the bridge, not that anyone but the captain was looking: "strike first, strike hard, get out fast, no mercy."
A voice crackled from the walls of the bridge. "Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. We are calling to inform you that we detect sufficient charge in the polaron manifold. You are go at your leisure. Monitor out."
Kitt sighed. The ship looked like some kind of clockwork arrowhead, more scaffold than hull. The energy heads sparked with irridescent radiance; space was ready to be folded.
"This is General Kitt of Councilship Mercy, acknowledged. Thank you Monitor. Mercy out."
A fold opened in space, and a weird ripple passed through the ship. The deck hummed as information began flowing through the folds. It was clear that all ships were indeed in position and charged.
"Fleet, this is General Kitt. On my mark, all ships posted to designated research targets, reverse the local bioorganic strong force in the biogenetic profiles that have been transmitted to you. On my mark, all ships posted to all other systems, execute space folding maneouvers: you are ordered to relocate your target star, and all its planets, to the Saggitarius A\* Aeon Horizon."
"To all ships, I want to say a few words to reassure your consciences. I know that you all know basic relato-gravimistics. But allow me to soliloquize on the, ehm, gravity, of the situation. It is a milestone day. TODAY, ALL OUR ENEMIES — their planets, their stars, their outposts, their civilization — all of it will be moved to the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\* — that's right, the black hole at the center of our galaxy — where they will find that, due to time dilation, they can no longer interfere with humanity. After today, for all practical purposes, they will be frozen in time. I want to let each and every one of you know that we do not make this decision lightly. We must protect our humanity, which we do today. May our enemies enjoy their lives in their new timeframe until the heat death. They will live on... And by the time we have colonized the galaxy and made friends with the less aggressive civilizations, perhaps one day we can reverse some of this process. At least we can dream of a better future for these barbarians."
And having given his speech, the general issued the order. Space folded, and most of the civilizations of the milky way vanished without a trace in their former environs; and ten thousands new stars shone in the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\*.
"Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. Congratulations. Terra sends its regards. We have also received communiques from our allies. They are pleased. The Council wishes to award you the Medal of Valiance on live Newscast. Please stand by to be transferred..." | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | My name is Dr. Asclepius. I am not here in the senate chambers to make any demands. I am simply an ambassador, here to speak on behalf of all humanity.
It has been a year and a half since humanity stood on the galactic stage.
But this year and a half is already filled with more bloodshed, more atrocities, and more unspeakable things than anyone in the galactic community has ever seen - save for us Humans.
Members of the Galactic Federation, you scoffed at us when we came to you, asking what the rules of war were. You assumed that we needed rules because we were weak, because we needed protection.
That is not the case, as you have unfortunately had to experience firsthand. If I could direct your attention to the screens?
This was Xyrillia, one of the largest centers of commerce in the entire galaxy, home to tens of trillions of lifeforms from a myriad of different planets.
This is it now - *completely and utterly uninhabitable.* All life, wiped from the very surface. Billions of families, all gone in an instant. The air is so toxic that spending ten seconds on the surface without protective equipment is fatal.
This is merely one example of what has occurred.
*This* is known as Operation Stardust Axis. The Mietra, pushed to the brink, when their many space colonies came crashing down onto the surfaces of their planets, turning their once great cities into desert wastelands. Very few survived.
I'm sure you remember the diseases that spread like wildfire, killing millions.
When we plunged entire systems into pitch darkness, blocking planets from receiving the light of their stars through an impenetrable nanomachine fog.
Even as I speak, nuclear fires from reactor bombs still rage on multiple inhabited planets, burning and spreading their poison.
Do you see now? These rules of war are not a shield. They are not cowardice.
They are shackles, chains, restraints upon a race that would have wiped themselves out many years ago if it did not have them.
When you declared war upon humanity, you removed the seal on a monster that no human wishes to see themselves become.
In the course of this war, many a human has done things that would make them shoot up in their beds screaming from the sins that they carry.
I myself am a physician, widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest of the medical minds of my race, rather fitting, considering my name. When one learns how to heal in any field, they also learn how to kill someone in the most horrific and awful ways possible.
I've studied each of the species here on an operating table. I could easily stitch together your wounds, cure you of your ailments, provide prostheses that function just as well and perhaps even better than the original - and just as easily remove your organs and bones one-by-one in alphabetical order while you are still alive. I could formulate a gene-altering disease that would render all living members of your race completely infertile. I could create machines that slowly liquefy you from the inside-out and convert you into biofuel.
When one becomes a physician, they are to take an oath to do no harm, for this very reason.
And yet, even I am not innocent. I have broken that oath many a time because of this war.
These hands of mine have done unforgivable things to the innocent, to mothers, to children.
So please, I implore you on behalf of all humanity - stop this war, before all of us are lost. The laws of war are in place to ensure that we are better than beasts. I would ask that we all adhere to them, if not for ourselves, then for our children.
>Human ambassador Dr. Asclepius's message to the Galactic senate, shortly before the surrender of the Federation, putting an end to the bloody 'Lawless War.' | "With all due respect, don't you think we should lay down some ground rules about civilian targets and so forth?" spoke General Kitt to the assembled warcouncil of Terra. "It seems like the humane thing to do."
"Humane implies humanity, and these creatures have none. I am questioning the military's priorities if it doesn't understand this simple concept."
General Kitt spoke again: "I mean, have we at least tried diplomacy? I got the report on the state department delegation, and I can't really see that we communicated effectively to them. I have to think if we just communicated the need for these rules more effectively... Or if we just let them fully understand that we come in peace... I'm sure we could win them over, and they might be happy to share their technology and adopt our ways."
"General, this council is ordering you to execute order 55. The motion passed in a landslide. Bring back what technology you can. These thorns in our side laughed at us in their communiques."
"I understand! But just hear me out. If we don't have some ground rules -- even we just make them and they don't follow them -- there's not going to be anything left. This plan needs some exceptions, as I've outlined before. And the boys back home really want to get their hands on some Xenotech, which you know requires some exceptions. Plus you know, at least half of the equation here is human and capable of expression humanity. For long term relationships perhaps, we should hold back as well."
"You are correct on one point, despite your pontification. We do need a xenotechnology clause. We have considered this. You will not like it, however. As for long term relations, they are of no consequence. Our allies will be glad of their riddance. General, this discussion is concluded. You yourself have studied galactic traditions in warfare, and they do not agree on any kind of rules in warfare. They violate our space and the peace of our citizenry. What they consider sacrosanct varies by civilization, and the only thing they agree on is getting together to kill all the ambassadors we attempt to send of late, and raiding our colonies. The plans have been drawn up, we will add the xenotechnology clause, and if you are unwilling to carry these orders out, we will put someone new in charge."
"I understand, Councilmember."
—
The general stood on the bridge of his starship. He paced the long gallery, gazing out at the stars. There was a time when ships such at this carried a great payload of armaments: projectiles, light based weapons, drones, and so forth. But there was no need for such crassness anymore; humanity had risen above the need for the gruesome ends such devices brought. It was ships like this one that inspired awe, terror, and peace. Humanity had enjoyed an unprecedented prosperity under the council's benevolent guidance through the disarmament process that accompanied this class of ship.
The general gazed across the bridge, which didn't look at all like what the generations of old had imagined. His crew sat cross-legged on zafutons in rows and columns, their eyes closed as they communed with their technological implants and carried out their duties, motionless. The new motto of this millenia was emblazoned on the wall of the bridge, not that anyone but the captain was looking: "strike first, strike hard, get out fast, no mercy."
A voice crackled from the walls of the bridge. "Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. We are calling to inform you that we detect sufficient charge in the polaron manifold. You are go at your leisure. Monitor out."
Kitt sighed. The ship looked like some kind of clockwork arrowhead, more scaffold than hull. The energy heads sparked with irridescent radiance; space was ready to be folded.
"This is General Kitt of Councilship Mercy, acknowledged. Thank you Monitor. Mercy out."
A fold opened in space, and a weird ripple passed through the ship. The deck hummed as information began flowing through the folds. It was clear that all ships were indeed in position and charged.
"Fleet, this is General Kitt. On my mark, all ships posted to designated research targets, reverse the local bioorganic strong force in the biogenetic profiles that have been transmitted to you. On my mark, all ships posted to all other systems, execute space folding maneouvers: you are ordered to relocate your target star, and all its planets, to the Saggitarius A\* Aeon Horizon."
"To all ships, I want to say a few words to reassure your consciences. I know that you all know basic relato-gravimistics. But allow me to soliloquize on the, ehm, gravity, of the situation. It is a milestone day. TODAY, ALL OUR ENEMIES — their planets, their stars, their outposts, their civilization — all of it will be moved to the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\* — that's right, the black hole at the center of our galaxy — where they will find that, due to time dilation, they can no longer interfere with humanity. After today, for all practical purposes, they will be frozen in time. I want to let each and every one of you know that we do not make this decision lightly. We must protect our humanity, which we do today. May our enemies enjoy their lives in their new timeframe until the heat death. They will live on... And by the time we have colonized the galaxy and made friends with the less aggressive civilizations, perhaps one day we can reverse some of this process. At least we can dream of a better future for these barbarians."
And having given his speech, the general issued the order. Space folded, and most of the civilizations of the milky way vanished without a trace in their former environs; and ten thousands new stars shone in the Aeon Horizon of Sagittarius A\*.
"Councilship Mercy, this is Terra Prime Monitor Sigma-1. Congratulations. Terra sends its regards. We have also received communiques from our allies. They are pleased. The Council wishes to award you the Medal of Valiance on live Newscast. Please stand by to be transferred..." | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | My name is Dr. Asclepius. I am not here in the senate chambers to make any demands. I am simply an ambassador, here to speak on behalf of all humanity.
It has been a year and a half since humanity stood on the galactic stage.
But this year and a half is already filled with more bloodshed, more atrocities, and more unspeakable things than anyone in the galactic community has ever seen - save for us Humans.
Members of the Galactic Federation, you scoffed at us when we came to you, asking what the rules of war were. You assumed that we needed rules because we were weak, because we needed protection.
That is not the case, as you have unfortunately had to experience firsthand. If I could direct your attention to the screens?
This was Xyrillia, one of the largest centers of commerce in the entire galaxy, home to tens of trillions of lifeforms from a myriad of different planets.
This is it now - *completely and utterly uninhabitable.* All life, wiped from the very surface. Billions of families, all gone in an instant. The air is so toxic that spending ten seconds on the surface without protective equipment is fatal.
This is merely one example of what has occurred.
*This* is known as Operation Stardust Axis. The Mietra, pushed to the brink, when their many space colonies came crashing down onto the surfaces of their planets, turning their once great cities into desert wastelands. Very few survived.
I'm sure you remember the diseases that spread like wildfire, killing millions.
When we plunged entire systems into pitch darkness, blocking planets from receiving the light of their stars through an impenetrable nanomachine fog.
Even as I speak, nuclear fires from reactor bombs still rage on multiple inhabited planets, burning and spreading their poison.
Do you see now? These rules of war are not a shield. They are not cowardice.
They are shackles, chains, restraints upon a race that would have wiped themselves out many years ago if it did not have them.
When you declared war upon humanity, you removed the seal on a monster that no human wishes to see themselves become.
In the course of this war, many a human has done things that would make them shoot up in their beds screaming from the sins that they carry.
I myself am a physician, widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest of the medical minds of my race, rather fitting, considering my name. When one learns how to heal in any field, they also learn how to kill someone in the most horrific and awful ways possible.
I've studied each of the species here on an operating table. I could easily stitch together your wounds, cure you of your ailments, provide prostheses that function just as well and perhaps even better than the original - and just as easily remove your organs and bones one-by-one in alphabetical order while you are still alive. I could formulate a gene-altering disease that would render all living members of your race completely infertile. I could create machines that slowly liquefy you from the inside-out and convert you into biofuel.
When one becomes a physician, they are to take an oath to do no harm, for this very reason.
And yet, even I am not innocent. I have broken that oath many a time because of this war.
These hands of mine have done unforgivable things to the innocent, to mothers, to children.
So please, I implore you on behalf of all humanity - stop this war, before all of us are lost. The laws of war are in place to ensure that we are better than beasts. I would ask that we all adhere to them, if not for ourselves, then for our children.
>Human ambassador Dr. Asclepius's message to the Galactic senate, shortly before the surrender of the Federation, putting an end to the bloody 'Lawless War.' | August 18th, 4057:
Fuckin Xeno scum got carpet bombed and napalmed into non-existence. That's the 8th or so planet that's been given the "Ring of Fire" treatment. We've been blasting "Napalm Sticks To Kids" at them for a while before flattening them. Apparently some other species are more vulnerable to psychological warfare. They're saying this is just the start.
August 27th, 4057:
The Xenos have started running whenever they hear those songs. We're taking prisoners without even trying. I don't know where they take the prisoners. But judging by the large holes that we're digging, I think I know what's happening.
August 28th, 4057:
Jesus Christ. We're digging the holes so parents can execute their women and children, then they castrate themselves. We're making them cut their fucking balls off. What the actual shit are we doing here? We have rules for a reason. I guess this is psychological warfare, but... Christ.
September 14th, 4057:
The Xenos called for a surrender. We refused. I don't know what the President's doing, but I don't much care for it. I can't deal with the screams anymore. If they try and flee we blow them up. If they try and fight we blow them up. Half the time if they surrender we blow them up. The rest of the time? Read my previous entry.
September 17th, 4057:
They've offered unconditional surrender. We keep refusing. I'm sick. I can't do this anymore. I put in a leave request.
September 18th, 4057:
It was denied.
October 21st, 4057:
It's been a while. We're still fighting. But I wouldn't call it fighting, it's systematic torture and genocide of a species. We're at their homeworld though. It can't last much longer.
December 18th 4057:
We gathered up every last of their species in the galaxy. It took months but we did it. We put them all in one spot. Then we threw White Phosphorus on them. We recorded it. We sent it to the Counsel. Rules of War are being put in place. Was it worth it? | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | My name is Dr. Asclepius. I am not here in the senate chambers to make any demands. I am simply an ambassador, here to speak on behalf of all humanity.
It has been a year and a half since humanity stood on the galactic stage.
But this year and a half is already filled with more bloodshed, more atrocities, and more unspeakable things than anyone in the galactic community has ever seen - save for us Humans.
Members of the Galactic Federation, you scoffed at us when we came to you, asking what the rules of war were. You assumed that we needed rules because we were weak, because we needed protection.
That is not the case, as you have unfortunately had to experience firsthand. If I could direct your attention to the screens?
This was Xyrillia, one of the largest centers of commerce in the entire galaxy, home to tens of trillions of lifeforms from a myriad of different planets.
This is it now - *completely and utterly uninhabitable.* All life, wiped from the very surface. Billions of families, all gone in an instant. The air is so toxic that spending ten seconds on the surface without protective equipment is fatal.
This is merely one example of what has occurred.
*This* is known as Operation Stardust Axis. The Mietra, pushed to the brink, when their many space colonies came crashing down onto the surfaces of their planets, turning their once great cities into desert wastelands. Very few survived.
I'm sure you remember the diseases that spread like wildfire, killing millions.
When we plunged entire systems into pitch darkness, blocking planets from receiving the light of their stars through an impenetrable nanomachine fog.
Even as I speak, nuclear fires from reactor bombs still rage on multiple inhabited planets, burning and spreading their poison.
Do you see now? These rules of war are not a shield. They are not cowardice.
They are shackles, chains, restraints upon a race that would have wiped themselves out many years ago if it did not have them.
When you declared war upon humanity, you removed the seal on a monster that no human wishes to see themselves become.
In the course of this war, many a human has done things that would make them shoot up in their beds screaming from the sins that they carry.
I myself am a physician, widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest of the medical minds of my race, rather fitting, considering my name. When one learns how to heal in any field, they also learn how to kill someone in the most horrific and awful ways possible.
I've studied each of the species here on an operating table. I could easily stitch together your wounds, cure you of your ailments, provide prostheses that function just as well and perhaps even better than the original - and just as easily remove your organs and bones one-by-one in alphabetical order while you are still alive. I could formulate a gene-altering disease that would render all living members of your race completely infertile. I could create machines that slowly liquefy you from the inside-out and convert you into biofuel.
When one becomes a physician, they are to take an oath to do no harm, for this very reason.
And yet, even I am not innocent. I have broken that oath many a time because of this war.
These hands of mine have done unforgivable things to the innocent, to mothers, to children.
So please, I implore you on behalf of all humanity - stop this war, before all of us are lost. The laws of war are in place to ensure that we are better than beasts. I would ask that we all adhere to them, if not for ourselves, then for our children.
>Human ambassador Dr. Asclepius's message to the Galactic senate, shortly before the surrender of the Federation, putting an end to the bloody 'Lawless War.' | Title: Message in a bottle
An alien spaceship detects a storage vessel floating through space. Inside they find a hand written alien message, and a key for decoding the language. After some study by their crew, the message is translated …
Greetings. I will be quick and to the point. Who I am is no matter. By the time you receive this, my entire race will be no more. We were a proud people. The beings called “humans” are a plague upon this galaxy. We fought with all of our tools and weapons at hand, but we lacked the insatiable creativity for destruction they wrought upon us.
We saw our technology as superior, and why shouldn’t we have? Our weapons could output a thousand times the energy theirs could wield. The humans were spreading like a virus, planet to planet and bleeding them dry of resources. We did the only logical step - planetary ignition. The strength of our warships, they could store amazing amounts of energy from a star. Once charged, it could unleash a devastating blast that burns the atmosphere off of a planet. And we did so. An entire Earth colony was razed from existence.
They responded with pleas of mercy, for they had no power as great as ours. They asked for rules of war. We have no reply other than the complete destruction of a second colony planet of theirs. We thought ourselves indestructible, and prepared more warships to prevent this human plague from spreading further.
What happened next was unthinkable. Our outermost colony, destroyed! The atmosphere was lit by the power of a star and incinerated to a crisp. Not by the weaponry of our human foes, but from the beam of our own warship!
Panic ensued in our ranks, and the coming days were true chaos wrought upon us by the humans. Every vessel was scrambled for defense, but each was somehow controlled by some unknown human mechanism. Our own vessels turned on our worlds and rained fire and death upon our own people.
We deemed it the virus, and it spread to every system we had ever developed. Once infected, our own creations turned on us until our destruction was ensured. There was no other option left but to beg for mercy.
The humans could not give mercy. Their genocidal virus has no cure. May this message find a race who may learn from our arrogance. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Know this. You have done this to yourselves.
You were warned. Even as you laughed and called us primitives, wanting our planets to add to the so-called Million Worlds of your dominion. So many times you were warned: our hyperdrives are not like yours.
We told you this when you arrived to terraform our colonies. We warned you that our drives do not bend spacetime like yours. They pierce holes in it, and that with effort, we can form those holes anywhere.
We warned you of the things we could do to you, but chose not to.
You did not believe our warnings. You could not comprehend having a capability and not using it. Still, we took the higher road, offering you an armistice, but our offer of peace was met with violence and fire.
We gave you too many chances.
Now, ash and boiling oceans are all that remains of our final colonies. You likely think you have won, but I suspect you do not appreciate the scope of what devils you now unleash upon yourselves.
You did not break our spirits with your fire. Those of us remaining are hardened. Our old restraint is burned away now—our high minded scruples were ground to dust beneath your boots.
It is not the better angels of our nature you see before you now, for you have killed them too, along with our colonies, all of their blood still slick upon your hands.
No. You will suffer the wrath of our long restrained demons instead. The gates are opened, and their chains now lie upon the ground.
You will watch as the stars around which every one of your Million Worlds revolves fade to oblivion as their mass drains away into carefully targeted hyperdrive apertures, like water from a bathtub. Your Million Worlds will die, and then you, too, will understand what it is to have everything taken from you.
You launched the first strike of this war. We have launched the last. | Title: Message in a bottle
An alien spaceship detects a storage vessel floating through space. Inside they find a hand written alien message, and a key for decoding the language. After some study by their crew, the message is translated …
Greetings. I will be quick and to the point. Who I am is no matter. By the time you receive this, my entire race will be no more. We were a proud people. The beings called “humans” are a plague upon this galaxy. We fought with all of our tools and weapons at hand, but we lacked the insatiable creativity for destruction they wrought upon us.
We saw our technology as superior, and why shouldn’t we have? Our weapons could output a thousand times the energy theirs could wield. The humans were spreading like a virus, planet to planet and bleeding them dry of resources. We did the only logical step - planetary ignition. The strength of our warships, they could store amazing amounts of energy from a star. Once charged, it could unleash a devastating blast that burns the atmosphere off of a planet. And we did so. An entire Earth colony was razed from existence.
They responded with pleas of mercy, for they had no power as great as ours. They asked for rules of war. We have no reply other than the complete destruction of a second colony planet of theirs. We thought ourselves indestructible, and prepared more warships to prevent this human plague from spreading further.
What happened next was unthinkable. Our outermost colony, destroyed! The atmosphere was lit by the power of a star and incinerated to a crisp. Not by the weaponry of our human foes, but from the beam of our own warship!
Panic ensued in our ranks, and the coming days were true chaos wrought upon us by the humans. Every vessel was scrambled for defense, but each was somehow controlled by some unknown human mechanism. Our own vessels turned on our worlds and rained fire and death upon our own people.
We deemed it the virus, and it spread to every system we had ever developed. Once infected, our own creations turned on us until our destruction was ensured. There was no other option left but to beg for mercy.
The humans could not give mercy. Their genocidal virus has no cure. May this message find a race who may learn from our arrogance. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | It is a sad day. The newcomers to our little slice of home declared war. We sent communiques inquiring as to the rules of engagement to their leadership, and they responded with images of our diplomats tortured, abused in the cruelest, most inhumane of ways, signed in the name of the Kiej Dominion.
Those insect bastards murdered my brother, for those images. I still have nightmares, honestly. Like, it's his body but with my face, screaming every single despairing lament ever spoken by humans. I'm interrupted in my thoughts by my second. "Commander Smith." He salutes me and I return it, and receive from him orders from not only Command but also the United Systems Confederation.
'Show the Kiej why we have rules. Your only restraints are to attempt to salvage one of their transports for research purposes.' I smirk. It takes all my will to not cackle like a mad woman. It fails, and my second leaves, scared.
A week later, I stride amongst the ruins, the smoldering blight left in the wake of my vengeance, seated across from the Dominion High Command. They've signed a very punishing peace treaty, reparations to bankrupt God Himself, admission as a member state in the Greater Stellar Alliance, and, as a special concession to me, the bug that murdered my brother. I had already handed in my resignation, dated and timed for when the USC accepted the terms of the treaty and the Dominion signed it. I walked in to the room, an arsenal of implements following me.
---
Commander Isla Smith, retired, last log before retirement. | Title: Message in a bottle
An alien spaceship detects a storage vessel floating through space. Inside they find a hand written alien message, and a key for decoding the language. After some study by their crew, the message is translated …
Greetings. I will be quick and to the point. Who I am is no matter. By the time you receive this, my entire race will be no more. We were a proud people. The beings called “humans” are a plague upon this galaxy. We fought with all of our tools and weapons at hand, but we lacked the insatiable creativity for destruction they wrought upon us.
We saw our technology as superior, and why shouldn’t we have? Our weapons could output a thousand times the energy theirs could wield. The humans were spreading like a virus, planet to planet and bleeding them dry of resources. We did the only logical step - planetary ignition. The strength of our warships, they could store amazing amounts of energy from a star. Once charged, it could unleash a devastating blast that burns the atmosphere off of a planet. And we did so. An entire Earth colony was razed from existence.
They responded with pleas of mercy, for they had no power as great as ours. They asked for rules of war. We have no reply other than the complete destruction of a second colony planet of theirs. We thought ourselves indestructible, and prepared more warships to prevent this human plague from spreading further.
What happened next was unthinkable. Our outermost colony, destroyed! The atmosphere was lit by the power of a star and incinerated to a crisp. Not by the weaponry of our human foes, but from the beam of our own warship!
Panic ensued in our ranks, and the coming days were true chaos wrought upon us by the humans. Every vessel was scrambled for defense, but each was somehow controlled by some unknown human mechanism. Our own vessels turned on our worlds and rained fire and death upon our own people.
We deemed it the virus, and it spread to every system we had ever developed. Once infected, our own creations turned on us until our destruction was ensured. There was no other option left but to beg for mercy.
The humans could not give mercy. Their genocidal virus has no cure. May this message find a race who may learn from our arrogance. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "You need rules? For war?"
"Oh do we ever."
"Well that's just ridiculous! How the hell do you issue 'rules' for war? War is war!"
"You don't know much about our history, do you?"
The human clicked his pen impatiently as the alien investigator pulled up their historical records on his computer.
"Oh you humans are laughable. We've seen your historical records. The 1930s holocaust. Japanese internment camps. China, Russia, and the ongoing history of the... 'United States' as you call it? Sure. We get it. You need to lay down rules to stop yourselves from killing people by the millions. It's cute, honestly. But when you start to wage war on a global scale, even your genocide of the Natvie American people and their culture seems pretty quaint."
"You're calling our bloody history quaint?"
"It's hysterical! You think you're so bad? Do you know what the Kaxons did to the Gargamelds? That lasted for a thousand of your Earth years. The Sontas have been at war with the Zzillzzziens for almost TEN thousand years. They've destroyed at least two planets within the last week JUST because they thought it would get them an advantage. The entire Doma galaxy has been drained of every natual resource short of making the stars go supernova because the Aquatians and the Airians both claim it's THEIR territory. And don't think the Aquatians won't do it. Because they will."
The human clicked his pen three times. He paused. Then he clicked it three more.
"I think you're missing the point."
"Well, get to it then, Hu! Why do you think you're so horrifying? What makes you so formidable that we should run screaming just because the humans have 'rules for war' when others don't?"
The human clicks his pen three more times, then sets it down on the table.
"Because. If we don't follow the rules... We tend to go overboard."
The alien investigator smirks, chuckling to himself as he reaches for the pen on the table.
"And what is this little thing supposed to be? A bomb? A weapon?"
"Not exactly."
"What is it?"
"Your way out. Click it three times and it will reset everything."
"Stop being so vague, human. Reset what?"
As the alien touches the pen, the computer in front of them lights up. Several warning messages start displaying distress calls from every corner of the galaxy. Then other galaxies. Then more and more. The alien stands up abruptly and stares at the human.
"What is this? What did you do?"
"See, humans are pretty resourceful. Not only that, we have this strange and innate ability to bond together when we're all backed in a corner. This is why we have rules for war. Because if we're in that corner... There's no telling just how far we're willing to push ourselves."
The alien stared at the screen in horror. The signals were dying out. All of them. Stars going supernova everywhere in the known universe. Planets disappearing at an alarming rate.
"How... How did you do this?"
"You know our Earth history, right? So, you're familiar with our pop culture references?"
"I... Um... Sure."
"Then let me use the phrase... Thanos Snap... Except it's a bit bigger."
All signals had faded from the computer. The alien had lost all contact. All they had left was the pen in their hand.
"So... What, this just resets everything?"
"Yep. Three clicks on that pen and everyone comes back. You won't remember this conversation, but we think that your people will remember not to mess with us in the future."
The alien clicks the pen three times.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because this time, I actually had a chance to come in and talk to you. The last few times I didn't even get this far." | Title: Message in a bottle
An alien spaceship detects a storage vessel floating through space. Inside they find a hand written alien message, and a key for decoding the language. After some study by their crew, the message is translated …
Greetings. I will be quick and to the point. Who I am is no matter. By the time you receive this, my entire race will be no more. We were a proud people. The beings called “humans” are a plague upon this galaxy. We fought with all of our tools and weapons at hand, but we lacked the insatiable creativity for destruction they wrought upon us.
We saw our technology as superior, and why shouldn’t we have? Our weapons could output a thousand times the energy theirs could wield. The humans were spreading like a virus, planet to planet and bleeding them dry of resources. We did the only logical step - planetary ignition. The strength of our warships, they could store amazing amounts of energy from a star. Once charged, it could unleash a devastating blast that burns the atmosphere off of a planet. And we did so. An entire Earth colony was razed from existence.
They responded with pleas of mercy, for they had no power as great as ours. They asked for rules of war. We have no reply other than the complete destruction of a second colony planet of theirs. We thought ourselves indestructible, and prepared more warships to prevent this human plague from spreading further.
What happened next was unthinkable. Our outermost colony, destroyed! The atmosphere was lit by the power of a star and incinerated to a crisp. Not by the weaponry of our human foes, but from the beam of our own warship!
Panic ensued in our ranks, and the coming days were true chaos wrought upon us by the humans. Every vessel was scrambled for defense, but each was somehow controlled by some unknown human mechanism. Our own vessels turned on our worlds and rained fire and death upon our own people.
We deemed it the virus, and it spread to every system we had ever developed. Once infected, our own creations turned on us until our destruction was ensured. There was no other option left but to beg for mercy.
The humans could not give mercy. Their genocidal virus has no cure. May this message find a race who may learn from our arrogance. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “Yeah, that sucks for them. But why are you angry at us?” Amanda Smith, leader of the elite Beartooth division, looked up at Commander Her’clud in confusion. “You said you wanted the planet taken at any cost, so we took it. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem? The problem is that you killed every single sentient being on the planet! You took no prisoners! There were over 718 million life forms two cycle ago, and now there are none! Have you no mercy or restraint?!?!”
Amanda stepped to the side to avoid being hit by Commander Her’clud’s flailing tentacles. She wiped the slime off her arm with a look of disgust, and then turned to the rest of the Galactic Tributary. “Did any of you bother to read my holo-messages detailing this siege? Anyone, anyone at all?” She was greeted with silence and blank looks. She sighed to herself. It didn’t matter what species she was dealing with, the leaders at the top were all the same- annoying, arrogant, and absolutely impossible to communicate with.
“If any of you had bothered to open my holo-messages, you would already know that the vast majority of the planet fled within the first two hours of the siege. As required by our Rules of War, all civilians, injured, surrendering combatants, and such were allowed to flee the planet without fear of attack. After the first wave fled, we launched one Devastation missile at the second most populated city. Again according to our Rules of War, we had messaged the planet to warn them of the impending missile strike, giving plenty of time to evacuate. We recorded less than two thousand confirmed kills from this event. This led to the second wave of flight from the planet. We followed up with a squadron of In Between drones, to ferret out the remaining hostiles. We confirmed just over five thousand drone kills.”
Amanda pulled up her messages to the Council, letting them play silently in the background as she continued her recap of the siege.
“We paused our actions to allow the third wave of inhabitants to flee. After sufficient time had passed to let the ships leave the system, we began in-person actions. Of the original 718 million inhabitants, less than 80 thousand remained on the planet. Sixty-two Beartooth units were dispatched to find and eliminate any remaining hostiles. It took just over one cycle to clear the planet, and less than one thousand kills were confirmed. The rest of the planet’s inhabitants were deemed to be non-hostile, and as required by our Rules of War, were not harmed. They were escorted to evacuation ships, we programmed the coordinates to their next colonized planet, and sent them on their way.”
A glance around the room told her that this was not what the Council had expected to hear. One of the reasons humans had been excluded from the intergalactic community for so long was because of their reputation for war. Humans were known to be one of the fiercest, violent, and most bloodthirsty species ever contacted. They certainly had the bloodiest past of all the intergalactic members.
Amanda not only knew of this reputation, she actively used it to her advantage. She had even used it when thinking of the motto for her division (Fingers on the trigger, ready aim fire!). So she wasn’t surprised that the Council had automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion when hearing that she had cleared an entire planet of all sentient beings in less than two cycles.
But to call up the entire Galactic Tributary to consider expelling the entire human race? She couldn’t believe the audacity of these leaders. And then she had a thought…
“This meeting was called for based on undocumented fears, and could have been avoided completely if any of you had bothered to read my messages. As you can see by the messages playing behind me, a total of 47 updates were given over the course of the siege. Each update was sent to the full Council, and yet none of you opened a single one? Why is that? Why was my division asked to clear this planet, only to face disciplinary actions for completing the objectives of the Council?”
She was again met with silence and blank stares, but this time the stares were a little too blank, too practiced… And with those stares, she had her answer. Commander Her’clud opened his mouth to speak, but Amanda glared at him with such forced that he immediately closed his mouth and began to turn a horrible shade of orange.
Amanda raised her voice, and spoke to the Tributary with all the authority befitting her position as leader of the most accredited military division the galaxy had ever seen. “As a member of the intergalactic community, it is my right to know who has requested the exclusion of the entire human race as punishment for completing Council objectives. Let them speak now, and defend their position.”
After a moment, her request was answered. Amanda barely stifled the shivers that always came when communicating with an Ecconichian.
She listened as the beautiful melodies filled the air, rising and falling in wonderful harmony. She listened as the notes turned dark and low, creating a story of insanity and horrors with music alone.
When the final notes ended, Amanda wanted to cry out in relief. Instead, she braced herself and responded. “The history of the human race is indeed mired with war, genocide, and horrors that many species here will hopefully never experience. It is always filled with acts of insanity, acts that have no reason whatsoever as their motives.
“But the act of sending delegates to the Galactic Tributary year after year to request the official creation of Galactic Rules of War is not an act of insanity. Even though humans have been ridiculed, mocked, and disrespected for asking this year after year, we will continue to bring this before the Tributary until it is done.
“The Council gave the directive to take planet Ximotin by any means necessary. It is known far and wide that my Beartooth division is the most successful military division the galaxy has ever seen, and we were specifically requested by the Council for this task.
“We could have chosen to nuke the entire planet and render it uninhabitable for the next hundred millennium. We could have chosen to release Skin missiles in the atmosphere and afflict the entire population with an incurable plague. We know the Ximo population is very susceptible to high pitched noises, so we could have just blasted air raid sirens and driven them all insane.
“Instead, by our Rules of War, we were required to give non-combatants multiple chances to flee, without fear of attack. We were required to announce all missile strikes and give the intended target area enough time to evacuate. We were required to evaluate any potential hostiles before shooting to kill. We were required to escort all remaining non-combatants to evacuation ships and see them safely on their way.
“The history of the human race is mired with war, genocide, and horrors. But it is also filled with men and women who stood up against those acts. It is filled with men and women who risked everything to punish the worst offenders in our race. It is filled with hope that we will grow and rise above those acts.
“Human delegates will continue to advocate for Galactic Rules of War because we know how necessary they are. We know that war brings out the worst in any species, and that Rules of War may be the only thing to prevent incomprehensible acts of evil from occurring. We know that Rules of War keep individuals from crossing the line between acceptable and unacceptable. And we know that they work. They save lives, planets, and entire species.
“Because of our Rules of War, a planet with 718 million life forms was emptied in less than two cycles, with just under eight thousand deaths.
“I believe my division was chosen to clear planet Ximotin as an example of why we should be expelled from the intergalactic community. Instead, we have done the opposite and shown why Rules of War are necessary and how they are used.
“Should the Galactic Tributary decide to expel the human race anyway, so be it. But I believe it would be much better if you actually open my damn messages and take a proper look at them. Think of what could have been, and then see what actually occurred. Advocating for Galactic Rules of War is an act of hope, not insanity. The siege of planet Ximotin is now a real-life example of how this could only help the intergalactic community as a whole.
“We will abide by the decision of the Galactic Tributary, for better or worse. Make your decision and communicate it to us as soon as you are done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a very long report to give my commander.”
With that, Amanda stepped off the podium and exited the chambers, followed by the few ranked members allowed to accompany her. She walked away with her head held high, and hope that this would finally result in the creation of the official Galactic Rules of War. Because if this didn’t do it, nothing would. | Title: Message in a bottle
An alien spaceship detects a storage vessel floating through space. Inside they find a hand written alien message, and a key for decoding the language. After some study by their crew, the message is translated …
Greetings. I will be quick and to the point. Who I am is no matter. By the time you receive this, my entire race will be no more. We were a proud people. The beings called “humans” are a plague upon this galaxy. We fought with all of our tools and weapons at hand, but we lacked the insatiable creativity for destruction they wrought upon us.
We saw our technology as superior, and why shouldn’t we have? Our weapons could output a thousand times the energy theirs could wield. The humans were spreading like a virus, planet to planet and bleeding them dry of resources. We did the only logical step - planetary ignition. The strength of our warships, they could store amazing amounts of energy from a star. Once charged, it could unleash a devastating blast that burns the atmosphere off of a planet. And we did so. An entire Earth colony was razed from existence.
They responded with pleas of mercy, for they had no power as great as ours. They asked for rules of war. We have no reply other than the complete destruction of a second colony planet of theirs. We thought ourselves indestructible, and prepared more warships to prevent this human plague from spreading further.
What happened next was unthinkable. Our outermost colony, destroyed! The atmosphere was lit by the power of a star and incinerated to a crisp. Not by the weaponry of our human foes, but from the beam of our own warship!
Panic ensued in our ranks, and the coming days were true chaos wrought upon us by the humans. Every vessel was scrambled for defense, but each was somehow controlled by some unknown human mechanism. Our own vessels turned on our worlds and rained fire and death upon our own people.
We deemed it the virus, and it spread to every system we had ever developed. Once infected, our own creations turned on us until our destruction was ensured. There was no other option left but to beg for mercy.
The humans could not give mercy. Their genocidal virus has no cure. May this message find a race who may learn from our arrogance. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the swirling blizzard of North Palax, planet Haranox 7, a group of Aranids, a spider like race, gather together inside a secluded, secure building to discuss one thing.
Surrender
The normally proud race had made 2 mistakes that had cost them dearly. They had aggravated humanity to war, and laughed at humanities so called "Rules Of War", stating that such a concept was stupid and unnecessary. The Aranids had intercepted aid supplies, destroyed civilian settlements, and took a great joy in doing unspeakable things to the humans they had captured. The Aranids had thought the war won from day one.
But then things began to go wrong for them.
It started with a small farming colony going missing, then later those missing were found at an unnamed outpost. They were accepted back into the Aranid society after some initial questioning, but unbeknownst to them, humanity had planted a potent disease into each and every member of the colony, a disease that slowly but surely tore through the Aranids. First came a slight cough, a mild fever, nothing to be worried about. Then came forgetfulness and memory loss, shortly followed by complete insanity, and a feral desire to attack and bite anyone they could.
As the disease spread, humanity continued to attack different colonies, before progressing to major settlements and cities. Every interplanetary communications satellite was either destroyed or taken for humanities own use. Any aid transports were targeted and destroyed without remorse. Humanities technology grew and grew, and soon any battles became a bloodbath for the Aranids.
After suffering countless losses, the council had made the decision to try for peace talks with humanity. The video feed in the council room is grainy, but they can still make out a group of 5 humans looking back at them. The Aranids plead their surrender, for humanity to stop these attacks, and offer a cure for their people. The middle human, a woman with black hair in a bun, coldly stares at the council.
"Answer me this. If our situations were reversed, if we were the ones begging surrender, would you stop? If the history of your species is anything to go by, we don't believe you would. We aren't the first race you've gone to war against, but we will make sure we're the last. We offered you a clean war, with rules, and you laughed at us. Now, on the cusp of extinction, you beg us to stop? Our answer is no. You started this, this genocide is down to your own pride."
The video feed cuts off, and the council of Aranids stand in silence, until one of them grasps his head in his hands, screams, and attacks the councilmen in the room, biting each and every one.
Two weeks later, the extinction of the Aranids is officially announced to the galaxy and humanity takes Haranox 7 for themselves. | Title: Message in a bottle
An alien spaceship detects a storage vessel floating through space. Inside they find a hand written alien message, and a key for decoding the language. After some study by their crew, the message is translated …
Greetings. I will be quick and to the point. Who I am is no matter. By the time you receive this, my entire race will be no more. We were a proud people. The beings called “humans” are a plague upon this galaxy. We fought with all of our tools and weapons at hand, but we lacked the insatiable creativity for destruction they wrought upon us.
We saw our technology as superior, and why shouldn’t we have? Our weapons could output a thousand times the energy theirs could wield. The humans were spreading like a virus, planet to planet and bleeding them dry of resources. We did the only logical step - planetary ignition. The strength of our warships, they could store amazing amounts of energy from a star. Once charged, it could unleash a devastating blast that burns the atmosphere off of a planet. And we did so. An entire Earth colony was razed from existence.
They responded with pleas of mercy, for they had no power as great as ours. They asked for rules of war. We have no reply other than the complete destruction of a second colony planet of theirs. We thought ourselves indestructible, and prepared more warships to prevent this human plague from spreading further.
What happened next was unthinkable. Our outermost colony, destroyed! The atmosphere was lit by the power of a star and incinerated to a crisp. Not by the weaponry of our human foes, but from the beam of our own warship!
Panic ensued in our ranks, and the coming days were true chaos wrought upon us by the humans. Every vessel was scrambled for defense, but each was somehow controlled by some unknown human mechanism. Our own vessels turned on our worlds and rained fire and death upon our own people.
We deemed it the virus, and it spread to every system we had ever developed. Once infected, our own creations turned on us until our destruction was ensured. There was no other option left but to beg for mercy.
The humans could not give mercy. Their genocidal virus has no cure. May this message find a race who may learn from our arrogance. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “Yeah, that sucks for them. But why are you angry at us?” Amanda Smith, leader of the elite Beartooth division, looked up at Commander Her’clud in confusion. “You said you wanted the planet taken at any cost, so we took it. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem? The problem is that you killed every single sentient being on the planet! You took no prisoners! There were over 718 million life forms two cycle ago, and now there are none! Have you no mercy or restraint?!?!”
Amanda stepped to the side to avoid being hit by Commander Her’clud’s flailing tentacles. She wiped the slime off her arm with a look of disgust, and then turned to the rest of the Galactic Tributary. “Did any of you bother to read my holo-messages detailing this siege? Anyone, anyone at all?” She was greeted with silence and blank looks. She sighed to herself. It didn’t matter what species she was dealing with, the leaders at the top were all the same- annoying, arrogant, and absolutely impossible to communicate with.
“If any of you had bothered to open my holo-messages, you would already know that the vast majority of the planet fled within the first two hours of the siege. As required by our Rules of War, all civilians, injured, surrendering combatants, and such were allowed to flee the planet without fear of attack. After the first wave fled, we launched one Devastation missile at the second most populated city. Again according to our Rules of War, we had messaged the planet to warn them of the impending missile strike, giving plenty of time to evacuate. We recorded less than two thousand confirmed kills from this event. This led to the second wave of flight from the planet. We followed up with a squadron of In Between drones, to ferret out the remaining hostiles. We confirmed just over five thousand drone kills.”
Amanda pulled up her messages to the Council, letting them play silently in the background as she continued her recap of the siege.
“We paused our actions to allow the third wave of inhabitants to flee. After sufficient time had passed to let the ships leave the system, we began in-person actions. Of the original 718 million inhabitants, less than 80 thousand remained on the planet. Sixty-two Beartooth units were dispatched to find and eliminate any remaining hostiles. It took just over one cycle to clear the planet, and less than one thousand kills were confirmed. The rest of the planet’s inhabitants were deemed to be non-hostile, and as required by our Rules of War, were not harmed. They were escorted to evacuation ships, we programmed the coordinates to their next colonized planet, and sent them on their way.”
A glance around the room told her that this was not what the Council had expected to hear. One of the reasons humans had been excluded from the intergalactic community for so long was because of their reputation for war. Humans were known to be one of the fiercest, violent, and most bloodthirsty species ever contacted. They certainly had the bloodiest past of all the intergalactic members.
Amanda not only knew of this reputation, she actively used it to her advantage. She had even used it when thinking of the motto for her division (Fingers on the trigger, ready aim fire!). So she wasn’t surprised that the Council had automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion when hearing that she had cleared an entire planet of all sentient beings in less than two cycles.
But to call up the entire Galactic Tributary to consider expelling the entire human race? She couldn’t believe the audacity of these leaders. And then she had a thought…
“This meeting was called for based on undocumented fears, and could have been avoided completely if any of you had bothered to read my messages. As you can see by the messages playing behind me, a total of 47 updates were given over the course of the siege. Each update was sent to the full Council, and yet none of you opened a single one? Why is that? Why was my division asked to clear this planet, only to face disciplinary actions for completing the objectives of the Council?”
She was again met with silence and blank stares, but this time the stares were a little too blank, too practiced… And with those stares, she had her answer. Commander Her’clud opened his mouth to speak, but Amanda glared at him with such forced that he immediately closed his mouth and began to turn a horrible shade of orange.
Amanda raised her voice, and spoke to the Tributary with all the authority befitting her position as leader of the most accredited military division the galaxy had ever seen. “As a member of the intergalactic community, it is my right to know who has requested the exclusion of the entire human race as punishment for completing Council objectives. Let them speak now, and defend their position.”
After a moment, her request was answered. Amanda barely stifled the shivers that always came when communicating with an Ecconichian.
She listened as the beautiful melodies filled the air, rising and falling in wonderful harmony. She listened as the notes turned dark and low, creating a story of insanity and horrors with music alone.
When the final notes ended, Amanda wanted to cry out in relief. Instead, she braced herself and responded. “The history of the human race is indeed mired with war, genocide, and horrors that many species here will hopefully never experience. It is always filled with acts of insanity, acts that have no reason whatsoever as their motives.
“But the act of sending delegates to the Galactic Tributary year after year to request the official creation of Galactic Rules of War is not an act of insanity. Even though humans have been ridiculed, mocked, and disrespected for asking this year after year, we will continue to bring this before the Tributary until it is done.
“The Council gave the directive to take planet Ximotin by any means necessary. It is known far and wide that my Beartooth division is the most successful military division the galaxy has ever seen, and we were specifically requested by the Council for this task.
“We could have chosen to nuke the entire planet and render it uninhabitable for the next hundred millennium. We could have chosen to release Skin missiles in the atmosphere and afflict the entire population with an incurable plague. We know the Ximo population is very susceptible to high pitched noises, so we could have just blasted air raid sirens and driven them all insane.
“Instead, by our Rules of War, we were required to give non-combatants multiple chances to flee, without fear of attack. We were required to announce all missile strikes and give the intended target area enough time to evacuate. We were required to evaluate any potential hostiles before shooting to kill. We were required to escort all remaining non-combatants to evacuation ships and see them safely on their way.
“The history of the human race is mired with war, genocide, and horrors. But it is also filled with men and women who stood up against those acts. It is filled with men and women who risked everything to punish the worst offenders in our race. It is filled with hope that we will grow and rise above those acts.
“Human delegates will continue to advocate for Galactic Rules of War because we know how necessary they are. We know that war brings out the worst in any species, and that Rules of War may be the only thing to prevent incomprehensible acts of evil from occurring. We know that Rules of War keep individuals from crossing the line between acceptable and unacceptable. And we know that they work. They save lives, planets, and entire species.
“Because of our Rules of War, a planet with 718 million life forms was emptied in less than two cycles, with just under eight thousand deaths.
“I believe my division was chosen to clear planet Ximotin as an example of why we should be expelled from the intergalactic community. Instead, we have done the opposite and shown why Rules of War are necessary and how they are used.
“Should the Galactic Tributary decide to expel the human race anyway, so be it. But I believe it would be much better if you actually open my damn messages and take a proper look at them. Think of what could have been, and then see what actually occurred. Advocating for Galactic Rules of War is an act of hope, not insanity. The siege of planet Ximotin is now a real-life example of how this could only help the intergalactic community as a whole.
“We will abide by the decision of the Galactic Tributary, for better or worse. Make your decision and communicate it to us as soon as you are done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a very long report to give my commander.”
With that, Amanda stepped off the podium and exited the chambers, followed by the few ranked members allowed to accompany her. She walked away with her head held high, and hope that this would finally result in the creation of the official Galactic Rules of War. Because if this didn’t do it, nothing would. | "You need rules? For war?"
"Oh do we ever."
"Well that's just ridiculous! How the hell do you issue 'rules' for war? War is war!"
"You don't know much about our history, do you?"
The human clicked his pen impatiently as the alien investigator pulled up their historical records on his computer.
"Oh you humans are laughable. We've seen your historical records. The 1930s holocaust. Japanese internment camps. China, Russia, and the ongoing history of the... 'United States' as you call it? Sure. We get it. You need to lay down rules to stop yourselves from killing people by the millions. It's cute, honestly. But when you start to wage war on a global scale, even your genocide of the Natvie American people and their culture seems pretty quaint."
"You're calling our bloody history quaint?"
"It's hysterical! You think you're so bad? Do you know what the Kaxons did to the Gargamelds? That lasted for a thousand of your Earth years. The Sontas have been at war with the Zzillzzziens for almost TEN thousand years. They've destroyed at least two planets within the last week JUST because they thought it would get them an advantage. The entire Doma galaxy has been drained of every natual resource short of making the stars go supernova because the Aquatians and the Airians both claim it's THEIR territory. And don't think the Aquatians won't do it. Because they will."
The human clicked his pen three times. He paused. Then he clicked it three more.
"I think you're missing the point."
"Well, get to it then, Hu! Why do you think you're so horrifying? What makes you so formidable that we should run screaming just because the humans have 'rules for war' when others don't?"
The human clicks his pen three more times, then sets it down on the table.
"Because. If we don't follow the rules... We tend to go overboard."
The alien investigator smirks, chuckling to himself as he reaches for the pen on the table.
"And what is this little thing supposed to be? A bomb? A weapon?"
"Not exactly."
"What is it?"
"Your way out. Click it three times and it will reset everything."
"Stop being so vague, human. Reset what?"
As the alien touches the pen, the computer in front of them lights up. Several warning messages start displaying distress calls from every corner of the galaxy. Then other galaxies. Then more and more. The alien stands up abruptly and stares at the human.
"What is this? What did you do?"
"See, humans are pretty resourceful. Not only that, we have this strange and innate ability to bond together when we're all backed in a corner. This is why we have rules for war. Because if we're in that corner... There's no telling just how far we're willing to push ourselves."
The alien stared at the screen in horror. The signals were dying out. All of them. Stars going supernova everywhere in the known universe. Planets disappearing at an alarming rate.
"How... How did you do this?"
"You know our Earth history, right? So, you're familiar with our pop culture references?"
"I... Um... Sure."
"Then let me use the phrase... Thanos Snap... Except it's a bit bigger."
All signals had faded from the computer. The alien had lost all contact. All they had left was the pen in their hand.
"So... What, this just resets everything?"
"Yep. Three clicks on that pen and everyone comes back. You won't remember this conversation, but we think that your people will remember not to mess with us in the future."
The alien clicks the pen three times.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because this time, I actually had a chance to come in and talk to you. The last few times I didn't even get this far." | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “Yeah, that sucks for them. But why are you angry at us?” Amanda Smith, leader of the elite Beartooth division, looked up at Commander Her’clud in confusion. “You said you wanted the planet taken at any cost, so we took it. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem? The problem is that you killed every single sentient being on the planet! You took no prisoners! There were over 718 million life forms two cycle ago, and now there are none! Have you no mercy or restraint?!?!”
Amanda stepped to the side to avoid being hit by Commander Her’clud’s flailing tentacles. She wiped the slime off her arm with a look of disgust, and then turned to the rest of the Galactic Tributary. “Did any of you bother to read my holo-messages detailing this siege? Anyone, anyone at all?” She was greeted with silence and blank looks. She sighed to herself. It didn’t matter what species she was dealing with, the leaders at the top were all the same- annoying, arrogant, and absolutely impossible to communicate with.
“If any of you had bothered to open my holo-messages, you would already know that the vast majority of the planet fled within the first two hours of the siege. As required by our Rules of War, all civilians, injured, surrendering combatants, and such were allowed to flee the planet without fear of attack. After the first wave fled, we launched one Devastation missile at the second most populated city. Again according to our Rules of War, we had messaged the planet to warn them of the impending missile strike, giving plenty of time to evacuate. We recorded less than two thousand confirmed kills from this event. This led to the second wave of flight from the planet. We followed up with a squadron of In Between drones, to ferret out the remaining hostiles. We confirmed just over five thousand drone kills.”
Amanda pulled up her messages to the Council, letting them play silently in the background as she continued her recap of the siege.
“We paused our actions to allow the third wave of inhabitants to flee. After sufficient time had passed to let the ships leave the system, we began in-person actions. Of the original 718 million inhabitants, less than 80 thousand remained on the planet. Sixty-two Beartooth units were dispatched to find and eliminate any remaining hostiles. It took just over one cycle to clear the planet, and less than one thousand kills were confirmed. The rest of the planet’s inhabitants were deemed to be non-hostile, and as required by our Rules of War, were not harmed. They were escorted to evacuation ships, we programmed the coordinates to their next colonized planet, and sent them on their way.”
A glance around the room told her that this was not what the Council had expected to hear. One of the reasons humans had been excluded from the intergalactic community for so long was because of their reputation for war. Humans were known to be one of the fiercest, violent, and most bloodthirsty species ever contacted. They certainly had the bloodiest past of all the intergalactic members.
Amanda not only knew of this reputation, she actively used it to her advantage. She had even used it when thinking of the motto for her division (Fingers on the trigger, ready aim fire!). So she wasn’t surprised that the Council had automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion when hearing that she had cleared an entire planet of all sentient beings in less than two cycles.
But to call up the entire Galactic Tributary to consider expelling the entire human race? She couldn’t believe the audacity of these leaders. And then she had a thought…
“This meeting was called for based on undocumented fears, and could have been avoided completely if any of you had bothered to read my messages. As you can see by the messages playing behind me, a total of 47 updates were given over the course of the siege. Each update was sent to the full Council, and yet none of you opened a single one? Why is that? Why was my division asked to clear this planet, only to face disciplinary actions for completing the objectives of the Council?”
She was again met with silence and blank stares, but this time the stares were a little too blank, too practiced… And with those stares, she had her answer. Commander Her’clud opened his mouth to speak, but Amanda glared at him with such forced that he immediately closed his mouth and began to turn a horrible shade of orange.
Amanda raised her voice, and spoke to the Tributary with all the authority befitting her position as leader of the most accredited military division the galaxy had ever seen. “As a member of the intergalactic community, it is my right to know who has requested the exclusion of the entire human race as punishment for completing Council objectives. Let them speak now, and defend their position.”
After a moment, her request was answered. Amanda barely stifled the shivers that always came when communicating with an Ecconichian.
She listened as the beautiful melodies filled the air, rising and falling in wonderful harmony. She listened as the notes turned dark and low, creating a story of insanity and horrors with music alone.
When the final notes ended, Amanda wanted to cry out in relief. Instead, she braced herself and responded. “The history of the human race is indeed mired with war, genocide, and horrors that many species here will hopefully never experience. It is always filled with acts of insanity, acts that have no reason whatsoever as their motives.
“But the act of sending delegates to the Galactic Tributary year after year to request the official creation of Galactic Rules of War is not an act of insanity. Even though humans have been ridiculed, mocked, and disrespected for asking this year after year, we will continue to bring this before the Tributary until it is done.
“The Council gave the directive to take planet Ximotin by any means necessary. It is known far and wide that my Beartooth division is the most successful military division the galaxy has ever seen, and we were specifically requested by the Council for this task.
“We could have chosen to nuke the entire planet and render it uninhabitable for the next hundred millennium. We could have chosen to release Skin missiles in the atmosphere and afflict the entire population with an incurable plague. We know the Ximo population is very susceptible to high pitched noises, so we could have just blasted air raid sirens and driven them all insane.
“Instead, by our Rules of War, we were required to give non-combatants multiple chances to flee, without fear of attack. We were required to announce all missile strikes and give the intended target area enough time to evacuate. We were required to evaluate any potential hostiles before shooting to kill. We were required to escort all remaining non-combatants to evacuation ships and see them safely on their way.
“The history of the human race is mired with war, genocide, and horrors. But it is also filled with men and women who stood up against those acts. It is filled with men and women who risked everything to punish the worst offenders in our race. It is filled with hope that we will grow and rise above those acts.
“Human delegates will continue to advocate for Galactic Rules of War because we know how necessary they are. We know that war brings out the worst in any species, and that Rules of War may be the only thing to prevent incomprehensible acts of evil from occurring. We know that Rules of War keep individuals from crossing the line between acceptable and unacceptable. And we know that they work. They save lives, planets, and entire species.
“Because of our Rules of War, a planet with 718 million life forms was emptied in less than two cycles, with just under eight thousand deaths.
“I believe my division was chosen to clear planet Ximotin as an example of why we should be expelled from the intergalactic community. Instead, we have done the opposite and shown why Rules of War are necessary and how they are used.
“Should the Galactic Tributary decide to expel the human race anyway, so be it. But I believe it would be much better if you actually open my damn messages and take a proper look at them. Think of what could have been, and then see what actually occurred. Advocating for Galactic Rules of War is an act of hope, not insanity. The siege of planet Ximotin is now a real-life example of how this could only help the intergalactic community as a whole.
“We will abide by the decision of the Galactic Tributary, for better or worse. Make your decision and communicate it to us as soon as you are done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a very long report to give my commander.”
With that, Amanda stepped off the podium and exited the chambers, followed by the few ranked members allowed to accompany her. She walked away with her head held high, and hope that this would finally result in the creation of the official Galactic Rules of War. Because if this didn’t do it, nothing would. | Commander Xenov wrapped his head-tentacles together as he stared at the battle holo; a sign of contentment for his species, the fearsome Carnovians. Feared throughout the galaxy for their terrifying prowess in battle, both in space and on planet, they had been at an uneasy peace for nearly 200 solar cycles. Back then, all of the major galactic races had banded together to fight the Carnovians. Still, the coalition could not win; they could only hold back the terrifying warriors at a cost that was deemed unacceptable. A peace offer was made: the Carnovians would receive significant mineral resources and tens of thousands of slaves from each race as tribute. These slaves would be killed and eaten at the gruesome Carnovian festivals each cycle. Of course, the Carnovians did not need to do this; like every spacefaring species, they had long ago solved the problem providing adequate food for population. And besides, the vastly different biochemistry of the other species made them mostly unpalatable. But it was tradition, after all!
Kass, Xenov’s underling, walked in to the command dome and crossed his tentacles in front of his chest.
“Report.”
“Commander, the Human resistance on the planet has been crushed. All population centers above 500 individuals have been leveled. There were some trading ships attempting to evacuate the remaining population, but we are in the process of hunting them down and destroying them as well. Opposition was minimal, and consisted of some lightly armed cruisers and fighters.”
Xenov smiled, showing his finely ornamented teeth. “Excellent. We can send down the landing party now. I’m sure they can capture some fine specimens; the Humans on these outlying worlds tend to be much healthier.”
The war against the Humans had been going exceedingly well. 30 cycles ago, Humanity had discovered FTL spaceflight and made contact with the galactic community. The Carnovians were pressured to offer them the same terms that they offered everyone else. When the upstart Humans refused, many Carnovians were outraged, but others were secretly pleased. After 200 cycles of horrible peace, there would finally be war. Since then, they had won victory after victory. The Carnovians had perfected the technique of orbital bombardment. By redirecting asteroids towards the enemy’s population centers, they could crush resistance without even the need for fancy weapons. Of course, this sort of thing could only work against lightly defended colonies, not the heavily fortified planets of the Carnovians. Indeed, the Humans had tried, but the best that they were able to do was send some tiny probes that snuck past the gun emplacements and promptly burned up in the atmosphere.
Of course, the Humans had complained to the largely powerless Galactic Council. They had demanded that the Carnovians cease their attacks on undefended civilian populations. They had demanded that the Carnovians stop the practice of capturing slaves and sacrificing them. They had even offered to trade back some of the very few Carnovians they had captured during the war, in exchange for the return of Carnovian captives. Oh, how the high command had laughed at that! Any warrior that allowed himself to be captured was no warrior at all. Why should they trade anything of value for those weaklings?
Suddenly, Xenov’s thoughts were interrupted by the deep pounding of the comms array. Four beats in quick succession: a message directly from the high command. In fact, it turned out to be Grand Warchief himself, leader of the countless Carnovian houses across the galaxy.
“Commander Xenov. You are to withdraw all forces from the Cetian system. Do not take any captives. Cease pursuit of all Human ships. These orders are effective immediately!”
Xenov was too stunned to answer for a moment. “...But. Sir. The resistance is crushed. This latest system is only 10 light years from their home system. Total victory could be hours in a few cycles!”
“Did you hear me Xenov? That is an ORDER!”
Two ancient instincts warred within Xenov. On the one hand, total obedience to the military command was drilled in to every Carnovian from birth. On the other hand, they had never shown mercy to any alien species since they had discovered spaceflight. One side won out, for now.
“Sir, I don’t understand. Why??”
The Warchief sighed. “You know damn well I don’t owe you an explanation. However.. you have been a loyal commander of our Empire for forty cycles now. You’ve overseen the destruction of over a dozen enemy systems. I will tell you what we are up against.”
“Several cycles ago, our medics noticed a strange illness popping up. It affected mostly the adolescents and it seemed to be taking place on our outlying colony worlds However, we are seeing more and more of it now in our home systems. Our scientists studied it and the results were terrifying. It seems that this virus was not natural in origin. Currently we believe that 80% of our systems are affected.”
“But.. sir. Surely I would have heard about a deadly virus devastating our worlds?”
“The news has been suppressed as best as possible. And currently, the disease, though widespread, is quite mild. It can be asymptomatic or present itself as standard Bannox Pox. However, it’s getting worse. Already, in the first-hit colonies, death rates have increased to 5%. Our scientists have estimated that within 10 cycles, this virus could kill 20% of our military age population and cripple 95%!”
The Warchief paused to compose himself. “The Human representative tells us that they are responsible for this virus. They tell us that they will give us the cure, in return for complete cessation of hostilities, a guarantee not to encroach on Human worlds, return of any living captives, and massive reparations.”
Xenov gasped. “Sir.. but.. we cannot do this. The Carnovian Empire has never surrendered to an alien species. Surely our scientists can…”
“Don’t you get it Xenov? There isn’t time. Sure, our scientists could probably come up with a cure, in 5 or 10 cycles time. By then, our entire military would be crippled. Not only would we lose to the Humans, every other race that we have subjugated would take back their worlds. You have your orders. Disengage.”
Xenov’s tentacles twitched in fear and surprise. Suddenly he understood. When the Humans captured the Carnovians and kept them alive, they were not doing so out of kindness. They were doing genetic tests on them in order to perfect a virus. A virus that could kill countless of his people. Who would do such a thing? Who would so blatantly ignore the rules of honorable warfare? Truly, these Humans were terrifying and evil beyond comprehension.
Snarling an oath of revenge, Xenov ordered his troops to withdraw. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the swirling blizzard of North Palax, planet Haranox 7, a group of Aranids, a spider like race, gather together inside a secluded, secure building to discuss one thing.
Surrender
The normally proud race had made 2 mistakes that had cost them dearly. They had aggravated humanity to war, and laughed at humanities so called "Rules Of War", stating that such a concept was stupid and unnecessary. The Aranids had intercepted aid supplies, destroyed civilian settlements, and took a great joy in doing unspeakable things to the humans they had captured. The Aranids had thought the war won from day one.
But then things began to go wrong for them.
It started with a small farming colony going missing, then later those missing were found at an unnamed outpost. They were accepted back into the Aranid society after some initial questioning, but unbeknownst to them, humanity had planted a potent disease into each and every member of the colony, a disease that slowly but surely tore through the Aranids. First came a slight cough, a mild fever, nothing to be worried about. Then came forgetfulness and memory loss, shortly followed by complete insanity, and a feral desire to attack and bite anyone they could.
As the disease spread, humanity continued to attack different colonies, before progressing to major settlements and cities. Every interplanetary communications satellite was either destroyed or taken for humanities own use. Any aid transports were targeted and destroyed without remorse. Humanities technology grew and grew, and soon any battles became a bloodbath for the Aranids.
After suffering countless losses, the council had made the decision to try for peace talks with humanity. The video feed in the council room is grainy, but they can still make out a group of 5 humans looking back at them. The Aranids plead their surrender, for humanity to stop these attacks, and offer a cure for their people. The middle human, a woman with black hair in a bun, coldly stares at the council.
"Answer me this. If our situations were reversed, if we were the ones begging surrender, would you stop? If the history of your species is anything to go by, we don't believe you would. We aren't the first race you've gone to war against, but we will make sure we're the last. We offered you a clean war, with rules, and you laughed at us. Now, on the cusp of extinction, you beg us to stop? Our answer is no. You started this, this genocide is down to your own pride."
The video feed cuts off, and the council of Aranids stand in silence, until one of them grasps his head in his hands, screams, and attacks the councilmen in the room, biting each and every one.
Two weeks later, the extinction of the Aranids is officially announced to the galaxy and humanity takes Haranox 7 for themselves. | Commander Xenov wrapped his head-tentacles together as he stared at the battle holo; a sign of contentment for his species, the fearsome Carnovians. Feared throughout the galaxy for their terrifying prowess in battle, both in space and on planet, they had been at an uneasy peace for nearly 200 solar cycles. Back then, all of the major galactic races had banded together to fight the Carnovians. Still, the coalition could not win; they could only hold back the terrifying warriors at a cost that was deemed unacceptable. A peace offer was made: the Carnovians would receive significant mineral resources and tens of thousands of slaves from each race as tribute. These slaves would be killed and eaten at the gruesome Carnovian festivals each cycle. Of course, the Carnovians did not need to do this; like every spacefaring species, they had long ago solved the problem providing adequate food for population. And besides, the vastly different biochemistry of the other species made them mostly unpalatable. But it was tradition, after all!
Kass, Xenov’s underling, walked in to the command dome and crossed his tentacles in front of his chest.
“Report.”
“Commander, the Human resistance on the planet has been crushed. All population centers above 500 individuals have been leveled. There were some trading ships attempting to evacuate the remaining population, but we are in the process of hunting them down and destroying them as well. Opposition was minimal, and consisted of some lightly armed cruisers and fighters.”
Xenov smiled, showing his finely ornamented teeth. “Excellent. We can send down the landing party now. I’m sure they can capture some fine specimens; the Humans on these outlying worlds tend to be much healthier.”
The war against the Humans had been going exceedingly well. 30 cycles ago, Humanity had discovered FTL spaceflight and made contact with the galactic community. The Carnovians were pressured to offer them the same terms that they offered everyone else. When the upstart Humans refused, many Carnovians were outraged, but others were secretly pleased. After 200 cycles of horrible peace, there would finally be war. Since then, they had won victory after victory. The Carnovians had perfected the technique of orbital bombardment. By redirecting asteroids towards the enemy’s population centers, they could crush resistance without even the need for fancy weapons. Of course, this sort of thing could only work against lightly defended colonies, not the heavily fortified planets of the Carnovians. Indeed, the Humans had tried, but the best that they were able to do was send some tiny probes that snuck past the gun emplacements and promptly burned up in the atmosphere.
Of course, the Humans had complained to the largely powerless Galactic Council. They had demanded that the Carnovians cease their attacks on undefended civilian populations. They had demanded that the Carnovians stop the practice of capturing slaves and sacrificing them. They had even offered to trade back some of the very few Carnovians they had captured during the war, in exchange for the return of Carnovian captives. Oh, how the high command had laughed at that! Any warrior that allowed himself to be captured was no warrior at all. Why should they trade anything of value for those weaklings?
Suddenly, Xenov’s thoughts were interrupted by the deep pounding of the comms array. Four beats in quick succession: a message directly from the high command. In fact, it turned out to be Grand Warchief himself, leader of the countless Carnovian houses across the galaxy.
“Commander Xenov. You are to withdraw all forces from the Cetian system. Do not take any captives. Cease pursuit of all Human ships. These orders are effective immediately!”
Xenov was too stunned to answer for a moment. “...But. Sir. The resistance is crushed. This latest system is only 10 light years from their home system. Total victory could be hours in a few cycles!”
“Did you hear me Xenov? That is an ORDER!”
Two ancient instincts warred within Xenov. On the one hand, total obedience to the military command was drilled in to every Carnovian from birth. On the other hand, they had never shown mercy to any alien species since they had discovered spaceflight. One side won out, for now.
“Sir, I don’t understand. Why??”
The Warchief sighed. “You know damn well I don’t owe you an explanation. However.. you have been a loyal commander of our Empire for forty cycles now. You’ve overseen the destruction of over a dozen enemy systems. I will tell you what we are up against.”
“Several cycles ago, our medics noticed a strange illness popping up. It affected mostly the adolescents and it seemed to be taking place on our outlying colony worlds However, we are seeing more and more of it now in our home systems. Our scientists studied it and the results were terrifying. It seems that this virus was not natural in origin. Currently we believe that 80% of our systems are affected.”
“But.. sir. Surely I would have heard about a deadly virus devastating our worlds?”
“The news has been suppressed as best as possible. And currently, the disease, though widespread, is quite mild. It can be asymptomatic or present itself as standard Bannox Pox. However, it’s getting worse. Already, in the first-hit colonies, death rates have increased to 5%. Our scientists have estimated that within 10 cycles, this virus could kill 20% of our military age population and cripple 95%!”
The Warchief paused to compose himself. “The Human representative tells us that they are responsible for this virus. They tell us that they will give us the cure, in return for complete cessation of hostilities, a guarantee not to encroach on Human worlds, return of any living captives, and massive reparations.”
Xenov gasped. “Sir.. but.. we cannot do this. The Carnovian Empire has never surrendered to an alien species. Surely our scientists can…”
“Don’t you get it Xenov? There isn’t time. Sure, our scientists could probably come up with a cure, in 5 or 10 cycles time. By then, our entire military would be crippled. Not only would we lose to the Humans, every other race that we have subjugated would take back their worlds. You have your orders. Disengage.”
Xenov’s tentacles twitched in fear and surprise. Suddenly he understood. When the Humans captured the Carnovians and kept them alive, they were not doing so out of kindness. They were doing genetic tests on them in order to perfect a virus. A virus that could kill countless of his people. Who would do such a thing? Who would so blatantly ignore the rules of honorable warfare? Truly, these Humans were terrifying and evil beyond comprehension.
Snarling an oath of revenge, Xenov ordered his troops to withdraw. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Ta'reb thought that this whole hearing was a laughable farce as he maneuvered into his chair. His race (the dothram) were a reddish spherical entity with one eye that moved with one single long appendage and had been nicknamed by the humans as "mono-people". How could you enforce rules in war? War is when negotiations have broken down, what could possibly convince an enemy to do as you agreed when each of you is slaughtering the other? You can't have a war without death, what fate is worse?
"Do you plan to outlaw killing?" Ta'reb jeered, his 'arm' weaving words in a sort of sign language. "How do you expect to reduce the impact of war without rendering the point moot? Are entire civilizations going to going to set up little target dummies and see who can shoot at it the best?"
Major James Taylor sat in his chair staring at Ta'reb as his mad arm wiggling was translated to english, did he really need to start from there? Perhaps aliens were fine with a bit more cruelty and unnecessary death in life but could this thing not understand some would want to minimize unnecessary death? "With all due respect ambassador Ta'reb, we would only ask that civillians and other non-combatants such as injured soldiers be spared. They have little to no impact on who will win a war, and the rules we propose would only seek to minimize casualties. We understand that a warring entity has motivation to fire on military locations even if there are a few civilians that will be caught in the cross-fire."
Hmm? Questioned Ta'reb in his head. What tangible benefit could humans get in war from getting the enemy to ignore civilians? No-one shoots at civilians, by definition their elimination would not hinder the enemies war effort. "Why would anyone waste ammunition on civilians? What is the point in killing that which cannot fight?" Ta'reb asked, confused.
James was taken aback, was this alien not familiar with basic morale hindering tactics? If the women and children you were protecting were killed then what was the point of war? Killing civilians was an excellent way to discourage stronger parties to avoid warring with you in the future, could most aliens just ignore this? Was he about to reveal a major strategic disadvantage of humans? "If you do not understand then there is no point to this conversation." James vaguely answered and left the hearing, he knew it was rude but he needed to warn the higher ups, perhaps they would need a show of force. A notification to the world that they could handle civilian casualties.
Ta'reb pondered his short conversation with mr Taylor, it was not until he watched the united human army tear apart the homeworld of the parcuthi and devestate any hope of meaningful spoils of war did he begin to realise. At first he thought that the humans were just terrible at aiming, why else would they ruin any potential loot from that planet? He was worried that their shoddy innacurate weaponry would perhaps hit his hive cluster as well. It was then he realised, he was *worried.* Scared. Frightened. He felt fear that if his race declared war that he would die. The humans were mad enough to expend resources on needless slaughter because it discouraged others from warring to meet the same fate. The worst part was that it *worked.* Perhaps a few rules of war were a good thing.
James had mixed feelings when he recieved a call stating in no plain terms that they wanted to introduce the rules suggested. The inadvertant death of a planet he realised he might have caused weighed heavy on his heart. He also didn't want the hassle of having to explain the ethos of cruel weaponry. He could imagine Ta'reb angrily wobbling about how effective weapons killed the target instantly, why should anyone use weapons that cause others to suffer? | Commander Xenov wrapped his head-tentacles together as he stared at the battle holo; a sign of contentment for his species, the fearsome Carnovians. Feared throughout the galaxy for their terrifying prowess in battle, both in space and on planet, they had been at an uneasy peace for nearly 200 solar cycles. Back then, all of the major galactic races had banded together to fight the Carnovians. Still, the coalition could not win; they could only hold back the terrifying warriors at a cost that was deemed unacceptable. A peace offer was made: the Carnovians would receive significant mineral resources and tens of thousands of slaves from each race as tribute. These slaves would be killed and eaten at the gruesome Carnovian festivals each cycle. Of course, the Carnovians did not need to do this; like every spacefaring species, they had long ago solved the problem providing adequate food for population. And besides, the vastly different biochemistry of the other species made them mostly unpalatable. But it was tradition, after all!
Kass, Xenov’s underling, walked in to the command dome and crossed his tentacles in front of his chest.
“Report.”
“Commander, the Human resistance on the planet has been crushed. All population centers above 500 individuals have been leveled. There were some trading ships attempting to evacuate the remaining population, but we are in the process of hunting them down and destroying them as well. Opposition was minimal, and consisted of some lightly armed cruisers and fighters.”
Xenov smiled, showing his finely ornamented teeth. “Excellent. We can send down the landing party now. I’m sure they can capture some fine specimens; the Humans on these outlying worlds tend to be much healthier.”
The war against the Humans had been going exceedingly well. 30 cycles ago, Humanity had discovered FTL spaceflight and made contact with the galactic community. The Carnovians were pressured to offer them the same terms that they offered everyone else. When the upstart Humans refused, many Carnovians were outraged, but others were secretly pleased. After 200 cycles of horrible peace, there would finally be war. Since then, they had won victory after victory. The Carnovians had perfected the technique of orbital bombardment. By redirecting asteroids towards the enemy’s population centers, they could crush resistance without even the need for fancy weapons. Of course, this sort of thing could only work against lightly defended colonies, not the heavily fortified planets of the Carnovians. Indeed, the Humans had tried, but the best that they were able to do was send some tiny probes that snuck past the gun emplacements and promptly burned up in the atmosphere.
Of course, the Humans had complained to the largely powerless Galactic Council. They had demanded that the Carnovians cease their attacks on undefended civilian populations. They had demanded that the Carnovians stop the practice of capturing slaves and sacrificing them. They had even offered to trade back some of the very few Carnovians they had captured during the war, in exchange for the return of Carnovian captives. Oh, how the high command had laughed at that! Any warrior that allowed himself to be captured was no warrior at all. Why should they trade anything of value for those weaklings?
Suddenly, Xenov’s thoughts were interrupted by the deep pounding of the comms array. Four beats in quick succession: a message directly from the high command. In fact, it turned out to be Grand Warchief himself, leader of the countless Carnovian houses across the galaxy.
“Commander Xenov. You are to withdraw all forces from the Cetian system. Do not take any captives. Cease pursuit of all Human ships. These orders are effective immediately!”
Xenov was too stunned to answer for a moment. “...But. Sir. The resistance is crushed. This latest system is only 10 light years from their home system. Total victory could be hours in a few cycles!”
“Did you hear me Xenov? That is an ORDER!”
Two ancient instincts warred within Xenov. On the one hand, total obedience to the military command was drilled in to every Carnovian from birth. On the other hand, they had never shown mercy to any alien species since they had discovered spaceflight. One side won out, for now.
“Sir, I don’t understand. Why??”
The Warchief sighed. “You know damn well I don’t owe you an explanation. However.. you have been a loyal commander of our Empire for forty cycles now. You’ve overseen the destruction of over a dozen enemy systems. I will tell you what we are up against.”
“Several cycles ago, our medics noticed a strange illness popping up. It affected mostly the adolescents and it seemed to be taking place on our outlying colony worlds However, we are seeing more and more of it now in our home systems. Our scientists studied it and the results were terrifying. It seems that this virus was not natural in origin. Currently we believe that 80% of our systems are affected.”
“But.. sir. Surely I would have heard about a deadly virus devastating our worlds?”
“The news has been suppressed as best as possible. And currently, the disease, though widespread, is quite mild. It can be asymptomatic or present itself as standard Bannox Pox. However, it’s getting worse. Already, in the first-hit colonies, death rates have increased to 5%. Our scientists have estimated that within 10 cycles, this virus could kill 20% of our military age population and cripple 95%!”
The Warchief paused to compose himself. “The Human representative tells us that they are responsible for this virus. They tell us that they will give us the cure, in return for complete cessation of hostilities, a guarantee not to encroach on Human worlds, return of any living captives, and massive reparations.”
Xenov gasped. “Sir.. but.. we cannot do this. The Carnovian Empire has never surrendered to an alien species. Surely our scientists can…”
“Don’t you get it Xenov? There isn’t time. Sure, our scientists could probably come up with a cure, in 5 or 10 cycles time. By then, our entire military would be crippled. Not only would we lose to the Humans, every other race that we have subjugated would take back their worlds. You have your orders. Disengage.”
Xenov’s tentacles twitched in fear and surprise. Suddenly he understood. When the Humans captured the Carnovians and kept them alive, they were not doing so out of kindness. They were doing genetic tests on them in order to perfect a virus. A virus that could kill countless of his people. Who would do such a thing? Who would so blatantly ignore the rules of honorable warfare? Truly, these Humans were terrifying and evil beyond comprehension.
Snarling an oath of revenge, Xenov ordered his troops to withdraw. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | A booming laughter erupted throughout the great egg-shaped hall so tall clouds formed at the very top, they were left there for aesthetics if nothing else, he pondered. At the sides grew massive steely arches joining at the very top, between them were built balconies, filled with ambassadors and other representatives of various galactic empires, planet-states, moon-republics and whatnot.
Laughter, in essence, for each race showed amusement their own way. Of what the man glanced, the Trogks cackled like hyenas (resembling them a tad, too), the sluggish, brown Antians exhaled through their mouth-holes, tooting like a trumpet, even the enigmatic, hooded Parteens allowed themselves a small peep of a chalk on the blackboard... Hearing the cacophony of various sounds made Kay's hair on the back of his neck stand, top it off with the confusion he felt for what he said wasn't as funny as the others found it.
The opposition standing by his side exchanged smirks, easy to tell for their humanoid form. There were three races in the Orion Alliance, Alliance with which the Terra Union picked a battle.
Now, I don't wish to go into the details, but to simply explain, our space neighbors think we are expanding too fast and wish to stall our growth to further their economics, gather some valuable resources, hinder us, yada yada. They disguise it behind a 'he hit me first' excuse (which they provoked) and then offered a demand we could not accept. Now the humans of Earth are at the verge of their first stellar war since they joined the Arkha Galaxy Pact (That's what the alien races call Milky Way, by the by, yeah, we are among like ten planets in visitable universe that have white milk, or milk at all, so the name didn't catch). A standard procedure called for the 'Grand Meeting' and here we are, in front of the Head Council, next to the enemy, observed by uninvolved pact members. The daunted man regained a bit of composure as he neatens his blue uniform, his black eyes scanning the surroundings once again. He set the cap upon his brown hair as it felt askew.
"So you are saying you have rules for war?" Suddenly sounded from his right, the red-skinned Rubenee asked, the tendrils on his chin swirling in what Kay understood as excitement, this translation device imbedded in his temple was quite nifty, translating body language as well as the spoken. Notably, Rubenee alongside humans were one of the few races in the Pact that understood the notion of clothing, this representative wore what looked like a dark brown tunic, ending at waist-level where instead of legs grew a bundle of tentacles, Kay stopped counting at ten.
"Yes, some of them come from Geneva Conventions, among others. We added few more since we will be also warring in new territories, such as space, we renamed them to Terra Convention and wish for the council to adapt it to their system." Kay hummed, regrettably the war was inevitable, taking away half of his work as an ambassador to prevent the war from happening at all, this made him quite sour but the Alliance's attitude about this whole ordeal made it sting a lot less.
A Talian chimed in, a wispy, gentle-looking creature (don't be fooled), their abodes in the darkest depths of their oceanic worlds made their skin translucent, jelly-like, they grew a mushroom-looking cap atop their heads, much alike those of humans bar the missing nose and teeth in its mouth, its insides pulsed with soft, golden light every time it spoke. "Are we to understand that your rules of war... Are named after a city in one of your smaller political establishments that... Actually haven't fought in any war for what... Almost two hundred human years?"
"Technically..." Kay had to admit. "You did your research right." He smiled, suspecting the translation device for this sort of information. "I think, however, the place is irrelevant, it is the contents that I wish the Council to consider. We do not shy away from war, but we seek no end in it. All the Terra Union proposes is a more... humanitarian treatment." A repeated joke is not funny a second time, or so you would think as a human, but the hall laughed once more, less audibly, true... But it looked like the Orion Alliance found this whole thing much more amusing than humans.
A Garganian was next one to speak, a robust creature, the military might behind the Alliance, a great representation of a bully, Kay thought. Their skin gray and sleek, this one was a warrior, presumably, for one of his four arms was missing, leaving behind just a stump and his one-horned head sported many a scar. What was underneath the thick wired white fur, covering everything except limbs, Kay could only wonder. "The Terrans should not ridicule the proceedings of war making, hmpf! The Garganians of Otrkrs have nothing to propose but the involvement of council in decision of war-time!" He bumped his front body with all his healthy hands, huffing.
"Talians of Talee concur." Sounded tenderly.
"So do the Rubenee of Qu." Echoed.
Kay turned to the council, and to his surprise, the heads of the creatures were turned on him, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Humans of Earth have no choice but to agree as well."
Now, you would think I forgot to describe what the council looked like, but jokes on you, because there was really little to describe. For the sake of fairness, all members of Head Council were disguised, their features camouflaged, faces hidden, voices altered. Nobody should know who is a part of it, only they know themselves, however it is a common knowledge the members are chosen only from among the oldest and wisest races of the galaxy. The seven figures standing hooded on a raised platform mumbled among themselves before one stepped forth.
"The Council speaks." Silence fell in an already quiet hall. "The offer of Terra in adding these so called 'Rules of War' to the conflict of Artme Region is declined. We have reviewed the documents provided, number of points could be considered laughable, such as the immunity of medics on battlefield or, these ones I find specifically amusing, Hauge Conventions? Banning of certain weapons? Civilian protection? Rarely someone attacks civilians anyway, it has no effect on the course of battle! A pass-time, at best. Either way, you should have evacuated them beforehand if you know there will be war. War needs no rules, the declaration of war does, that is why we are here. The Alliance has offered to cease their warmongering once they are in possession of number of stellar systems, of which you were very much aware, ambassador Kay Harrinton. The heads of your Union declined, therefore war is inevitable and you are left with the option of defending your newly acquired territories, which you have accepted. You may begin the war in the standard ninety hours of Andromeda Time Zone. The Council has spoken. We shall reconvene shortly after a short break to hear the Zqa'ar and Ipoids" The figures retreated, and slowly the balconies began to empty as well. Kay stormed out, stone-faced.
Descending the stairs from the platform in the middle of the great-hall he found his other same clothed companions greeting him with a salute.
"You spoke well, ambassador, there was nothing more you could do."
"I wish there was." He passed them, he could not stop, for time was of essence now, ninety hours of ATZ was a week of time for the humans in the concerned systems.
"We have already informed the headquarters, message should reach them just in time." They followed.
"Good. I wish to speak with Admiral Ford, arrange meeting." Kay looked over his shoulder, the Alliance has entered the corridor as well, they gave him a taunting look, but he just scoffed, the fools know not what they got themselves into. | Hera looked up at the sky, she could still hear the laughter that echoed when the rulers of various planets in the galaxy found out that humans had rules, they laughed even harder when they found out out that rules even applied during war. That laughter was burnt in her memory, that teasing laughter, those snide remarks didn't sit well with her or with the rest as she noticed people's growing anger. She didn't rule Earth to be mocked, she ruled it to be great. And greatness she shall achieve.
Hence the war began, not because of weapons or violence but because of mocking laughs.
~
The first rule to be removed was rights. Not for her people, her people weren't the reason behind her sleepless nights, they weren't the reason behind those dreams where those rulers laughed and mocked her. Why should they have rights? They don't deserve it if they don't have the decency to be accepting of others rules, others way of living.
She will stand on the ruins of those leaders and cherish telling them that they lost the right to plead, to live when they made fun of her and her people.
The next will be deaths. Innocents were always out of bounds, they are never supposed to casualties in the fight of power but now, now things will change. She will take over them by hook or by crook. By sword and by blood.
She told her commander to prepare for war as her minister nodded. He never backed down. An insult to character was after all the highest insult. They made us into jesters of the galaxy but it be her and her people who will have the last laugh.
~
She sat on her throne, seeing the pitying forms of the former leaders of the galaxy. She smiled satisfactorily. Things you achieve when you throw out the rules were limitless but she could feel a darkness in her soul that wasn't there before. Was her soul worth her pride?
"Please, have mercy." Cried one of them.
And that she thought, overlooking her darkening soul, was the rule to be destroyed. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "I don't believe your High Serpahic Council understands what they have asked for here." Celes said. "You have denied my people the opportunity to parley for peace, and you have threatened them with war being brought to their very homes." Celes' voice rose and trembled as she spoke, the anger and fear that gripped her barely contained. "And you refuse to negotiate any rules for this war saying that you will unleash your full wrath on all of humanity?" She stopped, breathing heavily, waiting for any sign that the Council would back down.
"Young Admiral Celes... " The first Chancellor spoke. His species was tall, but thin, while the entirety of the Council was masked to prevent you from knowing their race or origin, he appeared to be from somewhere with extremely low gravity. "Humanity has violated our pact, the great covenant of all, and has shown they do not respect rule and order without testing it. Any species who does not respect the rule of order, does not benefit from it's protection." The lights over his chamber dimmed, as did the rest of the Council, the matter was settled.
"For what comes... Blame man or your gods, but this day will be known as regret." Celes said softly before closing her inquiry and leaving the chamber. It was a quiet walk down the great halls. The building had been so lively on her entry, but with the sentence passed on her people all of the remaining citizens had left, closed their offices and stalls, to give her a taste of the silence and absence her own people were being punished with. The High Seraphic Council would wage their war, on behalf of the entirety of the Galactic Confederation of Unity and Understanding, to protect the Rule and Order of the Order and Rule. The High Seraphic Council understood nothing of man however, they believed we were like them.
We were never like them. We were never a species who had near limitless resources, we never developed identical religions across our sphere to unite us, we were forged in calamity and disaster and hatred and fire. It took the near extinction of our people for us to find the unity these other Confederate members found so easily.
"Rear Admiral Leon." Celes spoke internally, accessing her own internal circuitry and broadcast upgrades.
"I heard, Fleet Admiral Celes, I don't know that they understand what they just did." The voice rang inside her head.
"Once I'm onboard I want the whole fleet to be prepared. We will not wait for official declarations to be drawn up. We'll end this today."
"Didn't they just offer official declarations?" Rear Admiral Leon asked
"No, they made their ruling, but it'll take upwards of a week to put out an official declaration. Their expectation is that we will return home to warn our people, to send out ships to relocate our various outposts and settlements, that we'll try to give one more plea for peace before taking their punishment. It's what the rest of the confederate races would do."
"Ah. Yes Sir." Rear Admiral Leon affirmed.
Fleet Admiral Celes took her small diplomatic shuttle back to the Enterprise, a massive dreadnought that represented the greatest strengths of humanity, and their worst tendencies. The Enterprise, a new ship assembled in the shipyards of Ganymede, was almost four kilometers long, with a beam of almost a full kilometer at its widest point. The massive almost ovular shaped ship was covered in large gun embankments and multiple enormous magneto-gauss accelerators. Every single point had been aimed at known Confederate fleet vehicles and ships throughout the system.
"All ships report readyness." Celes broadcast to her fleet as she stepped into the command room of the Enterprise."
"Bismark Ready"
"Victory Ready"
"Yamamoto Ready"
"Maiden of Peace Ready"
"Mikasa Ready"
"Arizona Ready"
"Botafogo Ready"
"Imperial Education Ready"
Two dozen more ships confirmed readyness as Fleet Admiral Celes assigned more targeting orders and issued the expected withdrawal of all humans on the High Seraphic Homeworld, Cherbimin. She ordered manual targeting and aiming for all ships, with artillery specialists and scientists pouring over numbers and statistics to ensure accuracy. When she confirmed the last shuttle was docked within one of the great transports she sighed. Reaching down to the official com to speak out loud she hesitate just one hopeful moment.
"This is Fleet Admiral Celes Shere, of H.S.N.S Enterprise for peace now of War... I ask one more time, would the High Seraphic council reconsider their desire for war?"
She waited, one breath, two breaths, three breaths. She felt her chest rise and fall slowly as she waited for a response. Surely they were not this foolhardy, thinking that we fought how they did....
"Sir, we have received a message, written in Confederate Common." Security Officer Niemitz spoke. Celes nodded at him and the message appeared before her eyes, a summary dismissal of her requests.
"Do we have a final count of their fleet assets in system?"
"Sir, the identified fleet assets in system composes more than forty percent of the Confederates total fleet, and the vast majority of their useful firepower." Lieutenant Torres spoke up, only answering out loud for those in the room.
"Maiden of Peace, Imperial Education, Victory, and the Enterprise will fire on Security Station XR-31, Transport and Merchant Station XR-31 A, Homeworld Alep, and the High Seraphic Homeworld Bet. Use all armaments at maximum speed. The rest of the fleet will be assigned firing orders shortly, timing and sequence to follow." Fleet Admiral Celes appeared visibly defeated as she spoke. Before her eyes flickered assignments and distances and expected angles of adjustment based on the various gravity wells of this system. The room was nearly silent as everyone viewed and processed orders and requests, a gestalt of shared minds and internal computers focused only on victory for mankind. As the last of the orders were sent out she ordered the various transport ships to begin heading out of system. The Confederate fleets would expect the humans to send civilians off first, leaving their heavily armed fleet to stand and protect the rear of the non-combatants. | Hera looked up at the sky, she could still hear the laughter that echoed when the rulers of various planets in the galaxy found out that humans had rules, they laughed even harder when they found out out that rules even applied during war. That laughter was burnt in her memory, that teasing laughter, those snide remarks didn't sit well with her or with the rest as she noticed people's growing anger. She didn't rule Earth to be mocked, she ruled it to be great. And greatness she shall achieve.
Hence the war began, not because of weapons or violence but because of mocking laughs.
~
The first rule to be removed was rights. Not for her people, her people weren't the reason behind her sleepless nights, they weren't the reason behind those dreams where those rulers laughed and mocked her. Why should they have rights? They don't deserve it if they don't have the decency to be accepting of others rules, others way of living.
She will stand on the ruins of those leaders and cherish telling them that they lost the right to plead, to live when they made fun of her and her people.
The next will be deaths. Innocents were always out of bounds, they are never supposed to casualties in the fight of power but now, now things will change. She will take over them by hook or by crook. By sword and by blood.
She told her commander to prepare for war as her minister nodded. He never backed down. An insult to character was after all the highest insult. They made us into jesters of the galaxy but it be her and her people who will have the last laugh.
~
She sat on her throne, seeing the pitying forms of the former leaders of the galaxy. She smiled satisfactorily. Things you achieve when you throw out the rules were limitless but she could feel a darkness in her soul that wasn't there before. Was her soul worth her pride?
"Please, have mercy." Cried one of them.
And that she thought, overlooking her darkening soul, was the rule to be destroyed. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “Yeah, that sucks for them. But why are you angry at us?” Amanda Smith, leader of the elite Beartooth division, looked up at Commander Her’clud in confusion. “You said you wanted the planet taken at any cost, so we took it. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem? The problem is that you killed every single sentient being on the planet! You took no prisoners! There were over 718 million life forms two cycle ago, and now there are none! Have you no mercy or restraint?!?!”
Amanda stepped to the side to avoid being hit by Commander Her’clud’s flailing tentacles. She wiped the slime off her arm with a look of disgust, and then turned to the rest of the Galactic Tributary. “Did any of you bother to read my holo-messages detailing this siege? Anyone, anyone at all?” She was greeted with silence and blank looks. She sighed to herself. It didn’t matter what species she was dealing with, the leaders at the top were all the same- annoying, arrogant, and absolutely impossible to communicate with.
“If any of you had bothered to open my holo-messages, you would already know that the vast majority of the planet fled within the first two hours of the siege. As required by our Rules of War, all civilians, injured, surrendering combatants, and such were allowed to flee the planet without fear of attack. After the first wave fled, we launched one Devastation missile at the second most populated city. Again according to our Rules of War, we had messaged the planet to warn them of the impending missile strike, giving plenty of time to evacuate. We recorded less than two thousand confirmed kills from this event. This led to the second wave of flight from the planet. We followed up with a squadron of In Between drones, to ferret out the remaining hostiles. We confirmed just over five thousand drone kills.”
Amanda pulled up her messages to the Council, letting them play silently in the background as she continued her recap of the siege.
“We paused our actions to allow the third wave of inhabitants to flee. After sufficient time had passed to let the ships leave the system, we began in-person actions. Of the original 718 million inhabitants, less than 80 thousand remained on the planet. Sixty-two Beartooth units were dispatched to find and eliminate any remaining hostiles. It took just over one cycle to clear the planet, and less than one thousand kills were confirmed. The rest of the planet’s inhabitants were deemed to be non-hostile, and as required by our Rules of War, were not harmed. They were escorted to evacuation ships, we programmed the coordinates to their next colonized planet, and sent them on their way.”
A glance around the room told her that this was not what the Council had expected to hear. One of the reasons humans had been excluded from the intergalactic community for so long was because of their reputation for war. Humans were known to be one of the fiercest, violent, and most bloodthirsty species ever contacted. They certainly had the bloodiest past of all the intergalactic members.
Amanda not only knew of this reputation, she actively used it to her advantage. She had even used it when thinking of the motto for her division (Fingers on the trigger, ready aim fire!). So she wasn’t surprised that the Council had automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion when hearing that she had cleared an entire planet of all sentient beings in less than two cycles.
But to call up the entire Galactic Tributary to consider expelling the entire human race? She couldn’t believe the audacity of these leaders. And then she had a thought…
“This meeting was called for based on undocumented fears, and could have been avoided completely if any of you had bothered to read my messages. As you can see by the messages playing behind me, a total of 47 updates were given over the course of the siege. Each update was sent to the full Council, and yet none of you opened a single one? Why is that? Why was my division asked to clear this planet, only to face disciplinary actions for completing the objectives of the Council?”
She was again met with silence and blank stares, but this time the stares were a little too blank, too practiced… And with those stares, she had her answer. Commander Her’clud opened his mouth to speak, but Amanda glared at him with such forced that he immediately closed his mouth and began to turn a horrible shade of orange.
Amanda raised her voice, and spoke to the Tributary with all the authority befitting her position as leader of the most accredited military division the galaxy had ever seen. “As a member of the intergalactic community, it is my right to know who has requested the exclusion of the entire human race as punishment for completing Council objectives. Let them speak now, and defend their position.”
After a moment, her request was answered. Amanda barely stifled the shivers that always came when communicating with an Ecconichian.
She listened as the beautiful melodies filled the air, rising and falling in wonderful harmony. She listened as the notes turned dark and low, creating a story of insanity and horrors with music alone.
When the final notes ended, Amanda wanted to cry out in relief. Instead, she braced herself and responded. “The history of the human race is indeed mired with war, genocide, and horrors that many species here will hopefully never experience. It is always filled with acts of insanity, acts that have no reason whatsoever as their motives.
“But the act of sending delegates to the Galactic Tributary year after year to request the official creation of Galactic Rules of War is not an act of insanity. Even though humans have been ridiculed, mocked, and disrespected for asking this year after year, we will continue to bring this before the Tributary until it is done.
“The Council gave the directive to take planet Ximotin by any means necessary. It is known far and wide that my Beartooth division is the most successful military division the galaxy has ever seen, and we were specifically requested by the Council for this task.
“We could have chosen to nuke the entire planet and render it uninhabitable for the next hundred millennium. We could have chosen to release Skin missiles in the atmosphere and afflict the entire population with an incurable plague. We know the Ximo population is very susceptible to high pitched noises, so we could have just blasted air raid sirens and driven them all insane.
“Instead, by our Rules of War, we were required to give non-combatants multiple chances to flee, without fear of attack. We were required to announce all missile strikes and give the intended target area enough time to evacuate. We were required to evaluate any potential hostiles before shooting to kill. We were required to escort all remaining non-combatants to evacuation ships and see them safely on their way.
“The history of the human race is mired with war, genocide, and horrors. But it is also filled with men and women who stood up against those acts. It is filled with men and women who risked everything to punish the worst offenders in our race. It is filled with hope that we will grow and rise above those acts.
“Human delegates will continue to advocate for Galactic Rules of War because we know how necessary they are. We know that war brings out the worst in any species, and that Rules of War may be the only thing to prevent incomprehensible acts of evil from occurring. We know that Rules of War keep individuals from crossing the line between acceptable and unacceptable. And we know that they work. They save lives, planets, and entire species.
“Because of our Rules of War, a planet with 718 million life forms was emptied in less than two cycles, with just under eight thousand deaths.
“I believe my division was chosen to clear planet Ximotin as an example of why we should be expelled from the intergalactic community. Instead, we have done the opposite and shown why Rules of War are necessary and how they are used.
“Should the Galactic Tributary decide to expel the human race anyway, so be it. But I believe it would be much better if you actually open my damn messages and take a proper look at them. Think of what could have been, and then see what actually occurred. Advocating for Galactic Rules of War is an act of hope, not insanity. The siege of planet Ximotin is now a real-life example of how this could only help the intergalactic community as a whole.
“We will abide by the decision of the Galactic Tributary, for better or worse. Make your decision and communicate it to us as soon as you are done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a very long report to give my commander.”
With that, Amanda stepped off the podium and exited the chambers, followed by the few ranked members allowed to accompany her. She walked away with her head held high, and hope that this would finally result in the creation of the official Galactic Rules of War. Because if this didn’t do it, nothing would. | Hera looked up at the sky, she could still hear the laughter that echoed when the rulers of various planets in the galaxy found out that humans had rules, they laughed even harder when they found out out that rules even applied during war. That laughter was burnt in her memory, that teasing laughter, those snide remarks didn't sit well with her or with the rest as she noticed people's growing anger. She didn't rule Earth to be mocked, she ruled it to be great. And greatness she shall achieve.
Hence the war began, not because of weapons or violence but because of mocking laughs.
~
The first rule to be removed was rights. Not for her people, her people weren't the reason behind her sleepless nights, they weren't the reason behind those dreams where those rulers laughed and mocked her. Why should they have rights? They don't deserve it if they don't have the decency to be accepting of others rules, others way of living.
She will stand on the ruins of those leaders and cherish telling them that they lost the right to plead, to live when they made fun of her and her people.
The next will be deaths. Innocents were always out of bounds, they are never supposed to casualties in the fight of power but now, now things will change. She will take over them by hook or by crook. By sword and by blood.
She told her commander to prepare for war as her minister nodded. He never backed down. An insult to character was after all the highest insult. They made us into jesters of the galaxy but it be her and her people who will have the last laugh.
~
She sat on her throne, seeing the pitying forms of the former leaders of the galaxy. She smiled satisfactorily. Things you achieve when you throw out the rules were limitless but she could feel a darkness in her soul that wasn't there before. Was her soul worth her pride?
"Please, have mercy." Cried one of them.
And that she thought, overlooking her darkening soul, was the rule to be destroyed. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the swirling blizzard of North Palax, planet Haranox 7, a group of Aranids, a spider like race, gather together inside a secluded, secure building to discuss one thing.
Surrender
The normally proud race had made 2 mistakes that had cost them dearly. They had aggravated humanity to war, and laughed at humanities so called "Rules Of War", stating that such a concept was stupid and unnecessary. The Aranids had intercepted aid supplies, destroyed civilian settlements, and took a great joy in doing unspeakable things to the humans they had captured. The Aranids had thought the war won from day one.
But then things began to go wrong for them.
It started with a small farming colony going missing, then later those missing were found at an unnamed outpost. They were accepted back into the Aranid society after some initial questioning, but unbeknownst to them, humanity had planted a potent disease into each and every member of the colony, a disease that slowly but surely tore through the Aranids. First came a slight cough, a mild fever, nothing to be worried about. Then came forgetfulness and memory loss, shortly followed by complete insanity, and a feral desire to attack and bite anyone they could.
As the disease spread, humanity continued to attack different colonies, before progressing to major settlements and cities. Every interplanetary communications satellite was either destroyed or taken for humanities own use. Any aid transports were targeted and destroyed without remorse. Humanities technology grew and grew, and soon any battles became a bloodbath for the Aranids.
After suffering countless losses, the council had made the decision to try for peace talks with humanity. The video feed in the council room is grainy, but they can still make out a group of 5 humans looking back at them. The Aranids plead their surrender, for humanity to stop these attacks, and offer a cure for their people. The middle human, a woman with black hair in a bun, coldly stares at the council.
"Answer me this. If our situations were reversed, if we were the ones begging surrender, would you stop? If the history of your species is anything to go by, we don't believe you would. We aren't the first race you've gone to war against, but we will make sure we're the last. We offered you a clean war, with rules, and you laughed at us. Now, on the cusp of extinction, you beg us to stop? Our answer is no. You started this, this genocide is down to your own pride."
The video feed cuts off, and the council of Aranids stand in silence, until one of them grasps his head in his hands, screams, and attacks the councilmen in the room, biting each and every one.
Two weeks later, the extinction of the Aranids is officially announced to the galaxy and humanity takes Haranox 7 for themselves. | Hera looked up at the sky, she could still hear the laughter that echoed when the rulers of various planets in the galaxy found out that humans had rules, they laughed even harder when they found out out that rules even applied during war. That laughter was burnt in her memory, that teasing laughter, those snide remarks didn't sit well with her or with the rest as she noticed people's growing anger. She didn't rule Earth to be mocked, she ruled it to be great. And greatness she shall achieve.
Hence the war began, not because of weapons or violence but because of mocking laughs.
~
The first rule to be removed was rights. Not for her people, her people weren't the reason behind her sleepless nights, they weren't the reason behind those dreams where those rulers laughed and mocked her. Why should they have rights? They don't deserve it if they don't have the decency to be accepting of others rules, others way of living.
She will stand on the ruins of those leaders and cherish telling them that they lost the right to plead, to live when they made fun of her and her people.
The next will be deaths. Innocents were always out of bounds, they are never supposed to casualties in the fight of power but now, now things will change. She will take over them by hook or by crook. By sword and by blood.
She told her commander to prepare for war as her minister nodded. He never backed down. An insult to character was after all the highest insult. They made us into jesters of the galaxy but it be her and her people who will have the last laugh.
~
She sat on her throne, seeing the pitying forms of the former leaders of the galaxy. She smiled satisfactorily. Things you achieve when you throw out the rules were limitless but she could feel a darkness in her soul that wasn't there before. Was her soul worth her pride?
"Please, have mercy." Cried one of them.
And that she thought, overlooking her darkening soul, was the rule to be destroyed. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | This is a continuation of my [last WP comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/s98qyp/wp_projectile_weapons_were_considered_ancient/htmol5h/?context=3), b/c the themes are similar and why the hell not right?
​
*I remember fondly in the first year of my mandatory enlistment feeling the warmth of a nearby star strike my face through the glass windows. It reminded me of home. Of air that didn't taste of overworked filters. Of beaches with sand on the methane lakes. Of Cities bustling with races who've benefited from our rule.*
*The race of bipeds, Humans, they sometimes call themselves, were set to be the same. Our ships pierced the cloud of rocks surrounding their system, which to our knowledge were uninhabited roughly 3 days ago. We timed our invasion right to avoid gravitational interference with the gas giants. 1.5 days ago we began our retrograde burn to enter a solar orbit. A day later our ships transferred to orbit around their Home planet.*
*They knew we were coming, as was to be expected. We thought their technology rudimentary, but we understood it was proficient. From our observations they still used projectile weaponry against one another, something that our ships and soldiers became resistant to long ago.*
*We had always wondered why they never took the next step. Why they didn't move on to lasers and quantum rays. Some believed it was their constant bickering never left room for technology to improve. Others thought there existed a global religion in which the projectile weapons were worshiped. A small minority thought they were stupid.*
*No. They are not stupid. They harbor no reverence. They chose to stab each other with sticks and stones. They chose to stop making newer weapons because they cower to their greatest creation.*
*I have felt it's warmth on my face. I watched it dissolve our strongest alloys, incinerate our armored soldiers. I felt my clothes catch fire! I felt skin peel of my shoulders! I saw jolts of bright light flash in my closed eyes!*
*It killed the electricity on our ships. It killed men who dared to stand with honor. It shredded the cruiser. It warped spacetime itself.*
*The backup generators failed. The oxygen turned to poison. Light turned to cancer.*
*And then the second one came.*
*I had to crumble the blackened skeleton of the pilot in his seat before that second metal hull detonated. The metal control stick burned my hand as I wrestled the ship into a different orbit. I could feel the warmth of that second fake sun strike the ship as I opened the wormhole for the home.*
*My face feels cold now. If this universe had a god, the humans made him into a gun. They scare themselves more than they scared us.*
*This invasion was a grave mistake.*
​
The emperor set the sand brown paper down on his lap, stroking his chin with a three fingered hand.
"A bit flowery for a military report." He quipped with a grin.
"Those were his last words," His advisor grumbled with his back to the emperor, leaning against the balcony that oversaw the rolling hills of red fauna and grey rocks lit by the blood red sun. "He penned that before bleeding out from his ass."
The emperor's grin faded as did his good mood. His eyes shot back down to the paper in his lap. "How many did we lose?"
The advisor sighed before releasing a sigh and turning. This was no longer a problem he could turn his back to. This wasn't a problem that could be brushed under another imperial rug. "All of them, your majesty."
"All?"
"All 1.63 million soldiers. Gone. And if that account in your lap is to be believed... little remains of their bodies."
The emperor's face twisted into a grimace, and his eyes darted to the left and the right. "This is unacceptable. It's... absurd! How did we not know of this! How have the Humans not conquered themselves yet?! How have they not committed a holocaust against themselves!?" The emperor rose to his feet with fury in his eyes directed at his advisor.
The Advisor took a deep breath. In moments like these when the emperor's temper flared someone had to remind him to be rational. "I warned you that we had little information about the humans prior your order to attack. I asked that we spend time researching them prior your order to attack. I asked that we learn what there was to gain prior your order to attack," The advisor sighed, "I've called the human ambassador here to discuss what has happened... To see if we can settle on peace terms without our enemies discovering anything."
"We should send them flying into the sun if anything."
"That, would be brash. But not un-called for."
A servant appeared around the corner, "The human ambassador is here." her angelic voice proclaimed
"Send them in," the advisor replied. From behind that same corner a woman with streaking black hair, wearing a white sweater and a pomegranate suit strode in, followed by a translator. She paused 10 feet from the emperor and bowed.
"Your majesty." She addressed him. The emperor disregarded the formality with a wave of his hand, "May I ask why you've summoned me?"
"Don't play stupid" The advisor growled, "You know why."
"If it's to discuss peace, I am afraid there isn't much I can do for you."
"It's to discuss what happened in orbit above your home planet. How 1.63 million of our best were incinerated before even touching your atmosphere." The emperor spat, "How have you not killed all the mere billions of humans that exist in your puny solar system?"
The ambassador took a deep breath, "That is unimportant, as of now. What is important is discussing what is likely to happen going forward."
The Advisor laughed, "You think we will discuss what is going to happen next with you? You think it unimportant you've unused weapons of genocide?"
The Ambassador crossed her hands in front of her. "We've rules on earth. Rules about how to fight. In spite of our differences we're fighting over a part of the earth, and if there's no earth left, or no people left to inhabit it then there was no point to fighting."
"You have rules on warfare?" The emperor scoffed, "Rules that don't apply to non humans like us?"
"Precisely."
The Advisor began pacing with his eyes fixed to the floor. "You said peace isn't an option. Explain."
The ambassador looked off into the valleys of red trees. How do you explain the attitudes of an entire race? How do you generalize all the leading cultures? "Humans are, silly creatures. We always need something to fight. If there isn't anything, we make up something. Our greatest inventions created greater casualties, Our greatest leaders built cities with blood, and our greatest motivators are things we can attack head on. You gave earth something they hadn't tasted in a very long time-- the blood of an empire." She let a smug grin show, "It's coordinated the whole earth. All the interhuman fighting as stopped. All 9 billion people at once looked up into the stars and found hope in those nuclear flashes and burning carriers."
"You humans are disgusting. Not silly. " The Advisor tried to say in a collected tone.
"We know." The ambassador said, "and we hate to admit that we love it." | Hera looked up at the sky, she could still hear the laughter that echoed when the rulers of various planets in the galaxy found out that humans had rules, they laughed even harder when they found out out that rules even applied during war. That laughter was burnt in her memory, that teasing laughter, those snide remarks didn't sit well with her or with the rest as she noticed people's growing anger. She didn't rule Earth to be mocked, she ruled it to be great. And greatness she shall achieve.
Hence the war began, not because of weapons or violence but because of mocking laughs.
~
The first rule to be removed was rights. Not for her people, her people weren't the reason behind her sleepless nights, they weren't the reason behind those dreams where those rulers laughed and mocked her. Why should they have rights? They don't deserve it if they don't have the decency to be accepting of others rules, others way of living.
She will stand on the ruins of those leaders and cherish telling them that they lost the right to plead, to live when they made fun of her and her people.
The next will be deaths. Innocents were always out of bounds, they are never supposed to casualties in the fight of power but now, now things will change. She will take over them by hook or by crook. By sword and by blood.
She told her commander to prepare for war as her minister nodded. He never backed down. An insult to character was after all the highest insult. They made us into jesters of the galaxy but it be her and her people who will have the last laugh.
~
She sat on her throne, seeing the pitying forms of the former leaders of the galaxy. She smiled satisfactorily. Things you achieve when you throw out the rules were limitless but she could feel a darkness in her soul that wasn't there before. Was her soul worth her pride?
"Please, have mercy." Cried one of them.
And that she thought, overlooking her darkening soul, was the rule to be destroyed. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | A council chamber. Rectangle. Ornate. Boring.
Earth and humanity's representatives sat on one side of the curiously balanced tables, seated across a neighboring species often thought as bloodthirsty cretins.
Once more had an earth mining operation been sabotaged and mined materials stolen, very few survivors. Humanity cried to their leaders for the injustice, and finally council was sought with a higher ruling; a boring, time wasting ruling.
"attempted established peace treaties, trade, communication...." the drivel was getting to grind his nerves, and cutting off the council speaker to the surprise of the entire room he spoke.
"What then shall we do? These attacks are killing our people defenseless as to not engage in warfare per your own regulations. Or are the Kntet above these rules of war?"
A slimy, chocking chortle broke the immediate silence as the Kntet representative broke into what could be laughter.
"rules? St-upi-d human, war has no rules, earth dum-b if they think war need rules!"
The sounds of more chuckles broke his nerve, the entire chamber save his deligates found this concept of obeying rules of warfare unusual and childish. He clenched his fist, crossed his hands on the desk sending a command from the console hidden in his cuffs.
"Then humanity will relax our rules of engagement, and declare war on Kntet and its peoples."
He stood, his two deligates following suit as they unhostered narrow blades from within their uniforms, a vibrant hum filled the air as within seconds they had leapt forward in this lower gravity chamber, cleaving the Kntet deligation to strips. As their bodies turned Goo slid down the seat, much to the surprise and horror of the council, humanity spoke not with words on paper, texts with seals, or agreements but with hard bitter hatred.
The Kntet would retaliate, but their lack of rules mean they were never curious enough to find out how to dissect a human, how to mix poisons to make their skin dry and crack in seconds, how to bomb their cities to sterilize entire continents. Or how to manipulate their brain signals to simply obey, to work until exhausted, until muscles tore and hands sheared from abuse.
The Knet would never learn this and within two orbits of their own suns would the galaxies look upon the once fearsome Kntet, bound and gagged, sending ship after ship of resources to human systems, subjugated as their species kept barely above extinction served new masters.
Some who tried to aid the fleeing Kntet among the universe would learn the phrase that would strike fear at their homeworlds' core; Exterminatus. | Hera looked up at the sky, she could still hear the laughter that echoed when the rulers of various planets in the galaxy found out that humans had rules, they laughed even harder when they found out out that rules even applied during war. That laughter was burnt in her memory, that teasing laughter, those snide remarks didn't sit well with her or with the rest as she noticed people's growing anger. She didn't rule Earth to be mocked, she ruled it to be great. And greatness she shall achieve.
Hence the war began, not because of weapons or violence but because of mocking laughs.
~
The first rule to be removed was rights. Not for her people, her people weren't the reason behind her sleepless nights, they weren't the reason behind those dreams where those rulers laughed and mocked her. Why should they have rights? They don't deserve it if they don't have the decency to be accepting of others rules, others way of living.
She will stand on the ruins of those leaders and cherish telling them that they lost the right to plead, to live when they made fun of her and her people.
The next will be deaths. Innocents were always out of bounds, they are never supposed to casualties in the fight of power but now, now things will change. She will take over them by hook or by crook. By sword and by blood.
She told her commander to prepare for war as her minister nodded. He never backed down. An insult to character was after all the highest insult. They made us into jesters of the galaxy but it be her and her people who will have the last laugh.
~
She sat on her throne, seeing the pitying forms of the former leaders of the galaxy. She smiled satisfactorily. Things you achieve when you throw out the rules were limitless but she could feel a darkness in her soul that wasn't there before. Was her soul worth her pride?
"Please, have mercy." Cried one of them.
And that she thought, overlooking her darkening soul, was the rule to be destroyed. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Ta'reb thought that this whole hearing was a laughable farce as he maneuvered into his chair. His race (the dothram) were a reddish spherical entity with one eye that moved with one single long appendage and had been nicknamed by the humans as "mono-people". How could you enforce rules in war? War is when negotiations have broken down, what could possibly convince an enemy to do as you agreed when each of you is slaughtering the other? You can't have a war without death, what fate is worse?
"Do you plan to outlaw killing?" Ta'reb jeered, his 'arm' weaving words in a sort of sign language. "How do you expect to reduce the impact of war without rendering the point moot? Are entire civilizations going to going to set up little target dummies and see who can shoot at it the best?"
Major James Taylor sat in his chair staring at Ta'reb as his mad arm wiggling was translated to english, did he really need to start from there? Perhaps aliens were fine with a bit more cruelty and unnecessary death in life but could this thing not understand some would want to minimize unnecessary death? "With all due respect ambassador Ta'reb, we would only ask that civillians and other non-combatants such as injured soldiers be spared. They have little to no impact on who will win a war, and the rules we propose would only seek to minimize casualties. We understand that a warring entity has motivation to fire on military locations even if there are a few civilians that will be caught in the cross-fire."
Hmm? Questioned Ta'reb in his head. What tangible benefit could humans get in war from getting the enemy to ignore civilians? No-one shoots at civilians, by definition their elimination would not hinder the enemies war effort. "Why would anyone waste ammunition on civilians? What is the point in killing that which cannot fight?" Ta'reb asked, confused.
James was taken aback, was this alien not familiar with basic morale hindering tactics? If the women and children you were protecting were killed then what was the point of war? Killing civilians was an excellent way to discourage stronger parties to avoid warring with you in the future, could most aliens just ignore this? Was he about to reveal a major strategic disadvantage of humans? "If you do not understand then there is no point to this conversation." James vaguely answered and left the hearing, he knew it was rude but he needed to warn the higher ups, perhaps they would need a show of force. A notification to the world that they could handle civilian casualties.
Ta'reb pondered his short conversation with mr Taylor, it was not until he watched the united human army tear apart the homeworld of the parcuthi and devestate any hope of meaningful spoils of war did he begin to realise. At first he thought that the humans were just terrible at aiming, why else would they ruin any potential loot from that planet? He was worried that their shoddy innacurate weaponry would perhaps hit his hive cluster as well. It was then he realised, he was *worried.* Scared. Frightened. He felt fear that if his race declared war that he would die. The humans were mad enough to expend resources on needless slaughter because it discouraged others from warring to meet the same fate. The worst part was that it *worked.* Perhaps a few rules of war were a good thing.
James had mixed feelings when he recieved a call stating in no plain terms that they wanted to introduce the rules suggested. The inadvertant death of a planet he realised he might have caused weighed heavy on his heart. He also didn't want the hassle of having to explain the ethos of cruel weaponry. He could imagine Ta'reb angrily wobbling about how effective weapons killed the target instantly, why should anyone use weapons that cause others to suffer? | Hera looked up at the sky, she could still hear the laughter that echoed when the rulers of various planets in the galaxy found out that humans had rules, they laughed even harder when they found out out that rules even applied during war. That laughter was burnt in her memory, that teasing laughter, those snide remarks didn't sit well with her or with the rest as she noticed people's growing anger. She didn't rule Earth to be mocked, she ruled it to be great. And greatness she shall achieve.
Hence the war began, not because of weapons or violence but because of mocking laughs.
~
The first rule to be removed was rights. Not for her people, her people weren't the reason behind her sleepless nights, they weren't the reason behind those dreams where those rulers laughed and mocked her. Why should they have rights? They don't deserve it if they don't have the decency to be accepting of others rules, others way of living.
She will stand on the ruins of those leaders and cherish telling them that they lost the right to plead, to live when they made fun of her and her people.
The next will be deaths. Innocents were always out of bounds, they are never supposed to casualties in the fight of power but now, now things will change. She will take over them by hook or by crook. By sword and by blood.
She told her commander to prepare for war as her minister nodded. He never backed down. An insult to character was after all the highest insult. They made us into jesters of the galaxy but it be her and her people who will have the last laugh.
~
She sat on her throne, seeing the pitying forms of the former leaders of the galaxy. She smiled satisfactorily. Things you achieve when you throw out the rules were limitless but she could feel a darkness in her soul that wasn't there before. Was her soul worth her pride?
"Please, have mercy." Cried one of them.
And that she thought, overlooking her darkening soul, was the rule to be destroyed. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the far reaches of space a lone human cargo hauler came under attack by an alien race that they had yet to meet. An emergency drone dropped out of the hauler with a dump of the ships computers highlighting the attacker. In a flash, the drone was off to the nearest human star system.
That lone incident introduced humans to the wider galaxy, one teeming with alien species, all decades to centuries more advanced than they themselves. It took months before Sol found out who their attackers were, a race of beings half the size and thrice as mean as an onery grizzly bear. In fact, the race appeared as if bears from earth evolved to have thumbs and walk upright.
Offers for peace were ignored, the response being every envoy killed or destroyed. A few minor skirmishes broke out along the borders of the Grizzlies, as the humans had taken to calling them, but not all out war. Contact with the wider galactic populace was rapid and Sol learned that the Grizzlies were conquerors, they only understood war and conquest. The Great Hunt, they called it with almost religious fervor.
Not wanting to possibly place themselves poorly within the greater galactic community, the Sol ambassadors asked what rules of warfare the various species abided by, both spoken and written. The response they received was, "Rules in war? There are no rules!". The humans were shocked. "What about treatment of prisoners of war?" None. "Rules of medical transport and aid?" None. Anything about use of appropriate force? None.
The ambassadors shared a look amongst themselves before responding, "Great peoples of the galactic populace, are you sure there are no rules to warfare between one another? We are free to defend and carry on warfare as we see fit?" Laughter was their response.
The humans tried to reach an agreement on how to conduct the war - don't attack medical facilities or transports, no radiological or biological warfare, just conventional weapons. Only attack military necessary targets, not civilian populaces.
The Phulark, or the Grizzlies, only responded by dropping nuclear weapons on a heavily populated planet. The humans reaction was swift, three Phulark planets laid in ruin within weeks. Fleets decimated, reduced to frozen tombs in space. The humans sent a message, "Failure to abide by our rules of war will result in a phage unlike you have ever seen or experienced in the past."
You see, the humans wanted for us to understand their message - rules in war are necessary. If you fail to abide by them, the consequences are dire. And dire they were. The Phulark dropped chemicals on another human planet, causing untolds pain and suffering on the population until they died a painful death. This time, there was no response from the humans. The Phulark thought that they had won, as did many other races. We were wrong, oh how we were wrong.
The humans subscribed to a philosophy of warfare that the galaxy left behind eons ago - psychological warfare. War is hell, and the humans wielded it like a musical conductor. First, Phulark colonies went silent. Upon investigation it was as if the population was abducted. Then, the humans released an insidious virus that caused the Phulark to revert to their more animalistic nature. Entire planets succumbed to rabidity. The humans offered one last chance, relent and we will stop here, and now. Fail to relent, and the galaxy will know true horror.
I wish we would have listened, I wish we would have known the hell that was about to be unleashed upon us. The humans swept aside our fleets as if they were dust. How the humans advanced their tech so quickly we never could understand. But that wasn't what scared us, it was the turned that they dropped by the millions on our core worlds.
The turned were the colonists that were abducted and turned into cybernetic monsters equipped with all manners of horrid weaponry. Acid, flamethrowers, blister agents, nerve agents, microwave and x-ray weapons. The Phulark fell, we are no more.
I come to you, great council, to heed my warning - If you go to war with the humans, abide by their rules. If I were you, do everything in your power to avoid war and avoid my peoples fate.
Edit: thank you kind stranger for the gold! | Hera looked up at the sky, she could still hear the laughter that echoed when the rulers of various planets in the galaxy found out that humans had rules, they laughed even harder when they found out out that rules even applied during war. That laughter was burnt in her memory, that teasing laughter, those snide remarks didn't sit well with her or with the rest as she noticed people's growing anger. She didn't rule Earth to be mocked, she ruled it to be great. And greatness she shall achieve.
Hence the war began, not because of weapons or violence but because of mocking laughs.
~
The first rule to be removed was rights. Not for her people, her people weren't the reason behind her sleepless nights, they weren't the reason behind those dreams where those rulers laughed and mocked her. Why should they have rights? They don't deserve it if they don't have the decency to be accepting of others rules, others way of living.
She will stand on the ruins of those leaders and cherish telling them that they lost the right to plead, to live when they made fun of her and her people.
The next will be deaths. Innocents were always out of bounds, they are never supposed to casualties in the fight of power but now, now things will change. She will take over them by hook or by crook. By sword and by blood.
She told her commander to prepare for war as her minister nodded. He never backed down. An insult to character was after all the highest insult. They made us into jesters of the galaxy but it be her and her people who will have the last laugh.
~
She sat on her throne, seeing the pitying forms of the former leaders of the galaxy. She smiled satisfactorily. Things you achieve when you throw out the rules were limitless but she could feel a darkness in her soul that wasn't there before. Was her soul worth her pride?
"Please, have mercy." Cried one of them.
And that she thought, overlooking her darkening soul, was the rule to be destroyed. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | "I don't believe your High Serpahic Council understands what they have asked for here." Celes said. "You have denied my people the opportunity to parley for peace, and you have threatened them with war being brought to their very homes." Celes' voice rose and trembled as she spoke, the anger and fear that gripped her barely contained. "And you refuse to negotiate any rules for this war saying that you will unleash your full wrath on all of humanity?" She stopped, breathing heavily, waiting for any sign that the Council would back down.
"Young Admiral Celes... " The first Chancellor spoke. His species was tall, but thin, while the entirety of the Council was masked to prevent you from knowing their race or origin, he appeared to be from somewhere with extremely low gravity. "Humanity has violated our pact, the great covenant of all, and has shown they do not respect rule and order without testing it. Any species who does not respect the rule of order, does not benefit from it's protection." The lights over his chamber dimmed, as did the rest of the Council, the matter was settled.
"For what comes... Blame man or your gods, but this day will be known as regret." Celes said softly before closing her inquiry and leaving the chamber. It was a quiet walk down the great halls. The building had been so lively on her entry, but with the sentence passed on her people all of the remaining citizens had left, closed their offices and stalls, to give her a taste of the silence and absence her own people were being punished with. The High Seraphic Council would wage their war, on behalf of the entirety of the Galactic Confederation of Unity and Understanding, to protect the Rule and Order of the Order and Rule. The High Seraphic Council understood nothing of man however, they believed we were like them.
We were never like them. We were never a species who had near limitless resources, we never developed identical religions across our sphere to unite us, we were forged in calamity and disaster and hatred and fire. It took the near extinction of our people for us to find the unity these other Confederate members found so easily.
"Rear Admiral Leon." Celes spoke internally, accessing her own internal circuitry and broadcast upgrades.
"I heard, Fleet Admiral Celes, I don't know that they understand what they just did." The voice rang inside her head.
"Once I'm onboard I want the whole fleet to be prepared. We will not wait for official declarations to be drawn up. We'll end this today."
"Didn't they just offer official declarations?" Rear Admiral Leon asked
"No, they made their ruling, but it'll take upwards of a week to put out an official declaration. Their expectation is that we will return home to warn our people, to send out ships to relocate our various outposts and settlements, that we'll try to give one more plea for peace before taking their punishment. It's what the rest of the confederate races would do."
"Ah. Yes Sir." Rear Admiral Leon affirmed.
Fleet Admiral Celes took her small diplomatic shuttle back to the Enterprise, a massive dreadnought that represented the greatest strengths of humanity, and their worst tendencies. The Enterprise, a new ship assembled in the shipyards of Ganymede, was almost four kilometers long, with a beam of almost a full kilometer at its widest point. The massive almost ovular shaped ship was covered in large gun embankments and multiple enormous magneto-gauss accelerators. Every single point had been aimed at known Confederate fleet vehicles and ships throughout the system.
"All ships report readyness." Celes broadcast to her fleet as she stepped into the command room of the Enterprise."
"Bismark Ready"
"Victory Ready"
"Yamamoto Ready"
"Maiden of Peace Ready"
"Mikasa Ready"
"Arizona Ready"
"Botafogo Ready"
"Imperial Education Ready"
Two dozen more ships confirmed readyness as Fleet Admiral Celes assigned more targeting orders and issued the expected withdrawal of all humans on the High Seraphic Homeworld, Cherbimin. She ordered manual targeting and aiming for all ships, with artillery specialists and scientists pouring over numbers and statistics to ensure accuracy. When she confirmed the last shuttle was docked within one of the great transports she sighed. Reaching down to the official com to speak out loud she hesitate just one hopeful moment.
"This is Fleet Admiral Celes Shere, of H.S.N.S Enterprise for peace now of War... I ask one more time, would the High Seraphic council reconsider their desire for war?"
She waited, one breath, two breaths, three breaths. She felt her chest rise and fall slowly as she waited for a response. Surely they were not this foolhardy, thinking that we fought how they did....
"Sir, we have received a message, written in Confederate Common." Security Officer Niemitz spoke. Celes nodded at him and the message appeared before her eyes, a summary dismissal of her requests.
"Do we have a final count of their fleet assets in system?"
"Sir, the identified fleet assets in system composes more than forty percent of the Confederates total fleet, and the vast majority of their useful firepower." Lieutenant Torres spoke up, only answering out loud for those in the room.
"Maiden of Peace, Imperial Education, Victory, and the Enterprise will fire on Security Station XR-31, Transport and Merchant Station XR-31 A, Homeworld Alep, and the High Seraphic Homeworld Bet. Use all armaments at maximum speed. The rest of the fleet will be assigned firing orders shortly, timing and sequence to follow." Fleet Admiral Celes appeared visibly defeated as she spoke. Before her eyes flickered assignments and distances and expected angles of adjustment based on the various gravity wells of this system. The room was nearly silent as everyone viewed and processed orders and requests, a gestalt of shared minds and internal computers focused only on victory for mankind. As the last of the orders were sent out she ordered the various transport ships to begin heading out of system. The Confederate fleets would expect the humans to send civilians off first, leaving their heavily armed fleet to stand and protect the rear of the non-combatants. | A booming laughter erupted throughout the great egg-shaped hall so tall clouds formed at the very top, they were left there for aesthetics if nothing else, he pondered. At the sides grew massive steely arches joining at the very top, between them were built balconies, filled with ambassadors and other representatives of various galactic empires, planet-states, moon-republics and whatnot.
Laughter, in essence, for each race showed amusement their own way. Of what the man glanced, the Trogks cackled like hyenas (resembling them a tad, too), the sluggish, brown Antians exhaled through their mouth-holes, tooting like a trumpet, even the enigmatic, hooded Parteens allowed themselves a small peep of a chalk on the blackboard... Hearing the cacophony of various sounds made Kay's hair on the back of his neck stand, top it off with the confusion he felt for what he said wasn't as funny as the others found it.
The opposition standing by his side exchanged smirks, easy to tell for their humanoid form. There were three races in the Orion Alliance, Alliance with which the Terra Union picked a battle.
Now, I don't wish to go into the details, but to simply explain, our space neighbors think we are expanding too fast and wish to stall our growth to further their economics, gather some valuable resources, hinder us, yada yada. They disguise it behind a 'he hit me first' excuse (which they provoked) and then offered a demand we could not accept. Now the humans of Earth are at the verge of their first stellar war since they joined the Arkha Galaxy Pact (That's what the alien races call Milky Way, by the by, yeah, we are among like ten planets in visitable universe that have white milk, or milk at all, so the name didn't catch). A standard procedure called for the 'Grand Meeting' and here we are, in front of the Head Council, next to the enemy, observed by uninvolved pact members. The daunted man regained a bit of composure as he neatens his blue uniform, his black eyes scanning the surroundings once again. He set the cap upon his brown hair as it felt askew.
"So you are saying you have rules for war?" Suddenly sounded from his right, the red-skinned Rubenee asked, the tendrils on his chin swirling in what Kay understood as excitement, this translation device imbedded in his temple was quite nifty, translating body language as well as the spoken. Notably, Rubenee alongside humans were one of the few races in the Pact that understood the notion of clothing, this representative wore what looked like a dark brown tunic, ending at waist-level where instead of legs grew a bundle of tentacles, Kay stopped counting at ten.
"Yes, some of them come from Geneva Conventions, among others. We added few more since we will be also warring in new territories, such as space, we renamed them to Terra Convention and wish for the council to adapt it to their system." Kay hummed, regrettably the war was inevitable, taking away half of his work as an ambassador to prevent the war from happening at all, this made him quite sour but the Alliance's attitude about this whole ordeal made it sting a lot less.
A Talian chimed in, a wispy, gentle-looking creature (don't be fooled), their abodes in the darkest depths of their oceanic worlds made their skin translucent, jelly-like, they grew a mushroom-looking cap atop their heads, much alike those of humans bar the missing nose and teeth in its mouth, its insides pulsed with soft, golden light every time it spoke. "Are we to understand that your rules of war... Are named after a city in one of your smaller political establishments that... Actually haven't fought in any war for what... Almost two hundred human years?"
"Technically..." Kay had to admit. "You did your research right." He smiled, suspecting the translation device for this sort of information. "I think, however, the place is irrelevant, it is the contents that I wish the Council to consider. We do not shy away from war, but we seek no end in it. All the Terra Union proposes is a more... humanitarian treatment." A repeated joke is not funny a second time, or so you would think as a human, but the hall laughed once more, less audibly, true... But it looked like the Orion Alliance found this whole thing much more amusing than humans.
A Garganian was next one to speak, a robust creature, the military might behind the Alliance, a great representation of a bully, Kay thought. Their skin gray and sleek, this one was a warrior, presumably, for one of his four arms was missing, leaving behind just a stump and his one-horned head sported many a scar. What was underneath the thick wired white fur, covering everything except limbs, Kay could only wonder. "The Terrans should not ridicule the proceedings of war making, hmpf! The Garganians of Otrkrs have nothing to propose but the involvement of council in decision of war-time!" He bumped his front body with all his healthy hands, huffing.
"Talians of Talee concur." Sounded tenderly.
"So do the Rubenee of Qu." Echoed.
Kay turned to the council, and to his surprise, the heads of the creatures were turned on him, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Humans of Earth have no choice but to agree as well."
Now, you would think I forgot to describe what the council looked like, but jokes on you, because there was really little to describe. For the sake of fairness, all members of Head Council were disguised, their features camouflaged, faces hidden, voices altered. Nobody should know who is a part of it, only they know themselves, however it is a common knowledge the members are chosen only from among the oldest and wisest races of the galaxy. The seven figures standing hooded on a raised platform mumbled among themselves before one stepped forth.
"The Council speaks." Silence fell in an already quiet hall. "The offer of Terra in adding these so called 'Rules of War' to the conflict of Artme Region is declined. We have reviewed the documents provided, number of points could be considered laughable, such as the immunity of medics on battlefield or, these ones I find specifically amusing, Hauge Conventions? Banning of certain weapons? Civilian protection? Rarely someone attacks civilians anyway, it has no effect on the course of battle! A pass-time, at best. Either way, you should have evacuated them beforehand if you know there will be war. War needs no rules, the declaration of war does, that is why we are here. The Alliance has offered to cease their warmongering once they are in possession of number of stellar systems, of which you were very much aware, ambassador Kay Harrinton. The heads of your Union declined, therefore war is inevitable and you are left with the option of defending your newly acquired territories, which you have accepted. You may begin the war in the standard ninety hours of Andromeda Time Zone. The Council has spoken. We shall reconvene shortly after a short break to hear the Zqa'ar and Ipoids" The figures retreated, and slowly the balconies began to empty as well. Kay stormed out, stone-faced.
Descending the stairs from the platform in the middle of the great-hall he found his other same clothed companions greeting him with a salute.
"You spoke well, ambassador, there was nothing more you could do."
"I wish there was." He passed them, he could not stop, for time was of essence now, ninety hours of ATZ was a week of time for the humans in the concerned systems.
"We have already informed the headquarters, message should reach them just in time." They followed.
"Good. I wish to speak with Admiral Ford, arrange meeting." Kay looked over his shoulder, the Alliance has entered the corridor as well, they gave him a taunting look, but he just scoffed, the fools know not what they got themselves into. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “Yeah, that sucks for them. But why are you angry at us?” Amanda Smith, leader of the elite Beartooth division, looked up at Commander Her’clud in confusion. “You said you wanted the planet taken at any cost, so we took it. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem? The problem is that you killed every single sentient being on the planet! You took no prisoners! There were over 718 million life forms two cycle ago, and now there are none! Have you no mercy or restraint?!?!”
Amanda stepped to the side to avoid being hit by Commander Her’clud’s flailing tentacles. She wiped the slime off her arm with a look of disgust, and then turned to the rest of the Galactic Tributary. “Did any of you bother to read my holo-messages detailing this siege? Anyone, anyone at all?” She was greeted with silence and blank looks. She sighed to herself. It didn’t matter what species she was dealing with, the leaders at the top were all the same- annoying, arrogant, and absolutely impossible to communicate with.
“If any of you had bothered to open my holo-messages, you would already know that the vast majority of the planet fled within the first two hours of the siege. As required by our Rules of War, all civilians, injured, surrendering combatants, and such were allowed to flee the planet without fear of attack. After the first wave fled, we launched one Devastation missile at the second most populated city. Again according to our Rules of War, we had messaged the planet to warn them of the impending missile strike, giving plenty of time to evacuate. We recorded less than two thousand confirmed kills from this event. This led to the second wave of flight from the planet. We followed up with a squadron of In Between drones, to ferret out the remaining hostiles. We confirmed just over five thousand drone kills.”
Amanda pulled up her messages to the Council, letting them play silently in the background as she continued her recap of the siege.
“We paused our actions to allow the third wave of inhabitants to flee. After sufficient time had passed to let the ships leave the system, we began in-person actions. Of the original 718 million inhabitants, less than 80 thousand remained on the planet. Sixty-two Beartooth units were dispatched to find and eliminate any remaining hostiles. It took just over one cycle to clear the planet, and less than one thousand kills were confirmed. The rest of the planet’s inhabitants were deemed to be non-hostile, and as required by our Rules of War, were not harmed. They were escorted to evacuation ships, we programmed the coordinates to their next colonized planet, and sent them on their way.”
A glance around the room told her that this was not what the Council had expected to hear. One of the reasons humans had been excluded from the intergalactic community for so long was because of their reputation for war. Humans were known to be one of the fiercest, violent, and most bloodthirsty species ever contacted. They certainly had the bloodiest past of all the intergalactic members.
Amanda not only knew of this reputation, she actively used it to her advantage. She had even used it when thinking of the motto for her division (Fingers on the trigger, ready aim fire!). So she wasn’t surprised that the Council had automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion when hearing that she had cleared an entire planet of all sentient beings in less than two cycles.
But to call up the entire Galactic Tributary to consider expelling the entire human race? She couldn’t believe the audacity of these leaders. And then she had a thought…
“This meeting was called for based on undocumented fears, and could have been avoided completely if any of you had bothered to read my messages. As you can see by the messages playing behind me, a total of 47 updates were given over the course of the siege. Each update was sent to the full Council, and yet none of you opened a single one? Why is that? Why was my division asked to clear this planet, only to face disciplinary actions for completing the objectives of the Council?”
She was again met with silence and blank stares, but this time the stares were a little too blank, too practiced… And with those stares, she had her answer. Commander Her’clud opened his mouth to speak, but Amanda glared at him with such forced that he immediately closed his mouth and began to turn a horrible shade of orange.
Amanda raised her voice, and spoke to the Tributary with all the authority befitting her position as leader of the most accredited military division the galaxy had ever seen. “As a member of the intergalactic community, it is my right to know who has requested the exclusion of the entire human race as punishment for completing Council objectives. Let them speak now, and defend their position.”
After a moment, her request was answered. Amanda barely stifled the shivers that always came when communicating with an Ecconichian.
She listened as the beautiful melodies filled the air, rising and falling in wonderful harmony. She listened as the notes turned dark and low, creating a story of insanity and horrors with music alone.
When the final notes ended, Amanda wanted to cry out in relief. Instead, she braced herself and responded. “The history of the human race is indeed mired with war, genocide, and horrors that many species here will hopefully never experience. It is always filled with acts of insanity, acts that have no reason whatsoever as their motives.
“But the act of sending delegates to the Galactic Tributary year after year to request the official creation of Galactic Rules of War is not an act of insanity. Even though humans have been ridiculed, mocked, and disrespected for asking this year after year, we will continue to bring this before the Tributary until it is done.
“The Council gave the directive to take planet Ximotin by any means necessary. It is known far and wide that my Beartooth division is the most successful military division the galaxy has ever seen, and we were specifically requested by the Council for this task.
“We could have chosen to nuke the entire planet and render it uninhabitable for the next hundred millennium. We could have chosen to release Skin missiles in the atmosphere and afflict the entire population with an incurable plague. We know the Ximo population is very susceptible to high pitched noises, so we could have just blasted air raid sirens and driven them all insane.
“Instead, by our Rules of War, we were required to give non-combatants multiple chances to flee, without fear of attack. We were required to announce all missile strikes and give the intended target area enough time to evacuate. We were required to evaluate any potential hostiles before shooting to kill. We were required to escort all remaining non-combatants to evacuation ships and see them safely on their way.
“The history of the human race is mired with war, genocide, and horrors. But it is also filled with men and women who stood up against those acts. It is filled with men and women who risked everything to punish the worst offenders in our race. It is filled with hope that we will grow and rise above those acts.
“Human delegates will continue to advocate for Galactic Rules of War because we know how necessary they are. We know that war brings out the worst in any species, and that Rules of War may be the only thing to prevent incomprehensible acts of evil from occurring. We know that Rules of War keep individuals from crossing the line between acceptable and unacceptable. And we know that they work. They save lives, planets, and entire species.
“Because of our Rules of War, a planet with 718 million life forms was emptied in less than two cycles, with just under eight thousand deaths.
“I believe my division was chosen to clear planet Ximotin as an example of why we should be expelled from the intergalactic community. Instead, we have done the opposite and shown why Rules of War are necessary and how they are used.
“Should the Galactic Tributary decide to expel the human race anyway, so be it. But I believe it would be much better if you actually open my damn messages and take a proper look at them. Think of what could have been, and then see what actually occurred. Advocating for Galactic Rules of War is an act of hope, not insanity. The siege of planet Ximotin is now a real-life example of how this could only help the intergalactic community as a whole.
“We will abide by the decision of the Galactic Tributary, for better or worse. Make your decision and communicate it to us as soon as you are done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a very long report to give my commander.”
With that, Amanda stepped off the podium and exited the chambers, followed by the few ranked members allowed to accompany her. She walked away with her head held high, and hope that this would finally result in the creation of the official Galactic Rules of War. Because if this didn’t do it, nothing would. | A booming laughter erupted throughout the great egg-shaped hall so tall clouds formed at the very top, they were left there for aesthetics if nothing else, he pondered. At the sides grew massive steely arches joining at the very top, between them were built balconies, filled with ambassadors and other representatives of various galactic empires, planet-states, moon-republics and whatnot.
Laughter, in essence, for each race showed amusement their own way. Of what the man glanced, the Trogks cackled like hyenas (resembling them a tad, too), the sluggish, brown Antians exhaled through their mouth-holes, tooting like a trumpet, even the enigmatic, hooded Parteens allowed themselves a small peep of a chalk on the blackboard... Hearing the cacophony of various sounds made Kay's hair on the back of his neck stand, top it off with the confusion he felt for what he said wasn't as funny as the others found it.
The opposition standing by his side exchanged smirks, easy to tell for their humanoid form. There were three races in the Orion Alliance, Alliance with which the Terra Union picked a battle.
Now, I don't wish to go into the details, but to simply explain, our space neighbors think we are expanding too fast and wish to stall our growth to further their economics, gather some valuable resources, hinder us, yada yada. They disguise it behind a 'he hit me first' excuse (which they provoked) and then offered a demand we could not accept. Now the humans of Earth are at the verge of their first stellar war since they joined the Arkha Galaxy Pact (That's what the alien races call Milky Way, by the by, yeah, we are among like ten planets in visitable universe that have white milk, or milk at all, so the name didn't catch). A standard procedure called for the 'Grand Meeting' and here we are, in front of the Head Council, next to the enemy, observed by uninvolved pact members. The daunted man regained a bit of composure as he neatens his blue uniform, his black eyes scanning the surroundings once again. He set the cap upon his brown hair as it felt askew.
"So you are saying you have rules for war?" Suddenly sounded from his right, the red-skinned Rubenee asked, the tendrils on his chin swirling in what Kay understood as excitement, this translation device imbedded in his temple was quite nifty, translating body language as well as the spoken. Notably, Rubenee alongside humans were one of the few races in the Pact that understood the notion of clothing, this representative wore what looked like a dark brown tunic, ending at waist-level where instead of legs grew a bundle of tentacles, Kay stopped counting at ten.
"Yes, some of them come from Geneva Conventions, among others. We added few more since we will be also warring in new territories, such as space, we renamed them to Terra Convention and wish for the council to adapt it to their system." Kay hummed, regrettably the war was inevitable, taking away half of his work as an ambassador to prevent the war from happening at all, this made him quite sour but the Alliance's attitude about this whole ordeal made it sting a lot less.
A Talian chimed in, a wispy, gentle-looking creature (don't be fooled), their abodes in the darkest depths of their oceanic worlds made their skin translucent, jelly-like, they grew a mushroom-looking cap atop their heads, much alike those of humans bar the missing nose and teeth in its mouth, its insides pulsed with soft, golden light every time it spoke. "Are we to understand that your rules of war... Are named after a city in one of your smaller political establishments that... Actually haven't fought in any war for what... Almost two hundred human years?"
"Technically..." Kay had to admit. "You did your research right." He smiled, suspecting the translation device for this sort of information. "I think, however, the place is irrelevant, it is the contents that I wish the Council to consider. We do not shy away from war, but we seek no end in it. All the Terra Union proposes is a more... humanitarian treatment." A repeated joke is not funny a second time, or so you would think as a human, but the hall laughed once more, less audibly, true... But it looked like the Orion Alliance found this whole thing much more amusing than humans.
A Garganian was next one to speak, a robust creature, the military might behind the Alliance, a great representation of a bully, Kay thought. Their skin gray and sleek, this one was a warrior, presumably, for one of his four arms was missing, leaving behind just a stump and his one-horned head sported many a scar. What was underneath the thick wired white fur, covering everything except limbs, Kay could only wonder. "The Terrans should not ridicule the proceedings of war making, hmpf! The Garganians of Otrkrs have nothing to propose but the involvement of council in decision of war-time!" He bumped his front body with all his healthy hands, huffing.
"Talians of Talee concur." Sounded tenderly.
"So do the Rubenee of Qu." Echoed.
Kay turned to the council, and to his surprise, the heads of the creatures were turned on him, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Humans of Earth have no choice but to agree as well."
Now, you would think I forgot to describe what the council looked like, but jokes on you, because there was really little to describe. For the sake of fairness, all members of Head Council were disguised, their features camouflaged, faces hidden, voices altered. Nobody should know who is a part of it, only they know themselves, however it is a common knowledge the members are chosen only from among the oldest and wisest races of the galaxy. The seven figures standing hooded on a raised platform mumbled among themselves before one stepped forth.
"The Council speaks." Silence fell in an already quiet hall. "The offer of Terra in adding these so called 'Rules of War' to the conflict of Artme Region is declined. We have reviewed the documents provided, number of points could be considered laughable, such as the immunity of medics on battlefield or, these ones I find specifically amusing, Hauge Conventions? Banning of certain weapons? Civilian protection? Rarely someone attacks civilians anyway, it has no effect on the course of battle! A pass-time, at best. Either way, you should have evacuated them beforehand if you know there will be war. War needs no rules, the declaration of war does, that is why we are here. The Alliance has offered to cease their warmongering once they are in possession of number of stellar systems, of which you were very much aware, ambassador Kay Harrinton. The heads of your Union declined, therefore war is inevitable and you are left with the option of defending your newly acquired territories, which you have accepted. You may begin the war in the standard ninety hours of Andromeda Time Zone. The Council has spoken. We shall reconvene shortly after a short break to hear the Zqa'ar and Ipoids" The figures retreated, and slowly the balconies began to empty as well. Kay stormed out, stone-faced.
Descending the stairs from the platform in the middle of the great-hall he found his other same clothed companions greeting him with a salute.
"You spoke well, ambassador, there was nothing more you could do."
"I wish there was." He passed them, he could not stop, for time was of essence now, ninety hours of ATZ was a week of time for the humans in the concerned systems.
"We have already informed the headquarters, message should reach them just in time." They followed.
"Good. I wish to speak with Admiral Ford, arrange meeting." Kay looked over his shoulder, the Alliance has entered the corridor as well, they gave him a taunting look, but he just scoffed, the fools know not what they got themselves into. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the swirling blizzard of North Palax, planet Haranox 7, a group of Aranids, a spider like race, gather together inside a secluded, secure building to discuss one thing.
Surrender
The normally proud race had made 2 mistakes that had cost them dearly. They had aggravated humanity to war, and laughed at humanities so called "Rules Of War", stating that such a concept was stupid and unnecessary. The Aranids had intercepted aid supplies, destroyed civilian settlements, and took a great joy in doing unspeakable things to the humans they had captured. The Aranids had thought the war won from day one.
But then things began to go wrong for them.
It started with a small farming colony going missing, then later those missing were found at an unnamed outpost. They were accepted back into the Aranid society after some initial questioning, but unbeknownst to them, humanity had planted a potent disease into each and every member of the colony, a disease that slowly but surely tore through the Aranids. First came a slight cough, a mild fever, nothing to be worried about. Then came forgetfulness and memory loss, shortly followed by complete insanity, and a feral desire to attack and bite anyone they could.
As the disease spread, humanity continued to attack different colonies, before progressing to major settlements and cities. Every interplanetary communications satellite was either destroyed or taken for humanities own use. Any aid transports were targeted and destroyed without remorse. Humanities technology grew and grew, and soon any battles became a bloodbath for the Aranids.
After suffering countless losses, the council had made the decision to try for peace talks with humanity. The video feed in the council room is grainy, but they can still make out a group of 5 humans looking back at them. The Aranids plead their surrender, for humanity to stop these attacks, and offer a cure for their people. The middle human, a woman with black hair in a bun, coldly stares at the council.
"Answer me this. If our situations were reversed, if we were the ones begging surrender, would you stop? If the history of your species is anything to go by, we don't believe you would. We aren't the first race you've gone to war against, but we will make sure we're the last. We offered you a clean war, with rules, and you laughed at us. Now, on the cusp of extinction, you beg us to stop? Our answer is no. You started this, this genocide is down to your own pride."
The video feed cuts off, and the council of Aranids stand in silence, until one of them grasps his head in his hands, screams, and attacks the councilmen in the room, biting each and every one.
Two weeks later, the extinction of the Aranids is officially announced to the galaxy and humanity takes Haranox 7 for themselves. | A booming laughter erupted throughout the great egg-shaped hall so tall clouds formed at the very top, they were left there for aesthetics if nothing else, he pondered. At the sides grew massive steely arches joining at the very top, between them were built balconies, filled with ambassadors and other representatives of various galactic empires, planet-states, moon-republics and whatnot.
Laughter, in essence, for each race showed amusement their own way. Of what the man glanced, the Trogks cackled like hyenas (resembling them a tad, too), the sluggish, brown Antians exhaled through their mouth-holes, tooting like a trumpet, even the enigmatic, hooded Parteens allowed themselves a small peep of a chalk on the blackboard... Hearing the cacophony of various sounds made Kay's hair on the back of his neck stand, top it off with the confusion he felt for what he said wasn't as funny as the others found it.
The opposition standing by his side exchanged smirks, easy to tell for their humanoid form. There were three races in the Orion Alliance, Alliance with which the Terra Union picked a battle.
Now, I don't wish to go into the details, but to simply explain, our space neighbors think we are expanding too fast and wish to stall our growth to further their economics, gather some valuable resources, hinder us, yada yada. They disguise it behind a 'he hit me first' excuse (which they provoked) and then offered a demand we could not accept. Now the humans of Earth are at the verge of their first stellar war since they joined the Arkha Galaxy Pact (That's what the alien races call Milky Way, by the by, yeah, we are among like ten planets in visitable universe that have white milk, or milk at all, so the name didn't catch). A standard procedure called for the 'Grand Meeting' and here we are, in front of the Head Council, next to the enemy, observed by uninvolved pact members. The daunted man regained a bit of composure as he neatens his blue uniform, his black eyes scanning the surroundings once again. He set the cap upon his brown hair as it felt askew.
"So you are saying you have rules for war?" Suddenly sounded from his right, the red-skinned Rubenee asked, the tendrils on his chin swirling in what Kay understood as excitement, this translation device imbedded in his temple was quite nifty, translating body language as well as the spoken. Notably, Rubenee alongside humans were one of the few races in the Pact that understood the notion of clothing, this representative wore what looked like a dark brown tunic, ending at waist-level where instead of legs grew a bundle of tentacles, Kay stopped counting at ten.
"Yes, some of them come from Geneva Conventions, among others. We added few more since we will be also warring in new territories, such as space, we renamed them to Terra Convention and wish for the council to adapt it to their system." Kay hummed, regrettably the war was inevitable, taking away half of his work as an ambassador to prevent the war from happening at all, this made him quite sour but the Alliance's attitude about this whole ordeal made it sting a lot less.
A Talian chimed in, a wispy, gentle-looking creature (don't be fooled), their abodes in the darkest depths of their oceanic worlds made their skin translucent, jelly-like, they grew a mushroom-looking cap atop their heads, much alike those of humans bar the missing nose and teeth in its mouth, its insides pulsed with soft, golden light every time it spoke. "Are we to understand that your rules of war... Are named after a city in one of your smaller political establishments that... Actually haven't fought in any war for what... Almost two hundred human years?"
"Technically..." Kay had to admit. "You did your research right." He smiled, suspecting the translation device for this sort of information. "I think, however, the place is irrelevant, it is the contents that I wish the Council to consider. We do not shy away from war, but we seek no end in it. All the Terra Union proposes is a more... humanitarian treatment." A repeated joke is not funny a second time, or so you would think as a human, but the hall laughed once more, less audibly, true... But it looked like the Orion Alliance found this whole thing much more amusing than humans.
A Garganian was next one to speak, a robust creature, the military might behind the Alliance, a great representation of a bully, Kay thought. Their skin gray and sleek, this one was a warrior, presumably, for one of his four arms was missing, leaving behind just a stump and his one-horned head sported many a scar. What was underneath the thick wired white fur, covering everything except limbs, Kay could only wonder. "The Terrans should not ridicule the proceedings of war making, hmpf! The Garganians of Otrkrs have nothing to propose but the involvement of council in decision of war-time!" He bumped his front body with all his healthy hands, huffing.
"Talians of Talee concur." Sounded tenderly.
"So do the Rubenee of Qu." Echoed.
Kay turned to the council, and to his surprise, the heads of the creatures were turned on him, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Humans of Earth have no choice but to agree as well."
Now, you would think I forgot to describe what the council looked like, but jokes on you, because there was really little to describe. For the sake of fairness, all members of Head Council were disguised, their features camouflaged, faces hidden, voices altered. Nobody should know who is a part of it, only they know themselves, however it is a common knowledge the members are chosen only from among the oldest and wisest races of the galaxy. The seven figures standing hooded on a raised platform mumbled among themselves before one stepped forth.
"The Council speaks." Silence fell in an already quiet hall. "The offer of Terra in adding these so called 'Rules of War' to the conflict of Artme Region is declined. We have reviewed the documents provided, number of points could be considered laughable, such as the immunity of medics on battlefield or, these ones I find specifically amusing, Hauge Conventions? Banning of certain weapons? Civilian protection? Rarely someone attacks civilians anyway, it has no effect on the course of battle! A pass-time, at best. Either way, you should have evacuated them beforehand if you know there will be war. War needs no rules, the declaration of war does, that is why we are here. The Alliance has offered to cease their warmongering once they are in possession of number of stellar systems, of which you were very much aware, ambassador Kay Harrinton. The heads of your Union declined, therefore war is inevitable and you are left with the option of defending your newly acquired territories, which you have accepted. You may begin the war in the standard ninety hours of Andromeda Time Zone. The Council has spoken. We shall reconvene shortly after a short break to hear the Zqa'ar and Ipoids" The figures retreated, and slowly the balconies began to empty as well. Kay stormed out, stone-faced.
Descending the stairs from the platform in the middle of the great-hall he found his other same clothed companions greeting him with a salute.
"You spoke well, ambassador, there was nothing more you could do."
"I wish there was." He passed them, he could not stop, for time was of essence now, ninety hours of ATZ was a week of time for the humans in the concerned systems.
"We have already informed the headquarters, message should reach them just in time." They followed.
"Good. I wish to speak with Admiral Ford, arrange meeting." Kay looked over his shoulder, the Alliance has entered the corridor as well, they gave him a taunting look, but he just scoffed, the fools know not what they got themselves into. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | This is a continuation of my [last WP comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/s98qyp/wp_projectile_weapons_were_considered_ancient/htmol5h/?context=3), b/c the themes are similar and why the hell not right?
​
*I remember fondly in the first year of my mandatory enlistment feeling the warmth of a nearby star strike my face through the glass windows. It reminded me of home. Of air that didn't taste of overworked filters. Of beaches with sand on the methane lakes. Of Cities bustling with races who've benefited from our rule.*
*The race of bipeds, Humans, they sometimes call themselves, were set to be the same. Our ships pierced the cloud of rocks surrounding their system, which to our knowledge were uninhabited roughly 3 days ago. We timed our invasion right to avoid gravitational interference with the gas giants. 1.5 days ago we began our retrograde burn to enter a solar orbit. A day later our ships transferred to orbit around their Home planet.*
*They knew we were coming, as was to be expected. We thought their technology rudimentary, but we understood it was proficient. From our observations they still used projectile weaponry against one another, something that our ships and soldiers became resistant to long ago.*
*We had always wondered why they never took the next step. Why they didn't move on to lasers and quantum rays. Some believed it was their constant bickering never left room for technology to improve. Others thought there existed a global religion in which the projectile weapons were worshiped. A small minority thought they were stupid.*
*No. They are not stupid. They harbor no reverence. They chose to stab each other with sticks and stones. They chose to stop making newer weapons because they cower to their greatest creation.*
*I have felt it's warmth on my face. I watched it dissolve our strongest alloys, incinerate our armored soldiers. I felt my clothes catch fire! I felt skin peel of my shoulders! I saw jolts of bright light flash in my closed eyes!*
*It killed the electricity on our ships. It killed men who dared to stand with honor. It shredded the cruiser. It warped spacetime itself.*
*The backup generators failed. The oxygen turned to poison. Light turned to cancer.*
*And then the second one came.*
*I had to crumble the blackened skeleton of the pilot in his seat before that second metal hull detonated. The metal control stick burned my hand as I wrestled the ship into a different orbit. I could feel the warmth of that second fake sun strike the ship as I opened the wormhole for the home.*
*My face feels cold now. If this universe had a god, the humans made him into a gun. They scare themselves more than they scared us.*
*This invasion was a grave mistake.*
​
The emperor set the sand brown paper down on his lap, stroking his chin with a three fingered hand.
"A bit flowery for a military report." He quipped with a grin.
"Those were his last words," His advisor grumbled with his back to the emperor, leaning against the balcony that oversaw the rolling hills of red fauna and grey rocks lit by the blood red sun. "He penned that before bleeding out from his ass."
The emperor's grin faded as did his good mood. His eyes shot back down to the paper in his lap. "How many did we lose?"
The advisor sighed before releasing a sigh and turning. This was no longer a problem he could turn his back to. This wasn't a problem that could be brushed under another imperial rug. "All of them, your majesty."
"All?"
"All 1.63 million soldiers. Gone. And if that account in your lap is to be believed... little remains of their bodies."
The emperor's face twisted into a grimace, and his eyes darted to the left and the right. "This is unacceptable. It's... absurd! How did we not know of this! How have the Humans not conquered themselves yet?! How have they not committed a holocaust against themselves!?" The emperor rose to his feet with fury in his eyes directed at his advisor.
The Advisor took a deep breath. In moments like these when the emperor's temper flared someone had to remind him to be rational. "I warned you that we had little information about the humans prior your order to attack. I asked that we spend time researching them prior your order to attack. I asked that we learn what there was to gain prior your order to attack," The advisor sighed, "I've called the human ambassador here to discuss what has happened... To see if we can settle on peace terms without our enemies discovering anything."
"We should send them flying into the sun if anything."
"That, would be brash. But not un-called for."
A servant appeared around the corner, "The human ambassador is here." her angelic voice proclaimed
"Send them in," the advisor replied. From behind that same corner a woman with streaking black hair, wearing a white sweater and a pomegranate suit strode in, followed by a translator. She paused 10 feet from the emperor and bowed.
"Your majesty." She addressed him. The emperor disregarded the formality with a wave of his hand, "May I ask why you've summoned me?"
"Don't play stupid" The advisor growled, "You know why."
"If it's to discuss peace, I am afraid there isn't much I can do for you."
"It's to discuss what happened in orbit above your home planet. How 1.63 million of our best were incinerated before even touching your atmosphere." The emperor spat, "How have you not killed all the mere billions of humans that exist in your puny solar system?"
The ambassador took a deep breath, "That is unimportant, as of now. What is important is discussing what is likely to happen going forward."
The Advisor laughed, "You think we will discuss what is going to happen next with you? You think it unimportant you've unused weapons of genocide?"
The Ambassador crossed her hands in front of her. "We've rules on earth. Rules about how to fight. In spite of our differences we're fighting over a part of the earth, and if there's no earth left, or no people left to inhabit it then there was no point to fighting."
"You have rules on warfare?" The emperor scoffed, "Rules that don't apply to non humans like us?"
"Precisely."
The Advisor began pacing with his eyes fixed to the floor. "You said peace isn't an option. Explain."
The ambassador looked off into the valleys of red trees. How do you explain the attitudes of an entire race? How do you generalize all the leading cultures? "Humans are, silly creatures. We always need something to fight. If there isn't anything, we make up something. Our greatest inventions created greater casualties, Our greatest leaders built cities with blood, and our greatest motivators are things we can attack head on. You gave earth something they hadn't tasted in a very long time-- the blood of an empire." She let a smug grin show, "It's coordinated the whole earth. All the interhuman fighting as stopped. All 9 billion people at once looked up into the stars and found hope in those nuclear flashes and burning carriers."
"You humans are disgusting. Not silly. " The Advisor tried to say in a collected tone.
"We know." The ambassador said, "and we hate to admit that we love it." | A booming laughter erupted throughout the great egg-shaped hall so tall clouds formed at the very top, they were left there for aesthetics if nothing else, he pondered. At the sides grew massive steely arches joining at the very top, between them were built balconies, filled with ambassadors and other representatives of various galactic empires, planet-states, moon-republics and whatnot.
Laughter, in essence, for each race showed amusement their own way. Of what the man glanced, the Trogks cackled like hyenas (resembling them a tad, too), the sluggish, brown Antians exhaled through their mouth-holes, tooting like a trumpet, even the enigmatic, hooded Parteens allowed themselves a small peep of a chalk on the blackboard... Hearing the cacophony of various sounds made Kay's hair on the back of his neck stand, top it off with the confusion he felt for what he said wasn't as funny as the others found it.
The opposition standing by his side exchanged smirks, easy to tell for their humanoid form. There were three races in the Orion Alliance, Alliance with which the Terra Union picked a battle.
Now, I don't wish to go into the details, but to simply explain, our space neighbors think we are expanding too fast and wish to stall our growth to further their economics, gather some valuable resources, hinder us, yada yada. They disguise it behind a 'he hit me first' excuse (which they provoked) and then offered a demand we could not accept. Now the humans of Earth are at the verge of their first stellar war since they joined the Arkha Galaxy Pact (That's what the alien races call Milky Way, by the by, yeah, we are among like ten planets in visitable universe that have white milk, or milk at all, so the name didn't catch). A standard procedure called for the 'Grand Meeting' and here we are, in front of the Head Council, next to the enemy, observed by uninvolved pact members. The daunted man regained a bit of composure as he neatens his blue uniform, his black eyes scanning the surroundings once again. He set the cap upon his brown hair as it felt askew.
"So you are saying you have rules for war?" Suddenly sounded from his right, the red-skinned Rubenee asked, the tendrils on his chin swirling in what Kay understood as excitement, this translation device imbedded in his temple was quite nifty, translating body language as well as the spoken. Notably, Rubenee alongside humans were one of the few races in the Pact that understood the notion of clothing, this representative wore what looked like a dark brown tunic, ending at waist-level where instead of legs grew a bundle of tentacles, Kay stopped counting at ten.
"Yes, some of them come from Geneva Conventions, among others. We added few more since we will be also warring in new territories, such as space, we renamed them to Terra Convention and wish for the council to adapt it to their system." Kay hummed, regrettably the war was inevitable, taking away half of his work as an ambassador to prevent the war from happening at all, this made him quite sour but the Alliance's attitude about this whole ordeal made it sting a lot less.
A Talian chimed in, a wispy, gentle-looking creature (don't be fooled), their abodes in the darkest depths of their oceanic worlds made their skin translucent, jelly-like, they grew a mushroom-looking cap atop their heads, much alike those of humans bar the missing nose and teeth in its mouth, its insides pulsed with soft, golden light every time it spoke. "Are we to understand that your rules of war... Are named after a city in one of your smaller political establishments that... Actually haven't fought in any war for what... Almost two hundred human years?"
"Technically..." Kay had to admit. "You did your research right." He smiled, suspecting the translation device for this sort of information. "I think, however, the place is irrelevant, it is the contents that I wish the Council to consider. We do not shy away from war, but we seek no end in it. All the Terra Union proposes is a more... humanitarian treatment." A repeated joke is not funny a second time, or so you would think as a human, but the hall laughed once more, less audibly, true... But it looked like the Orion Alliance found this whole thing much more amusing than humans.
A Garganian was next one to speak, a robust creature, the military might behind the Alliance, a great representation of a bully, Kay thought. Their skin gray and sleek, this one was a warrior, presumably, for one of his four arms was missing, leaving behind just a stump and his one-horned head sported many a scar. What was underneath the thick wired white fur, covering everything except limbs, Kay could only wonder. "The Terrans should not ridicule the proceedings of war making, hmpf! The Garganians of Otrkrs have nothing to propose but the involvement of council in decision of war-time!" He bumped his front body with all his healthy hands, huffing.
"Talians of Talee concur." Sounded tenderly.
"So do the Rubenee of Qu." Echoed.
Kay turned to the council, and to his surprise, the heads of the creatures were turned on him, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Humans of Earth have no choice but to agree as well."
Now, you would think I forgot to describe what the council looked like, but jokes on you, because there was really little to describe. For the sake of fairness, all members of Head Council were disguised, their features camouflaged, faces hidden, voices altered. Nobody should know who is a part of it, only they know themselves, however it is a common knowledge the members are chosen only from among the oldest and wisest races of the galaxy. The seven figures standing hooded on a raised platform mumbled among themselves before one stepped forth.
"The Council speaks." Silence fell in an already quiet hall. "The offer of Terra in adding these so called 'Rules of War' to the conflict of Artme Region is declined. We have reviewed the documents provided, number of points could be considered laughable, such as the immunity of medics on battlefield or, these ones I find specifically amusing, Hauge Conventions? Banning of certain weapons? Civilian protection? Rarely someone attacks civilians anyway, it has no effect on the course of battle! A pass-time, at best. Either way, you should have evacuated them beforehand if you know there will be war. War needs no rules, the declaration of war does, that is why we are here. The Alliance has offered to cease their warmongering once they are in possession of number of stellar systems, of which you were very much aware, ambassador Kay Harrinton. The heads of your Union declined, therefore war is inevitable and you are left with the option of defending your newly acquired territories, which you have accepted. You may begin the war in the standard ninety hours of Andromeda Time Zone. The Council has spoken. We shall reconvene shortly after a short break to hear the Zqa'ar and Ipoids" The figures retreated, and slowly the balconies began to empty as well. Kay stormed out, stone-faced.
Descending the stairs from the platform in the middle of the great-hall he found his other same clothed companions greeting him with a salute.
"You spoke well, ambassador, there was nothing more you could do."
"I wish there was." He passed them, he could not stop, for time was of essence now, ninety hours of ATZ was a week of time for the humans in the concerned systems.
"We have already informed the headquarters, message should reach them just in time." They followed.
"Good. I wish to speak with Admiral Ford, arrange meeting." Kay looked over his shoulder, the Alliance has entered the corridor as well, they gave him a taunting look, but he just scoffed, the fools know not what they got themselves into. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | A council chamber. Rectangle. Ornate. Boring.
Earth and humanity's representatives sat on one side of the curiously balanced tables, seated across a neighboring species often thought as bloodthirsty cretins.
Once more had an earth mining operation been sabotaged and mined materials stolen, very few survivors. Humanity cried to their leaders for the injustice, and finally council was sought with a higher ruling; a boring, time wasting ruling.
"attempted established peace treaties, trade, communication...." the drivel was getting to grind his nerves, and cutting off the council speaker to the surprise of the entire room he spoke.
"What then shall we do? These attacks are killing our people defenseless as to not engage in warfare per your own regulations. Or are the Kntet above these rules of war?"
A slimy, chocking chortle broke the immediate silence as the Kntet representative broke into what could be laughter.
"rules? St-upi-d human, war has no rules, earth dum-b if they think war need rules!"
The sounds of more chuckles broke his nerve, the entire chamber save his deligates found this concept of obeying rules of warfare unusual and childish. He clenched his fist, crossed his hands on the desk sending a command from the console hidden in his cuffs.
"Then humanity will relax our rules of engagement, and declare war on Kntet and its peoples."
He stood, his two deligates following suit as they unhostered narrow blades from within their uniforms, a vibrant hum filled the air as within seconds they had leapt forward in this lower gravity chamber, cleaving the Kntet deligation to strips. As their bodies turned Goo slid down the seat, much to the surprise and horror of the council, humanity spoke not with words on paper, texts with seals, or agreements but with hard bitter hatred.
The Kntet would retaliate, but their lack of rules mean they were never curious enough to find out how to dissect a human, how to mix poisons to make their skin dry and crack in seconds, how to bomb their cities to sterilize entire continents. Or how to manipulate their brain signals to simply obey, to work until exhausted, until muscles tore and hands sheared from abuse.
The Knet would never learn this and within two orbits of their own suns would the galaxies look upon the once fearsome Kntet, bound and gagged, sending ship after ship of resources to human systems, subjugated as their species kept barely above extinction served new masters.
Some who tried to aid the fleeing Kntet among the universe would learn the phrase that would strike fear at their homeworlds' core; Exterminatus. | A booming laughter erupted throughout the great egg-shaped hall so tall clouds formed at the very top, they were left there for aesthetics if nothing else, he pondered. At the sides grew massive steely arches joining at the very top, between them were built balconies, filled with ambassadors and other representatives of various galactic empires, planet-states, moon-republics and whatnot.
Laughter, in essence, for each race showed amusement their own way. Of what the man glanced, the Trogks cackled like hyenas (resembling them a tad, too), the sluggish, brown Antians exhaled through their mouth-holes, tooting like a trumpet, even the enigmatic, hooded Parteens allowed themselves a small peep of a chalk on the blackboard... Hearing the cacophony of various sounds made Kay's hair on the back of his neck stand, top it off with the confusion he felt for what he said wasn't as funny as the others found it.
The opposition standing by his side exchanged smirks, easy to tell for their humanoid form. There were three races in the Orion Alliance, Alliance with which the Terra Union picked a battle.
Now, I don't wish to go into the details, but to simply explain, our space neighbors think we are expanding too fast and wish to stall our growth to further their economics, gather some valuable resources, hinder us, yada yada. They disguise it behind a 'he hit me first' excuse (which they provoked) and then offered a demand we could not accept. Now the humans of Earth are at the verge of their first stellar war since they joined the Arkha Galaxy Pact (That's what the alien races call Milky Way, by the by, yeah, we are among like ten planets in visitable universe that have white milk, or milk at all, so the name didn't catch). A standard procedure called for the 'Grand Meeting' and here we are, in front of the Head Council, next to the enemy, observed by uninvolved pact members. The daunted man regained a bit of composure as he neatens his blue uniform, his black eyes scanning the surroundings once again. He set the cap upon his brown hair as it felt askew.
"So you are saying you have rules for war?" Suddenly sounded from his right, the red-skinned Rubenee asked, the tendrils on his chin swirling in what Kay understood as excitement, this translation device imbedded in his temple was quite nifty, translating body language as well as the spoken. Notably, Rubenee alongside humans were one of the few races in the Pact that understood the notion of clothing, this representative wore what looked like a dark brown tunic, ending at waist-level where instead of legs grew a bundle of tentacles, Kay stopped counting at ten.
"Yes, some of them come from Geneva Conventions, among others. We added few more since we will be also warring in new territories, such as space, we renamed them to Terra Convention and wish for the council to adapt it to their system." Kay hummed, regrettably the war was inevitable, taking away half of his work as an ambassador to prevent the war from happening at all, this made him quite sour but the Alliance's attitude about this whole ordeal made it sting a lot less.
A Talian chimed in, a wispy, gentle-looking creature (don't be fooled), their abodes in the darkest depths of their oceanic worlds made their skin translucent, jelly-like, they grew a mushroom-looking cap atop their heads, much alike those of humans bar the missing nose and teeth in its mouth, its insides pulsed with soft, golden light every time it spoke. "Are we to understand that your rules of war... Are named after a city in one of your smaller political establishments that... Actually haven't fought in any war for what... Almost two hundred human years?"
"Technically..." Kay had to admit. "You did your research right." He smiled, suspecting the translation device for this sort of information. "I think, however, the place is irrelevant, it is the contents that I wish the Council to consider. We do not shy away from war, but we seek no end in it. All the Terra Union proposes is a more... humanitarian treatment." A repeated joke is not funny a second time, or so you would think as a human, but the hall laughed once more, less audibly, true... But it looked like the Orion Alliance found this whole thing much more amusing than humans.
A Garganian was next one to speak, a robust creature, the military might behind the Alliance, a great representation of a bully, Kay thought. Their skin gray and sleek, this one was a warrior, presumably, for one of his four arms was missing, leaving behind just a stump and his one-horned head sported many a scar. What was underneath the thick wired white fur, covering everything except limbs, Kay could only wonder. "The Terrans should not ridicule the proceedings of war making, hmpf! The Garganians of Otrkrs have nothing to propose but the involvement of council in decision of war-time!" He bumped his front body with all his healthy hands, huffing.
"Talians of Talee concur." Sounded tenderly.
"So do the Rubenee of Qu." Echoed.
Kay turned to the council, and to his surprise, the heads of the creatures were turned on him, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Humans of Earth have no choice but to agree as well."
Now, you would think I forgot to describe what the council looked like, but jokes on you, because there was really little to describe. For the sake of fairness, all members of Head Council were disguised, their features camouflaged, faces hidden, voices altered. Nobody should know who is a part of it, only they know themselves, however it is a common knowledge the members are chosen only from among the oldest and wisest races of the galaxy. The seven figures standing hooded on a raised platform mumbled among themselves before one stepped forth.
"The Council speaks." Silence fell in an already quiet hall. "The offer of Terra in adding these so called 'Rules of War' to the conflict of Artme Region is declined. We have reviewed the documents provided, number of points could be considered laughable, such as the immunity of medics on battlefield or, these ones I find specifically amusing, Hauge Conventions? Banning of certain weapons? Civilian protection? Rarely someone attacks civilians anyway, it has no effect on the course of battle! A pass-time, at best. Either way, you should have evacuated them beforehand if you know there will be war. War needs no rules, the declaration of war does, that is why we are here. The Alliance has offered to cease their warmongering once they are in possession of number of stellar systems, of which you were very much aware, ambassador Kay Harrinton. The heads of your Union declined, therefore war is inevitable and you are left with the option of defending your newly acquired territories, which you have accepted. You may begin the war in the standard ninety hours of Andromeda Time Zone. The Council has spoken. We shall reconvene shortly after a short break to hear the Zqa'ar and Ipoids" The figures retreated, and slowly the balconies began to empty as well. Kay stormed out, stone-faced.
Descending the stairs from the platform in the middle of the great-hall he found his other same clothed companions greeting him with a salute.
"You spoke well, ambassador, there was nothing more you could do."
"I wish there was." He passed them, he could not stop, for time was of essence now, ninety hours of ATZ was a week of time for the humans in the concerned systems.
"We have already informed the headquarters, message should reach them just in time." They followed.
"Good. I wish to speak with Admiral Ford, arrange meeting." Kay looked over his shoulder, the Alliance has entered the corridor as well, they gave him a taunting look, but he just scoffed, the fools know not what they got themselves into. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Ta'reb thought that this whole hearing was a laughable farce as he maneuvered into his chair. His race (the dothram) were a reddish spherical entity with one eye that moved with one single long appendage and had been nicknamed by the humans as "mono-people". How could you enforce rules in war? War is when negotiations have broken down, what could possibly convince an enemy to do as you agreed when each of you is slaughtering the other? You can't have a war without death, what fate is worse?
"Do you plan to outlaw killing?" Ta'reb jeered, his 'arm' weaving words in a sort of sign language. "How do you expect to reduce the impact of war without rendering the point moot? Are entire civilizations going to going to set up little target dummies and see who can shoot at it the best?"
Major James Taylor sat in his chair staring at Ta'reb as his mad arm wiggling was translated to english, did he really need to start from there? Perhaps aliens were fine with a bit more cruelty and unnecessary death in life but could this thing not understand some would want to minimize unnecessary death? "With all due respect ambassador Ta'reb, we would only ask that civillians and other non-combatants such as injured soldiers be spared. They have little to no impact on who will win a war, and the rules we propose would only seek to minimize casualties. We understand that a warring entity has motivation to fire on military locations even if there are a few civilians that will be caught in the cross-fire."
Hmm? Questioned Ta'reb in his head. What tangible benefit could humans get in war from getting the enemy to ignore civilians? No-one shoots at civilians, by definition their elimination would not hinder the enemies war effort. "Why would anyone waste ammunition on civilians? What is the point in killing that which cannot fight?" Ta'reb asked, confused.
James was taken aback, was this alien not familiar with basic morale hindering tactics? If the women and children you were protecting were killed then what was the point of war? Killing civilians was an excellent way to discourage stronger parties to avoid warring with you in the future, could most aliens just ignore this? Was he about to reveal a major strategic disadvantage of humans? "If you do not understand then there is no point to this conversation." James vaguely answered and left the hearing, he knew it was rude but he needed to warn the higher ups, perhaps they would need a show of force. A notification to the world that they could handle civilian casualties.
Ta'reb pondered his short conversation with mr Taylor, it was not until he watched the united human army tear apart the homeworld of the parcuthi and devestate any hope of meaningful spoils of war did he begin to realise. At first he thought that the humans were just terrible at aiming, why else would they ruin any potential loot from that planet? He was worried that their shoddy innacurate weaponry would perhaps hit his hive cluster as well. It was then he realised, he was *worried.* Scared. Frightened. He felt fear that if his race declared war that he would die. The humans were mad enough to expend resources on needless slaughter because it discouraged others from warring to meet the same fate. The worst part was that it *worked.* Perhaps a few rules of war were a good thing.
James had mixed feelings when he recieved a call stating in no plain terms that they wanted to introduce the rules suggested. The inadvertant death of a planet he realised he might have caused weighed heavy on his heart. He also didn't want the hassle of having to explain the ethos of cruel weaponry. He could imagine Ta'reb angrily wobbling about how effective weapons killed the target instantly, why should anyone use weapons that cause others to suffer? | A booming laughter erupted throughout the great egg-shaped hall so tall clouds formed at the very top, they were left there for aesthetics if nothing else, he pondered. At the sides grew massive steely arches joining at the very top, between them were built balconies, filled with ambassadors and other representatives of various galactic empires, planet-states, moon-republics and whatnot.
Laughter, in essence, for each race showed amusement their own way. Of what the man glanced, the Trogks cackled like hyenas (resembling them a tad, too), the sluggish, brown Antians exhaled through their mouth-holes, tooting like a trumpet, even the enigmatic, hooded Parteens allowed themselves a small peep of a chalk on the blackboard... Hearing the cacophony of various sounds made Kay's hair on the back of his neck stand, top it off with the confusion he felt for what he said wasn't as funny as the others found it.
The opposition standing by his side exchanged smirks, easy to tell for their humanoid form. There were three races in the Orion Alliance, Alliance with which the Terra Union picked a battle.
Now, I don't wish to go into the details, but to simply explain, our space neighbors think we are expanding too fast and wish to stall our growth to further their economics, gather some valuable resources, hinder us, yada yada. They disguise it behind a 'he hit me first' excuse (which they provoked) and then offered a demand we could not accept. Now the humans of Earth are at the verge of their first stellar war since they joined the Arkha Galaxy Pact (That's what the alien races call Milky Way, by the by, yeah, we are among like ten planets in visitable universe that have white milk, or milk at all, so the name didn't catch). A standard procedure called for the 'Grand Meeting' and here we are, in front of the Head Council, next to the enemy, observed by uninvolved pact members. The daunted man regained a bit of composure as he neatens his blue uniform, his black eyes scanning the surroundings once again. He set the cap upon his brown hair as it felt askew.
"So you are saying you have rules for war?" Suddenly sounded from his right, the red-skinned Rubenee asked, the tendrils on his chin swirling in what Kay understood as excitement, this translation device imbedded in his temple was quite nifty, translating body language as well as the spoken. Notably, Rubenee alongside humans were one of the few races in the Pact that understood the notion of clothing, this representative wore what looked like a dark brown tunic, ending at waist-level where instead of legs grew a bundle of tentacles, Kay stopped counting at ten.
"Yes, some of them come from Geneva Conventions, among others. We added few more since we will be also warring in new territories, such as space, we renamed them to Terra Convention and wish for the council to adapt it to their system." Kay hummed, regrettably the war was inevitable, taking away half of his work as an ambassador to prevent the war from happening at all, this made him quite sour but the Alliance's attitude about this whole ordeal made it sting a lot less.
A Talian chimed in, a wispy, gentle-looking creature (don't be fooled), their abodes in the darkest depths of their oceanic worlds made their skin translucent, jelly-like, they grew a mushroom-looking cap atop their heads, much alike those of humans bar the missing nose and teeth in its mouth, its insides pulsed with soft, golden light every time it spoke. "Are we to understand that your rules of war... Are named after a city in one of your smaller political establishments that... Actually haven't fought in any war for what... Almost two hundred human years?"
"Technically..." Kay had to admit. "You did your research right." He smiled, suspecting the translation device for this sort of information. "I think, however, the place is irrelevant, it is the contents that I wish the Council to consider. We do not shy away from war, but we seek no end in it. All the Terra Union proposes is a more... humanitarian treatment." A repeated joke is not funny a second time, or so you would think as a human, but the hall laughed once more, less audibly, true... But it looked like the Orion Alliance found this whole thing much more amusing than humans.
A Garganian was next one to speak, a robust creature, the military might behind the Alliance, a great representation of a bully, Kay thought. Their skin gray and sleek, this one was a warrior, presumably, for one of his four arms was missing, leaving behind just a stump and his one-horned head sported many a scar. What was underneath the thick wired white fur, covering everything except limbs, Kay could only wonder. "The Terrans should not ridicule the proceedings of war making, hmpf! The Garganians of Otrkrs have nothing to propose but the involvement of council in decision of war-time!" He bumped his front body with all his healthy hands, huffing.
"Talians of Talee concur." Sounded tenderly.
"So do the Rubenee of Qu." Echoed.
Kay turned to the council, and to his surprise, the heads of the creatures were turned on him, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Humans of Earth have no choice but to agree as well."
Now, you would think I forgot to describe what the council looked like, but jokes on you, because there was really little to describe. For the sake of fairness, all members of Head Council were disguised, their features camouflaged, faces hidden, voices altered. Nobody should know who is a part of it, only they know themselves, however it is a common knowledge the members are chosen only from among the oldest and wisest races of the galaxy. The seven figures standing hooded on a raised platform mumbled among themselves before one stepped forth.
"The Council speaks." Silence fell in an already quiet hall. "The offer of Terra in adding these so called 'Rules of War' to the conflict of Artme Region is declined. We have reviewed the documents provided, number of points could be considered laughable, such as the immunity of medics on battlefield or, these ones I find specifically amusing, Hauge Conventions? Banning of certain weapons? Civilian protection? Rarely someone attacks civilians anyway, it has no effect on the course of battle! A pass-time, at best. Either way, you should have evacuated them beforehand if you know there will be war. War needs no rules, the declaration of war does, that is why we are here. The Alliance has offered to cease their warmongering once they are in possession of number of stellar systems, of which you were very much aware, ambassador Kay Harrinton. The heads of your Union declined, therefore war is inevitable and you are left with the option of defending your newly acquired territories, which you have accepted. You may begin the war in the standard ninety hours of Andromeda Time Zone. The Council has spoken. We shall reconvene shortly after a short break to hear the Zqa'ar and Ipoids" The figures retreated, and slowly the balconies began to empty as well. Kay stormed out, stone-faced.
Descending the stairs from the platform in the middle of the great-hall he found his other same clothed companions greeting him with a salute.
"You spoke well, ambassador, there was nothing more you could do."
"I wish there was." He passed them, he could not stop, for time was of essence now, ninety hours of ATZ was a week of time for the humans in the concerned systems.
"We have already informed the headquarters, message should reach them just in time." They followed.
"Good. I wish to speak with Admiral Ford, arrange meeting." Kay looked over his shoulder, the Alliance has entered the corridor as well, they gave him a taunting look, but he just scoffed, the fools know not what they got themselves into. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “Yeah, that sucks for them. But why are you angry at us?” Amanda Smith, leader of the elite Beartooth division, looked up at Commander Her’clud in confusion. “You said you wanted the planet taken at any cost, so we took it. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem? The problem is that you killed every single sentient being on the planet! You took no prisoners! There were over 718 million life forms two cycle ago, and now there are none! Have you no mercy or restraint?!?!”
Amanda stepped to the side to avoid being hit by Commander Her’clud’s flailing tentacles. She wiped the slime off her arm with a look of disgust, and then turned to the rest of the Galactic Tributary. “Did any of you bother to read my holo-messages detailing this siege? Anyone, anyone at all?” She was greeted with silence and blank looks. She sighed to herself. It didn’t matter what species she was dealing with, the leaders at the top were all the same- annoying, arrogant, and absolutely impossible to communicate with.
“If any of you had bothered to open my holo-messages, you would already know that the vast majority of the planet fled within the first two hours of the siege. As required by our Rules of War, all civilians, injured, surrendering combatants, and such were allowed to flee the planet without fear of attack. After the first wave fled, we launched one Devastation missile at the second most populated city. Again according to our Rules of War, we had messaged the planet to warn them of the impending missile strike, giving plenty of time to evacuate. We recorded less than two thousand confirmed kills from this event. This led to the second wave of flight from the planet. We followed up with a squadron of In Between drones, to ferret out the remaining hostiles. We confirmed just over five thousand drone kills.”
Amanda pulled up her messages to the Council, letting them play silently in the background as she continued her recap of the siege.
“We paused our actions to allow the third wave of inhabitants to flee. After sufficient time had passed to let the ships leave the system, we began in-person actions. Of the original 718 million inhabitants, less than 80 thousand remained on the planet. Sixty-two Beartooth units were dispatched to find and eliminate any remaining hostiles. It took just over one cycle to clear the planet, and less than one thousand kills were confirmed. The rest of the planet’s inhabitants were deemed to be non-hostile, and as required by our Rules of War, were not harmed. They were escorted to evacuation ships, we programmed the coordinates to their next colonized planet, and sent them on their way.”
A glance around the room told her that this was not what the Council had expected to hear. One of the reasons humans had been excluded from the intergalactic community for so long was because of their reputation for war. Humans were known to be one of the fiercest, violent, and most bloodthirsty species ever contacted. They certainly had the bloodiest past of all the intergalactic members.
Amanda not only knew of this reputation, she actively used it to her advantage. She had even used it when thinking of the motto for her division (Fingers on the trigger, ready aim fire!). So she wasn’t surprised that the Council had automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion when hearing that she had cleared an entire planet of all sentient beings in less than two cycles.
But to call up the entire Galactic Tributary to consider expelling the entire human race? She couldn’t believe the audacity of these leaders. And then she had a thought…
“This meeting was called for based on undocumented fears, and could have been avoided completely if any of you had bothered to read my messages. As you can see by the messages playing behind me, a total of 47 updates were given over the course of the siege. Each update was sent to the full Council, and yet none of you opened a single one? Why is that? Why was my division asked to clear this planet, only to face disciplinary actions for completing the objectives of the Council?”
She was again met with silence and blank stares, but this time the stares were a little too blank, too practiced… And with those stares, she had her answer. Commander Her’clud opened his mouth to speak, but Amanda glared at him with such forced that he immediately closed his mouth and began to turn a horrible shade of orange.
Amanda raised her voice, and spoke to the Tributary with all the authority befitting her position as leader of the most accredited military division the galaxy had ever seen. “As a member of the intergalactic community, it is my right to know who has requested the exclusion of the entire human race as punishment for completing Council objectives. Let them speak now, and defend their position.”
After a moment, her request was answered. Amanda barely stifled the shivers that always came when communicating with an Ecconichian.
She listened as the beautiful melodies filled the air, rising and falling in wonderful harmony. She listened as the notes turned dark and low, creating a story of insanity and horrors with music alone.
When the final notes ended, Amanda wanted to cry out in relief. Instead, she braced herself and responded. “The history of the human race is indeed mired with war, genocide, and horrors that many species here will hopefully never experience. It is always filled with acts of insanity, acts that have no reason whatsoever as their motives.
“But the act of sending delegates to the Galactic Tributary year after year to request the official creation of Galactic Rules of War is not an act of insanity. Even though humans have been ridiculed, mocked, and disrespected for asking this year after year, we will continue to bring this before the Tributary until it is done.
“The Council gave the directive to take planet Ximotin by any means necessary. It is known far and wide that my Beartooth division is the most successful military division the galaxy has ever seen, and we were specifically requested by the Council for this task.
“We could have chosen to nuke the entire planet and render it uninhabitable for the next hundred millennium. We could have chosen to release Skin missiles in the atmosphere and afflict the entire population with an incurable plague. We know the Ximo population is very susceptible to high pitched noises, so we could have just blasted air raid sirens and driven them all insane.
“Instead, by our Rules of War, we were required to give non-combatants multiple chances to flee, without fear of attack. We were required to announce all missile strikes and give the intended target area enough time to evacuate. We were required to evaluate any potential hostiles before shooting to kill. We were required to escort all remaining non-combatants to evacuation ships and see them safely on their way.
“The history of the human race is mired with war, genocide, and horrors. But it is also filled with men and women who stood up against those acts. It is filled with men and women who risked everything to punish the worst offenders in our race. It is filled with hope that we will grow and rise above those acts.
“Human delegates will continue to advocate for Galactic Rules of War because we know how necessary they are. We know that war brings out the worst in any species, and that Rules of War may be the only thing to prevent incomprehensible acts of evil from occurring. We know that Rules of War keep individuals from crossing the line between acceptable and unacceptable. And we know that they work. They save lives, planets, and entire species.
“Because of our Rules of War, a planet with 718 million life forms was emptied in less than two cycles, with just under eight thousand deaths.
“I believe my division was chosen to clear planet Ximotin as an example of why we should be expelled from the intergalactic community. Instead, we have done the opposite and shown why Rules of War are necessary and how they are used.
“Should the Galactic Tributary decide to expel the human race anyway, so be it. But I believe it would be much better if you actually open my damn messages and take a proper look at them. Think of what could have been, and then see what actually occurred. Advocating for Galactic Rules of War is an act of hope, not insanity. The siege of planet Ximotin is now a real-life example of how this could only help the intergalactic community as a whole.
“We will abide by the decision of the Galactic Tributary, for better or worse. Make your decision and communicate it to us as soon as you are done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a very long report to give my commander.”
With that, Amanda stepped off the podium and exited the chambers, followed by the few ranked members allowed to accompany her. She walked away with her head held high, and hope that this would finally result in the creation of the official Galactic Rules of War. Because if this didn’t do it, nothing would. | "I don't believe your High Serpahic Council understands what they have asked for here." Celes said. "You have denied my people the opportunity to parley for peace, and you have threatened them with war being brought to their very homes." Celes' voice rose and trembled as she spoke, the anger and fear that gripped her barely contained. "And you refuse to negotiate any rules for this war saying that you will unleash your full wrath on all of humanity?" She stopped, breathing heavily, waiting for any sign that the Council would back down.
"Young Admiral Celes... " The first Chancellor spoke. His species was tall, but thin, while the entirety of the Council was masked to prevent you from knowing their race or origin, he appeared to be from somewhere with extremely low gravity. "Humanity has violated our pact, the great covenant of all, and has shown they do not respect rule and order without testing it. Any species who does not respect the rule of order, does not benefit from it's protection." The lights over his chamber dimmed, as did the rest of the Council, the matter was settled.
"For what comes... Blame man or your gods, but this day will be known as regret." Celes said softly before closing her inquiry and leaving the chamber. It was a quiet walk down the great halls. The building had been so lively on her entry, but with the sentence passed on her people all of the remaining citizens had left, closed their offices and stalls, to give her a taste of the silence and absence her own people were being punished with. The High Seraphic Council would wage their war, on behalf of the entirety of the Galactic Confederation of Unity and Understanding, to protect the Rule and Order of the Order and Rule. The High Seraphic Council understood nothing of man however, they believed we were like them.
We were never like them. We were never a species who had near limitless resources, we never developed identical religions across our sphere to unite us, we were forged in calamity and disaster and hatred and fire. It took the near extinction of our people for us to find the unity these other Confederate members found so easily.
"Rear Admiral Leon." Celes spoke internally, accessing her own internal circuitry and broadcast upgrades.
"I heard, Fleet Admiral Celes, I don't know that they understand what they just did." The voice rang inside her head.
"Once I'm onboard I want the whole fleet to be prepared. We will not wait for official declarations to be drawn up. We'll end this today."
"Didn't they just offer official declarations?" Rear Admiral Leon asked
"No, they made their ruling, but it'll take upwards of a week to put out an official declaration. Their expectation is that we will return home to warn our people, to send out ships to relocate our various outposts and settlements, that we'll try to give one more plea for peace before taking their punishment. It's what the rest of the confederate races would do."
"Ah. Yes Sir." Rear Admiral Leon affirmed.
Fleet Admiral Celes took her small diplomatic shuttle back to the Enterprise, a massive dreadnought that represented the greatest strengths of humanity, and their worst tendencies. The Enterprise, a new ship assembled in the shipyards of Ganymede, was almost four kilometers long, with a beam of almost a full kilometer at its widest point. The massive almost ovular shaped ship was covered in large gun embankments and multiple enormous magneto-gauss accelerators. Every single point had been aimed at known Confederate fleet vehicles and ships throughout the system.
"All ships report readyness." Celes broadcast to her fleet as she stepped into the command room of the Enterprise."
"Bismark Ready"
"Victory Ready"
"Yamamoto Ready"
"Maiden of Peace Ready"
"Mikasa Ready"
"Arizona Ready"
"Botafogo Ready"
"Imperial Education Ready"
Two dozen more ships confirmed readyness as Fleet Admiral Celes assigned more targeting orders and issued the expected withdrawal of all humans on the High Seraphic Homeworld, Cherbimin. She ordered manual targeting and aiming for all ships, with artillery specialists and scientists pouring over numbers and statistics to ensure accuracy. When she confirmed the last shuttle was docked within one of the great transports she sighed. Reaching down to the official com to speak out loud she hesitate just one hopeful moment.
"This is Fleet Admiral Celes Shere, of H.S.N.S Enterprise for peace now of War... I ask one more time, would the High Seraphic council reconsider their desire for war?"
She waited, one breath, two breaths, three breaths. She felt her chest rise and fall slowly as she waited for a response. Surely they were not this foolhardy, thinking that we fought how they did....
"Sir, we have received a message, written in Confederate Common." Security Officer Niemitz spoke. Celes nodded at him and the message appeared before her eyes, a summary dismissal of her requests.
"Do we have a final count of their fleet assets in system?"
"Sir, the identified fleet assets in system composes more than forty percent of the Confederates total fleet, and the vast majority of their useful firepower." Lieutenant Torres spoke up, only answering out loud for those in the room.
"Maiden of Peace, Imperial Education, Victory, and the Enterprise will fire on Security Station XR-31, Transport and Merchant Station XR-31 A, Homeworld Alep, and the High Seraphic Homeworld Bet. Use all armaments at maximum speed. The rest of the fleet will be assigned firing orders shortly, timing and sequence to follow." Fleet Admiral Celes appeared visibly defeated as she spoke. Before her eyes flickered assignments and distances and expected angles of adjustment based on the various gravity wells of this system. The room was nearly silent as everyone viewed and processed orders and requests, a gestalt of shared minds and internal computers focused only on victory for mankind. As the last of the orders were sent out she ordered the various transport ships to begin heading out of system. The Confederate fleets would expect the humans to send civilians off first, leaving their heavily armed fleet to stand and protect the rear of the non-combatants. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the swirling blizzard of North Palax, planet Haranox 7, a group of Aranids, a spider like race, gather together inside a secluded, secure building to discuss one thing.
Surrender
The normally proud race had made 2 mistakes that had cost them dearly. They had aggravated humanity to war, and laughed at humanities so called "Rules Of War", stating that such a concept was stupid and unnecessary. The Aranids had intercepted aid supplies, destroyed civilian settlements, and took a great joy in doing unspeakable things to the humans they had captured. The Aranids had thought the war won from day one.
But then things began to go wrong for them.
It started with a small farming colony going missing, then later those missing were found at an unnamed outpost. They were accepted back into the Aranid society after some initial questioning, but unbeknownst to them, humanity had planted a potent disease into each and every member of the colony, a disease that slowly but surely tore through the Aranids. First came a slight cough, a mild fever, nothing to be worried about. Then came forgetfulness and memory loss, shortly followed by complete insanity, and a feral desire to attack and bite anyone they could.
As the disease spread, humanity continued to attack different colonies, before progressing to major settlements and cities. Every interplanetary communications satellite was either destroyed or taken for humanities own use. Any aid transports were targeted and destroyed without remorse. Humanities technology grew and grew, and soon any battles became a bloodbath for the Aranids.
After suffering countless losses, the council had made the decision to try for peace talks with humanity. The video feed in the council room is grainy, but they can still make out a group of 5 humans looking back at them. The Aranids plead their surrender, for humanity to stop these attacks, and offer a cure for their people. The middle human, a woman with black hair in a bun, coldly stares at the council.
"Answer me this. If our situations were reversed, if we were the ones begging surrender, would you stop? If the history of your species is anything to go by, we don't believe you would. We aren't the first race you've gone to war against, but we will make sure we're the last. We offered you a clean war, with rules, and you laughed at us. Now, on the cusp of extinction, you beg us to stop? Our answer is no. You started this, this genocide is down to your own pride."
The video feed cuts off, and the council of Aranids stand in silence, until one of them grasps his head in his hands, screams, and attacks the councilmen in the room, biting each and every one.
Two weeks later, the extinction of the Aranids is officially announced to the galaxy and humanity takes Haranox 7 for themselves. | "I don't believe your High Serpahic Council understands what they have asked for here." Celes said. "You have denied my people the opportunity to parley for peace, and you have threatened them with war being brought to their very homes." Celes' voice rose and trembled as she spoke, the anger and fear that gripped her barely contained. "And you refuse to negotiate any rules for this war saying that you will unleash your full wrath on all of humanity?" She stopped, breathing heavily, waiting for any sign that the Council would back down.
"Young Admiral Celes... " The first Chancellor spoke. His species was tall, but thin, while the entirety of the Council was masked to prevent you from knowing their race or origin, he appeared to be from somewhere with extremely low gravity. "Humanity has violated our pact, the great covenant of all, and has shown they do not respect rule and order without testing it. Any species who does not respect the rule of order, does not benefit from it's protection." The lights over his chamber dimmed, as did the rest of the Council, the matter was settled.
"For what comes... Blame man or your gods, but this day will be known as regret." Celes said softly before closing her inquiry and leaving the chamber. It was a quiet walk down the great halls. The building had been so lively on her entry, but with the sentence passed on her people all of the remaining citizens had left, closed their offices and stalls, to give her a taste of the silence and absence her own people were being punished with. The High Seraphic Council would wage their war, on behalf of the entirety of the Galactic Confederation of Unity and Understanding, to protect the Rule and Order of the Order and Rule. The High Seraphic Council understood nothing of man however, they believed we were like them.
We were never like them. We were never a species who had near limitless resources, we never developed identical religions across our sphere to unite us, we were forged in calamity and disaster and hatred and fire. It took the near extinction of our people for us to find the unity these other Confederate members found so easily.
"Rear Admiral Leon." Celes spoke internally, accessing her own internal circuitry and broadcast upgrades.
"I heard, Fleet Admiral Celes, I don't know that they understand what they just did." The voice rang inside her head.
"Once I'm onboard I want the whole fleet to be prepared. We will not wait for official declarations to be drawn up. We'll end this today."
"Didn't they just offer official declarations?" Rear Admiral Leon asked
"No, they made their ruling, but it'll take upwards of a week to put out an official declaration. Their expectation is that we will return home to warn our people, to send out ships to relocate our various outposts and settlements, that we'll try to give one more plea for peace before taking their punishment. It's what the rest of the confederate races would do."
"Ah. Yes Sir." Rear Admiral Leon affirmed.
Fleet Admiral Celes took her small diplomatic shuttle back to the Enterprise, a massive dreadnought that represented the greatest strengths of humanity, and their worst tendencies. The Enterprise, a new ship assembled in the shipyards of Ganymede, was almost four kilometers long, with a beam of almost a full kilometer at its widest point. The massive almost ovular shaped ship was covered in large gun embankments and multiple enormous magneto-gauss accelerators. Every single point had been aimed at known Confederate fleet vehicles and ships throughout the system.
"All ships report readyness." Celes broadcast to her fleet as she stepped into the command room of the Enterprise."
"Bismark Ready"
"Victory Ready"
"Yamamoto Ready"
"Maiden of Peace Ready"
"Mikasa Ready"
"Arizona Ready"
"Botafogo Ready"
"Imperial Education Ready"
Two dozen more ships confirmed readyness as Fleet Admiral Celes assigned more targeting orders and issued the expected withdrawal of all humans on the High Seraphic Homeworld, Cherbimin. She ordered manual targeting and aiming for all ships, with artillery specialists and scientists pouring over numbers and statistics to ensure accuracy. When she confirmed the last shuttle was docked within one of the great transports she sighed. Reaching down to the official com to speak out loud she hesitate just one hopeful moment.
"This is Fleet Admiral Celes Shere, of H.S.N.S Enterprise for peace now of War... I ask one more time, would the High Seraphic council reconsider their desire for war?"
She waited, one breath, two breaths, three breaths. She felt her chest rise and fall slowly as she waited for a response. Surely they were not this foolhardy, thinking that we fought how they did....
"Sir, we have received a message, written in Confederate Common." Security Officer Niemitz spoke. Celes nodded at him and the message appeared before her eyes, a summary dismissal of her requests.
"Do we have a final count of their fleet assets in system?"
"Sir, the identified fleet assets in system composes more than forty percent of the Confederates total fleet, and the vast majority of their useful firepower." Lieutenant Torres spoke up, only answering out loud for those in the room.
"Maiden of Peace, Imperial Education, Victory, and the Enterprise will fire on Security Station XR-31, Transport and Merchant Station XR-31 A, Homeworld Alep, and the High Seraphic Homeworld Bet. Use all armaments at maximum speed. The rest of the fleet will be assigned firing orders shortly, timing and sequence to follow." Fleet Admiral Celes appeared visibly defeated as she spoke. Before her eyes flickered assignments and distances and expected angles of adjustment based on the various gravity wells of this system. The room was nearly silent as everyone viewed and processed orders and requests, a gestalt of shared minds and internal computers focused only on victory for mankind. As the last of the orders were sent out she ordered the various transport ships to begin heading out of system. The Confederate fleets would expect the humans to send civilians off first, leaving their heavily armed fleet to stand and protect the rear of the non-combatants. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Ta'reb thought that this whole hearing was a laughable farce as he maneuvered into his chair. His race (the dothram) were a reddish spherical entity with one eye that moved with one single long appendage and had been nicknamed by the humans as "mono-people". How could you enforce rules in war? War is when negotiations have broken down, what could possibly convince an enemy to do as you agreed when each of you is slaughtering the other? You can't have a war without death, what fate is worse?
"Do you plan to outlaw killing?" Ta'reb jeered, his 'arm' weaving words in a sort of sign language. "How do you expect to reduce the impact of war without rendering the point moot? Are entire civilizations going to going to set up little target dummies and see who can shoot at it the best?"
Major James Taylor sat in his chair staring at Ta'reb as his mad arm wiggling was translated to english, did he really need to start from there? Perhaps aliens were fine with a bit more cruelty and unnecessary death in life but could this thing not understand some would want to minimize unnecessary death? "With all due respect ambassador Ta'reb, we would only ask that civillians and other non-combatants such as injured soldiers be spared. They have little to no impact on who will win a war, and the rules we propose would only seek to minimize casualties. We understand that a warring entity has motivation to fire on military locations even if there are a few civilians that will be caught in the cross-fire."
Hmm? Questioned Ta'reb in his head. What tangible benefit could humans get in war from getting the enemy to ignore civilians? No-one shoots at civilians, by definition their elimination would not hinder the enemies war effort. "Why would anyone waste ammunition on civilians? What is the point in killing that which cannot fight?" Ta'reb asked, confused.
James was taken aback, was this alien not familiar with basic morale hindering tactics? If the women and children you were protecting were killed then what was the point of war? Killing civilians was an excellent way to discourage stronger parties to avoid warring with you in the future, could most aliens just ignore this? Was he about to reveal a major strategic disadvantage of humans? "If you do not understand then there is no point to this conversation." James vaguely answered and left the hearing, he knew it was rude but he needed to warn the higher ups, perhaps they would need a show of force. A notification to the world that they could handle civilian casualties.
Ta'reb pondered his short conversation with mr Taylor, it was not until he watched the united human army tear apart the homeworld of the parcuthi and devestate any hope of meaningful spoils of war did he begin to realise. At first he thought that the humans were just terrible at aiming, why else would they ruin any potential loot from that planet? He was worried that their shoddy innacurate weaponry would perhaps hit his hive cluster as well. It was then he realised, he was *worried.* Scared. Frightened. He felt fear that if his race declared war that he would die. The humans were mad enough to expend resources on needless slaughter because it discouraged others from warring to meet the same fate. The worst part was that it *worked.* Perhaps a few rules of war were a good thing.
James had mixed feelings when he recieved a call stating in no plain terms that they wanted to introduce the rules suggested. The inadvertant death of a planet he realised he might have caused weighed heavy on his heart. He also didn't want the hassle of having to explain the ethos of cruel weaponry. He could imagine Ta'reb angrily wobbling about how effective weapons killed the target instantly, why should anyone use weapons that cause others to suffer? | "I don't believe your High Serpahic Council understands what they have asked for here." Celes said. "You have denied my people the opportunity to parley for peace, and you have threatened them with war being brought to their very homes." Celes' voice rose and trembled as she spoke, the anger and fear that gripped her barely contained. "And you refuse to negotiate any rules for this war saying that you will unleash your full wrath on all of humanity?" She stopped, breathing heavily, waiting for any sign that the Council would back down.
"Young Admiral Celes... " The first Chancellor spoke. His species was tall, but thin, while the entirety of the Council was masked to prevent you from knowing their race or origin, he appeared to be from somewhere with extremely low gravity. "Humanity has violated our pact, the great covenant of all, and has shown they do not respect rule and order without testing it. Any species who does not respect the rule of order, does not benefit from it's protection." The lights over his chamber dimmed, as did the rest of the Council, the matter was settled.
"For what comes... Blame man or your gods, but this day will be known as regret." Celes said softly before closing her inquiry and leaving the chamber. It was a quiet walk down the great halls. The building had been so lively on her entry, but with the sentence passed on her people all of the remaining citizens had left, closed their offices and stalls, to give her a taste of the silence and absence her own people were being punished with. The High Seraphic Council would wage their war, on behalf of the entirety of the Galactic Confederation of Unity and Understanding, to protect the Rule and Order of the Order and Rule. The High Seraphic Council understood nothing of man however, they believed we were like them.
We were never like them. We were never a species who had near limitless resources, we never developed identical religions across our sphere to unite us, we were forged in calamity and disaster and hatred and fire. It took the near extinction of our people for us to find the unity these other Confederate members found so easily.
"Rear Admiral Leon." Celes spoke internally, accessing her own internal circuitry and broadcast upgrades.
"I heard, Fleet Admiral Celes, I don't know that they understand what they just did." The voice rang inside her head.
"Once I'm onboard I want the whole fleet to be prepared. We will not wait for official declarations to be drawn up. We'll end this today."
"Didn't they just offer official declarations?" Rear Admiral Leon asked
"No, they made their ruling, but it'll take upwards of a week to put out an official declaration. Their expectation is that we will return home to warn our people, to send out ships to relocate our various outposts and settlements, that we'll try to give one more plea for peace before taking their punishment. It's what the rest of the confederate races would do."
"Ah. Yes Sir." Rear Admiral Leon affirmed.
Fleet Admiral Celes took her small diplomatic shuttle back to the Enterprise, a massive dreadnought that represented the greatest strengths of humanity, and their worst tendencies. The Enterprise, a new ship assembled in the shipyards of Ganymede, was almost four kilometers long, with a beam of almost a full kilometer at its widest point. The massive almost ovular shaped ship was covered in large gun embankments and multiple enormous magneto-gauss accelerators. Every single point had been aimed at known Confederate fleet vehicles and ships throughout the system.
"All ships report readyness." Celes broadcast to her fleet as she stepped into the command room of the Enterprise."
"Bismark Ready"
"Victory Ready"
"Yamamoto Ready"
"Maiden of Peace Ready"
"Mikasa Ready"
"Arizona Ready"
"Botafogo Ready"
"Imperial Education Ready"
Two dozen more ships confirmed readyness as Fleet Admiral Celes assigned more targeting orders and issued the expected withdrawal of all humans on the High Seraphic Homeworld, Cherbimin. She ordered manual targeting and aiming for all ships, with artillery specialists and scientists pouring over numbers and statistics to ensure accuracy. When she confirmed the last shuttle was docked within one of the great transports she sighed. Reaching down to the official com to speak out loud she hesitate just one hopeful moment.
"This is Fleet Admiral Celes Shere, of H.S.N.S Enterprise for peace now of War... I ask one more time, would the High Seraphic council reconsider their desire for war?"
She waited, one breath, two breaths, three breaths. She felt her chest rise and fall slowly as she waited for a response. Surely they were not this foolhardy, thinking that we fought how they did....
"Sir, we have received a message, written in Confederate Common." Security Officer Niemitz spoke. Celes nodded at him and the message appeared before her eyes, a summary dismissal of her requests.
"Do we have a final count of their fleet assets in system?"
"Sir, the identified fleet assets in system composes more than forty percent of the Confederates total fleet, and the vast majority of their useful firepower." Lieutenant Torres spoke up, only answering out loud for those in the room.
"Maiden of Peace, Imperial Education, Victory, and the Enterprise will fire on Security Station XR-31, Transport and Merchant Station XR-31 A, Homeworld Alep, and the High Seraphic Homeworld Bet. Use all armaments at maximum speed. The rest of the fleet will be assigned firing orders shortly, timing and sequence to follow." Fleet Admiral Celes appeared visibly defeated as she spoke. Before her eyes flickered assignments and distances and expected angles of adjustment based on the various gravity wells of this system. The room was nearly silent as everyone viewed and processed orders and requests, a gestalt of shared minds and internal computers focused only on victory for mankind. As the last of the orders were sent out she ordered the various transport ships to begin heading out of system. The Confederate fleets would expect the humans to send civilians off first, leaving their heavily armed fleet to stand and protect the rear of the non-combatants. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Ta'reb thought that this whole hearing was a laughable farce as he maneuvered into his chair. His race (the dothram) were a reddish spherical entity with one eye that moved with one single long appendage and had been nicknamed by the humans as "mono-people". How could you enforce rules in war? War is when negotiations have broken down, what could possibly convince an enemy to do as you agreed when each of you is slaughtering the other? You can't have a war without death, what fate is worse?
"Do you plan to outlaw killing?" Ta'reb jeered, his 'arm' weaving words in a sort of sign language. "How do you expect to reduce the impact of war without rendering the point moot? Are entire civilizations going to going to set up little target dummies and see who can shoot at it the best?"
Major James Taylor sat in his chair staring at Ta'reb as his mad arm wiggling was translated to english, did he really need to start from there? Perhaps aliens were fine with a bit more cruelty and unnecessary death in life but could this thing not understand some would want to minimize unnecessary death? "With all due respect ambassador Ta'reb, we would only ask that civillians and other non-combatants such as injured soldiers be spared. They have little to no impact on who will win a war, and the rules we propose would only seek to minimize casualties. We understand that a warring entity has motivation to fire on military locations even if there are a few civilians that will be caught in the cross-fire."
Hmm? Questioned Ta'reb in his head. What tangible benefit could humans get in war from getting the enemy to ignore civilians? No-one shoots at civilians, by definition their elimination would not hinder the enemies war effort. "Why would anyone waste ammunition on civilians? What is the point in killing that which cannot fight?" Ta'reb asked, confused.
James was taken aback, was this alien not familiar with basic morale hindering tactics? If the women and children you were protecting were killed then what was the point of war? Killing civilians was an excellent way to discourage stronger parties to avoid warring with you in the future, could most aliens just ignore this? Was he about to reveal a major strategic disadvantage of humans? "If you do not understand then there is no point to this conversation." James vaguely answered and left the hearing, he knew it was rude but he needed to warn the higher ups, perhaps they would need a show of force. A notification to the world that they could handle civilian casualties.
Ta'reb pondered his short conversation with mr Taylor, it was not until he watched the united human army tear apart the homeworld of the parcuthi and devestate any hope of meaningful spoils of war did he begin to realise. At first he thought that the humans were just terrible at aiming, why else would they ruin any potential loot from that planet? He was worried that their shoddy innacurate weaponry would perhaps hit his hive cluster as well. It was then he realised, he was *worried.* Scared. Frightened. He felt fear that if his race declared war that he would die. The humans were mad enough to expend resources on needless slaughter because it discouraged others from warring to meet the same fate. The worst part was that it *worked.* Perhaps a few rules of war were a good thing.
James had mixed feelings when he recieved a call stating in no plain terms that they wanted to introduce the rules suggested. The inadvertant death of a planet he realised he might have caused weighed heavy on his heart. He also didn't want the hassle of having to explain the ethos of cruel weaponry. He could imagine Ta'reb angrily wobbling about how effective weapons killed the target instantly, why should anyone use weapons that cause others to suffer? | This is a continuation of my [last WP comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/s98qyp/wp_projectile_weapons_were_considered_ancient/htmol5h/?context=3), b/c the themes are similar and why the hell not right?
​
*I remember fondly in the first year of my mandatory enlistment feeling the warmth of a nearby star strike my face through the glass windows. It reminded me of home. Of air that didn't taste of overworked filters. Of beaches with sand on the methane lakes. Of Cities bustling with races who've benefited from our rule.*
*The race of bipeds, Humans, they sometimes call themselves, were set to be the same. Our ships pierced the cloud of rocks surrounding their system, which to our knowledge were uninhabited roughly 3 days ago. We timed our invasion right to avoid gravitational interference with the gas giants. 1.5 days ago we began our retrograde burn to enter a solar orbit. A day later our ships transferred to orbit around their Home planet.*
*They knew we were coming, as was to be expected. We thought their technology rudimentary, but we understood it was proficient. From our observations they still used projectile weaponry against one another, something that our ships and soldiers became resistant to long ago.*
*We had always wondered why they never took the next step. Why they didn't move on to lasers and quantum rays. Some believed it was their constant bickering never left room for technology to improve. Others thought there existed a global religion in which the projectile weapons were worshiped. A small minority thought they were stupid.*
*No. They are not stupid. They harbor no reverence. They chose to stab each other with sticks and stones. They chose to stop making newer weapons because they cower to their greatest creation.*
*I have felt it's warmth on my face. I watched it dissolve our strongest alloys, incinerate our armored soldiers. I felt my clothes catch fire! I felt skin peel of my shoulders! I saw jolts of bright light flash in my closed eyes!*
*It killed the electricity on our ships. It killed men who dared to stand with honor. It shredded the cruiser. It warped spacetime itself.*
*The backup generators failed. The oxygen turned to poison. Light turned to cancer.*
*And then the second one came.*
*I had to crumble the blackened skeleton of the pilot in his seat before that second metal hull detonated. The metal control stick burned my hand as I wrestled the ship into a different orbit. I could feel the warmth of that second fake sun strike the ship as I opened the wormhole for the home.*
*My face feels cold now. If this universe had a god, the humans made him into a gun. They scare themselves more than they scared us.*
*This invasion was a grave mistake.*
​
The emperor set the sand brown paper down on his lap, stroking his chin with a three fingered hand.
"A bit flowery for a military report." He quipped with a grin.
"Those were his last words," His advisor grumbled with his back to the emperor, leaning against the balcony that oversaw the rolling hills of red fauna and grey rocks lit by the blood red sun. "He penned that before bleeding out from his ass."
The emperor's grin faded as did his good mood. His eyes shot back down to the paper in his lap. "How many did we lose?"
The advisor sighed before releasing a sigh and turning. This was no longer a problem he could turn his back to. This wasn't a problem that could be brushed under another imperial rug. "All of them, your majesty."
"All?"
"All 1.63 million soldiers. Gone. And if that account in your lap is to be believed... little remains of their bodies."
The emperor's face twisted into a grimace, and his eyes darted to the left and the right. "This is unacceptable. It's... absurd! How did we not know of this! How have the Humans not conquered themselves yet?! How have they not committed a holocaust against themselves!?" The emperor rose to his feet with fury in his eyes directed at his advisor.
The Advisor took a deep breath. In moments like these when the emperor's temper flared someone had to remind him to be rational. "I warned you that we had little information about the humans prior your order to attack. I asked that we spend time researching them prior your order to attack. I asked that we learn what there was to gain prior your order to attack," The advisor sighed, "I've called the human ambassador here to discuss what has happened... To see if we can settle on peace terms without our enemies discovering anything."
"We should send them flying into the sun if anything."
"That, would be brash. But not un-called for."
A servant appeared around the corner, "The human ambassador is here." her angelic voice proclaimed
"Send them in," the advisor replied. From behind that same corner a woman with streaking black hair, wearing a white sweater and a pomegranate suit strode in, followed by a translator. She paused 10 feet from the emperor and bowed.
"Your majesty." She addressed him. The emperor disregarded the formality with a wave of his hand, "May I ask why you've summoned me?"
"Don't play stupid" The advisor growled, "You know why."
"If it's to discuss peace, I am afraid there isn't much I can do for you."
"It's to discuss what happened in orbit above your home planet. How 1.63 million of our best were incinerated before even touching your atmosphere." The emperor spat, "How have you not killed all the mere billions of humans that exist in your puny solar system?"
The ambassador took a deep breath, "That is unimportant, as of now. What is important is discussing what is likely to happen going forward."
The Advisor laughed, "You think we will discuss what is going to happen next with you? You think it unimportant you've unused weapons of genocide?"
The Ambassador crossed her hands in front of her. "We've rules on earth. Rules about how to fight. In spite of our differences we're fighting over a part of the earth, and if there's no earth left, or no people left to inhabit it then there was no point to fighting."
"You have rules on warfare?" The emperor scoffed, "Rules that don't apply to non humans like us?"
"Precisely."
The Advisor began pacing with his eyes fixed to the floor. "You said peace isn't an option. Explain."
The ambassador looked off into the valleys of red trees. How do you explain the attitudes of an entire race? How do you generalize all the leading cultures? "Humans are, silly creatures. We always need something to fight. If there isn't anything, we make up something. Our greatest inventions created greater casualties, Our greatest leaders built cities with blood, and our greatest motivators are things we can attack head on. You gave earth something they hadn't tasted in a very long time-- the blood of an empire." She let a smug grin show, "It's coordinated the whole earth. All the interhuman fighting as stopped. All 9 billion people at once looked up into the stars and found hope in those nuclear flashes and burning carriers."
"You humans are disgusting. Not silly. " The Advisor tried to say in a collected tone.
"We know." The ambassador said, "and we hate to admit that we love it." | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | Ta'reb thought that this whole hearing was a laughable farce as he maneuvered into his chair. His race (the dothram) were a reddish spherical entity with one eye that moved with one single long appendage and had been nicknamed by the humans as "mono-people". How could you enforce rules in war? War is when negotiations have broken down, what could possibly convince an enemy to do as you agreed when each of you is slaughtering the other? You can't have a war without death, what fate is worse?
"Do you plan to outlaw killing?" Ta'reb jeered, his 'arm' weaving words in a sort of sign language. "How do you expect to reduce the impact of war without rendering the point moot? Are entire civilizations going to going to set up little target dummies and see who can shoot at it the best?"
Major James Taylor sat in his chair staring at Ta'reb as his mad arm wiggling was translated to english, did he really need to start from there? Perhaps aliens were fine with a bit more cruelty and unnecessary death in life but could this thing not understand some would want to minimize unnecessary death? "With all due respect ambassador Ta'reb, we would only ask that civillians and other non-combatants such as injured soldiers be spared. They have little to no impact on who will win a war, and the rules we propose would only seek to minimize casualties. We understand that a warring entity has motivation to fire on military locations even if there are a few civilians that will be caught in the cross-fire."
Hmm? Questioned Ta'reb in his head. What tangible benefit could humans get in war from getting the enemy to ignore civilians? No-one shoots at civilians, by definition their elimination would not hinder the enemies war effort. "Why would anyone waste ammunition on civilians? What is the point in killing that which cannot fight?" Ta'reb asked, confused.
James was taken aback, was this alien not familiar with basic morale hindering tactics? If the women and children you were protecting were killed then what was the point of war? Killing civilians was an excellent way to discourage stronger parties to avoid warring with you in the future, could most aliens just ignore this? Was he about to reveal a major strategic disadvantage of humans? "If you do not understand then there is no point to this conversation." James vaguely answered and left the hearing, he knew it was rude but he needed to warn the higher ups, perhaps they would need a show of force. A notification to the world that they could handle civilian casualties.
Ta'reb pondered his short conversation with mr Taylor, it was not until he watched the united human army tear apart the homeworld of the parcuthi and devestate any hope of meaningful spoils of war did he begin to realise. At first he thought that the humans were just terrible at aiming, why else would they ruin any potential loot from that planet? He was worried that their shoddy innacurate weaponry would perhaps hit his hive cluster as well. It was then he realised, he was *worried.* Scared. Frightened. He felt fear that if his race declared war that he would die. The humans were mad enough to expend resources on needless slaughter because it discouraged others from warring to meet the same fate. The worst part was that it *worked.* Perhaps a few rules of war were a good thing.
James had mixed feelings when he recieved a call stating in no plain terms that they wanted to introduce the rules suggested. The inadvertant death of a planet he realised he might have caused weighed heavy on his heart. He also didn't want the hassle of having to explain the ethos of cruel weaponry. He could imagine Ta'reb angrily wobbling about how effective weapons killed the target instantly, why should anyone use weapons that cause others to suffer? | A council chamber. Rectangle. Ornate. Boring.
Earth and humanity's representatives sat on one side of the curiously balanced tables, seated across a neighboring species often thought as bloodthirsty cretins.
Once more had an earth mining operation been sabotaged and mined materials stolen, very few survivors. Humanity cried to their leaders for the injustice, and finally council was sought with a higher ruling; a boring, time wasting ruling.
"attempted established peace treaties, trade, communication...." the drivel was getting to grind his nerves, and cutting off the council speaker to the surprise of the entire room he spoke.
"What then shall we do? These attacks are killing our people defenseless as to not engage in warfare per your own regulations. Or are the Kntet above these rules of war?"
A slimy, chocking chortle broke the immediate silence as the Kntet representative broke into what could be laughter.
"rules? St-upi-d human, war has no rules, earth dum-b if they think war need rules!"
The sounds of more chuckles broke his nerve, the entire chamber save his deligates found this concept of obeying rules of warfare unusual and childish. He clenched his fist, crossed his hands on the desk sending a command from the console hidden in his cuffs.
"Then humanity will relax our rules of engagement, and declare war on Kntet and its peoples."
He stood, his two deligates following suit as they unhostered narrow blades from within their uniforms, a vibrant hum filled the air as within seconds they had leapt forward in this lower gravity chamber, cleaving the Kntet deligation to strips. As their bodies turned Goo slid down the seat, much to the surprise and horror of the council, humanity spoke not with words on paper, texts with seals, or agreements but with hard bitter hatred.
The Kntet would retaliate, but their lack of rules mean they were never curious enough to find out how to dissect a human, how to mix poisons to make their skin dry and crack in seconds, how to bomb their cities to sterilize entire continents. Or how to manipulate their brain signals to simply obey, to work until exhausted, until muscles tore and hands sheared from abuse.
The Knet would never learn this and within two orbits of their own suns would the galaxies look upon the once fearsome Kntet, bound and gagged, sending ship after ship of resources to human systems, subjugated as their species kept barely above extinction served new masters.
Some who tried to aid the fleeing Kntet among the universe would learn the phrase that would strike fear at their homeworlds' core; Exterminatus. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | **RULES OF WAR FOR FOXES**
----
“I understand the concept is confusing - and possibly off-putting to the council - but I can’t stress this enough — we _need_ rules,” Cadence said.
The chamber was small. There was only two Overseers presiding over the case. They were a humanoid species, but a quarter of the size of man. Pink skin. Short red hair.
Humans joked that they looked like Troll dolls. Not publicly, of course.
These little bastards were revered as having the highest logical intellect (yet troubling contextual understanding) in the galaxy — which is why most of them worked in government.
Cadence was one of the seven ambassadors from Earth.
It had been ten years since mankind broke faster than light travel, which sent the beacon out that Earth had evolved to the point of inclusion.
That ten years had been a whirlwind of assimilation and expansion for the human race.
Cadence grew up the daughter of Australia’s prime minister. And by hand outs and hard work she found herself in this great position to explore and speak on humanities behalf. An accomplishment high for a woman of 30. Something that her counterparts - the other six ambassadors - reminder her of frequently.
The other ambassadors were comprised of four men over sixty and two were women over forty.
“We understand,” said an Overseer.
“Excellent,” Cadence said. “So what are the next steps?”
“For what,” said an Overseer.
“To get legislation moving to implement _Rules of War,_” Cadence said.
“Oh,” an Overseer said. “Yeh, we’re not doing that.”
Cadence paused and gave confused shake. “I must have misunderstood.”
“No, I believe we all understand one another,” an Overseer said. “Humans get aggressive in war. Agitated. Vengeful.”
“Correct, and without some rules to hold our more daring military leaders accountable, I -“ she gestured at her other Ambassadors. “We. _We_ believe that could have a very damaging impact on the stability of the galaxy.”
“I find the idea of _Rules of War_ very amusing,” an Overseer said.
“As do I,” said the other Overseer.
“You wouldn’t be amused if you were educated on some of the horrific things done when there were no rules of war,” Cadence said.
The Overseers shared a chuckle.
“We are educated,” an Overseer said. “We are aware that some of humans largest acts of violence and genocide happened while there were Rules of War in place. So we hear you. We value your concern. But we do not see it fit to waste political energy to implement something that will make no impact.”
“That is a human trait,” the other Overseer said.
“War is war. Any attempt to offer rules is fruitless.”
Cadence looked to her other Ambassadors, searching for some reinforcement.
She found none.
“We find this matter closed,” an Overseer said and smiled. “Thank you.”
The Earth ambassadors stood.
Cadence stayed seated. “I grew up in a part of my planet that known for having dangerous animals. Animals that can kill a person - or alien - with a single strike. But no human holds it against them, because they are animals. They don’t know any better. They follow instinct.”
Cadence stood and straighten out her jacket. “My uncle was a farmer. Kept pigs. Chickens. Cows.”
“Human cattle,” one Overseer said, captivated. They loved information, and hearing a story like this, first hand, had their full attention.
“Yes,” Cadence said. “Cattle. Well the most dangerous animal in a land of very dangerous animals wasn’t some giant predator. No. It was a small little hunter. A Fox. Not this big,” she showed a size about three feet long and two feet high with her hands.
“This little guy caused more death on my uncles farm than any other animal my country is known for. Every morning my Uncle would go down, find the coop bloody and white feathers everywhere. So he put up barriers. A better fence. The fox still got in. A reinforced gate. The fox still got in. Until finally, every night he locked the chickens in the coop himself. And you know what happened?”
The Overseers were enthralled.
“What?”
“The fox still got in,” Cadence said.
“How?”
Cadence smiled. “He dug his way in. Took him most the night, and he only got one chicken, but he got in.”
“Interesting.”
“Eventually my Uncle moved the chickens into a barn, and every night he would lock them up. And sure, there would be stretched of peacetime where he wouldn’t see the fox for months. But eventually. One morning my Uncle would go out to open the barn and find bloody white feathers everywhere.”
The Overseers sat silent, absorbing the story.
“Humans are the foxes?” One of them asked.
“Yes,” Cadence said. “Humans are the foxes.”
The Overseers exchanged an understanding glance.
“Thank you for providing more color on the depth of humanities violence,” an Overseer said.
“Yes,” the other said. “It is amusing no longer.”
Cadence nodded. “No, it’s not.”
“We thought humans were only violent in war,” an Overseer said.
“Yes. That we can justify,” the other Overseer said. And him and his counterpart began a volley of words back and forth.
“But seeking out war.”
“Instinctually needing to kill.”
“Like the Fox.”
“Like the Fox.”
“That’s something the species of the galactic senate have evolved past.”
“We have criminals, sure.”
“But not mass murdering species.”
“That have an inner desire to destroy.”
“No, that’s too dangerous to keep around.”
Cadence raised her palms. “Wait - I think we might be getting a little bit inflammatory here.”
“We value your contribution, Cadence of Earth. It would be ill-advised to allow a homicidal species to continue to coexist with what has been built.”
“Very dangerous,” the other Overseer said.
“Wait, wait, wait -“ Cadence said.
“- that will be all Earth-girl,” the Overseer said and turned to his counter part as he waved his hand. A glass divider fell, separating the Ambassadors of Earth from the Overseers.
Cadence slammed on the glass and yelled to get their attention back. But from their side they couldn’t hear a thing.
“Do you still recall the quarantine procedure?”
“It’s been a while, we’ll have to ask the administrator to pull up the forms.”
They turned to the glass. Cadence was wild and wide eyed - slamming and yelling. The Ambassadors behind her had joined in, realizing how south the situation and gone. They all slammed on the glass, trying to urge the Overseers to listen.
The Overseers sat calm. Fascinated by the aggression the Ambassadors were showing. The muted pleas and screams were upsetting to the Overseers.
“Imagine If we didn’t have this divider in place?” an Overseer said.
“The Foxes would be ripping us apart.” The other Overseer said.
They sat, stunned by the turn the civilized humans had taken in such a short time.
“Perhaps we should also review the eradication form.”
“Perhaps.”
----
r/wyrdfiction <--- if you like my writing | They laughed.
Once.
Rules of engagement are a weakness against a foe ready to ignore them, so spoke the aliens while readying cannons and fleets should humanity be foolish enough to attack.
You may be right, we answered.
Foolish children, we thought.
We live in a galaxy of laws. Gravity, physics, time and space. A gathering of mechanisms that allows one being at a specific instant to raise a hand to grab a cookie. The fine architecture of muscles and bones in the arm, the mass of sugar and dough giving weight and form to the cookie, entropy showing when is *now* and when is *then*.
And what fun are rules, if they can't be broken?
There remains a theoretical conundrum back on Earth about the use of helicopters. They fly, we can see and experience it, yet it is absurdly easy to construct a theorem pointing out how it should not be able to. Maybe we simply broke the rule.
Or the rule was shoddy to start with.
Which begs the question, who made the law? God? Omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence, beaten by curiosity and ingenuity. If so, God does not deserve to be all-powerful, nor does it deserve the appellation of God. By breaking a rule, we make it anew, and thus are as deserving of the title of creator.
Maybe the original creator left, afraid.
It is obviously just as likely there is no such clockwork master in this universe of ours. Mass collides into a single point, coalescing, until a tipping point is reached. Big Bang, principles and standards thrown around as haphazardly as matter and light. Random and chaotic.
It is our duty then to clean the room, oil the hinges, cut down dead wood and plant anew. We eradicated sickness, prolonged our lifespan, remade Earth better.
So why? Why would we lock ourselves down with rules of our own making when we keep breaking them? Why add rules to a domain that lacks them in the first place? Gravity is gravity, but war in itself isn't law. Why spend senseless months and years behind closed doors to devise new rules of engagement in case of conflict?
Why indeed?
Because humanity is never as creative and inventive as when breaking laws.
And we broke most of them already. We broke climate change, peace reigns on Earth, light can be beaten in a race, death is ignored, and the end of the universe is just another problem to fix. There is barely any law left to break, save the one we make ourselves.
And with nations on Earth at peace and without a reason to kill, we are delighted to have made first contact.
This is our answer, written in the form of the first bullet shot at the aliens.
If war remains war, our inventors get bored at devising a bigger explosion. Give them hurdles, traps, the rules of engagement are made to be broken, molded. All-out warfare is honest, straightforward, and boring. Add words and texts to make conflict clean, and it becomes dirty, deadly, vicious and sadistic. Our galactic neighbors are learning the lesson, too late, it seems, too late.
When bombs were disallowed, we turned to gas.
We interdicted gas, and a genius broke through dimensions to transport the effect of the deadly product directly into a living organism, thus technically not using gas at all.
Then we outlawed killing aliens, and our scientists taught us "removal", how to displace living bodies onto a plane remote from space and time.
And now, with too many methods to win and prevail, we need some new barriers to keep our minds keen.
"Removal" has been disallowed.
And the galaxy will fear what we will invent next to circumvent this new law. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | The "Xeno" mocked humans at their interplanetary council. After learning humans had such silly rules for war, they teased and mocked humans.
"Are they so coddled that they need restrictions on the art and beauty of warfare?" High General Okrendai of the Antaki aliens laughed. The alien's interplanetary community decided that the Antaki were to skirmish with human forces in the Milky Way system. It was a sign of ridicule. The Antaki took great pride in dealing with the humans.
On July 12, 4098, the Empire of Humankind waged war on the Antaki people and all alien races. "If you want war so bad, we'll give you what you so want." High War chief Odysseus Vern declared.
That was 2 years ago. On August 4, 4098, the Antaki had set a base of operations on a planet called "Ragnarok" that bordered the entrance and exit of the Milky Way. And they waited for ships and planetary boarding craft. They got nothing but artillery shells and orbital bombardment. Seemingly from out of nowhere, large carpets of fire and steel were draped across Ragnarok's surface. The loud whistling and booming noise of explosive shells hitting the dirt and rock of the planet could be heard all hours of the day. The planet's surface was seemingly no longer a proper planet but a husk of craters. The Antaki's pride did not let them retreat. That was their mistake.
Today is january 23, 4100. The humans have been shelling Ragnarok for 2 years. Every hour, of every day, of every month, of every year, we gave the Antaki a taste of bitter tasting nectar, but the toxin was yet to be administered. Soon, we landed. Giant and ornate ships of gold and steel rushed towards Ragnarok. The Antaki spirit was near broken but they still manned their defences. Almost no human ships were shot down. All Antaki ships were destroyed.
Before the first landing craft hit the planet, toxic gas was dispersed on top of Antaki defensive fortresses. The Antaki suffocated and their organs burned within metal coffins that were meant to protect them. Their bodies piled up within quarters. But even after all this, the Antaki stood strong. Then the first boarding craft came. It was a massacre.
Humans brought weapons of not just death, but complete annihilation. Foot soldiers came by the waves, carrying weapons that would pierce through Antaki membrane skin with ease. Sticky bombs were shot at Antaki armoured vehicles. Flamethrowers made quick work of Antaki machine gun nests and artillery batteries. There was nothing left but charred, bloated, and dismembered bodies. Gigantic robots also crushed Antaki under their feet and tall armoured soldier sliced Antaki in half like butter. General Dankop of the Antaki forces on Ragnarok was pushed out of an air lock on the ship of High War chief Odysseus.
The carnage was recorded and sent to the alien's interplanetary council. All aliens felt sick to their stomachs. The Antaki and the rest of the council offered to surrender out of horror. War chief Odysseus and the Empire of Humankind denied the surrender offer.
"You wanted war. We'll give you the gift you wanted." Odysseus was quoted saying.
&#x200B;
The aliens were helpless to stop the advance of humanity. They regretted everything. They had awakened a side of humanity never before seen on such a scale. They had gone past the point of understanding and progress.
For the aliens, there is no peace in the darkness of the far future. There is only war. | They laughed.
Once.
Rules of engagement are a weakness against a foe ready to ignore them, so spoke the aliens while readying cannons and fleets should humanity be foolish enough to attack.
You may be right, we answered.
Foolish children, we thought.
We live in a galaxy of laws. Gravity, physics, time and space. A gathering of mechanisms that allows one being at a specific instant to raise a hand to grab a cookie. The fine architecture of muscles and bones in the arm, the mass of sugar and dough giving weight and form to the cookie, entropy showing when is *now* and when is *then*.
And what fun are rules, if they can't be broken?
There remains a theoretical conundrum back on Earth about the use of helicopters. They fly, we can see and experience it, yet it is absurdly easy to construct a theorem pointing out how it should not be able to. Maybe we simply broke the rule.
Or the rule was shoddy to start with.
Which begs the question, who made the law? God? Omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence, beaten by curiosity and ingenuity. If so, God does not deserve to be all-powerful, nor does it deserve the appellation of God. By breaking a rule, we make it anew, and thus are as deserving of the title of creator.
Maybe the original creator left, afraid.
It is obviously just as likely there is no such clockwork master in this universe of ours. Mass collides into a single point, coalescing, until a tipping point is reached. Big Bang, principles and standards thrown around as haphazardly as matter and light. Random and chaotic.
It is our duty then to clean the room, oil the hinges, cut down dead wood and plant anew. We eradicated sickness, prolonged our lifespan, remade Earth better.
So why? Why would we lock ourselves down with rules of our own making when we keep breaking them? Why add rules to a domain that lacks them in the first place? Gravity is gravity, but war in itself isn't law. Why spend senseless months and years behind closed doors to devise new rules of engagement in case of conflict?
Why indeed?
Because humanity is never as creative and inventive as when breaking laws.
And we broke most of them already. We broke climate change, peace reigns on Earth, light can be beaten in a race, death is ignored, and the end of the universe is just another problem to fix. There is barely any law left to break, save the one we make ourselves.
And with nations on Earth at peace and without a reason to kill, we are delighted to have made first contact.
This is our answer, written in the form of the first bullet shot at the aliens.
If war remains war, our inventors get bored at devising a bigger explosion. Give them hurdles, traps, the rules of engagement are made to be broken, molded. All-out warfare is honest, straightforward, and boring. Add words and texts to make conflict clean, and it becomes dirty, deadly, vicious and sadistic. Our galactic neighbors are learning the lesson, too late, it seems, too late.
When bombs were disallowed, we turned to gas.
We interdicted gas, and a genius broke through dimensions to transport the effect of the deadly product directly into a living organism, thus technically not using gas at all.
Then we outlawed killing aliens, and our scientists taught us "removal", how to displace living bodies onto a plane remote from space and time.
And now, with too many methods to win and prevail, we need some new barriers to keep our minds keen.
"Removal" has been disallowed.
And the galaxy will fear what we will invent next to circumvent this new law. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “What do you mean, announce?” Marshall said.
All five of Jlipo’s mouths were aghast, revealing rows of shark-like teeth that looked like they could serrate flesh in instants. Which made them great for processing the fibrous husks of corn, their only source of nutrition.
“What are you even saying? Of course, you have to announce an attack,” Jlipo whispered nervously.”
“Sorry, I thought we were doing without rules,” Marshall said, tapping his scruffy chin with two quickly alternating fingers—which felt like the heart rate of the other generals around the table.
“Is announcing an attack… not common sense?” Greshik swivelled her singular, giant purple eye at the human.
“Why would you announce an attack? Then you lose the element of surprise,” Marshall said. “If I can take down even one more person from a surprise attack, that means less loss for my troops. And then, that means more people on their side dying. It’s a positive cycle.”
“But you announced wars,” Jlipo said again. It was like explaining to a person who had breathed just fine his whole life that he was breathing wrong, a situation so ludicrous that it was impossible to link and accept.
“And now, I don’t,” Marshall shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”
“Wha—what’s the—what’s the big deal?” Greshik cried, her one eye quivering unsettlingly like a week-old jelly. “You. Announce. Wars! It is the biggest of conflicts!”
Marshall waved a finger at Greshik.
“Did we announce this argument?”
“What?” Greshik was taken aback.
“We are having a conflict now. Did we announce it beforehand?”
“But that’s no war,” the one-eyed alien said. “That was just—”
“Ah,” Marshall said. “So this argument is invalid now? Because we didn’t announce it beforehand?”
“Look, you have to announce it,” Jlipo pleaded, each mouth producing its own small sound. “Or how do you expect the other side to defend? There are so many calculations to make there, so many strategic decisions, and—”
“Like I said, I want as many of them dead as possible,” Marshall said. “You were the one that said no rules. I’m playing by those rules. And no rules, to me, rules.”
“I do not understand man,” Jlipo shook his head gently. “What else would you do?”
“I’ll throw my most powerful weapons first, instead of waiting around for some sort of challenge,” Marshall said. “Like I said—positive cycle.”
“Are all humans like this?” Greshik grimaced in disgust. “So utterly barbaric!”
“It’s called playing to win, baby,” Marshall said. “Humans fought most of their wars like that. There’s a lot of stuff like the Geneva Conventions or laws or what not, but all you have to do is just win so much that nobody’s left to complain.”
“And by winning, you mean killing,” Jlipo said.
“Same word to me,” Marshall smiled. He stood up, bowing slightly.
“Whatever, you guys already know what I’m going to do,” the human said. “I’m going to the toilet before I smack some of these fools.”
Greshik and Jlipo looked at each other.
“We have to say no, right?” Greshik said.
“I don’t know,” Jlipo admitted. “He said this game doesn’t have any rules.”
“I don’t need rules to know when I’m being an asshole,” Greshik said. “Like… Marshall thinks like a psychopath? Are all humans that ruthless?”
“He does not inspire faith,” Jlipo agreed. “But one thing’s for sure—we are never playing Risk with him ever again,”
---
r/dexdrafts | They laughed.
Once.
Rules of engagement are a weakness against a foe ready to ignore them, so spoke the aliens while readying cannons and fleets should humanity be foolish enough to attack.
You may be right, we answered.
Foolish children, we thought.
We live in a galaxy of laws. Gravity, physics, time and space. A gathering of mechanisms that allows one being at a specific instant to raise a hand to grab a cookie. The fine architecture of muscles and bones in the arm, the mass of sugar and dough giving weight and form to the cookie, entropy showing when is *now* and when is *then*.
And what fun are rules, if they can't be broken?
There remains a theoretical conundrum back on Earth about the use of helicopters. They fly, we can see and experience it, yet it is absurdly easy to construct a theorem pointing out how it should not be able to. Maybe we simply broke the rule.
Or the rule was shoddy to start with.
Which begs the question, who made the law? God? Omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence, beaten by curiosity and ingenuity. If so, God does not deserve to be all-powerful, nor does it deserve the appellation of God. By breaking a rule, we make it anew, and thus are as deserving of the title of creator.
Maybe the original creator left, afraid.
It is obviously just as likely there is no such clockwork master in this universe of ours. Mass collides into a single point, coalescing, until a tipping point is reached. Big Bang, principles and standards thrown around as haphazardly as matter and light. Random and chaotic.
It is our duty then to clean the room, oil the hinges, cut down dead wood and plant anew. We eradicated sickness, prolonged our lifespan, remade Earth better.
So why? Why would we lock ourselves down with rules of our own making when we keep breaking them? Why add rules to a domain that lacks them in the first place? Gravity is gravity, but war in itself isn't law. Why spend senseless months and years behind closed doors to devise new rules of engagement in case of conflict?
Why indeed?
Because humanity is never as creative and inventive as when breaking laws.
And we broke most of them already. We broke climate change, peace reigns on Earth, light can be beaten in a race, death is ignored, and the end of the universe is just another problem to fix. There is barely any law left to break, save the one we make ourselves.
And with nations on Earth at peace and without a reason to kill, we are delighted to have made first contact.
This is our answer, written in the form of the first bullet shot at the aliens.
If war remains war, our inventors get bored at devising a bigger explosion. Give them hurdles, traps, the rules of engagement are made to be broken, molded. All-out warfare is honest, straightforward, and boring. Add words and texts to make conflict clean, and it becomes dirty, deadly, vicious and sadistic. Our galactic neighbors are learning the lesson, too late, it seems, too late.
When bombs were disallowed, we turned to gas.
We interdicted gas, and a genius broke through dimensions to transport the effect of the deadly product directly into a living organism, thus technically not using gas at all.
Then we outlawed killing aliens, and our scientists taught us "removal", how to displace living bodies onto a plane remote from space and time.
And now, with too many methods to win and prevail, we need some new barriers to keep our minds keen.
"Removal" has been disallowed.
And the galaxy will fear what we will invent next to circumvent this new law. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the far reaches of space a lone human cargo hauler came under attack by an alien race that they had yet to meet. An emergency drone dropped out of the hauler with a dump of the ships computers highlighting the attacker. In a flash, the drone was off to the nearest human star system.
That lone incident introduced humans to the wider galaxy, one teeming with alien species, all decades to centuries more advanced than they themselves. It took months before Sol found out who their attackers were, a race of beings half the size and thrice as mean as an onery grizzly bear. In fact, the race appeared as if bears from earth evolved to have thumbs and walk upright.
Offers for peace were ignored, the response being every envoy killed or destroyed. A few minor skirmishes broke out along the borders of the Grizzlies, as the humans had taken to calling them, but not all out war. Contact with the wider galactic populace was rapid and Sol learned that the Grizzlies were conquerors, they only understood war and conquest. The Great Hunt, they called it with almost religious fervor.
Not wanting to possibly place themselves poorly within the greater galactic community, the Sol ambassadors asked what rules of warfare the various species abided by, both spoken and written. The response they received was, "Rules in war? There are no rules!". The humans were shocked. "What about treatment of prisoners of war?" None. "Rules of medical transport and aid?" None. Anything about use of appropriate force? None.
The ambassadors shared a look amongst themselves before responding, "Great peoples of the galactic populace, are you sure there are no rules to warfare between one another? We are free to defend and carry on warfare as we see fit?" Laughter was their response.
The humans tried to reach an agreement on how to conduct the war - don't attack medical facilities or transports, no radiological or biological warfare, just conventional weapons. Only attack military necessary targets, not civilian populaces.
The Phulark, or the Grizzlies, only responded by dropping nuclear weapons on a heavily populated planet. The humans reaction was swift, three Phulark planets laid in ruin within weeks. Fleets decimated, reduced to frozen tombs in space. The humans sent a message, "Failure to abide by our rules of war will result in a phage unlike you have ever seen or experienced in the past."
You see, the humans wanted for us to understand their message - rules in war are necessary. If you fail to abide by them, the consequences are dire. And dire they were. The Phulark dropped chemicals on another human planet, causing untolds pain and suffering on the population until they died a painful death. This time, there was no response from the humans. The Phulark thought that they had won, as did many other races. We were wrong, oh how we were wrong.
The humans subscribed to a philosophy of warfare that the galaxy left behind eons ago - psychological warfare. War is hell, and the humans wielded it like a musical conductor. First, Phulark colonies went silent. Upon investigation it was as if the population was abducted. Then, the humans released an insidious virus that caused the Phulark to revert to their more animalistic nature. Entire planets succumbed to rabidity. The humans offered one last chance, relent and we will stop here, and now. Fail to relent, and the galaxy will know true horror.
I wish we would have listened, I wish we would have known the hell that was about to be unleashed upon us. The humans swept aside our fleets as if they were dust. How the humans advanced their tech so quickly we never could understand. But that wasn't what scared us, it was the turned that they dropped by the millions on our core worlds.
The turned were the colonists that were abducted and turned into cybernetic monsters equipped with all manners of horrid weaponry. Acid, flamethrowers, blister agents, nerve agents, microwave and x-ray weapons. The Phulark fell, we are no more.
I come to you, great council, to heed my warning - If you go to war with the humans, abide by their rules. If I were you, do everything in your power to avoid war and avoid my peoples fate.
Edit: thank you kind stranger for the gold! | They laughed.
Once.
Rules of engagement are a weakness against a foe ready to ignore them, so spoke the aliens while readying cannons and fleets should humanity be foolish enough to attack.
You may be right, we answered.
Foolish children, we thought.
We live in a galaxy of laws. Gravity, physics, time and space. A gathering of mechanisms that allows one being at a specific instant to raise a hand to grab a cookie. The fine architecture of muscles and bones in the arm, the mass of sugar and dough giving weight and form to the cookie, entropy showing when is *now* and when is *then*.
And what fun are rules, if they can't be broken?
There remains a theoretical conundrum back on Earth about the use of helicopters. They fly, we can see and experience it, yet it is absurdly easy to construct a theorem pointing out how it should not be able to. Maybe we simply broke the rule.
Or the rule was shoddy to start with.
Which begs the question, who made the law? God? Omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence, beaten by curiosity and ingenuity. If so, God does not deserve to be all-powerful, nor does it deserve the appellation of God. By breaking a rule, we make it anew, and thus are as deserving of the title of creator.
Maybe the original creator left, afraid.
It is obviously just as likely there is no such clockwork master in this universe of ours. Mass collides into a single point, coalescing, until a tipping point is reached. Big Bang, principles and standards thrown around as haphazardly as matter and light. Random and chaotic.
It is our duty then to clean the room, oil the hinges, cut down dead wood and plant anew. We eradicated sickness, prolonged our lifespan, remade Earth better.
So why? Why would we lock ourselves down with rules of our own making when we keep breaking them? Why add rules to a domain that lacks them in the first place? Gravity is gravity, but war in itself isn't law. Why spend senseless months and years behind closed doors to devise new rules of engagement in case of conflict?
Why indeed?
Because humanity is never as creative and inventive as when breaking laws.
And we broke most of them already. We broke climate change, peace reigns on Earth, light can be beaten in a race, death is ignored, and the end of the universe is just another problem to fix. There is barely any law left to break, save the one we make ourselves.
And with nations on Earth at peace and without a reason to kill, we are delighted to have made first contact.
This is our answer, written in the form of the first bullet shot at the aliens.
If war remains war, our inventors get bored at devising a bigger explosion. Give them hurdles, traps, the rules of engagement are made to be broken, molded. All-out warfare is honest, straightforward, and boring. Add words and texts to make conflict clean, and it becomes dirty, deadly, vicious and sadistic. Our galactic neighbors are learning the lesson, too late, it seems, too late.
When bombs were disallowed, we turned to gas.
We interdicted gas, and a genius broke through dimensions to transport the effect of the deadly product directly into a living organism, thus technically not using gas at all.
Then we outlawed killing aliens, and our scientists taught us "removal", how to displace living bodies onto a plane remote from space and time.
And now, with too many methods to win and prevail, we need some new barriers to keep our minds keen.
"Removal" has been disallowed.
And the galaxy will fear what we will invent next to circumvent this new law. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | The "Xeno" mocked humans at their interplanetary council. After learning humans had such silly rules for war, they teased and mocked humans.
"Are they so coddled that they need restrictions on the art and beauty of warfare?" High General Okrendai of the Antaki aliens laughed. The alien's interplanetary community decided that the Antaki were to skirmish with human forces in the Milky Way system. It was a sign of ridicule. The Antaki took great pride in dealing with the humans.
On July 12, 4098, the Empire of Humankind waged war on the Antaki people and all alien races. "If you want war so bad, we'll give you what you so want." High War chief Odysseus Vern declared.
That was 2 years ago. On August 4, 4098, the Antaki had set a base of operations on a planet called "Ragnarok" that bordered the entrance and exit of the Milky Way. And they waited for ships and planetary boarding craft. They got nothing but artillery shells and orbital bombardment. Seemingly from out of nowhere, large carpets of fire and steel were draped across Ragnarok's surface. The loud whistling and booming noise of explosive shells hitting the dirt and rock of the planet could be heard all hours of the day. The planet's surface was seemingly no longer a proper planet but a husk of craters. The Antaki's pride did not let them retreat. That was their mistake.
Today is january 23, 4100. The humans have been shelling Ragnarok for 2 years. Every hour, of every day, of every month, of every year, we gave the Antaki a taste of bitter tasting nectar, but the toxin was yet to be administered. Soon, we landed. Giant and ornate ships of gold and steel rushed towards Ragnarok. The Antaki spirit was near broken but they still manned their defences. Almost no human ships were shot down. All Antaki ships were destroyed.
Before the first landing craft hit the planet, toxic gas was dispersed on top of Antaki defensive fortresses. The Antaki suffocated and their organs burned within metal coffins that were meant to protect them. Their bodies piled up within quarters. But even after all this, the Antaki stood strong. Then the first boarding craft came. It was a massacre.
Humans brought weapons of not just death, but complete annihilation. Foot soldiers came by the waves, carrying weapons that would pierce through Antaki membrane skin with ease. Sticky bombs were shot at Antaki armoured vehicles. Flamethrowers made quick work of Antaki machine gun nests and artillery batteries. There was nothing left but charred, bloated, and dismembered bodies. Gigantic robots also crushed Antaki under their feet and tall armoured soldier sliced Antaki in half like butter. General Dankop of the Antaki forces on Ragnarok was pushed out of an air lock on the ship of High War chief Odysseus.
The carnage was recorded and sent to the alien's interplanetary council. All aliens felt sick to their stomachs. The Antaki and the rest of the council offered to surrender out of horror. War chief Odysseus and the Empire of Humankind denied the surrender offer.
"You wanted war. We'll give you the gift you wanted." Odysseus was quoted saying.
&#x200B;
The aliens were helpless to stop the advance of humanity. They regretted everything. They had awakened a side of humanity never before seen on such a scale. They had gone past the point of understanding and progress.
For the aliens, there is no peace in the darkness of the far future. There is only war. | **RULES OF WAR FOR FOXES**
----
“I understand the concept is confusing - and possibly off-putting to the council - but I can’t stress this enough — we _need_ rules,” Cadence said.
The chamber was small. There was only two Overseers presiding over the case. They were a humanoid species, but a quarter of the size of man. Pink skin. Short red hair.
Humans joked that they looked like Troll dolls. Not publicly, of course.
These little bastards were revered as having the highest logical intellect (yet troubling contextual understanding) in the galaxy — which is why most of them worked in government.
Cadence was one of the seven ambassadors from Earth.
It had been ten years since mankind broke faster than light travel, which sent the beacon out that Earth had evolved to the point of inclusion.
That ten years had been a whirlwind of assimilation and expansion for the human race.
Cadence grew up the daughter of Australia’s prime minister. And by hand outs and hard work she found herself in this great position to explore and speak on humanities behalf. An accomplishment high for a woman of 30. Something that her counterparts - the other six ambassadors - reminder her of frequently.
The other ambassadors were comprised of four men over sixty and two were women over forty.
“We understand,” said an Overseer.
“Excellent,” Cadence said. “So what are the next steps?”
“For what,” said an Overseer.
“To get legislation moving to implement _Rules of War,_” Cadence said.
“Oh,” an Overseer said. “Yeh, we’re not doing that.”
Cadence paused and gave confused shake. “I must have misunderstood.”
“No, I believe we all understand one another,” an Overseer said. “Humans get aggressive in war. Agitated. Vengeful.”
“Correct, and without some rules to hold our more daring military leaders accountable, I -“ she gestured at her other Ambassadors. “We. _We_ believe that could have a very damaging impact on the stability of the galaxy.”
“I find the idea of _Rules of War_ very amusing,” an Overseer said.
“As do I,” said the other Overseer.
“You wouldn’t be amused if you were educated on some of the horrific things done when there were no rules of war,” Cadence said.
The Overseers shared a chuckle.
“We are educated,” an Overseer said. “We are aware that some of humans largest acts of violence and genocide happened while there were Rules of War in place. So we hear you. We value your concern. But we do not see it fit to waste political energy to implement something that will make no impact.”
“That is a human trait,” the other Overseer said.
“War is war. Any attempt to offer rules is fruitless.”
Cadence looked to her other Ambassadors, searching for some reinforcement.
She found none.
“We find this matter closed,” an Overseer said and smiled. “Thank you.”
The Earth ambassadors stood.
Cadence stayed seated. “I grew up in a part of my planet that known for having dangerous animals. Animals that can kill a person - or alien - with a single strike. But no human holds it against them, because they are animals. They don’t know any better. They follow instinct.”
Cadence stood and straighten out her jacket. “My uncle was a farmer. Kept pigs. Chickens. Cows.”
“Human cattle,” one Overseer said, captivated. They loved information, and hearing a story like this, first hand, had their full attention.
“Yes,” Cadence said. “Cattle. Well the most dangerous animal in a land of very dangerous animals wasn’t some giant predator. No. It was a small little hunter. A Fox. Not this big,” she showed a size about three feet long and two feet high with her hands.
“This little guy caused more death on my uncles farm than any other animal my country is known for. Every morning my Uncle would go down, find the coop bloody and white feathers everywhere. So he put up barriers. A better fence. The fox still got in. A reinforced gate. The fox still got in. Until finally, every night he locked the chickens in the coop himself. And you know what happened?”
The Overseers were enthralled.
“What?”
“The fox still got in,” Cadence said.
“How?”
Cadence smiled. “He dug his way in. Took him most the night, and he only got one chicken, but he got in.”
“Interesting.”
“Eventually my Uncle moved the chickens into a barn, and every night he would lock them up. And sure, there would be stretched of peacetime where he wouldn’t see the fox for months. But eventually. One morning my Uncle would go out to open the barn and find bloody white feathers everywhere.”
The Overseers sat silent, absorbing the story.
“Humans are the foxes?” One of them asked.
“Yes,” Cadence said. “Humans are the foxes.”
The Overseers exchanged an understanding glance.
“Thank you for providing more color on the depth of humanities violence,” an Overseer said.
“Yes,” the other said. “It is amusing no longer.”
Cadence nodded. “No, it’s not.”
“We thought humans were only violent in war,” an Overseer said.
“Yes. That we can justify,” the other Overseer said. And him and his counterpart began a volley of words back and forth.
“But seeking out war.”
“Instinctually needing to kill.”
“Like the Fox.”
“Like the Fox.”
“That’s something the species of the galactic senate have evolved past.”
“We have criminals, sure.”
“But not mass murdering species.”
“That have an inner desire to destroy.”
“No, that’s too dangerous to keep around.”
Cadence raised her palms. “Wait - I think we might be getting a little bit inflammatory here.”
“We value your contribution, Cadence of Earth. It would be ill-advised to allow a homicidal species to continue to coexist with what has been built.”
“Very dangerous,” the other Overseer said.
“Wait, wait, wait -“ Cadence said.
“- that will be all Earth-girl,” the Overseer said and turned to his counter part as he waved his hand. A glass divider fell, separating the Ambassadors of Earth from the Overseers.
Cadence slammed on the glass and yelled to get their attention back. But from their side they couldn’t hear a thing.
“Do you still recall the quarantine procedure?”
“It’s been a while, we’ll have to ask the administrator to pull up the forms.”
They turned to the glass. Cadence was wild and wide eyed - slamming and yelling. The Ambassadors behind her had joined in, realizing how south the situation and gone. They all slammed on the glass, trying to urge the Overseers to listen.
The Overseers sat calm. Fascinated by the aggression the Ambassadors were showing. The muted pleas and screams were upsetting to the Overseers.
“Imagine If we didn’t have this divider in place?” an Overseer said.
“The Foxes would be ripping us apart.” The other Overseer said.
They sat, stunned by the turn the civilized humans had taken in such a short time.
“Perhaps we should also review the eradication form.”
“Perhaps.”
----
r/wyrdfiction <--- if you like my writing | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | “What do you mean, announce?” Marshall said.
All five of Jlipo’s mouths were aghast, revealing rows of shark-like teeth that looked like they could serrate flesh in instants. Which made them great for processing the fibrous husks of corn, their only source of nutrition.
“What are you even saying? Of course, you have to announce an attack,” Jlipo whispered nervously.”
“Sorry, I thought we were doing without rules,” Marshall said, tapping his scruffy chin with two quickly alternating fingers—which felt like the heart rate of the other generals around the table.
“Is announcing an attack… not common sense?” Greshik swivelled her singular, giant purple eye at the human.
“Why would you announce an attack? Then you lose the element of surprise,” Marshall said. “If I can take down even one more person from a surprise attack, that means less loss for my troops. And then, that means more people on their side dying. It’s a positive cycle.”
“But you announced wars,” Jlipo said again. It was like explaining to a person who had breathed just fine his whole life that he was breathing wrong, a situation so ludicrous that it was impossible to link and accept.
“And now, I don’t,” Marshall shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”
“Wha—what’s the—what’s the big deal?” Greshik cried, her one eye quivering unsettlingly like a week-old jelly. “You. Announce. Wars! It is the biggest of conflicts!”
Marshall waved a finger at Greshik.
“Did we announce this argument?”
“What?” Greshik was taken aback.
“We are having a conflict now. Did we announce it beforehand?”
“But that’s no war,” the one-eyed alien said. “That was just—”
“Ah,” Marshall said. “So this argument is invalid now? Because we didn’t announce it beforehand?”
“Look, you have to announce it,” Jlipo pleaded, each mouth producing its own small sound. “Or how do you expect the other side to defend? There are so many calculations to make there, so many strategic decisions, and—”
“Like I said, I want as many of them dead as possible,” Marshall said. “You were the one that said no rules. I’m playing by those rules. And no rules, to me, rules.”
“I do not understand man,” Jlipo shook his head gently. “What else would you do?”
“I’ll throw my most powerful weapons first, instead of waiting around for some sort of challenge,” Marshall said. “Like I said—positive cycle.”
“Are all humans like this?” Greshik grimaced in disgust. “So utterly barbaric!”
“It’s called playing to win, baby,” Marshall said. “Humans fought most of their wars like that. There’s a lot of stuff like the Geneva Conventions or laws or what not, but all you have to do is just win so much that nobody’s left to complain.”
“And by winning, you mean killing,” Jlipo said.
“Same word to me,” Marshall smiled. He stood up, bowing slightly.
“Whatever, you guys already know what I’m going to do,” the human said. “I’m going to the toilet before I smack some of these fools.”
Greshik and Jlipo looked at each other.
“We have to say no, right?” Greshik said.
“I don’t know,” Jlipo admitted. “He said this game doesn’t have any rules.”
“I don’t need rules to know when I’m being an asshole,” Greshik said. “Like… Marshall thinks like a psychopath? Are all humans that ruthless?”
“He does not inspire faith,” Jlipo agreed. “But one thing’s for sure—we are never playing Risk with him ever again,”
---
r/dexdrafts | **RULES OF WAR FOR FOXES**
----
“I understand the concept is confusing - and possibly off-putting to the council - but I can’t stress this enough — we _need_ rules,” Cadence said.
The chamber was small. There was only two Overseers presiding over the case. They were a humanoid species, but a quarter of the size of man. Pink skin. Short red hair.
Humans joked that they looked like Troll dolls. Not publicly, of course.
These little bastards were revered as having the highest logical intellect (yet troubling contextual understanding) in the galaxy — which is why most of them worked in government.
Cadence was one of the seven ambassadors from Earth.
It had been ten years since mankind broke faster than light travel, which sent the beacon out that Earth had evolved to the point of inclusion.
That ten years had been a whirlwind of assimilation and expansion for the human race.
Cadence grew up the daughter of Australia’s prime minister. And by hand outs and hard work she found herself in this great position to explore and speak on humanities behalf. An accomplishment high for a woman of 30. Something that her counterparts - the other six ambassadors - reminder her of frequently.
The other ambassadors were comprised of four men over sixty and two were women over forty.
“We understand,” said an Overseer.
“Excellent,” Cadence said. “So what are the next steps?”
“For what,” said an Overseer.
“To get legislation moving to implement _Rules of War,_” Cadence said.
“Oh,” an Overseer said. “Yeh, we’re not doing that.”
Cadence paused and gave confused shake. “I must have misunderstood.”
“No, I believe we all understand one another,” an Overseer said. “Humans get aggressive in war. Agitated. Vengeful.”
“Correct, and without some rules to hold our more daring military leaders accountable, I -“ she gestured at her other Ambassadors. “We. _We_ believe that could have a very damaging impact on the stability of the galaxy.”
“I find the idea of _Rules of War_ very amusing,” an Overseer said.
“As do I,” said the other Overseer.
“You wouldn’t be amused if you were educated on some of the horrific things done when there were no rules of war,” Cadence said.
The Overseers shared a chuckle.
“We are educated,” an Overseer said. “We are aware that some of humans largest acts of violence and genocide happened while there were Rules of War in place. So we hear you. We value your concern. But we do not see it fit to waste political energy to implement something that will make no impact.”
“That is a human trait,” the other Overseer said.
“War is war. Any attempt to offer rules is fruitless.”
Cadence looked to her other Ambassadors, searching for some reinforcement.
She found none.
“We find this matter closed,” an Overseer said and smiled. “Thank you.”
The Earth ambassadors stood.
Cadence stayed seated. “I grew up in a part of my planet that known for having dangerous animals. Animals that can kill a person - or alien - with a single strike. But no human holds it against them, because they are animals. They don’t know any better. They follow instinct.”
Cadence stood and straighten out her jacket. “My uncle was a farmer. Kept pigs. Chickens. Cows.”
“Human cattle,” one Overseer said, captivated. They loved information, and hearing a story like this, first hand, had their full attention.
“Yes,” Cadence said. “Cattle. Well the most dangerous animal in a land of very dangerous animals wasn’t some giant predator. No. It was a small little hunter. A Fox. Not this big,” she showed a size about three feet long and two feet high with her hands.
“This little guy caused more death on my uncles farm than any other animal my country is known for. Every morning my Uncle would go down, find the coop bloody and white feathers everywhere. So he put up barriers. A better fence. The fox still got in. A reinforced gate. The fox still got in. Until finally, every night he locked the chickens in the coop himself. And you know what happened?”
The Overseers were enthralled.
“What?”
“The fox still got in,” Cadence said.
“How?”
Cadence smiled. “He dug his way in. Took him most the night, and he only got one chicken, but he got in.”
“Interesting.”
“Eventually my Uncle moved the chickens into a barn, and every night he would lock them up. And sure, there would be stretched of peacetime where he wouldn’t see the fox for months. But eventually. One morning my Uncle would go out to open the barn and find bloody white feathers everywhere.”
The Overseers sat silent, absorbing the story.
“Humans are the foxes?” One of them asked.
“Yes,” Cadence said. “Humans are the foxes.”
The Overseers exchanged an understanding glance.
“Thank you for providing more color on the depth of humanities violence,” an Overseer said.
“Yes,” the other said. “It is amusing no longer.”
Cadence nodded. “No, it’s not.”
“We thought humans were only violent in war,” an Overseer said.
“Yes. That we can justify,” the other Overseer said. And him and his counterpart began a volley of words back and forth.
“But seeking out war.”
“Instinctually needing to kill.”
“Like the Fox.”
“Like the Fox.”
“That’s something the species of the galactic senate have evolved past.”
“We have criminals, sure.”
“But not mass murdering species.”
“That have an inner desire to destroy.”
“No, that’s too dangerous to keep around.”
Cadence raised her palms. “Wait - I think we might be getting a little bit inflammatory here.”
“We value your contribution, Cadence of Earth. It would be ill-advised to allow a homicidal species to continue to coexist with what has been built.”
“Very dangerous,” the other Overseer said.
“Wait, wait, wait -“ Cadence said.
“- that will be all Earth-girl,” the Overseer said and turned to his counter part as he waved his hand. A glass divider fell, separating the Ambassadors of Earth from the Overseers.
Cadence slammed on the glass and yelled to get their attention back. But from their side they couldn’t hear a thing.
“Do you still recall the quarantine procedure?”
“It’s been a while, we’ll have to ask the administrator to pull up the forms.”
They turned to the glass. Cadence was wild and wide eyed - slamming and yelling. The Ambassadors behind her had joined in, realizing how south the situation and gone. They all slammed on the glass, trying to urge the Overseers to listen.
The Overseers sat calm. Fascinated by the aggression the Ambassadors were showing. The muted pleas and screams were upsetting to the Overseers.
“Imagine If we didn’t have this divider in place?” an Overseer said.
“The Foxes would be ripping us apart.” The other Overseer said.
They sat, stunned by the turn the civilized humans had taken in such a short time.
“Perhaps we should also review the eradication form.”
“Perhaps.”
----
r/wyrdfiction <--- if you like my writing | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the far reaches of space a lone human cargo hauler came under attack by an alien race that they had yet to meet. An emergency drone dropped out of the hauler with a dump of the ships computers highlighting the attacker. In a flash, the drone was off to the nearest human star system.
That lone incident introduced humans to the wider galaxy, one teeming with alien species, all decades to centuries more advanced than they themselves. It took months before Sol found out who their attackers were, a race of beings half the size and thrice as mean as an onery grizzly bear. In fact, the race appeared as if bears from earth evolved to have thumbs and walk upright.
Offers for peace were ignored, the response being every envoy killed or destroyed. A few minor skirmishes broke out along the borders of the Grizzlies, as the humans had taken to calling them, but not all out war. Contact with the wider galactic populace was rapid and Sol learned that the Grizzlies were conquerors, they only understood war and conquest. The Great Hunt, they called it with almost religious fervor.
Not wanting to possibly place themselves poorly within the greater galactic community, the Sol ambassadors asked what rules of warfare the various species abided by, both spoken and written. The response they received was, "Rules in war? There are no rules!". The humans were shocked. "What about treatment of prisoners of war?" None. "Rules of medical transport and aid?" None. Anything about use of appropriate force? None.
The ambassadors shared a look amongst themselves before responding, "Great peoples of the galactic populace, are you sure there are no rules to warfare between one another? We are free to defend and carry on warfare as we see fit?" Laughter was their response.
The humans tried to reach an agreement on how to conduct the war - don't attack medical facilities or transports, no radiological or biological warfare, just conventional weapons. Only attack military necessary targets, not civilian populaces.
The Phulark, or the Grizzlies, only responded by dropping nuclear weapons on a heavily populated planet. The humans reaction was swift, three Phulark planets laid in ruin within weeks. Fleets decimated, reduced to frozen tombs in space. The humans sent a message, "Failure to abide by our rules of war will result in a phage unlike you have ever seen or experienced in the past."
You see, the humans wanted for us to understand their message - rules in war are necessary. If you fail to abide by them, the consequences are dire. And dire they were. The Phulark dropped chemicals on another human planet, causing untolds pain and suffering on the population until they died a painful death. This time, there was no response from the humans. The Phulark thought that they had won, as did many other races. We were wrong, oh how we were wrong.
The humans subscribed to a philosophy of warfare that the galaxy left behind eons ago - psychological warfare. War is hell, and the humans wielded it like a musical conductor. First, Phulark colonies went silent. Upon investigation it was as if the population was abducted. Then, the humans released an insidious virus that caused the Phulark to revert to their more animalistic nature. Entire planets succumbed to rabidity. The humans offered one last chance, relent and we will stop here, and now. Fail to relent, and the galaxy will know true horror.
I wish we would have listened, I wish we would have known the hell that was about to be unleashed upon us. The humans swept aside our fleets as if they were dust. How the humans advanced their tech so quickly we never could understand. But that wasn't what scared us, it was the turned that they dropped by the millions on our core worlds.
The turned were the colonists that were abducted and turned into cybernetic monsters equipped with all manners of horrid weaponry. Acid, flamethrowers, blister agents, nerve agents, microwave and x-ray weapons. The Phulark fell, we are no more.
I come to you, great council, to heed my warning - If you go to war with the humans, abide by their rules. If I were you, do everything in your power to avoid war and avoid my peoples fate.
Edit: thank you kind stranger for the gold! | **RULES OF WAR FOR FOXES**
----
“I understand the concept is confusing - and possibly off-putting to the council - but I can’t stress this enough — we _need_ rules,” Cadence said.
The chamber was small. There was only two Overseers presiding over the case. They were a humanoid species, but a quarter of the size of man. Pink skin. Short red hair.
Humans joked that they looked like Troll dolls. Not publicly, of course.
These little bastards were revered as having the highest logical intellect (yet troubling contextual understanding) in the galaxy — which is why most of them worked in government.
Cadence was one of the seven ambassadors from Earth.
It had been ten years since mankind broke faster than light travel, which sent the beacon out that Earth had evolved to the point of inclusion.
That ten years had been a whirlwind of assimilation and expansion for the human race.
Cadence grew up the daughter of Australia’s prime minister. And by hand outs and hard work she found herself in this great position to explore and speak on humanities behalf. An accomplishment high for a woman of 30. Something that her counterparts - the other six ambassadors - reminder her of frequently.
The other ambassadors were comprised of four men over sixty and two were women over forty.
“We understand,” said an Overseer.
“Excellent,” Cadence said. “So what are the next steps?”
“For what,” said an Overseer.
“To get legislation moving to implement _Rules of War,_” Cadence said.
“Oh,” an Overseer said. “Yeh, we’re not doing that.”
Cadence paused and gave confused shake. “I must have misunderstood.”
“No, I believe we all understand one another,” an Overseer said. “Humans get aggressive in war. Agitated. Vengeful.”
“Correct, and without some rules to hold our more daring military leaders accountable, I -“ she gestured at her other Ambassadors. “We. _We_ believe that could have a very damaging impact on the stability of the galaxy.”
“I find the idea of _Rules of War_ very amusing,” an Overseer said.
“As do I,” said the other Overseer.
“You wouldn’t be amused if you were educated on some of the horrific things done when there were no rules of war,” Cadence said.
The Overseers shared a chuckle.
“We are educated,” an Overseer said. “We are aware that some of humans largest acts of violence and genocide happened while there were Rules of War in place. So we hear you. We value your concern. But we do not see it fit to waste political energy to implement something that will make no impact.”
“That is a human trait,” the other Overseer said.
“War is war. Any attempt to offer rules is fruitless.”
Cadence looked to her other Ambassadors, searching for some reinforcement.
She found none.
“We find this matter closed,” an Overseer said and smiled. “Thank you.”
The Earth ambassadors stood.
Cadence stayed seated. “I grew up in a part of my planet that known for having dangerous animals. Animals that can kill a person - or alien - with a single strike. But no human holds it against them, because they are animals. They don’t know any better. They follow instinct.”
Cadence stood and straighten out her jacket. “My uncle was a farmer. Kept pigs. Chickens. Cows.”
“Human cattle,” one Overseer said, captivated. They loved information, and hearing a story like this, first hand, had their full attention.
“Yes,” Cadence said. “Cattle. Well the most dangerous animal in a land of very dangerous animals wasn’t some giant predator. No. It was a small little hunter. A Fox. Not this big,” she showed a size about three feet long and two feet high with her hands.
“This little guy caused more death on my uncles farm than any other animal my country is known for. Every morning my Uncle would go down, find the coop bloody and white feathers everywhere. So he put up barriers. A better fence. The fox still got in. A reinforced gate. The fox still got in. Until finally, every night he locked the chickens in the coop himself. And you know what happened?”
The Overseers were enthralled.
“What?”
“The fox still got in,” Cadence said.
“How?”
Cadence smiled. “He dug his way in. Took him most the night, and he only got one chicken, but he got in.”
“Interesting.”
“Eventually my Uncle moved the chickens into a barn, and every night he would lock them up. And sure, there would be stretched of peacetime where he wouldn’t see the fox for months. But eventually. One morning my Uncle would go out to open the barn and find bloody white feathers everywhere.”
The Overseers sat silent, absorbing the story.
“Humans are the foxes?” One of them asked.
“Yes,” Cadence said. “Humans are the foxes.”
The Overseers exchanged an understanding glance.
“Thank you for providing more color on the depth of humanities violence,” an Overseer said.
“Yes,” the other said. “It is amusing no longer.”
Cadence nodded. “No, it’s not.”
“We thought humans were only violent in war,” an Overseer said.
“Yes. That we can justify,” the other Overseer said. And him and his counterpart began a volley of words back and forth.
“But seeking out war.”
“Instinctually needing to kill.”
“Like the Fox.”
“Like the Fox.”
“That’s something the species of the galactic senate have evolved past.”
“We have criminals, sure.”
“But not mass murdering species.”
“That have an inner desire to destroy.”
“No, that’s too dangerous to keep around.”
Cadence raised her palms. “Wait - I think we might be getting a little bit inflammatory here.”
“We value your contribution, Cadence of Earth. It would be ill-advised to allow a homicidal species to continue to coexist with what has been built.”
“Very dangerous,” the other Overseer said.
“Wait, wait, wait -“ Cadence said.
“- that will be all Earth-girl,” the Overseer said and turned to his counter part as he waved his hand. A glass divider fell, separating the Ambassadors of Earth from the Overseers.
Cadence slammed on the glass and yelled to get their attention back. But from their side they couldn’t hear a thing.
“Do you still recall the quarantine procedure?”
“It’s been a while, we’ll have to ask the administrator to pull up the forms.”
They turned to the glass. Cadence was wild and wide eyed - slamming and yelling. The Ambassadors behind her had joined in, realizing how south the situation and gone. They all slammed on the glass, trying to urge the Overseers to listen.
The Overseers sat calm. Fascinated by the aggression the Ambassadors were showing. The muted pleas and screams were upsetting to the Overseers.
“Imagine If we didn’t have this divider in place?” an Overseer said.
“The Foxes would be ripping us apart.” The other Overseer said.
They sat, stunned by the turn the civilized humans had taken in such a short time.
“Perhaps we should also review the eradication form.”
“Perhaps.”
----
r/wyrdfiction <--- if you like my writing | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the far reaches of space a lone human cargo hauler came under attack by an alien race that they had yet to meet. An emergency drone dropped out of the hauler with a dump of the ships computers highlighting the attacker. In a flash, the drone was off to the nearest human star system.
That lone incident introduced humans to the wider galaxy, one teeming with alien species, all decades to centuries more advanced than they themselves. It took months before Sol found out who their attackers were, a race of beings half the size and thrice as mean as an onery grizzly bear. In fact, the race appeared as if bears from earth evolved to have thumbs and walk upright.
Offers for peace were ignored, the response being every envoy killed or destroyed. A few minor skirmishes broke out along the borders of the Grizzlies, as the humans had taken to calling them, but not all out war. Contact with the wider galactic populace was rapid and Sol learned that the Grizzlies were conquerors, they only understood war and conquest. The Great Hunt, they called it with almost religious fervor.
Not wanting to possibly place themselves poorly within the greater galactic community, the Sol ambassadors asked what rules of warfare the various species abided by, both spoken and written. The response they received was, "Rules in war? There are no rules!". The humans were shocked. "What about treatment of prisoners of war?" None. "Rules of medical transport and aid?" None. Anything about use of appropriate force? None.
The ambassadors shared a look amongst themselves before responding, "Great peoples of the galactic populace, are you sure there are no rules to warfare between one another? We are free to defend and carry on warfare as we see fit?" Laughter was their response.
The humans tried to reach an agreement on how to conduct the war - don't attack medical facilities or transports, no radiological or biological warfare, just conventional weapons. Only attack military necessary targets, not civilian populaces.
The Phulark, or the Grizzlies, only responded by dropping nuclear weapons on a heavily populated planet. The humans reaction was swift, three Phulark planets laid in ruin within weeks. Fleets decimated, reduced to frozen tombs in space. The humans sent a message, "Failure to abide by our rules of war will result in a phage unlike you have ever seen or experienced in the past."
You see, the humans wanted for us to understand their message - rules in war are necessary. If you fail to abide by them, the consequences are dire. And dire they were. The Phulark dropped chemicals on another human planet, causing untolds pain and suffering on the population until they died a painful death. This time, there was no response from the humans. The Phulark thought that they had won, as did many other races. We were wrong, oh how we were wrong.
The humans subscribed to a philosophy of warfare that the galaxy left behind eons ago - psychological warfare. War is hell, and the humans wielded it like a musical conductor. First, Phulark colonies went silent. Upon investigation it was as if the population was abducted. Then, the humans released an insidious virus that caused the Phulark to revert to their more animalistic nature. Entire planets succumbed to rabidity. The humans offered one last chance, relent and we will stop here, and now. Fail to relent, and the galaxy will know true horror.
I wish we would have listened, I wish we would have known the hell that was about to be unleashed upon us. The humans swept aside our fleets as if they were dust. How the humans advanced their tech so quickly we never could understand. But that wasn't what scared us, it was the turned that they dropped by the millions on our core worlds.
The turned were the colonists that were abducted and turned into cybernetic monsters equipped with all manners of horrid weaponry. Acid, flamethrowers, blister agents, nerve agents, microwave and x-ray weapons. The Phulark fell, we are no more.
I come to you, great council, to heed my warning - If you go to war with the humans, abide by their rules. If I were you, do everything in your power to avoid war and avoid my peoples fate.
Edit: thank you kind stranger for the gold! | The "Xeno" mocked humans at their interplanetary council. After learning humans had such silly rules for war, they teased and mocked humans.
"Are they so coddled that they need restrictions on the art and beauty of warfare?" High General Okrendai of the Antaki aliens laughed. The alien's interplanetary community decided that the Antaki were to skirmish with human forces in the Milky Way system. It was a sign of ridicule. The Antaki took great pride in dealing with the humans.
On July 12, 4098, the Empire of Humankind waged war on the Antaki people and all alien races. "If you want war so bad, we'll give you what you so want." High War chief Odysseus Vern declared.
That was 2 years ago. On August 4, 4098, the Antaki had set a base of operations on a planet called "Ragnarok" that bordered the entrance and exit of the Milky Way. And they waited for ships and planetary boarding craft. They got nothing but artillery shells and orbital bombardment. Seemingly from out of nowhere, large carpets of fire and steel were draped across Ragnarok's surface. The loud whistling and booming noise of explosive shells hitting the dirt and rock of the planet could be heard all hours of the day. The planet's surface was seemingly no longer a proper planet but a husk of craters. The Antaki's pride did not let them retreat. That was their mistake.
Today is january 23, 4100. The humans have been shelling Ragnarok for 2 years. Every hour, of every day, of every month, of every year, we gave the Antaki a taste of bitter tasting nectar, but the toxin was yet to be administered. Soon, we landed. Giant and ornate ships of gold and steel rushed towards Ragnarok. The Antaki spirit was near broken but they still manned their defences. Almost no human ships were shot down. All Antaki ships were destroyed.
Before the first landing craft hit the planet, toxic gas was dispersed on top of Antaki defensive fortresses. The Antaki suffocated and their organs burned within metal coffins that were meant to protect them. Their bodies piled up within quarters. But even after all this, the Antaki stood strong. Then the first boarding craft came. It was a massacre.
Humans brought weapons of not just death, but complete annihilation. Foot soldiers came by the waves, carrying weapons that would pierce through Antaki membrane skin with ease. Sticky bombs were shot at Antaki armoured vehicles. Flamethrowers made quick work of Antaki machine gun nests and artillery batteries. There was nothing left but charred, bloated, and dismembered bodies. Gigantic robots also crushed Antaki under their feet and tall armoured soldier sliced Antaki in half like butter. General Dankop of the Antaki forces on Ragnarok was pushed out of an air lock on the ship of High War chief Odysseus.
The carnage was recorded and sent to the alien's interplanetary council. All aliens felt sick to their stomachs. The Antaki and the rest of the council offered to surrender out of horror. War chief Odysseus and the Empire of Humankind denied the surrender offer.
"You wanted war. We'll give you the gift you wanted." Odysseus was quoted saying.
&#x200B;
The aliens were helpless to stop the advance of humanity. They regretted everything. They had awakened a side of humanity never before seen on such a scale. They had gone past the point of understanding and progress.
For the aliens, there is no peace in the darkness of the far future. There is only war. | |
[WP] The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules. | In the far reaches of space a lone human cargo hauler came under attack by an alien race that they had yet to meet. An emergency drone dropped out of the hauler with a dump of the ships computers highlighting the attacker. In a flash, the drone was off to the nearest human star system.
That lone incident introduced humans to the wider galaxy, one teeming with alien species, all decades to centuries more advanced than they themselves. It took months before Sol found out who their attackers were, a race of beings half the size and thrice as mean as an onery grizzly bear. In fact, the race appeared as if bears from earth evolved to have thumbs and walk upright.
Offers for peace were ignored, the response being every envoy killed or destroyed. A few minor skirmishes broke out along the borders of the Grizzlies, as the humans had taken to calling them, but not all out war. Contact with the wider galactic populace was rapid and Sol learned that the Grizzlies were conquerors, they only understood war and conquest. The Great Hunt, they called it with almost religious fervor.
Not wanting to possibly place themselves poorly within the greater galactic community, the Sol ambassadors asked what rules of warfare the various species abided by, both spoken and written. The response they received was, "Rules in war? There are no rules!". The humans were shocked. "What about treatment of prisoners of war?" None. "Rules of medical transport and aid?" None. Anything about use of appropriate force? None.
The ambassadors shared a look amongst themselves before responding, "Great peoples of the galactic populace, are you sure there are no rules to warfare between one another? We are free to defend and carry on warfare as we see fit?" Laughter was their response.
The humans tried to reach an agreement on how to conduct the war - don't attack medical facilities or transports, no radiological or biological warfare, just conventional weapons. Only attack military necessary targets, not civilian populaces.
The Phulark, or the Grizzlies, only responded by dropping nuclear weapons on a heavily populated planet. The humans reaction was swift, three Phulark planets laid in ruin within weeks. Fleets decimated, reduced to frozen tombs in space. The humans sent a message, "Failure to abide by our rules of war will result in a phage unlike you have ever seen or experienced in the past."
You see, the humans wanted for us to understand their message - rules in war are necessary. If you fail to abide by them, the consequences are dire. And dire they were. The Phulark dropped chemicals on another human planet, causing untolds pain and suffering on the population until they died a painful death. This time, there was no response from the humans. The Phulark thought that they had won, as did many other races. We were wrong, oh how we were wrong.
The humans subscribed to a philosophy of warfare that the galaxy left behind eons ago - psychological warfare. War is hell, and the humans wielded it like a musical conductor. First, Phulark colonies went silent. Upon investigation it was as if the population was abducted. Then, the humans released an insidious virus that caused the Phulark to revert to their more animalistic nature. Entire planets succumbed to rabidity. The humans offered one last chance, relent and we will stop here, and now. Fail to relent, and the galaxy will know true horror.
I wish we would have listened, I wish we would have known the hell that was about to be unleashed upon us. The humans swept aside our fleets as if they were dust. How the humans advanced their tech so quickly we never could understand. But that wasn't what scared us, it was the turned that they dropped by the millions on our core worlds.
The turned were the colonists that were abducted and turned into cybernetic monsters equipped with all manners of horrid weaponry. Acid, flamethrowers, blister agents, nerve agents, microwave and x-ray weapons. The Phulark fell, we are no more.
I come to you, great council, to heed my warning - If you go to war with the humans, abide by their rules. If I were you, do everything in your power to avoid war and avoid my peoples fate.
Edit: thank you kind stranger for the gold! | “What do you mean, announce?” Marshall said.
All five of Jlipo’s mouths were aghast, revealing rows of shark-like teeth that looked like they could serrate flesh in instants. Which made them great for processing the fibrous husks of corn, their only source of nutrition.
“What are you even saying? Of course, you have to announce an attack,” Jlipo whispered nervously.”
“Sorry, I thought we were doing without rules,” Marshall said, tapping his scruffy chin with two quickly alternating fingers—which felt like the heart rate of the other generals around the table.
“Is announcing an attack… not common sense?” Greshik swivelled her singular, giant purple eye at the human.
“Why would you announce an attack? Then you lose the element of surprise,” Marshall said. “If I can take down even one more person from a surprise attack, that means less loss for my troops. And then, that means more people on their side dying. It’s a positive cycle.”
“But you announced wars,” Jlipo said again. It was like explaining to a person who had breathed just fine his whole life that he was breathing wrong, a situation so ludicrous that it was impossible to link and accept.
“And now, I don’t,” Marshall shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”
“Wha—what’s the—what’s the big deal?” Greshik cried, her one eye quivering unsettlingly like a week-old jelly. “You. Announce. Wars! It is the biggest of conflicts!”
Marshall waved a finger at Greshik.
“Did we announce this argument?”
“What?” Greshik was taken aback.
“We are having a conflict now. Did we announce it beforehand?”
“But that’s no war,” the one-eyed alien said. “That was just—”
“Ah,” Marshall said. “So this argument is invalid now? Because we didn’t announce it beforehand?”
“Look, you have to announce it,” Jlipo pleaded, each mouth producing its own small sound. “Or how do you expect the other side to defend? There are so many calculations to make there, so many strategic decisions, and—”
“Like I said, I want as many of them dead as possible,” Marshall said. “You were the one that said no rules. I’m playing by those rules. And no rules, to me, rules.”
“I do not understand man,” Jlipo shook his head gently. “What else would you do?”
“I’ll throw my most powerful weapons first, instead of waiting around for some sort of challenge,” Marshall said. “Like I said—positive cycle.”
“Are all humans like this?” Greshik grimaced in disgust. “So utterly barbaric!”
“It’s called playing to win, baby,” Marshall said. “Humans fought most of their wars like that. There’s a lot of stuff like the Geneva Conventions or laws or what not, but all you have to do is just win so much that nobody’s left to complain.”
“And by winning, you mean killing,” Jlipo said.
“Same word to me,” Marshall smiled. He stood up, bowing slightly.
“Whatever, you guys already know what I’m going to do,” the human said. “I’m going to the toilet before I smack some of these fools.”
Greshik and Jlipo looked at each other.
“We have to say no, right?” Greshik said.
“I don’t know,” Jlipo admitted. “He said this game doesn’t have any rules.”
“I don’t need rules to know when I’m being an asshole,” Greshik said. “Like… Marshall thinks like a psychopath? Are all humans that ruthless?”
“He does not inspire faith,” Jlipo agreed. “But one thing’s for sure—we are never playing Risk with him ever again,”
---
r/dexdrafts | |
[WP] "Any last words, hero?" "I am going to kill you. And then I going to take your hat." "...Excuse me?" "You heard me: I want your hat. And you can't stop me." | "Any last words, hero?"
"I am going to kill you. And then I going to take your hat."
"...Excuse me?"
"You heard me: I want your hat. And you can't stop me."
"...you're in a *death trap*, Hero. It's not a *mild annoyance* trap."
"Yes, and that's why you can't stop me."
"You fool. This death trap will *kill* you."
"No, it won't."
"Yes, it will. That's why it's called a *death* trap."
"Oh, but you forget, I'm a Hero."
"So? What difference does that make?"
"I'm a *hero*. In a *deathtrap*."
"Yes, so?"
"Have you never heard of tropes?"
"No?"
"Watched a film, read a book, played a computer game?"
"Look, me world domination plots take up a lot of time..."
"Eh, don't worry about it, then. But your hat *will* be mine." | "Please. You thought you could get rid of my powers that easily. Of course, it's a common conception. I'm often seen with my hat, and I act out of the norm while wearing it, so my powers must come from my hat. That is partially true, of course, but not the whole truth. I still have my powers, with or without my hat. When you stole my hat and made your own, you gained some powers from it. You even transmitted some of the powers to a beret, which, I'll admit, I haven't seen done before. But by doing so, you took some of my power. Now, I want that power back. The last girl who stole my hat I fell in love with. You won't be so lucky."
Inspired by the xkcd character Black Hat | |
[WP] Everyone's heard of the fallen angels, but you are the first ascended demon. | I have made a deposit.
The banks of Gehenna roar in satisfaction.
We are arcanaloth, we speak the secrets, we hear the bargains, and we see the numbers. Every last one. Those massive numbers that we strife to lengthen, to collect. On this day I had added much to that number.
It was the mortals who first invented souls; they did so through murder. They had found the great and terrible power, the curse.
To turn people into numbers.
We do not set the prices, the mortals do themselves. They set it as they always have: low. So low that they clamber and scurry to those down here to take them. They carve doorways to toss themselves at the gates with no remorse.
Isn't that sickening?
I have heard the hymns, the prayers from those too low to see themselves worthy of god. The cries of that too ashamed to call itself man. They weep and beg "Take me! Take me and spare the others!" The starving, the sick, the elderly, they reach out with bloodied hands, staining me with their sorrows. I try to hate them, as I was taught to. But in my gaze I see myself, wallowing amongst the rabble.
My kin tell me this is weakness, that I am a broken piece of Gehenna's great gearbox. I pity them as well, walking their circles, seeing walls where doors stood. They are trapped; trapped like me. Trapped like the fallin divine, casting vengeful justice upon us.
For so long I dreamt of this: my divine punishment! I see it's fiery brand swung to and fro; wielded by maddening rage. The rest flee as I approach, his eyes piercing me like swords themselves. "Fall, demon! Taste my blade and know blessed fate!" I had only responded with words I heard my entire life:
"Take me! Spare the others!"
In it's once vicious stare, the divine had seem solemn. "Why does justice so often take those undeserving?" 'Fore cleaving my being from this unholy plane.
I am making a withdrawal.
The banks of Gehenna roar with malice. | Snow capped mountains:
I awoke in a sudden burst of energy one second I was in hell the next I am in a bed?!? I turn to my left and see that I am in a the place of mortals maybe I have taken some sort of mortal form? I get up from the bed and see a canine sitting on a little bed my mouth starts to water I tried to resist the urge but I couldn’t remember when I last ate.
The other mortal in the house heard my feasting on the now dead Canine and approached quickly I hissed at yelled but she started to wave something at me she stepped into the light of the lamp shade I was able to get a good look at her she was tall about 5’11 and blonde she had almost gray eyes she wore a mushroom t shirt and looked at me and shot me with a gun I fell back in agony and laid there as she took in what she saw “dad?!?!” She screamed that was the last thing I remember
(Ran our of ideas cus it’s very late where I am but I will come back and add to it) | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | The Arcadian Academy for the Magically-Gifted was the very definition of the word 'elitist' in the magical community; it was a miracle that Jasmine had even been accepted, considering her less-than-appealing resumé. Orphaned, no prior schooling, self-taught in the ways of Old Magic through ancient grimoires and texts instead of in the standard New World Vernacular spells and religions; she even spoke in an accent not particularly favored by the upper society. The last trace remaining, save for her appearance, of her obvious *Dökkálfar* heritage.
Apparently, she had impressed the examiners enough with her magical talent alone to get into the school regardless of every other apparently-undesirable trait listed, but by the time the end of the first term had rolled around, any type of awe at her prodigious skill was quickly replaced by much less favorable feelings towards her character.
It made sense, in a cynical type of way, as to why the instructors would look the other way when a few troublemaking students would throw her bookbag into the courtyard fountain, or why no staff member seemed to care—or even disagree—when she was called a 'witch' or a 'heretic'. The Academy was focused on appearances more than it was any actual depth, and in general, it wasn't good for appearances when one of the highest-scoring students wouldn't spend her time smiling and waving, and would instead be poking around in the closed-off sections of the library that housed information on the darker forms of sorcery.
In particular, necromancy.
There was nothing truly wrong with it, if the conversation would ever be able to move past the annoyance of the 'ethics issue'. It was just as valid a magic form as any, but because it *looked* frightening to those of the weak-minded majority who would feel greatly uncomfortable with the idea of their own mortality as a conversation subject, it was heresy. And because she had found fascination in this 'heresy' when no other instructor or professor could pique her interest in their dozens of classes on how to make *rocks float* or *transmute water into wine*, *she* was now a *heretic*.
The punishment given to her was sneaky, it was two-faced, like a venomous snake lying in wait in a bed of dandelions. It was also just the type of punishment that illustrated perfectly the character of the school's *Ljósálfari* headmaster. A special assignment, just for her and nobody else, to venture into the depths of the Wilds and bring back the 'unicornis lilium' for further study which, aside from being very clearly a made-up flower, was Old Tongue for 'unicorn lily'. It read like a children's fairy-tale. Did they think that she was some type of idiot?
Jasmine was honestly more insulted by this than she was by the mention of the Wilds. Sure, entrance into the Wilds was forbidden by high elven (Ljósálfar, pure-born, or, the aristocrats and politicians of the elven caste system) law, but she wasn't the least bit frightened.
Actually, it was by this that she was honored. For them to go to the trouble of sending her to the Wilds, where she had no hope of returning alive, they must truly be frightened of her abilities, or of the liability that she posed to the very fabric of the Academy's inner politics. It was always about politics, really.
*"Practice heresy, and you get sent to the Wilds, where the trees themselves are said to devour mortal flesh. Remember this, students. Now go and move your rocks, leave the fun magic for the heretics to practice in their disgusting little witch covens."*
Of course, Jasmine would rather not go, and she would rather not die if given the choice, but if the choice was either to die or to submit to that bastard headmaster's *ridiculous* prejudice, she would happily become a martyr for the cause. And who knew? Maybe the Wilds wouldn't be filled with cannibals and wendigos and the like. Maybe the pattern of the forest and the positioning of each tree didn't shift ever-so-slightly each time you closed your eyes. Maybe, maybe...
*No. No maybes.* Jasmine steeled herself, obstinate in the face of the winding woods and their creaking branches. She was here now, and the full moon had reached her peak in orbit above Gaia's surface. There was no more time for psyching herself up, no more hesitation.
With a sharp intake of breath, and a light tug at the strap of her single leather pack, she crossed the cobbled street, pushed herself over the wooden fence border, and crossed the threshold into what was either certain death or a new, world-changing discovery.
&#x200B;
Somewhere, or, everywhere, something watched from the shadows, and whispers passed with the breeze that rattled the branches on bare, dead trees. Whispers that sounded like laughter. | Secrets of magic they called it. The forgotten history of scrafices, the source of spell components, the effects of magic on the soul, and how the purest form of magic translates to "curses" in common tongue. Mages were supposed to be intelligent enough to draw a ritual circle without an indentation out of line yet accepting enough to even know which nation we served.
People were kind to me at first, a mage from the outside world naturally is naturally curious about the curriculum and studies hard. Teachers and students were more than happy to explain the magical theories they took such great pride in learning and none commented on my race. With the diversity of mages about, I'm surprised no order decided to invade the school to purify it.
Regardless, free thought was a double edged sword for them. Questions about the history of magic and the Day of Woe were easily dismissed as, "That is the past. We have long since moved on. Mentioning it only enforces the stereotypes about evil mages." Having found failed to find a single person with an interest in the past, I moved on to the current political situation.
I was chatting with one of more cultured teachers one day, "What do you think of the situation in the Imperium? The newest crown prince is a mage but he is not blessed by any deity and may be completely unrelated but the royal bloodline. Do you think that this obvious endorsement of magi would change the culture of the contient or would the Devillions overshadow it with the new war campaign?"
Understandably, it was a complicated topic with many valid view points to be discussed. However, the most I found in political view points were, "We are loyal to the throne." None ever explained what throne.
I was starting to feel quite insane as if the outside world was but a hallucination. The school was surrounded by a powerful displacement spell that allowed it to exist in many locations at once for the price of never seeing the horizon. I couldn't help but feel alone.
They had started isolating me more and more. I was scaring and bullying the children, my moral questions made classmates uncomfortable and I constantly wasted my teachers time. They added extra reading to my curriculum into more unstable forms of magic. Undoubtedly to point it to a sign of madness and deviancy.
Their plan backfired on us both. I took a great liking to subject matter. I learned freeform magic and came up with my own theories to create something distinctly my own. They believed me stated because I no longer asked questions.
The truth is, unstable magic coursing through you at your beck and command tends to do strange stuff to the person. I spoke my mind more often so rather than share my true opinions I stayed silent. I began seeing hallucinations or perhaps different planes so I stopped asking what I thought unnatural.
I was slowly slipping into further insanity by their standards but I knew I was the only sane person. I saw a different truth. Lies to the magesterium and miracles to the normal man.
It all came to head when I was confronted by the school board, "You are just interested in making obedient slaves! You only care that your graduates do as they are told with the belief that they are beyond the savagery of the past while viewing everyone as beneath them! Mages fight in battles killing hundreds! We just relabelled the enemies as monsters!"
The catharsis of finally speaking my mind was overwhelming I broke down into tears. I barely noticed as I was imprisoned in the dungeon. The days passed quickly as I spent my time thinking. Who I am, what I am, the world we live in, and how I fit in it.
My sentencing came within the week. The tattoos I was branded with to seal my magic would be made permeant. My destiny was to have all sparks of magic forcibly removed from my soul, be made hallow and thrown back to the masses.
As I stood before the ritual circle, I had already accepted my fate. I took a deep breath and let forth a whirlwind of illusions. As I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the border as I thought how ironic that the people who stressed for an entire semester that indentation forgot that a desperate person can easily lose a letter's worth of skin for freedom. Perhaps I played the part of the defeated well enough.
The illusion was dispelled and they were shouting for something. I did not hear it as I had crossed the threshold. I was so relieved, I did not bother checking my surroundings. With a simple spell, I removed the rest of the seal and clean up with a healing spell. Picking up pieces of my flesh, I can't help but think that this is why people fear us.
I'm a bit tired but I notice I am in the Dark Forest. The stars are beautiful and I enjoy my walk among the many eyed grasping trees. I begin to hum as I make my way deeper into the forest. None would dare follow me lest the wild magic overwhelm the mages or the monsters eat the guards.
I appreciate the variety in magic around me as I hear a branch creak. I turn around to find a young night nymph staring at me with a star speckled face. My magical training helps me pinpoint its exact species and geographical origin. Perhaps I can play this to my advantage.
It floats over me etherealy resting on the branches over head, "It is not everyday we get visitors. Delicious visitors already covered in blood." It bears its sharp fangs at me and reaches for me with clawed hands.
I can't help but laugh startling the young thing. It pulls back and hisses at me showing it was mostly a bluff. When I look at it, I can't help but remember all the magical creatures we dissected. I can vividly imaging all its internal organs and how they work together but that is all overshadowed by how the nymph acts. It is just an overconfident child facing something it fears to be like the adults.
I throw the little nymph a piece of flesh I had brought to barter with the monsters, "Say kid, didn't your elders teach you? We don't hiss at guests from trees. We take them to the village center to meet the matron."
It eats it gingerly as one eats a treat and I feel disturbed at the possibility of being eaten. The nymph takes my hand and leads me through the forest, "They did say that but I was hungry and you smelled yummy. Do you have more food?"
I chuckle to myself promising the other half on delivery. I can't help but smile at my promising start of my evil mage career. I will protect my little village of monsters. When the Magisterium falls, it would be because the seeds of doubt I planted, the kindness I have shown the enemy, and the lies I refuse to accept.
I did not know this old thing still existed in the archive. Immortality is not all it's hyped up to be. I given every slither of spirit I had to the Dark Forest Kingdom. I guess the name of our founding matron is to hard to pronounce for the enemy. Centuries do weigh on you. I've stopped extending my life with magic for a few decades now. It seems like months on the scale of empires. My heirs have taken well to ruling and still guide on our founding principles.
I know my ideals will not last long. A generation or two until who I am is twisted to suit their agenda. Still, as I feel the end approaching, I have no regrets. I leave for a final year with my loved ones before fading to the realm of legends. In the end, the lives we saved made it worth the trouble. | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | Beatrix Lastname peered around the warlock in front of her to see that she was nearing the front of the line. She felt her heartbeat pick up in anticipation of reaching the podium in the center of the gathering hall. Today was the last day of Junior year at the Magic Academy; the day that all students are given their final project, to be completed over the summer and graded upon return in the fall. Failure was not an option. Students who failed to complete their assignments were turned into familiars, cursed to serve new classes of students. Projects were given by Dean Medium, who was responsible for communicating with the spirits and interpreting their messages, including each student's assignment. Though it would seem to be a day of anxiety or worry, the air felt light with celebration, a preview of the infamous parties thrown for the aspiring students before they head to their new assignments in the morning.
Beatrix was pulled from her ruminations by a sharp pain emanating from between her shoulder blades.
“Get moving, Betty” snarled Greta, shoving Beatrix forward.
“You know I hate being called that.”
Greta pretended not to hear, so Beatrix shrugged and waited her turn. She would be going in front of Dean Medium next.
When her turn came, she stepped forward and started to smile before she saw the look on Dean Medium's face. He looked...happy. Dean Medium has never looked happy, and he has especially never looked happy AT Beatrix.
“Oh Beatrice,” he began, raising an eyebrow to see if Beatrix dared to correct him. Beatrix kept her face frozen in what she hoped was an easygoing relaxed smile. This is supposed to be an exciting day, and even though she knew none of the teachers or students at Magic Academy liked her, she wasn't sure how the spirits felt so there was still hope she'd get some kind of chance to show the school what she could do, or at the very least she'd get to leave the school for a few months and then have another chance at a fresh start at the beginning of senior year.
Dean Medium's eyes rolled in the back of his head and his voice lowered an octave:
“Beatrix Lastname your final project will be to travel to the center of the Dark Forest.”
Beatrix felt the air go out of the room and her vision dimmed at the edges.
“You...you mean the murderwoods?”
“DO NOT QUESTION THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENT SPIRITS” Dean Medium, or someone through him, hissed.
Beatrix held her breath waiting for the rest of her assignment, but the quiet remained. She looked up to see Dean Medium and every student in the room staring at her.
“I...I'm ready for the rest of the assignment. I am to travel to the center of the Dark Forest...and...?” she trailed off, hoping that she sounded a lot braver to the room than she did in her head.
“Travel to the center of the Dark Forest.” Dean Medium's eyes rolled forward and he coughed and shook his head slightly.
“You heard the spirits. Dark Forest. Center. Go.”
“What am I to do when I get there? Do I need to bring something back?” with that, the room exploded in laughter, letting all the tension out of the room at once.
Dean Medium laughed, a terribly creepy sound coming from a man who usually acted as if joy was a personal insult and he was on a mission to wipe its existence from the school.
“The Forest will give you your Purpose.” And with that he waved his hand and Beatrix felt herself being propelled towards the exit by otherworldly forces.
Once outside she took a deep breath and marched towards her dorm. She pretended not to be aware of the stares and whispers and fingers all aimed in her direction as she walked through the throngs of students giddy with anticipation of the parties to come.
In her room, Beatrix slumped on her bed and grabbed her spellbook to look through her notes from the last three years. The only mention of the Dark Forest was during orientation on the first day of school (“Do NOT go into murderwoods!” was written neatly under the heading “Safety Briefing.” She flipped through her notes quickly and realized she really didn't have any other information.
Well, maybe it's not that bad, she thought. Rumors always make things sound worse than they are, right? She grabbed her spellbook and a pen. If she ran she could make it to the library before they closed. | "What horrors lay in the forest no one knows," says the elf. "I can only imagine. Coiling serpents the size of giants, insatiable vampires, inferi risen from their death sleep, werewolves on the prowl. Best of luck."
Another elf, Eirellevene, speaks up."You never fit in here, troll. Your breath reeks of gore. Your ham fists smash our scrying balls and your bone head crashes on our chandeliers. You're better off with the monsters, it's where you belong."
"It's just a little morning breath," I murmur. "I'm just big boned."
My hands are bound. Melleriviene talks. "You're talentless and garish. God knows why the magyck seeker mistook you for an elf, but its divine wisdom went awry with you."
Their spears glimmer blue with a rune barrier ward. A ring of fire crackles behind them. Mellieveriviene steps through the fire, then Eirellevene leaves after.
The fan of flames rises into the night, embers licking the stars. The heat is immense. I can hear the pair of elves laughing distantly, off to supper.
The woods are dark and brooding. I gaze into the abyss and step forward.
Eyes peer through the gloom. A small path winds downhill between bristling branches. My elf boots, too small for my troll feet, cover my soles but through their tears I feel the damp, squishy moss of the forest floor. Branches graze my arms.
"Who goes there?" I wonder. "Or what?"
No one replies. The eyes are close and far, blinking and unblinking alike. The darkness becomes pitch the further I creep down the path. There is no wind or cold. Only the small glimmer of light glints behind me, magyck fire burning distantly. I know I am surrounded by eyes, by the things that go bump in the night. I begin to tremble although I am not cold.
Frigid fingers graze my cheeks but no one is there.
The trees groan, branches splitting. Squelching noises, like old bones splattering with guts, what makes the sound I don't know. I smell something. Tree rot and decay. A foul, metallic scent like spilt blood. The mangy reek of an unwashed animal. Vomit, not my own.
"Please spare me," I say.
Goo drips on my arms from above. I look up, squiny,and see teeth glinting in the pitch.
"*WHY SHOULD I?*"
It's voice, grating, nasal, fingers on a chalkboard.
It's teeth close over my shoulder, and rip away my arm.
I scream, rough and raw. Blood splatters my shorts, my shoes, my legs. It pools around me.
The pain, blistering, seething. Extended, unrelenting, the fury of great agony, overwhelming, unthinkable, begging for relief.
I groan, feeling the veins and musculature, the sinews winding. Bones knitting and growing. I sense the crude, cruel appendage growing out of slime.
"*GO ON, WHY SHOULD I?*"
It's voice, tinged with laughter.
Mine, low and intense. "Trolls have healing power."
Silence. I feel something hairy and prickly run over my arm. *INTERESTING.*
I gasp, feeling the jarring disconnect of blood pouring into a limb which had no feeling before. My fingers, still numb. "So you'll let me live?"
"*FAT ELF. CAN YOU HEAL OTHERS?*"
"Who is hurt? Are you hurt?"
"*NOT ME. CAN YOU DO IT OR NOT?*"
"It depends on their size, their health, their heartbeat and their diet. If they eat a diet of grass and herbs I cannot help. Only carnivores can be healed, only ones who have taken the life force of others. Only ones who have bit into something living until it is dead, and swallowed."
"*THEIR SIZE AND THEIR HEARTBEAT, YOU SAY?"
The knowledge burns in my brain. I remember the worm wiggling in my mouth until it stilled. Bile rises from my stomach, acidic in my mouth. "Small creatures are easier to heal than large, they draw more power. Arrhythmia can't be cured, a broken heart cannot be unbroken. The heart bests for itself, not for me. If they are too sick, heart sick and bone sick, it may be too hard to revive them without becoming consumed."
"*YOU MUST HELP IF YOU CAN. COME WITH ME.*"
The hairy appendage wraps around my wrist, leading me further down the path.
The temperature drops, the darkness chokes with thick smoke and haze, not natural for a forest. Inexplicable, the smoke clears. We rise up a path, and I could not say if the path has split or wound, only that I have moved far, far from where I began.
The mushy floor gardens into something cracked and chalky, covering my bloody feet with a dusky coat.
"*HERE.*"
Lightning snaps back and forth, white light on and off. Flashes of something small and mouselike laying curled on a tree stump.
I reach with my new hand, and feel its soft fur. I plug its ears with my fingers and reach its brain with the blood pouring from it.
Its brain is tormented and weak. | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | There's no such thing as a stupid question, so it's often said. And that may well be. However, the act of *asking* particular questions, at particular times, and in particular places, can certainly be stupid.
For example, when I asked how it was that demons from the Outer Twilight were regarded in the latest texts on extra-planar beings as morally neutral entities, when they were known to derive sustenance from imbibing the suffering of mortals, I should really have taken into account that the teacher I was was asking was Be'Elzani, itself a demon from the Outer Twilight. It had recently been hired to teach Planar Theory at the Falconhurst Arcane Academy in an effort to diversify the faculty, and expose us to non-traditional viewpoints.
It took great offense at my query, though it framed it terms of being "disappointed", that one so young should have been exposed to such backwards, outdated thinking. Its remedy was to re-educate me, by broadening my horizons. This, it proposed to accomplish, through exposing me to a wider array of creatures that, like itself, had traditionally been "maligned as evil by the arcane establishment".
Thus, I was compelled to gather supplies enough for two days' journey into the Dark Forest, which in ancient times had been the site of a major planar incursion, originating from realms even more distant, strange, and discordant than the Outer Twilight. Because of this history, it was, even now, the haunt of all manner of monsters and eldritch horrors -- or, "atypical fauna" and "planar visitors", as Be'Elzani's preferred jargon would have phrased it.
I complained to some other, less be-horned, members of the faculty, of course, but as interfering with Be'Elzani's disciplinary action could easily be seen as espousing unfashionably traditional opinions about the moral character of demons, none were willing to intervene.
I was, at this point, more or less resigned to dying a horrible death, but I also resolved not to make it easy for the denizens of the Dark Forest, scraping together what wards and abjurations I could manage on short notice, with a student's resources.
When the time came, Be'Elzani itself walked me to the forest age -- mostly, I suspect, to ensure I entered and did not immediately come back out. It bid me farewell, sending its fondest wishes for my speedy "reform", although it drawled that last word in a way that made it clear it expected me to be "reformed" into a pile of monster scat.
Despite my demonic tutor's confidence that I wouldn't last, I actually did rather well in the first several hours. I snuck around a trio of sleeping ogres, drove away a pack of hungry hinky-punks with a bundle of hawthorn twigs, and even scared off a young manticore with a passable imitation of the bugling of an angry wyvern.
Feeling rather pleased with myself, I stopped to rest a few hours into the Forest, sitting down at the base of a massive dead tree, a huge thing with dangling, gnarled branches whose black color suggested it had been charred by lightning in the past. I took out a bit of dried beef from my provisions and chewed it thoughtfully, for the first time seriously considering that I might make it out alive, after all.
I paused to consider an odd burl on the end of one of the branches, noting its unusually round shape. That tickled at something in my memory, but I had no time to dredge up the relevant lore from my mind before the "bark" on the "burl" split open, revealing a faintly glowing purple eye. I screamed and leaped to my feet, trying to backpedal away from the unnatural thing, but I tripped over the roots of the tree -- not surprising, as they had begun writhe and slither around my ankles, pulling free of the loam.
Before I knew what was happening, two of the branches had lashed out and wrapped around my torso, lifting me off the ground, as others bent towards me, eyes like ripening fruit popping open to stare at me. I now saw the thing for what it was, not a dead tree, but an asymmetrical mass of tentacles sprouting from a central trunk, that had merely been standing motionless when I first approached it.
"WHO...ARE...YOU?" the words rang in my head like massive bell, vibrating my entire being.
"Me? I...I'm just a student!" I plead, aloud.
"I...GREET...YOU, 'JUST-A-STUDENT'." came its telepathic roar.
Despite my resonating skull, I blinked in bemusement. Had the eldritch horror that captured me just told a *dad joke?*
"Are you going to...eat me, then?" I asked, hesitantly. The creature blinked its many eyes.
"I...CONSUME NO MATTER...TO SUSTAIN MYSELF." it psychically boomed.
"So...are you going to flay my soul? Rip my mind apart?" I asked, even more hesitantly.
"NO. THAT SOUNDS...UNPLEASANT." it replied.
It occurred to me, then, that Be'Elzani might have had a point. After all, if eldritch horrors from a realm of pure madness could be personable, then maybe a demon--
"NO. THAT IS...INCORRECT." the creature replied -- not to my voice, but to my thought. "MY KIND IS MADE OF PRIMORDIAL ENTROPY. OUR LOVE IS HATE. OUR ART IS DISSOLUTION. OUR VERY SUBSTANCE IS AGONY. DO NOT BE...SILLY."
"But you seem...alright." I offered, diplomatically.
"I AM..." the creature did not finish its sentence with words. It instead sent a sudden flood images -- a waterfall flowing upwards from a pool. A mountain floating in midair. A fish swimming in the soil.
"You're..." I began, processing the intent behind its pictorial message. "...the exception that proves the rule?"
"APPROXIMATELY CORRECT. MY MIND IS...BROKEN. I AM MAD."
I understood. In a realm where everyone was insane, if just *one* being was sane, then they'd be the outcast there, the madman. I could sort of relate.
"Exception," I began, for when dealing with nameless things, a good first step is naming them. "I think we have a lot in common."
"OUR SITUATIONS...ARE PARTIALLY ANALOGOUS." it agreed. "I HAVE OBSERVED THIS FACT BASED ON THE MEMORIES VISIBLE TO ME UPON YOUR SURFACE COGNITION."
"So...can you also see that I'm sincere, when I say it would be mutually beneficial for us to be friends?" I asked.
It paused for a moment, and then, slowly, lowered me back to the ground.
"YES." | "What horrors lay in the forest no one knows," says the elf. "I can only imagine. Coiling serpents the size of giants, insatiable vampires, inferi risen from their death sleep, werewolves on the prowl. Best of luck."
Another elf, Eirellevene, speaks up."You never fit in here, troll. Your breath reeks of gore. Your ham fists smash our scrying balls and your bone head crashes on our chandeliers. You're better off with the monsters, it's where you belong."
"It's just a little morning breath," I murmur. "I'm just big boned."
My hands are bound. Melleriviene talks. "You're talentless and garish. God knows why the magyck seeker mistook you for an elf, but its divine wisdom went awry with you."
Their spears glimmer blue with a rune barrier ward. A ring of fire crackles behind them. Mellieveriviene steps through the fire, then Eirellevene leaves after.
The fan of flames rises into the night, embers licking the stars. The heat is immense. I can hear the pair of elves laughing distantly, off to supper.
The woods are dark and brooding. I gaze into the abyss and step forward.
Eyes peer through the gloom. A small path winds downhill between bristling branches. My elf boots, too small for my troll feet, cover my soles but through their tears I feel the damp, squishy moss of the forest floor. Branches graze my arms.
"Who goes there?" I wonder. "Or what?"
No one replies. The eyes are close and far, blinking and unblinking alike. The darkness becomes pitch the further I creep down the path. There is no wind or cold. Only the small glimmer of light glints behind me, magyck fire burning distantly. I know I am surrounded by eyes, by the things that go bump in the night. I begin to tremble although I am not cold.
Frigid fingers graze my cheeks but no one is there.
The trees groan, branches splitting. Squelching noises, like old bones splattering with guts, what makes the sound I don't know. I smell something. Tree rot and decay. A foul, metallic scent like spilt blood. The mangy reek of an unwashed animal. Vomit, not my own.
"Please spare me," I say.
Goo drips on my arms from above. I look up, squiny,and see teeth glinting in the pitch.
"*WHY SHOULD I?*"
It's voice, grating, nasal, fingers on a chalkboard.
It's teeth close over my shoulder, and rip away my arm.
I scream, rough and raw. Blood splatters my shorts, my shoes, my legs. It pools around me.
The pain, blistering, seething. Extended, unrelenting, the fury of great agony, overwhelming, unthinkable, begging for relief.
I groan, feeling the veins and musculature, the sinews winding. Bones knitting and growing. I sense the crude, cruel appendage growing out of slime.
"*GO ON, WHY SHOULD I?*"
It's voice, tinged with laughter.
Mine, low and intense. "Trolls have healing power."
Silence. I feel something hairy and prickly run over my arm. *INTERESTING.*
I gasp, feeling the jarring disconnect of blood pouring into a limb which had no feeling before. My fingers, still numb. "So you'll let me live?"
"*FAT ELF. CAN YOU HEAL OTHERS?*"
"Who is hurt? Are you hurt?"
"*NOT ME. CAN YOU DO IT OR NOT?*"
"It depends on their size, their health, their heartbeat and their diet. If they eat a diet of grass and herbs I cannot help. Only carnivores can be healed, only ones who have taken the life force of others. Only ones who have bit into something living until it is dead, and swallowed."
"*THEIR SIZE AND THEIR HEARTBEAT, YOU SAY?"
The knowledge burns in my brain. I remember the worm wiggling in my mouth until it stilled. Bile rises from my stomach, acidic in my mouth. "Small creatures are easier to heal than large, they draw more power. Arrhythmia can't be cured, a broken heart cannot be unbroken. The heart bests for itself, not for me. If they are too sick, heart sick and bone sick, it may be too hard to revive them without becoming consumed."
"*YOU MUST HELP IF YOU CAN. COME WITH ME.*"
The hairy appendage wraps around my wrist, leading me further down the path.
The temperature drops, the darkness chokes with thick smoke and haze, not natural for a forest. Inexplicable, the smoke clears. We rise up a path, and I could not say if the path has split or wound, only that I have moved far, far from where I began.
The mushy floor gardens into something cracked and chalky, covering my bloody feet with a dusky coat.
"*HERE.*"
Lightning snaps back and forth, white light on and off. Flashes of something small and mouselike laying curled on a tree stump.
I reach with my new hand, and feel its soft fur. I plug its ears with my fingers and reach its brain with the blood pouring from it.
Its brain is tormented and weak. | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | There's no such thing as a stupid question, so it's often said. And that may well be. However, the act of *asking* particular questions, at particular times, and in particular places, can certainly be stupid.
For example, when I asked how it was that demons from the Outer Twilight were regarded in the latest texts on extra-planar beings as morally neutral entities, when they were known to derive sustenance from imbibing the suffering of mortals, I should really have taken into account that the teacher I was was asking was Be'Elzani, itself a demon from the Outer Twilight. It had recently been hired to teach Planar Theory at the Falconhurst Arcane Academy in an effort to diversify the faculty, and expose us to non-traditional viewpoints.
It took great offense at my query, though it framed it terms of being "disappointed", that one so young should have been exposed to such backwards, outdated thinking. Its remedy was to re-educate me, by broadening my horizons. This, it proposed to accomplish, through exposing me to a wider array of creatures that, like itself, had traditionally been "maligned as evil by the arcane establishment".
Thus, I was compelled to gather supplies enough for two days' journey into the Dark Forest, which in ancient times had been the site of a major planar incursion, originating from realms even more distant, strange, and discordant than the Outer Twilight. Because of this history, it was, even now, the haunt of all manner of monsters and eldritch horrors -- or, "atypical fauna" and "planar visitors", as Be'Elzani's preferred jargon would have phrased it.
I complained to some other, less be-horned, members of the faculty, of course, but as interfering with Be'Elzani's disciplinary action could easily be seen as espousing unfashionably traditional opinions about the moral character of demons, none were willing to intervene.
I was, at this point, more or less resigned to dying a horrible death, but I also resolved not to make it easy for the denizens of the Dark Forest, scraping together what wards and abjurations I could manage on short notice, with a student's resources.
When the time came, Be'Elzani itself walked me to the forest age -- mostly, I suspect, to ensure I entered and did not immediately come back out. It bid me farewell, sending its fondest wishes for my speedy "reform", although it drawled that last word in a way that made it clear it expected me to be "reformed" into a pile of monster scat.
Despite my demonic tutor's confidence that I wouldn't last, I actually did rather well in the first several hours. I snuck around a trio of sleeping ogres, drove away a pack of hungry hinky-punks with a bundle of hawthorn twigs, and even scared off a young manticore with a passable imitation of the bugling of an angry wyvern.
Feeling rather pleased with myself, I stopped to rest a few hours into the Forest, sitting down at the base of a massive dead tree, a huge thing with dangling, gnarled branches whose black color suggested it had been charred by lightning in the past. I took out a bit of dried beef from my provisions and chewed it thoughtfully, for the first time seriously considering that I might make it out alive, after all.
I paused to consider an odd burl on the end of one of the branches, noting its unusually round shape. That tickled at something in my memory, but I had no time to dredge up the relevant lore from my mind before the "bark" on the "burl" split open, revealing a faintly glowing purple eye. I screamed and leaped to my feet, trying to backpedal away from the unnatural thing, but I tripped over the roots of the tree -- not surprising, as they had begun writhe and slither around my ankles, pulling free of the loam.
Before I knew what was happening, two of the branches had lashed out and wrapped around my torso, lifting me off the ground, as others bent towards me, eyes like ripening fruit popping open to stare at me. I now saw the thing for what it was, not a dead tree, but an asymmetrical mass of tentacles sprouting from a central trunk, that had merely been standing motionless when I first approached it.
"WHO...ARE...YOU?" the words rang in my head like massive bell, vibrating my entire being.
"Me? I...I'm just a student!" I plead, aloud.
"I...GREET...YOU, 'JUST-A-STUDENT'." came its telepathic roar.
Despite my resonating skull, I blinked in bemusement. Had the eldritch horror that captured me just told a *dad joke?*
"Are you going to...eat me, then?" I asked, hesitantly. The creature blinked its many eyes.
"I...CONSUME NO MATTER...TO SUSTAIN MYSELF." it psychically boomed.
"So...are you going to flay my soul? Rip my mind apart?" I asked, even more hesitantly.
"NO. THAT SOUNDS...UNPLEASANT." it replied.
It occurred to me, then, that Be'Elzani might have had a point. After all, if eldritch horrors from a realm of pure madness could be personable, then maybe a demon--
"NO. THAT IS...INCORRECT." the creature replied -- not to my voice, but to my thought. "MY KIND IS MADE OF PRIMORDIAL ENTROPY. OUR LOVE IS HATE. OUR ART IS DISSOLUTION. OUR VERY SUBSTANCE IS AGONY. DO NOT BE...SILLY."
"But you seem...alright." I offered, diplomatically.
"I AM..." the creature did not finish its sentence with words. It instead sent a sudden flood images -- a waterfall flowing upwards from a pool. A mountain floating in midair. A fish swimming in the soil.
"You're..." I began, processing the intent behind its pictorial message. "...the exception that proves the rule?"
"APPROXIMATELY CORRECT. MY MIND IS...BROKEN. I AM MAD."
I understood. In a realm where everyone was insane, if just *one* being was sane, then they'd be the outcast there, the madman. I could sort of relate.
"Exception," I began, for when dealing with nameless things, a good first step is naming them. "I think we have a lot in common."
"OUR SITUATIONS...ARE PARTIALLY ANALOGOUS." it agreed. "I HAVE OBSERVED THIS FACT BASED ON THE MEMORIES VISIBLE TO ME UPON YOUR SURFACE COGNITION."
"So...can you also see that I'm sincere, when I say it would be mutually beneficial for us to be friends?" I asked.
It paused for a moment, and then, slowly, lowered me back to the ground.
"YES." | Politics are always the most drab part of being a student of the academy. The way you walked, talked, looked at people or breathed. It all mattered so very much to everyone, except me of course. I hate to say it but my only interest was magic. I’m no barbarian, I give my teachers the respect they deserve. Time and time again however the students ruin it for everyone.
It came down to one particular day when I was in my private examination room, I had accidentally sprinkled a bit too much æther dust into my summoning sheet. The noise next door from those, disinterested in studying after class broke my concentration. The child next door was the headmasters son after all. It’s a shame the summoning sheet reacted the way it did, it is a very greedy magic after all. An eldritch geist appeared before me, although bound to me, they feel no pain and thus when they break the laws of magic by causing harm to their summoner, it means nothing. I was prepared for such an occasion and began to dispel it. Not before it stuck its head through the wall to investigate the noise. I could only laugh when the horrid screams of that pompous boy began to ring out. So I didn’t dispel the Geist, I only bowed to it. Should it kill me here, I would die happy. *magic is depressing work and suicidal thoughts were common*
However this summon became a very interesting travel companion to me. Word got around that I kept a Geist as my summon, and I was immediately banished to the eldritch forest. I didn’t understand the fear held within my peers upon seeing an apparition. We have whole classes devoted to their study and not a single person was a slight bit curious?
I packed some general defensive solvents and gathering equipment in case I ran out and head straight to the forest. No time to dally, punishment is punishment after all.
Upon entering the forest my new friend started waving his hands around what almost looked like frantically. He was drawing the seal of an illusion spell.
Simple enough. I grabbed some dilmetal furmeri and snapped my fingers with it in between my fingers. A shutter ran down my spine. A thousand eyes looking at me from every direction, only one set moved towards me from in front of me.
“Good morning.” I almost choked as the words came from my mouth. The smell was far worse than I could imagine.
The most human like of beings stuck its hand out. I promptly shook it.
An incredibly silky female voice, no doubt submerged in magic spoke. “You have my friend under contract.”
“If this is your friend then I shall release…” I looked at the geist and couldn’t guess the gender, nor did I feel like saying ‘it’ was appropriate. “said friend.”
I took some æther dust, ironically the very stuff that got me into all of this, might help me out, if even a little, this time I gestured to my friend to come closer. I placed it where his heart should be and rubbed it gently. This way the contract would end and the Geist would not be sent back to the eldritch plane.
“You make it look so easy human. My people saw what happened. They cast you out for something so petty. You accepted your punishment with no retort?” Her voice was laced with genuine concern.
“I only fear those who strike without words. This is merely me moving to a new place is all. A delightful change in scen…”
My words were cut off when the being placed it’s hand upon my face and shouted in an ancient tongue entirely incomprehensible.
My ears bled and my eyes burned, but I held true for I knew breaking a spell of this magnitude could mean the death of many more than I.
I shut my eyes, and opened them moments later. The color, the beautiful smell of flowers carried on the wind. The lovely people that surrounded me! Wait did I die?
I looked at the woman who was speaking to me previously, she wasn’t quite human, a bit, taller, much skinnier then any normal person. She was beautiful.
“This is the truth of our forest newcomer, we hide in our illusions because the magic beings would take everything from us. You are now bound to the forest, I do hope you plan on making some use for yourself.”
The Geist looked pretty underwhelmed at the occasion. In fact, it looked like it was home again. | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | "Well. Would you like a cup of tea?"
The voice came from above, and to the sides, and right back to where I stood. It was a reedy voice, like a cat stuck in a vice type of thing. Oddly calming, if not for it's source.
"Uh, sure I'll take a cup of tea?" I answered, now wholly in disbelief.
Initially my thoughts ran to: ''They've killed me and I am now dead'
I was however, unfortunately, the opposite.
The Being poked its wormy little tongue in and out of its various facial orifices, slithering and slathering over its eyes. Slowly and with great effort it hauled itself onto its haunches, sinewy muscles creaking with the strain.
"Custard cream?" It asked politely. Who was I to refuse such hospitality?
We quietly sipped. Some sipped, some masticated on fine china, some sat with glazed eyes and rocked gently to and fro. As tea parties go, I must say it was very pleasant.
Pleasant up until the point where a 'something'; we still aren't certain 'what' precisely, dismembered a whole deer and began to dunk limbs into their tea.
"Jolly nice of you to drop by the Dark Forest," Said a Being, who somewhat resembled a side-on bus with it's windows for eyes. It's stubby tendril appendages flirted with the packet of custard creams.
"Yes, well like I say, it's jolly nice to be here. I've heard nothing but good things!" I said, spilling the words into the gloom.
"Really?" The Being asked excitedly.
"Uh, no, I was just being polite," I mumbled apologetically.
The Being visibly withered, and retired to it's war with the biscuit wrapper.
"So, chum, pray tell of thy tyrannical overlords, these… teachers?" Said the first of the Beings, in that disembodied reedy voice.
"Well, I said what they called you down here didn't I? Abominations! Sad that we live in such ignorant times I must say, I mean I've never addressed anyone as such and nor would I ever dream to!" I exalted, with vigour and passion and love for these Beings I had just met.
They who had graciously taken me into the Dark Forest, they who had fed me and showed such polite, welcome hospitality.
I loved these tea drinking, terrific, slime-covered Beings dammit.
A long pause drew through the trees, each leaf seemed to slice the wind with a violence.
A cough rippled round the circle which cascaded, drip by drip, into a raucous, unearthly laughter.
Aghast I asked, "What? What'd I say?"
To which a Being; unseen and otherworldly, deep within the very bowels of the forest itself said: "What a crock of old shit!"
The second Being added something to the tune of: "Good god no wonder they hated him up there!" And other assorted jaded comments that I will not entertain.
I was wrong. These were clearly abominations, tea drinking abominations with a penchant for inviting weary travellers to tea to berate them mercilessly with custard creams and pleasantries. I cannot believe I allowed this to happen to me again. | I stand there facing and uncountable number of eyes in the forest. It feels like one presence that splits and recombines constantly. I have no idea if it is trying to hide itself by keeping its presence split and weak or what. But I do know at a single thought I would be killed three seconds ago probably.
“What are you doing young human? Don’t you know this forest is dangerous?”
“Yes, I was told to come here because my magic was always super powerful and had a high chance of surging when I don’t use it for a long time. I have to use it for lots of menial tasks throughout the night. Most of the students are jealous and rightfully scared I don’t blame them but the teachers are upset I even can maintain to have a broom sweep the entire male dormitory every morning. They fully understand I could surge and explode into flames or start ruining the universal laws in my area potentially killing everyone, but they just hate it so much. My parents were never the richest because historically my family is pretty weak. However I managed to get the intelligence and wisdom from my mom that would make here a crazy good mage and the magic flow and inherited spiritual connection from a few different spirits from my dad which aren’t necessarily the strongest just eternally grateful that some ancestor helped them bot have their fey and spirit kingdoms destroyed by the likes of other much stronger fey. He would make an excellent druid or nature wizard if it weren’t for the fact he can’t comprehend magic in the first place.”
“How sad. Your lucky I was created to embody emotion when the void was still making the world. However I like many Eldritch had our purpose lost when life finally came to be. We are still pretty pissed but I do not wish to hurt you, as my nature from an un countable amount of time ago makes me sympathize for every living thing that was treated unfairly in a way that only hurts everyone. Like being killed for sport. Or being kicked out because they were jealous of ones power. Come I’ll give you a better place to learn one where after three days of proving your strength I am sure you won’t have trouble integrating yourself into our community.”
I then watched as a tunnel formed in the wall of glowing eyes. Then this tunnel was illuminated with more eyes opening up to show the intended path for me to take. As I started walking down the path I could feel the core of this being pulsating away trying to keep its mind together.
“Hey do you mind if I release some magic real quick? I can empower your core and lessen the chance of a surge. I feel it losing power every second trying to keep you together and while it still feels like a near bottomless pit of mana left I can fell it’s still a fraction of a fraction of what you once had.”
“No I do not mind. While normally I would be insulted just like any other eldritch, I realize you are right. In fact if my memory serves everyone here is slowly going to disappear if we keep trying to live on this planet without destroying it. Are full forms hell even our half forms are so big and un-comprehendible that they would destroy anything even near our auras. Which would span over enough space to cover this star sytem everything would be encased. It’s just this planet is the only one with enough magic flow to keep us going and extend our lives as long as possible. We may hate our creators for using as a wells to scoop out aspects of the universe. But we see ourselves in it all and do not wish for it to go away.”
During his explanation I let out enough mana to obliterate a small village with its pressure alone and felt the strength in my new friend barely rise. This state of his was more taxing then I thought. I let out enough for a bigger village nothing a capital city while there was some rise even someone who is as sensitive to mana as I wouldn’t even feel it if they weren’t searching for it. I letnput enough for a kingdom. Then a country. Then the entire continent. I was spilling put mana I could feel one of the spirit kingdoms temporarily shut there gift flow to preserve their strength.
“Little human. I feel a low level fey wants to talk to you. But they are scared of me. Do wish for me to tell you what they want to say?”
“Sure, but I have its about what I am doing right now.”
“You’d be correct. However I can tell you are getting close to feeding me enough mana to flatten a kingdom with pressure alone but I do not feel much of a difference I am sorry but it seems I can no longer accept your help. You are going to drain yourself of strength and those spirits and fey you are connected to.”
“No, I made a promise to help you and I will. I have an Idea. During the next sunrise absorb all of its heat and trap it in a small chamber inside your body. We are going to create a new form of power using nothing but the sun’s energy. I read somewhere that many magical plants, especially the ice flower, use the sun’s energy not only as food but maybe even as a source of power. Which would feed into magical beasts. We are going to do the same thing and grant it to every eldritch and every small fey and spirit kingdom to not only gain power at the rate of the sun but let those kingdoms grow faster and gain more power to allow me more power to then feed you even more power.”
“You little human. I must know your name. You ideas… they scare even the likes of me. I would have never thought of using the survival strategies of other magical life. We Eldritch are usually to proud to change our ways. We also cannot think outside of the way we were created to think. Oh! it appears we have arrived”
I walked into a clearing with what appeared to be an amalgamation, an earth golem, an unicorn, and lastly a treant.
“These are our avatars. Basically the center of our mind. The deepest part of us. I am the amalgamation a creature made up of a little bit of everything and all of their thoughts. You may call me “Moti””
Then a new more feminine but just as powerful voice.
“I am the Eldritch of energy and it’s flow through the universe. I am the unicorn. You may call me “nerg””
Nerg sounded very soft as if she wouldn’t hurt a fly and if she were hunan she would be shy and stay in the corner to avoid others. Of course she is an eldritch. as apposed to Moti who seems to sound out going and caring with a loud but calming voice.
Then there was a much more assertive and stubborn voice. Kinda like that of an old man who believes the past was always better for some odd reason.
“Bah, a human? Why are you here? Well no matter I will talk with “Moti” about this later. That softie. I am the earth Golem. Call me “Atte”. Eldritch of matter and mass.”
Them lastly the treant. Her voice was that of a child but with an adults body. Like a curious child but her voice was that of a grown woman.
“Hello there curious human. My name is”Rowt” as you can possibly guess my avatar is the treant. I am the eldritch of growth and and curiosity. I to want to learn of why you are here.”
Moti then tells my story and how he plans on helping us. As well as their parts in the job and getting the sun power to the fey and spirit kingdoms. They were all impressed at my power and couldn’t blame Moti for bringing me in due to his nature. But in the end if anything they were grateful. Because I was going to help them. Then everyday for a month we gathered the sun’s energy while letting the light through to keep the forest alive. And the eldritch used their powers to get me to each kingdom where I was welcomed with open arms. The first few days were hard but by now they have accepted it. Their growth of their kingdoms have skyrocketed, and the average strength of the citizens are rising so now they can allow me to use more of their strength without issue. In the mean time I have been experimenting with condensing the near weightless mana into pellets and have found a way to make monster stones. While they are very different mine can’t be maintained without a soul attached to it so they end up way more densely populated with mana rather than your average stone just so they stay active. They work as snacks for my new friends and they don’t do much but if you cast a spell holding one the spell will consume the entire stone and grow to disproportionately larger and more effective versions of themselves unless of course you will it to not consume the entire stone. But some of the bigger ones are used to feed the avatars and cores while the smaller ones are given to the markets in the human, fey, and spirit realm. For supplies, food, teachings, and anything you could possibly buy with money. I even used some to learn how to use divination which a quick affinity test some of my fey and spirit connections make easier. Now I have a thing to spend my mana on. As well as learning the best possible action to maximize the mana spent to get the most energy for the eldritch.
- meanwhile -
“Headmaster Grable, something is up with the forest nearby the eldritch in it are acting strange and there seems to be many unnatural clusters of mana similar to that of a bunch of monster stones. But these are to small with their readings to be monster stones, we think it is possible that kid survived and is living with them getting stronger paying them in mana stones he creates to keep them strong.”
“Goler, if what you say is true then we need to find him now. And kill everything in that forest. I will give you five months of studying the center of the forest from a safe distance to see what is going on there.” | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | It was three days before they approached Ghast. Three days of trudging through an ankle high bed of rotten leaves, her clothes damp and cold from the thick mist that perpetuated within the Murk. She was used to the cold, of course, but this was worse. The fog that the Murk threw into the air left a dense cloud over the Citadel, casting it in deep gloom even on the hottest summer day. Still, even within the confines of that crumbling old mouldering fortress there could be found the occasional small respite from the cold. A candle, some tea, a conjured fireball. Here there was none of that. Everything was too damp to start a fire and the Forsaken ensured that magic was useless here.
There were twelve of them. Ghast's tutors had explained, on one of the rare occasions that they deigned not to treat her with outright scorn, that the Forsaken were ancient pagan deities who had lost their influence over the world and had been confined to their tiny spit of forest. Still, even a beggar god was still a god, and the Forsaken did not suffer such petty insolence as trespassing on their land.
**You shouldn't be here.**
The sentence wasn't spoken. It came unbidden into her mind, dry and grating as sand and yet pulsing like fluid through her brain, thick and oppressive as oil. The creature was far enough away that it's form was obscured by the fog, but she knew who it was. Vrot'har the Judge always approached first.
**You shouldn't be here**, it repeated, looming out of the mist. A myriad of eyes - she thought they were eyes, looking at the being was like trying to stare at the sun - emerged from the mist, scrutinising her with a mix of curiosity and the kind of revulsion one would feel from discovering a rat in their pantry.
"I'm sorry," Ghast croaked, "I didn't mean to-!"
*Liar*, a hiss came from her left. Claws dug into her withered arm and she turned to their owner. She doubled forward and wretched. Olgokath the Pestilence wasn't large, about the size of a newborn baby, but he floated on a miasma of disease, his paper thin flesh marred with sickly green veins and his face a bulbous, weeping sore. Pus dripped from a tooth lined hole in the centre of his face as he snarled at her, *You have the stench of magic on you. You were sent by them.*
"I was, but I didn't..." Ghast trailed off. Turning away from Olgokath, partly to try to maintain some dignity and partly to avoid looking at him, she sobbed bitterly. What was the point?
"Just do whatever you're going to do."
She heard a strange gurgling coming from the smaller deity, a sound that could be interpreted as a snigger. His claws poked hard into her flesh. All it would take would be the smallest break and she would be as good as dead.
**Stop.**
Olgokath loosened his grip as the Judge loomed even closer, it's gaze like a storm lantern. Even with her head down and her eye closed, Ghast felt like she was trapped inside a star.
**You are different**, Vrot'har observed, **You are marred.**
*A trick*, Olgokath hissed.
Ghast shook her head. It was no secret that those who were gifted with the power to wield the forces that shaped the universe were also gifted genetically. Sorcerers, witches and warlocks were all ethereal in their beauty. In that respect Ghast was an oddity. Her very existence was an insult. The denizens of the Citadel had been kind to her at first when she was abandoned on the front steps all those years ago, a poor little malformed child. But as she grew, and her innate magical abilities not only made themselves known but surpassed those of her classmates, she was exposed to greater and greater levels of hatred. Even her name was an insult. Ghast, on account of her ghastly appearance. Her withered arm, her hunched spine, her misshapen skull, her single eye, black as coal, all were subjected to the harshest ridicule. Even the attendant who had raised her, the closest thing she ever had to a mother, belittled her at every turn.
Her very existence was heresy to her brethren, and so she was cast out to be killed by the jealous old gods of the forest.
Ghast sighed. She just didn't care anymore. All her life she had been fighting for the right to simply exist and soon she wouldn't. Opening her eye, she stared at the Judge. It was maddening, but she stared. She turned to glare at the Pestilence even though it made her stomach churn. She could hear the others coming, skittering through the trees or snaking through the underbrush. Kethyir the Widow impaling the ground with every step. Ghoghrah the Infernal boiling the air as it floated closer. In the distance, every step causing the earth to rumble and trees to shake, she could hear Borsk the Torturer approaching. All of them had the power to subject her to the worst possible fate over and over, and she didn't care.
"I was different, and so they rejected me. I don't care if you believe me or not. I'm not going to waste my time explaining my existence to a bunch of half remembered gods. Hurry up and kill me or leave me be."
For a very long moment there was silence. Ghast stared at the Judge, daring it to make it's decision. The others seemed to hesitate. Even Olgokath pulled away.
**She has been forsaken. Rejoice.**
No one knows exactly how the Citadel fell. That is to say, they know how it fell, but no one knows how, after centuries of being trapped in their forest prison, the Forsaken tore free of their bonds and launched an assault on the former bastion of magical knowledge. There are plenty of rumours, though these are hard to corroborate due to the lack of sane survivors. The most consistent rumour, however, details the existence of a previously unknown thirteenth Forsaken. A roiling, malformed entity of pure malice, bringing madness to all it beholds with it's single jet black eye. It has no name, unlike the others. Only a title.
The Ghast.
(I hope this is good enough to fit here. This is my first time attempting a writing prompt, so go easy on me!) | I stand there facing and uncountable number of eyes in the forest. It feels like one presence that splits and recombines constantly. I have no idea if it is trying to hide itself by keeping its presence split and weak or what. But I do know at a single thought I would be killed three seconds ago probably.
“What are you doing young human? Don’t you know this forest is dangerous?”
“Yes, I was told to come here because my magic was always super powerful and had a high chance of surging when I don’t use it for a long time. I have to use it for lots of menial tasks throughout the night. Most of the students are jealous and rightfully scared I don’t blame them but the teachers are upset I even can maintain to have a broom sweep the entire male dormitory every morning. They fully understand I could surge and explode into flames or start ruining the universal laws in my area potentially killing everyone, but they just hate it so much. My parents were never the richest because historically my family is pretty weak. However I managed to get the intelligence and wisdom from my mom that would make here a crazy good mage and the magic flow and inherited spiritual connection from a few different spirits from my dad which aren’t necessarily the strongest just eternally grateful that some ancestor helped them bot have their fey and spirit kingdoms destroyed by the likes of other much stronger fey. He would make an excellent druid or nature wizard if it weren’t for the fact he can’t comprehend magic in the first place.”
“How sad. Your lucky I was created to embody emotion when the void was still making the world. However I like many Eldritch had our purpose lost when life finally came to be. We are still pretty pissed but I do not wish to hurt you, as my nature from an un countable amount of time ago makes me sympathize for every living thing that was treated unfairly in a way that only hurts everyone. Like being killed for sport. Or being kicked out because they were jealous of ones power. Come I’ll give you a better place to learn one where after three days of proving your strength I am sure you won’t have trouble integrating yourself into our community.”
I then watched as a tunnel formed in the wall of glowing eyes. Then this tunnel was illuminated with more eyes opening up to show the intended path for me to take. As I started walking down the path I could feel the core of this being pulsating away trying to keep its mind together.
“Hey do you mind if I release some magic real quick? I can empower your core and lessen the chance of a surge. I feel it losing power every second trying to keep you together and while it still feels like a near bottomless pit of mana left I can fell it’s still a fraction of a fraction of what you once had.”
“No I do not mind. While normally I would be insulted just like any other eldritch, I realize you are right. In fact if my memory serves everyone here is slowly going to disappear if we keep trying to live on this planet without destroying it. Are full forms hell even our half forms are so big and un-comprehendible that they would destroy anything even near our auras. Which would span over enough space to cover this star sytem everything would be encased. It’s just this planet is the only one with enough magic flow to keep us going and extend our lives as long as possible. We may hate our creators for using as a wells to scoop out aspects of the universe. But we see ourselves in it all and do not wish for it to go away.”
During his explanation I let out enough mana to obliterate a small village with its pressure alone and felt the strength in my new friend barely rise. This state of his was more taxing then I thought. I let out enough for a bigger village nothing a capital city while there was some rise even someone who is as sensitive to mana as I wouldn’t even feel it if they weren’t searching for it. I letnput enough for a kingdom. Then a country. Then the entire continent. I was spilling put mana I could feel one of the spirit kingdoms temporarily shut there gift flow to preserve their strength.
“Little human. I feel a low level fey wants to talk to you. But they are scared of me. Do wish for me to tell you what they want to say?”
“Sure, but I have its about what I am doing right now.”
“You’d be correct. However I can tell you are getting close to feeding me enough mana to flatten a kingdom with pressure alone but I do not feel much of a difference I am sorry but it seems I can no longer accept your help. You are going to drain yourself of strength and those spirits and fey you are connected to.”
“No, I made a promise to help you and I will. I have an Idea. During the next sunrise absorb all of its heat and trap it in a small chamber inside your body. We are going to create a new form of power using nothing but the sun’s energy. I read somewhere that many magical plants, especially the ice flower, use the sun’s energy not only as food but maybe even as a source of power. Which would feed into magical beasts. We are going to do the same thing and grant it to every eldritch and every small fey and spirit kingdom to not only gain power at the rate of the sun but let those kingdoms grow faster and gain more power to allow me more power to then feed you even more power.”
“You little human. I must know your name. You ideas… they scare even the likes of me. I would have never thought of using the survival strategies of other magical life. We Eldritch are usually to proud to change our ways. We also cannot think outside of the way we were created to think. Oh! it appears we have arrived”
I walked into a clearing with what appeared to be an amalgamation, an earth golem, an unicorn, and lastly a treant.
“These are our avatars. Basically the center of our mind. The deepest part of us. I am the amalgamation a creature made up of a little bit of everything and all of their thoughts. You may call me “Moti””
Then a new more feminine but just as powerful voice.
“I am the Eldritch of energy and it’s flow through the universe. I am the unicorn. You may call me “nerg””
Nerg sounded very soft as if she wouldn’t hurt a fly and if she were hunan she would be shy and stay in the corner to avoid others. Of course she is an eldritch. as apposed to Moti who seems to sound out going and caring with a loud but calming voice.
Then there was a much more assertive and stubborn voice. Kinda like that of an old man who believes the past was always better for some odd reason.
“Bah, a human? Why are you here? Well no matter I will talk with “Moti” about this later. That softie. I am the earth Golem. Call me “Atte”. Eldritch of matter and mass.”
Them lastly the treant. Her voice was that of a child but with an adults body. Like a curious child but her voice was that of a grown woman.
“Hello there curious human. My name is”Rowt” as you can possibly guess my avatar is the treant. I am the eldritch of growth and and curiosity. I to want to learn of why you are here.”
Moti then tells my story and how he plans on helping us. As well as their parts in the job and getting the sun power to the fey and spirit kingdoms. They were all impressed at my power and couldn’t blame Moti for bringing me in due to his nature. But in the end if anything they were grateful. Because I was going to help them. Then everyday for a month we gathered the sun’s energy while letting the light through to keep the forest alive. And the eldritch used their powers to get me to each kingdom where I was welcomed with open arms. The first few days were hard but by now they have accepted it. Their growth of their kingdoms have skyrocketed, and the average strength of the citizens are rising so now they can allow me to use more of their strength without issue. In the mean time I have been experimenting with condensing the near weightless mana into pellets and have found a way to make monster stones. While they are very different mine can’t be maintained without a soul attached to it so they end up way more densely populated with mana rather than your average stone just so they stay active. They work as snacks for my new friends and they don’t do much but if you cast a spell holding one the spell will consume the entire stone and grow to disproportionately larger and more effective versions of themselves unless of course you will it to not consume the entire stone. But some of the bigger ones are used to feed the avatars and cores while the smaller ones are given to the markets in the human, fey, and spirit realm. For supplies, food, teachings, and anything you could possibly buy with money. I even used some to learn how to use divination which a quick affinity test some of my fey and spirit connections make easier. Now I have a thing to spend my mana on. As well as learning the best possible action to maximize the mana spent to get the most energy for the eldritch.
- meanwhile -
“Headmaster Grable, something is up with the forest nearby the eldritch in it are acting strange and there seems to be many unnatural clusters of mana similar to that of a bunch of monster stones. But these are to small with their readings to be monster stones, we think it is possible that kid survived and is living with them getting stronger paying them in mana stones he creates to keep them strong.”
“Goler, if what you say is true then we need to find him now. And kill everything in that forest. I will give you five months of studying the center of the forest from a safe distance to see what is going on there.” | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | It was an assemblage of thorns, stone, and flesh. A shambling thing of ethereal darkness and starlight made into matter, resembling no creature of this reality. And it sat before his campfire, the deep black of it's body seeming to douse the light, dull the heat. False stars twinkling in its' strange form.
"You're a good listener, you know that?" Nelson smiled. Not but an hour ago, he assumed himself dead. Yet here he was, sharing the flame with this thing. It had only spoke once in that time, a command. "*Speak.*"
Which was what he was doing even now. He was good at rambling. "I have no one else to talk to really, so your request was welcome. My parents abandoned me, my social workers foisted me off whenever they could, my school was hostile in both peers and faculty, and so, here I am at the doors of death." He held open his hands. Past the dim gloom of the fire, things stirred and watched, restless. Every once and a while, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something, a limb, or perhaps an eye.
"Of course, that doesn't seem the case quite yet, so, would you mind talking about yourse-"
"*Alone.*" It rasped like a sack of nails, a jangling of sounds only resembling words. It had no mouth, but the sound was real, echoing through the dark forest. His legs were still shaking as he nodded. "Yes. I am alone."
A gnarled black claw, crescent as the moon, came seemingly from nowhere. Then it set itself on the stone of it's body. "*Alone."* He gulped, then twitched his eyes at the trees, swaying under the weight of the unseen things. "Pardon my words, but, you seem to have a lot of company."
A cacophony sounded, reverberating at volumes loud enough to cause pain in the same cadence as before, scratching at his skin. "*Alone.*"
After bringing his hands from his ears, he looked back at the trees. "I...see." There was an understanding between them now, he wasn't so afraid, despite the ringing in his ears. The fire popped unceremoniously.
"So you're trapped out here, inside the barrier they set up for these woods, and with no one to speak to?"
"*Alone.*" The singular thing spoke again, causing him to grimace. "Haven't had much interest in practicing your singing voice I see." He smiled. The creature was a monolith, no body language save the twinkling in its' "skin" to read. "So what do you do to pass time?"
No response. "Do you know anyone else aside yourself? Any friends? Animal companions, plants?"
There was a pause. "*Alone.*"
"And with no one except the occasional teacher to come by and check the seal, huh." He felt a strange, gnawing pity grow. "A prisoner." He sat back, understanding now. " I mean, they told me that you attack on sight, but I'm no fighter. I can see why you didn't just kill me like the others who came in spells blazing. I'd go mad if I..."
At once, he realized that he could no longer remember when the last meaningful interaction he'd had with someone had been. When he'd last had a passing conversation, a hug, anything at all. It was a void in his mind. "...if I was that alone." The surrounding woods, not the creatures, suddenly felt so much darker. "Do you have a name?"
*"Alone."*
"Alone is kind of strange, but you're a strange thing indeed." As the fire began to die, he tested his magic. A small dead sapling grew out of the ground, the branches snapping into kindling as soon as it grew. "So am I, as you see. Dead things aren't supposed to grow after all." The cursed power was one of the main reasons he had been ostracized. At least it had use here, in a cursed, cold-lit forest.
The creature "stood" on ambulatory legs, composed of some painful illusion as it approached him. Fear blossomed in him again as it approached, looming over the tree. "Hm, oh, uh, my magic you see, it only grows dead things, it can't-"
The creature reached out with it's thorn-like claws and touched the rotten branches. Nelson felt something tug inside his stomach.
The dead sapling blossomed into a new strange growth, with limbs of a strange fleshy material, almost reaching out towards the sky. Stalks grew outward, topped with dull purple orbs that sparkled with the same starlight as the creatures. He hissed in breath. It was alive. Losing all sense of self-preservation, he ran over to the tree and creature, leaning in. "Ye gods..." he whispered it like a prayer. The tree was beautiful, otherworldly. "Can you do that yourself?" He realized that he had rested his hand on the creatures hide, and extracted his hand, realizing that the stone skin was unusually soft.
*"Alone."*
"No?" He looked at the trees in the forest. There was no hint of the strangeness this sapling exhibited. "Seems like we've found a mutual talent, eh?" The creature looked at him through it's eyeless visage.
A plan blossomed in his head, one born from his class on warding and infusion. "I have an idea. I am loathe to return to my school, and more upset at the idea of leaving my new friend behind. How would you like to see the outside world?"
The creature sat again, and with the rasping metal of it's words spoke in earnest: *"Not just this one. More."* A great and terrible purpose came over Nelson as he touched it's body again, the fire so dark that he swore only the thin moon and it's prying starlight lit the night around them. He smiled.
\-
"Now. The sun should rise soon. A gateway as old as creation, or so they say."
*"Yes."* It spoke again. He'd managed to coax words out of it, to verify, forming a contract of sorts. Opportunity had knocked for the both of them, and they would see it through. "Now, this should, in theory, work. It's an old, basic spell, but I've come to learn that those are the best kind. Would you-?" He pointed. The creature raked out lines with the claws where he'd marked them, until a great sigil formed in the dark earth and shallow roots. "It's funny you know, in the mortal world, this sign means something [very terrible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_hazard), but-" He could no longer find reason to care. "-To us, it shall be a mark of our relationship." He walked over to the center. The creature joined him. "I must admit, I'm less nervous about this than I'd expect."
*"Alone."* Was the response. He nodded. "That could be why. Hard to find a reason to care for the outcome when you have no one." Far away, the sun began to race over the Earth, the axis tilting as it always had. "No longer though." *"Yes."*
As the light touched the sign, a great fury went out, a scar in the world too deep to close. A vacuum formed on the dark sign in the woods, the trees nearby screeching at the abominable event that took place. Nelson's body flickered like a candle, the beast disintegrating alongside him as the material of their forms condensed into a single spot. The corruptive forms of the things lining the trees joined them, a single black dot in the world breaking loose.
It was felt across the whole world. A dark omen that came with the rising sun. The very Earth turned to an oily prismatic swirl, the seal on the old prison shattering like woven twigs. The effect raced across the school, no time to scream as it subsumed the whole of the building, and the surrounding countryside. Twisting it into a jungle of organs and cilia that shimmered in illusory terror. The thing that stepped out from the black dot was not human, but something more terrible than any horror from beyond. For it was not alone.
"Together." It spoke, in a soothing, human voice. The land twisted once more, and as it closed off from the intruding world, the two began to explore their new home. | The Teachers watched silently as he walked into the Dark Forest, a collective internal clock ticking down to single digits after eighteen years. It had been a constant and bitter fight between those who argued to destroy him at birth and those who thought he deserved a life, but there are no winners in compromise. Children aren’t fooled by shallow smiles and words.
Some left before he was out of sight, but the ones who stayed saw him hesitate and look back, just for a moment. He was too far away to read the look on his face, and then he was gone. Was that fear? Resignation? Or was there hatred? What would he choose when he returned to his own kind? | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | Headmaster Jin was the one to see me off. The only one, in fact. The rest of the teaching staff, I imagined, were all off celebrating having one less “nuisance” in their lives.
The headmaster looked down to me, and I looked up at them. They held a smile, but their eyes were dull. “All it will take is reaching the other side. Once there, you’ll know what to do.”
I nodded. They leaned down and grabbed my shoulder firmly. Then, they quickly let go, turning heel and walking away. I watched as they crested the hill, slowly disappearing behind the yellow grass that had the misfortune of growing atop it. After that, I was alone.
Looking down, I dug the heel of my boot into the dark soil beneath my feet. A war raged in my head, and though both sides fought adamantly, the best possible outcome for either was a pyrrhic victory. Letting out a breath, I looked up to the forest ahead of me.
A dark, thick fog stood among the trees, completely obscuring anything standing more than 30 meters ahead of me. The bark of the trees I could see looked gray, some of which had large gashes running across their outsides. The ground was covered with the deciduous leaves of the forest, only adding a slightly lighter brown to the mix of grays. It certainly fit the description we were provided, though I wasn’t thankful for that.
I took a new breath, and my first step forward. The ground crunched under my boots as I began walking forward, and I was quickly encapsulated by the fog.
As I walked through the forest, my mind was filled with the fog that surrounded me. I was hardly thinking, simply looking at the ground a few steps ahead to be sure I wouldn’t fall. It’s why I didn’t react to the whispers that slowly grew around me, or the shadows I began to barely notice out of the corners of my eyes. I simply looked forward, forcing each foot in front of the other as I trudged on.
I don’t know how much time had passed, but by the time I found the large tree, the air around me was growing darker and colder. I didn’t know if it was because it was becoming night, if being deep in the forest would do that, or if it was the presence of the Eldritch. None of these bothered me in the slightest as I turned and slumped against the tree’s trunk. Bringing my head to my knees, I curled into a ball.
Slowly, the whispering around me grew louder, though I paid it no mind. Rather, I was stuck in my own head. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit something. Yet, I didn’t. My emotions were strong, but the drive to act on them had quickly disappeared. So, I just sat, staring at the ground between my knees as the whispers grew into hissing around me.
On the other side of my legs, I saw shadows move, but I refused to look up. The ground shook slightly beneath my feet, but I remained still.
Only the sound of a hiss broke part of my trance. It wasn’t spoken, though. Rather than traveling the air, it seemed to go straight into me, the message delivered straight into my being.
“*What… are you… doing… here….*”
\------
Great prompt! Just what I needed to get through this weekend. Probably not finishing this today, but there will certainly be a second part.
r/IUniven | The Teachers watched silently as he walked into the Dark Forest, a collective internal clock ticking down to single digits after eighteen years. It had been a constant and bitter fight between those who argued to destroy him at birth and those who thought he deserved a life, but there are no winners in compromise. Children aren’t fooled by shallow smiles and words.
Some left before he was out of sight, but the ones who stayed saw him hesitate and look back, just for a moment. He was too far away to read the look on his face, and then he was gone. Was that fear? Resignation? Or was there hatred? What would he choose when he returned to his own kind? | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | Headmaster Jin was the one to see me off. The only one, in fact. The rest of the teaching staff, I imagined, were all off celebrating having one less “nuisance” in their lives.
The headmaster looked down to me, and I looked up at them. They held a smile, but their eyes were dull. “All it will take is reaching the other side. Once there, you’ll know what to do.”
I nodded. They leaned down and grabbed my shoulder firmly. Then, they quickly let go, turning heel and walking away. I watched as they crested the hill, slowly disappearing behind the yellow grass that had the misfortune of growing atop it. After that, I was alone.
Looking down, I dug the heel of my boot into the dark soil beneath my feet. A war raged in my head, and though both sides fought adamantly, the best possible outcome for either was a pyrrhic victory. Letting out a breath, I looked up to the forest ahead of me.
A dark, thick fog stood among the trees, completely obscuring anything standing more than 30 meters ahead of me. The bark of the trees I could see looked gray, some of which had large gashes running across their outsides. The ground was covered with the deciduous leaves of the forest, only adding a slightly lighter brown to the mix of grays. It certainly fit the description we were provided, though I wasn’t thankful for that.
I took a new breath, and my first step forward. The ground crunched under my boots as I began walking forward, and I was quickly encapsulated by the fog.
As I walked through the forest, my mind was filled with the fog that surrounded me. I was hardly thinking, simply looking at the ground a few steps ahead to be sure I wouldn’t fall. It’s why I didn’t react to the whispers that slowly grew around me, or the shadows I began to barely notice out of the corners of my eyes. I simply looked forward, forcing each foot in front of the other as I trudged on.
I don’t know how much time had passed, but by the time I found the large tree, the air around me was growing darker and colder. I didn’t know if it was because it was becoming night, if being deep in the forest would do that, or if it was the presence of the Eldritch. None of these bothered me in the slightest as I turned and slumped against the tree’s trunk. Bringing my head to my knees, I curled into a ball.
Slowly, the whispering around me grew louder, though I paid it no mind. Rather, I was stuck in my own head. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit something. Yet, I didn’t. My emotions were strong, but the drive to act on them had quickly disappeared. So, I just sat, staring at the ground between my knees as the whispers grew into hissing around me.
On the other side of my legs, I saw shadows move, but I refused to look up. The ground shook slightly beneath my feet, but I remained still.
Only the sound of a hiss broke part of my trance. It wasn’t spoken, though. Rather than traveling the air, it seemed to go straight into me, the message delivered straight into my being.
“*What… are you… doing… here….*”
\------
Great prompt! Just what I needed to get through this weekend. Probably not finishing this today, but there will certainly be a second part.
r/IUniven | "Oh man, I've had my fair run-ins with terrible dungeon masters as well. I feel you dude."
The tentacled abomination slurped itself in what I supposed to be a sympathetic gesture. Which was quite appreciated. The Generic Dark Forest was a terrifying place, and my Generic Teachers at my Generic Magic School had sent me out here after I flipped them the bird all afternoon. I suggested they might even "suck it," and this did little to soothe their spirits. But that was the price to pay for being the coolest kid in class.
"Yeah, this guy just wanted to see us squirm, you know? A good DM keeps you in that flow zone. Not too hard, but not too easy either. He just sent hordes of monsters after us and we kept dying and pulling out fresh character sheets. It wasn't fun at all."
"Sounds like Xtoch'tlt," said one of the creatures before me, grunting merrily.
"Man, shut up," said Xtoch'tlt. "I'm just making it *realistic*."
The tentacled abomination, SklggSklgg the Third, rolled a thousand of his eyes. "It's not supposed to be realistic. It's supposed to be fun."
"Realism is fun!" Xtoch'tlt insisted. "You need at least some internal logic."
"Yeah," said The Creature Beyond Description. "But if you're making your players miserable, you're clearly doing it wrong."
Xtoch'tlt sulked for a moment, then muttered something about it all being "bullshit" of one sort or the other.
The realm of Generic was sad to have been thought up as part of the stand-up act of D'jzzch Olnn and its existence tittered on the brink of collapse because if he decided to drop it in favor of some other material, we would all cease to exist. At least that was what they taught us at the Generic Magic School. But my Generic Teachers could choke down on a bucket of wet chodes for all I cared.
I waved goodbye to the creatures of the Generic Dark Forest. They were sort of cool, I guess. And I think they thought I was cool as well. Not that I care. I don't care, like at all. But I think they liked me a lot.
Perhaps I'd drop out of school and join them. That would show my loser teachers that they can't control me. I'm not like a button on some device that they can twist or push in order to make stuff happen to stuff with the device. I'm different. I say stuff and I don't care if people get offended. Flame magic? It's pretty dumb. I said that to my Generic Flame Magic Teacher, and he lost it. You can hold a tiki torch and it's basically the same thing. Big whoop.
Dungeon masters. Teachers. There's no authority out there who can restrain me. Watch out, Generic. I'm going to turn this whole place upside down. | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | We watched the interlopers from beneath two mighty pines, their concealing shadows worsened by both the wraith beside me and my own magic. There were two of them dressed as soldiers, well equipped ones but still soldiers, not adventurers or even monster slayers. Perhaps they had just gotten out of the king's army and were bored of day to day life or wanting to earn some coin. Or perhaps they were sent here, just like me cast into the forest on a death mission, or maybe deserters, desperate for escape. If the latter were true we would offer them shelter, and if they didn't want that safe passage, but if the former, well we would deal with them here and now.
We watch as they slowly move forward, eyes scanning swords drawn, but not sacred. That did not bode well, the confident ones were always the hardest to deal with. But they must be I think with a shrug as I begin to step out from the shadows. I was almost past the darkness when the wraiths scratching hiss stopped me in my tracks.
I feel one of the two necklaces I wear begin to warm as it translates the black clouds words. "There is another in the trees owl says. A mage, powerful, fire magic too". A mage, and a fire one no less, that was rare. Even when mages came here, which was rare, they rarely sent fire ones. The dark forest was hated but also valued for what could be learned from the carcasses adventurers carry out, the king had a vested interest in ensuring at least a part of it survived, or at least he did. Ever since I had came here, I realized grimly, the king and the mages school both had been unable to get the bodies they wanted for studies, potions, and worthless trinkets. In fact so many had died trying as of late, perhaps the king no longer thought the forest worth keeping. | "Oh man, I've had my fair run-ins with terrible dungeon masters as well. I feel you dude."
The tentacled abomination slurped itself in what I supposed to be a sympathetic gesture. Which was quite appreciated. The Generic Dark Forest was a terrifying place, and my Generic Teachers at my Generic Magic School had sent me out here after I flipped them the bird all afternoon. I suggested they might even "suck it," and this did little to soothe their spirits. But that was the price to pay for being the coolest kid in class.
"Yeah, this guy just wanted to see us squirm, you know? A good DM keeps you in that flow zone. Not too hard, but not too easy either. He just sent hordes of monsters after us and we kept dying and pulling out fresh character sheets. It wasn't fun at all."
"Sounds like Xtoch'tlt," said one of the creatures before me, grunting merrily.
"Man, shut up," said Xtoch'tlt. "I'm just making it *realistic*."
The tentacled abomination, SklggSklgg the Third, rolled a thousand of his eyes. "It's not supposed to be realistic. It's supposed to be fun."
"Realism is fun!" Xtoch'tlt insisted. "You need at least some internal logic."
"Yeah," said The Creature Beyond Description. "But if you're making your players miserable, you're clearly doing it wrong."
Xtoch'tlt sulked for a moment, then muttered something about it all being "bullshit" of one sort or the other.
The realm of Generic was sad to have been thought up as part of the stand-up act of D'jzzch Olnn and its existence tittered on the brink of collapse because if he decided to drop it in favor of some other material, we would all cease to exist. At least that was what they taught us at the Generic Magic School. But my Generic Teachers could choke down on a bucket of wet chodes for all I cared.
I waved goodbye to the creatures of the Generic Dark Forest. They were sort of cool, I guess. And I think they thought I was cool as well. Not that I care. I don't care, like at all. But I think they liked me a lot.
Perhaps I'd drop out of school and join them. That would show my loser teachers that they can't control me. I'm not like a button on some device that they can twist or push in order to make stuff happen to stuff with the device. I'm different. I say stuff and I don't care if people get offended. Flame magic? It's pretty dumb. I said that to my Generic Flame Magic Teacher, and he lost it. You can hold a tiki torch and it's basically the same thing. Big whoop.
Dungeon masters. Teachers. There's no authority out there who can restrain me. Watch out, Generic. I'm going to turn this whole place upside down. | |
[WP] You were hated even by the Teachers in the Magic School. One day you were given the Assignment to go through the Dark Forest, which was infested with Monsters and Eldritch Horrors. You accepted your death and went into the forest, but after hearing your story the Eldritch Horrors take you in. | You relished in their hate, their fury towards you.
Oh, you know what you’ve done, and their hate wasn’t unjustified, yet despite everything, the Headmaster still allowed you to keep studying at the academy, because *she* was in no position to remove *you*.
You laughed, treading slowly through the dark mud. A lizard scuttled out of your way.
And so, Professor Woods thought he would send you into the woods, doubtlessly hoping for you to be mauled to your death! You gave a long wheeze, and almost tripped face first into the mud from your choking laughter. Oh, the desperate old man, always trying to get rid of you!
You readjusted your tie, and took a small package of salt from your shirt pocket. You threw it into the mud, and it was greedily devoured. You were in the centre of a clearing now. The trees around you were charred, and dead, their bare branches reaching hopelessly to the sky, only to droop from its own weight and point to the ground.
You lit a match, held it in front of your lips, and gave a low whistle.
And the trees burned with a great flame, licking, and sucking in air greedily, scorching the trees even more, if that was even possible. The musty, crimson flames reached towards the sky. You spread your arms open, showing the universally friendly gesture, and welcomed the Eldest being, a creature with about thirty heads. Maybe it had more, but no one ever bothered counting.
It stretched its neck towards you, until it’s main head was almost touching your face. It wore a grim expression.
You crushed the match and spoke before the creature,
‘Kill me.’
It continued to stare at you, and you pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Holding it out to the creature, you talk again,
‘Today, I offer myself as a sacrifice. In exchange, the Eldritch Beings will keep the people in the Ruchring Academy in eternal suffering. Is it a deal or not?’
The heads whisper into the wind.
‘w h y ?’
You raised your head higher, and allowed a shit-eating grin to grow on your face.
‘The people of the Academy have, unfortunately, found out some of my… unsavoury deeds. I expect they would contact the Royals about it soon, and I’d be brought to the guillotine.
‘They are trying to get rid of me, even as they wait for the Royal Letter, and they decided to send me to the Forest to get me killed. So, I thought, I could make use of this outing here to make a little deal.
‘I’ll die anyways - might as well pull them from their pretty seats, as I fall from my throne.’
The Eldest stared at you.
‘v e r y in t ę r e st i n g . i t hou g ht
th e r e w æs s om ęæ t h i нg a bout
y øu . ‘
It stuck its face closer to yours, and you stare right back at it.
‘f ø l l œ w mę . y o u r de æ l
i n t ri gue s мe. we ‘ l l tæ l k м o rę
ø v er d inn œr. ‘ | "Oh man, I've had my fair run-ins with terrible dungeon masters as well. I feel you dude."
The tentacled abomination slurped itself in what I supposed to be a sympathetic gesture. Which was quite appreciated. The Generic Dark Forest was a terrifying place, and my Generic Teachers at my Generic Magic School had sent me out here after I flipped them the bird all afternoon. I suggested they might even "suck it," and this did little to soothe their spirits. But that was the price to pay for being the coolest kid in class.
"Yeah, this guy just wanted to see us squirm, you know? A good DM keeps you in that flow zone. Not too hard, but not too easy either. He just sent hordes of monsters after us and we kept dying and pulling out fresh character sheets. It wasn't fun at all."
"Sounds like Xtoch'tlt," said one of the creatures before me, grunting merrily.
"Man, shut up," said Xtoch'tlt. "I'm just making it *realistic*."
The tentacled abomination, SklggSklgg the Third, rolled a thousand of his eyes. "It's not supposed to be realistic. It's supposed to be fun."
"Realism is fun!" Xtoch'tlt insisted. "You need at least some internal logic."
"Yeah," said The Creature Beyond Description. "But if you're making your players miserable, you're clearly doing it wrong."
Xtoch'tlt sulked for a moment, then muttered something about it all being "bullshit" of one sort or the other.
The realm of Generic was sad to have been thought up as part of the stand-up act of D'jzzch Olnn and its existence tittered on the brink of collapse because if he decided to drop it in favor of some other material, we would all cease to exist. At least that was what they taught us at the Generic Magic School. But my Generic Teachers could choke down on a bucket of wet chodes for all I cared.
I waved goodbye to the creatures of the Generic Dark Forest. They were sort of cool, I guess. And I think they thought I was cool as well. Not that I care. I don't care, like at all. But I think they liked me a lot.
Perhaps I'd drop out of school and join them. That would show my loser teachers that they can't control me. I'm not like a button on some device that they can twist or push in order to make stuff happen to stuff with the device. I'm different. I say stuff and I don't care if people get offended. Flame magic? It's pretty dumb. I said that to my Generic Flame Magic Teacher, and he lost it. You can hold a tiki torch and it's basically the same thing. Big whoop.
Dungeon masters. Teachers. There's no authority out there who can restrain me. Watch out, Generic. I'm going to turn this whole place upside down. | |
[WP] One pill a day keeps the devil away. | “Stop *crying*” she spat.
It wasn’t his fault. Every time he tried to speak, the sores that lined the inside of his mouth like craters on the surface of an inside out moon exploded with a shock of white hot pain, and each time that white hot pain streaked across the torn, swollen flesh of his inner cheeks, his migraine worsened. Waves of nausea washed over him, and it wasn’t clear whether that was a result of the migraine, or just another side effect.
“After everything I’ve done for the two of us, you’re still so fucking ungrateul. I should have known you’d grow up to treat me even worse than *he* ever did.”
He would normally protest such an accusation, but the aches in his joints, and the awful sandpaper sensation that raked his skin only allowed a sickly moan to escape.
“And you won’t even deny it! See, this is what everyone does. They take advantage of my kindness just to turn around and treat me like SHIT” she said through clenched teeth.
“This?" she picked up her phone and waved it around, "These people? They’re all I have but at least they appreciate me for who I am. They know what a good mother I am. It would break their hearts to know how you actually treat me… How you disrespect me.”
She threw her phone down onto the bed, buried her face in her bony hands and began to loudly sob and wail.
From somewhere deep within himself, he mustered up the energy to speak.
“We can try it again!” he said, placing his blistering rash-speckled hand on her arm.
She jerked away and slammed down her hands to glare at him with loathing eyes, somehow devoid of any tears.
“Don’t touch me, you hateful son of a bitch!”
“No, really! I want to now, I promise!” he cried, reaching out for her again. Each time he moved it was like a jolt of electricity quickly shot from his head to his toes. With just that small bit of effort, he had broken into a clammy sweat. He was short of breath and on the verge of vomiting from pain as his teeth grazed the gashes in his mouth. The cold chills made it nearly impossible to hide his trembling, but he tried to suppress it so that she would not fly into a rage, accusing him of faking.
“You’re such a liar,” she hissed, but was already picking up her phone and opening the camera, choosing a filter that made him look a little less yellow. In the instant it took for her to push Record, her scowl snapped into a beaming grin, but there wasn’t a filter that could cover up her cold, dead eyes.
“Welcome back friends and family!” she sang to the camera.
“Last week we told you about Breighdan’s appointment with our new sponsors at His Glory Behavioral Healing.” she said cheerfully, subtly gripping his shoulder and forcing him into the frame. He felt as if his head was going to split open as he looked into the mean blue light of the phone.
“We discussed some of the behavioral issues we’ve talked about here on the Matthews Fam Channel, and Reverend Saxby was gracious enough to prescribe his Therapeutic Glory Pills, which my sweet Breighdan has been taking daily. It’s been such a Blessing, hasn’t it hon?”
“Uh huh!” he said, trying not to wince as his forced smile stretched his aching cheeks.
“Reverend Saxby is a man of God... a man of the Truth. He doesn’t listen to the lies of the Satanists in the FDA. He was guided purely by His word to make and sell this miracle cure. None of that deceitful 'testing', either. We all know those evil experiments are funded by the blood of innocent babies, anyway.”
“Between his father leaving and our Communist governor forcing him to start the third grade remotely, it’s been a tough year for us… but by the Power of God and the work of the Good Reverend, my Breighdan is better behaved, closer to the Lord, and closer to his Mother than ever… all without side effects like those mainstream mind control drugs, right sweetie?”
“Uh huh!” he said again, staring over at the unmarked bottle of pills sitting on the bedside table. He knew another dose was coming soon.
“You can click on the link in the description to learn more. As Reverend Saxby says, a Pill a day keeps the Devil away!” | Have you been struggling with more than your inner demons? Do you find yourself needing a break from the hellish beasts harassing you? Well you, my friend, need Deus.
Deus is the all-in-one solution to your demonic needs. Just one pill of Deus every day can keep the Devil out of your soul and off of your mind. This revolutionary new medication is not just holier than thou, it’s holier than all previous brands of demon repellant! Deus has been shown to repel demons with 150% the efficacy of the top competitor, and at half the doses! Ask your religious leader about Deus today!
^(Do not take Deus if taking any other form of demon repellant medication. Side effects of Deus may include headache, nausea, confessional thoughts, sinful urges, and aversion to holy water. If you experience burning pain while touching holy texts, please stop talking Deus and call your local clergy immediately, as this may be a sign of a serious reaction. Murderers, athiests, and women who are pregnant out of wedlock should not take Deus.)
If you’re ready to take your soul back from the legions of the damned, ask your church about Deus today! Remember, one pill a day is all you need to keep the Devil away. | |
[WP] One pill a day keeps the devil away. | There's a new pharmacist today at the window. I crane my neck but don't see Lynda anywhere behind the glass. With two people ahead of me, I wonder if it's worth waiting for my prescription. Can I trust this stranger? Or are they working for *them*?
I reach into my bag and grab the small orange bottle. I don't need to see it in order to know there's only two pills left. I've counted and recounted with each of my rituals. It's Friday, giving me a pill for tonight and tomorrow, but I'll be vulnerable on Sunday.
As I weigh the odds of facing the new pharmacist against the risk of being exposed on Sunday, someone grabs me. I swirl around, ready for anything, when I realize they were just tapping my shoulder, letting me know I'm next in line. I laugh it off and move forward, trying to control my breathing.
"Pick up or drop off?" He drones, mildly uninterested. Everything becomes louder and the lights are too bright. I can hear my heart beating, and know that everyone here must hear it as well. I squint against the florescents that are bearing down on my like a spotlight.
"Sir?" He asks again, impatiently. His face has changed, and I'm not sure if it's another man or if he's showing his true form. My hands reach out and hand him my ID, working on their own, betraying my intentions.
"Pick up" I hear myself say, only it's not my voice, it can't be my voice. I repeat a prayer in my head as he walks away, a mantra as I try to ground myself. I need to calm down.
Before I know it, he hands me the small paper bag, and I take it, leaving the store in a zig zag route, not wanting to be followed. I pull up my hood as I pass the security camera. They know who I am.
I make it home as my watch alarm goes off. I take the pill in my bag, and count the final pill. Opening the paper bag, I examine the bottle, comparing it to the old one that Lynda gave me. The one I can trust. They look the same, size, shape, color. I read the label.
"Antipsychotic: One pill a day keeps the devil away" | Have you been struggling with more than your inner demons? Do you find yourself needing a break from the hellish beasts harassing you? Well you, my friend, need Deus.
Deus is the all-in-one solution to your demonic needs. Just one pill of Deus every day can keep the Devil out of your soul and off of your mind. This revolutionary new medication is not just holier than thou, it’s holier than all previous brands of demon repellant! Deus has been shown to repel demons with 150% the efficacy of the top competitor, and at half the doses! Ask your religious leader about Deus today!
^(Do not take Deus if taking any other form of demon repellant medication. Side effects of Deus may include headache, nausea, confessional thoughts, sinful urges, and aversion to holy water. If you experience burning pain while touching holy texts, please stop talking Deus and call your local clergy immediately, as this may be a sign of a serious reaction. Murderers, athiests, and women who are pregnant out of wedlock should not take Deus.)
If you’re ready to take your soul back from the legions of the damned, ask your church about Deus today! Remember, one pill a day is all you need to keep the Devil away. | |
[WP] You’ve always lived in the tower. The two hundred and fifty story building has everything. The world within is a self-contained ecosystem. The residents never go outside. To leave the encircling gate is death. You don’t know why. And you don't care. You're just a teen that likes to sneak around | I've heard some friends of mine complain about never getting to leave the Tower - that's is old and boring. I never got that. How could I possibly have gotten bored in a place like this? 250 stories of different rooms, purposes, filled with people that all have their own stories to listen to. I *loved* going to different floors, meeting the inhabitants - sometimes for the first time - and just... talking, looking around, learning more about their part in the structure. I once spent two whole weeks just looking around the green-tinted agricultural floors.
That's not to say that I never got curious - I didn't always visit places that I was strictly... allowed to. But that's what made it all the more interesting! I still remember the thrill I felt when I managed to get into the blue-and-white lined walls of the clerical office and steal- er, confiscate a few stamps as a souvenir. Never even got caught.
But today, I decided to perform my most daring stunt - my most compelling act of exploration.
I'd go to the Gate. The very rim of the Tower.
Now, I heard the adults say how dangerous it is, how no one can truly go near, but they never told you *why* it was dangerous or *what* was beyond it - I think they just didn't want to deal with it if you ask me. And it's not like I was gonna go *out*, just go to the Gate so I can say that I did, no one will ever notice.
I waited until evening - that's when guards change shifts, makes it a lot easier to slip by than night as some think. There's a reason I never got caught unlike some of my friends. I put on my favorite orange jacket to ward off the cold January air and with a deep breath, left the confines of my room. Living on the 36th floor, it wasn't too laborious to get to the ground floor - not like I could use the elevator if I tried to remain unnoticed.
Just as I expected - the guards at the front desk were changing shifts. I recognized the man who was just starting his - Joe McNammon, an older silver-haired man with a thick mustache. I'd spent many nights talking to him - he had a plethora of phenomenal stories, as exciting as they were unlikely, but he had a knack for storytelling and I never bothered inquiring just how true they were. Knowing he'll start his shift with a bathroom break, I used the opportunity to tiptoe out of the entrance hall.
The air in the yard was cold, brisk, and invigorating. I felt a rush of adrenaline course through me as my imagination ran wild with ideas of what could be behind the Gate. No one ever saw - the trees that lined the walls rose far into the skies and above them, clouds took over in obscuring any vision. A serene sight, to be sure, but a most definitely concealing one.
I reached the treeline and headed to a small gate on the side - the main gate was going to be *very* closely watched. To my surprise, when I grabbed the handle of the side gate, I found it to yield to my press. I... didn't expect this. Should I... look outside? What could be there? Werewolves? Wasteland? Hell? My classmates always had a plethora of wild theories while the adults have simply learned not to worry about it. I only wanted to come to the rim of the Tower, not... *outside* of it. But my curiosity burned deep and forces my actions.
A storm erupted in my chest as my heart pumped like never before. With a shaking hand, I managed to slowly open the small door.
It was... I... it's...
It was the Tower.
I looked behind me and was met with the familiar sight of my Tower, my lifelong home, but when I looked outside of the gate it was... it was the same, the Tower once again, the details identical, even the same windows were lit up, even the same crack running along the third window on floor 14. I... this isn't...
My racing thoughts were stopped by a sight that mortified me utterly. I stood there, by the gate, petrified, unable to think, to act, to move as I watched a figure emerge out of the entrance hall of this... secondary Tower. A figure wearing a familiar, bright orange jacket. A figure that started sneaking towards the Gate. A figure that bore an agonizing resemblance to me. I figure... I...
I nearly fainted as a hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned around, but my panic-stricken state prevented me from yelling out, and I stared directly into the face of the Administrator. He... didn't look angry. Or disappointed. He looked almost understanding. He reached past me and quietly closed the gate, then turned back to me and gave me a subtle smile.
"Samuel. We should talk." | **The Tower of Life (1/3)**
----
“Jimmy says he’s seen every floor of the tower,” I tell my sister.
“Jimmy is a liar,” my sister says.
“He says floor 143 is a cemetery, and that the dead are hung on hooks to scare off nightmares,” I say.
My sister Vivian is only three years older than me, but when she speaks I feel like I’m talking to mom.
“That doesn’t even make any sense,” Vivian rolls her eyes. “Why would hanging dead bodies keep away nightmares?”
“I - I don’t know,” I say. “But Jimmy -“
“- Be smarter. Jimmy is a liar.” she says. “Guarantee you he’s gonna wind up just another coolant junkie working HVAC.”
“What’s wrong with HVAC?” I ask.
She ignores my question and moves to the fridge. The light inside flickers as the door wobbles on a broken hinge. She curses under her breath and grabs a sweaty jug of water.
“God damn power cuts,” she mutters and pours a glass.
She drinks it, and I can tell she’s talking to herself but I can’t make out the words.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she pours another class, walks over and passes it to me.
I drink. “How’s work been?”
“Great,” she forces a smile, trying to be positive. Trying to shelter me from how shitty her boss is.
“I’ll be late tonight,” she says and jabs a finger in my chest - “If I hear you are fucking around in _the LoWe_ again…”
“I won’t,” I lie.
Viv grins and the lines at the corner of her eyes crinkle. I’ve watched them get worse over the last 6 months since mom was detained.
She says she’ll be working late and not to wait up and she leaves.
Vivian works in the east wing of SB (sub-basement) level 12. She is one of a dozen assistants to the apprentice to the water maintenance director. At fifteen she’s the younger person to ever work that job. I don’t know how she got the job. She says she won them over with her charm, but I don’t believe her.
I turn to the window and look out over the encircling desert. It’s not a sand desert. It’s flat land of dirt and rock that stretches in all directions and falls off the horizon.
_The Tower of Life, as its formally named, is where we live. Along with some 35,000 other people. Our apartment is a small one bedroom on the west branch of the 43rd floor. The building is 250 stories high. At its base it stretches a quarter of a mile on all sides, and keeps that width until the 50th floor where it narrows by 25%. Then it narrows again at the 100th floor. And then again at the 200th. Each major break is a security checkpoint, and the higher up you get, the bigger the living space. I had a friend once that lived on 125, and he said he had two bathrooms. Jimmy says all the floors from 200 up have four bathrooms and front doors made of gold. But I think Vivian might be right, Jimmy lies. No one from above 200 ever comes down this low. Hell, I’ve never heard of anyone above 100 making it to below 50 — unless they are headed to the LoWe._
_The outside of the building at ground floor is a sea of dirt on all sides. I talked to a repairman once that said he once worked a job on the south wall. He said the wind and desert had beaten the base of the building to hell, and that he got stuck in a sand storm and barely survived. From my window I can see the surrounding wall. It’s a three story high concrete barrier that wraps around the entire tower. Beyond the wall is a diagonal pitched fence reinforced with metal spikes every two feet._
_*The LoWe* is an entire section of the lower west side of the building that takes up the first 25 floors of that quadrant. It’s run by criminals. Jimmy and me have managed to sneak in to the first section once or twice. I don’t see what all the fuss is about, it’s just gambling and hookers. There are some pockets carved out in abandoned hallways that kids hang out in. We smoke cigarette butts pulled from trash cans and pretend we are partying. There are larger a banded areas of the tower that run on backup power and are off limits. I don’t like exploring those parts. They’re dark and a maze of silent mystery. Getting caught anywhere off limits gets you detained. So I try to keep my trouble making to sections that warrant a lesser punishment if caught.
I lay on the sofa looking out the window. We’re lucky, I think, to have a window. Mom told me - before she was taken - that Dad was an important guy back in the day. That he made friends and as payment they got him a place with a window view. Whenever I asked what he did, she told me a different lie.
“He was a mechanic.”
“He was a water engineer.”
“He was a master HVAC tech.”
I never called her out on it. It seemed to stress her out that I asked, so I’d play stupid and let her lie to me.
Laying on the couch I thumb threw an old manual that outlines the original segments of the building. It’s my favorite book. The front page has my fathers name written on it - Jonathan D. Lori. It’s the only thing I really have that was _his._
There’s a knock at the door.
“Who is it?” I yell.
“Dude, it’s me!” Jimmy yells.
“Come in!” I yell back.
The door opens and he slinks in.
“She’s gone right?” He asks, peaking around the room.
“Yeah, Viv is out for the night,” I say.
“Cool,” Jimmy smiles. “Wanna get into some trouble?” | |
[WP] Holding their broken body against your chest beneath the storm clouds. A pained chuckle, escapes their cracked lips. “I’m sorry I made you fall in love with a villain.” Eyes wet, voice broken, and voice choked; “A hero would have traded me for the world but you . . .you traded it for me. ” | "My closest friend. My hated enemy. I'm so, so *sorry*. You fell in love with me." I watched a thin trail of blood dribble from the corner of her mouth as she spluttered, sending globs of crimson splattering against the cracked flagstones. "A hero would have traded me for the world… But you… You chose me… Why?" I could see the tears forming in her eyes as I cradled the mangled form, ignoring the warmness that was seeping into my sleeves, that would be a problem for later. I smiled, a smile that only one moment from losing something irreplaceable could smile.
"There are always more heroes, but there is never enough time…" There was a surety to my words then, a surety I was not entirely sure they deserved. Above me the storm finally broke, as Kaina the Damned finally let slip the ribbon of life. I stayed there till the veil fire claimed my soul as well. Stayed staring at that monster's lifeless body, making sure she would not rise to torment this world again. At Least… That is what the world was told. There will always be more heroes, more villains. But I… I am neither. I made my choices and I will live by them.
It's funny really, the same village folk who demanded Kaina's head were the exact same souls who tended to Kalysta's mangled form. Who fed her, taught her how to walk again, who sent for me the moment she awoke. The same people who drank and danced and celebrated in our honor once spring broke and ties were bound.
Kaina the damned and Emerys the untainted both died in that storm. But, Kalysta and Aedrik are still alive and well, if somewhat marred. Come the summer they shall if the gods are kind bring a life into this world. A happy change from all the lives they took. | Fishdom Administrator Post, Year V
and when black spew from within erupts from callous hands and vibrant neon feeds your carcinogen stems your zeal will fade and your end will seem so far off, and you lecture from behind the curtain, the thin thin curtain made from spider milk and broken glass you took from every poor fucker you met who was noble enough to see you more than once, your head stitched from flesh torn and stolen from contemporary dickheads you thought were model-born, you pick and weave your memory basket and repeat the tugging chords that catch what you need but fragile legacy spills hard, expecting the world from nothing but giving back jack to those who bash their faces bloody against your wall of lies. desire for good on your own vain terms or desire for vanity? you strike the match and drop it onto our floor and it screams for mercy but you have none except for those who you need or don’t question you, but final door slam behest your crisis and now it’s blood for you and when your bed does creak and your curtain opens I will be there to sing
addressed to u/leafbou | |
[WP] "Your magic circuits are incomplete and stunted. You may never be able to cast magic effectively." The doctor states with grim finality. Your parents look on in stunned silence. You are effectively an outcast from this moment on. | An alarm clock screamed into the morning air and lights flickered on across the small room.
With a sigh, I opened my eyes and pulled myself out of bed. Here I was, years later, still in my childhood room. Scooping a work uniform of the floor and sliding into it (after a quick sniff test, when did I wash this last?), I head out for the day.
Its hard to get respect in this city when you wear a waste disposal uniform, but its better than nothing. At least the uniforms material dampens magic so no one can get a read on me. It was easy to ignore a kid with magical deficiencies, between growing pains and puberty, getting an accurate read was challenging at best. As an adult when your circuits are supposed to,be fully developed though? Easy for those who care to see right through you, unless you are required to wear magical dampeners and specially issued insulating coveralls of course.
Not being able to finish school and being magically deformed hadn't left a lot of career options open to me, but a little bit of research had landed me on the back of this truck. Turns out, the more magically gifted you are, the more often you get feedback from magical refuse and the harder it becomes to insulate your circuits. But for me? PPE was basically a formality just to avoid any workplace liability.
Spending my days wearing gloves, mask, and coveralls as my classmates flew past me(in some cases quite literally) may not have been my dream growing up, but it paid the bills (and kept my mother from crying). I thought not having magic would be the end of World, but instead it just became a bit more smelly.
Of course not every day was like that, some days were exciting. Today was one of those rare days. An alarm rings, lights flash and we ride out behind the fire trucks. It turns out that when a magical accident happens, theres usually a lot of debris left over and that is our specialty.
This time was some industrial mishap, one of the large crystalline towers owned by some billionaire had malfunctioned and slammed into the ground, obliterating a magicraft plant. The meters on our trucks started going wild as we got on site. Our job was simple, contain and dispose of what we can until the Big Boys arrive with fancy suits and fancier tech to handle the rest. Everything was going well, routine and by the book... Then the radio in my collar clicked to life and through the static came, "Clea....site...eat...the...ite." I'm no genius, but it doesn't take much to know when to run.
Thats how I found myself in a room with my boss, their boss, and some guy in a suit. Had some annoying glamour going, couldn't even tell what shape his head was under it. I could tell that I didn't like him as soon as he started talking though.
"This the defect?"
My boss, nice guy that he is, grimaced. "This here is James, he is the least reactive member of our crew, just like you asked. Now, would you kindly explain why you wanted him?"
The suit pulled a folder out and dropped it in front of me. A familiar dread and resignation settled in my chest as I stared down at my name in big, bold lettering. "Now, I waited to say this so I'd only have to say this the once. Inside that building, there is a reactor. That reactor may or may not be an experimental anti magic reactor. The containment may have been breached. The closest full set of protective gear that isn't near said reactor is three countries and a treaty away. If such a reactor existed, anyone exposed could suffer anything from total burnout of magical circuits to death."
The suit took a deep breath. "Now, top minds crunched the numbers. They believe someone without proper magic circuits could approach it safely. But the odds of someone being born with stunted a magical system is less than one in a million. Imagine our surprise that when there is someone like that in the same city. Then that person is also trained by and employed with the magic mishap management service?"
He leans forward, holding out a smaller folder. "So here is the deal. Your PPE will get rippes apart by the exposure. We still need you in there. You go in, follow the path we designate, follow the steps highlighted, and disable the reactor. Once it is disabled, a hundred million each to you, your parents, and your employer. Any and all debts settled, no questions. If you fail, we send fifty millions parents instead. If you make it out in one piece, full medical and magical checkup at no cost. Following that, we may have a contract ready for your future services. Any questions?"
I stared at his blurry, warping face and made the easiest choice of my life with a smile. | The army general walked into the training field holding a large notebook and a pen, next to him were three lieutenants carrying a metal table holding several dozens of injections filled with a blue glowing substance."As you know, soldiers today is the day you can show the world your power. The invention of Manna brought our world into a chaos not seen by any of our ancestors, but luckily for us there are powerful mages in every human population, all they need to break free is some tasty juice and now we have it right under our fingertips. The price of each syringe is less than twenty cents, but with right genome it can last a few days, those who lack the alien DNA on the other hand won't even be able to get an extra fart. As you might guess, nothing is for free. Who is ready?"
&#x200B;
After about half of a minute of utter silence general started again. "I know it seems unfair, but rules are the rules, some of you will have to find another job as army requires highly skilled mages from this this year on. Our enemies are assembling hordes of talented mages from all around the world. Even children are being assessed for rare genetic traits and eventually, every person in the world will be given a rank based upon their ability to handle Manna. If nobody wants to volunteer, then I will choose. Lieutenant Serkovskij, are you ready to show your skills?"
&#x200B;
Of course he chose me, who else has a chance if not the lieutenant? Everybody knows who is the boss and these pussies need a valuable lesson in power. "Of course general, I knew you will pick me." "Then there's not much to be feared soldier." They've strapped a large, tightly fitted vest onto my chest with a dial showing 0.03% saturation. After the injection was inserted into my neck, the display almost instantly jumped to 49% and started decreasing at a fast pace, the only thing that changed for me was a ringing in my ears, that was followed by a sharp pain in my lower back. Next thing I knew, the dial was back at zero.
&#x200B;
General has arched his brows and loudly proclaimed, "The whole syringe was spent in three seconds producing only mild wind close to your body, I am sorry to say, but you can pack your backs lieutenant. Our dogs have showed a higher capacity for Manna." I couldn't believe. At first I was shocked, but then anger quickly took a hold of me. "If this is the case, then let me see what others would produce. Book rat Joe, on my command, show me what kind of show you will be able to put on. You were almost suspended last year for quitting combat and helping civilians let's see what this rat will have to show for."
&#x200B;
Not even a minute later soldier Joe Nipski was strapped a black vest and syringe went straight into his lower jaw, the dial was showing 0.00%, in one quick burst it went up to 50.2%, his eyes went from blue to dark red and then back to blue, his feet left the ground and his body was levitating about ten feet above the generals eye level, their eyes have met, but then something unexpected has happened. Joe's eyes turned into a bright shade of red and a powerful ray was cast from them down to the running track and burned in a sharp line about three inches wide and twelve feet long. Next thing he knew, Joe was back at the ground with a dial on his west showing the same 50.2%. Not even a single decimal was used to power this feat. I guess what's coming for the world is something no one could have seen. A reign of book rats.. | |
[WP] Time travel has been invented and is a pain in the ass. Future-former employers show up randomly to ask for passwords and things they forgot during your exit interview, etc. But one day some detectives show up... investigating your murder | “Are you sure I was murdered?”
There was a sort of peculiarity that comes with trying to reconcile myself with my own death, far in a future I could not see. I supposed that’s how stars feel like when casting their light trillions of miles away, but never really getting to see what it does.
“I’m really sorry for your loss,” Detective Andrew said. My loss. I guess he wasn’t wrong, though, telling a dead guy that was about as fruitful as a Christmas tree. “But I really need your help.”
“Really?” I said, shaking my head. “I.. sorry, “It just doesn’t seem quite real. I’m dead? In the future?”
“Everybody dies in the future,” Andrew said, rather unhelpfully. “Yours, however, is a strange case.”
“Strange? Strange how?”
“I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Kramer,” the detective said. “Your murder case will be one of the great cold cases in history.”
Well, at least I became a subject of interest after my death. It will guarantee headlines on a few local papers on a slow news day, I hope.
“Really,” Andrew said. “There’s an utterly fascinating dearth of evidence in this case. It’s like if, somehow, nobody decided to work on the case in the beginning, hence the lack of evidence for the people working on you in your life.”
“Because I’m unimportant,” I raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, no, no,” Andrew beamed. “You are simply so unremarkable, that our agents’ earlier mistakes have resulted in a remarkably compelling case.”
“Are you usually the one comforting people?” I said. “Because I hope not. And also, why can’t you just go back in the time to the exact crime scene?”
“That would break the laws of time travel,” Andrew said calmly.
“I don’t see how this, where you are talking to a sure-fire victim before their muder, isn’t breaking the rules.”
“It’s a very complicated manual, with over two hundred pages of do’s and don’ts,” Andrew said, bowing his head slightly. “There were already agents on the ground. If I entered, who knew what kind of explosive paradox could happen between our devices”
“The world ending?”
“No! Our time machines will get out of sync, which will reduces its effectiveness by a factor of up to a month.”
“Still doesn’t sound so bad, for, you know, solving a literal murder?”
“I’ll lose my time travel licence,” Andrew shrugged. “Look, I still need your help. Are you in?”
I paced around, letting my feet shuffle against the hardwood floor. The atmosphere was lukewarm and still for a while, and Andrew patiently waited for me like he had all the time in the world..
“Can you come back another time?”
“Come back… what? Come back another?”
“You know when I’m going to die, right? In that fancy machine of yours?”
“.. Yes,” Andrew said.
“You know it down to the exact date and time, right? So it wouldn’t hurt for me to have a little alone time in the meanwhile.”
“I… suppose you are not wrong,” Andrew said. “But seriously, I—”
“Really,” I muttered. “A bit of time. A few days, Maybe a week.”
“I... suppose,” Adam said. “What are you going to do in the meantime? Mourn?”
“Mourn?” I laughed. “I’m going to do whatever the hell I want. It’ll end in bloody murder, supposedly, but screw that. I can’t change that. I can change the status of my work instantly.”
Surprisingly, there was also something comforting about knowing when you’ll die. Suddenly, there was no looking forward to the future, no grinding something out for some future benefit. Throw out the delayed gratification marshmallows, and gorge on the ones currently on my plate.
There were a few days, a week, maybe a month before I was supposed to die. That’s a lot of time to live.
---
r/dexdrafts | "It just spam. Horoscopes, stock tips, standard guarantees for length, happiness and love. Its all a future pyramid schemes." said Work Tom, as he is listed in my phone. Although I did once considered upgrading him to Friend Tom, disclosing a friendship at work was a bureaucratic nightmare.
"I know, I know," I said picking up another paperclip to stress into wire, "Just wanted to see if I got the job. I can't stand this place anymore. You sure its nothing. It cant be legal?"
"Of course its nothing. Less then nothing. The whole thing is prob a scam by G-Corp. Future email add-on? Comon--I'm no physicist..."
"You're no physicist?"
"True," answers Work Tom. He then shrugs and unfortunately continues, "Though I gotta admit it does sounds like you?"
"Sounds like me! What you are talking about. There is a warrant for my arrest for murdering our boss." I could smell the hot stress rising from my pores. "And it looks pretty fucking official."
"Well, we always assumed you would just...you know," Work Tom makes finger gun points it to his head, mimicking the recoil and splatter. "You know cause how your lazy, overweight, and no one likes you. Going bit postal doesn't seem like a stretch."
"Thanks Tom. You are a real asshole." The paperclip now lay in several broken hooked pieces. I pressed a sheer metal edge into my thumb. "Shame I don't kill you in the future."
"Shame you don't really." A rare break in character for the Work Tom. "I will just continue drifting through remainder of my life in this voided reality, a wage slave only way better looking than yourself."
*Bing Bong* rang another notification. Another email. I couldn't look away. Blood rushes to my internal organs. Feeling paler and more nausea than normal.
"What is it?" ask Work Tom.
"Another warrant. For killing the president."
"Wow, of the whole company? I'm impressed. Making your mark, don't foget Ole Work Tom when writing your book in prison."
"No, of the whole country!"
"Forget me Susan."
Two men dressed in black suits and black shades enter our shared cubicle. Claustrophobia sets my unease.
"Missus Anderson." | |
[WP] On a pilgrimage, a group of travelers settle down for the night and sing songs around the fire. | The weary travelers had gone as far as they could go. Despite the roar of disapproval churning in Declan’s stomach, they had stopped. From the fringes of the circled wagons, he watched as his people moved efficiently, quietly. At least there was that. They were wise enough to maintain the order of silence, even if they were foolhardy enough to stop for the night.
Camp was established within minutes of their progression coming to a halt. Another handful of moments passed and the spark of fire, the smell of burning cow chips and scarce wood drifted towards him. Third meal would come next. Gamey meat and mush.
He forced his eyes outward, beyond those he was meant to protect. To skim over the Wastes.
Forbidding, punishing, and utterly barren. The rocky horizon taunted those who dared to cross. Legends of the old ones, the broken creatures they’d become, had been enough to keep the Wastes free of travelers for centuries. But memories have a way of degrading over the generations. Even the ones that should never be forgotten.
Fresh memories surfaced in his mind, their village burning, the southern invaders slaughtering the first ones caught unaware. The chaos of complete terror and surprise. The desperate need that had caused them to flee into the bosom of these cursed lands.
Declan pushed off his perch, shaking off the remembrance. Cloaked in the shadows, he began his walk of the perimeter. Maybe others would sleep tonight, but he would not be in their number. He was the DiSon, a proud line of warriors sworn to protect his people. And he had failed. Never again.
Dark had descended fully. The only glow the dancing flames in the center of the circle where the remnant of his people huddled together eating in silence. Soft sobs were evidenced only by the shaking of shoulders. His eyes continued to scan the darkness.
A shift in the shadows caught Declan’s attention. And then another. Moving into a crouch, he unsheathed his blade and drifted farther from the circle as he approached the movement.
There in the dark, red eyes glared back at him. Bright as ruby-fire. Menacing, hungry. It was as if the rocks had awoken … all around him sets of eyes opened to glare at the circle of his people.
He’d already calculated that he could take the first three unseen creatures near him, but he knew there was nothing he could do about the hordes past that. Sending up the prayer of a warrior, Declan prepared to launch towards the closest creature.
And then –
The sweetest sound he had ever heard rang out in an unwavering soprano.
He watched as all the red-eyes zoned in on the source:
Tatiana. Standing in front of the fire, arms raised in offering belting out the Song of Ol’.
After a moment of her clear voice filling the deep, others joined her until the melody became a groundswell of power.
Amazed, Declan witnessed the sea of eyes blinking, battling against sleep until they all succumbed to slumber.
Across the distance Tatiana’s gaze found his. Declan stood, sword at the ready, knowing she couldn’t really be seeing him but in the next breath knowing she did. And she was waiting on his answer.
He sheathed his sword in acknowledgement.
They were pilgrims in the wastes. The power of their DiSay, keeper of the old ways, would be their protector now. Because even in the face of a harrowing journey that led them into impossible odds, there was one weapon more powerful than any steel would ever be:
Hope.
&#x200B;
\~\~\~
Thank you for reading! For more scribblings, wander over to r/WanderingAnonymous | [Poem]
I got no home
(No home, no home)
To call my own
(Nothing my own)
Oh, but those weary days are over
I’m done with hiding in a land that ain’t for me
(For me, not for me)
And I’ll be searching my whole life
And I’ll be tired on the road
As long as in the end, my soul is then set free
(Promise I’ll be free, be free, I’ll be free) | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | "Aw, man, why'd it have to be you?" Death said to the aging white man.
"Well, everybody has to die eventually. I'm very glad to see you, though. I thought it would be kind of scary here, confusing and scary. Here you are, though, here to help me out, right?"
"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry. I know everybody has to go eventually but... you know, its still a shock when 'someday' becomes 'this day'." Death replied.
"Yes, I can see that. A shock, and a sadness, but don't worry yourself about it. Its going to be all right, you are doing a fine job welcoming me to the afterlife, you should be proud of yourself."
Death sighed softly. "Here, let me escort you over to the train. I know, I know, you can do it yourself, but allow me the honor."
Both figures made their way through the crowd to the train that just pulled into the station. The aging white man gets onto the train and turns back to Death.
"Thank you, there is nobody just like you and I like you just the way you are. I am glad that you were my Neighbor."
Death watched the train pull away and wiped a tear from their skull. | "In the name of... Why'd it have to be you?"
I took stock of the ... man in front of me. He was wearing the usual hooded cloak, but wore it more casually than the artwork of it depicted, and his farmer's scythe was hanging off his shoulder, held in a non-threatening manner.
"Because I'm an idiot?" was my retort.
The eyes of Death warmed quite substantially, but an echo of his usual glare still remains. He then tilts his head and attempts a ghost of a smile, failing miserably on the looks department but bringing the message across.
"Well, I'll give you that. You were certainly a fool. Not a terribly unique reason, but reason enough."
I then scooted over on the bench and offered the old harvester a seat like an old friend. It accepted and sat down next to me, carefully setting his scythe down.
"I never liked this job in the first place, you know?"
"Yeah?"
"Some call me Thanatos, others Hel, yet more give me a title of Shinigami... and most just don't give me a name at all."
"Other than just simply 'Death' I suppose."
That feeble warmth from the figure, wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans underneath his job garb, intensified somewhat.
"You suppose right. And as for you... why?"
I kinda just hard-faulted at that question.
"Why?"
"Why you did it." I felt a twinge of anger from that clarification. "You must have decided that it was worth it, so enlighten me on the reasoning."
I tried to stammer out something, but it just came out unintelligibly.
"Take the time you need."
I then tried to take a deep breath, steeling the images of nerves that i now have. It came out shallow.
"It... was because of a... friend."
"He betrayed you?"
"Only in the... um... emotional sense."
"I see..."
A comforting hand, though cold as ice, grabs the shoulder opposing the one next to the being.
"What's done is done. I'm only the harvester, as you know, but-"
"I made a grave mistake?"
A chuckle came from the form of the man. "Was that intentional?"
"No..."
"Regardless, yes. Every single one who came before you like this was in agreement about that."
And then Death pulled me into a side hug on the bench.
"Is this what you imagined?"
Tears welled up in my eyes.
"No... but maybe it's... better this way."
"You can't stay here forever... but take the time you need. Some just need longer to prepare for What Comes Next."
"Yeah..."
"Just let me know when you are ready."
I nodded, then started sobbing uncontrollably as Death comforted me as best he could.
I guess even death can't provide a release from some torments... they just need quite the ugly cry instead. | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | "Aw, man, why'd it have to be you?" Death said to the aging white man.
"Well, everybody has to die eventually. I'm very glad to see you, though. I thought it would be kind of scary here, confusing and scary. Here you are, though, here to help me out, right?"
"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry. I know everybody has to go eventually but... you know, its still a shock when 'someday' becomes 'this day'." Death replied.
"Yes, I can see that. A shock, and a sadness, but don't worry yourself about it. Its going to be all right, you are doing a fine job welcoming me to the afterlife, you should be proud of yourself."
Death sighed softly. "Here, let me escort you over to the train. I know, I know, you can do it yourself, but allow me the honor."
Both figures made their way through the crowd to the train that just pulled into the station. The aging white man gets onto the train and turns back to Death.
"Thank you, there is nobody just like you and I like you just the way you are. I am glad that you were my Neighbor."
Death watched the train pull away and wiped a tear from their skull. | “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?”
"I'm sorry to disappoint," Kazav looked up to the reaper assigned to collect him. "If it's any consolation, I was also hoping it wouldn't be me today." He wore his characteristically shit-eating grin.
The reaper, faceless, seemed to deflate. They stood there awkwardly as though it were their first day on the job. "I'm... sorry."
Kazav looked out to the distance, blurred as though blanketed in fog. "You know, I've been looking around all day and it seems you have this place dreadfully secure. No chance I'm getting out of here this time I suppose?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Not even for a bad joke? I promise it's a killer," he smirked, and the reaper almost seemed sadder.
"How did it happen?"
"I'm pretty sure you can guess."
The reaper took a step toward the bench and Kazav shuffled his feet, looking again at the fog. They sat quietly together for a moment before Kazav just had to break the silence. "Not much of a view here. I thought I was supposed to see glimpses of my miserable life flash before my eyes or something?"
The reaper's hands fidgeted a little on their lap, scythe laying on the ground. Kazav could tell that they had something to say. He could always read people quite easily, but this time wasn't exactly difficult.
"Shouldn't you get it over with already? I'm sure you have other engagements to handle and I'd really rather-"
"They will miss you dearly, you must know," the reaper said, interrupting Kazav, "and yet you almost seem relieved to be finished."
They shared another silence. It felt longer than it was. The reaper had more to ask but almost seemed to struggle with it more than Kazav did. Finally, they turned to the scrawny-looking young man once more.
"Why didn't you stay with them a bit longer after-"
"Because I was no longer needed," Kazav said, failing to hold his frustration from leaking. "and because they're all better off this way." He breathed a bit heavier.
The reaper knew. They knew about the life Kazav led, his regrets, failings, and growth. They knew everything about Kazav, just as well as he knew himself. Well enough to know that this too, like most things he said, was a lie.
Kazav stood up and steeled himself, ready to step into the fog. He was tired. With or without the reaper, he wanted it to be over. He struggled for long enough, and yet Kazav found himself unable to move.
He looked down and saw the reaper's arms wrapped around him.
"Oh, Kazav..."
Kazav gasped for a moment and didn't even hear the rest of their words. The reaper almost sounded like someone he knew. Someone that had saved him in more ways than he could count. "What... did you just say?"
"I said," the reaper repeated, "if only you could see yourself the way your friends see you."
"I should think that would be quite difficult. I'm notoriously elusive." Kazav looked over his shoulder, at the reaper awkwardly hugging him. "I thought I was already past it but I guess you can die of embarrassment even in the afterlife. Do you mind?"
The reaper relented, stepped up to beside Kazav, and prepared to escort him. "Do you have any final words for your friends? It is not conventional, but I may find a way to pass those on. You deserve at least that much, for your deeds of service to the world."
He thought for a moment.
"No," Kazav finally responded, "but I do have one request. A favor, really. You do know how much I always loved those."
"Of course," The reaper remembered with whom he was dealing and added, "Within reason..."
Kazav smirked. "In my next life, I should like to be reunited with them all." He looked up at the cloaked figure one last time and promised, "I'll do my best to be a better person from the start next time."
The reaper rested a hand on Kazav's shoulder and took a step forward, but Kazav didn't budge. They turned to him, waiting.
"One last thing," Kazav said, looking down at his feet. "they aren't my friends."
The reaper turns to object but meets Kazav's tearful eyes and a glowing smile. One of the most genuine they had ever seen. At that moment, the reaper's regret at his passing was forgotten. He shared Kazav's joy, bittersweet as it was, for one final moment.
"We're family." | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | \*This is my first submission, and the first thing of any length I have written in a LOONG time. I would love to hear some feedback.
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The platform itself was well lit, but surrounded in darkness. I couldn't see anything beyond the tracks in front of me, or either end of the platform. I don't remember how I got here, or when I arrived, it felt like it could have been a lifetime ago. Or was it just a heartbeat?
I watched as the doors to the train closed behind the last of the other travelers. I had lost count of how many trains I had watched come and go. I had seen hundreds of other souls get on those trains and ride off into the great darkness beyond.
When was my train again?
As the latest train began lumbering forward silently, I pulled my ticket from a coat pocket. I could see the lines of text, but couldn't make out what they said. It felt like trying to read a foreign language through fogged glasses. Not that it really mattered, I didn't recognize any of the symbols on the big clock, on the wall, behind me. I stared at my hands again. They were definitely my hands, but they seemed younger than I remembered, less weathered, less arthritic. I slipped my ticket back into my coat with one hand while still marveling at the other as I flexed it, pain free. With a smirk, a small shake of my head, and a chuckle, I looked from my hand back to the platform around me, still empty.
Only it wasn't empty, a tall figure in a hooded rob was striding out of the darkness at the end of the platform. His footsteps were silent yet seemed to echo. His scythe gave off a very distinctive thump on the wooden floor as he carried it like a walking stick.
With a long low sigh he stopped a few feet from me.
"Ahh man... Why did it have to be you?" the disappointment in his deep voice was evident.
Confused, I looked to the cowl, but instead of the face of disappointment that I expected, I saw the whole universe staring back at me. It caught me by surprise, but was oddly familiar at the same time.
"Hello Death. It's good to see you too." I quipped, then dropped my gaze.
Good to see Death? Who would be glad to see death? I kind of already figured I had passed, but the realization was a bit unsettling.
With another long sigh Death sat down on the bench next to me. The bench didn't move but it somehow felt like the weight of the world had taken a seat.
"It IS good to see you, old friend" Death said, a bit more comforting this time. "I just don't think I was expecting it." Death reached over with a skeletal hand and patted me on the shoulder in a familiar sort of way. "I have been chasing you for a very long time"
"Chasing?...Old Friend?" my mind felt broken and I was trying to put the pieces back together again.
"Yes. Tell me..." Death started as he shifted his weight to face me "How many times have you stared Death in the face and charged forward anyway? How many times have you seen Death on the face of the ones you love?"
I lifted my head to look Death in the face once more, only this time I didn't see the universe. When I peered into his face I saw the face of all the many people I've seen pass before me. Under that hood I saw the faces of my brothers who held my hand and took there last breath on the battlefields of two major wars and countless other missions. I saw the faces of enemies killed by my own hands. I saw the tired old face of my Grandmother taken in her 80s many years ago, and my parents in their late years. I saw my wife of 50 years taken by cancer. I saw the face of my son, killed by a drunk driver before he reached 40.
"Too many" is all I could manage. I put my head down. My throat felt tight, tears forming.
"You see, you know me well, and I know you." He spoke gently. "You were my first name when I took up the old scythe."
I glanced over at the scythe, the bones of his hand creaked and clacked against the wood as he gripped it with a gentle firmness, thumb bone tracing a knot in the wood. It was well worn showing the many years of use. the blade had a dark almost black patina on it. The grain was raised and I could tell it too was much darker now that it had once been.
"What do you mean 'First name? How many names have there been?" I asked still a bit confused.
"There have been hundreds of thousands of names, maybe a few million." he said "I stopped counting a few years in. When one takes up the scythe and becomes a reaper, we are given a book of souls. As names appear, it is our job to collect those souls and bring them here to pass on to their respected afterlife." He made a sweeping gesture towards the tracks with one hand.
"We?" I asked "How many are there?"
"Quite a few." He responded "I stopped counting reapers as well. As humanity grows so too must to legion of reapers."
"Wait a second." The inconsistency dawning on me. "If I was your first name, how have you managed to gather so many other souls, and why didn't I die sooner?"
"Well, most names don't appear until at or near the time of the living persons death. But every book is given with one name already in it, The First Name. You were my first name. Of course I couldn't read your name at first. It was there and I could see it, but I couldn't read it. It would be another 74 years before you took on a mortal body and I could read your name. Since then, I have been trying to bring you here." Death seemed almost sad now the cowl of the robe now pointed at the floor.
My mind flashed to the writing on the train ticket in my pocket.
I didn't even notice where Death got the book from, but it was sitting on his lap now. It was a large volume, clearly old, leather bound and worn through at the Corners.
"You see..." Death continued while opening the book. "The First Name is someone who is destined to be so familiar with Death during life, that they can become Death in the afterlife. I was once The First Name, and now it is your turn to take over."
Death's boney hand brushed over the first page almost reminiscently. There it was at the top, my name, followed by dozens of others.
The reality of Deaths words was starting to sink in. I felt like I should feel nervous, or scared. but I didn't, whatever was happening felt right.
"So if I am to take over for you, was is to become of you?" I asked, though somehow deep in my mind or maybe my soul I already knew the answer.
Death slowly drew a train ticket from the back of the book. It looked just like the one in my pocket only, the paper of Death's ticket was very worn, like an old dollar bill. Despite the worn paper the ink was clear and crisp as though it was just printed. I looked up at the big clock behind us, the symbols were still unfamiliar to my mind, but somehow I knew it was close.
"I...I'm..." Death Stuttered "... I'm not ready... I'm... scared. I know I've been dead for so long already, but this almost feels like a life."
I stood, and moved in front of Death to faced him. "There is nothing to be afraid of. You have spent the last 166 years helping countless souls get to where they need to be. You have done several lifetimes worth of work serving others."
I gently took hold of Death's scythe with one hand and extended the other out to the old reaper. I could feel that the train had arrived despite it not making a sound. "Its your turn now. You have earned this."
He released the wooden shaft and grabbed my hand. His flesh felt warn against my bones. The man raised his head, a single tear ran down his dark brown cheek, and into his short black facial hair. The edges of his mouth turned up just slightly in a small but grateful smile.
I helped him stand and we made or way across the short distance to the door of the train. His leather shoes made a muffled sound. I moved silently save for the distinctive thump as the pristine shaft of my scythe hit the wooden floor.
The man entered the train car then turned to face me one last time
"Thank you" He said with a small bow of his head.
And Death replied "Goodbye my old friend" | "You gon' pay what you owe..." I replied, "it's been long enough and I be my $20, Death. Stop playing these games. You already lost the last few thousand times."
"Come on! I thought we were having a good time here! We had a good thing going right?"
" 'A good thing going'? It's been 10,000 years! I want to rest eternally! Find someone else to get your rocks off on and let me go!" I finally snapped.
"Really?! After all we've been through?!" Anger filled Death's voice, "Fine."
With a snap, it was all over.
...
"Dammit Death, not again." I wake up to the train station again. I notice the new safety rails installed to keep purple from getting to close to the tracks again. "Gotta find another way, I guess."
I sigh and wait for the next train to arrive as the souls collect to leave purgatory once again. | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | Death looked at me from beneath his hood. I wasn't sure if his face was that of a man or something else. His face was cloaked in darkness, but somehow I felt like I could see through the darkness to what lay within. If you asked me, as soon as I looked away, what I saw, I wouldn't have been able to say. I could not properly recall his face, yet it made feel very comforted. It also filled me with terror.
As he sat, he carefully leaned his scythe up against the wall. Leaning back, he sighed again. We sat there in silence for a moment before I finally mustered the courage to speak.
"Um, what's going on?"
He seemed to know how I felt about his face, because he didn't look in my direction again.
"You were helping your friend move a couch up the stairs to his new apartment. You should not have taken the top end. If I had been paying better attention. I probably could have headed the whole thing off, but I wasn't, so here we are. Again." With another sigh, he pushed himself off the bench, "Well, whatever your name is, now. It's time to go."
I stood and followed him to a door marked, "Employees Only." On the other side of the door, it was just white. Not glowing or solid, just flat, as if the world around us just stopped. We stepped through into a large hall with people bustling back and forth between white doorways, like the one we had just come through.
In the middle of the room was a short desk. A man stood behind the desk, smiling pleasantly at the passersby. I kept expecting him to sit, at some point, but he just kept standing. Death seemed to know what I was thinking, since he muttered, "They never get the details right."
The man's smile faded, a bit, as Death approached. When he saw me, his face broke out into a grin. "We have you in the conference room on the 84th floor, today," he said. He sounded almost gleeful.
Death stood, aghast. "84? Are you insane?!"
Well, it was only floor 4 last time, and floor 3 before that. I'd say you're about due, don't you think?" The grin turned into a smirk as he gestures with one hand towards an elevator behind him.
"Well, let's get this over with," Death said, as he took my arm and guided me to the elevator.
Its doors opened to our approach. Inside, Death seemed to steel himself before pressing his finger to the button for the 84th floor. He didn't remove his finger, however. As the elevator began to move upwards, I saw the numbers slowly climb from first floor, to second, to third, and on. A gasping sound from Death caught my attention. Was he in pain?
As the numbers slowly increased, Death's agony continued. I began hoping the elevator would speed up. I hated seeing anyone like this and felt guilty. Clearly Death was here because of me, for some reason. I tried to replace Deathc's finger with my own, but it was as if he were glued to the button.
"Hey!" I shouted. "Can we please get this thing moving?!" To my surprise, the numbers did start to move faster, then fast still. Soon, they were whizzing by until they ubruptly stopped on 84. The doors opened with a ding.
Death wearily slumped against the wall, his hand free, at last, from the button. "Thank you," he whispered.
I didn't take my eyes off him until the doors closed, after I got off. Turning, I found myself in an ordinary looking conference room. The table was long, with about twenty chairs arranged along it. A ordinary looking man with graying, hair sat a few chairs down from the far end of the table. He was dressed in business casual and pointed me to the chair opposite him without looking up from the papers spread out across the table in front of him.
Once I was seated, he folded his hands on the table and said, "You. You were very good. Yes, indeed, you lead a very good life. Superb. Exemplary. The kind of life that makes us want to give you another go, so you can keep doing that kind of good."
I smiled. I didn't think I had ever done anything special, but it felt nice to be recognized.
He spotted my misunderstanding and corrected himself, "I'm sorry if I was unclear. You lead a very good life, a very long time ago. The sort of life that would make us want to give you another go. So we did. Your next life was... different. It was bad. So bad, we hardly knew what to do with you. We decided to keep giving you chances to go back and do better, to make up for the evil of your second life. Some of your lives have been pretty good, some not as good. Overall, it's been trending upward. Congratulations on that, by the way."
"Um, thanks, I think? What was the whole deal with Death, in the elevator?"
"Ah. That. You don't always ask about that. One time, you even asked if you could have another go with him. We don't blame you, but let's just say we hustled you through pretty quickly, that time."
He continued, "You see, after your first life, Death was a bit miffed that he'd gone to all of the effoet of preparing a place for you on the train. For your second life, he may have... Interfered a bit. Worked from the shadows to lead you into a life of infamy. That sort of thing. Imagine his surprise, what you turned into! I'm almost impressed. No one else has ever screwed up so thoroughly before. Every time you die, he's supposed to bring you to meet with one of us. The torture on the way is the price he pays, until you're done."
I thought for a moment, then ventured, "I suppose you're sending me back again."
"Yes."
"And I won't remember any of this?"
"That is correct."
"Do I even get a clue?"
"Well, the results of your first two lives have ramifications that exist even now, and will continue to exist for lifetimes to come. If you just pay attention, you'll know everything you need to know, in order to do it right next time."
He sorted the papers into a pile, placed them in a folder, and closed it. "Now. Time to go."
He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.
He snapped his fingers again. Nothing happened. Again.
With a sigh, he opened the folder again.
"Let's see. We covered the first life. We covered the second life. We covered..." His voice trailed off.
Suddenly, his face took on a look of dawning comprehension. "Ah! I see. Your last life took you right to the brink. I was almost sad to see it ended so soon, having almost made it. Each go is a lottery, you see, so no gaurantee that you would have made it next time. Apparently, someone upstairs decided your little moment of compassion for Death counts. I see someone objected..."
He leaned forward, a bit conspiratorially, "At the time, you weren't aware of his past sins against you, so someone thought this shouldn't count."
He leaned back again, "However, the objection was overruled. It seems your motivation would have compelled you to help him, regardless of his past actions."
He closed the folder once again. "It's so nice to see that you've finally made it. Death will be pleased. Your term is up, so his torture is, as well. Of course, I would be negligent in my duty if I didn't offer you a choice. Would you like to go on, or go back? The choice is still yours, of course, and always will be."
After a moment of thought, I told him that I was ready to go on. He snapped his fingers. | "You gon' pay what you owe..." I replied, "it's been long enough and I be my $20, Death. Stop playing these games. You already lost the last few thousand times."
"Come on! I thought we were having a good time here! We had a good thing going right?"
" 'A good thing going'? It's been 10,000 years! I want to rest eternally! Find someone else to get your rocks off on and let me go!" I finally snapped.
"Really?! After all we've been through?!" Anger filled Death's voice, "Fine."
With a snap, it was all over.
...
"Dammit Death, not again." I wake up to the train station again. I notice the new safety rails installed to keep purple from getting to close to the tracks again. "Gotta find another way, I guess."
I sigh and wait for the next train to arrive as the souls collect to leave purgatory once again. | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | "Aw... Why did it have to be you?"
I'm confused. I didn't expect Death. I was an atheist. I... Am. Am I? I'd been sitting on this train station waiting to be ferried off to heaven or hell or wherever, but my train never came.
"Me?"
"You."
"Don't you deal with people like me every day?"
"Yes, and no. You're special."
"Don't give me the shit about how everyone is special."
"That's not it, Cole."
"Of course you know my name."
"Some people are just... Integral. Some people make life worth it for others. I saw your fate. I see every fate."
"And? What about it?" I find the courage to look Death in the hood. Dark stares back. Of course.
"You were happy."
"Really." It's more a challenge than a question.
"You were. You had kids, and a job you loved, and a wonderful wife with a wonderful family of her own. You would have met her in high school. She would have ditched her prom date for you and you two would have gotten drunk in the canyon out behind the school. You're eighty-six years early, Cole." Death sounds... Disappointed. Human. It sounds, even though it speaks in a near-monotone, heartbroken.
The stoicism cracks. The façade breaks.
I break down. Tears roll down my face and a lump the size of an orange makes itself known at the back of my throat.
"I know it was..." I can't finish the sentence.
"Wrong?"
"Yes!"
"I hear that one a lot. They tell you to think about your loved ones. I think it's horseshit. I think you should think about you. I think you should think about all the ways your life can get better." Death is surprisingly good at finding reasons not to die.
"I... " I sniff. Despite being a ghost, I can still get snot and tears all over myself. "I know."
Death continues. "I was supposed to see you in eighty-six years. I was supposed to see a smiling old man content with life, who had seen the loving faces of his family looking down on him as he slipped into the next world, whose only regret would be the sadness he left the ones he loved in."
I can't say anything. I regret my decision. I pulled the trigger. It was the easy way out. My little brother will grow up without the guidance he deserves, with no older brother to scheme with him and spoil him. My parents will bury their son. I feel guilt and anger and sadness and regret.
"I've seen that a thousand times before."
"W-what?"
"That look. It's all hitting you at once, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Then don't fucking do it again. The bullet missed all the vital stuff. A bit of modern medicine and you'll be okay. The ones who aren't dead all the way can't get on the trains. These meetings are rare."
Death looks me in the eyes.
"Don't waste it."
All I can see is the cold, clinical white of a hospital room. Prom is in three weeks. The doctors say I'll have to be in a wheelchair, but I'll make it.
I'm not wasting it.
-----
I have attempted to take my own life before. I have self-harmed. Sometimes I want to do it again. Sometimes I feel so unbearably lonely and worthless that non-existence seems better than another second with that boulder-sized lump in my throat and my mind running through a thousand ways I could be better. But I'm still alive. I'm still alive because I'm selfish and I won't accept a life that doesn't make me happy.
No feeling is final, unless you make it so.
800-273-8255
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Don't make it final. For your sake and no one else's. | "You gon' pay what you owe..." I replied, "it's been long enough and I be my $20, Death. Stop playing these games. You already lost the last few thousand times."
"Come on! I thought we were having a good time here! We had a good thing going right?"
" 'A good thing going'? It's been 10,000 years! I want to rest eternally! Find someone else to get your rocks off on and let me go!" I finally snapped.
"Really?! After all we've been through?!" Anger filled Death's voice, "Fine."
With a snap, it was all over.
...
"Dammit Death, not again." I wake up to the train station again. I notice the new safety rails installed to keep purple from getting to close to the tracks again. "Gotta find another way, I guess."
I sigh and wait for the next train to arrive as the souls collect to leave purgatory once again. | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | I looked back at the figure, perplexed, only to feel a dull ache begin to form at the back of my skull. "Me? Wh-" The pain intensified before I could ask, but the figure was already turning away.
"Give it an hour," He replied, pulling his hood down to reveal a fairly average looking man, roughly in his mid 30's with short cropped blonde hair.
His face had features, but when I tried to focus on them, they appeared to shift subtly. The ever growing pain in my head didn't help matters.
"What are you talking about?"
"Grab your suitcase."
"My what?" I looked down to where he gestured. There was a black suitcase, one of the old fashioned ones with a proper numerical lock. The handle was white, and as my fingers wrapped around its smooth surface, I realized it was ivory, or perhaps bone.
"Great, let's go." I turned my attention back to the figure, only to find his scythe gone, replaced by his own identical briefcase. As he stepped into his stride to leave, I realized that the simple cloak he had initially approached in had also shifted. Its tail still swept the floor, but it bore more resemblance to a robe with white trimmings.
In my shock, he had already proceeded to where I'd first seen him arrive, at the end of the platform, and was waiting for me to catch up. As I took a hurried step, I felt my foot catch and quickly tripped onto my face. I expected pain, especially from the feeling of hard stone against my soft, pliable nose, but it didn't come. I pushed myself to my feet and felt for a nosebleed. Nothing. Then I realized what I'd tripped on. My own clothing was gone, replaced by a similar robe, only with gold trimming.
"I really don't understand," I hurriedly spoke as I caught up with the man.
"You will. We always forget, and we always remember." I expected more, but that's all he gave. Before I could respond, the world shifted. The experience was like a glass elevator. The two of us stood, while the train station slid away, and scenery shifted too fast to fully absorb.
Trees, buildings, and all manner of shapes too quick to make out raced by, until all too suddenly it stopped as quickly as it began, and we were standing in an actual elevator. The door chimed softly, and the metal slid open.
The room was empty. Not like you'd first imagine, four walls with no furniture and a hanging bulb. No. Empty. He stepped through, and his feet made purchase with the blackness. Looking past him, I couldn't tell where the walls were, where the ceiling was, not anything. Hesitant, I followed, and experienced no small amount of terror as the doors closed behind us and promptly disappeared, leaving only the inky blackness of it all.
"Is this hell?" I asked. He laughed.
"No. No, this isn't hell. I mean, it could be, if that's what you want." I felt that pain again, and a number flashed through my mind. 0.
"Then... where are we?" I asked as I placed a hand to my temple, hoping, and failing, to alleviate what was beginning to feel like the worst migraine of my life.
"Your office. You've been gone awhile, so you've probably forgotten... everything?" He asked, but his tone made it more of a statement. "That's fine though. It's just my turn to help you out. Let's get some chairs first."
I waited. He waited. Then he looked at me with a "well, come on then" sort of expression. I didn't know what he wanted me to do. It wasn't like I could just imagine two armchairs into existence-
Two armchairs appeared, one white, one garishly gold colored, facing each other. "Yea, just like that!" He exclaimed happily, sinking into his white chair. "Still no sense of interior decoration though." However much I may have wanted to reply, my pounding head made me simply seek the refugee that the hideous golden chair provided.
"Where are we, really?"
"Your office, I told you that."
"I know I'm dead, but offices don't look like," I gestured to the unknowable emptiness, "this."
"You're right. Usually some of you would still be here, but you kept getting extensions, and it wasn't like any of us could argue." Another number burned its way through my mind, as bright and hot as the sun itself. 1.
"Ackh..." I winced, and his brow furrowed.
"You alright? Honestly, none of us have ever been gone as long as you were."
"You keep saying that," I shook off the pain as best I could and tried to focus on what I was understanding so far. "Us, gone, extensions. What are you talking about? Am I death too?"
"Not... exactly? Like I said, most of this should come back on its own, but I guess if I start to explain it might help some. I'm not death. None of us are. That whole process is automatic, there's no special person who get's to decide when everyone dies or lives."
"Then what are you?"
"Officially, Afterlife Administrative Assistants. AAA's."
"That's a stupid name," I spoke the words before I thought them, and a big grin spread across his face. He started to speak, but a sharp ringing filled my ears louder than a billion explosions. 2.
"-never really liked it either, but it at least describes us better than anything the mortals ever came up with. So, you remember all those folks that got on the train?"
"Sure," I managed weakly.
"They're on their way to the council for 'judgement,' really, they're just going to be assigned a ranking from 0-13. The higher the number, the less ready they are."
"Ready for what?"
"This. 13's are sinners, bad people, or just folks that are way too attached to their own egos. They need some reform, so we can't just toss them into an office like this and let their minds take them wherever they want. They'll just end up creating whatever paradise they think is good, and probably never want to leave it."
"I'm sorry, I feel like I'm already lost."
"Let me explain some of the others and we'll see if that helps. Once we get folks down to a 10, they get to re-enter afterlife society. All the dead folk who still have lingering attachments that usually require other people to let go of."
I watched him flick the numbers on his suitcase as he paused his speech. 5, 8, 1 , 3. The suitcase popped open, and he opened it towards himself, riffling through what sounded like papers. "They stay there for awhile, usually, until they've found a certain level of inner peace. Once they rate at a 5, they get a pseudo-office. They can make and do whatever they'd like there, but we keep an eye on them, and they don't get one of these," he closed the suitcase and gave it a pat for emphasis, then handed me a piece of paper.
"The goal is to get them to create their own paradise, a place where they could live out eternity happily. Some folks never grow out of it," He gestured to the paper he'd handed me. A woman's photo filled the top left corner, with the rest devoted to notes and dates. The last entry read ' Moved to 1st Classification. Subject wishes to remain in "Heaven" and will inform council when ready for review.'
"Once you reach 1st Class like her, you've got your own little world your taking care of, and we usually send the upper classes there to learn how to grow and thrive. She doesn't seem like she's interested in graduating, but hey, we're not here to rush anyone."
"Then, there's folks like us. We live the life, get everything we want, but eventually, we aren't satisfied. I mean, what do you do when you've got eternity to anything you want, and all you have to do is imagine it?"
"I'd get bored, eventually," I replied, and he snapped his fingers.
"Bingo. So we start them off at Class 0, graduating them to a proper office without supervision, and letting them start directly assisting with the whole reformation process. Most folks are satisfied with that, gives them something to do."
"But not me, I take it?" I was starting to put the pieces together.
"Exactly. I've only done it once, but eventually some of us start to wonder why we're doing it this way. Fixing after, not before. Lots of paperwork, but ultimately you get to go back. It's never quite the same you, different face, different place, but that core of your soul is always there. And it always shines through. For whatever reason, you always end up being some of the best of us."
"I thought you were being general, but are you saying-" Like being thousands of fathoms below the sea, I felt the pressure against my skull, threatening to crush it. 3. Then it was gone, and I felt a feeling of nostalgia sweep through me. Like looking at an old friend, I looked at the man across from me again.
"Yes! You, chief, you've been down there more than any of us, and you were the first to ever do it. You're an inspiration. I still can't believe I got to be the one to bring you back to your office. I guess it makes sense though, I *am* your apprentice."
Memories were flooding through my mind now faster than I could fully process them. The numbers, and my reasoning, more than anything. 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. The Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio.
"But you've been gone a really long time. At first, I kept hoping I'd get to see you again soon, like you'd just show up one day on that platform with a big smile. But then, after awhile, I started to get it. You went back to help make it better, and every time you took an extension, it was because it wasn't better yet. And based on some of the folks I've been processing recently, it still isn't. So I'm going to ask again, why'd it have to be you? Why are you back?"
"To remind myself what I'm doing this for," I said as I clicked open my suitcase. Inside was the vacuous space that contained every piece of paperwork I'd ever had, and the thousands of extensions I'd ordered on my time. "And," I smiled slightly, "Because I forgot my password." | "You gon' pay what you owe..." I replied, "it's been long enough and I be my $20, Death. Stop playing these games. You already lost the last few thousand times."
"Come on! I thought we were having a good time here! We had a good thing going right?"
" 'A good thing going'? It's been 10,000 years! I want to rest eternally! Find someone else to get your rocks off on and let me go!" I finally snapped.
"Really?! After all we've been through?!" Anger filled Death's voice, "Fine."
With a snap, it was all over.
...
"Dammit Death, not again." I wake up to the train station again. I notice the new safety rails installed to keep purple from getting to close to the tracks again. "Gotta find another way, I guess."
I sigh and wait for the next train to arrive as the souls collect to leave purgatory once again. | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | "Aw... Why did it have to be you?"
I'm confused. I didn't expect Death. I was an atheist. I... Am. Am I? I'd been sitting on this train station waiting to be ferried off to heaven or hell or wherever, but my train never came.
"Me?"
"You."
"Don't you deal with people like me every day?"
"Yes, and no. You're special."
"Don't give me the shit about how everyone is special."
"That's not it, Cole."
"Of course you know my name."
"Some people are just... Integral. Some people make life worth it for others. I saw your fate. I see every fate."
"And? What about it?" I find the courage to look Death in the hood. Dark stares back. Of course.
"You were happy."
"Really." It's more a challenge than a question.
"You were. You had kids, and a job you loved, and a wonderful wife with a wonderful family of her own. You would have met her in high school. She would have ditched her prom date for you and you two would have gotten drunk in the canyon out behind the school. You're eighty-six years early, Cole." Death sounds... Disappointed. Human. It sounds, even though it speaks in a near-monotone, heartbroken.
The stoicism cracks. The façade breaks.
I break down. Tears roll down my face and a lump the size of an orange makes itself known at the back of my throat.
"I know it was..." I can't finish the sentence.
"Wrong?"
"Yes!"
"I hear that one a lot. They tell you to think about your loved ones. I think it's horseshit. I think you should think about you. I think you should think about all the ways your life can get better." Death is surprisingly good at finding reasons not to die.
"I... " I sniff. Despite being a ghost, I can still get snot and tears all over myself. "I know."
Death continues. "I was supposed to see you in eighty-six years. I was supposed to see a smiling old man content with life, who had seen the loving faces of his family looking down on him as he slipped into the next world, whose only regret would be the sadness he left the ones he loved in."
I can't say anything. I regret my decision. I pulled the trigger. It was the easy way out. My little brother will grow up without the guidance he deserves, with no older brother to scheme with him and spoil him. My parents will bury their son. I feel guilt and anger and sadness and regret.
"I've seen that a thousand times before."
"W-what?"
"That look. It's all hitting you at once, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Then don't fucking do it again. The bullet missed all the vital stuff. A bit of modern medicine and you'll be okay. The ones who aren't dead all the way can't get on the trains. These meetings are rare."
Death looks me in the eyes.
"Don't waste it."
All I can see is the cold, clinical white of a hospital room. Prom is in three weeks. The doctors say I'll have to be in a wheelchair, but I'll make it.
I'm not wasting it.
-----
I have attempted to take my own life before. I have self-harmed. Sometimes I want to do it again. Sometimes I feel so unbearably lonely and worthless that non-existence seems better than another second with that boulder-sized lump in my throat and my mind running through a thousand ways I could be better. But I'm still alive. I'm still alive because I'm selfish and I won't accept a life that doesn't make me happy.
No feeling is final, unless you make it so.
800-273-8255
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Don't make it final. For your sake and no one else's. | \*This is my first submission, and the first thing of any length I have written in a LOONG time. I would love to hear some feedback.
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The platform itself was well lit, but surrounded in darkness. I couldn't see anything beyond the tracks in front of me, or either end of the platform. I don't remember how I got here, or when I arrived, it felt like it could have been a lifetime ago. Or was it just a heartbeat?
I watched as the doors to the train closed behind the last of the other travelers. I had lost count of how many trains I had watched come and go. I had seen hundreds of other souls get on those trains and ride off into the great darkness beyond.
When was my train again?
As the latest train began lumbering forward silently, I pulled my ticket from a coat pocket. I could see the lines of text, but couldn't make out what they said. It felt like trying to read a foreign language through fogged glasses. Not that it really mattered, I didn't recognize any of the symbols on the big clock, on the wall, behind me. I stared at my hands again. They were definitely my hands, but they seemed younger than I remembered, less weathered, less arthritic. I slipped my ticket back into my coat with one hand while still marveling at the other as I flexed it, pain free. With a smirk, a small shake of my head, and a chuckle, I looked from my hand back to the platform around me, still empty.
Only it wasn't empty, a tall figure in a hooded rob was striding out of the darkness at the end of the platform. His footsteps were silent yet seemed to echo. His scythe gave off a very distinctive thump on the wooden floor as he carried it like a walking stick.
With a long low sigh he stopped a few feet from me.
"Ahh man... Why did it have to be you?" the disappointment in his deep voice was evident.
Confused, I looked to the cowl, but instead of the face of disappointment that I expected, I saw the whole universe staring back at me. It caught me by surprise, but was oddly familiar at the same time.
"Hello Death. It's good to see you too." I quipped, then dropped my gaze.
Good to see Death? Who would be glad to see death? I kind of already figured I had passed, but the realization was a bit unsettling.
With another long sigh Death sat down on the bench next to me. The bench didn't move but it somehow felt like the weight of the world had taken a seat.
"It IS good to see you, old friend" Death said, a bit more comforting this time. "I just don't think I was expecting it." Death reached over with a skeletal hand and patted me on the shoulder in a familiar sort of way. "I have been chasing you for a very long time"
"Chasing?...Old Friend?" my mind felt broken and I was trying to put the pieces back together again.
"Yes. Tell me..." Death started as he shifted his weight to face me "How many times have you stared Death in the face and charged forward anyway? How many times have you seen Death on the face of the ones you love?"
I lifted my head to look Death in the face once more, only this time I didn't see the universe. When I peered into his face I saw the face of all the many people I've seen pass before me. Under that hood I saw the faces of my brothers who held my hand and took there last breath on the battlefields of two major wars and countless other missions. I saw the faces of enemies killed by my own hands. I saw the tired old face of my Grandmother taken in her 80s many years ago, and my parents in their late years. I saw my wife of 50 years taken by cancer. I saw the face of my son, killed by a drunk driver before he reached 40.
"Too many" is all I could manage. I put my head down. My throat felt tight, tears forming.
"You see, you know me well, and I know you." He spoke gently. "You were my first name when I took up the old scythe."
I glanced over at the scythe, the bones of his hand creaked and clacked against the wood as he gripped it with a gentle firmness, thumb bone tracing a knot in the wood. It was well worn showing the many years of use. the blade had a dark almost black patina on it. The grain was raised and I could tell it too was much darker now that it had once been.
"What do you mean 'First name? How many names have there been?" I asked still a bit confused.
"There have been hundreds of thousands of names, maybe a few million." he said "I stopped counting a few years in. When one takes up the scythe and becomes a reaper, we are given a book of souls. As names appear, it is our job to collect those souls and bring them here to pass on to their respected afterlife." He made a sweeping gesture towards the tracks with one hand.
"We?" I asked "How many are there?"
"Quite a few." He responded "I stopped counting reapers as well. As humanity grows so too must to legion of reapers."
"Wait a second." The inconsistency dawning on me. "If I was your first name, how have you managed to gather so many other souls, and why didn't I die sooner?"
"Well, most names don't appear until at or near the time of the living persons death. But every book is given with one name already in it, The First Name. You were my first name. Of course I couldn't read your name at first. It was there and I could see it, but I couldn't read it. It would be another 74 years before you took on a mortal body and I could read your name. Since then, I have been trying to bring you here." Death seemed almost sad now the cowl of the robe now pointed at the floor.
My mind flashed to the writing on the train ticket in my pocket.
I didn't even notice where Death got the book from, but it was sitting on his lap now. It was a large volume, clearly old, leather bound and worn through at the Corners.
"You see..." Death continued while opening the book. "The First Name is someone who is destined to be so familiar with Death during life, that they can become Death in the afterlife. I was once The First Name, and now it is your turn to take over."
Death's boney hand brushed over the first page almost reminiscently. There it was at the top, my name, followed by dozens of others.
The reality of Deaths words was starting to sink in. I felt like I should feel nervous, or scared. but I didn't, whatever was happening felt right.
"So if I am to take over for you, was is to become of you?" I asked, though somehow deep in my mind or maybe my soul I already knew the answer.
Death slowly drew a train ticket from the back of the book. It looked just like the one in my pocket only, the paper of Death's ticket was very worn, like an old dollar bill. Despite the worn paper the ink was clear and crisp as though it was just printed. I looked up at the big clock behind us, the symbols were still unfamiliar to my mind, but somehow I knew it was close.
"I...I'm..." Death Stuttered "... I'm not ready... I'm... scared. I know I've been dead for so long already, but this almost feels like a life."
I stood, and moved in front of Death to faced him. "There is nothing to be afraid of. You have spent the last 166 years helping countless souls get to where they need to be. You have done several lifetimes worth of work serving others."
I gently took hold of Death's scythe with one hand and extended the other out to the old reaper. I could feel that the train had arrived despite it not making a sound. "Its your turn now. You have earned this."
He released the wooden shaft and grabbed my hand. His flesh felt warn against my bones. The man raised his head, a single tear ran down his dark brown cheek, and into his short black facial hair. The edges of his mouth turned up just slightly in a small but grateful smile.
I helped him stand and we made or way across the short distance to the door of the train. His leather shoes made a muffled sound. I moved silently save for the distinctive thump as the pristine shaft of my scythe hit the wooden floor.
The man entered the train car then turned to face me one last time
"Thank you" He said with a small bow of his head.
And Death replied "Goodbye my old friend" | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | Death looked at me from beneath his hood. I wasn't sure if his face was that of a man or something else. His face was cloaked in darkness, but somehow I felt like I could see through the darkness to what lay within. If you asked me, as soon as I looked away, what I saw, I wouldn't have been able to say. I could not properly recall his face, yet it made feel very comforted. It also filled me with terror.
As he sat, he carefully leaned his scythe up against the wall. Leaning back, he sighed again. We sat there in silence for a moment before I finally mustered the courage to speak.
"Um, what's going on?"
He seemed to know how I felt about his face, because he didn't look in my direction again.
"You were helping your friend move a couch up the stairs to his new apartment. You should not have taken the top end. If I had been paying better attention. I probably could have headed the whole thing off, but I wasn't, so here we are. Again." With another sigh, he pushed himself off the bench, "Well, whatever your name is, now. It's time to go."
I stood and followed him to a door marked, "Employees Only." On the other side of the door, it was just white. Not glowing or solid, just flat, as if the world around us just stopped. We stepped through into a large hall with people bustling back and forth between white doorways, like the one we had just come through.
In the middle of the room was a short desk. A man stood behind the desk, smiling pleasantly at the passersby. I kept expecting him to sit, at some point, but he just kept standing. Death seemed to know what I was thinking, since he muttered, "They never get the details right."
The man's smile faded, a bit, as Death approached. When he saw me, his face broke out into a grin. "We have you in the conference room on the 84th floor, today," he said. He sounded almost gleeful.
Death stood, aghast. "84? Are you insane?!"
Well, it was only floor 4 last time, and floor 3 before that. I'd say you're about due, don't you think?" The grin turned into a smirk as he gestures with one hand towards an elevator behind him.
"Well, let's get this over with," Death said, as he took my arm and guided me to the elevator.
Its doors opened to our approach. Inside, Death seemed to steel himself before pressing his finger to the button for the 84th floor. He didn't remove his finger, however. As the elevator began to move upwards, I saw the numbers slowly climb from first floor, to second, to third, and on. A gasping sound from Death caught my attention. Was he in pain?
As the numbers slowly increased, Death's agony continued. I began hoping the elevator would speed up. I hated seeing anyone like this and felt guilty. Clearly Death was here because of me, for some reason. I tried to replace Deathc's finger with my own, but it was as if he were glued to the button.
"Hey!" I shouted. "Can we please get this thing moving?!" To my surprise, the numbers did start to move faster, then fast still. Soon, they were whizzing by until they ubruptly stopped on 84. The doors opened with a ding.
Death wearily slumped against the wall, his hand free, at last, from the button. "Thank you," he whispered.
I didn't take my eyes off him until the doors closed, after I got off. Turning, I found myself in an ordinary looking conference room. The table was long, with about twenty chairs arranged along it. A ordinary looking man with graying, hair sat a few chairs down from the far end of the table. He was dressed in business casual and pointed me to the chair opposite him without looking up from the papers spread out across the table in front of him.
Once I was seated, he folded his hands on the table and said, "You. You were very good. Yes, indeed, you lead a very good life. Superb. Exemplary. The kind of life that makes us want to give you another go, so you can keep doing that kind of good."
I smiled. I didn't think I had ever done anything special, but it felt nice to be recognized.
He spotted my misunderstanding and corrected himself, "I'm sorry if I was unclear. You lead a very good life, a very long time ago. The sort of life that would make us want to give you another go. So we did. Your next life was... different. It was bad. So bad, we hardly knew what to do with you. We decided to keep giving you chances to go back and do better, to make up for the evil of your second life. Some of your lives have been pretty good, some not as good. Overall, it's been trending upward. Congratulations on that, by the way."
"Um, thanks, I think? What was the whole deal with Death, in the elevator?"
"Ah. That. You don't always ask about that. One time, you even asked if you could have another go with him. We don't blame you, but let's just say we hustled you through pretty quickly, that time."
He continued, "You see, after your first life, Death was a bit miffed that he'd gone to all of the effoet of preparing a place for you on the train. For your second life, he may have... Interfered a bit. Worked from the shadows to lead you into a life of infamy. That sort of thing. Imagine his surprise, what you turned into! I'm almost impressed. No one else has ever screwed up so thoroughly before. Every time you die, he's supposed to bring you to meet with one of us. The torture on the way is the price he pays, until you're done."
I thought for a moment, then ventured, "I suppose you're sending me back again."
"Yes."
"And I won't remember any of this?"
"That is correct."
"Do I even get a clue?"
"Well, the results of your first two lives have ramifications that exist even now, and will continue to exist for lifetimes to come. If you just pay attention, you'll know everything you need to know, in order to do it right next time."
He sorted the papers into a pile, placed them in a folder, and closed it. "Now. Time to go."
He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.
He snapped his fingers again. Nothing happened. Again.
With a sigh, he opened the folder again.
"Let's see. We covered the first life. We covered the second life. We covered..." His voice trailed off.
Suddenly, his face took on a look of dawning comprehension. "Ah! I see. Your last life took you right to the brink. I was almost sad to see it ended so soon, having almost made it. Each go is a lottery, you see, so no gaurantee that you would have made it next time. Apparently, someone upstairs decided your little moment of compassion for Death counts. I see someone objected..."
He leaned forward, a bit conspiratorially, "At the time, you weren't aware of his past sins against you, so someone thought this shouldn't count."
He leaned back again, "However, the objection was overruled. It seems your motivation would have compelled you to help him, regardless of his past actions."
He closed the folder once again. "It's so nice to see that you've finally made it. Death will be pleased. Your term is up, so his torture is, as well. Of course, I would be negligent in my duty if I didn't offer you a choice. Would you like to go on, or go back? The choice is still yours, of course, and always will be."
After a moment of thought, I told him that I was ready to go on. He snapped his fingers. | I am dead.
Dead, muerte, gone, kicked the bucket, I am dead. Never going back. I am as dead as Kurt Cobain. That is to say, very dead.
How did I die? That's simple. I got hit by a car going a hundred miles per hour on a dirt road. Pretty pathetic, huh?
Death is pretty surprising, actually. When I died, I thought that that was the end. That there was no continuation. However, I found myself in front of a train station. It seemed like something you would find in a small Japanese city. Surprisingly, it was very clean. There was even McDonald's! I guess McDonald's is the fast-food chain of death. That is not very surprising.
Then, a train came. It was a standard white train with black stripes near the bottom. It seemed as if it was going to just go by me without stopping. That would be quite worrying, I don't want to be alone forever! I was already alone before death, I don't want to be alone after it!
But, a door opened.
Out came a dude in a black cloak and a massive scythe. I am a little bit disappointed that it's not a cute anime girl with red twin tails and a lazy personality (who also has a hellish boss fight), but it's fine.
I stared the dude directly in the eyes. And he seemed to stare back. I couldn't see his face as it was covered in darkness, like someone just put a black hole in it.
After a while, the dude spoke, "Aw man, why did it have to be you?"
"What?"
"You." He pointed at me, "Shouldn't be here."
"What?"
"You should be still alive, your bodily functions are still functioning. In fact, you can't die at all."
"What?"
I can't die? What the hell kind of thing is that? Immortality is hell! Have you ever seen Re: Zero? That is what happens when you're immortal.
"Um, so why am I here?"
"A mistake. Alright, I'll send you back. You see that elevator behind you?" He pointed behind me. There was an elevator there. I don't think that was there before, but I'd rather not question it.
"Yeah."
"Great. It'll send you back to the realm of the living. Bye, bye now."
I wanted to stop him, but he left before I could say anything. I guess I'll have to go back.
I walked inside the elevator and pressed the one button that was inside. Death really wasn't what I expected it to be. I was even told that I'm immortal!
Guess I'm never seeing it again. | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | "Why'd it have to be ME?" the dead one repeats, affronted. "Why'd it have to be YOU?"
The shrouded figure sinks its shoulders like an annoyed teenager, and if it had a face, it would've been glaring dead-eyed at the roof of the train. "My reaper colleagues were all busy, someone has to empty the trains, I drew the short straw, and-"
It stops suddenly and seizes up, visibly agitated. "No, you know what, I'm SUPPOSED to be here." It points threateningly. "And if you cause any further tomfoolery while I'm on duty, I swear this'll be the last time you ever set soul here again!"
The dead one gives a tight little insincere smile, and a quick little shrug. "Not my fault I'm cursed."
"No, that's my fault," the reaper sighs, whisking a hand to where a forehead might have been. "And quit reminding me."
The dead one stands. "Are we going or what? Does the spiky guy still work here? How's the grumpy one, ol' whats-his-face?"
The reaper watches as the dead one strolls out a little too comfortably, then, begrudgingly but dutifully trudges along behind. "Stop talking." | I am dead.
Dead, muerte, gone, kicked the bucket, I am dead. Never going back. I am as dead as Kurt Cobain. That is to say, very dead.
How did I die? That's simple. I got hit by a car going a hundred miles per hour on a dirt road. Pretty pathetic, huh?
Death is pretty surprising, actually. When I died, I thought that that was the end. That there was no continuation. However, I found myself in front of a train station. It seemed like something you would find in a small Japanese city. Surprisingly, it was very clean. There was even McDonald's! I guess McDonald's is the fast-food chain of death. That is not very surprising.
Then, a train came. It was a standard white train with black stripes near the bottom. It seemed as if it was going to just go by me without stopping. That would be quite worrying, I don't want to be alone forever! I was already alone before death, I don't want to be alone after it!
But, a door opened.
Out came a dude in a black cloak and a massive scythe. I am a little bit disappointed that it's not a cute anime girl with red twin tails and a lazy personality (who also has a hellish boss fight), but it's fine.
I stared the dude directly in the eyes. And he seemed to stare back. I couldn't see his face as it was covered in darkness, like someone just put a black hole in it.
After a while, the dude spoke, "Aw man, why did it have to be you?"
"What?"
"You." He pointed at me, "Shouldn't be here."
"What?"
"You should be still alive, your bodily functions are still functioning. In fact, you can't die at all."
"What?"
I can't die? What the hell kind of thing is that? Immortality is hell! Have you ever seen Re: Zero? That is what happens when you're immortal.
"Um, so why am I here?"
"A mistake. Alright, I'll send you back. You see that elevator behind you?" He pointed behind me. There was an elevator there. I don't think that was there before, but I'd rather not question it.
"Yeah."
"Great. It'll send you back to the realm of the living. Bye, bye now."
I wanted to stop him, but he left before I could say anything. I guess I'll have to go back.
I walked inside the elevator and pressed the one button that was inside. Death really wasn't what I expected it to be. I was even told that I'm immortal!
Guess I'm never seeing it again. | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | "Aw... Why did it have to be you?"
I'm confused. I didn't expect Death. I was an atheist. I... Am. Am I? I'd been sitting on this train station waiting to be ferried off to heaven or hell or wherever, but my train never came.
"Me?"
"You."
"Don't you deal with people like me every day?"
"Yes, and no. You're special."
"Don't give me the shit about how everyone is special."
"That's not it, Cole."
"Of course you know my name."
"Some people are just... Integral. Some people make life worth it for others. I saw your fate. I see every fate."
"And? What about it?" I find the courage to look Death in the hood. Dark stares back. Of course.
"You were happy."
"Really." It's more a challenge than a question.
"You were. You had kids, and a job you loved, and a wonderful wife with a wonderful family of her own. You would have met her in high school. She would have ditched her prom date for you and you two would have gotten drunk in the canyon out behind the school. You're eighty-six years early, Cole." Death sounds... Disappointed. Human. It sounds, even though it speaks in a near-monotone, heartbroken.
The stoicism cracks. The façade breaks.
I break down. Tears roll down my face and a lump the size of an orange makes itself known at the back of my throat.
"I know it was..." I can't finish the sentence.
"Wrong?"
"Yes!"
"I hear that one a lot. They tell you to think about your loved ones. I think it's horseshit. I think you should think about you. I think you should think about all the ways your life can get better." Death is surprisingly good at finding reasons not to die.
"I... " I sniff. Despite being a ghost, I can still get snot and tears all over myself. "I know."
Death continues. "I was supposed to see you in eighty-six years. I was supposed to see a smiling old man content with life, who had seen the loving faces of his family looking down on him as he slipped into the next world, whose only regret would be the sadness he left the ones he loved in."
I can't say anything. I regret my decision. I pulled the trigger. It was the easy way out. My little brother will grow up without the guidance he deserves, with no older brother to scheme with him and spoil him. My parents will bury their son. I feel guilt and anger and sadness and regret.
"I've seen that a thousand times before."
"W-what?"
"That look. It's all hitting you at once, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Then don't fucking do it again. The bullet missed all the vital stuff. A bit of modern medicine and you'll be okay. The ones who aren't dead all the way can't get on the trains. These meetings are rare."
Death looks me in the eyes.
"Don't waste it."
All I can see is the cold, clinical white of a hospital room. Prom is in three weeks. The doctors say I'll have to be in a wheelchair, but I'll make it.
I'm not wasting it.
-----
I have attempted to take my own life before. I have self-harmed. Sometimes I want to do it again. Sometimes I feel so unbearably lonely and worthless that non-existence seems better than another second with that boulder-sized lump in my throat and my mind running through a thousand ways I could be better. But I'm still alive. I'm still alive because I'm selfish and I won't accept a life that doesn't make me happy.
No feeling is final, unless you make it so.
800-273-8255
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Don't make it final. For your sake and no one else's. | I am dead.
Dead, muerte, gone, kicked the bucket, I am dead. Never going back. I am as dead as Kurt Cobain. That is to say, very dead.
How did I die? That's simple. I got hit by a car going a hundred miles per hour on a dirt road. Pretty pathetic, huh?
Death is pretty surprising, actually. When I died, I thought that that was the end. That there was no continuation. However, I found myself in front of a train station. It seemed like something you would find in a small Japanese city. Surprisingly, it was very clean. There was even McDonald's! I guess McDonald's is the fast-food chain of death. That is not very surprising.
Then, a train came. It was a standard white train with black stripes near the bottom. It seemed as if it was going to just go by me without stopping. That would be quite worrying, I don't want to be alone forever! I was already alone before death, I don't want to be alone after it!
But, a door opened.
Out came a dude in a black cloak and a massive scythe. I am a little bit disappointed that it's not a cute anime girl with red twin tails and a lazy personality (who also has a hellish boss fight), but it's fine.
I stared the dude directly in the eyes. And he seemed to stare back. I couldn't see his face as it was covered in darkness, like someone just put a black hole in it.
After a while, the dude spoke, "Aw man, why did it have to be you?"
"What?"
"You." He pointed at me, "Shouldn't be here."
"What?"
"You should be still alive, your bodily functions are still functioning. In fact, you can't die at all."
"What?"
I can't die? What the hell kind of thing is that? Immortality is hell! Have you ever seen Re: Zero? That is what happens when you're immortal.
"Um, so why am I here?"
"A mistake. Alright, I'll send you back. You see that elevator behind you?" He pointed behind me. There was an elevator there. I don't think that was there before, but I'd rather not question it.
"Yeah."
"Great. It'll send you back to the realm of the living. Bye, bye now."
I wanted to stop him, but he left before I could say anything. I guess I'll have to go back.
I walked inside the elevator and pressed the one button that was inside. Death really wasn't what I expected it to be. I was even told that I'm immortal!
Guess I'm never seeing it again. | |
[WP] Finally dead, you wait quietly at the train station of the afterlife. As you watch everyone leave off to face their judgement, you eventually sit alone… waiting. You watch as a scythe-wielding hooded figure starts approaching, and he… sighs? “Aw man… why’d it have to be you?” | I looked back at the figure, perplexed, only to feel a dull ache begin to form at the back of my skull. "Me? Wh-" The pain intensified before I could ask, but the figure was already turning away.
"Give it an hour," He replied, pulling his hood down to reveal a fairly average looking man, roughly in his mid 30's with short cropped blonde hair.
His face had features, but when I tried to focus on them, they appeared to shift subtly. The ever growing pain in my head didn't help matters.
"What are you talking about?"
"Grab your suitcase."
"My what?" I looked down to where he gestured. There was a black suitcase, one of the old fashioned ones with a proper numerical lock. The handle was white, and as my fingers wrapped around its smooth surface, I realized it was ivory, or perhaps bone.
"Great, let's go." I turned my attention back to the figure, only to find his scythe gone, replaced by his own identical briefcase. As he stepped into his stride to leave, I realized that the simple cloak he had initially approached in had also shifted. Its tail still swept the floor, but it bore more resemblance to a robe with white trimmings.
In my shock, he had already proceeded to where I'd first seen him arrive, at the end of the platform, and was waiting for me to catch up. As I took a hurried step, I felt my foot catch and quickly tripped onto my face. I expected pain, especially from the feeling of hard stone against my soft, pliable nose, but it didn't come. I pushed myself to my feet and felt for a nosebleed. Nothing. Then I realized what I'd tripped on. My own clothing was gone, replaced by a similar robe, only with gold trimming.
"I really don't understand," I hurriedly spoke as I caught up with the man.
"You will. We always forget, and we always remember." I expected more, but that's all he gave. Before I could respond, the world shifted. The experience was like a glass elevator. The two of us stood, while the train station slid away, and scenery shifted too fast to fully absorb.
Trees, buildings, and all manner of shapes too quick to make out raced by, until all too suddenly it stopped as quickly as it began, and we were standing in an actual elevator. The door chimed softly, and the metal slid open.
The room was empty. Not like you'd first imagine, four walls with no furniture and a hanging bulb. No. Empty. He stepped through, and his feet made purchase with the blackness. Looking past him, I couldn't tell where the walls were, where the ceiling was, not anything. Hesitant, I followed, and experienced no small amount of terror as the doors closed behind us and promptly disappeared, leaving only the inky blackness of it all.
"Is this hell?" I asked. He laughed.
"No. No, this isn't hell. I mean, it could be, if that's what you want." I felt that pain again, and a number flashed through my mind. 0.
"Then... where are we?" I asked as I placed a hand to my temple, hoping, and failing, to alleviate what was beginning to feel like the worst migraine of my life.
"Your office. You've been gone awhile, so you've probably forgotten... everything?" He asked, but his tone made it more of a statement. "That's fine though. It's just my turn to help you out. Let's get some chairs first."
I waited. He waited. Then he looked at me with a "well, come on then" sort of expression. I didn't know what he wanted me to do. It wasn't like I could just imagine two armchairs into existence-
Two armchairs appeared, one white, one garishly gold colored, facing each other. "Yea, just like that!" He exclaimed happily, sinking into his white chair. "Still no sense of interior decoration though." However much I may have wanted to reply, my pounding head made me simply seek the refugee that the hideous golden chair provided.
"Where are we, really?"
"Your office, I told you that."
"I know I'm dead, but offices don't look like," I gestured to the unknowable emptiness, "this."
"You're right. Usually some of you would still be here, but you kept getting extensions, and it wasn't like any of us could argue." Another number burned its way through my mind, as bright and hot as the sun itself. 1.
"Ackh..." I winced, and his brow furrowed.
"You alright? Honestly, none of us have ever been gone as long as you were."
"You keep saying that," I shook off the pain as best I could and tried to focus on what I was understanding so far. "Us, gone, extensions. What are you talking about? Am I death too?"
"Not... exactly? Like I said, most of this should come back on its own, but I guess if I start to explain it might help some. I'm not death. None of us are. That whole process is automatic, there's no special person who get's to decide when everyone dies or lives."
"Then what are you?"
"Officially, Afterlife Administrative Assistants. AAA's."
"That's a stupid name," I spoke the words before I thought them, and a big grin spread across his face. He started to speak, but a sharp ringing filled my ears louder than a billion explosions. 2.
"-never really liked it either, but it at least describes us better than anything the mortals ever came up with. So, you remember all those folks that got on the train?"
"Sure," I managed weakly.
"They're on their way to the council for 'judgement,' really, they're just going to be assigned a ranking from 0-13. The higher the number, the less ready they are."
"Ready for what?"
"This. 13's are sinners, bad people, or just folks that are way too attached to their own egos. They need some reform, so we can't just toss them into an office like this and let their minds take them wherever they want. They'll just end up creating whatever paradise they think is good, and probably never want to leave it."
"I'm sorry, I feel like I'm already lost."
"Let me explain some of the others and we'll see if that helps. Once we get folks down to a 10, they get to re-enter afterlife society. All the dead folk who still have lingering attachments that usually require other people to let go of."
I watched him flick the numbers on his suitcase as he paused his speech. 5, 8, 1 , 3. The suitcase popped open, and he opened it towards himself, riffling through what sounded like papers. "They stay there for awhile, usually, until they've found a certain level of inner peace. Once they rate at a 5, they get a pseudo-office. They can make and do whatever they'd like there, but we keep an eye on them, and they don't get one of these," he closed the suitcase and gave it a pat for emphasis, then handed me a piece of paper.
"The goal is to get them to create their own paradise, a place where they could live out eternity happily. Some folks never grow out of it," He gestured to the paper he'd handed me. A woman's photo filled the top left corner, with the rest devoted to notes and dates. The last entry read ' Moved to 1st Classification. Subject wishes to remain in "Heaven" and will inform council when ready for review.'
"Once you reach 1st Class like her, you've got your own little world your taking care of, and we usually send the upper classes there to learn how to grow and thrive. She doesn't seem like she's interested in graduating, but hey, we're not here to rush anyone."
"Then, there's folks like us. We live the life, get everything we want, but eventually, we aren't satisfied. I mean, what do you do when you've got eternity to anything you want, and all you have to do is imagine it?"
"I'd get bored, eventually," I replied, and he snapped his fingers.
"Bingo. So we start them off at Class 0, graduating them to a proper office without supervision, and letting them start directly assisting with the whole reformation process. Most folks are satisfied with that, gives them something to do."
"But not me, I take it?" I was starting to put the pieces together.
"Exactly. I've only done it once, but eventually some of us start to wonder why we're doing it this way. Fixing after, not before. Lots of paperwork, but ultimately you get to go back. It's never quite the same you, different face, different place, but that core of your soul is always there. And it always shines through. For whatever reason, you always end up being some of the best of us."
"I thought you were being general, but are you saying-" Like being thousands of fathoms below the sea, I felt the pressure against my skull, threatening to crush it. 3. Then it was gone, and I felt a feeling of nostalgia sweep through me. Like looking at an old friend, I looked at the man across from me again.
"Yes! You, chief, you've been down there more than any of us, and you were the first to ever do it. You're an inspiration. I still can't believe I got to be the one to bring you back to your office. I guess it makes sense though, I *am* your apprentice."
Memories were flooding through my mind now faster than I could fully process them. The numbers, and my reasoning, more than anything. 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. The Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio.
"But you've been gone a really long time. At first, I kept hoping I'd get to see you again soon, like you'd just show up one day on that platform with a big smile. But then, after awhile, I started to get it. You went back to help make it better, and every time you took an extension, it was because it wasn't better yet. And based on some of the folks I've been processing recently, it still isn't. So I'm going to ask again, why'd it have to be you? Why are you back?"
"To remind myself what I'm doing this for," I said as I clicked open my suitcase. Inside was the vacuous space that contained every piece of paperwork I'd ever had, and the thousands of extensions I'd ordered on my time. "And," I smiled slightly, "Because I forgot my password." | I am dead.
Dead, muerte, gone, kicked the bucket, I am dead. Never going back. I am as dead as Kurt Cobain. That is to say, very dead.
How did I die? That's simple. I got hit by a car going a hundred miles per hour on a dirt road. Pretty pathetic, huh?
Death is pretty surprising, actually. When I died, I thought that that was the end. That there was no continuation. However, I found myself in front of a train station. It seemed like something you would find in a small Japanese city. Surprisingly, it was very clean. There was even McDonald's! I guess McDonald's is the fast-food chain of death. That is not very surprising.
Then, a train came. It was a standard white train with black stripes near the bottom. It seemed as if it was going to just go by me without stopping. That would be quite worrying, I don't want to be alone forever! I was already alone before death, I don't want to be alone after it!
But, a door opened.
Out came a dude in a black cloak and a massive scythe. I am a little bit disappointed that it's not a cute anime girl with red twin tails and a lazy personality (who also has a hellish boss fight), but it's fine.
I stared the dude directly in the eyes. And he seemed to stare back. I couldn't see his face as it was covered in darkness, like someone just put a black hole in it.
After a while, the dude spoke, "Aw man, why did it have to be you?"
"What?"
"You." He pointed at me, "Shouldn't be here."
"What?"
"You should be still alive, your bodily functions are still functioning. In fact, you can't die at all."
"What?"
I can't die? What the hell kind of thing is that? Immortality is hell! Have you ever seen Re: Zero? That is what happens when you're immortal.
"Um, so why am I here?"
"A mistake. Alright, I'll send you back. You see that elevator behind you?" He pointed behind me. There was an elevator there. I don't think that was there before, but I'd rather not question it.
"Yeah."
"Great. It'll send you back to the realm of the living. Bye, bye now."
I wanted to stop him, but he left before I could say anything. I guess I'll have to go back.
I walked inside the elevator and pressed the one button that was inside. Death really wasn't what I expected it to be. I was even told that I'm immortal!
Guess I'm never seeing it again. |
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